第1章 SECT.I(1)

To a man of common sensibility nothing can be more distressing,than to hear the complaints of wretchedness,which hehath no power to redress,and to be daily conversant with misery,which he can neither fly from,nor relieve.This at presentis the situation of the clergy,who,in virtue of their office,are obliged to visit the habitations of the poor.Here they seehelpless infancy and decrepit age,the widow and the orphan,some requiring food,and others physic;all in such numbers,that no private fortune can supply their wants.Such scenes are more distressing,when,as it sometimes happens,thesuffering objects have been distinguished for industry,honesty,and sobriety.The laws indeed have made provision for theirrelief,and the contributions are more than liberal.which are collected for their support;but then,the laws being inadequateto the purposes for which they were designed,and the money collected being universally misapplied,the provision,whichwas originally made for industry in distress,does little more than give encouragement to idleness and vice.The lawsthemselves appear beautiful on paper,and will be the admiration of succeeding ages,when,in the revolution of empires,the whole fabric of our government shall be dissolved,and our nation,as a separate kingdom,shall exist no more.Theselaws,so beautiful in theory,promote the evils they mean to remedy,and aggravate the distress they were intended torelieve.Till the reign of Q.Elizabeth they were unknown in England;and to the present moment,they have never beenadopted by any other kingdom upon earth.It has been most unfortunate for us,that two of the greatest blessings have beenproductive of the greatest evils.The Revolution gave birth to that enormous load of debt,under which this nation groans;and to the Reformation we are indebted for the laws which multiply the poor.