fellow-creatures that moral independence which is the germ of virtue; if it does, cherish it as the means of imparting to your rational brethren the dignity of their intellectual nature, the zenith of their moral existence? If not, reject a system debasing to man, degrading to his rational independence, and subservient only to the promotion of idleness, dependance and mental abasement; and adopt one whose basis shall be the moral improvement of man, whose adaptation is conformable to the laws of his nature, the principles of Christianity, and the good of society. CONCLUSION. The adaptation of law to the nature and moral constitution of man, is the only solid basis on which it can securely rest: without this adaptation, as its grand fundamental principle, it must be varying as the nature of things, and fluctuating as the exigencies of external circumstances. But when the laws of moral policy are founded on this impregnable basis, their durability is lasting as the foundation on which it rests: the nature of man is invariably the same, in every country and under every government, he considers pleasure as his greatest good, and pain as his greatest evil; he is satisfied with the negative pleasure that the absence of pain imparts, but in no instance will long sustain the infliction of suffering, when he has the power to mitigate its intensity, or lessen its durability; that a government superior to that under which we enjoy the rights of social, and civil liberty, is incapable of emanating from the united wisdom of the most enlightened statesmen, is a fact, which observation attests and experience demonstrates; but that man in his moral cultivation, and government in its most infallible axioms, has not attained the degree of perfection of which they are capable, is likewise a fact which cannot be controverted. To promote the moral improvement of man, religion lends her aid, government, sanctions its efforts, and reason attests the benignity of its influence; and shall government unaided by any divine revelation, be considered so infallible as to be incapable of improvement? In the nineteenth century such a supposition is impossible; man is too enlightened to admit as a fact, any axiom that is not capable of demonstration: the subject reverts to this simple question-Are the poor laws as they now exist, capable of improvement, or have they attained from the wisdom and experience of ages, acknowledgment of their infallibility and incapability of further improvement? if so the subject proposed for consideration in these pages is useless; but if the mechanic, groaning under the pressure of additional labor, sighs, as he reflects that his children are deprived of comforts, perhaps of necessaries to support a body of people, equally as capable of labor as himself, and what he considers as a still greater grievance, that he who is incapable of indulging in any luxuries and superfluities, shall toil to supply parochial fêtes with viands too delicate for his own consumption; if his goods are distrained to pay those parochial rates, which his labor is unable to effect, and he and his family are unwillingly compelled to have recourse themselves to parochial aid, to relieve those sufferings eventually, which they have occasioned originally ;-If these are evils deserving attention, and capable of redress, the sug gested plan is certainly entitled to some consideration, as an efficient means of at once relieving the necessitous, supporting the aged and infirm, employing the healthy, instructing the ignorant, and educating the young. It may be objected that the love of idleness in the lower classes is so prevalent, that few amongst them comparatively speaking, would willingly labor, unless compelled, when they were provided by the bounty and benevolence of others, with all the comforts, conveniences and necessaries of life. To this it may be answered, in the words of scripture, that he who will not work, shall not eat :' appropriate rewards should be given, and regulations instituted, calculated to encourage industry, morality, and general good conduct; the cultivation of the social virtues should be particularly attended to; the genuine doctrines of christianity be taught in all their sublime and elevating purity; and the ennobling spirit of true religion, irradiated by the beams of science, diffuse around peace, happiness, and contentment. Oh! ye who, placed at the helm of affairs, have the future destiny of man under your control, remember that the present governs the future, that the good imparted to the present generation, must extend its beneficial effects to futurity; that man is an improveable being, capable of obtaining even upon earth, an elevated station in the moral and intellectual world lend your aid, ye governors of the land, diffuse the blessings of moral independence and mental elevation to the children of penury, debasement, and servile degradation; remember that as mental independence is the characteristic of superior intellect, so moral independence is the foundation of social virtue : beware how ye nip the germ from whence the fair fruit of virtue, and its attendants, peace and happiness, must spring. Let the seeds ye sow in the nineteenth century germinate in the well-being of posterity, in the suppression of vice, and the diffusion of social order, industry, and plenty elevate the standard of man, raise your suffering fellow-creatures to the moral elevation of their nature; suffer not a species of slavery to exist in England which ye nobly repel in distant realms; become the benefactors of your species, the promoters of religion, of happiness, and virtue. Let succeeding ages record, that to the present patriots of England they are indebted for the happiness which springs from moral and mental culture, from useful occupation, and its attendants, comfort and plenty. If the suggested Plan be considered worthy attention, the emanations of superior intellect will easily improve upon the hints which have been respectfully given to the advancement of human felicity, the suppression of mendicity, the promotion of the moral independence of the poor, the diffusion of general well-being, and the extension of individual, and consequently of national, prosperity and happiness. 'Philosophy extends her heavenly wings, A LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. GEORGE CANNING, M. P. &c. &c. &c. ON THE POLICY OF RECOGNISING THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN STATES. BY JOHN LOWE, AUTHOR OF LETTERS TO THE MARQUIS OF LONDONDERRY AND SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. LONDON: A LETTER, &c. &c. SIR, IT is one of the privileges of Englishmen freely to address men in office when they have grievances to state, or when they conceive errors to exist, which affect the interests of their country. I address you, Sir, therefore, with the assurance that you are ever anxious to attend to the interests of the commercial community, which, from your long intimacy with them, you, perhaps, more than many others, understand. My objects are to press upon you the importance of acknowledging, without delay, the independence of the S. American States, in order that we may derive our full share of the benefits of their progressive improvement; and to show you that our commerce with Europe is so circumscribed, that we cannot defer, without serious prejudice, a measure which would not only insure its existence, but its increase. It would be unnecessary to attempt to show, that prosperity in any class of society must produce a corresponding state in the other classes. It is with nations as with individuals; wealth must create demand, and this will produce industry: where this is not the case, errors must manifestly exist in the system, and all will retrograde, if all attempt to live in independence. Indigence, misery, and despair, will be the inevitable consequences; and ignorance and demoralisation will supplant freedom, until the quiet pursuits of life shall be disturbed by the inroads of tyranny or arbitrary power. Former ages exemplify this truth; but, if we want any further proof, we shall find it in those countries where the arts and religion are not known beyond the providing for existence |