Volume 1

The state of the poor; or, an history of the labouring classes in England, from the conquests to the present period. In which are particularly considered, their domestic economy, with respect to diet, dress, fuel, and habitation; and the various plans which, from time to time, have been proposed, and adopted, for the relief of the poor: together with parochial reports relative to the administration of work-houses, and houses of industry; the state of friendly societies; and other public institutions ... / With a large appendix containing a comparative and chronological table of the prices of labour, of provisions, and of other commodities ... an account of the poor in Scotland, etc. By Sir Frederic Morton Eden.

  • Eden, Frederick Morton, Sir, 1766-1809.
Date:
1797
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The state of the poor; or, an history of the labouring classes in England, from the conquests to the present period. In which are particularly considered, their domestic economy, with respect to diet, dress, fuel, and habitation; and the various plans which, from time to time, have been proposed, and adopted, for the relief of the poor: together with parochial reports relative to the administration of work-houses, and houses of industry; the state of friendly societies; and other public institutions ... / With a large appendix containing a comparative and chronological table of the prices of labour, of provisions, and of other commodities ... an account of the poor in Scotland, etc. By Sir Frederic Morton Eden. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    1* R E F A C E. trequcnily Ik ard contended, that the eftablifhment of many fe61s in religion is inimical to theprogrefs of induRry. Still lefs do I think my very limited enquiries warrant me in obferving, (what might, perhaps, appear to fome neither an uncharitable, an harfh, or an unjuR furmife,) that, as manufa6lurers more commonly become Paupers than labourers in huR^andry, and as they alfo are more commonly fedarians, among other caufes of fo Rriking a peculia- rity, their religious dlRerences are, probably, not the leaR. In various points of view, tithes are, and ever muR be, objecls of great moment; it is, therefore, but little to be wondered at, that they have lately engaged fo confiderable a fhare of the public at- tention. It is no part of the defign of thisAVork, to enter into any difeuRion concerning them, farther than as they are connecled with, and relate to, it’s immediate objccl, the prices of labour and pro- vifions, and the circumRances of the labouring claR'es. On thefe, tithes certainly have fome influence; though, poRibly, a remote one. If, however, it fliould be found, that the prejudices of the people againR tithes, have, in feveral inRances, difeouraged the occupants of land from raifmg grain, fuch a circumRance cannot but afFe6lour “Poor. To what caufe are we to aferibe this increafe? No caufc whatever lias a more “ powerful influence than the increafe of Methodifts. This religion, in the firft place, is a “ heavy tax -, and, in the fecond, it encourages idlencfs j and both of thefe contribute to “ make men poor, and to keep them in that (late. I would propofe it then, as a fuhjed of “ enquiry. Have the Poor’s Rates increafed with the increafe of Mcthodijm ? Perhaps, up- “ on examination, they will be found to have kept pace with the progrefs of this religion ; “ and it would give this opinion fome weight, if the Rates, in particular places, have cor- refponded with the prevalence of Methodifm. A fecond queftion might be propofed : “ Have the Poor in Scotland, where this profeffion has fewer votaries, increafed with that rapidity th.ey have done in the Soutliern part of the ifland ? ’ Review of the Policy, Hocl.rir.es, and Morals, of the Mcthodifls, p. 50. labourers,'