Page:A letter to the Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, M.P. on the state of Ireland.djvu/19

 in the year, owing to the want of work; and that the wives and children of many others were obliged to beg systematically, while mendicancy was the sole resource of the aged and impotent.'

While no provision is made for the aged and impotent, the State cannot with justice prohibit begging; while the sturdy beggar is not set to work, the State cannot efficiently prevent the pilfering, imposture, and intimidation which this class of marauders inflicts upon the country.

Such were the evils which were rife in England at the commencement of the sixteenth century; such were the evils which the 43rd of Elizabeth was wisely framed to cure.

Proceeding on the principles adopted by the able statesmen of the reign of Elizabeth, the government of Lord Melbourne, in the year 1837, introduced their bill. The death of the king put a stop to it, but in 1838 it was again introduced. It was opposed by many of the Irish Tories, who looked upon it as a confiscation of landed property, and by Mr. O'Connell, who in speeches of great eloquence and ability denounced this method of remedying Irish grievances. But the measure passed, and having been amended in 1847, is now considered a permanent institution. An able writer has pointed out that the Poor Law of Ireland does not give the same right to relief which is comprised in the English Act. But I have no space to pursue that discussion. When I had the honour to explain the proposal for the Irish Poor