do it cheaper by eighty per cent. a hundred miles off, than in this town, or in any of its fuburbs.

There is no village in Connaught, that in proportion fhares fo deeply in the daily increafing miferies of Ireland, as its capital city; to which miferies there hardly remained any addition, except the perpetual swarms of foreign beggars, who might be banished in a month without expence, and with very little trouble.

As I am perfonally acquainted with a great number of street-beggars, I find fome weak attempts have been made in one or two parishes to promote the wearing of badges; and my first question to those who afk an alms is, Where is your badge? I have, in feveral years, met with about a dozen who were ready to produce them, fome out of their pockets, others from under their coat, and two or three on their fhoulders, only covered with a fort of capes which they could lift up, or let down upon occafion. They are too lazy to work; they are not afraid to fteal, nor afhamed to beg, and yet are too proud to be seen with a badge, as many of them have confefled to me, and not a few in very injurious terms, particularly the females. They all look upon fuch an obligation as a high indignity done to their office. I appeal to all indifferent people, whether fuch wretches deferve to be relieved. As to myself, I must confefs, this abfurd infolence hath fo affected me, that, for several years paft, I have not difpofed of one fin

gle

gle farthing to a ftreet-beggar, nor intend to do fo until I fee a better regulation; and I have endeavoured to perfuade all my brotherwalkers to follow my example, which moft of them affure me they do. For, if beggary be not able to beat out pride, it cannot deserve charity. However, as to perfons in coaches and chairs, they bear but little of the perfecution we fuffer, and are willing to leave it entirely upon us.

To fay the truth, there is not a more undeferving vicious race of human-kind than the bulk of those who are reduced to beg gary, even in this beggarly country. For as a great part of our publick miferies is originally owing to our own faults (but what thofe faults are, I am grown, by experience, too wary to mention) fo I am confident, that, among the meaner people, nineteen in twenty of those who are reduced to a starving condition, did not become fo, by what the lawyers call the work of God, either upon their bodies or goods; but merely from their own idleness, attended with all manner of vices, particularly drunkenness, thievery, and cheat ing.

Whoever enquires, as I have frequently. done, from thofe who have afked me an alms, what was their former courfe of life, will find them to have been fervants in good families, broken tradefmen, labourers, cottagers, and what they call decayed housekeepers; but (to ufe their own cant) reduced by loffes and E 3

croffes,

croffes, by which nothing can be understood but idleness and vice.

As this is the only christian country where people, contrary to the old maxim, are the poverty, and not the riches of the nation; fo the bleffing of increase and multiply is by us converted into a curfe; and, as marriage hath been ever countenanced in all free countries, fo we fhould be lefs miferable if it were difcouraged in ours, as far as can be confiftent with chriftianity. It is feldom known in England, that the labourer, the lower mechanick, the fervant, or the cottager, thinks of marrying, until he hath faved up a stock of money fufficient to carry on his business; nor takes a wife without a fuitable portion; and as feldom fails of making a yearly addition to that stock, with a view of providing for his children. But, in this kingdom, the cafe is directly contrary, where many thousand cou ples are yearly married, whofe whole united fortunes, bating the rags on their backs, would not be fufficient to purchase a pint of buttermilk for their wedding fupper, nor have any profpect of fupporting their honourable ftate but by fervice or labour, or thievery. Nay, their happiness is often deferred until they find credit to borrow, or cunning to fteal, a fhilling to pay their popish priest, or infamous couple-beggar. Surely no miraculous portion of wisdom would be required to find fome kind of remedy against this destructive evil, or, at least, not to draw the confequences of it upon our decaying city, the greatest

part

part whereof muft, of course, in a few years, become defolate, or in ruins.

In all other nations, that are not abfolutely barbarous, parents think themselves bound, by the law of nature and reason, to make fome provifion for their children; but the reafon offered by the inhabitants of Ireland for marrying is, that they may have children to maintain them when they grow old, and unable to work.

I am informed, that we have been, for fome time paft, extremely obliged to England for one very beneficial branch of commerce; for, it feems, they are grown fo gracious as to tranfmit us continually colonies of beggars, in return for a million of money they receive yearly from hence, That I may give no offence, I profefs to mean real English beggars in the literal meaning of the word, as it is ufually understood by proteftants. It seems, the juftices of the peace and parifh-officers, in the western coasts of England, have a good while followed the trade of exporting hither their fupernumerary beggars, in order to advance the English proteftant intereft among us; and these they are fo kind to fend over gratis, and duty-free. I have had the honour, more than once, to attend large cargoes of them from Chefter to Dublin: and I was then fo ignorant as to give my opinion, that our city fhould receive them into Bridewell; and, after a month's refidence, having been well whipt twice a day, fed with bran and water, and put to hard labour, they should be re

turned

turned honestly back with thanks, as cheap as they came: or, if that were not approved of, I propofed, that whereas one Englishman is allowed to be of equal intrinfick value with twelve born in Ireland, we fhould, in justice, return them a dozen for one, to difpofe of as they pleased.

As to the native poor of this city, there would be little or no damage in confining them to their several parishes. For instance: a beggar of the parish of St. Warborough's, or any other parish here, if he be an object of compaffion, hath an equal chance to receive his proportion of alms from every charitable hand because the inhabitants, one or other, walk through every ftreet in town, and give their alms, without confidering the place, wherever they think it may be well difpofed of and thefe helps, added to what they get in eatables by going from house to houfe among the gentry and citizens, will, without being very burthenfome, be fufficient to keep them alive.

It is true, the poor of the fuburb parishes will not have altogether the fame advantage, because they are not equally in the road of bufinefs and paffengers: but here it is to be confidered, that the beggars there have not fo good a title to publick charity, because most of them are ftrollers from the country, and compofe a principal part of that great nuifance which we ought to remove.

I should be apt to think, that few things can be more irksome to a city minifter, than

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