The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca

a 82SLRMONS.n little time be violently taken from him, he takes carebeforehand to fecrete and put out of the way as muchof his fubftance as he can. Do not you and I knowof great eftates which have been mifmanaged, and theincomes of them diminiflied by the method I fpeak of ?Time would fail me to mention all the deplorableclTecls of the high rate of land. Thefe I have takennotice of relate to the farmers who are oppreiTed'j butits effefts are grievous and diftrefling to others alfo,nnd deftru6live to the public. When a large territoryis thrown wafte, the poor people who are driven awaybecome a burden on fome neighbouring diftricSl or parifh; or they refort to cities, which is the caufe thatfuch fwarms of beggars are to be feen on the ilreetsr.nd in the neighbourhood of great towns. This itfelfis a feverer grievance than is commonly believed; forin this nation we have no poors rates j and the landedgentlemen, and whoever is rich, have almoft to aman deferted the church, where contributions aremade for the poor ; by v/hich means the farmers andtradefmen have got the burden of fupporting the poor;and as the number of them, by the means of highrents, hath multiplied fo faft, to fupport them is avery grievous burden indeed. From the fame caufeagriculture is difcouraged, and fcarcity may be theconfequencc. This land, though its foil in generalis not rich, is by proper cultivation able to maintainperhaps double the number of its prefent inhabitants;and the greater the number of induilrious hands employedin cultivating the earth, the greater is the producewhich it yields : But fome of our laborious peoplehave already been driven abroad, and many ofthem have been forced to apply to other employmentsat home. It is the advantage and fecurity of anycountry to raife from itfelf fufficient fubfiftence forall its inhabitants ; for it is but a precarious meansof fupport which may be expelled by importationfrom foreign markets, as is juft now evident from ex-