one of the principal causes why they contribute so little to the fund which is to maintain a family?" In the greatest part of England, the acquisition of the necessaries of life, required by a labourer's family, rests entirely on the husband. If he falls sick, and is not a member of a Friendly Society, his wife, and children must inevitably be supported by the parish. There is no other resource; for, to whatever cause it is to be ascribed, the wife, even in such an exigency, can do nothing. I do not mean to contend, that, either with a view to national profit, or individual in-· dependence, it is desirable that the female part of a labourer's family should perform the toilsome duties of porters and ploughmen, as is the case in Liege and Switzerland, and even in some parts of Scotland; or that they should employ those hours which they can spare from the management of domestic concerns, in a sedentary and unwholesome manufacture, as is the case with the lace-makers in Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. The labours of the field, it is said, are adverse to child-bearing; and this is one of the reasons which I have heard assigned for the infecundity of the negroes in the West Indies. I am not physiologist enough to say how far this opinion is, or is not, well founded: but, I own, I suspect it to have been advanced on but slight grounds. There are, however, various occupations which the wife of a peasant or artificer would, it is probable, be often inclined to pursue, were she only allowed to have a voice as to the disposal of her earnings. As the law now stands, the moment she acquires them, they become the absolute property of her husband; so that it is not to be wondered at, that she conceives she has fulfilled her duty in attending to the children; and that he, conscious that the support of the family depends on his exertions, should so often become imperious and tyrannical. The instances are not few, where a stupid, drunken, and idle man has an intelligent and industrious wife, with perhaps both the opportunity and the ability to earn enough to feed her children; but who yet is deterred from working, from a thorough conviction that her mate would, too probably, strip her of every farthing which she had not the ingenuity to conceal. There is, perhaps, no better mode of ascertaining what degree of comfort is enjoyed by a labourer's family, than by learning what portion of his weekly earnings he commits to his wife's disposal. It makes a very material difference whether he or she holds the purse-strings. That he can earn the most is ply him with the means of subsistence, they invest him with patriarchal power and authority. I cannot here avoid observing, that the very inconsiderable number of female convicts, in proportion to males, who have been convicted of depredations on private property, appears to me to be principally ascribable to the different rights, and, consequently, the different propensities with which our civil institutions have invested the two sexes, with regard to the acquisition and enjoyment of property. In the commission of crimes, which are produced by the vindictive passions of the human breast, the balance of criminality is more equal.' granted; but she can make those earnings go the farthest. I have often observed that, when the circumstances of a labouring family have enabled them to purchase a cow, the good management of the wife has preserved them from the parish as long as the cow lasted; and this even in cases where the husband was improvident and dissolute. It may, indeed, be urged that, although the lords of the creation have, almost exclusively, appropriated to themselves the direction of public concerns, and the administration of property, yet, in the conduct of private life, (which, after all, is the chief business of mankind,) the female sex have borne, and ever will bear, superior sway. Their power, however, as it in a great measure depends on opinion, is liable to be overthrown by the caprices and misconduct of those under whose protection the law has placed them. An amiable married woman, although disposed to practise the softer virtues, which are most congenial to her, and (as Milton expresses it) "to study houshold good;"-which constitutes "Woman's domestic honor and chief praise ;" cannot render her family thriving and happy, unless she is, in some measure, countenanced and assisted by her husband. If we might form a general estimate from what occurs in the higher stations of life, it would seem that children would not so often have to lament the prodigality of their parents, if more of the common stock were vested in the wife, and less in the husband, than is usually the case. For one extravagant mother, I am persuaded there are at least twenty improvident fathers. In the humbler spheres of society, it still seldomer happens that the welfare of a family is affected by the misconduct of a mother. That they, too often, want industry, must be acknowledged; but it also ought to be remembered that they want those motives which stimulate to industry. I have been led to these reflections by investigating the situation of some Female Clubs, which seem to be exposed to peculiar disadvantages, in consequence of the legal disability which married women labour under of retaining the earnings of their labour in their own hands. Most of these Clubs are chiefly composed of married women: as the principal inducement to enter into them is to insure a decent subsistence during the lying-in month; a period, in which, of all others, a labourer's wife is in most need of extrinsic assistance. The laudable objects, however, of these excellent institutions, may be entirely frustrated by the exercise of that legal authority with which a husband is invested. As he is entitled to receive his wife's earnings, he can not only prevent her from paying her regular subscription to the Club; but if she falls sick, he is, I conceive, no less authorized by law to demand the allowance which is granted by the. Society, and to appropriate it to his own use.' This is certainly a strong instance of the inconvenience that would arise from a tyrannical exercise of the right which the law has vested in a husband. We conceive, however, that the treasurer of a Friendly Society would do right in refusing payment to a husband of his wife's allowance; and that he would be justified by law for taking every possible step to se cure cure it for her sole and separate use. At the same time, we admit that many evils are likely to arise from the abuse of this branch of marital authority; for our author states that this hardship, to which females were exposed, had been often strongly represented to him; and that he could, if it were necessary, procure sufficient evidence that it had actually been experienced by not a few members of Female Friendly Societies. The first volume concludes with the following judicious remarks on the danger of parliamentary interference with the Friendly Societies. Sir F. Eden is persuaded that If any farther regulation of them is attempted the inclination of the labouring classes to enter into them will be greatly damped, if not entirely repressed. The acts already passed, although they are known, and generally understood to have been framed with the most benevolent intentions, and do really confer substantial benefits on these institutions, have created much alarm. Nay, they have certainly annihilated many societies. At the same time, it is but fair to confess that they may have raised others. This, however, is more difficult to ascertain. Any farther favours from parliament would irretrievably lessen the confidence which is still entertained by the members of most benefit clubs, that the legislature will not interfere in controuling associations, which do not appear, from any evidence which has as yet been laid before the public, to be adverse to economy, good morals, or public tranquillity. I have, indeed, more than once heard it insinuated that friendly societies are apt to degenerate into debating clubs, and that convivial meetings on a Saturday might become the aptest vehicles for disseminating principles subversive of subordination and submission to the laws of our country. I have also heard it asserted, that the members of friendly societies, from being accustomed to assemble at ale-houses, are not only stimulated by interested landlords, but encouraged by the contagion of ill-examples, in the habits of drunkenness; that the money, which is spent on a club-night, is entirely lost to a labouring family; and that there are various ways in which the earnings of industry might be applied more advantageously to the morals of the labourer and the comforts of his family. Friendly societies, it is true, like all other human contrivances, have their defects. It is, however, though a short, a sufficient answer to such objections as I have noticed, and to some others which it is unnecessary to enumerate, that these institutions do not aim at perfection, but improvement. They are not intended to be "that faultless monster which the world ne'er saw :" but it is a sufficient proof of their excellence, that they are congenial to the social latitudes and prejudices of the labourer; and that, if they cannot correct the inclination (which is too often caused by hard labour) for conviviality and dissipation, they, at least, convert a vi cious propensity into an useful instrument of economy and industry, and secure to their members, (what can seldom be purchased at too dear a rate,) subsistence during sickness and independence in old age.' [To be continued.] ART ART. IV. Memoirs of a late eminent Advocate, and Member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. By William Melmoth, Esq. 8vo. pp. 72. 5s. sewed. Cadell jun. and Davies. 1796. WHEN we, who can ourselves, in our literary capacity, look back nearly through half of a century, recollect that Mr. Melmoth's elegant translation of Pliny's Epistles appeared two years before the commencement of our labours, and that his justly admired Fitzosborne's Letters, we believe, were published still earlier, we cannot help regarding him with a sort of respect approaching to veneration, as one of the fathers of the age. We are the more inclined to pay him this homage, and, in truth, to consider him as an Emeritus Professor in the English school of Polite Literature, because we are persuaded that few writers have contributed so much to the improvement of our style, or have furnished such models of elegant writing, as far as concerns the correct choice and perspicuous arrangement of words, and the harmonious construction of periods. It is with pleasure that we observe, in the production of Mr. Melmoth's pen now before us, that his powers of writing are still unimpaired. The same characters, which have given to his former works a distinguished place among our English classics, will be found impressed with equal distinctness and strength on these memoirs. The publication, as we have been informed, is a tribute of filial piety. The subject of the memoir, though not mentioned by name, was Mr. Melmoth's father; and, from the particulars here related concerning his exemplary conduct both in private and public life, he appears to have well deserved this handsome testimony of respect to his memory-to have merited the singular felicity of being laudatus à laudato virs. Several letters and papers inserted in these memoirs, as well as the general narrative, shew him to have been a man of unaffected piety and conscientious integrity. The laudable and meritorious example, which he set in his professional character, we shall present to our readers in Mr. Melmoth's own words: 66 "Men have either no character at all," says a celebrated author, or it is that of being inconsistent with themselves." It must be confessed, indeed, that to persevere in one regular undeviating line of moral conduct, is no common characteristic of human nature; happily, however, the observation is not without exceptions; and the eminent subject of these pages is one instance, at least, (it may be candidly hoped there are many others,) to redeem the credit of our species. The same uniform principles and virtues which rendered him esteemed and respected while he walked in the less open paths of pri vate society, varied only in efficacy, not in strength, when he came forward into the more conspicuous scenes of active life. To do good was the exciting motive and ultimate tendency of all his pursuits; and he entered into his honourable profession, not from a spirit of inordinate ambition; no man's desires were more controuled by reason: not to accumulate useless wealth; no man more disdained so unworthy a pursuit: it was for the decent advancement of his family, the generous assistance of his friends, the benevolent relief of the indigent. How often did he exert his abilities, yet refused the reward of them, in the cause of the widow, the fatherless, and of him who had none to help him! Complete master of his profession, he discharged its important offices with an integrity equalled only by the science with which he performed them. As the casual course of his business led him to be principally engaged in that branch of jurisprudence which is administered in the court of chancery; no man's opinion in cases of equity was more frequently resorted to, nor more implicitly relied upon, not only upon a persuasion of its rectitude in point of knowledge, but from a conviction that no inducement could bias his judgment towards the side most favourable to his client's interest. Upon this occasion it would be deviating from the accuracy of a faithful Relater to omit a circumstance which casts no common lustre upon his moral character, and yet can neither be mentioned without hazarding the suspicion of amplification, or suppressed without violating the justice due to truth and to his memory. The fact, however, is, that having in a certain case advised the querist to pursue his claim in a court of law, and not instantly adverting to a dormant statute which stood in the way of his client's supposed right; he no sooner discovered the inadvertence than he sent for the attorney, and not only returned his fee, but re-imbursed the costs of the unsuccessful plaintiff. He was too firm a friend to justice to attempt diverting it from its proper course; and he scorned the dishonest dexterity of covering a flaw in a defective title.' We cannot promise our readers that they will find in these Memoirs many amusing anecdotes: but we can ensure them, from the perusal, no small degree of gratification, to their li terary taste in a piece of good writing, and to their moral feelings in the pleasing exhibition of a character of sterling and distinguished merit. A beautifully engraved head of the subject of the memoir is prefixed. ART. V. Dr. Bisset's Sketch of Democracy. I' |