Lord Kimberley made a speech on Saturday to the Norfolk
Chamber of Agriculture, on the working of the Poor-Law. He was in favour of working it very sternly, refusing outdoor relief, and granting aid from the Imperial Exchequer only for indoor expenses. He believed that thousands who would accept parish relief if they could get it in their own homes would refuse to enter the " house," and cease to be paupers altogether. He approved of charity, but said relief under the Poor-Law was not charity at all, and the confusion between the two ideas produced endless mischief. That is true enough, but Lord Kimberley has not proved that the total refusal of out-door relief would not produce a system quite as demoralising, viz., the habit of relying on small doles from the rich,—a habit already producing much mis- chief in large town parishes. We fear the truth is, that the swiftest blow to pauperism would be the extinction of charity in all its forms, but that human nature could not endure the result- ing--though temporary—misery without becoming brutalised.
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