第3章 SECT.II

Under the best administration,the laws relating to the poor give occasion to much injustice;under the worst,they are toooften the instruments of oppression and revenge.If the intentions of the magistrate are good,his compassion may be illdirected;but if at any time his judgment is blinded by his passions,in the keeness of his resentment for some real orimaginary affront,he is apt to forget the purpose for which the administration of the poor laws was committed to his care,and to abuse his power,by granting,when the property of his own tenants is not to be affected by it,the most ample reliefto the most unworthy objects.This indeed would seldom happen,if none but gentlemen of a liberal education were put intothe commission of the peace;or if,aggreeable to the original constitution of our government,this office were elective.Butshould the wisest and the best of men be chosen,yet we could not expect that such would every where be found willing todevote their time and whole attention to the administration of those laws,whose natural tendency is to increase the numberof the poor,and greatly to extend the bounds of human misery.