Excerpt from On the Christian and Economic Polity of a Nation: More Especially With Reference to Its Large Towns IT will be seen, from the last chapter, that we hold the securities for the relief of indigence, which have been provided by nature, to be greatly better than those artificial securities for the same Object, which have been provided by legislation; and that the latter have done mischief, because, instead of aiding, they have enfeebled the former. This matter should have been confided to the spontaneous Operation of such sympathy and such principle as are to be found in society, among the individuals who compose it. And when the ques tion is put to us, what is the best system of public management for alimenting the poor, we reply, that the question would come in a more intelligible. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.