at all times a very shallow philosophy, though it be unfortunately very common, which can see contradiction only in the polarity now mentioned, and is urged accordingly to affirm and deny with regard to it, in such a way as to exclude the possibility of any reconciliation between the tendencies thus opposed. No authority can be moral that does not seek liberty as its end; and no liberty can be free that is not filled with the sense of authority as the proper contents of its own life. of law from the cradle to the grave, and from the rudeness of savage life onward through all stages of subsequent social refinement; but it is only that he may be educated for the full use finally of his own proper personal independence, in being set free from all bondage, whether objective or subjective, by the clear spontaneous union of his private will with the law to which it is necessarily bound. It lies in the very conception of this vast educational process, including as it does not only all stages of the single life from infancy to old age, but all stages also of the general ethical life in the progress of nations, that the two great compound forces by which the problem of freedom is in the course of being solved, should sustain to each other, in their legitimate action, a constantly fluctuating relation; the pressure of authority being necessarily greater, and the sense of independence less, in reverse proportion to the actual development of the true idea of freedom in the subject. Here, of course, a wide field is thrown open for the exercise of That it may be difficult to bring this theory of freedom into practice, is readily admitted; but this forms no proper argument against the truth and value of the theory itself. The difficulty lies in the nature of the subject to which it belongs. Still, however, there is no other way in which it is possible for the end to be secured that is here in view. Man must be at once independent and bound, self-governed, and yet obedient to authority, in order that he may at all fulfil his own destiny, in distinction from the system of mere nature with which he is surrounded. For this he is to be educated and formed, un-political and ethical science, in determining der the influences which are comprehended in human society for the purpose. He comes not to moral freedom at once, but is required to rise to it by regular development, out of the life of nature in which his existence starts, and in which it continues always to have its root. In our present circumstances, moreover, the process is greatly embarrassed and obstructed by a false law of sin, which is found too plainly seated in our constitution. It becomes accordingly a most complicated problem, to bring our common human life, in this view, into its proper form; a problem, whose solution in fact runs through the history of the world's entire social constitution, from the beginning of time to its end. The family, the State, and the Church, are all comprehended alike in the service of this great design. They surround the human subject with the force the claims of duty and right, as related to J. W. N. In FOREIGN IMMIGRATION: ITS NATURAL AND EXTRAORDINARY CAUSES; ITS CONNECTION WITH THE FAMINE IN IRELAND, AND SCARCITY IN OTHER COUNTRIES. THE Irish famine of 1846-7 will stand out upon the page of history as one of the most striking events of modern times. It will be recorded, not merely as a calamity which has swept away a vast multitude of human beings, but equally as a providential crisis in the history of this nation, which revealed more fully than ever before, the accumulated evils of centuries of misgovernment. For it was not created simply by the sudden destruction of a large portion of the nation's subsistence; it was that almost hopeless and depressed social condition of the people, that at once paralyzed the national energy, when this energy was to be directed into new channels as the only alternative against general starvation. There was then no self-reliance; hence no moral courage. There was hope, but it was hope which trembled over a wide-spread, increasing panic, and rested only on the arm of the national treasury. There was submission, but it was that of despair. There was unexampled patience and endurance, but these gave no creative energy to the people; they produced no enlightened forecast. The subjects of that famine were those, and those chiefly, whose minds had been used to the severest laws of servitude, and therefore dependence upon and direction by higher orders of intelligence had become the unchangeable condition of their being. This was their birthright not the gift of Heaven, but entailed upon them by their masters through successive generations. And when by this signal providence, the possessions of every class became insecure, and the laws of tribute and servitude inoperative, there was to be found no method by which the soil could, at once, be made chargeable with its tenants. They had no power to fulfil legal obligation, while the burden of a higher and moral one, by reason of this inability, now rested with fearful force upon the master. But he had neither the strength to sustain this, nor the courage to direct the energies of his dependents. There were noble exceptions; yet such was the general condition, and such the two classes of mind. When the news of this their deplorable and melancholy condition had gone forth, the sympathies of the whole human family in every quarter of the globe were excited to a degree unparalleled in the history of the world. No famine in the history of mankind can be compared to it, unless it be the seven years' famine of Egypt. To this it bears a striking analogy, in the magnitude of the calamity, in the corresponding social condition of those who, in Egypt, were most exposed to suffering, and in the relations of the sufferers to the soil of the country. The first year in Egypt consumed their lands, their gold and silver. During the second, the unhappy Egyptians sold not only their lands, but themselves, as the price of food. The lands of the priests excepted, Joseph purchased for the crown the whole lands of lower Egypt. After the custom of the East, he allotted it into estates, supplied the seed for its tillage, and demanded one-fifth of the crop as rent, to be paid into the royal treasury. It was held by what is now called the Ryot tenure in Asia. It was by this process that the whole people of the Delta were brought into a state of legal slavery. We find here a kindred land tenure, a social condition not dissimilar, and, if not in the duration, in their intensity, a correspondence in the two calamities. In the last November issue of this Journal, we discussed the permanently existing causes of foreign immigration. They were, the constantly depressed condition of the poorer classes in Europe, the easy lar The accidents of life and the forms of misery, in a great commercial city like New York, are numerous and diversified. In no city probably in the world is there a demand for more munificent public charities. For here the nations of the world meet; it is the great entrance-door into the western hemisphere for all classes and conditions of men, whether in quest of fortune, of pleasure, or health. A full history of the charities of New York, would extend our article to undue limits. They rank among the most beneficent and well endowed charitable institutions in America. The following are some of the most important. tenure of America, and the extent and fer- or in the most distant isles of the sea, tility of this land: two classes of influ- from thence, with almost the velocity of ence—the one foreign, the other domestic. electric fire, the currents of sympathy and The power of the first was seen in heaven-born charity were seen flowing the history of the poor laws of England, forth and meeting in a mighty swelling and in the unequal burden and injustice of tide over that land of suffering and death: her local taxes; that of the second in the a silent but irresistible argument, above all extent and richness of the great central logic, for the power and diffusiveness of valley of America-the Mississippi, and | Christian love. It is an argument that in the legal protection and encouragement proclaims the greatest truth of that love— given to settlers upon all the public do- a common brotherhood among all nations main of the country. In the December of men, having the same paternity and number we gave a succinct history of the hoping the same heaven as a final home. Irish famine, as the leading extraordinary cause of increase in immigration. We detailed the action of Parliament, enumerating and explaining its score of Acts bearing on Ireland, from the incipient measures of the Executive government at the close of 1845 to the passage of the noted Poor Law, in the summer of 1847. We gave, also, an outline of the voluntary charitable measures of Europe and America, and of the methods by which these contributions were applied, following those who became the almoners of the charity, not only of these but of all nations, in their errand of mercy, through the suffering and sterile regions of that hapless country. In this, we had evidence of a foreign cause of immigration, strong enough to bring that entire people to our shores. In our present writing, we consider chiefly the home evidence of that pressure. It is to be found in the increasing and urgent demands upon our almshouse and the voluntary charities of our city. Both the spirit and the manner in which these have been met, as well as the unequalled and sublime example of charity to a famishing nation, is the highest, the most signal evidence which could be given in the history of human affairs, of the diffusive and heavenly nature of that system of truth which enjoins in the most touching manner the love of our neighbor as the love of self. It was not that thousands were falling by pestilence and disease from ordinary causes, but that they were dying from the want of that common bounty, which, like the light and atmosphere of heaven, a Common Parent had caused to abound by spontaneous growth and through the chanof trade over the whole habitable Wherever the news had spread the nations of Europe, in America, THE NEW YORK HOSPITAL was chartered by the Earl of Dunmore in 1771. For twenty years it was allowed $4000 annually by the provincial legislature. It received patients in 1791. In 1806 the State granted an annuity of $12,500 out of duties and sales at auction. Its officers are twenty-six governors, four physicians and six surgeons, with one physician and two surgeons resident. The poor are received gratis, and all others at a price agreed on by the visiting committee. THE BLOOMINGDALE ASYLUM is the insane department of the Hospital. It was opened in 1808, the first in the United States, and has fifty acres of land, and cost $180,000. Its government is under a standing committee of the board of gov ernors, who visit weekly and direct all its affairs. THE NEW YORK DISPENSARY was estab! lished in 1790, to relieve sick and indiger persons unable to procure medical aid. I has eleven attending physicians and a office open daily, and under the charge ! an apothecary, for the reception of ap plicants. Twenty-two thousand patients were attended in 1841-2 in the city proper, read and write. It has a school and library which is divided into three districts. Be-attached. sides this there are the northern and eastern dispensaries, which together attended in the same year upwards of 27,000 patients. Of these 65 per cent. were foreigners. These institutions receive a small amount of legislative aid, and are supported chiefly by subscription and donations. THE SOCIETY FOR THE RELIEF OF POOR WIDOWS WITH SMALL CHILDREN, organized in 1798, for nearly a half century has been sustained chiefly by the contributions of benevolent females. The female thrown upon her own resources, with helpless children to support by her daily labor, is the object of aid. The city is divided into twentysix districts and a manager appointed to each. This manager inserts in a book the name, residence and circumstances of every person relieved, and the age of her children. No one is assisted until inquiry is made and the character known. Immorality and street begging, when once the party has been cautioned, exclude from the favors of the Society. In 1841, 404 widows and more than 1000 children were aided. ASSOCIATION FOR THE RELIEF OF RESPECTABLE INDIGENT FEMALES, was founded in 1814, and is directed by a board of twentytwo managers. Any respectable indigent female over 60 years of age, who by her friends pays $50 into the treasury, is entitled to the bounty of the society, and a home in the Asylum during the evening of her days. The home was erected at a cost of $20,000, and has nearly or about 60 in mates. ASSISTANCE SOCIETY FOR THE RELIEF AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF THE SICK POOR, organized in 1813. It is under the direction of as many managers as there are wards in the city, each ward being assigned to a manager. During the year 1841 it relieved more than 1000 families, and its auxiliary, the Dorcas Society, disributed 1450 garments. It expends nearly $4000 per annum. ORPHAN ASYLUM OF NEW YORK, founded n 1806. It is pleasantly located five niles from the centre of the city, and is under the direction of eleven trustees. Orhans, natives or foreigners of all nations, re received at the age of ten or under, nd indentured at thirteen. None are peraitted to leave without knowing how to VOL. I. NO. IV. NEW SERIES. 28 PROTESTANT HALF ORPHAN ASYLUM, established in 1835; its object is to receive such children as are left destitute by the death of one parent and by the inability of the other to support them. They are trained to habits of order and cleanliness, and receive the rudiments of a good common education. The trustees become the legal guardians of the children, and have power to bind them out at discretion. More than 1000 have been instructed. Besides these, there are many societies whose organization and labors we cannot specify. THE LADIES' DEPOSITORY; LADIES' SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING INDUSTRY AMONG THE POOR; HOWARD SEWING SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING Industry; NEW YORK CLOTHING SOCIETY; SOCIETY OF MECHANICS AND TRADESMEN OF NEW YORK; FIRE DEPARTMENT FUNDS; NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY; ST. NICHOLAS SOCIETY; ST. GEORGE'S SoCIETY; ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY; ST. DAVID'S SOCIETY; FRENCH BENEVOLENT SOCIETY ; GERMAN BENEVOLENT SOCIETY; SOCIETY FOR RELIEF OF WORTHY AND INDIGENT COLORED PERSONS; INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS, of which there are 70 lodges in New York city, and 12,000 contributing members. The principle of aid in these lodges, unlike that of most other charitable institutions, limits all charity to members of the institution. Their sick and poor are visited, and in time of need each member can honorably claim aid from funds which he has contributed to raise, without the humiliation of private charity. Such are the regulations, that every member, whatever his circumstances, in sickness or death, must receive a fixed and definite amount. The duty of this association does not terminate with life; it is extended to the remains of the departed brother; it requires members to attend, if need be, the last solemn offices of the dead, whether the departed may have deceased amid the kindred of home or among strangers. No person can become a member, except between the ages of 21 and 50 years. The initiation fee is $5 to $30, and the payment annually thereafter $4 to $10. On the decease of every member, $30 are allowed as a funeral benefit; and for the wife of a member, $15. For the year ending June 30th, 1842, the amount of aid extended in 31 lodges, then existing in New York, was $18,241 25; in 1847, in 70 lodges, about $40,000. This is certainly a noble system of charity; it is, in fact, irrespective of its orders and insignia, a most valuable form of health insurance, and aid to the families of living members, and a most grateful charity to that of those departed. There are several institutions in the vicinity of New York, equal in importance to many we have enumerated. THE INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB, incorporated in 1718, 3 miles from the City Hall, has accommodations for a large number of pupils. It is well endowed, and has an able board of instruction and management. THE NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND; THE SAILOR'S SNUG HARBOR, founded in 1801; THE SAILOR'S RETREAT, and several benevolent institutions under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church, may also be added to the list. true. There has, of late years, been an actual deterioration of character and a progressive increase of pauperism and vagrancy above the ratio and increase of the population. This is shown by official statistics, and the augmented expense of their public support. It is not occasional or accidental, but results from the want of a wellorganized system. A large amount of our charity is, in reality, a shield from personal pain-an expedient to escape importunity, or the result of impulse in view of misfortune. The chief end of intelligent charity, the physical and moral improvement of its objects, is defeated, and mendicity, with its usual attendants, idleness, imposture and crime, are encouraged." The defects of the system were summarily stated to be— 1st. An entire want of discrimination in giving alms. 3d. There was no provision for personal intercourse with the recipients of alms at their own dwellings. 2d. The societies acted independently of each other, and there was especially no We come now to a class more entirely reciprocity of intelligence between them; public in their aim and objects. The first hence, artful mendicants often obtained is the New York Association for the Im-aid from several societies at the same time. provement of the Condition of the Poor. Prior to its organization, in 1843, a committee was appointed to investigate the private and public charities of New York; when it was found that the aggregate amount expended in the previous year by twenty-four out of thirty-two of these societies was $163,345 38, and that twenty had in the same period aided 66,000 persons. This was a large sum to be raised by private, voluntary association for the poor of a single city. "But when it is recollected," observes the committee, "how many similar institutions and religious societies there are among us of whose pecuniary disbursements we have no report, and how immense that stream of charity, which, fed by a thousand rills and flowing from a thousand unobserved sources, constantly dispenses its blessings to the needy, large as this reported sum is, it is but a fraction of the annual aggregate expenditure in the city for this object. In a pecuniary point of view, therefore, there is wanted an efficient system to direct its administration. If charity amongst us were judiciously dispensed, imposture, idleness, and beggary would be repressed, and there would be a visible improvement in the condition of the poor commensurate with our expenditure. But the reverse is This committee examined also our legal provisions for the poor. It resulted in the certain conviction that they could not embrace all the objects of private benevolence; that after the laws had done their utmost, an immense amount would remain unaccomplished. The object was to devise a better system-one better adapted to the practical exigencies of the city. An agent visited Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and by correspondence in this country and abroad gathered practical information from all available sources. With the aid of this knowledge, the association was organized. Its primary objects were check indiscriminate almsgiving; to put an end to street-begging and vagrancy: to visit the poor at their dwellings, and carefully examine their circumstances, and extend to them appropriate relief; last, and not least, to inculcate habits of frugality, temperance, industry and self-depend ence, and especially to unite the whole city during the winter months in prompt systematic and wisely directed action. This was the plan. The entire city. from the Battery to Fortieth which now comprises near 400,000 inhab street |