the management of the affairs of the Institution for the Poor at Munich, I attribute, more than to any thing else, the perfect order which has continued to reign throughout every part of that extensive Establishment, from its first existence to the present moment.

In carrying on the business of that Establishment, printed forms or blanks are used, not only for petitions;-- returns;--lists of the Poor;-- descriptions of the Poor;--lists of the inhabitants;-- lists of subscribers to the support of the Poor;-- orders upon the banker or treasurer of the Institution;-- but also for the reports of the monthly collections made by the commissaries of districts;-- the accounts sent in by the commissaries, of the extraordinary expences incurred in affording assistance to those who stand in need of immediate relief;--the banker's receipts;--and even the books in which are kept the accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the Establishment.

In regard to the proper forms for these blanks; as they must depend, in a great measure, upon local circumstances, no general directions can be given, other than, in all cases, the shortest forms that can be drawn up, consistent with perspicuity, are recommended; and that the subject-matter of each particular or single return, may be so disposed as to be easily transferred to such general tables, or general accounts, as the nature of the return and other circumstances may require. Care should likewise be taken to make them of such a form, shape, and dimension, that they may be regularly folded up, and docketed, in order to their being preserved among the public records of the Institution.

CHAP. IV.

An object of the very first importance in forming an Establishment for the relief and support of the Poor, is to take effectual measures for introducing a spirit of industry among them; for it is most certain, that all sums of money, or other assistance, given to the Poor in alms, which do not tend to make them industrious, never can fail to have a contrary tendency, and to operate as an encouragement to idleness and immorality.

And as the merit of an action is to be determined by the good it produces, the charity of a nation ought not to be estimated by the millions which are paid in Poor's taxes, but by the pains which are taken to see that the sums raised are properly applied.

As the providing useful employment for the Poor, and rendering them industrious, is, and ever has been, a great desideratum in political economy, it may be proper to enlarge a little here, upon that interesting subject.

The great mistake committed in most of the attempts which have been made to introduce a spirit of industry, where habits of idleness have prevailed, has been the too frequent and improper use of coercive measures, by which the persons to be reclaimed have commonly been offended and thoroughly disgusted at the very out-set.--Force will not do it.--Address, not force, must be used on those occasions.

The children in the house of industry at Munich, who, being placed upon elevated seats round the halls where other children worked, were made to be idle spectators of that amusing scene, cried most bitterly when their request to be permitted to descend from their places, and mix in that busy crowd, was refused;-- but they would, most probably, have cried still more, had they been taken abruptly from their play and forced to work.

"Men are but children of a larger growth;"-- and those who undertake to direct them, ought ever to bear in mind that important truth.

That impatience of control, and jealousy and obstinate perseverance in maintaining the rights of personal liberty and independence, which so strongly mark the human character in all the stages of life, must