ABSTRACT
The Commission itself, and the measure in which it originated, were very generally approved, although there were, it must be confessed, some marked excep-
tions in this respect. For the most part, however, the Commission had the confidence of the country ; and the alarms everywhere excited by the circulation of the report of the Commissioners of Inquiry, which~ it may be remarked, were rather increased by the debates which took place during the progress of the Bill through parliament-these alarms as to the future, joined to the hopes of obtaining some present relief from the heavy pressure of the poor-rates, secured at the outset a general acquiescence in the proceedings of the Commissioners, and fostered an impression that their powers were greater than they really were.
