The State of the Poor: or, an History of the Labouring Classes in England from the Conquest to the Present Period

Marx described Sir Frederic Eden as the only disciple of Adam Smith during the eighteenth century who achieved anything of any significance. Indeed, Eden may be regarded as establishing the basis of sociological investigation used ever since. The State of the Poor is one of the classical works in the history of economics, of profound influence on the writings of such leading thinkers as Malthus and Bentham. Eden was led to embark on the project after he observed the effect the high prices of 1794 and 1795 had on the living conditions of the poorer classes. Opposed as he was to any interference in the free market or the subsidising of workhouses that would compete with other methods of production, Eden's principle idea was that only self-help could bring assistance to the poor. Any legal 'right of relief' would, he believed, weaken 'the strongest tie in civil society - the desire of acquiring property'. He thus planted the idea that the Poor Law was a menace and a destructive drain on society's resources.

Published in three volumes, the first contains a description of the condition of the labouring classes and an analysis of its causes; the second and third contain supporting facts for this analysis based on detailed reports on workhouses, houses of industry and charities. A work of extraordinary diligence, Eden's State of the Poor is an invaluable collection of facts that is undoubtedly of continuing importance to social study.

Frederic Eden was born in 1766, the eldest son of Sir Robert Eden and Caroline Calvert. He spent most of his life in business and he was the founder and chairman of the Globe Insurance Company, but he was best-known for his investigations into the state of the labouring classes. His research for The State of the Poor involved visiting and studying several parishes personally, corresponding with clergymen and other leading inhabitants, and even sending a traveller around the country with a list of queries Eden had specified. His profound interest in the subject and his own personal wealth ensured that his survey was thoroughly and diligently carried out over its three year compilation. The State of the Poor was published in 1797 when he was only 31 years old, and has remained a work of enduring significance to socio-economic study.