"Mr. Hayter (treasurer) desires I will, in his name, acknowledge the
receipt of a bank-note for 20_l._ sent in a penny-post letter signed P.
Q. R. and also of one guinea sent in the name of E. B. for the benefit
of the above charity."
A fire attended with many distressing circumstances occurred in
King-street, Covent-garden, at the close of 1759, in consequence
of which the managers of the Theatre there granted the sufferers a
benefit, when every person employed on the occasion gave their salaries
for the night cheerfully. The produce of another at Drury-lane was
230_l._
A subscription in imitation of that which took place in 1745 for
rewarding the soldiers with money and clothing who assisted in
suppressing the Rebellion, distinguished the winter of 1760; and a very
considerable sum was obtained for those then in the field.
Another subscription, far more disinterested, amounting to 1782_l._
17_s._ 3_d._ in January 1760, was intended for the relief of French
prisoners. As the prologue spoken at the Drury-lane benefit alludes to
each of the above traits of national benevolence, I think, the reader
will pardon its insertion.
"Cowards to cruelty are still inclin'd,
But generous pity fills each Briton's mind.
Bounteous as brave; and though their hearts are steel'd
With native intrepidity, they yield
To Charity's soft impulse: this their praise,
The proud to humble, and th' oppress'd to raise:
Nor partial limits can their bounty know;--
It aids the helpless alien, though a foe.
Hear this, ye French, who urge the insidious strife
That arms the Indian with the murdering knife;
Who, to your foes less cruel, leave your own
Starving in sad captivity to groan.
Think of th' inhuman policy--and then
Confess, ye fight not, nor ye feel, like men.
Britons, this night your kind compassion flows
For near-felt mis'ries and domestic woes;
The dire distress with horror we recall;--
'Twas death, 'twas dreadful devastation all.
The sleepers were alarm'd with wild dismay,
As lull'd in calm security they lay;
While each perhaps in dreams forgot his pains,
And fondly counted o'er his honest gains.
But oh! the poor mechanic, scarce with life
Himself escap'd, his children and his wife,
Cold, naked, hungry, whither can they roam,
No friend to succour, and without a home?
Their little _all_ with sorrow they survive,
And hardly deem it mercy, that they live.
Your tender care their present wants supplies,
And gives to industry new means to rise;
Nor needed yet this bounteous act to prove
Your wide humanity, and social love;
All, all who want it, your protection find;
For Britons are the friends of all mankind."
The continued rains of May 1761 had almost ruined the haymakers
assembled near the Metropolis, and compelled them to enter it as
suitors for charity, which they received to the amount of 16_l._ 12_s._
from the Merchants on Change spontaneously. 129 persons shared the
above sum.
In a work of this description the thoughts of respectable writers
cannot but be acceptable; one of those observed, in July 1761, "that
parish charges (were) every where justly complained of; but how
insupportable would they be, were it not for the hospitals erected in
the Metropolis, and of late in several county towns, which, so far as
they extend, for they go no farther than to relieve such sick or lame
poor as there is a probability of curing, are of infinite use, not
only to London and the county towns, but to the country for many miles
around them.
"In St. Bartholomew's hospital, in the year 1760, there were 3,539
in-patients cured. The number of in-patients in that hospital at
that time is 405, and in Guy's and St. Thomas's about 400 in each.
Supposing the numbers of in-patients cured in the two last to be the
same, therefore, with that in St. Bartholomew's hospital, the total
in the three will be 10,617: add to these, the number cured in the
hospitals at Hyde-park corner and Westminster, the London Infirmary,
the Middlesex, Small-pox, Bethlehem, and other hospitals in London, and
they will amount to 15,000 at least. Add to this number the patients
cured in the hospitals at Winchester, Bath, Bristol, Newcastle,
Shrewsbury, Northampton, Liverpool, and the two hospitals at Exeter; I
think there are fourteen of them out of London in different counties;
and I believe I shall not exceed when I put the whole number, including
those at London, at 20,000. All these are entirely maintained, and do
nothing towards a subsistence; except that in some houses, those who
are tolerably well assist in cleaning the house, making the beds, &c.
"And it is very observable, that these hospitals for the sustenance and
relief of the sick and lame poor have all of them been founded (St.
Bartholomew's, St. Thomas's, &c. excepted) within these forty years:
Hyde-park hospital was founded in 1733.
"The London hospitals are so many and large, and under such prudent
management, that scarce any persons are so destitute of friends, but
they can procure admittance into one or other of them. In this, as
in all other instances, Providence seems to have proportioned the
quantity of pity and compassion to the real wants and distresses of the
indigent."
There are numbers of well-disposed persons who would contribute to
the support of charitable institutions, were they introduced to their
notice in a manner congenial to the bent of their inclination. A man of
a grave and sedentary turn of mind may be prevailed upon by a tale of
distress to open his purse, but similar methods will not succeed with
the _bon vivant_; full of life and spirit, he drives care from him by
every artifice in his power; and yet the governors of our hospitals
and benevolent foundations have contrived a trap for him, and he
cheerfully catches at the bait.--_Ecce signum!_
_Magdalen-house charity, Prescot-street,
Goodman's fields, Feb. 10, 1762._
"The _anniversary feast_ of the Governors of this Charity
will be held on Thursday, the 18th of March next, at
Drapers-hall, in Throgmorton-street; after a Sermon to be
preached at the parish church of St George's, Hanover-square,
before the Right honourable the earl of Hertford, president,
the vice-presidents, treasurer, and governors of this
Charity, by the Rev. William Dodd, A. M. chaplain to the
bishop of St. David's. Prayers will begin at 11 o'clock
precisely.
"_And dinner will be on the table at three o'clock._
"N. B. A _Te Deum_ composed by Mr. Handel, for the late duke
of Chandos's chapel, with _Jubilate_ and other Anthems, will
be performed by Mr. Beard, and a proper band of the best
performers, both vocal and instrumental.
"Tickets for the feast may be had at the following places at
_five shillings each_," &c. &c.
The readers of the newspapers of our day will thus perceive that
Solomon was right in saying, 'there is nothing new under the Sun;'
from the above hour, nay long before, conviviality and charity have
coalesced. Dinners, and collections after dinners, when the mind
generously dilates, have relieved thousands from the deepest misery;
and I hope this mode of filling the chasms of more disinterested
benevolence will prevail till such methods are unnecessary.
An occurrence happened in 1762, which places the humanity of his
present Majesty in a very amiable point of view. A female infant had
been left in one of the courts of the palace of St. James's; some
of the officers in waiting sent it to the overseers of St. Martin's
parish, who, with those of St. Margaret's afterwards applied to,
refused to receive the child under the plea that the palace was an
independent jurisdiction. When the King heard of the circumstance, he
immediately ordered that a nurse should be provided, and the fortunate
orphan was subsequently honoured with the name of Georgiana Charlotta
Sophia.
The City of London Lying-in hospital, established many years past,
has served as a pattern for several others in various parts of the
Metropolis. From the date of its commencement to 1762, 3655 married
women had been received, 45 of whom were delivered of twins, and one of
three children; including which, 1896 male and 1806 female infants were
indebted for life to this humane establishment[57:A].
Collections have been frequently made during severe weather, or on some
particularly distressing occasion, from door to door in the various
parishes within the bills of mortality, and considerable sums obtained.
In the winter of 1763, the inhabitants of St. Anne's, Westminster, gave
169_l._ 15_s._ 3_d._ the Princess dowager of Wales 100_l._ and the duke
of York 50_l._ to the poor not relieved by the regular assessments. Nor
was this a solitary instance of generosity, as the duke of Newcastle
gave above 400_l._ to different places at the same period; and the rich
parish of St. James's relieved 1200 persons with gifts of money and
coals.
Though so much had been done to prevent the calamities of poverty,
wretchedness prevailed in places where benevolence could not imagine
it existed. Garrets in retired alleys and lanes always afford inmates
in the last stages of disease and starvation; and the instances that
might be adduced would prove very distressing in the recital; but that
_supposed empty houses_ should contain wretches expiring with want,
was beyond the imagination of the most exalted charity; and yet the
following melancholy fact actually occurred in November 1763, the
narrative of which may serve as a hint to overseers, whose duty it is,
I should conceive, to prevent actual _death through want_ in their
respective districts.
A Mr. Stephens, of Fleet-market, was commissioned to shew some empty
houses in Stonecutter-street intended for sale, and one day accompanied
a gentleman to them, who had thoughts of purchasing the estate on which
they were situated. On entering a room on the first floor, an object of
horror attracted their attention, _a naked female corpse_! Stephens,
alarmed beyond expression, fled from the scene; but the other more
courageous ascended to the next floor, where he was soon after joined
by his terrified attendant, and they discovered a second and a third
woman dead, and nearly destitute of clothing; pursuing this dreadful
research, they found in the upper story two women, and a girl about
eighteen years of age, one of whom, and the latter, appeared emaciated
beyond description, but their companion in misery was in better
condition. Prudence and humanity dictated that an examination should
take place as to the cause of so singular and dreadful an occurrence;
in consequence, the survivors were taken into custody, and the ensuing
particulars were related by them before the Coroner and his Jury.
"It appeared on the inquisition, from the evidence of Elizabeth
Stanton, one of these women, that on the Wednesday preceding the
inquiry she came from Westminster, and being in want of lodging,
strolled to this house, and laid herself down on the ground-floor,
where she saw nobody; that about eleven that evening the woman in
good condition (Elizabeth Pattent) a stranger to her, came into the
room where she (Stanton) had laid herself down, and by treading on her
awakened her, at the same time crying out 'Who is there?' To which
Stanton replied, 'No person that will hurt you, for that she was going
away in the morning.' Pattent therefore advised her to go up to the
garret with her, which she did, and stayed there all that night, and
the following day and night, and until she was taken into custody in
the garret upon the above discovery.
"Pattent, being out of place, attended the Fleet-market as a
basket-woman; where she became acquainted with the deceased women, who
were basket-women, and both known by no other names than Bet. Pattent,
being destitute of lodging, was recommended to this ruinous house by
the deceased women, who had lived, or rather starved, there for some
time. Pattent, in the day-time, used to go to her late mistress's, who
kept a Cook's-shop in King-street, Westminster, and worked for her
victuals, and lodged in this house at night, where she continued till
she was taken into custody. About the middle of the week preceding the
inquisition, the deceased women were taken ill; and on Saturday the
12th instant, Pattent pawned her apron for sixpence, and bought some
beef and plumb-pudding at a Cook's-shop in Shoe-lane, and both the
deceased women on Saturday and Sunday ate heartily thereof, and on
Sunday night she heard the deceased women groan. One had the itch, and
the other a fever; and, being fearful of catching the one or the other,
she did not go to them any more; nor did she know of their deaths till
taken into custody.
"Elizabeth Surman, the girl, was the daughter of a deceased Jeweller,
in Bell-alley, Coleman-street; her parents died when she was about
six years of age, and she was taken care of by Mrs. Jones, a next
door neighbour, with whom she lived about four years; Mrs. Jones then
dying, Surman was left destitute; and on being informed she could get
employment in Spital-fields, she went there, and assisted a woman
in winding quills, but she retiring into the country, Surman was
again left destitute; however, she found employment in Spital-fields
market, with Mrs. Bennet, in winding silk, but, not pleasing her, was
discharged in a week. She then went to Mrs. Roach's in that market,
who took in washing and nursed children, where Surman continued six
years, and until she was taken ill, on which account she was discharged
her service. She then went to the churchwarden of the parish where
her father had been housekeeper many years, to desire relief; _but
he refused, without so much as expostulating with her about her
legal settlement, or informing her that she had gained a settlement
by servitude_. She being very ill and weak, _lay all night at the
churchwarden's door, but it had no effect on him_; and this girl
was obliged to lie about in the streets, until she was informed of
this empty house, where she lay every night for near two months; the
deceased women being there when she came, and both then lying on straw
in the two pair of stairs room. For the first week of Surman's being
there, she lay in the room with them on straw, all which week _she was
ill with an ague, and had no sustenance_ whatever; _that then Elizabeth
Pattent relieved her_; and as Surman grew better, she went abroad and
received alms, returning at night, and delivering her money to Pattent,
who bought her victuals. Surman was afterwards received into St.
Andrew's workhouse, where she continued a week; and, about a fortnight
ago, she returned to this empty house, and lodged in the garret; and
being very ill, _was assisted by Pattent_, and for the last fortnight
was not out of the garret till last Friday, when she, with the two
other women, were found in the garret, and taken into custody, and
never saw or heard, all that time, any thing of the deceased women till
she was apprehended.
"On Pattent's being interrogated with respect to the woman's being
stripped naked and selling her cloaths, she strictly denied knowing
any thing of it; alledging, that as they all entered the house at the
cellar, and she being mostly out in the day-time, and attending the
poor girl at night, other persons might strip the deceased unknown to
her.
"There were no marks of violence about the deceased women, _but they
appeared as if starved_.
"The Jury were well satisfied with the account they had received from
their most deplorable evidence. The Coroner gave them some money; and
the Jury ordered them a supper, and that care might be taken of them in
the Casualty-house."
These pitiable objects, worthy of a far better fate, who starved rather
than they would steal, and met death surrounded with tenfold terrors,
supported by pure consciences, deserve statues to their memory; nay,
Pattent would have done honour to Roman virtue, who worked the day
through for a miserable subsistence, and passed the night in watching
and relieving the sick--and yet I should be afraid to know the sequel
of her eventful story. Is it not shocking to think on this catastrophe,
when we reflect how many would have contributed to the relief of this
family of misery, had they known their wants, when advertisements for
relief daily appeared from the distressed and were successful. Even at
the moment they were dying a thousand lingering deaths through every
possible privation, Catharine Shaw, a widow, with seven children and
a mother, acknowledged the bounty of the publick in the receipt of
191_l._ 13_s._ 9_d._ and presentations to Christ's hospital for two of
her boys.
The Marine Society, mentioned in "Londinium Redivivum," relieved 295
youths _a second time_ in 1763. These lads, rescued originally from
ruin, and sent by the Society into the King's service, were discharged
on the conclusion of peace; when they apprenticed 15 to fishermen,
71 to trades, 17 to manufacturers, 6 to public-houses, 29 to the
merchant's service, 80 to naval officers for three years, one to
agriculture, and nine to water and lightermen; assisted 17 to procure
masters, sent 29 to their friends, and 21 provided for themselves.
The unfavourable weather which occurred in July 1764, did infinite
damage to the grain near London; and a hail-storm that fell on the 23d
injured the inferior farmers' property to the amount of 4864_l._ in
Middlesex only: the benevolent inhabitants of the Metropolis, touched
with their misfortunes, opened a subscription, and restored their
losses[64:A].
A second scene of wretchedness and distress attracted commiseration
in the above year, for certain Germans; who, deceived by splendid
offers of prosperity provided they emigrated to America, were left
by their inhuman deceivers to perish in the neighbourhood of London,
because they found some deficiencies in their own calculations of
profit. Such was the miserable situation of those poor Palatines, that
they actually lay in the fields near Bow, where, it is asserted, they
had not eaten for two days previous to the following generous act
recorded of a baker, who should have been a Prince. This worthy man
(whose name has unfortunately not been mentioned) passing along the
road near the Germans with his basket on his shoulder, containing 28
two-penny loaves, perceiving their forlorn situation, threw it down,
and observed, that his customers must fast a little longer that day,
and immediately distributed the bread, for no other return than signs
of gratitude and tears of joy.
This affecting circumstance is the first intimation the publick
received of their situation; but Mr. Wachsel, Minister of the German
Lutheran church, in Little Ayliffe-street, Goodman's-fields, thus
addressed the publick immediately afterwards, through the medium of the
newspapers:
"I hope you will permit me, by means of your paper, to inform those
who have the power to redress it, of the very deplorable situation of
the poor unhappy Palatines, lately arrived here from Germany. They are
in number, men, women, and children, about _six hundred_, consisting
of Wurtzburghers and Palatines, all Protestants; and were brought
hither from their native country by a German officer, with a promise
of being sent to settle, at his own expence, in the Island of St. John
and Le Croix, in America; but _by inability he has been obliged to
decline the undertaking_; so that, instead of their being shipped off
for those places, some of them have lain during the late heavy rains,
and are now lying, in the open fields adjacent to this Metropolis,
without covering, without money, and, in short, without the common
necessaries of life; others lie languishing under the complicated evils
of sickness and extreme want, at the Statute-hall in Goodman's-fields;
and more than 200 remain on board the ship which brought them over, on
account of their passage not being paid for, where they are perishing
for food, and rotting in filth and nastiness. Collections have been
made at the German churches and chapels here, several times, to afford
them some relief; but as the number of these poor creatures is so
considerable, it is impossible, by such means, to furnish them with a
regular and continued supply, adequate to their wants; so that, unless
some provision is very speedily made for them, they must inevitably
perish. These unfortunate people would think themselves inexpressibly
happy, if the English Government would be graciously pleased to take
them under its protection; to allow them, for the present, some ground
to lie on; tents to cover them; and any manner of subsistence, till it
shall be thought proper to ship them off, and settle them in any of
the English colonies in America; where, I doubt not, they will give
their protectors and benefactors constant proofs of their affection
and gratitude for such kindness, by behaving as becometh honest,
industrious, and dutiful subjects to the British government. I take
the liberty of thus expressing the hopes and wishes of these wretched
beings, as they have no friend to intercede for them who has interest
sufficient for such an undertaking, or even a knowledge of the proper
method of application.
"That their distresses are unutterably great, I myself have been too
often a mournful witness of, in my attendance on them to administer
the duties of my function; with one instance of which I shall conclude
this melancholy detail. One of the poor women was seized with the pangs
of labour in the open fields, and was delivered by the ignorant people
about her in the best manner they were able; but, from the injury the
tender infant received in the operation, it died soon after I had
baptized it; and the wretched mother, after receiving the Sacrament at
my hands, expired from the want of proper care and necessaries suitable
to her afflicting and truly lamentable condition.
"That the Almighty may, of his infinite mercy, incline the hearts of
the great and good of this Kingdom, distinguished for its charity and
hospitality, to take under their protection these their unhappy fellow
Christians, who did not intrude themselves into this country, but were
invited hither, and send them whithersoever they in their wisdom and
goodness shall think proper, is the most ardent prayer of