The curious observer, in his rambles about town, is occasionally
struck with some singular demonstrations for which he is at a loss to
account. Sometimes they assume a benevolent form, and sometimes they
have a holiday-making aspect, yet with a touch of the lugubrious. In
London, or in some one of the thriving towns lying within a score of
miles of it, he strolls into a church, where he sees a number of
loaves of bread piled up at the back of the communion-table, or
ranged, as they are in a baker's shop, upon shelves against the wall.
It is a pleasant sight, but apt to be somewhat puzzling. Perhaps he
saunters into a country church-yard, and there finds amongst the rank
grass and moss-grown and neglected memorials of the silent multitude,
one trim and well-tended monument, uninvaded by cryptogamia, free from
all stain of the weather, and the surrounding grassy sward neatly mown
and fenced in, it may be, with budding willow branches or a circle of
clipped box. Or he finds his way through a suburban village, blocked
up some fine morning by a crowd of poor women and girls, clustered
round the door of a retired tradesman or the curate of the place, from
which three or four at a time emerge with gratified looks, and go
about their business, while others enter in their turn. Such
demonstrations as these, and we might mention many others, have their
origin in certain charitable dispositions and bequests, many of which
are of considerable antiquity. There is one in operation to this day,
near Winchester, which dates from the time of William of Wykeham; by
virtue of which every traveller passing that way, if he choose to make
the demand, is regaled with a pint of beer and a meal of bread and
cheese. There is another similar antique charity in operation in
Wiltshire, near Devizes, where, on one occasion, the dispenser of the
benevolence, in the exercise of his privilege to feed the hungry,
threw a loaf of bread into the carriage of George III. as the royal
_cortège_ passed the spot. The name of these post-mortem charities is
legion. They abound in every city, burgh, town, and hamlet in England,
to an extent absolutely startling to a person who looks into the
subject for the first time. The number of them belonging to the city
of London alone--that is, originating among her citizens, and mostly
dispensed under the direction of the several worshipful companies--can
hardly be fewer than 1500, if so few. The parochial charities only of
London city yield an income of nearly L.40,000 a year. The history of
all these charities would fill many bulky volumes. We propose merely
to take a passing glance at a few, which are interesting from their
singularity, or from the light which they reflect upon the benevolent
aspect of a certain section of society in times long past; and which,
perhaps, may be found in some degree instructive and suggestive, as
illustrating the operation of post-mortem benevolence.
At St ---- Church, not a hundred miles from St Martin's Le Grand,
there prevails an amusing instance of the perversion of the funds of a
charity to purposes which could not possibly have been intended by the
founder. Many centuries ago, a Roman Catholic gentleman, dying,
bequeathed to that church a small estate, the proceeds of which he
directed should be devoted to the purpose of supplying the officiating
priests with refreshment on the Sabbath-day. The Roman Catholic
service has long since given place to a Protestant one, and the band
of officiating priests has dwindled down to one clergyman--while the
value of the estate has increased perhaps fiftyfold. At the present
moment, the sum which the estate originally produced is paid over to
the church-wardens, who are at times a little puzzled as to what to do
with it. They get rid of a good portion in this way: at every service
which is held in the church, they place a bottle of the best sherry
which can be procured for money upon the vestry-table; from this the
'officiating priest' strengthens his inner man with a glass or two
before commencing his ministrations, and then the church-wardens sit
down and finish the remainder comfortably by themselves, while the
reverend gentleman is in the reading-desk or the pulpit. The cost of
the wine, however, does not amount to half the sum in their hands, and
the remainder goes to form a fund from which the church is painted,
repaired, decorated, and kept in apple-pie order--the whole fabric
undergoing a thorough revision and polish both outside and in as often
as a pretext can be found. What becomes of the bulk of the
property--the large surplus arising from the increased value of the
devised estate--this deponent sayeth not: the reader may be in a
condition to guess by the time he has read to the end of this paper.
In the year 1565, a Mr Edward Taylor willed to the Leathersellers'
Company a messuage, tenement, and melting-house, in the parish of St
Olave, and other messuages in the same parish, upon condition that
they should, quarterly and for ever, distribute among the poorest and
neediest people in the Poultry Compter one kilderkin of beer and
twelve pennyworths of bread, and the same to the poor of Wood Street
Compter, Newgate, and the Fleet, the King's Bench, and the Marshalsea
prisons. Under this bequest, the Company are at present in possession
of considerable property, vastly increased in value since the date of
the will; in respect of which property, 1s. worth of penny-loaves, and
2s. in money, in lieu of beer, are sent by them every quarter to the
poor prisoners in each of the prisons mentioned in the original
testament!
Robert Rogers devised in 1601 the sum of L.400 to the Leathersellers'
Company, 'to be employed in lands, the best pennyworth they could
get;' and that the house should have 40s. of it a year for ever. The
remainder was to be bestowed upon poor scholars, students of
divinity--two of Oxford, and two of Cambridge, for four years; and
after them to two others of each university; and after them, to
others; and so on for ever. He also, by the same will, devised L.200
to be lent to four young men, merchant adventurers, at L.6, 13s. 4d.,
for the L.200, interest. The whole of the interest was to be spent in
bread--to be distributed among poor prisoners--and coal for poor
persons, with the exception of some small fees and gratuities to the
parish clerk and beadle, for their trouble in carrying out his
intentions.
Lewisham, once a town in Kent, but now nothing more than a suburb of
London, enjoys the benefactions of the Rev. Abraham Colfe, who, in
1656, bequeathed property for the maintenance of numerous charities.
Some of them are singularly characteristic. Having provided for the
erection of three strong alms-houses, he directed that certain
alms-bodies should be periodically chosen, who were to be 'godly poor
inhabitants of Lewisham, and being single persons, and threescore
years old, past their hard bodily labour, and able to say the Lord's
Prayer, the Belief, and the Ten Commandments,' &c. &c. All these
alms-bodies were to have '3d. each allowed them every day for their
comfortable sustenance--that is, 21d. a week--to be paid them every
month during their _single_ life, and as long as they should behave
themselves honestly and godly, and duly frequent the parish church.'
They were to be summarily removed if guilty of profane or wicked
conduct. The alms-bodies were not to exceed five in number at any one
time. He directed a buttery to be built for their convenience, and
also a little brick room, with a window in it, for the five
alms-bodies to assemble in daily for prayer, and that the schoolmaster
of the reading-school should pray with them there. He further directed
the enclosure of gardens, of sixteen feet broad at the least, for
their recreation. Mr Colfe also left money for lectures at Lewisham
Church, as well as a sum for the purchase of Bibles, until they should
amount to the number of thirty or forty, which were to be chained to
the pews, or otherwise preserved; and he left 12d. a quarter to the
clerk for writing down the names of those that should use them; also
2s. 8d. to him for taking care of the clock and dial; also, 10s. for a
sermon on the 5th of November, and 12d. in bread for the poor who
should come and hear it, and 6d. to the parish clerk; also 20s., to be
distributed a penny at a time, to the children and servants who could
best say their catechism, and 6d. to the minister for catechising
them; also, a yearly sum of money for distributing on every
Lord's-day after the morning service, seven penny wheaten loaves, to
seven of the most honest, peaceable, and godly poor householders of
Lewisham, who could say the Lord's Prayer, the Belief, and the Ten
Commandments; also, 5s. a year to poor maid-servants, who at the time
of their marriage had continued seven years with their master or
mistress in Lewisham; with numerous other bequests. He further left
moneys for the preservation of his father's, grandfather's, his
wife's, and his own monument--his own being an oaken plank oiled, and
a stone 'a foot square every way, and three feet long.' The stone and
plank were removed many years ago, and an inscribed tablet has been
set into the outer wall of the church.
The practice of leaving money for the sustentation of tomb-stones and
monuments, appears to have prevailed for many generations; and may be
very naturally accounted for, by the repugnance which most men would
feel, to the idea of having their bones knocked about by the sexton's
spade, and then wheeled off to the bone-house, if there happens to be
a bone-house, or shot into the neighbouring river, or on a farmer's
dung-heap, if there is no such convenience as a bone-house at hand. It
was this feeling that induced the celebrated sculptor, Chantrey, to
make sure of a quiet resting-place for his remains.[2] In so doing, he
was, though perhaps unconsciously, but following the example of many
who have gone before him. We have more than once encountered a sober
party upon their annual visit to some country church-yard tomb, of
which, by virtue of some bequest--which provides them with a good
dinner upon the occasion--they are the appointed guardians. The
worshipful members of the London companies sometimes choose to rest
from their labours in a rural grave; and when they do, survivors are
always to be found not unwilling to enjoy once a year a pensive
holiday, coupled with the creature comforts, which the quiet comrade
whose behest they execute has taken care to provide for them. It would
be perhaps difficult to find a single church in all the little towns
and hamlets within a dozen miles of London, which does not contain one
tenant at least who has thus secured permanent possession of his last
resting-place. So strong is this feeling in some individuals, that
they shrink from confiding even in the stone-vaults in the interior of
a city church. Thus, Sir William Rawlins, not so very long ago,
bequeathed a certain sum of money for the preservation of his tomb and
monument in Bishopsgate Church. The bequest provides for the
remuneration of the visitors, who are specified parish functionaries,
and entertains them with a good dinner on the day of the annual
visitation, which they are bound to make--to inspect the monument and
tomb, and to guarantee their good condition. In many instances, the
sum originally devised for the sustentation of a grave or monument is
not sufficient, in the present day, to remunerate residents in London
for looking after it, and the money has been transferred to the parish
in which the testator lies, and has become the perquisite of the
sexton.
In the year 1635, one John Fletcher bequeathed to the Fishmongers'
Company the sum of L.120, to supply 10s. every month to the poor of St
Peter's Hospital, to provide them with a dinner on Sunday.
In the year 1653, Mr James Glassbrook bequeathed, after his wife's
death, the sum of L.500 in the following words: 'and L.500 more to
such uses as follow--to the poor of the parish of St Bololph Without,
in which I dwell, L.5 in bread yearly; L.5 to the poor of St Giles's
yearly in bread; to the poor of St Sepulchre's yearly in bread, L.5,
to be given every Sabbath-day in the churches.' The amount of bread at
the present time given away in London under this disposition,
supplemented by some smaller bequests, is sixty-eight half-quartern
loaves a week. The same poor persons, when they once get on the list,
continue to receive the bread during their whole lives, unless they
cease to reside in the parish, or are struck off the list of
pensioners for misconduct.
One Daniel Midwinter, in 1750, left L.1000 to the Stationers' Company,
to pay L.14 a year to the parish of St Faith's; and a like sum to
Hornsey parish, to be applied in apprenticing two boys or girls of the
several parishes, and to fit them out in clothes. At the present time,
the money is paid over to the parties receiving the apprentices, with
a recommendation to lay it out in clothes for the children.
By the will of John Stock, the parish of Christchurch received, among
other legacies, the sum of L.100, the interest of which was directed
to be applied in the following manner: one guinea to be paid to the
vicar for a sermon to be preached by him on Good-Friday; 10s. to the
curate for reading the prayers on that day; _and the remainder to be
equally distributed among such poor women as chose to remain and
receive the sacrament after the service!_
A Mr James Wood, amongst other curious provisions, devised to the
church-wardens of the parish of St Nicholas Cole Abbey, the sum of
15s. annually, to be given away in twopences to such poor people as
they should meet in the streets when going and returning from church
on a specified day.
The inhabitants of Watling Street, and other districts in the vicinity
of St Antholin's Church, are familiar with the sound of what is known
in the neighbourhood as the 'Fish-bell.' This is a bell which rings
out every Friday night from St Antholin's tower, to summon the
inhabitants to evening prayers: very few people attend to the summons,
which comes at an inconvenient time for that busy locality. There
stands almost against the walls of the church a pump, which is always
in good repair, and yields an excellent supply of water, greatly to
the convenience of the neighbourhood. Both the pump and the prayers
are the legacy of an old fish-woman of the last century. It is said,
that for forty years of her life she was in the habit of purchasing
fish in the small hours of the morning at Billingsgate Market; these
she washed and prepared for her customers at a small spring near St
Antholin's Church, and afterwards cried them about the town upon her
head. Having prospered in her calling, she bequeathed a sufficient sum
to perpetuate a weekly service in the church, and a good and efficient
pump erected over the spring of which she had herself enjoyed a
life-long privilege.
In St George's in the East, there is a charity, well-known as Raine's
Charity, which was founded by Henry Raine, Esq., in the earlier part
of the last century. The charity consists of two endowed schools,
sufficiently well provided for the maintenance and instruction of
fifty boys and as many girls, and the payment and support of a master
and mistress. It is one part of the system of management, that six
pupils of either sex leave the schools every year, to make room for as
many new ones. By a somewhat whimsical provision in the will of the
founder, a species of annual lottery comes off at the discharge of the
six girls. If they have behaved well, have been attentive and
obedient, and punctual and exact in the observance of their religious
duties, they are entitled to draw lots for the sum of L.100,
which will be paid to the fortunate holder of the prize as a
marriage-portion upon her wedding-day. It is further provided, that
the wedding is to take place on the 1st day of May; and that, in
addition to the portion, L.5 is to be expended upon a marriage-dinner
and a merry-making.
Bequests for the portioning of poor girls and virtuous servant-maids
are, indeed, not at all uncommon. In the village of Bawburgh, in
Norfolk, there is one founded in the last century by a Quaker
gentleman, who left a sum of money, the interest of which is shared
among the servant-girls in the place who get married. The amount is
not payable until twelve months after the wedding. The village being
small, it will sometimes happen that a good sum accumulates before an
applicant comes forward who can substantiate a claim upon it. The
object of such bequests as these is sufficiently plain: the donors had
evidently in view the counteracting of the wretched tendency of the
old poor-law, which, by giving the mother of an illegitimate child a
claim upon the parish funds, actually placed a premium upon female
frailty.
In London, there are charitable dispositions and bequests for the
nursery of every virtue that could be named, but more especially of
industry, providence, and thrift. A man may be brought into the world
by voluntary contributions; he may be maintained and educated at a
foundling asylum, if his parents, as thousands do, choose to throw him
upon the public compassion; he may ride into a good business upon the
back of a borrowed capital, for which he pays but a nominal interest;
and if he fail to realise a competence by his own endeavours, he may
perchance revel in some corporation sinecure, or, at the worst,
luxuriate in an alms-house, and be finally deposited in the
church-yard--and all at other people's expense. On the other hand, if
he be made of the right metal, he may carve his way to fortune and to
civic fame, and may die full of years and honours--in which case, he
is pretty sure to add one more to the list of charitable donors whose
legacies go to swell the expectancies of the city poor. It would be
difficult for any eccentric testator in the present day to hit upon a
new method of disposing of the wealth which he can no longer keep.
Every device for the exercise of posthumous generosity seems to have
been exhausted long ago.
The trust-estates, the source of so many of the city of London
charities, are mostly, if not all, under the control of the corporate
companies. How they are managed, is a secret altogether unknown to the
public, and of which, indeed, the livery and freemen of some of the
companies have but a very limited knowledge. The revenue derived from
the trust-estates, according to their own shewing, is not much less
than L.90,000 a year; but they have large revenues, of which they do
not choose to shew any account at all. These are supposed to arise
mainly from the increase in value of property originally devised to
charitable uses--which increase it is their custom to appropriate as
they please. 'Thus, for example,' says a writer on this subject, 'if a
testator left to any one of these companies a piece of land then worth
L.10 per annum, directing that L.10 should be annually appropriated to
the support of a school, and the land subsequently increases in value
to L.500, then the master and wardens of the company claim the right
of appropriating to their own uses the surplus of L.490. In no
equitable view of the case can this be deemed to be private property.'
It seems probable that these things will be looked into before long.
From a motion lately made in the House of Commons, we learn that a
thorough investigation is contemplated into the management and
application of all charities throughout the kingdom, the inquiry to be
conducted at the cost of the several charities, the largest of which
are not to pay more than L.50, and the smaller ones twopence in the
pound, upon the amount of their capital. Perhaps this inquiry may lead
to the recovery of some of the charities which are stated to be lost,
and of which nothing but the titles, under the denomination of
So-and-so's gift, remain upon the corporation records.
The secret management of the trust-estates contrasts curiously with
the pompous exhibition which some of the worshipful companies make of
their deeds of benevolence. Some of the smaller and older churches of
London are stuck over in the interior with enormous black boards, as
big as the church door almost, upon which are emblazoned, in gilt
letters, the donations to the poor, to the school, to the repair of
the fabric, &c. from the worshipful company of This and That, from the
days of King James--the inscriptions of whose time are illegible
through the smoke and damp of centuries--down to the days of Queen
Victoria, and the donations of last Christmas, fresh and glittering
from the hands of the gilder. Thus, the interesting old church of St
Bartholomew the Great is lined with the eleemosynary exploits of the
worshipful Ironmongers' Company, whose multitudinous banners of black
and gold are in abominable discordance with the severe and simple
architecture of the ancient edifice. 'Let not thy left hand know what
thy right hand doeth,' is a monition apparently not much in repute
among the corporate companies.
The reader may gather from the perusal of the above desultory
examples, selected from a mass of similar ones, some idea of the
enormous amount of the funds, intended for benevolent purposes, which
Christian men have bequeathed to the world; and they may perhaps serve
to enlighten the curious observer on the subject of some of the
unobtrusive phenomena which occasionally excite his admiration and
arouse his conjecture. They are the silent charities of men in the
silent land. How much good they do, and how much harm, and on which
side the balance is likely to lie--these are questions which for the
present we have neither time nor space to discuss.