THE LITERARY PANORAMA, AND National Register: For OCTOBER, 1815. NATIONAL and PARLIAMENTARY of the brute animals, fed by the hand Notices. BRITISH and FOREIGN. MENDICITY IN LONDON. REPORT FROM COMMITTEE ON THE STATE OF MENDICITY IN THE METROPOLIS. [Ordered by House of Commons, to be printed, 11th July, 1815.] POVERTY and riches are relative terms: they are consequences of the unequal distribution of property, and this, in its turn, is a consequence of civilization, and of the spirit which accompanies associations of men. Riches are the result of accumulation: but the savage never accumulates. He who depends for the support of life on the fish he takes, or on the deer he runs down, has no temptation to preserve his capture: it is of a perishable nature; and if he does not use it, and that presently, it ceases to be property, and becomes a mass of dissolution and putridity. Society, in changing the condition of mankind, makes no individual poorer, than he would be in a state of nature; but, it enables others to become rich. No wild Indian can be deprived of that which he has not taken; he cannot be stripped of the clothing which he does not wear; no man, born under the most polished state of society, can be poorer than he who relies on the wild bounties of nature for sustenance, and sbares the nnenvied and unenviable lot VOL. III. Lit. Pan. Ncw Series. Oct. 1. of the general mother;-which would be his condition, did not society exist. But the wildest of men must labour, in some manner, to obtain a supply for his wants: he must strike a fish with his spear, or transfix a beast with his arrow this implies industry in some shape; for he must construct that spear, and the bow which shoots his arrow, together with the arrow that is shot. It is, then, as the reward of his industry, he obtains his daily support. Now, society does nothing more than appoint to men that course of industry which the general good commands each class to pursue. The agriculturist who trims a hedge, the shepherd who tends his flock, even the boy scare-crow who frightens away birds from the field, each contributes something toward the general welfare, for which, in return, he claims subsistence from the general stock. It is, then, because he is industrious, in his way, that he expects reward: his way is pointed out, and he follows it. But what shall be said of him who is not industrious? who contributes nothing to the general stock, who obtains not his own subsistence from the liberality of nature, who, as to any desirable advantage, is inferior to the wildest of men in the wildest of woods? -why does he not do something for a living? Where are such men found? Only where wealth and property are abundant. They follow riches, and in proportion as riches accumulate, they increase. In a poor country there are no beggars: not because all are willing to work; but, because none has any overplus, from which to bestow. He who would beg, knows that his clamours are useless; B they are wasted on the desert air: he therefore labours. And yet in the poorest of countries there are usually some who are able to shew compassion to real subjects of accidental distress; who can in some humble degree, but with cheerful feelings, alleviate misfortune, and impart consolation. The blind, who are absolutely deprived of sight, and unable to work, have an unquestionable claim on the compassion of Society; and this has been felt in all ages, from those whom we read of as begging by the way side, in the Gospels, to the hospital of the privileged Quinze-Vingts at Paris, and the various permissions, formerly by express license, known among ourselves." It is not with the truly suffering that the statesman and the philanthropist are at variance; but with that immoral class, which, instead of making personal exertions, preys on the property of the industrious: those who study" by The subject of real accidental (by which we mean, undeserved) distress, is a sufferer under the hand of Providence the idle and the lazy have none to blame but themselves for their sufferings. True it is, that in countries long settled, the population may exceed the productive powers of the spot; and it is also true, that trade and manufac-night" the artifices of the day, as Pertures shift from place to place, in the same country, so that what at one time supports many workmen, at another time, yields no employment. But, if the labourers in these places have been diligent and civil, their character rarely leaves them entirely destitute: they find some resource in that, and more in their frugality, if such has been their habit. The miserable through misfortune are not despised; those who have suffered by the waves, have been in all ages allowed the privilege of the "painted picture representing their sufferings." sius says. Such there always were: manet licet illi plurimo Lacryma; per sanctum juratus dicat Osirim, Exiguusque cibus; mersa rate naufragus Quare peregrinum, vicinia rauca reclamat,* assem Dum petit, et pictâ se tempestate tuetur,* This broken leg, this sprawling in the street, to be picked up by the says the Roman poet, in whose verse werity, a picture of yourself swimming ou trace manners congenial with our own.— But this indulgence was then, as it is now, an occasion of deception: Cantet si naufragus; assem Protulerim? cantas, cum fracta tein trabe pictum a broken plank? A real misfortune, not one prepared by night, shall he deplore, who is able to bend my attention to his solicitation. Persius Sat I. * He who has once been ridiculed in the streets (for his misplaced compassion), is not forward to lift up a vagrant Ex humero portes? Verum, nec nocte pa- with a broken leg, though he shed ralum Plorabit, qui me volet incurvasse querelâ.† * He asks for food: he whose ship having been sunk by shipwreck, now begs a penny, and shews in picture how he escaped the same fate in the tempest. Juvenal, Sat. xiv. If a ship-wrecked mariner sings, shall I produce my penny for him? Could you sing, if your were carrying about on your shoulder to solicit cha many tears, and though he protest and Go find a stranger to believe your lies, compassionate, was much the same | teries (whence some have dated our poor piece of acting as we have seen prac-laws) beggary was rife among us. tised in our own day; though fainting fits have been more in vogue, especially among the women, till, at length, imposition has wearied charity to death. But, the party who could stoop to such imposition, could also embrace a fair opportunity of displaying other powers: it was so in Rome; it was so in London years, we might say, ages ago. Thus sings our Poet Gay, describing the manners of the metropolis in his days: Where Lincoln's Inn's wide space is rai♪d around, Cross not with venturous step; there oft is found The lurking thief, who, while the day-light Made the walls echo with his begging tone: shall wound Thy bleeding head, and fell thee to the ground. Chaucer describing his Friar, says, He knew well the tavernes in every toun, A further evidence is afforded by the 66 To the KING our Sovereign Lord. "Most lamentably complaineth, their woful misery unto your Highness, your poor daily bedemen, [who pray for your welfare] the wretched, hideous mon→ sters (on whom scarcely for horror any eye dare look) the foul unhappy sort of lepers, and other sore people, needy, impotent, blind, lame, and sick, that live only by alms; how that their number is daily so sore increased, that all the alms of the well disposed people of this your realm is not half enough to sustain them; but that, for very constraint they die for hunger." Now, if The same practices still prevail, though not in the same places; thus the public is plundered both ways. If credit be due to the Report before us, the this were the fact, while the clergy were benevolence of our countrymen is one in full power, in full possession of the great cause of this evil: it cannot be church property, while abbeys and mocured, while charity imparts greater nasteries, and other institutions, usually sams than honesty could acquire: the supposed to have been the seats of chatrade of begging is not the least profit-rity were in full vigour, then it was not able trade, though, of all that can be named, it is the least deserving. to the dissolution of them that the increase of poor was ascribable: then the clergy, though bound by their institution to bestow one-third of their incomes on the poor, did not maintain them; and then too, the burden of maintaining the poor being subsequently laid on the parishes, the clergy are better off with their present revenues, than they were, when they had greater incomes, attended by greater abatements. The subject has employed the talents of the wisest; but the difficulties of the case seem to have puzzled Solomon himself, for he hints that "a thief is not despised, who steals to the satisfying of his soul:" meaning, perhaps, that heavy punishment is misplaced in visiting a transgression enforced by hard necessity, to save life; and the antient laws of the original Britons so far coin- To the regular incomes of religious ride with this idea, as to enact, that persons in office must be added, that de"the thief is not to be punished with rived from the superstitious notions of death, who has asked in vain for relief the age: the prayers of the poor, in fa at three towns, and at three times three vour of their benefactors, were supposed to houses in each town." By the bye, possess great efficacy, even in the world this authority proves, that even the of spirits; and the united supplications Happy Island, the Green Island has, in of many daily bedemen," said every all ages, been afflicted by this evil; and preacher on the subject of charity, certhat long before the dissolution of monas-tainly contributed to the eternal happi 66 ness of the dead. Humanity, duty, and superstition, conspired to furnish a fund for the indigent; and well had it been if such only, as had fair claims on this fund had received their maintenance from it. charity, so that modest and unmerited distress is too often placed on a level with imposture; or the hand that is stretched out to relieve it, is mis-directed, if not paralyzed. It has established a kind of proverb among house men who attended the Committee on oc Parishes are ecclesiastical jurisdic-keepers; "If you wish to render a man tions, and since England has ceased to hard-hearted, make him overseer of the be Catholic, the reliance of the poor has poor." The impositions they practise. been transferred from the cloister and will effectually counteract his compasthe convent to the parish and the oversion. The history of a number of these seer. The Clergy, regular and irregu-impositions is given by various gende lar, have ceased to enjoy that prodigious proportion of the national land, with which mistaken charity had endowed the Church; but the race of sturdy beggars has not ceased. Other means of support have been devised; and they now plunder the laity, as formerly they plundered ecclesiastics. They now follow trade and commerce, as they formerly followed the land. They reduce their occupation to a system, and demand with greater obstreperousness, than when they promised a pilgrimage to our Lady of Pity, in behalf of the pious good christian, out of whose pocket they teazed a tardy donation. casion of this inquiry. But, they have only touched on some of the grosser deceptions practised. We know that the public is imposed on under numerous pretences, assuming forms much more respectable. We remember a surgeon who went about with a most distressing case of a man, whom he had recently cured of a dreadful disease for whom -not for himself, he solicited donations. Very lately, a woman pretending to be the widow of a Dissenting Minister in the country, accompanied by two children, laid almost all the Dissenters in London under contribution, before she was detected, for considerable Catholic countries, at this day, are not free from mendicant poor; but are pessums. Written solicitations, or “Church tered with swarms of them in all parts, cases," as they are called, for rebuildand very insolent they are: they following or enlarging places of worship, in strangers (at least) every where; even the country, have also been forged, and In short into the churches, where they demand collections made on them. with most persevering and irreverent urgency. Who does not know that Napoleon did his utmost to remove this blotch on his government, from France ? His "Houses of Mendicity" were established for this purpose; but his intention failed, totally failed. The vicissitudes of life, during the long and lamentable war, from which we are but barely emerged, afforded pretexts for mendicity, at once numerous and powerful: they could not firmly be denied by the considerate, nor could they be suddenly detected. They were, therefore, rather overlooked than tolerated; but, now, when peace allows us to direct our attention to our internal concerns, this evil should not be disregarded. It is immoral: it is un-christian: it tends to harden the heart of those who have been imposed on, and it really has that effect: it chills genuine these deceivers assume all characters; they obtain lists of persons known to be charitable; not even Panoramists can be proof against their wiles: for who would suspect a pretended brother of the pen, or scruple to lend to a person apparently respectable, and a scholar, for a few moments' consultation, a volume, or volumes-never to be returned! It cannot be said, that the present age is hard hearted; and that charity would not be exercised unless stimulated by such disguises: the whole world knows to the contrary: never were institutions to meet cases of distress so numerous as at this moment; and every day is calling either publicly or privately, for support to new charities. Notwithstanding many very gross impositions, and very clear proofs of guilty perversions, charity is more than the order-it is the rage of the day. It is impossible that the donations now made by London should be calculated: no estimate has been, or can be formed of them. The Societies for visiting the sick, for relieving aged persons &c. &c. are invaluable: the greater is the pity that they too should be deluded! We have heard of persons so depraved, as to toss up, which of them should sham sickness, and "send for the parson," to pray by them. This ensured them two shillings; and if the distress were well performed; not seldom did the reverend gentleman to whom we more particularly allude, part with a shirt or two, and perhaps a waistcoat, or &c. to these rascals! who were all the while imposing on his humanity, and his piety. ceeded in the said Inquiry, and have agreed upon the following REPORT. ON reporting the following Evidence to The House, Your Committee forbear to express any opinion as to the measures it may be fit for Parliament to adopt, for a cure or an alleviation of the Evil which and Vagrancy, in the Capital, and throughexists, in the present state of Mendicity out this part of The United Kingdom, because they consider the inquiry as incomplete, and trust it will be renewed in the next Session of Parliament: They cannot however resist observing, that if the testimonies of respectable Gentlemen and others here produced, shall attract the at the intolerable inconveniences now experienced from the conduct of the idle and profligate Vagrants. [The minutes of Evidence are extensive: the following are Excerpta.] Matthew Martin, Esq. repeats the chief contents of his former Reports; which may be seen in our pages already referred to. He adds: tention of the Members of this House during the recess, it cannot fail to impress their minds with an urgent necessity for some new provision being made to give In the course of our eleventh volume,jects of compassion, and for preventing facility for affording relief to the real obwe introduced two Official Reports on National Policy, connected with the suppression of Mendicity; a valued correspondent, who had the best means of knowing the accuracy of the facts he stated, subsequently communicated important information on the same subject; and in other parts of our work, several articles relating to it, will be found. We shall not, therefore, prolong our remarks, but merely consider the present Report as the beginning of that effectual system of correction and suppression, which, if followed up, and completed, will be of most essential service to the public. We wish it the most perfect success ;-but, on the machinery which is to effect the purpose, it would at present be premature to speculate. We cannot but call the attention of our readers to the effect of Sunday Schools; and the hopes they kold out, of great improvement. REPORT. THE COMMITTEE appointed to inquire into the State of the MENDICITY in The Metropolis and its immediate Neighbourhood, and to report the same, together with their Observations thereupon, to The House; and who were empowered to report the MINUTES of the Evidence taken before them;- -HAVE, pursuant to the Order of The House, pro * Comp. LIT. PAN. Vol. VI. p. 86. XI. pp. 193. 577. 589. 903. 1003. XII. 101. 274, 478. 833. 1059, 1252. So far from having found amongst those who have attended at the office (because many of the professional beggars have kept out of sight) any reason to think that the whole was a matter of imposition, I have found cases of the most acute suffering which have long been concealed, of some of the beggars who belonged to parishes in the metropolis, who have contrived to slip out of their parish, not so much because they wished to impose as because they were driven by distress to beg; and I have brought the distresses of such people to the notice of the parish of ficers, which otherwise they might never have known any thing about It is important the Committee should know that though those 2000 cases were taken only nine or ten years ago, there are not so many as 100 people in the last, who had attended the former; whether their distresses were mortal, or what is the cause I do not know, but there does not appear to be the same set of beggars; there are not, as I should conceive, above one in twenty of the former inquiry that have attended at the second inquiry. What rank in society generally took upon themselves to distribute Mendicity tickets? -The highest ranks. This chart is that |