THE ROYAL HOSPITALS.
When the religious houses were suppressed by Henry VIII., these hospitals and asylums, which were part and parcel of them, were suppressed also, and for a time the poor found themselves deprived of much assistance to which they had become accustomed. It was therefore found necessary to re-establish these institutions on a new footing. This was done by Henry VIII. and Edward VI., and when we speak of these monarchs as founders we must remember that they refounded in a better form that which Henry had previously destroyed. St. Bartholomew’s was refounded in 1548, and St. Thomas’s in 1553; and in 1557 the four Royal hospitals—St. Bartholomew’s, St. Thomas’s, Christ’s Hospital, and Bridewell—were, in a sense, incorporated together for purposes of management. Dr. Payne has kindly permitted me to inspect a little book bearing the date 1557, and entitled “The Order of the Hospitalls of K. Henry the viii.th and King Edward the vi.th—viz., St. Bartholomew’s, Christ’s, Bridewell, St. Thomas’s. By the Mayor, Cominaltie, and Citizens of London, Governours of the Possessions, Revenues and Goods of the sayd Hospitals.” From this it appears that “one Hospital, called St. Bartholomew’s the little,” was founded by King Henry VIII., and the other three by his successor. The governors were to be sixty-six at least, fourteen aldermen and fifty-two grave commoners, whereof four were to be scriveners, “to the intent that in every house may be one or more.” Two of the aldermen were “governors-general,” one to be called controller and the other surveyor, while the remaining sixty-four were divided equally among the four hospitals, three aldermen and thirteen commoners to each, whereof one was to be their treasurer. The governors were appointed at a general court held on St. Matthew’s Day (Sept. 21st), and held office for two years from Michaelmas Day (Sept. 29th). On appointment a solemn charge was read to them, in which the objects of the four hospitals are thus set forth: “Idelnes, the enemie of all vertue, is suppressed and banished; the tender youth of the nedy and idle beggars vertuously brought up; the number of sick, sore, and miserable people refreshed, harbored, and cured of their maladies; and the vile and sturdy strumpet compelled to labour and travaile in profitable exercises.” The latter paragraph refers especially to Bridewell, which was originally established as a house of correction “for the strumpet and idle person, for the rioter that consumeth all, and for the vagabond that will abide in no place.” Bridewell has been rendered immortal by Hogarth’s fourth plate of the “Harlot’s Progress,” but as an institution it disappeared in 1863. Among the officers of the Royal Hospitals were “scruteners,” who performed the duties of “collectors” of legacies and other gifts. The charge to these officers concluded as follows: “And finally, when you shall hapen to be in the company of good, vertuous, and welthy men, you shall to the best and uttermost of your wits and powers, advance, commend, and set forth the order of the said Hospital and the notable commodities that ensue to the whole realme of England, and chiefly to the citie of London, by erection of the same; and also how faithfully and truly the goods geven to their uses are by the Governours thereof ministered and bestowed.” They were also enjoined to exhort scriveners to remind testators of the hospital when making their wills, and to provide the said scriveners with prospectuses for their information. They were further enjoined to exhort the bishop and clergy, and especially the preachers at “Pawles Crosse”: “That they twise or thrise in the quarter at the leaste, do move and exhort the people to further the said work.” The officers attached to each hospital were “the clerke, the matron, the nurses and keepers of wards, the steward, the officer appointed to warne the collectors and church wardens, the cooke, the butler, the porter, the shoemaker, the chirurgian, the barbour, the bedles.” Another institution having a similar origin to the Royal Hospitals is Bethlehem Hospital, or Bedlam. This was founded by Henry VIII., on the site of the suppressed Priory of our Lady of Bethlehem. At the end of the seventeenth century it was moved to a new building in Moorfields, and finally, at the beginning of the present century, it was established where it now is, in St. George’s Fields, Southwark.