Thus Britain is grateful, thus Britain bestows
For a youth of brave toil, an age of repose[44:A]."
The Hospital at Hyde-park corner was instituted Oct. 19, 1733, and has been supported by voluntary contributions from that day to the present; this is one of the many instances which might be produced of the hereditary charity of the inhabitants of London; a species of benevolence silently handed from generation to generation; a bequest not inforced by forms of law, and parchment and seals.
In the year 1734, the Prince of Wales acted as president; the Queen and Princesses became
subscribers; and the most eminent physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries attended the sick, &c. gratis. An additional wing was voted to the building, and the following statement[45:A] published:
| "Cured from 1st Jan. to 26th Dec. 1734 | 379 |
| Discharged for non-attendance, most of them supposed to be cured | 196 |
| Dead | 77 |
| Discharged incurable | 26 |
| For irregularities | 15 |
| Discharged as improper objects | 4 |
| Sent to Guy's hospital | 2 |
| Patients in the house | 87 |
| Out-patients | 50 |
| Under the care of the house in the whole | 840 |
| Receipts for the year 1734. | £. | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions from Oct. 19, 1733, to Dec. 26, 1734 | 2277 | 5 | 6 | |
| Benefactions, ditto ditto | 1859 | 11 | 0 | |
| ——————— | ||||
| 4136 | 16 | 6 | ||
| Disbursements 1734 | 2559 | 5 | 0-1/2 | |
| ——————— | ||||
| Remainder | 1577 | 11 | 5-1/2 | |
| ——————— | ||||
The necessity of Alms-houses, Hospitals, and, in short, every description of receptacles for the miserable poor, was apparent to every friend of humanity at this period; and it is to the honour
of the then publick that the necessity was in a great measure removed. The parish-officers were universally negligent, and even the public papers asserted, "That the present laws (those of 1735) are defective; and that notwithstanding they impose heavy burthens on parishes, yet the poor, in most of them, are ill taken care of. That the laws relating to the settlement of the poor, and concerning vagrants, are very difficult to be executed, and chargeable in their execution, vexatious to the poor, and of little advantage to the publick, and ineffectual to promote the good ends for which they are intended."
They proposed these remedies, which will at least explain the deficiencies of the day: