or receive, within their newly erected hospital of Christ Church, i. e. children who, according to the words of the charter of Bridewell," in their infancy and tender age had not lacked honest bringing up and watching." Another object of the charity of Bridewell was, " to set on work such of the poor as they then had, or should thenceforward receive within the newly erected hospital of St. Thomas." The meaning and intention of this covenant are manifest; when the streets of London were cleared of the vagabonds, by which they were at that time infested in an extraordinary degree, it would have been of little use to put sick and sore vagrants to labour, together with the sturdy. It was therefore provided, "that they who first be sent to St. Thomas's, and when they were recovered and retored to health, should not again, as slothful and idle persons, be permitted to beg and wander about as vagabonds; but be forced in Bridewell, to practice and exercise themselves in honest occupations." The words of the original instrument are," when they (the vagabonds) shall be recovered and restored to health, and have power and strength, and be meet to labour, then shall they be forced to labour in the works of Bridewell." Our ancestors understood plain and substantial charity; but they had no idea of those refinements in benevolence, which have resulted from the improved state of comforts of social life. In the following reigns, granaries and store-houses for coals were erected at the expence of the city within this hospital, and the poor were employed in grinding corn with hand mills; which were greatly improved in the reign of queen Elizabeth, when a citizen invented a mill, by which two men might grind as much corn in a day, as could be ground by ten men with the other mills, and being to be worked either by the hands or feet, if the poor were lame in the arms, they carned their living with their feet, and if they were lame in their legs, they earned their living with their arms. The old building was entirely destroyed by the dreadful fire in 1666, together with all the dwelling houses in the VOL. IV. No. 77. precinct B precinct of Bridewell, from whence had arisen two-thirds of its revenue; the hospital, however, was rebuilt in 1668, in the manner it lately appeared. It consists of two courts; in which the buildings are convenient, and designed not only for prisons and places of hard labour and punishment, but for indigent citizens; for artsmasters in several branches of trade, who together retain apprentices, that are entitled to the freedom of the city, and to 10%. each after they have served seven years. This hospital is likewise used as a house of correction for all strumpets, night-walkers, pick pockets, vagrants, and incorrigible and disobedient servants, who are committed by the lord mayor and aldermen; as are also apprentices by the chamberlain of the city, who are obliged to beat hemp, and, if the nature of their offence requires it, to undergo the correction of whipping. A vast plan of innovation was attempted a few years since, by which not only this and the other city hospitals must have been injured, but one of the most antient usages of the citizens materially infringed upon *. After several mcans had been used in various publications to decry the original and proper object for which Bridewell Hospital was instituted, and every prejudice which could be excited to render the establishment useless in its intention; the following speculative suggestion of reform was attempted to be introduced, contrary to the very words and spirit of the charter, and repugnant to the motives which created the charity. By this plan, the revenues of Bridewell were to be converted to support "An institution for convalescents from the various city hospitals. sweepers. for discharged prisoners. for discharging apprentices of chimney A school of occupation for boys. * See the reverend Mr. Bowen's Remarks on the Constitution, &c. of Bridewell. A school A school of occupation for girls. A school for boys on board a vessel on the Thames. To give apprentice fees. A general provision of work for all who want it." The governors, however, revolving the merits of these different schemes, wisely reflected, that, as trustecs for an hospital endowed for specific purposes, it was not open for them to conclude "Whether some other mode of charity might not be more useful; but that it was their duty to carry into effect the peculiar objects of their own trust, in the best manner possible." Indeed to such a pitch had this furor of reform arrived, that it was suggested "seven years apprenticeship was more than necessary," and the very sytem condemned. With respect to the apprentices of Bridewell Hospital, it was observed, "that a considerable loss and inconvenience is occasioned by the precise period for which they are bound to their trade, viz. seven years; and that if boys and girls could be taught some easy and useful employment for a shorter period, more young persons might be endowed with the means of an honest livelihood than can be in the present mode of an apprenticeship for seven years." "But," This was a bold attack upon an antient usage. says the reverend Mr. Bowen, in his "Remarks," "There are many good reasons which justify the policy of our ancestors, in instituting septennial apprenticeships. It is right in a moral point of view, that a youth should be kept under proper restraint till he has attained his majority. And it is equitable that a master, who has the unprofitable labour of teaching a lad during the first, should reap some emolument from the last years of his servitude. But in this case, as inthat of the vagrants, the recommendation of the committee (for reforming Bridewell) is unfortunately at variance with the laws and institutions of the country. It is not lawful for any person to set up, use, &c. any craft, mystery, or occupation, now used within the realm of England and Wales, except he shall have been brought up therein, seven years at least, as an apprentice*. A master has no power to retain in his service, or to controul and punish the youth whom he instructs in his trade, unless he be an indented apprentice. Every freeman of the city of London, on admisson by the chamberlain, takes an oath that he will receive no apprentice for a less term than seven years. No person can obtain the freedom of the city of London by a servitude shorter than that period. Nor can any citizen employ in his service any journeyman who has not that pri vilege. Consequently the plan proposed by the committee cannot give to the youth, whom it pretends to patronize, the great advantage of the freedom of the city; nor to the citizens, a supply of journeymen. This surely would be a great defect in an institution which provides for the education of youth to manual arts and labour, under the immediate guardianship of the corporation of London. The practice of the hospital has ever been in exact conformity with the customs of the city, and the laws of the land. Apprentices were taken into the house as soon as ever the city took possession of it, in the year 1557; and the records prove, that they have been continued without interruption to the present day.” The invasion of the privileges attached to Bridwell, ultimately failed in its object; the benefits of the charity reverted to the antient channel, as appointed by the benevolent king Edward; and the state of the hospital at Easter 1806, was as under: Received during the last year, under commitments by the lord mayor and the aldermen of this city, as vagrants or disorderly persons, who have been kept to hard labour (or received correction) Received into the hospital during the same period sundry poor persons who have been committed before they could be passed to their respective parishes, as required by a late act of parliament ** Eliz. c. iv. 358 970 Apprentices Apprentices now, for the most part, received from Christ's Hospital, brought up in divers trades and manufactures, and maintained in, and at the charge of this hospital * 27 1355 The apprentices were formerly distinguished by blue trowsers and white hats; this habit has been changed, and they now appear in the usual dress of other young persons, except that the buttons are impressed with the bust of Ed "The first time I visited the place," says Pennant, "there was not a single male prisoner, and about twenty female. They were confined on a ground floor, and employed in beating of hemp. When the door was opened by the keeper, they ran towards it like so many hounds ⚫ in kennel, and presented a most moving sight: about twenty young creatures, the eldest not exceeding sixteen, many of them with angelic faces, divested of every angelic expression; and featured with Impudence, impenitency, and profligacy; and cloathed in the silken tatters of squalid finery. A magisterial! a national opprobrium ! ! !~ What a disadvantageous contrast to the Spinhuis, in Amsterdam, where the confined sit under the eye of a matron spinning or sewing, in plain and neat dresses, provided by the public. No trace of their former. lives appears in their countenances; a thorough reformation seems to have been effected, equally to the emolument and honour of the republic. "This is also the place of confinement for disobedient and idle ap prentices. They are kept separate, in airy cells; and have an allotted task to be performed in a certain time. They, the men, and women, are employed in beating hemp, picking oakum, and packing of goods, and are said to earn their maintenance. "But Bridewell is not only a prison for the dissolute, but an hospital for the education of the industrious youth. Here twenty Arts-masters (as they are styled) consisting of decayed tradesmen, such as shoemakers, taylors, flax-dressers, and weavers, have houses, and receive apprentices, who are instructed in several trades; the masters receiving the profits of their labours. After the boys have served their time with credit, they are payed ten pounds to begin the world with; and are entitled to the freedom of the city. The procession of these, and the children of Christ's Hospital, on Easter Monday and Tuesday, affords to the humane mind the most pleasing spectacle, as it excites the reflection of the multitudes thus rescued from want, profligacy, and perdition." ward |