212 Dr. Friedlander^s Sketch of the Poor, Sfc in Germany. 



[Aprit f, 



tics of an inferior class, who adminis- 

 tered legacies and other property be- 

 longing to tlie poor. The establish- 

 ment of cardinal deacons by the popes 

 did not long titop the abuses; and the 

 Clementine of the council of Vienna, 

 in 1311, in which the ecclesiastics were 

 deprived of the administration of the 

 ])roperty of the poor, had not, until a 

 very late period, and especially in tlie 

 time of the Council of Thirty, in 1547, 

 any influence on the institutions of 

 Ccrmany. We find the commence- 

 ment of this inlluence in the formula of 

 tlic reformation of Charles V. given to 

 Augsbourg in 1548, in which it ordains 

 to re-establish the hospitals fallen into 

 ruin, and to make restitution of a 

 fourth of the revenues of the churches, 

 and the convents of the poor, to which 

 ihcy originally belonged. Although 

 tlie clergy had still for a long time 

 jireserved the high direction which 

 was attributed to it, they no longer 

 displayed the same eagerness to keep 

 it, and the distribution of the revenues 

 fell entirely among the hands of the 

 laily, who, without proceeding in it 

 with much method, nevertheless did 

 not allow them to be taken away from 

 tlieir original destination. It is curious 

 to learn, that tliey excluded the nobles 

 and the military from this direction, 

 l)y the specious icason, that they 

 ought to avoid all occasion for repri- 

 manding them. 



In the southern part of Germany, 

 which is the richest and most fertile, 

 there were a great many convents. 

 After tiie crusades, tiiere were also 

 established a number of new hospitable 

 orders. 'I'lie Brothers of Mercy, ori- 

 ginally from Spain, and the Hospitable 

 Sisters of St. Elizabeth, the daughter 

 of Andre il. kiitg of Hungary, are the 

 congregations v.hich were multiplied 

 the most in Austria, Bavaria, and the 

 other parts of the south of Germany. 

 There are some of them preserved 

 until this day, although their influence 

 has diminished since the establishment 

 of new institutions, better adapted 

 to the present times. 



The north of Germany, less favoured 

 by its climate, owes the foundation of 

 these establishments to the Teutonic 

 knights, who found themselves under 

 the necessity of building hospitals 

 and lazarettoes, to make up for the 

 few resources of the country. Count 

 Albert, who had made a journey to 

 Palestine with the Bishop of Halber- 

 «tadt, founded some at Koeningsberg 



and at Frankfort on the Oder. When 

 the population augmented by degrees, 

 we find princes also creating establish- 

 ments of instruction and of piety, and 

 private individuals bequeathing lega- 

 cies in the cities. 



At the period of the Reformation, a 

 new turn was given to beneficence. 

 But these legacies, limited in their 

 nature, were yet crippled by the pe- 

 culiar conditions which each bene- 

 factor imposed ; and, as there were 

 almost as many particular directions 

 as there were legacies, the result was 

 great expenses of administration, and 

 little regularity in the distribution. 

 Already, towards the end of the seven- 

 teenth century, the government sought 

 in vain to unite these different lega- 

 cies ;* respect for the will of the testa- 

 tors, and, more than that, private inte- 

 rests, placed insurmountable obstacles 

 to it. There was always a certain ^ 

 suspicious jealousy, which tended to 

 prevent the government from invading 

 the rights of private individuals. 

 Thus, for instance, FrederirTc the 

 Great wishing to send the child of an 

 invalid into an orphan hospital of 

 Magdeburgh, the magistrate opposed 

 it, because this child was deformed, 

 whereas the hospital was destined for 

 children of sound body. The king 

 bestowed eulogies on this resistance, 

 and soon after consecrated a very 

 considerable sum for the erection of 

 another hospital. It was not until a 

 later period, and towards the midfilc 

 of the last century, that some amelio- 

 ration has been obtained by the union 

 of several institutions under one gene- 

 ral direction. At the same epoch, new 

 institutions were established, which 

 have in general diflf'used more infor- 

 mation on the state of the poor, and 

 on the manner of providing for their 

 wants. 



Holland and England appear to 

 have jjreceded the rest of Europe in 

 this respect; the system of industry 

 which is chiefly developed in those 

 countries, by augmenting the popula- 

 tion, has also increased the number of 

 the poor, and, at the same time, the 

 means for relieving them. The study 

 of political economy, and the develop- 

 ment of the principles of liberty and 

 the constitution, have not a little con- 



* In the year 1687, Frederick-William 

 J. cieated a special niifgistracy to admi- 

 nister the goods of the poor. 



tributctt 



