INF 



122 



I N F 



Infinitive, tempest for dispersion of a hostile fleet. The modern 

 IVnu. T. a,v .-.lid to have sacrificed their first born to 

 redeem their own life when in a state of sickness, as 

 Anno, King ot' Sweden in older times, sought to pur- 

 I a prolongation of his with the blood of nine 

 sons. It w.is with them as the Israelites, " Yea. they 

 sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils; 

 and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons 

 and daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of 

 :n." I'-alin cvi. 37. Thus can the powerful as- 

 cendancy of superstition stifle the feelings of nature. 

 Nay, the mother herself, who offered her child in sa- 

 crifice, never uttered a sigh, lest its efficacy might be 

 impaired, nd while the vital stream was flowing from 

 a multitude of innocent victims, their screams were 

 drowned by the noise of drums and trumpets sounding 

 before the idol. " Tell me," rxclaims Plutaich, ' were 

 the Typhous and the Giants to expel the gods, would 

 they exact such horrid rites of menv" 



Infanticide may therefore be traced to a feeling of 

 shame on the part of the parent, which she has not 

 fortitude to bear, to necessitous circumstances, to the 

 pursuit of pleasure, and to the influence of super- 

 stition. We cannot affirm, however, that such are ex- 

 clusively its sources ; but it is not probable that 

 many others will be disclosed. See vEIian Varia Hi.i- 

 toritt. lib. i. cap. 7- ; Dindoras, lib. i. cap. 80. ; Plu- 

 tarch De Si/i>irslitione : 0/iera, torn. iii. p. 321, 1603, 

 in 8vo. ; Q*iinlus Curliiis, lib. ix. cap 1 1 ; Justin, lib. 

 xviii. cap. 6 ; Eusebius Prepotitm aucntgrtiee, lib. iv. 

 cap. 15; Dobrizhoffer De Abip'uiibu.i, torn ii. p 10,5; 

 Mandelslo's Voyages and Tram-It, p 170; Collins' Ac- 

 count of New Sf'itll Wales, vol. i. p 607 ; Feron, Voy- 

 age avx lerres Australes, torn. i. p. 46'9 ; Kraschenin- 

 kow's History of Kamtschatka ; Barrow's Travels in 

 China, p. lf>7 ; Missionary Transactions, var. loc. ; Gi 

 Iii Sttggio di S/oria Americana, Voyage a la Guiane et 

 Cayenne, p. 132 ; Cook's and Forster's Voyages, var. 

 loc. ; Moore's Hindu Infanticide \ Cormack's Female In- 

 fanticide; Mallet's Northern Antiquities, vol. i. cap. 7; 

 Koran, chap. vi. xvii. Ixxxi. (c) 

 INFINITIVE. See GRAMMAR. 

 INFIRMARY. A building provided by the public, 

 -or by charitable persons, and endowed with funds for 

 the treatment of the diseases of the poor. 



Infirmaries are among the most laudable of all cha- 

 ritable establishments, and do not fall under the same 

 objections with some others. They do not, like the 

 system of poor laws, encourage indolence, carelessness, 

 and improvident marriages ; nor do they depress the 

 minds of the individuals who obtain relief. Acciden- 

 tal injuries, and attacks of disease, are not, like the una- 

 voidable infirmities of old age, evils with which all must 

 lay their account, and against which a manly spirit calls 

 on every person to make a definite provision. It is un- 

 doubtedly to be commended, when the labouring 

 classes provide against every casualty. But evils of 

 this description often intervene unexpectedly, when 

 want of time, and other pressing claims, have render- 

 ed such a degree of successful providence impractica- 

 ble ; and the evils, when they come, are in their na- 

 ture overwhelming. It is a noble feature of human 

 sympathy, to find society so constructed, that institu- 

 tiotis exist on a scale sufficiently large to afford a ready 

 attention to every emergency of this sort that occurs in 

 the average course of events. 



Their oti- It is to the spirit of Christianity that we are indebt- 



"> ed for them 1'hey seem to have had their origin about 



the time of the Emperor Justinian. It has become a 



question among some of the moderns, who have seen Jnfamary. 

 the imperfections attending our existing institutions, S "^V"'' 

 How was the want of them supplied among, the an- 

 cients ? It seems to have been expected that, from 

 their practices, some hints might be obtained by which 

 our plans of charity might be improved. But it ought 

 to be recollected, that the mass of misery which exists 

 in such an imperfect state of society must pass unknown. 

 An immediate neighbour may become acquainted with 

 a scene of distress, and may exert himself to relieve it; 

 but, where no general encouragement is held out to 

 make known cases of this kind to those who are ready to 

 relieve them on such a scale as can be depended on, they 

 remain neglected. The persons whom our infirmaries 

 relieve, would, among the ancient Greeks ami Romans, 

 have languished and died with disease and hunger. 

 Piety impelled numerous individuals in the Christian 

 world to appropriate. a part of their funds, either du- 

 ring life, or after their death, to religious ami charita- 

 ble purposes. By institutions proceeding from this Their rcfor- 

 origin, an immensity of benefit was conferred on the matiun and, 

 sick poor. But these became liable to abuses which im P ruv e- 

 had not been foreseen, and ages of experience were re- ni 

 quired for the formation of a correct policy. The funds 

 devoted to charitable purposes, being (inalienable, tend- 

 ed perpetually to accumulate, and gradually to absorb 

 every other kind of property, and the monastic institu- 

 tions with which they were connected, became the 

 abodes of idleness, and were contaminated with extra- 

 va^ance and debauchery. The Reformation, together 

 with an internal correction of abuses in the church of 

 Rome, placed these, among many other establishments, 

 on a better foundation The greater part of our infirma- 

 ries are of an origin much posterior to the Reformation; 

 and some of those of Catholic countries are less de- 

 pendent on monasteries than formerly. It would be 

 a matter of too tedious detail to enter on their indivi- 

 dual history. In nil the European capitals, and most 

 of the other large towns, infirmaries are established. 

 In London, there are seven general institutions of that 

 sort, besides others more numerous, devoted to particu- 

 lar branches of the same benevolent object. Almost 

 every large town in England, and several in Scotland, 

 have one. These have been gradually improved, and 

 the principle's on which they are conducted have seve- 

 ral leading features in common, though not always 

 executed in the same manner. We hope our readers 

 will be gratified, as well as instructed, by an account of 

 some of the difficulties attending such institutions, and 

 the manner in which they are surmounted. It will be 

 found that it is not enough that the spirit of liberality 

 should be sufficiently ample, to commence and endow 

 them ; and that much invention and sound judgment, 

 together with persevering labour, are required on the 

 part of those who conduct them. 



In the first place, it has been found, that the crowd- The avoid- 

 ing of many patients under one roof had the effect of ance f 

 exasperating several diseases, and of generating pth'ers, "' 

 such as the hospital fever, and the hospital gangrene, 

 which derived their names from these charitable insti- 

 tutions. It was found that the mortality thus occa- 

 sioned was beyond all comparison greater than under 

 all the disadvantages of domestic treatment. The Ho- 

 tel Dieu of Paris, previously to its reformation, was the 

 grave of the sick poor of that metropolis. Hence 

 a general outcry was raised against infirmaries It 

 seemed dangerous to go near them, and the conclusion 

 at one time appeared plausible, that they ought to be 

 abolished. This, however, has not been found necessary. 



