296 LONDON PARKS © GARDENS 
connue was charmed with the peace and repose of this 
little East End Paradise. After seeing the Hospital and 
all its wonderful appliances, “You will now see our 
Eden,” said the guide. “ Ici! 1 ’Eden ! m’ecriai-je, apres 
le peche alors ! ” Then, when she had for a moment looked 
within those mysterious high walls, “ N’avais-je pas raison 
d’appeler ce jardin l’Eden ? ” said the friend. “ Oui, 
repondis-je, c’est FEden apres la Redemption.” Cer¬ 
tainly any one who sees this little garden, and realises 
the devoted lives of those who made it and those who 
enjoy it, must agree with this writer. 
It is not often that, when the old almshouses vanish, 
the neighbourhood benefits to such an extent. What 
will be the fate of the Ironmongers’ Almshouses in 
Kingsland Road, between Shoreditch and Dalston ? A 
large board in the garden that fronts the street announces 
the site is for sale ! 
The Foundling Hospital has large green courts, on 
which the merry but sombrely-clad little children are 
seen running about, through the fine iron gates which 
face Guildford Street. This was founded in 1739 by 
Captain Thomas Coram, who gave so much of his wealth 
to objects of charity and philanthropy that a subscription 
had to be raised to support him in his old age. Theo¬ 
dore Jacobson (died 1772) was the architect of the 
building. A colonnade runs round the whole length of 
the forecourt up to the gates, part of which is used as 
laundries, or other things necessary to the institution. 
A writer in 1773 describes the “large area between the 
gates and the hospital ” as “ adorned with grass plats, 
gravel walks, and lamps erected upon handsome posts : 
beside which there are two convenient gardens,” and 
exactly the same description holds good to-day. Bruns- 
