04 M END 
at 30,000 ; and the Report Hated, that mod of thefe per- 
fons gained more than many induflrious individuals of 
the lower dalles of the community. One man actually 
acknowledged that his profits were about thirty Ihillings 
a-day. This might be a lingular cafe; but it was proved 
by the ftrongeft evidence, that the average receipts of 
mendicants in London were from three to fix Ihillings 
a-day each. This money was fpent in the moH excep¬ 
tionable manner, in dram-lhops, at feaHs, and even in the 
purchafe of luxuries of all forts, eatabie as well as drink¬ 
able. The committee had afeertained a fad which was 
unknown to therp before. Many parilhes farmed their 
poor. About one hundred parilhes in the city, Mr. Role 
laid, did fo. Six or feven Ihillings a-week each were al¬ 
lowed to thofe by whom they were taken, and who lent 
them out to beg during the day for the purpofe of laving 
their provifion! 
It would appear by the Report, that the number of pri¬ 
vate charities in the metropolis was almoH inconceivable. 
But unfortunately moll of thofe by whom they were fup- 
ported contented themfelves with giving their money, 
and never examined into its application. The houfe 
would hardly believe what was laid of one benevolent in- 
ilitution, fupported by peers, members of that houfe, and 
other opulent individuals, the object of which was to pur¬ 
chafe beef, and fell it to the poor at a moderate price. 
Nothing could be more commendable than this inllitu- 
•tion, were it properly adminiftered. The revenue of it 
■was 600I. a-year. But it appeared that the whole was 
managed by a fingle individual; and it had been re¬ 
cently difeovered that this man put the whole of the 
money, with a trifling exception, into his own pocket! It 
appeared in evidence, that in one year he had purchafed 
only 27I. worth of beef, and that the largell quantity he 
had ever bought within the twelvemonth was to the value 
of 72I. he appropriating the remainder to his own ufe. 
We lhall make a few extrafts from the Minutes of 
Evidence contained in the Report. 
Matthew Martin, Efq. examined.—I am conduftor of 
the inquiry into the Hate of mendicity in the metropolis, 
under inllruftions from his majefty’s principal fecretary 
of Hate for the home department, fupported by the ad¬ 
vice and influence of the committee for luperintending the 
'management of the fubfeription-fund conne£led with the 
inquiry. The inllitution originated in a private inquiry 
made by me, firfi propoled at Bath, and afterwards com¬ 
menced in London about the year 1796. At an early 
period it received the countenance of the Society for bet¬ 
tering the Condition of the Poor, and was by them re¬ 
commended to the duke of Portland, then fecretary of 
Hate for the home department. A deputation from that 
fociety waited upon his grace, who was plealed to approve 
of the plan ; and in conlequence I received a warrant of 
500I. from the lords of the treafury for the expenfes of 
the inquiry, which was afterwards continued under the 
-authority of the earl of Chichefter, then lord Pelham, who 
lucceeded the duke of Portland as fecretary of Hate; and 
I received from time to time further fums from the trea¬ 
fury. The firll inquiry continued till about the begin¬ 
ning of the year 1803, and comprifed about 2,300 cafes. 
In the year 1811 a communication was made by the fo¬ 
ciety to the right honourable Richard R\nler, then fecre¬ 
tary of Hate for the home department, flrongly recom¬ 
mending a renewal of the .inquiry; in conlequence of 
which, Mr. Ryder applied officially to the lords of the 
trealury for an iftue to enable me to refume it. For the 
■purpofe of more effeftually carrying on the inquiry, and 
affording fome relief to the poor objects who were brought 
before me, I circulated papers foliciting fubfcriptio.ns; 
in confequence of which, contributions have been railed 
to fome extent; and feveral noblemen and gentlemen 
have been further pleafed to encourage the undertaking, 
by forming a committee to fuperintend, together with 
me, the care and diflribution of the fubfeription-fund, 
and the diredlion of employment and relief to the paupers. 
I C I T V. 
Under the management of this committee, and the autho¬ 
rity of Mr. Ryder and of lord Sidmouth now fecretary of 
Hate, the inquiry has been continued to the prefent time. 
Materials have been provided, and accommodation fur- 
nilhed, for enabling fuch of the beggars as were difpofed 
to work, to fpin flax and yarn, which has been woven 
into cloth of a fuperior quality: and others have been 
employed as lempfireffes. The number of cafes examined 
down to the prefent time, amounts to about 4000. I 
think that the number of beggars has fomething decreafed 
fince the firll inquiry, nine years ago; and I am very much 
confirmed in that opinion by what perfons have told me, 
that they have not l'een fo many as they did. 
Montague Burgoyne, Efq. examined.—The committee 
underhand you took upon yourfelf the office of honorary 
fecretary to a fociety eflablifhed for the relief of the lower 
clafs of Irifh in this metropolis?—It was originally in¬ 
tended to give afliflance to one particular part, where a 
great number of Irifh lived, namely, Calmel-buildings, 
Orchard-fireet, in the parifh of Marybone. I had heard, 
that in twenty-four fmall houfes feven hundred Irifh poor 
lived; and upon inquiry I found that the number ex¬ 
ceeded that, often three or four families in a room. I 
obferved that they were totally neglefted by the parifh, 
inafmuch as the court where they lived was not cleanfed, 
and was a perfect nuifance; perfons were afraid of enter- 
ing it for fear of contagion: and I have been told by 
medical men, that, whenever they viiited the poor in this 
court, they thought they ran confiderable rilk of conta¬ 
gion. The fociety to which I have the honour to a£l as 
lecretary have made frequent applications to the parifh of 
Marybone to remedy thofe nuifances; but I am forry to 
fay, that at the prefent time they prevail as much as 
ever; and, as I underhand, the number of the poor in 
that court has increafed. I have been into every room 
myfelf, and neither in town nor in the country have I 
ever met with fo many poor among whom there was fo 
much diHrefs, fo much profligacy, and fo much ignorance. 
The difeovery that the fociety made in Calmel-buildings 
led them to invefligate the Hate of the Irifh poor, not 
only in the parifh of Marybone, but throughout the me¬ 
tropolis. 
Mr. Sampfon Stevenfon, overfeer of St. Giles’s parifh laft 
year .—“ MoH of thefe beggars have no lodging. There 
are houfes where there are forty or fifty of them, like a 
gaol. The porter Hands at the door, and takes the mo¬ 
ney; for threepence, the)'’ have clean Hraw, or fomething 
like it; for thofe who pay fourpence there is fomething 
more decent; for fixpence they have a bed. They are all 
locked in for the night, left they Ihould take the property: 
in the morning there is a general mufler below. The 
fervants go and examine all the places, to fee that all is 
fafe; and then they are let out into the fireet, (jufl as 
you would open the door of a gaol,) forty or fifty of them 
together, and at night they come again: they have no 
fettled habitations, but thofe places to which they refort 3 
but there are numbers of thofe houfes in St. Giles.” 
The following information was communicated by the 
members of a fociety inHituted for benevolent purpofes. 
“ In vifiting George-yard, leadingfromHigh-Hreet,White¬ 
chapel, into Wentworth-Hreet, we found there were from 
thirty to forty houfes apparently full of people; and, 
being deiirous of knowing the fituation they were in, we 
gained accefs to feveral of them where we had formerly 
vifited diHrefling cafes; and, from the information we 
coilefted, we conceive that in thefe houfes there are no 
lefs than two thouland people: the whole place, indeed, 
prefents fuch a fcene of human milery and diflipation as 
can hardly be conceived. We learned from thole we had 
accefs to, that one-half of thefe inhabitants fubfifl almolt 
entirely by proilitution and beggary; the other half are 
chiefly Irifh labouring people. In Wentworth-Hreet (ad- - 
joining the above yard) there are a great many houles 
occupied by inhabitants fimilar to thole in George-yard. 
One of thefe (a private houfe, No. 53) we vifited, and 
were 
