1801. 
T was made acquainted with certain ob- 
jects of diftrefs, by a young man, who 
faid, that his bufinefS every Sunday was 
going about infpecting the ftate of the 
Jower poor in the city of Briftol; he in- 
formed me that a number of young men 
fome years ago had entered into a refolu- 
tion to vifit the poor every Sunday, to 
pray with them, and to adminifter all the 
comfort that prayer and fpiritual conver- 
fation could afford ; but they foon found 
that, however fatisfagtory fuch mental 
food might be to thofe who were in afflu- 
ence, yet it was but cold comfort to the 
man whofe belly was craving for a more 
' fubftantial meal. ‘They found, that when 
the flefh is weak, the fpirit is weak like- 
wife. To ftrengthen the one they muft 
replenith the other ;—their circumftances 
were confined, and, however ftrongly they 
had the will, they had not the means of 
doing good. They formed themfelves 
into a tociety called the Stranger’s Friend 
Society—and raifed a {mall fum by yearly 
contributions ; the fociety has exifted fince 
the year 1786; during a period of fourteen 
years, the conduétors of the inftitution 
have been unceafing in their exertions for 
the good of their fellow creatures. The 
whole of the money which they have. re- 
ceived does not amount to 320]. but with 
this fmall fum they have done aétions which 
might make more opulent focieties ‘* hide 
their diminifhed heads.” 
They know by whom the money. is laid 
out, and on what objeéts ; they are not 
intimidated by the fear of infection, nor 
are they difgulted by the horrid {cenes of 
wretchednels to which they are witnefs. 
They boldly purfue the good end in view, 
the greateft of all mortal objects, the com- 
fort; confolation, and relief of human 
creatures. in diftrefs. And may they in 
forme meafure fucceed ; may thetr powers of 
deing good increafe! their will cannot: 
may they meet that reward their attempts 
fo well merit, the gratitude, and in fome 
cafes the increafed comforts of the poor, 
and the invaluable feeling of felf-approba- 
tion! The young men, called vifitors, 
meet every Sunday morning at fix o’clock, 
fummer aad winter, and, having arranged 
thei plans, they fally forth, and each takes 
that part of the city which is allotted to 
him ; and they have books in which they 
keep accounts of all whom they vifit. 
As I was informed by one of the vifitors 
of fome families in difirefs, I will ftate to 
you what I faw.—I was firft direéted to a 
part: of the town called Lewin’s Mead ; 
itis a very narrow, clofe, dirty part of the 
town. 1 was direéted to a {mall huckfers 
. MONTHLY MAG. NO, 69. 
Miferible Condition of the Poor of Briftol. 
17 
fhop ; I went through the thop to a {mall 
parlour beyond, and perceived ‘a place be. 
tween two walls where I concluded there 
was a ftair-cafe, for it was fo dark that’ 
you could not fee aftep. With fome diffi- 
culty I groped my way up three pair of 
ftairs. My condudtrefs, to whom the houfe 
belonged, at laft knocked ata low fhat.. 
tered door; there was no’anfwer’ fhe 
knocked again, and was anfwered by a- 
groan—fhe then opened the door, and I 
beheld, lying on a dirty old ragged thing, 
which might once have been cajled a blan- 
ket, an old woman, her hands clafped, her 
face convulfed, and endeavouring to {peak; 
befide her was a boy abouteight yearsold,as 
pale as death, ill in the fame bed of the 
fame putrid fever; on the window-ftool 
lay a child about two months old, wrapt 
up in an old great coat. There was no 
creature in the room that could ftir. Af- 
ter (ome difficulty the woman wasable to 
tell me that her daughter, a girl about fours 
teen, had gone out a few moments before 
to fee her father, who was ill of the {ame 
fever, and had got into the infirmary. He 
was a mafon’s labourer, he earned about 
eight fhillings a week, The woman had 
been lying this way for nine weeks, and the 
boy had been feized foon after. They had 
had no affiftance of any fort the whole 
of that time! the man had applied to the 
parifh-officers, but in vain. An apothe- 
cary was fent for, but, hcrrid to relate ! 
both hufband and wife died, and thefe 
three children were left in the fame room 
with the unburied putrifying body of their 
dead mother for fome days, till the parifh- 
officers chofe to give directions for its. bu- 
rial, ‘The next family I went to fee con- 
fitted of a man, his wife, and fix children ; 
he was a mafon’s labourer, and earned, 
with the work of his boy, about fifteen 
fhillings a-week. The eldeft girl was firtt 
feized with the fever, and continued ill 
three weeks ; after her the reft of the fa- 
mily were all ill; and, when I faw them, 
they had been ill for eight weeks. The 
principal evil theythen fuffered (and what 
can bea greater?) was want of tood, and 
the very idea of meat, or of fomething 
nourifhing, feemed to infufe new life and 
fpirits into the whole family. Upon the 
bed lay a woman and a young child : this 
woman, who lodged ina different part of 
the houfe, waited upon the gir] during her 
illnefs ; the perfon who owned: the’ houfe 
took fome affront at this, and turned her 
out of her room. She was obliged to lie 
on the floor of the room belonging to this 
fick family; fhe caught the fever, and had 
been ill of it three weeks. Who-can ima- 
D gine 
