T 
MONTHLY 
MAGAZINE. 
No. 95.] 
JANUARY 1, 
1803. [No. 6, of Vou. 14, 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
, For the Monthly Magazine. 
Oz CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS 7” LON- 
DON, and their INFLUENCE 6” its PO- 
PULATION. 
AVING for the fpace of at leaft 
thirty years devoted fome attention 
to the charitable inftitutions in London, 
defigned to leffen the fufferings in general 
of the poor, and their difeafes in particu- 
Jar, Iwas much furprifed to find a ferious 
attack upon them and their fupporters, 
in the laft Critical Review, vol. 36, p. gr, 
where their animadverlions are concluded 
in the following, words :—‘* We know 
the delicate foundation on which we ftand, 
and the advantages that may be taken of 
the opinions thus offered. We are pre- 
pared to repel them, and to oppofe chilling 
Jadés againlt miflaken zeal, 
I do not doubt but that thoufands who 
have given their patronage to thefe chari- 
table eitablifhments, have a&ted from ge- 
nuine humanity, however improperly 
they may have exercifed it: to afcertain 
their probable utility, or inurility, is the 
defion of the prefent invettigation. 
One of the moft extenfive and general 
means of affilting the fick poor, is by the 
long-eftablifhed inftitution of hofpitals,—~ 
Tt is well known, that many perfons con- 
fined in one apartment are liable to. ge- 
nerate difeafe, and perhaps formerly, when 
the apartments in hofpitals were much 
crowded, and ill ventilated, this faét 
might have been often realifed : but of 
late years thefe receptacles are lefs crowd- 
ed, excellently ventilated, and thus ren- 
dered falubrious in every refpect, and 
highly conducive to the comfort and reco- 
very of the objects for whofe reception 
they were deftined. 
Within the fpace of the laft fixteen 
years, another f{pecies of charity in aid of 
the fick poor has been gradually acquir- 
ing celebrity: I allude to difpenfaries, 
which are now eftablifhed in every part of 
the metropolis, and likewife pretty gene- 
rally in its environs. Independently of 
prefcribing for the patients who are able 
_ toattend at thefe infitutions, the phyf- 
cians vifit at their own miferable habita- 
tions thofe who are confined by the feve- 
rity of difeafes. It is thus that from the 
.eaitern extremity of Limehoufe, to the 
WlontTHLY Maa. No. 95. 
weftern at Milbank ; and on the north, 
from Iflingtom and Somier’s-town, to the 
fouth as far as Lambeth ; and, by means 
of the Greenwich Difpenfary, to Newing- 
ton and Peckham, including a fpace of 
nearly fifty fquare miles, a fyftem of me- 
Gical relief is extended to the poor, un- 
known in any other part of the globe. 
Suppofing that London and its imme- 
diate environs contain one million of hu- 
man beings, I fear that three hundred 
thoufand at leaft may be confidered as con- 
fitting of fuch poor perfons, as, from the 
hardnefs of the times, would claim under 
ficknefs the aid of hofpitals or difpenfaries. 
From long obfervation, Ihave reafon to 
conclude that each individual, upon an 
average of the whole, is vifited by indif- 
pofition every three years. On this ratio 
one hundred thoufand poor objects would 
annually require medical affitance; and 
I am perfuaded that the totalof this num- 
ber aétually receives it from thefe two 
fources of medical fuperintendance. 
If we allow the eftablifhment of fifteen 
hofpitals in the metropolis, and as many 
difpenfaries, which there really are, and 
that each, upon a moderate average, re- 
lieves 3500 patients a-year, the amount 
will exceed 100,000 obje&ts by 5000.— 
I imagine, indeed, that 120,000 is nearly 
the amount of patients thus gratuitoufly 
aflitted ; but I am defirous of rather dimi- 
nifhing than exceeding, in this ftatement, 
the immenfe advantages neceflarily refult- 
ing from thele falutary eftablifhments, and 
which, one would humanely prefume & 
prior, mutt produce confiderable influence 
on the population of this great city. I 
am well aware that other caufes mult 
have contributed to its falubrity ; as the 
opening alleys and courts, widening the 
fireets, and the general improvements in 
domeftic ceconomy, in cleanlinefs, venti- 
Jation, and, I hope I-may add, in the ex- 
tenfion of fobriety and morality. 
To afcertain the influence of thefe va- 
rious caufes on the population of the me- 
tropolis, I have fcrutinized into the moi 
certain data in my power, the bills of 
mortality ; and have taken my calcula. 
tions from the laft thirty years ; my con- 
clufions on the average of births and 
deaths in the firft fifteen years, compared 
3P with 
