extreme poverty, and refer to others, just to shew its existence and intensity. And none of these ought to be regarded as solitary and very extraordinary instances.

M. A. W. had no home, and was forced to abide sick in the streets three nights. She went to an asylum; and was told not to come again, as she was too ill to be admitted.e

I saw an aged porter carrying a burden beyond his strength; and his wife walking by his side, supporting him, lest he should totter under the weight.

James Leatt, aged sixty-two, applied to Sir Richard Birnie, the police-magistrate. He had once been a master butcher, but for fifteen years had served only as a journeyman. Latterly, being both ruptured and rheumatic, he had been supported chiefly by his wife and son. The son, and a daughter aged fourteen, were out of work; and his wife had died two days before, for want of the necessaries of life. He did not know

e

Sermon, by the Rev. T. Dale, in behalf of the Greville-Street Free Hospital, 1839, p. 8.

how to bury his wife; and they had not a sixpence.f

Martha Robinson was found begging in the streets, with a written petition. Upon inquiry, it proved that she had a large family; her husband was out of employ; and one of her children was lying dead, and they had not the means of burying it. The man had once possessed 70007. He was brought up as a farmer, and afterwards kept a publichouse. A distress had been put in, and all his furniture sold. A tradesman in the neighbourhood took compassion upon the family, and allowed them to live in one of his unoccupied houses, where they were found when visited. But they were entirely without any means of subsistence.g

Mary Buncomb applied for relief with a wildness and incoherency of manner which created a belief that she was deranged. The scene, however, which presented itself when the case was visited, fully accounted for the

f Report of the Mendicity Society, 1826, p. 46.
8 Ibid. 1824,
p. 27.

woman's distraction of mind. In one corner of the room lay the body of her husband, who had died nine days before of a fever; and by his side lay a boy, who had fallen a victim to the same disorder a few days after his father. A cradle contained an infant, six months old, crying aloud; and near the fire-place stood a half-starved boy, eight years of age. Incredible as it may appear, the landlord had distrained upon their few miserable articles; and this chamber of death was found in the possession of a broker.h

Mary Bacon was found in the streets at night, in a deplorable condition. Having been brought to bed in a country town, at the end of sixteen days they placed her in a wagon, with directions to follow her husband, who had been ordered out of the town by the mayor. The fare was paid to London; and the wagoner, having no further directions, put her down in the streets immediately on their arrival. In this condition she was found, many miles from her husband's parish,

Mendicity Society, Report 1827, p. 32.

with two children, including the infant, in the middle of the night, in December. i

Jane Randall, her husband, and three children, were all found sleeping in one room, upon the boards, not having a bed, or any covering. The wife was a decent, respectable woman; and they all bore an excellent character. The husband was often afflicted with insanity. The eldest girl's appearance was so wretched, that she could not go out for any work. The woman had lately had a paralytic stroke, which prevented her working. The landlord had taken the whole of their things for rent.j

Susan Lee applied to the late Bishop of Durham (Barrington), and was visited by one of the officers of the Mendicity Society. Her husband, a lunatic, was confined to the floor, lying on straw, and nearly naked. There were six children, the eldest a girl aged fifteen. They belonged to the parish of Mile-end Old Town, by whom they were

i Mendicity Society, Report 1819, p. 44.

j Ibid. 1820, p. 46.

allowed five shillings a week. The overseers had offered to take the husband into the workhouse; but as she did not expect him to live long, and as she had for some time supported him in this deplorable state, she did not wish to give him up to the care of the parish. By the usual liberality of the bishop, and other donations, she was enabled to support him till his death.k

Caroline Pearson, a girl aged eighteen, was found in a churchyard by a clergyman, in a most wretched condition. Unable to walk without assistance, she was brought to the office by a humane individual, in a most dreadful state. Emaciated and feeble from disease, almost naked, loathsome with vermin, nearly famished for want of food, exhausted and speechless for want of rest, and deserted by her relations, she seemed the very scorn of society; and a few days previous to her application she had been seen tormented by, and the sport of, men and boys. It appeared that she had lived as serMendicity Society, Report 1826, p. 44.