In all these points of view, from indigence is to be traced the great Origin and the Progress of Crimes.
In attending the different _Soup Establishments_ (where 50,000 indigent families, at the expence of one halfpenny per head, have a meal furnished every day during the winter)[93] the Author has observed, with a mixture of pain and satisfaction, particularly at one of them, the children of unfortunate and reduced families, who, from their appearance, have moved in a higher sphere, the humble suitors for this frugal and nourishing aliment.
[Footnote 93: See page 81 and 82 for an account of this Charity.]
To have contributed in any degree to the relief of distress rendered painful in the extreme from the recollection of better days, is an ample reward to those benevolent individuals, who have joined in the support and conduct of an undertaking, of all others the most beneficial that perhaps was ever devised, for the purpose of assisting and relieving suffering humanity.
While the wretchedness, misery and crimes, which have been developed, and detailed in this work, cannot be sufficiently deplored, it is a matter of no little exultation, that in no country or nation in the world, and certainly in no other Metropolis, does there exist among the higher and middle ranks of Society, an equal portion of Philanthropy and Benevolence.--Here are to be discovered the extremes of vice and virtue, strongly marked by the existing turpitude on one hand, and the noble instances of charitable munificence, displayed by the opulent part of the Community, on the other.
Nothing can place this in a stronger point of view, and perhaps nothing will astonish strangers more than the following summary Estimate of the various Institutions, supported chiefly by Voluntary Contributions, in addition to the legal Assessments, all tending to ameliorate and better the condition of human life, under the afflicting circumstances of indigence and disease.[94]
[Footnote 94: For a specific account of these Institutions, see the Chapter on Municipal Police.]
1. Asylums for the Relief of Objects of Charity £. and Humanity 30,000
2. Asylums and Hospitals, for the Sick, Lame, and Diseased 50,000
3. Institutions for Benevolent, Charitable, and Humane Purposes 205,000