The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1818-01-09 00:00:00

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AIEN'DICITt k the METROPOLIS,

Yesterday, in purist-N
ice of a Public Advertise-
ment, a :Meeting was behi at the prow) and Anchor
Tavern, Strand, to crinsidy of the most advisable
steps to he taken for the. 17)MetitaTe RELIEF or
THE AND TUE ULTIMATE SupPices.
SION OF MENDIcITY IN THE METROPOLIS.
The Meeting, thongh not numerously, was most
respectably attended.
On the 'notion of Mr. Tgo,EF i seconded by
Mr. Flung, )I'o. (the M inkeej„
was called to the Chair. , . : •
The CUAIRM A N ~latrd to the ptieelitlg, that being
called to the Chair by there j.tualurss,,lie could
only regret it should be filled by wn unimportant nn
individual as himself. Ile regretted thiacircuni.
stance the more, because lie frli iu common with
every man who heard him,. the great importance of
the object forswhich they were assembled, awl the
Isamu/mot attention which it otig!it to claim from
every friend of humanity throughout the country.—
( Hear, hear./—lt was e subject of a very enlarged.
nature, and one, the main consideration of ole.•11
must be left in the lino& of the cotninittee,
it woulcl, iserlseps, lie their pleasure this day to
nominate : the immediate object of the Committee
would ()ethic relief of prwent distress—their el (incite
one, the flippres,ion of iMendicity altoget:tet.—
No alaoht their attention would be properly directed
to boils these ends, .arid lie was convinced, dies
would lint lose it moment in giving hint temporartr
mud diseriminatmg relief which their funds might
admit, and- by so doing, and the mid of existing
whoftskanie laws ael ins:tuitions, restore to society
misty worths- m outsets of it who were now useless,
and souse of th rn damp-row-, through distress and
;sweaty. It tsars at first hoped by the Gentle.
tiit is from who e suggestions this :lleetirsg tom-
!sated, that his Grace the Puke of Nortlitim-
beasts/I would have taken the (;hair, mill, by
so doing, have given the Meeting that eclat
which he (Mr. William.; could uot possibly roti-
fer tiptop It. He held iii ins bated a letter from
hiss Grace, regretting that a recent loss in Isis family
prevented the possdality of his taking any part set
present io the business of a public Meetitig. It
Was; iloWeVlit. to he hoped, that oil a flume occa-
sion they would have the hsttoqur of his Grace's
pausence tool co-operation. The Chairnian now
procevtio,l to read the advertisement by which the
Me • ling was convened, :sisal to et press a hope that
every Gentleman who addressed then) in the coarse
of the slay would feel the necessity ofcarictly. coo-
lining himself: to the specific business which they
had met to prconote, and to abstain altogther from
any political allusions.--(Harr, heat.) —Re relied
on their feeling the necessity of abstaining from
irrelevant matter; It %roold ineulee a complicated
mass of discussion if they were now to occupy their
time in discussing the cause or the existing dis-
tresses among the lower (gussets, instead of at once
applying, so fir as their triremes would admit, souse
remedy to the wants wbich,lsourly fell under their
notice, and also considering if it were ultimately
practicable to prevent their recurrence.—(Hear:)
Mr. MATTHEW MARTIN rose to propose the first
• Resolution, which was declaratory of the prevailing
evil of mendacity in the metropolis. This Result*.
hon. as well as the others, was earned uttaisimouslY.
In °fres ing this Resolutioo, he booed he might be
permitted shortly to express his regret, that the
duty he was now about to discharge-, had slot de-
yoked upon some perion of higher rank nod
talent, lie would not add of More rtperience, for
of that lie hind quite enough to impress hum with
the magnitude of the existing,eviL ht was tint tie.
cessary to say much to enforce upon British minds
or feetessgs tise necessity mid quty sit 'mending to
the calk of humanity. The. general evil of men-
. dicity in the metropolis was too apparent
.to hate
. escaped the constant observation of ell who heard
. him, He had within his met' walk of life, fur a
• long time laboured in the vineyard in which they
were about to tread, nod seen sisal considered the
cases of thousands who sought charitable r..ittf.
. From this experience, /se could assure the Mies-
. ing, that by far the major part of the mil pitopers
of the metropolis fell prematurely the victims cf ens-
ease andatarvution. He knew Ilan, to lie the litct front
, local observation, and the revolt of 1111 itiquiry its
one, of the most extensive parishes in the metro-
polls (St. Martio's-in-the- Fields) corroborated his
assertion. It was unhappily true, that guest fronds
and artifiices were practised on the benevolent by
svortlalsous objects, the consequences of which were
. most distressing for those who were in a real state
of misery. It had faille') within his own know!, die
that the repetition of repeated issue's out tfie stosi-
bility of the must lonely of human kind, had steel-
ed the hearts of ladies of the fittest and most he:
isevolent feelings against almost any tale of human
misery. This was 1140 S( 111A111)C110ty 111 the result,
and skewed the necessity of adopting Ruch memos
as, by a discriminstiug ioquiry, knight separate
the impostor from the true sufferer. —I Hear.l
It must sit ober be admitted,, that the widely ,ex.
tended muss of tampers presented matter of inquiry
, almost epoogli at the outset to appal any inquirer;
he could, however, assure the Ileeting, that it. wee
a subject quite ww,fiiti a proper jueestsgatiou,opal
at, less trouble, than was at first conceived. The
only way. to pursue it would be by, +r. clpivsit;r:ntwn
of pumpers, .and, a well-regulated system, by which
:Committees, through, a sub-division of latiour,
could, have uoder their view the state of the alive. 4 practicable scheme. titywlk% the
spauresk into
I. • .and uopsrochisl
,sweets, could, wills,..it
much labour.., he arrauged : for instance, shoot
one-third of the pavers pa the metropolis had, e,r
were entitled to, parochial settlements ; it weeny:
of
be
firethis,e:ll g
40
pee
d 4cii!fileiril cktdp, a
rd
cur, which
thech
cupid b.-
done. if Iht.prentersjAisre.lrelivred from the mass
of confuston awl jnipontont io which many Of
theta must at present be oecessarify expose;l.
next class
i was the unparochigl, coassistiog fri-he,
Scott; end foreign pulijems • for the first of the-s:
some peenuisiy relief unsay ',l'm elicited from their
awp.ccanitrz; these of the second were few in onto-
;ker.. and would stn doubt be attended to by the
Scotch Society ; and hie foreigners ally be Noisiest
.by the Commis of their reopretive o, assns, 'There
was sin Ansociatioo of Nobit:tnets Ge:t.tieinen of
the highest consequence, which would inateri;ol,
iitAist in this unaleita2to4. alloded to that, of
which the gals Uardwicice. S ...power, end Cln.
clhster, Lards Comp:on, Milton, and othass,

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