The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-07 00:00:00

THE SUFFERING FAMILY.

Among the numerous charities of London there
is one just now which is more particularly appeal
ing to public sympathy—one for which that sweet
Songstress, no less remarkable for her Benevolence
than for her Genius—Jenny Lind—has recently
contributed her all-powerful aid—the Royal Hos-
pital for Incurables. In a kindred spirit the popular
authoress of "Hope Evermore" (a name peculiarly
significant for her of present success 0, Mrs. Gordon
Smythies, has just published a charming little
poem written in aid of this most invaluable hospital.
The poem is pathetically entitled, " Incurable." It
contains a graceful little tale of the rival loves of
the fascinating Brillante and the fair and charitable
Eva. From the introduction we quote the follow-
ing heart•appealing lines, which can hardly fail to
meet with a fitting response from our readers :
Incurable I Oh, ponder on that word,
You, who in rosy health and radiant life
Bask in the sun, like summer flowers stirred
By gentle zephyrs I—Ponder on that strife
Between th' immortal soul and mortal frame,
That in the humble home of Want and Woe

Rent the poor heart, when calm-eyed Science came,
And whispered that dread word of doom I And, oh I
Think then, how paled the cheek of wedded truth I
What gushing grief, by manly pride supprest I
How stricken down, th' all hoping heart of Youth,
What sobs convulsed fond woman's faithful breast,
While " The Doomed" murmured, " Lord, thy will be done
But, must I be a burthen to the end ?
Oh, Father I for the sake of thy dear Son,
Provide the shelter, and raise up the friend I "

The prayer was heard—and never earnest prayer,
Swift winged by Faith, was known to miss the throne
Of Grace and Mercy I Nor, arriving there,
Has failed to bring the heavenly blessing down ;
And good men's hearts were stirred, and the great need
Of " The Incurable" engrossed the mind
Of Science's darling son—lamented Reed !
The modern Howard I lover of his kind
But still thy spirit, gen'rous Reed, survives ;
" The Suffering Family," released from care,
Dwell in the peaceful home that grows and thrives,
Longing to shelter all The Cureless there.
Father, and Friend, of this great charity,
" Too soon for Friendship, not too soon for Fame,"
Thou wert called home I What tears were shed for thee!
When to thyself the cureless sickness came,
And the long labour of thy love was o'er,
And Sorrow's Friend was borne, where Sorrow is no more

Much has been done—but much remains to do;
Nine-tenths, alas I of those who seek our home,
The " Cureless," Hopeless I with their weight of woe
(Shunning, with decent pride, the union's gloom),

Implore, in vain, the shelter of the walls
Of our most Christian Hospital, whose halls
One day, we humbly hope, shall yet contain
All the poor victims of a cureless pain,
As Mrs. Smythies very justly remarks in her pre-
face, the charity for which she pleads has especial
claims on public sympathy. " Great bodily pain is
hard to hear, even when 'Hope, the charmer, lin-
gers still behind,' and when ' troops of friends' sur-
round the sufferer, and all that wealth and skill can
do to soothe and solace is done. But what must be
the anguish, the misery, the despair of those who
are dismissed (through a dire necessity) from hos-
pitals devoted to the cure of disease, and who,
hcuseless, penniless, friendless, find themselves dis-
missed as Incurable,' and know not whither to
turn, or to which shelter to crawl, to await the per
haps tardy but inevitable doom." As tending to
alleviate such affliction, we most heartily wish the
Royal Hospital every suceasa, and we have great
pleasure in commending Mrs. Smythies' very
graceful little poem, both for its individual claims
upon our attention, and for the philanthropic sen-
timents which animate it.

PARISH RATES AND GIN PALACES.—Hogarth
painted side by side, and as connected by human
communications, the pawn-shop, the gin-shop, and the
workhouse, and George Cruikshank may do the same to-
day, and with equal truth to nature—that is to say, human
nature. There is no place in the world where labour so
abounds as in London; no place in the world where men,
no matter of what class, if willing to be sober and useful,
have so many chances of success in life, yet the poor,rates
range from a law pence to many shillings in the pound,
as we pass from parish to parish, and we
have
always a population of paupers in our workhouscal
es
sufficient to form a strong colony, provided their physiers.
and moral stamina were in proportion to their nurub
and
God forbid we should make a wholesale charge of
vice
profligacy against the whole mass of unfortunates with
which hospital and workhouse experiences makes men
familiar. It is on the ground, however, that the folksto
rwthe
pay for the necessary expenses of the State, payialso
unnecessary results of indulgence in a balefuhaaprepetite
in the
that we claim for parochial authorities some 5
plarce.ssasppropri-
power to regulate the issue of licenses for.
ated to the sale of intoxicating drinks.—Ctly i e .
CAPTURE OF A STURGEON IN THE MEDWAY.-_,
Early yesterday morning, as George Jenkins, a
was engaged in his avn ~ in
ation
fisherman, of Rochester, ,
Limehouse reach, a short distance belowßochester-bridge,
Rochester-
he succeeded in capturing an unusually large
which, after some ditlieultY be landed. The fish,twilbrgicehoni's
one of the largest ever caught in an English river
found to measure exactly seven feet, in length ,Was
weight is 1701bs. The sturgeon being What b*Ln' and its
royal" fish, belongs by ancient charter to thels Mayor of
oat
Rochester, and
on receiving it his Worship at 01:1M for-
warded it as a present to the Prince of Wales, in the cus•
dTelhiviseirsedtheal iv e at
fi6hterbneoinong.
tody of the water bailiff, th©
Marlborough-house yesterday afternoon.
, river Medway within second
large sturgeon captured in tho •
short time, the last royal fish being caught a very
fisherman who affected this by the same
capture.