The Sun.
London, England, 1820-01-13 00:00:00

Itt,,lLF To
Trii POOR.

•
Yesterd'ay 'sritite Gentlemen of the City waited
upon the LORD MAYott, at die MansiOn-hOUse,
for- the purpOse of "receiving Lordstirs 'sanc-
tion to a plan for the.rernportiry relief of the poor
starving thotiselesa :poptitition. Amongst. 'those
Who atten'de&were 'Mr. Hick, of Cheapside, and
Mr, Bodkin', Seeretary to 'several Societies for the
Benefit of the indigent. It was represented by
Mr. that a letter having appeared before
the Intblic, iu WhiCh tire' writer offered a large.
warebouselor the temporary advantage of the
poor, several Gemlemen del erntine4 not to let.
such 'an itlipartuoit 3? of 'doing' very extensive
service to the confaintrity Pass. It Was sOonas-
certaintd that Mr• Hick was the pronoscr, and'Aa
the oifir Waa made at a 'time of 'birch inclemency
and iriVltion.,—rehen every one nbservi,(l in The
streets poor shivering creatures -who were many'
of them unable to get home to their parishes,'bOt
most of them wit Lout parishes at all, there could
be no heairatioo as to the adoption of any plan
which was calcialated to athirst temporary reliel„The
sanction ,of the Lotd Mayor _would tend tn. a very
considerable exertion on the part of the tipper or:
tiers, Find the'street's' cvotilaf soo:1 he neared of the
•tnisetithle 'objects-who avers Starving and 'freezing
in'all the public•places, It was mentioned by Al- '
derman hunter, that the plan was, as a tempo-
rary one, tnieieeptiOnable.;. but' it Was to be ap.;
prehentled, thilt the City would- become the le-
ceptacle .of all the beggars of the Metropolis, if
the 'reiideiVnus was to be 'Within the' 'pre-
Stich a circumstance must cause great
inconvenience in districts which were already
crowded with their own and casual poor. To thii
it 'was answered by Mr. HiCk, that as the plan had
only a' temporary ;object, the inconvenience,: it
any resulted from it, must be very inconsiderable..
He considered, indeed, that if his offer' were ac-
cepted, tacilititis would be obtained 'for passing to
their parishes those who had pariihes, and those
who bad none -might be placed itt some' way of
earning their bread, through the means of some
admirable societies which were daily affording •
'proofs of the' sympathies of the opulent. Per, '
bops-upon' no occasion wtre' there seen• greater
numbets of wretched creatures in the.streets, and
surely
_temporary disadvantage might be over-
looked' upon an occasion Which seente4 to be ex-
trerne.- The case 'was, in fact, one of life and
death,
.a tact to prove which it. WAS unnecessary
to call evidence. Mr. Hxit's view struck nhist.
of those AO joined in the as. it-rests-
tihle some pradential. 'considerations broke
in for a few momenta., It •w +.s nt4tierl that the
burden might be taken off patOies by the plan,
and that all parts 'of the country'raight disgorge
'the tiftfiered unit perishing hart of theirpopulition '
into London. Already the Magisirates all round
the metropolis seemed rejoiced to throw off their
own bands all responsibility with respect .to the
pour 4 and how eagerly- wirnld this•volonter-y.offvr
!la supply food.and house-room be snatched at by
those who had Irnptoperly,shifted the obligation
from their own shoutders 'ln 4;i-rawer to this,
Mr. Hick-'obterved, that ii)stail of liking ,iff the
harden trom—parishes, -the -plan woulkeffectually
lix it upon .them; for those who ,sou..g.ht refuge
should be sear off tw ibeir wishes the day after,
tinder the care of Steered cases had
come within his observation, which convinced Isle( t

cincts.

that there were numbers„who would reher undergo
even the penalty of de4th than go honie where
they were oitee 'respectable, in t lite'ppithension of
I he disgrace-attendant upon .reducerfulicomstances.
.sorue.ddvs-ago, a young woman :was bruit ht to
the Mansion-house in extreme distress. Hv case
tv;.s very singular, but there was no question of
its trutb; 'Stns.-had been assistant a'sehool iii
the country, and came to. London to see her mo-
ther, who was on her death-bed. Atter the per-
, nt of the fast ditties to her parent, who
lingered till the place of the poor gist was sup-
plied at the-school, she bad no place of refuge to
. which site could for a moment think of going.—
Most of her clot lies were left 'with the pawn-
broker, and she was 'obliged to leave.ber lodging
front inability to'pay.. In this state she wandered
about, and was ,after a fe', days.obscrved. by a
humane but poor woman, sitting in a church in
the utnioSt distress: 'The relief sbe obtained could
not'last long; she. !wandered' about the streets
for .ttvo days and .ttvo might s without having Last=
ed a morsel of victuals, and at length was round
almost frozen to ilea'th' by the Nile& InOiry
was• tirade into her efiarticter by the " Provisional
plat(c;ion Society,- andit wt 4 found tp be ir•
reproachable. Her letter to one of the Society
was in' his possession, and ivnas a proof that she
harfthe power Of expresing her grazitude for the
risistanee rendered. to het by that admirable esta-_,
bli;•ltment. . Mr. Hick nerrtione.d another case of
powerful interest, air! said it was In a giekit joie-
sore for the relief of poor, helpless; unprotect,
ed, unuffendiug :creatures' like those, that the
plan was proposed.. .
The Lotto Matron agreed the plan wiihOut
hesitation. I-hi obsehed, a ease of ,stitch
extremity :all trite objection's must be. ay.oulvd._

lueunveniencst. ntibt certainiy arise, bot they
could not be felt antic:sr the general :gobd pro-
duced by 1 lie arrat4;etneut• liearcuse-d. '
Sir CLAUDIUS' flUN.Thlt declared, that be :should
most 'readily subsei
. .

Several,qtlier Geptletnen gave ihe same pledge.
It %vas suggested by Jr.A 13otlkin, that if the.
Lot ii Mity,;l••kriitild tale the el.sir this day tifiort,
th
e-subject,thel poor %void(' tcelalie effects. -This.
was at once•adopted,.tintLhis Lordship promised
to take the chair. Mr. Hick stated, that he vv49
cooiitieed.thaCupvt'iii-its of r,0601. wflit.lthbc
lected at the met titig. • • • • =•-•