ADMISSION OF CHILDREN-HOW OBTAINED.

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her the paper, like a vixen, and bade him begone with cutting words and sneers. The poor old fellow, with rage in his heart, strode from the doors of royalty and never troubled the Princess Amelia again.

Finally, George II became interested so far as to give a charter on the application of John, Duke of Bedford, the Master of the Rolls, the Chief Justice, the Chief Baron, the Speaker of the Commons, and the Solicitor and Attorney's General. Hogarth, who also became deeply interested in the charity, and ever afterward continued its benefactor, painted a shield for the Hospital, and on the 26th of October, 1740, the old house in Hatton Garden was thrown open to nameless and homeless children.

The charter was signed by twenty-one ladies, of birth and distinction, and stated that "no expedient has been found out for preventing the frequent murders of poor infants at their birth, or of suppressing the custom of exposing them to perish in the streets, or putting them out to nurses, who, undertaking to bring them up for small sums, suffered them to starve, or, if permitted to live, either turned them out to beg or steal, or hired them out to persons by whom they were trained up in that way of living, and sometimes blinded or maimed, in order to move pity, and thereby become fitter instruments of gain to their employers. In order to redress this shameful grievance, the memorialists express their willingness to erect and support a hospital for all helpless children as may be brought to it, 'in order that they may be made good servants, or, when qualified, be disposed of to the sea or land service of His Majesty the King."

The children who are maintained by this charity are admitted on application of their mothers only, whose application to the governors must take place within twelve months of the birth of the child.

The petition is read to the governors assembled in committee; and the petitioner is called in and examined as to her allegations; and then the steward of the hospital (with the petitioner's permission) is instructed to make secret inquiries as to the truth of the case. If the admission be ordered, it takes

place on the Saturday fortnight after the order (a small weekly allowance being made in the interim, if necessary, to the mother), when the child is examined by the apothecary, and if found perfect in eyes, limbs, and health, is received into the Institution. Its mother is presented with a certificate of its reception-with a certain letter on the margin, by which her infant pledge may be subsequently identified if necessary; but in all probability she never sees the child again.

It has a particular number assigned to it, which is sewn to its clothes, and becomes a property and chattel of the hospital. It is at once sent to the matron's room, and delivered to a wetnurse previously engaged; and on the following day, being Sunday, it is baptised in the chapel of the institution—some common name, such as Smith or Jones, being given to it out of a list approved by the committee. On the same night, or following day, it is sent with its nurse into the country, who carries it to her own residence-she being generally the wife of some agricultural laborer-and reared there, under the occasional supervision of inspectors, for five years, when it returns to town for its education at the hospital. The number attached to its clothes remains so attached thoughout that time. At fourteen, the boys, at fifteen, the girls, are apprenticed, but still looked after by inspectors from the hospital until they are twenty-one years of age, when they are supposed to be able to take care of themselves. Deserving adults, however, are not lost sight of by the governors, and in case of incurable infirmities preventing apprenticeship, the Hospital does not desert its children to the end.

That the child be illegitimate is of course the most essential regulation, but an exception is made if the father be a soldier or sailor killed in the service of his country. Immediately after the battle of Waterloo, it was enacted that fifteen children of each sex should be forthwith admitted, the offspring of those who fell in that action; but to the honor of the soldiers' wives, it is recorded that only two mothers gave way to the temptation, and accepted the offer. No legitimate child has been admitted into the hospital for the last ten years.

The other conditions of admission are: that the petitioner shall not have applied for parish relief; that she shall have borne a good character previous to her misfortune; and that the father shall have bona fide deserted his offspring, and be not forthcoming. The child acquires stronger claims for admission, if, First: the petitioner has no relations able to maintain the child; Second: if her shame is known to few persons (the express wish of the founder being that she might, if possible, recover her lost position); and, Thirdly: that in the event of the child's being received, the petitioner has a prospect of obtaining an honest livelihood.

The manner of admission was originally based upon that pursued in France, Holland, and other Christian countries," as the wording of the quaint old charter went. The applicant came in at the outward door, rung the bell at. the inward door, and presented her child; no questions whatever were asked of her, nor did "any servant of the hospital presume to endeavor to discover who such person was, on pain of being dismissed." When the narrow limit of accommodation was reached, the notice, "The house is full," was affixed over the door.

In October, 1745, the western wing of the present building was opened; but so many more children were brought than the place could hold, that there were frequently a hundred women with children at the door, when only twenty could be admitted. The ballot was then resorted to: all the women were admitted into the court-room, and drew balls out of a bag; but it was still stipulated that if any desired to be concealed, the bag might be carried to them, or the matron was empowered to draw for them.

In 1754, the hospital authorities had six hundred children to support, the cost of which exceeded their income fourfold. They therefore appealed to Parliament, who voted them ten thousand pounds on the condition that all applicants under twelve months old should be received. This wholesale scheme of charity, which was largely assisted by more public grants, only lasted for four years. On the very first general receptionday, 117 infants were taken in, and 1,800 before the half-year

was out; while in the ensuing year 3,727 were admitted. The consequences are described to be lamentable. Immorality was greatly encouraged by the unlimited facility for thus disposing of its fruits, and the children themselves-though "the Foundling" had then branch establishments in many country placescould not be supported in such vast numbers.

Of the 15,000 children received in those four years, no less than 10,000 perished in their infancy. Parish officers, with local cunning, sent to the Foundling the legitimate children of paupers, in order to relieve their constituents; parents brought their own children, when dying, in order that the hospital should pay for their interment; and surgeons were even employed by parents to convey their children to this Alma Mater, at so so much per head, like pigs, or other cattle.

Parliament withdrew its grant from this formidable charity in 1759, although it humanely provided for the maintenance of all whom its too lavish charity had already admitted, and the branch country hospitals were discontinued. There were at that time 6,000 children in the institution under five years of age, and it was not until 1769, that by apprenticing all who were fit to be placed out, their number was reduced below 1,000. At the present time the yearly admissions average 32, and the total number maintained by the Hospital is 430.

As years sped by the spirit of the institution changed with its succeeding governors, and children were received without any inquiry, with whom a hundred pounds were paid down.

The Court Room of the Foundling Hospital has probably witnessed as painful scenes as any chamber in Great Britain, and though mothers may abandon their illicit offspring to the tender mercies of a public company, they cannot do it without great pain, and many an after pang of agony.

These scenes are renewed again when the children at five years of age are brought up to London from the places they have been farmed out like young goats, and they are then separated from their foster mothers. Even the foster fathers are sometimes greatly affected by the parting, while the grief of their wives is most excessive; and the children themselves so pine after

AN AGED FOUNDLING.

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their supposed parents that they are humored by holidays and treats, for a day or two after their arrival, in order to mitigate the change.

Though infants received into the hospital are never again seen by their parents, save in peculiar cases, a kind of intercourse with them is still permitted. Mothers are allowed to come every Monday and ask after their children's health, but are allowed no further information. On an average about eight women a week avail themselves of this privilege, and there are some who come regularly every fortnight.

I was present in one

of the rooms of the Foundling Hospital while a stout red faced matron was engaged in washing one of these dear little babes of misfortune, and it was indeed an affecting spectacle, to hear the little motherless waif cry and watch its infantile kickings and splurgings in the wash tub.

Even when application is made by mothers for the return of their child, it is frequently refused;

WASHING THE WAIF.

when it is apprenticed, and no intercourse is permitted between them, unless master and mistress, as well as parent and child, approve of it; nor when it has attained maturity, unless the child as well as the mother demand it.

Thus a woman, who was married from the hospital, and had borne seven children, once requested to know her parents, on the ground that "there was money belonging to her," and her