LXXXVIII. Proposal for lending small Sums to the Industrious

MR. URBAN,

Poor.

BY inserting the following Proposal in your next Magazine, you will probably further the interests of humanity, and will greatly oblige

AN OLD CORRESPONDENT.

A Proposal for lending small Sums of Money for a short Time, without Interest, to virtuous and industrious Persons labouring under temporary Difficulties.

VARIOUS are the methods which humanity has suggested for the relief of poverty and distress, while too little attention has been paid to any plan for preventing those evils which so large a portion of mankind are born to suffer. It is certain that the unhappy transition from competence to indigence is commonly occasioned by a temporary difficulty, which might be removed by a small assistance from the hand of the benevolent, and all the consequent misery avoided. The labourer or manufacturer, whose daily industry is barely sufficient to support a numerous family, is perhaps laid on the bed of sickness, or, without any misconduct, for a short time may happen to be unemployed; his wife and children immediately want bread; and shortly after comes an unfeeling landlord, who sells their little furniture, and turns out the poor wretches either to starve or become a burthen to the parish. This fixes the destiny of the unfortunate family for the whole remainder of life; for though there is a laudable pride, even in the lowest individual, which makes him abhor the idea of being dependant on parish rates, and excites him to every exertion lest the dear little objects of his affection should be stigmatized by the badge of paupers; yet, when he finds the disgrace wholly unavoidable, and his name is once registered in the parochial records of the poor, he never strives to regain his independence, because he thinks his reputation irrecoverable.

Too often also it happens that, for a small debt, the poor man is shut up in prison great part of his life, and rendered useless to his family and the public; and though the Society for liberating Persons confined for small Debts has been K k

VOL. III.

much and deservedly applauded, yet, if Charity should begin her god-like work a little earlier, and prevent those unfortunate men from being dragged from useful employments, and the arms of their lamenting families, much greater good would be done. This is evident on the slightest consideration; for, when the father is committed to prison, the children must be provided for by the parish, or they will become vagrants, and a pest to the public. The wife must share deeply in their calamity, and perhaps abandons herself to despair; or, if her temper be lively, and her person agreeable, her distresses may dispose her to submit to the affluent seducer. The prisoner in the mean while forgets his habits of industry, and learns those vices which the illiterate indolent acquire in all situations, but particularly in that school of immorality, a gaol. Very seldom indeed it happens, that, after being discharged from confinement, he collects his scattered family, resumes his former calling, and recovers his credit as an honest and industrious man. The application of a little force may keep the wheels of industry going; but, if they are once suffered to stop, any attempt to set them in motion again is very rarely successful. Now, could occasional relief be given to such a person while struggling with his adverse condition, he might not only continue to be the support of his family, but, in all probability, would soon be able to repay a small sum of money which might be lent him from a fund, if it should be instituted for such a beneficent purpose. And, as the basis of such an institution must entirely depend on a careful discrimination of character, the petitioners should come well recommended, by three or more respectable neighbours, for their honesty and industry, and as being persons who will probably be able to discharge the loan within a few months. Those who should abuse this charity, by refusing or neglecting to return the money at the time proposed, to be excluded from all future assistance, and to be sued, if their circumstances should make their conduct criminal.

*One melancholy instance of this, which occurred in the West of England about three mouths since, may be here mentioned. A poor man, who supported his family by carrying coals on a couple of small horses, was arrested for an inconsiderable debt, incurred by an accidental misfortune. His wife sold his little stock, and even her scanty wardrobe, but unluckily the amount was short of the debt and costs about two guineas; the debtor, therefore, was pulled away by the iron grasp of bailiffs; and the poor wife, distracted at the scene of her husband's distress, and the shrieks of her children, immediately destroyed herself! Whose heart does not burn with a desire of preventing such calamities!

For the credit of human gratitude, it is to be hoped that few such men will be found; but, as there must be some debtors to this institution, whose misfortunes, by long continuance, will keep them insolvent, it will be necessary to have an annual subscription to support it.

There are some benevolent persons, who are not rendered so giday in the vortex of pleasure, nor so deafened by the clamour of politics, but they can still hear the cry of human distress, and are ready to give every possible succour. To such only is this Proposal addressed; and they are earnestly requested to give it a mature consideration, and not hastily dismiss it on account of some apparent objections. The proposer is sensible that great difficulties would attend the execution of this plan, but he does not think them insuperable; and surely the benefit to be derived from it to the virtuous and industrious poor is of such importance as would well justify an experiment how far it is practicable. The common objection will be, that few will be able and willing to repay the money they shall borrow from such funds. But, if a proper regard be paid to character, it is likely this will not be found true. But, even supposing this to be the case, certainly it is not a sufficient reason for rejecting this Proposal. For, should the greater part of the sums thus advanced be sunk, it must be allowed that charity can never be exercised in a more beneficial manner. The assistance we give the poor is generally by alms to those who either receive parish-pay, or live in a state of indolence and vagrancy, and whose impudence makes them intrude on and harass the benevolent. By such persons the money is usually misapplied to the purposes of intemperance, or unnecessary indulgence; or, at best, it affords but a short relief without productive and lasting benefit. For, much discretion and economy in the management of alms cannot be expected from those whose imprudence and extravagance have, perhaps, contributed to reduce them to their unhappy situation. But now, if the money so bestowed should be applied to extricate sober and diligent persons embarrassed by casual difficulties, the effect would be very different; for, we may lay it down as a rule, that, where there is no prospect but that of constant want, a temporary relief will be transient and ineffectual; but, if the want be only temporary, assistance will be of the most permanent and happy consequence. In this latter case we distribute the seeds of charity, which, by the care and cultivation of the receiver, will produce a plentiful harvest. We deliver a talent which will not be

hidden in the earth, but of which the good and faithful servant will make a tenfold increase.

1793, Nov.

LXXXIX. Cold Water recommended for a Scald.

MR. URBAN,

Truro, Cornwall, Nov. 4. THOUGH the following communication has already appeared in a periodical work, as the tendency of it must be admitted to be generally useful, I am sure I need not apologize for requesting that it may be inserted in the Gentleinan's Magazine. Its utility alone must be its recommendation, for, it has little or nothing of novelty to plead in its favour; though it may appear odd that the late Mr. Hunter, a man of unquestionable reputation, and little accustomed to bestow praise where it was not due, should have given great credit to a well-meaning brewer of Edinburgh, whose name, I think, is Cleghorn, for the communication of the peculiar virtues of cold vinegar applied to recent burns or scalds; as if he had been entitled to the merit of making a discovery on the subject. The history of cold applications in the treatment of inflammations is too well known to make any disquisition on the subject necessary here. There are few persons unacquainted with their efficacy. The most material inquiry is, what is the best application for the purpose of obviating the bad effects of the more common accidents of this kind, produced by fire, boiling water, and other hot liquid substances? The following case may afford a conclusion on the subject, which is much in favour of a remedy that is always near at hand, and the application of which is attended with less inconvenience than almost any other with which I am acquainted. In saying this, I do not mean to assert its superior efficacy to every other lotion; on the contrary, I think that some articles of the Materia Medica might, possibly, in some cases, give it additional virtue; but it has this grand advantage over the ordinary medical or chirurgical aids, that it is always near at hand: and, in the cases to which it is applicable, the least delay precludes the possibility of obtaining effectual assistance. In support then of the usefulness of cold water in the cure of recent scalds, I beg leave to relate the following fact. In the winter of 1788, I was sitting near a fire on which was

placed a large tea-kettle filled with water, that was then of a boiling heat. The vessel slipped from off the fire, and the whole, or the greater part, of its contents was thrown over one of my legs. To lessen the extreme heat and pain which were instantly produced, the first thing that struck me was the affusion of cold water out of a large decanter which fortunately stood at the time on the table, and which I made, without waiting to take off my stocking, over the affected parts. In the mean time, feeling some relief from the application of cold, I ordered a pail of water to be procured, in which I immersed the leg repeatedly; and this I continued to do for nearly two hours (as well as I can now recollect,) getting a fresh pail of water as soon as any sensible degree of warmth was communicated by the scalded limb to that which I had been using. Having by these repeated immersions almost, if not entirely, got rid of the heat and smarting, I proceeded to draw off my stocking with some caution, and not without suspicion that a part of the cuticle would have been removed along with it. But I was agreeably surprised to find that the skin had suffered little or no injury, except that it was a little shrivelled, and stiff in some places, which was as likely to have been occasioned by the. cold as the hot water. No vesication succeeded; and, except a little peeling of the skin, and some partial stiffness, which was soon removed by rubbing the surface with oil, I never felt any subsequent inconvenience. To those who may chance to suffer a similar accident, I may venture from this fact, independently of any theory in its favour, to recommend the like mode of treating it. Oil, which is no unfrequent application, is a bad one, as it is a bad conductor of heat, and as it tends therefore to increase the heat of the surface to which it may be applied. Vinegar, though it has been considered to possess a sedative quality, and therefore to be useful in such cases, as it will irritate much more than water, is, on that account, less proper: and the same may be said of all acids. Even lead dissolved in vinegar, which makes the famous extract of Mr. Goulard, is liable, in my opinion, to the same objection.

It is hardly requisite to add, that there is a necessity of making the application of cold water as speedily as possible after the accident; for, if it be delayed till blistering has taken place, which will happen in a very short space of time, any application made, with a view to effect a complete cure, must prove ineffectual.

1793, Dec.

WILLIAM MAY.