Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

SELF SUPPORTING DISPENSARIES.

II.

In a former paper*, we endeavoured to explain the principle of SELF SUPPORTING DISPENSARIES, and pointed out the beneficial effect that might be expected to result from their general adoption. That article having produced numerous inquiries on the subject, we shall now proceed to a statement of facts, extracted from the Reports of some few of these Dispensaries, established both in smaller and more populous places, in various parts of the kingdom.

One of the earliest places where the experiment was tried, was Atherstone in Warwickshire; and there, it appears, the Dispensary reckoned, in the first year, 764 free members, (that is, members who, by their contributions, entitled themselves to medical aid in the case of sickness,) and had a surplus income of £80 11s. 3 d., to be divided among the medical practitioners of the place.

In the village of Wellesbourne, (a village strictly agricultural,) we learn by the Sixth Half Yearly Report, that the subscribing Free Members had gradually increased from 140 to 225. It also appears, that only two or three persons had applied to the Honorary Members for White Tickets, that is, tickets enabling the holders to obtain medical relief without contributing; a circumstance highly gratifying to the Committee, and showing there was no disposition on the part of the labourer to solicit gratuitous relief, while, by a small contribution, even from the hard earnings of his own industry, he was allowed to provide against the time of sickness and necessity.

In mentioning Chesham in Bucks, we can give no report of the Self Supporting Dispensary established in that place, as it dates only from the year 1833. We are, however, induced to advert to this case, both on account of the remarkable liberality of the medical gentlemen of the place, and also, because it exhibits an example of the manner, in which a number of adjacent villages may combine with a central town, and that a town of no great magnitude, for the purpose of obtaining the advantages of one of

these institutions.

We now proceed to mention some larger places, where, it must be allowed, the operation of the system can best be developed and exemplified.

By the last report received from Derby, it appears the Free Members were upwards of 800, and the Dispensary was going on well, with satisfaction to the Committee, and benefit to the public.

At Burton on Trent, the Dispensary thrives, and the members consider themselves a model for similar institutions. They had, last year, a surplus income of £100, which was laid by in store, to meet any additional expense of cordials, wine, drugs, &c., which might be required, if the place should be visited by any virulent epidemic.

We will only add the case of Coventry, where a Dispensary on the improved principle is established, with a series of excellent rules, and with such good success as might have been anticipated. The Free Members are 2800. There is, also, a sufficient income to remunerate and to satisfy the medical men attached to the Dispensary. Nor can its popularity among the poor be better evinced, than by the fact, that, in the last year only, nearly seventy labouring persons have at once paid 10s. each, in order to be admitted members of the Dispensary, under circumstances peculiarly designated by one of its rules. At Coventry, the great want seems to be, that of

* Saturday Magazine, Vol. III., p. 230.

|

contributions and donations from persons not receiving benefit from the Dispensary.

We will not cite any other instances of these Dispensaries; but will now merely observe, that, wherever they have been established, in proportion to their success and efficacy, they have been practically found to foster in the poor, the pride of honest independence, and to teach them forethought and forbearance;—they have tended to separate the prudent from the improvident and vicious poor;-they have been effective auxiliaries to Savings' Banks;they have checked mistaken charity;-they have mitigated and averted some of the evils of the poorlaws;-they have repressed a disposition to riot and disturbance; and, while they have afforded many advantages to medical practitioners, they have led individuals of different professions, and of varying opinions, to meet and act together in promoting schemes of real beneficence.

It may, however, be briefly added, that the principle of these societies of Mutual Assurance against sickness in general, may be applied to a provison against any particular disorder;-of which there was an excellent exemplification at Southam, the place where the Self Supporting Dispensaries originated. In the year 1832, when the country was visited by the Cholera, at the suggestion of Mr. H. L. Smith, the founder of these Dispensaries, seventy-five persons of Southam agreed to pay from 6d. to 2s. 6d. a week, so long as the disease continued within twenty miles of the town, or till all the demands on the Treasurer were paid. This fund was to be applied, under the direction of a committee, towards allowing to the subscribers from five to thirty shillings per day, while the disease should be in their houses. These contributions were made principally by small tradesmen and labourers, and were really and truly a fulfilment of the precept of every man laying by in store as God had prospered him. In four months there was upwards of £50. in the Savings' Bank. And what is most remarkable, however the fact may be accounted for, there was a cessation of the disease in the town and neighbourhood, from the day the collectors of the Cholera Assurance Society commenced their visitations. The sums contributed for this especial purpose, were returned to the subscribers when the disease was duly reported to be at an end.

[ocr errors]

G. C.

PUNCTUALITY.—Mr. M—, a merchant of M—, was a great lover of punctuality in all its forms. Calling upon a mechanic one day, who was notorious for the nonfulfilment of his engagements, and by whom he had frequently been deceived, When," says he, "Mr. S-, can I have my work finished and sent home? Take your own time, but tell me positively, and do not deceive me, for I do not like to be disappointed." "On Thursday next," says the mechanic, "if I am living, you shall positively have it." Thursday came and passed, but no work made its appearance. In the evening the merchant called upon the printer, with the request that he would insert the death of Mr. S- which he accordingly did in the following morning's paper. What was our mechanic's surprise, on taking up the paper the next day, to find an announcement of his own death! Up he goes to the printer for an explanation. There he was told that Mr. M- authorized it, and they merchant to know what it means. Mr. Mshows great had supposed it correct. He, of course, repairs to the surprise on beholding him, and can hardly be persuaded he is not a ghostly appearance, "For," says he, " you solemnly promised me, that if you were living, I should have my work done and returned on Thursday: no work appearing, I very naturally concluded you were dead, and had it was abashed and accordingly so announced." Mr. Ssilent, and, we hope made better by the well-intended joke.

[merged small][graphic][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small]

THE sound state of the bridge of Wandipore, when it was visited by Captain Turner in 1783, is mentioned by him as a striking proof of the durability of turpentine-fir, of which it was constructed: its age at that time was one hundred and forty years, and it exhibited no symptom of decay, though no composition of any kind had been made use of, to protect the wood from the effects of the weather. He describes the bridge as of " singular lightness and beauty in its appearance; it is composed entirely of fir, and has not the smallest piece of iron, or any other metal to connect its parts. It has three gateways;-one on each side of the river, and another erected in the stream, upon a pier. The span of the first bridge, which occupies two-thirds of the breadth of the river, measures one hundred and twelve feet: it consists of three parts, nearly equal to each other in length; the two ends, having a considerable slope, raise the elevation of the centre platform, which is horizontal, some feet above the floor of the gateways. Four rows of timbers, inserted in the masonry of the bank and pier, support each end of the arch; the centre platform is laid across at the top. The beams and planks are all of hewn fir; and they are pinned together by large wooden pegs, which form all the fastening I could observe. It is secured by a neat light rail. The bridge from the pier to the hill on which the castle stands, has a penthouse over it, which is covered with shingles."--Embassy to Thibet.

A DOUBLE RAINBOW.

ON Tuesday morning we started for the famous waterfall of the Rinken, called Rinkenfoss. Only one horse was in the village; but the distance was short, and after the first ten miles, a horse could not proceed. For four miles we scrambled over rocks, where, in places, there was nothing more than a ledge just large enough to catch the side of the foot. The scenery is grand beyond description, The mountains, on either side of the valley, are covered to the very summits with wood, while, in the middle, the river rolls its angry waters through a rugged channel, whose inclination augments constantly their velocity

At length we reached the foss. I do not remember to have seen a sight so calculated to inspire terror. The Moen rushes through a rock blackened by time, and falls of the same dark material. The foam, or rinken, rises so from a height of 450 feet perpendicularly, into a caldron high as to conceal from the distant spectator the depth of the fall, which we could duly appreciate only when lying on the ground, and looking over the edge of the precipice at its highest point. Whether real or fancied, the earth seemed to tremble under the concussion of the continuous torrent. At this moment the sun burst from behind a cloud, and, shining upon the falling water and the playful spray, cast obliquely on the dark background a perfect double rainbow, approaching nearly to a circle. The effect was exceedingly striking. Placed in the only point where the circumference was incomplete, we saw ourselves clothed with the rainbow. Unprepared as we were for so extraordinary a position, it was too sublime, and we almost shuddered at the glory of the vesture with which we were surrounded; while in the beauty and grandeur of this masterpiece of His hand, we recognised the power of Him who "weigheth the mountains in scales," and "covereth himself with light as with a garment."

This phenomenon, in itself so remarkable, was rendered yet more interesting by the recollection, that equal dimensions are exhibited by the rainbow of scarcely any other waterfall in the world, and never attained by the covenanted bow in the clouds. You remember that, from the relative position of the spectator and the sun, and from the convex figure of the earth, the natural rainbow can never be seen larger than a semicircle, and that only for a moment when the sun is emerging from, or dipping under, the horizon. -ELLIOTT S Letters from the North.

KNOWLEDGE is never of very serious use to man, until it has become part of his customary course of thinking. The knowledge which barely passes through the mind resembles that which is gained of a country by a traveller, who is whirled through it in a stage; or by a bird flitting over it, in his passage to another.-DWIGHT.

LONDON:

JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE l'ENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE, AND Sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders in the Kingdom,

[blocks in formation]

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

ROKEBY, IN YORKSHIRE.

PRICE ONE PENNY.

[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

ROKEBY, situated at the junction of the rivers Tees | bracing the cause of that monarch, and the estate and Greta, in a picturesque part of the North soon passed into other hands. Riding of Yorkshire, possesses no common claims to the attention of the traveller. In this parish, rich in beautiful scenery, may be discovered the traces of a Roman station: it is also distinguished by the fine remains of an ancient priory. The lords of Rokeby were celebrated as soldiers and statesmen, from the Conquest to the reign of Charles the First, when the family suffered grievously, on emVOL. IV.

[ocr errors]

But perhaps, the circumstance which, in the present day, gives the chief interest to Rokeby, is its having formed the scene of a poem by Sir Walter Scott. The Lay of the last Minstrel, Marmion, The Lady of the Lake, and Rokeby, had gained a high literary reputation for that great writer, long before "the Author of Waverley," or, as he was sometimes called, "The Great Uṇ, known," came before the world.

108

--

--

In Rokeby, with its enchanting views, and the Rev. Dr. Whitaker, expresses his regret, that its wild traditions connected with the place, Scott seems foundation cannot be assigned to the Rokebys. The to have found much that was suited to his taste:- founder is unknown: it is, however, supposed to A stern, and lone, yet lovely road, have been Ralph De Multon, in the beginning of the As e'er the foot of Minstrel trode; reign of Richard the First. Dr. Whitaker describes the and the readers of that poem, who have visited church, as being still nearly entire; but complains, in the spot from which it takes its title, must be struck his peculiar way, of "a wide, yawning east-window, with the skill with which the poet has introduced the supported, instead of ramified tracery, by perpendivarious interesting objects in the neighbourhood, cular mullions, which give an impression of tempo(Barnard Castle" Eglistone's gray ruins;" Mort-rary props, erected to sustain a falling arch. Of this ham Tower" the Roman Legion")-and still more design," he adds, so unhappily and tastelessly conwith the accuracy, as well as spirit, shown in his ceived, I have only seen one other specimen; yet it poetical descriptions of scenery. Indeed, so faith- has not escaped the gothicizers of the present day, ful was he to nature, whether portraying her milder who, in their neglect of better things, have not failed or more majestic features, that after going attentively to copy the east-window of Eglestone!" The church over some of his more finished representations, we was the place of interment for the Rokebys, and might almost fancy we had been viewing a well- formerly contained the tombs of members of that executed picture. In passing from Yorkshire to family, as well as those of Bowes and Fitzhugh. Durham, over the modern arch called Abbey Bridge, Scott alludes to the present state of the ancient fabric, which is represented in the engraving, we look down and the injuries it sustained from republican fury on a rocky ravine: through this the Tees forces its with the feelings of a poet and an antiquary ; passage, amidst irregular masses of rock, in the The reverend pile lay wild and waste, crevices of which, many trees and shrubs have fixed Profaned, dishonoured, and defaced: their roots; and we may then call to mind the verses Through storied lattices no more of the Northern Bard: In softened light the sunbeams pour, Gilding the Gothic sculpture rich, Of shrine, and monument, and niche. The civil fury of the time

Then in broad lustre shall be shown,
That mighty trench of living stone;
And each huge trunk that from the side,
Reclines him o'er the darksome tide,
Where Tees, full many a fathom low,
Wears with his rage no common foe;
For pebbly bank, nor sand-bed here,
Nor clay-mound checks his fierce career,
Condemned to mine a channelled way,

O'er solid sheets of marble gray.—Canto ii.

His account, also, of the torrent of Greta, and of the
banks on each side, is no less accurate than grand,
It seemed some mountain rent and riven,
A channel for the stream had given,
So high the cliffs of lime-stone gray,
Hung beetling o'er the torrent's way,
Yielding, along their rugged base,
A flinty foot-path's niggard space;
Where he, who winds 'twixt rock and wave,
May hear the headlong torrent rave;
And like a steed in frantic fit,

That flings the froth from curb and bit,
May view her chafe her waves to spray,
O'er every rock that bars her way;
Till foam-globes on her eddies ride,
Thick as the schemes of human pride,
That down life's current drive amain,
As frail and frothy, and as vain!

The cliffs that rear their haughty head,
High o'er the river's darksome bed,
Were now all naked, wild, and gray,
Now waving all with greenwood spray,
Here trees to every crevice clung,
And o'er the dell their branches hung,
And there, all splintered and uneven,

The shivered rocks ascend to heaven.-Canto ii. The Abbey Bridge was built by the late Mr. Morritt, of Rokeby. Through the arch, on the left, are seen the ruins of Egglestone priory or abbey, standing on the brink of an eminence at the junction of the Tees with a little dell called Thorsgill. In page 96 of the present Number, our readers may have a nearer view of this interesting Præmonstratensian Priory*. That excellent antiquary, the late

The Præmonstratensian canons were those who followed certain rules laid down by St. Norbert, in 1120. This order obtained its name (in Latin, Præmonstratus) from a story told by the monks. They declared that their founder received his rules bound in gold from the hand of St. Augustine, whose apparition came to him in the night! After this distinguished visit, it was alleged that St. Norbert received another from an angel, who showed him the meadow in which he was to build his first monastery; from which circumstance, it was called Præmonstratus (or Prémonstré), meaning Fore-shown. This order first settled in England at Newhouse, Lincolnshire, in 1140.

Made sport of sacrilegious crime;

For dark fanaticism rent

Altar, and screen, and ornament;

And peasant hands the tombs o'erthrew,

Of Bowes, of Rokeby, and Fitz Hugh.-Canto vi.

No part of the ancient mansion, formerly inhabited by this once-powerful family, is now in being. Mortham Tower, however, became the dwelling of some of its later branches, till altered circumstances compelled them to part with this residence also.

"The ancient castle of Rokeby," says Scott, "stood exactly upon the site of the present mansion, by which a part of its walls is enclosed. It is surrounded by a profusion of fine wood; and the park in which it stands is adorned by the junction of the Greta and of the Tees. The title of Baron Rokeby of Armagh, was, in 1777, conferred on the Right Rev. R. Robinson, Primate of Ireland, descended of the Robinsons' family of Rokeby, in Yorkshire.

"From the Robinsons, the estate was purchased by the late J. S. Morritt, Esq., whose son, J. B. S. Morritt, Esq., is the present owner." This gentleman has a large collection of antiquities, many of which are Roman relics, discovered at Rokeby, and other curiosities connected with the situation. Dr. Whitaker renders the word Rokeby, as the dwelling near the Rock. Should our readers require further information on the subject, we recommend them to consult WHITAKER's History of Richmondshire, and the notes to SCOTT's beautiful poem above quoted.

M.

ficent bell cast for the church which he had built at Aix-laTHE Emperor Charlemagne was desirous to have a magniChapelle. The artist Tancho, who had cast one very much admired for the church of St. Gall, was employed by the Emperor, and furnished at his own request with a great quantity of copper, and a hundred pounds weight of silver, for the purpose. Tancho, being of a covetous disposition, kept the silver for his own use, and substituted in its room a sufficient quantity of highly-purified tin, with which he furnished a most admirable bell, and presented it to the Emperor. The historian adds, however, that it being suspended in the tower, the people were unable to ring it, Tancho himself being called in, pulled so hard that the iron tongue fell on him and killed him.—RANKEN'S His tory of France.

[blocks in formation]

VARIETY of production is clearly the foundation of exchange; for, as long as each person provides for all his own wants, and only for them, he will have nothing to part with, and nothing to receive. Barter, then, having become a common matter of business, would naturally give place, in the progress of society, to the employment of some kind of MONEY.

money.

It is not intended to enter here on the important and curious questions which belong to the subject of It will be enough for our present purpose to state, that, by money is meant any commodity in general request, which is received in exchange for other commodities not to be directly used by the party receiving it (for that is barter), but for the purpose of being again parted with, in exchange for something else. It is not the very article which the party wants, or expects hereafter to want; but it is a security, or pledge, that he may obtain that article whenever he wants it from those who have it to spare. The herdsman who needed, or expected hereafter to need, a supply of corn, might, if he could not in any other way effect an exchange, be willing to part with some of his cattle for cloth, of which he had no need, in the expectation of being able to exchange that again for corn with some one who either needed it, or would take it in the same manner as he had done. The cloth would do as well as

money, till it should reach the hands of one who
designed to keep it for his own use.
And it appears,
that there are some parts of Africa, where pieces of
cloth, of a certain fixed size and quality, are, as it
were, the current coin of the country. In other
parts of Africa, wedges of salt are said to be used

-for the same purpose.

in themselves, either virtuous or vicious. A desire
of gain, which is either excessive, or has only selfish
indulgence in view, is base and hateful; when the
object is to keep one's family from want and depend-
ence, it is praiseworthy: when wealth is sought as a
Emulation, again, when it becomes envy, is odious;
means of doing good to others, the pursuit is noble.
when directed to trifling objects, despicable; when
duly controlled, and directed to good objects, is a

in both cases, there are, between the highest and
useful and honourable hand-maid to virtue. And,
the basest motives, innumerable gradations. But it
is to be observed, as a point most interesting in the
present inquiry, that, by the wise and benevolent
arrangement of Providence, even those who are only
the pursuit of selfish ends, unconsciously assisting
thinking of their own credit and advantage, are, in
others. The public welfare is not left to depend
merely on the operation of public spirit.
industry and ingenuity to increase the produce of
enabled to enjoy a better share of other productions:
the earth and of the loom; each, that he may be
but, in so doing, the husbandman and the weaver
the effort of each man, with a view to his own credit,
cause men to be better paid and better clothed. And
when this becomes general, the whole society to rise
to rise, or, at least, not to sink, in society, causes,

The husbandman and the weaver exert their utmost

in wealth.

is never fixed; because the object aimed at by each of The rate of progress thus occasioned by Emulation If men's desires were limited to a supply of the a great number, can never be reached by all of them. necessaries and commonest comforts of life, their

efforts to reach this, would, indeed, bring the society up to a certain point, but not necessarily further: because this object might be gained by all. And if

each to attain, not merely an absolute, but a compaBut when a great portion of its members are striving, rative degree of wealth, there must always be many, who, though they continue advancing, will yet remain who are equally advancing: and thus the same in the same position with regard to their neighbours, inducement will continue to operate from generation to generation. The race never comes to an end, while the racers are striving, not to reach a certain of the rest, or, at least, not to be among the hindfixed goal; but each, either constantly to keep a-head

But the herdsman would, most likely, rather receive in this way, instead of any articles which heit were, the society might there become stationary. did not himself need, some ornamental article in general request, such as a bracelet, or necklace, of gold, silver, or valued shells or stones, not only as less bulky, and less liable to decay, but because they could be used by him for the purpose of display, till he should have occasion to part with them, and could then be paid away without inconvenience. Accordingly, the aim has always been to use, as a means of exchange, rather than all others, articles of an ornamental kind, prized for their beauty and rarity. Such are gold and silver, which have long been much the most generally used for this purpose;―the cowrieshells, admired for making necklaces, and commonly used as money throughout an extensive region in Africa,-the porcelain shells, adopted in like manner, in some parts of India; and the wampum of some of the native American Indians, which consists of a kind of bugles wrought out of shells, and used both as an ornament and as money.

THE EFFECT OF EMULATION.

As wealth increased, the continued effect of Emulation would be, to make each man strive to surpass, or at least, not fall below his neighbours: for it is important to keep in mind, that the selfishness, the envy, the unfairness, the baseness of every kind, which we so often see called forth in the competitions of worldlyminded men, are not caused by the increase of national wealth. Among poor and barbarous nations, we may find as much fraud, covetousness, vanity, and envy, called forth on the score of a string of beads, a hatchet, or a musket, as are to be found among wealthier states.

The desire of wealth, and Emulation, the desire of equalling or surpassing others, are neither of them,

most.

D.

Frugality of manners is the nourishment and strength of
bodies politic: it is that, by which they grow and subsist,
until they are corrupted by luxury, the natural cause of
their decay and ruin.-BISHOP BERKELEY.

A STRANGE CASE.-A case in law was related to Martin
Luther; namely, that a miller had an ass which ran out of
his paddock, and came to a river's side, where he went into
a fisherman's boat that stood in the river, to drink thereout.
But inasmuch as the boat had not been tied fast by the
fisherman, it floated away with the ass, so that the miller
lost his donkey, and the fisherman his boat. The miller
thereupon, complained of the fisherman for neglecting
to tie his boat fast; and the fisherman accused the miller,
his boat. Now, the question was, What is the law? Did
for not keeping his ass at home, desiring satisfaction for
the ass take the boat away, or the boat the ass? Where-
upon Luther said, "These are called cases in law they
were both in error; the fisherman in not tying his boat
fast, and the miller in not keeping his ass at home.
There is a fault on both sides; it is a chance-medley:
there was negligence on both sides: such cases wave the
rigour of lawyers: for the extreme rigour is not to be
exercised, but only equity. All things are to be governed
by equity."-LUTHER'S Familiar Discourses.
108-2

« AnteriorContinuar »