Essays; Political, Economical, and Philosophical Part 2

By far the greater number of the poor people to be taken care of were not only common beggars, but had been up from their very infancy in that profession; and were so attached to their indolent and dissolute way of living, as to prefer it to all other situations. They were not only unacquainted with all kinds of work, but had the most insuperable aversion to honest labour; and had been so long familiarized with every crime, that they had become perfectly callous to all sense of shame and remorse.

With persons of this description, it is easy to be conceived that precepts;--admonitions;--and punishments, would be of little or no avail. But where precepts fail, HABITS may sometimes be successful.

To make vicious and abandoned people happy, it has generally been supposed necessary, FIRST to make them virtuous. But why not reverse this order? Why not make them first HAPPY, and then virtuous? If happiness and virtue be INSEPARABLE the end will be as certainly obtained by the one method as by the other; and it is most undoubtedly much easier to contribute to the happiness and comfort of persons in a state of poverty and misery, than, by admonitions and punishments, to reform their morals.

Deeply struck with the importance of this truth, all my measures were taken accordingly. Every thing was done that could be devised to make the poor people I had to deal with comfortable and happy in their new situation; and my hopes, that a habit of enjoying the real comforts and conveniences which were provided for them, would in time, soften their hearts;--open their eyes;--and render them grateful and docile, were not disappointed.

The pleasure I have had in the success of this experiment is much easier to be conceived than described. Would G.o.d that my success might encourage others to follow my example! If it were generally known how little trouble, and how little expence, are required to do much good, the heart-felt satisfaction which arises from relieving the wants, and promoting the happiness of our fellow-creatures, is so great, that I am persuaded, acts of the most essential charity would be much more frequent, and the ma.s.s of misery among mankind would consequently be much lessened.

Having taken my resolution to make the COMFORT of the poor people, who were to be provided for, the primary object of my attention, I considered what circ.u.mstance in life, after the necessaries, food and raiment, contributes most to comfort, and I found it to be CLEANLINESS. And so very extensive is the influence of cleanliness, that it reaches even to the brute creation.

With what care and attention do the feathered race wash themselves and put their plumage in order; and how perfectly neat, clean and elegant do they ever appear! Among the beasts of the field we find that those which are the most cleanly are generally the most gay and cheerful; or are distinguished by a certain air of tranquillity and contentment; and singing birds are always remarkable for the neatness of their plumage. And so great is the effect of cleanliness upon man, that it extends even to his moral character. Virtue never dwelt long with filth and nastiness; nor do I believe there ever was a person SCRUPULOUSLY ATTENTIVE TO CLEANLINESS who was a consummate villain[7].

Order and disorder--peace and war--health and sickness, cannot exist together; but COMFORT and CONTENTMENT the inseparable companions of HAPPINESS and VIRTUE, can only arise from order, peace, and health.

Brute animals are evidently taught cleanliness by instinct; and can there be a stronger proof of its being essentially necessary to their well-being and happiness?--But if cleanliness is necessary to the happiness of brutes, how much more so must it be to the happiness of the human race?

The good effects of cleanliness, or rather the bad effects of filth and nastiness, may, I think, be very satisfactorily accounted for. Our bodies are continually at war with whatever offends them, and every thing offends them that adheres to them, and irritates them,--and through by long habit we may be so accustomed to support a physical ill, as to become almost insensible to it, yet it never leaves the mind perfectly at peace.

There always remains a certain uneasiness, and discontent;-- an indecision, and an aversion from all serious application, which shows evidently that the mind is not at rest.

Those who from being afflicted with long and painful disease, suddenly acquire health, are best able to judge of the force of this reasoning. It is by the delightful sensation they feel, at being relieved from pain and uneasiness, that they learn to know the full extent of their former misery; and the human heart is never so effectually softened, and so well prepared and disposed to receive virtuous impressions, as upon such occasions.

It was with a view to bring the minds of the poor and unfortunate people I had to deal with to this state, that I took so much pains to make them comfortable in their new situation. The state in which they had been used to live was certainly most wretched and deplorable; but they had been so long accustomed to it, that they were grown insensible to their own misery. It was therefore necessary, in order to awaken their attention, to make the contrast between their former situation, and that which was prepared for them, as striking as possible. To this end, every thing was done that could be devised to make them REALLY COMFORTABLE.

Most of them had been used to living in the most miserable hovels, in the midst of vermin, and every kind of filthiness; or to sleep in the streets, and under the hedges, half naked, and exposed to all the inclemencies of the seasons. A large and commodious building, fitted up in the neatest and most comfortable manner, was now provided for their reception.

In this agreeable retreat they found s.p.a.cious and elegant apartments, kept with the most scrupulous neatness; well warmed in winter; well lighted; a good warm dinner every day, gratis; cooked and served up with all possible attention to order and cleanliness;-- materials and utensils for those who required instruction;--the most generous pay, IN MONEY, for all the labour performed; and the kindest usage from every person, from the highest to the lowest, belonging to the establishment. Here, in this asylum for the indigent and unfortunate, no ill usage;-- no harsh language, is permitted. During five years that the establishment has existed, not a blow has been given to any one; not even to a child by his instructor.

As the rules and regulations for the preservation of order are few, and easy to be observed, the instances of their being transgressed are rare; and as all the labour performed, is paid for by the piece; and not by the day; and is well paid; and as those who gain the most by their work in the course of the week, receive proportional rewards on the Sat.u.r.day evening; these are most effectual encouragements to industry.

But before I proceed to give an account of the internal economy of this establishment, it will be necessary to describe the building which was appropriated to this use; and the other local circ.u.mstances, necessary to be known, in order to have a clear idea of the subject.

This building, which is very extensive, is pleasantly situated in the Au, one of the suburbs of the city of Munich. It had formerly been a manufactory, but for many years had been deserted and falling to ruins. It was now completely repaired, and in part rebuilt. A large kitchen, with a large eating-room adjoining it, and a commodious bake-house, were added to the buildings; and such other mechanics as were constantly wanted in the manufactory for making and repairing the machinery were established, and furnished with tools. Large halls were fitted up for spinners of hemp;--for spinners of flax;--for spinners of cotton;--for spinners of wool;--and for spinners of worsted; and adjoining to each hall a small room was fitted up for a clerk or inspector of the hall, (spin-schreiber). This room, which was at the same time a store-room, and counting-house, and a large window opening into the hall, from whence the spinners were supplied with raw materials;--where they delivered their yarn when spun;--and from whence they received an order upon the cashier, signed by the clerk, for the amount of their labour.

Halls were likewise fitted up for weavers of woollens;-- for weavers of serges and shalloons;--for linen weavers;-- for weavers of cotton goods, and for stocking weavers;-- cloth shearers;--dryers;--sadlers;--wool-combers;--knitters;-- sempstresses, etc. Magazines were fitted up as well for finished manufactures, as for raw materials, and rooms for counting-houses, --store-rooms for the kitchen and bake-house,--and dwelling-rooms for the inspectors and other officers who were lodged in the house.

A very s.p.a.cious hall, 110 feet long, 37 feet wide, and 22 feet high, with many windows on both sides, was fitted up as a drying-room; and in this hall tenters were placed for stretching out and drying eight pieces of cloth at once. The hall was so contrived as to serve for the dyer and for the clothier at the same time.

A fulling-mill was established upon a stream of water which runs by one side of the court round which the building is erected; and adjoining to the fulling-mill, is the dyers-shop; and the wash-house.

This whole edifice, which is very extensive, was fitted up, as has already been observed, in the neatest manner possible.

In doing this, even the external appearance of the building was attended to. It was handsomely painted; without, as well as within; and pains were taken to give it an air of ELEGANCE, as well as of neatness and cleanliness. A large court in the middle of the building was levelled, and covered with gravel; and the approach to it from every side was made easy and commodious.

Over the princ.i.p.al door, or rather gate, which fronts the street, is an inscription, denoting the use to which the building is appropriated; and the pa.s.sage leading into the court, there is written in large letters of gold upon a black ground-- "NO ALMS WILL BE RECEIVED HERE."

Upon coming into the court you see inscriptions over all the doors upon the ground floor, leading to the different parts of the building. These inscriptions, which are all in letters of gold upon a black ground, denote the particular uses to which the different apartments are destined.

This building having been got ready, and a sufficient number of spinning-wheels, looms, and other utensils made use of in the most common manufactures being provided; together with a sufficient stock of raw materials, I proceeded to carry my plan into execution in the manner which will be related in the following Chapter.

CHAPTER. IV.

An account of the taking up of the beggars at Munich.

The inhabitants are called upon for their a.s.sistance.

General subscription for the relief and support of the poor.

All other public and private collections for the poor abolished.

New-Year's-Day having, from time immemorial, been considered in Bavaria as a day peculiarly set apart for giving alms; and the beggars never failing to be all out upon that occasion; I chose that moment as being the most favourable for beginning my operations. Early in the morning of the first of January 1790, the officers and non-commissioned officers of the three regiments of infantry in garrison, were stationed in the different streets, where they were directed to wait for further orders.

Having, in the mean time, a.s.sembled, at my lodgings, the field-officers, and all the chief magistrates of the town, I made them acquainted with my intention to proceed that very morning to the execution of a plan I had formed for taking up the beggars, and providing for the poor; and asked their immediate a.s.sistance.

To show the public that it was not my wish to carry this measure into execution by military force alone, (which might have rendered the measure odious,) but that I was disposed to show all becoming deference to the civil authority, I begged the magistrates to accompany me, and the field-officers of the garrison, in the execution of the first and most difficult part of the undertaking, that of arresting the beggars. This they most readily consented to, and we immediately sallied out into the street, myself accompanied by the chief magistrate of the town, and each of the field-officers by an inferior magistrate.

We were hardly got into the street when we were accosted by a beggar, who asked us for alms. I went up to him, and laying my hand gently upon his shoulder, told him, that from thenceforwards begging would not be permitted in Munich;--that if he really stood in need of a.s.sistance, (which would immediately be enquired into,) the necessary a.s.sistance should certainly be given him, but that begging was forbidden; and if he was detected in it again he would be severely punished. I then delivered him over to an orderly serjeant who was following me, with directions to conduct him to the Town-hall, and deliver him into the hands of those he should find there to receive him; and then turning to the officers and magistrates who accompanied me, I begged they would take notice, that I had myself, WITH MY OWN HANDS, arrested the first beggar we had met; and I requested them not only to follow my example themselves, by arresting all the beggars they should meet with, but that they would also endeavour to persuade others, and particularly the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of the garrison, that it was by no means derogatory to their character as soldiers, or in anywise disgraceful to them, to a.s.sist in so USEFUL and LAUDABLE an undertaking.

These gentlemen having cheerfully and unanimously promised to do their utmost to second me in this business, dispersed into the different parts of the town, and with the a.s.sistance of the military, which they found every where waiting for orders, the town was so thoroughly cleared of beggars IN LESS THAN AN HOUR, that not one was to be found in the streets.

Those who were arrested were conducted to the Town-hall, where their names were inscribed in printed lists provided for that purpose, and they were then dismissed to their own lodgings, with directions to repair the next day to the newly erected "Military Work-house" in the Au; where they would find comfortable warm rooms;--a good warm dinner every day; and work for all those who were in a condition to labour. They were likewise told that a commission should immediately be appointed to enquire into their circ.u.mstances, and to grant them such regular weekly allowances of money, in alms, as they should stand in need of; which was accordingly done.

Orders were then issued to all the military guards in the different parts of the town, to send out patroles frequently into the streets in their neighbourhood, to arrest all the beggars they should meet with, and a reward was offered for each beggar they should arrest and deliver over to the civil magistrate.

The guard of the police was likewise directed to be vigilant; and the inhabitants at large, of all ranks and denominations, were earnestly called upon to a.s.sist in completing a work of so much public utility, and which had been so happily begun[8].

In an address to the public, which was printed and distributed gratis among the inhabitants, the fatal consequences arising from the prevalence of mendicity were described in the most lively and affecting colours,--and the manner pointed out in which they could most effectually a.s.sist in putting an end to an evil equally disgraceful and prejudicial to society.

As this address, (which was written with great sprit, by a man well known in the literary world, Professor Babo,) gives a very striking and a very just picture of the character, manners, and customs, of the hords of idle and dissolute vagabonds which infested Munich at the time the measure in question was adopted, and of the various artifices they made use of in carrying on their depredations; I have thought it might not be improper to annex it, at full length, in the Appendix, No. I.

This address, which was presented to all the heads of families in the city, and to many by myself, having gone round to the doors of most of the princ.i.p.al citizens for that purpose, was accompanied by printed lists, in which the inhabitants were requested to set down their names;--places of abode;--and the sums they chose to contribute monthly, for the support of the establishment. These lists, (translations of which are also inserted in the Appendix, No. II.) were delivered to the heads of families, with duplicates, to the end that one copy being sent in to the committee, the other might remain with the master of the family.

These subscriptions being PERFECTLY VOLUNTARY, might be augmented or diminished at pleasure. When any person chose to alter his subscription, he sent to the public office for two blank subscription lists, and filling them up anew, with such alterations as he thought proper to make, he took up his old list at the office, and deposited the new one in its stead.

The subscription lists being all collected, they were sorted, and regularly entered according to the numbers of the houses of the subscribers, in sixteen general lists[9], answering to the sixteen subdivisions or districts of the city; and a copy of the general list of each district was given to the commissary of the district.

These copies, which were properly authenticated, served for the direction of the commissary in collecting the subscriptions in his district, which was done regularly the last Sunday morning of every month.

The amount of the collection was immediately delivered by the commissary into the hands of the banker of the inst.i.tution, for which he received two receipts from the banker; one of which he transmitted to the committee, with his report of the collection, which he was directed to send in as soon as the collection was made.

As there were some persons who, from modesty, or other motives, did not choose to have it known publicly how much they gave in alms to the poor, and on that account were not willing to have put down to their names upon the list of the subscribers, the whole sum they were desirous of appropriating to that purpose; to accommodate matters to the peculiar delicacy of their feelings, the following arrangement was made, and carried into execution with great success.

Those who were desirous of contributing privately to the relief of the poor, were notified by an advertis.e.m.e.nt published in the news-papers, that they might send to the banker of the inst.i.tution any sums for that purpose they might think proper, under any feigned name, or under any motto or other device; and that not only a receipt would be given to the bearer, for the amount, without and questions being asked him, but, for greater security, a public acknowledgement of the receipt of the sum would be published by the banker, with a mention of the feigned name of device under which it came, IN THE NEXT MUNICH GAZETTE.

To accommodate those who might be disposed to give trifling sums occasionally, for the relief of the poor, and who did not choose to go, or to send to the banker, fixed poor-boxes were placed in all the churches, and most of the inns; coffee-houses; and other places of public resort; but n.o.body was ever called upon to put any thing into these boxes, nor was any poor's-box carried round, or any private collection or alms-gathering permitted to be made upon any occasion, or under any pretence whatever.

When the inhabitants had subscribed liberally to the support of the inst.i.tution, it was but just to secure them from all further importunity in behalf of the poor. This was promised, and it was most effectually done; though not without some difficulty, and a very considerable expence to the establishment.

The poor students in the Latin German schools;--the sisters of the religious order of charity;--the directors of the hospital of lepers;--and some other public establishments, had been so long in the habit of making collections, by going round among the inhabitants from house to house at stated periods, asking alms, that they had acquired a sort of right to levy those periodical contributions, of which it was not thought prudent to dispossess them without giving them an equivalent. And in order that this equivalent might not appear to be taken from the sums subscribed by the inhabitants for the support of the poor, it was paid out of the monthly allowance which the inst.i.tution received from the chamber of finances, or public treasury of the state.

Besides these periodical collections, there were others, still more troublesome to the inhabitants, from which it was necessary to free them; and some of these last were even sanctioned by legal authority. It is the custom in Germany for apprentices in most of the mechanical trades, as soon as they have finished their apprenticeships with their masters, to travel, during three or four years, in the neighbouring countries and provinces, to perfect themselves in their professions by working as journeymen wherever they can find employment. When one of those itinerant journeymen-tradesmen comes into a town, and cannot find employment in it, he is considered AS HAVING A RIGHT to beg the a.s.sistance of the inhabitants, and particularly of those of the trade he professes, to enable him to go to the next town; and this a.s.sistance it was not thought just to refuse. This custom was not only very troublesome to the inhabitants, but gave rife to innumerable abuses. Great numbers of idle vagabonds were continually strolling about the country under the name of travelling journeymen-tradesmen; and though any person, who presented himself as such in any strange place was obliged to produce (for his legitimation) a certificate from his last master, in whose service he had been employed, yet such certificates were so easily counterfeited, or obtained by fraud, that little reliance could be placed in them.

To remedy all these evils, the following arrangement was made: those travelling journeymen-tradesmen who arrive at Munich, and do not find employment, are obliged to quit the town immediately, or to repair to the military work-house, where they are either furnished with work, or a small sum is given them to enable them to pursue their journey farther.

Another arrangement by which the inhabitants have been relieved from much importunity, and by which a stop has been put to many abuses, is the new regulation respecting those who suffer by fire; such sufferers commonly obtain from government special permission to make collections of charitable donations among the inhabitants in certain districts, during a limited time. Instead of the permission to make collections in the city of Munich, the sufferers now receive certain sums from the funds of the inst.i.tution for the poor. By this arrangement, not only the inhabitants are relieved from the importunity which always attends public collections of alms, but the sufferers save a great deal of time, which they formerly spent in going about from house to house; and the sale of these permissions to undertakers, and many other abuses, but too frequent before this arrangement took place, are now prevented.