Robbery of Charitable Foundations. Should you say, generally speaking, the boys are gentlemen's children ?—Generally speaking, I should suppose the boys on the foundation of the Charter-house were the children of gentlemen of moderate fortunes, with large families, to whom academical education is a great object.* Academical education may be a great object to men of moderate fortunes, but it is a still greater object to the community that one hundred and twenty thousand children in the metropolis, destitute of all means of education, should be instructed in the rudiments of knowledge; and in favour of the latter it may be urged that they have a legitimate claim on the revenues of the Charter-house; while men of moderate fortunes have no right whatever to the benefits of the Institution. St. PAUL'S SCHOOL.-This is a very rich foundation; the revenues properly applied, instead of being wasted in extravagant salaries and pensions to the masters, might be productive of immense advantages to the poor of the capital. The present income is betwixt five and six thousand pounds a year. The following is a statement of the principal disbursements as given by the clerk of the Mercer's Company. £618 307 227 257 1000 60 There being a considerable surplus revenue, it is generally contrived to expend large sums in repairs, surveyors' charges, law charges, literary prizes, the purchase of books, the binding and rebinding of books, and other miscellaneous objects. In the statutes, the founder, [speaking of the High Master, says "his wagis shall be a mark a weke, and a lyvery gowne of iiii nobles delivered in clothe.” Of the Sur-Master, who is to be a man "hoole in body," he says "his wagis shall be vis. viiid. a weke, and a livery gowne of iiii nobles delivered in clothe." These allowances of 8s. 6d. and 6s. 8d. a week have been interpreted to mean, allowing for the difference in the value of money, £618 and £307 a year. When the salaries of the masters are concerned, they always give a liberal interpretation of the statutes; but when the comfort of the scholars, or an increase in their duties are involved, they always adhere strictly to the letter. For instance, they will not admit more than 153 scholars, although the revenues * Vide First Report, p. 140. Robbery of Charitable Foundations. would educate ten times as many, merely because that is the number mentioned by the founder; and they also continue to burn wax tapers, instead of candles, because, forsooth, that is likewise directed by the statutes. These things show on what ridiculous and selfish principles these rich establishments are conducted, and the necessity of an entire reformation of the whole. St. Paul's school was founded by Dean Colet, by warrant from Henry VIII. in the year 1521. The surplus revenues vested in the funds had accumulated, in 1816, to the amount of £26,000. On a vacancy children of all ranks are entitled to admission on the payment of 13.; but this general principle of admission is of little avail to the public; reading, writing, and the most generally useful branches of education being excluded. Having given an account of three of the richest foundations in the me tropolis, we shall only briefly notice some of the remainder. The Foundling Hospital has a revenue of £10,000 a year, which, in a few years, will be increased three or four fold; all originally intended for the maintenance of children "cast off, deserted, or exposed by their parents.” The Bedford Charity, in Holborn parish, consisting of thirteen acres, lets for seven or eight thousand pounds a year. The income of St. Olave's school, founded by Queen Elizabeth, about £1500 a year. St. Clement Dane's school, the receipts are more than £800 a year; and Archbishop Tenison's school, in King's street, has an income to the same amount. St. Saviour's Free-Grammar school, Southwark, founded by Queen Elizabeth, and managed by trustees, who nominate their successors, has an annual revenue of about £380, and only educates about thirty scholars. Westminster School, another royal foundation of Queen Elizabeth, endowed with certain lands vested in the Dean and Chapter, has forty scholars on the foundation, and twelve pensioners, who receive donations of meat, &c. The king's scholars pay for their education, and partly for their board. The expense of the school is about £1000 or £1200 a year. The Grey-coat School West, parish of St. Margaret, has an income of £2000 a year, and educates and maintains about ninety children. The governors are nominated by the treasurer and chairman, and present the children in rotation. The Green-Coat School, founded by Charles I.; income £700; educates and maintains twenty-four boys; the children of poor and decayed housekeepers. In Whitechapel-road is a school endowed by Ralph Davenant, in 1680; income six or seven hundred pounds a year. These funds appear to be tolerably well applied; clothing, and educating about 200 boys and girls. In Wapping is an Orphan Hospital, to which Mr. Troutback be Robbery of Charitable Foundations. queathed £2000; but here “hangs a tale," which we must explain; and 'first we will call in Mr. Waggoner. "Mr. Frederick Matthew Waggoner called in and examined. Do you know any thing of the proceedings that have been had with respect to Mr. Troutback's will?-I do; he bequeathed £2000 for erecting an Orphan Hospital, and the whole of his money amounting, with accumulations, to upwards of £100,000, to trustees, for erecting an additional wing, or separate building to the charity school of St. John of Wapping, and for maintaining and educating poor children of that - parish. "Are there as many poor children as would require such funds to educate?—Yes; more within the parish. "Do you think £5000 a year would not educate the poor of the parish?—The will is for the education, clothing, and maintenance. 1 "What has been done with respect to it ?-We understand that it has been set aside by the Court of Chancery; and that the testator having no next of kin, the money hạs gone to the Crown."-Report of the Education Committee, 1816, p. 289. Yes, Mr. Waggoner, the money "has gone to the Crown."-But what do you think became of it afterwards? Why, his Royal Highness the Regent, living in a riotous and extravagant manner, had, in the year 1816, incurred an enormous debt. In that year the marquis of Hertford, lord chamberlain of the household, and whose wife is a great favourite of the Prince, applied to the lords of the treasury to know how this debt was to be discharged. The lords of the treasury, after much consultation, determined that this debt, amounting to £277,000, should be defrayed partly out of the money bequeathed by Mr. Troutback, for charitable uses, partly out of the Droits of Admiralty. Thus you see, Mr. Waggoner, that the money piously left to clothe, educate, and maintain the poor children of your parish, has been applied to pay the furniture-bills, tailor bills, haberdasher bills, and bills perhaps of a still less creditable description, of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent. It vexes one to see to what hase purposes the best of things may sometimes be perverted. How many poor children of Wapping the money of Troutback would have preserved from the gallows and transportation it is impossible to say; but it is certain, had we had a more economical Prince, or a Prince who thought the welfare of his subjects of more importance than vicious indulgence, the money of Troutback, notwithstanding any informality in his will, would have been suffered to go to the noble objects for which it had been generously be queathed.* * The reader may imagine the story about Troutback's will is a pure fiction; but Robbery of Charitable Foundations. After the case of Mr. Troutback, we shall not trouble the reader with an account of any more of the charities in the metropolis. Foundations for the advantage of the poor, and bequests of various kinds for their education, clothing, and maintenance, may be found in almost every street and alley in London; and barely to enumerate their names would occupy a volume, instead of the few pages we can devote to the subject. Of the immense extent of charities in this part of the kingdom we may judge from the fact, that there are in Middlesex 36 institutions connected with education alone, of an obscure description, whose united income amounts to £21,000 a-year. What we have said will give some idea of the immense property of the poor in London, and the shameful manner it has been perverted from its legitimate object. We have seen that the revenues of the four great charities of the Charter House, Foundling Hospital, Christ's Hospital, and St. Paul's, amount to inore than 84,000 per annum. Of this immense sum, the revenues of the three first are unquestionably the property of the poor, and of the last, they belong to the rich and the poor indifferently. Great as this fund is, the poor derive very little benefit from its application, and the whole is expended in the education of about 1600 children, principally of opulent parents. Having spoken of the principal charities in the metropolis, and also the most flagrant cases of abuse in the country, we shall next take a short survey of the two great foundations of Eton and Winchester. In a work which wi contain a record of every important abuse tolerated under the borough sys tem, it would be unpardonable not to give some account of those corrupt and perverted establishments. We shall first speak of the royal college of Eton. This college, founded by Henry VI., and situated near Windsor, was intended for the education of " seventy poor and indigent scholars," who were enjoined by the founder to swear they had not £3 6s. a-year to spend. by turning to that part of the Education Report to which we have referred, and to vol. 34, p. 272, of Hansard's Parl. Debates, he will find the fact exactly as we have related. Mr. Troutback died without heirs, and left his property for an orphan hospital, and St. John's Charity School, Wapping. The will was set aside by the Lord Chancellor, and the money, as a droit of the crown, applied to defray the debt contracted in erecting additional buildings, and for furniture for that royal hobby-horse, the pavilion at Brighton. It was a windfall to the crown, of which, as Mr. Tierney remarked, the public would never have obtained any knowledge, had not the civil list been in arrear, and it became necessary to apply to parliament for an additional ak lowance. # Robbery of Charitable Foundations. The exact amount of the revenues it is not easy to ascertain, as it is a fact carefully concealed by the heads of the college; but according to the evi⚫dence of Mr. Hinde they amount to considerably more than £10,000 a-year, ‣ and arise from various manors, estates, rectories, and tenements belonging - to the foundation. The government of the college, and the management of * this immense income, is vested in the provost and "seven fellows;” the salaries of the latter, according to the statutes, are £10 a-year, and of the - former double that sum. The Right Reverend Bishop of Lincoln, of Mere Jand Spital celebrity, is the visitor. Besides the foundation scholars there are more than 400 oppidens, or town scholars, who pay for their education; though like the rest of the boys they are entitled to gratuitous instruction. The scholars are instructed by masters and assistants, who in fact do all the Jbusiness of the college, and, as is usual in such cases, get the worst paid; the head master receives only £63 a-year; the under master fares still worse, and is paid in a trifling" allowance of bread and beer.”* The most interesting subject for inquiry is, what becomes of the revenue, when all the work is done at such a very cheap rate? Nearly the whole of this, at the present, appears to be divided betwixt the provost, the reverend Dr. Goodall, and the fellows; the share of the former in good years has amounted to £2500; but the incomes of the latter are made up of such a variety of items, they are not easily estimated. It is certain, however, their incomes are enormous. Besides the total income of the college, thirty-seven -livings, some of which are worth £800 per annum, are in the gift of the fellows; they have the power of presenting themselves to one of these livings, which of course would not be the worst. money annually from the fines; a yearly - allowance for gowns, coals, candles, &c. some office on themselves in the college, librarian; for which they receive salaries. but it is impossible to discover exactly what the fellows receive in all: their gross incomes cannot be much less than £1000-a-year. They receive about £550 in stipend of £50; and a liberal Moreover they generally confer as bursar, precentor, sacrist, or These are the principal items; After Dr. GOODALL has taken the lion's share, and the fellows nearly as much as they please, the remainder is applied to support the establishment. According to the statutes, the scholars ought to be fed, clothed, educated, and lodged, free from expense; they have reduced their meals to two, namely, dinner and supper; clothing they have none; for their education they pay a gratuity of six guineas to the master, and their other yearly ex *Third Report, p. 72. |