The works of Francis Bacon, lord chancellor of England.

240 ADVICE ABOUT THE CHARTERHIOUSE.
respect of the mastership; but the poor, which in the beginning, that in these great hospitals the
is the " propter quid," little relieved. And the revenues will draw the use, and not the use the
like hath been the fortune of much of the alms revenues; and so, through the mass of the wealth,
of the Roman religion in their-great foundations, they will swiftly tumble down to a misemploywhich being begun in vainglory and ostentation, Iment. And if any man say, that in the two hoshave had their judgment upon them, to end in pitals in London there is a precedent of greatness
corruption and abuse. This meditation hath concurring with good employment; let him conmade me presume to write these few lines to sider that those hospitals have annual governors,
your majesty; being no better than good wishes, that they are under the superior care and powhich your majesty's great wisdom may make hecy of such a state as the city of London; and,
something or nothing of. chiefly, that their revenues consist not upon cerWherein I desire to be thus understood, that if tainties, but upon casualties and free gifts, which
this foundation, such as it is, be perfect and good gifts would be withheld, if they appeared once to be
in law, then I am too well acquainted with your perverted; so as it keepeth them in a continual
majesty's disposition, to advise any course of good behaviour and awe to employ them aright;
power or profit that is not grounded upon a right: none of which points do match with the present
nay, farther, if the defects be such as a court of case.
equity may remedy and cure, then I wish that, as The next consideration may be, whether this
St. Peter's shadow did cure diseases, so the very intended hospital, as it hath a more ample endowshadow of a good intention may cure defects of ment than other hospitals have, should not likethat nature. But if there be a right, and birth- wise work upon a better subject than other poor;
right planted in the heir, and not remediable by as that it should be converted to the relief of
courts of equity, and that right be submitted to maimed soldiers, decayed merchants, householders
your majesty, whereby it is both in your power aged, and destitute churchmen, and the like;
and grace what to do: then I do wish that this whose condition, being of a better sort than loose
rude mass and chaos of a good deed were directed people and beggars, deserveth both a more liberal
rather to a solid merit, and durable charity, than stipend and allowance, and some proper place of
to a blaze of glory, that will but cracklea little in relief, not intermingled or coupled with the
talk, and quickly extinguish. basest sort of poor; which project, though speAnd this may be done, observing the species cious, yet, in my judgment, will not answer the
of Mr. Sutton's intent, though varying ",in indi- designrnent in the event, in these our times. For
viduo:99 forit appears that he had in notion a certainly few men in any vocation, which have
triple good, ahospital, and a school, and maintain- been somebody, and bear a mind somewhat acing of a preacher: which individuals refer to cording to the conscience and remembrance of that
these three general heads; relief of poor, ad- they have been, will ever descend to that condivancement of learning, and propagation of reli- tion, as to profess to live upon alms, and to begion. Now,then,ifIshall setbeforeyourmajesty, come a corporation of declared beggars; but
in every of these three kinds, what it is that is rather will choose to live obscurely, and as it
most wanting in your kingdomn; and what is were to hide themselves with some private
like to be the most fruitful and effectual use of friends: so that the end of such an institution
such a beneficence, and least like to be perverted; will be, that it will make the place a receptacle
that, I think, shall be no ill scope of my labour, of the worst, idlest, and most dissolute persons
how meanly soever performed; for out of variety of every profession, and to become a cell of loirepresented, election may be best grounded. terers, and cast serving-men, and drunkards, with
Concerning the relief of the poor; I hold some scandal rather than fruit to the commonwealth.
number of hospitals, with competent endowments, And of this kind I can find but one example with
will do far m-ore good than one hospital of an us, which is the alms-knights of Windsor; which
exorbitant greatness: for though the one course particular would give a man a small encouragewill be the more seen, yet the other will be the ment to follow that precedent.
more felt. For if your majesty erect many, Therefore the best effect of hospitals is, to make
besides the observing the ordinary maxim, the kingdom, if it were possible, capable of that
"Bonum, quo communius, eo melius," choice law, that there be no beggar in Israel: for it is
may be made of those towns and places where that kind of people that is a burden, an eyesore,
there is most need, and so the remedy may be a scandal and seed of peril and tumult in the state.
distributed as the disease is dispersed. Again, But chiefly it were to be wished, that such a begreatness of relief, accumulated in one place, doth neficence towards the relief of the poor were so
rather invite a swarm and surcharge of poor, than bestowed, as not only the mere and naked poor
relieve those that are naturally bred in that place; should be sustained, but, also, that the honest
like to ill-tempered medicines, that draw more person which hath hard means to live, upon whom
humour to the part than they evacuate from it. the poor are now charged, should be in some sort
But enlefly I rely upon the reason that I touched eased: for that were a work generally acceptable