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Show ~66 .Advije to the King, touching Mr. Suttons Eftate. And the very Nature, o~ the Work it felf, in th~ v.afi, and unfit; Proportions thereof, bemg apt to provoke a 1\1If-unployment; It is no Diligence of their5, (except there be a Digrej}zon from that Modell,) that can excufe it, from running the fame way, ~hat Gifts oflike Condition, have heretofore done. For to defig the .. Cbarter-hoHJe, a Building fit for a Princes Habitation, for an Hofpitall; Is all one, as if one iliould give in Almes, a Rich Embroyde.red tloalz, :o a Beggar. And certainly, a Man may (ee, Tanq1tam quce Oculis Cermmtur, that if fuch an Edifice, with Six ThQufand po~nds Revemte, be ereCted into one Ho[pitall; It will, in fmall time, degenerate to be made a preferment, of fome great Perfon, to be Mt~fler, .1\ .md he to take all the fweer, and the Poor, to be fiinted, and take but the Crums : As it comes to pafie, in divers Hojpitals, ot this I Eea!m; Which have but the Ndme.rofHofpitalh, and are b1.H ~· ea~thy Benf'ficcs, in refpcct of the lv.!aflerfhip? But the Poor, which 1s the Proptet quid:~ linle ~·elieved. And the hke, hath been the For· tune, of much of the Almes, oft he Roman Relit)on, in the Grc~f Formd11tions; which being begun in Vain .. Glory, ~nd Oftent.atl- · on. have had their Judgement, upon'them,to end 10: Corruptl'?n, and Abufe. This Afedrtation) hath made me prefume" to wnte thefe ftw Lines to your Majefly; Being no better then g?od Wijbei,which your JJ.1ajejlieJ great Wif'edom,may make fome thmg, or Nothing, of. Wherein, I dcGre, to be thus underll:ood; That if this Founda- , tion, ( fuch as it is,) be perfe&, and Good in Law; Then I am too well acjjuaintcd, with your Majeflies Difpofition, to advife, any Courfe, of power, or Profit, that is not-grounded upon a R~ght: NJy further, if the DefetJs be fuch, as a Court of Equily may Remedy, and Cure; Then I wifh, that as Saint Peterf jhadow, did cure Difetl:fes; So the very fhado~) of a Good In~ention, may cur~ Defects of that Nature. .But If there be a R1ght, and Buth-nght, pb n ted in the Heir; And not Remediable . by Courts of Equdy ; 1 AndthatRight, befubmittedtoyour Mt~~je{ty; Whereby~ti s both, in your power, and Grace, what to do; Then I do w~ilit~ that this rude Majfe, and chao.r, of a Good Deed, were directed, ra-t her to a so/ide JJ.1erit, and r;urable charity) then to a Blllz..o of Glory~ that will but crackle, a little:~ in Talk, and quickly extinguifh. And this may be done,obfettving the Species, of Mr. S11ftons In· tent, though vary in~ in Jndividuo. For it appeares, tha~ be had, in Notion, a Triple Good; An Hofpitall; And a Schoole; And Maintaining of a rreacher; Which Individuallr,refer to thefe Three 1 Generall Hettds. Relief of Poore; Advancement tJj Learning;· And I f'ropa~C{.ation of Religion. Now ~hen, if I fha~l ret bef?re your Maj efly, m every ofthefeThree Ktndes, whattt ts,that ts moftwant\ ing in your Kingdome;And what is like,to be !he mofr Fruitfu11,& Effel:l:uall u ft, off uch a Bcneficence,and leafr hke to be perverted: · That I think, tball be no ill Scope of my Labour, how meanly f foever performed; For out ofVarie~~reprefented, Ele&ionmay / bebd1grounded. . Con- -~------~----------------------~--- A d-vifo to tbe King, touching Mr. Suttons Eflate • Concerning the Rrdi~f of the Poore; I hold fame NJ;fJtb~r' of Hofpitalls, with Competent Endowment.r, will do f~umoregoocl then one Hofpita!J, of an Exorbit~nt Greatneffe. For though the on~ Courfe, wlll be the more Seene, yet the other will be the m~re F'elt. For if your Majefty erect many, befides the obferving the ordi11ary Jl,Jaxime; Bonum, quo communim, eo meli~, choice may be made, of thofe Townes, and Places, where there-i£ mofr Need; And. fo the Remedy, mar be Diflributed, ~s theDifoafe,is Difperfed. A gam, Greatnej]e of Reltefe, ac(umulate In one place, doth rather invite a .Swarm, and Surcharge, of Poore, then relieve thofe, that are, naturally, bred in that place: Like lo ill tempred JUediciner, that draw mqre Humour to the Part , then they Evacuate from it. But chiefly, I rely, upon the Rea(on, that I touched in the Beginning; That in thefe Great Hojpital/J, the Revenues, will draw i:he Vje, and not the Vfo, th~ !_ievenues; And fo, through the Majfe of the Wealth, they wtll f wtrtly tumble down, to a Mifo)n ... ployment.. And if any lt1an fay, that in the Two HoJPitaUs in London, there is a Prpdent of Gr.eatnej]e, cpncurring with Good Employment; Let hicn confider, that thofe Hojpitalls, have An11uall Governer1; That they are under the Sl!lperiour Care, and Policy, offuch a ftate, as the City of London; And chiefly, that tfieir Re. venues, confifr not· upon Certainties, but upon C~tfoaltiei, and Free Gifts; \Vhich Gifts would be with-held~ if they appea.red once to be perverted: So as, it keepeth. the;m, ·in a continuaH Good Behaviour, andA~e, toemploy thema:right: Noneof which Points3 do match, with t..lie prefent Ca.fe. ~The next conjideratio may be, whether this in tended Hofpital, as it hath a more ample Endowment, then other H~it.t/J have,ihould not likewife work,upon a better Subjed,then other P(}()re:As tha it fhould be conYerted, to the Relief of Maimedsouldier.r, Decayed ll.1erchants ,f!oufeho/der.s Aged,and Dejiitute Church- men,and 'he l]ke; W hofe Condition, being of a better fort, then loofe People, & Beggar. r, deferveth, both a mo~e Liberal9tipend,& .Allowdm:e~and fome proper place of Relief, nbt intermingled, or coupled, with the Bafefr Sort ofPoore: Which Projell, though Specious, yet, in my Judgement, will not anfwer the Dejignment, in the Event, in thefe our Times. For cerctainly, few Men in any Vocation, which have been fame Body, and beare a Mind, fomewhat according to ·the Confcience, and Remembrance, of that they have been,. will ever defcend, to that Condition, as to profelfe, to live upon Almes, and to become; a Corporation, of Decl'aredBeggars; But , rather will choofe, to live O~{cttre!J,and as it were~ to hide them·, I felves, with fame private Friends: So that the End~ of fuch . an Inflitution, will be, th"al: it will' ma1te the Place, a Receptacle.of · theW drfi,I<;llcft,and otoft dHfolute Perfons,of eV-ery Profe~oo; .And to become a celt· of Loyteretu~, and C4fl Servitt.g 1 en, mrd Drunktirt;ls, with Sc~ndall r.athel tben_Fmit,to the ( ommon Wettltb. And of diis kinde, I cart .fino but one Example with us j Which is, · · Mm 2 the |
