DESTITUTE INCURABLES.
WHILE all England is lending a serious ear to the tale of distress unfolded by Home Missionaries,—distress, caused by the severe weather and consequent want of work—we cannot refrain from adding another tale of woe for her to listen to, and to think about —with the usual result. Several weeks ago, we mentioned to our readers the earnest effort which was being made by two ladies to get up some organized plan for alleviating the sufferings of those among our poor who are afflicted with an incurable disease, and who have no one to give them the common necessaries of life, when they are dismissed from a hospital as "incurable," much less to provide them with the comforts which consumptive, can- cerous, or asthmatic patients require to make life not quite One' long agony. The plan propOsea. Was, that every parish Work- house should have within it a ward for persons afflicted with in- curable disease, and that such persons should be treated not as paupers, but as patients. Such a ward would be a field for private charity. Ladies would take personal interest in it, would semi little delicacies for patients, and, what would be quite as beneficial, would visit them, talk to them, read to them. The ladies who advo- cated this plan in a paper which was read before the Social Science meeting at Glasgow, September, 1860, have already received the first fruit of their exertions. The plan has been very favourably received by a number of Boards of Guardians to whom it has been proposed. Many have referred it to special commit- tees for consideration, and some have decided already on its adop- tion. All information on the subject will be found in a small pamphlet just published by Messrs. Nesbitt; the substance of the paper which was read at Glasgow. To facilitate the adoption of the scheme, a gentleman has made a donation of 100/., as the be- ginning of a subscription to a central fund for affording gran& to visitors in unions where the local contributions are inadequate.*
We are glad to give publicity to these facts, because they only require to be known to be increased a thousand fold. It is not true that in England overythino- is judged from the "paying" point of view. At least, if this be true, some of the payments are deferred to a distant date, and remind us of a story told of Dean Swift. He was called upon to preach a charity sermon without preparation. He gave out his text with emphasis—" He that giveth to the poor lendeth unto the Lord," and proceeded thus- " Now, my brethren, you hear thesecurity offered—if you like it, down with your dust ; if you do not, keep it in your pocket ;" to which we say, on the present occasion, seriously enough, " Amen !"
* Some readers may like to know that subscriptions are received by Messrs. Twining, 215, Strand.
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