"Here it will not be irrelevant to look to the state of the charities in Ireland, and their means of support, with a view to the establishment of charitable loan or pawn-offices throughout the country. "There is no record kept of the number of medical charities in Ireland; but I find from Surgeon Phelan's excellent book on the subject, and from other sources, that they may be thus enumerated : Dublin Hospitals, (exclusive of several lying-in hospitals and opthalmic institutions lately established) Fever hospitals, including three in County and other infirmaries* 11 648 District lunatic asylums To this may be added, for the medical business of workhouses, and lunatic asylums connected with them Total I do not include the institutions entirely supported by subscriptions, as some lyingin and opthalmic institutions, for which may be added £14,000. "I have endeavoured to ascertain the number of pawnbrokers in Ireland, and allowing their profits to average £900 ayear each, (which I am informed by persons in that trade to be a moderate calculation, as in the large cities great fortunes are realised,) and averaging the number from the books of the Marshal of Dublin, where the returns are required by law to be made, and on the calculation of those not returned, and those who have several offices, the lowest number may be calculated at 700 pawnbrokers, which, at £900 each, is £630,000 Deduct present expenses of all the charitable establishments of Ireland - hospitals, infirmaries, poorhouses, dispensaries, lunatic asylums, &c. 163,911 £467,911 Leaves a surplus of near half a million, which may be applied in extending the benefits of these useful institutions, and establishing convalescent hospitals,besides saving to the public a large annual grant, £28,701 to the counties and towns a heavy tax, 26,426 and relieving from the unequal burthen 13,607 of their subscriptions the charitable per60,000 sons by whom (though not always the 22,965 most wealthy) those establishments are at present chiefly supported. £161,699 "But if to this surplus be added the amount of all fines, penalties, forfeited 10,000 recognizances, &c. which are now almost unproductive in this country, (and which, on the continent, are applied to the support of the poor,) the amount, if properly collected, may fairly be estimated at £32,089, making the whole £500,000. After supporting, as is seen, all the medical charities, this sum would go far in preventing the necessity of poor laws, by supporting the aged and infirm, and affording employment to a large portion «The sources from which this expen- of the labouring population of the country. diture is supplied are: Government grants to county £2,653 "Such an institution, the permanent utility of which has been experienced on the Continent, is proposed to be founded in this city, under the guidance and 14,374 direction of the governors of Barring82,839 ton's hospital,' to be called the Chari39,078 table Loan-Bank,' and the necessary 1,742 buildings for which have been already prepared. 23,225 £163,911 It is further proposed that the required capital shall be raised by debentures, varying in amount from five to one In the "Meath Hospital and County of Dublin Infirmary," and in " Barrington's Hospital and City of Limerick Infirmary," the Surgeons and Physicians act gratuitously, and the government grant is applied to the general support of these Institutions. In all other county and city infirmaries the grant is paid to the surgeons. The capital now in government security under the management of the commissioners of charitable bequests, exceeds 106,000. hundred pounds each, bearing interest at six per cent. "That the profits of the establishment shall, in the first instance, (after defraying the expenses) be applied in paying the interest of the capital lent, and the surplus profits to be divided in equal shares, one in paying off the debentures, and the other, (and when the debentures are paid, the whole,) in the maintenance and extending the benefits of the hospital, the funds of which would be thus so much increased, that the governors could enlarge the sphere of its utility, not only in giving relief and comfort to the sick and indigent, but in assisting them after their recovery or during their convalescence. It cannot have escaped the observation of those who attend a public hospital, that there occur many circumstances of distress to be relieved, besides the cause for which patients are admitted. Many persons are obliged to relinquish their trades, having consumed what they possessed in the hope of relief, and run into difficulties from which they are unable to extricate themselves; and how frequently does it happen that they are unavoidably dismissed from the hospital in a weak and infirm state, to return (perhaps to a large and wretched family) without the means of support, or strength to seek employment, and often without a home; and thus frequently causing a relapse, or establishing a diseased and weak constitution, No small proportion of our commonest, and eventually most fatal diseases, are caused by the insufficient nutriment of convalescents. Dropsies, scrofulous diseases, and scurvy, are all imputable to the same pre-disposing cause. The benefits which may be ininsured, by more wholesome diet of the sick and convalescent are incalculable. "These are not speculative refinements, but truths drawn from experience and reality, and it is obvious that they must be felt with accumulated severity by such as have families dependent on Is not then the them for support. power of affording relief to such objects most desirable. By the means proposed, benevolent persons will assist in a work of charity, without any injury to themselves, as the rate of interest is greater than they could receive in the public funds; the profits of such an establishment will ensure ample security, and being merely lenders of the sums for which they take debentures, they incur no responsibility, nor have they any share in an establishment conducted under the direction of the governors of the hospital, who are a corporate body, and not individually responsible. Tradesmen and other persons may take debentures of even five pounds, and receive nearly double the amount of interest now received in the Savings' Bank, and be at all times enabled to raise money on such debentures, as they will be received as pledges, and money lent thereon. "The advantages of this establishment will be: "1st. The raising a capital by small debentures at a certain interest, and lending it on a greater interest, and applying the profits to the purposes of charity. "2ndly. Receiving the debentures in pawn, thus giving to the depositors an advantage which they do not possess the savings' bank. in 3dly. Lending money at interest to poor persons of unimpeachable character and industrious habits, on personal se curity, as is done by the loan-banks. "4thly. Lending money on goods, as is now done by the ordinary pawnbrokers, "5thly. In case of deserving objects, to restore the article, such as implements of trade pawned in the hour of real want, without interest or charge. 6thly. Using every precaution against receiving stolen goods in pawn." We subjoin the following general report: MONT DE PIETÉ, LIMERICK, OPENED MARCH 17, 1837. PAWN ACCOUNT. General Report, May 31, 1838, from the commencement, 1837, March 17th. CASH ACCOUNT. £ S. d. £ S. d. 14,130 1 6 £ S. d. £ 9,668 11 10 s. d. £ s. d. £ S. d. 1838-January... 18,375 6,755 25,130 5,432 19,698 4,461 9 72 1,159 2 0 5,620 11 4 951 14 31 335 2 7 50 7 0 4,461 9 73 4,668 17 4 February.. 19,698 6,157 25,855 5,965 19,890 4,668 17 4 1,017 011 5,685 18 3 998 2 01 4,687 16 3 1,380 7 5 6,068 3 8 1,317 5 4,750 18 7 5,029 8 0 53 11 63 4,687 16 3 £21,230 4 21 for Pawns > £15,880 03 £736 10 2 1,897 16 41 6,927 4 51,577 0 6 120 9 4 5,350 3 102 } PROFIT, Total Released,. 94,289 VOL. XIV. G 2 z sufferings which it deplores. It were faint praise to say that Mr. Barrington has conferred upon his native city a great and a lasting benefit: he has done more he has planted there the germ of a system which, sooner or later, must extend itself over the whole of Ireland-making the necessities of the poor subservient to their relief, and diffusing blessings wherever it appears. As Mr. Barrington deserves all praise, he merits all confidence. He is no romantic patriot-he desires to relieve the miseries of his countrymen before he declaims upon their abstract theoretic political rights; he labours for the recovery of his country-her true, independent, trustworthy friend and, unlike the venal empyric who lives by her diseases, he claims no other reward than the success of his plans of benevolence, and the approval of an honest heart. RECOLLECTIONS OF A PORTRAIT PAINTER. NO. IV. THE THREE WIDOWS OF FRANKFORT. MANY years ago, whilst travelling on the continent, I was attacked by a slow fever, which, after clinging to me for some time, and baflling all my efforts to shake it off, fairly got the better of me, and laid me on a bed of sickness at Frankfort-on-the-Maine. The inn at which I put up was clean and orderly; but an inn, in its best estate, is a desolate and uncomfortable halting-place for an invalid, and as soon as I was sufficiently recovered for the exertion, I applied myself to find private lodgings, as my medical attendant declared that it would be still some weeks before I could safely travel. The apartments I engaged were in the house of a tobacconist named Openheim, who kept a small shop in the town, and had his private dwelling in a narrow street, near the outskirts. I was so pleased with the neatness of the dwelling and the quietness of the situation, that I unhesitatingly engaged the rooms for the whole term of my intended stay. The family with whom I sojourned consisted of a father, mother, and three daughters, the eldest of whom, named Gertrude, was twenty-five years of age; the next, Amelia, twenty; and the youngest, a little girl of twelve or thirteen, called Roschen: she resided, principally, with a distant relative, who kept a sort of school at some distance, and, at the time of my arrival, was absent. The two elder sisters were smart, merry, dressy young women, not remarkable for beauty, but still sufficiently pretty to be belles on a small scale, and flirts on a large one, whenever they found opportunity. This latter quality, indeed, had deprived Gertrude of no less than seven lovers,-six of whom being neglected, in succession, for each other, were finally revenged by the seventh, who neglected her. But, at the time my story commences, Gertrude was in possession of an eighth, and he no less a person than a banker, from Cologne, twenty years older than herself, it is true, and not particularly handsome, but supposed to be possessed of no inconsiderable share of that unfailing beautifier-gold. Perhaps Gertrude might not have found Herr Steinbach quite so charming as she upheld him to be, had he been unprovided with that marvellous cosmetic. But she was poor; and his choice was a disinterested one, at least, which was enough, in itself, to win him some share of favour. The Openheims were possessed of very limited means, but they seemed, on the whole, a happy family. They were forced to let their first floor, indeed, |