The million-peopled city
Garwood, John
1853
Greenwich and Chelsea Hospitals fit Adornments to the two Shores of England's Metropolis.
"' The opposite banks of the noble river which flows through the British metropolis could not be more fitly adorned than they are by those 2 great monuments of the public bene- ficence, the . | |
"Both these retreats are splendid places; the former, especially, is one of the most magnificent palaces in the country, and yet their inmates are, for the most part, merely private soldiers and sailors. It may be said that they are, after all, but the abodes of persons of poor and low degree, and that there is an unsuitableness in giving those a palace to dwell in, whose mode of life in other respects is about on a level with that of the inhabitants of cottages. Thus might those argue who looked to the matter with a reference only to physical considerations, and could not, or would not, view it in its moral bearings. But we should not, we confess, be satisfied to see the institutions founded by the bounty of the nation for the shelter of its veteran defenders, consist merely of so many ranges of hovels. The economy, we apprehend, would neither be appropriate nor profitable. Every time one of our gallant seamen now casts his eye upon --every time he has the gorgeous pile before him in fancy, it is an inspiration to him of the same character with that which is derived from the anticipation of public honours in any other profession in which they may be gained. He feels proudly that in his old age he will not be accounted a burden by his country, but that he shall receive from her, and be held worthy of, something more than mere bread."[1] | |
Footnotes: [1] Magazine of Society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge, 1832, p. 92 |