31 July, 2026
Saint Ignatius Of Loyola (1491 - 1556). Confessor. The Founder Of The Jesuits. Feast Day 31 July. White Vestments.
unless otherwise stated.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Confessor.
Feast Day 31 July.
Double.
White Vestments.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).
Source/Photographer: AllPosters.com
(Wikimedia Commons)
Ignatius was born in Northern Spain in 1491. He was the eleventh child of the Lord of Loyola, and, at the age of fifteen, came as Page to the Court of King Ferdinand V of Spain.
His ardent and martial nature caused him to choose a military career. At the Siege of Pamplona, he was severely wounded in the leg. During his long convalescence, in the absence of books of chivalry, for which he had a passion, they gave him to read The Lives of Jesus Christ and of The Saints.
This reading was for him a revelation. It dawned on him that The Church also has her Army, which, under the Orders of the Representative of Christ, fights to defend here below the Sacred Interests of The God of Hosts [To the Three Religious Vows, Saint Ignatius adds a fourth, by which the Members of The Society of Jesus bind themselves to go wherever the Pope will send them for the Salvation of Souls].
English: The Choir of the l’Escolania de Montserrat
in the Basilica of the Abbey of Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain, where Saint Ignatius laid down his sword
at the feet of the statue of The Virgin.
Français: Choeur de l'Escolania de Montserrat ans la
basilique de l'abbaye de Montserrat, Catalogne, Espagne.
Photo: 21 September 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Bernard Gagnon
(Wikimedia Commons)
He then laid down his sword at the feet of The Virgin, in the famous Benedictine Abbey at Montserrat, and his generous Soul, once enamoured of worldly glory, now only longed for the Greater Glory of The King, Whom, henceforth, he would serve (Collect).
Throughout the night of 25 March, when the Mystery of The Incarnation of The Word is Solemnised, after confessing his sins, he kept his Knightly Vigil, and The Mother of God armed him for Christ and The Church Militant, His Spouse.
Soon, he became General of The Society of Jesus, raised by Providence to combat Protestantism, Jansenism and returning Paganism.
English: Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat, Spain.
Deutsch: Unterhalb des “Roca de St. Jaume”.
Español: Vista desde la roca de Sant Jaume.
Photo: 2003.
Source: Own work.
Author: Richard Schneider.
(Wikimedia Commons)
On the mountain, The Sons of Benedict, as a prelude to The Liturgy in Heaven, will continue the Solemn Celebration of The Divine Office, which Ignatius will recommend to The Faithful, and whose Sacred Melodies he never heard without tears ["The Third of The Eighteen Rules, made by Saint Ignatius, as the crowning of The Spiritual Exercises, "that we may have the true sentiments of The Orthodox Church," recommends, to The Faithful, The Canticles of The Church, The Psalms and the different Canonical Hours at their appointed times.
And, at the head of this book, in order to enable one to draw most profit from these Exercises, he rules, in his twentieth note, that, he who can do so, is to "choose, for the duration of The Exercises, a dwelling whence he may easily go to The Offices of Matins and Vespers, as well as to Mass" (Dom Guéranger: The Liturgical Year: 31 July. Saint Ignatius of Loyola)]; and he, sacrificing himself to his Mission, goes down into the plain, to oppose with his valiant troops, the attacks of the hostile army, whose violent onslaughts are always directed against his Institute (Epistle).
Wherefore, to preserve in his sons the intense Interior Life, required by the militant activity to which he devotes them, Saint Ignatius subjects them to a strongly organised hierarchy and teaches them, in a masterly treatise, highly approved of by The Church, his Spiritual Exercises, which have Sanctified thousands of Souls.
It has been affirmed that it was the practice of the Exercitatorium of the Benedictine Cisneros, Abbot of Montserrat in 1500, which inspired him with the idea. Guided by Grace, he realised it, however, at Manresa, Spain, in a different and very personal way.
The Life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Available on YouTube
Saint Ignatius arms his sons by giving them, for their shield; the name of Jesus (Introit), for their breastplate; the Love of God, which The Saviour came to enflame on Earth (Communion) [when he sent Missionaries abroad, he used to say to them: "Go, my brothers, inflame the World and spread everywhere the fire which Jesus Christ came to kindle on the Earth"] and Whose symbol, The Sacred Heart, they gloriously bear in the folds of their flag; and for their sword; Preaching, Writing, Teaching, and all other forms of Apostolate.
It was in a Benedictine Monastery in Spain, that, at The Feast of The Annunciation, Saint Ignatius first used these arms; in a Chapel of The Benedictine Abbey of Montmartre, that, on The Feast of The Assumption, in 1534, and later on at the Altar of The Virgin of the Basilica of Saint Paul-Without-the-Walls, served by Benedictines, that was born The Society of Jesus, that noble chivalry of Christ, and, lastly, it was the Benedictine Pope, Pius VII, a native of Cesena and a Monk of its Abbey, who, in 1814, re-established it in all its rights.
It is, therefore, God, Himself, Who unites at the feet of The Blessed Virgin these two Orders, which powerfully help The Church, for Martha and Mary, action and contemplation, both contribute, by different means, to the Glory of God.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Available on YouTube
The Mottoes of these two Religious families are alike: "In all things God be Glorified ! (I.O.G.D.)" and "To the Greater Glory of God ! (A.M.D.G.)"
Not to do anything, except for the Glory of God, and to do everything for His greater Glory, is the perfection of Holiness. It is the end of The Creation, the end of man's elevation to a Supernatural Life, the end, indeed, of the evangelical precepts, which cause generous Souls to renounce, by Vow, things that are lawful, in order to devote themselves more freely to the interests of God, and to render to Him, in its entirety, the accidental Glory He had been deprived of by man's use of unlawful things.
Benedict has filled Europe with his Missionary Monks, whose principal work is to Praise God, and Ignatius, with his Priest-Apostles (Gospel), who make manifest their Interior Life by their untiring activity.
Tomb of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Church of Il Gesù,
Mother Church of The Society of Jesus, Rome
Photo: 13 November 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Torvindus
(Wikimedia Commons)
From Montserrat, twelve Monks, with their Superior, started with Christoper Columbus, for the New Continent. From Lisbon, started Francis Xavier, who first evangelised Japan and China. It is the same Tree of The Love of God, which, on different branches, bears the same fruit.
On 31 July 1556, Saint Ignatius died, pronouncing the name of Jesus, and his Society of Jesus spread throughout the World. It numbers, nowadays, forty-four Provinces and several hundreds of Colleges [The Society of Jesus numbers: Twenty-three Canonised Saints; 142 Beatified; Three Venerables; and over 100, whose twenty-nine Causes are being discussed. It had, in 1934, 24,270 Members: There were 24,000 at the Time of the Suppression of The Society of Jesus in 1773 [Editor: By Pope Clement XIV, in the Brief "Dominus ac Redemptor"
(21 July 1773)].
It has given to The Church illustrious Prelates and a large number of Apostles, learned men, educators and influential men, as is proved by the numerous Congregations or Religious Associations under the direction of the Sons of Saint Ignatius. The Apostleship of Prayer, for instance, is believed to number some thirty million Associates.]
May we obtain, by the intercession of Saint Ignatius, so to be Sanctified in Truth (Secret) by the Sacred Mysteries of Mass and Communion, the Source of all Holiness, that, with the help of this Saint, we may, after his example, so combat evil on Earth, as to be crowned with him in Heaven (Collect).
Mass: In nómine Jesu.
May we obtain, by the intercession of Saint Ignatius, so to be Sanctified in Truth (Secret) by the Sacred Mysteries of Mass and Communion, the Source of all Holiness, that, with the help of this Saint, we may, after his example, so combat evil on Earth, as to be crowned with him in Heaven (Collect).
Mass: In nómine Jesu.
Church of the Gesù, Rome.
Mother Church of The Jesuits.
Saint Ignatius Loyola is buried here.
Photo: 7 September 2013.
Source: File:Chiesa gesu facade.jpg
Author: Alessio Damato
(Wikimedia Commons)
30 July, 2026
Saint Abdon And Saint Sennen. Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 30 July. Red Vestments.
English: Saint Abdon and Saint Sennen.
Catalan: Sants Abdó i Senén.
Artist: Jaume Huguet (1459-1460).
Source/Photographer: Catholic Culture
Collection: Santa Maria de Terrassa.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Text from “The Liturgical Year”.
By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
Volume 13.
Time After Pentecost.
Book IV.
The decrees of Eternal Wisdom ordained that the West should be honoured before the East with the glory of Martyrdom.
Yet, when the hour had come, Jesus was to have, beyond the Tigris, millions of witnesses by no means inferior to their forerunners, astonishing Heaven and Earth by new forms of heroism.
Impatient of the delay, two noble Persians won their Palm on this day by the command of Rome. By shedding their blood, they paid tribute for their native land to the Eternal City; and now they protect our Latin Churches, and receive the Prayers and praise of the West.
France received a goodly portion of their Sacred Relics; and the City of Arles-sur-Tech, in Roussillon, can show to an incredulous generation the sarcophagus, from which flows a mysterious liquor, a symbol of the continual benefits bestowed on us by these Holy Martyrs.
Hearken to our earnest Prayers, O Blessed Martyrs !!! May the Faith at length triumph in that land of Persia whence so many flowers of Martyrdom have been culled for Heaven.
Before the time appointed for the struggle to begin in your native land, ye went to meet death elsewhere, and thus ye gained a new fatherland whereon to bestow your love.
Bless us, the fellow-citizens of your choice, and bring us all to the Eternal Fatherland of all the Children of God.
Saint Abdon And Saint Sennen. Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 30 July. Red Vestments.
unless otherwise stated.
Saints Abdon and Sennen.
Martyrs.
Feast Day 30 July.
Simple.
Red Vestments.
Saint Sennen Church,
Sennen, Cornwall, England.
Photo: 5 November 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Andrewrabbott
(Wikimedia Commons)
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
Saint Sennen’s Church is a Parish Church, of the Church of England, in Sennen, Cornwall, England. The Church is Mediæval. It is known as the Parish Church of Land's End, Cornwall, and the Patron is the Duke of Cornwall.
(Wikipedia)
Stained-Glass Window
in the East Wall of the Church of Saint Sennen,
Sennen, Cornwall, England.
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
The South Aisle leading to The Lady Chapel.
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
The South Aisle, added in the 15th Century, was Dedicated in 1441. The date can be read on the base of the Font.
The floor of Cornish Slate in The Lady Chapel
was laid in the 1990s. In The Lady Chapel is a rather
battered Statue of The Virgin Mary, one of several figures recovered from a Wall Niche nearly 300 years ago.
There is also a 17th Century Post-Reformation
Communion Table, and, on the Wall by the Window,
is a fragment of a Painting, presumably still in existence beneath the plaster. It is interesting to try and work out
what the complete picture could be.
The Font is striking by virtue of its lid, carved by a local farmer, Mr. Saundry, out of wood from the wreck of "The SS Khyber", sunk on 15 March 1905, near Saint Levan, Cornwall.
The Font now stands on a floor of Delabole Slate,
matching The Lady Chapel, laid in 1999, following a major repair to rid the rear of the Church of rotten Flooring.
Finally, the discerning eye will pick out the Letter from
King Charles 1, thanking Cornish folk for their loyalty.
Text from SENNEN COVE
Saints Abdon and Sennen, born in Persia, "were arrested and taken to Rome under the Emperor Decius. They were scourged with cords, weighted with lead, and beheaded" (Roman Martyrology). This was in the 3rd-Century A.D. (254 A.D.)
Mass: Intret.
Saint Sennen Church,
Sennen, Cornwall, England.
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
Saint Sennen Church,
Sennen, Cornwall, England.
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
“Media Vita In Morte Sumus”. A Mediæval Antiphon (Circa 750 A.D.) This Setting Composed By: John Sheppard (1515 - 1558). Sung By: The Tallis Scholars. Director: Peter Phillips.
“Media Vita In Morte Sumus”.
A Mediæval Antiphon (Circa 750 A.D.).
Composed By: John Sheppard (1515 - 1558).
Sung By: The Tallis Scholars.
Director: Peter Phillips.
Available on YouTube
Media vita in morte sumus.
Quem quærimus adiutorem nisi te, Domine,
Qui pro peccatis nostris iuste irasceris ?
Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis,
Sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
Nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine:
Secundum verbum tuum in pace.
Quia viderunt oculi mei: salutare tuum.
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum.
Lumen ad revelationem gentium:
Et gloriam plebis tuæ Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio: et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper:
Et in sæcula sæculorum.
Ne proicias nos in tempore senectutis;
Cum defecerit virtus nostra
Ne derelinquas nos Domine.
Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis,
Sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
Noli claudere aures tuas ad preces nostras.
Sancte fortis,
Sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
Qui cognoscis occulta cordis,
Parce peccatis nostris.
Sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
Amen.
In the midst of life we are in death.
From whom may we seek help except You, Lord,
Who, on account of our sins, are justly angry ?
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and merciful Saviour,
Do not hand us over to the bitter pains of death.
Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,
According to Thy word.
For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people.
To be a light to lighten the gentiles,
And to be the glory of Thy people, Israel.
Glory be to The Father, and to The Son, and to The Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end.
Amen.
Do not cast us away in old age;
When our strength fails, do not abandon us, Lord.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Do not hand us over to the bitter pains of death.
Do not close Your ears to our Prayers.
Holy and strong,
Holy and merciful Saviour,
Do not hand us over to the bitter pains of death.
You who know the secrets of our hearts,
Forgive our sins.
Holy and merciful Saviour,
Do not hand us over to the bitter pains of death.
Amen.
And, for comparison . . .
“Media Vita In Morte Sumus”.
A Mediæval Antiphon (Circa 750 A.D.).
Composed By: John Sheppard (1515 - 1558).
Sung By: The Gabrieli Consort and Players.
Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
Available on YouTube
World-Wide Consecration To The Immaculate Heart Of Mary.
This Article is a re-print from 2021.
Because of the state of the World, today,
Zephyrinus considers it necessary to repeat
this Consecration to The Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Illustration: RORATE CÆLI
This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
As endorsed by several fellow Catholic blogs and pages, we urge you to get your Traditional Latin Mass community to join this global effort. This is very important! We can only win this generational battle through prayer and through the intercession of the Victorious Mother.
The Holy Catholic Church is in an unprecedented worldwide crisis. The only hope for the Faithful is a Divine intervention, through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Two priests who wish to remain anonymous - one a Diocesan, the other a Religious, both of whom offer exclusively the Traditional Mass - propose a world wide consecration to the Immaculate Heart by all TLM communities on 15 August, 2021, the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption.
They hope that many Cardinals and Bishops will also associate themselves with this entrustment.
May the Immaculate Heart of Mary triumph and reign !
“The Soldier”. Rupert Brooke.
Rupert Brooke.
Date: 1914.
Source:
This File: 14 December 2025.
User: JayCubby
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)
THE SOLDIER.
The Holy Martyrs Abdon And Sennen. Whose Feast Day Is, Today, 30 July. Red Vestments.
English: Saint Abdon and Saint Sennen.
Catalan: Sants Abdó i Senén.
Artist: Jaume Huguet (1459-1460).
Source/Photographer: Catholic Culture
Collection: Santa Maria de Terrassa.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Translated out of Latin into English by
John, Marquess of Bute, K.T.
Volume II.
Summer.
1879.
Feast Day 30 July.
Simple.
Red Vestments.
All from the Simple Office for Many Martyrs, (Page 841 of this Breviary), except the following.
Third Lesson.
Abdon and Sennen were Persians. In the reign of the Emperor Decius, they were accused of interring, on their own farm, the bodies of Christians, which had been thrown out unburied.
The Emperor commanded them to be arrested and ordered to sacrifice to the gods. This they refused to do, and persistently preached that Jesus Christ is God, whereupon they were put into strict confinement.
When Decius afterwards returned to Rome, he had them led in chains in his triumph. Being thus dragged into the City and up to the idols, they abhorred and spat upon them, for which they were cast to bears and lions; the beasts were afraid to touch them.
They were butchered with the sword, and the corpses, with their feet bound together, were dragged before the image of the Sun.
Thence, they were stolen away, and the Deacon, Quirinus, buried them in his own house.
Prayer throughout the Office.
O God, Who didst give unto Thy Saints Abdon and Sennen the abundant grace whereby to attain unto this glory, grant unto Thy servants the remission of all their sins, that with the pleading of the worthy deeds of Thy Saints, they may worthily be delivered from all things hurtful.
Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of The Holy Ghost, one God, World without end.
Amen.
Vespers are of the following Feast of Saint Ignatius, Confessor (31 July).
29 July, 2026
Saints Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus, Beatrice. Martyrs. Feast Day 29 July. Red Vestments.
unless otherwise stated.
Saints Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrice.
Martyrs.
Feast Day 29 July.
Simple.
Red Vestments.
The statue of Saint Beatrice (on the Right)
is part of a group of twenty-four statues
installed above the Colonnade entrance
above the Basilica of Saint Peter's, Rome.
Illustration: SAINT PETER'S BASILICA.INFO
Martyrdom of Saint Simplicius and Saint Faustinus.
Martyre de saint Simplice et de saint Faustin.
Date: 14th-Century.
Source:
Author: Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Holy Pontiff, Felix II, is a Pope of the 4th-Century A.D.
He was Martyred in Tuscany, Italy, in the time of the Arians, 365 A.D. [Editor: See the Breviary Notes (below), reference the dispute about Felix.]
Saints Simplicius and Faustinus, denounced as Christians to the persecutors, were put to death at Rome under Emperor Diocletian in 304 A.D. Saint Beatrice, their sister, was arrested and strangled in prison. Pope Leo II placed the Relics of these three Martyrs in a Church at Rome Dedicated in their names.
Mass: Sapiéntiam.
The following Text is from:
Translated out of Latin into English by John,
Saints Simplicius and Faustinus, denounced as Christians to the persecutors, were put to death at Rome under Emperor Diocletian in 304 A.D. Saint Beatrice, their sister, was arrested and strangled in prison. Pope Leo II placed the Relics of these three Martyrs in a Church at Rome Dedicated in their names.
Mass: Sapiéntiam.
BREVIARIUM ROMANUM.
THE ROMAN BREVIARY.
LE BRÉVIAIRE.
English: A French Prayer Book of 1905
containing extracts from the Roman Missal,
and the Roman Breviary of the time, with French translations.
Français: Nouveau Paroissien Romain contenant en latin et en français les Offices et Messes de tous les dimanches et de toutes les fêtes de l'année ecclésiastique.
File: File:Nouveau Paroissien Romain (1905).jpg
Uploaded: 6 May 2009.
Author: Perky
(Wikimedia Commons)
Illustration: RORATE CÆLI
The following Text is from:
The Pre-1911 Roman Breviary
Volume II.
Summer.
Translated out of Latin into English by John,
Marquess of Bute, K.T.
Date: 1879.
The Holy Martyrs, Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix (Beatrice).
Feast Day 29 July.
Simple.
The Martyrology says that Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix (Beatrice) were two brothers and a sister, who suffered at Rome under Diocletian.
Date: 1879.
The Holy Martyrs, Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix (Beatrice).
Feast Day 29 July.
Simple.
The Martyrology says that Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix (Beatrice) were two brothers and a sister, who suffered at Rome under Diocletian.
Concerning Felix, there has been much dispute. The Missal and Breviary, by suppressing the Title of Pope or Bishop (always given in such cases) seem to confirm the view, now generally adopted by historians, viz., that he was an African Martyr, who suffered on 10 November, and whose Relics were brought to Rome on 29 July, but the Martyrology retains another theory, now generally rejected, which identifies this Saint with one Felix, intruded into the See of Rome by Constantius during the Pontificate of Liberius, and now commonly regarded as an Anti-Pope of very dubious orthodoxy.
Saint Martha. Virgin. Feast Day 29 July. White Vestments.
unless otherwise stated.
Saint Martha.
Virgin.
Feast Day 29 July.
Semi-Double.
White Vestments.
Jesus at the house of Mary and Martha.
Artist: Harold Copping (1863–1932).
Date: 1927.
Source: http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/
(Wikimedia Commons)
After having celebrated, on the 22nd of this month, the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalen, we honour today, Martha, her sister.
The daughter of noble and rich parents, she lived at Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem. "Jesus", says Saint John, "loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus," wherefore He preferred to dwell at their house when He was in Judea. There He spent the days which preceded His death.
Martha, who was the eldest, therefore often had the honour of being the hostess of Jesus (Gospel, Communion), The Divine Spouse, to Whom she had Consecrated her Virginity (Epistle). While busy with serving Jesus, she requested Him to bid Mary help her. And Jesus, without blaming her for ministering to His wants, made her understand that certain Souls, called by God, choose a still better part, since they commence on Earth what all shall do in Heaven.
Active life, with all its labours and fatigues endured for the sake of Christ, Whom we serve in our neighbour, is very meritorious; "happy, however, is the home where Mary causes the complaint of Martha" [Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Sermon III of The Assumption] and refuses to take away from Prayer a life which ordinary occupations might appear to claim.
God is indeed the author of all Grace and wishes to be recognised as such; and Contemplative Life, which puts Souls in direct contact with Him, assures their personal Sanctification more fully and obtains more efficaciously the Graces by which a Christian Apostleship becomes fruitful.
Let us esteem at its just value the position that Jesus reserves to Mary, and, if He calls us to share in Martha's solicitude, let us endeavour, like The Saints, to make up by The Spirit of Prayer, for what is wanting in active life.
Mass: Dilexísti.
Commemoration: Saints Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrice. Martyrs.
28 July, 2026
Saint Nazarius. Saint Celsus. Saint Victor. Martyrs. Red Vestments. Saint Innocent I. Pope. Confessor. White Vestments. Feast Day 28 July.
By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
Volume 13.
Time After Pentecost.
Book IV.
Nazarius and Celsus bring glory to The Church of Milan by appearing on the Sanctoral Cycle, today.
After lying forgotten for three Centuries in the obscure tomb that had received their precious remains in the time of Nero, they now receive the united homage of East and West.
It was nine years since the triumphal day when Gervase and Protase, no less forgotten by the City once a witness of their combat, had come to console and strengthen an illustrious Bishop who was persecuted for his profession of the Divine Consubstantiality of the same Christ Who had had all their love and Faith.
Ambrose, loved by the Martyrs, though denied their Palm, was soon to receive the White Wreath of Confession in reward for his holy works, when Heaven revealed to him a new treasure, the discovery of which was again “to illustrate the times of his Episcopate”.
Theodosius was no more; Ambrose was about to die; the Barbarians were at the gates. But, as if simultaneous with the threat of imminent destruction to the Ancient World, the hour for the first resurrection spoken of by Saint John had sounded, the Martyrs rose from their tombs to reign a thousand years with Christ on the renovated Earth.
“That great Babylon is fallen, is fallen, which made all Nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and in her was found the blood of Prophets and of Saints, and of all that were slain upon the Earth”.
The great Pope Innocent I, whose memory seems to have been purposely united with that of the Martyrs, bears witness to the deluge, wherein, during his Pontificate, pagan Rome at length perished utterly, and made way for the new Jerusalem come down from Heaven.
Like the ancient Sion, the Rome of the Cæsars would not yield to the offers of that God Who alone could fulfil her desires of immortality.
Ever since the triumph of The Cross under Constantine, no City of the Empire had remained so obstinately given to the worship of idols, or shed so much of that noble blood which might have renewed her youth.
And, yet, after the defeat of her vain idols, God, in His patience, determined to wait a Century longer, the last decade of which was a series of salutary threats and merciful interventions, the evident work of the Christ Whom she still obstinately repulsed.
The incursions of the Goths, allies one day, enemies the next, everywhere spreading anarchy, gave her an opportunity of returning to superstitions which the Christian Emperors had not tolerated; and in her dotage she welcomed the Tuscan soothsayers who had come to help her against Alaric, and allowed them to re-establish the worship of idols.
Terrible was her awakening when, on the morning of 24 August 410 A.D., the true God of armies took His revenge; and while the Barbarians were engaged in wholesale massacre and pillage, lightning set fire to the Town and destroyed the statues in which she had so long placed her confidence and her glory.
The avengers of God, destroying Babylon, spared the tombs of the two Founders of the eternal Rome. On these Apostolic foundations, Innocent began to rebuild the Holy City.
Soon on her seven hills, purified by fire, she rose again, more brilliant than ever, the destined centre of the World of Mind.
It was in the year 417 A.D., the last of Innocent’s Pontificate, that Saint Augustine, hearing that the Pelagian heresy was condemned, cried out: “Letters have arrived from Rome; the dispute is at an end”.
The Councils of Carthage and Milevis, which on this occasion had requested the confirmation of their decree by the Apostolic See, did in this but continue the uninterrupted Tradition of the Churches with regard to the supremacy of their mother and mistress.
This fact is eloquently attested by the holy Pope Victor, who shares with the Martyrs the honours of today. His great name calls to mind the Councils of the 2nd-Century A.D., held by his orders throughout The Church to treat of the celebration of Easter; the condemnation he pronounced , or intended to pronounce, against the churches of Asia,without anyone questioning his right to do so; lastly, the uncontroverted anathemas he hurled against Montanus and the precursors of Arius.
“Suffer The Little Children To Come Unto Me”. The Foundling Hospital, London.
Illustration: THE VICTORIANIST
Engraving of The Foundling Hospital,
Holborn, London, circa 1750.
This File comes from Wellcome Images,
a Web-Site operated by Wellcome Trust,
a global Charitable Foundation
based in The United Kingdom.
Refer to Wellcome blog post (archive).
Source/Photographer: WELLCOME IMAGES
This File is licensed under
4.0 International Licence.
(Wikimedia Commons)
“Applicants For Admission To A Casual Ward”.
Artist: Luke Fildes.
Date: 1874.
Illustration from THE VICTORIANIST
G. F. Handel - “Messiah”
Composed by: George Frideric Handel.
Played at The Foundling Hospital, 1 May 1750.
Available on YouTube
“SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN
TO COME UNTO ME”.
From: Matthew 18:1-6
Then were there brought unto Him little children,
That He should put His Hands on them, and Pray.
And The Disciples rebuked them.
But Jesus said:
Suffer little children,
And forbid them not to come unto Me.
For of such is The Kingdom of Heaven.
The Foundling Hospital, in London, England, was Founded in 1741 by the philanthropic Sea Captain, Thomas Coram. It was a Children’s Home established for the “education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children”. The word “Hospital” was used in a more general sense than it is today, simply indicating the Institution’s “Hospitality” to those less fortunate.
The first children were admitted to The Foundling Hospital
The first children were admitted to The Foundling Hospital
on 25 March 1741, into a Temporary House located in
Hatton Garden. At first, no questions were asked about
child or parent, but a distinguishing token was put on each child by the parent. These were often marked coins, trinkets, pieces of cotton or ribbon, Verses written on scraps of paper.
On reception, children were sent to Wet Nurses in the Countryside, where they stayed until they were about four or five years old. At sixteen years, girls were generally Apprenticed as Servants for four years; at fourteen years, boys were Apprenticed into a variety of occupations, typically for seven years. There was a small Benevolent Fund for adults.
An Eastern Wing was added in 1752 “in order that the girls might be kept separate from the boys”. The new Hospital was described as “the most imposing single monument erected by 18th-Century benevolence” and became London’s most popular Charity.
In 1756, The House of Commons resolved that all children offered should be received, that local Receiving Places should be appointed all over the Country, and that the funds should be publicly guaranteed.
In less than four years, 14,934 children were presented, and a vile trade grew up among Vagrants, who sometimes became known as “Coram Men”, of promising to carry children from the countryside to the Hospital, an undertaking which they often did not perform or performed with great cruelty. Of these 15,000 children, only 4,400 survived to be Apprenticed. The total expense was about £500,000, which alarmed The House of Commons.
“London Street Scene”.
Artist: Gustave Dore.
Date: Circa 1868-1872.
Illustration from THE VICTORIANIST
After throwing out a Bill which proposed to raise the funds by fees from a general system of Parochial registration, they came to the conclusion that the indiscriminate admission should be discontinued.
The hospital, being thus thrown on its own resources, adopted a system of receiving children only with considerable sums (e.g. £100), which sometimes led to the children being reclaimed by the parent. This practice was finally stopped in 1801; and it henceforth became a fundamental rule that no money was to be received.
The Committee of Inquiry had to be satisfied of the previous good character and present necessity of the mother, and that the father of the child had deserted both mother and child, and that the reception of the child would probably replace the mother in the course of virtue and in the way of an honest livelihood.
There were some unfortunate incidents, such as the case
of Elizabeth Brownrigg (1720 – 1767), a severely abusive Fetters Lane Midwife, who mercilessly whipped and otherwise maltreated her adolescent female Apprenticed domestic servants, leading to the death of one, Mary Clifford, from her injuries, neglect, and infected wounds.
After The Foundling Hospital authorities investigated, Brownrigg was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang at Tyburn. Thereafter, The Foundling Hospital instituted more thorough investigation of its prospective Apprentice Masters and Apprentice Mistresses.
The Musical Service, which was originally sung by the Blind Children only, was made fashionable by the generosity of George Frideric Handel, who frequently had his composition “Messiah” performed there, and who bequeathed to The Hospital a “Fair Copy” (Full Score) of his greatest Oratorio. Handel’s involvement had begun on 1 May 1750, when he directed a performance of “Messiah” to mark the presentation of the Organ to The Chapel.
That first performance was a great success, and Handel was elected a Governor of The Hospital on the following day, a position he accepted. In 1774, Dr Charles Burney and a “Signor Giardini” made an unsuccessful attempt to form, in connection with The Hospital, a Public Music School, in imitation of The Pio Ospedale della Pietà, in Venice, Italy.
In 1847, however, a successful Juvenile Band was started. The educational effects of Music were found to be excellent, and the Hospital supplied many Musicians to the best Army and Navy Bands.
The early connection between the Hospital and the eminent Painters of the Reign of King George II is of interest. The exhibitions of pictures at The Foundling Hospital, which were organised by The Dilettante Society, led to the formation of The Royal Academy in 1768.
William Hogarth, who was childless, had a long association with the Hospital and was a Founding Governor. He designed the children’s uniforms and The Coat-of-Arms, and he and his wife, Jane, fostered Foundling Children.
Hogarth also decided to set up a permanent Art Exhibition in the new buildings, encouraging other Artists to produce work for the Hospital. Indeed, several contemporary English Artists decorated the walls of the Hospital with their works, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Richard Wilson and Francis Hayman.
Hogarth painted a portrait of Thomas Coram for the Hospital. He also donated his “Moses, Brought Before Pharaoh’s Daughter”. His painting “March Of The Guards To Finchley” was also obtained by the Hospital after Hogarth donated lottery tickets for a sale of his works, and the Hospital won it.
Another noteworthy piece is Roubiliac’s bust of Handel. The Chapel’s Altarpiece was originally “Adoration Of The Magi”, by Casali, but it was deemed to look “too Catholic” by the Hospital’s Anglican Governors.
It was replaced by Benjamin West’s picture of Christ presenting a little child. The Hospital also owns several paintings, illustrating life in the Institution, by Emma Brownlow, daughter of the Hospital’s Administrator. The Foundling Hospital Art Collection can today be seen at The Foundling Museum.
In the 1920s, the Hospital decided to move to a healthier location in the Countryside. A proposal to turn the buildings over for University use fell through, and they were eventually sold to a Property Developer, called James White, in 1926.
After The Foundling Hospital authorities investigated, Brownrigg was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang at Tyburn. Thereafter, The Foundling Hospital instituted more thorough investigation of its prospective Apprentice Masters and Apprentice Mistresses.
That first performance was a great success, and Handel was elected a Governor of The Hospital on the following day, a position he accepted. In 1774, Dr Charles Burney and a “Signor Giardini” made an unsuccessful attempt to form, in connection with The Hospital, a Public Music School, in imitation of The Pio Ospedale della Pietà, in Venice, Italy.
The early connection between the Hospital and the eminent Painters of the Reign of King George II is of interest. The exhibitions of pictures at The Foundling Hospital, which were organised by The Dilettante Society, led to the formation of The Royal Academy in 1768.
Hogarth also decided to set up a permanent Art Exhibition in the new buildings, encouraging other Artists to produce work for the Hospital. Indeed, several contemporary English Artists decorated the walls of the Hospital with their works, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Richard Wilson and Francis Hayman.
Another noteworthy piece is Roubiliac’s bust of Handel. The Chapel’s Altarpiece was originally “Adoration Of The Magi”, by Casali, but it was deemed to look “too Catholic” by the Hospital’s Anglican Governors.
It was replaced by Benjamin West’s picture of Christ presenting a little child. The Hospital also owns several paintings, illustrating life in the Institution, by Emma Brownlow, daughter of the Hospital’s Administrator. The Foundling Hospital Art Collection can today be seen at The Foundling Museum.
He hoped to transfer Covent Garden Market to the site, but the local residents successfully opposed that plan. In the end, the original Hospital building was demolished.
The children were moved to Redhill, Surrey, where an old Convent was used to lodge them, and then, in 1935, to the new purpose-built Foundling Hospital in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
When, in the 1950s, British Law moved away from Institutionalisation of children toward more family-oriented solutions, such as Adoption and Foster Care, The Foundling Hospital ceased most of its operations.
When, in the 1950s, British Law moved away from Institutionalisation of children toward more family-oriented solutions, such as Adoption and Foster Care, The Foundling Hospital ceased most of its operations.
The Foundling Hospital still has a legacy on the original site. Seven acres (28,000 m²) of it were purchased for use as a Playground for children, with financial support from the Newspaper Proprietor, Lord Rothermere. This area is now called Coram’s Fields and is owned by an independent Charity, “Coram’s Fields and The Harmsworth Memorial Playground”.
The Foundling Hospital bought back 2.5 acres (10,000 m²) of land in 1937 and built a new Headquarters and a Children’s Centre on the site. Although smaller, the building is in a similar style to the original Foundling Hospital and important aspects of the interior architecture were recreated there.
It now houses The Foundling Museum, an independent Charity, where The Art Collection can be seen. The original Charity still exists as “Coram”, registered under the name “Thomas Coram Foundation For Children”, and is one of London’s largest Children’s Charities, operating in adjacent buildings constructed in the 1950s.
The “Coram” Web-Site is available HERE
The “Foundling Museum” Web-Site is available HERE
The Foundling Hospital is the setting for Jamila Gavin's novel “Coram Boy”. It also appears in three books by Jacqueline Wilson.
Artist: William Logsdail.
Title: Saint Martin-in-the-Fields.
Date: 1888.
Illustration from THE VICTORIANIST
The following Article is taken from THE VICTORIANIST
“A Story of Human Wrong, of Human Suffering; of Evil, of Good; of Sorrow, of Succour . . . The Weakness and Trust of Woman, and the Treachery and Infidelity of Man.” Or: The Unwanted Children of the 19th Century.
The Victorian era gave birth to many Institutions, many of which were hugely beneficial to Society’s neediest lives, such as Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Ragged Schools, and Battersea Dogs’ and Cats’ home.
Such gestures, however, were not confined to the period of The Victorians, and, whilst The Foundling Hospital may conjure up images of Oliver Twist-esque waifs and strays being educated by strict Victorian Schoolmasters, the Hospital (not actually a Hospital, but a place that offered hospitality) was established in 1741, but ran from then, all the way through the 19th-Century, and well into the second decade of the 20th-Century.
Its purpose was to act as a home for destitute children, and to care for and educate them until they were old enough to seek work and look after themselves, thus removing them from the streets.
The children who occupied the Hospital would be the offspring of mothers who were unable to care for them. However, a woman could not simply turn up with a child born out of wedlock and turn it over to prevent a scandal; she had to prove her good character, and demonstrate that the father had walked out on the family, leaving her unable to cope, and with no option but give up the infant for its own benefit and hers.
The following Article from “Strand Magazine” explores the history of The Foundling Hospital, and reveals that, despite being generally a good thing for children, when it came time for them to step out into the real World, they – in particular the girls – could often struggle to adapt.
Its purpose was to act as a home for destitute children, and to care for and educate them until they were old enough to seek work and look after themselves, thus removing them from the streets.
The following Article from “Strand Magazine” explores the history of The Foundling Hospital, and reveals that, despite being generally a good thing for children, when it came time for them to step out into the real World, they – in particular the girls – could often struggle to adapt.
Here follows an account of an Article in “The Strand Magazine” of 1891.
The Foundling Hospital is not an institution for the reception of Foundlings. This will be news to five-sixths of our Readers, and it is easy to imagine some of them exclaiming: “But do you mean to tell us that, if we discover a human mite abandoned on someone’s doorstep, and take it to The Foundling Hospital, it will not be admitted ?”
“We do”.
“Why, then, call the place a Foundling Hospital ?”
Thereby hangs a deeply interesting story – a story of human wrong, of human suffering; of evil, of good; of sorrow, of succour – a veritable World’s story, focusing the Large-Souled sympathy of mankind, the weakness and trust of woman, and the treachery and infidelity of man.
The Institution owes its origin to one of Nature’s noblemen; it is a monument equally to the head and the heart of Captain Thomas Coram. Captain Coram, in no ordinary sense of the word, went about doing good.
His life was made up of attempts to improve something or somebody. Early in the 18th-Century, he used, in his walks between the City, where he had business, and Rotherhithe, where he lived, to constantly come across young children left by the wayside, “sometimes alive, sometimes dead, and sometimes dying.”
The Foundling Hospital is not an institution for the reception of Foundlings. This will be news to five-sixths of our Readers, and it is easy to imagine some of them exclaiming: “But do you mean to tell us that, if we discover a human mite abandoned on someone’s doorstep, and take it to The Foundling Hospital, it will not be admitted ?”
“We do”.
“Why, then, call the place a Foundling Hospital ?”
Thereby hangs a deeply interesting story – a story of human wrong, of human suffering; of evil, of good; of sorrow, of succour – a veritable World’s story, focusing the Large-Souled sympathy of mankind, the weakness and trust of woman, and the treachery and infidelity of man.
“The Strand” Magazine.
Volume VII. January - June, 1894.
“The Strand” Magazine carried an Article on
The Foundling Hospital, London, in 1891.
Photo: 2 December 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: MichaelMaggs
Original Artist unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Institution owes its origin to one of Nature’s noblemen; it is a monument equally to the head and the heart of Captain Thomas Coram. Captain Coram, in no ordinary sense of the word, went about doing good.
His life was made up of attempts to improve something or somebody. Early in the 18th-Century, he used, in his walks between the City, where he had business, and Rotherhithe, where he lived, to constantly come across young children left by the wayside, “sometimes alive, sometimes dead, and sometimes dying.”
In other Countries, such children would be taken up by The State, and cared for; in England, nothing of the sort had ever been attempted, or, even, perhaps dreamed of.
Captain Coram’s heart was touched by surely the most pitiable sight in creation, and to touch Captain Coram’s heart was to set the machinery of his resourceful brain in motion. He rightly considered such exposure of infant humanity a disgrace to civilisation, and proceeded to enlist the services of the high-placed and the large-hearted in the cause.
For seventeen long years, he laboured against adverse circumstances, until, in 1739, his efforts were rewarded by a Charter authorising the Founding of an Institution “for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children”.
A fine statue of Captain Coram, by W. C. Marshall, R.A., and a Stone Tablet to his memory, placed on the wall of the Arcade in front of the building, are the first things to catch the visitor’s eye. Coram lived, we are told, to be eighty-four, and died “poor in Worldly estate, rich in Good Works.”
To help the New-Born Infant, he took his grey hairs, if not in sorrow, at least in poverty, to the grave. Like so many other benefactors of mankind, in striving to alleviate distress, this “indefatigable schemist” forgot himself, and had he, in his devotion, not had friends who gave more regard to his material needs than he gave himself, he might have closed his eyes to mundane affairs in want by the wayside, even as the objects of his solicitude opened theirs.
It is not necessary to go here at great length into the early mistakes made, or to describe how The Institution failed of the purpose which the Founder had in view. It was intended by him to meet the necessities of deserted motherhood; it came, in the middle of the last Century, to be a receptacle for all the Babes whom worthless parents did not care to keep.
A basket was hung outside the gates of The Hospital. On the first day, 117 children were left in it, and a lucrative trade sprung up among tramps who, for a consideration, carried The Little Ones from all parts of England to The Hospital. In less than four years, 14,934 infants were thus disposed of.
These “Regiments of Infantry,” as a waggish commentator called them, overwhelmed the resources of The Institution, and it is not surprising to learn that, from various causes, not more than 4,000 of the 14,934 survived, the indiscriminate admission of children had to be abolished.
Later, it was decided to receive children for money, but this step resulted in other abuses, and we have the authority of the admirable account of The Hospital, compiled by a former Secretary, and revised by the present Secretary, Mr. W. S. Wintle – a work which may be purchased for Half-a-Crown [Editor: Twelve-and-a-Half Pence], and is well worth attentive study – for stating that, since January 1801, no child has been received into The Hospital, either directly or indirectly, with any sum of money, large or small.
Today, the practice is for the mother to take the Babe, before it is twelve months old, to The Hospital, to make her statement before the authorities, and to leave the child to their care, absolutely.
Captain Coram’s heart was touched by surely the most pitiable sight in creation, and to touch Captain Coram’s heart was to set the machinery of his resourceful brain in motion. He rightly considered such exposure of infant humanity a disgrace to civilisation, and proceeded to enlist the services of the high-placed and the large-hearted in the cause.
For seventeen long years, he laboured against adverse circumstances, until, in 1739, his efforts were rewarded by a Charter authorising the Founding of an Institution “for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children”.
A fine statue of Captain Coram, by W. C. Marshall, R.A., and a Stone Tablet to his memory, placed on the wall of the Arcade in front of the building, are the first things to catch the visitor’s eye. Coram lived, we are told, to be eighty-four, and died “poor in Worldly estate, rich in Good Works.”
To help the New-Born Infant, he took his grey hairs, if not in sorrow, at least in poverty, to the grave. Like so many other benefactors of mankind, in striving to alleviate distress, this “indefatigable schemist” forgot himself, and had he, in his devotion, not had friends who gave more regard to his material needs than he gave himself, he might have closed his eyes to mundane affairs in want by the wayside, even as the objects of his solicitude opened theirs.
Foundling Girls.
It is not necessary to go here at great length into the early mistakes made, or to describe how The Institution failed of the purpose which the Founder had in view. It was intended by him to meet the necessities of deserted motherhood; it came, in the middle of the last Century, to be a receptacle for all the Babes whom worthless parents did not care to keep.
A basket was hung outside the gates of The Hospital. On the first day, 117 children were left in it, and a lucrative trade sprung up among tramps who, for a consideration, carried The Little Ones from all parts of England to The Hospital. In less than four years, 14,934 infants were thus disposed of.
These “Regiments of Infantry,” as a waggish commentator called them, overwhelmed the resources of The Institution, and it is not surprising to learn that, from various causes, not more than 4,000 of the 14,934 survived, the indiscriminate admission of children had to be abolished.
Later, it was decided to receive children for money, but this step resulted in other abuses, and we have the authority of the admirable account of The Hospital, compiled by a former Secretary, and revised by the present Secretary, Mr. W. S. Wintle – a work which may be purchased for Half-a-Crown [Editor: Twelve-and-a-Half Pence], and is well worth attentive study – for stating that, since January 1801, no child has been received into The Hospital, either directly or indirectly, with any sum of money, large or small.
Today, the practice is for the mother to take the Babe, before it is twelve months old, to The Hospital, to make her statement before the authorities, and to leave the child to their care, absolutely.
She must be Poor, she must be anxious to regain her good name, and no woman who petitions that her child may be admitted to The Hospital stands a chance of relief if she cannot prove that she has led a life of propriety previous to her misfortune. This point cannot be too strongly borne in mind. As the Reverend Sydney Smith, one of the Preachers of The Foundling Chapel puts it:-
“No child drinks of our cup, or eats of our bread, whose reception, upon the whole, is not certain to be more conducive than pernicious to the interests of Religion and good morals.
“No child drinks of our cup, or eats of our bread, whose reception, upon the whole, is not certain to be more conducive than pernicious to the interests of Religion and good morals.
We hear no mother whom it would not be merciless and shocking to turn away; we exercise the trust reposed in us with a trembling and sensitive conscience; we do not think it enough to say: ‘This woman is wretched, and betrayed, and forsaken’; but we calmly reflect if it be expedient that her tears should be dried up, her loneliness sheltered, and all her wants receive the ministration of Charity.”
No instance of a mother going to the bad after she has been relieved by the Governors of The Foundling Hospital has, we believe, ever come to notice !
The General Public knows most of The Foundling Hospital from a visit to The Chapel on a Sunday morning. Anyone who is prepared to drop a Silver Coin into The Plate at the door is admitted. The spectacle is impressive.
Foundling Boys.
No instance of a mother going to the bad after she has been relieved by the Governors of The Foundling Hospital has, we believe, ever come to notice !
The General Public knows most of The Foundling Hospital from a visit to The Chapel on a Sunday morning. Anyone who is prepared to drop a Silver Coin into The Plate at the door is admitted. The spectacle is impressive.
In the galleries, at The West End of The Chapel, on either side of the Organ, are seated some five hundred boys and girls, better behaved probably than any other considerable number of young people who appear in Church regularly every Sunday.
Their happy faces are perhaps a greater pleasure to gaze upon than their healthy voices are to listen to. Divine Service over, at one o’clock they march into their respective Dining-Rooms, the boys being in one Wing of the building and the girls in the other Wing. “Grace”, in the former, is sung to the accompaniment of a Cornet, which one of the boys plays.
When they take their places at Table, the spectator will find none lacking in appetite for the simple honest “repast”. On the opposite side of the building, the girls are doing not less justice to themselves and those who have provided and prepared the Dinner.
The scene on any Sunday morning in the year 1891 is precisely that which Charles Dickens described in “No Thoroughfare”, a quarter of a Century ago:
“There are numerous lookers-on at the Dinner, as the custom is. There are two or three Governors, whole families from the Congregation, smaller groups of both sexes, individual stragglers of various degrees.
The bright Autumnal Sun strikes freshly into the Wards, and the heavy-framed windows through which it shines, and the panelled walls on which it strikes, are such windows and such walls as pervade Hogarth’s pictures. The girls’ Refectory (including that of the younger children) is the principal attraction.
Neat attendants silently glide about the orderly and silent Tables; the lookers-on move or stop as the fancy takes them; comments in whispers on face “such a number, from such a window” are not infrequent; many of the faces are of a character to fix attention.
Some of the visitors from the Outside Public are accustomed visitors. They have established a speaking acquaintance with the occupants of particular seats at the Tables, and halt at these points to bend down and say a word or two.
Their happy faces are perhaps a greater pleasure to gaze upon than their healthy voices are to listen to. Divine Service over, at one o’clock they march into their respective Dining-Rooms, the boys being in one Wing of the building and the girls in the other Wing. “Grace”, in the former, is sung to the accompaniment of a Cornet, which one of the boys plays.
When they take their places at Table, the spectator will find none lacking in appetite for the simple honest “repast”. On the opposite side of the building, the girls are doing not less justice to themselves and those who have provided and prepared the Dinner.
The Chapel.
The scene on any Sunday morning in the year 1891 is precisely that which Charles Dickens described in “No Thoroughfare”, a quarter of a Century ago:
“There are numerous lookers-on at the Dinner, as the custom is. There are two or three Governors, whole families from the Congregation, smaller groups of both sexes, individual stragglers of various degrees.
The bright Autumnal Sun strikes freshly into the Wards, and the heavy-framed windows through which it shines, and the panelled walls on which it strikes, are such windows and such walls as pervade Hogarth’s pictures. The girls’ Refectory (including that of the younger children) is the principal attraction.
Title: “Waif Boy”.
Date: 1890.
Location: Bristol.
Author: Unknown.
Rights: © The Children's Society.
Used with permission.
Neat attendants silently glide about the orderly and silent Tables; the lookers-on move or stop as the fancy takes them; comments in whispers on face “such a number, from such a window” are not infrequent; many of the faces are of a character to fix attention.
Some of the visitors from the Outside Public are accustomed visitors. They have established a speaking acquaintance with the occupants of particular seats at the Tables, and halt at these points to bend down and say a word or two.
It is no disparagement to their kindness that those points are generally points where personal attractions are. The monotony of the long spacious rooms and the double lines of faces is agreeably relieved by these incidents, although so slight”.
There is not much to see in the Classrooms, which will not be fully conveyed in our illustrations. As we enter the boys’ room, we are momentarily startled by the shuffle of feet as every boy rises respectfully in his place. Not being professional School Inspectors, such honours are not often accorded us. Resuming their seats, the Class-Work goes on as at any ordinary School. So, with the girls.
The most interesting of the Classes is that of the Infants. On the day on which we visit The Foundling Hospital, for the especial purpose of this Paper, they are turned out of their Ordinary Room, and are squatted on the floor of another, in sections, before Blackboards, and with slates in their laps.
They are the veriest, chubbiest urchins imaginable, and, as we approach, three or four of them turn their smiling faces to ours. They evidently expect to be spoken to, and we ask them what they are doing ?
“Writin’,” answers a Babe of very few Summers.
“Writing what ?” we ask.
“Good,” is the reply, as a little finger points to the Blackboard on which the word is written in bold characters.
“And are you good ?”
“Es,” and, with a “That’s Right !”, we pat the baby cheek, and think many things. Poor little mites, and yet happy withal ! Motherless, fatherless, friendless, and yet inmates of an Institution which is not such a bad substitute for father, mother, and friends.
What would they be but for it ? Recruits, perchance, in the ranks of shame into which their mothers might have drifted. And their mothers ? Who knows but that somewhere out in the World, women are living, and working, and sleeping; dreaming, wondering how fares the helpless mortal for whose existence they are responsible, for whom they still bear a love which no barrier of separation can obliterate ?
From the School-Rooms, let us go to the Museum, where are stored some valuable and many curiosities. Pictures by Hogarth, and others, line the walls, and it is an interesting item of information that The Royal Academy of Arts, to which the fashionable World flocks today, was suggested to the Founders by the crowds of people who, in the last Century, went to see pictures exhibited at The Foundling Hospital.
Artists rallied strongly to the support of the Institution, which also enlisted the services of Handel, who devoted his “Messiah” to its benefit, and presented the Organ which is still in use. Lovers of Art History and Art Treasures will find much on the walls and in the Show-Cases of The Foundling Hospital to gratify them.
What will attract the majority of people more, however, than Handel’s gifts, or Hogarth’s, or Sir Joshua Reynolds’ canvases, are the Tokens, which it early became necessary to stipulate should be left with the child for the purpose, if need be, of identification.
All sorts of things were left, from a coin, or a key, to a trinket, or piece of ribbon. Hearts and Wedding Rings are numerous, the former, no doubt, emblems more often than not of broken hearts, the latter eloquent of disappointed hopes. In some instances, the Token took the shape of a Verse.
What becomes of the inmates of The Hospital when the time arrives to turn them out into the World to gain a living ? The boys, at the age of fourteen, are usually Apprenticed to some Trade. A great many of them, however, who have formed part of the Juvenile Band at The Hospital, join the Bands of The Army and The Navy.
In this position they seem to do especially well. Testimonials of gratitude from lads brought up at The Hospital are not wanting. One is a handsome Chinese Vase, bearing the inscription:
“Presented to The Foundling Hospital by George Ross, Corporal, Band, 74th Highlanders, as a small token of gratitude for the years of childhood spent in the Institution. Hong Kong, 15 February, 1879”.
Another is an Ink-Stand, made of Irish Bog-Oak, and was: “Presented to the Governors of The Foundling Hospital by Corporal Samuel Reid, a Foundling, of Her Majesty’s Regiment Military Train, as a token of deep gratitude. 26 April 1868”.
The girls go into Domestic Service, and, with initial care, make excellent Servants. In these days, when good Domestics are so difficult to get, the demand for Foundling Girls is much greater than the supply.
Whatever the deprivations of the children may be on account of the want of individual motherly love, the real hardships of the lives of the girls begin when they leave The Hospital. They are educated in everything save Worldly Knowledge.
Where an ordinary girl runs errands for her parents, and becomes a little woman by the time she reaches her teens, the Foundling Girls remain in absolute ignorance of how to purchase any single article, or transact the simplest affairs outside the home. This is one drawback.
Another drawback, and sadder, is when, standing on the threshold of the great World, they realise that they are not as the majority of other girls are. They go into Service, and they have not a friend of any kind to see, or to talk about.
Do what it will, The Hospital cannot supply the place of relatives, and, however much her origin may be screened from her fellow Servants, in all probability the time comes when the latter say: “How strange we never hear you speak of your father, or your mother, or your sister, or your brother”.
Then, the lonely maiden invents little stories and tells fibs, which the most truthful among us may pardon, respecting the father and mother who are dead, or whatever other explanation may occur to her. If the inquisitive World only knew what pain its thoughtless enquiries may cause !
A visit to The Foundling Hospital will afford food for many an hour’s reflection. We are often urged to recognise woman’s equality with man. The Foundling Hospital is a pathetic reminder of her eternal inequality.
The Strand Magazine, 1891.
The Foundling Hospital is no longer there, but Captain Coram’s name still lives on in Coram’s Fields, a Children’s Park (into which adults are only allowed if accompanied by a child under sixteen) situated between Regent’s Park and Clerkenwell, where The Hospital stood for 187 years before it was moved outside London in the 1920s.
A Plaque at the entrance to the Park commemorates the history of the area with these words:
“THESE GROUNDS”.
The site of The Foundling Hospital, established in 1739 by Captain Thomas Coram, were offered for sale as Building Land in 1926, when, owing to changing Social Conditions, the old Hospital was sold and demolished.
After eight years of anxiety as to its fate, the site was eventually preserved for the use and welfare of the children of Central London by the generosity and vision of Harold Viscount Rothermere, by the efforts of The Foundling Site Appeal Council, by the co-operation of the Governors of The Foundling Hospital, and of the Education Committee of The London County Council, and by the enthusiasm of many thousands of donors, large and small, who contributed their money, or their toil, to the saving of these nine acres, henceforth to be known as “CORAM’S FIELDS”.
There is not much to see in the Classrooms, which will not be fully conveyed in our illustrations. As we enter the boys’ room, we are momentarily startled by the shuffle of feet as every boy rises respectfully in his place. Not being professional School Inspectors, such honours are not often accorded us. Resuming their seats, the Class-Work goes on as at any ordinary School. So, with the girls.
The most interesting of the Classes is that of the Infants. On the day on which we visit The Foundling Hospital, for the especial purpose of this Paper, they are turned out of their Ordinary Room, and are squatted on the floor of another, in sections, before Blackboards, and with slates in their laps.
They are the veriest, chubbiest urchins imaginable, and, as we approach, three or four of them turn their smiling faces to ours. They evidently expect to be spoken to, and we ask them what they are doing ?
“Writin’,” answers a Babe of very few Summers.
“Writing what ?” we ask.
“Good,” is the reply, as a little finger points to the Blackboard on which the word is written in bold characters.
“And are you good ?”
“Es,” and, with a “That’s Right !”, we pat the baby cheek, and think many things. Poor little mites, and yet happy withal ! Motherless, fatherless, friendless, and yet inmates of an Institution which is not such a bad substitute for father, mother, and friends.
What would they be but for it ? Recruits, perchance, in the ranks of shame into which their mothers might have drifted. And their mothers ? Who knows but that somewhere out in the World, women are living, and working, and sleeping; dreaming, wondering how fares the helpless mortal for whose existence they are responsible, for whom they still bear a love which no barrier of separation can obliterate ?
Foundling Infants.
From the School-Rooms, let us go to the Museum, where are stored some valuable and many curiosities. Pictures by Hogarth, and others, line the walls, and it is an interesting item of information that The Royal Academy of Arts, to which the fashionable World flocks today, was suggested to the Founders by the crowds of people who, in the last Century, went to see pictures exhibited at The Foundling Hospital.
Artists rallied strongly to the support of the Institution, which also enlisted the services of Handel, who devoted his “Messiah” to its benefit, and presented the Organ which is still in use. Lovers of Art History and Art Treasures will find much on the walls and in the Show-Cases of The Foundling Hospital to gratify them.
What will attract the majority of people more, however, than Handel’s gifts, or Hogarth’s, or Sir Joshua Reynolds’ canvases, are the Tokens, which it early became necessary to stipulate should be left with the child for the purpose, if need be, of identification.
All sorts of things were left, from a coin, or a key, to a trinket, or piece of ribbon. Hearts and Wedding Rings are numerous, the former, no doubt, emblems more often than not of broken hearts, the latter eloquent of disappointed hopes. In some instances, the Token took the shape of a Verse.
The Museum.
What becomes of the inmates of The Hospital when the time arrives to turn them out into the World to gain a living ? The boys, at the age of fourteen, are usually Apprenticed to some Trade. A great many of them, however, who have formed part of the Juvenile Band at The Hospital, join the Bands of The Army and The Navy.
In this position they seem to do especially well. Testimonials of gratitude from lads brought up at The Hospital are not wanting. One is a handsome Chinese Vase, bearing the inscription:
“Presented to The Foundling Hospital by George Ross, Corporal, Band, 74th Highlanders, as a small token of gratitude for the years of childhood spent in the Institution. Hong Kong, 15 February, 1879”.
Title: “Waif Girl”.
Date: 1890.
Location: Bristol.
Author: Unknown.
Rights: © The Children's Society.
Used with permission.
Another is an Ink-Stand, made of Irish Bog-Oak, and was: “Presented to the Governors of The Foundling Hospital by Corporal Samuel Reid, a Foundling, of Her Majesty’s Regiment Military Train, as a token of deep gratitude. 26 April 1868”.
The girls go into Domestic Service, and, with initial care, make excellent Servants. In these days, when good Domestics are so difficult to get, the demand for Foundling Girls is much greater than the supply.
Whatever the deprivations of the children may be on account of the want of individual motherly love, the real hardships of the lives of the girls begin when they leave The Hospital. They are educated in everything save Worldly Knowledge.
Where an ordinary girl runs errands for her parents, and becomes a little woman by the time she reaches her teens, the Foundling Girls remain in absolute ignorance of how to purchase any single article, or transact the simplest affairs outside the home. This is one drawback.
Girls in Class.
Another drawback, and sadder, is when, standing on the threshold of the great World, they realise that they are not as the majority of other girls are. They go into Service, and they have not a friend of any kind to see, or to talk about.
Do what it will, The Hospital cannot supply the place of relatives, and, however much her origin may be screened from her fellow Servants, in all probability the time comes when the latter say: “How strange we never hear you speak of your father, or your mother, or your sister, or your brother”.
Then, the lonely maiden invents little stories and tells fibs, which the most truthful among us may pardon, respecting the father and mother who are dead, or whatever other explanation may occur to her. If the inquisitive World only knew what pain its thoughtless enquiries may cause !
A visit to The Foundling Hospital will afford food for many an hour’s reflection. We are often urged to recognise woman’s equality with man. The Foundling Hospital is a pathetic reminder of her eternal inequality.
The Strand Magazine, 1891.
The Foundling Hospital is no longer there, but Captain Coram’s name still lives on in Coram’s Fields, a Children’s Park (into which adults are only allowed if accompanied by a child under sixteen) situated between Regent’s Park and Clerkenwell, where The Hospital stood for 187 years before it was moved outside London in the 1920s.
A Plaque at the entrance to the Park commemorates the history of the area with these words:
“THESE GROUNDS”.
The site of The Foundling Hospital, established in 1739 by Captain Thomas Coram, were offered for sale as Building Land in 1926, when, owing to changing Social Conditions, the old Hospital was sold and demolished.
After eight years of anxiety as to its fate, the site was eventually preserved for the use and welfare of the children of Central London by the generosity and vision of Harold Viscount Rothermere, by the efforts of The Foundling Site Appeal Council, by the co-operation of the Governors of The Foundling Hospital, and of the Education Committee of The London County Council, and by the enthusiasm of many thousands of donors, large and small, who contributed their money, or their toil, to the saving of these nine acres, henceforth to be known as “CORAM’S FIELDS”.
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