INFIRMARY. A building provided by the public, or by charitable persons, and endowed with funds for the treatment of the diseases of the poor.
Infirmaries are among the most laudable of all charita ble establishments, and do not fall under the same objec tions with some others. They do not, like the system of laws, encoin.age indolence, carelessness, and iinpro ? Went marriages ; or do they depress the minds of the in dividuals who obtain relief. Accidental injuries, and at tacks of disease, are not, like the unavoidable infirmities of old age, evils with which till elitist lay their account, and' against which a manly spirit calls on every "person to make a definite provision. It is undoubtedly to be commended, when the labouring classes provide against every casualty. But evils of this description often intervene unexpectedly, ‘e hen of time, and other pressing claims, have rel. dered such a degree of successful pi oyidence impractica ble; and the evils, when they conic, are in their nature overwhelming. It is a noble they of human sympathy, to find society so constructed, that institutions exist, on a scale sufficiently large to afford a ready attention to every emergency of this sort that occurs in the average course of events.
It is to the spirit of Christianity that we arc indebted for them. They seem to have had their origin about the time of the Emperor Justinian. It has_ become a question among some of the moderns, who have seen the imperfec tions attending our existing institutions, How was the want of them supplied among the ancients ? It seems to have been expected that, from their practices, sonic hints might be obtained by which our plans of charity might be improved. But it ought to be recollected, that the mass of misery which exists in such an imperfect state of so ciety must pass unknown. An immediate neighbour may become acquainted with a scene of distress, and may ex ert himself to relieve it ; but, evhere no general encourage ment is held out to make known cases of this kind to those who are ready to relieve them on such a scale as can be depended on, they remain neglected. The persons whom our infirmaries relieve would, among the ancient Greeks and Romans, have languished and died with disease and hunger. Piety impelled numerous individuals in the Chris
tian world to appropriate a part of their funds, either dur ing life, or after their death, to religious and charitable pur poses. By institutions proceeding from this origin, an im mensity of benefit was conferred on the sick poor. But these became liable to abuses which had not been foreseen, and ages of experience were required for the formation of a correct policy. The funds devoted to charitable purpo ses, being unalienable, tended perpetually to accumulate, and gradually to absorb every other kind of property; and the monastic institutions with which they were connected became the abodes of idleness, and were contaminated with extravagance and debauchery. The Reformation, toge ther with an internal correction of abuses in the church of Rome, placed these,among many other establishments, on a better foundation. The greater part of cur infirmaries are of an origin much posterior to the Reformation ; and some of those of Catholic countries are less dependent on monasteries formerly. It would be a matter of too tedious detail to enter on their individual history. In all the European capitals, and most of the other large towns, infirmaries are established. In London, there are seven general institutions of that sort, besides others more nu merous, devoted to particular branches of the same bene- • volent object. Almost every large town in England, and several itr Scotland, have one. These have been gradual ly improved, and the principles on which they are con ducted have several leading features in common, though not always executed in the same manner. We hope our readers will be gratified, as well as instructed, by an ac count of some of the difficulties attending such institutions; and the manner in which they are surmounted. It will be found, that it is not enough that the spirit of liberality should be sufficiently ample, to commence and endow them ; and that much invention and sound judgment, together with persevering labour, are required on the part of those who conduct them.