Hospital for the Maintenance & Education of Exposed & deserted Young Children, in Lamb's Conduit Fields.

INSTRUCTIONS to _____ upon being put Apprentice to ____ of _____ on the ___ Day of ___ in the year 17__ who on the ___ Day of ____ was ____ years old. _____ is to serve h__ till ____ years old.

YOU are placed out Apprentice by the Govrs. of this Hospital. You were taken into it very young, quite helpless, forsaken & deserted by Parents & Friends. Out of Charity you have been fed, clothed, and instructed; which many have wanted.

You have been taught to fear God, to love Him, to be honest, careful, laborious, and diligent. As you hope for Success in this World, and Happiness in the next, you are to be mindful of what has been taught you. You are to behave honestly, justly, soberly, and carefully in everything, to everybody, and especially towards your____and Family; and to execute all lawful Commands with Industry, Chearfulness, and good Manners.

You may find many Temptations to do wickedly, when you are in the World; but by all means fly from them. Always speak the Truth. Tho' you may have done a wrong thing, you will, by a sincere Confession, more easily obtain Forgiveness than if by and Obstinate Lye you make the Fault the greater, and thereby deserve a far greater Punishment. Lying is looked upon to be the Beginning of everything that is bad; and a Person used to it is never believed, esteemed, or trusted.

Be not ashamed that you were bred in this Hospital. Own it; and say that it was thro' the good Providence of Almighty God that you were taken care of. Bless Him for it; and be thankful to those worthy Benefactors who have contributed towards your Maintenance and Support. And if ever it be in your Power, make a grateful Acknowledgment to the Hospital for the Benefits you have received.

Be constant in your Prayers, and going to Church; & avoid Gaming, Swearing and all evil Discourses: By this means the Blessing of God will follow your honest Labours, and you will also gain the Good-Will of all good Persons. If you follow the Instructions which had all along been taught you, and which we now give you, you may be happy; otherwise you will bring upon yourself Misery, Shame, and Want.

Note, Your Master will provide you Meat, Drink, Washing, Lodging, and Clothing: And he has agreed to pay you Five Pounds a year, for the Three last years of your Apprenticeship.

Devised 17th of April, 1754

London is and always has been a tale of two cities: London and Westminster, the river and the shore, town and country, rich and poor.  The contrasts can be remarkable.  If Tiger Woods were to stand at the east end of pristine, polished Threadneedle Street where millions are traded every day and hit a golf towards Whitechapel, that ball would fly over at least one boarded-up pub, a handful of derelict buildings, a trendy club, local authority flats, 26 Big Issue sellers and some corner shops where all the biscuits are out of date.

Two hundred years ago, poverty and sickness were an ever-present spectre for many families and particularly the day-labourers, who supported wives and families from one sunrise to the next with the strength of their backs.  They skirted the abyss, never more than a few days away from losing their footing.  This morning I was flicking through a facsimile of an old miscellany from the British Library.  Lots of it is random and undated, but one letter, originally submitted to the Gentleman's Magazine in 1780 really got under my skin.  In December of 1780, Mr Lettsom left his front door with the intention of taking a morning walk.  He was 'accosted' by a tall, thin man who was 'a picture of distress'.  Lettsom enquired as to the man's situation and informed that the man's name was Foy, and that he had recently recovered from a sickness.  He sought work, to support his family in Little Greenwich, Aldersgate Street.

Lettsom handed over some money, and Mr Foy burst into tears and went on to try and find work.  Lettsom set out on his walk, but was troubled by the idea of the man and his family.  His steps turned towards Aldersgate Street and without much trouble, he discovered Foy's 'miserable habitation': 'a little chamber furnished with one bedstead; an old box was the only article that answered the purpose of a chair'.  However, it wasn't the furniture that shocked Lettsom, but the occupants: in the bed was a woman suffering from a putrid fever, her lips and gums black.  At her feet was a girl of around five years old, naked apart from a poultice bound to the blisters on her back, held on by strings across her chest.  Beneath the arm of the mother lay a naked boy of toddling age.  On the floor was a girl of about twelve, covering herself with a petticoat, moaning that she would 'die of thirst'.  All were fevered, apart from a four year old girl in a 'fragment of petticoat', who stood barefoot near them, providing water.  The twelve year old, no doubt relieved to see another adult, begged Lettsom to look at 'her mother's side', where a huge 'mortification', or skin infection spread from her thigh to stomach, 'and nothing to stop its progress had been applied'. 

Mr Lettsom 'procured medical assistance immediately' and paid a neighbour to nurse the family.  Not long afterwards, he had 'the pleasure the conclude this relation of their unspeakable distress by communicating their total delivery from it'.

This is a tale of London itself, the ever-present gulf and how it is often breached by small acts of kindness rarely remembered.  For Lettsom, the incident bore one crucial lesson and one that is a relevant today as it was in 1780: