Part 16

FLOWER DE LUCE _court_, 1. Black Friars.* 2. Cow Cross.* 3. Fleet street.* 4. Gray’s Inn lane.* 5. Grub street.* 6. Houndsditch.* 7. Ludgate hill.* 8. St. Michael’s lane.* 9. Parish Garden lane.* 10. Tooley street.* 11. Turnmill street.*

FLOWER DE LUCE _street_, 1. Elder street.* 2. Wheeler street.*

FLOWER DE LUCE _yard_, 1. Gray’s Inn lane.* 2. Parish Garden lane.* 3. Tooley street.* 4. Turnmill street.*

FLYING HORSE _court_, 1. Fleet street.* 2. Grub street.* 3. Long alley.* 4. Maiden lane, Wood street.*

FLYING HORSE _yard_, 1. Bartholomew Close.* 2. Bishopsgate street. 3. Blackman street.* 4. Broad street.* 5. Dolphin alley.* 6. Fleet street.* 7. Half-moon alley, Moorfields.* 8. Houndsditch.* 9. Mare street, Hackney.

FOGWELL _court_, Charterhouse lane.†

FOLE _alley_, Swan alley, East Smithfield.*

FOLLY, near St. Saviour’s Dock.║

FOLLY _lane_, Neckinger lane, Rotherhith.║

FOOT _alley_, King street, Spitalfields.║

FOOTS CRAY PLACE, in Kent, about twelve miles from London, is the seat of Bouchier Cleeve, Esq; and was built by himself, after a design of Palladio, of the Ionic order, and is very elegant. The original design had four porticoes, three of which are filled up to get more room. The hall is octagonal, and has a gallery round which conveys you to the bed chambers. It is enlightened from the top, and is very beautiful. The edifice is built of stone, but the offices, which are on each side at some distance, are brick. The house stands on a rising ground, with a gradual descent from it till you come to the water, which from the house appears to be a small river gliding along through the whole length of the ground: and in that part of the water which is opposite to the house, there is a fine cascade constantly flowing out of it. But this water which appears to be such a pretty natural stream, is in reality artificial, and is brought from the river Cray which runs just by. When the canal or cut which is made through the ground to receive the water from the river is full, it forms the cascade before the house, by flowing over in that place, and the surplus water being instantly buried in the ground, is again conveyed away under this cut or canal to the main stream. The chief beauty of the ground about the house consists in its simplicity, it being entirely without ornament, and the whole of it a kind of lawn, having little besides the plain turf. The situation is pleasant, and the prospect from the house very good. The disposition of the rooms within the house appear to be very convenient, and the several apartments are elegantly finished and suitably furnished. The Chinese bed and other furniture of this kind in the principal bed chamber, is perfectly beautiful. The gallery, which extends the whole length of the north front of the house, is a very grand room, and is filled with pictures by the most eminent masters; and there are several other good pieces of this kind in the dining room and parlour, of all which the following is an exact list.

Pictures at Foots Cray Place. Common Parlour.

Seven sea pieces, Vandeveldt.

A small Dutch kitchen, Calf.

Landscape, Wynantz.

Mocking Christ, Bassano.

View of the Rialto, Marieschi.

View of St. Mark’s place and Bull feast at Venice, Canaletti and Chimeroli.

Moon light, Vandeneer.

Emblematical picture, Gulio Carpioni.

Landscape under it, by Glauber; figures by Laress.

Doge’s palace, Carlovarin.

A sea port and market in Holland, Wenix.

Landscape by Glauber; figures by Laress. A smith’s shop, Old Wyke.

Oval landscape, Lambert.

Gallery West End.

Landscape morning, Claude Lorrain.

Ditto evening, ditto.

Venus and Cupid, Vandyke.

Landscape, Both.

North Front.

Adoration of the shepherds, Old Coloni.

Temple of the Muses, Romanelli.

Susanna and the Elders, Guercino.

Wolf and dogs, by Snyders; the landscape by Rubens.

Flower piece, Van Hysum.

Landscape, Wynantz.

Ditto, Swanevelt.

Flower piece, Van Hysum.

Abraham and Hagar, Rembrant.

Landscape, Paul Potter.

Jacob with his flocks, Rosa Tivoli.

Landscape, Gaspar Pousin.

Fruit piece, De Heem.

French King on horseback, by Vandermeulen.

Three horses mounted, Van Dyke.

East End.

Judgment of Paris, Giuseppe Chiari.

Landscape, Hobima.

Paradise, Tempesta.

Landscape, by Paul Brill; figures Annibale Carracci.

South Side.

Lapithæ and Centaurs, L. Giordano.

Landscape, Wouwerman.

Country wake, Teniers.

Landscape, Wouwerman.

View of Venice, Canaletti.

Holy family, Rubens.

Madona, Carlo Dolci.

Christ blessing St. Francis, Annibale Carracci.

Dead Christ, ditto.

Smith’s forge, Brouwer.

Cat and boys, Old Meris.

Dead game and figures, Snyders and Rubens.

Heraclitus and Democritus, Rembrant.

Sea piece, Vandeveldt.

Boy and goat, Vanderborch.

A view of the Rhone, Teniers.

Cattle, Adrian Vandeveldt.

Circumcision, Paul Veronese.

View in Venice, Canaletti.

Venus and Adonis, Rubens.

A Dutch lover, Jan Stein.

A view near Harlem, Ruysdale.

Presentation of Christ, Rembrant.

Miraculous draught of fishes, Teniers.

John Steen playing on a violin, himself.

Head, Hans Holbein.

Toilette, Metzu.

Drawing Room.

Temple of Delphos, Pietro de Cortona.

A retreat, Bourgognone.

Woman taken in adultery, Pordenoni.

Dead game, Fyt.

Field of battle, Bourgognone.

Diogenes, Salvator Rosa.

Landscape, Gaspar Pousin.

Dutchmen, Le Duck.

Boors drinking, Ostade.

Landscape, Gaspar Pousin.

Boys at cards, Morellio.

Faith, Hope, and Charity, by Lorhetto di Verona.

Inside of a church at Antwerp, by Denies; figures Old Franks.

Portrait, Rembrant.

Magdalen, Francisco Mola.

Democritus in the posture Hipocritus found him in near Abdera, by Salvator Rosa.

Admittance to see the house is by tickets from Mr. Cleeve, and the days are every Thursday during the summer season.

FORE CLOYSTER _yard_, Westminster Abbey.

FORE _court_, 1. Bridewell, Fleet ditch.§ 2. Clement’s Inn.§ 3. Doctors Commons.§

FORE _street_, 1. Lambeth. 2. Limehouse. 3. Moorgate.

FOREIGN APPOSER’S _Office_, in the Inner Temple, an office belonging to the Exchequer, where the Foreign Apposer apposes all Sheriffs, upon the schedules of the green wax. _Chamberlain’s Present State._

FORISTER’S _buildings_, Golden lane.†

FORMAN’S _alley_, Old street.†

FORSAN’S _rents_, 1. Marigold lane.† 2. Vinegar yard, Drury lane.†

FORT _street_, by Gun street, Spitalfields.

FORTUNE _court_, Duke’s place.

FOSTER’S _lane_, Cheapside; so called from St. Vedast’s or St. Foster’s church there. _Maitland._

FOSTER’S _buildings_, 1. Whitechapel.† 2. Whitecross street, Cripplegate.†

FOSTER’S _rents_, 1. King John’s court.† 2. Liquorpond street.†

FOUBERT’S _passage_, Great Swallow street.†

FOUL _lane_, in the Borough.║

FOUNDERS, a company incorporated by letters patent of King James I. in the year 1614. They consist of a Master, two Wardens, 24 Assistants, and 132 Liverymen, who upon their admission pay a fine of 8_l._ 7_s._ 6_d_. They have a convenient hall at the upper end of Founders court in Lothbury.

’Tis worthy of notice, that all makers of brass weights, within the city of London, and three miles round, are obliged to have their several weights sized by the company’s standard, and marked with their common mark; such of these as are Avoirdupois weights, are to be sealed at Guildhall, and those of Troy at Goldsmiths hall. The Founders company are also impowered by their charter to search for, and view all brass weights within the above district.

FOUNDERS _court_, 1. Fore street. 2. Lothbury; so called from having Founders hall in it.

FOUNDLING _Hospital_, or more properly _The Hospital for exposed and deserted Children_, in Lamb’s Conduit fields. This is one of the most useful among the numerous charities that are an honour to this age and nation. In the reign of her late majesty Queen Anne, several eminent merchants, filled with compassion for the many innocent children who were daily exposed to misery and destruction, proposed to erect an hospital for the reception of such infants, as either the misfortunes or inhumanity of their parents should leave destitute of other support; and to employ them in such a manner as to render them fit for the most laborious offices, and the lowest stations. With these laudable views they proposed a subscription, and sollicited a charter; but they sollicited in vain, from the ill-grounded prejudices of weak people, who conceived the opinion that such an undertaking would encourage persons in vice, by making too easy a provision for their illegitimate children.

However, though this suspended, it did not totally defeat this laudable design; some of these worthy persons left large benefactions for the use of such an hospital as soon as it should be erected; which coming to the ears of the humane and generous Mr. Thomas Coram, a commander of a ship in the merchants service, he left the sea to sollicit a charter for the establishment of this charity, and with unwearied assiduity spent all the remainder of his life in promoting this great design; from no other motive than his zeal for the public, and his compassion for the helpless innocents who were frequently dropped in the streets, or murdered to conceal the shame of their parents.

Before he presented any petition to his Majesty, he was advised to procure a recommendation of his design from some persons of quality and distinction. This he sollicited with unwearied diligence, by which means he procured the following memorial to be signed by the Ladies whose names are under-written.

“Whereas among the many excellent designs and institutions of charity which this nation, and especially the city of London, has hitherto encouraged and established, no expedient has yet been found out for preventing the frequent murders of poor miserable infants at their birth; or for suppressing the inhuman custom of exposing new-born infants to perish in the streets; or the putting out such unhappy foundlings to wicked and barbarous nurses, who, undertaking to bring them up for a small and trifling sum of money, do often suffer them to starve for want of due sustenance or care; or, if permitted to live, either turn them into the streets to beg or steal, or hire them out to loose persons by whom they are trained up in that infamous way of living, and sometimes are blinded, or maimed and distorted in their limbs, in order to move pity and compassion, and thereby become fitter instruments of gain to those vile merciless wretches.

“For a beginning to redress so deplorable a grievance, and to prevent as well the effusion of so much innocent blood, as the fatal consequences of that idleness, beggary, or stealing, in which such poor foundlings are generally bred up; and to enable them, by an early and effectual care of their education, to become useful members of the commonwealth: We, whose names are underwritten, being deeply touched with compassion for the sufferings and lamentable condition of such poor abandoned helpless infants, as well as the enormous abuses and mischiefs to which they are exposed; and in order to supply the government plentifully with useful hands on many occasions; and for the better producing good and faithful servants from amongst the poor and miserable cast-off children, or foundlings, now a pest to the public, and a chargeable nuisance within the bills of mortality; and for settling a yearly income for their maintenance and proper education, till they come to a fit age for service; are desirous to encourage, and willing to contribute towards erecting an hospital for infants whom their parents are not able to maintain, and have no right to any parish; which we conceive will not only prevent many horrid murders, cruelties, and other mischiefs, and be greatly beneficial to the public; but will also be acceptable to God Almighty, as being the only remedy of such great evils, which have been so long neglected, though always complained of; provided due and proper care be taken for setting on foot so necessary an establishment, and a royal charter be granted by the King to such persons as his Majesty shall approve of, who shall be willing to become benefactors for the erecting and endowing such an hospital; and for the receiving the voluntary contributions of charitable and well-disposed persons; and for directing and managing the affairs thereof _gratis_, to the best advantage, under such regulations as his Majesty, in his great wisdom, shall judge most proper for attaining the desired effect of our good intentions.”

Charlotte Somerset. S. Richmond. H. Bolton. Anne Bolton. I. Leeds. A. Bedford. M. Cavendish Portland. J. Manchester. F. Hartford. M. Harold. S. Huntington. F. Wa. & Nottingham. E. Cardigan. Dorothy Burlington. F. Litchfield. A. Albemarle. F. Biron. A. Trevor. A. Torrington. E. Onslow. A. King.

Mr. Coram having, to the everlasting honour of the above Ladies, obtained so many names to this recommendation, procured another to the same purpose, signed by a great number of noblemen and gentlemen, and annexed both these to his petition to the King. Upon this his Majesty was graciously pleased to grant his royal charter for establishing this hospital, which was dated the 17th of October, 1739.

In pursuance of this patent, the Duke of Bedford, who was appointed the first President, summoned the several members of the society to meet him at Somerset House on the 20th of Nov. when most of the noblemen and gentlemen mentioned in the charter being assembled, Thomas Coram, Esq; thanked his Grace, and the rest of the noblemen and gentlemen, for their protection and assistance in promoting the patent. A committee of fifteen noblemen and gentlemen were chosen to manage the estate and effects of the hospital; and it was ordered, that accounts of several hospitals of this nature in other countries should be obtained as soon as possible; for which purpose application was made to his Majesty’s Ambassadors and Ministers abroad, and the Governors soon after received authentic accounts of the institutions and regulations of the hospitals of Amsterdam, Paris, and Lisbon, for the reception of infants; and have since also been favoured with that of Venice; and, tho’ these institutions were all accommodated to the laws and governments of their respective countries, and were therefore unfit or impracticable to be wholly executed in this kingdom, yet they afforded useful instructions towards forming a plan for the government of this hospital. Books were now opened, and the Governors obtained large subscriptions; the work went on with great spirit; an act of parliament was obtained to confirm and enlarge the powers granted by his Majesty to the Governors and Guardians of the hospital. A piece of ground was purchased in Lamb’s Conduit fields, of the Earl of Salisbury, which his Lordship not only sold at a very reasonable price, but promoted the charity by a noble benefaction.

As the building an hospital would necessarily take up much time, and the Governors were extremely desirous of beginning to take in children, they hired a large house in Hatton Garden, nurses were provided, and it was resolved that sixty children should be admitted. As the funds increased, more and more were received; and it was soon thought impracticable to provide a sufficient number of healthy wet nurses, therefore the children were intrusted to the care of dry nurses: but the ill consequences of this regulation soon appeared; much fewer dying in proportion to their number, among those that sucked, than among those that were weaned; and it was also found by experience, that of the young children sent into the country, fewer dyed in proportion to their numbers, than those who remained in the hospital. These observations determined the committee to come to a resolution to send all the children that should be taken in, as soon as possible into the country, and to allow them to remain there till three years old; and that all such as would suck, should have wet nurses only. Some time after the children were ordered to be inoculated, which was attended with great success.

In 1745, one wing of the hospital being finished, the committee ordered the children to be removed thither, and quitted the house in Hatton Garden. A chapel being now much wanted, and several Ladies of quality being desirous of contributing to it, a subscription was opened for that purpose, the first stone was laid on the first of May 1747, and a neat and elegant edifice was soon erected.

On the 29th of March 1749, the Governors at a general court being informed of the increase of benefactions to this charity, of the number of the children, and the expediency of keeping the boys separate from the girls, gave directions for building the other wing of the hospital, and the whole design has been since compleated. These wings are directly opposite to each other, and are built in a plain but regular, substantial, and convenient manner, of brick, with handsome piazzas. It is well suited to the purpose, and as fine as hospitals should be. On the farthest end is placed the chapel, which is joined to the wings by an arch on each side, and is very elegant within. Before the hospital is a large piece of ground, on each side whereof is a colonade of great length, which also extends towards the gates, that are double, with a massy pier between, so that coaches may pass and repass at the same time; and on each side is a door to admit those on foot. The large area between this outer gate and the hospital is adorned with grass plats, gravel walks, and lamps erected upon handsome posts: besides which there are two handsome gardens. The print shews the hospital in two different views.

In erecting these buildings particular care was taken to render them neat and substantial, without any costly decorations; but the first wing of the hospital was scarcely inhabited, when several eminent masters in painting, carving, and other of the polite arts, were pleased to contribute many elegant ornaments, which are placed in the hospital as monuments of the charity and abilities of these great masters.

In the court room are placed four capital pictures, taken from sacred history, the subjects of which are suitable to the place for which they were designed.

The first, which is painted by Mr. Hayman, is taken from Exodus ii. 8, 9. “The maid went and called the child’s mother, and Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give you wages.”

The following verse is the subject of the next picture, done by Mr. Hogarth, viz. “And the child grew up, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son, and she called his name Moses.”

The third picture is the history of Ishmael, painted by Mr. Highmore, the subject of which is taken from Gen. xxi. 17. “And the angel of the Lord called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.”

The fourth picture is painted by Mr. Wills, and is taken from Luke xviii. 16. “Jesus said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

On each side of these pictures are placed small drawings in circular frames of the most considerable hospitals in and about London, done by Mr. Haytley, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Whale, and Mr. Gainsborough.

Over the chimney is placed a very curious bas relief, done by Mr. Rysbrack, and presented by him, representing children employed in husbandry and navigation; to which employments those in the hospital are destined.

The other ornaments of the room were given by several ingenious workmen, who had been employed in building the hospital, and were willing to contribute to adorn it. The stucco work was given by Mr. William Wilton; the marble chimney piece, by Mr. Deval; the table with its frame curiously carved, by Mr. John Saunderson; and the glass by Mr. Hallet.

In the other rooms of the hospital are the pictures of several of the governors and benefactors, viz. Mr. Thomas Coram, by Mr. Hogarth; Mr. Milner and Mr. Jacobson, by Mr. Hudson; Dr. Mead, by Mr. Ramsey; and Mr. Emerson, by Mr. Highmore. In the dining room is a large and beautiful sea piece of the English fleet in the Downs by Mr. Monamy; and over the chimney in another room is Mr. Hogarth’s original painting of the march to Finchley.

In the chapel the altar piece is finely painted by a fine Italian painter, representing the wisemen making their offerings to the infant Jesus, who is held in his mother’s arms. And here we ought not to forget the fine organ presented by Mr. Handel, who has even made this of great benefit to the hospital, and from the most benevolent views, has enriched the foundation by a new revenue raised from the powers of harmony, and has had a sacred oratorio performed several times in the year, to crowded audiences, in which he himself played upon the organ gratis.

Several very handsome shields done in lead, were given by Mr. Ives, and placed over the charity boxes, with proper inscriptions; and other artists have contributed their labours to the ornamenting of the hospital and chapel; for which they received the thanks of the corporation: and an inscription is put up, to inform the public, that these ornaments were the benefactions of the several artists whose names are wrote thereon; it being a fixed resolution of the Governors, that no part of the money given to this hospital be expended in any thing that is not proper to answer the good intentions of the benefactors.

After mentioning the above benefactions, it ought not to be omitted, that the Earl Marshal of England has been pleased to honour the corporation with the grant of a coat of arms; the kings at arms, and officers of the Heralds office, being so charitable as to remit all the fees due to them on that occasion: and that Dr. Cadogan, a Physician of Bristol, has been at the pains of writing an excellent pamphlet for the use of the hospital, containing instructions for the nursing and management of children from their birth to three years of age, which is published for the benefit of the hospital.