2d. On the 6th of June, 1690,
L13 18s. 1-1/2d. were collected at St. Martin's "for ye Irish
Protestants." In 1764 some Christmas performances were given for the
relief of aged and distressed housekeepers, and the charitable custom
thus inaugurated was kept up for over seventy years. In the days of
monks and monasteries, the poor and needy, the halt and lame, received
charitable doles at the hands of the former and at the gates of the
latter, but it would be questionable how far the liberality of the
parsons, priests, and preachers of the present day would go were the
same system now in vogue. It has been estimated that nearly L5,000 is
given every year in what may be called the indiscriminate charity of
giving alms to those who ask it in the streets or from door to door. By
far the largest portion of this amount goes into the hands of the
undeserving and the worthless, and the formation of a central relief
office, into which the charitably-disposed may hand in their
contributions, and from whence the really poor and deserving may receive
help in times of distress, has been a long felt want. In 1869 a "Charity
Organisation Society" was established here, and it is still in
existence, but it does not appear to meet with that recognised support
which such an institution as suggested requires.
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