Chelsea in the olden & present times / by George Bryan.

  • Bryan, George
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Chelsea in the olden & present times / by George Bryan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    201/240 (page 189)
    There are several pleasing legends told as to the origin of Chelsea Hospital. The following is one of them :—The King was sitting in his chariot, with poor Nell Gwynne, when obser- ving her unusually pensive, he asked : “ What ails thee, Nell ? ” She replied : “ A dream I had last night, troubleth me sore.” “What was thy dream, Nell ?” “ Methought I was in the fields at Chelsea, and slowly and majestically there rose before mine eyes, a beautiful palace of a thousand chambers ; and in and out thereat walked divers many old and worn-out soldier-men. Some had lost a leg, some an arm, others were blind of an eye, many bore piteous scars of old wounds in the wars, upon their wrinkled faces, and all of them were aged, and past service. But none of them looked ill-at- ease, and as they went out, and as. they came in, the old men cried, ‘ God bless King Charles ! ’ and I awoke, and was sore discomfitted, that it was only a dream !” “ Cheer up, Nelly,” said the King. “ Thy dream shall be ful- filled, mayhap, thou shalt yet see old soldiers come in, and go out, crying, ‘ God bless King Charles! ’ The monarch did violence to his infirmity, and kept his word.” No appeal seems to have been made to the public at large, as was the case with King James’s College ; but while the voluntary contributions of the charitable were received with gratitude, the troops were, to a certain extent, burdened with the expenses of the asylum from which they were themselves to derive the sole benefit. From the pay given to these, a deduction was made of one shilling in the pound; which, being divided into three equal parts, was one to defray the expenses ot the Paymaster’s office, one to the general use of the soldiers, and one to the ac- cumulation of a fund, first, for the building, and ultimately for the maintenance of the hospital. By giving to this a retrospec- tive effect, so as to include the whole of the year 1680, and strengthened by donations of ;^i,30o from Sir Stephen Fox, of ;i{ji,ooo from Tobias Rustas, Esq., of ;,^i,ooo from Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, and of nearly j£t,oqo from the Secret Service Fnnd, the projectors of the establishment had at their disposal a sum of ^17,012 14s. yd. with which they de- termined to make a beginning.