The Press.
London, England, 1857-03-14 00:00:00

ROYAL LITERARY FUND.

THE usual annual meeting of this excellent society
was held on Wednesday last, at the society's rooms,
Great Russell-street. There was a very full attend-
ance of members. The Earl Stanhope presided,
and among those present were the Bishop of Oxford,
Mr. B. B. Cabbell, M.P., Mr. M. Milnes, M.P., Sir
John Forbes, Mr. Charles Dickens, Mr. Bell, Mr.
Forster, &c. ttc.

The usual formal business was disposed of, and
the financial report read, which gave a good account
of the progress of the society, and showed that its
income exceeded its expenditure by a small balance,
which was added to the funded stock of the associa-
tion. On the motion that the report be received and
adopted, ..N1 r. C. W. DILKE, sen., moved a resolution
which, under a number of heads, condemned the
entire management of the fund—first, because, ac-
cording to its last report, it expended 574/. I Bs. 3d.
in relieving fifty-three cases ; while the Artists'
General Benevolent Fund, in relieving sixty-eight
cases, only expended 851.; and, secondly, because
the Literary Fund expended 2001. per annum on the
maintenance of a house, and allowed 2001. per
annum to its secretary, and because the accounts of
the Literary Fund were not in a satisfactory state, as
evidenced by their stating that the house fund,
amounting to 6,5401., was still in existence as a
separate amount of the society's credit, whereas the
books of the society showed that that fund never
had been in existence at all ; and, lastly, because
the Literary Fund on an average, not giving away
more than 1,5001. per annum, yet appealed to the
public for new subscriptions and donations while
possessed of funded property to the amount of
30,0001. and of landed estates yielding 2001. per
annum.

Mr. MARK LEMON seconded the resolution.
Mr. ROBERT BELL, denied that the case of the
Artists' Benevohnt Fund was at all analogous, and
maintained that Mr. Dilke's resolution contained a
suppressio vent, inasmuch as it did not exhibit the
number of cases investigated at the cost of the
Literary Fund, neither did it state that the majority
of the cases relieved by the Literary Fund were new
cases, while tho Artists' Benevolent Fund was an
annuity fund, and relieved comparatively few new
cases. The office of secretary bad been created in
1836, on the motion of Mr. Dilke himself, and his
salary had been gradually raised to 2001. per annum,
in consequence of the really valuable services ren-
dered by that officer. I'l►e error with regard to the
house fund had originated iti the fund crediting
itself with the 2001. per annum granted in 1803 by

SATURDAY,

the Prince of Wales towards a permanent fund for
maintaining a house, and not counting the annual
rent which had since been paid from that income.
In fact, the house fund had been involved in the
general funded accounts, and the permanent fund.
was then debtor to the house fund the 6,000/. men-
tioned by Mr. Bake. Mr. Bell then went into the
question of general expenditure, and showed, from
the accounts, that the society had been greatly the
gainer since their present secretary had been perma-
nently engaged :

The total income from Pill to 183 (before Mr.
Blewitt was appointed) was 28,7111., and the total income
from 1839 to 1856 was 39,0631. There was, consequently,
an increase in the total income of 10,3521. The total ex-
penditure for management. in the first period was 10,0431.,
and in the second period 13,0231, showing that in the
latter period there was an increased expenditure of 2,9001.
But the total increase of income during the last eighteen
years exceeded the increased expenditure by 7,3751., show-
ing an annual average increase of income of 5731., not-
withstanding an increased expenditure.

With respect to the case of Mrs. Haydn, Mr. Belt
showed that Mr. Haydn had in four years been.
assisted by the Literary• Fund to the extent of 2001.,
while Mrs. Haydn, since her husband's death, had.
received 501. gratuity :
The charge against the fund of not assisting Mrs.
Haydn and her family was altogether unfounded, for one
of the children hail been provided for by the Earl of
Shaftesbury, and the other had obtained a situation
through the influence of a member of the committee of
the fund, who was now guaranteeing his fidelity to the
amount of 2001.—and 631. had been paid by members or
the fund to purchase votes to get the third child in-° the
St. Ann's Society, where he had found an asylum. T less
facts were, be contended, a triumphant answer to those
who wished to make it appear that the managers i f the
Literary Fund were insensible to the claims of lierary
men, or had not done all in their power to assist the par-
ticular case of Mrs. Haydn and her family.

Mr. CHARLES DICKENS supported Mr. Di reso-
lution.

Mr. FORSTER, in a very intemperate tune, took the
same view.

The Bishop of OXFORD reminded the meeting that
the engagement given by the council at the meeting
at Willis's-rooms, some eighteen months since, had
been redeemed by the regulation that in future
assistance was not to be confined to men of genius
who had written books, but that periodical writers
and others were now eligible objects fir its benevo-
lence. He regarded the resolution of Mr. Dilke as
a vote of censure upon the committee, and called
upon the meeting not to entertain it.
The resolution was then put, and rejected by a
majority of 58; the numbers being 6t) to 11.
The council, general committee, and officers were
then re elected by ballot. Mr. Disraeli, M.P., was
also elected one of the vice-presidents ; and the
meeting separated.

AT THE MEETING OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY,
on Monday, a highly interesting paper (from the
journal of Captain Hyde Parker, R.N.) upon the
great African river Zambesi was read by Captain
Washington, R.N. The Zambesi falls into the sea
at Quilimane :
The entrance is about two miles broad, and distinguish-
able by a bluff of high, straight trees. The bar at the
mouth is formed by two series of sandbanks, breaking
completely across at low water. Within the points the
river widens, and then contracts The rise and fall
of water at this mouth at spring tides is about twenty feet,
and vessels could easily get in at that time. With ell the
conveniences offered for traffic, however, there is none
carried on along the river, the Portuguese nct being u
ciently enterprising to avail theinselves.of the numerous
facilities to be found there. In the rainy season the Zam-
besi frequently overflows its banks, making the country
for a considerable distance one great lake. The waters
subside, however, in about sight or ten days. An extensive
village was to be found a short distance up the river. end
a great deal of land might be found in a good state of
cultivation. A considerable quantity of wild cotton also
grows along the coast, but none whatever is cultivated.
The land generally is most fertile, producing almost every-
thing with but little trouble. The influence of the tides
is felt twenty or thirty miles up the river. The most
beautiful cattle are to be found along the coast—elephants,
hippopotami, lions, antelopes, and ether animals, are
abundant. The natives are an intelligent race, awl under
a better government this fine country might become ex-
tremely valuable. Captain Parker had only been able to
proceed about seventy miles up the country, but from what
he saw of it he considered there were no obstacles to
civilisation, or to the navigation of the river Zambesi at
certain seasons of the year.

The CHAIRMAN iSir 11. Murchison) said the dis-
covery of the mouth of th►s important river was
certainly calculated to be most valuable in a com-
mercial point of view, and he invited the fullest
discussion upon the subject.
Dr. LiviNusrox then addressed some remarks to
the meeting explanatory of his discoveries in refer-
ence to the mouth of the river Zambesi, which he
illustrated by means of a chart, and descriptive of
Cie country through which it runs :
It seemed to him, from all the information he could ob-
tain, that a considerable portion of the Zambesi is nevi-