The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 7, 1863.

THE ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL.

Last evening the 35th anniversary festival of the Roy al
Free Hospital was celebrated at the Freemasons' Tavern
under the presidency of Mr. Charles Dickens About 200 of
the leading friends and supporters of the institution were
present on this interesting occasion. Amongst others we
observed Mr. G. Moore, Mr. E. Masterman, Mr. Beal
Brown, the Rev. T. B, Owen, Dr. Brinton, Dr. Bridge,
Dr. O'Connor, Dr. Wynn Williams, Dr. Read, Mr. Gant,
Mr. A. O'Connor, Mr. De Merle, Mr. Weedon Cooke, Dr.
Cockle, Mr. Hooper, Mr. George Cockle, Lieut. Godfrey,
Captain Peter Mathens.
Perhaps no charity in London derervcs more liberal sup-
port or affords a larger amount of well-placed relief than
theßoyal Free Hospital. Tee numberyearlyrelieved amounts
on an average to 43,000 in and out-patients, but the este •
blishmeat could accommodate 200 additional beds with little
increase in staff expenditure. The number of sick and
destitute applicants whom the committee unhappily are un-
able to admit compels them to appeal for larger public sup-
port. A. mortgage of £5,000, with other liabilities, had
been discharged, and the committee were making an effort
to raise sufficient funds to add at least 100 beds to the 100
already occupied, as well as to purchase the freehold of the
hospital, thereby converting the rental under its lease into
income available for general purposes. The committee are
meanwhile compelled to entreat benevolent contributors to
aid them in extending the operations of a charity which
was freely open, not only to its own citizens, but to strangers
from the provinces and from foreign lands.
After the usual loyal toasts came " The Army, the Navy,
and the Volunteers"' the chairman remarking that the ser-
vices unfortunately contributed a full share of sick and
wounded to the practice, and exhibited a still larger share
of heroic fortitude and endurance.
Capt. BLACKENBURY responded to the toast in suitable
terms.
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the toast of the evening,
" Prosperity to the Royal Free Hospital," said it happened
to him, some years ago, immediately after the close of the
Crimean war, that he was walking in the neighbourhood of
Blackheath with a civilian justcome home, who had greatly
distinguished himself in connection with that event. Their
conversation naturally turned on the incidents which his
hon. friend had lately witnessed, and his companion re-
marked that the ground on which they happened to be
standing was sufficiently like the ground on which one of
the most memorable of the Crimean battles had been fought
to afford a very good idea of the battle-field. " Put behind
every one even of the least of the furze bushes on that
heath," said his companion, " put behind every patch of
shelter before us that could possibly conceal a crouching
human form, a wounded soldier, and you will have a very
clear idea of the field, supposing that soldier dead, as I saw
it myself on the morning after the tight." He (the chair-
man) rejoined, " I suppose that the badly wounded men
crept behind those bushes when they were struck,
and got out of fire." " Well, in part for that
reason," he said. " but only for a very small part
—because he had noticed that it became a kind
of instinct for a badly wounded man to creep away
and crawl behind any bit of shelter, and crouch, like some
of the lower animals, and die alone." That picture im-
pressed his fancy very much :at the time, and since then,
when he had passed through any of the highways of this
vast London, or any other great town or city, he had hoped
within himself that it might not be in peace as it was in
war, and that many of the stricken among us might retire
to these miserable places of refuge—might not coil them-
selves up in their wretched patches of shelter and die in the
midst of us untended and alone. (Cheers,) The most
prosperous and best cared for among men and women knew
full well, that whosoever was tut in this great and continu-
ing battle of life, howsoever vast the gap might be that
was made, howsover dear the companion might be that was
down, they must close up their ranks and march up and
fight out the fight. But it happened that the rank and file
were many in number, and the chances against them were
many and hard, and they necessarily died by the thousand,
when the captains and the standard-bearers only died by
ones and twos. (Cheers.) How these privates lived, and
how they fought, and how they died, Were questions of
immense moment to the whole social army. (Hear, hear.)
If they were not felt, in these later times—if they were
not felt honestly and thoroughly to be so—there could
be no doubt that our own ranks contained within them-
selves-the subtle elements of swift destruction and disso-
lution, Accordingly, and because people in general
were, thank God I disposed to be humane, and to
do right and to do good, this great capital teemed
with institutions for the relief of the indigent sick. They
were not, it was true, by any means equal to the dire need
—they were not equal in capacity to the heavy demands
upon them, but they were, nevertheless great institutions,
many of them richly endowed, all of them nobly remarkable
for the medical science and skill freely placed at their com •
mand. (Cheers.) Now, as he had to entreat their active in-
terest in aid of one of these, it might be right that he should
try, always without depreciation or the shadow of disparage-
ment of the others, to show in what its peculiar claim con-
sisted. Happily for him the task was an easy one. Thedis_
tinguishing character of the Royal Free Hospital was amply
expressed by its simple name. It was a free hospital—(hear,
hear)--no recommendation was needed by the suffering
creature who sought admission. No letter from a governor
or subscriber, or what not, had with difficulty to be hunted
out. (Hear, hear.) " Look at me, look at me; I am sick,
poor, helpless, forlorn." These were the patient's creden-
tials. Was there anybody present—was there anybody any-
where knowing that fact, whose fireside on a bleak winter
night would not be brighter and warmer for the reflection
that he had done something towards the maintenance of the
hospital which afforded such an easy and accessible refuge?
(Hear.) Was there a single court or alley in that great
maze of courts and alleys which lay between them and the
hospital itself that did not contain at that moment some
poor worn creature to whom, as they were seated at abun-
dant tables, that hospital would be a haven of refuge and
a dawning of hope? Well, with all these poor worn
creatures, with their many crowded alleys and courts,
with muck distress, disease, and accidents prevailing, the
Royal Free Hospital, that might prove so extensively ser-
viceable, contained not quite 100 beds. (Hear.) Though
its sphere of action was so large, and the demands upon its
resources so enormous, the out-patients amounted last year
to no less than 00,000 persons. That very disheartening
and desponding aspect of the case would be almost hopeless
if it were not for the very encouraging statement that could
be set against it. For some years the hospital had been
paying an annual rental of £2OO. It occurred to one of its
most valuable supporters—(hear, hear)—a gentleman pre-
sent, whom he was proud to call his friend—(Mr. George
Moore)—a gentleman of great business knowledge, of great
influence, of great charity, and of great energy—(hear,
hear)—that by an appeal to the munificence and liberality
of the bankers and merchants of the City of London a suffi-
cient sum of money might be raised to buy the premises.
Although that appeal was made at the time of the preva-
lence of the Lancashire distress, and although many other
circumstances combined against its successful result—al-
though the sum of money proposed to be collected was to
be counted not by hundreds but by thousands—though, in
short, it amounted to £6,ooo—that gentleman's efforts had
already produced the large sum of £4,ooo—(cheers)—and
be most sincerely and earnestly hoped that when the result
of that night's proceedings were declared by the treasurer,
the meeting would bo able to consider that the hospital
was for ever and henceforth free, saved that rental-
charge of £2OO a-year, and for ever and henceforth
established on its own unencumbered property—so that
every shilling subscribed would be devoted to the immediate
advancement of the objects of the institution and the alle-
viation of pain and misery. His own personal observation
convinced him that the hospital was capable of affording
nearly five times the amount of accommodation for a con-
siderably less than proportionate increase of expense. The
Royal Free Hospital was no case of a chateau en Espezgne,
no castle in the air ; it was no hospital of merely good in-
tentions which might be built some day. Tho thing was as
real as the poor suffering creature who lay at the door-step.
The remedy was as ready and the means of assuaging the
suffering was at hand, if the public would only adequately
contribute funds. Thero never was so strong or so hopeful a
case. He believed there were hundreds of well-dis-
posed people so struck at heart by the spectacle which the
streets of this great city presented, that they would gladly
do anything to set these things right, if they knew how.
If they set up and maintained 500 beds they might be posi-
tively certain that five times five thousand human creatures
would have laid down their wretched heads to recover or
die within five years. For God's sake let them remember
that those were the things which evoked the gratitude of
the sick poor—that these were the means by which, after
all, they could bridge across that great deep gulf between
their beds and ours, as they all tended to the common road
oitiloit:thioiteatioh.,ast,hey must bo equal travellers at last. (Cheers.)
tl.otalibcayoenclicalrinu.saEi oti.noAnp:tAiteohsicTlehs:alotitamr.oaNep,,rpo proossepde,riatym amid loud ltohuednaonyda
Igen e
Free-
sub6toverias drunk with great enthusiasm.
The 4' Health of the Treasurer"uri was gracefully responded
The
£6,000. evening amounted to nearly t
FAD'

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Tag.]a—inHporlolovvgytle
besOintmenttfrie
have OvVeßlitlaTnia: olvinelsrT
sons afflicted with ulcerations, sores, abscesses, fistulas,
and other painful and complicated complaints. Printed and
very plain directions for the application of the Ointment are
wrapped round each pot. Holloway's alterative Pills
ndasndt Pillsp
should be taken throughout of
progress of the cure, to
maintain the blood in a state of perfect purity, and to pre-
vent the health of the whole body being jeopardised by the
local ailment. Bad legs, old age's great grievace, are
this readily cured without confining the patient to bed
t so imperatively demanded when weakening dis-
eases attack advanced years, or constitutions evincing or withdrawing from him the nutritious diet and generous
support
pre-
mature decrepitude.

PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, MAY G.

MR. NEWDEGATE'S CHURCH RATES COMMU

TATION BILL.
Order for second reading read. Motion made and question
proposed, " That the bill be now read a second time."
Amendment proposed, to leave out the word 'now,' and
at the end of the question to add the words 'upon this
day six months.' " Question put, " That the word 'now'
stand part of the question," The house divided--Ayes,
56; Noes, 94.

AYES-SG.
Bentinck, G. IV. P. Galway Viscount Macaulay, K.
Bentinck, G. C. Gard, It. S. Macdonogh, F.
Beresford, W. Gore, J. R. O. Miller, T.
lieresf..rd, Denis Grey deWilton,Lord Pakenham, Col.
Bernard, Col. Hamilton, Lord C. Salt, T.
Booth, Sir 11. G. Hardy, J. Scott, Lord 11.
Bramley-Moore, J. flay, Sir J. Scourfiela, J. 11.
Bridges, Sir B. llodgson, H. Selwyn, C. J.
Bruce, Sir H. Hornby, IV. H. Somes, Joseph
ButlerJohnstone,lT. Howes, E. Spooner, H.
Cartwright, Col. Hunt, G. W. Sturt, H. G.
Cave, S. Jermyn, Earl Sturt, Col.
Cecil, Lord H. Jollifte, H. Trollope, Sir John
Clive, Capt. G. W. Jones, D . Vansittart, Wm.
Cole, Hon. H. Kendall, N. Wood, W.
Cole, J. L. Knightley, R. Wynne, IV. W. K
Cubitt, Ald. Langton, W. G.
Dodson, John G. Leslie, C. P.
Du Cane, C. Long, w.
Du Pre, C. Lopes, Sir M.

TELLERS,
Newdegate, C.
Straeey, Sir 11.

NOES —94.
Adam,W. P. Foljambe, F. J. S. Onslow, Guildford
Agnew, Sir A.
GavinG Forster,o ,d srn,
Major
viC , Charles l es
F.
D.
Alcock, T.
Atherton, Sir W.Padmore,getc. R.
Pease, H.
Aytoun, R. S. Gower, G. W. L. Pender, J.
Baines, E. Greene, J. Pigott, Sergeant
Barnes, T. Greenwood, J. Pilkington, James
Baxter, W. E. Gregory, W. 11. Potter, E.
Bazley, Thomao Gregson, S. Price, It. G.
Beach, W. W. Grenfell, H. It. Robartes, T. J. A.
Berkeley, C. Grey, Rt. 'ln. Sir G. Robertson, H.
Black, Adam Hanbury, R. Seely, C.
Blencowe, J. G. Hanmer, Sir J. Smith, J. B.
Briscoe, J. I. Hartopp, E. B. Smith, J. A.
Bruce, H. A. Hibbert, J. Smollett, P.
Butler, C. S. Jackson, W. Stuart, Col. W.
Caird, James Jervoise, Sir J. Taylor, P. A.
Clay, James King, Hon. P. Thornhill, W. P.
Clifton, Sir R. Kinglake, Serj. J. Trelawny, Sir J. S.
Coningham, Wm. Kingscote, Col. Villiers, Rt. Hon. C.
Cox, W. Knatchbull-Hugess Vivian, 11. H.
Cubitt, George Langton, W. H. G. Walter, John
Davey, It. Lawson, W. Watkins, Col. L.
Dawson, R. P. Leatham, E. Westhead J.
Dering, Sir E. Lee, W. Whalley, G. H.
Dillwyn, Lewis L. Lewis, Harvey White, L.
Doulton, F. Lindsay, W. S. Wickham, H. W.
Dunbar, Sir Wm. Mackie, J. Williams, W.
Dunlop, A. Maguire, J. P. Winnington, Sir T.
Evans, T. W. Martin, J.
Ewart, J. C. Mille, J. R.
TELLERS.
Ewing, H. E. C. Montagu, Lord R. Douglas, Sir C.
Foley, lion. 11. W. Morris, D. Henley, Lord

up. Proceeding along the Dee side to the T.Y.C. post,
Camerino was observed to drop back (having broken down),
and her place was taken by Caller Ou, who, with Asteroid
at her girths, followed the leaders round the bridge turn,
where Stradella was beaten and gradually gave way,
leaving the issue of the race with the few who came
in company to the entrance into the straight, where
Haddington, next the rails, crept up to Gardener,
who, hanging somewhat at the same moment, pre-
vented Doyle from getting through, the pair at the dis-
tance Lcing joined by Asteroid, Caller On at the same
time giving way beaten. The three raced together to half-
way up, when Asteroid in the most gallant manner got his
head in advance, and won, amid the vociferous cheering of
the spectators, by ,‘a neck, a like distance separating
the second and third. Caller On was a bad fourth,
Camerino fifth, M. Philippe sixth, and Stradella next ;
then came Plover and Dunkeld side ley side, pulling, after
whom tr( tted in Cowley, Black Deer, and Fitz Avon.
Sweepstakes of 5 sous each, with 40 added, for two and 3-
yr-olds ; 2-yr-old colts. 7st; 3-yr-olds, 9st 21b; fillies
and geldings allowed 41b. Winners extra, with maiden

allowances. Three-quarters of a mile. 8 subs.
Mr. W. Phillips's Persuasion, 2 yrs, 7st llb (51b extra)
(J. Grimshaw) 1
Mr. Goodlass's Pretty Girl filly, 2 yrs, 6st 101 b (Hunter) 2
Mr. Longfield's Mainstay, 3 yrs, 9st 71b (slb extra)
(Custance) 3
Mr. R. Riddell's Deerstalker, 2 yrs, 7st 11b.. (Whiteley) 4
_ _

Betting—Even on Persuasion, and G to 4 agat Mainstay,

After four attempts Persuasion jumped away with a clear
lead, which she retained to the end, and won in a canter by
two lengths. Half a length between the second and third;
the others beaten off.

The Eaton Stakes (handicap) of 5 sous each, with 60 added,

7 furlongs. 8 subs.

Mr. T. Hughes' Flash in the Pan, aged, 7st 41b
(Prior) w.o.
Her Majesty's Plate of 100 guineas ; 3-yr-olds, 7st 81b ; 4-
yr•olds, 9st 71b ; 5-yr •olds, lOst 21b ; 6-yr-olds and aged
lOst 41b. Three miles.

Mr. Lincoln's Lawyer (h b), 5 yrs, lOst (Fordham) 1
Mr. W. Owen's Brilliant, lOst 115 (Clements) 2
Betting-4 to lon Lawyer, who made all the running,
and won very cleverly by a length.
Second Year of the Fifth Biennial Produce Stakes of 10
sovs each, h ft, with 100 added, for 3-yr• olds; colts, Bst
71b; fillies, Bst 41b. Second to receive 20 soya out of the
stakes, and winner to pay 15 sovs towards expanses of
the Course. Three to start or added money withheld.
Six furlongs. 25 subs.
Mr. F. Higgins's Queen of Clubs, Bst llb (Fordham) 1
Mr. Hargreaves' Cargo, (3lb extra), Bst 41b
Mr. Saxon's Jerry (31b extra), Bst 41b (Midgeley) 3
The betting opened even on Queen of Clubs, but after
the first start 5 to 4 was laid on Cargo, 6 to 4 agst Queen
of Clubs, and 5 to 1 agst Jerry.
Queen of Clubs made all the running, and won in a canter
by 10 lengths.