The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-10 00:00:00

•
0,4
KING'S COLLEGE H
Yesterday the eighth anniversary fest' _Etid t =
funds of this institution took place in S. .on'ti§,:. ,
whose ample accommodations were kindly iilaclA VA% .1
disposal or the stewards when the extraordivaltlemand
for tickets, as soon as it became known, that Sir R. Peel
had consented to preside, rendered it necessary that
some more spacious apartment should be provided than
was available at the Albion Tavern, where it had been
previously announced the dinner would take place. The
attendance was most numerous, nearly 300 being seated
at the tables, and the enthusiastic reception of the Right
Hon. Baronet on entering the dining hall, and through-
out the evening, may truly be said to have been as com-
plimentary to the chairman as his presence and advocacy
proved beneficial to the charity.
The dinner was admirably served by Messrs. Staples,
of the Albion, and embraced a profusion of all the deli-
cacies of the season.

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On the right of the Chairman sat the Duke of St.
Albans, Mr. Blakemore, Mr. Twining, Mr. J. Round,
Sir J. Annesley, Major Moore, Major Oliphant, Mr.
Turner, Q.C. Rev. J. S. M. Anderson, Mr. W. B.
Baring, Mr. T. G. Sambrooke, and Alderman Copeland;
and on the left the Dean of Westminster, Rev. Dr. Jelf,
Dr. Saunders, Mr. Chapman, Mr. Green, Sir R. Smirke,
Dr. Guy, Sir W. Riddell, Dr. Major, Sir J. D. Paul,
Bart., Mr. G. Frere, Mr. J. S. Capper, and the Rey. Mr.
Howarth.

At the other tables sat the various professors of the
college, and the friends of the hospital, forming altogether
a highly respectable assemblage.
The musical arrangements, under the superintendence
of Mr. T. Cooke, assisted by Messrs. Hall, Lockey, and
Machin, were admirable. Mr. Harker was tort-master,
and acquitted himself most creditably.
The cloth having been removed,
The CHAIRMAN rose and said—lbeg to propose "The
health of her Majesty the Queen," and I cannot doubt
that in any society composed of the subjects of her Ma-
jesty, that name will be received with cordial demon-
strations of respect from pure abstract feelings of loyalty
towards our Sovereign.—(Cheers.) But we who are
connected with, or interested in, the prosperity of the
King's College Hospital, stand in a special and peculiar
relation to her Majesty. As the patron of that institu-
tion, her Majesty has given repeated proofs of the inter-
est she takes in its welfare by liberal contributions, not
out of any public fund, but out of that private fund
which constitutes the private fortune of her Majesty.—
(Cheers.) On that ground, also, we shall mark our
cordial respect for the Queen, but I cannot propose
this toast without adding, as another claim to the at-
tachment and affection of Englishmen,;that her Ida-,
jesty sits in every relation of life, as a wife and 'as a
mother, the brightest example of domestic virtue. X'
beg, therefore, to propose to you " The health of
the Queen," and I am sure you will receive it with
all attachment and enthusiasm. (The toast was drunk
with all the honours, and followed by the national
anthem.)
The CHAIRMAN—I will now give you " The Queen
Dowager, Prince Albert, Albert Prince of Wales, and
the rest of the Royal Family."—(Cheers.) You will
find among the members of the Royal Family many li-
beral contributors to this institution; the Queen Dow-
ager, Prince Albert, and, I may specially name the Duke
of Cambridge, who have all marked by the liberality of
their contributions, and in some instances by persevering
personal exertions, their desire to promote the welfare
of the hospital of Kings College.—(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN—I now rise to propose to you " The
Church"—(Loud cheers)—and it gives the greatest sa-
tisfaction to associate with that venerable institution the
name of a Prelate, who is full of years and honours, who
by his mild virtues, his discretion, his forbearance, and
his judgment, as well as by the purity of his private cha-
racter, has served the interests of the Establishment, and
founded the strongest claims to the attachment and re-
spect of his fellow-countrymen.—(Loud cheers.)
The Dean of WESTMINSTER returned thanks, end elo-
quently expatiated on the benefits derived by the poor
in such institutions as the hospital or King's College.
The CHAIRMAN—I now give " The Army and Navy."
Although above thirty years have elapsed since,
during the period of a general war, the army and navy
were called upon to make the utmost exertions in sup-
port of the interests and in vindication of the honour
of this country, yet in that long interval of peace there
have been frequent occasions, in India—Cheers)—and in
other parts of the world, in which the services
of the army and navy in active warfare have been de-
manded ; and we know that these gallant professions
have noby supported the reputation which they inherit
from their predecessors.—(Cheers.) We have had re-
cent occasions of doing honour to the names of Har •
dinge—(Cheers)—and of Gough, of Sale, and of Smith
—(Loud cheers)—and we feel the utmost confidence that
if on a more extended sphere of action, in vindication of
the honour or in the protection of the essential interests
of this country, the services of our fleets and of our
armies should be required, all the glories of the Penin-
sula and of Waterloo will again shine forth with equal
lustre.—(Loud cheers.)
Major OLIPHANT returned thanks for the army.
Sir R. PEEL then rose and said—lt is now my duty to
advert to the particular object which has called us toge-
ther this evening, which I rejoice to hear has rendered it
necessary for the stewards of this dinner to seek more
enlarged and extended accommodation than that which
they originally contemplated.—(Cheers.) And as the
interests of this institution are on this night committed,
in some manner, to my hands (Loud and continued
cheers) —accustomed as I may be to address public
assemblies I do feel a deep anxiety, from which I can
only be relieved by my confidence in your liberality.
—(Cheers.) It is my duty to recommend to that libe-
rality an institution which contemplates two noble ob-
jeets : first, the immediate mitigation of that suffering
which is connected with disease or accident ; and se-
condly, the promotion of that knowledge founded on
actual experience, without which all efforts at mitiga-
tion must be ineffectual and incomplete.—(Cheers.) Al-
low me to call your attention to some circumstances that
may not at first sight appear immediately connected
with this institution. We are sitting here in the very
heart and centre of one of the greatest communities
that exist upon the face of the globe—the metropolis
of the greatest and most powerful empire. We see
around us within this locality no great evidence of
change. These walls existed as they now exist some
hundred years since ; but it is impossible to look be-
yond these walls, and to witness without emotions of as-
tonishment and admiration the changes that are taking
place in the constitution of society within this metro-
polis. Let me take a privilege often taken on similar
occasions, and suppose it were possible to recal some
one who existed within this metropolis one hundred
years ago, and was conversant with the state of its popu-
lation and the institutions that existed at that time. He
would be impressed with awe in contemplating the won-
• derful changes that have taken place. He would see
' around him every evidence of increased population, in-
creased wealth, increased refinement, and increased
civilization. I know not what the population of
this great metropolis might have been at the time of
which I speak, but we have the means of estimating what
has been its probable increase from the facts to which we
have access. Within 30 years, from 1800 to 1831, the
population of this metropolis increased not less than 70
per cent. The number of houses increased, I believe, at
the rate of 63 per cent.; within some portions of the
imetropolis, I speak more particularly of those districts
that are in the environs of London, and now consti-
tuting great Parliamentary boroughs, the increase of
houses in that short period has not been less than 95
per cent., and the increase of the population there was
not less than 105 per cent. You may judge from these
tacts what must have been the increase within 100 years.
Then let me suppose that individual revisiting the scenes
with which, so far as locality is concerned, he would
have been conversant. Ho would see around him a
vastly increased population; he would see the evidences
of enormous wealth; he would see the increase of esta-
blishments connected with the promotion of art, of lite-
rature, and science: he would see new theatres, he would
see new club-houses rivalling palaces in magnificence;
he would see new squares, new streets—everything that
can administer to the amusement and the rational re-
creation of the people. Bat, suppose he inqured what
has been the increase of your hospitals? The answer to
that question would be anything but satisfactory.
(" Hear, bear," and cheers.) He would be told there now
exists within the metropolis, which comprises a popula-
lation of not less than 1,500,000 souls, limiting myself
to those districts which return Members to Parliament,
there now exist (speaking of hospitals for general pur-
poses, for the reception of patients and the dispensation
of medicine) only ten hospitals, andihe would answer,
with surprise and regret, that at the period he lived, 100
years ago, not less than seven of those hospitals were
then in existence—seven the most richly endowed with
the means of support, and the most capable, from the
extent of their accommodation, to give relief in cases of
disease er accident. He would tell us that Guy's Hospi-
tal,mew 11,sIiHoddlspex s
.and Westminster
Hospital,
, St.
existedß
a
Bartholo-
mew's rt ho ot-
Hospital
he hospitals so richly endowed, either by the
un
the period at which he lived, and that sincea that period
mtotificence of our Sovereigns or by private bounty, there
has been the addition of only three hospitals, and these
on the most limited scale, namely, the Charing•cross
Hospital, and the two in connexion with University
College and King's College—those three additional
hospitals having been built within the last eighteen
years. Now, it is in behalf of one of these three hos-
pitals, that connected with King's College, that it is my
duty to-night to make an appeal to your benevolence
and liberality—(Cheers)—and to try to impress upon you
the duty which is incumbent upon us all, having before
us those evidences of increased population, increased
wealth, increased refinement, increased institutions
for every purpose that can contribute to recreation
and amusement—the moral obligation that is imposed
on us to do something towards repairing the great defi-
ciency which exists comparing these with former times
in respect to the means of mitigating the suffering con-
sequent upon accident or disease.—(Cheers.) This
hospital is dependent for its support upon voluntary
contributions. It is on a very limited scale—it is not in
a very suitable place, but with its limited funds, and in
its unsuitable
position, see what good it has accom.
plished. It makes up not more than 120 beds. it has
scarcely a shilli rig
oerxfcreopmt what
e isti
meeting
derivedlike
this,from w
Lveonluann-
tary contributions,
annual collection takes place. With the means of accom-
modating within the hospital 120 patients, I believe that
not less than 1,276 patients were received within the
walls in the course of the last year.—(Cheers.) But the
relief given was not confined to those received within
the walls. With these limited means, on account of the
necessities of this vast population, because there is a
deficiency in the means of giving relief, not less than
16,547 cases were relieved without the walls in the
course of the past year.—(Cheers.) Besides these
there were many other cases where the demand far
relief being pressing there was no opportunity for re-
gistration ; and therefore the total number registered
is but an imperfect index of the quantity of relief
afforded. Bat, taking the registered cases of exter-
nal relief, and adding to them the cases of relief