The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-18 00:00:00

METROPOLITA N FREE
HOSPITAL.

The tenth annual dinner of the supporters of this
institution was held on Wednesday at the Freemasons'
Tavern. The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor officiated as
chairman, and was supported by Sir George Carroll,
D. S. Ker, Esq., M.P., J. Goding, Esq., R. M. Bates,
Esq., G. Mavi ogani, Esq., J. C. Prior, Esq., J. Evans,
Esq., J. G. Fry, Esq., Joseph Fry, Esq., junior, Luke
Hansard, Esq., &c.
The CHAIRMAN, after the removal of the cloth, pro-
posed " The health of her Majesty the Queen and
Prince Albert, the Queen Dowager, the Prince of Wales
and the rest of the Royal Family." His Lordship then
gave " The Army and Navy." The health of the
" Hon. Member for Downpatrick " was afterwards given,
which afforded the Lord Mayor the opportunity of bear-
ing testimony to the loyalty and devotion of the inhabit-
ants of the sister isle, than whom, he felt assured, there
were none more loysl to their Sovereign, nor more
devoted to the interest and well-being of the empire.
Mr. KER returned thanks, and proposed the health of
"The L,rd Mayor."
The LORD MAYOR said, that whether within the city
bounds or without them, he always felt much pleasure in
meeting his fellow-citizens, and more especially so when
engaged on a work of charity. He had had the pleasure
of meeting many of the gentlemen present on a former
occasion, and he trusted that he would meet them yet
many more times to the advancement of the institution
they were that day assembled to strengthen and promote.
He thought that if the same system of affording relief
to the poor were extended to Ireland, it would produce
a very great and beneficial influence on the Irish. His
Lordship said that he had travelled over a greater part
of that country, and he was obliged to confess that he
never experienced greater hospitality nor received a
more warm and welcome reception than in Ireland. If
such an institution were established, he should have no
objection to go over to be present at their first meeting.
His Lordship, in conclusion, returned thanks for the
honour which had been conferred upon him.
The health of Prince Albert, and the patrons of the
institution, having been drunk,
The LORD MAYOR proposed briefly the toast of the
evening, " Prosperity to the Metropolitan Free Hospi-
tal." He said that the immense value of the institution
was apparent to any one acquainted with its operations,
as also the vast amount of benefit it was the means of
distributing amongst the poor of the neighbourhood in
which it was situated. He was himself well acquainted
with the locality, and he could assert that, from the
very dense population of the district, the value of the
institution was day by day more dearly appreciated.
His Lordship complimented the medical officers on the
gratuitous yet valuable exertions they were making fcr
the benefit of the poor entrusted to their care, and con-
cluded by again proposing the above toast.
After the reading of the report, the LORD MAYOR pro-
posed " The health of Sir G. Carroll," who briefly re-
turned thonks for the compliment.
The health of Mr. Luke Hansard, Mr. Rogers, and
other gentlemen present, having been given and re-
sponded to, the proceedings of the evening terminated
very pleasantly, and from the fact of the subscriptions
having realised the amount of 5001., very satisfactorily
to the institution.

The following, extracted from the printed report, is
the number of patients admitted to the Metropolitan
Free Hospital, from the 7th of April, 1845, to the 7th of
April, 1846:

. -
Under the care of the Physicians
S 7 Surgeons 3,396
f, Dentist 658

Total for the year ending 7th of April, 1846 9,989
Number of Patients admitted in the nine pre-
ceding years

Total since the opening of the Hospital on the
14th of May, 1836 80,538
The Metropolitan Free Hospital, notwithstanding its
great utility in alleviating the sufferings of our fellow-
creatures, is by no means in a flourishing condition; and
it therefore becomes the promoters of the charitable in-
stitutions of the country to step forward, and aid by
their purse and influence the objects of so excellent an
asylum for the poor and destitute.

REDUCTION OF THE HILL AT PICCADILLY.—For
some time past a number of labourers have been engaged
in digging away the hill in Piccadilly, from Half Moon-
street to Dover-street, and re-paving it with broken
granite.
THE AFGHAN TRIBES.—The state of society in
Afghanistan is now, and seems from time immemorial
to have been, entirly different from that which prevails
in other countries of Asia. In name, the government
is monarchical ; but the authority of the monarch, ex•
cept in the great towns and throughout the districts im-
mediately dependent upon them, extends no farther
over his subjects than the authority of the first Jameseo
extended in Scotland over the clans which occupied the
most inaccessible of the Highland districts. Indeed,
the Afghans bear, in this respect, a striking resemblance
to the Celtic portions of the population both of Scotland
and of Ireland, that they are divided into tribes, clans,
and septs, which pay little or no obedience, in the inter-
nal management of their affairs, to any power except
that of custom and of their chiefs. To be sure, there is
a point in the spirit of clanship in Afghanistan which
acts differently, and on principle too, from its manner of
operation either in Scotland or in Ireland. In the latter
countries, the head of the tribe used to demand and ob-
tain the fealty of his clansmen to his person ; in the
former this fealty is paid more to the community than
to the chief ; and hence it comes to pass that there is
much more of individual independence of character
among the Afghans than seems to have prevailed among
the ancestors of the M'Neils or the O'Connors ; for
though there are instances in the history of the Celtic
clans of the setting aside by his people of one chief, and
the appointment, on the same authority, of another, the
proceeding was not only rare in itself, but seems never
to have been resorted to except in the last emergency ;
whereas in Afghanistan the practice is of constant oc-
currence, as often as by the representatives of the prin-
cipaPfamilies the chief is held to be incompetent, or is
found guilty of haVing transgressed three unwritten
laws which are understood by all, and by all reverenced
and obeyed from one generation to another.—Sale's
Brigade in Afghanistan.