The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-26 00:00:00

THE HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN.

The eighteenth anniversary of this institution was held
last night, at Willis's Rooms, under the presidency of
the :Prince of Wales. Among the guests were Lord
Gort, Major Teesdale, Sir W. Knollys, Sir J. Hay,
M.P., Dr. West, Mr. Paget, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. M. R.
Sharp, Mr. Tom Hood, Mr. N. Rothschild, M.P., &c.
The Prince of Wales, having in appropriate language
proposed " The Health of the Queen," was next called
upon to reply to that of his own health, coupled with
" The Princess of Wales and the rest of the Royal
Family." He said—l feel deeply grateful to you, gentle-
men, for the kind and hearty response that you have
given to this toast. I can assure you that it will be
a cause of real gratification to the Princess and to the
other members of the royal family to know that you
have received the mention of their names with such
cordiality. I :shall feel sincere pleasure in telling the
Princess and my sisters that, however small_ and inade-
quate their efforts may have been in behalf of this
institution, to which they are sincerely attached, their
efforts have at least been appreciated by you and by all
who have the good of the charity at heart. (Cheers.) In
my position I have, of course, many important duties to
perform, but I will say, both as regards myself, and I
think I may also say in the name of the Princess and of
my sisters, that I cannot imagine any pressure of public
or private engagements which could prevent our coming
forward to render what assistance we can to those great
public charities for which this country is so justly cele-
brated. (Cheers).
The Prince of Wales next proposed the toast of " Suc-
cess to the Institution." lam sure, he said, that you will
all heartily respond to my challenge when I call upon you
to drink this toast in bumpers. (Cheers.) I may pre-
sume that most of those whom I am now addressing live
in London, and it probably. happens to many of you in the
course of your daily business to pass through some of
those narrow alleys and unhealthy streets with which this
metropolis unfortunately so plentifully abounds. You
cannot fail to have observed, in those neglected parts of
London, the number of poor sick, squalid children who
have to struggle into maturity under the most unfavour-
able conditions that it is, perhaps, possible to conceive ;
and your presence here to-night is a proof that
you are anxious to stretch out a hand to them, to
afford them the chance of attaining health and
strength, and to prevent, as fax as possible, that
terrible mortality which prevails among them. (Cheers.)
Gentlemen, it is a solemn fact revealed to us by statis-
tics, upon the correctness of which we can rely, that one-
third of the infantile population of this country do not
arrive at years of maturity. (Hear, hear.) It was to meet
that evil, the extent of which these figures so clearly indi-
cate, that this hospital was founded, and we are met
together to-night, on the eighteenth anniversary of the
charity, to ask of you the means of erecting a new hospital
in the place of the one now in existence, which has fallen
into a condition that calls for immediate attention. lam
informed that the preseilt structure is two hundred years
old, and that many parts of it are not only, from the
necessary defects of age, unfit for the purposes
of the hospital, but are positively in so dangerous and
tottering a condition that rebuilding is absolutely neces-
sary. (Hear, hear.) lam sure you will agree with me
that so useful a charity ought not to be in this position,
and that the friends who have supported it for the last
18 years are justified in now making an appeal to the
public for the funds with which to place it upori'a more
satisfactory footing. A few statistics, gentlemen, may
not be out of place on this occasion. The hospital was
established in 1853 by Dr. West and Dr. Bence Jones
for three purposes, the medical and surgical treat-
ment of poor children ; the attainment of a more accu-
rate diagnosis of the diseases of children ; and thirdly,
for the training and nursing of children. It is
rather remarkable that until this charity was opened
in Great Ormond-street no institution of the kind
existed in England, though most of the chief con-
tinental cities were provided with one, and it is grati-
fying to know that the example set by this hospital '
has since been followed in different parts of England,
and that in Edinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool, and other
large towns, similar institutions are now to be found.
Last July the council of the institution • opened a conva-
lescent home at Highgate capable of accommodating 56
children, the utility of which has been most clearly demon-
strated. The progress made by the hospital is really
astonishing. In 1852 the number of in-patients was 143,
and of out-patients 1,250. Last year the in-patients num-
bered 709, and the out-patients 15,780—(cheers)—showing
an increase of 566 in-patients, and of no less than 14,40 out-
patients. (Renewed cheers.) The increase in the income
of the charity has been proportionately satisfactory.
In 1852 the receipts were only £350 ; last year they were
£2,750, or an increase of £2,410. (Cheers.) I cannot omit
to state that in 1869 £B5 was voluntarily subscribed by
the poor for the purpose of establishing a Samaritan fund
for the supply of instruments to deformed children, and
to enable them to be sent to the seaside, in cases where
recovery of health was other,-/ise unattainable, and that
fund has since been increased from other sources
to £155 (cheers) for them. I think that these simple
statistics will plead for the charit3 more powerfully than
any language that I could use, and therefore, without de-
taining you any longer, I confidently ask you to drink the
toast of Success to the Institution." (Loud cheers.)
Mr. Paget then proposed " The Committee of Manage
ment," coupled with the name of Mr. Thornton.
The Prince of Wales, in giving the toast of " The Medi-
cal Officers of the Hospital," referred to the importance
of the duties they had to discharge. He coupled with the
toast the name of Dr. West, whom he had known by name
for many years, but whose personal acquaintance he had
had the pleasure of making that evening for the first
time. _ _

Dr. West replied in an able speech.
The list of subscriptions announced during the evening
amounted to the very handsome figure of £4,560, in which
were included a sum of £lOO from the Prince of Wales,
and one of £l,OOO from an anonymous donor.

It is now confidently stated that Mr. Butt, Q.C.,
will be started by the Nationalists, and Mr. Cecil Guinness
by the Conservatives, to fill the vacant seat in the repre-
sentation of Dublin.

The digest of endowed charities issued yesterday
morning shews that in the county of Stafford the total
gross income therefrom amounts to £29,33215. 9d., which
is expended in this manner :—Education, £11,552 14s. 3d.,
apprenticing and advancement, £834 2s. id. ; endowments
of clergymen, lectures, and for sermons, £2,118 3s. sd. ;
Cnurch purposes, £1,500 10s. ; education of Dissenters,
£3l 6s. 2d. ; public uses, £1,905 13s. 2d. ; support of alms-
houses, their inmates, and pensioners, £3,887 3s. Bd. ;
distribution of articles in kind, £2,605 Os. 2d. ; distribution
of money, £3,952 Is. 11d. ; and the general uses of the
poor, £B3O 12s. 4d.

Lord Granville's announcement ,of a coming
report from the Ritual Commission probably, after three
sittings, has not been confirmad. But it is now understood
that an attempt will be made on Friday to move certain
resolutions, the presentation of which may serve as a
substitute. Unanimity is not, however to be expected,
Lowand " the Church minority " has been sadly
weakened by illness and other causes. The Archbishop
of Canterbury, the Bishop of St. David's, the Dean of
Lincoln, Lord Portman, and Mr. J. A. Smith, are at
present incapacitated by indisposition ; whilst Professor
Payne Smith is detained at Oxford by his acedemic
duties. —.Record.