The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-30 00:00:00

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S-INN-
LANE.

The Twenty-eighth Annual General Meeting of the
Governors and subscribers of this charity vvns held at
the Hospital yesterday. The meeting was presided
over by Mr. Spottiswoode, one of the vice-presidents of
the institution.
Mr. FENN, the secretary read the report of the com-
mittee of management for the past year. The report
stated that, thoegh in some respects the public events
of the day had tended to diminish the amount of sup-
port upon which this, in common with other charities of
the metropolis, had hitherto been accustomed to rely,
the committee had, nevertheless, been enabled SG to cols-
duct the affairs of the institution, that at the close of
the year they had the satiefaction of congratulating the
friends and supporters of the charity upon having
achieved an amount of benefit to the suffering poor, in-
ferior only to the preceding year, and more than equal
to that which they had had the happiness to accomplish
in any former year. The number of patients relieved
during the past year h.sd amounted to upwards of 39,891.
It would be in the recollection of the public that, after the
death of the late Duke of Sussex, a subscription was en-
tered into for the erection of a monument to his memory,
and after several meetings of the subscribers, it was de-
cided that the most suitable mode of cerrvieg out the
object would be the erection of a wing to the Royal
Free Hospital, to be called the " Sussex Wing," with a
statue of his Royal highness in front. That important
work had been commenced during the pact year, and
was nearly completed. The committee had by means
of legacies, received during the year, been enabled to pay
offa considerable portion of the debt, unavoidably post-
poned by the great pressure on the charity in the years
1353 and 1354. The practice adopted of supplying des-
titute patients on leaving the hospital with clothes and
small sterns of money, continued to produce the most
gratifying result:, more especially ameng,st unfortunate
females, many of whom had been restored to their fami-
lies and friends. The committee had pleasure in crane-
the attention of the governors to the services of the
honorary
honorary medical officers—Drs. Brinton, O'Connor, and
Hassell, physicians ; Messrs. Marsden, M.D., Weedon
Cooke, Da 'Aerie, Ite., surgeons, who bad devoted their
time and attention during the past year to the patients
committed to their care. In consequence of the reduced
number of in-door patienta (occasioned by the necessity
of proceeding with the new building), the committee
gladly acceded to the request of her Majesty's Govern-
ment, to strengthen the medical staff in the Crimea, and
readily granted the services of four of their medical
officers to that important object—one of whom, after an
absence of fifteen months, has just returned, and will
shortly resume his duties. The committee congratulated
the governors on having obtained the services of the
Rev. J. B. Bowen, a clergyman of the highest profes-
sional qualifications, as chaplain, and the report con-
cluded by the committee congratulating the governors
on the continued success of the charity, and humbly
hoping that it would, under God's blessing, continue to
prosper ; and that, as it proceeded, its usefulness might
be more felt and acknowledged by the public at large,
its efforts more effectually sustained by the benevolent,
and its benefits mere widely diffused amongst the
afflicted.

From the financial statement it appeared that there
had been, during the year, received in annual subscrip-
tions 1.4541. 10s. 6d., in donations 2,131/. 12s. 10d.,
and in legacies 2,6581. 14e. 7d., making a total of 6,2441.
17s. 11d., while there had been expended in payment of
old debts 2,486/. 7s. 5d., and i❑ payments for the year
1855, 3,745/. 2s. 3d., making a total of expenditure dur-
ing the year of 6,231/. 9s. Bd.
The medical report of the number of patients relieved
by the charity, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1355, was next
read, from which it appeared that during that time there
had been admitted into the hospital—

Persons afflicted with malignant and c)ntagi,Jus

diseases
Persons labouring under various disorders
Accidents relieved, and the parties sent ho►ae 1,430
Patients under the nentist

39,089

In addition to the above, there have been 693
totally destitute persons admitted into the
wards, of whom 57 Have died, and 636 have
been discharged cured or relieved
The number of accidents admitted for a brief
period into the wards was 109, of whom 18
died and 91 were cured or relieved

G 93

Making a total of ... 39,891
which, added to those admitted in former years, made a
total of perions admitted into the hospital since its com-
mencement of 51,493.
Mr. BRUCE then moved that the report be approved
. .

of, printed, and circulate I, together With the fin. aucia.

statement and medical report; and Mr. HALL having
seconded the motion, it was put from the chair and
unanimously agreed to.
The thanks of the meeting having been then awarded
to the committee of management for the pagt year, to
the treasurer, Mr. Masterman, M.P., who was re-eleoted,
and to the auditors,
Mr. PuircuAßD, High Bailiff of Southwark, said lie
had to propose a vote of thanks to a gentleman which
he did uct rise to tic. 1.,A a mere matt r of routine, for the
gentleman h.,: had referred to had rendered great and
efficient service to the institution, and it was, therefore,
right anti proper tha!-, at the close of another year of hil
distinguished services, they should at least give ev,)res-
sion to the appreciation in which they held those ser-
vices, and the interest he took in the institution. The
gentleman he referred to was Dr. Marsden, the founder
of the charity; and he begged to propose that the cordial
thanks of the meeting ho given to him for the interest
he continued to take in the institution, end the ♦aluable
services he was continually rendering to it.
Mr. IloorEa having seconded the resolution, it was
Pr

nit from the chair, and cordially agreed to.
Dr. MARSDEN, iu acknewledging the compliment,
stated that he had now arrived at the twenty-eighth
year of his service to the institution, and he rejoiced
to think that while his powers, mental as well as
physical, mireht be on the decrease, the power,
of the institution were increasing rapidly. Teere was a
pleasing circumstance connected with the meeting, and
it had struck him only since ho came into the room—it
was the pleasure he felt at seeing Mr. Spottiswoode in
the chair. He called upon that gentleman at the cren•
mencement of the institution—before the doers of it
were opened—in order to request his support to it. That
support was readily given, Mr. Spottiswood becoming
an annual subscriber for ten guineas, and promising all
the assistance he could give. He did not think he had
seen that gentleman since that time until the present,
and it gave him much pleasure to see bins now presid-
ing over them. Another circumstance in connection
with the institution ho must allude to. When he (and,
he had no doubt, other friends of the institution were,
met with the same remark) talked of the Free Hespita',
he was asked what usade it entitled to the appellatien
of free, more than any other in London ? Was not
Bartholomew's and Guy's Hospitals as free to destitute
persons as it ? Now, to some extent, this was so ; but,
in considering the point, they must go back to the state
of matters which prevailed at the time this hospital
was founded. At that time there was not such a thing
as free admission to the destitute sick in any
hospital in London ; but he was happy to say
that the example this institution had set had
compelled the old and richly-endowed institutions
to relax their rules and regulations, and to become to a
certain extent free. (Cheers.) Therefore, they had not
only been the means of relieving upwards of half a mil-
lion of individuals, but they had also been the means of
throwing open all the hospitals in London to the desti-
tute of the population.
A vote of thanks was next passed to the honorary
medical officers, Dm Brinton, Hassell, Glover, and M.
Bennet, and Messrs. T. Wakley, Weeders Cooke, De
Meric, A. Marsdeu, J. S. Gauge, T. Carr Jackson, to
which Mr. W. Cooke, and Mr. A. Marsdeu (who has
newly returned from the Crimea) responded.
Dr. MARSDEN said it would be seen from the report
that four of their medical officers had been absent in the
Crimea during the past year. and the place of one of these
(Dr. Glover) had been supplied by Dr. O'Connor, a gen-
tleman of professional 'character not surpassed in the
metropolis. The able manner in which he had perfumed
his duties, he, as one of his colleagues, could hear ready
testimony to, and he had therefore much pleasure is
proposing that the special thanks of the speedo, be
given to Dr. O'Connor for having undertaken and effi-
ciently performed the duties of Dr. Glover during his
absence, rtud that he be requested to continue his tier•
vices until that gentleman's., return.
Mr. PRITCHARD seconded the motion which was car-
dially adapted.
Dr. O'CONNOR returned thanks. He was happy that
his services had given satisfaction to the governors of
the institution. He could say for himself teat whatever
time be had spent in the discharge of the duties he bad
undertaken he was amply compensated for the benefit
he had received. He had visited the hospitals not only
of London but of the provinces and the United King-
dom, and he could unhesitatingly say he knew ofx In-
stance where so great a benefit bad been
the poor as had been by
means of this h•
' oopiet:l That be
could state after carefully examining
en
to all those other
institutions of a like character. It would,
be
nfe
to him a source of pleasure on all occasions to promote
its interests, and to gain for it the eepport of his ac•
quasntancea and friends. (Cheers.)
The committee for the esurez with a Tutu n
tyear waysothenappointed
appointed,
and the proceedings terminated f thanks to
the chairman.

THE VOLCANIC ERUPTIOIQ
~IN THE SANDWICH TIM/LIME.
—The flow is still undiuunis,sed, and, though slow in its
progress, is sure. The source, which is about 1,300 feet
from the summit of the stupendous Manua. Loa (Ha-
waiian—great mountain), or 1,200 feet above the level
of the sea, is still in active operation, and on a clear day
can be distinctly seen from the decks of the ships in the
harbour of filo. Where it, strikes the Wailuka river it
throws up a beautiful whits c load of steam, while the
dense smoke caused by the burning of the noble forest
and luxuriant vegetation make is up a picture well worth
the travel to see.—. Honolulu p( user.

SIMIAN DExru.—On the 22 d inst. a great sensation
was created in Conway by the awfully sudden death of
Mr. J. J. Mausdell, a proctor of Doctors' Commons.
The unfortunate deceased had been for a considerable
time distinguishing himself about the Menai•bridge,
Beaumaris, earn-arson, Bangor, and other parts of the
eountry, in a manner so utterly incompatible with the
proprieties of life as clearly indieuted an aberration of
intelleet. On the night before his death he went to a
low beer-shop and lodging-honse called the Feathere.
Between 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning Mr. Mansdell,
with his clothes on, laid himself down upon a bedl
When called he was in a dying state, breaking very
hard= and life was soon after extinct. Yertlii.lt, "Death
fr-,c, *0p1a.1.7.1'7,,0,WATM Lrliflist

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