The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-05 00:00:00

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There are few, indeed; if writable
institutions of the metropolis riiiillyrdeserving
ey ropathy and support of the public as theltoystbk,
Hospital in Gray's-n n-road. Its goa.erutuent, alsa eh--
mariner in which it applies its relief—acknowledging no -
recommendation but urgent necessity—certainly entitle* '44
it to a pre-eminent position among the London hospital* -:.‘",1
where all are good. At its gates the destitute, no
matter of what nation, of what religion, or no matter
how much strangers to the metropolis, eeek and receive
medical rslief and assistance, according to the means of
the institution and the relative necessity of the cases. '-
The circumstances which led to the establishment of the
hospital of itself shows the class cf distress which it is
intended to relieve. One night during the winter of 1827
a wretched female under 18 years of age, was found 13 ins
on the steps of St. Andrew's, Holborn actually
sperishing•from • disease and famine. She was a total
London,
stranger to London, without a single friend, and died in
thee workhouse two days after, unknown and unrecog-
ta.as witnessed
human being. This distressing circumstance
vil
by a geutietuan n ho had preciously been
much struck with theevils which must result to the sick
4
destitute stranger from h system. of requiring letters of
recommendation before admit mg the sick poor into the
public hospitals, and with the assistance of several gen-
tlemen he succeeded in founding a medical charity in -
which destinitiontand disease"alone should be the
pass-
port for obtaining free and instant relief. The first build-
ing was in Greville-street, Ilatton-garden' and was
called "The London General Institution for the Gratui-
tees Care of Malignant Diseases," and was open in
1828, and through obtaining the countenance and am
port of King George IV., the Doke of Gloucester, the
corporation of London, and many et.lvi oe means of
utility went on increasing until le3n, when toe. nest
visitation of the cholera brake out iu London, when, to
fully carry out the free principle of the charity, the
governors 'brew open the doors of the institution to all
persons affi cted with the malady, notwittanding that
irom the supposed contagious nature o 'the disease
all other hospitals had closed their doors against them,
when 700 patients were admitt(id. In the second eisita-
tion of 1549, upwards of 3,000 cholera patients were
admitted to the hospital ; and in 1854 upwards of 6,000
cholera patients were is 1 eyed by the institution. Oa
the death of George IV., William IV. became the
patron of the institution, and changed its name to
the Free Hospital, and her present Majesty on her
accession becasue the patroness of the hospital, and com-
manded that in future it should be called the Royal Free
Hospital. In 1840-41 the governors petitioned tie
House of Commons for a grant to erect more commodi-
ous premises, which, however, was not granted, on the
ground that it would lead to numberless similar applica-
tions. In 1842 the governors, upon their own responsi-
Leility, purchased the extensive premises in the Gray's•
inn-road known as the barracks of the Light Horse
Voluuteers, which had become vacant at about that
time, Upon the death of the Duke of Sussex a subscrip-
tiers was entered into for erecting a monument to his
memory, and the subscribers, after several meetings,
agreed that the most suitable mode of carrying out the
intention of the fund would be to erect a wing to the
Royal Free flosretal, to he called the Sussex Wing,
which was accoialingly done, and which aa, opened in
1856. Yet, in spite of the increased accommodation •
thus afforded to the institution in lofty and well-venti-
lated wards, the funds have not increa,•ei in proportion,
and more than one-half of the beds are at present unoc-
cupied from want of means, and day by day the officers
have to perform the difficult and ungracious task of
choosing from among the scores of heart-rending
cases which present themselves for admission a few
of the most urgent cases to fill the limited number
of beds which the contracted meat s of the hospital
allow of being kept full. The charity is still bur-
dened with a considerable debt, which swallows up a large
proportion of the annual receipts. Of the receipts for
1856 one-ha'f had to be applied to the liquidation of out-
standing liabilities. The receipts for 1857 have fallen so
far short cif the expenditure that the committee assert
that unless the public come forward in support of the in-
stitution, the sphere of its charitable operations will have
to be st 11 further curtailed. There is one unfortunate
class to the consideration of whose position much public
attention has lately been directed, to whom the Royal
Free Hospital is indeed a blessing. The wretched female
wanderers in sickness are the outcasts of that society
whose vices had been mainly instrumental in bringing
them to their degraded position, alike without character
and friends who will step forward to recommend their
admission into medical charities, even were their cases
known to those who have the power of doing so. Though
lost and degraded as they are in the eyes of the world,
by none is the shame of their position more keenly felt
than by themselves. No (natter how deep may be the
abyss of shameless iniquity into which they have fallen
during their sinful c,reer, there is yet generally to be
found among the " unfortunate" class sufficient recollec-
tion of happier and more innocent days to lead them to
shun publicity and exposure, even though their health.
or indeed their life, may depend upon it. At the Royal
Free Hospital a large proportion of the patients beloug
to this class, and upon entering the institution the last
and only gate through which they are ever disposed to
return to a life of re-pectability i.s not closed against
them by extorting from them their name, residence, and
the particulars of their irtunate condition. No matter
who applies to the institution for relief, no resister records
against them their past errors. They enter without ques-
tion under any assumed name, or even a number, and
without their own wish no attempt is made to inquire
into their real condition and circumstances. They are re-
garded only in the light of destitute sick, and treated as
such. The result of this method of alleviating " the
social evil" speaks volumes in its favour. The unfortu-
nate females to whom for years probably the very nameci
kindness and sympathy have been unknown, aretouched
by the deference which is shown to their feelings, and
learn to believe that all the world does not join
in the indiscriminate outcry against them, sooner than
face which in reforming their lives they have fled before
it, and plunged recklessly into the lowest sea of vice.
After each service on Sunday the chaplain waits in his
private room to speak to those who may wish to com-
municate the nature of their condition to him in confi-
dence. In this way, through the chaplain, communica-
tions are often opened between the penitents and their
families, who are thus often induced to receive them
back, in consideration of the worst phases of the life of
their errinir relative remaining a secret known only to
the chaplain and theme-lves. Stride the 'establishment
of the hospital nearly 60,000 of this class of females
have been received into the wards of the institution in a
state of destitution and disease, and of these one in 11,
or between 5,000 and 6,000, have, through the kind
and judicious system pursued, been reclaimed from their
abandoned condition and have become useful and re-
spectable members of the community. Those who would
really wish to aid in alleviating the peat and increasing
social evil with which this city is afflicted will find a
field for their labours in this institution more extensive
and more fruitful in good eoilts than can elsewhere be
obtained. If at any time the heart of even the most
hardened among mankind is susceptible of the softening
influence of penitence, it is during the hour of sickness.
The busy whirl and excitement of even a life of sin does
not allow of time for reflection ; but during the long and
tedious hours of a lingering illness is the proper time for
attempting the reformation cf the members of this un-
fortunate class, who are the curse of themselves and of
the society they live in. Much good has been done by
this institution, but its field of usefulness is capable of
immediate extension. We have already stated the diffi-
cult financial position in which it is placed, and we leave
it in the hands of the public to say whether its good
work shall be extended.

THE Ava.—Since our last issue we have had no fur-
ther particulars from this out station of the catastrophe
beyond the following :—" All the treasure is likely to be
saved from the Ava-250,000/. The vessel is gone to
pieces ; most of the passengers have lost everything they
possessed. She struck on some sunken rocks, within
half a mde of the shore, about 15 miles to the north of
Trincomalee. All these rocks are down in the charts.
Even the small schooners and dhonies never corse so
close in, in the monsoon. All the passengers embarked
last evening, the 20th inst., in the steamer Granada,
sent from Gale for them, and were to start at ton at
night." So ends the history of the Ava, pending the ne-
cessary it quiries as to the cause of the loss of this fine
vessel, one of the best vessels of the Peninsular and
Oriental Company on the line between Calcutta and
Suez. The Granada, Peninsular and Oriental Company's
steamer, has taken on our Ceylon mails and the passen-
gers of the ill-lated Ava to Suez, but the Calcutta and
Madras mails are totally lost as yet. It may be that
they may be ultimately fished up, and if they have been
well soldered in iron boxes the letters may eventually be
removed with little or no damage. What with the loss
of the Erin and the Ave, and the accident to the Alma,
the Peninsular and Oriental Company will bethtesAvys
losers in the Eastern Sea during the last 12 aieonul
upon
the company does not insure their vessels, th
_p
y We should
the insurance account will be very
be glad to have some particulars of
a hhe3evic>cks on which
The gst is
the Ava struck, the depth of water about there,
lards their
exact position ofl the coast o
called Pigeon Island, fromht,l,eesinumYbers of the blue rock
and ledges of the rock.
pigeons which inhabit the 1
Feb. 25.
—Ceylon Times, -
7°h°
0, delicious following is not the least remark.
[Awe ERTISEk ENT.]
tiltoldiryffe
euarietsh.retslttoo
luitnnig tißde•
Re-
cipe effected by D i
able among the nutnerousryof Indigestion (Dyspepsia)
u
Fl t a uloncy.
valenta Arabica Fod,
Bilious,and Liver
• Nervus, Complaints, Cough
Constipation, _lion, and Debility:—Maastricht,Holland,,
Asthma, Coneuxup
daughter Vir • had
1854.-- y ginie long been consump-
Aug- diarrheet and night sweats, and was inJul last reduc-
tive, WI; b a state of prostration and exhaustion, Y
ed to sue that our me d* t-
eed there w
couldg as no hope of recovery left, and that
Lyi, not survive many days. Upon the recommenda-
tion of a friend, we tried Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica,
which, to the astonishment of all, caused an immediate
change for the better in the symptoms. After the first few
meals she felt less miserable, and in six days the diarrLcea
and night sweats had loft her. Sho gained strength gradu-
ally, and in two months time was perfectly well. This excel-
lent 'remedy deserves to be more generally known, and
I consider I am only discharging a most sacred
duty iu recommending it to all sufferers.—S. &GUM.
Supported by testimonials from the following celebrated Pro.
lessors of Chemistry: Dr. A. Ure; Dr. Shorlaud; Dr. Harvey;
Dr. Campbell ; Dr. Gattiker ; Dr. Wurzer; Dr. Ingram ;
Lord Stuart de Decies; the Dowager Countess of Castlestuart;
Major Gen. Thomas King, and many other respectable per-
sons, whose health has been restored by it, after all other
means of cure had failed. Suitably packed with full instill°.
tious, In canisters, 11b. 2s, 9d.; 21b. 4e. 6d.; sth. lls. ;
121 b. 225. The 12th canisters aro sent caaliage free on re.
oeipt of Post-office order. Barry Du Barry, and Co., 77,
Regent-street, London. Important Caution against the fear-
ful dangers of spurious imitations.—The Vice-Chancellor Sir
William Page Wood granted an Injunction on thelOth Mach,
1854, against Alfred Hooper Nevin, for . imitating "Du
Barry's Revalenta Arabica Food.

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