The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-21 00:00:00

CENTRAL LONDON OPHTHALMIC

INSTITUTION.
The first annual report of the progress of this charity
was laid before the Governors on Monday, at 7, Everett-
street, Russell-square. The Right Hon. Lord Calthorpe,
President. .

The committee stated that they had good reason to
congratulate the philanthropic individuals who had as-
sisted them in their objects during the trials and diffi-
culties attending the first year of a new institution. Al-
though the charity had not been in active operation more
than nine months, yet, at the present moment, there
were between thirty and forty destitute poor receiving
advice and medicines daily. The importance of such an
institution was fully proved by the numbers who have
had blindness averted, vision improved, deformity re-
moved, and disease alleviated.
The number of attendances, during a period of nine
months, had been 5,713, of whom 935 had been re-
lieved ; 49 surgical operations for cataract, squinting,
opacities, &c., had been successfully performed. The
sphere of action of the charity was not confined to any
district in particular, nor was any letter of recommenda-
tion required for the admission of patients. The poor
and extensive districts of St. Pancras, St. Giles, and
Clerkenwell, sent the greatest number of cases; but al
most every parish in the metropolis and its outskirts
presented cases for relief. The afflicted were, for the
most part, needlewomen, engravers, tailors, watch-
makers, combmakers, clerks, &c.
It was stated that the charity had the gratuitous
attendance of two medical officers
it, except
and that, there
being no paid officer belonging to except the collector,
the funds were immediately devoted to the relief of the
applicants. It was hoped that the sympathies of the
affluent and benevolent would afford the means of ex-
tended relief to the institution.
The committee concluded by proposing a vote of
thanks to H. Haynes Walton, Esq., and Alfred Smee,
Esq., the medical officers, for their humane and skilful
treatment of the patients committed to their charge.

A SINGULAR TASTE.—An English gentleman of
education, and, so far as we know, of irreproachable charac-
ter, left England about eighteen months since, with the in-
tention of spending some years in a solitary cell in one of our
prisons. He applied at the Eastern Penitentiary, but was
denied admission. He insisted on a place in the cell, and,
while he averred that he abhorred the idea of committing a
crime, stated that he would do so to ensure the accomplish-
ment of his wishes. He was of course arrested upon this
threat, and required by the Mayor to give bail. In default
of bail he was committed to the Moyamensing Prison, where
he has remained for thirteen months. The prison doors are,
and have long been, open to him, but he refuses to leave his
cell; and, as his daily labour supports him, he is permitted
to remain. He is in the full possession of his faculties, is
cheerful, and performs all the labour of an ordinary convict.
But, though engaged ten hours each day at the loom, he pur-
sues his mathematical and other studies with great perse-
verance and energy. He converses with great intelligence,
and is, obviously, from education and association, a gentle-
man. This is a singular instance of voluntary and self-in-
flicted penance, if such it be ; and the satisfaction which it
seems to confer upon its subject proves that the discipline of
that excellent institution is far from cruel.—Philadelphia
.Forutn.