Royal Free Hospital, Gray's Inn Eg Ad.

the announcement that the Duke of Cambridge had forwarded a donation of £ 10 being received with loud applause . The Army and Navy having been duly honoured , the noble Lord said , — My Lord and Gentlemen , —The next toast I rise to propose to you is the toast of the evening ' , " Success to the Royal Free Hospital , " a wish which I am sure all hearts here will readily re-echo . If the success of an institution depends upon the

degree in which it answers to the ends for which it has been founded , I cannot but , for my part , consider that the Royal Free Hospital has up to this time met with great success ; for , from a report of its operations for the present year , I find that during the time of its existence , a period of less than thirty years , the number of cases relieved by it is 521 , 493 , and the yearly applicants for its charities have annually increased in an enormous proportion , numbering in 1828 , 926 persons , but in 1855 , 39 , 891 persons . ( Hear , hear . ) The principles upon which this

valuable Charity conducts its operations appear to me to deserve from the public generally the support which will , with the blessing of Providence , insure its continued success . In hospitals generally , I believe , it is a stipulation made , upon the admission of a patient , that he shall not present himself if afflicted by any contagious disease ; but the Royal Free Hospital stands preeminent , as affording to such persons shelter and medical relief when all other hospital doors are closed to them , and by this means is an extensive benefit to the City at large , by assisting

in arresting the progress of contagious maladies , in addition to . the relief it affords to those actually suffering from them . During the year 1832 , when the cholera first made its appearance among us , the hospital gave relief to 700 persons , and 9 , 000 persons suffering from that fearful disease have since then been at various times relieved . Moreover , the hospital does not confine its benefits to the inhabitants of London only , but persons from all parts of the country , nay , from all parts of the world , have been received by it , and sufferers of every description

are relieved here . Large numbers of destitute unfortunate females are annually admitted into the wards , not a few of whom , on being cured , are , by the exertion of the rev . the chaplain and the committee , restored to their families and friends , with every prospect of becoming respectable members of society ; and these , as well as other destitute patients , are , on leaving the hospital , assisted with clothes and small sums of money , which appears to me to be a most interesting feature in the operations of this society . In fact , this hospital has from the first made its

boast to do good to all , of whatever sex or people , and truly deserves the name of the Royal Free Hospital , for it is and always has been free to all , patients being here received without letters of recommendation ; and , whereas in other hospitals this is only occasionally and exceptionally done , at the Royal Free Hospital it is the rule that they shall be so admitted . The completion of the new wing , which we are met this day to commemorate , affords increased accommodation , and funds alone are wanted to maintain the additional number of 135 beds , and enable the committee greatly to extend the benefits of the Charity to the destitute sick .

Gentlemen , I give you , in a bumper , " Success to the Royal Free Hospital . " ( Loud cheers . ) The health of the Earl of Zetland , M . W . G . M . of Masons , having been drunk , the noble Earl acknowledged the compliment , and proposed " The Memory of his late Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex . " In doing so , he stated that the name of his Royal Highness became connected with the hospital from a subscription

having been entered into on his demise to raise a monument to his memory . At a general meeting of the subscribers to that fund it was , after much deliberation , " Resolved—That the most appropriate memorial , and one stric ' tly in accordance with the humane and benevolent character of his Royal Highness , would be the erection of a wing to the Royal Free Hospital , Gray ' s Inn-road . " The foundation-stone was laid in July last , in full Masonic form , by the Grand Lodge of England , and was now completed , funds alone being wanted to maintain the new wards , which would accommodate 135 beds in full efficiency .

The toast having been drunk in solemn silence , a variety of other toasts were duly honoured , including the health of the chairman , Dr . Marsden , the honoured founder of tlie hospital , which was most cordially responded to , the Committee of Management . & c .