£ 8. d.
220
110

1 10

..

2 2 0 2 2 0 200 1 1 0 1 1 0 110

2 20

2 2 0

1 1 ი

1 1 0

Sir John Ratcliff, Edgbaston
Mr, John Boucher, Harborne-rd..
Mr. Joseph Watson, Bath-row
Mr E. Armfield, Hagley-rd. (decs)
Mr. W. H. Dawes, Handsworth..
Mr. F. Timmins, Exeter-row
Mr. S. S. Lloyd. Bank
Rev. John Riland, Edgbaston
Mr. Samuel Brown, Bath-row
John Yates and Co., Pritchett st..
Thos. Phillips, Esq., Edgbaston
Mr. J. C. Pirani, New-street
Messrs. Lloyd and Summerfield
Mrs. Ann Faulkner, Bath-row
Mr. Henry Edwards, High street
Mr. S. V. Horton, High-street

LIFE GOVERNORS,

Elected on account of eminent services rendered to the Hospital.

1847 JOHN PALMER.*

1847 THOMAS PHILLIPS.*

1847 JOHN TALBOT.*

1856 JOHN WALSH WALSH.**

1856 AMBROSE BIGGS.**

1856 JOSEPH THOMAS COLLINS.** (deceased.)

1857 RICHARD THOMPSON.

The three first-named gentlemen actively engaged in the effort recorded in the following memorial

"This Tablet records the unexampled exertions of the Artizans of Birmingham, by which the noble donation of £905 ls. 3d., raised by a penny subscription in the year 1847, was paid over to the funds of the charity.

"John Palmer, Chairman-Thomas Phillips, Treasurer-John Talbot Secretary. W. Whitehead, W. Littlehales, A. Knight, F. Gosling, E. Keeling, S. Basnett, H. Sansum, I. Best, B. Edmonds, S. Bradley, W. Timmins, Committee."

A copy of the balance sheet was presented to the Rev. Dr. Warneford, and the Artizans had the gratification to receive the following reply from that great and good man.

"My dear Friend,

"Bourton-on-the Hill, January 4, 1848.

"I this day received the balance-sheet of the Artizans' movement, and in justice to that body, I must state that in the course of a long life this is the most noble subscription of the kind that has come before me; and is the most convincing proof of the high estimation in which the Queen's Hospital is held. May the Almighty continue to bless your ' labour of love' for the relief of the afflicted.

"I remain, my dear friend,

"Very faithfully yours,

"SAMUEL WILSON WARNEFORD.

"William Sands Cox, Esq."

** The three gentlemen next named were active managers of the Aston Fetes, recorded in the memorial which appears on the next page.

THIS TABLET RECORDS

THAT A

COMMITTEE OF MANUFACTURERS AND TRADESMEN

OF BIRMINGHAM,

PROJECTED AND CARRIED OUT,

ON THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY, THE

TWO FETES CHAMPETRES,

WHICH TOOK PLACE

AT ASTON HALL AND PARK,

ON THE 28TH DAY OF JULY AND THE 15TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1856,

IN AID AND TOWARDS THE

SUPPORT AND IMPROVEMENT

OF THE

QUEEN'S AND GENERAL HOSPITALS,

OF THE TOWN,

BY WHICH THEY REALISED,

After the Payment of £1,663 3s. 2d. for Expenses,

THE SUM OF

£5,054 12. 4.,

WHICH WAS EQUALLY DIVIDED BETWEEN THE

INSTITUTIONS.

COMMITTEE.-J. F. Richardson, P. Shuttleworth, H. Cornforth, R. Davenport, L. Middleton, H. Davenport, H. Meredith, J. Banfield, G. H. St. Clair, J. Tonks, J. Clarkson, J. Branston, jun., J. S. Cockings, M. H. Simpson, W. Clements, W. C. Stockley, J. Stinton, J. C. Onions, J. Moffatt, W. R. Hughes, W. Collins, G. Newbold, J. C. Pirani, J. Wareing, J. Taylor, T. Turner, J. Kemp, G. Doughty, W. Batt, J. Bate, T. Hall, E. J. Cox, R. Free, G. P. Tye, B. Tilley, J. Onions, A. Knight, E. Atkins, R. Tookey, A. Wivell, G. Bowker, T. Parker.

T. R. T. HODGSON, Mayor.

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS OF WILLIAM SANDS COX, ESQ., On resigning the Office of Dean of the Faculty.

TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CONSORT, President; TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL HOWE, Vice-President; TO THE GOVERNORS AND SUBSCRIBERS.

May it please your Royal Highness,

My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,

I cannot even contemplate the probability of retirement from the office of Dean of the Faculty without expressing my grateful acknowledgments for the great kindness I have received at all times, and under very difficult and trying circumstances at your hands.

I trust the occasion may be deemed sufficient justification for a brief expression of my opinion on one or two points affecting the future of the two institutions to which I have been enabled, through your generous sympathy, to devote my lifetime.

I venture to think it will be generally admitted by all who reflect on the necessarily slow growth of institutions, that in the short space of 17 years the Queen's Hospital has so far been instrumental in the holy cause of charity and education, as to afford solid reason for self-congratulation to all who have supported it. Its internal management has been most ably, and with the most rigid economy, conducted by the committee of council of your institution, yet the funds have been insufficient, and daily become more so, as the number of applications for relief increases. The simple statement of this fact is, I feel, quite sufficient; no argument which I might adduce could add to its strength in the estimation of the generous and high-minded.

Your Royal Highness has so powerfully, and may I be permitted to say, so practically, so wisely-in one word, so philosophically promoted the cause of education, that I confidently rely on your indulgence while I refer briefly in the next place to the question of medical education, to advance which, as well as to be a "house of mercy," the Queen's Hospital was founded.

Amongst the many important measures passed into law since her Majesty was pleased to call Lord Derby to her counsels, none I venture to think has been of greater importance than "The Medical Act." It may not be, and I frankly admit it is not, all that might be desired; yet it is what the wisest and most able men in the medical profession have sought in vain for the last 30 years. It marks the end of a state of things which could scarcely be looked upon with indifference by one jealous of the national honour. It is at least the inauguration of a new epoch, and will certainly be regarded as such by the historians of the medical profession.

It is only during the last 70 years that hospitals have become schools of medicine and surgery. Much yet remains to be accomplished. Hospitals must every where cease to be closed boroughs for the advocates and protégés of nepotism. The interests at stake in hospitals are pre-eminently public interests,

and neither the caprice of individuals nor the favour of parties should be allowed to influence decisions which, for the sake of learning and of charity, of scientific and religious truth, should be awarded solely in accordance with strict and impartial investigation into real merit. Hospitals have yet to be employed in a full sense as schools of practical philosophy-I mean of sound medical and surgical learning; in this respect the opportunities for improvement are very great.

Without any desire to limit or interfere with the sphere of usefulness of institutions established for the treatment of special diseases, I would submit that no effort should be spared to provide for patients applying to the Queen's Hospital, with affections of the eyes and teeth. The obstetric department is also deserving consideration, with a view to its reorganization. The practibility of these suggestions is contingent upon the moral and material support of the governors and subscribers, as is also the enlargment of the out patients' department, so imperatively called for. If it be urged that the funds, already inadequate for present wants, are not equal to defraying any part of the improvements just hinted at, and that therefore it is useless to contemplate them, I would reply that if the devising of improvements were deferred until means superabounded, the progress of improvement would be very slow. It is remarkable, yet undeniable, that with institutions as with individuals, wants are most keenly felt when means are most scanty; and it is no less true that the want keenly felt is half supplied; the stimulus to exertion being one half the battle-"out of weakness cometh strength." This is not a part of the kingdom in which a good work is likely to fail for want of means. The Queen's Hospital has ever since its foundation been an object of constant solicitude on the part of all classes in the Midland Counties without distinction in politics or rank; in supporting it the artizan has vied with the patrician, who has at all times been most eager to foster the rivalry in the charitable work; while the ironmaster and the coalmaster of the district have uniformly co-operated with the merchant and the manufacturer of this and adjacent towns for the same object. The result has been so substantially successful, that the future is looked upon with confident hope, though not altogether without much anxiety.

In expressing these opinions I in no way wish to set forth as original, thoughts common to many sound thinkers; neither do I desire to imply that I have done my duty: I am quite conscious of my short comings; I am simply actuated by a deep conviction that in proportion as a man's life-time is drawing to a close, his most bounded duty is to impress upon others what experience has taught him to believe to be necessary for the public good.

I have the honour to remain,

Your Royal Highness,

My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,

Your obedient faithful Servant,

WILLIAM SANDS COX,

Bangor, N.W. August 9, 1858.

Dean of the Faculty.