Alma and Inkermann, of the plain of Balaklava, of the trenches of Sebastopol; by the siege of Delhi; by the defence and relief of Lucknow—but, above all, by the recollection of that scene on the deck of the burning " Sarah Sands"—and, above and beyond all, by that sublime scene on the deck of the sinking " Birkenhead," before which the noblest deeds of ancient heroism sink into insignificance, and to which the glorious annals of Greece and Rome afford no parallel,—I entreat you not to leave this place with hearts untouched, and resolutions half formed ;—I beseech you to join hand and heart in one great effort to obtain justice for the British soldier! For myself I must say that I did not come here simply to state facts and figures, and offer explanations of them. I did not come here merely to solve a difficult problem in sanitary science. I cannot consent to view those figures as mere lifeless sums in arithmetic. I know that every unit represents a scene of individual suffering—a death by fever, cholera, or consumption—which it was our duty to have rendered unnecessary. I came here for a very different purpose. Just as men with their hearts full of private sorrow seek a solitude wherein to weep, so I, with a great public grief pressing heavily upon me, have chosen this time and place to give vent to my feelings of surprise, sorrow, and indignation, that in the middle of this nineteenth century, in this year 1858, such a Report as the one which now lies upon your table should have been possible. In this matter, if in no other, I have obeyed the dictates of my conscience—Liberavi animam meam. I have paid the first instalment of my debt of gratitude to the noblest and bravest army that ever rallied round the standards of a careless, indifferent, and too often ungrateful, nation. APPENDIX. Tarle I.—Barracks Compared With Workhouses, Model Lodging- Least space, England, before 1847 147 Ditto Scotland ditto . . . . , . . . 240 Ditto Scotland ditto . . . 432 Least space, England, since 1847 270 Greatest space ditto ditto ...... 500 Least space recommended (Mr. Sidney Herbert's Commission) . 600 Scotch Workhouses ......... 480 Dormitories, Model Lodging-houses, 1848 ..... 542 Prisons at Pentonville, with Ventilation ..... 900 * 400 cubic feet is stated as the minimum in the Appendix to the Report, but 450 cubic feet is often mentioned as the Ordnance minimum, and for that reason Monday, March 15th, 1858. NEW MEMBERS. The Chairman announced that 51 Members had joined the Institution since the 1st January. LIFE MEMBER. ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS. Fludyer, A. Lieut. Gren. Gds. Gds. Yeomanry Roy. Rifles Body Guard. Regt. Pensioners Lord of the Admiralty The Chairman said that he had the pleasure of informing the Meeting that several Members had increased their Subscriptions from Ten Shillings to One Found, and also that others had given Donations of various amounts, viz.:— PRESENTS—Library. Civil Engineer, Or Architect's Journal. No. 286, 287, 288. The Editor. Atherton (Charles), Esq. Steam-Ship Capabilities. 8vo. Woolwich, 1854. 2nd Edition. The Author. Royal Society (Proceedings of). Vol. IX. No. 28. The Society. Leeds Philosophical And Literary Society. Annual Report of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society for 1856—57. Pamph. Leeds, 1857. The Society. Gardiner (Sir R. W.) General, K.C.B. Comments on the question of Legislative Military Responsibility. Three Copies. 8vo. London, 1858. The Author. Rowell (G. A.) Esq. An Essay on the Beneficent Distribution of the Sense of Pain. Pamph. 8vo. Oxford, 1857. The Author. |