h all he asks
for; and, above all things, to avoid the error of severing the military
command from the diplomacy necessarily connected with the operations. I
have no hesitation in saying that had my operations been encumbered by
the presence with me of a Civil Governor, or of an Ambassador authorised
to give me orders, I do not think I should ever have reached Coomassie.
Upon my arrival at Cape Coast Castle, at the beginning of last October,
I found it in a state of siege. A large Ashantee army threatened both it
and Elmina; a panic and demoralisation had seized upon all classes; the
people from the surrounding districts had flooded into the towns on the
Coast, where they soon suffered from disease, owing to their crowded
condition; trade had almost ceased altogether, and a large proportion of
the people depended upon the Government for their support. When I left
Cape Coast Castle, at the beginning of this month, I left there a
prosperous population, enjoying the blessings of peace and the
mercantile advantages attendant thereon. I found upon my arrival on the
Coast the _prestige_ of England at its lowest ebb, but before I
departed, I left our military fame firmly established on a secure base,
consequent on the victories so gallantly won by the troops under my
command. My Lord Mayor, I have to thank you most sincerely for the
manner in which you have alluded to me personally and to my military
services, and I have to thank you, in the name of all ranks composing
the expeditionary force, for the warm reception and the noble
hospitality you have accorded to us this evening."

ROYAL MEDICAL BENEVOLENT COLLEGE.

_April 22nd, 1874._

The Royal Medical Benevolent College, at Epsom, was founded in 1851, for
the education of sons of medical men. There are at present about two
hundred boys, fifty of whom, on the foundation, are educated, boarded,
and entirely maintained at the expense of the institution. The education
is of the highest class, and the charge, to those not on the foundation,
is fifty guineas, if the pupils are above fourteen, with slight
reduction for those under that age. There is accommodation in the
College for twenty-four pensioners, who have comfortable quarters, and a
pension of twenty guineas a year. There are also twenty-six non-resident
pensioners, with the same annuity of twenty guineas.

In support of the funds of the College, the eighteenth festival, at
Willis's Rooms, was presided over by