On the 2nd inst., the annual dinner in aid of the
funds of King's College Hospital was given at the
Albion Tavern. Mr. Sidney Herbert presided on the
occasion over a distinguished company. From the
report it appeared that in the year 1854, there were
entered on the books, 27,694 patients: since the year
1839, when the hospital was first opened, 282,705
patients have been admitted to the benefits of the
charity, of whom 17,943 were in–patients, and 259,235
out–patients, and 5,527 poor married women attended at
their own homes. The cost of the hospital is £5000:
and as the annual subscriptions only amount to £1,500,
the charity is dependent upon the public for free gifts
to the amount of £3,500.

Lord Ebrington presided over the annual festival of
St. Mary's Hospital, on the same day. Since its
establishment in 1851, this institution has relieved
27,000 patients. It is dependent on voluntary support:
its expenditure is £6000 a year, and it is in debt £2,600.

The annual meeting of the Suppression of Mendicity
Society was held on the 12th instant, at their rooms, in
Red Lion–square; the Marquis of Westminster, president,
in the chair. The Report stated that the results
of last year's operations were favourable to the society;
the war, the demand for labour, and emigration, having
diminished the pressure on its resources. The registered
cases of applicants with ticket at the office had
fallen from 419 in 1853, to 332 in 1854. The unregistered
cases fell from 7,661 to 6,801. The meals given fell
from 62,788 to 52,212. The money relief given to
mendicants fell from £1,263 to £1,144. Meantime the
income from donations and subscriptions remained
nearly stationary, being £2,977 in 1853, and £3,015 in
1854. The number of vagrants committed had not
varied much, being 354 in 1853, and 326 in 1854. There
was a great diminution in the number of Irish applying
for relief. During the severe frost in February last
494 men and women, independently of children, had
been relieved, and 13,000 meals given. 3,277 begging–
letters had been sent for investigation, which was more
by 232 than in 1853. Of these 1,000 had been favourably
reported upon, 36 fraudulent begging–letter writers
were apprehended and punished. The receipts of the
year amounted to £4,244  2s. 11d., and at its close there
was a balance in hand, and at the bankers, of £786.

A lecture on Nature Printing was delivered by Mr.
Henry Bradbury, at the Royal Institution, on the 11th
instant. This is a process by which copies of objects in
nature are obtained with a fidelity and exactness such as it
would be impossible for the most skilful artist to attain
with his pencil. The principle of the art appears to have
been known as far back as 250 years ago, and to have
been applied in the first instance to the taking impressions
of plants for the purposes of botanists. A leaf,
being placed over an oil–lamp, was, when blackened and
mollified by the heat, placed between two sheets of
paper, and, a violent pressure being applied to it, the
most accurate copy of it, to the minutest detail, was
obtained. The lecturer, having shown the process by
experiment, and exhibited prints of plants thus obtained,
proceeded to trace the progress of the art to its next
step, the taking impressions by steel rollers, in which
case it was necessary for the plant to be perfectly dry.
As the taking impressions of objects from nature was
extremely valuable, not only to botanists but to other
naturalists, numerous experiments were made, particularly
from 1833 to 1852, when a new method was discovered
of printing from gutta percha, by which the
object remained uninjured after great pressure. The
process now adopted is to press the object into a leaden
plate, the second important element in the printing
being electrotyping. By this process the most accurate
copies are obtained of plants, ferns, lace, fossils, and
grained woods. In the course of the lecture, which was
rendered interesting, and was greatly simplified, by
experiments and specimens of the art, Mr. Bradbury was
frequently cheered by a large and scientific audience.

                PERSONAL NARRATIVE.

The Queen, on the 18th inst., presented the Crimean
Medal to a large body of officers and men entitled to
that honourable decoration. The ceremony took place
on the Parade–ground of the Horse Guards. In front of
the archway, a low dais was erected for her Majesty;
above, level with the first–floor windows in the centre,
was a gallery for the Royal Family; on either side were
tiers of seats, to the left for the families and friends of
the decorated officers, and to the right for the members
of the government, their families and friends. Facing
the Queen, on the park–side of the square, were galleries
for the two houses of parliament. The other sides of the
square were also filled up; and vast masses of people
assembled to witness the scene. As early as ten o'clock,
hundreds of officers, wearing the most diverse uniforms,
and hundreds of young soldiers who had never seen
service, had assembled; and the space shone with scarlet
and gold. A large body of troops, the Household
Cavalry, and the Guards, were drawn up in front of the
dais, and behind them the recipients of the medal.—
The Queen came at eleven; accompanied by Prince
Albert, the Duke of Saxe Coburg Gotha, in the uniform
of the Austrian army, the Prince of Wales, and Prince
Alfred. The troops were drawn up in order of precedence,
Cavalry, Artillery, Sappers and Miners, Guards,
and Infantry of the Line, and then the Sailors and
Marines. As each man passed, General Wetherall read
out to the Queen his name and services; Lord Panmure
handed to her Majesty the appropriate medal; and, with
pleasant smiles and kind words, the Queen gave the
medal away. The first to receive it was the Duke of
Cambridge; then came Colonel James Macdonald, the
Earl of Lucan, the Earl of Cardigan, General Scarlett,
Sir John Burgoyne, the Foot Guards, Sir de Lacy
Evans, and the Infantry of the Line; and next, Admiral
Dundas with the Marines and Sailors. Three officers
attracted special attention. Sir Thomas Troubridge of
the 7th, who lost both legs at Inkermann, received
his medal from a wheeled chair; and the Queen made
him one of her Aides–de–camp on the spot. The other
two were Captain Sayer of the 23rd, also in a wheeled
chair; and Captain Currie of the 19th, who limped
painfully upon crutches. As the soldiers passed they
simply lifted their hats; but the sailors, long before
they reached the dais, were uncovered to a man.
Appropriate airs were played as each division passed. The
weather was fine, and the whole scene was admirably
managed. It was brought to a close by a parade of the
troops. After the parade, the non–commissioned officers
and soldiers, the sailors and marines, dined in the
Queen's Riding–school; the Queen and her family
paying them a visit. The officers who were most cheered
were the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Cardigan, and Sir
de Lacy Evans. To enumerate all who were present
would be only to name those who are the most
distinguished in civil and military affairs. The list
of the gallant fellows who received the medal, was
given in full in the morning papers of the following
day.

Lord Adolphus Vane Tempest, M.P. for North Durham,
who is with his regiment of Guards in the Crimea,
having received a hut from his mother, the Dowager
Marchioness of Londonderry, immediately on its erection
fitted up a large and roomy tent adjoining it, which
he furnished with a library of standard works, several
periodicals, and three daily papers; and, having a good
stock of stationery, he opened it for the use of the
men of his company for reading, and writing letters
home. This act of generosity is highly valued by the
men.

The Queen has granted permission to Lord Raglan,
Vice–Admiral Deans Dundas, Lieut.–General Sir J.
Burgoyne, Lieut.–General Sir G. Brown, and Rear–
Admiral Sir E. Lyons, to accept and wear the
Turkish imperial order of the Medjidie of the first
class, as a mark of the Sultan's approbation of their
distinguished services before the enemy during the
present war.

Her Majesty and the royal family went to Osborne on
the 22nd inst., to spend the Whitsun holidays. The
Duchess of Kent went to Osborne at the same time, on
a visit to her Majesty.

The drawings contributed by the royal children to
the patriotic fund were sold on the 14th inst., according
to announcement. The Princess–Royal's drawing was