ROYAL LITERARY FUND, May 8, 1872. [The King of the Belgians honoured the Literary Fund dinner on this occasion by taking the chair, and his health was proposed by Mr. Disraeli, the only speaker of the evening, so at least report says, who addressed His Majesty as 'Sire.'] MR. [R. DISRAELI, who on rising was received with loud cheers, said, Sire, forty years ago a portion of Europe, and one not the least fair, seemed doomed by an inexorable fate to permanent dependence and periodical devastation. And yet the conditions of that country were favourable to civilisation and human happiness: a fertile soil skilfully cultivated, a land covered with beautiful cities and occupied by a race prone alike to liberty and religion, and always excelling in the fine arts. In the midst of a European convulsion, a great statesman resolved to terminate that deplorable destiny, and conceived the idea of establishing the independence of Belgium on the principle of political neutrality. That idea was welcomed at first with sceptical contempt. But we who live in the after generation can bear witness to the triumphant success of that principle, and can now take the opportunity of congratulating that noble policy which consecrated to perpetual peace the battle-field of Europe. Such a fortunate result was, no doubt, owing in a great degree to the qualities of the race which inhabited the land. They have shown on more than one occasion, under severe trials, that they have possessed those two qualities which can alone enable a nation to maintain the principle of neutralityalike energy and discretion. But we must not forget that it was their fortunate lot that the first monarch who ascended their throne was the most eminent statesman of the nineteenth century. With consummate prudence, with unerring judg ment, with vast and varied experience, he combined those qualities which at the same time win and retain the heart of communities. We can especially at this moment remember with pride that he was virtually an English Prince-not merely because he was doubly allied to our Royal race, but because he had been educated-and with his observant mind such an opportunity was invaluable-he had been educated for years in this country in the practice of constitutional freedom. And when he ascended the throne he proved at once that he was determined to be, not the chief of a party, but the monarch of a nation. The times When he left us, Europe was disheartened. were troublous and menacing, and all felt how much depended upon the character of his successor. In the presence of that successor it does not become me-it would be in every sense presumptuous to offer a panegyric. But I may be permitted to speak of a public career in the language of critical appreciation; and I think that all will agree that the King of the Belgians, from the first moment at which he entered into public life, proved that he was sensible of the spirit of the age in which he lived, that he felt that authority to be revered must be enlightened, and that the seat of no sovereign was so secure as that of him who had confidence in his subjects. The King of the Belgians, our sovereign chairman, derived from his royal father another heritage besides the fair province of Flanders; he inherited an affection for the people of England. He has proved that in many instances and on many occasions, but never, in my mind, with more happy boldness than when he crossed the Channel, and determined to accept our invitation and become the chairman of the Royal Literary Fund. With what felicity he has fulfilled his duties this evening you are all witnesses. I have been connected with your society for many years, as those who preceded me with my name also were long before; and I think I can venture to say that in your annals none of those who have sat in that chair have performed its duties in a manner more admirable. It is something delightful, though at first sight inconsistent, that the Republic of Letters should, as it were, be presided over to-day by a monarch; but if there be a charming inconsistency in such a circumstance, let us meet it with one as amiably flagrant and give to our sovereign chairman to-night a right royal welcome. It is with these feelings, gentlemen, that I now propose to you,— The Health of His Majesty the King." 633 SPEECH DELIVERED BY B. D'ISRAELI, ESQ., M.P., GE May |ENTLEMEN,—Before I venture to propose the toast which I am about to do, I shall make a few observations on the various and varying circumstances that have achieved the result which has just been communicated to you by the Honorary Secretary, in his able and satisfactory Report. It is impossible to make a triter remark than to say that England has always been justly celebrated for its public charities, but, like all very trite remarks, it is also very just. I apprehend that it is a consequence of that happy habit of self-government that in this country has been enjoyed for a longer time, and generally speaking to a greater degree, than in any other country. That habit has imposed on us duties, the fulfilment of which, under other circumstances, might have devolved upon other powers; but in England they have necessarily fallen upon popular combination and voluntary subscription. I took the occasion just now casually, with reference to another toast, to refer to two great public charities which have been founded in this country by the State. The State, therefore, has not altogether been neglectful of those great purposes that appeal to the sympathies of universal man. Greenwich and Chelsea are monuments which need never fear competition with the institutions of any country in the world. But generally speaking, the hospitals, the infirmaries, the asylums that abound in this metropolis, and in every part of this Island, are the results of this popular combination to which I have alluded. The great hospitals, for instance, in this city-in the vicinity of which we are at this moment dining-need not, for medical science or surgical skill, shrink from rivalry with any institutions that now flourish, or that at any time have existed in this or any other country. And it is very remarkable, but it is a fact which none can dispute, that, independently of those great endowments, magnificent in their scheme and munificent in their foundations-there are besides crowds of minor institutions which are devoted in detail to the cure and observation and study of disease, which those greater institutions are prepared to deal with in a more comprehensive spirit. Indeed, you may say that, from the eye to the heel, there is scarcely a disorder that can visit our flesh which has not had, and for a considerable period, in this country some institution devoted to its study, its cure, or its alleviation. It is a very remarkable circumstance that until recently-I may say, most recently-there was only one disease in this country which no one attempted to study, which no one aspired to cure, and which no one came forward to alleviate. I need not remind you that it was a disease most prevalent in this country, if not peculiar to it, and one most general in its influence-one, too, not only general in its influence, but most heartrending in its results-one which, I may say, of all diseases most resembles death; for it knows no distinction of class or condition, but knocks at the turreted palaces of kings equally with the cellars and garrets of the poor. But it is a curious question, which if one had time one might enter into-how it happened that in a country so alive to the calamities of its creatures, where fever in every form and every type has been made not only the subject of study, but the foundation of institutions for its cure-one might be induced to stop to inquire how it was that a malady which, from the returns of our mortality, unfortunately figures as the greatest contributor to that dark record, should in a land so distinguished for its sympathy with suffering, for its scientific acquisitions, for the facilitythe generous facility-with which wealth is devoted to the cure of the calamities of life, should, as it were in despair, be considered as the only visitation of Providence with which we were |