Page:Dr Cobbold's address at the opening of the Royal Medical Society's new hall, no. 7, Melbourne Place, November 7th, 1852 (IA b21464911).pdf/4

2 Hall was first set on foot by two of the Society's Presidents. This was seconded with liberality and zeal, both by its then present and former members, and ultimately led to the erection of the building in Surgeon Square, which at that time was one of the most flourishing districts in the Old Town. The foundation stone was laid by the illustrious Dr Cullen, on the 21st day of April 1775.

It would be foreign to our present purpose to enter into minute detail in connection with the history of the Society since that date. Such of you as are not familiar with its subsequent rise and progress, we would at once refer to Dr Stroud's history of the Medical Society, and also to the centenary oration delivered by Dr Carpenter on the 17th of February 1837.

As regards the building itself, and the accommodation it was designed to supply, it can scarcely be admitted to have fully answered the calculations of its early projectors, inasmuch as they evidently anticipated that ample space would be found for the accumulating treasures of many successive generations; and little did they think, that ere those "time-honoured walls" had manifested signs of decay, its overgrown library, and the now loathsome state of that once influential and healthy locality, would necessitate our removal to a more eligible site.

In the year 1819, at a period when the Society's funds received great augmentation from the overwhelming demand for "seats," it was deemed expedient to make an extension of the premises. Accordingly, a numerous committee, comprising several of the Professors of the University, was appointed to promote and obtain subscriptions; but, before taking any decided steps in this direction, it appeared to them advisable to concert some definite plan, calculated to recommend itself to universal approval. After mature deliberation, they came to the conclusion, that the project of enlargement, if practicable, would be, in many respects, preferable to that of re-building, chiefly on the score of comparative expense.

An architect was consulted, who estimated the value of the Hall at L.1200, the expense of a proposed wing (which was to be on the north side of the building) at L.1000, and the erection of a new Hall at L.4000.

During the following recess, the committee presented a petition to the Town Council, requesting, on behalf of the Society, the grant of a considerable portion of ground in the direction we have already indicated. This petition was both strongly recommended and favourably received, but was eventually declined, from what (now, indeed) fully appears to have been a just apprehension, that its admission would occasion an injurious encroachment on the Royal Infirmary, the limits of which Institution have all along been too much circumscribed. After this defeat, the committee recommended the purchase of one of the opposite houses; but this suggestion was fortunately and very wisely abandoned.

Thus, gentlemen, we perceive that the Society, "from a want of external facilities" has suffered a temporary loss and interruption, extending over a