Calendar: 1855-1856 Page 38

34 The following Report on the general state of the College was presented ly the Council to the General Court of Governors and Proprietors held on Friday April 27 1855 The Council of King's College London in presenting their Twenty-fourth Annual Report have once more occasion to congratulate the Court of Proprietors on the retrospect of the past year In order to form just estimate of the condition of the College and School it is necessary to take into consideration the exceptional features of the present time All experience teaches that an Institution like this cannot but be influenced by such causes as the visitation of cholera in the Metropolis the disturbed aspect of Europe and the heavy burdens which state of warfare imposes upon the upper and middle classes of society-the classes more particularly from which candi- dates for the learned professions are usually drawn It must be borne in mind also that the increased facilities for ob taining public employment which the war and the general policy of the country have given while they are exercising beneficial influence on more than one Department of the College have had as will presently be seen the effect ofi drawing prematurely into practical life many Students who would otherwise have continued their studies and so have caused the diminution for time of the number of Students in attendance The following statement of the numbers in each Department of the College and the School during the Lent Term just passed is drawn up as usual on the principle of reckoning only once the name of each Student or Pupil although he may be attending several different classes