THE number of great and good men who industriously gather fortunes that they may thereby advance civilization, remove or assuage human suffering, is believed to be happily upon the increase. The policy of appropriating wealth during the lifetime of the giver, under the economy and direction of his own guiding mind, is also a valuable improvement on the old legacy system. Mr. Peter Cooper, Mr. James Lenox, and Mr. Daniel Drew have furnished the wealthy of New York with some excellent examples of this kind. It is also our pleasure to record another in the founding of the Strangers' Hospital. Mr. JohnKeyser, a New York merchant, and the architect of his own fortune, has been able during the last year "to realize a long-cherished desire," in the founding of an institution for the relief of the suffering. Early last summer (1870) he purchased the old Dry Dock Bank, at the corner of Avenue D and Tenth street, and began remodelling the structure. The building stands on a plot of ground fifty by one hundred and sixty feet, having in the rear an irregular L-shaped piece of land. The structure is of brick, four stories high; the three upper of which are divided into wards, and contain space for over one hundred and eighty beds. The first floor contains the offices, a fine reading-room, and a large chapel. The building is well ventilated; the walls are coated with a preparation of india rubber, to avert the absorption of any infectious material. The structure is heated with steam; Russian, Turkish, and mercurial baths are provided, and every other appliance needful in a well-ordered Hospital.

The first patient was admitted January 12th, 1871, but the formal dedication did not occur until the evening of the 7th of February. After prayer by Rev. J. S. Holme, of Trinity Baptist Church, the opening address was made by Dr. Otis, president of the medical staff of the Hospital, who, after a few preliminary remarks, indicated the object and scope of the Institution as follows: "It is not intended," said he, "for the benefit of the wealthy, who in times of sickness can command the comforts of a well-ordered home and the attendance of a skillful physician or surgeon. Nor yet for the beggar, who leads a life of dissolute idleness, rotating in winter and in sickness about the charitable institutions of this city. It is intended for the succor and restoration of the deserving sick poor, and in an especial manner for that sadly numerous class of people in this great city who have seen better days People to whose sufferings in poverty and sickness, education and refinement put on a keener edge; strangers—strangers to the homes of plenty and comfort in which they have been born, and nurtured, and from which misfortune and disease have parted them. Nor is it alone to the strangers within our midst that the privileges of this great charity are extended. Whoso is in need of the especial aid this Institution is intended to afford—even though afar off—according to the broad rendering of its patron—is entitled to be counted a stranger, and to be taken in. Such as suffer with grave disease, requiring skill and an extended experience not readily attainable in the rural districts, will be permitted to receive, equally with the strangers within our gates,' all the benefits of the Strangers' Hospital. And yet another class! To those, either rich or poor, suddenly stricken down by accident or disease, the doors of this place are open at every hour, by night as well as by day, and every comfort and assistance will be afforded them."

The Institution and its furniture, at the time of opening, had cost over one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, all of which was paid by the generous founder, who also proposes, by the divine blessing, to entirely support it in its operations. The Institution is to be conducted under Protestant auspices, but it is not denominational. Mr. Keyser attends the Baptist church, but is not a communicant.