The Sun. — London, England, 1841-01-08 00:00:00

1:1 1 ENING EDITION OUR iIIANUFACTUI - UNG SYSTEM. A recent number of the Westminster Review contained tw o Letters to Leonard Horner, Eq., on t he " Capabilities of the F a ct or y System, com bined with a series of observations on the elevation °f the labouring classes. At the time the article was published it attracted much attention, and re ceived much praise, which have probably induced IV Ir. Hooper now to publish it as a separate pamph let. It treats of two subjects intimately connected wit h the present and future welfare of the country. England is doomed for many years to come to be a „Manufacturing nation, or to be annihilated ; and while the condition of the masses engaged in manu factures can never cease to he interesting to the s tatesman and philanthropist, it is palpable that it cannot remain what it now is without danger and :tmnralisati on to the whole commun i ty. The eleva ," ° f the lab oin i na c l asses i n our manu f actures i s , therefore, a su bj ect o f t h e d eepest i nterest to t h e Whole community. /;Pith the observations of the Revie wer, we have no intention to meddle, except that we must ex press our dissent from the proposition, that " the Melioration of the physical and moral state of the great body of the people is one of the duties of Government. When their moral and physical state isanuch worse than that of some small portion of the p ea ple - -particularly if that small portion ex clusively administer the Government—there arises a great presumption that the Government has grossly neglected its duty. ; but from that evidence, not merely of its inutility, but its mischief to the great body of the people, we cannot, with the Re viewer, jump to the conclusion that it is the duty of Government to meliorate their condition. They must do th at themselves. The first step to their im Provernent' is their independence. The moral and physical condition of a people is good or bad by comparison, and what is now considered good may half a century hence be extremely bad. The Present condition,. for example, of the bulk of our gentry and middle classes, both morally and physi cally, is far superior to the condition of those classes half a century ago. Society has a principle of pro . Press inherent in itself ; Government hag, on the C ontrary, a tendency to be stationary ; and if we Make it the duty of Government to provide for the Melioration of 'the physical and moral state of the great body of the people, we shall authorise it to divide the nation into castes, and fix the labouring classes, with some petty improvements, contrary to the course of society, in a permanent condition of inferiority. We do not think that desirable ; while it is. very d es i ra bl e, b ot h f or t h e ease of rulers and th e'i4lvantage of the ruled, to limit the sphere of t he dutie s of Government as much as possible. If Gov ern mein limit its duties to protecting the rights ,of individuals from encroachment, it will best serve the Purpose for which it is said to be instituted. The two Letters are written by a benevolent in .dividnal, but he seems to us, like the bulk of person s in a similar situation, to expect a great deal to p much from drilling the people, and to rely a great deal too little on the people helping them ' selves. There is a sort of diseased desire on the part of benevolent educationists to make the work lacn like the gentry in their habits, tastes, opinions a nd amusements. For example, the kindly autho, of these Letters no sooner got his factory hands about him than he provided gardens- in the fronts ofahe cottages, in which the men might dig at their leisure and cultivate flowers. Now th at gen tlemen` who toil not may find pleasure in digging and cultiVating a flower garden is very natural ; but that a man, bent all day over a loom, or over a mule, shut up in a heated room, should find no more agreeable occupation for his leisure than digging in a garden, is not to be expected. Some Of the workmen may ; and the great evil of the benevolent man thus laying down a standard of excellence, as it were, by no means suitable to each individual, is, that lie who neglects his g ar d en be cause , he pref ers saunter i ng in the fields wi t h hi s children after his toils are over, gathering wild flow ers, or observing wild animals, or perhaps corn 'lathing with his own heart, or with Nature, is se down as an idle, thriftless man, and is very likely to he dismissed from his employment, and become a bad one. That a poor man should be enabled to highly prop er ; b ut it is riot desirable that gardens should be provided for all factory workers, so th at any one of them who does not act up to the i t i t ,neY of the p ropr i etor, having rational pursuits of the, i s Own, sh ou ld b e set down as less worthy than gardeners. Again, the b enevo l ent factory owners, as soon as he got his peopl e about him, established schools. Far be it from us to sneer at any kind of learning, b ut book learning is not for all dispositions. Some persons like investigating machines, or making t tn 't ttuments ; and the same objection that we have thatade to the gardens applies to the schools, namely , it establishes an artificial standard of excel lenc▪ e, very agreeable to the individual [proprietor, an d not equally agreeable to all the factory workers ; _htl those who do not seek the schools are neces tshrily set down by the owner as less worthy than chose who may really be as rationally and usefully employed as conning over the alphabet or learning - Methodist hymn, part After a time games were established, and as this of the plan is particularly amiable and kind, we\lsrhall quote a long extract °riseapart a portion of a field near the mill, that had of a 1:041,3 been designed for gardens, and, taking advantage together ay and a fin e afternoon, I call e d some o f the boys 41,048 ire a nd commenced op teatp a erations. W e b egan with arid cricket balls, and leap frog ; and as I saw ti nui .,lnY others soon joined us, and our play -ground eon we tf to fill more an d more every evening it was opened, jOrtqually, introduced other games, and established a pe rt e tirlations to preserve order. assigning a particular Of the playground for dlfereut games, and appo ng 41taih individulls to distribute and 'preside over them. 40 t. girls and boys each took their own side of the field, generally foll owe d t h e i r games separately. The fol 'owing summer w e erecte d a swing, and introduced the tiVtitine called Les Graces, with bowls —a leaping-bar —a n-rope—and afterw ar d s a see-saw. p Quoits are ene • ti klY the`f avour i te game of men—the hoops and tight g rope Thest the boys—and the hoops and swing with the girls. isin perpetual requisition. With the hoops, the 7t a and girls now play a good deal together, and we en ge this companionship as b e i ng extremely favourable 4 t he cultivation of good manners, kind feelings, and per ception of__ their proper place and relation towards each bad had When we first began these games, this was a thing i'_ixt yet to be learned, and instances of rudeness and _m_pnrtopr conduct did occasionally occur ; but as I made a .I°4of being always present on the ground, and gave our s f ones to understand that I wished my leaving it to be ,____unity of for the breaking up of the party, I had the op -17 y of observing any breach of good manners or good m per, and gradually succeeded in breaking them into my 8 1 4 1 8 e t e_i .: 0 Nye are now near the close of the third summer we l e l 41,110 not tay-ground was opened, and during this season once had to remark upon any breach of order :ad_leacoruom. Indeed, the system is now so well under ,s mong us, that I no longer feel it necessary to be rrehent among the games, though I generally am so, be ocanueseipepple tnenjoy them as much h as any of the party, and it is y_e, opportunities of social intercourse with the . beefplay-ground is open only or, Saturday evens g or holidays, during the summer. autumn of the same year, 1834, we began our Zt!swing and singing classes. The 'drawing class meets ,erY Saturday evening during the . winter, from six to elKPad seven , and generally spends half the time in draw asi% d .e t e rest with geography or natural history. This And so itch myself ; it consists of about twenty.five boys, borne of them have made considerable proficiency. ti,ae3:44eeckup7 themselves at home during the evenings of Durposee with copying drawings that we lend them for the aged an ; n and this affords an interest for their leisure hours, of y c_ .tractinn to their home fireside, which it was one 10,71rin_h!ef objects in introducing this pursuit to supply. as th e lg e t, 4 e summer they continue the occupation or not, our.Y.uftdoose ; our regular lessons are given up, as th e 1" r ay evenings are then spent more profitably in LPI4Y-ground and we r r e . t i or h n to our winter occupations if l tu much mono zeal and . 1. -4 1 t , h _.;,Y -had been continued wisit kio a u t t e i r n a ter ia ru ng tL a n ca du lo r4 the jear. Some variety and change in p our pursuits, we 44 „le necessary to keep up our own interest and attention As %en -7Q drawing class reak up at ha tits si nging class assembles b ands remit till lf.past nine. This class consists of girls and yonnt, , men to the number of twenty-eight. It is entirely under the management of the Suporintendant of the Sunday school, who meets them once a week during the winter, to teach them their diffe rent parts, and then brings them on Saturday evening to our large school-room, where they practise all together. We confine onrselves for the present to sacred music ; singing in four parts, and with the assistance of two instru ments, make what we think very tolerable music. This class is very popular, especially with the girls, and it is considered a great privilege to be invited to join it. One of the most successful of our plans, and the most ef fectual in civil Ling the manners of the people, has been that of having regular evening parties during the winter. The number of these parties is generally about thirty. They consist chiefly of the elder girls and boys, generally an equal number of each. They come by special invita tion, a little printed card being sent to each, on which is written the day and hour when the party will take place. Much of the distinction shown to the guests depends on this individual invitation, and it is part of my plan to show as much respect as possible to those whom I invite to join our society. It is impossible, however, to read this extract, amiable, most amiable as we admit the writer to be, without recognizing throughout a strong desire to drill the people, to make them like the driller, or like the gentry, to inoculate them with similar tastes, to send them after similar pursuits, and, there fore, to give them similla opinions. The factory owner having a large property, and being probably much at his ease, having many converts under him, and saying to one, " Go, and he goes," labours—with good intentions, we admit, but mistakingly, we aver—to make every in dividual in his employment something like himself. There is in his conduct the same spirit of overrul ing, the same desire to be superior to others, or to govern, to,:whichjn our observations on the cotton manufactures, we traced much of the evil which pervades society. The elevation of the labouring classes is, we fear, not to be obtained. It does well enough for one mill, and contrasts beauti fully with another, where the labourers: and the children are both rigidly ruled, and yet much ne glected; but it partakes too much of the master and slave system ever to create in the labouring classes that spirit of independence which is the first step to becoming good moral men. The prin ciple is to model all classes on one class, while the vast diversity in the business, possessions, and dispositions of the various classes, and of various individuals, indicates for them dif ferent amusements, and a different bringing up. There appears to be more practical freedom in Germany, according to the letter from Chemnitz, which we quoted on Wednesday, and with that freedom there seems to be more happiness, more hilarity, and more real delicacy of feeling, than is to be found amongst the best drilled operatives of the neatest factory, surrounded with gardens, having a play ground in the middle, and schools at each corner. The latter partakes of the character of Mr. Owen's parallelograms, the former seems like the natural world. IMPORTANT TO OVERSEERS OF THE POOR,. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR-A case has lately been reported that occurred before the Magistrates at Leominster, where overseers had been summoned for neglect of duty, at the hearing of which the Chairman is reported to have said, that it was the duty of the churchwardensto see that tke over .seers executed their duty faithfully. From the manner in which the case is reported, it would appear that the Chairman of the Bench of Magistrates considered that the churchwardens are the masters or superiors over those overseers appointed by Magistrates, and have no labours of their own to perform as overseers ; that they have merely to see that the others do their work pro perly, and not that the churchwardens are liable to do equal shares of the labours of the office of overseer with the other overseers. I confess that churchwar det.s generally shrink this duty, leaving the onus of making the rate (being satisfied with merely putting their signatures to it), and also collecting the money and all other fagging parts, to those overseers appointed by the Magistrates ; while they, as overseers of the poor, take little or nothing upon them. The words of the 43d Elia., c. 2, s. 1, are :—" The churchwardens of every parish, and four, three, or two substantial householders there, as shall be thought meet, shall be overseers of the poor." Here we find no difference recognized, nor is there in any other Act. The churchwarden is an overseer, by statute, and bound to take equal share of the duties; therefore in parishes where parties be wee I themselves agree to divide the parish iato d stricts for the collecting the poor -rate, if there be two churchwardens and tae overseers ap p.' .ted by Magistrates, the parish should not be di vided into two districts, and the churchwardens remain idle whilst the other two collect one part each ; but the parish should be divided into four districts, each church warden taking a part. Any churchwarden or other overseer doubting the position I have laid down may satisfy himself by ad dressing the Poor-law Commissioners, asking the fol lowing question : " Is a churchwarden bound by law to take upon him self the duties of overseer of the poor, in all things, equally with those overseers appointed by Magis trates ?" And perhaps it will be as well at the same time to quote the 43d Elizabeth, cap. 2, s. 1. at length. For several years I filled the office of churchwarden, when the pari+li documents relating to the poor were igned in the following manner : ----}Church wardens. Overseers of the Poor. ----- Thus giving only equal power and authority to the churchwardens w►th the other overseers of the poor. 1 am, Sir, yours, &c., Jan. 4, 1841. GORDIUS. THE WEATHER. This is the coldest day we have had since the frost set in on the 13th of December. Yesterday morning, at four o'clock, the thermometer in the Zoological Gardens Re gent's Park, stood at 11 deg. Fahrenheit, being the same tempeiature asjon Christmas at midnight at the same place At Hackney, at seven o'clock the thermometer was 17 deg., and at nine o'clock stood 15 deg., the wind being north, and rather inclining to the west. At noon, and at four in the afternoon, a thermometer at Charing-cross in dicated 28 deg. Fahrenheit. The atmosphere was hazy at, and after, noon, but gave no indications of a change in the weather. The roads were slippery, and most of the suburban omnibuses and other vehicles had extra horses attached•to them. Although the external thermometer at the Zoological Gardens indicated so low a degree of temperature, in the giraffe-house the thermometer averaged from 52 deg. to 54 deg. ; in the elephant-house, 44 deg. to 45 deg. ; in the repository, 50 deg. to 53 deg. ; and the monkey-house, 49 deg. to 52 deg. ; these being found most conducive to the general health of the animals. It is feared that this severe weather will prove very destructive to many of the half-hardy and aeclimat:sed shrubs and trees in our public gardens, many of which have scarcely recovered from the effects of the winter of 1837-38. In some places the Thames is frozen over. We have a dense fog, as we had yesterday, which renders the naviga tion of the river exceedingly difficult, especially below bridge. A number of collisions took place amongst the craft yesterday. The bows of a fishing smack, called the Dart, belonging to Gainsborough, came in contact with the stern of' a collier brig, moored in Limehouse-reach, and carried away a portion of her bulwarks ; the fishing smack was also much injured. The crowded state of the Pool, in addition to the fog, proved a serious inconvenience to vessels passing up and down. The fields of ice which Lad accumulated below bridge during the frost have, within the last few days, almost entirely disappeared, and the steam-boats which usually land their passengers at London-bridge wharf, but which during the frost have only come up to Blackwell, have resumed their old land ing place. Above bridge, 'particularly off Battersea, Wandsworth, Twickenham, and higher up, a good deal of ice is still floating about. Should the present frost con tinue a few days longer, the navigation of the river will again be greatly impeded. The thunderstorm of last Sunday seems to hare been general throughout the country. -- - MARCII OF DR UNKENNESS.—Out of twelve charges brought up at Bow -street yesterday morning, eleven were for being found drunk on the previous night; eight were discharged with an admonition, and three were fined ss. One gentleman gave ss. more to be put into the poor-box, as he had some valuable property about him when he was found by the policeman. Brutes far surpass man in both the ordinary re newal of the integuments and appendages, and in the ex traordinary restoration of decayed organs. The horse pe- 1 riodically sheds its hair, the bird its feathers, the stag its horns, the serpent its cuticle, the lobster its shell and the teeth which are in its stomach. The fall of the leaves of trees is an analagous circumstance. Insects not only change their coats frequently, but undergo complete me tamorphoses ; are first worms, then grubs, end finally winged beings. The crystalline lens extracted from a healthy eye is speedily reproduced in cats, dogs, and rab bits, and probably in other brutes. Tho extraordinary reproductive power of sonic brutes is almost incredible. A lobster can reproduce a claw ; a water newt an extre mity. Blumenbach actually observed the reproduction of the whole head with its four horns in a snail, and the corn. plete eye—cornea, iris, crystalline lens, &c.—in a water newt. Besides greater powers of reproduction than. man, brutes generally possess greater also of reparatioa—will survive injuries which would prove fatal to us, perhaps dnuer any circumstances, or at least without great 'tare.— Elliotson's Human Physiology. 'NO 1 4 1 SUN, LONDOM. ntinAY. itiNUARY 8. 1811. LIT 1-s Ti; RE. THE NEW ANNUAL ARMY LIST . for 1841. BY H. G. HART, Lieuttnan± 49th Regiment. London, Murray. On the publication of the " New Army List' last summer, we had occasion to advert to it ii terms of high praise, and the edition for this yea, fully bears out the opinion we formed of it. To those who are unacquainted with its contents, brief outline of the plan, with one or two speci mens of its details, will suffice to point out the na ture and value of the work. It commences with list of the Field-Marshals, of whom there are nog• five ; namely, the Duke of Wellington, the Kin g of Hanover, Duke of Cambridge, the King of tin Belgians, and Prince Albert. Then follows a list of the Generals, with their military pedigree. ai the head of which is the veteran Earl Cathcart (aged 86), who was appointed Cornet June 2 1777 (64 years ago) ; Lieutenant, November 14 same year ; Captain, December 10, same year ; Major, April 13, 1779 ; Lieutenant-Colonel. February 2, 1781 ; Colonel, November 18, 1790 ; Major-General, October 3, 1794 ; Lieutenant- General, January 1, 1804 ; General, January 1. 1812 ; Colonel of the 2d Lifc Guards, Governor of Hull, &c. This plan is followed throughout the whole line, down to the Ensign ; and appended in a note to each name illustrious for skill or bravery are details of the battles and seiges at which the officer was present, the wounds he received, and the clasps and medals conferred on him by authority. On running over the list, one is surprised to find such a number still alive who had served in Holland and Egypt, who had undergone all the fatigues and dangers of the Peninsular campaigns, and passed through the fiery ordeals of Quatre Bias and Water loo ; some with the loss of a leg and arm, others with ten or fifteen wounds, and not.a few disabled for life. In addition to these the " New List" contains the names of those who for their services have received British or foreign military orders, with many other particulars interesting to persons connected with both army and navy. The work cannot fail to be dilly appreciated at every mess table and every club-room. We subjoin three speci mens of the details—giving a brief military his tory of the present Master-General of the Ord nance, of a Colonel who has done no small honour to the army by his deeds and his writings, and of a Lieutenant who has distinguished himself on many occasions in foreign as well as British service. Right Hon. Sir Richard Husse) Vivian, Bart., C.C. B. and G. C. H., Ensign 31st July, 1793 ; Lieutenant 20th October, 1793 ; Captain 7th May, 1794 ; Major 9th March, 1803 ; Lieutenant-Colonel 28th September, 1804 ; Colonel 20th February, 1812; Major-General 4th June, 1814 ; Lieutenant-General 22d July, 1830 ; Colonel of Ist Dragoons 20th January, 1837. Sir Hussey Vivian served in Flanders and Holland, under the Duke of York, from June, 1794, until the return of the British army in 1795. Present in the sortie from Nimeguen, and was left with a picquet of the 28th Regiment, in conjunction with other picquets, to hold it after the retreat of the army. Present in the affair at Geldermalsen, in which his regi ment (the 28th) suffered severely, and in other skir mishes. Also present in all the different battles which took place during the expedition to the Heldei, excepting on the landing. Commanded the 7th Hussars in •he campaign under Sir John Moore, in 1808 and 1809. Commanded a brigade of cavalry in the Peninsula, from September, 1813, until the return of the army ; incliding the battles of Orthes, Nive, and Toulouse. Severely wounded in carrying the bridge of Croix d'Orade, near Toulouse. Served at tho battle of Waterloo. Sir ►lussey has received a medal and one clasp for Saliagun and Bale vente, and Orthes. William F P. Napier, C. 8., Ensign, June 14, 1800 ; Lieutenant, April 18, 1801 ; Captain, June 2, 1804; Major, May 13, 1811 ; Lieutenant-Colonel. Nov. 22, 1813 ; Colonel, July 22, 1830. Colonel William N. - pier served at the siege of Copenhagen and battle of Kioge in 1807; Sir John Moore's campaign of 180$-9; the sub sequent Peninsular campaigns from 1809 to the end of the war in 1814, and was present in many of the sou!-stirring scenes which he has described with s ; much ability in his admirable .‘ History of the Peninsular War," including the combat of the Coa (wounded ), battle of Busaco, com bats of Pombal, Redinha, Casal Nova (severely wounded at the head of six companies supporting the 52d R Ti ment), Foz d'Aronce, battle of Salamanca, passage of the Huebra, combat of Vera, when Soult attempted to re lieve San Sebastian, and again when the allies passed the l3idassoa, battles of the Nivelle, Nive (wounded defending the churchyard of Arcangues), and Orthes. Medal and two clasps for Salamanca, Nivelle, and Nive, at which battles he commanded the 43d Light Infantry, as also in many minor combats. Served also in the campaign of 1815. Shaw, Sir Charles, Cornet, Jan. 21, 1813 ; Lieutenant, Dec. 9, 1813 ; placed on half-pay, Dec. 25, 1818. Sir Charles Shaw served the campaigns of 1814 and 1815 in Holland, Flanders, and France, including the reconnoi sance of Bergen-op- Zoom, attack on Merxhem, attempt to burn the French fleet at Antwerp, and battle of Wa terloo. In 1831, joined the army of the Queen of Por tugal, and served throughout the civil war in that country, including all the general actions, sor ties, and skirmishes during the defence of Oporto, affair of Torres Vedras, and battle of Almoster : in the above service he was seven times wounded. In 1335 he was appointed a Brigadier-General in the British Auxiliary Legion in Spain, and till Aug. 1836. he took a leading part in all the contests in which the Legion was engaged, including the successful assault on the Carlist lines before San Sebastian (severely wounded), and for which a medal was given. THE POST-OFFICE LONDON DIREC TORY, 1841. London, IV. Kelly and Co. We noticed some proof sheets of this work a few weeks since, with new improvements. It is now published complete, and comprises, among other information—a Street Directory, a Commer cial Directory, a Directory for Trades, Law, the Court (including the nobility, gentry, and others not engaged in trade, law, or commerce), for Mem bers of Parliament, the City, including the Public Functionaries, Common Councilmen, &c. ; and gives, as might be expected, the most ample infor mation relative to the Post-office. To this depart ment are allotted forty-four pages, containing all late regulations, the postaffe of foreign letters to every principal place in the world, the arrival and departure of the mails for every town in Great Bri tain, and the number of deliveries daily in the London and suburban districts. There arc sepa rate departments for railway trains, for conveyance by coaches, waggons, barges, and boats, all ar ranged on a simple plan, and easy of reference. " It cannot be necessary to state in detail," says the Compiler, " all the improvements effected in the present edition. Every division of the book, and every page, contains much that cannot be found in any other book for the year 1841. The very late information now published, has 1)f:co obtained by means of the peculiar resources placed at the disposal of the proprietor by the Postmaster- General. Thousands of instances could be adduced in which the information is published a year earlier than in any other annual work." We have looked over this Directory with some care, and, as far as we can judge, it appears to be the most copious and correct work of the kind hitherto published. In a book comprehending so many thousand details, and extending to 1,448 pages of royal octavo, in small print, there cannot . faii to be both errors and omis sions, but we have observed very few. In some of the streets in the outskirts of the metropolis an im provement might be made. For instance, in Clare mont-row, Pentonville, only two numbers are given, while there arc probably sixteen or seventeen houses. Altogether, however, we can safely re commend it as a Directory especially adapted for all classes in country as well as town. THE BIJOU ALMANACK. Schloss, London, 1840. With the aid of an excellent microscope we have been able to master the contents of this curious al inanack, which ought to have been printed and published in Lilliput, or if not there, at least in fairy -land, where it would have been in high favour with Oberon and Titania. Seriously speaking, we never saw a more perfectly unique production than this literary bijou. It is almost half th e dimen sions of a good-sized oyster, and seems to us to grow less and less every year, so that in a year or two, if it keep diminishing at its present ratio, we may expect to see it, like a phantom, vanish altoge ther into thin air I Not the least singular thing about it is the correctness of its portraits. That of Sheridan Knowles is perfect, though his phiz is actually no bigger than the head of a brass nail ! Hundreds of young people will, of course, buy this Almanack, in order that they may hare it to say that they are in possession of the most original work of this, or any age; but we would advise old people also to buy it, for its literary contents will be a pleasing Christmas puzzle to them, even with their spectacles on. In Kensington Gardens, on Thursday, a b out noon, a proof of the extreme severity of the weather was given in the following incident : For some time a magpie was hovering about a spot on which a starling was pick ing up a few crumbs that had been thrown it by a spectator, when suddenly the magpie flew down, a•ki luttck, and seizing the starling in its feet, rose up with it i n t o t h e a i r. Before, however, it had flown above thirty yards, th e mag pie let its prisoner go and the starling fell to the grcuud. It was alive, but considerably injured by the magpie, which is a bird that does not become caruivotous while other food is to be obtained. MED I L ICIFORM. The interest taken in - this subject generally, well as by the medical profession, induces us to malt an abstract of the article on " Medical Reform," i: !Le Quarterly Review, to which we have alread : referred. The author begins by noticing the Com .nittce of 1834, the evidence collected by whirl Has so voluminous as to defy analysis, and proven report. Four hundred out of the eight hundred ~ages of evidence, were taken up with the dispute: uetween the Fellows and Licentiates of the Collegi if Physicians, in which the public feel no interest. rhe first question discussed by the Reviewer is— But here a preliminary question presents itself. An ve to admit it as a general principle, that it is wise one •xpcdient for the State to interfere in any way with th, regulation of the medical profession ? There is no suel, interference with the majority of other professions. N. course of study is prescribed as a necessary qualificatio 'or civil engineers, architects, surveyors, sculptors, of painters ; nor are there any colleges whose business i .. to examine those who have completed their studio is to their knowledge and attainments, and give then licenses to practise :—Yet there is no want of talent a formation, and skill among those who are engaged it these pursuits. Even in the Inns of Court, the beity called to the bar proves little as to the qualification o , the candidate, except that there is nothing disreputabli in his general character. It may be further observed— ted it will not be denied by those who are acquainted with these matters—that no degree of discipline, nor Any kind of examination, can ensure the public against having a certain number of persons who are very indif ferently qualified included in the list of well-qualified practitioners. . Young men may be compelled to bare eppottunifies of study, but they cannot be compelled to learn ; and it is notorious that of those who hart wasted their time for two years and nine months there are many who contrive, by means of labour and a gooe memory, to learn their lessons so well by rote in the re maining three months, that the most careful and expe• rienced examiner will find it no easy matter to detect their. insufficiency. It is, indeed, impossible, under the very best system of examination, to prevent a certair , qu intity of base metal receiving the stamp which ought to be impressed only on the good ; and it to this we ads' the following consideration, that such an examination as all are required to pass neither can, nor ought, to prove more than that the individual examined has the f v;nitnum of knowledge which a practitioner should possess, we cannot well be astonished that there should be reasonable persons who doubt the advantage of ex aminations altogether ; and who regard the various me dical corporations as being nearly in the same situation with the City Companies, which, however useful they may have been in nursing the infancy of British cum merce, contribute little or nothing to its advancement at the present period. Admitting, as we do, the force of these arguments, still they are not convincing to us. Would our naval officers be such as they now are, if midshipmen were ad mitted as lieutenants without examination ? or would our artillery and engineer officers have the high cha racter which they now possess, if, as cadets, they had not been made to go through a certain course of study, and prove their fitness afterwards ? As to the attain [Dents of those engaged in most other professions, the ' public have the means of forming a tolerably correct estimate. Every one can see what goes on in the con struction of a church or a railroad, and those who do not understand the subject themselves may be assisted by the opinion of those who do ; but in what regards the medical profession the case is wholly different. There is no subject of which the public, on the whole, know so little as they do of the medical sciences. Al though in the end they seldom hid to distinguish know ledge from ignorance, and real talent from mere preten sion, they are always liable to be deceived in the first instance. It is true that the physicians and surgeons of a large hospital, having a school attached to it, prac tice their art openly enough, and are sufficiently sawn able to criticism ; but it is also true that, in private practice, the practitioner is not before the sante tribunal. What he prescribes is often known only to himself. Those who employ him have no direct means of judging. of his qualifications ; and it is not until after the lapse of a considerable time that even those belonging to the same profession arc enabled to form an exact opinion as to what he is really worth. 'fhen, although, when a certain course of study has been prescribed, it may not be always diligently pursued—it will be so in a great number of instances ; and it is of no small importance to the student himself that his friends should be corn- pelled to afford him the proper opportunities for ac- ' quiring a knowledge of the profession which it is de signed that he should practice. Lastly, although no examination can be regarded as furnishing an exact mea sure of the fitness of a candidate to enter on the du ties of a practitioner,' yet it is a measure of it to a cer tain extent ; and there is no doubt that the prospect of the examination which is to close his career as a student is, in a great many instances, the principal sti mulus by which a young man is urged to be diligent. And here another question arises. Should those who have passed their examination, and received their li cense, have a monopoly of practice ? Should there be penal laws to prevent their being interfered with by the competition of the ignorant, the uneducated, and unli censed ? or is it sufficient that the public are supplied with a list of those who are supposed to be qualified practitioners, it being the n left t o individuals to procure medical assistance where they please ? To us it seems not in the least doubtful that the latter is the proper course to be pursued. It is right that no individual , should be allowed to he inoculated for the small-pox, because he ,n may com himselfmunica the o te lon e, wesee no disease t o others ; hut in whatconcerns justice in the interference of the State. It may be foolish to be rubbed with St. John Long's balsam, or to trust to the prayers of Prince Hohenluhe, hut mankind do many things more foolish than these, and nothing can rrevent them. There can be no greater mistake than to sup pose that, if there be no penal laws to prevent the ex istence of unlicensed practitioners, there will not be suf ficient inducement to those who enter the medical pro fession to go through a long course of study, and then to subject themselves to an examination. The empire of opinion here, as in most other instances, will do more than legislative enactments ; and this is no speculative doctrine, but the result of actual experience. The College of Physicians possess, under their char ter, confirmed by Acts of Parliament, a monopoly of medical practice in the metropolis, and within the dis tance of seven miles from it ; and they in many instances instituted legal proceedings against the unlicensed phy sicians by whom those privileges had been invaded ; but, finding that no good arose from these prosecutions, either to themselves or others, and that they were in fact altogether ineffectual, they have for many years abandoned them. The London Society of Apotheca ries possess a similar monopoly, under the Act of Par liament of 1815, hut on a still larger scale, as it extends to the whole of England. They also have frequently resorted to courts of justice in defence of their privi le/es, but with so little success that it is notorious that many apothecaries are practising without their license, either in open defiance of the law, or (which is no diffi cult matter) contriving to evade it. On the ether hand the London College of Surgeons have no monopoly, no privileges, no power to prosecute. Any one may esta blish himself as a surgeon, even next door to the Ca!- lege, and no one can molest him. But the College is of Royal foundation, and the diploma which it grants has affixed to it the signatures of many of the leading surgeons of London : and so necessary has it become to any one who makes the least pretension to practise surgery, that there are few, either in England or in the colonies (with the exception of those who have a similar diploma from the Colleges of Dublin or Edinburgh), who venture to call themselves surgeons without it. _ We are aware that the foregoing observations wil) not be very acceptable to many of the medical proke•- sion. It is natural that the managing bodies of the several corporations should be anxious to maintain arid extend their powers and privileges; and it is also natural that I;censed practitioners, who have expended considerable sums of money, and no small portion of their lives, in their education, should be jealous of the competition of others. Accordingly w e find, among the resolutions and petitions of the lately formed me dical associations, no subject connected with schemes of medical reform put so prominently forward as the sup pression of quackery. I.etthem, h owever, h e assured that this is what no legislation can accomplish. It is no more possible to put down quackery in medi c i ne t h an it is to put down quac ker y in politics or religion. Tho medical profession , w hile human nAtu re continues to be meet suc tle demands h asiitisannod;' and always has b een , can never which arc made upon it. That men are born to die ; that the power of giving relief is li mited ; that many diseases must prove fatal in defiance of all remedies ; that other diseases, though not of a f ata l t en d e ncy, may be incurable—no one will doubt the truth of these as general propositions : but th e indi vidual who labours under the infliction o f di sease w ill always indulge himself in the hope that he is at any rate safe on the prese nt occasi o n, a nd that the time is not yet come when he cans derive no ben e fit f rom art . " It is very extraordina.ry,.said a ge n tl emen who had ap proached his ( ty nlittl i e ofi g o b , e.;eanthgrinii t i i t ieisr birthday, age until h e had d ay,. " that no one can do m y complaints,': Where the re sources of a cure fo ofskill and r science fail, the instinct of self-pre servation will lead many sufferers to look for other aid; and the honest and well-educated practitioner will al ways have to contend not only with the St. John Longs of the day, but withthoseatnoag his own brethren who do not partake of his anxiety to avoid maki ng p rom i ses which cannot iie (failed. Ther e are in fact no more of fensive impostors than those :.0,9 march und er t h e ban . however, be misunder stood Ra n of the inoo true f f a ith, the petitioners we supi?Qs i e th a t even the oners aga inst quac k ery w0 ,;1 4 ; m not expect that such as these can be e xtinguished by an Act of Parliar,irPP! Vet us not, however,ver, stood as recOalPen.dr`PS, !1.4t pp distinction should be made between those Nrn,o Pie FfiPPAIY P44P4tPd and licensed, and others. Bach individual' ip Aocietii bl 4, with respect to his own coriopliotS : t, rig ip con Spit whom ho pleases ; but it is quite different where he i$ provide medical attendance for his fellow-erea u'm The rrovf•rnors parish orion, or a of county magistrates, should be bound to make their selection from those who are prcprly authorised to practise. They have no right to collide the care of 'be parochial poor, or the inmates of gaols and lunatic , ,v.ylunms, to any other persons. The same rule applie, to merchant-ships, to schools, to the army and navy, and ,!very other department of the public service. The Reviewer is so well satisfied with the exist- ug separation of the profession into physicians, ,urgeons, and general practitioners, that had it 'ieen artificial, it seems, he says, so exactly what is wanted, that he should be unwilling to disturb it. We now come, following him, to consider— The wisdom and propriety of the plans which are at the present time adopted for the regulation of this part 'I the medical profession. The Act of Parliament of 151.5 requires that all those who mean to practice as apothecaries in England and Wales should he examined by, and receive a license from, certain persons appointed to be examiners by the London Society of Apothecaries : and the force of public pinion brings nearly the whole of these to be examined dso by the examiners of the College of Surgeons. Thus the great ni:jority of the general practitioners, in this part of the British Empire, have pursued their studies ender the direction of the governing bodies of two se parate institutions ; the one prescribing a system of fducreion with respect to pharmacy and medicine, and the other with respect to anatomy and surgery. These two systemr, of course, agree iu many points, while they differ in others. We conclude that there are no individuals belonging to either of these governing bodies who will hesitate to idmit the following propositions as the basis on which all their regulations should be founded : first, that they are bound to consider the trust reposed in them as held or the good of the community at large, and not for the benefit of the particular corporation to which they be 'ong ; secondly, that it is their duty to require of the candidates for their diploma or license the highest qua iiLations which they may be expected to possess, at the same time taking care that they do not raise the stan iard so high as to prevent a sufficient number of per q)ris entering the profession to meet the wants of the public and ensure a wholesome competition ; third:y, that as to the extent of the qualifications which ought to be required, no general rule can be laid down ; but that they must vary from time to time according to the state of society generally, or as the means of obtaining I good education are easy or difficult. Roderick Ran dom became a surgeon's mate in the navy with no other stock of knowledge than that which he had obtained from the surgeon-apothecary to whom he had been ap prenticed ; and we conclude that many private practi tioners muFt have been in the same situation when Smollett wrote ; as schools of anatomy and medicine were then only just established in Edinburgh and Lon don, and these, in London especially, were of a very imperfect kind. At present, however, the case is widely different. There are schools, not only in each metro polis, but in many of the great provincial towns, and the .;renter wealth diffused throughout society, places the means of acquiring an education within the reach of a greater number of persons than possessed them formerly. The College of Surgeons and the Society of Apothe caries have respectively taken advantage of these cir cutnstances, and have gradually increased the amount of studies required of those who come before them. No one can now receive a license of any kind to prac tise who has not been engaged at least for three years in the pursuit of his profession in a regularly organised me dical school, not more than three months being allowed for a vacation in each of these years. Many young men, indeed, remain in the schools for a still longer period ; but we doubt whether it would be safe to make a more prolonged education a matter of necessity : and, in fact, a diligent student may obtain a great deal of informa tion, and may qualify hints:lf for becoming an excellent practitioner on all ordinary occasions, during the term which is now prescribed. But although no alteration in the system of education may be wanted in this respect, it appears to us that much alteration is wanted otherwise. By the Act of 1815 it is made necessary that every candidate for a license to practice as an apothecary should have been apprenticed to an apothecary, who had also been licensed, during a period of at least five years ; and the regula tions of the Society of Apothooaries have from the beginning admitted the candidates for examination at the age of twenty-one years. The College of Surgeons fOrmerly did not allow candidates to appear before them until they had completed their twenty-second year, but of late (fur what reason it is difficult to be understood) they have taken off one ycar, and they now admit them at the same age as the apothecaries. Now we hold that the minds of very few young men can be sufficiently matured at the age of twenty-one years to fit them for such serious and responsible duties as those of a medical practitioner ; and we further see another great evil as the result of this regulation, that it induces parents, in their anxiety to get their children off their hands as soon as possible, to send them to begin their professional studies while they are yet boys, and often without the advantage of even a moderate degree of education previously. We have conversed with many persons who have been engaged in the education of young men, not only for the medical profession, but for others also, and have always been informed that these whose minds have been prepared by a good preli minary education have on the whole been found to be much more diligent, and to have gained knowledge much more easily, than others. Our own experience, which has been sufficiently extensive, would lead us to the Barrie conclusion ; and we suppose that no one will ven ture to deny that there are moral as well as intellectual advantages belonging to a well-trained mind which arc nowhere more likely to be conspicuous than in the va rious departments of the medical profession. As matters new stand we find the subject of general or preliminary education altogether unnoticed in the re gulations both of the College of Surgeons and of the Society of Apothecaries, except, indeed, that the latter require that the candidates should construe some scraps of Latin. If education be a thing of so much import ance, ought such an omission to exist ? and ought not proofs of a good general education to form a part of the documents which the candidates are expected to pro duce as entitling them to examination ? With all our prepossessions on the subject we doubt the policy of any regulation of this kind ; and we would willingly avoid the fault of recommending that over legislation which so frequently defeats itself. Let us look at the question as we will, we perceive insurmountable difficulties in the way of any other sys tem than that of offering a negative encouragement to young men to obtain a good general education, by the removal of every inducement to begin their professional studies before they are eighteen or nineteen years of age. But further, we believe that this would be found to he generally sufficient. A father will not incur the ex pense of entering his son at a medical school sooner than is really necessary ; and, for his own sake, if not for his son's he will be disposed to keep him employed in some kind of study, rather than he should dissipate his time in idleness. Besides, satisfied as we are of the vast advantages which the many are likely to derive from a good preliminary education, we are aware that intellects of a higher order may overleap the barrier which the want of it places in their way, and we should be sorry to witness the adoption of any measures the effect of which would be to prevent these master-spirits from en tering the medical profession. The inns of Court have acted wisely in this respect. The tendency of their re gulations is to encourage those who propose to be called to the bar to be liberally educated. They do not insist on it, and, if they had done so, the legal profession would have b_een deprived of some its brightest orna ments. After advocating very judiciously the propriety of the selecting a later period of life than twenty-one lor admitting young men to practise, the Reviewer has these correct and careful remarks on APPRENTICESHIP. The addition of one or two years to the age at which a candidate may be admitted for examination would however be of little avail, unless another change were made at the same time. We have pointed out that by the Act of 1815 it is made necessarysthat an apothe cary should have served an apprenticeship. We under• stand, from the evidence given before the AledicalCom inittee (page 21 of the " Reportion the Apothecaries,") that Mr. Rose, who introduced the Bill into the House of Commons, objected to this clause ; and that it was in consequence struck out ; but that it was afterwards inserted in the House of Lords (we believe on the sug gestion of one of the bench of Bishops). Dr. Bur rows, who gives this piece of secret history, says that " the Association ofiGeneral Practitioners were anxious for the apprenticeship clause, on account of the great difficulty of getting apprentices ;' but what could have passed in the mind of the Right Reverend Prelate which led him to this notable piece of legislation, about a year after Parliament had passed an Act abolishing the necessity of apprenticeships in other cases, it is diffi cult to comprehend : nor is it less remarkable that twenty-five years should been allowed to elapse without any attempt having been made to repeal a clause so un just and mischievous. We use these expressions not unadvisedly. The tendency of the apprenticeship system is always to throw a great impediment in the way of obtaining a good general edu cation ; and in a great number of instances to prevent it altogether. The law requires five years' apprenticeship, and the corporate bodies require three years of study in a medical school, making eight years in all, If a young nun is to obtain his licence (as he may now obtain it) at the age of twenty-one, and serves the full term of his apprenticeship in a village or town in which there are no lectures and no hospital, he must be taken from school and apprenticed at thirteen years of age. If the law be evaded, as it sometimes is, by the master giving up twp ears 2f the term of the apprenticeship, still Let honour he - giVe - n - Wliere - he - 164r is dNv. The first improvements were made by the Society of Apothecaries, And it was not until they had set the example that the Col leges of Physicians and Surgeons awoke from their long slnmbpr, an 4 discove:ed that the time was come for requir ing- a more pi t - teq4p4 Tpflipal education p every depart- Mcnt of the proffit3sion, 1 there'are six years left, and the boy is taken from sc h o ol . t fitft, o. If th e master reside in a large town in siech th e apprentice has the opportunity of pursuing his st udies ' the hospitaland lecture -room from the . in beginnin g of his apprenticeship, still, even under these more favourable circumstances, under which it can fall to the lot (Avery few to be placed, Ito is launched in nis profcs,ion at the age of sixteen, iti.t, a; he is enter ing on that important period in which, in the course of two years, a well-disposed young in in will make greater progress with respect to his general education than in all the former years of his life put together. But these are not the only objections. Is this a just , non op o ly % Is there no way of learning pharmacy, but by means of an apprenticeship? &member of the Commiteee asks with great reason, " If young men, in addition to the customary. four years of study in the University of Edinburgh, were to pass ten or twelve months exclusively in learning pharmacy, why should (hey not be permitted to act as general practitioners ?" (" Report on the Apothecaries," p. 212.) And again, •' \V tee a young man to graduate as a bachelor of me dicine at Orford or Cambridge, and afterwards to apply ,iiintell to the study of medicine. and from the want of an adequate fortune be at length prevented practising is a physician, why should he be prevented acting as a general practitioner ? Yet both these descriptions of w•rsons are prevented practising in that capacity under the existing law. We have not the smallest doubt that a retidenee Col. a limited period in the house of an apothecary is likely to be very useful to the student who proposes to enter on the same line of practice ; but we eannot aonceive that an apprenticeship for five years, or even for three years, is necessary, nor indeed any ap prenticeship at all. At all events there are good rea sons why the Legislature should not interfere wdtit a (natter of this kind. It may very safely be left to the discretion of the parents and guardians of the young men themselves ; especially if' the Society of Apothe caries requre, as they have a right, and indeed as they are hound, to do, that the candidates for their license : , "iefore they had begun to learn anatomy, or at any rate ;11 addition to their other studies, should have devoted s certain time to the study of pharmacy. The Reviewer objects to attending many lectures (at present a pupil is required, if he obey the regula tions, to attend to 1,300), and then says— The goad aaatomist is made what he is not by at tending lectures, but by his own labours in the ditsect ing-room. A knowledge of diseases, and of the mode of treatment, is obtained not from lectures, but from a liligent attendance in the wards of the hospital ; from taking notes of cases, and thinking of them afterwards. In attending lectures the mind is merely passive. II receives knowledge, but when received it does little or nothing with it. But what is chiefly wanted to make a good practitioner, either in medicine or surgery, is that he should have acquired the habit of observing, thinking, and acting for himself ; and this is to be accomplished, not on the benches of the lecture-room, but in the wards of the hospital ; where the student finds, not dull des criptions of disease, but disease itself in all its variety of forms changing from day to day ; where every bed tells an impressive history to those who are di s p ose d t o re a d it ; and where th e intellect is animated and sharpened by collision with the intellects of others. We scarcely know any physicians or surgeons to London hospitals with whom it is not a matter of deep regret that the great majority of the young men should be so much oc cupied in other ways, that they have but little time left which they can devote to their hospital studies. The number of those who take written notes of the cases is very limited, and there are many who do not visit the wards on an average more than three or four days in the week. We would willingly see the number of lectures curtailed to whatever point may be necessary, so as to enable the students to find time for pursuing in an efficient manner this higher and snore essential part of their education. The Reviewer's observations on the College of Physicians we pass over, and also his remarks on the College of Surgeons, noticing, however, " that at present there is no examination of those who contemplate being engaged in midwifery," one of the most important branches of the art. We shall conclude by a long abstract of what the Reviewer recommends : The next point to be considered is by what means these defects may be remedied. It may be said that there is nothing which may not he accompli s h e d by th e corporat i ons t h emse l ves , pro vided that the Crown and the Legislature afford them some assistance by making the necessary alterations in their Charters and Acts of Parliament. We cannot, however, look with much confidence to this source of amendment. Tile corporations are all independent of each other. There is no bond of union between them They have to legislate for a profession the different branches of which are necessarily much connected with each other, but they all act separately. They are re sponsible only to themselves and to the slow operation of public opinion ; and we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that the interests of the Corporations are not al ways identical ivith those of the public. We have al ready shown the ill consequences of the byelaw's passed by the fellows of the College of Physicians in their anxiety to maintain the aristocracy of the Oxford and Cambridge graduates. The College of Surgeons for. merly (end we give them credit for the public spirit which they displayed on that occasion) undertook the charge of the splendid museum which Parliament had purchased of the executors of Mr. John Hunter. They have made extensive additions to it. They have erected buildings for its reception, and established a professor. ship and studentship of comparative anatomy in con nection with it. They have collected one oldie best medical libraries in the world, and thrown it open to ihe profession. All this has necessarily involved them in a large annual expenditure, and the funds which they have to meet it are almost entirely derived from the fees paid by those who receive their diploma. The remu neration of the court of examiners is supplied from the Sallie source. If in addition to all this we take into the account that it is in the nature of corporations, as it is in that of individuals, to like the acquirement of wealth, we cannot fail to perceive that the College have a direct interest in having as many applicants for their diploma as possible. But this is not what is wanted by the public. As we have already remarked, they de rive no advantage of an influx of persons into the pro fession beyond what is wanted to ensure a proper de gree of competition ; but it is to them of the highest importance that those who are admitted should hare their minds as well stored and as well disciplined as possible. The position of the Society of Apothecaries is very similar to that of the College of Surgeons, ex cept that both their income and their expenses are on a smaller scale. But we are far from agreeing with those who would have all the old corporations swept away, and replaced by a new one. \Vc believe that the former—the faults of which we know—may be improved ; and that to at tempt this will be a much safer experiment than to esta blish a new institution, the faults of which may not be well understood for many years. But indeed the latter experiment is already begun in the shape of the medical department of the INletropoli • tan University. In this new institution the faults of its predecessors seem to have been rather exaggerated titan etherwise. As far as we can perceive, it is res ponsible only to itself ; and it will be remarkable if, eventually, it does not look to its own interests more than to those of the community. The degree of bache' for of medicine is said to be intended for the class of general practitioners. Those who wish to obtain this distinction are allowed to matriculate and begin their profession while they are yet boys, at the age of sixteen years, and to present themselves for their last exami nation so as to be esteemed practitioners as soon as they have passed their twenty-first birthday. Fourteen different kinds of lectures arc included in the curri culum, being five more than those which are required by the College of Surgeons and Society of Apotheca ries : while the attendance on hospital practice, which we believe to be of more importance than all the lec tures put together, is actually less. The whole system, as it appears to us, is unnecessarily complicated. Yet we must acknowledge that it affords evidence of good intentions on the part of those who framed it. They seem to have been really anxious to place the medical profession on as high ground as possible : but they have not had that experience in hospitals and schools, nor that intercourse with students, which they should have had, to enable them to understand the true principles of medical education. We conclude that it was the failure of the Metropo litan University which led Mr. Warburton, at the close of the last Session of Parliament, to lay on the table of the House of Commons his Bill " for the Registra tion of Medical Practitioners." Under the provisions of this Bill every medical practitioner is required to cause his name to be registered annually in an office established for the purpose ; and for the privilege of being compelled to take this trouble he is to pay an an nual tax. Then the whole body of licensed practi tioners are to proceed at stated periods to the election of three medical parliaments, one for each of the three kingdoms. These parliaments are to assemble in each month of October, one in London, another in Edinburgh, and the third in Dublin ; and it is to be their office to regulate all the affairs of the medical profession. Be tween them they arc to elect another superior parlia ment for the whole empire, which is to hold its meet ngs in London, and by which they themselves are t o b e governed. It must be almost unnecessary to point out the c lue t o n o fp e e rs o on s s i s t ° : we must not lo f w . ho i ni wem oayk expect the se parliaments among themuave g for those who love the tranquil pursuit of sci ene __ who pass their days and nights in accumulating knowledge for future use ; n or for those who by their l a b ours h already earned t h e g ood o pinion of the p u bli c, and are f u lly occupied in the exercise of th e i r professional du. ties; but rather for the vain 40 the idle---for those w h g ' !linker after a noisy notoriety, and have abun dance of leisure because th e y h ave no professional em ployment. It is a matt er o f course that ' such elections, • Sec the Report on Medical - Trans act'ons of the 0-9,villgiat NiGAlial Association," Vol. VIII., p.•. EVENING EDIT'. like all other elections io this country, lit: merge in politics ; in the competition iv Tories, Conservatives and it niirods. 7ift es 0 that cs.n be s a id o f t hi s sc h eme i s , t h a t practicable ; and with this impression it appears to us needless to follow it thro • 0 7 , ramifications. if the medical proru.sion as a body posktaditfir l 4a v and charities, or as individuals had soma spew , powers and privileges which required protection, it would b,t reasonable to consider how far a system of popular untl represcotative gozeroment might be made applicable to it. But no such occasion exists, and we own that we are not sufficiently far sighted to discover what good reason there can he for introducing into it such an element of agitation and discord. We have already shown that what is wanted is stir ply shit : that the moilica! profession should be rerrdercd as useful as possible to society, and that it should he enabled to maintain for it sill . an honourable an I respect able station in it ; and we are much mistaken if tv,r have not also shown that the machinery of the medical corporations, such as they now are, is not sufficient to produce the desired result. That these corporations should have no responsibility, except to themselves, is an anomaly which ought not to be allowed any longer to exist ; and we cannot conceive to whom they can so properly be made responsibl e as to those from whom their authority has minuted, the Crown and the Le gislature. Nor would there be tiny dirlicuky in carrying such a plan into effect, nor would any complicated op parAtus be necessary for the purpose. Let us suppose that au Act of Parliament were pass,-if =king some such alterations as we have already sug gested in the charters of the colleges, and in tho Apo thecaries' Act of 1615, and any others which on fur ther consideration of the subject might be found to be desirAle ; and that the Government were authorised to appoint certain persons who should form a Board of Control, or, if they please to give them a gentler appel lation, a Board of Visitors, whose office it should b e to superintend the concerns of the different medical in sCtutioi s and we believe that under such an rxrange m,!ut all that is required might be accomplished. MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS. (TituttsDAY EvENINRD Cli ONI C L E.—Thc advance which was experieneed • yesterday in the English Funds has not bee.i fully main_ • tamed to-day. Consols at the opening of the mat ket wore quoted 89,i, at which price they were buyers for a short period, but subsequently gave way to 89 to 4; at the close of business prices were a shade higher, the last quotation being 89i. Bank Stock continues to improve, the price having advanced since the Ist instant from 1574t0 162 i, being a rise of 5 per cent. India Stick hrs been still more favourably influenced by the news brought by the overland mail. We have received in a separate form a cope of the arti cle on the" Currency," from the pen of Mr. James William GiPeart, which originally appeared in the last number of the Westminster Review. It is an able exposition of the par ticular views espoused by that class of writers who deny that the currency ought to be governed by the foreign ex changes, and may be looked upon, we believe, as eontain ing the substance of the case of the Joint Stock B inks in favour of free issues. The experience of the author, as a practical banker, at the head of a leading joint-stock establishment, and the undoubted talent with which he maintains his views regarding, the management of the cir culation, entitle his statement to considerable weight, and its appearance at present, near to the reassembling of Parliament, and when the Committee on beaks of issue are about, in consequence, to resume their labours, give it additional importance. Mr. Gilbert is strongly opposed to one bank of issue, and is a stanch advocate for the Scotch system, checked by the periodical exchange of notes, and paying the differences in gold. Mr. Gitbart, as usual with alt writers of his school, assumes that a free trade in banking entitles any number of persons to asso ciate themselves in trade as bankers, and then to make as much paper money as they may think fit to issue, on, what asnears to them, profitable terms. We . differ with him on the th res h o ld. A f ree tra d e i n banking is quite distinct from the right to coin money, and the one may exist totally independent of the other. The money of the realm, whether composed entirely of gold and silver, or partly of bullion and partly of paper con vertible into gold, should be exclusively made and issued by delegation from the Crown to a hoard of responsible officers. The right of dealing in that money, which is time legitimate purpose of banking, should be placed under a well devised system of legislation, on a free basis, burdened oil with such provisions as should be required to maintain uniformity and safety to the public interests. Mr. Gilbert depends a great deal too much on the effi cacy of the Scotch system of weekly exchanges. Mr. Norman, in the ccusse of his examination, on being asked if he thought it afforded any security against over issues, answered in the negative, and observed, " It will prevent one bank unduly extending its issues as far as its notes may happen to get intu the possession of other banks ; but there have, I believe, been instances in Scotland of a bank establishing a large circulation when all the other banks have refused to receive its notes at all, and at any rate it is no check whatever on a general disposition to over issue." This is quite true. Mr. Gilbart s iys that the contraction of the currency is always an evil We demur to that. It is no evil to reduce an over issue of paper to proper limits, nor to take measures for preventing such over issue. Ile objects to the principle of contracting e the circulation wh en th e b u lli on b eg i ns to , eiff,r from the effects of a drain, beoause, he says, " Upon this plan there must be a perpetual increase and diminu. tint in the stock of gold, consequently, a perpetual increase and dimieution in the amount of the currency. The crease In the amount of the currency would raise prices end stimulate speculation. The diminution in the a2ionns of the currency would reduce prices and produce distress. ~ .nd thus there must be a constant alternation from high prices to low prices, and again from low prices to high prices, from speculation to distress, and from distress to speculation." This is well put, but it is highly overcharged, and is in opposition to the opinion of Mr. Jones Loyd, who stated to the Committee that this " greatest steadiness would be produced by a systeru of contracting issues, and expanding them, precisely in ac cordance with the gold ; because by that means, whenever an efflux or influx of gold takes place, the contreetieg no tion commences simultaneously, consequently the eillex and influx will, upon that system, he restrained within its tier roweFt bounds; and in proportion as you restrain time efflux and influx of gold within narrow bounds, you secure greater steadiness." Mr. Gilbert disputes the application of tho effects of the system of banking in the United States as a case in point, and observes that Mr. 'Webster is not in favour of one bank of issue, although a supporter of a national 'ea e k., Mr. Webster stated his opinions on the subject of t h e currency in his famous speech on the 2thn of Sep. tember last, as follows :--" I hold that the regula tion of the currency, whether reetallio or paper—_ that a just and safe supervision over that which virtually performs the office of money, and constitutes the medium of Exchange whatever it may be--atecessarily pertains to Government ; that it is one of th e necessary and indispensabl e prerogatives of Government."' Ile very forcibly adds, " In the absence of all Government centred and supervision, th e w i s d om and discretion regulating the amount of merly afloat at any t i me in the Lemma,. nity, is but the agg rega t e o f t h e wisdom and diseretinn of all the banks collectively oensideredi each indi' s id ua l o b l a a nk co a r e ic t e in r g t w fr i o th m c t , he tLc p s, prompting of gof its ovate inte rest, wit - front any sense o f pub lie duty. In my judgment, such a regulation, or such a mode of regulating the currvey, and o f d ec idi ng what shall be the amount o f money at any ti me ex i st i ng i , t the community, is unsafe sod untrustworthy, and is one to which we never caul look to guard us against those excessive expausions and contractions which have been the souse() of such injurious consequences," We en tirely agree with Mr. Webster in this conclusion, which we htvo taken from the authentic report of his speech by Mr. Sta ns b ury. Mr. Gilbert says he has not been able to disco ver a single advant age t h at h as Inca gained by the evidence taken before the Committee. We cannot agree with that opinion. The publication of the evidence has drawn public attention to the cause of tho frequent fluctuations in the currency. It has elicited the opinions of the loading men, practical and theoretical, on that important subject, and brought out their views as to the best means for placing the circulation upon a sound and steady basis. It has also produced Mr. Gil hart's case in favour of the Joint-stock banks and com.. peting issu e s ; b ut t h e C ommittee have not comp l e t e( l their task, and when they e-assemble, Mr. Gilbert and others will likely be heard. In the mean time, we would not advi se hi m to b e too con fid en t in supposing that no Governm en t wou ld b e d e structive prosperity of th e nat i on, " as h e ex presses it, as t o supp ort to the a measure to est a bli s h one b an k of issue, or rather to ap point a Board o f Commissionerseel"! rged with the manage.. favo meet and issue of the money of the realm. Public opi nion runs stronger ev ery day ur of such a Board. of of tChootasolsfor the Febru ar ma d e in th e course in • day by two intluen. tial brokers, caused a d epression prices, but not to any y T a i e l e l o E u material extent. Alicant, according to bars received thence, dated De has been trrriving lately on account of the cember 18, Carlist bands being in possession of the high roads leading SomeTSome es from Valencia, 13enicarlo, Tarragona, and Barcelona, to Madrid and the interior, so that every article intended for those places was bought to Alicant. The return of affairs place, h as awakened in there feelings of re to a quieter state, far fr om affording any satisfaction to the 00 quintals o f N ew f oundland and other salt frsttoheidos at Alicant i n t h e course of the year, while ifigitnssrhheapta.birarricAncinbmitopspuall exports are wines, at the following priers (on board), viz. ;_red, two years old, 5/ ss. per pipe; one year old, 41. 15s. ; and white, about 4/. fog. The whole annual export of wine is net above 6,600 Pipes. Bafilla of the first quality is valued at about 6/. 15s. per ton, and of the second quality at about SI Bs.. The whole quantity shipped during the last year is sud. posed to b e not more than 4,500 tons, wh il e a su b st i tute found for it i n I re l an d seems to ren d er i t p ro b a bl e that this quantity will diminish every year. The value of raisins shipped, at an average price of 3,1- dollars, is about 24,000/., the quantity not being above 3,000 quintals. 30,300 quint a l s , Th e shipments of this article ar e sa id Soap is set down at about 58,0001., being in quantity to be monthly on the increase. The trade in almonds is also described as considerable, the yearly shipment being valued at 23.500/. The profits of the Government tobacco manufactory, which is in full work, are said to he hr . ,. mensc, the contractor receiving about SIS per quitital for the leaf, while at the Government depots the public have to pay $l5O or $2OO, both in the .manu fact4red and unrnanufacturcd state. The expense, of the manufacture is nevertheless but trifling, since nf!arly tho whole of the work is done by women, at the rate of about 4d. per day. As even the contractor has a gyod profit out of his $lB, since the prime ei)st is only $lO or $l2, the high price I.vllich is charged to the public is found to 1 T