The Press.
London, England, 1855-09-15 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

We see no reason why the science of natural
theology should widely depart in its method
from the practice observed in other sciences.
It is likely to be better advanced by lessoning
on facts concerning which all persons aro
nearly agreed, than by disquisition on purely
speculative judgments. Human knowledge
would advance but slowly if before we ad•
mitted the validity of facts we had to settle
principles of consciousness, and determine
whether the constitution of the mind enabled
us to repose with certainty in its conclusions.
Until the intellect has been warped by exces
sive pride in its own ratiocinative power, or
hopelessly perplexed by too subtle refinement,
the belief in a Supreme Being must (notwith-
standing Mr. Thompson's assertion to the
contrary) rest on the same kind of evidence in
degree as our belief in other truths not imme-
diately cognisable by sense. With all respect
for the ability displayed in this work, we still
think that it is constructed on a wrong prin-
ciple ; and we view it us especially unfortunate
that the two Burnett prizes should so strongly
resemble each other, and both reveal more
learned logic than original observation (in
which both treatises are remarkably deficient)
and sound thought.

The Physician for All; his Philosophy, his Expe-

rience- , and his Mission. By John Spurgin, M.D.

London : Whittaker and Co.
THIS is at the same time the most readable and the
most eccentric medical book which has yet issued
from the hands of a physician of eminence. Dr.
Spurgin's theory of the extent of the duties of a
physician embraces a wide circumference; he is, in
fact, to be a "physician for all," and in his study of
nature to perfect himself in the knowledge of
disease under every form, rather than confine himself
to the pathology and cure of one peculiar disease.
Taking the constitution of the blood as the basis of
health or disease, Dr. Spurgin denies the efficacy of
one specific course of treatment for every form of a
peculiar disease, and asserts that a man unfettered
by such prejudices and free in his judgment is the
one only who could take an enlarged view of the
case and seek the best evidence before deciding for
or against any mode of treatment. This first series
is mainly intended to show that the wellbeing of
animal and human life depends upon the nature and
constitution of the blood; and here, upon the subject
of the nature of the blood, Dr. Spurgin remarks how
essential it is to keep in view the constitutional ten-
dencies of the individual whose maladies the physician
may be called in to cure, and

how hazardous is the practice of subjecting every case
to the same course of treatment, even when falling
under the same designation or nosological arrangement;
for most true it is that " what is food for one may be
poison for another." But medical writers partake of a
failing very common to humanity. Each is apt to re-
gard his own method as the only right method. Their
treatises on diseases too frequently present common
ideas in a new dress, as if they originated them, and
the common modes of practice exhibit a confined expe-
rience and limited power in the management of
disorders, which surprise us no less than the modern
prevalence of speciality as a legitimate claim on public
confidence. A large experience of many diseases is
more essential to the physician in the management of
any one disease, than is that of one disease in the
management of that one ; without it the practitioner is
proportionately defective in his healing power, and not nn-
frequently have we witnessed the failure of the specialist
in his own professed sphere of action and the success of a
practice based upon a more enlarged view of things in the
particular case.
Upon the constitution of the blood his opinions are
worthy of extract :

It may be considered analogous to an impregnated egg;
for although the ingredients are to all appearance consti-
tuted alike in most birds, insomuch that chemists with all
their skill cannot determine by chemical characteristics
the difference between the egg of an eagle and that of a
dove, yet the natures of each respectively operate as the
law, or the force, which render them essentially so
diverse. The materials in both are chemically the same,
but a different constitution and determination are as•
signed them, according to the respective natures operative
in each. The same reasoning applies exactly to the
blood; in most animals the same materials compose it,
but the nature of each animal determines a specific and
absolute •difference in constitution, and this because the
formative force and the nature have a reciprocal relation
to each other—for as is the one such also is the other. But
I refer my indulgent reader to my observations upon the
nature of the blood throughout, and especially to the con-
clusion, that in the animal nature all is animal, and in the
human all is human.

To illustrate my meaning by one incident. I fre-
quently met a brother physician of great celebrity and
of acute intellect in consultation upon an obstinate case
which required very active treatment. The patient was
bled again and again, the state of the blood fully
justifying the measure, presenting, as it did, the clearest
signs of an 'inflammatory condition. At ono of our

SATURDAY,

interviews he expressed his surprise that this condition
continued; I remarked, " that the nourishment taken
by the patient, simple as it was, kept up the condition,
on the principle that like makes like." " What !" said
he, "do you mean to say that when I eat duck I be.
come duck ?" "No! " I replied, " when you eat duck
duck becomes you." " I beg your pardon; I ought to
have known better," was the learned doctor's manly ad.
mission.

I put diet in the first place, because it is manifest. at
first sight almost; this of itself is a vast field for the
physician's eye to rest upon and his hand to work with,
if regarded as a medical appliance only. It is according
to what the blood is nourished by that its constitution is
determined from without; the materials being atmo-
spheric, liquid, and solid. The organic functions also
modify the blood's constitution according to their healthy
or unhealthy performance, and also according to the
quality and quantity of the materials which relate to them
respectively; and it' these materials are deficient in quality
and quantity, the organs themselves are proportionately
embarrassed, and fail in their wonted degree and extent of
service. In like manner, if the materials are vitiated or
unwholesome, or of difficult assimilation, the constitution
of the blood varies accordingly, and derives from this
source a great number of its unhealthy and disordered
conditions. To recapitulate them as causes or conse-
quences would be to rewrite all that has been written
argue ad naueeam, upon the subject of diet, air, and regi-
men. Again, the materials serving for food may be most
wholesome, and yet the constitution of the blood may be
unhealthy and depraved; for the organic functions may
themselves be acting in a disorderly tanner, and
this either from internal pr external causes, as depending
on the conditions of the blood itself, or on the state
of the nerves, or on the defective service of one or more
of the organs in particular. So again, the blood may be
vitiated by unwholesome exhalations, by infectious and
contagious miasmata, irrespective of food, or by here-
ditary taints and tendencies, or it may be subjected to
exhausting drains upon its most essential constituents,
through the dominion of last and passion, in the gratifi-
cation of which its nobler parts are immolated, as it were
" passing through the fire to Moloch." Or its constitu-
tion may be overcharged with nutritious elements, and
subject to inflammatory and fiery outbursts from the
slightest causes, acting like so many stimulants, and in-
vading even the mental sphere, to the production of insane
or foolish conceits, or of an intoxication of brain, either
temporary or permanent.

The book throughout is written in the same enter-
taining, conversational style,clear without being prolix.
Dr. Spurgin's great point appears to be to establish
the importance of the blood, and the vital relation it
bears to every animal function of the system. The
arguments in support of his views—many of the
latter perfectly original it must be owned—are yet
admirably well sustained and conclusive. Neither
does Dr. Spurgin hesitate at all in giving prescrip-
tions in full which he has used successfully in
various forms of gout, rheumatism, and other
diseases. Upon the whole, it is a very able work,
the result of labour, thought, and immense expe-
rience, and as such we cordially recommend it, not
only to those who are interested professionally or
otherwise in the investigation of the subject of
which it treats, but to all general readers who desire
to learn something of that which they are usually
most ignorant of—the action and constitution of their
own blood.

Tales of France—Tales of Paris—Tales of Humour—
Tales of Great Men. Four Vols. " Amusing
Library for the Young." Londcn : Lambert
and Co.

Foua volumes of pleasant, entertaining stories,
mostly translated from French authors, but not the
less calculated to amuse and interest the young. In
those of "Humour" there is a quiet undercurrent of
harmless sarcasm► against familiar follies, which, not
too deep for the perception of a child, tells admirably
as a wholesome ►norat. Each volume is complete in
itself, and, light and amusing, is iu every way
adapted to fulfil the intention of the writer.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
BOOKS.

Thought and Language. B. H. Smart. Longmans.
Companion to the Chart of the Genealogy of Our Baviour.
Rivingtons.
Lissie Leigh ; and other Take. Chapman and Hall.
Y'he Bike of Loch "hoe ; and other Poems. Philip J.
Hamerton. Painter.
The Battle Day ; and other Poems. Ernest J ones.
Rontledge.
La Providence l'oeme. Francois Charpentier, B.A.
ltivingtons.
The Watchman. Routledge.

PAMPHLETS.
Charge Delivered by the Right lion. and Rev. Thomas Lord
Plunkett, D.D. Dublin : oldham.

• _ _ -
Two Sennone. Rev. Thomas S. Polehampton, M.A.
litvingtous.
The Transcendentalists : a Satire fur the Age. Rev. Archer

Gurney.
7'he Third Napoleon. Robert Stcry.

Bosworth.
Hearne.

PERIODICALS.
The Irish Church Journal. Seeley.
The IF of Scotland Magazine. Glasgow: Murray.
AVM/ Book*. No. So. Sampson Low and Co.

I

6tPt. 18, 1855.

gnmsponttnct.

SLAVE LABOUR.
TO THE EDITOR OP " THE PRESS."

Sir,—The rapid extension of slavery since the
passing of Lord J. Russell's bill in 1846, which sti-
mulated so highly the vile system, has now become
a matter for the serious consideration of all who are
interested in the behalf of freedom, the best interests
of the United Kingdom, and civilisation. I quote the
following from Mr. Weld's " Vacation Tour in the
United States and Canada," over which, I fear, the
slave-owner will smile as he thinks of' his cheap and
profitable slave labour, and be highly amused at the
writer's credulity in believing the contrary to be the
case. Mr. Weld says:—

The result of my inquiries in Virginia• leads me to
believe that the whites would gladly exchange slavery,
which by dishonouring labour introduces idleness, for
free work ; but their capital is confined to slaves, and they
are obliged to go on in the way of their fathers. . . . The
proprietor of the factory, who kindly acted as my guide,
assured me the slaves did the work far better than it could
be done by machinery Setting aside the terrible
ignorance of mechanical principles involved in this reply,
it will be evident to the reader that the true reason why the
far more economical use of machinery is not employed to
do this very simple work—pressing tobacco—is because no
capital exists or can be obtained to erect suitable machinery.
It is, however, tolerably evident th at, if slave labour
is unprofitable to the tobacco manufacturer " because
of the terrible ignorance of having no capital to buy
machinery," it is not looked upon in the same light
by other slave owners in the United States, as only a
few pages preceding Mr. Weld gives a description of
a slave-auction he witnessed at Richmond, and copies
advertisements from American newspapers to the ef-
fect that, " Slaves are wanted by one party to the
extent of 5,000," and that they always paid the highest
cost price for them. The result of the sale shows that
six negroes, four males and two females, of ages from
nineteen to fifty, realised the aggregate sum of 4,883
dollars, or an average of 102/. 12a. The highest in
price was a girl of nineteen, sold for 1,005 dole. 2011.,
and the lowest an old map of fifty for 630 d015.,---,126/.
If my memnry does not deceive me, the average price
per head paid to the British slave-owner, at the period
of the emancipation, was some 401. The price of an
ablebodied slave in Cuba and the United States in
1845, the year preceding Lord J. Russell's act for the
encouragement of slavery by admitting its produce to
compete with that of our freemen, was from 701. to
801., and the result of the sale which Mr. Weld at-
tended at Richmond demonstrates the fact that the
value of the slave has been more than doubled in ten
years, a fact which can hardly be favorable to his
argument and assertion that slave is less profitable
than free labour.

The average annual value of the agricultriral pro-
dude taised by the muscle and sinew of the able slave,
male and female, to the owner is, at a very low esti-
mate, 501. A slave hired as a waiter at an hotel, at
only one dollar per day, would give the owner an in-
come of 731. The annual value of all the agricultu-
ral produce of the United Kingdom has been esti-
mated by Porter, prior to the advent of free trade, to
amount to the sum of 300,000,0001., and in the pro-
duction of that produce not less than 10,000,000 of
our able people were employed, and which gives the
value of their produce per head at only 301., against
the slaves 501.

As to the African negro ever becoming more indus-
trious, or of better moral or religious character, when
free to act for themselves, the lamentable condition
of our West India colonies is a direct proof to the
contrary ; and in his laudable anxiety for the freedom
of the slave, and to raise him in the scale of civilisa-
tion, Mr. Weld has, I fear, laid himself open to the
ridicule of the slave-owners, who know the value of
slave labour but too well, as is proved by the Fugi-
tive Slave Bill, the Nebraska Bill, and sundry other
slavery-fostering measures recently adopted by the
United States Legislature. If, however,there be really
!L desire for the gradual abolition and suppression of
slavery, there is a very plain and easy mode by which
so desirable an object can be obtained, with certainty,
and without the interruption of commerce, viz., by
placing a suitably high tariff upon its produce when
brought to civilised countries, and by lowering the
duties on the free man's produce to the lowest point
consistent with fiscal requirements.—Yours, sir, most
obediently,
Sept. 10th. ANTI-SLAVERY.

BOARD OF TRADE TYRANNY OVER CUSTOM-
HOUSE OFFICERS.
TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS."
Sir, —Some time ago I addressed to you on the
above subject a letter, which you kindly inserted in
your influential journal. My remarks had reference
to the gross injustice committed by the Board of

• Virginia bred and exported 100,000 slaves between 1810 and
1850, which, at the low value of 500 dole., or 1001. cub, ghee a
revenue of 10,000,0001. in human flesh alone.

THE PRESS.

Trade, when, after having induced by a grant of re-
muneration collectors of customs to accept without
objection the duties of shipping-masters, it all at
once withdrew that remuneration, and told the
officers they must do the work for nothing ! Ido
not attach much weight to my humble endeavours,
but I am happy to report that by some means or
other the object I advocated has been accomplished.
In the case of the shipping-masters, the Board of
Trade has acknowledged its injustice, retraced its
steps, and restored the remuneration so wrongfully
taken away. But, as if injustice was a sort of second
nature to the Board of Trade, it has, whilst with one
hand it doled out redress to the collectors, with the
other dealt them even a still more serious blow. It
has thrown upon them, without the warrant of any
express law, the business of collecting light dues,
and taken sway all remuneration for the labour and
the great responsibility of such business ! This im-
position is, I repeat, a more enormous injustice than
that which they have acknowledged and redressed,
for the duties of a light-dues collector are more
onerous; the responsibility is much heavier; the
remuneration taken away is of larger amount, and
the right to it has existed long enough to afford the
parties interested a legitimate prescriptive claim to
it. But the Board of Trade arrogates to itself an
arbitrary authority not to be called in question! It
seizes upon the collectors of customs, and makes
them labour like serfs for its own emolument. They
work, and it takes all the pay ! Hitherto public
boards, when committing injustice (and the in-
stances are not rare), have thought it judicious to
maintain, if possible, an appearance of consistency
and fair dealing, but the Board of Trade is too
powerful to stoop to hypocrisy. It has the power of
acting as unjustly as it pleases, and it exercises that
power " like a giant." Can any course be more in-
consistent than that which it has adopted? It has
allowed all collectors of light dues, holding the office
at the time when the Board first pounced upon the
light duee, to retain the commission they enjoyed;
but it has refused to allow one farthing to their suc-
cessors' who have for years past been looking forward
to such remuneration as the mainstay of their latter
years of official servitude. Thus there are now
two classes of light collectors, doing the
same work, and bearing the same respon-
sibility, but of which, one is fairly remune-
rated, and the other working by compulsion for
nothing ! If it be possible to check an officer's zeal,
fill him with disgust and dissatisfaction, and make
him do his work badly, such treatment will effect it.
But the inconsistency of the Board of Trade has
extended further. In one instance, not an unim
portant one, compensation has been granted. The
salary of the late collector at Liverpool was 1,2001.
per annum, and his emoluments from commission on
his collection of light dues averaged perhaps 1,0001.
per annum extra. The salary of the recently ap-
pointed collector has been raised to 1,8001. per annum,
in order to afford a compensation for the loss of the
extra emoluments. But why should the collector of
Liverpool be the only party to whom justice is to be
done? It is right, I admit, that justice should be
done in his case, but it is grossly wrong to deny
equal justice to all otherrecontly appointed collectors.
The sufferers, however, are at the mercy of the
Board of Trade, and therefore they receive no mercy.
In a short time the " ne plus ultra" of injustice will
be described by the words, " as unjust as the Board of
Trade !" I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A SUFFERER.
17th Sept., 1855.

Tna following are the ages of the bishops, arranged
in order of seniority :—England—Durham, 85; Ban-
gor, 83; Exeter, 81 ; Canterbury, 75; Peterborough,
75 ; Chichester, 73 ; Worcester, 72 ; Gloucester and
Bristol, 72 ; Carlisle, 71; Rochester, 71 ; Ely, 71 ;
London, 09 ; York, 07 ; Lichfield, 67 ; Winchester,
65; St. Asaph, 65; Hereford, 84; Norwich, 62 ;
Ripon, 61; Chester, 61 ; St. David's, 58 ; Llandaff,
57 ; Bath and Wells, 50 ; Oxford, 50; Manchester,
48; Sodor and Man, 48; Salisbury, 47; and Lin
coin, 44. Ireland—Armagh, 82 ; Cork, 74 : Cashel,
72 ; Killaloe, 71; Meath, 69 ; Limerick, 69 ; Dublin,
68 ; Tuam, 63 ; Derry, 62; Ossory, 81; Kilmore, 54 ;
and Down, 47.

IT has been stated that Marshal Radetzky was the
oldest general in Europe. A French veteran,, General
Depreaux, has written to the Siecle, denying that
such is the case. In fact, compared with General
Depreaux, the Austrian Marshal is a mere boy. M.
Depreaux was born in 1761 ; entered the army as a
private in 1776; in 1793 was General of Brigade
(equivalent to major-general in England) ; and in
1 'An Deus of the first republic TM appointed General
de Division (lieutenant-general). Now, Marshal
Radetzky is only eighty-nine years of age, and has
only been seventy-one years in the service, fifty of
which as a general; while it thus appears that
General Depreaux is ninety-four years of age, has
been seventy-nine years in the army, and is a general
of sixty-two years' standing.

Tits: Coiposrrons' LIBRARY.—This institution was
opened on Monday, at No. 3, Raquet•court, Fleet-
street, and from the catalogue it appears that its
shelves are graced by nearly two thousand volumes of
sterling merit. The strenuous efforts that have been
made by the London compositors for the establish.
ment of their library and reading room are at length
crowned with complete success. It will, we may
hope, prove a stimulus to other bodies of workmen
to" go and do likewise." Many of the most valuable
wooks contained in the library have been presented
by compositors themselves—a fact which says
much for the literary taste and judgment of that
numerous and important body. One of the most
gratifying features of this institution is the alacrity
and liberality with which literary men and publishers
have come forward to aid the onward progress of the
work, thus lending the high sanction of their names
and social position to a movement which, if followed
by other professions, may be destined to effect a great
but peaceful change in the social condition and edu-
cational acquirements of the industrial classes o: the
community. The opening of such an institution as
the Compositors' Library and Reading•room is a sig-
nificant fact. A great social problem is in course of
solution, and the compositors of London may well
feel proud of the distinguished literary and other aid
which has been so generously and spontaneously
afforded to them in their praiseworthy efforts at self-
improvement. Amongst the donors to this institu-
tion appear the names of the Earl of Harrowby, the
Earl of Shaftesbury, the Right Hon. Mr. Gladstone,
Major- General T. Perronet Thompson, Messrs.
Chambers, the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge, and a number of gentlemen whoa*
names and influence are never wanting in the cause
of educational progress. The catalogue now issued
is necessarily incomplete, but an improved edition
will doubtless speedily be published, as works continue
to come in daily. On the opening-day, indeed, a
princely donation of 165 volumes, of sterling merit,
and handsomely bound, was received from Prince
Albert, affording another proof of the deep interest
which the Prince Consort takes in ever7thing affect-
ing the welfare, intellectually or materially, of the
working classes
THE following statements in regard Ito the rapid
increase of the population and wealth of Canada, and
especially of the Upper or Western Province, appear
in a paper by Mr. I. Sheridan Hogan, recently pub-
lished in Montreal, and to which the first prize by
the Paris Exhibition Committee of Canada has been
awarded :—" In 1829 the population of the Western
Province was 196,000 only, and in 1854 it had in-
creased to 1,237,600. In 1829 the total assessable
property of that province, being the real aud per-
sonal estate of its people, was estimated at 2,500,0004
and in 1854 it was estimated at 50,000,000/, exclu-
sive of the value of the public lands, the timber
upon them, and minerals. The soil of Western
Canada is described as rich beyond measure—the
deposit of vegetable matter for ages, improved by
the ashes of the forest fires, rendering it abundantly
productive for several years without extraneous help.
The quality of the wheat grown in the province is
very superior, and the progress of its export trade in
this grain is remarkable. In 1838 the total export
of Canada was 296,620 bushels only ; in 1852 it
had reached 5,490,718, thus increasing eighteen
times in that short period. In 1834 the total im-
ports and exports of Canada amounted to 2,082,5671.;
in 1852 they amounted to 8,898,5241.; and in 1853
to 13,045,684/. In six years the imports and ex-
ports of Canada have quadrupled. In 1849 the
revenue of Canada was 445,578/., and its expenditure
836,7541.: in 1853 the revenue was 1,714,3501., and
the expenditure 834,068/. During the last ten years
the rate of increase in the population of Western
Canada has been 104 per cent.; in Great Britain, for
the same period, it has been 13.20 per cent., and in
the United States, 35.27 per cent. The total value
of the produce of the forests of Canada in 1853
was about 4,500,000/. The mineral wealth of the
colony has so far been very partially developed
only; copper is occasionally found on Lakes Huron
and Superior, in masses of 2,0001b5., in a pure and
malleable state. The rivers, lakes, canals, and net-
work of railways already constructed, and in course
of construction, affords means of internal communi-
cation second to none possessed by any other country
in the world. The salubrity of the climate of
Western Canada is proverbial the proportion of
deaths being 1 in 102, and for all Canada, 1 in 98 ;
the proportion for England being 1 in 46, and for
the United States, 1 in 74."