The Press.
London, England, 1856-02-16 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

A Manual of the Domestic Science of Medicine.
By W. B. Kesteven, Fellow of the Royal College
of Surgeons. London. Longmans.
THIS " Manual " pretends to no more than to give
simple, plain, and judicious directions for the treat-
ment of disease under circumstances precluding the
possibility of regular medical attendance. The plan
is, first to describe the symptoms of each disorder,
so that its true character may be recognised; then to
notice its causes ; and lastly to prescribe its treatment
as regards medicine, regimen, and discipline. In
this latter division more minute particularity (though
much must of course depend on the intensity of the
disease and condition of the patient) might have
been introduced with advantage ; for, as the book is
addressed to persons supposed to be ignorant of the
science of medicine, and therefore incapable of exer-
cising that independent judgment which results from
knowledge and experience, it is evident that the
treatment laid down should be in all respects as pre-
cise as possible. The volume is divided into six
sections,—the first being on ordinary diseases; the
second on midwifery; the third on accidents; the
fourth on poisoning; the fifth on medicines, with a
copious table of prescriptions ; and the sixth on
hygiene, or rules for the general preservation of
health. The author can claim for himself conside-
rable experience, and has compared it in the compi-
lation of this work with the labours of the most
eminent medical men of the day. His manual is
modest, complete, perfectly free from every kind of
quackery, and, within the limits assigned to it, may be
eminently useful.

PUBLICATIONS RECEITED.-FER. 7.
BOOKS.

Statesmen if the Time of George M. Lord Brougham.
Griffin and Co.
The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare. S. W. Singer,
F.S.A. Bell and Daldy.
Pinocchi. J. W. Parker and Sou.
_

Lessons in General Knowledge. Robert J. Maun, M.D.
Longmans.
History of Europe. Sir Archibald Alison, Bart., D.C.L.
Vol. V. Blackwood.
William Penn. An Historical Biography. Hepworth
Dixon. Chapman and Hall.
Sermons in Stones; or, Scripture confirmed by Geology.
Dominick M'Causland. Bentley.
The Danes and the Swedes. Charles H. Scott. Longmans.
The Food of London. George Dodd. Ditto.
Our Own Story. Selina Bunbury. Hurst and Blackett.

PAMPHLETS.

An Essay on Parliamenlary Reform.
More Bishops--Why We Want Thfmt.

Hope and Co.
Ditto.

Sketches fruns Life—Leaves from a Surgeon's Note Case.
Riddle.
Strike, but Bear. A New View of the Eastern Question.
Stanford.

Mr. Murray's Illustrated List al Works.
Bradbury and Evans.
A Letter to Sir G. Grey on Legislation for the Church of

England. Vacher and Sons.
Sunday Trading in London. By a London Employer.
Rivingtons.
Government of India. Speech of Malcolm Lewin, Esq.

. .. _ -
Stanford.
Life Peerages. Substance of the Speech of Lord St.
Leonards in the House of Lords. 3lurray.
Recruiting in the United St ales. J. Wilson.
Speech of the Earl of Gornarcon to the Reading Literary
and Scientific Institution. Reading: Cowslade.
The Eumenides of ,Eschylus. Blackwood.

Sugar Cultivation—Malacca.
Hardicicke'r City Guide. Hardwicke.
~ Electoral itepresentation. Ditto.

The Farmers' Club. G. T. Thomason.
The United Church Journal. Seeley.
The West of Scotland Magazine. Hall and Virtue.
The Amateur. Hope and Co.
_ __ .

Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine.
Boy's Own Magazine.

Beeton.
Ditto.

ate Nrama.

HAY MARKET THEATRE.—Kotzebue's Stranger, pro-
duced at the Haymarket on Tuesday for the purpose
of introducirg a Mr. Simpson to tl e London public,
is a trying play for the debutant. The audience, im-
patient of action, wish to see what the new man can
do, yet for the first half of the piece he has little
more than to sit with book in hand, or to utter a few
unimportant phrases : which make no Impression.
In the earlier scenes the interest is solely sustained
by the character of Mrs. Haller : a mother separated
from her children has touches of nature to portray.
Miss Reynolds for the first time played Mrs. Halter.
It was a well-studied performance; her affliction on
leaving the Count's child, "I have a William too, if
yet alive," was true and affecting; her acting
throughout was replete with grace and touching sim-
plicity. Mr. Simpson, notwithstanding the disad-
vantages incidental to the piece, and a physique not
very favourable to the character, sustained the
'earlier scenes with ease) and as the stirring

of the play advanced, displ
His

SATURDAY,
action of the play advanced, displayed some power
and feeling His reading throughout was good.
The piece was well put on the stage, though
the drawing-room scene was not sufficiently
brilliant. Mr. Braid gave unusual prominence to
the character of the Baron, by hts judicious and
effective acting. Mr. E. Villiers, as the Count, was
tame and unsatisfactory ; and Miss Swanborough, as
the Countess, looked well, but nothing more. The
applause was great at the fall of the curtain.
ADELPHI.—A new farce was brought out at this
theatre on Monday night, with complete success.
That Blessed Baby (such is the title of the new
piece) was carried through all the usual difficulties
which attend all new corners into this "tough world"
by the excellent " fooling " of Mr. and Mrs. Keeley,
and the curtain fell during unanimous calls for the
author, whom we understand to be Mr. Moore.
OLYMPIC.—A two-act comedietta was brought out
this week at this theatre. It is a new version of
an old favorite, Un Mari qui sc dhrange. The ex-
cellent acting of Mr. G. Vining, Miss Fanny Ternan,
Mr. Emery, and Mrs. Stirling, secured the complete
success of the piece.
Corttspanbentt.
MR. LOWE'S " REFORMS."
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS.
Sir,—Being a regular subscriber to your highly
talented paper, I was very much entertained by
reading, in your last number, the complete exposure
of the flagrant plagiarism of which Mr. Lowe, the
Vice-President of the Board of Trade, had been
guilty, in introducing into his Limited Liability Bill,
in almost the exact words of Mr. Cairns, the proposi-
tions which that gentleman brought under the notice
of the house last session, and which were then
opposed by Government.
My object in now addressing you is to point out
some of the absurd mistakes committed by Mr. Lowe
when, relying upon his own resources, he introduced
to the house his bill for doing away with all passing
tolls, town dues, A.:c. The comments I have to make
bear special reference to the latter. A large portion
of Mr. Lowe's speech was devoted to showing the
great hardships and injustice caused to ship_viny by
the heavy town dues levied by the corporation of
Liverpool on vessels entering that port. To go into
the subject fully, and expose all the fallacies of
which Mr. Lowe was guilty, would require more of
your valuable space than I have any right to expect
you would accord to me, so I shall briefly confine
myself to pointing out one or two of the most glaring
blunders contained in the speech.
In speaking of the Liverpool town dues, Mr. Lowe
fell into the extraordinary mistake of supposing that
this tax was one imposed solely on shipping, whereas
there is not a single penny-piece of it raised in this
manner, the dues being wholly derived from a tax
imposed on the goods which are exported and im-
ported, so that his laboured argument to show that this
measure oas intended for the relief of the shipping
interest, which since the passing of the Navigation
Laws was entitled to such great consideration, falls
entirely to the ground. Again, Mr. l.owe is altoge-
ther mistaken in stating the amount derived from
tlis source, which has been expended for the benefit
of the shipping interest. In a great port like Liver-
pool, where the commercial interest predominates ro
largely, immense sums of money must necessarily be
spent in an indirect manner, which nevertheless tend
solely to benefit the shipping interest; and the corpo-
ration of Liverpool are prepared to show that instead
a the paltry 3,0001. odd named by Mr. Lowe as being
annually devoted to the improvement of the docks,
a sum of something like thirty times that
amount would he nearer the figure when the whole
truth is known; and Mr. Lowe does not propose
wholly to abolish the town dues, but to hand over the
collection and expenditure of the amount required
for the expenses of the port to some Government
Board or " Circumlocution Office," which will no
doubt be better able than the Liverpool corporation
to know " how not to do it." In regard to the legality
of depriving the town of Liverpool of those dues
which have been purchased and paid for like any
otber property (not to speak of the special act of
Parliament obtained by the corporation after their
purchase from the Earl of Sefton, who held them by
a grant from the Crown), Mr. Lowe makes the ex-
traordinary statement, and lays it down as the law of
England, that in the case of individuals possessing
such vested rights, Government possesses no power
to take them away ; but Where they are held by a cor-
-1

FEBRU'ARY 16, 1856.

poration, that is to say by more individuals than one,
then Government bas the power to deal with them as
it may think proper. It will require all the ingenuity
which Mr. Lowe possesses, I think, and a little more,
to make good this point, which is contrary to every-
thing like justice r.r common sense. his statement
regarding vessels turning back on account of the
heavy dues charged in Liverpool, and going to Chester
instead, is simply ludicrous, and displays an igno-
rance with respect to the town and trade of Liverpool
which it is lamentable to meet with in a member of
her Majesty's Government at the present day, and
more particularly in one who pretends to have taken
so much trouble in making himself master of the
subject. There are so many mistakes made by Mr.
Lowe, when speaking of the Liverpool town dues,
that it would require as much space as that allotted
to the report of his own speech in the Times to ex-
pose the whole of them. But, if the truth was known,
we suspect Mr. Lowe has been merely a tool in the
hands of the Manchester men, whom he is only too
glad to conciliate, and who, it is well known, have
always looked with an envious eye on the wealth of
the Liverpool corporation, and have been long agitat
ing to have those dues abolished. It is a pity that
Mr. Lowe should have trusted entirely to Manchester
wen for his information (for it is pretty evident
they shave been his only " crammers"), for by a little
more discretion he might have avoided many of the
mistakes he has fallen into. As the matter now
stands, we are really at a loss to know which is the
more laughable, the ignorance displayed by his
" crammers," or the " gullability" of the crammed.
I remain, yours, &c.,
A LIVERPOOLLIN.
Liverpool, 14th February, 1856.1

THE FIRST DIVISION IN THE CRIMEA.
TO THE EDITOR OF " THE FRESS."

Sir,—l am sure you will take in good part my
sending to you the following quotations from the
letter of a near relative of mine ; for, although be
expresses censure on a letter which appeared in
your columns on the sth Jan., the general tenor of
what he says cannot be otherwise than gratifying to
you.

Before proceeding to quote from the letter, I
should inform you that the writer of it belongs to
one of the regiments in the first division of the
army of the East. He has however been, for some
months, and is still, employed on the staff of the
army. He is a person of most independent opinions,
and in his private correspondence has never spared
those who appeared to neglect their duties, or
to be inefficient for the posts they occupied.
For these reasons I feel confident of the merits of
any one of whom he writes to me in praise.
dy tile of THE PRESS is in London, so that I can-
not refer to the letter to which he alludes; but my
impression is that it spoke in very disparaging terms
of the first division, and of its commander, Lord
Jiokeby.

My correspondent, writing on the 25th Jan., from
before Sebastopol, says :
My attention has been /drawn to a letter contained in
THE PnEss of the sth instant, in which certain unfounded
statements referring to the first division occur. I have
always had a degree of respect for THE PRESS newspaper,
as I had never noticed in it that desire to publish calumny
against the army to the world so unfortunately the habit
and custom of most English patriotic (?) join-mit). The
letter I refer to has undeceived me, and l am most sorry
to find that even THE Priess newspaper allows its columns
to be made the circulating medium of foolish falsehoods
from some ignorant and silly junior officers in this army.
No one knows better than yourself how prejudicial to all
good discipline it is to allow the names of generals of
brigades and divisions to be alluded to disrespectfully in
public prints; and I know you will agree with me that
all sensible men will condemn the conduct of any and
every paper which permits itself to publish the insolent
criticisms of juniors upon the character of their seniors.
He then begs me to assure you that:—
It is just as easy to find correspondents who will write
the truth if the object of the newspaper is to convey nu-
thing but the truth to its readers.
But enough about this subject, which T should not have
troubled you with had I not always found pleasure in read
ing THE PRESS, and acquired a degree of interest in its
success. lam proud to inform you that the first division
is superior to the remaining divisions of the army in every
respect. This truth is forced upon me every other day
at the office of the adjutant•general. We have fewer pri-
soners than other divisions, fewer courts-martial. The
men are more soldierlike, and the whole system is supe-
rior. I should not say this if I did not know it to be the
case, for I regard most things as they are.
Lord Rokeby is the most amiable of men. He has a
high sense of duty, which is so rare in the English army,
and is daily becoming rarer, that it is sufficient to make
him appear singular. If he catches an officer not doing
its duty—if, for instance, he finds an officer stealing a
horse, or a bag of Government barley, he tells him plainly
that he considers him a thief—and quite right too. You
must know that in this army. where fifty [lashes and a few
months' imprisonment are given, death would be too small
a punishment. The officers require pulling up most
sharply.

I am afraid there is too much truth in the last

THE PRESS.

assertion ; certainly many of our naval officers have
expressed their surprise at the laxity of discipline in
the army.—Your obedient servant,

Feb. 11th, 1850.

UNIVERSITY ELECTIONS.
TO THE EDITOR OF "THE PRESS."
.• - • -

Sir,—lt is time some practical suggestion was put
forth in an influential quarter with respect to univer-
sity elections. By far the greater part of the consti•
tuency is scattered about the country, and cannot
take part in the contest without a great sacrifice of
time and money. My suggestion is simply that a
voting-card be sent to each elector,t which he may
fill up in the presence of the nearest magistrate,
having first affixed thereto a ten-shilling or even a
twenty-shilling "election stamp," and then inclose
it in an envelope to the Vice-Chancellor. I think it
is quite in accordance with our Constitution, which
regards property as the basis of the franchise, that a
man should be put to a little expense in exercising
that privilege. Moreover, many would still have
the excuse, which they would be sorry to part with,
for an occasional visit to Cambridge, the expense of
the journey in their case being less than the cost of
the " election stamp." But really when a man's
journey costs him about ten pounds, and it is known
that a most excellent candidate may be forced to a
poll on the mere hypothesis that his country sup-
porters may not appear at Cambridge in the propor-
tion of two to one (what is called a good minority
being all the time the sole object aimed at by his
opponents), it does seem that some reform is wanted.
—I remain, sir, your constant reader and subscriber,
A MEMBER OF THE SENATE.
Cambridge, Feb. 12.