The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-05-17 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF TILE BRITISH PRESS.

St a,—Some time hack, a series of letters appeared in the
Bret l're3S, signed " A Lover of Fair Play," and a
" Chatte,vy Practitioner," respecting the delays of the
Court of Chancery ; on which occasion I contended that
many of the causes of complaint were not attributable to
the Noble and Learned Individual at the head of the Court,
but to the practice itself, and to the neglect of several of
the subaltern officers.

Sir, as the practice of the Court of Chancery is shortly
to be brought before the House of Commons, I take the
liberty of submitting, through the medium of your widely
circulated journal, the propriety of Lord Gifford, the
Master of the Roily, sitting in the day-time, to hear vm-
tested causes ; at present his Lordship only sits occasionally
fur an hour in the morning, and in the evening, to hear
undefended causes; and to this neglect (which I do not
attribute to the Noble Lord, as it was the custom of his
predeesaaon to sit as he now does), in my opinion, a great
portion of the delay complained of has arisen, as well as
to the unparalleled increase of business. I think, however,
if his Lordship was allowed to protract his sitting, a con-
siderable number of the causes, which are set down before
the Lord Chancellor, might be MOM speedily disposed of;
which would mitigate the evil, at present so loudly corn-
Owned And from the urbane awl indefatigable man-
ner in which his Lordship discharged his arduous duties
when Attorney-General, I am quite sure he would fed no
objection to take upon himself this responsibility, if it was
the opinion of Parliament that it would be beneficial.
hoping that this suggestion will be attended to, and that
it. will meet with the approbation of those to whom the
Chancery Report is about to be submitted, I remain,
Your very obedient Servant,
A CIIANCEXT PRACTITIONZL
Lincoln's Inn, May 16, 1826.

We understand that it has been determined to erect a
line of telegraphs, for the communication of shipping and
commercial iutt Iligetace, from llolyhead along the coast
to Liverpool. lly this nu sus, in the course of a few
minutes, the appearance of any vessel off I lolybead will be
known in the underwriters rcom at Liverpool.

c ..aL~7l`~' ~•~
.'r

LITERATURE.

An Exposition of the State of the Medical Profession in the Bri-
tish Dominions, and of the injurious Effects of the Monopoly.
by Usurpation, of the College of Physicians in London.—
Longman, &c.

We have here a subject that comes home to us all, and
in which, accordingly, we all very naturally interest our-
selves. The glorious uncertainty of the law is proverbial;
no one who gets into a suit can tell bow or when he shall
get out again. The flatter is hardly mended when be falls
into the hands of the Doctor; whether he shall expire
eventually under the operation of pills and powders : whe•
tber his viscera will hold out against the next bolus; or
whether, after another strong dose, Death shall have no
more dominion over him, is more than any one can say
who once gets within the atmosphere of fees and pre-
scriptions.
Not that we would have the reader suppose that these
remarks were suggested by the volume before us ; quite
the reverse: its contents are of a nature to make us
grave. We expected, from the title-page, that it would
afford abundant materials for serious reflection, if the sub-
ject was handled as it ought to be, and our expectation
was borne out in its fullest latitude by the perusal of the
work. The author, whoever he may be, has pnrsued his
task with an ardour which (we imagine) nothing but the
most upright and conscientious zeal could have inspired.
Be has manifestly had access to a mass of valuable in-
formation, and he is imbued with a talent for investigation
which has enabled him to make his resources available,
and to maintain his crpnvilion by evidence at once curious
and conclusive. The College of Physicians, we suspect,
will not feel quite easy under the aspect in which' they are
here presented to the public. The statements, however,
are made to rest on facts fully confirmed, and the argu-
ments drawn from them come with great weight. It is ob-
viously the aim of the writer to bring the whole subject
under the inquiry of Parliament: we infer this from the
following dedication:—
" To the RIGHT Ho,e. ROBERT PEEL, Principal Secretary of
State tot the Home Department, whose authority as a 31INISTta
OF THE Citows, and enliglocned views as a legislator, afford
sure guarantees for the investigation anti correction of abuses,
ruts Exeostr lox of grievances, which, for theadvantage, real
or imaginary, of a very few individuals, have for centuries deeply
and extensile', affected the welfare of the public, the interests of
the medical profession, the progress of medical science, and the
righ:a of the Universities, 13 MOST RESPECTFULLY IX.
SCRIBI1)."

This volume has already excited a considerable share of
public attention ; it has made a lodgment in the strong
hold of monopoly, which cannot fail to be felt ; there is
little fear, however, but that if any real danger is appre-
hended to the fortress, a strong force of regulars will soon
be summoned to its defence, and there are too many troops
within the walls to give hopes of a speedy surrender.
The volume is ably written, and bears throughout the
stamp of a spirited and independent mind. The follow-
ing short extract will serve as a specimen :
Is there, we would ask, an expedition or an armament, a fleet or
an army, a campaign or a siege, a city or a fortress, during three
hundred years, with which this learned body have had any
thing to do, or ought to have taken cognizance of, that have
not suffered from the positive ignorance, or false knowledge,
entailed by the complete indifference to inquiry which is en-
gendered by their fatal monopoly ? The deAtruction of Hosier's
Beet olfihe Baslimentos, in 1726, and the loss of twenty thousand
lives with Vernon at Carthagena, in 1711. which by proper medical
representations might have been prevented, are further example s of
those catastrophes which we feel warranted in attributing to that
utter apathy respecting the interests of the public, by which an
exclusive attention to incorporation interests is necessarily accom.
panted : the mischievous effects of which are of coutse prodigiously
multiplied when the functions of medical monopolists, and the
duties of medical advisers of the government, un:te in the same
persons.

But the detriment to the community would not have been near so
great, had the College only abstained from all exertion for the dis.
covery or propagation of useful knowledge themselves, and not
unitirmly discouraged or opposed the efforts of others. Let us
exemplify this conduct in regard to the same great subject of epi-
demic diseates. The dread of pestilential contagion had given rise
to an extensive code of legislative, municipal, anti international
regulations throughout Christian communities, which are on the
Continent of Europe called " sanitary," and in England qua.
rantine laws." In 11100 and 100. Committees of Health, corn.
=almost solely of Fellows of the Collect. of Physkiows in
ion, eat on the Quarantine Lain, by order of Government
Did they make any Inquiry into the existence of the evil which
they were appointed to remedy ? Not a single inquiry. They
would not even take cognisance of any of the arguments now ad.
valued to amount to a demonstration, which had previously been
advanced against the existence of that evil, trying to discredit
tt em by alleging that they were wild and visionary, or designed
to overthrow the ancient and venerable establishments of quaran-
tine and lazarettoes I

For the millions in charges and losses which these establishments,
founded on a chimera, have cost this nation, as well as for all the
other evils occasioned by their operation, the College of Phy.
sicians are, in justice and in reason, responsible. And, but
satisfied with promoting and rewarding those metncal dis-
patents, whn have hypothetically end servilely maintained
the correctness of this astoniahing faith, they have defamed
and persecuted, with a fury proportioned to its absurdity,
those investigator., who, by induction of experiment, have de-
tected and exposed the delusion. The domestic champions of this
mischievous error have even kid the audacity. in concert with some
fanatics of the Continent, to attack the Legislature and the Go-
vernment of this country, for only proposing a relaxation of the
very pernicious regulations in question ; and we cannot better de
signate their conduct in this matter than in the words recently
employed by a distinguished Statesman, upon the occasion of a
similar wanton anti outrageous opposition to the extensive ap-
plication, by a colleague, of liberal and enlightened principles
to the affairs of commerce generally. “: We must deal with the
affairs of men," said Mr. CaNxisrsi, "on abstract principles,
modified, however, of course, according to times and circumstances.
Is not the doctrine and the spirit which now animate those who
persecite my Right lion. Friend (Mr. flttaxissort) the same
which in former times stirred up persecution against the best bene-
factors of mankind ? Is it not the same doctrine and spirit
which embittered the life of Turget ? Is it not a doctrine and a
spirit such as this which consigned Galileo to the dungeons of the
Inquisition ? Is it not a doctrine and a spirit such as this which
have at all times been at work to stay public advancement, and to
roll back the title ut civilization ?---a doctrine and a spirit actuating
little minds, who, incapable of reaching the heights from which
alone extended views of human nature can be taken, console and
revenge themselves by calumniating and misrepresenting those
who have toiled to those heights for the advantage of mankind•."
This N language worthy of a British Minister in the nineteenth
century.
• Speech on the subject of the Silk Trade, 24th Feb. 1/126.