The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-18 00:00:00

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[ PRICE SD.

21 years of age; of having been engaged during four years
in the acquirement of professional knowledge ; of having
studied practical pharmacy during six months; of having
attended at a recognized hospital or hospitals in the united
kingdom the practice of physic during one winter and one
summer Season ;of having attended, during three winter
and two summer sessions, the practice of surgery at a re-
cognized hospital or hospitals in the united kingdom ; of
having studied anatomy and physiology by attendance on
lectures and demonstrations, and by dissections ; of having
attended lectures on the principles and practice of surgery;
of having attended lectures on materia medica, and lec-
tures on midwifery ; and of having attended a course of
lectures on the practice of physic and chemistry. (Hear,
hear.) In addition to this the regulations of the Admiralty
with reference to the admission of candidates forithe office
(as it was called) of naval surgeon were stringent in the
extreme. Among other things, they provided that no
person should be admitted as an assistant-surgeon in the
Royal navy who should not produce a certificate from one
of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England, Edinburgh,
or Dublin, or from the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons
of Glasgow, of his fitness for that office ; nor, as a surgeon,
unless he should produce a diploma, or certificate, from
one of the said Royal colleges or faculty, founded on an ex-
amination to be passed subsequently to his appoint-
ment of assistant-surgeon, as to his fitness for the situation
of surgeon in the navy ; and in every case the candidate
producing such certificate or diploma was to undergo a
further examination, touching his qualifications in all the
necessary branches and points of medicine and surgery for
each of the steps in the naval medical service. Previously
also to the admission of assistant-surgeo proof into
having re the navy,
it is required that they shall produce
1 ceived a preliminary classical education, and that they
of -
' possess, an particular, a competent knowledge_ of Latin;
' also., thatAey are of moral tharacter, the ciertificate,
of which baust be signed by the clergyman of the parish,
or by a magistrate of the district ; that they have served
an apprenticeship, or have been engaged for not less than
six months in practical pharmacy ' • that their age be not
leas than 20 years, nor more than 26 years ; and that they
are unmarried ; that they have actually attended a hos-
pital in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Glasgow, Aberdeen,
Manchester, or Bristol, for 18 months subsequently to the
age of 18, in which hospitals the average number of patients
is not less than 100 ; that they have been engaged in
actual dissections of the human body 12 months, the cer-
tificate of which from the teacher must state the number
of subjects or parts dissected by the candidate ; that they
have attended lectures, &c., at established schools of emi-
nence, physicians or surgeons of the recognized Colleges of
Physicians and Surgeons, in the united kingdom. In ad-
dition to the tickets for the lectures, certificates must be
produced from the professors, &c., by whom the lectures
were given, stating the periods (in months) actually at-
tended by the candidates. The time also of actual attend-
ance at a hospital or infirmary must be certified ; and the
tickets as well as certificates of attendance, age, moral
character, &c., must be produced by the candidate previ 1
ously to his examination. Although the above were the
only qualifications which were absolutely required in 1
candidates for the appointment of assistant-surgeon,
a favourable consideration was given to the cases of
those who had obtained the degree of M.D. at either
of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edin-
burgh, Dublin, Glasgow, London, or Aberdeen ; or
who, by possessing a knowledge of diseases of the eye,
and of any branch of science connected with the pro-
fession, such as medical jurisprudence, natural history,
natural philosophy, &c., appear to be more peculiarly
eligible for admission iota the service. By the rules of thu
service no assistant-surgeon could be promoted to the rank
of surgeon until he should have served three years (one year
of which must be in a ship actually employed at sea), and
could produce a diploma from one of the before-mentioned
Royal colleges or the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons.
(Hear, hear.) By these Admiralty regulations, then,these
assistant-surgeons were required to be men of excellent
education, of intelligence and industry ; and, after having
passed a strict examination before the College of Surgeons,
or before the board appointed by the Admiralty, they had
the great advantage of being allowed to go on board one
of her Majesty's ships, and of being turned down into the
cockpit among young men, no doubt, of gentlemanly habits,
but not of the ago nor the pursuits which fitted them to be
associates of medical men. Ho had recently received
a letter from one of those sufferers, detailing the
annoyance of the daily life of one of the junior
assistant-surgeons which he would read to the house :
"The naval assistant-surgeon is messed with the midship-
men, and dependent on their society, being totally excluded
for the first three years of servitude from the lieutenants'
mess, of which the chief engineer, chaplain, naval instructor,
and second lieutenant of Marines, an ensign in the army, are
members at once. He is denied a cabin, which is accorded
to the carpenter, gunner, and boatswain. His hammock
having been unslung from its position in the dark close cock-
pit, in common with the midshipmen (boys of from 12 to 18
years of age), at half-past 6 or 7 o'clock, he next proceeds to
make his toilet and wash upon his sea-chest ja multum in
. . .

.
parvo of a certain regulation. size, supposed by Admiralty
order to contain all the equipments of the medical officer,
uniform, books, instruments, &c.) Those operations in ships
of the line he has to perform in the presence of the midship-
men and others of his mess, and in smaller vessels frequently

under the gaze of the whole crew. After this comes his
morning duty, in the details of which, in all except ships
of the line, he is subjected also to the scrutiny of
the crew. Then comes breakfast hi a small confined
-datite; berth, among thoughtless wild boys, varying iu
number from eight to 25, not at any time peculiarly observant
of etiquette. (A laugh.) Between visiting his sick, reports,
and walking the deck (for read he might as well in bear-
garden "—I once attempted it, but was glad to recover my
books, denuded of their covers and titlepages), he kills his
time till noon, the service dinner hour for the men and
young gentlemen,' in which category is ranked the assistant-
surgeon. In like manner is spent the day till o'clock, when
the hammocks are piped' down by the boatswain, the lights
Put out for the crew and midshipmen, after which the
wretched assistant-surgeon, having been accustomed to a life
replete with reading, intellectual research, and social improving
converse, now disgusted and disheartened, climbs into his
hammock to reflect (until he finds himself cut down' and
his head bumping against the dock—the facetious trick of
some wanton midshipman-messmate)—(laughter) —to reflect
on the little chance he has had during the day of doing good
for himself or fellows, debarred as he is by his false position
from the society of the wardroom officers, his more fitting
equals, with whom at least he could interchange ideas, in
consequence of his age and education."
In the debate of 1851) he observed that a benevolent Lord
of the Admiralty of the time stated that it was absolutely
necessary that the junior assistant-surgeons should serve a
three-year apprenticeship in this way—that they should
not be admitted into the wardroom until after a three-
years' probation of that description. And why not?
Was it that they were unfit to associate with the ward-
room officers ? If such were the opinion of the Lords of
the Admiralty, it certainly was not that of the navy—at
least to judge from the conduct of the officers of one of her
Majesty's ships, who had recently taken the easistant-sur-
geon on board their vessel by the hand and invited him to
join their mess, thus placing him in his proper position.
One very important part of the question was the low po-
sition in which assistant-surgeons in the navy were placed
as contrasted with assistant-surgeons in the army. Part of
our army was about to be sent abroad, and if any regiments
wore embarked on board her Majesty's ships it would not
be very pleasant for the officers of either service to find
that, while the assistant-surgeon of the vessel was put
down in the cockpit among the young midshipmen,
his equal in rank—the military assistant-surgeon—would
mess, as a matter of course, with the other officers, his
equals and associates, and, perhaps, even with the captain.
In 1850 a resolution was passed highly honourable to the
house, but which h Al not been properly carried out by the
Admiralty. The Lords of the Admiralty sent out a gene-
ral order that the assistant-surgeons should have a cabin,
whenever it was practicable—a saving clause which was a
cover for the greatest neglect and indifference. Of course
it was all very well for the Admiralty to come forward
now and say that while war was impending it would be
impolitic to interfere with the armaments of vessels of
War, and that there was not room enough to give proper
accommodation to the assistant-surgeons ; but since the
resolution alluded to had been passed by the House of
Commons cabins had been girt n to four or five officers,
while nothing had been done for the class whose cause he
was now supporting. He was told, too, that on a recent
occasion, when a vessel of war was fitted out to convey a
noble lord who had been sent on a scientific mission, a
cabin was allotted to his valet-de-charnbre—(laughter)--
notwithstanding the want of space to find proper accom-
modation for assistant-surgeons ; nay, more, that, on the
same occasion, the ladies'-maid had been furnished also
with a cabin. (Laughter.) Now, in point of humanity,
the assistant-surgeons were the very persons whose accom-
modation ought to be attended to ; for, if they had good
surgery, they would save a great many men, and it was the
interest, therefore, of the navy to place the assistant-sur-
geons in such a position as to secure the best possible sur-
gical assistance. (Cries of " Question.") No doubt hon.
gentlemen were anxious to get to the Eastern question,
but this, he contended, was part of the Eastern question,
as effecting deeply the efficiency of our navy, on which the
ultimate 'success of all our operations must depend.
Admiral BERKELEY thought the House of Commonr!
just eat
viwaese,nwothih thee wfitere heplaceet left
odfet tob thtete Admiraltyhe details ofttehde
bad nireaul seen.
He was sorry that the hon. gentleman who
have been imposed upon by sue
the writer of that
had read to the house. In the first place,
rgeons messed in the
down had shown so little knowhleadretotefrteshethsuebtjwechticahs
he
ergees theree ea
being
letter stated that the assistantot-su
Which he had to answer
cock-pit with the midshipmen,
in the cockpit. Next,
that in no one ship
"ndoinstruments in a box, the size
of to keep books a
by the Admiralty, he could e
'awssnsisavytanwt-as
gentleman that this assertion was altogether with-
the hon. gen i n her
to
the
et y
• Their books and instruments were kept iu
out foundation.
of which was regulated. ,
the sick-bay, which, if he chose here to
go, was the proper
place for the assistant-surgeon to go if he wished to read
and study without interruption. Whoever had written
that letter to the hon. gentlemen had imposed on him most
grievously. The hon. gentleman next said that, since this
subject was started, cabins had been allotted to other
officers, but that was not the case, for no cabins whatever
had been allotted to any other officers since that time.
With regard to the next allegation about the valet-de-
a special f
complainr gatmehavingthat
heae tu a; bnheouebtul
esfiultorterelday, Ostllleintetthoionenoa.
chambre, he supposed that the hon. gentleman alluded to
oou
anb
coulden m
pa na
notoenf u al
convey
ig laeat ienn
errand, should have
a cabin allottedto him for his servants.
Then carne the greatest enormity of all—that a ladies'-
maid had been accommodated with a cabin ' and all that
he could say to that was, that he should very much liked
to have seen the hon. gentleman helping the ladies'-maid
into a hammock. (Laughter.) He could assure the hon.
gentleman that no man had a greater anxiety than himself
that the assistant surg•eons of the navy should be properly
accommodated, and as the hon. gentleman had mentioned
au instance, without giving the name of the ship, where
the wardroom officers hat invited the assistant-surgeons to
their mess, he would only answer to the hon. gentleman
that instances had come to his own knowledge where as-
sistant-surgeons hadexcused themselves from messing with
the wardroom officers on the ground of its being too expen-
sive. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. NAPIER said that many of these assistant-surgeons
were constituents of his, having been educated at the uni-
versity which he represented, and he was bound to say
that the communications which he had received from them
on the subject of their treatment agreed in substance, though
not to its full extent, with the account which had been road

by the hon. gt
pusitiou were

Consideration;

complaint th,.
without delay.
Mr. HUMP. observed that he had himseldierved .4.3 a
surgeon on' board a ship, and he was therefore capable of
appreciating the merits of the question now before the
house. The whole matter appeared to him to lie in a nut-
shell, being merely whether the seamen of this country
were to be placed in a similar
_position to the armyrespect-
ing medical attendance. (Hear.) With regard to the
gentlemen accepting situations in the naval service,- he re-
marked that, generally speaking, no men would enter the
navy who could find employment elsewhere, in consequence
of the inconvenience, to which they were subjected. The
matter must, however, rest with the Admiralty, though
he believed, if the Lords of the Admiralty properly con-
sidered the question, ample and proper accommodation
might be found for gentlemen of the medical profession. •
He believed that half the accommodation given to the cap-
tain of a vessel might be cut off without any great incon-
venience resulting, and appropriated to the use of the
medical gentlemen employed in the naval service, (Hear.)
Mr. STAFFORD protested against the observations of
the hon. member for Montrose with respect to the medical
gentlemen employed in her Majesty's navy being gentle-
men who could not obtain employment elsewhere. (Hear.)
The motion of hishon. and gallant friend (Colonel Boldero)
was one which he considered attached some censure to the
board with which he (Mr. Stafford) had been connected,
but he entirely agreed with what had fallen from the First
Lord of the Admiralty (Sir J. Graham), namely, that the
members of the late board had done everything in their
power to ameliorate the condition of the service. (Hear.)
, Mr. BRADY commented upon the position occupied by
a medical man on board one of her Majesty's ships. The
first-class medical man might rise in his profession, but the
assistant-surgeon could not, and he contended that great
injustice was done to the country and to the naval service
by the regulations now adopted. He was perfectly satis.
fled that, unless some alteration was made in the regulations,
the naval service could not be as effective as it would other-
wise be. He believed that the assistant-surgeons employed
in the navy were so situated that they were not only de-
graded in a social and professional point of view, but they
weSe not afforded those opportunities of cultivating their
profession which they ought to have. He argued that it
was of the greatest importance that the medical profession
in the navy should be sustained and supported by the Go-
vernment ; as he believed that incompetent persons might
otherwise be appointed, and that the greatest injwartight
consequently be inflicted upon the service. As one of the
representatives of the people, he held that Parliament
should at once take the question into serious consideration
and fix it on a better_ basis tkan that upon which it now
stood.

Mr. COWPER said the regulations of the Admiralty
were well known, and assistant-surgeons applying for ad-
mission into the navy were perfectly acquainted with
them. Those who disagreed with the regulations in force
had nothing to do but retire and employ their services in
another direction ; for, whatever the pressgang might
have been, it could not be said to apply to the existing
service, the assistance of persons of high medical skill and
position being always obtained. The hon. member for
Greenwich (Mr. M. Chambers) had endeavoured to show
that young men belonging to the medical profession had
to undergo great hardship. Of course they underwent
hardship if they went to sea, and it was entirely out of
the power of the house to prevent them, in that case, from
being exposed to very great inconvenience. (Hear, hear.)
In fact, he saw no power the house could possibly possess
of preventing assistant-surgeons from undergoing the hard-
ships to which other young men in the service were sub-
jected. If advantages were given to assistant-surgeons
which they did not now possess, those advantages must be
taken from the accommodation suppled to the men, and
he did not think the house would feel inclined to give as-
sistant-surgeons increased accommodation at the expense
of the proper working of the ships in her Majesty's service.
He disagreed from the belief expressed by an hon. member
who had already spoken, that accommodation could be
taken from that at present allotted to the captains in the
,ervice, and he considered that if any space on board ship
were appropriated to the assistant-surgeons, it could come
iron no other source than the space allotted tothe common
seamen. Tha Lords of the Admiralty were animated by
an earnest desire to make the service as agreeable as pos-
sible to gentlemen of the medical profession, and, gene-
rally speaking, he believed members of the medical profes-
sion were perfectly satisfied with their present position.
Captain SCOBELL thought that as this was a question
of detail relating to the naval service, it would be exceed-
ingly unwise for the house to set a bad precedent in taking
out of the hands of the Admiralty arrangements of such a
nature as those which had been discussed. The medical

profession in the navy had been compared with that of the
army, but he believed the comparison was an improper
one, inasmuch as in the army plenty of space could at all
times be procured, while in the navy a limit must necessa-
rily be fixed upon it. If assistant-surgeons in the navy
were put to mess with persons who were not gentlemen,
he could then fully understand the arguments which had
been put forward ; but the fact in reality was, that they

messed with the mates and masters' assistants, who were
young gentlemen of the a'amo position as themselves. It
was absolutely impracticable in all ships in the service to
carry out the plan suggested for the adoption of the house,
and if it could not be carried out universally, it would be
much better not to adopt it at all. It might certainly be
carried out in guard-ships, and in ships in harbour ; but,
speaking from experience, he was perfectly convinced it
could not be carried out universally throughout the service.
In the majority of ships there,were already too many ca-
bins, and it was a most unfitting moment in a time of war
to attempt to increase the accommodation on board ship.
If the privilege of admission into the cabin were granted
to assistant-snngeons, he felt there were other persons
equally entitled who would at once put forward their pre-
tensions to the same rights. (Hear.)
_ _

The house then divided ; the numbers were--
For going into committee
For Colonel Boldero's motion
Majority

216
... 101
. -1.12

WAR WITH ttILSSIA.

Sir H. WILLOUGHBY and Mr. LAYARD rose nearly at
the same moment. There were loud calls for the latter
gentleman, upon which the hon. baronet said he had in-
tended to call the attention of the house to the circum-
stances connected with the destruction of the Ottoman
fleet at Sinope, but, as this was only a branch of the ques-
tion, he was ready to give way to the hon. gentleman, who
proposed to bring the whole question before the house.
(Cheers.)
The SPEAKER said that, as the hon. baronet's motion

stood first on the paper, it would have taken precedence of
that of the hon. gentleman (Mr. Layard) if the resolution
upon which the house had just divided had not been nega-
tived. As it was, the member who first rose (Mr. Layard)
was entitled to address the house.

Mr. LAY ARD—Sir, in pursuance of the notice I have
given, I now rise to call the attention of the house to the
present state of the relations of this country with Russia
and Turkey, and I humbly conceive that there can be no
time more opportune than the present for bringing under
the notice of the house this momentous subject. Sir, you
are called upon to leave the chair in order that we may
proceed to consider the navy estimates, and we are invited
to make very considerable additions to our naval forces,
and to vote extraordinary sums to meet certain extraor-
dinary contingencies, which, if they mean anything, can
mean nothing less than war. (Hear.) It may appear
!lateral, and I may almost say it is the duty of the Govern-
ment to state to the house, before we agree to make these
advances, what their intentions are, and to place distinctly
liefore the country the position in which we now stand.
( Hear, hear.) And it is the more necessary that this
should be done at the present moment, for, owing to the
extraordinary reserve, to use no stronger term, on the part
the Government, we are at a loss to know how we really
do stand. (Hear, hear.) I trust, however, that these
doubts will now be cleared up. But, before I ask the Go-
vernment what they are about to do, I have ano-
ther duty to perform. I wish to see what they have
already done. I know how unpalatable it always is to
refer to blue-books, with regard to which a singular state
of things exists. If an independent member asks for any
information from the Government, or seeks for any
explanation which it may not suit the Government
to give, he is told that it would be better not to discuss
such a matter piecemeal, but to wait until the blue
books are published, when he would see the papers alto-
gether, and when he would be able to discuss the subject
with a full knowledge of all the facts. Bat when the blue-
books are published, which they generally are about
six
months afterwards, and when the interest of the subject
is
somewhat faded—(hear)—he is told that the time is past
for adverting to the subject—that bygones must be bygones
—that it is not well to rip up old sores, and that it will be
better to let matters remain as they are. Now,o that may
be very well under ordinary
circum . ees there are
occasions, like the present, when it the duty of the house
to have at least one discussion on the subject—(hear)—and
to have a proper interpretation put upon the blue-books.
The house will then be able to see whether and how far the
vacillation of the Government may have brought us into
the scrape in which we now find ourselves. (Cheers.) The
house will also see how
i far the past conduct of the Govern-
ment may warrant us n placing confidence in them for the
future. (Cheers.) My duties upon the present occasion
threefold,—first, to the country ; secondly, to the houseem-
end, thirdly, to myself ;—to the country and to this hos;
because during last session I deferred to the wishes of the
. 0
Government to postpone the explanationb which I thep, be-
lieved, and still believe, would have eeedn of. very consider-
able. importance, and ould have a
duustintao
mettelifposi-
tion than that in which we nowaLae-
sonally, because last session I wished, from no idle desire
to bring myself into notice, to ask for explanations which I
believed to be most essential to the interests of the public
service. Ido not propose to go into the blue-books to any
great extent, and if I do advert to the proceedings of the
Government, it will be with all the impartiality in my
power, and with no wish to make a factious opposition to
the Government—(hear, hear)--although I am aware that
such motives are aften attributed to the younger members
of this house. All I wish is to show that if we had adopted
a more straightforward policy we should not have been in
our present position. (Cheers from the Opposition.) I said
last year that if the Government had adopted a tone more
worthy of this country they would not have been plunged
into the difficulties that then surrounded the question.
(Cheers.) I have seen no reason to change that opinion
I have gone through the blue-books carefully, and have
given as much attention as most members to the question,
and, with every desire to give the Government the benefit
of every excuse I could make, I have since seen no reason
to change my opinion. What was the state of things last
year? Why, as early as the winter of last year the Go-
vernavent was aware from numerous soniceethttt the Rus-
sian Government was beyond a doubt making vast arma-
ments both by sea and by land. I will not enter upon the
question which arose between the French and Russian am-
b issailors at Constantinople. I agree in the propriety of
the instructions given by our Government—that with this
question we bad nothing to do. But surely, when we saw
a great Power like Russia arming itself for a great contest,
it cease to be a question of detail, and we were called upon
to :Pk the house the reason and the cause
.of these arma-
ments. (Cheers.) I beg to call the attention of the house
to three points—the military preparations of Russia, the
naval preparations of Russia, and to the .statements made
by the Russian Government, agents,throeuagrh.)thetFrrorate 6th and her
to
Majesty's Government. (Hear, hear.)
7th of January in last year—and these ese dates are important
—Sir H. Seymour informed Lort J.
Russell, v.ehe then
held the seals of the Foreignoffice, t the Russian army
had received orders to march to the frontiers of the Danu-
bian Principalities without waiting for their reserves ; and
on the 20te of January Lord Cowley wrote to the noble
lord to say titthe French Government had received
similar information of the military preparations made by

011
•
•
.•.-
„.-
:entleman. He was sure that In their
e entitled to receive from the Admiralty every
U, and he trusted that wfiatever subject of •
Ley had would be atteudecrt2,nd remedied.
7.
_ _ _ _