The Sun.
London, England, 1831-06-24 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES

SIR,-Presurning the cholera morbus, which is making
such dreadful ravages in the north of Europe, is the same
as that epidemic cholera incident to India, I take upon me
to assert, through your widely-circulating Journal, in cor-
roboration of the statement made by the Medical Boat d at
Riga, that it is not infectious. I have witnessed the break-
ing out of this dangerous disease, and attended the patients
affected by it in two European regiments stationed in
India. I never had any orders from my senior officers to
keep the cholera cases from the rest of the patients in the
hospitals ; and surely they would have given them, if they
had not been convinced by long experience that it was not
infectious, even by actual contact. The first time that I
saw this dangerous disease was up the country, during the
cool months, at a station considered very salubrious. It
then rapidly destroyed several very healthy-looking soldiers.
The second time was at Bombay, in 1828, just before the
Monsoon, when many of his Majesty's 6th Regiment,
and also of the Hon. East India Company's Ist European
Infantry, fell sacrifices to this scourge.
The remote cause of cholera morbus is, and I fear ever
will be, enveloped in mystery ; yet I presume it is some
baneful matter with which the atmosphere is impreg-
nated, and which may be an exhalation from the earth.
One would imagine it cause in a concentrated state, for the
first cases are always most vio'ent, and, indeed, generally
prove fatal, while towards its decline the symptoms are
milder, and modified in appearance. The immediate
effects of cholera on the human body, is a great determi-
nation of blood to the whole course of the alimentary canal,
which generally causes a deadly effect on the whole nerv-
ous system, and brings on a train of symptoms so well
known in India. Those who h lye seen the peculiar and
amazing quantity of fluid poured into the intestines by
those innumerable secreting vessels, the excessive sickness,
the painful cramps, the sensation of heat in the abdomen,
the constant thirst, the restlessness, the marked appearance
of the countenance and fingers, the feeble slow pulse, the
prostration of strength, the cold clammy perspiration,
the peculiar expirations, and state of the blood, will
never forget a cholera case. I was much gratified to find
that the medical gentlemen in Russia had adopted a similar
plan of treatment in principle to the one I advised in- India.
I argued that if I could bring on re-action, determine the
circulation to the skin, and cause that membrane to secrete
naturally—that is, if I could make my patient perspire
copiously, and feel hot—l had every chance of saving him,
What I advised was to put the patient into a very hot bath,
as hot as could be endured, and giving small doses of diffu.
Bible stimuli, such as brandy, ammonia, &c. 1 once gave
an emetic after taking my patient out of the hot bath, and
with a most beneficial effect, as it caused him to break out
into hot perspiration. After you have quieted the derange-
ment of the vascular and nervous systems, aperients ought
to be given. Some constitutions are more susceptible to
cholet'a than others. There are many predisposing causes
—want of cleanlimss, improper diet, and, I would say, a
most formidable one is fear, or enervated spirits. As an

instance of this, 1 attended the wife of a recruit, who

gave birth to a fine child. S-e was doing very well after
four or five days, when the child died of cholera. The
poor father attended the funeral of his child, and the same
evening he and his wife were seized with the same dire dis-
ease and expired early next day without knowing of each
other's indisposition. I cannot imagine that cholera
11101 bus can be communicated to this country by means of
merchandise, &c., when the Abercrombie Robinson, and
many other vessels, having had the disease on hoard, were
allowed to enter the ports of Sincapore and China without
having been put under quarantine, and even the natives of
each place had free intercourse with all on board.
J. B.,tMember of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Oak-hill, Tunbridge, June IS.

Remarks have been made in most of the
public journals upon the harsh proceeding of committing
a prosecutor, and he a foreigner to prison, together with
the thief who robbed him, while most, if not all, the
writers who have alluded to the subject, treat it as legal.
—The truth, however, is, that such a commitment is
altogether illegal and unwarrantable. The party in ques-
tion twing capable of becoming bound in recognizance to
appear and prosecute, the Magistrate had only to take that
course with him, and it was only on forfeiture of that
undertaking that any penal consequences could attach

to him.
NEW NOVELS, BY DISTINGUISHED WRI.
TEES, just published by Messrs. COLEUEN and BENTLEY,
and may be had of all Boooksellers. :-1. Jacqueline of
Holland, by the author of ‘• The Heire.s of Bruges;"
3 vols. post bi " A story of intense intere:A,"—
Courier. 2. Philip Augustus, by the author of "De
L'Orme," " Darnley," &c. ; 3 vols. post Bvo. " These
volumes will well repay the perusal."—Literary Gazette.
3. Pin Money, by the authoress of " Women as They
Are ;" 3 vols. " A novel of extraordinary merit."—
Mornitty Post. 4. Bogle Corbet ; or, The Emigrants,
by the author of " Laurie Todd," &c. ; 3 vols. " The
work of a great and original mind,"—Examiner. 5. Mo-
thers and Daughters, a Tale of the Year 1830 ; second
edition. " One of the most successful sketches of the
manners and morals of high life."— Westminster Review.
6. Paris and London, by the author of " The Exiitu-
sites," " The Castilian," ; 3 vols. •
The excise Office has issued an order desirhig
various officers to take notice " that cider, being a manufae
tured article, is liable, being sold by auction, to the aucti,.ll
duty, and must be charged with that duty accordingly."

POLAND—ENGLAND-A:RANCE.
To-day we hear it whispired.thatal4 Cf:& and. French
?:,oaoinvaecniedn,dmiapenindotnstjlahitaaitclyrittitelletpd44eiketndetviiriogi.4ilk.tiattefi-erttsv.amtifoinrae-f,
'tostile and decided shoiild. it.bi.neeessory; el,t,d4h an
independent and powerfullingdom. If I had tint bid this
,theeriny, intelligence communicated to me by on whom
I believe evet y reliance may be placedi.l. should not dare to
repeat it. At the same time, lam assured that the affairs
at Belgium have alone prevented this step. from being taken
at an earlier period, and that there is every prospect of an
amicable arrangement of the Belgian revolution ; we may
expect some decided measures on the part of France and
Great Britain in the beginning of the ensuing month. So
far good. I pray most sincerely that we may not be dis-
appointed in these our just hopes, and that the Poles may
riot have much longer to contend alone, for the liberty and
happiness of all Europe, against the armies of the Czar.
But I have another motive, and that a distinct one, in
referring to this subject. It is this—to announce as a fact
that the Poles will make no concessions—will come to no
terms with the Autocrat of the North—will cede to Russia
no portion of ancient Poland—will acknowledge no S-..-
zerainete—Will pay no annual tribute to the Emperor as
the purchase-money of their independence—will accept of uo
Constitution from the Court of St. Petersburgh—will
olmit of no half-and-•half arrangements, which are so
papular with weak men, and so espoused by those who do
not care fitr liberty, or nationality, or honour. It will be
of no use for the London Protocolists to propose to the
heroes of Warsaw that they should detach their cause from
that of Lithuani Volhynia, the Ukraine, and Podolia.--
If the inhabitants of those provinces are resolved upon
uniting themselves to Russian Poland, the brave descend-
•ants of Kosciusko will not refuse them, but will open their
arms to receive them. The Poles do not desire to force an

anion, or even to urge it, against the wishes of the inha-
bitants of those provinces ; because they better understand
the nature of the human mind, and the fueling, uf the
human heart. -Dui irthose revolutions be national (and
they are so)—if all the Poles desire to unite themselve s
together, to form one compact and formidable nation, the
Polish Government will not listen for a moment to any
proposition,' which shall tend to sacrifice Lithuania and
Volhynia, in order to secure the independence:of Russian
Poland or the Duchy of Warsaw. I pray you, therefore,
and through your columns I pray the other Journalists of
Europe, to look at this Polish question full in the face, and
not to conceal from yourself or your readers its importance
and magnitude. It is no longer a qttestien of whether
Warsaw shall be taken by Diebitsch, or shall remain
the seat of the Polish Provisional Government—
but whether the vast power of Russia, so barbarous, so
enslaved and enslaving, so gigantic and yet so cruel, so
formidable and yet ma despised, so dangerous anti menac-
ing, shall be reduced to more moderate proportions—shall,
be counterpoised by the erection of a powerful anti inde-
pendent State—and shall no longer be able to disturb the
peace and harmony which, but for Russia, might be per-
manent and general. To Great Britain this is an immense
question; as well to Great Britain in Europe as to Great
Britain in Asia. To France---liberal and constitutional
France—it is of overwhelming importance. France does
not, and ought not, to wish to extend her dominions either
into Prussia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, or Spain. But
France wishes to be free from menaces, from insults, from
threat., from attacks either immediate or distant on the
parts of Russia or Prussia. The true way to avoid thia is
to assure to Poland her independence. But then it must
be powerful, wit!: a sufficient population, with formidable
and well defended frontiers ; anti with the means of exist-
ence within itself, independent alike of Russia and the
world. And here allow me to touch a subject which I
approach with great delicacy, but which must not be lost
sight of. Part of ancient Poland now belongs to Prussia,
and part to Austria: The Poles in Prussia are undoubt-
edly happy. The Government has been paternal, and
bas taken considerable pains to secure to itself the
loyalty of its Palish subjecrs. Nearly, though not quite
as much may be said of the Poles in Austria. They are less
happy than the Prussian Poles, but they are ten thousand
times more satisfied than the inhabitants of Volhynia and
Lithuania. Well, what are we to do with Austrian and
Prussian Poland ? Shall we tear them away from Ansti is
and Prussia, and unite them by force to the Russian pro-
vinces of Poland? I cannot answer this question in the
affirmative; but, on the contrary, 1 am disposed to say
no! And I will tell you why. If we have a right to
tear away a province from Austria to unite to Poland,
though the people have not revolted, or manifested any
desire for the union, then tyrants have a right to divide
Poland-, and annex portions of its territory to their re-
spective dominions. The doctrine of the sovereignty of
the people decides all this, and that with justice and wis-
dom. That doctrine is this—What do the people say?
And the answer is this—the Prussian Poles have not
evinced any disposition to revolt, and the Austrian Poles
are, on the whole, content. Should subsequent events
demonstrate that either of these people demand their re-
union to'ancient Poland, when those events shall arise we
must meet them with honesty, and decide on them with
justice. But till then, we have only to do with Russian
Poland, and the Russian ancient Polish provinces in re-
volt. If united into one kingdom, they will be sufficiently
powerful both to oppose Russia, defend Austria, preserve
peace, and maintain the balance of power. Well, then,
let us not he beaten from this point. Let us stimulate our
respective Governments even to war, if necessary, to tie-
cure this great treasure—this real settlement of Europe;
and thus France and Great Britain will prove that the
time is now come, " when they shall justify the order of
the universe, and show themselves calculated for the pur-
pose of friendly intercourse, and mutual, and general bene-
volence."

•
France will do something for Poland ! You may be
sure of this! The Sun is perfectly right when it says
that Louis Philip is not made for the age in which he lives.
He is kind-hearted, amiable, and even p itriotic. But he
has not a master mind, nor the spirit of one who should
direct and not be guided by public opinion. Louis Philip
loves liberty, but it is the liberty of the Restoration—of a
good honest Bourgeois, who has been accustomed to live at
Neuilly and the Palais Royal in ease and affluence as the
Duke of Orleans, and who cannot understand why now h:
is K;ng be cannot be quite as quiet as when he was Duke.
So Louis Philip is afraid of stirring for the Poles, lest he
should be denounced by the Kings and Emperors of Europe
as a friend to revolutions—and yet, believe me, when I
tell you France will do something for Poland ! Ido not
pretend to have the gift of prophesying any more than that
I understand all mysteries, but I will take upon myself to
say one thing, that if Poland should be crushed by Russian
armies, and Warsaw fall into the hands of Paskcwitsch,
the new Russian General.in-Chief, Louis Philip would
be driven from the throne of France, and a revolution
would then commence, which must l.ad to universal and
long protracted warfire. France will do something for
Poland.-211ornifly Chronicle. O. P. Q.

DI VI NG.—Considerable curiosity was excited
some days since by an announcement that Mr. DEA N was
to descend from the Venus steam-packet to the bottom of
a part of the river. The descent took place on Tuesday.
from a boat moored off Sheerness Dock-yard, in about 20
feet water, on board of which was the necessary apparatus,
and to which was affixed a ladder of sufficient length to
reach the bottom. Mr. D. being equipped with a dres:,
for the occasion, bad a hood, in shape much like a helmet,
which bad several pieces of glass fixed in it, for him to see
his way, and listened round the body ; a tube at the back
part communicated with the apparatus in the boat, which
supplied him with air. There were two bags of ballast
fixed for the purpose of sinking him. Every thing being
ready the descent down the ladder into the river took
place. Much anxiety was evinced by many for the safety
of the party, but from the cool manner in which he pro-
ceeded, it was evident he was no stranger to such trips;
his progress under water was easily traced by the agitated
state of the surface ; he must have walked many yards
distance about the boat in different directions. After re-
maining under water twentv.five minutes, lie ascended, the
ladder apparently as little affected as if he had only been
walking on land. He was received with cheers by the
company on board the Venus and Albion ; the latter ves-
sel having anchored for the purpose of witnessing this
extraordinary feat. Mr. D. has a patent fur his inven-
tion, and there is not the least doubt that the recovery of
property from a considerable depth would he perfectly
practicable.
lETERESTING HISTORICAL WORKS, &c.
—(Just Published).—The French edition of Boca-
RIENNZ'S Memoirs of BONAPARTE in five volumes, pub-
lished by Messrs. COLBURN and BENTLEY, printed
verbatim trom the latest Paris edition, with many valuable
additions, is acknowledged to be incomparably the best
extant, though only half the price of that printed in Paris.
—Dr. TEOMSON'S History of Chemistry now completed
in two small vols. is the only port.tble and popular history
of this interesting science.—The history of Medicine from
the earliest times, by Dr. HAMILTON, is a work which
every family ought to possess, fur while it gives us hiogra-.
gra-
phical sketches of all the most distinguished professoist
nia"
nature'—itit"t'Orlh'eal„"adel'th:
the Seaions is a work
the
which is
w:tyotut to exclising, the
dthiseealeeialiinugeidaerutt, ittoinhculudes the history of nea,rly_oulol.
delightful companion of all who ere
the metropolis for the halms, brerz,.t
.rooky
°t
the atmospheretime Gelds.