The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-05 00:00:00

PUBLICATIONS.

Elegant pocket edition, price Is., by post Is. 6d.
DR. CULVERWELL ON MARRIAGE,
its HINDRANCES and OBLIGATIONS.
" To be or not to be, that is the question."—Shakspere.
Contents :—On Matrimonial Eligibility and Fitness—Laws of
Paternity—Phenomena of Gestation—On Maternal Influence—On
Infelicitous and unproductive Unions—Curiosities of Medical Experi-
ence, Cases, &c., &c.
Also, companion to the same, price Is by ost Is. 6d.,
CHASTITY; its ABUSES and DISEASES (72p Engravings.)
These two interesting little volumes are not intended for idle or in-
discriminate perusal, but they are earnestly offered to the attentive
consideration of those who may be more legitimately and perhaps
painfldly interested.
Sherwood, 23, Paternoster-row ; Carvalho, 147, eet-street;
Mann, 39, Cornhin ; and all Booksellers, or rom the Author
dir
21, Arundel-street, Strand. At home daily till 2Vtvenings 7 till 9.
9.

The Third Edition, just published, price 55.,
A PRACTICAL TREATISE
on STRICTURE
of the URETHRA ; its
IMPROVED METHOD of TREA.T Causes, Varieties, and Cure ; by AN
ME
by its adoption Urethral Contractions thatN-T , of such efficacy, thathad resisted for periods
varying from ten to twenty years, all the ordinary means of cure,
u
have been :in a few weeks completely and permanently removed.
The mode of cure is illustrated by nmerous cases, showing every
peculiarity incidental to each variety Of stricture to which the
Urethra is liable, and the modifications hi the treatment consequent
thereon.

By F. B. COURTENAY, M.R.C.S.L.
Published and Sold 'by H. B aill i ere, Medical Bookseller, 219, Regent-
street, London; Messrs. Maclachlan, Stewart, and Co., Edinburgh;
W. Strong, Bristol; Hedges and Smith, and Famin and Co., Dublin ;
Simms and Denham, Manchester ; W. Grapel, 141yerpool; and 411
Booksellora in town :ad cowitl76

LETTER to the EARL of . ELLEN-
BOROUGH.
My Dear Lord,—When I associate your Lordship's
acknowledged abilities with the high station which yon
fill, I must have heard with the greatest chagrin and
surprise of your Lordship's recent denunciation of Va-
lentia Harbour, as unsuitable to a packet station. I had
been taught for above twenty years, on what I deemed
the best authorities, to consider it, under all its circum-
stances, the best adapted for that purpose in the king-
dom. In asking permission to tender my humble, but
public remonstrance, against your Lordship's doctrine,
I feel the duty of abstaining from urging a single point
on my own naturally prejudiced and incompetent au-
thority, and to rest altogether on that of others, per-
fectly independent of, and exempt from all local or per-
sonal interest in the question.
Your Lordship is described as having given a prefer-
ence to Cork over Valentia and Bantry.
As by your Lordship's avowal the question has not
been recently before the Admiralty, I am quite ready to
confide, that when it is regularly referred, it will re-
ceive from your able and Honourable Board, that deli-
, berate and impartial investigation which its importance
deserves ; in the meantime, your Lordship has pro-
nounced a decided opinion in favour of Cork, and I am
aware of the serious impression likely to be made on the
public mind by the dictum of the First Lord of the Ad-
miralty. I am much too conversant with the whole of
the subject not to be aware, that if Cork be adopted, the
effect would inevitably be to make it a mere touching
place for an English steamer, to pick up some strag-
gling Irish passengers and mails, if greater rapidity of
conveyance were obtained thereby. Cork is a great
commercial port, with a very beautiful and picturesque
harbour, and favourably circumstanced for intercourse
with England.* It may be also considered one of those
tetes du pont which, by means of steam, in a military
sense, connect Ireland with England. But, that it
should be deemed the most favourable position for inter-
course with the westward (with America for instance),
would seem contrary to all geographical science. It
would also be in conflict with the best authorities,
military and naval.
It would be preposterous to suppose that passengers
would cross from England to Dublin, and thence
by a land journey of 120 miles to Cork, in order to
be exposed to -a coasting passage of seventy miles
of the most dangerous character. It can only
have been thought of on your Lordship's sup-
position, that the west of Ireland is destitute of
harbours for packet stations. I had read in our best
geographers that the glory of Ireland was in its noble
harbours. Why, in looking at the map, the west of
Ireland would seem to abound with harbours. Not to
speak of the great estuaries of Galway and the Shannon
(one of which is just now made a port for East India
goods, and the other containing the head-quarters of
the steam navy on the western coast), is there no har-
bour at Killibegs, nor at Itoundstone, nor at Kilrush,
nor at Valentia, nor at Kilmacalogue, nor at Beret-
haven? Ido earnestly hope, if such a doctrine prevail
at the Admiralty, as that there is no harbour in the west
of Ireland, some of the very able engineers in their ser-
vice may be quickly applied to, to ascertain its validity;
because it appears to me to involve many points seriously
concerning our national security, and the prosperity of
Ireland. But, as the objection is made, not merely to a
particular harbour, but to the entire western coast, it
may be better, first, to consider it in a general point of
view.

In the separate state of England, before the union
took place, the importance of departing from its most
westerly ports for our colonies was fully established. On
that ground, London and Portsmouth were superseded
by Plymouth; and on that ground, and on no other, tke
Government establishment was transferred to Falmouth

(in all respects a very inferior place), because of its
being forty or fifty miles more to the west. On the
same principle of a more westerly position, and on ac-
count of its greater distance from the enemy's coasts,
the dockyard of Pembroke was established at enormous
public expense. As long as the post-office communica-
tions were conducted through Government establish-
ments, the rule of proceeding from the most westerly
ports was inflexibly acted upon. From the moment the
union took place, it was clearly within the spirit of that
measure, and as unquestionably within its policy, that a
packet station for America should be transferred from an
English to an Irish port. If one degree of westing
should entitle Falmouth to defeat Plymouth and the
Admiralty, it is difficult to conceive how the Govern-
ment can have been justified in not availing themselves
of a suitable port five-and-a-half degrees west of Fal-
mouth, so much nearer to America, and saving such an
immense amount of dangerous navigation.
Leaving the claims of other harbours to be sustained
by their respective advocates, many of whom are power-
ful in political influence, of which I possess none, I
must seek the aid of certain independent authorities
in favour of Valentia.

The Protector Cromwell, who, though out of date,
will not be considered obsolete in anything relating to
the maritime interests of England, when he had subdued
the south-west of Ireland, and expelled the Spaniards
from Valentia, established a station there for frigates
and troops, erected forts at the entrances, and placed a
garrison on the island. It is clear that Cromwell con-
sidered Valentia the best position from whence to
defend the western coast against the piracies of the
Spaniards, the enemy of that day.
In 1824, a project was submitted to the Government
for the conveyance of mails and troops from Valentia
to Halifax : it was received with the utmost favour
by the Government, and, under its sanction, an Act
of Parliament was obtained to facilitate the enterprise.
The Duke of York declared himself patron of
the undertaking, and expressed, through his
secretary, Sir H. Taylor, his high gratification at
the advantage to be afforded to the public service
from the quickest and safest conveyance of troops
between the'United Kingdom and our colonies. Lord
Liverpool, then Prime Minister, assured to the company
the conveyance of the mails. A company was formed
at Boston, in 1825, to build steamers to meet those from
Valentia at Halifax. The legislature of Canada, Nova
Scotia, and New Brunswick, granted sums of public
money for co-operation with the proposed company, under
the impression of the great advantage to those colonies
from the rapidity of intercourse with the United King-

* I have before me a letter from Sir PullenVy Malcolm,
commander of the fleet at Cove, on board the Donogal, dated
Sept. 13, 1832, which says, " They talk of Crookhaven
as
competing with Valentia; but although it is more accessible
from England, Valentia is more accessible from tho open
wean." If Sir Malcolm considered Crookhaven too eacterly
for a western packet station, a fortiori Cork, fifty miles fur-
tiler to the oast. . .