The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-09 00:00:00

MEDICAL ADVICE.

J)R. LA'MERT, Registered L.S.A., Honorary
Member of the London Hospital Medical Society, M.D.
Al the University of Erlangen, &c., may be CONSULTED
on all cases of Debility, Nervousness, and on the Secret In
rirmities of Youth and Maturity, from Eleven till Two, and
from Six till Eight, at his residence,

37, BEDFORD-SQUARE, LONDON
Dr. La'Mert has just published, price Sixpence, with nu-
merous Eugravins and Cases, a New Edition of his Work,
SE L F-PRESE EWA T ON,
which will be sent free, in a sealed envelope. by llann, 39
Cornhill, London, or by the Author, for Eight stamps.
CONTENTS.

SECTION 1.-Tile Physiology of the Generative Organs.
SOTION IL-Puberty- -Manhood -The Morale of Genera-
lye Physiolo,ry-True and False Morality.
SECTION 111.-Marriage hl its Moral, Social, and Physical.
Relations-Its Expectancies and Disappointinents-Advau-
tages of Physical Contrasts in sccuring Healthy Offspring.
SECTION IV.-Spermatorrhcea and Impotence-The causes
of Sterility in both Sexes-Self-inflicted Miseries.
SECTION V. -The Vices of Schools-Effects of certain per-
nicious habits on the mental and general faculties.
SECTION VI.-Treatment of Nervous and Generative De-
bility-Impotence and Sterility-Dangerous Results of
various Hazardous Specifics-The Author's Principles of
Treatment ; Medical, Dietetic, and General, derived from
Twenty Years' successful practice'
The above work is intended for the perusal of those who
have in early life been induced to swerve from the strict rules
of morality. In its pages facts of parimount utility are
brought together, wholly divested of tne dehigions and incon-
sistencies so largely introduced into certain quasi medical
publications given to the world gratis, under the guise of
philanthropy, or as " acts of gratitude," by pretended clergy-
men and others, whose tampering; pith the constitution are
treQUOVY f9ll9wed by eerins Q9PectUeMe"..

which this reprehensible practice is carried 1 have
not the means of ascertaining, nor how many of the
vessels named in the list transmitted by Commodore
Wise to the British Admiralty were actually
engaged in the slave trade, or were bona fide
American. As I remaxked, heretofore, to Lord
Napier, there is just ground to believe that nearly,
if not quite all the vessels bearing the American flag
and engaged in this trade, belong to foreigners;
and Commodore Wise, in his account of the capture
of the Rufus Soule, discloses the measures which
may sometimes be resorted to in order to enable a
vessel to maintain a national character to which she
has ceased to have any just claim. That officer
also states that under the American " ensign "
alone is the slave trade now conducted. It is
difficult to reconcile this opinion with some of the
facts he communicates, or, at any rate, with the
charge that the flag of the United States is an im-
munity for the slave-trader, for he reports the
capture of 33 vessels which either did not bear the
American flag or were not protected by it from
seizure ; and of 23 other ♦essels which escaped
capture it does not appear that more than 11 of
them were ascertained to have sailed under the
flag of this country,
But, however this may be, the United States are
not subject to censure under any circumstances,
unless they are justly chargeable with neglect of
duty in not adopting such measures as their posi-
tion fairly requires of them. But they fear no such
accusation. They have made the slave trade a
capital offence, and they assign no inconsiderable
portion of their navy to the duty to its suppression.
The great slave mart of the world is the island of
Cuba, and if this were closed this traffic would at
once be annihilated. The authority of Spain is
firmly established in that island, and her military
force there is quite sufficient to ensure the accom-
plishment of any measure of domestic policy decreed
and seriously desired by the Spanish Government.
It is known that Spain has, by a convention with
Great Britain, and for a pecuniary consideration,
placed herself under obligation to prevent the intro-
duction of slaves into her American possessions. If
this stipulation were fu4filled, the desired object
would be peaceably attained, and all those dange-
rous questions avoided which are sure to present
themselves whenever the fieedom of the seas is in-
terfered with, whatever motive may be assigned
for their proceeding. The United States have en-
gaged by the Ashburton treaty "to unite with
Great Britain in all becoming representations and
remonstrances with anyand all powers within whose
dominions such (slave) markets are allowed to exist,
and that they will urge upon all such powers the
propriety and duty of closing such markets effectu-
ally at once and for ever." Lord Napier inquired,
a few days since, whether this Government
were now willing to give effect to this stipula-
tion by making the necessary represen-
tations and remonstrances to the Govern-
ment of Spain. I assured his lordship that there
would be no hesitation in performing this duty
whenever there may be reason to believe that the
expression of their views by the United States
would produce any favourable effect upon the
action of the Spanish Government, but that the re-
lations of Spain and Great Britain, and especially
the conventional stipulations between them, would
give to the intervention of the latter much more
probability of success than could be anticipated
from the representation of the United States. In
fact, it is difficult to believe that, under existing
circumstances, the Spanish Government would
resist the firm remonstrances of the Government of
Great Britain.

I see no reason why the flag of the United States
should be the only" ensign" of national sovereignty
prostituted by slave dealers, and certainly, as I
have already observed, there is none which can be
justly urged as a reproach against this Government.
The position taken by the United States respect-
ing the immunity of their vessels upon the ocean is
precisely that assumed by France, and both nations
equally deny the claim of visitation, and equally
object to its exercise. A slave trade adventurer
carrying the French colours is no more subject t•
examination by a British cruiser than if he hoisted
the colours of the United States, and in neither
case is it the assumption of the flag which confers
the immunity, but the legal character of the vessel,
agreeably to the principle stated in my letter to
Lord Napier, of April 10, 1858, and which was laid
down by Mr. Webster, by order of the President of
the United States, in a letter to Mr. Everett, then
Minister in London, dated March 28, 1843.
Lord Malmesbury, while referring to the report
of Commodore Wise, depicting the horrors of the
slave trade, considers the circumstances of so fla-
grant a nature as to be " calculated to move the
most prejudicial feelings in regard to the question
of the right of visit, and to urge the most decided
measures for the suppression of proceedings which
must be held to be equivalent to the grossest acts
of piracy."
As to the suffering and loss of life referred to,
they are everywhere known and condemned. The
horrors of the passage can scarcely be described in
more powerful language than has already been em-
ployed in making them known to the world. But
the question of effectual representation presents
grave practical difficulties, and in their considera-
tion it is not alone tho nature of the traffic, but
there are other important circumstances also which
must be taken into view.

I do not understand precisely the bearing of the
remark of Lord Malmesbury that these revolting
cruelties are calculated to move the most prejudiced
feelings in regard to the question of the right of
visit, &c. There is no right of visit except, as Lord
Stowell said, from the belligerent claim. The
forcible visitation :of vessels upon the ocean is
prohibited by the law of nations in time of peace,
and this exemption from foreign jurisdiction is now
recognised by Great Britain, and, it is believed,
by all other commercial powers. Even if the ex-
ercise of a right of visit were essential to the
suppression of the slave trade, whether such a right
should be conceded by one nation to its co-states of
the world, is a question for its own consideration, in-
volving very serious consequences, but which is little
likely to encounter any prejudiced feelings in favour
of the slave trade in its solution, nor to be influenced
by them. But there is just reason to believe that
the value of a right of visitation, as a means of put-
ting an end to this traffic, has been greatly over-
rated. The object of such visitation is to ascertain
the national character of a vessel. If found to be-
long to tl:o same nation as the cruiser making the
visit, and violating its laws, she may be seized. If
belonging to another nation, she must be released,

in whatever employment she may be engaged,
unless, indeed, she may become a pirate, in which
case she is liable to be captured by the naval force
of any civilised power. If the United States main-
tained that by carrying their flag at her mast-head
any vessel becomes thereby entitled to the immunity
which belongs to American vessels, they might well
be reproached with assuming a position which would
go far towards shielding crimes upon the ocean from
punishment. But they advance no such pretension,
while they concede that if, in the honest examina-
tion of a vessel sailing under American colours, but
accompanied by strongly marked suspicious circum-
stances, a mistake is made, and she is found to be
entitled to the flag she bears, but no injury is com-
mitted, and the conduct of the boarding party is
irreproachable, no government would be likely to
make a case thus exceptional in its character a sub-
ject of serious reclamation.
The security against the abule of any such
power is to bo found in., the responsibility of
the nation whose naval force commits an unlaw-
ful act, and in the right of the injured party to
adopt such measures of redress as it may consider
due to the nature of the injury. But, to reverse the
relation of the parties, and to confer upon the ag-
gressor the right to decide when he may exercise
this armed and summary jurisdiction, is improvi-
dently to prostrate one of the barriers of national
defence wisely constructed by the public law of the
world. Whatever guards might be provided by
conventional stipulations against the arbitrary
exercise of such an authority, from its very nature,
and the circumstances attending its exercise, strength
and weakness being brought into contact, and upon
every part of the ocean, " these detentions," in the
words of Mr. Webster, " necessarily lead to serious
inconvenience and injury." " Besides the pecuniary
loss they occasion," he adds with truth, "they too
frequently irritate individuals, cause warm blood,
and produce nothing but ill effects on the amicable
relations existing between the countries." This
Government chooses to reserve the power of judg-
ment to itself, disposed at the same time to deal
fairly with such mistakes as may honestly occur,
but not disposed to convert trespasses into legal
acts by previous conventional arrangements.
Lord Malmesbury expresses the conviction of the
British Government that, equally with themselves,
the Government of the United States will view
with horror the prostitution of thesAmerican flag
to the purposes of the slave trade. The admission
is but an act of justice, though certainly there is
nothing in the principles or position we have main
tained which called for its formal communication

This country was the first among the nations of
the world to make the prosecution of the slave
trade by its citizens a capital offence, and their re-

pugnance to it has ever since been constant, and
constantly avowed. Certainly the Government,
though it is satisfied that the extent to which the
employment of bona fide American vessels in this
trade has been carried has been greatly overrated,
has seen the abuse of its flag with as much aversion
as this crime has inspired in Great Britain, and it is
well persuaded that the British Government has
viewed with as much aversion as the Government
of this country the similar abuse which has hereto-
fore taken place of the British flag. Both of these
nations—all civilised nations indeed—are under
serious obligations to provide for the suppression
of crimes within their jurisdiction, whether upon
the land or the water. But even the sternest legis-
lation and the most vigorous administration cannot
always prevent the commission of crimes, nor in-
sure their punishment, and a nation fully meets its
responsibility when it fairly adapts its measures to
the circumstances in which it is placed, and of these
it must necessarily bo the judge.
Lord Malmesbury assures you that the British
Government believe " that the Government of the
United States will be prepared to vindicate the
honour of its flag by repudiating acts calculated to
lower it in the estimation of eiviliseefnations, and
by taking effectual steps to prevent its being abused

by traffickers in human flesh."
his lordship will not find himself in error in
the expectation that all the duties of the United

States connected with this grave subject will
be fulfilled, nor in the hope he expresses that the
spirit of his communication will not be misunder-

stood. But, while giving these assurances, it is
due to the earnest representation he addresses on
the part of his Government to the Government of
the United States to assure him also that there is
nothing, either in the course of this Government

nor in the abuse of its flag, which calls for this em-
phatic reference to its duties, and this expression
of the hope that these will be performed. There
are high moral considerations which have induced
the United States to prohibit their citizens from

engaging in this employment. Violations of their
laws upon this subject no doubt occasionally take
place, as violations of the criminal laws of all
countries occur from time to time. I presume it
will not be denied that this is a misfortune to

which Great Britain is also sometimes exposed both
upon land and water. But the vindication of her

honour requires no act of repudiation on her part
when such breaches of her laws take place. Nor
does the abuse of the flag of the United States for
the unworthy purpose make this Government re-

sponsible, unless indeed it fails to perform its proper
duties. This it has not done. It has repu-
diated these acts in the most solemn manner, by
declaring them criminal and punishable with
death, and it has not the lest apprehension that
its honour will suffer in the estimation of civilised
nations in consequence of the unlawful prosecution
of the slave trade by its citizens or by foreigners
seeking the protection of its flag. The measures
of repression which it has adopted, and which it is
prepared to render still more efficient, offer satis-
factory proof of its sincerity to all who are disposed
to regard its position in a sprit of justice. And if
it decline to confer upon another nation the police
over its vessels upon the ocean, it is from no
sympathy with this commerce, nor from any desire
that its citizens should pursue it, but from its con-
viction that the freedom of the seas is essential to
the best interests of the world, and that its main-

tenanco is incompatible with any such concession.
And I have reason to believe that the Government
of France, in its general views of this subject, agrees
Goverment of the United
at
substantiallyste.s with the Govern

With a view to stimulate the action of this Go-
vernment, Lord Malmesbury observes that " the
United States have maintained that they are able
and determined to preserve the police of the seas
in so far as the American flag is concerned, and
that, by the treaty of August 9, 1842, with Great
Britain, they have engaged to maintain a force on
the coast •f Africa to control proceedings such as
those which form the subject of this note."
I do not know to what particular declaration,
made on the part of this country, regarding the
police of its vessels upon the ocean, Lord Malmes-
bury refers in the above quotation. But I have no
hestitation in admitting that it expresses the views
of the United States, and it is presumed that it ex-
presses also the views of all other commercial

powers.
By the law of nations every independent state
possesses the exclusive right of police over all per-
sons within its jurisdiction, whether upon its soil
or upon the ocean. And this national
prerogative
can only be interfered with in cases
where acts itsof piracy are committed, which, by the
where
in
vessels
public law of the world, are cognisable by any power
seizing the vessel thus excluded from the common
rights of the ocean. Lord Malmesbury, indeed, re-
marks that these slave trade proceedings " must be
held to be equivalent to the grossest acts of piracy."
But reprehensible as is that traffic it is not

piracy, nor is it equivalent to piracy in any of the
legal consequences which result from if. It is an
offence created by national not by international
law, and is punishable only by the country to which

even at the hazard of being accused of refusing—
to
co-operate in the effort to annihilate this employ-
ment. Such a system of foreign interference might
indeed, sometimes be usefully exercised upon the
ocean in the detection and punishment of crime,
but the additional security thus gained would be
dearly purchased by the sacrifice of an important
element of national independence; and in its prac-
tical operation an immense navy could exercise no
such authority over the commercial marine of other
powers without the commission of aggressions which
could not fail to lead to dangerous consequences.
Nor would such a proposition be rendered more
acceptable by the suggestion made by Commodore
Wise, that the transatlantic slave-dealers will make
vigorous efforts during the coming season, and " if
theyextend their enterprise to the Bights of Benin
and Biafra, farewell to the remunerative and rapidly
increasing trade which is now carried on on that
coast." Whether the object be commercial or phi-
lanthropic, the United States would still be opposed

to the exercise of a foreign jurisdiction over their
vessels.

The report of Commodore Wise, which contains
this expression of apprehension, contains also va-
rious statements respecting the operations upon
the coast of Africa ; but the information in the
possession of this department is not sufficient
to enable me to form a judgment of their correct-
ness. In some important particulars they are at
variance with the reports received from officers of
our African squadron, and I shall therefore request
the Secretary of the Navy to furnish me with copies
of so much of them as relate to these points, and
shall transmit them to you that you may invite the
attention of the Earl of Malmesbury to the subject,
with a view to the adoption of such measures as
will remove all fear of difficulties hereafter. There
is one statement, however, of Commodore Wise,
which calls for immediate consideration. That

officer says that " last year slaves were (in the ma-
jority of cases) captured through their captains
foregoing the protection of the American flag, but.
now American slavers are arriving and sailing with
almost as much impunity as if they were engaged
in legal traffic." That vessels employed in this
traffic too often escape there can be no doubt, but
that they pursue it with as little risk as is here in-
dicated is an obvious error.

Such a denunciation is irreeoncileable with the
presence of a squadron of repression upon the coast,

unless indeed its duties are flagrantly neglected,
and its officers regardless of what they owe to
themselves and their country. It would be a work

of supererogation to defend them from such an
accusation. Their best defence is to be found in

the glory of that navy which they have so success-
fully laboured to build up, and in the high estima-
tion in which they are held by their countrymen.
As to the charge of " foregoing the protection of
the American flag," I presume Commodore Wise

refers to the practice of which I complained in my
letter to Lord Napier of April 10, 1858, by which
the masters of vessels furnished with At

papers were induced by the representations of
British boarding officers to throw their papers over-
board. Why they should do so without being
influenced by threats, or by the hope of escaping
impending punishment, it is difficult, impossible
indeed, to conceive. If a vessel has regular Ameri-

can papers, she is beyond the reach of a British

cruiser, which, in the language of Commodore Wise,

" has no legal right to molest them (her) in any
way." What advantage, then, does she gain by
the loss of her papers, whoso destruction at once

subjects her to capture and to the disposition of the
British naval authorities ? If taken by an American

cruiser the persons found on board such vessel
engaged in the slave trade are liable to the punish-
ment of death, while if they voluntarily subjected
themselves, by the destruction of their papers, to
be arrested by the British naval forces, it is under-
stood to have been the practice to land them upon
the nearest part of the coast, where they were left
free, while the captors were entitled to prize money
for the vessel and her living cargo. The nature of
the inducement held out for this surrender, heretofore
referred to in my letter to Lord Napier of April last,
is indicated by the answer of Commodore Wise to
the inquiry of Lieut. Davidson, of the American
navy, who had asked the Commodore whether,
in the event of his meeting an American slaver,
under American colours, and bearing genuine

pacers, he would use means to induce the cap-
tain to throw his colours and papers overboard.

To which he replied, " Well, I might strain a
point, and tell the captain the Dale was just at
hand." The Dale is an American vessel of war, and
capture by her would subject the offenders to the
extreme punishment provided by the laws of the
United States. By such proceedings, it is not
American protection which is foregone, to use the
expression of Commodore Wise, but American
justice which is defeated. Commodore Wise seems
to be under the impression that this reprehensible
practice is now abandoned.
The information received from our American
squadron justifies a different conclusion ; and, in-
deed, the circumstances attending the capture of
the Rufus Soule in October last, as reported to the
Navy Department, lead to the opinion that some
such means are yet resorted to, and with the same
protection of the criminals against punishment ; for
the crew of that vessel were landed upon that coast
and suffered to depart.

The facts connected with the capture and burn-
ing of the vessel are very differently represented by
the American-and British officers. The proceedings
were attended with circumstances so very repre-
hensible, if not clearly justified by the situation of
the vessel, that I desire, when the reports from the
Navy Department reach you, that you request an
immediate investigation of the transaction, and the
adoption of such measures of redress and prevention
as the state of the case may call for. .

The tenor of some of the remarks in the despatch
of Lord Malmesbury rendered it proper to advert
somewhat in detail to the views he has presented.
That course became necessary in order to redeem the
United States from any misapprehension under which
his lordship might labour ; that their indisposition
to admit any other nation to a participation in the
jurisdiction either preventive or punitive, over their
commerce or navigation, originated in any gm-

tion, and subsequent information has confirmed the
opinion then expressed. In the hope that it may
meet the attention of Lord Malmesbury, and may
lead to a favourable consideration of the proposition,
I transfer to this letter what I then said upon this
subject :

" But other means have been suggested by per-
sons intimately acquainted with the slave coast,
and who have watched the slave trade operations,
and which offer encouraging prospects of success if
adopted. These suggestions relate to the extension
of the free colonial establishments in that:region, so
as to create barriers at the most exposed points, and
also to the construction of small military posts or
block-houses, garrisoned from the acclimated popu-
lation, at or near the places to which the course of
the trade has been directed, and where the means
of interchange may be found."
So far as respects the action of the United States,
no additional legislation is deemed necessary. By
the treaty of Ghent, in 1814, and by the Ash-
burton treaty of 1842, their condemnation of the
slave trade is formally expressed, and its prosecu-
tion has been made a statutory offence, punishable
with death. They have maintained upon the coast
of Africa a larger force, it is believed, in proportion
to the extent of their navy, than any other power,
and this disparity will be still further increased as
soon as the additional measures directed by the
President are carried into effect. These measures
look to the employment of armed steamers upon
the African coast and in the Cuban waters, a de-

scription of force far better adapted than sailing
vessels to the pursuit and capture of the rapid craft
which carry. on this trade. The number of vessels

which may: be detached upon this duty will depend
upon the state of the public service, but it is hoped
that two at least may be ordered to Africa and three

or more to Cuba. The Ashburton treaty requires
that each of the powers parties to it shall maintain
a squadron upon the coast of Africa carrying at least
80 guns ; but if, by mutual consent, the number of
guns were reduced, and small steam vessels substi-
tuted for sailing vessels, the service would be much
more efficiently performed, and the expense not in-
creased.

You are instructed to read this dispatch to Lord
Malmesbury, and should he desire it you may leave
a copy with him.—l am, sir, respectfully, your obe:
dient servant, LEWIS Cass.

George M. Dallas, Esq., &c.

GENERAL POST-OFFICE.

Our remarks upon the state of the General Post-
offiee have already produced an official inquiry into
the condition of that establishment. The Postmas-
ter-General has appointed a " Commission" to inves-
tigate "the working of the Circulation Department,"
and the Commissioners have notified to the officers
of that department that they are ready to receive
from them any suggestions in writing, or any
delegates who may be deputed by any class or sec-
tion for the purpose of direct conference. So far,
so good. The Commission can hardly fail of bearing
a certain amount of truth, but we beg to say that
an inquiry thus instituted and thus conducted will
certainly not satisfy the desires of the public or the
real exigencies of the case.
To begin with, we are not so much as informed
even of the names of the Commissioners. We only
know that they are the nominees of the Post-office
authorities—of the Postmaster-General or some of
his colleagues—it may be of Sir Rowland Hill him-
self. Nobody could accept as satisfactory the report
of such a Commission. We dare say the Commis-
sioners may be upright and intelligent men, but, if
anything like finality- is to attend their proceedings,
distrust will attach to them from the very outset.
Establishments are not to be judged of by them-
selves. When such institutions are thought to require
reform they are scrutiaised from without. The
Commissioners charged with the inquiry receive
their appointments and their instructions from
superior and independent authority, and conduct
their ditties in a public uncompromising spirit. It 'e
cannot, of course, assume that the Postmaster-Gene-
not be composed of competent
srarrimpartial i
nilennliybaers, but we see very distinctly
that it cannot command public confidence. It is
appointed by the chief officers of the very department
suspected of inefficiemy ; it will shape its proceed-
ings according to directions given by the same
authorities ; to the same authorities it will make
its report, and the whole matter will begin and end
within the walls of the establishment. This is
not the kind of inquiry now needed. If the Post-
master .0 en eral chooses to institute this preliminary
scrutiny for his own private information, well and
good ; but the questions which have been publicly'
raised can only be settled by a more public and in-
dependent tribunal.

We must next observe that the scope of the in-
quiry as now stated is by no means so comprehen-
sive as it should be. Our report charged the Post-
office with general insufficiency when judged by
the needs of the day, and alleged that this insuffici-
ency was due to the double effect of a parsimonious
expenditure—viz.,
defective accommodation and
underpaid service. As a consequence of thepressure
thus produced, we showed that the department was
under constant temptation to shirk or neglect its
duties, and le particular that newspapers had been
gradually deprived of the advantages of the past,
until at last they were threatened with the total
loss of their ancient character and privileges. Now
it is perfectly obvious that these imputations can-
not be met by the mere receipt of evidence on " the
relative positions and duties" of certain Post-office
servants. Such evidence, however fearlessly given,
or however impartially recorded, can at best but en-
lighten the authorities on the discontents prevailing
among the officers in their employ. There is plenty
to be learnt in that direction, and plenty to be
done ; but there is also much to be done besides.
The public has its own concern in the matter, as
well as the staff of the establishment. The Post-
officeservants want a reconsideration of their duties
and their salaries ; the public is calling for such an
administration of the Post-office as shall make it the
best, cheapest, most convenient, and most available
medium for the diffusion of intelligence. The Com-
missioners just appointed may possibly do something
towards satisfying the letter-carriers, but they will
assuredly do nothing towards satisfying the
country.
We must once more place this subject in its
true light before the
public, for the questions in-
volved are of a very singular character. The Post-
office is not charged with corruption, malversation,
or waste. It is not even accused of mismanage.
ment in the ordinary sense of the term, for it
would perhaps be impossible to give the public
better service on the same principles or out of the
same means. What we say is, that the introduc-
aticocnomofmtcl:dation at the command of the e penny postage system has rendered the
establish-
ment utterly inefficient, and that the desire of
saving a large surplus for the national revenue has
prevented such an employment of the resources of