The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-10 00:00:00

UST.

MEDICAL PROTECTION.

An imagination as vivid as that which led Capt.
Fluellen to detect ,a- resemblance between Mon-
mow h and Macedon, because both began with M, is
required to discover any similitude between two
societies, bearing the same name, which respectively
exist at Cork and in London: Each is de-igeated
a medical protection society ; but the practical
means whereby .the two societies vindicate their
- claim to the 'Ole differ very widely. The energies
of the Cork Medical Protection Society have been
for ten years earnestly directed to the honour and.
interests of the profession. At one time they com-
pelled. the late -Marquis of Anglesea (whose name is
now employed by one of the Malvern hydropaths
as that of the Earl of Aldborough was used by Hol-
• loway)to cancel a medical appointment he had con-
ferred on an unqualified person.. . The dismis-
sal of an imperfectly qualified man, to whom
had been confided the charge of the Military
Hospital: at Queenstown, during the late
war, was procured through the committee of
ibis Sooiety. By taking the part of an unjustly-
oppressed union medical officer, they compelled
the Poor-law Commissioners to cancel sealed orders
for his dismissal. On the outbreak of small-pox at
Cork, they rapidly and successfully organised a
most efficient system of vaccination. In several
cases they have boldly exposed- the attempted irn-
powtures of those charlatans, and denounced the
disgraceful proc 'edit-Igs of thoie professional black
sheep who, thinking only of the money-bags, are
willing .toado the work of. Judas, if, like him, they
may thereby fill the bags they bear. The members
of ' the Cork Medical Protection Society have cor-
dially chLoperated With the movement set on foot
by,Mr. griffin. They have also taken active mea-
sures to insure the support of newly-elected Irish
ineinbers of Parliament for the measures of Medical
Reform-about to be introduced. The enumeration
of these good, services suffieient/y proves how ear-
nestly they have done their work, and how strenu-
ous have been their efforts to advance the interests
of the -profession,- and -to protect its members
against
" The influence of office; and .the spurns
Thdt patient merit of the unworthy takes,"
to check the inroads of quackery, and vindicate our
honour with a zeal and spirit that reflect honour on
them. „

The London Medical Protection Societycontents
itself with colledtiiig the debts of its members, and
arranging the sale of practices, procuring assistants,
ac., the profits that accrue from this matter-of-fact
application of the assumed title being devoted to
charitable purposes. This is all that is done, and
all that' the progia:mme of the society leads us to
expect. Yet scarcely a week elapses that we do riot
direct attention to some flagrant wrong done to a
member of the profession, which it should be the
duty of a medical protection society to expose. The
lamentable squabbles which from time to time it is
our painful duty :to record as occurring between
medical men would cease were there a " Court Me-
dical" (such as a proteCtion society would afford) to
which all disputes might be referred for adjudica-
tion. Our corporate bodies would, moreover, soon
be roused from their selfish inertness were there but
some influential body to call them to task, and ho-
nestly and fearlessly avow their shortcomings. Al-
though it is, possibly, a•very serviceable agency for
the collection of doubtful debts, the Society which
now exists in London, and arrogates the title of a
Medical-Protection Society, has no claim whatever
to the name, and we Shall gladly welcome any pro-
position to establish an association more worthy of
the designation, and more resembling in character
and objects that which has already rendered such
good service to the profession in Ireland.—Lancet.

' THE WAR WITH CHINA.—DESPATCH OF WARLIKE
STORES.—Yesterday order's were received by the Ord-
nance Storekeeper, Tower, from Lord Panmure, for the
immediate despatch of a large quantity of Ordnance and
Commissariat stores for the service of the troops and
fleet serving in'China. Very great activity prevailed in
the departments, and several extra labourers, besides
fatigue-parties from the garrison, were set to work, and
by half-past two o'clock the stores were in readiness on
the wharf, waiting for lighters to convey them to Wool.
wich, for transhipment to the transports about to sail
with reinforcements for China. A quantity of bale goods
were also sent by the South-Western Railway to Ports-
mouth, for conveyance to the same destination.
IMPERIAL BRAZILIAN MINING ASSOCIATION.—At a
special meeting of this company, held yesterday it was
agreed to carry out a dissolution. A diversity of opi-
nion prevailed with respect to the immediate necessity
of iadopting this course, but it was ultimately arranged
tbati the-resolution should -be passed, the prospective
outlay being large and uncertain. If favourable intelli-
gence should be received before'the next meeting for
confirming this act an adjournment may be ordered and
other measures devised. The Cumba vein and Duval's
shoot are the points which appear to be most favourable,
but.the latest advices are not encouraging. One of the
directors protested against the dissolution, asserting
property could by. further expenditure be made remune-
rative, but his opinion was not supported by the other
members of the board.

ILLNESS OF THE BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER AND BRIS-
TOL.—The public feeling has been awakened by reports
of the alarming illness of the Bishop of Gloucester and
Bristol. The Bristol Gazette of yesterday is authorised
to state that the eminent physicians, Dr. Watson and
Dr. Burroughs, having been in great anxiety about him
on Saturday and Sunday last, now pronounce the
bishop to be out of danger, but in a state of extreme
weakness, and unable for the present to transct any of
the onerous duties connected with his extensive diocese.
A SAILOR'S HOSPITAL.—The old Dreadnought hos-
pital-ship is now entirely broken up. The lower tim-
bers were separated last week and hauled out of Wool-
wich Dockyard, the wood and copper comprised in the
" sheer hulk" being valued at 4,0001. Although the
arrangements of the new hospital-ship now moored on
the river in its stead have been most carefully planned
and most efficiently carried out, yet the advantage
of perpetuating this inconvenient plan for the lodg-
ment of sick sailors is very questionable. No one can
believe that the Thames is a particularly healthy situa-
tion for the abode of the sick. It would undoubtedly
be more convenient, as it would assuredly be more
healthy, were a handsome hospital for seamen erected
on the banks of the river, in place of a ship moored
in the midst of the foul sewer-waters of the Thames.
Were this suggestion adopted .we believe that the
wealthy shipowners would .willingly aid in erecting a
permanent hospital for seamen worthy of the nation
whose pride it is that
"Her march is o'er the mountain waves,
Her home is on the deep."
—The Lancet.
THE PRESS AND THE ELECTIONS.—When representa-
tives are being elected, every Briton, who is an elector,
becomes actually a member of the Government. The
voice of the people is our supreme law, but the people
(Except, in these latter days, through the press) speaks
with authority only when it determines to give power to
the opinions it holle, by giving legislative power to the
men who also hold them. Against the power of the
people there always has fought —in the beginning very
vigorously, now rather faintly—the power of great lords
and nafn of state ; and there has fought also, until the
ascension of our present Queen, with more or less acti-
vity, the power of the throne. The development of jour-
nalism has, within the last thirty or forty years, been of
a kind to make of it, in good truth, an opening for ever
of the dumb lips of the people. The limitation of the
time for polling, and of the other good provisions made
by the Reform Bill, have undoubtedly taken away the
bitterness that raged of old in an election contest. A
more powerful cause for the change that has come ON er
our election times is, however, to be found in the en-
larged sphere of action and the increased tone taken by
the public press. Through the press the nation makes
its voice heard daily ; through the press it compels at-
tention daily to its wants and claims.—Dickens's "House-
hold Words."

OFFICE SEEKERS AT WASHINGTON.—The gentlemen •
who do the didactic and the reflective for the picture
newspapers haVe enlarged, in sentences more or lees
leaden, upon the moral grandeur of the inauguration,
and have, with patriotic pride, speculated upon the
wonder—not to say envy—with which the bedizened am-
ba-csadors must have gazed upon the engine companies
and the Pennsylvania Militia. Admitting that we had a '
fine melodrama on the 4th inst., we have now come na-
turally to the farce. We certainly do not think that the
diplomatic people ever witnessed at home anything like
this scrabble for place, this contest for collectorships and ,
clerkships, this pothet about post-offices—in short, if we ,
may use a coarse word, this grand grab for provender.
The Malakhoff was not more closely invested than
the White House • now is ; and we verily believe
that no Russian soldier in that stronghold was in
half so much danger of his life as is our vene-
rable President just at this time. We can easily !
imagine without personal observation (for we have
only asked for the appointment of our friend
Cass) bow poor Mr. Buchanan is baited, and bullied,
and beset ; how the hungry beggarsdo invade the privacy
of bedchamber, and of library, and of parlour ; how the
perpetual knocking at the portals sounds in his ears like
a certain unmentionable gentleman's tattoo—a reveille of
continually recurring wretchedne-a. We all know what
a chronic bother are the little girls and boys who come
into our areas for broken victuals; but what are they to
the hordes of mendicants coming from all quarters and
bawling for more cold pieces of patronage than any Presi-
dent ever bad or ever will havue?inch N,V3eade o
never
ruobrrel cfhoTir2le.dibhfu7e
duoloily
appreciated“pi
ty
thew
so
rtrhoesofap
nursery o
oline h
old
rna
IGII PRICE OF SLAVES. —The
increausing value is.
B
causing considerable uneasinessui in some of the Southern
States of the Americaoll
at a successuni sa
following high pricesI
wbhrovi
An on. The Central Organ, pub-
lished in the parish
couhyg eh
tltloeosk,
by Lotoahuceies iann, gives the
14, 1 475 dols. 13
a field
month
nigh :—Benton, aged t 0 years, 1,365 dole. ;
ag, ed 16,
Amanda, eget., in that Hayden, aged 15,
1,525 dols. ; Patent', 1,600 dole. ; John, aged
1,805 dols. ; Louisa,
17, 1,820 cols; Harrison, e.,:ed 15,
aged 25, 1,955 dols. ; George, aged f. 9, 2,000 &Is.
1:1 19, 2,065
Silas, aged 21, 2,020 dole. ; Charles, age
dole. ; Laura, aged 16, 2,070 dole. ; Jamesi. aged 21,
2,150 dols. ; Lewis, aged 31, 2,360 dole. The New
Orleans Bee feelingly observes ;—"lt is difficuA to con
ch
-
ceive how slave labour can be profitably applied at su
exorbitant prices. If an adult field hand is wondt over
2,300 dollars, what vrOuld first,-rate negro Fiat'
be worth?

NEW MUSIC.

Marguerite Polka. Alexander Romanoff Waltz.
Argyll Galopr By Henri Laurent. Boosey
Co., Holles-street.

These compositions reflect great credit on Mr.
Laurent. The Polka is well accented, somewhid
original in its ch'lneter, and not at all difficult. • The
Waltz is a melange of agreeable melody. That bear,-
tiful and grand national air, "The Russian Hymn, "
is well arranged in the opening page, but we cmfes.s
a want of sympathy wick the taste that employs it
shortly afterwards for a fashionable waltz in jig time.
To our mind there is something of desecration about
such handling, andit_offelids us as Much as a bur-
lesque on' Shakspeare does. The Galop is excellent
,—the very thing to drive crinoline and dress boots
slightly delirious. Mr. Laurent has often presented
the public with admirable specimens of his talent,
and these publications fully sustain his former
efforts.

By dint of great exertions the troop-ship Transit
was kept afloat during the night, and the dockyard
artizans working all night they were enabled to get
the paddle-frigate Furious out of dock to-day, and
into it the Transit was taken this afternoon. It was
not till 5 this afternoon that the water was got
out of the dock, and then there was found to be
on the starboard bow of the Transit a hole of a foot
in length and about six inches wide, and from
which the water shipped by the vessel is up to the
despatch of this report pouring in a perfect stream,
although the ship's engines are also hard at work.
This hole it is evident was caused by the vessel
striking on the stock of her own anchor and break-
ing it. Au official inquiry is to be made into the
matter, and therefore it is unnecessary to circu-
late any of the reports that are afloat as to the
cause of this serious disaster. Without referring
to the inconvenience to which it has put some SOO
officers and men, it is impossible to estimate the
consequences to them had the ship been 12 hours
further from a port into which she could put. It
is the general belief that she must have gone down,
as the water was gaining upon her rapidly. A
very painful feeling has been excited at this port
in consequence of this disaster to the Transit. The
three last Government transports that have left
this port, and indeed England, have all come to
grief of one sort or another. The Megmra got on
shore, the Urgent broke down, and now the Transit
almost sinks herself by that anchor that is supposed
to be the mainstay of a ship.
Yesterday, the crew of the Locust, 3, paddle-
wheel steam vessel, at Sheerness, Lieutenant-Com-
mander J. B. Field, were exercised at manning and
arming their paddle-boats. Each boat carried it 3
complement of muskets and a 24 pounder howitzer,
and gave chase, loading and firing in rapid succes-
sion. This unexpected turn-out, although known
to the port !authorities, took the natives by sur-
prise. Many were the conjectures until the matter
was explained. Each boat's crew in turn was
chased.

It has been determined that Admiral Wallis
hoists his flag at Portsmouth, and not on board
the Edinburgh, at Sheerness.

A great deaf of activity now prevails in Chatham
dockyard, in consequence of an order which has
been given by the Admiralty to complete those
steam screw corvettes and vessels now constructing
with all despatch. Among the most forward of the
former class of vessels is the Racoon, screw cor-
vette, 21 guns, which is now being painted and
made ready for launching on the 25th inst. The
Charybdis, 21, screw corvette, is also progressing
very fast, and will be launched during the present
year. The Mersey, 40, building,in No. 7 slip, will
be the longest frigate in the service, her extreme
length being 336 feet ; the dock in which she is
building has had to be lengthened 60 feet. An extra
number of shipwrights have been placed on her, in
order that she may be finished as early as possible.
The Hero, 91, the Hood, 80, and the Irresistible,
89, are also ordered to be completed forthwith and
fitted as screw steamers. The vessels now in pro-
gress at this dockyard give an aggregate of 20,000
tons.

The Cumberland, fitting at Sheerness for the flag
of Rear-Admiral of the Red Provo William Parry
Wallis, has received, by the Deo steam vessel,"from
Portsmouth, 180 seamen, including seamen-gun-
ners„- also from the Waterloo 36 first and second
class boys. Her marines are daily expected to
join. Lieut. J. L. Perry, gunnery lieutenant, has
taken up his commission and joined. The Cumber-
land is being coppered, and will be put out of dry
dry dock in a few days.
The Miranda, 15 screw steamship, Capt. R. Hall,
arrived at the Great Nore at 11.15 a.m. yesterday
from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. She
saluted the flag of the Commander-in-Chief, which
was returned by the Waterloo. She afterwards
anchored at the Little Nore for discharging powder,
shell, &c. She is ordered to be paid off and placed
in the second division of the steam squadron.
The Terror floating-battery bas returned to
Sheerness, and taken up her moorings, after being
out on trial of various experiments under the
superintendence of Captain Edward P. Halsted
and his staff-officers, of the steam-squadron of re-
serve.

Orders have been received at Sheerness to pre-
pare to receive the Cressy on her return home from
the Black Sea.

At the monthly examination of officers to qualify
for promotion and of candidates for entry into the
service, which terminated at the Royal Naval
College yesterday, the following passed and received
certificates :

' Mates, RN., for Lieutenants—Messrs. B. W.
Mx, A. owburn, A. K. H. Legge, C. F. Walker,
H. C. grogan, W. A. K. Craven, and T. B. Pratt.
Second Master for Master, R.N.—Mr. C. B.
Ryall. For Naval Cadets—essrs. E. S. Dawson,
R. Smirke, A. G: M'Kechnie, H. Y. Bridger, C.
J. Doxiit, A. F. Hood, and H. H. Rawson.
The troopship Lebanon, Captain Cook, 2,000
tons burden, moored alongside Woolwich pier, was
yesterday inspected and surveyed by a staff of
artillery and naval officers, prior to the embarka-
tion of the troops for Canada and Halifax. She
has been fitted out expressly by order of Govern-
ment, and is replete with every accommodation
which the soldier can desire for his convenience and
comfort during a lengthened voyage. The decks
are spacious and lofty, running fore and aft
throughout the length of the ship, and well venti-
lated, with separate compartment for the women
and children. The saloon and officers' cabins are
elegantly arranged, and possess similar accommo-
dation to the tint-class berths on board the Penin-
sular and Oriental Company's steamers in the ME-
diterrawan service. The officers charged with the
survey expressed their satisfaction with the healthy
accommodation and completeness of the arrange-
ments.

The Bann and Brune, fitted out at Woolwich
for the China expedition, are ordered to transfer
their officers and crow and return stores to the
Levan and Slaney, the Bann and Brune having
been pronounced inadequate to the voyage out.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty
_ _

Lieut. J. E. Bickford, to the Hastings ; Lieut.
C. A. J. Heysham, to the Himalaya; Alex. Brown,
master, and J. H. W. Bowman, paymaster, to the
Vesuvius ; J. Lewis, paymaster, to the Cordelia ;
C. H. Niblett, paymaster, to the Cumberland.