The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-12 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STAND.4RD.

Stn,—l take the liberty through the medium of your paper
of making known a discovery to which I think I may safely
lay claim.
Asthma is generally supposed to be a disease of the lungs,
but in the course of a series of experiments I have been mak-
ing lately, I feel convinced that the lungs are only secon-
darily affected, and that asthma, in almost every case, arises
from spasmodic action of the abdominal muscles, which will
be found to have lost their expansive power.
Acting upon this principle, I have given relief, during the
last fortnight, in upwards of thirty cases, and shall be happy
to prove the value of my discovery to any gentleman—medi-
cal or otherwise—interested in the subject.
If the above remarks are found correct,—of which I have
uo doubt—a new era has commenced in the history and treat-
went of the diseases of the lungs.—l am, sir, your obedient
servant, DENIS CRONIN.
Dispensary for the Diseases of the
Lungs and Heart, Oldham-
street, Nov. 11, 1841.

" But," says he, " our journal is no partyp üblication, it
has distinct objects in view, and a distinct course which it
will pursue. The working classes will neither be treated as
the kings nor as the slaves of society, but as honest, good
citizens. Their permanent welfare and happiness will never
be sacrificed for the purpose of gaining momentary applause
and popularity. Society is not composed of one, but of
many materials; and like the great and wonderful move-
ments of the universe, all are so mixed up and blended beau-
tifully together,. that if one part could be forced away, the
harmony of all would be destroyed. As labour is necessary
to the prosperity of the employer, so wages are essential to
the existence of the working classes. As industry is indis-
pensible to improvements, both national and local, so pro-
perty and wealth are necessary to the carrying on of those
undertakings which are regarded with wonder and admira-
tion by all enlightened foreigners. Look at France. Why
is France a hundred years in arrear of Great Britain in works
of great national industry ? Is it that science is not under-
stood in that country of great minds and great men ? No.
Is it that the. French are indifferent to national wealth and
reputation ? No. But one of the great causes of their
national backwardness in steam, railroads, canals, and prac-
tical manufactures, is the want of large fortunes. and of
commercial and farming upper classes. And then why is it in
other countries, where capital is abundant, and fortunes are
immense, that still they are yet more backward than France?
Because those fortunes are not, as in Great Britain, brought
to bear, by their wealthy possessors, upon public under-
takings and national objects. There is not another country
on the earth where such a work as the Thames Tunnel would,
notwithstanding such innumerable obstacles and disasters,
have been brought to a successful termination. And yet a
Frenchman was the engineer ! It is not, then, that science
or perseverance are foreign to the French character; but
wealthy, as well as enlightened commercial and agricul-
tural upper classes do not exist. Wealth, without know-
ledge and patriotism, is the mere accumulation of white and
yellow sand : but wealth, when infused into our manufac-
turing, agricultural, and commercial pursuits, is the life-
blood of the heart. We are not, then, about to run down
wealth ; nor are we likely to be tempted to decry industry.
We know well the worth of the poor man's sweat, and his
honest and meritorious toil. We never look at a brick field,
or a stone quarry, without instantly carrying our mind's eye
to York minster, or London bridge, and without, at the
same time, saying to ourselves, those splendid monuments
of art and science once laid buried in brick fields or stone
quarries. The dirty clay, and the hard mass of stone or
granite, have been fashioned and modelled by our working
classes, till we see them as glorious and almost living stones
in these imperishable proofs of the industry and skill of
man. Thus our whole task is one of union, and our work-
ing classes will see what a beautiful dependence there is of
labour on property, and property on labour, in a pacific,
well-ordered, and united community."
Authentic communications from the working classes on all
subjects affecting their welfare are next invited, and if the
invitations are responded to, as we have no doubt they will
be in a proper spirit, an important body of information will
be accumulated. In recommending this periodical to public
attention, we feel that it will be conducted so as to be a bond
of union between the rich and poor, the employer and em-
ployed, the manufacturing and the agricultural interests, and
that on such an effort its conductors are justified in asking
for the blessing of God, and for the co-operation of all honest
and upright men.