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Northern Star (1837-1852), 16th October 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 13, The Family Medical Adviser. By John Skel...

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      Literature J *^ ^ 15,

      LITERATURE j *^ ^ 15 ,

      Lilt S Ocmlisme—Pratique. Par Jean Pierr...

      lilt S ocmlisme—Pratique . Par Jean Pierre Drevet , Paris , iS ' oO ' — i -, pus is another and an important contribution to the literature of 0 f < o ^ tMlism—another attempt at the solution of i | , social prob-, , It is necessary tiiat our readers keep in remembrance the fa , fa , , ' that Drevefs work was written long before the coup d ' etat : foifor h ° * ever § ood hlS ! " may be » ll wiU of course be nine r . o ^ , 0 Procure , he , r immediale realisat ion , a contingenv vlvliich > cmv 6 Probable enough al »» e lime the book \ vas

      Wtffiuen . As the production of a working man , Xe Socialism p pratique is doubly interesting , inasmuch as one who has lain boured for twenty years m the fields , and for a similar period ol of time in , he worksho P > mus ^ be- better enabled 10 judge of the P practicability of any scheme for the organisation of labour than tl the mere theoretician . The object of the writer ofjthis work will b he seen by the following extract from an excellent preface , by * finite * afin

      •'—« jjMt in our France , where every citizen is part of the soverei"n , « names hy direct snflferage tlie men who make tlie laws ; in order to obtain I by mea « the unlvCT 8 al ™ > » majority of wise and honest legis-1 Mors , representing the interests of all and of each , whose laws , founded f on good sense , . and equity are durable , and preserve the country from i new and constantly recurring civil wars , it is needful for lhe safety of , society that the electors be all healthy in body and mind , and thus equally en-. aided to procure suitable labour according to their aptitude and physical and i intel lectual strength , by which may be satisfied all the wants of their material : and moral life . And all merely political reforms , even the most radical , are

      powerless to . produce this happy result . Thus the great . stock-jobbers have never suffered much hy them . It appertains to socialism alone to destroy usurious parasitism , and to enable the sovereign citizen really to enjoy the prerogative of sovereignty . This is why the great capitalists are terrified by it , and instinctively repulse it by every means in their power . Moved by the sufferers of the agricultural proletarian , the proletarian artisan , and the proletarian of the army ; animated by sentiments of sympathy with the general interest ; and penetrated with that robust conviction , which gives a persevering faith in ilie divine principle of democracy , citizen Jean Pierre Drevet , has composed this volume , which he submits to his fellow-countrymen , and to every well-intentioned man . His design has been to make public his ideas of a new social

      organisation , possible , practicable , realisable immediately , without the overthrow of things that be , without spoliation , without any struggle against essfaWished rights and powers , whether they be just or iniquitous , Everything precious or unhappy occurring to a country coming from a good or evil govermental administration , Drevet proves that liberty is sufficient for progress , and that all ameliorations , whatever would arrive to ug successively and naturally , if each would give himself the trouble to study with care and ardour , the principal question of association , a question admirably known by the eternal drones of ihe human bee-hive . He acts by directing towards good that principle of association which , for thousands of years , has been turned to the prejudice of almost the whole human race . "

      However well in theory such may be , we cannot but regard as jreat evil , even tbe dream of delivering mankind from social mistry and degradation , without first overthrowing existing institutions ! without first being in' possession of political power , and using that power for the destruction of the social tyrannies which keeps the people in their present condition . The monster crime of the 2 nd of December , his own exile , must have convinced citizen Drevet of ihe folly of the attempt to separate the inseparable branches of the revolution—the political and the social . The men of ' 93 did not leave social progress to struugle in the grasp of the old social tyrannies . Hear Citizen Drevet himself on THE SOCIALISM of ' 93 .

      " Whathasbeen said has been so calumnious that it is necessary to make known the position of those on whom such critiques have been made ; it is enough to say that these calumnies have only come from the privileged of that time , discontented at losing a portion of tbe black-mail which they levied upon all us poor workers , whom they considered as these property ; thus pretentions ) were destroyed when the people raised the cry of liberty , a bat les tyrant ! Vive la Repnbliquel Government of all for all ; protection for the weak against the strong ; or , in other words : bread for all , instruction for all , poor or rich . Such is the veritable , aim of the revolution ; the true revolutionists desired nothing else in ' 93 . It was , nevertheless , these demands on the part of the people dying of hunger , which caused so much rage on the part of the aristocrats of ' 93 . The

      nobles then possessed a third of the territory , the higher eterg > a third , and the other third appertained to the poor people , who alone paid the taxes ; fertile land of the nobles and the priests paid nothing . They believed that one who was not oi the nobles or the clergy , could never fill any high station in the state , so much so that the nobles who had gone over to the armies of the Kings against Prance their country , said to the King ol Prussia when he was making preparations to invade France : " you need not take so many precautions for meeting the French army , since it is only composed of tailors and shoemakers , of people who were not born for arms , far less to command armies . " But alter having himself seen what the new French army could do , the King of Prussia said to the nobles who accompanied flim : "these tailors and

      shoemakers whom you disdain do better than you . " The law of primogeniture existed with the noblesse : everything was given to the eldest . It was that unjust law which caused Mirabeau to revolt against the King and the nobility which disinherited him as cadet . He was one ef the first and most eloquent defenders ot the cause of the oppressed ; but he loved not the people ; ail the good that he said was spoken only that he might arrive at fortune . As soon as Louis XVI . and his associates presented him with the corrupting vase full of gold , Mirabean aba ndoned the cause of the people , a cause which had inspired so many beautiful pages and admirable speeches . He died in the arms of corruption , despised by the people who had adored him . The nobles and the clergy possessed , then , not only two thirds of the territory , but almost all capital , and with that every tor

      office , and all instruction . So many privileges exercised upon a . people centuries had assured them of a ready obedience , for to the influence which they possessed over their * domestics , their workmen , their debtors , their farmers , and tlie soldiers , was added all the power of religion , yet all that could not suffice to preserve their privileges , which were so unjust . The number of Frenchmen who arose to combat them , animated by the holy cause of justice , found fourteen armies to vanquish , not only the priests , the nobles and the misled French soldiers who fought for the maintenance of the privileges of the aristocracy , out along with all these the coalition of foreign powers , that the nobles had brought to defend their pretended rights . Ttie cause of right has never been so valiantly defended as by the soldiers of the Republic of ' 93 . It should not be forgotten had deserted

      that ibe army whs disorganised , that the nobles who were its chiefs , « i vtas & c , with arms and baggage to tbe enemy . It was necessary to And soldiers and officers among the people , who , until that day , had been esteemed incapable of accomplishing great deeds . It is useless to recapitulate all the bonders that proceeded from that new organisation : genius , courage , devotion , virtue , nothing was wanting . There is that in the history of the revolution from ' 89 to ' 93 . which shows as clearly as day , what may be done by a people that bas obtained its rights , a people become proprietor , and called to enjoy tne benefits of the new social order . It is capable then of doing that which it never could on account of its masters . It must have been that the men who accomplished such great things in ' 93 , were moved by a powerful sentiment . History Wis us how powerful was the aristocracy , that it shrunk from no attempt to ital to

      am » t the march of the revolution ; it withdrew all its cap paralyse com' » erce , to bring labour to a stand-still , ( as was done in February 1848 ) . It monopolised all their provisions , in order to conquer the people by starvation , which was not difficult , by forbidding the farmers to sell their grain , and the farmers of the aristocracy were numa-ous , they forbid them also to take asa ' gnats . In these moments when the soldiers of the Bepublic , without shoes , bivouacked in the snow , witli a little straw at their feet ; in these moments , when » «„« ¦ „ . of unfortunates died of cold and hunger , there were men devouring "' eats that Co < f 300 francs a head . The men who governed them , and on w hom the privileged have desired to throw > o many crimes , would they not have been >« ore guiuy a thousand times , if they had taken no measures , to preserve the lives of the poor people , in order to please the nobles and the priests ? TV hat would it have mattered that half the French people had died of cold and hunger , it would

      Lilt S Ocmlisme—Pratique. Par Jean Pierr...

      have been no crime ; these were but clowns . They were poor toilers whom the aristocracy did not consider worthy the attention of those who had governed mil then . But happily the republicans who then governed , did not think liko utose fortunate men who know not what hunger , cold , and other calamities are . iJiey Jcnow no better now . But the good republicans who then governed , permitted not the . aristocrats to make tlie people die of hunger ; they arrested the monopolisers of provisions , the monopolisers of money , the conspirators who organised civil war in the departments , for in arresting tlie chief of the rompiracy , there is arrested the germ of a war which would devour millions of person * , ' if the chiefs were left at liberty to organise it . A man was in prison at Paris : he was set at liberty ; tho first use that he made Ofhis Iihertv was to repair to

      Brittany , where he organised a band of rebels , whose number in a short time exceeded ten thousand . If justice had been done upon that man there would have been no need for many thousands of soldiers to perish . The aristocrats cried loud enough when one of their partisans was arrested or condemned , but they had not a single sigh for the two hundred thousand soldiers who perished in the war in Vendee . Then , do tho aristocrats regard the soldiers as worthy of attention For the rich , a poor soldier is only good to kill . But on the other hand when one of theirs is arrested , or condemned as a traitor , they cannot cry loud enough about the "drinkers of blood , " nor h : > ve pens enough to write histories

      plaintive for him and calumnous for his foes . As ttiey have kept all instruction to themselves , and as it is only tiie rich who have the leisure to write , and the money to print their writings , those who have written history have always deceived us . They have told us that the republicans who defended the people were blood-thirsty brigands , and they have not forgotten to say to the people that those who fought for the aristocracy were martyrs and saints . We others , poor children of the people are compelled to believe them ; we neither know nor understand what the aristocrats wish to teach us , and God knows that what they have taught us is to love our enemies and to' curse our friends . Thus have

      priests lied in their sermons , and the rich in their histories . 0 you , our fathers , you who died lhe victims of your devotion for the amelioration of the condition of the poor people , pardon us all the calumnies that the aristocrats have put into our mouths , may they be cursed , they and their descendants if they continue in their desire to deceive the people , and be ye for ever blessed , generous defenders of Humanity ! Yes , the republicans of' 93 took energetic measures to insure bread to all , and notwithstanding all their good intentions and their active surveillance , much misery still existed . But they could not be too severe against the detainers of food , hunger had made such cruel ravages . It was necessary to punish severely the monopolisers of provisions . They made a law obliging all detainers of grain to place it in the hands of the government . " The bakers to

      make bread , so that each , rich and poor , may receive one pound per head . No person to have more , since the present is a time of dearth , but no one shall want . We would not have the grief of seeing a great number of good workmen die of hunger at the moment when others , who produce nothing , eat meals at a cost of 300 francs a-head . The butchers will do as the bakers : meat shall be distributed equally to the poor as to the rich . It is necessary that the workers be assured that there is bread for them as well as for the monopolisers . The government being the tutor , the purveyor , and thecouncellor of all the governed , its dut ? is to watch that no one dies of hunger . Workmen shall not gain less than five francs per day , domestics shall not serve for less than 500 francs a year . Those who wish to be served must pay generously , or serve themselves . '

      * * * # * » It will be seen by the measnres in the interest of the poor , taken by the Eepublican government , that its intention was to ameliorate the condition of the wretched . AH it did was to insure for them a happy future . But the rich aristocrats , who had always had the government in their hands , and had never troubled themselves with the people except fo deprive them of a portion of the fruits of their labour , vowed an iinplaceable hatred to Robespierre , to Couthon , to Marat , to Saint Just , and to all those who had the most laboured in the Revolution ; because the rich , seeing tnemselves condemned to eat the same bread as the labourer , they could not pardon the democrats for having paid the people

      to instruct themselves . Thus it is proved that those stern Republicans wished to deceive the people , and to make them more miserable . Yes , they wished to deceive the people by instructing them ; was not that a good means of concealing from the people the snares that were laid for them ! Aristos , the thought has never entered your mind to enact towards us similar farces 1 It is through love for the people that you have left theririri - ignorance , that you have put the lamp under the bushel , it is for the happiness of tlie people that you have taken possession of all the well paid employments of the state , that you have seized upon the plans in the courts of justice , so that the poor shall not have justice against the rich .

      We have not space within the limits of this notice to fully trace the author ' s theories of social organization ; but ihe following quotation , relating to the evil , of ;» he merely minute subdivision of the land , and showing the necessity for the application of the principle of co-operation to the cultivation of the land will be found interesting :

      AGJUCVLTVllAL ASSOCIATION . Witness the large capitalists , the bankers , all those who raise tlie funds as tbe government becomes more aristocratic abroad as at home , and who lower them as the government becomes more popular . Well , all those gamblers of the Bourse , all those insatiable vampyres who rejoice in the misery of the people , are themselves communists in the large towns , and above all in Paris . They have a magnificent monument called the Bourse , which is common to all those who sell , who purchase rentes , even every species of merchandise . Do not be terrified , then , if in your commercial associations there be something in common for you , such as your church , your town hall , your roads , and your tolls . Since we are so near agreeing upon community , let us not be divided by the

      aristocrats , who show those combinations to be impossible only with the view of turning your attention from them , and who try to frighten you , in order that we may not agree upon a remedy for our miseries . We beg you to examine if the remedy which we propose would augment your well-being , and if there is a possibility of putting it in practice . That done , you need take no other counsel than that dictated by your wants . If the inhabitants of the communes do not enjoy the well-being they should enjoy , it is not in consequence of the want of territory , but rather the want of the means of cultivating that territory in such a manner that if shall produce all that it is capable of producing . The division of this territory , without the separations which are prejudicat to its working , so that its only aim is to make a greater number of proprietors , is good , because

      the man , become possessor , becomes more moral , more interested , more responsible , and takes a more anxious interest in the prosperity of the country . It is not , then , the acquisition of a morsel of earth for each individual that is a shackle to the production of the land ; no , a thousand times no ! That is useful —it is needful to give to each worker the means of becoming proprietor by his labour . But it is necessary to have the means of cultivation , to procure manure , which is wanting to almost every workman . The mechanic , who has only a small amount of work to execute , cannot procu e all the instruments necessary to execute properly all the work that is brought to tlie workshop . Small proprietors are in the same difficulty . To cultivate a small portion of land , there are required the same instruments as for a greater . To show the truth of this

      more clearly , suppose a proprietor possesses a certain portion of land , which he cultivates with lour horses ; at the death of the proprietor , his land is divided amongst his six children ; the division of the farm in six part" necessitates for each part instruments of labour and buildings almost as considerable as for the whole of the original farm . There begin the difficulties , and even the impossibilities ; for if the first proprietor could make the expenses to procure all the objects necessary for its culture , the production of the entire farm paid for these expenses , while each of the farm tools was used throughout the greater part of the year . U is not tlie same with that part or portion of each child , for a plough is needed for . the cultivation of a hundred acres the same as for a thousand ; the same with a harrow , carts , and a barn in which to place the crops arid the

      cattle . Having thus shown the certain ruin of the proprietor who would attempt by himself to cultivate an infinite sitnal share of his mother earth , the author proceeds to detail his remed y : We propose to make of the territory of the commune one single farm , which will be cultivated by the inhabitants of the commune , who could and would work on the communal farm . It would be composed of all tlie properties , each of which would be traced by the purchaser , who would faithfully represent all the territory of the commune , in order that the place of each propriety be vmbly designed , and the name of the proprietor inscribed , with a number in a book containing the details and the value of each of the portions marked on the commune map . The labour will be regularised , so that each season will have its product , and each , labourer receive his part . Those who are not possessors , as those who are , will have assured work throughout the year . The workers of the

      Lilt S Ocmlisme—Pratique. Par Jean Pierr...

      great farm will be divided into groups or brigades , which will choose one or more overseers to direct the work . All the brigades united W . ll name a committee to direct all lhe labours of the farm , and to give orders to each brigade to proceed to such a place , and do such and . such work . An assembly of delsgates , composed of at least , a hundred persons , and more according to the im . porlance of the commune , will meet at the commencement of eacli season to U 1 BCUH 8 and vote all the measures proposed by the committee . Koch delegate win have the rigf . t to make a proposition , and tho committee shall bo-compelled to render an account of its administration whenever the majority of the delegates shall demand

      it . The delegates , like the committee , shall be chosen by the ? u I , u , " ,, abitants of tf , e commune . The daily wage of each workman will be fixed by the assembly of delegates , for they who possess little or nothing are interested m producing and coucerving the instruments of labour . After the deduction of the proprietors' shareiand the labourers' daily wages , the surplus shall be divided amongst all the workers as a gift . Thus the domestics and the workmen who work with indifference , finding themselves associated , the surplus gift they recefre will have the effect of heightening their courage , at the same time that it elevates their intelligence to the height of that of the proprietor .

      The Family Medical Adviser. By John Skel...

      The Family Medical Adviser . By John Skellon . Leeds : Moxon and Walker . There has , certainly , been great resistance made to all innovation in any of the sciences , but far more than any other in that of medicine . This is quite natural , and yet nowhere is reform so much needed as in the practice of medicine . It is a « reot error to suppose that the opposition to change proceeds principally or altogether from the medical practitioners . It is not so ; the opposition irom the-great mass of the people themselves is far more formidable and difficult to overcome . If a medical man deviates but one iota

      from the established course , he only succeeds in inspiring his patients with distrust or contehipt . Still , we would by no means have it inferred that the members of the medical profession a a body , or , indeed , many of its individual members , have very great solicitude for reform in the practice of medicine . The majority of them have never really thought on the rules by which they were guided . They act not by the dictates of reason , but simply from tradition . We have a notable instance of this in their treatment of apoplexy . This disease is occasioned by the bursting of a bloodvessel in the interior of the head , by which blood is thrown out

      upon the brain . The pressure of thi < extravasated blood upon the bratn causes complete insensibility . If a surgeon be called in to a person in this state , the first thing he does is ' to bleed him . But he must do this merely because it has always been done , and not because of any sound reason . His object , avowedly , is to remove the pressure from the brain , but if he bleed till doom ' s-day , he will not thereby succeed in removing the extravasated blood . That can only be taken up gradually by the absorbants , and if the patient is weakened , by bleeding , the power of nature to t ffect this is destroyed , and the man dies . How very rare indeed it is that a person rallies from an apoplelie fit alter having been bled . Were

      the medical wiseacres clairvoyant , and able to foresee the approach of an aftack , previous bleeding would , by relieving the tension of the cerebral blood-vessels , ward ofT an attack , and secure the existence of those threatened ; but failing this power of seeing into the middle of next week , it would be well if they would stay their blood-letting , and give nature a fair chance . We give this as an instance of the danger we incur by suffering medical knowledge to be a monopoly . We hope to see the day when a knowledge of the laws which regulate our physical life will be deemed one of the most important branches of popular education . There will , even then , be needed those who will make the treatment ot

      disease their especial study , and these female , as well as male —for we regard the non-existence of female medical practitioners as one of the most monstrous evils of our barbaric " civilisation , " —but there will be sufficient general knowledge of the subject to enable the public to guard against the ignorance of boih legitimate and illegitimate professors of the healing art . Until the importance of medicine as a branch of general education shall be recognised ,

      we should welcome and encourage every effort made to instruct the people on this subject by means of the press , and without agreeing with all the opinions he expresses , or looking upon his method of treatment as perfect , we can conscientiously recommend Mr . Skelton ' s book to the attention of our readers , as a by no means despicable contribution to the medical literature of the people . The information contained . in it will amply repay its perusal .

      Counsel To Inventors Of Improvements In ...

      Counsel to Inventors of Improvements in the Useful Arts . By Thomas Turner , of the Middle Temple . Loudon : F . Elsworth . We are well aware that talent for invention exists to a very large extent among certain portions of tbe working clas 5 es , notably mechanics . We are aware also that the productions of their talent in many instances go lo enrich the men of money , without the

      inventor being m any way benifitted . On this class of persons Mr . Turner has conferred unimportant benifit by the publication of this work . Here may be f ound , clearly set forward , various points of law bearing upon inventions and improvements . Not only are the rights of inventors explicitly detailed , but the value , classification , and history of inventions are fully gone into . Our scientific friends will find Mr . Turner ' s work extremely interesting , while as a book of reference it is invaluable .

      Echoes Of The Heart. By John George Watt...

      Echoes of the Heart . By John George Watts . London : Willoughby and Co . These Poems are the outpourings of an earnest and a generous soul , and as such can scarcely fail to obtain a hearty welcome . They breathe throughout a true love for human liberty and progress . The first piece , entitled " The Workhouse Gate , " is a well-drawn picture of one cf our most heartless social tyrannies . Few working men but will feel pleasure in reading this small volume of poetical effusions , the " Echoes of the Heart , " of one of their own order .

      Gbeenwich Hospital Improvrments. —We Und...

      Gbeenwich Hospital Improvrments . —We understand that it is in contemplation of the hospital commissioners to remove the present unsightly waJJ in front of their burial ground , and erect a row of railings , similar to those in front of the ro 3 'al hospital . This will be a great improvement ; and will , doubtless , lead to a good footway being formed from xNelson-strcet to the whole extent of the hospital property . American Survey of the China Seas .- —This service , we understand , is to be performed by the United States steamer Alleghany , now fitting out at the Navy-yard at Norfolk . The Alleghany was originally built with Hunter ' s " submerged wheels , " but side wheels have now been substituted , and she has undergone extensive repairs and alterations , with a view to increased efficiency , and will be despatched as soon as these are completed .

      Monument to Colonel Gardiner . —The committee for erecting a monument to Colonel Gardiner have agreed that the most suitable spot for the erection is at the bottom of the lawn in front of Bankton House , close by the Tranent station of the North British Railway . It is proposed that the monument shall be of an obelisk form , though the exact model is not yet agreed upon .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 16, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_16101852/page/13/