The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-25 00:00:00

the amount of 70,0001., they only discounted for Mr. COLE bills to the
amount of 7,0001. But having passed the warrants, when they subse-
quently found them to be fictitious they did not at once call them in, and,
having found out Mr. GOLF'S true character, they did not at once refuse
to have anything more to do with him. On the contrary, they not only
discounted his bills, thereby giving him the benefit of their connection, but
they condescended to use him as a tool. They forced him, as we under-
stand Mr. CHAPMAN'S statement, to buy spelter when the price was
at 20/. a ton, for which they gave him 131. if this is not condonation of
fraud, it is an uncommonly good imitation of it ; and yet these arc the men
of whom it is said the British I louse of Commons has not enough !

The Directors of the Poor at St. Pancras have refused to reinstate the
Rev. THOMAS PUOR in his office of chaplain at the workhouse, notwith-
standing the approbation of the Bishop, the Vicar of the parish, and the
Archdeacon of Middlesex. They allege that the Reverend Gentleman pre-
varicated in the first instance in such a way as to render him unfit for the
discharge of such important duties. This, of course, is a charge to be
proved by evidence. The modus operandi adopted by Mr. Pmai must be
admitted a fair subject of discussion; but that the object was itself a
legitimate one, from the-religious point of view, we can hardly doubt. A
clergyman is not a detective ; and it is the confidence reposed in clergy-
men by their poorer parishioners which alone enables them to effect the
slightest good in the haunts of vice and crime into which their duty leads
them. If an idea once got abroad that the clergyman was liable to be
cross-questioned on their habits and pursuits, there would be an end of
all his influence at once. We assign this as a reason why the authorities
should deal very tenderly with Mr. PUGH'S scruples. Of course, when the
law of the land and " a case of conscience" come into collision, the law
should prevail. We make no secret of our opinion so far. But great
forbearance should be displayed on such occasions by all who sincerely
desire the spread of religious earnestness and a missionary energy among
the clergy of our large towns. The Board have evidently missed the
only point in their favour, and have taken their stand upon a ground
absolutely untenable. The only question in doubt is, whether Mr. Peon
was justified in going in the first instance on his own responsibility.

The law, or rather the interpretation of the law, as applied to cases in
which crime is alleged to be the result of insanity, or of a tendency to insanity,
continues to be in a most unsatisfactory and dangerous condition. The
result of the trial of JAMES ATKINSON fbr the murder of ANN &AWE,
supplies us with a new instance of this, and of the extreme risk of accepting
pure and simple the opinions upon this subject of Medical Men who have
confined their minds in the circle within which this question of sanity, its
degree, its limitations, and its separation from irresponsible madness, is
to be found, till from perpetually refining upon differences they have
become incapable of seeing distinctions. In the present case we are forced
to discard their evidence altogether, so distorted are their views by
morbid crotchets, and we are compelled to form our judgment by the
light of common sense. Now what are the circumstances ? This .I.4mEs
ATKINSON, who is considered sane enough to be at large, sane enough togo
through the ordinary functions of life, sane enough to keep com-
pany with the poor girl whom he murdered in a fit of passion, sane
enough to be married, is. acquitted of the crime of murder, and relieved
from the consequences of the act which he had committed, on the ground
that his intellect was stunted and had stopped growing at ten years of
age. Arrived at man's estate physically, a man in passion and in brutal
instincts, he remained mentally a child of ten years old. The mind had
not advanced pari passu with the body, and he had a violent temper
which lie never attempted to control, and which his parents had always been
afraid to deal with. On that ground he was acquitted. Now, somebody
is clearly very wrong, and somebody is unquestionably responsible for the
commission of this horrible crime. Is it Society, or is it JAMES
ATKINSON ? Is it Society, whose laws, and whose administration of its
laws, permit such creatures as ArKissoN to be at large, supposing his
imbecility to be as absolute as assumed by the jury, or is it JAMES
ATKINSON himself? As the law and its administration now exist,
we consider the jury to have been wrong, for it is quite
evident from the description of his every-day life that no medical men
would have authorized ATKINSON'S confinement in a lunatic asylum; and a
man who is pronounced fit to be at large, and without supervision, must
surely be considered as a being responsible for his acts. But the jury may
have been right morally in their view, although mistaken legally. They
may be right in thinking that a man whose intellect has confessedly not
attained full development, and in whose family there is hereditary insanity,
ought not to be held criminally responsible for outbursts of violence, whatever
their consequence; but let us say that if that be so, it should be made the duty
of somebody to look after him and to shut him up, before in his violence
and madness he endangers or destroys the lives of others. Law and
practice are both very unsatisfactory with regard both to beings of the
class of this miserable JAMES ATKINSON, born with deficient capacity, and
to those wretched men who from perpetual drinking become victims
of delirium tremens, and periodically as mad and as dangerous as the
veriest and most confirmed lunatic in llanwell.

Who that remembers the old Adelphi Theatre, with its suffocating
pit, its boxes that tortured like the stocks, and its atmosphere sacred to
mephitis, but will rejoice to learn that we are at length to have a theatre in
which the peculiarities of Messrs. WRIGHT and BEnFoni: can be enjoyed
without offence to lungs, limbs, or nostrils. An Adelphi Theatse, more
comfortable and less expensive, with all its old company, is something to
look forward to in these days ; and we heartily wish Mr. -WEBSTER as long
a career of popularity in his new theatre as he deservedly enjoyed in his
old one. May the unctuousness of Mr.Wnrowr. never be drier—the
:qualow of Mr, r. ilEviroltu never be less ; may the heavy tyrant of the