The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LO ) '

dents in the ceremonial, the climax of all in
pathos, and we may even add sublimity, was
the movement when, after the dirge had been
chaunted by the choristers—the bier of the dead
hero, bearing his coffin surmounted by his
baton and his coronet, descended—to the distant
explosion of the guns at the Tower, and
to the sound of the " Dead March " played by
the organ, the trombones and the ophei-
cleides—descended slowly through the pavement
of St. Paul's Cathedral. And so was buried
WELLESLEY, the Ensign of the 73rd Foot in 1787
—in 1852, the most High, Mighty, and Most
Noble Prince, ARTHUR, Duke of WELLINGTON. His
splendid career had been fittingly terminated.
After a life of great renown and magnificence—
after having passed by fourteen years the, allotted
age of man—he had breathed his last peacefully
in the possession of all his faculties : and his re-
mains were thus solemnly interred by the nation
with the evidences of a grand and historical
lamentation.

No exception can be taken to the contemplated
changes in the Law of Lunacy. They are ad-
mirable, so far as they go—combining economy in

e management of the property, with full protec-

Lon to the unfortunate persons whose mental in:

capacity places them under the control and pro-
tection of the Court of Chancery. Lord ST.

LEONARDS has considered the subject maturely,
and the result of his deliberations will leave little

to be desired, so far as lunatic wards of Court are

concerned. Would that the same protection were
afforded to those so deeply afflicted, or who were
alleged to be so by interested parties, so that the
really insane might be certain of obtaining full

care for their persons and property, and that no
man could henceforward be consigned to incarcera-
tion—and that of the most grievous description—
for an unlimited period, on the certificate of two,

so-called, "skilful persons"—a matter which, it is
but too painfully notorious, can be obtained on
the most trivial grounds. The great savings in

the expense of bringing parties within the • juris-
diction of the Court,. by the issuing of Commis-
sions of Luriacy, and also in the future managc-
ment of the property, occasioned by the new
regulations, will remove the only objections that

could be made to making every person possessed
of any property, however trifling, wards of Court.
And when the security thereby afforded, not
only to the pecuniary means of the luna-
tic, but also to his personal comfort, Ao
far as his unfortunate position will admit of
any species of comfort, it is obvious that the pre-
caution should never, under any possible combina-
tion of circumstances, be dispensed with. The
numerous cases of unjustifiable and protracted
imprisonment of persons of sound mind—cases
which, from time to time, have excited the public
horror and indignation—abundantly prove the
necessity of directing the attention of a duly-
qualified public officer to the case of every per-
son who has been deprived of his liberty as an
alleged lunatic, within a limited period after his
confinement, in order that the matter may be fully
investigated, and the propriety of the detention
inquired into. There should be no exception, on

any ground, or under any pretext. The veriest
pauper should not be deprived of his liberty, save.
on amply sufficient grounds ; indeed, under the
existing law, a pauper has greater security than
the wealthy man, whose next of kin, too fre-
quently

"A little more than kin, and less than kind,"
may desire to get him out of the way, and to
divide his fortune among themselves. Let, then,
Lord ST. LEONARDS add to the admirable Bill
which he has introduced, that a petition should
be presented within a week after any person has
been received into any asylum, public or private,
on the ground of lunacy, or even if in any degree
deprived of his liberty, under heavy penalties -6,0

the parties concerned, and he will render tlie
measure as nearly perfect as possible.
The cases of the brothers, PETER SHARPE ANS-
TIE and HENRY ANSTIE, which were brought fok-
ward in April, 1849, and of Mr. EDWARD VICARS
and Miss NOTTIDGE, which attracted general at-
tention in the same year, afford unanswerable
evidence of the justice and expediency of such ;a
course. The brothers ANSTIE were unquestionably
incompetent to take charge of their own persois
or properties ; Mr. VICARS and Miss NOTTIDGE,
on the other hand, were fully competent in both
respects. The different branches of the subject
are, therefore, well illustrated by those remarkable
cases, to which we would once more earnestly so-
licit the public attention.
In the case of the ANSTIES, their father had
many years previously—forty years in one case,
and thirty in the other placed them in the
Asylum at Fishponds, where, during his lifetime,
they received every care and attention befitting
their condition. On his death he bequeathed an
annuity of 3501. a year to each for his support,
being, as may easily be inferred, something about
the rate which he considered sufficient to provide
them with suitable accommodation and comforts.
After some time the relatives thought it ex-
tremely hard that so much money should be
applied to the use of those whom they had utterly
neglected for some years. They first induced the
Trustees appointed by Mr. ANSTIE, Sen., to reduce
the allowance paid to the Asylum to 1101. for
each. The unfortunate men were, consequently,
placed in an inferior class, the very worst depart-
ment of the establishment, and associated with
the lowest order of patients. They were, as !a
matter of course, deprived of the comforts pt-

viously allowed, lodged at night in miserable

chambers, and kept by day in low, dark, coin-
mon rooms, with dismal paved yards, sur•

rounded by buildings two storeys high on th4e
sides, and on the fourth by a high wall, froin
whence they were never taken out for exercise.
The friends (!) knew their ill-judged economy
must be productive of such results ; but the
comforts of persons about whom, save so far
as regarded their, money, they had long ceased
to concern themselves was a matter of pro-
found indifference. Not only was 4801. per
annum set aside, which would come into
their hands, but the accumulations, amount-
ing to no less than 8,400/. (4,200/. in each
case) were actually divided amongst the next
of kin, who executed a bond of indemnity, guar-
anteeing the trustees (!) against the consequences
of their most illegal and unjustifiable acts. If
they had been made wards of Court under a com-
mission, nothing could have been done without
the sanction and approbation of the LORD CHAN-
CELLOR ; their comforts could not then have been
improperly abridged, or their property illegally
divided. The prudent relatives, however, would
not incur the expense, and we have seen the re-
sult. Is it not one a repetition whereof should
be guarded against ? Does it not afford suffi-
cient grounds for preventing relatives from ad-
ministering the property of lunatics, in any in-
stance, save under the control and surveillance of
the Court ?

Mr. EDWARD VICARS had carried on business
as merchant,and
bhyadunhadrp:a
rather a winothertoo andfreely,spirit
partly occasioned
differences with his wife. He had some extra-
ordinary notions on the subject of food and elec-
tricity ; but, as Dr. SOUTHEY declared in his evi-
dence, "there is much yet to be discovered with
respect to electricity ; and it was not surprising
that a partially educated man should have exag-
gerated notions of it." These extravagant notions,
were, however, sufficient to induce " two skilful
persons" to sign a certificate of his insanity, and
another skilful person, a man of some experience,
who accompanied the magistrates on their quar-
terly tour of inspection, to certify that he was
not fit to be at large. This latter was readily
granted, at the request of the proprietor of the
asylum, on an examination of less than five
minutes. How far it was warranted by
the facts, may be judged from the sub-
sequent evidence of Dr. SOUTHEY, who, in
his sworn evidence, declared, " that, upon all
ordinary cases, he believed that Mr. VICARS was
sane ; and it was his impression that it would be
cruel to confine him—that it would be hard to
deprive hint of his civil rights. He also thought
that he was fit to be a free agent in the disposal
of his property and of his person, and the manag,
ment of his affairs, and he should not think hiixt-

self justified in giving a certificate that would con-
fine Mr. Vicmis in a lunatic 'asylum." The jury,
acting on that opinion, at once pronounced a ver-
dict which restored the alleged lunatic to perfect
_ _

freedom, and yet he had been improperly detained
for twenty months in a madhouse--until he for-
tunately made his escape—and his furniture and
property sold, by the direction of his brother and
partner, and an account of the proceeds of the
sales positively refused. Not one shilling would
be advanced either for his maintenance or defence,
until an order of the LORD CHANCELLOR was ob-
tained for 2001., through the disinterested exer-
tions of the " Alleged Lunatics' Friend Society."
Miss NOTTIDGE had been dragged from her
residence by her brother-in-law, with the consent
of her mother and other relatives, and privately
conveyed to a lunatic asylum. She had property,
and it is probable that the dread of her making
an improvident match was the existing cause of.
her detention. Her friends, and amongst them
one, at least, of her sisters, were unable to dis-
cover the place of her confinement, and without
such knowledge the Commissioners in Lunacy
would not interfere. She, however, contrived
to escape, and, although speedily recaptured,
she had, during the interval, been enabled to in-
dicate her situation to those taking a sufficient
interest in her fate to require a searching in-
vestigation. A petition was forthwith presented
to the Commissioners, and the result of inquiry
was an order fro her immediate release. But
she had previously lingered for nearly a year and
a-half enduring the horrors of a madhouse, and
the company of the insane. Many an intellect
might have been destroyed under so fear-
ful an ordeal. Surely a single case of
this description, and there are hundreds, pro-
bably thousands, of similar ones, are sufficient
to warrant the adoption of the most stringent
precautions. If the suggestion we have made
were adopted, and a Commission issued in every
instance where a party has been a week in con-
finement, we should not again hear of such fear-
ful occurrences. If such should be the case, we
venture to predict that many cases of unjustifi-
able detention will be brought to light, and that
Lord ST. LEONARDS will earn for himself the
thanks and gratitude of many persons who will be
restored to freedom and happiness through his
intervention.