The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-15 00:00:00

stimulated by high prices, should become general, leaving
us dependent no longer on one source of supply, then,
whenever the good time should return, it would be doubly
welcome, for it would not only come, but come to remain.
(Cheers )
The only question asked cf Mr. Peel was whether ho
would support "Mr. Lawson's Permissive Bill ;" as to
which he said he declined to pledge himself, but had no ob-
jection to vote for a first reading. The meeting resolved
unanimously and with acclamation to bupport Mr, Peel at
the next election.

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TIMES.—We are in a position to place before the
public this morning a complete history of the pro-
ceedings connected with the respite of George Victor
Townley, and the ease has acquired a character of
such extraordinary importance that it cannot be too
attentively observed. On fay day following the
conviction of the prisoner, Mr. Baron Martin, who
had tried him, reopened the question by a commu-
nication to Sir George Grey, suggesting, but merely
suggesting, a further inquiry into the convict's
actual state of mind. The judge's letter was not
decisively worded. Of his own opinions, indeed, it
conveyed but this much.--that he thought the con-
viction right, but as two medical witnesses at the
trial had deposed " in the strongest manner" to the
actual insanity of the prisoner as he stood at the bar,
the judge thought it right to " cal: the attention" of
the Home Secretary to the point thus raised. To
this letter Sir G. Grey, after three days' considera-
tion, replied in terms implying that he himself
could see nothing in the report of the trial to call
for fresh investigation, and he begged the judge to
give him his own impression on the subject. Mr.
Baron Martin answered that he " could not say that
he had formed any decided opinion on the point,"
but that he thought there should be further inquiry.
Thus moved, Sir G. Grey addressed himself to the
Commissioners in Lunacy, frankly avowing his con-
viction that the verdict was right, and that the pri-
soner had been sane at the time of the murder, but
stating the question which had been since raised as
to his present sanity, and commending it to the con-
sideration of the Commissioners. These gentlemen
lost no time in proceeding to Derby and instituting
the inquiry with which they had thus been charged.
On the 28th of December they made their report. In
this document they appear somewhat disposed to let
Sir G. Grey form an opinion for himself from the
minutes of the proceedings which they submit to
him, but they do communicate their own con-
ciusions to the extent which the following words
will indicate :—" In view of the extravagant
opinions thus deliberately professed by him (the
convict), of his extraordinarily perverted moral
sense, and of the hereditary taint alleged, and
apparently proved, to have existed in the family of
the prisoner's grandmother, we cannot consider
him to be of sound mind ; but his views of right
and wrong, false as they are, appear to have been
coherently acted upon, and with a full sense of
what they involved. He reasons now as he acted
in committing the murder. Upon the point of his
alleged belief in a conspiracy against him we
pressed him very closely, but we could not satisfy
ourselves that this was in the nature of a delusion."
They close their report in these terms—" Being of
opinion, therefore, that the prisoner continues to be
now in the same mental state as when he committed
the murder, and underwent his trial, we think
that, applying the law as laid down by Mr. Barcn
Martin to this case, the prisoner George Victor
Townley was justly convicted." Such was the point
to which the case was brought by the action of
the Home Secretary taken upon the suggestion of
the judge. But by this time action had been taken
in other quarters. On the day before the date of
the commissioners' report a certificate was forwarded
to Sir George Grey, signed by three justices of the
peace and two medical practitioners, briefly testify-
ing, in such language as a certain Act of Parliament
demanded, that George Victor Townley was insane.
And on the day after the commissioners' report, a
similar certificate was forwarded, signed by two
justices of the peace, one of whom had signed the
first certificate, end two medical practitioners, being
identical with those acting in the first instance, to
the same effect as before. There were, therefore,
three reports made in as many days—one, in the
form of a certificate, on Dec. 27; another, from the
Commissioners of Lunacy, on the 28th; and a third,
in the shape, as it were, of an amended certificate,
on the 29th. Why the last should have been sent it
is not easy to see, unless it was thought better to
comply exactly with the words of the statute,
which spoke of "two" justices of the peace, neither
more nor less, whereas the first certificate had
been signed by three. In fact, it was the latter
of the two docuieents on which Sir George
Grey acted, having, as is now known, no dis-
cretion in the matter. An Act of Parliament
obliged him, on the receipt of such a certificate as
was sent to him on the 29th of December, to direct
the removal of the convict from the gaol to a lunatic
asylum, and consign him to a madhouse instead of
leaving him to be executed. This obligation he
simply discharged. The reader is now in posses-
sion of every circumstance of the case from convic-
tion to the reprieve, and the conclusions suggested
are important in the extreme. The Jedge who tried
the case did not doubt the justice of the conviction.
He was moved only by the professional expositions
of Dr. Forbes Winslow and Dr. Gisborne, and, in-
deed, if the latter gentleman be identical with the
surgeon to the gaol, whose letter we publish else-
where, we may compress the authority into that of
Dr. Winslow alone, for his opinions seem to have
been largely instrumental in deciding those of Dr.
Gisborne. The Home Secretary could see no reason
for moving in the case on the face of the evidence,
could he, on a second application, get the Judge
Re. - to any,t n
Ideonuyb t
of
s tapartbe ferxo
iente._experts. Then
he thought
to c
Then came
due to the tes. ;impartial inquiry made by the
the scientific snit
:nd it may probably be
Lunacy Commissioners,
pod..- that Sir George
deemed fortunate for the
d,,
"called upon
j
Grey was not, as he has since stat.
er t..he son.
to decide :'on that Report alone whet,:
"
tence of the law ought to be executed or note, The
fate of Townley was decided by the ccrtih.fate:
Upon this, and this only, Sir George Grey framed
his warrant, as, indeed, he had no option but to do.
Two justices of the peace and two medical practi-
tioners can compel him to do the same in any other
case and at any time. It is under these circum-
stances that the stage of the case which we now
approach acquires such extraordinary importance.
Who constituted this commission of the magis-
trates aad two surgeons, with power to overrule
every other authority in the country ? A formal
representation has been made to Sir George Grey
to the effect that the commission was conetituted
at the instance of the prisoner's friends and ad-
visers, and by them introduced into the gaol.
This seems to be partially, though by no means
absolutely denied ; but a far more important asser-
tion has received no denial at all. The Derby-
shire magistrates who memorialised the Home
Secretary in the ease distinctly alleged that
every member of this self-constituted commis-
sion, magistrates and surgeons alike, had not only
formed conclusions beforehand, but had placed
these conclusions on record. In short, these gentle-
men, who entered, with a power of arbitrary deci-
sion, on the task of ascertaining whether Townley
was sane, or insane, had already settled in their
own minds that he was hawse, and had published
their opinions. We are not sure that these asser-
tions cover both the certificates sent up, but the
doubt is not material. Three out of the four certi-
fying authorities, if not all, had unquestionably pre-
judged the case, and put their judgments on record
before they commenced their official investigation.
We have not the least desire to impeach the sincerity
3f their views. No doubt their conclusions were
uprightly formed, but, having been formed, they
certainly disqualified those who had formed them
for the office of impartial and unbiassed inquirers.
We do not quarrel with these gentlemen as advo •
cates, but only as judges ; and we repeat our opinion
that a law which could admit of their passing un-
challenged from one of these capacities to the other
ought, with all possible expedition, to be repealed.
The Derbyshire magistrates, upwards.l of forty of
whom remonstrated against this proceeding asked
for an investigation into the "origin and conduct"
of the inquiry which produced such results ; but Sir
Geo. Grey replied that, as the certificate had been
"in accordance with the
provisions of the statute,"
these antecedents were "immaterial,"
they may have been to his decision, but
to the interests of the public they certainlym immaterialmaarteenrioatl.
As the case now stands, and as we are left, in de-
fault of any correction to conclude, a man who did
not on the 12th of December appear mad to either
Judge or jury, who was not on the 28th of the
mouth thought by the Commissioners
mad as to have been wronglyeonvietedin,
and
dnwby o
who
sin
the opinion of the Governor of the Gaol was never
mad at ailnl,
disefseurdenaceenlst-oretphrieved on the 30th of the
month
magistrates and two alurgeeopn
fortuity with the terms private a
expressedte opinion
ionf
otown!
which nobody an tici
none the less so becauseb
p4teed.ofltt,tissatavteurtye theeri scopecase;of
It is very proper thate all the steps, strange as the
result may be, have
convict under sentence of
e been
etaken i t
yaccording
insanityto loaf wa.
death should be ascertained
but for ascertaining
POST.—The Nat iinal
it an agency should be provided
beyond any suspicion
of prepossession cr prejudice.
proaciaieg Tercentenary Commemoration should be.
Shakspere Committee, by
their report to the Society of Arts, has put the
public in
posesession of their views of what the ap-
It may all be
collection of
understand Men-
money
comprehended in one sentence—the
is to
beA s
nfoa re
oams
me ye!
the report, thrice
for asta
moration in the proper sense of the word—no
festival. 5 • •
Something is said of a morning perform-

m...s.saoelaaaaaaoll.f.oa...mhsta....."""'"ligilil...l..... of
ance at one of the theatres, and of the root I.ls;rig
the London theatres on a certain evening L st
given to swell the funds of the committee ; but wi,d,
is all. Nothing more of consequence is announ. ,d
and these elithiviiqst,c the cause BOP, 11
r:,,
mit themselves whether that is encaigh? Th t
centuries after his bieth S hal,=, pere is to be 110130`,1,'
by a statue, and the " improving the occasin, ►•
popular preachers say, by the theatrical pet
811 °rll
ances, is called a commemoration ! We do not 1A
v 6;
to pick boles in a scheme at present only half dee
loped, but we take leave to say that so m agyeea,
proposal is very disappointing. There can, ouk.,
be no objection to a statue per se. No doubt Sba2 t
spere ought to have had a statue years ago. leg
now that, after three centuries, the kingdom is el
vassed for homage to the great bard, is a statue,BriA,
nothing but a statue, the true and adequate nietho"
of commemoration ? We think the public wills I
that it is not. Let us have a statue by all mes)ol
but let us have a great deal more besides. Let It
have the week, or the greater portion of the weeu"
in which the 23d April occurs devoted to Sbni.
sperian festivity. It is not for us to sketch (Alia
programme. We have already laid down eertase
principles deducible from the natuee of the 056.,
which ought to vide the promoters of the 03°Ibe
ment. But we cannot help saying that, ate far agingi
National Committee's programme goes, notb
seems to be contemplated but the collection of 01°e
for the statue. Now, if a etatiee were the Pr°r4
itii
way of commemorating the Tercentenary, t beli
this collection of resources ought to have 011 fro
;e0
place months ago ; the money ought to have been
collected, the statue completed, and then Whellpeed
23d of April came, it might have been unc°l—bile
in the presence of tens of thousands; %lot
royalty, rank, merit, art, literature, and poriid,
enthusiasm circled round to admire and aPPtielt
Such an uncovering, with all the accessories '8;0
the various interests and orders represented c°4l.,
supplye—oratory, music, song, and the electries)ol,
pathy of numbers—might indeed be termed agtie
memoration, and be worthy of the poet ; but viu°ll
now proposed, however ultimately successful,ot
as far as the Tercentenary is concerned be a Year„g,
two after date. The money is not yet forthcoo34t,
the site is not yet chosen, nor the artise; l'io
after all, the celebration of the Tercentenary ill is
danger of becoming exactly what it ought not to
—a means of raising money, and ShakePere 19
0f *
have a statute subscribed for on the princtple;de
charity ball! We suggest to the distingulehnor
sons whose names ale mentioned in the rePri of
they would make the, occasion far more ia
the man whom they desire to honour, if, vbllijetbeir
hering to the purpose of a statue, they enlarefue:tiel
programme so as to include whatever can be
undertaken in honour of the poet. Can nothilr
done in other places than London to keep thew
centenary ? Since the Society of Arts has ase°c—ots'e
itself with the movement, can it not project owe
mode of Shaksperian festivity for the P°P2lte
generally ? We can understand the liberalit/.011
manager giving the proceeds of an evenihg tfitool
the statue, but we cannot understand the coalw,„l"oclis
acceptance of them. What we could unders7;
sC
a gratuitous performance, at which certa7 110
credited people—the youth of evening ela'se1000;
members of mechanics' institutes and literal :roe
tutions, and many more who otherwise raigh,',./es!
see a Shaksperian representatiou in their 'tier,
might be admitted free on production of tgoiell
obtained through proper agency from the fort!;
r;
of Arts. We could understand any scherne_Ate.,:l'
presentingthe choicest of Shakspere's plaYar.sool.,;
the latest and most perfect appliances of °7„nor'
art, or for lecturing on Slaakspere, or for oratii,,,
Shakspere, or for modes of bringing home netitri
pere to the popular heart up and down the c'tb/°:
as well as in London. All this would be Ileti°11;
him, and would increase his hold on the OP-40600;
and gratitude of his countrymen ; but all thif1:0413,,;
as a means of raising money for a statue, thalee,CY
to be raised without difficulty from the 1:,1.
offerings of the people, is below the occasi°loool
us have the statue, but let us have also a 01.