The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-03 00:00:00

COURT OF ALDERMEN.

Yesterday a Court was held for the dispatch of public
business. It was a full Court.

BETHLEHEM HOSPITAL.
Alderman COPELAND asked whether the Lord Mayor
had received a copy of the evidence or report in this

matter?

The LORD MAYOR replied in the negative.
Sir P. LAURIE said he was very glad that the ques7

tion had been put by his hon. friend. Nothing would
have given the President and Committee of Bethlehem
Hospital greater pleasure than to have forwarded copies
of the report of the Commissioners in Lunacy to every
governor, but they had been prevented from making such
communication by the Secretary of Sta►te, for whose in-
formation the inquiry was made, and to whom, there-
fore, strictly speaking, the report at present exclusively
belonged. On receipt of the report and evidence, on the
21st of February last, the hospital directed copies to be
printed for the use of tho committee, with a conviction
that every governor was not only entitled to a copy, but
that it was impossible for them to come to any conclu-
sion unless the large mass of manuscript was printed, and
they were enabled, quietly and at home, to make them-
selves masters of its contents. The Commissioners in

Lunacy, by some means, got scent of that resolution, and
immediately made some representation to the Secretary
of State, who, by letter of the 27th of March, restrained
the printing of the report ; and it was not until the 2d
of April, and on the urgent representation of the com-
mittee of the utter impossibility of dealing with the re-
port and evidence until they were printed, that the
Secretary of State sanctioned the printing, on the
condition that "it should be transmitted in the strictest
confidoece to the members of the committee." (Hear,
hear.) When the committee obtained the report in a
printed form, another difficulty arose from that limited
permission. They were unable to comply with the re-
quest of the physicians and other officers whose conduct
had been so severely commented upon for copies, to
enable them to meet the charges against their professional
characters and conduct. After repeated applications had
been unsuccessfully made by these officers, the committee
pressed upon the Secretary of State the necessity of fur-
nishing the medical officers with copies, and on the 25th
of June they were authorised to do so, on condition "that
such copies are not made use of for any purpose except
that of preparing answers by the officers to the statements
made in the report." The answers of the officers
were only laid before the committee of the hospital
about the middle of last month, when they were referred
to a sub-committee, who were charged with the duty of
replying to the report of the Commissioners. He felt
it most important to mention these circumstances and to
particularize these dates, to show that every desire
existed on the part of the authorities of the hospital to
afford the most complete information on the subject, and
that the delay which had occurred in transmitting to the
Secretary of State that full and satisfactory answer which
he believed would bo given to the charges made against
the management of the hospital, arose from causes over
which the committee had no control. (Hear, hear.) He
and the committee felt assured that Mr. Secretary
Walpole, in limiting the circulation of the report, had no
other desire than to prevent the publication of weighty
charges, until accompanied by the defence of the Go-
vernors, and he further believed that no such prohibition
would have been made, but for the unwarrantable inter-
ference of the Commissioners in the first instance to

prevent the printing of the report. In this peculiar
state of things, the Court would see the impossibility
of his entering into any particulars, or of anticipating that
answer which was in course of preparation, and which,
ho repeated, ho believed, would be completely satis-
factory. (Hear, hear.) He would only add, that owing
to the most extraordinary manner in which the Com-
missioners had conducted the inquiry, the Governors
had had no opportunity of knowing the charges against
them or of making any defence. (Hear, hear.) In vio-
lation of the commonest principles of justice and of the
hitherto invariable practice of every tribunal, they never
informed the governors at large or any one of the wit-
nesses examined of the charges, general or specific,
which had been brought against them. No one was al-
lowed to attend the examination on the behalf of the
parties accused, nor after the es: parte inquisition had
been concluded and before the report was agreed upon,
were the governors called on for any defence or expla-
nation whatever. (Hear, hear.) Ho felt himself pre-
chided from adverting to any other topic referred to in
the report and evidence at that moment; but, knowing
the ease with which charges against lunatic hospitals
were made, and the difficulty with which they were
rebutted even when totally unfounded, he felt
assured that that Court and the public would take
a very different course from that adopted by the
Commissioners, and that before they formed a
conclusion they would bear in mind the in-
scription on the wall of the court, :" Hoar both sides."
(Hear, hear.) The Commissioners had certainly taken
one-sided view of the question, although it presented
innumerable difficulties; but he was convinced the Court
and the public would, upon the exposition of the whole
9f the circumstances, render a fall measure of justice.
(Hear, Hear.) He believed they were aware that the Go-
vernors had appointed a resident physician of great talent
and experience, and a resident apothecary in every way
qualified to perform the duties assigned to that office ;
and that they had also appointed a matron of active and
firm mind, who would pay incessant attention to the
female patients. The increased and _ increasing number
of patients in the institution had rendered such changes
necessary, irrespective of any occurrence which might
foraqground ofcomplaint. It had been long his own opinion
that there should be a resident physician and resident
apothecaries in the hospital. The governors had had such
change for a considerable time in contemplation, and he
had no doubt that such a selection had been made, by
the appointment of Dr. Wood, of the Colney Hatch
Hospital, as resident physician ; Mr. Helps as resident
apothecary; and a lady of energy as matron, as would
reflect credit upon the institution. (Hear, hear.) ll°
entertained no doubt that it would be looked upon by
foreigners, who continnally visited it in great numbers,
as a model institution, and that in less than a fortnight
the charges so hardily brought against the governors
would be met with a perfect refutation. (Hear, hear.),
In the meantime he felt they were bound, es men ("1
honour, to thn Secretary of State to reserve any other
statement until they should place before him their full
defence and exculpation. (Cries of " Hear, hear.")
The subject then 'dropped, and the Council shortly
tifcer TM& Odjearned,

LITERATURE.

THE MAGAZINES.

Dublin University.—The first article in this month's
Inumber is entitled " A pilgrimage to Quilca in t' e
year 1852." It gives a very detailed account of the
old " belongins "of that place. Several celebrated
characters have been connected with this place—
Swift, Sheridan, Stella. Henry Brooks was born,
bred, and buried in the parish, and therefore it mut
be interesting to all to peruse a sketch so associated
with the memory of the departed great. The tomb
of Henry Brooks is thus described :
We landed in the glebe meadows, where we
found they had secured the attendance of a very
old and wrinkled woman, that she being the nonoge-
narian of the parish, might point out the precise spot
where H. Brooks was buried, for seventy long years
ago she, as a young country colleen, went with the
whole county side to meet the funeral coming from
Dublin. There indeed is no tomb or monumental

larble, but in the absence of all such decayable
matter, God's sun shines perennially on the spot, and
every evening its descending beams will come to visit
the old ruin, and with their rich and tender light
rest on the good man's grave, bathing the green sod
in day. There are wild flowers too growing there,
planted by no human hand, the common yarrow, the
yellow melliloh, and the wild pansy. Descending
from the mound which holds Brook's dust, I found
myself repeating Campbell's fine lines—
' But fling his ashes to the wind,
Whose tongue and pen has served mankind.
And is he dead, whose glorious mind
Lift's mine on high,
To live in hearts we leave behind,
Is not to die.'"

A sketching tour of five weeks it. the forests of Ceylon
is very interesting ; it contains much information
concerning the objects met with there. There is a
second part of the biography of Tyrone Power, which
enters into all the particulars of his celebrated career.

The Colonial. Chapter IV. of the " Overland
Route" describes the journey from Suez to Aden
and Bombay. The new Australian gold regulations
from the Sydney Government Gazette will afford
useful information to the numerous ♦isitors to the
gold regions. The first part of a drama entitled
"Head Quarters, or Manners in the East," is lively
and amusing. The " Financial and Commercial
Statement for the Month," and the " Summary of
Colonial and East Indian Intelligence," contain a
variety of instructive and entertaining accounts of
events and opinions.

The Law Magazine.—The first article in this
number is on Charitable Bequests, in which the
writer observes that " Few Acts of Parliament have
given rise to a greater number of disputed points than
the statute 9 Geo. 11. c. 36, commonly called the Sta-
tute of Mortmain." Several cases are cited, and the
conclusion states that, if the recommendations of the
Committee of the House of Commons appointed to
inquire into the Law of Mortmain, are carried into
effect, the question under discussion will not arise ;
for in their report presented last session, they
proppse to relieve all descriptions of property,
given for charitable purposes from the restric-
tions of the Mortmain Act. An article on
Marine Insurances gives a clear account of
them. There also Notes on Leading Cases, and a
list of events of the quarter, which gives the names of
the lawyers in the new House of Commons.

The Farmers' Magazine and Monthly Journal of
the Agricultural Interest.—This publication is in-
tended for the use of those connected with agricultural
pursuits. To those thus engaged it must be of essen-
tial service, as it contains varied details of the requisite
knowledge. Three articles on American machines,
on the science of manuring, and the cultivation of
flax, form the greater part of the contents.

Newton's London Journal.—Among the Patents
mentioned in this repertory of arts, sciences, and
manufactures, is that of W. Squire, for improve
ments in piano-fortes ; and W. W. Collins, for the
manufacture of steel. The rules and instructions
issued under the New Patent Law Amendment Act
find a place in the Scientific Notices. There is a
List of Grants under the new law, and there are two
plates of the chief patents described in the magazine.

Memoirs of the Baroness D' Oberhirch. Written by
herself, and edited by her grandson, the Count de

Montl;rison. 3 vols. Colburn.

In introducing these memoirs to our readers, we
cannot do better than transcribe the passages in
which, with a very charming simplicity of manner,
Madame D'Oberkircb introduces both herself and her
memoirs to our notice :

" The pages which I present to my reader," she
tells us, " are not memoirs, they are rather recollec-
tions. I have never had the slightest pretension to
be a bel esprit, or to occupy a niche in the temple of
fame. I write that I may pass over in my mind the
principal events in my life ; they are deeply interest •
ing to me, nor will they b less so to my daughter.
I know not in what light they may appear to others.
I speak little of what concerns myself personally,
just as much as is necessary to make me know and to
prove that I have seen what I relate. My thoughts
and my reflections are exclusively my own—l am not
accountable to any person for them. My recollec-
tions are dear to me, because I alone have a right to
them. To divulge iem would be to diminish the
happiness they afford me. These pages, then, are but
as a casket in which I place them, whence I may
draw them forth in my old age.
" I write these pages in 1789, in my thirty-fifth
year. I kept in 'B2 a journal, in which I minutely
detailed my travels with Madame la Comtesse du
Nord (the Grand Duchess of Russia) to Paris, and
from thence through Brittany, Normandy, Picardy,
Holland, and the Electoral States. I observed the
same practice in 'B4 and 'B6 during two visits I made
to Paris, whither I was drawn by the kindness with
which Madame la Duchesse de Bourbon deigned to
honour me. I combine these journals and these notes
to form the history of the first thirty-five years of my
life. I speak in it of those that I have known—of
facts of which I have been the witness—of the re-
markable personages of this century with whom I
have been intimately or distantly connected, or with
whom I have had either personal or family con-
nexions. I add some of the letters which have been
written to me by H. I. H. Madame la Grande
Duchesse Marie Federowna. This august princess,
spite of her abode in a foreign land, still entertains for
me the deep and tender affection which sprung up in
our infancy, and is good enough to write to me some-
times. My respectful devotedness to this amiable
princess is one of the most profound sentiments of my
heart. As these memoirs may some day meet the eye
of the careless or the cold, I would scruple to inter-
weave in them that part of our correspondence which
is solely confidential. I cannot, however, resist the
desire of making my daughter and her children
acquainted with this noble mind, this tender heart,
and this pure and lofty imagination, which the highest
degree of worldly honours has never for a moment
been able to corrupt, and which unconsciously reveal
themselves in this correspondence."
The above remarks dictated by the partiality of
friendship, are fully verified by a glance at the' cor.
respondence to which they refer. The wife of the
Grand Duke Paul, Marie Fosderowna, during her
youth, while residing with her parents at Montbe-
liard, and bearing the appellation of Dorothea of
Wurtemberg, bad been constantly associated with the
young daughter of the Count de Weidner, and a most
tender affection existed between them from their early
years. When the one had been removed from
her home to the Imperial Court of Russia, as Oe
bride of the heir apparent, compelled to abandonwit_
her religion and her very name, she still regardedou
the same warm tenderness the friends of her ?),ecoto2ne
and her letters to her early companion..
Madame D'Oberkirch, continued to indirvileOtwevvhthioeh
"hmade
warm affection, and the same fainkliar-tgoir girlhood
characterized their intercourse duarcipego,
as here
at Montbeliard. The Grandd Dole h
most fascina•ing
por-
trayed by her friend, is indeed
some years after their
and loveable of women. W
marriage, the Grand Duke and his wife, under the
o b
er
re cahr
in
hastened
title of Count and Countess du Nord, visited
reign
t o
of
and mingled in thetidgaauliteiesp
of the
Marie-Antoinette,
Madame
join her friend, and participated with her n the bril-
liant course of festivities i
with which the French
Sovereigns welcomed their
illustrious guests. Her
diary kept during this period, is necessarily one
of the most attractive portions of her memoirs.
The simple tastes and domestic habits of the Baroness,
rendered the laborious routine of gaiety somewhat
irksome to her, but the companionship of her beloved
Princess enchained her at Paris. In a most
graceful and natural manner she comments upon the
various remarkable personages around her, and en-
livens her pages with the anecdotes of the day—pages,
however, remarkable throughout by the purity of sen-
timent and womanly delicacy by which they are char-
acterized. The closing passages of the third volume
are overshadowed with the gloom of the impending
Revolution—an event which to Madame D'Oberkirch
must have been an especial calamity, imbued as she
had been from childhood with the most exaggerated
notions reopectirig high birth And genealogical