The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-04 00:00:00

N°. 17,741. LONDON, SATURDAY r!r'NING _ 9 AUGUST 4, 1849.

HELL GWYNNE TAVERN and CHOP-
HOUSE, Bull Inn-court, strand, for Luncheons, Dinners,
and-Suppers, Three Doors East of the Adelphi Theatre, and opnoSite
Adam- street.
Messrs. ARCHER and 110 LT most respectfully invite their
•friends and the public to patronise the Nell Owynne Coffee room,
which has been fitted tip in the stlo of the period in whla she lived.
Visitors to the Theatres, Citizens, and Gentlemen conn,cted with
Somerset House, and the Banking Houses in the vicinity, will find
the Table d'ilute, which takes place at flair-past Five p ecisely, the
most comfortable and rea -tumble in the ins frouolis.-1"Ish and
Joints, 2s. per head. Hot Joints until Eight, and suppers unit. One
o'cloCk. Private Dining-roosts: excellent Beds, superior Wines and
Spirits, tine Ales. and Barclay and Perkins's Stout.
N.B. An Entr nen si=n from Mlide, lane.

THREE CROWNS IEL AND eO,\IAIER
CIAL LEICE-TER.

THOMAS FREER returns his most grateful thanks for the very
liberal pathinage he has net with during his residence at the above
Hotel, and begs to assure those tointnercial Gentlemen who may
favour him with their support, that every exertion shall be used to
merit a continuance of.the-same.

N.B.—A Porter in waiting for the Night Trains.

4.)1 i ii
RKGENT-STPEFT

An Illustration of Ancient Traditions, in Tale and Song, after the
manner of the Ancient Minstrels, by Ge .Ige Soane, 8.A., assisted by
vtiss Clara Soane and Miss Rose soave, every Evening at Eight.—
Ume Illustrated, •in a series of Dissolving Views.—A Descriptive
l,ecture embracing, the most interesting points connecled with the
subject, will, he given by Mr. J. Russell.--Lectures Om Chemi'try, by
Mr. .J. M. Ashley, daily, at llalt-past Three, and on the Evenings
of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at Nine o'clock.—A Lecture by
11:tehhoffnur on 3fasters's Patent Process of Freezing Dessert
Ices, &c.—Diver and Diving-bell.

>i-et, daily trom Eleven to Five Bnll in the Nvenings tineindint-
,turtlity) from Seven till Half-past Ten.
Admisqinn. lialf-price.—The New tatalmrue. Is

ANVAR D'S true original PAINTING )t.' the
MISSISSIPPI and MIS-:OURI RIVERS, exhibited by com-
mand of her Majesty the Queen, and lI.R 11. Prince Albert, and
aoyal Family, at Windsor Castle, NOW OI'EN, at the EGYPTIAN
PICADILL V, every Morning, at Halt-past Two, Even-
ing, at Half-past Seven.
Admission—Lower Seats, 2e. ; Gallery, is.

" That there was any other oriwnal painting of these rivers is an
mpudeut imposture."—Lonisville Rein-erat.

THE NILE.—NOW OPEN, Afternoons at
Three, Evenings at Eight o'clock, at the EGYPTIAN HALL,
PICCADILLY, a Xew .and Splendid MOVING PANORAMA of the
NILE, exhibding the whole of the stupendous Works of Antiquity
now remaining on its banks, between Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and
he Second Cataract in N übia. Painted by Henry Warren and James
Fahey, and Joseph Bonomi, tr,,m Drawings by the latter, made dur-
ing aresidence of many years in Egypt.
Stalls, 35.; Pit, 2s. ; G3llery, Is.

THE REGISTERED SYRIAN rALErrot
x_ Of all the productions to which tlie title of PALETOT or
r.IGHT OVERCOAT is applied, the trade and publ,c have aeknow-
edged ihat none can compare for elegance 01 style, excellence of
mike, or lightness of material with the REGISTERED SYRIAN
j'ALETOT, by Messrs. SWAI); and CO., Court Tailors, 379, Oxford-
-treet. Cloth•faced, 2/. 29. ; Silk, extra. By the came accompliAied
ctistes, the SYRIAN LOUNGING JACKET, price 30;., celebrated
rom its neglige character as the masterpiece of its genre.

WECHI'S PAPIER-MACHE TEA TRAYS.
are decidedly the most unique and elegant ever manufac-
ured. The designs are various, as well as the prices, and the
conomical may be suited as easil as those whose wealth entitles
hem to seek or the most recherche articles which art can produce.
The papier-mache work-tables work-boxes, tea-caddies, writing-
Ives, inkstands, hand screens, card-boxes, &c., are really superb.
lechi has a stock of dressing-cases not to be surpassed; also an im-
oense assortment of writing-desks, table cutlery, Sheffield plated
varei- &c. . His cushioned bagatelle tables are renowned for their
,Iperior construction. Manufactory: 4 Leadenhall-street, London.

T. 0 THE LADI E S.
The powerful influence of the sun on the skin at this period
,t the year call' for increased attention in preserving its delicacy and
,eatity. The most pleasing and effectual secific for this desirable
hject +s
ItOWL ANDS' K AL YDOR,
m deservedly established in Royal and Public favour and estimation.
Its appl;cation neutralizes the effects of atmosphere, and induces
hat healthy action of the microscopic vessels of the skin, by which
is delicacy and beauty are so essentially promoted. Freckle 4, Tan,
•;pots, Pimples, and D:scolorations fly toPore the application of the
ii:ALYDOR, and give place to a healthy smoothnk:ss and transpa-
rency of complexion. Ladies travelling or taking out-door exercls
,ill find it to diffuse a grateful and refreshmg feeling. In edges of
:unborn, or Stings of Insects, its virtues have long been acknow-
ledged. Price 4s. 6d. and Ss 6d. per Bottle.

ROWLANDS .3:IACA,:SAB OIL,
.1 delightfully fragrant and transparent preparation; and as an invi-
'Torah-it' and beautifier beyond all precedent Price as. 61.-7 s.—
Family Bottles (equal :o four small), 10s. 6d., and double that size,
21s. per Bottle.

ROWLANDS' ODONTO,
OR PEARL DENTIFRICE,
WHITE POWDER, composed of the rarest and most fragrant
maks. It bestows On the teeth a rearl-like Whiteness, frees them
rom Tartar, and imparts .o the Gums a healthy firmness, and to
he Breath a eelighttul fragrance,
price 2;. 9d, per box.
BEWARE OF SAIRL)I.TS IMITATIONS.
_ _ _

The only .Gemuine of each bears the name of " ROITLANDS' "
receding that of the Article on the Wrapper or Label. Sold by
hem at 20, Hatton-Garden, London, and by Chemists and Per-
inners,

QUERIES for the QUEEN.
As England's Queen has made a Stay
Among the I-Pghland 'addles,
It is I,ut i ight that she should pay
A visit to the Paddies.
The Queen will have a welcome there,
While bell, from every steeple,
With merry music will declare
The gladness of her pee:ole.
But will our gracious Sovereign meet
Across St. George's waters,
With warmer heart, than those which beat
I❑ England's sons and daughter..

And when she views, with beaming smile,
The scenes which there a vait her;
Will she be weaned from Al .ion's Isle,
And think Hibernia greater?

Much will she see in that famed part,
But when her visit closes,
Will she have seen a greater Mart
Than that of Messrs. Moses ?
In Trowsers, Coats, and Waistcoats, too,
Will Ireland's shears or needle
Shame Moses' Mart, which stands in view
Of Aidgate's pari4l beadle?
Or if she buy a Habit there,
In which she sometimes dresses,
Will she consider the affair
Better than M. and S.'s.

No answer need my readers give.
While thus they are surrounded
With stubborn facts, which negative
The queries I've propounde
LIST OF Pit Lti.
ARADY WADS.
Men' Spring, and Summer Wrappers from X 0 8 6
Ihe Rulwer, Paletot, and every descrip-
tion o, light Liver-coo s • •••-••°.• • • • • • • • 1 2 6
Cloth Over Coats. of a light texture, and hand-
somely trimmed ••.. • • 1 I 0
De. do. lined with silk 1 8 o
De. do. superior quality ............ 1 IS 0
Jean and Holland Blouses 0 2 9
Fancy Victoria do. .......... ...... ....... 0 4 0
Tweed do. • • .
Dress Coat .... ••..•• .. • • • ... .... 0 17 0
Frock Coat • • .... •• • . •... • 1 0 0
Spring and Summer Trousers .. • • 0 4 0
Doeskin and buckskin d 0... . • ••••• 0 7 6
Spring and '4uminer Vests in every variety.. 0 1 6
Black and Figured Satin Vests ...... •• •• • • 0 4 6
Black do., superior quality .... •••• • . 0 9 6
White Ma:Tella Vests
Men's Black C'oth Vests .. ••..••••• • • • • • .. 0 3 6
Boy's Spring and Summer Ve5t5............ 0 10
Boys' i-Inssar and Tunic 'Alas •••• .. • • •..... 0 0
Men's Fishing Coats in great variety .....• .. 0 4 0
MADE. ft, Au-eel-at,

Pal etots made from a variety of material, fitted
for Summer wear .. .. • •••• • • • • • • 1 1 0
Do. very elegantly trimmed •
Superior Cloth of a light texture— 1 la 0
Ditto ditto lined with silk.. • .......... 2 2 0
Ditto Dress Coat.. •• .„
9 15 0
Superfine Frock do. ••••••••••• • • • • • • • • 115 0
Best do.
•3 3 0
Fancy Doeskin Trousers. .•••••• .• • • • • • 016 6
Black do. ...... • • . • ...... 016 0
•
Black Cloth Vests ••• • • •
Best d 0...... ..... • • •• . ..... 13 6
Splen :id 'atin Ve5t........ ........ 014 6
Hussar and Tunic salts .................. 5 0
Superfine do.
•• •• •• •• 1 15 0
IM en's White blarcellt Vests _ • • 0 7 0
Fishing Coats in endless variety from 0 10 6to 1 16 0
Elegant Dressing Itob.,s in great
variety ••••• • .. from 0 16 oto 5 0 0
Mourning to any extent at FDA, tilinutes notice.
.A suit of Clothes complete for 1/. 10s.
The new book, entitled the " Great Fact," with full directions
for Self-measurement, can be had on application, or forwarded, post
free, to any part of the kingdom.
Notice— rh. Shawl and l'arasel Department are now replete with
every novelty of the season.
Observe—Any article purchased, either ready made, or made to
Measure, if not approved of will be exchanged, er the money returned.
P. MOsKS and Sc•oN, Wooliciatrapets, Clothier, tuition,
flosiert Farriers, Boot and Shoemakers, and General Outfitters, 154,
155, 156, and 157 141nories, and a:<, 44, 35, and 86 AlAgate, City,
Es radon; all communicating with each other, and forming one vast
tablishment.
Caution.—E. Moses and Son regret having to guard the public
against imposition ; but having heard that the nntradesman-ne
falsehood of being connected with them, or " It is the same concern,"
been resorted to in many instances, and for obvious reasons,
they beg to state that tl•ey have so connexion with any other house
In er out of London, except their Branch Establishments, 36, Far-
:ate, Sheffield ; and 19, Thornton 's-buildings, Bradford, Yorkshire ;
ol 4 hose who require cheap and genuine clethuig. /to., snow l rail
at or mid to the Minories and &ideate. City, London ; or either of
the Branch Establishments, as above.

__________
A A h I A 6' E.
YI One half the world are desolately single, and the other
tupposiag them married, questioaahly contented. Diffidence, or a
once of right determine the former, and miscalculate,l hopes ern.
oltter the latter. The solitary one may shield himself under the plea
of caution and worldly prudence, and the indissoluble, regret ..
sornprosisur hurry; but the truth lies deeper. Physical incapacity,
and broken health, are the great hindrances to domestic happiness
And social content. The dowry should not tae the only marriage set-
-.lament. Honour and iustice demand that health should form an item
In the cemact; It alone dignifies the alliance. Blighted hopes or
neglect wound more sorely than poverty or misfortune. Reader, if
these surmises concern you, procure Dr. CULVERWELL'S little
4.E3101.R.S '‘ On Single and Married Life, " pub. in 2 vols., Is.
each (by post, in stamps, la. 6d. each). Let no imaginatively
"eftned, or prudish feeling deter you, by their titles, nor he hisidered
oy mishaterpretatior of their supposA contents, from obtaining
th.ern. They are not intended certainly for mere idle curiosity, but
far the closet perusal of those mere deesly interested, to whom
t-ey are offered as antagonistic to the empyrical trash put forth on
tne above subiects, by unqualified authors, which alone or
together, are a disgrace to the age. Furthermore, two other
ittle Publications claim
your attention (same price Is. each,
by rus t Is. 6d.) called .. What to Ent, Drink, and
Avoia." and " How to be nappy." They are not merely
pa npS,lste_ but equal in quantity a library volume, nor are they the
imere cy.hemeral scribblings of the hour, hut the study of the author's
i f.. who owes his present existence, health, and position to this ob-
sere.mes of the maxims he would inculcate—to do unto others as he
w (-it... Ase done unto—to live atter nature's laws—and to tees+ always
on the ' gunny side of the way." The above works may be bad of
Sherwo 41, 23, Paterncsrer-rears-; Carvn.lho, 147, Fleet.street • Mann.
39, Cor trill; s,l,,uson,
..,,,,
the
~,,ti„4S,r7,ovWheostnaStarlanhde;
coornttererl (ritih.epteo;oonathe;;-.
wise)
mornings °Ild:. INGUM6B), 10, Arun -plus Regent-street; and all
Ileolenas

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

The Right lion. the First Lord of the Admiralty,
with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Rear-
Admiral Deans Dundas, C. 8., M.P., and Mr. Secre-
tary Parker, M.P., returned to the Admiralty on
Thursday evening,from their official visit in the Light-
ning steam tender, Master Commander Petley, to the
Channel Islands. Their Lordships left Cowes on
Monday afternoon, and arrived at Alderney next day.
They la!,ded, and went round the island, and then
proceeded t, Jersey, and steamed into every bay and
nook around that island, and inspected the new works
there, attended by Mr. Walker, C.E. They then
proceedtd to Guernsey, and returned to Portland,
where they inspected the breakwater works, convict
prisons, &c., at that place, previously to returning to
r,,wn. The Lightning proceeded to Portsmouth
narbi arr.

TILE TRIALS BETWEEN THE BASILISK (PADDLE)
AND NIGER (SCREW) STEAM-SLOOPS.--These vessels
uut to sea, from Devonport, on Wednesday morning,
but the Basilisk returned to the Sound in the night,
and the .Nig(.l. on Thursday morning, and both sailed
for Portsmouth at 3.30 P.M., arrived at Spithead
early yesterday morning, and went into harbour at
eleven o'clock. They did not see anything of the
Royal yacht squadron. As the Niger carne out
trona Plymouth she saw a large steamer to the west-
ward of the Rain Head, which might have been one
of th.! war steamers of the squadron. The trial be-
twuon these vessels is not yet concluded ; for the prin-
cipal feature has not yet been tested—viz., the trial
against a strong head-wind and heavy sea, the fine
weather they have hitherto had affording no oppor-
tunity for such a trial. Both vessels steam remark-
ah!y well, but generally the paddle vessel under steam
alone_has had a slight advantage in speed, about half
a knot per houi over the screw, especially when
drawing a light draft; when deep in the
water the advantage is not so much.
On the other hand, under canvass, and in
ordinary circumstances, the screw heats her op-
ponent nearly a knot per hour; both vessels are,
we iinderstani, fine wholesome ships, and steam and
sail remarkably well. The Basilisk has gone along-
side the coal-snip to complete fuel; and the Niger
will also up, and, probably, proceed again to sea on
Monday; but that defends on Admiralty orders.
The Ajax, 60, screw steam liner, was to have gone
out to try her engines at Portsmouth yesterday
morning, but her trial will be deferred until Monday.
She is down to her load water line, and draws 23 feet
1 inch att.

The Arrogant, 46, screw-frigate, Captain Robert
Fitzroy, left Lisbon, on the morning of the 24th ult.,
fbr Spithead.
The Dauntless, screw steam-frigate, .1,500 tons
burden and 580 horse power, was taken into dock at
Portsmouth on Tuesday. She is to undergo exten-
sive alterations ; her stern frame will be taken out,
and she will be lengthenel soma nine or eleven feet.
This Is rather expensive work, more especially as she
is a new frigate, never tried at sPa; this alteration,
which will, it is supposed, cost 3.0001. or 4,0001., is
expected to increw;e her speed at least one knot per
hour under ste:im.

The Pvcenix, 6, screw-sloop, Commander Wode-
house, arrived at Devonport on Wednesday night.
She has some detect in her funnel, which will be put
ro riglvs by this evening, when she will sail with the
mails for the coast of Africa.

The Ve.:uvius, 6, steam-sloop, in charge of Master
Attendaw Bellaoiy, arrived at Pembroke, with the
marines, Sze., on Wednesday.
The Persian, 12, sloop, Commander Bullman, will
be detained a few days longer at Woolwich

A Halifax paper, dated June 19, has the following
paragraph :—" The admiral in her Majesty's ship
Wellesley, is, we understand, about to leave this
pert, on a cruise to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and
Newfoundland, with a view to the investigation of the
state and prospects of the colonial fisheries. The
flig.ship has, we believe, been preceded by small
vessels, suited to the purpose of entering those coves
and harbours of the coasts from which the fisheries
are chiefly prosecuted. The Noble Earl appears to
be untiring in his endeavours to ascertain the extent
of our maritime resources and to promote their de-
velopment. With such objects in view, he cannot
fail to be accompanied in his efforts by the best wishes
of every• true-hearted colonist." The Noble and
Gallant Earl has sent the Trincomalee, 25, Captain
Warren; the Bermuda schooner, Lieutenant-Com
mander Jolly; and the Vixen, 6, steam sloop, to the
divisions of the station named, and is now about to
visit them himself.

PORTSMOUTH, FRIDAY.—A court-martial, compri-
sing Rear-Admiral H. Prescott, C. 8., President,
Captain Chads, C. 8., ot the Excellent; Captain Yates,
of the Illustrious ; Captain Purcell, of the Superb ;
Captain Blackwood, ot the Victory ; and Mr. George
L. Greethain, Judge-Advocate of the Fleet, assembled
this morning on board the Victory, to try Joseph
Payne, a private of Royal Marines, belonging to the
Blazer steam-vessel, just paid off from the coast of
Africa, on the following charges :
" For that he, the said Joseph Payne, when a
private of Marines, and borne upon the books of her
Majesty's ship Blazer, on the Eli of February last,
was on the said day drunk and incapable of doing his
duty. Also on the said 6th of February, whilst on
the quarter-deck of the said vessel, did use certain
disgusting language to his Commander, Lieutenant
Smith ; and also did threaten the life of Mr. William
George Aldridge, Second Master, and the petty
officers who conducted him below."

heCourt havingat thehe prisonerardthecasehaidn
tsoupapnoergteoin h
of theis
charge,rt and what
defence, and having maturely deliberated upon and
n4dered the whole, was of opinion that the charges
had been fully proved, but in consideration of the
',mg and rigorous confinement endured by the priso-
ner since the commission of the offenses, adjudged
him only to be mu!cted of all pay and prize-money
due to him in the service, and to be imprisoned for
six calendar months in the county gaol at Winchester.
The Lightning steam•tendr returned to port last
evening frotn the Channel Islands,- having landed Sir
Francis Bring, First Lora of the Admiralty, Rear.
Admiral Deans Dundas, Mr. Patker, and Sir Charles
Wood, at Weymouth, on their return to town.

The Basilisk and Niger experimental steam• vessels,
under the command of Captain Horatio Austen, C. 8.,
having been ordered to return to port, came in here
this morning, and returned to harbour. There is
.iuch a division of opinion as to their respective merits,
or which has the superiority, that we decline to pub-
lish the reports.
The Fire Queen steam yacht has not accompanied
the Royal squadron, but, together with the Elfin dis-
patch-yacht, remains in harbour.

The Dreadnought, seamen's Hospital- ship, and the
Hermes are in the East Docks.

and all the agricultural reports are most satisfactory.
The Cork Reporter of Thursday says-- -
" A gentleman called at our office this morning
with some potato stalks, which had been what is corn-
manly called blighted.' About a fortnight ago
some of the leaves assumed the appearance of blight
—became brown and rotted. The owner of course,
thought, as many others have done, that his crop was
diseased, and would be destroyed, but was agreeaLy
surprised some time afterwards to find the diseased'
stalks throwing out new and green leaves. These
shoots are still growing, and although the blighted'
ones, which appear to have been struck by lightning,
remain on the stalk, that is perfect and sound. We
rather fancy that a similar attack in other cases .has,
been the cause of ' the panic' that is prevalent among
certain parties, who cannot believe that the crop can
be, sound, or would desire that it should not be so."

THE FuNDs.—Three per Cent. Consols, 92i ;
Three-and -a- Quarter per Cent. Stock, 92i a ; Bank
Stock, 1921; Steam Ship Building Shares,
,42;
Dublin and Kingstown Railway, 128; Great Southern
and Western, 34.

NE.VV COINAGE.—THE FLORIN.
(From the London Gazette di last night.)
By the QUEEN.—A PROCLAMATION.
VICTORIA, R.
Whereas by an Act passed in the fifty-sixth year
of the reign of his late Majesty 'King George 111.,
intituled " An Act to provide for a new Silver Coinage
and to regulate the Currency of the Gold and Silver
Coin of this Realm," the Master and 'Worker of our
Mint, in London, was authorised and empowered to
coin, or cause to be coined, silver bullion into silver
coins, consisting of crowns, half-crowns, shillings,
and sixpences, of the standard of eleven ounces and
two pennyweights of fine silver and eighteen penny-
weights of alloy to the pound troy, and in weight
after the rate of sixty-six shillings to the pound
troy :

And whereas by an Act passed in the twelfth and
thirteenth years of our reign, intituled " An Act to
extend an Act of the fifty-sixth year of King. George
for providing for a new Silver Coinage, and for
regulating the Currency of the Gold and Silver Coin
of this Realm," the Master and Worker of our Mint,
in London, was authorised and empowered to coin, or
cause to be coined, silver bullion into silver coins of
the standard of fineness above mentioned, and in
weight after the rate of 663. to every pound troy,
whether the same be coined in crowns, or in any
pieces of a lower denomination : And whereas we
have thought fit to order that certain pieces of silver
money should be coined, to be called florins or tenths
of a pound, and to be of the value of 2s. : And whereas,
pursuant to our said order, and in virtue of the power
given by the said recited Acts, a coinage of the said
florins or tenths of a pound, of the standard and at
the rate aforesaid, has been made; and every such
florin or one-tenth of a pound has for the obverse our
effigy, crowned, with the inscription " Victoria Re-
gina," and the date of the year; and for the reverse
the ensigns armorial of the United Kingdom con-
tained in four shields, crosswise, each shield surmounted
by the Royal Crown, with the rose in the centre, and
in the compartments between the shields the national
emblems of the rose, thistle, and shamrock, surrounded
by the words " One Florin, One Tenth of a Pound,"
and with a milled graining round the edge : And
whereas pieces of silver money of the above descrip-
tion have been coined at our Mint, and will be coined
there, in pursance of orders issued, and to be issued
byus _

We have, therefore, by and with the advice of our
Privy Council, thought fit to issue this our royal
proclamation ; and we do hereby ordain, declare, and
command that the said pieces of money so coined and
to be coined shall be current and lawful money of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and
shall pass and be received as current and lawful
money of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, and shall pass and be received as current
And lawful money of our said kingdom by the names
aforesaid, and at the value hereinbefore assigned to
them.

Given at our Court, at Osborne House, Isle of
Wight, this 30th day of July, 1849, and in the 13th
year of our reign.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

I---,LAW OF LUNACY.
A public meeting of the members of the Alleged
Lunatics' Friend Society was held at Exeter. hall On
Monday evening; C. Lushington, Esq., M.P., in the c air.
The Cuairtmax in opening the proceedings stated
that he had attended there in compliance with the re-
quest of the committee of the Alleged Lunatics' Friend
Society, and also according to the wish expressed in a
- requisition placed in his hands of certain inhabitants of
Westminster, most resp-ctably signed, and that by per-
sons of every phase of political opinion, which was an
indication that the meeting did not partake of the
slightest particle of political feeling, and that its objects
would be discused in that grave and st ricus manner
beeorning a subject deeply
affecting the inter e-ts and
welfare of the community at large. Wfe n the deputa-
tion from the Alleged Lunatic.' Friend Society wait. d
jset
ea
tt
,e da
nt,hl atth
abtebenhaton lvery(i ntoitttle undertake,
upon him to request his presence at the meeting, he
acq lainte,,,'d.i,shvitthhethme suultbi.
tarions objects in which he was
.'
engaged, to decide upon
any fixed opinion on the.
subject, but he thought it was
one which ought to be brought before Parliament,
It
gi
was three weeks since he had seen those- 1, and
he had been so much engaged with his Parliamentary
and other duties, that he had not been
up for the occasion, lie trusted, therefoa;e e
thatto read
hre.d
should be excused it his address
were' sil orte
and it he abstained from giving any decided opinion, but,
at the same time, from what he had
read
regarding the
existing lass upon lunacy, he was satisfied they were
very defective. When certificates could with so little
difficulty be .obtained, by which a person could be con.
signed to an asylum in the case of an apprehended or
alleged lunacy, it certainly was a dangerous state of
things, and requited some further intervention. lie also
perceived that when a person was so consigned to an
asylum, he or she was denied the advantage of consult-
ing any friend, or of having the counsel of any legal ad-
visers. These were abuses which undoubtedly required
to be remedied.—(Hear, hear.) Then he thought that
the proprietors and physicians of the establishment, how.
ever respectable they might be, possesaed a power of
abusing their trust, and that power was not sufficiently
guarded against. He could not imagine any case so
wretched and so horrible as that of a person of a nervous
and anxious temperament, whose mind might be slightly
affected by some domestic or afflicting event, finding
himself confined, separated from his friends and rela-
tives, denied all communication wi.h them, and with
those he bad been in the habit of consulting, and com-
pelled to a.-soci ate with lunatics and pee 'ens who have
been adjudged incompetent to conduct their own affairs.
—(Hear, and cheers.) When he contemplated the
misery of persons so immured he confessed that
tie felt the deepest sympathy with such individuals,
and he entertained the most anxious hope that legisla-
tive remedies might be applied, and that every possible
exertion should be used to prevent them from being
made human sacrifices. He had happily never known
tri instance in his own family of any such real or pre.
tended visitation, but when he contempla,ed that a
nervous person, perhaps fluttering as it were on the very
bounds of insanity, could be thus circumstanced, he felt
hat it required their best attention, their de, pest sym-
pathy, and the greatest p.issible precaution should be
~xerted to prevent these abuses. He understood there
were upwards of 30,000 lunatics in England and Wales,
.5,000 of whom were private patients confined in private
asylums; the remaining 25 000 being in asylums pro-
vided by the public, were no doubt properly taken care
of, and he trusted that very little abuse occurred in these
public asylums. The object to which the attention of
this society was more particularly directed was to pro-
vide a safeguard against the undue confinement and
the ill-treatment of the 5,000 persons in the private
asylums. Dr. Conolly had sent him a pamphlet, relative
to the case Nottidge v. Ripley, but he did not agree with
the opinion the Doctor had there expressed, although he
had the highest opinion of his talents, for he did not
think he had given that attention ho might have given to
the too great facility of placing persons in confinement,
or the temptation, from pecuniary interest, in continuing
he confinement after convalescence, and the cruelties
too often practised, but had relied too much upon the
!eelings of those "delicate friends" who had placed
persons in those as)lums, perhaps actuated by selfish
considerations. He thought the supervision of these
private asylums, as at present conducted, was not suffi-
cient. Mr. Purnell, the Chairman of the Magistrates of
the county of Gloucester, who had visited several
asylums in that county, had discovered various abuses,
and had explained many points upon which improve-
ments were urgently required, and amongst many cases
was one of a Mr. T. C. K., who was confined warty
months, at the instigation of his own brothers, because
those brothers wished to enjoy the property belonging
to the alleged lunatic undisturbed and utimolested, lie
had since been released, by the authority ot the magis-
trates, and was married to a lady, from whom, by the
machinations of his relative, he had been temporarily
separated, and he was now living with his wife, perfectly
calm and rational, and in the lull enj a meet of
il,ruestic happiness.—k Cheers ) He (the Chairman)
was happy to state that the Law Amendment Society,
had decided t hat the
having investigated the subject,
lunacy law was very capable of revision, and that that re-
cision ought to be carried out as soon as possible. One
of the remedies they proposed was very simple, It was
this—that when an individual was placed in an asylum
under the charge of lunacy, his property should not re-
main under the control of those persons who placed him
under restraint, but that it should be entrusted to cer-
tain publicofficers, which would obviate many of the evils
of the present system. He thought this en excellent rule,
and be trusted, when considered in Parliament, it would
he duly weighed. In conclusion, he hoped those gentle-
men who followed him would make such observations
and employ such arguments as would satisfy the meeting
that the law regarding lunatics required to be amended
and improved. The lion. Chairman sat down amidst
loud cheering.
Joust YERCITAL, Esq., proposed the first resolution as
follows:—" That the present laws of lunacy are highly
detective; that, under these laws, persons may be secretly
seized and confined as lunatics, without any opportunity
of defending themselves, in a mariner contrary to every
principle of constitutional freedom and justice; and that
acts of the greatest aggression and cruelty have been,
and are still, committed in lunatic asylums, in conse-
quence of the imperfect system adapted for super-
intending the same." He explained the present
state of the law, by which persons might on the
authority of two and sometimes of one cer-
tificate from a medical man, be torn from their
houses, without any respect for ;heir persons or property,
not by the . fficers of justice, but by hired servants, em
ployed by the proprietor of the asylum to which they
were consigned.—(Hear.) Any stranger had it in his
power to act thus towards a man. He would not say
that there were not occasions in which strangers should
interfere, but they ought to begin by taking the person
accused before a magistrate, and giving him an opportu-
nity of explaining his conduct. But, at present, althou;h
the law required two certificates to be signed by two me-
dical men, yet it allowed, under special circumstances,
one to be sufficient to get a party to an asylum, when
another medical signature could be obtained under the
influence of the proprietors of such asylums, and thus
might a British subject be deprived of his liberty, and
placed in a mad-house, the law thus operating in such a
way as to render the second certificate valueless. Atter
alluding to several cases which have already been pub-
lished in the reports of the Gloucestershire magistrate:
in their inquiry into the management of the li'
Captainispo
home nd
Asylum, Mr. Percival referred to thec
atase of
Bath on one
Dixon, who had been taken from his
country to en asylum,
where another certificate, and carried across the'
certifier and certificate were readily
ob-
tained ; but upon a writ of habeas corpus being sued out,
be was
immediately discharged by the physician as
a sane man, but only to be entrapped and
re-confined on two certificates, regularly obtained.
One person had been deprived of his liberty through
the contrivance of his wife to prevent his pub-
licly denouncing her proved infidelity. Another gen-
tleman, from a difference with his wife, was by the latter,
for that cause only, placed in a lunatic asylum ; but it
was at Dr. Munro's, who, being a wealthy practitioner,
would not submit to any unfair practice, and he ulti-
mately determined upon liberating, this gentleman. A
gallant captain of the navy, then present at the meeting,
was also dragged from his home under similar circum-
stances, and carried away to an asylum, where he was
kept for some months, until a relative threatened to in-
dict all the parties for a conspiracy, when lie was re-
leased. Mr. Percival read a very interesting letter to
show the perfect sanity of this officer, from the Rev.
Thomas Bissett, rector of Addiscombe, and chaplain to
the college. The secretary of the society, Mr. Bailey.
had suffered nearly five years' confinement in five private
asylums, having been passed or transferred from house
to house, not because be was mad—for if he had been
it was the duty of either of them to have kept him—but
because he had been the means of stetting other patients
discharged, and was, upon the 'whole, very troublesome.
He was at length sent to Fairford, in Gloucestershire,
and the only ground alleged against him was, thater_
e.
was the first discoverer of the principle of
haetmeesrpb.., !-
railways. Mr. Perceval warmly eulogiisedmit
agiltatrateoaf
ward Legh Bennett, a clergyman,
i:st d
h liberation, arid
Gloucestershire who procured
of
the
commis-
sinners
it with the conduct
him. strongly contrasted
refused to
in lunacy who had .
.cli he (hear reThe great principle forno
Englishmanwhi should be con-
finedcival) contended was, that
access to his legal advisers in the,
without having
Englishman should be
judged behind
nhis back. lie did hope that the magistracy'
~t England would no throw on the Commissioners
in Lunacy the responsibility. longer
of discharging patients,
and •
which, from their quick transitory visits, they were
ill qualified
- to perform; but that the magistrates would
on their visits to these asylums scruinize and investi-
gate the cases of the patients themselves; and, following
the steps
men of the
women of quiet, mild demeanour, who
had a spark of int.llect left, by releasin,, teem buffet
that spark to be fanned and nurtured in the world, rather
than to crush it and for ever extinguish it in asylum.
LUKE JAMES HANSARD, Esq, seconded the resolu-
tion, which seemed to him to be the whole pith of what
could be said for the society. It was a sad state of
affairs when a man was liable to be seized upon the
grounds of some mere temporary excitement, and carried
,0 a madhouse. Yet any individUal in that room was
liable to it.—(Hear, bear.) The best mode of deter-