The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-12 00:00:00

Oluning ..,Atit

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1842.

German patriotism cannot make up its mind as to
who shall be crowned with the Imperial diadem at
Frankfort. Nor, considering the magnitude of the
responsibility imposed on those who have to make the
selection, can the delay be any matter of amazement.
Even the miraculous skill of VON GAGEIX has
failed to elicit anything like a rational unanimity
from the representatives. The numbers which he i
has hitherto reduced to an orderly and symmetrical
Opposition are jumbled into a chaotic confusion.
They refuse to settle down in harmonious masses like
the precipitate of the ballot-box. On the contrary, one
flies off at a tangent here, another there, one in this
direction, another in that; and the consequence is that
the Assembly is at last altogether at fault ; its
machinery won't work, but has become afflicted with
a dead-lock. How long this state of legislative stag
nation will continue it is absolutely impossible to
conjecture; the phlegmatic characteristic of the
German race still predominates over the momentary
activity Produced by revolutionary ideas. So long
as the elect of the people continue to permit them-
selves to dwindle into the mere dupes of the intrigues
of the different Sovereigns, so long will the antici-
pated nationality of Fatherland be an unattainable
mirage useful only to the imagination of UXLAXD.
In comniating upon the difficult and bewildering
problem as to who would be the fittest personage to
invest with the imperial dignity, we have already
declared"that to ourselves the choice between the two
prettent candidates the Prussian KING and the Aus-
trian EMPEROR, would render the acceptance of the
latter pre*rable, The youth, and consequently the
untarnished -reputation of FRANCIS Josarii, would
afford that potentate an opportunity of taking the
initiative as Emperor of Germany without any
glaring and damaging inconsistency, such as might
tend to impart to his acts an appearance of insincerity
and more time-serving. With FREDERICK WILLIAM
it would necessarily be different. The reiterated perfidies
of that-Monarch., the fickleness of his attachment to
the popular cause, his tarnished and saturnine
celebrity,all unite in rendering him about the most unfit
recipient of the sceptre of the German Caesars. Be-
yond which, his sudden elevation to the rank and
state. of an emperor, and of an emperor, too, over the
vast confederation of the forty Germanic States, would
give him en undue and pernicious preponderance over
those territories which are more populous and gigant'c
than his own. While, nevertheless, we would decide
thus summarily in the preference of the
successoeie of FERDINAND,
im-
perial we must
acknowledge tout neither the Austrian nor the
Prussian hug
tees& quelifications which should' be re-
garded
•a; essentiet,to the regal and imperial repre-
p, esenta"ve of the Garmitnic nationality. The policy
of the one would tend too exclusively toward:, Berlin,
and the policy or ,the other towards Vienna. There
would not be that abstraction from what may be
called tile provincialism of German sentiments ; there
would not be that isolation from the prejudices of
eountey,,which abstraction and isolation would be
mperatiiefj,`required in, the person of the Supreme
Emperor.- There would, moreover, be a
perpetual source of jealousies and recrimi-

nations in the conduct pursued by either.
They would be taxed by the millions of
Fatherland with a too exclusive devotion to Prussia
or to Austria as the case may be .; while, on the
other hand, Prussia or Austria 'might charge them
with an undue subjection of their own interests to
the interest of the great Commonwealth of King-
doms. In either event there would be the germ of
estrangement; and to guard against this is one of the
most solemn duties imposed upon the National Par-
liament assembled to decide upon the destinies of the
German people in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's,
in the imperial city of Frankfort-on-the-Maine.

All things considered, therefore, the recent pause
in the deliberations of the Representatives as to the
nomination of the first Emperor, is matter rather for
commendation than for condemnation. It betrays
in them a profound solicitude to proceed with exqui-
site caution in the task of selecting a proper centre,
round whieh the patriotism of their fellow-country-
men, whether of Austria, or Prussia, or Bavaria, or
Saxony, or Hanover, or of any of the subordinate
principalities, may concentrate, without any
injury to themselves, individually or collectively,
It must be confessed that the problem is
very nearly as inscrutable as it is un-
questionably momentous. It discloses an abyss of
such appalling depth as to baffle the gaze of the most
far-seeing. If such likewise is the difficulty of the
question to the German statesmen, it surely must be
no subject for astonishment that the most enlightened
foreigners hesitate in arriving at anything like a
satisfactory conclusion. Time must yet elapse before
the power of the National Assembly can be resigned
into the hands of the future Emperor without an ex-
traordinary degree of rashness. Meanwhile the
legislators. assembled in the imperial city are not frit-
tering away the period of their political existence
solely in prolonged and stormy discussions. They
still keep in view the exalted labours expected from
them prior to the dissolution ; and, in part fulfilment,
of those requirements they have only, within the last
few days, passed one of their noblest enactments—
the law for the protection of personal liberty. While
they continue thus to struggle towards the goal of
confederative union and national happiness, they will
secure to themseves the cordial sympathies of the mul-
titude, and will prepare the general mind by the
worthiest means—that of moral and intellectual ex-
ample—for the submission to any determination at
which they may ultimately arrive, in regard to the
individual selected for the office of the Emperor of
Germany.

There is every probability that the present session
of Parliament will not pass away without, at least,
an effort to obtain an amendment in the state of the
law respecting the confinement of persons alleged to
be lunatic. Thanks to the visiting magistrates of
Gloucestershire, to whom the gratitude of every
friend of humanity is due for the firm, and, at the
same time, courteous manner in which they performed
their duty during the whole course of the investiga-
tion into the management of the Fishponds Asylum,
the attention of the public has been at length
awakened to the importance of the subject;
and the Society for. Promoting the Improvement of
the Law, acting in this, as in many other instances,
as the interpreters of public opinion, have exposed
the defects of the law as it at present stands, and have
pointed out a remedy. The following was the
reference made by the Society to the Committee on
Equity :—" To consider the state of the law respect-
ing the confinement of persons alleged to be lunatics ;"
and their amended report, which appears in the
Law Magazine for February, has the " unanimous
approval of the Committee." After stating that, in
their opinion, " the public, and more especially the
unfortunate class of lunatics and persons of un-
sound mind, are exceedingly indebted to the indi-,
viduals who have lately paid so much attention to
the subject of this reference, and whose efforts have
led to the recent legislation respecting it, the Com-
mittee proceed to consider the state of the law as
regards persons, not paupers, nor found lunatics
under a commission from the Court of Chancery,
but who are placed under the restraint of a lunatic
asylum. After giving a bi,tory of the various Acts
of Parliament, which at different times have been
passed for the regulation of private lunatic asylums,
the Committee give the following resume of the exist-
ing state of the law :
" Under the present Amts, then, it comes practically to
this, that a person way be placed in a lunatic asylum on
producing a written order, which may be signed by aby
person, and two certificates, each signed by a medical
man, that they consider him insane, and may be lawfully
detained in such as)lum, without any further opinion
being taken as to the fact of the lunacy, and subject
only to the visits of the Commissioners in Lunacy befot a
mentioned, and in the couutry, of the visiting justices in
fiddition. It is to be remarked that all the persons who
thus concur in depriving the alleged lunatic of his liberty
(except the Commissioners and visitors) may have an
interest in representing him to be a lunatic and keeping
him confined. In the person signing the order already
mentioned there may be an interest the most direct. The
person who arrests him, and takes him by force, if neces-
sary, to the asylum, is subject to no regulation; he is not
a person in any way recognised by the law ; he is ap•
pointed by no person directly responsible. The occu-
pation, though a necessary one, can only be endurable
by a particular class of persons ; and we thus find
that those who are so employed are sometimes persons
of bad character. The medical men who sign a certi-
ficate, are not any body of that profession resident in
the several counties selected for their peculiar skill in
this department of medical knowledge, or their especial
standing or respectability; they may be any members of
that profession wherever resident, with some unimper-
tent qualifications, whom the parties interested choose
to select; and it may bo that a particular case appli-
cations may be made to many medical men previous to
the necessary certificates being procured; and of course
if any miscondttct is required, those members only will
be chosen who are capable of it, and such will find
their way into the most honourable professions. It is
also to be observed, that even in the most upright mem-
bers of any profession there is a natural sympa,hy with
those who employ them, from which it is difficult for
the mind to divest itself. Thus any person whoever,
sane or insane, may possibly be immured for life in an
asylum on false or erroneous certificates, which have
been procured from medical men of very questionable
character."

After alluding to the appointment of the
Commissioners in Lunacy as " a very con-
siderable check upon the abuses of the system,"
the report proceeds to show that the check can not be
very considerable, inasmuch as "it seems impossible
that the visiting Commissioners can make a special
examination of each of the persons confined;" and as
"it is certain that in many cases a considerable in •
terval must take place between the date of the first
confinement of the lunatic and his examination by the
Commissioners ;" in fact, to use the words of Mr.
PURNELL, the able and energetic Chairman of the
Gloucester Quarter Sessions, " there is time to MAKE
a man mad if he be put under restraint until the visit
is made." The physical impossibility of the Com-
missioners acting as any " very considerable check
upon the abuses of the system " becomes
self-evident when we recollect, that " there are six
visiting Commissioners, whose duty it is to visit and
exercise control over the lunatic asylums of the whole
country," the number of patients confined in such
asylums being estimated by the Commissioners them-
selves at 26,516.

The CoMmittee consider that " there is a sufficient
evil existing under the present system to warrant the
interference of the Legislature," and they propose
the following remedies- for .thateevil. Leaving un-
touched that point of the law which requires medical
men to give certificates oflunacy, but not desiring that
such certificates should have the effect of authorising
perpetual confinement, the Committee " are of opinion
that, before the liberty of a person is taken away on
the ground of his being a lunatic, there should be a
further inquiry by some person having a judicial
character, within a reasonable period, to be determined
by law, after the first confinement in the asylum.''
This is the great principle for which we have con -
tended for the last five years, and certainly it is most
gratifying to find that the Committee on Equity of
the Society for the improvement of the Law have
been thus unanimous in bearing testimony to its
soundness. The Committee suggest that the "Masters
in Lunacy," where practicable, and, in other
cases, that the Judge of the County Court
or the Magistrates at the Petty Sessions would
be ithe most proper persons to he employed to
conductm the investigation, or "it might be thought
a lunatic,
jurery
oadvisable
rsee
vaetn capable.t toh ed
of
decide
pdtei oonn exercisingobf.
fact;s t
it,h e
toballegedto call
the
prefer leaving
the matter tb be decided by some judicial
person
on
whom the responsibility of the confinement should
entirely rest." This is a mere point of detail which it
will be quite time enough to consider
when the great

principle of " no perpetual confinement with-
out previous investigation" shall have received
the sanction of the Legislature. The Corn-
mittee
also propose a valuable alteration in the
law by recommending that " within such period
after the lunacy has been properly established,
as the judicial officer who shall have determined as to
the fact of lunacy shall deem reasonable, the property
of the lunatic of all kinds shall vest in an official
committee to be administered for his benefit by the
Masters in Lunacy, or by some local jurisdiction in
the provinces." Were this proposition adopted, it
would at once diminish considerably the number of
alleged lunatics, inasmuch as it would remove from
relations all temptations to get up an alleged case of
lunacy against a
_rich kinsman, for the purpose of
procuring the administration of his property. We
regret to find that the Committee have
not thought it right to consider on the
present occasion the case of persons found lunatics
under a commission from the Court of Chancery.
The case of Mrs. Cumxpro, to which we have so
often referred, shows the necessity of some alteration
in the law respecting Chancery lunacy commissions,
the defective state of which is still further proved by
the case of Mr. DYCE SOMBRE, who, according to the
united testimony of Dr. PARIS, President of the Col-
lege of Physicians, Dr. MATO, Vice-President of
the College, Sir ALEXANDER MORRISON, Physician of
Bethlehem Hospital, Dr. JAMEs COPILAND, author
of the " Cyclopedia of Medicine," Dr. ROBERT
FERGUSSON, Physician to the Queen, and
Dr. W. COSTELLO, editor of the " Cyclopaidia
of Practical Surgery," and who has studied the treat-
ment of mental diseases in the most celebrated asy-
lums of the continent, is at this present moment of
perfectly sane mind, albeit, he is only entrusted by
the Court of Chancery with the expenditure of a por-
tion of his property, and is not permitted to remain
in England in perfect liberty, while he may wander
all over the continent at his own will and pleasure
thus giving the authority of the Court of Chancery
to the libel that there is a tendency in this our climate
of England to engender lunacy, for on no other prin-
ciple is it possible to account for the decision of the
Court in the case of Mr. Drce SOMBRE.

The Hon. EDMUND Pim.Ps may be regarded as
the champion of indirect taxation. He has stood
forward boldly in defence of the existing system,
and endeavoured to shelter under his buckler the
venerable abuses that have sprung up during succes-
sive centuries.

The budgets put forward by Messrs. CO➢DEN,
Mica REGOR, and RIGBY WASON have been successively
attacked, and it is manifest that the lion. Gentleman
has, at least, satisfied himself that he has succeeded
in completely overthrowing their several projects,
We confess that we had expected better things of the
Author of " The Monetary Crisis",* of the gentle-
man who, during the existence of the panic of 1847,
put forward some valuable suggestions for the modi-
fication of the Bank Charter, by the adoption of
which he contended that " present relief and increased
safety for the future," might be obtained. He cer-
tainly did not, in the month of October, 1847, con-
sider it a high crime and misdemeanour to come
forward as the author of an "Amateur Budget."
or suppose that, by so doing, he had exposed himself
to ridicule as a " would•be Chancellor of the Exche-
quer." We must, however, be contented to regard
Mr. PHIPPS as an energetic opponent, in place of find-
ing him, as we had expected, a zealous and efficient
" Collaborateur."
Mr. PHIPPS has addressed himself in turn to
the " Three Amateur Budgets," and given a few
words—we may add, a very few words to each.f The
weakness of his cause may be collected from
the points which ho has alone ♦entured to attack.
If a party comes forward to reply to a general state-
ment, and in place of fairly controverting the general
principles on which the entire structure is based,
seizes on some minor point, and directs his whole
attention thereto, the natural inference must be, that
he is unable to impeach the validity of those princi-
ples ; that he is unable to point out any error therein.
As Mr. WasoN truly remarked, " the silence is more
eloquent than words."
" The Budget for the Million " first excites
the wrath of Mr. Plum. The blunders
in the arithmetic, as they are termed, are
seized hold of and commented on in the most hu-
morous vein. He says " What, my readers, a
Chancellor of the Exchequer-to be, and not correct
in his figures. Impossible. A cabdriver who does
not know his way about town, a sea• captain who
cannot box the compass, a soldier who has not even
practised the goose-step, were less absurd. But so it
is." These are the points to which we ourselves
had previously directed the
.public 'attention, the
mistake of. the 5 per cent , which did not in the
slightest degree affect the principle, and of the error
of words, in calling the figures which he had
correctly set down as " four billions,". in place of
"four thousand millions," a mistake which could
certainly have had no bearing whatsoever on the real
question.

Mr. PHIPPS, in his recent letter to which we gave
insertion on Friday last, says—" Had I seen the
notice in your paper of the error in Mr. WAsoN's
calculations, or his own.acknowiedgment of it before
my remarks were printed, I certainly should not
have again adverted to it, though I think his amended
calculations open to the objections I have pointed
out." We are bound to give full credence to this
statement, and we do so without the slightest
hesitation. It was, however, exceedingly unfortunate
that the oversight occurred, and that Mr. PHIPPS
should thereby be led to waste his powers on points
of such trivial importance, so far apart from the
real merits. " The Budget for the Million" first ap-
peared in The Sun of the 25th January last, and
in our leading article of the same day we explained
the mistake. We then said—

"In his second proposition Mr. WasoN, in the
hurry of calculation, has fallen into an error. He
justly assumes the value of the realised property
of the country to be 4,400,000,0001, and he says
that 5 per cent. on this capital sum would produce
more than sufficient to pay off the National
Debt. Now the National Debt, in round terms, amounts
to 800,000,0001., whereas 5 per cent. on 4,400,000,000/.
would amount to but 220,000,0001. only. It would,
therefore, take about 18 per cent. to obtain the required
amount. The error in calculation does not, however, in
any degree alrect the principle, and Mr. Wason has shown
how the great desideratum may bo attained, and the
❑ation freed from an enormous debt, which it is posi-
tively disgraceful and dishonest to make no effort to
liquidate, when the country is in a state of profound peace
and tranquillity."

On the 27th a letter (rots Mr. WASOIf appeared in
our columns, thanking us for having " so early pointed
out the error in the five, per cent. calculation," and
then he entered into the second, or ten per cent.
calculation, to which Mr. PHIPPS 'alludes in the
postscript of his pamphlet; in a note to which he
erroneously states that Mr. WASON f‘ only refers to
the error pointed out to him by the Spectator," when,
in point of fact, the error had been explained and
actually acknowledged in this journal before the
publication of our respected Contemporary. Under
these circumstances, we think it unfortunate that
Mr. PHIPPS had not taken the trouble to inform
himself fully of the state of the question upon which
he was about to enlighten the public mind—that he
did not know the real points at issue respecting the
Budget for the million before he attempted to dispose
of them in so very summary and expeditious a
•manner.

The recent letter to which we have already alluded
alone ventured to attack the principle put forward by
Mr. Wason : that then contains the arguments
on which Mr. PHIPPS means to rely, and
we confidently refer to Mr. \\ration's re-
joinder which appeared on Saturday, and to our
own observations 0.1 the same day, as affording the
most complete and satisfactory refutation of these
arguments.

Mr. WA ox's Budget then remains uunseathed,
notwithstanding the vigorous onslaught of Sir
CHARLES WOOD'S new and puissant ally.

' Monetary Crisis, with a Proposal for Present
Relief, and Increased Safety in Future. By ilia HOP.
Edmund Phipps, Bal ris..er-at-law. London : James
Ridgway.
t " A Few Words on the Three Amateur Budgets of
Cobden, Macgregor, and Wason_" By the. Hon. Ed-
mund Phipps. London: James Ridgway.

On Saturday, the 10th instant, a general assembly
of the academicians was held at the Royal Academy of
Arts, in Trafalgar-square, when Richard Westmacott,
Esq., was elected an academician, in the room of Ramsay
Richard Reinagle, Esq., resigned.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of Saturday and
Sunday.
On Friday the National Assembly was engaged
in discussing the project of law on commercial bill
stamps, and on Saturday in considering the Bill for
the organization of the judicial tribunals. The third
reading of the proposition of M. LANIUINAIS for the
dissolution of the National Assembly is fixed for
Tuesday. Notice was given on Saturday of the
following amendments to be proposed on that oc-
casion :

M. DOPLAN proposes to add to the proposition the
following clause :—" The Committee on the Budget
shall present its repart within one month from the
promulgation of the present law. Two days after its
presentation the Assembly shall commence its dis-
cussion. The electoral law shall not be promulgated,
at the earliest, until the day of the commencement of
this discussion."

M. EMILIE Pius proposes to add the following :
" After the completion of the electoral law, and before
its promulgation, the discussion and vote of the
Budget shall be proceeded with."
These amendments have been rendered necessary
by the attempts of the Ministry to avoid the discus-
sion of the Budget, and thus to nullify, by a quibble,
the decision of the Assembly.
We read in the Moniteur

" The Minister ofthe Interior has received the fol-
lowing news, dated the Bth, by telegraph, from the pre-
fect of the Herault Very grave disturbances have
taken place at Cette, on the occasion of the suppression
of a bonnet rouge on the top of a tree of liberty. The
Mairie has been pillaged ; the cerele du commerce burned
down, and three houses devastated. The Prefect, the
Procureur- General, and the General commanding
the department immediately went to the spot with fifty
of the engineer corps. Tranquillity has been re-
established. Numerous arrests have been effected with-
out resistance. The Mayor has been suspended by the
Prefect, and a provisional municipality has been orga-
nized. A judicial investigation is going on, and ener-
getic measures have been taken."'

The .Ileforme says :—" The house of BARING of
London, which had offered, when General CavaiGrac
was President of the Council, a loan of 300 millions
to the French Government, now increases, we are
assured, the offer to 500 millions and on more favour-
able conditions. But the French Government dares
not accept the proposition of the house of BARING.
There appears to exist between the Government and
the house of ROTHSCHILD certain arrangements
which they cannot well transgress."
The Minister of Agriculture and Commerce has
addressed a circular to the Chamber of Commerce,
asking if they would be willing to admit foreign
articles to the approaching exhibition of manufactures,
and if so what articles they think most likely, from
their novelty or superiority, to exercise a favourable
influence on the manufactures of France.
The President of the High Court of Justice has
named AI. BOINYILIERU to act as counsel for BARBER
and ALBERT ; M. DECOUX-LAPETRIERE for RAIPAIL,
PAUL DEGRE, and THOMAS ; M. ADELON for FLOTTE ;
M. BUCHERE for BLANQUI; those prisoners having
refused to choose counsel themselves. It was, how-
ever, stated yesterday that ALBERT, BLANQUI, and
FLOTTE, had announced their intention of se!ecting
counsel. The prisoner QUENTIN has confided his de-
fence to M. JOUHAUD, and the prisoners COURTAIS,
SOBRIER, and LARGET, have severally chosen M.
BE IHMONT, M. ALEM ROUSSEAU, and M. MADRIER
DE MONTJAU. RASPAIL and QUENTIN yesterday
caused to be presented to the Court of Appeal a
declaration of appeal against being sent to trial. This
appeal will, it is believed, be heard one day next week.
The National of Saturday, says—" The Ministerial
journals of last evening, announcing that the Presi-
dent of the Republic passed a regiment of infantry
in review, make use of these words in speaking
of the head of the State.' The note which
they publish on this subject is evidently a Ministerial
communication. It is therefore to the Ministry that
we address ourselves in observing, that the President
of the Republic is the head of the Executive power,
and not the head of the State. That qualification is
too unconstitutional for us to suppose that the Ministry
will employ it after our observation,"
The Corzstitutionnel says :—" The news of the en-
trance of CARRERA into France is confirmed. A
letter from Perpignan of Feb. 4 says—'lt was on
the 27th of January, at the affair of Pasteral, that
General CABRERA. was dangerously wounded, and
then pursued most rapidly by the division of the
QUEEN'S troops, under Colonel Ramo?: MARIA So-
LANO, who followed him to the French frontier.
CABRERA entered France on January 31, at four in
the afternoon, by the village of La Farga, between
Campredon and Prats de-Mollo, accompanied only
by his medical attendant, and lies hid in that neigh-
bourhood.'"

The Prase says that the Minister for Foreign
Affairs has received a telegraphic dispatch announcing
the death of CABRERA. The statement needs confir
mation.

There was a review yesterday in the Champ de
Mars.

The diplomatists who are to take part in the con-
ferences on the affairs of Italy have all left Paris for
Brussels.

The Committee on the demand for an inquiry into
the conduct of the Government on the 29th of January
have resolved, by tv majority of 9 to 5 to reject the
demand.

The Committee of the National Assembly on the
Law for Suppressing the Clubs have resolved to re-
commend the rejection of the Bill introduced by the
Government.

The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse, on
Saturday, at 47f. 60c.; the Five per Cents. at 7Af. 75c.;
the New Loan at 78f. 65c.; Orleans Railroad Shares at
745 f.; Rouen, 460 f.; Havre, 2521.50 c.; Great Northern
4061. 25c.; Vierson, 277 f. 50c,; Avignon, 177 f. 50c.;
Basle 88f. 75c.; Bordeaux, 400 f. ; Paris and Strasburg,
828 f. 75c.; Tours and Nantes, 3171. 50c.

---
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, Fxn. 10.
Boulogne and Amiens, 9—Central of France (Orleans and
Vierzon), 9—Dutch Rhenish, IN—Luxembourg (10/.),
214—Namur and Liege, 8114—Northern of France, 81)i—
Orleans and Bordeaux, 3—Paris and Orleans, 31—Paris and
Rouen, 19—Rouen and Havre, 1014—Sambre and Meuse,
44—Tours and Nantes, 2.