The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-20 00:00:00

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ur brienin

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20. 1849.

If the Patrie, the semi• official organ of the French
Government, is to be credited, the melancholy spec-
baele presented to the world by the Italians is on the
eve of its termination. According to this authority,
the Neapolitan andiSardinian Sovereigns are prepared,
with the concurrence of all the powers of Christen-
dom, to intervene simultaneously in the territories of
the Papal States and of Tuscany—in which event the
naval powers of England and France are to assume a
position in front of Leghorn and Civita Vecchia, Not
the most earnest of those lovers of liberty who recoil
from the notion of foreign intervention in the settle-
ment of the government of any, country will lament
the fact of the arrangement here intimated.
For, in accordance with this reconciliation, the
monarchs who will directly interpose in the affairs of
Rome and Florence are—like the magnanimous
princes who have been expelled from those capitals—
rulers of that fair Italy which has recently been ra-
vaged so lamentably by intestine dissensions, and de-
spoiled of the glories of her new-born freedom by the
criminal exaggeration of democracy. The interven-
tion spoken of by the Patrie and countenanced, as far
as we can yet understand, by the whole of the Great
Powers of Europe, would be a native intervention
rather than a foreign intervention. The combined
fleets of the French Republic and of her Bri-
tannic MAJESTY would only appear off Leg-
horn and Civita Vecchia, the two principal
ports of the disorganized dominions of the
GLAND Duna and of the PONTIFF, for the purpose
of affording a visible token of the coincidence of the
Governments at London and at Paris, in the enter-
prise simultaneously undertaken by the King of
IsTAPLIIS and the King of SARDINIA. Of course it
• -must be expected that the French Cabinet will be at
once and severely catechised upon this point in the
National Assembly by the leading Montagnards, and
that the English Cabinet will be subjected to the
same kind of cross• examination in the House of
Commons by the principal men of the Opposition.
Whatever may be the invidious construction placed
upon the enterprise by the enemies of the Adminis-
tration, it is indisputable, however, that the friends
of true freedom will have only cause to rejoice that
Naples and Sardinia, that England and France, that
each and all'of the great Powers of Christendom have
consented to act in a manner so worthy of themselves,
.scvadvantageous to the real interests of the Italians,
and so.i)erfectly in accordance with the holiest prin-
ciples inculcated alike by justice, by reason, by
humanity, by religion, and by civilization.
Profound as may be, and as unquestionably is, the
indignation of every right-thinking man at the un-
paralleled ingratitude and the diabolical mendacity of
the Romans and the Florentines to the two generous-
hearted and beneficent princes who loaded their subjects
With benefactions, only to be themselves driven into
exile by the murderous hands of rebellion—the
pr oMptinga of that indignation must be suppressed in
the settlement of the ' affairs of the two States.
While the rights of the banished Sovereigns are duly
and honourablj, coiled, the interests of the people
—however ungrateful and despicable that people may
be—must be also duly and honourably borne in con-
sideration. True, that the hallowed recollections of
the Amnesty surround the white and unsullied robes

of Pins TX., while the whole of the paraphernalia of
the usurping Government of the Eternal City
IS Rollutcd with the blood of Rossi and the
other victims of insurrection : but, enormous
• as the -contrast may be between the two
powers, between the legal and illegal powers, the
legitimate and the illegitimate authorities of the
kingdom, the interests of the one must not from any
feelings of momentary partiality be allowed to pre-
dominate over the councils of those who are about to
work out a reconciliation. Ungrateful and despicable
as the Romans are, they must not be dictated to—even
by the bayonets of their Sardinian and Neapolitan
countrymen. Rash and forgetful though the Tuscans
hive shown themselves, they must not' be coerced
3 welded on the anvils of the Abruzzi
even by sword
or of Piedmont. The arrangement for the return of
Lzopoir;-o to Florence and of Pio Norio to the
Quirinal must be effected by conciliative rather than
by imperative measures. An interposition so con-
-4tletedr'will. redound not more to the glory of the
inte"ning Sovereigns than to the interests of the

Italian population, and it will afford, more-
over, the expiation due—due as a sacred
recompense for their undeserved misfortunes
and for their magnanimous and illustrious careers—
to the Roman PoxTur and to the Grand Duke of
TUSCANY. An interposition such as this, moreover,
would be in accordance with the principles advocated
by one of the purest and one of the wisest of the
Italian patriots, the Abbate VINCIINZO GIOBERTI, the
Prime Minister of the Bing of SARDINIA. In ad-
dressing the Chamber of Turin, during its sitting of
the 10th instant, that distinguished and enlightened
statesman thus spoke to the Italian representatives :

" The resurrection of Italy has, like every other revo-
lution, a fixed principle and limit beyond which, instead
of progressing, it would retrograde. This principle and
this limit are represented by the four following views:—
Reform, the Constitution, independence, and confedera-
tion. The Ministry rejects, therefore, as Utopian the plans
of those who would create a military and republican Italy.
As regards unity, it esteems the principle much, but thinks it
impracticable. As to a republic, it prefers a constitutional
monarchy, because, disunited and enslaved for so many cen-
turies, it could only be the focus of divisions and dissensions,
from which would arise tyranny and the enfeeblement of
the country. These principles will be the guide of the
present Administration, which desires a strong and popu-
lar monarchy, the complete independence of the kingdom
of Italy, a federal Constituent Assembly, and a Diet
representing all the states of the Peninsula."

Who sha 11 gainsay the justice of those memorable
sentences when the domination of GALETTI is con-
trasted with the paternal sway of Pius IX., when the
demagogic power of GUERRAZZI is compared to the
constitutional authority of LEOPOLD 11. ? Of all the
children of Italy there is not one—no, not even the
philosophic MAMIANI or the poetic MANZONI—who
has studied the requirements of her people with so
' profound and vigilant a wisdom as that which has
directed the studies and developed the genius of VIN-
CENZO GIOBERTI. And 'VINCENZO GIORERTI has
said—" As to a Republic, a Constitutional Monarchy is
preferable, because disunited and enervated for so many
centuries, an Italian Republic could only be the focus of
divisions and dissinitions, from which would arise
tyranny and the enfeeblement of the country."
GIo-
BRETI has said this, and GIODERTI is a patriotic
statesman, and, what is more, a philosophical his-
torian. It is from an earnest and sincere conviction
—a conviction supported by the arguments of the
Prime Minister of the King of SARDINIA—that we
look forward to the reinstalment of Pius IX. and of
LEOPOLD 11. in their palaces, through the interven-
tion of the Sovereigns of Naples and Piedmont, and
through the tacit assistance of the great Powers of Chris-
tendom, as to a double event which must prove a bless-
ing to the population of the Papal States and of
Tuscany. When these things shall have been ac-
complished', Italy may then regard herself as saved
from the evil influence of eccentric demoniacs like
CANINO, and from Brummagem-Rienzis like CICE
ROACCRIO.

In reporting to the magistrates of Gloucestershire,
in Quarter Sessions assembled, the result of the in-
vestigation into the manner in which the Fish-
ponds Lunatic Asylum was conducted, Mr. Pux-
NELL, the Chairman of the Sessions, (to whose
indefatigable exertions in exposing the work-
ing of the present abominable system of priiate
lunatic asylums the public is deeply indebted)
related the case of a patient who had been
detained for more than twenty years in the asylum
without any certificate authorising such detention.
The natural consequence of so long a seclusion from
society was to produce a state of nervous helplessness
which now incapacitates the unfortunate man from
conducting his own affairs, not because he is insane,
not because he is incompetent to their management,
could he but once arouse his energies to active exer-
tion, but beciuse he has been so completely cowed
and spirit-broken by long confinement, that he has
lost all habits of self-reliance. He has no faith in
himself. In speaking of the case of this unfortunate
man, Mr. PURNELL said—
" I would take him by the hand, and lead him out of
his confinement, but secluded as he has been from the
world during the best portion of his life, it may be some
time before his mind shall have recovered sufficient tone
to enable him to manage for himself. I have therefore
arranged to bring the matter under the cognizance of
the Lord Chancellor."

In consequence of the application of Mr. PIIRNIILL

to the LORD CHANCELLOR, a commission de lunatico
inquirensia was issued, and on Friday last an inquiry
into the state of mind of Mr. FRANCIS DRURY was

instituted, at the Shire-hall, Gloucester, before
FRANCIS BARLOW, Esq., and a jury. The patient,
Mr. FRANCIS DRuitv,, was present, and Mr. Bor.-
DUN, solicitor, of London, attended to watch the
proceedings on behalf of the Alleged Lunatic? Friend
Society. Mr. DRURY, it appears, was removed from
the Fishponds Asylum on the 29th of January, and
placed in the County Lunatic Asylum, at Gloucester.
The physician of that institution thus describes the
present state of this unfortunate victim of the private
madhouse system

" Dr. Williams examined—l am Superintendent of
the County Lunatic Asylum, and have been for two
years and a half. I first saw Mr. Drury, at the County
Asylum on the 29th of January last, and ho has; ben
there ever since; I see him three or four times a dity4
I think he is of unsound mind, especially as to his'cliftl=
awls respecting Dr. Bompas. Ho says that the late Dr.
Bompas exercised a mental force, which has ruined his
mind. He meant continuous influence. I know no other
delusion that he has; it absorbs all his ideas. He can-
not direct his attention to any book or newspaper; he
says the moment be begins to read, this mental force is
exercised over him. There is no incoherence of ideas on
this subject. He is very well conducted. I have rea-
soned with him on the subject; but he says he can refer
to nothing; he is unwilling to walk on this account."
We cannot agree with Dr. WILLIAMS in con-
sidering that Mr. DRURY is labouring under any
delusion as to the exercise over him of a mental force
which has ruined his mind. That his mind is ruined
is but too true, but that such ruin is attributable to the
undue exercise of continuous influence over him, to the
system of terror to which he was subjected in order to
force him into the madhouse, and to the treatment which
he underwent during the time of his incarceration,
is but too clear from the evidence of the unfortunate
man himself, and from that of Mr. PuRNILL.
The following are some of the answers of Mr.
DRURY to the questions put to him, in order to test
the state of his mind :

" Can you road a book or newspaper?—No; I cannot
engage my attention sufficiently to do so.
" You can't understand what you read?—Yes; I can
understand, but I can't confine my attention to the
subject.
" You mean it leads to disagreeable thoughts ?—Yes.
" Why do you not amuse yourself by looking after
your property; do you think you could look after it?—l
don't think that I could. I do not think myself well
enough, owing to the mental force on my mind.
" In answer to further questions, Mr. Drury said he
felt himself better since his removal, but the oppressive
effects of the mental force still remained on his mind ;
he did not think. after having been of twenty
years, that he could look over his accounts, or that he
was capable of taking care of his property; he had never
written or received a letter during the twenty years that
he was in Fishponds Ayslum ; he did not consider him-
self well, but hoped he should get better ; he suffered a
great deal from varied uncontrolled sensations of imagi-
native force.
" Is it only when you try to read ?—I can't explain
because it is variable according to the nature of the
oc capable
was o f livingn otea atlhoante
subject I read. He then said that he did not think him-
self
n eya.p accßopent t
knewthe
nature
arvealeufe
the
effect on his mind was continually working on his mind
that he could not control his mind. Sometimes he was
worse than at other times; the weather affected him. He
had never had any idea of injuring himself but his
thoughts made him unhappy?, ,

All these symptoms are merely the effects which
would be produced naturally on the mind of any
person wh© had for twenty years been subjected
to a system of terror, and kept during the whole of
that period from all communication with the sane
portion of his species. That this is the only cause
of his present melancholy condition becomes more
evident on reading the narrative of the manner in
which he was partly entrapped, and partly bullied into
becoming the inmate of a lunatic asylum :
" Mr. I'. B. Purnell sworn—l first examined Mr.
Drury on the 23d of November, and I have seen him
repeatedly since, and taken long examinations. He
stated to me that he became of unsound mind in 1810
or 1811.

" Mr. Drury—No; I said in 1803.
" He then placed himself first under Dr. Cox, feeling of
unsound mind. He remained 18 weeks, and then went
home, continued at his farm several years, and partly
from the conduct of his trustee, and the formation of an
attachment, he again became of unsound mind. Dr. Cox
was dead, and he put himself under the care of *Dr.
Bompas. He remained for a considerable time in lodg-
ings as a nervous patient. The last time ho was in dif-
ferent lodgings, immediately opposite the asylum. Dr.
Bompas persuaded him to come into the asylum, and
used a sort of supernatural force.
" Mr. Drury—No; excuse me—not supernatural force
—he compelled me.
" The Commissioner—He did not use violent force?
" Mr. Drury—No; he used mental influence over me.
" Mr. Puraell—He said Dr. Bompas called with his

daughter, and said, I wish this day was over, something
dreadful will happen.' Ho was then compelled to go to
the madhouse. _

" Mr. Drury—The doors were set open, and I could
not walk in any other direction. I fancied a voice said,
is in the madhouse, and the door is locked.' " The
door was locked before I could move to get out. The
imagination has remained ever since, although Dr. Bom-
pas is dead, and I am in another asylum.
"In answer to questions put by Mr. Purnell, Mr.
Drury then said-he had three forces on his mind at the
time he.went in: the first was, that if he came into the
asylum he should be ruined; the second was, that the
innocent would suffer for the_uilty; the third was, that
the deeds were inconsistent twith his heart and soul; and
they locked the door of the madhouse."

After the perusal of this narrative, we repeat the
opinion we have more than once enunciated, that the
Fishponds Asylum is not one whit worse conducted
than the great majority of the private lunatic asy-
lums in the kingdom. In ninety-nine out of every
hundred of tho existing private lunatic asylums there
are at this moment cases infinitely more flagrant
than this of Mr. DRURY, and we fearlessly assert that
such there will ever be so Jong as it is the interest of
the keepers of these asylums to make persons mad
in order to secure their permanent residence
in the asylum, rather than to cure them, and thereby
lose the profit derived from their maintenance. It is
the fault of the system, not of the men : the temptation
to which the keeper of a private lunatic asylum is
exposed,sis too great for the generality of mankind to
resist, and no system of inspection can be organized
which shall prevent the recurrence of these intoler-
able abuses.

_ Lasciate ogni speranza,
Voi the entrate
should be inscribed over the gateway of every
private lunatic asylum. It is only by doing away
altogether with the system of private asylums that
the insane will have a fair Chance of recovery. The
jury found that Mr. Minix was of unsound mind, and
had been. so since December, 1847; consequently
he is nonr_under the immediate protection of the Lord
Chancellor. -We hope the Lord Chancellor will
consider it his duty to inquire into the conduct of
his own,officers, the Commissioners in Lunacy, who
visited this Fishponds Asylum regularly:twice a year,
and who ought on each occasion to have per-
sonally examined Mr. DRURY. That such examina-
tion, if it ever took place, was of the most
superficial and unsatisfactory character is abundantly
evident, or they would have made themselves ac-
quainted with the real history of the case, and have
at once reported thereon to the proper authorities. It
appears that Mr. DRURY possesses landed property
worth between 1501. and 2001. a year, and that he
has no near relations. Probably the Lord Chancellor
may think it right to inquire who received
.this
income during the twenty or thirty years that Mr.
Dauxr was a prisoner at the Fishponds, and what
became of the surplus, after the payment of his
expenses at the asylum. The necesssity for a speedy
refOrm of the Law of Lunacy becomes every day
more apparent; and we trust that the Society for the
Improvement of the Law will, without delay, adopt
measures for carrying into effect the excellent sug-
gestions of the Committee of Equity, to which the
consideration of the subject of the laws relating to
lunatic persons was referred.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

We have received the French papers of yesterday.
Several bronze medals of HENRI V., have been
seized at a manufactory in the Quarter of the Hotel
de rile, and the dies from which they were struck,
have also been discovered and seized. The engraver
of the medal has been arrested. Several of these
medals have also been seized in the shops of the
Boulevards, the Passages, and the Palais National.
The PRESIDENT of the Republic attended on Satur-
day the anniversary service for the repose of the soul
of his father, Louis BONAPARTE, ex-King of Hol-
land, which was celebrated at the Church of St. Leu.
Several of the old soldiers of the empire were present.
The Countess LOVISA. RAYCONI, the daughter of the
late King JOACHIM MURAT, ha.s arrived in Paris.
The railroad from Tours to Saumur was opened
yesterday.

The J'ririe of last night contains the following
semi-official statement on the subject of the affairs of
Italy :
" The report is current that, with the consent of all
the Powers, the King of Naples and the King ot Pied-
mont are simultaneously to interfere in the States of the
Pope and in Tuscany. The journey of the Piedmontese
General Baia, who has left Turin for Naples, passing
through Florence and Rome, is said to be in connexion
with this plan of intervention: Should the intervention
take place, it is said that the English and French fleets
will take up their position at Leghorn and Civita
Vecchia."

It is generally understood that this plan of inter-
vention has been fully arranged, and that it meets
with the approval of all the great Powers.
The National has the following on the prospects of
Republicanism in Italy :
" The Tuscan Provisional Government has already
admitted in principle that the fusion of Tuscany with the
Papal. States would be the best guarantee of their future
independence. It has only yielded in this to the impulse
of unitary democracy, which aims at the formation of a
vast Republic, with Rome for its capital, and with the
Italian Peninstila as its limit. If, therefore, a new
State be formed-tlialy Central or Roman Republic, no
matter the name—an immense step will be made to-
wards the end which we speak of. It may, in fact, be
affirmed in advance, that Lombardy and the Duchies,
when their hour of deliverance arrives, will join the Ro-
man Republic rather than the Kingdom of Piedmont. The
choice of Venice is not doubtful. Sicily, which now with-
out doubt, would fear to adventure in a perilous fusion,
and so weaken the elements of the resistance which is in
preparation, would not hesitate, if Naples, delivered up
to its Bourbons, did not hold it in check. As to Pied-
mont, who does not know it? Who does not know how
much the democratic action finds germs there ready to
bear fruit? The population of Turin is royalist; or
rather, constitutional—the liberalism of Gioberti mar-
vellously suits their present instincts. But Genoa, the
Novarrais, and Savoy, are hostile to the monarchical
principle. It is, therefore, not too much to affirm, that
a Republic firmly established in the centre of Italy would
inevitably dismember the kingdom of Charles Albert.
Such are the probable chances of the present unitary
democratic movement, produced by the presence of the
foreigner in Italy. It is the want of a com-
mon defence—it is th• deep hatred of the
Austrian yoke, which prevails over these in-
testine divisions, these municipal antipathies, which
have so long caused the slavery of Italy, after having
brought on her ruin. Does that mean that they have
disappeared? We dare not either hope or promise it.
Federalism has deep roots in Italy, and unity is as yet
only a state of theory, of instinct suitable to the moment.
If it were given to the republican dogma to destroy in a
few days all the dissolving influences which have so long
separated the Neapolitans from the Romans, Milan from
Turin, Genoa from Venice, &0., we should see in that
phenomenon, so little anticipated, its most magnificent
consecration. But we doubt that such will be the case.
Besides, since the die is cast, this is the manner in which
we should like to see the future acts of the Italian demo-
cracy unroll themselves. The cry of Vine la /*oblique
raised at Rome, will find echo in Tuscany. There
we certainly see some symptoms of re-action mani-
fested, but they will be put down without much trouble.
When the first difficulties shall have been surmounted,
let Florence stretch out a fraternal hand to Rome. Let
armies, treasures, alliances, diplomatic relations be all in
common. If the frontiers of the Roman States be me-
naced, let the Tuscan battalions go and defend them. If
the Grand Duke Leopold causes arms to be taken up
against the rebellious capital, let Garibaldi and his brave
legionaries hurry to the walls of Florence. Without
menacing Piedmont, without feeling, as in other times,
the doctrinary abuses of M. Gioberti, without paying
attention to the means which might be devised to make
him expiate them cruelly, let the new Republican State
offer him a loyal co-operation in the war against the
foreigner. If he reject it, if he be determined to carry
out his ideas of Papal restoration, it will be time then to
appeal from the Minister-Priest to the Chamber, already
decided to overturn him, from the monarchical capital to
the republican provinces."
The Moniteur publishes a return of the produce
and consumption of beet-root sugar from the com-
mencement of the season of 1348 up to the end of
January. It appears that during this period 44 ma-
nufactories have stopped working, and the general
quantity of sugar produced was lessened by 12,328,474
kilogrammes.

BOURSE—PAMS, MONDAY, FEB. 19.
TIIBBE o'CLoca.—The rise at the Bourse made fur-
ther progress to-day. The French Routes and Shares
opened considerably above Saturday's closing prices,
and continued to rise steadily till almost the last moment
when there was a slight reaction in consequence of the
wish of the fortunate speculators to realise the profits.
The Railways participated in the rise. Exchange ou
London (30 days), 25 25; ditto (90 days), 25 15.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, FEB. 19.
Boulogne and Amiens, 93/—Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 11—Luxembourg (71.), %—Ditto (10/.), 2 ex
int.—Namur and Liege, B%—Northern of France, 914—
Orleans and Bordeaux, 33.6-.. Paris and Rouen, 20% ex
div..—Paris and Strasbourg, 314—Rouen and Havre, 13
—.Sambre and Meuse, s%—Tours and Nantes, 2k.