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

A LEAP FOR LIFE.

As the supervisor of inland revenue at Aberyst-
with, Mr. J. Miller, his nephew, and two profession-al
gentlemen, geologists, were last week examining some
strata of rock in the cliffs between Aberystwith
Llanrhystid, they proceeded along a narrow ledge
of projecting stone on the face of the cliff, about 120
ieet above the level of the sea, which providentially
happened to be at full flow. In passing round a
projecting angle, " which for ages has frowned on
ill below," the professors ani the revenue
ufficer had rounded the point, and the young man
Was in the act of doing so, when the rock suddenly
breaking from under his feet he was whirled round
with his face towards the sea, and as he descended
he seized with one hand the ledge beneath
his uncle's feet, whilst he extended the other
hand to him, and it was firmly clasped by the revenue
officer, who held him suspended for full five minutes,
during which time he with great difficulty main-
tained his position, there not being more than six
inches to stand upon. At length a breathless pause
ensued, whilst Mr. Miller gazed on a rugged projec-
tion of rock about 90 feet below them, and on which
he concluded the unfortunate youth was inevitably
doomed to be dashed. But the uncle (who calls him
self "an awful coward") at length said, with all the
calmness imaginable "Tom, there is but one way for
it ; I'll save you, or we will both perish together,"
and, with a firm voice, he commanded the young man
to loose his hold of the rock, which was mechanically
obeyed, with a faint reply, " Yes, uncle." At this
awful moment Mr. Miller horizontally sprang into
the air, carrying the young man with him ; and such
was the force with which he leaped, that the check
caused them to perform several summersets over each
other as they descended linked together. With the
rapidity of a flash of lightning they disappeared be
neath the foaming billows, having cleared the craggy
ledge, which projected more than six feet from the
perpendicular of the point over which the youth was
suspended. To the delight of their companions, who
were momentarily horror-struck, they rose about
twenty yards apart, buffeting the heavy swells of the
flowing and returning waves ; at length they struck
out for a rock that lay about seventy yards in the sea,
on which they were shortly seated, and from which
they gave three hearty cheers. Their companions
attempted to procure their rescue by obtaining a boat,
but owing to the breach in the ledge, found it impos-
sible, and had to proceed onwards for more than three
hours before they were able to extricate themselves.
To their delight, the geologists then found that their
brave and dauntless companions had once more com-
mitted themselves to the deep, had swum to an acces-
sible part of the cliff; and returned to Llanrhystid,
where, with the exception of the loss of hats, the
officer's boots (which he had taken off in first start-
ing on the ledge), and a few slight cuts and bruises,
they appeared not a whit the worse from their perilous
adventure.— Welshman.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.—Her Majesty the
Queen Dowager's box was on Thursday evening occupied
by his Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe Wei-
mar, the Viscount Bunkellen, the Hon. William Ashley
and Mrs. Ashley, Colonel and Mrs. Cornwall and party.
Amongst the visitors were—The Duke and Duchess of
Cleveland and Lady Augusta Paulet, the Duke of Leeds,
the Marquis of Sligo and the Ladies Browne, the Mar-
quis of Donegal, the Prince of Canino, the Earl of Es-
sex, the Earl of Falmouth, the Earl of Belfast, the Earl
of Shelburne, the Countess Dowager of Essex and Miss
Johnstone, his Excellency the Swedish Minister, his
Excellency the Belgian Minister and Madame Van der
Weyer, his Excellency the Neapolitan Ambassador, his
Excellency the Minister of the Argentine Republic, his
Excellency the Brazalian Minister end Madame la
Marquese de Lisboa, the Charge d'Affaires of France,
Mdlle. Olga de Lechner, the Viscountess Dungannon
and the Hon. Miss Irving, M. De Berg, the Earl Pow-
lett, Lady Mary Bentinck, Lady Seymour, Lady Hubert
de Burgh, Lord Brougham, Lord Ernest Bruce, Lord
William Gordon Lennox, Lord George Paget, Lord and
Lady James Stuart, General the Hon. 11. Cavendish,
Lady G. Vane, the lion Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Ward,
Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Woodford, Bart., and
Lady, and the Misses Woodford : Sir Thomas Barrett
Lennard, Bart., M.P., and Lady Barrett Lennard, Sir
Ralph Howard, Bart., M.P., Lady, and Miss Howard,
General Sir Frederick Trench, Bart., M.P., Sir Henry
Meux, Bart., and Lady Meux, Lady Beaumont and Miss
Stapleton, Lady C. Ellerton, Lady Gordon, Lady Lis-
ford, Count and Countess du Miremont, Chevalier
Droutit, Lady Jervis, Mrs. Fraser, Mrs. Standish and
Miss Standish, Mr. Lance, Mr. C. Barry Baldwin, M.P.,
Mrs. Fitzroy Somerset and Miss Somerset, Mr. Forde,
Colonel L. Harvey and Miss Harvey, Mr. and Mrs. C.
J. Palmer, Mrs. Attwood, Mr. A. Montgomery. Colonel
Lockyer Freestun, M.P., and Mrs. Lo..kyer Freestun,
Mr. Hubert De Burgh, Mr. H. Broadley,
Phillips, Captain Smith, Mr. W. Delafiel, Ala.
or
Mr
d
Buckley, the Misses Ewing, Mr. R. 'diner,
&c. &c.
Mr. Cut!r,
The streets of Chester have been much modernized
within a few years; they are still, howver, full of quaint
d belonging in date to
old fronts, mostly overhanging
the end of the sixteenth and comaranencereent o.f the seven-
teenth century. One in ‘Vatereate-street is nscribed
1539; another, dated 1652, has this motto, "God's pro-
vidence is my inheritance;" put up, it is said, by the oc-
cupier, after escaping the plague. Some of the houses
are very elaborately carved.

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 or air.
The CHAIRMAN 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 respectably signed, and that b) per-
sons of every phase of political opinion, which was an
indication that the meeting did not pariuke of the
slightest particle of political feeling, and that its objects
would be discussed in that grave and s( rious manner
becoming a subject deeply affecting the interests and
welfare of the community at large. When the deputa-
tion from the Alleged Lunatics' Friend Society waited
upon him to request his presence at the meeting, he
stated that he was very little acquainted with the sub-
ject, and that he could not undertake, with the multi.
farious 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
was three weeks since he had seen those gentlemen, and
he had been so much engaged with his Parliamentary
and other duties, that he had not been able to resd
up for the occasion. He trusted, therefore, that he
should be excused it his address were short,
eaaxtnittishti
jetnghsealmarese m
abstained
upontiainee,d from giving any decided opinion, but,
frioumnacwyh,aht
ehewhaasd
iraetaidsfied
regarding the
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 required some further intervention. He 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, possessed a power of
abusing their trust, and that power was not sufficiently
guirded 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 with them, and with
those he had been in the habit of consulting, and com-
pelled to associate with lunatics and persnus 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
he 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
an instance in his own family of any such real or pre-
tended visitation, but when he contemplated that a
nervous person, perhaps fluttering as it were on the very
bounds of insanity, could be thus circumstanced, he felt
that it required their best attention, their deepest sym-
pathy, and the greatest possible precaution should be
exerted 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 he 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
feelings of those "delicate friends " who had placed
persons in those asylums, 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 many
months, at the instigation of .his own brothers, because
those brothers wished to enjoy the property belonging
to the alleged lunatic undisturbed and unmolested. He
had since been released, by the authority 01 the magis-
trates, and was married to a lady, from whom, by the
machinations of his relative, he had been temporarily
separated, and ho was now living with his wife, perfectly
calm a-nd rational, and in the full enja3ment of
domestic happiness.—k Cheers.) He (the Chairman)
was happy to state that the Law Amendment Society,
having investigated the subject, had decided t hat the
lunacy law was very capable of revision, and that that re-
vision 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 public officers, which would obviate many of the evils
of the present system. He thought this an excellent rule,
and he trusted, when considered in Parliament, it would
be 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. _ _ _

! JOHN PEIIIVAL, Esq., proposed the first resolution as
follows:—" That the present laws of lunacy are highly
defective; that, under these laws, persons may be secretly
seized and confined as lunatics, without any opportunity
of defending themselves, in a manner 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 their persons or property,
not by the officers 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, although
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. After
alluding to several cases which have already been pub-
lished in the reports of the Gloucestershire magistrates
in their it quiry into the management of the Fishponds
Asylum, Mr. Percival referred to the case of Captain
Dixon, who had been taken from his home at Bath on one
certificate, and carried across the country to an asylum,
where another certifier and certificate were readily ob-
tained ; but upon a writ of habeas corpus being sued out,
he 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,
tar that cause only, placed in a lunatic asylum ; but it
was at Dr. Muuro's, who, being a wealthy practitioner,
woul.l 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 he 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 Addiscowbe, 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 he 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 getting 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, that he
was the first discoverer of the principle of atmospherdic
railways. Mr. Perceval warmly eulogised the.Rear,nEof
ward Legh Bennett, a clergy man, andlibmerafistr o„, and
Gloucestershire who procured
,
strongly contrasted it with the conductta otfo thhe,acromhmiims-
sioners in lunacy who had refused .
The great principle fo
Per-
cival) contended was,
that n r which he (Mr.
access to his legal advisers in the
first
that no Englishman should be
judged nd having
next,
n Englishman should be con-
fined without
lbaceeh'inad his back. He did hope that the magistrae
y
of
would no longer throw on the Co
mnaissioriers
in Lunacy the responsibility of discharging patients,
which, from their quick and transitory visits, they
were
l
ill qualified to perform; but that the magistrates would
Ent
nes dtt steps se
se
n or women of quiet,
coaftsheofGtihoeuepeasttieernsthsirtleiemmaselves; and, follow,ing
on their visits to these asylums scrutinize and investi-
mgilidstrdateems,eawnhoeurre, t nwho,l,
had a spark of into Ilect left, by releasing them suffer
that spark to be fanned and nurtured in the world, rather
than to crush it and far 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 bo 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
to a madhouse. Yet any individual in that room was
liable to it.—(Hear, heir.) The best mode of deter-

The Rev. RICHARD KING, a clergyman from Dublin,
in seconding the resolution, stated that he thought the
present law quite inadequate, and advocated, at some
length, the case of a lady of property who was detained
in an asylum. He exhibited some beautiful specimens
of needlework, the production of this highly accom-
plished lady, the mistress of several languages, who was
charged, but most unjustly, with squandering her fort•
tune upon religion.—(Hear, hear.) He showed a speci-
men of the Gospel of St. Mark, which she had transcribed
in needle-work, in Italian, and English, and stating
various proofs of her sanity asked whether it was right
such a woman should be deprived of her liberty ?
THOMAS STURGES, Esq., surgeon, supported the re-
solution, and stated that the bounds of perfect sanity and
of insanity were much more obscure than the world ge-
nerally thought, and gave some data by which, in his
opinion, necessary restraint might be decided upon.
With much feeling he warned his brethren of the profes-
sion of the various injuries arising to a person being placed
in confinement. It was often, in the case of men of busi-
ness, the total ruin of their circumstances, and the loss
of self-esteem and confiience, forming a considerable
bar against their advancing themselves in their future
career of life. It were, therefore, better that cooling
medicine, change of air, and some and every means and
remedy should be resorted to for the purpose of restora-
tion to sanity previous to any attempt to immure 8
person in an as) lum, leaving confinement as the last
resource, when all other means have failed. The very
shock produced by isolation and confinement has often
totally bereft those of their senses who otherwise might
have been only temporarily all cted.
The next resolution was moved by J. C. SEARLE,
Esq., barrister, as follows:—" That the defective state of
the law of lunacy, and the abuse s and evils practised on
alleged lunatics, having been most effectively exposed,
and redress afforded in several cases by the magisterial
influence of the county of Glouceiter, the thanks of this
meeting, are due to the chairman and the other visiting
magistrates of asylums in that county for their zeal,
perseverance, and humanity in prosecuting the inquiry
and actin.. upon it in the energetic and benevolent man-
ner they had done." In proposing this resolution, Mr.
Searle stated that the visiting magistrates of Gloucester-
shire were most excellent administrators of a very bad
law, and that but for their exertions the case of the
unfortunate Ansties would never have been brought to
light, as the Commissioners, who must have frequently
visited the asylum, had never taken the trouble to in-
quire into the case. He recommended that in every case
of alleged lunacy a public inquiry should be instituted
before a jury—(clear, hear)—presided ever by the
coroner, and that only on the coroner's warrant should
the proprietor of an asylum detain an alleged lunatic.
The resolution was seconded and carried unanimously.
ROBERT SELBY, Esq., moved the next resolution :--
" That the at.ention of the public press is earnestly in-
vited to this subject, and the thanks of this meet-
ing are due to those journals which have already
noticed some of the abuses perpetrated under the pre-
sent law of lunacy." Mr. Selby expressed a strong
desire that public attention should be aroused to the
subject before the next session of Parliament, and that
each person present in hits own sphere should co-operate
with the society and the public in the endeavour to
obtain an amendment of the law, which was filling the
country with receptacles for the insane, the greater por-
tion of which, there was good ground to conclude, were
accused most unjustly and injuriously.
Captain DIGBY, R.N., shortly seconded the resolution,
and stated that he had not found the asylum at Hilling-
don to be the paradise that Mr. Mylne, the Commis-
sioner, had represented it.
In support of this resolution,
Mr. PERCIVAL read extracts from a petition presented
this session to the House of Commons from Samuel
Doubleday, Esq., detailing various abuses alleged to be
existing in a certain lunatic asylum.
The resolution, having been put, was carried unani-
mously.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman was adopted by
acclamation, and the met Ling separated.

INCENDIARISiII AT CREDITON, DEVON.
About five o'clock yesterday morning, someth triansshcire
ng
ant set fire to a linhay, which covered
machine, belonging to Mr. Philip_ Francis,rediton a
of Moore,
; and, un-
fortunately, about one mile from the town of C
and ultimately to the dwelling-house,
immmasesn,seansdtacskesnt forth offor such a
wood, soon
the flames soon extended to the whole
homestead,
that even the apple trees in an
vbwoe hl
c uai mnh onewith
al a
mus ore n e
nng
orchard adjoining, could not withstand the destruc-
tive element; nothing now remains but their charred
and broken trunks. The agent for the Imperial Fire-
office tells us, that he has witnessed very many
alarming fires in Crediton, but none that could in any
way be compared to this. The loss occasioned is esti-
mated at 1,5001. Mr. Francis is insured in the Sun
Fire-office, but, we fear, to nothing like the extent of
his loss. Much sympathy is felt for him, as his farm
may in all respects be considered a model one, as he
has always been one of the first to embrace any im-
provement in agriculture, though he still maintains
the good old practices of his ancestors in respect to
the hospitality of his table, which we have heardl
classes praise. He is one of those, however, who!d
y,
have availed themselves of the use
o f rna o hin,rof the
which the labourers believe is the
maincause
deficient want of employment, and not "tlebtv,ertTie origin of the
har-
vest of last year; hence, no
owhich
whenhappenedhouses
sn
were
tfiorwe,nanabdovuetrythprereobuabele,yiksth_ at t
ddlaeg:t the night; for almost
burnt down in
machine, which is, however, so
-tin,jaea gates
g.mfigeeld behind,, stands a barn con-
taining taaditiin).gi adjoining them, in
of.ap.proacht,hit.laisohuingh, from its proximity to the houses,
any one
would have thought it was impossible for
one to have been burnt without the other ; and it is
now remembered that some old people looking on
said, the machine was the cause of the conflagration,
as they had heard it loudly cursed. Little attention
was, however, at that time paid to what they said,
but now those farmers who have threshing machines
are getting quite alarmed, and some of them, it is
said, have received threatening notices. It is a
singular circumstance connected with the fire at
Moore, that a fox had made her nest under one of the
stacks of wood, though so near the farm-house, and
one of her cubs was observed attempting to escape,
but was pursued and tak©n alive ; two others were
found literally roasted.

DEPARTURE OF THE DUCHESS OF KENT.--Her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent left town yesterdiky
for Tunbridge Wells by the South-Eastern Railway.
Her Royal Highness, attended by Colonel Sir George
Couper, &c. &c., arrived at the London-bridge station at
a quarter-past one o'clock, and was received by two of
the directors and Mr. Herbert, secretary to the South-
Eistern Railway Company. The red cloth was spread
along the platform, tind the royal carriage placed in
readiness to receive the illustrious visitor. Ali.. Brown,
director, and Mr. C. Udworth, locomotive superinten-
dent, took charge of the train.
A word spoken pleasantly is a large spot of sun-
shine on a sad heart,—Eliza Cook's Journal.

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