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

bitnkit 11
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•

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1849.

If the Patrie, the semi-official organ of the French
Government, is to be credited, the melancholy spec-
tacle presented to the world by the Italians is on the
eye of its termination. According to this authority,
the Neapolitan and:Sardinian 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-
tannia MAJESTY would only appear off Leg-
horn and Civita Vecchia, the two principal
povta •of the disorganized dominions of the
GRAND DUKE 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
X.arr.ts and the King of SARDINIA. Of course it
• triust 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
,_
;"•!.°ll3 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,
so advantageous to the real interests of the Italians,
and so perfectly 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
Romans and the Florentines to the two generous-
b carted and beneficent princes who loaded their subjects
with benefactions, only to be themselves driven into
-exile by the murderous hands of rebellion—the
Pr°r°l:4ings of that indignation must be suppressed in
the settlement of the affairs of the two States.
IVhilt the rights of the banished Sovereigns are duly
and .nonourably consulted, the interests of the people
however ungrateful and despicable that people may
te—muit be also duly and honourably borne in con-
tideration. True, that the hallowed recollections of
the Amnesty surround the white and unsullied robes
of Piers IX., while the whole of the paraphernalia of
the usurping Government of the Eternal City
• is. Polluted with the blood of Rossi and the
94,h
er victims of insurrection : but, enormous
Igthe 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
feeling, of momenta;n itt?: be allowed t-
dOmifiate over the couyCilas tof s who are aboutpre to
.Work out a reconciliation. Ungrateful and despicable
as the Romans are, they must not be dictated to—even
the bayonets of their Sardinian and Neapolitan
countrymen. Rash and forgetful though the Tuscans
Lave shown themselves, • they must not be coerced
even by swords welded on the anvils of the Abruxzi
Gt. of Piedmont. The arrangement for the return of
ttoioLno to Florence and of Pro NON() to the
quirizaal must be effected by conciliative rather than
by imperative measures. An interposition so con-
ducted will redound not more to the glory of the
intervening Sovereigns than to the interests of the

Italian population, and it will afford, more- I
over, the expiation due—due as a sacred
recompense for their undeserved misfortunes
and for their magnanimous and illustrious careers—
to the Roman PONTIFF 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 Vnicsrao GIOBERTI, the
Prime Minister of the King 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 shall 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 GIIEERAZZI 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 Viri-
calvzo GIOBERTI. And ViNcErmo GIOBERTI 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 dissensions, from which would arise
tyranny and the enfeeblement of the country." Gio-
BERTI has said this, and GIOBERTI 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 for ward to the reinstalment of Plus 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-Rienais 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. Pun-
NELL, the Chairman of the Sessions, (to whose
indefatigable exertions in exposing the work-
ing of the present abominable system of private
lunatic asylums the public 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 because 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. Puartzu.
to the Loan CHANCELLOR, a commission de lunatics
inquirend• 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 DRURY, was present, and Mr. Box,-
DEN, solicitor, of London, attended to watch the
proceedings on behalf of the Alleged Lunatics' 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 been
there ever since; I see him three or four times a day;
I think he is of unsound mind, especially as to his delu-
sions respecting Dr. Bompas. He 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 he 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 hiin 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. PURNELL.
The following are sortie of the answers of Mr.
DRURY to the questions put to him, in order to test

the state of his mind :
" Can you read 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 afflicted 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 Ayslunn ; ho did not consider him-
self well, but hoped he should get better ; ho suffered a
great deal from varied uncontrolled sensations of imagi-
native force.
"Is it only when you to rad ?--I can'texplain
because it is variable cordaing e e
to the nature of the
subject I read. He then said that he did not think him-
self capable of living alone. Ile knew the value of
money. It was not on that account.; the nature of the
effect on his mind was continually working on his mind
that he could not control his nand. Sometimes he was
worse than at other times; the weather affected Wis. He
i
had never bad 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 who 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. P. 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 he was in dif-
ferent lodgings, immediately opposite tho 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—Ho did not use violent force?
" Mr. Drury—No; he used mental influence over me.
kurhell—Lie sgid Dr. DA:opal oiled with his

THE SUN,