The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-25 00:00:00

Olteninjt Vint

LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 25, 1847.

Since the rejection by the provisional Junta of
Oporto of the terms of pacification agreed to by
Queen MARIA DA GLORIA of Portugal in conse-

quence of the English intervention, tranquillity has
continued throughout the kingdom. That tranquil-
lity, however, is an ominous tranquillity ; it is but
the breathless lull of the conflicting elements before
th—e renewal of a more terrible and devastating tern-
pest. As we have already explained, no other answer

than the one returned to our plenipotentiary, Colonel
WTLDE, could have been expected from the Junta,
presuming that that popular Parliament is composed
of men not entirely divested of common sense and ordi-
nary prudence. To say that the disturbances which have
se long desolated Portugal have originated in a merely
idle insurrection would be a foolish distortion of facts
.and a perverse selection of epithets. Those disturb-
ances have resulted from a spontaneous anxiety
on the part of. an entire people to vindicate
their national rights and to maintain the integrity
of their constitutional privileges. The outburst is
not local, it is essentially comprehensive and national.
It is not the consequence of a reckless insubordination
aroused by the lawless vociferations of a demagogue.
It has sprung from the very fervour of the loyalty
with which the Portuguese regard their Government,
from their antipathy to unconstitutional innovations,
and their simultaneous resolution to preserve the su-
preme authority from being transferred from their

SOVEREIGN and their Cortes to any foreign favourite
or unpatriotic statesman. Hence, therefore, the po-
pu6tion is desirous to obtain a solid and permanent
pacification on some such terms as those proposed by
Lord PALMERSTON ; and for the purpose of ensuring
that solidity and permanence of reconciliation they
require a guarantee for the integrity of her MA..
'TESTY'S intentions. Indeed, the Junta have defini-
tively expressed their willingness to accept- the pre-
-1 scribed conditions, provided only they have some
security that those conditions will be honestly ful-
filled. What rigbt, forsooth ! has any external Go-
vernment to interfere further than we have done for
the tranquilization of a people who have heretofore
done us no injury whatever, who evince no hostility
whatever towards us, who are fighting for the dearest
prerogative of humanity—freedom, and-who abstain
from signing a most moderate treaty, because they
demand some proof of the sincerity of a hitherto per-
fidious and time-serving woman ?
If any military demonstration is entitled in an
especial manner to our symvatby and neutrality, it
is surely such a demonstration as the one which has
transferred the popular power to the Junta of Oporto,
:md confiled the direction ofthe popular forces to a
Commander-in-Chief like the Count DAS ANTAS.
Das ANTAS is to the Portuguese the Gonfalonniere
of their liberties ; and it is because his lieutenants
have hitherto acted with that combined bravery and
moderation which are most consonant with the spirit
of patriotism that the country has come so com-
pletely into their possession, and their characters re-
main untarnished by the commission of a single crime.
SALDANHA, on the contrary, has been merely the in
competent champion of an unsound cause, and he has
increased the contempt excited by his inefficiency by
the odium elicited by his cruelty and ruthlessness.
The contrasted reputations of these two chieftains are
fittingly symbolical' of the credit due to the opposite
principles they are- :eadelevourg' to render trium-
phant..
instead o evincing a somewlzst dastardly re lance
upon the assistance of foreign bayonets—such a
reliance, for example, as is actually evinced by the
adherents of MARIA DA GLORIA—the Junta and their

captains are preparing themselves for a renewal of
the struggle. With this intention DAS ANTAS held
a conference with PovoAs on the 18th instant at
Regoa, when they are presumed to have arranged a
combined movement for the dislodgement of CABAL
from Lamego. Upon rumours prevalent in the ca-
pital respecting the probable submission of SA DA
3ANDEIRA to the royal authority we are disposed to
?lace as little reliance as upon similar reports which
were some time since circulated about the prObable ter-
ersation of the President and Commander-in-Chief
of Mexico. Should the former soldier, however,
prove himself a renegade, he must inevitably meet
with the opprobrium such an execrable crime deserves.
The mysterious individual who has been watched
with so much suspicion, from the circumstance of his
being regarded as no other than Dom MIGUEL, ap-
pears to have landed on the shingles at Villa do
Conde, and to have shortly afterwards returned to
the yacht of Captain BENNET without any eciaircisse-
men! whatever. The incident seems to have been
conducted throughout in the most melodramatic
manner, and may after all prove nothing better than
a practical joke in the shape of an aquatic masquera'!e.
Notwithstanding certain insinuations to the contrary,
we are not disposed to anticipate any armed inter-
ference on the part of Great Britain.

We are rejoiced to find that the Alleged Lunatics'
Friend Society have presented to the House of Com-
mons a petition, drawing the attention of that Hun.
House to the state of the law of lunacy, as laid down
by Lord DENMAN, in the case of Mrs SHUTTLE-
WORTH, and praying for its revision. The law, as
laid down by Lord DENMAN in that case, authorises
the seizure and confinement of persons alleged to be
of unsound mind, at the instigation of a perfect
stranger, by the servants of private individuals, upon
the mere certificate of two medical men. And, not-
withstanding the Act of 8 and 9 Victoria, cap. 100,
enacts that the certificate of every medical
man, declaring that any person is of unsound
mind, and a proper person to be confined,
should also set forth the fact or facts, hear-
say or otherwise, upon which such medical
men may have formed an opinion, Lord DENMAN,
out of his abundant respect for the opinion of " skil-
ful persons," has thought proper to decree that such
clause is only declaratory, and has authorised the
continued incarceration of an alleged lunatic upon a
certificate in which none of these particulars are set
forth. The interpretation thus put upon the statute
by Lord DENMAN proves how more than ever neces-
sary it is that a public inquiry into the state of mind
of an alleged lunatic should precede incarceration.
Once confined in an asylum all hope of liberation
by due course of law is hopeless. It is vain
to point out that the requisites of the
statute, as regards certificates, have not been
complied with. Terrified by the cry of "mad-
man," as old women in the street are terrified by
the cry of "mad dog," and assuming that every,
delenu in an asylum must be insane, the Judges de-
clare that the whole of the law of lunacy is anoma-
I. us—that the directions of the statute are not com-
pulsory, and that it is their duty for the benefit of
society to remit back the unfortunate prisoner to his
former custody. The case of Mrs. CUMMING proves
the utter inefficiency of the present law to demon-
s:ration, and we prefer taking the case of Mrs.
'INNING as our illustration, because those who
e..,uieciher incarceration have since consented to her
ikoeration, and have given proof of their belief in her
t t"itY by accepting from her a disposition of her
Property in their fAvour We take. it for granted,
o,erefore, that. noe can
. arise as to the state ofi
mind of this lady. wofasltincarcerated in a lunatic
g.4yium in the month
writ
of
1846. Suppose a
friend had applied for a
a:ltdlhDeesiltleththe.aarde
been brought up before Lord DEaNts,
night have been something irregular in
c:Ates upon which she was detained—yet Lord Dr Eix--
MAN would, in accordance with the interpretation he
put upon the law in the case of Mrs. SHUTTLEWORTH,
have remitted her back to her former custody, where
she might have remained until this hour.
For, be it remembered, that although the

r Commissioners of Lunacy are ordered to make
inquiries into the grounds of the confinement of any
alleged lunatic, yet such inquiry cannot be other than
a mere mockery, inasmuch as the alleged lunatic is
not permitted to cross-examine any of the witnesses,
to rebut any false charges, or to correct any mis-
apprehensions or misrepresentations. What chance
would Mrs. CUMMING have had of obtaining her
release from an inquiry so conducted ? Clearly
none. In fact she was seen by the Commissioners,
and her incarceration was continued. Fortunately
she had property, and to get possession of this pro-
perty a public inquiry was necessary. She was
produced before a jury, and the public inquiry was
commenced. Mrs. CUMMING having no legal friend
to advise her, a solicitor, who was acci-
dentally present, proffered her his services—they were
joyfully accepted, and when it was discovered that
there was to be a defence and a bond fide public in-
quiry, in the course of which witnesses would be
cross-examined and charges rebutted, a compromise
was proposed and accepted, and Mrs. CUMMING was
set at liberty. To what is she indebted for her
freedom ? Clearly to the fact that a public inquiry
before a jury was about to be instituted into her case.
To that inquiry she became entitled because she was
possessed of property, and such an inquiry we claim for
every unfortunate person accused of lunacy, whether
possessed of property or not. A public inquiry is the
only possible method of eliciting the truth, and if an
inquiry is to be instituted most assuredly it should
precede rather than follow incarceration.

It is of great importance to induce habits of clean-
liness among the working classes.' Every voluntary
exertion that is made for granting facilities to the
humbler orders of society foe keeping themselves
-clean-in their persons should_ be warmly encouraged.
On the other hand, when the .puidic. are enjoying
certain advantages conducive to their health, conse-
quent upon the opportunities benevolently afforded to
them by the contributions of the affluent, any mis-
representation that is made in public, and which, if
not shown to be such, would be calculated seriously
to affect, if not altogether to deprive, the labouring
poor of an important sanatory privilege, should be
visited with marked reprehension. A week since Sir
PETER LAURIE made a speech in which he declared,
that public plunging-baths led to gross immorality,
and stated that on, paying a visit to the baths and
washhouses for the working classes in St. Pancras,
he had seen fourteen or fifteen great fellows stark-naked
indulging in disgusting gambols. Had Sir P. LAURIE
been at all borne out in his allegation people would
have felt thankful for the information. Not that Sir
PETER'S assertion, if supported, would have been con-
clusive against the use of public plunging baths; but
it would, no doubt, have had the effect of compelling
the committee of management of the above and
similar institutions to adopt such stringent regula-
tions, that public decency should be properly ob-
served. It appears, however, that Sir PETER was in
error in every tittle of his statement. A deputation
connected with the baths and washhouses of St.
Pancras waited upon a very numerous meeting of the
St. Marylebone Vestry, on Saturday last, for the pur-
pose of contradicting the statement advanced by the
Alderman. The Secretary, Mr. SMITH, informed the
Vestry that their baths were conducted by a com-
mittee of gentlemen, most of whom were clergymen
of St. Pancras ; that round the plunging baths boxes
were erected, with doors four feet high, for bathers to
dress and undreie in ; that no person was permitted
to bathe without a vestment ; that he had himself
accompanied Sir PETER LAURIE over the establish-
ment when there was but one person in the large
bath, and three or four lads in the smaller ones :
that upwards of 70,000 had bathed in their
establishment since August last—that he had never
heard a single complaint of immorality or disgusting
gambols amongst the working classes whom they
chiefly benefited, and whom he, therefore, considered
had been grossly libelled. The Vestry considered the
above to constitute a complete refutation of the charge
preferred. Some attempt was made to establish the
immoral tendency of the plunging bath' by alluding
to the fact that the committee employed a Tian to
look after the bathers ; but the secretary rcplied that
."."ill
any doubt Or the moral conduct of the labouring
poor, but solely in case of sudden illness, or of any
accident to persons unable to swim. We rejoice to
learn that those institutions are so admirably ma-
naged. The plunging bath excepted, all the other
arrangements of the committee met with the entire
approval of the fastidious Alderman. The officers of
her Majesty's ships are constantly in the habit of
consulting the health of the crews, by allowing
them, in warm climates, wholly to divest them-
selves of their clothing and jump off the ships'
sides to bathe in the sea. An officer is ap-
pointed at the time to watch that the men do
not swim too far, and to afford protection in case of
any misadventure. The military are likewise in-
dulged in a similar recreation. We have, however,
as yet never heard of any objection being started
against this healthful recreation. But if Sir PETER
be right in his excessive notions of refinement in re-
gard to the public plunging bath, they could clearly
be as reasonably urged to prevent our sailors and
soldiers from bathing in the sea or in rivers, as they
have been permitted to do from time out of mind.
Extremes meet, and over-refinement is as dangerous
to morality as over-coarseness. But this, we take it,
is a truth too subtle for the limited comprehension of
Sir PETER LAURIE.

Madrid papers of the 18th have arrived.
The differences between the QUEEN and her Con-
sort have risen to such a height, that the propriety
of adopting immediate measures to secure a divorce
has, it is said, been discussed in the Cabinet.

All the Ministers have returned to Madrid, leaving
the QUEEN alone at Aranjuez, to which place Senor
OLOZAGA had gone at the command of her
MAJESTY, it was said to advise on the state
of affairs between ISABELLA and her husband.

It was rumoured in Madrid that a new Ministry
was about to be formed, comprising Geneial SER-
RANO and Senors MENDIZABAL and OLOZAGA, and
that ESPARTERO would be created a Senator, and no-
minated Ambassador to London.

MADRID BOLSA, MAY 18.—Threes, 30i ; Fives, 19
Exchange on Loudon, 49 35.

We have received the Paris papers of Sunday.

They confirm the truth of the report of the death of
Mr. O'CONNELL. That illustrious man died at Genoa
on the 15th of May. The following letter trom thr
Rev. Dr. MILE; his chaplain, addressed to the editor
of the Univers, and published in that journal, leaves
us no longer any room to hope or doubt :

" Genoa, May 17.
" Alas, my dear friend, O'Connell is dead! lam so
completely overwhelmed with the blow that I am almost
incapable of writing. His death was serene and happy,
for it was sanctioned by the sacraments, and alleviated
by the consolations which our divine religion lavishes
with so much mercy on its children. He replied at first
in words, and afterwards with look and gesture, to the
exhortations %hich I addressed to him up to the last mo-
ment. He rendered up the last sigh, with the calm of
an infant that falls off to sleep, on Saturday, at twenty
five minutes to ten at night. He requested his heart—
that heart which always beat for the cause of religion
and liberty—to be taken to Rome. We have had that
noble heart embalmed, and have enclosed it in a silver
urn. The body, which has also been embalmed, will re-
mala here in a chapel until our return from our pilgrim-
age to Rome with his heart; and then he will be trans-
ported to his native mountains, to remain there to the
day of resurrection. The heart of O'Connell at Rome,
his body in Ireland, and his soul in heaven—is not that
what the justice of man and the mercy of God demand?
Adieu."

A letter published in the Journal des Debuts gives
the following account of his last moments :

" Genoa, May 16.
He (Mr. O'Connell) only spoke a very few words
to his physician ; and these were to make an earnest
request that the coffin should not be closed too soon over
his remains, because he was sure (he said) that he would
have the appearance of being dead before yielding up
his last sigh. His most ardent wish was to reach Rome,
and to receive the benediction of Pius and in the
course of his journey he expressed a wish that, if he
should die on the way, his heart would at least be sent
to the capital of the Catholic world. This idea is said
to have been sits gested to him by the recollection of
Robert Bruce, who, before dying, requested that his
heart might be deposited in the Holy Sepulchre. The
wish of O'Connell will be fulfilled, and, in conformity
also with his last wishes, his body will be carried to
Ireland."

M. GIIIZOT on Saturday presented a Bill to the
Chamber of Deputies for the better administration of
justice in the French West India Colonies. It grants
to six members of the Cour Royale of each colony,
who areintoform the
all
ca
se
scriminalwh ewhere
a court,fre
free
ptehresoright osaf juris-
dictioneom