The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-24 00:00:00

THE ALLEGED LUNATICS'
FRIEND SOCIETY.

Copy of a Petition presented to both Houses of Parlia-
ment praying for a Committee to inquire into the
Defects of the Law of Lunacy.
To the Right Heneurable the Lords Spiritual and
f
Commonsand
Ireland,
tle.roup,n,ritaeld, aKnidnatdootmheolif
in Parliament assembled;
(Grmreuartabßlerittahien
The humble Petition of the Chairman and Members of
the " Alleged Lunatics' Friend Society,"
Aet was passed for amen
Most humbly showeth,—diTnghattheinlatwhes
r3eelaartinlgB4tos
thean
arrest, confinement, and treatment of patients alleged to
be of unsound mind in the private asylums, public
asylums, and hospitals in this country, intituled " An
Act for regulating the Care and Treatment of Lunatics."
That under the said Act the seizure and confinement
of persons alleged to be of unsound mind may be still
effected in a clandestine manner upon the certificate of
two medical men, without the sanction of a magistrate,
or the attestation of any clergyman, or of any impartial
person of rank, or of recognised respectability and au-
thority, and by the servants cf private individuals, and
not by the officers of the law. And that it appears from
the decision of the Court of Queen's Bench, in the case
of a lady named Shuttleworth, in this present }ear, that
such seizure and confinement of any person may be made
at the instigation of a perfect stranger to the party so
confined.
That when any persen is so confined the law does not
require any steps to be taken immediately to ascertain
the real state of such person's mind, and the justice of
the grounds of his apprehension and confinement: nor
does it make penal any unjustifiable attempt to prevent
such person communicating with his friends or attorney;
so that a person may be confined three months before he
can have an opportunity of appealing to any authority
for an examination into the grounds of his confinement,
as the law does not require asylums to be visited more
than four times in the year.
That the law does not require that such person should
be himself informed of the grounds of his confinement,
and of the nature of the charges brought aeainst him;
which, if he is not really of unsound mind, is highly
unjust, and precludes him from being able to defend
himself ; and, if he is of a deranged understanding, is
unreasonable and cruel, as it leaves him to the exercise
of a diseased imagination in conjuring up visionary
grounds for his confinement, so as to become more
agonised and excited than when he was first apprehended.
That in the year 1845 a clause was introduced in the
Act 8 and 9 Vict., c. 100, at the suggestion of this BO-
ciety, by which it was enacted that the certificates of
medical men, declaring that any person is of unsound
mind and a proper person to be confined, should also
state the fact or facts, hearsay or otherwise, upon which
such medical men formed their opinion; that it was the
object of this society that that clause should be com-
pulsory, in order that the visiting authorities of any
asylum may at onceiknow on what charges any person
alleged to be of unsound mind is confined, and proceed
to examine him upon such charges, and to liberate him
if they proved to be false; in order also to give any
person so confined a knowledge of the charges made
against him, so that he may be immediately enabled to
prove the injustice of them, if he were of sound mind;
and in order also to prevent collusion on the part of per-
sons conspiring to confine any party as an alleged lunatic;
but that by the same judgment of the Court of Queen's
Bench, in the case of Mrs. Shuttleworth, it has been de-
termined that that clause is only declaratory, and has
not a compulsory force, whereby it is rendered perfectly
nugatory as a defence for the liberty of the subject.
That the law does not require or allow that such per-
son should be present, either in person or by attorney,
at any inquiry that may be made before the visiting
magistrates or Commissioners in Lunacy \into the
grounds of his confinement; so that he is unable to
cross-examine the witnesses that appear against him,
and to rebut any false charges or insinuations, or to cor-
rect any mistaken assertions or misrepresentations
respecting him.
That the experience of many patients, during a lapse
of several years, and the communications made by
several patients to this society, prove that the system of
supervision of asylums provided by the law—through
the quarterly visits of magistrates and the occasional
visits of the Commissioners in the country, and through
the quarterly visits of the Commissioners in the metro-
polis—is highly defective, and not sufficient to detect
injustice, to remedy abuses, and to prevent intimidation
and ill-treatment, but exposes patients in asylums, who
may prefer complaints to the visiting authorities, to
the vindictive persecutions of the servants they have
made complaints against.
That the inspection of the Report of the Metropolitan
Commissioners to the Lord High Chancellor for the six
months ending 4th of February, 1846, wherein the num-
ber of miles travelled by some of the Commissioners, an'
the number of patients visited by them is stated, will of
itself prove the necessity of further inquiry into this
important subject, and cannot fail of impressing the
mind of those who consider it with the opinion that such
a system is inadequate, and essentially defective.
That it is the opinion of your petitioners that nothing
short of weekly or fortnightly inspection of asylums—
and that by persons living in the neighbourhood, who
can make themselves acquainted with the cases and
characters of the patients confined in them—can be
adequate to prevent the abuses which have existed in
these asylums, and which society has so much reason to
deplore; nor can any less frequent inspection do effectual
justice to all parties concerned in the detention of per-
sona alleged to be insane.
That is the opinion of your petitioners that no plan
more effectual or more appropriate can be adopted for
securing such weekly inspection of asylums, or with so
much economy and advantage to the state and to society
in general, than by Government availing themselves of
the assistance of discreet members of the parochial
clergy, together with the magistrates residing in the
neighbourhood of asylums, and authorising them to in-
spect such asylums, and to attend to the spiritual wants
and temporal safety and comforts of the individuals con-
fined in them; and that such a system of surveillance
appears to be more especially desirable in respect of the
female inmates of such asylums.
That it is desirable also that a book should be kept in
all asylums, in which alleged lunatic patients, or patients
who enjoy lucid intervals, might enter their complaints
and observations; and that, on the death of any patient
in an asylum, the report of such death should be sent to
the Home Secretary, and to the coroner, who should be
required and empowered to make inquiries into the
cause of such death. so that an inquest may be held on
the body, if any circumstances of suspicion should show
the necessity of it.
That by the Act 8 and 9 Vict., c. 100, power is granted
to the Commissioners in Lunacy to give orders to the
friends or relatives of patients to visit such patients; but
that it appears that the Commissioners evade the exer-
cising of this power upon the pretence that they see no
special reasons for giving such permission; and that it is
desirable that the power of availing themselves of this
privilege should be given to any solicitor or medical
man, whom a friend or relative may desire to employ to
visit a patient confined in any asylum, or to any solicitor
or medical man, or acting member of any benevolent so-
ciety devoted to the object of aiding and restoring
alleged lunatics, to whom such patient may have made
application to obtain his release.

That by the Act 8 and 9 Vic., e. 100, any person
confined after the passing of that Act may obtain a copy
of the certificates upon which he has been confined, upon
application to the Commissioners in Lunacy. That it is
desirable that this privilege should be conferred upon all
persons that have been released, whether previous to or
since the passing of that Act, and to persons in confine-
ment as well as to persons released therefrom ; that it is
the practice of the authorities of Bethlehem hospital to
refuse copies of such certificates to all persons, unless
they are ordered by the Court of Chancery to give such
copies ; and that such practice is most unjust, and ought
to be abolished.
That charges of a very vague, trivial, and insufficient
nature, are often alleged as grounds for confining per-
sons in lunatic asylums, and appear to be sanctioned as

valid charges by the Commissioners in Lunacy; amongst
these charges may be mentioned the possession of arms,

:o defend the liberty of the person (against such arbi

car), and tyrannical attacks as are practisedunder the

present lavi)—peculiar notions on religious subjects, and
a desire to promulgate the same, by preaching or other-
. .

. _ . ..
wise—a dispositions- for theatrical pursuits—slovenly or
unusual habits—wearing the beard, or any costume, not
in itself indecent, but not customary—walking out late
at night—groaning, or excitement under accidental ill-

oess, exaggerations regarding property, speculation,
&c. That it is intolerable that the liberty of the sub-
ject, the liberty of the conscienle, and the freedom of
thought, of invention, and of action, and the aspirations
and exertions of noble and superior minds, together with
the weakness of the afflicted, should b. exposed thus to
be trampled upon and cramped by the violent, cruel, and
sordid interference of persons of mean and confined in-
tellect and of timid disposition ; that it is incumbent
upon the Legislature to provide a defence for the liberty
of the subject, by compelling all persons who are con-
cerned in the confinement of British subjects on such
vague and doubtful charges, to bring the parties accused
before a jury of their countrymen.
That this society do therefore humbly pray that your
Honourable House will appoint a Committee to inquire
into the reforms suggested, and the abuses pointed out,
in this petition, and into the whole system of the seizure,
confinement, and treatment of patients in the lunatic
asylums of these kingdoms, and of the Channel Islands,
with a view to placing the law upon sound foundations
of religion, justice, and humanity.
And your petitioners will ever pray. Sm.

Loss OF TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY POUNDS.—
Yesterday information was received by the police that a
' letter, addressed to Mr. Reynolds, of Old Broad-street,
from Liverpool, containing two 1001., one 501., and six
51. Bank of England notes, had been lost in its passage
thr,tugh the Post-office. The numbers of the notes are
known, and payment has been stopped.
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