The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-19 00:00:00

THE suN, LONDON, ViTEDNggriAlt

the admission of well-digested enactments—enact-
ments calculated to effect a rapid evidence of sanitary
reformation throughout these islands.
Fri-quently as we have had occasion to comment
upon the literary and oratorical labours of the more
conspicuous advocates of sanitary improvement, often
as we have particularised the merits of lectures,paul-
phlets, speeches, journals, magazines, and statistical
broadsheets devoted to this great question of popular
advancement—we do not remember a publication
m beo riet
observed,
bse peculiarlyrved, enr teistul el
resulting
et; of ur
er
ma pap l aouos (as
me
bio a a
ti
owno r k,
of
f
very considerable industry,
re experience
sa-
gacity) than the volume publishedan
and
upontl "
The Regulation of Buildings in Towns," and
recently
written by Mr. HOMING.* The arguments
con-
tained in this volume would alone be sufficient to
demonstrate the exigency of a speedy movement on the
part of the Legislature, and to arouse, not only the
Chief Commissioner of her Majesty's, Woods and
Forests, but the other members of the Adminis-
tration and the Parliament to an activity such as they
have not hitherto evinced. Lord NORMANDY" has
spoken admirably to the point, both in the Upper
House and elsewhere, in behalf of the inhabitants of
the more squalid quarters of-our populous cities ;
Lord LINCOLN has acted effectively, to a certain
extent, in the same direction ; Lord MORYETH, in
like manner, has not been wholly lethargic. Dr.
SOUTHWOOD SMITH has entitled himself to the
lasting gratitude of his countrymen by the unob-
trusive energy with which he has devoted his
genius to the good cause, and promulgated
wholesome truths to the populace through his
many intelligent and admirable writings. Under
his auspices the Health of Towns Association has
continued to work as energetically as the Anti- Corn-
law League worked for the abolition of commercial
monopoly. In correspondence with this society a
kindred institution has commenced its exertions in the
metropolis, under the title of " The Health of London
Association ;" and the efforts of both these societies
have been nobly consummated by the organization of
a Sanitary Commission in Gwydyr House. Of a
kindred, disposition have been the monthly organs,
The Health of Towns Magazine, and The Journal
of Public Health. Both these periodicals have endea-
voured to correspond with the press, and to concen-
trate in a distinct publication the anxieties incidentally
expressed by the public journalists. With these
labourers for the people Mr. HOMING has now asso-
ciated himself by his very laudable and sagacious
production—a production which proves, with un-
answerable precision, the necessity existing for the
better regulation, the systematic and assiduous regu-
lation, of the different buildings erected in the towns
of the United Kingdom. The very divisions of his
volume testify, in an obvious manner, the practicable
character of his suggestions :

REGULATION OF BUILDINGS.
RELATIVE POSITION OF BUILDINGS.
SAFE STRUCTURE OF BUILDINGS.
DRAINAGE OF BUILDINGS.
VENTILATION OF BUILDINGS.

From the closing sentences of his " Introduction"
we may glean an accurate definition of the entire
work :—" Education," says the author, " leads the
man to impose upon himself restraints more severe
than those to which, as a child, he was compelled to
submit; and the practice which is herein indicated or
otherwise set forth as proper to be adopted, and as a
rule to be imposed, is no other than [such as ?] a
community rightly taught would impose upon itself."
A volume of this character is precisely what is best
calculated to forward the cause propounded by the
first sanitary advocates. It is by the appearance of
such publications, that public opinion is developed to
snch a degree of pressure as must ultimately compel
the Legislature to act as well as to deliberate, and
to secure the health by ensuring the cleanliness of
the population.

Our readers doubtless remember the case of Mrs.
SHUTTLEWORTU, who was incarcerated in a lunatic
asylum, at the request of a clergyman, on the certi-
ficates of " two skilful persons," who was subse-
quently brought up by habeas before the Court of
Queen's Bench, and remanded' back to the custody
of the keeper of the asylum (notwithstanding an in-
formality in one of the medical certificates), because
Lord DENMAN held that the opinion of " two skilful
persons," that one of the QUEEN'S subjects was insane
was quite sufficient to authorise the incarceration of
such alleged lunatic without the " skilful persons"
setting forth in their certificates the facts on
which they grounded their opinions, albeit
the Act of Parliament declares that they are bound
so to do. This unfortunate lady was, therefore, as
we hare before said, remanded back to her place of
confinement, where she died about a week since. It
might hare been imagined that here would have been
an end. Not so, however. The abominable lunacy
laws do not release their hold even of a corpse; and
the application of Miss RHODES, the sister of Mrs.
SHUTTLEWORTH, to have the remains of the deceased
delivered up to her for interment, was refused.
Hereupon Miss RHODES applied to the " Alleged
Lunatics' Friend Society," and the secretary, Mr.
PERCIVAL, lost no time in addressing a letter (from
which the following is an extract) to the metropolitan
Commissioners in Lunacy :
" Parthenon Club, Jan. 12, 1848.

" My Lords and Gentlemen,—On my return home
yesterday evening, I was informed that Miss Rhodes
had been to my house to inform me that her sister,
Mrs. Shuttleworth, was no more, and to request me
to interfere in her behalf that she might be allowed
to bury her sister.
" I hope that the enormities of the system which
you have been superintending so many years, and in
which you are so slow to introduce any adequate and
effectual reform, will not be allowed to extend beyond
the lives of the unfortunate persons who are subjected
to them, and that Miss Rhodes and the other relations
of Mrs. Shuttle worth may have the consolation of
discharging the last duties of affection and respect to
her remains without any interruption from other par-
ties."

In reply to this application Mr. PERCIVAL received
the next day the following reply :
_ " Office of Commissioners of Lunacy,

19, New-street, Spring-gardens. Jan. 13, 1848.
Sir,—Your letter, this day received, relative to
the death of Mrs. Shuttleworth, and conveying the
request of her sister, Miss Rhodes, to be allowed to
bury her, has been laid before the Commissioners in
Lunacy, by whom I am directed to say that they
have no jurisdiction or authority to interfere in the
matter.—l ani, Sir, your obedient servant,
"R. W. S. LUTWIDGE, Sec.
" J. Percival, Esq., Campden Cottage."

From the statement of Miss RHODES it appears
that Mrs. SunTTLEwoieru died on the 6th of January,
and that she had received no information of her de-
cease until the 11th of January; that
on being informed of the fact she proceeded
to the undertaker's, into whose care the body had
been delivered, to demand that it should be given up
to her for interment, which was refused, in obedience
to orders said to have been received from the Rev.
Mr. ROWLETT and Dr. PARKIN (the gentlemen
through whose instrumentality we believe Mrs.
SHUTT LEWORTH WAS originally confined, and to
whom, therefore, in all probability her body was
delivered up by Dr. MHAINGEN). It would appear
that the undertaker must have misunderstood his
orders, as Mr. RowLETT and Dr. PARKIN, when
applied to by Miss Rnonas, both seem to have
assented to her request, and Mr. ROWLETT indig-
nantly denied that he had given any such orders.
In the observations which we feel called upon to
make on the very defective state of the law, we beg
beto
tlhe
iasa
s c distinctlyimputation
case.
e . ofp
in
on a
r.
the of
we anotGE intendingp parties
ti
e s
concerned
repeatto what
ilcasta
the
we have before said, that we know him to be a skil-
ful, humane, and most honourable man, and we have
no doubt but that his treatment of Mrs.i LTTLE-
WORTH was judicious, and that she was as comfort-
able and as well cared for in the asylum of Dr.
MILLINGEN as she could have been in any other
asylum in the kingdom. Mr. ROWLETT, it appears,
behaved as well as man could behave when he was
informed by Miss RHODES of the refusal of the
undertaker to deliver up to her the corpse of her
sister, and Dr. PARKIN did not finally withhold his
consent. But the question naturally arises, why was
Miss RHODES forced to apply to these gentlemen
(who do not appear to have been relatives of the

* "A Guide to the Proper Regulation of Building
In Town
heahh, , a 3 a means of promoting and securing the
het!'lt.h' Comfort, and safety of the Inhabitants." By
`Viffam lloaking, architect, civil engineer, &C.
PP.) 293. London; John Murray. 1848.

deceased) for permission to see and to inter her sister's
body? Why were not the relatives of Mrs. SIIUT
TLEWORTH informed of her illness ; or, at all events,
of her death ? How comes it that the Commissioners
of Lunacy have no power in such cases? There
is a great defect in the law here, a defect which
opens the door to the perpetration of the most
horrible enormities. Suppose a keeper by
brutal violence deprives a lunatic patient of
life ; as the law now stands, he may escape with im-
punity. The body is sent to an undertaker to be
buried—no notice is given to the relatives, and before
they are aware that their lunatic relative is dead, the
body may have become so decomposed as to render it
impossible to ascertain the cause of death. There
have been cases of conspiracies to murder—there may
be such again, and in the event of a keeper of an
asylum conspiring with the incarcerating relative of
an alleged lunatic to remove the only obstruction be-
tween that relative and a large inheritance, the
present state of the law is such as to secure
to them an almost certain impunity. The remedy
for all these dangers is a very simple one. Apply
to lunatic asylums the same rule that is applied to
gaols, and have a coroner's inquest held on the body
of every person who dies in confinement at a lunatic
asylum, at the same time giving notice to all persons
known to be near relations of the deceased who reside
in the United Kingdom of the day on which such in-
quest is to be held, in order that they may be present
lif they should think fit. _

A letter from Naples dated January Bth says—

" The news of the entrance of the Austrians into
Modena has produced the most lively sensation. The
two English frigates are still in the bay, and, having
delivered the dispatches which they brought for the
British Minister, they seem to remain stationary as
waiting in expectation of events. The King continues
to preside daily at councils. The state of the kingdom,
the deficit in the finances, the necessity of changing
superannuated political forms become no longer prac-
ticable, were discussed with great animation at the
sittings on the 3d and sth, but, as usual, no resolution
was come to. M. Fortunate, Minister of Finances,
has formally declared that the deficit already amounts
to 2,500,000 ducats, notwithstanding the suspension
of the annual drawing for the extinction of the public
debt. This Minister has proposed a reduction of the
army, and a part of the numbers of the law courts as
means of restoring a balance between the receipts
and expenditure. The King, however, is said to have
replied to the proposal for reducing the effective
strength of the army, that instead of doing so he
was firmly resolved to increase it by three regiments.
The Duke de Sierra Capriola still resists; but it is
generally believed that the King, in order to induce
him to go into Sicily, will grant him certain discre-
tionary powers for setting at liberty prisoners
detained upon suspicion, or absolved by justice, but
who are still kept in custody, and to grant within
certain districts a species of civic guard.
A letter, received from Italy announces that a san-
guinary collision had taken place at Pavia, between
the students and the Austrians. A number of persons
were wounded, and an Austrian killed. Subsequent
to that affair the celebrated University of Pavia was
provisionally closed, and most of the students had
left the town. According to the same letter, the
police of Milan sent 150 men of infantry and cavalry
to surround the house of the Jockey Club, at two
o'clock in the morning, and to summon the members
present to retire. The establishment was afterwards
closed. The grand theatre was entirely abandoned.
It was said that a still more vigorous demonstration
than that of the 3d would shortly be made. The
young men belonging to the Lombardo-Venetian
Noble Guard, instituted in 1838, at the coronation of
the EMPEROR at Milan, had all tendered their resig-
nation. Magistrates, and even the Fiscal, loudly re-
proved the police and the Government.

Other letters from Milan, of the 11th instant,
mention that six or seven persons had been killed
in the collision at Pavia, and upwards of 30 wounded.
Our accounts from Turin of the 14th instant state,
that on that day a grand funeral service was cele-
brated in the church of La Gran-Madre-de-Dio, in
commemoration of the patriots murdered at Milan
and Pavia by the Austrians. The most respectable
inhabitants of the city, all dressed in deep mourning,
assisted at the ceremony. On the same day the He-
reditary Prince of PARMA left Turin for Parma.
Pontremoli, was surrendered to Ihe Duke of PARMA.
on the Bth. The Commissioner, sent to take posses-
sion of the town in his name, had published a procla-
mation, informing the inhabitants that the Tuscan
laws should provisionally continue in force, and
confirming the public functionaries in their offices.

The Patria of the 10th mentions that Parma would
most probably enter the Customs union. The Arch-
ducess MARIA. LOUISA had appointed Prince LEO..
FOLD, eldest son of the Archduke RBNIER, her uni-
versal legatee.
The_ official Gazette of Turin, of the 13th instant,
publiihes a proclamation of the Marquis DE LA FLA..
NARGIA, Governor of Genoa, in which, after energe-
tically condemning, in the name of King CHARLES
ALBERT, the disturbances which took place at Genoa
on the 3d and 4th instant, he declared that the
Government was determined to repress with vigour
all similar demonstrations. The same journal an-
nounct s that the King of NAPLES had abolished
certain duties on wood and oil.

According to the Italia, Pisa journal, of the Bth
instant, a number of Piedmontese Bishops had pro-
tested against certain reforms accomplished by King
CHARLES ALBERT.
Letters from Rome of the 10th inst. announce that
the Pontifical Cabinet was composed as follows :
Cardinal Ferretti, President of the Council and
Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Monsignor Amici, Minister of the Interior.
Cardinal Mezzofanti, of Public Instruction.
Monsignor Roberti, of Justice.
Monsignor Morichini, of Finance.
Cardinal Riario, of Commerce, Agriculture, and
Fine Arts.
Cardinal Ma,,simo, of Public Works.
Monsignor Ruscoin, of War.
Monsignor Savelli, of Police.
The Consulta of State had voted, by a majority
of 20 to 4, a loan of a million of scudi.

At the sitting of the Swiss Diet on the 14th, the
report of the Commission appointed on the note of
the Papal Nuncio was taken into consideration. The
Commission proposed that no answer should he re-
turned to the note, although it would be easy to de-
monstrate that all the accusations contained in it were
without foundation ; that no such sacrileges as those
alluded to in it had been committed ; that those who
had been guilty of disorders had been prosecuted ;
that the Nuncio and clergy had excited the
fanaticism of the inhabitants of the canton of the
Sonderbund against the Federation ; and that
the Nuncio had blessed the colours of the rebels
of Lucerne; but, inasmuch as the Nuncio stated
that he spoke in the name of the PorE, not as
a temporal prince but as an ecclesiastical chief, the
Diet could not treat with him on matters purely
ecclesiastical. The proposition was agreed to after
some discussion, in the course of which the Deputies
from the different cantons gave an emphatic denial
to the accusations which have been so perseveringly,
yet so falsely, brought by the Jesuits and their sup-
porters against the federal troops.
A letter from Sion (Valais), of the 11th, says :
" Yesterday the Grand Council terminated the
new constitution, which is to be submitted to the
people on Sunday, the 16th. To-day, it was decided
unanimously that all the property of the clergy and
of all the religious orders should be secularized. The
provisional Council of State, which has been augmented
by two members, is to continue its functions until the
20th. You are aware that the hospice of St. Bernard
has been abandoned by the monks ; they have with-
drawn to a villa, which they had built in Piedmont
four years back, in anticipation of the events which
have since taken taken place. Their flight, notwith-
standing all the calumnies which have been circulated
on the subject, was purely voluntary ; the provisional
Government of the Valais did not by any means
expel them, and they are perfectly free to return.
They have not either been despoiled of their property,
but merely condemned to a fine—a measure common
to them with all the favourers of the revolt against
the Diet. The fine, besides, imposed on this convent,
one of the richest in Switzerland, does not amount to
more than some dozens of thousand francs, and will be
covered, and even more this year by the offerings of
travellers visiting the hospice, and by the gifts of the
mouiitain. inhabitants ; for it is well known that the
hospitality, which is to all appearance exercised gra-
tuitously by the monks, in reality brings them in a
very considerable revenue."

The .Nouvelliste Vaudois says :—" We have only
just learned that an envoy extraordinary of M.
GUIZOT, the Count PASTRELLA, Or DE FINISTREL,
for he takes both names, arrived on the 24th of No-
vember at Siou with dispatches from the French Mi-

nistry ; he then went to Brigue, where he got the
representatives of the Sonderbund who were at
Brigue at the time to sign a demand for intervention.
He brought to Sion a letter from SIEGWART MULLER,
addressed to the Council of State of the Valais, by
which the chiefs of the Sonderbund applied for au-
thority to establish their head-quarters in the ter-
ritory of the Valais, and promised that if the canton
could hold out four or five days there should be an
armed intervention in favour of the Sonderbund. The
Council of State rejected these overtures, in order
that it might not expose the canton to the chance of
a ruinous war."

Madrid journals of the 12th have arrived.
The Gaceta publishes two royal decrees, appointing
General Joss FuLcosio Captain-General of New
Castile, and General ROMAN BARRENECHEA Governor
of Madrid, and Deputy-Commander of the province.
. The Committee on the Salamanca impeachment is
composed of seven members, namely, M. FERNANDEZ,
S. ROMAN, M. SEIJAS, M. ARTECA, M. VAHEY, M.
ESTEBAN COLLANTES, the Marquis DE BEDMAR, and
M. ZARAGOZA. Of these only two can be considered
favourable to the accusation—M. SEIJAS, who was
one of those who signed the report on which the re-
cent debate took place, and M. ARTECA, who voted
for the charges to be taken into consideration. All
the others voted against the matter being taken up.
Thus, then, the Government has succeeded in effecting
the object which was ascribed to it—that of getting
a Committee favourable to SALAMANCA, so that the
accusation may be allowed to drop, whereby it is be-
lieved that awkward disclosures and great scandal may
be prevented.
General ESPARTERO is confined to his bed by
influenza.

General PAVIA', has announced the complete
pacification of Catalonia.
A letter of the 3th from Malaga states that the
expedition from that port to plant the standard of
Castile, in the name of ISABELLA 11., on the Zaffarine
Islands, at the mouth of the Moulaya, sailed the
preceding evening, under the command of General
SERRANO. It is composed of the steamers Vaitlano
and Piles, towing the brigs of war Isabella 11. and
La Fleche, with four transports carrying two
companies of the regiment of Africa, some artillery-
men, and a supply of ammunition and provisions.
MADRID BOLSA, JAN. 12.—The Three per Cents.
were done at 261 for cash, and 261, at fifty days; the
Five per Cents., at 13 13-16 for cash, and 16 at fifty
days; the Debt without Interest, at 5 for paper;
and the Coupons, at 11 for cash.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.

The debate on the Address was brought to a
close on Monday. The discussion on the ninth
paragraph brought the affairs of Algiers before
the Chambers, and M. DE Boissr took the oppor-
tunity of expressing in the Chamber of Peers
his sense of the impolicy of the appointment of the
Due D'AUMALE to the Governor- Generalship of the
colony, and particularised the Convention entered into
by the young Governor with ABD-AL-KADER as a
proof of the impropriety of the appointment. After
discussing at great length the merits of the Conven-
tion entered into with ABD-EL-KADER, M. DE
Boissv thus concluded—" It is a cause of deep regret
to be forced to disavow the Duc D'AUMALB. If a
Marshal of France only were concerned, the Govern-
ment would not hesitate. It remains then to be seen
whether the interests of France will prevail over the
consideration due to the word of the son of
a king. I call therefore on the Minister
to explain himself clearly, and in conclusion
will observe that if the convention is rati-
fied, the interests of France will be seriously
compromised ; if it is not ratified, the word of the
son of a king will be compromised."
This brought up M. GUIZOT, who, after:defending the
appointment of the Duc D' AIIMALE to the Governor:
Generalship, proceeded to allude to the convention, and
thus proceeded :—" We have not considered, we never
could have considered, that it was in the power of any
General, of any General-in-Chief, even of a Prince,
to enter into political engagements which should
bind the Government of the KING, without examina-
tion and without the possibility of escape." After
paying a compliment to the Duc DB NEMOURS, who
was present, and stating that the Duc D'AumALa had
accepted the Governor-Generalship merely as
any other General would have accepted it
M. GuizoT thus proceeded :—" With regard to the
question now under discussion, his MAJESTY'S
Government reserves to itself, and intends to
reserve to itself the most perfect liberty of examina-
tion and of decision. The Hon. Member asks what
the Government has decided, what the Government
will do. In answering that question, he must excuse
me from entering into details. There are two great
interests to reconcile here first the interest of
the State—and at the same time great and honourable
account must be taken of words uttered and of pro-
mises made—made according to the measure and
within the limits its which they can be performed.
I entertain the greatest confidence that the KING'S
Government will be able to reconcile these two in-
terests. I have great confidence in the possibility of
finding means faithfully to perform the promises
which have been made, and of obtaining a the same
time everything that is necessary for the security of
France in Africa: The Hon. Member and the
Chamber may rest assured that neither of these duties
will be neglected ; and I repeat, after an attentive
consideration of the question, of its difficulties, and
of the means of resolving them, I feel assured that we
cannot fail to arrive at such a solution."

The Constitutionnel, in speaking of this declaration
of M. GUIZOT, says, it has no sense whatever, unless
it means that the promises made to the Emir will be
broken, " observing, at the same time, the forms of
courtesy towards the makers of those promises."
A passage from the Journal des Debats will,
perhaps, furnish the key to M. GUIZOT'S mean-
ing, and explain the reason of the close imprison-
ment of AI3D-EL-KADEIt (a direct violation of the
convention of Sidi Brahim) in the fortress of La-
malgue. It is intended to coerce the ex-Emir into
consenting to an abrogation of the convention, a
mode of proceeding even more dishonourable than
would have been the bold disavowal of it. The
Journal des Debats says, " The Ministry may tear up
the capitulation, and disavow the Generals, if- the
saftly of the country requires it. But it will
have better served the fair fame of France if it
can reconcile her interest with her honour, and the
care of her defence with the respect due to her
solemn observance of an oath; in a word, if it is
skilful as well as firm, if it can untie a knot which
it might have cut. Such is our hope. The noble
words of M. GUIZOT, the prudent conduct of the
Government,. the news recently received from
Toulon, all inspire us with confidence that this
hope will not be deceived. ABD-EL-KADER, what-
ever may be the ambition which he entertains in
secret, will prefer being the guest of France to being
her prisoner."
Whether or not this notable scheme for pre-.
serving appearances will succeed it is impos-
sible to tell. One thing, however, is certain, that
the pledged word of the Duke D'AUMALZ has
been already broken by the imprisonment of
ADD-SL-KADER in Fort Lamalgue, and his
forced separation from his friends, and that
the ex-Emir will not be bound either by law, justice
or morality, to observe any conditions, nor to perform
any promises extorted from him while under duress ;
all promises made under such circumstances are ipso
facto void.

Al Toulon journal says—" When M.'', ROUSSBAU,
the interpreter, communicated to ADD-RL-KADER the
order for his removal to fort Lamalgue, he invited the
ex-Emir to indicate the persons of his suite, in
addition to the members of his family, whom he wished
to accompany him. ADD-EL-KAMM replied—'They
are all my family—there is not one from whom it
would not be cruel for me to separate, and, having no
preference, I have no choice to make.' All the
prisoners wished to follow their chief, but KADOUR
and KARA MUSTAPHA, the brother-in-law of ABD-
EL.KADER, were the only persons in addition to
his wives and blood relations, and his servants, who
obtained permission. KARA MUSTAPISA, who was
the executor and perhaps the only author of the
massacre of the French prisoners at the deira of
AIID-EL-KADER, is a man of most ferocious appear-
ance. His countenance is as ferocious as that of ABD-
EL-KADER is benevolent and mild.

The Journal de l'lndre says—" For some days past
it has been reported that in the event of ABD-Zle