The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-16 00:00:00

executed two hours before by the Minister of the
Interior, had been obeyed. My four battalions
arrived. The General disposed. them in proper order,
he harangued them, he filled them with that
military enthusiasm with which he was already
inspired. The injustice which he has dis-
played towards me will not render me unjust
towards himself. He was burning with ardour.
M. Marrast, on his part, had, with the utmost deci-
eision, taken in the surrounding quarters every possible
measure of a defensive nature, and had done every-
thing in his power to concentrate the forces which
remained at his disposal. The Hotel de Ville became
every successive minute more strong and almost im-
pregnable. I wrote to the legions of the suburbs to
hasten inwards with the utmost rapidity. Some of
the scholars of the Polytechnic were the bearers of
my commands. The workmen of the fauhourg of
St. Antoine, the workmen of Belleville, the
Lyonnais who had been already assembled to-
gether by M. Marrast, the vat ions depu-
tations of the pupils of the Polytechnic School, of St.
Cyr, of ails and of manufactures, the students of
law and cf medicine, were already hurrying forwards.
I addressed them as they arrived successively. All
that youth proved themselves three months afterwards
to be at once the strength and the wisdom of the

Republic. Crowd succeeding crowd, poured along the
staircases and into the balls. All the administration
of Paris, every one officially connected with the
Moniteur, were there. I ask any one of them to de-
clare whether I betrayed, even for one single instant,
either hesitation, or lassitude, or feebleness ? if a single
measure that was at all available was omitted ?

if a single word of mine was faltering ? if a single
question indicated trepidation ? Up to the very mo-
ment in which the National Guard, debouching at
the same moment from the various quays and bridges,
came to assure us of the most beautiful of all victories

—the victory gained without combat ! I love and I
respect the military uniform ; General Changarnier
wore it on that day nobly ; but the uniform is not the
only garb privileged to cover the bosoms of men of
canine.

My colleagues, collected together in another part
of Paris, assisted, on their side, in arousing this grand
resurrection of the civic power. From that day forth
Public Order was clad in armour. Behold here the
narrative of the l6th day of April. Where, I ask
you, is the defect revealed in regard to the necessary
measures of defence and precaution ?

There was indeed one measure which I was
counselled to take by those who evinced the most
impatience, and that measure I resolutely refused to
employ. Had I done so I should have involved nTy
country and the National Assembly in the horrors of
civil war, and I wished only to preserve to them both
the possession of Peace.

LAW OF LUNACY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—ln your paper of the 9ch ult. you animadvert
in strong terms on the law as regards lunacy, and on the
certificate system, and mention the case of Mr. G. W.
Dixon, a gentleman who had been confined (in the asylum
of Dr. Fox, at Northwoods) under that system, at the
instigation of the Rev. Sir George Prevost, Bart., a
cousin of the above gentleman.
As the public have had the Rev. Baronet's name
brought forward, and in a very questionable light (for
the case was only partially reported as far as the charge
brought by the " Lunatics' Friend Society"), it is quite
right that the termination of the case should also be
made public, in order that Sir George Prevost's character
should not suffer unjustly.
The " Lunatics' Friend Society," who had heard of Mr.
Dixon's confinement, instituted an inquiry into the case,
and although there was ample medical evidence, most
conclusively establishing the necessity for the step taken
by Sir G. Prevost, yet they persevered in dragging the
whole of an exclusively private matter betore the
public, and placing a wrong conclusion upon the pro-
ceedings. Not content with bringing the case betore
Baron Alderson, the society contrived to have Mr. Dixon
examined by the visiting justices of the county and a
physician who attended them. This latter gentleman
made an affidavit, and the visiting justices signed a re-
port, and both the affidavit and the report, speaking to
the result of their official examination, were to the same
effect as those of the medical men who signed the certi-
ficates under which Mr. Dixon was placed in confinement.
The Judge, after reading over the whole of the affi-
davits made in this case, has very properly discharged
the writ of habeas corpus, and has stated that Sir George
Prevost's comiuct was highly praiseworthy, and not in
the least to be blamed, and also that the conduct of Dr.
Fox in the transaction has been perfectly blameless.
I am not advocating the law of lunacy as it at present
stands, or the certificate system, but simply wish to
show that the defects of the system (if any do really
exist) were not taken advantage of is a wrong way, as
your remarks would rather lead any of your readers to
believe, but that under any system, the unanimous
opinion of so many medical men of the first note, would
have justified the course pursued, and ought to have
been sufficient for a society professing to act on purely
philanthropic principles, as the Lunatics' Friend Society.
In my opinion, the working of such self-cmstituted
societies, supplementary to the ordinary law of the land,
is infinitely more to be objected to and resisted by every

one.
The vexatious interference on frivolous grounds, to-
gether witn the prying and inquisitorial (to say nothing
worse) method of obtaining information on family mat-
ters which has characterised the present proceedings of
the society, are unfavourable to the purity of motive and
single-mindedness which ought alone to be their true
guides
In the present case the society had not a single medi-
cal opinion, that I am aware of, to put against the many
which appeared on the other side,and they have entailed
annoyance and expense to a high-minded, upright gen-
tleman, who had a sufficiently painful task to perform
without his motives being made liable to such miscon-
struction, and his character assailed through the instru-
mentality of an officious society. The Judge's justifica-
tion of Sir G. Prevost is hardly sufficient to meet the
attack. upon his character, and the injury he has thereby
sustained, more particularly as the reporters for the press
were excluded at the last hearing.
I hope, therefore, you will find room to insert the
above remarks in your columns, as it is strictly due to
the parties concerned.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,
W. M. DIXON, Captain, Royal Artillery.
September 11, 1848.

* This word is omitted in the letter, but the context
shows evidently that it was meant to be inserted.

THE NEW COD FISIIERY 1N DAVIS'S S. TRAITS. It
i
will be n the recollection of our readers that in the
month of May last considerable interest was felt in the
shipping and mercantile circles of Hull by the fitting out
of two vessels, the Seaflower schooner, of 113 tons, and
the smack Bee, of 70 tons, for the Davis's Straits cod
fishery—a trade never previously embarked in by Hull
merchants. Many were the arguments advanced against
the speculation by the " knowing ones" in maritime
affairs. The length of time required to reach the fish-
ing grounds, together with the boisterous nature of the
sea to be traversed, were obstacles urged as being likely
to render the trade anything but profitable. The success
which has attended the Bee, however, proves that those
fears were groundless. It icing a matter of more than
private interest to know how this expedition has suc-
ceeded we give the following particulars:—The Bee,
which was formerly the revenue cruiser on the
Humber, was substantially repaired, and set sail
from Hull on the 30th day of May last,
with a picked crew of nine men, all accustomed to
the northern regions and to the fishing trade. They
were well provisioned and well paid, and although they
have been absent only three months and three days, and
have scarcely had a fortnight's fine weather during the
voyage, they have returned with a full cargo of 8,000
cod-fish, one cask of halibut, and about three quarters of
► tun of cod oil. Captain W eldon, of the Bee, states
that he left fishing the Seaflower, which vessel had
caught 6,700 fish ; she may be very shortly expected
with a full cargo. He also left on the grounds, and still
fishing, the Janet llay, a stout schooner, with a crew of
20 men, having on board 30,000 fish, of which she had
aken 23,000 before the arrival of the Bee. The Electra
had, when the Bee left, 23,000. This vessel had also a
crew of 20 men. The Bee will not return to the fishery
until the spring, but will probably be employed in the
Baltic or North Sea trade until then. There can be no
doubt that the suceess of this enterprise will induce
other merchants and shipowners to turn their attention
to it.—Hull Advertiser.

AWFUL MURDER IN HEATON NORRIS.—This
morning (Friday) we have to announce an awful murder
in Hope-street, Heaton Norris. It appears that James
Kelly, an Irishman, " a self-acting minder," employed
in the mill of Alfred Orrell, Esq.,has for some time been
paying his addresses to a young woman, named Elias
Faulkner, a throstle spinner at the same mill. It appears
that Kelly requested to see Faulkner last night, and she
not having conceded to his request to meet him, he
waited fur her this morning at her own door, and called
to her when she came nut to go to her work. He seized
hold of her immediately with his left hand, and as she
turned to escape from him he drew a large pocket knife
across her throat. A boy named Sb igh was opening
shutters close by and saw the occurrence, and screaming
out brought his mother to the door. She fell on Mrs.
Sleigh's arms, and died immediately, the prisoner stand-
ing by. The murderer was immediately arrested by the
bystanders, and he expressed himself satisfied that ho
had committed the act. On his way to the police-office
he requested to see deceased again. Ile has been de-
pressed in spirits sines his arrest. The deceased was a
very respectable young woman. The inquest will be
held this afternoon at four o'clock, the particulars of
which will appear in our third edition.—Manchester
paper of yesterday.
DEATH OF A FOX•HUNTER.—John Chapman, Esq.
the celebrated fox-hunter, died on the 31st alt., at Ilor-
mead Hall, Hertfordshire, aged GS. He was enthusi•
sixaS thtiemaollnyfos ollnfdoofwfoexitthi hunting, and
hounds.
d even, within the last