The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-19 00:00:00

litarning 4am,

LONDON, SATURDAY, Di CENIBER 19, 1846.

SHAKSPERE was right in saying that troubles
come not singly, but in battalions. he private ex-
perience of each individual is illustrating this truth
incessantly'. The national experience of all times and
of all countries has placed the accuracy of that aphorism
beyond a doubt. In the recent accession of misery
to Poland we have foreseen a speedy extension of its
sufferings. So much temerity in the associated
despots of northern Europe was, we felt satis-
fied, only the prelude to the exhibition
of still great temerity from one or other of them in-
dividually. These anticipations have not been
illusory—those fears for the shadow of nationality
which has hitherto been preserved to the Poles have
not proved chimerical. A still more heinous viola-
tion_ of international honour, of the code of humanity,
of 'the divinest principles enforced by the spirit
of the Christian religion, is meditated. It
is not only meditated, it is inevitable . The seizure of
Cracow is to be followed by a deed more guilty and
more damning than any yet perpetrated against that
people, which under the banners of SOBIESKI saved
Europe from the doom of infidelity, from the decrees
of the Koran, from the sword of the Paynim. The
annexation of the Cracovian territory is only a prelimi-
'nary to the incorporation of the Polish dominions to the
empire of Russia! By making the paltry concession
of the former, the CZAR has endeavoured to purchase
from the Kaiser the opportunity to extend his sway
by a lawless occupation.
What will be the consequence of this odious corn-
pact on the part of the Austrian FSIPEROR ? Why,
the. consequence will be this :—Russia will,
by this
incorporation of her Polish dependencies, stretcohf
forth her inexorable yoke into the very core
continental Europe. That monster system will
thereby be placed in a dangerous proximity with
the Germanic confederacy. There will be no further
barriers between Russian ambition and the less
powerful states of A ustria, of Prussia, of Italy, and ,

of Turkey. The vast plains of what was once Poland
will no longer girdle in the territorial avarice of its
spoiler. There will be no further check to that ag-
grandisement for which the Government of St. Peters-
burgh has so long yearned.

After these miserable disclosures, it cannot be
matter of astonishment that sentiments of wrath and
indignation are roused against the policy of the Em-
peror NicaoLas in the civilised West. Those who
are rejoicing under the blessings insured to them by
constitutional monarchy must inevitably experience
feelings of justifiable rage at this stupendous deed of
spoliation. Apart from all considerations as to the
balance of power on the Continent, what can be more
at variance with the principles of justice, or with those
of civil and
.religious liberty ? Here is a country
which, from a thousand causes, is incapable of being
combined with such a dominion as that of Russia.
With a different language, with different customs,
with a different character, and with a different
religion, it is hopeless for the Cabinet of St.
Petersbugh to expect that there can be any
cordial co-operation between them. And, be-
yond this, it is cruel to attempt any junction of a
people so diametrically opposed to each other. What,
however, are the qualms of a Russian conscience in
such an emergency ? They are as incapable of con-
ception as the gentleness of the Parcae. The con-
science, indeed, is as disproportionately small in com-
parison with the selfishness, as was the bread con-
sumed by FALSTAFF with his allowance of sack.
The intense perfidy and lawlessness of the whole
transaction is as discreditable to the Czut as it is
threatening to the rest of Europe. There are such
peculiar dangers to Germany in the approaching in-
corporation of the Polish dependencies with the Rus-
sian empire, that it is but natural some change
-sh:,uld be already apparent among its different prin-
cipalities. The hostilities of the continent towards
the Government of St. Petersburgh must necessarily
extend along the banks of the Mine; for, unless
some decisive measures be taken by Central and
Western Europe, the avarice of the Autocrat
will be diverted from Byzantium to Berlin, from the
sea of Azof to the Lake of Geneva. The spoil already
accumulated in his possession will only tend to
enlarge his appetite, first, for further dependencies, and,
ultimately,for their complete incorporation. Cracow fell,
and England and France protested against its seizure.
Poland is about to be proclaimed an integral portion
of Russia in Europe—what will be the nature of the
supplementary protests forwarded to St. Petersburgh
from London and Paris? Will Prince METTERNIcu
allow his SOVEREIGN to be cajoled by the diplomatic
tools of Nicuonas ? Will not Germany and the
Papal States combine with the more western nations
in branding the CZAR as an enemy to the human race,
to the preservation of peace, to the advancement of
civilisation, to the decrees of man, of religion, and of
GOD? Russia has sown the storm—she shall reap
the whirlwind.

Having in our article of yesterday, shown from
Dr. MILLINGEN'S own letter that those assertions in
which he declared that there was not one syllable of
truth, were confirmed in every particular by himself,
we feel that we are entitled to pass over without
notice, not only his personal vituperation, but also all
his uncorroborated assertions, except so far as that
vituperation and those assertions involve admissions
against the law, of which Dr. M[LLINGEN has put
himo,:f forward as the champion. We, therefore, pass
over without notice his imputation of ignorance, but
we cannot pass over his assertion that Lord DEN-
MAN uttered nothing of the kind imputed to him.
, Had this affair been a matter of " physic or
farces," in the compounding', of both of which Dr.
iNfinusGus is, we admit, equally skilful, we might,
perhaps, have been content to defer to his authority ;
but it is an affair of short-hand writing, and Dr.
MILI.INGEN must excuse us if we prefer accepting
the report of Lord DENmaN's judgment, furnished to
us by " skilful persons" in the art of stenography,
which report was transcribed by those " skilful per-
sons" from their notes, written a few hours after that
judgment was delivered, to Dr. MILLINGEN'S month--
t old reminiscences. It is true that the Act of the Bth
I and 9th VICTORIA enacts, as stated by Dr. Millis-
! GEN, " that no physician, surgeon, or apothecary,
who, or whose father, brother, son, or partner, is
wholly or partly proprietor of, or a regular profes-
sional attendant in, a licensed house, &c., shall sign
any certificate for the reception of a patient, &c.; that
any medical man infringing this clause will be guilty
of misdemeanour ;" but it is equally true that the
same Act requires, in as express and explicit terms,
that the person certifying should state, upon the face
of his certificate, the facts that led him to the con-
clusion that the person was insane.
Now, Lord DENMAN has decided that a certificate
which does not set forth the facts which led the cer-
tifier to the conclusion that the person was insane,
is sufficient to justify the detention of any alleged
lunatic. Nay, more—that it is monstrous to suppose
that a " skilful person " should set forth those facts,
although expressly directed to do so by the Act of Par-
liament; and,*as Lord D.ENMAN declares that the pro-
visions of the Act need not be strictly abided by in
one instance, why need they be abided by in any ?
The principle of Lord DENMAN'S " luminous
judgment " goes fully to this extent—Do we
deny the validity of the law as thus laid
down by the Court of Queen's Bench ? On the con-
trary, we admit that it is the law, we accept it as
such; but, so accepting it, we say that the law is a bad
law, and requires alteration. Proceed we now to the
next section of Dr. MILLINGEN'S letter, in which he
speaks of medical certificates, and of the impossibility
under which a " skilful person" labours of specifying
minutely the nature of the delusions under which a
supposed lunatic suffers. He says—
" Such a statement is not required, for, in most in-
stances, when a medical man is called upon to visit a
supposed lunatic, he is an utter stranger to the party,
and can only form his opinion from the incoherence of
his conversation, when his actions are not violent; or
from the account of the patient he receives from the
parties who have called him in."

We admit fully the exposition of the law
of certificates as laid down by Dr. MIL.
LINGEN, and we are obliged to him for
the important admissions, which he has made.
Dr. MILLINGEN is one of our most useful allies in
the war which we have been long wageing against
this iniquitous law of lunacy, for he here admits that
the law authorises the detention of any person as a
supposed lunatic upon the certificate of a medical
man, " who is an utter stranger to the party, and
can only form his opinion from the incoherence of his
conversation, when his actions are not violent, or
from the account he receives from the parties who hal e
called him in." Who is safe as long as such a state of
the law continues ? Who shall say that the medical
man himself is not the person incoherent
in conversation, and the patient the coherent
person.? But even incoherency in conversation is not
requisite; for, if the medical man receives a certain
account from the parties who have called him in, he is
authorised in granting his certificate. Such is the
law. How does it work ? There is a certain person
possessed of large property about to make a will dis-
inheriting his heirs. Those heirs call in a medical
man, bribe a medical man or men (for be it remembered
Mr. FLETCHER, the will forger, was a medical man,
and these certificates can be purchased in the market;
therefore it will not do to set up the immaculateness
of the medical profession) ; these heirs bribe two
medical men to certify that this person is a lunatic
and upon that certificate he is transferred to a lunatic
asylum. He applies for a writ of habeas. It is use-
less; the certificate is sufficient; it need not set
forth, according to the decision of Lord DENMAN,
the grounds upon which the "skilful persons" formed
their opinion. Nay, it is not even necessary, ac-
cording to Dr. MILLINGEN'S gloss upon Lord DEN-
MAN'S law, that the patient should have exhibited even
any incoherence in conversation—" a certain account
from the parties who have called him in (the bribers)
to the medical man (the bribed) is sufficient
to authorise him in granting his certificate.
Be it remembered this is not the assertion of "one

utterly ignorant of the subject." It is the exposition
of a "skilful person," of Dr. MILLINGEN, of the state
of the law, as laid down by Lord DENMAN, of the
state of the law as it exists at present. It is the ex-
position, not of the opponent, but of the champion and
defender of the law. We are content to rest our case
against the law upon this statement of Dr. MIL,
LINGEN, and we ask whether it is constitutional,
whether it is just, whether it is moral, whether
it is right, whether it is safe, that the
law should be permitted to continue in its

present state ? The Doctor then goes on to state
that these certificates are examined by the Commis-
sioners, and that certain books are required to be
kept by the proprietors of lunatic asylums. There
is little use in keeping these books if the public are
denied access to them ; and as to the inspection by
the Commissioners, we repeat what we before have
frequently said, that such inspection is necessarily a
"mockery ;" that, from the paucity of their num-
bers in comparison with the duties they have to
perform, it is physically impossible they can
minutely inquire into every individual case of
lunacy which comes under their notice; that
they constitute a secret tribunal, and, therefore,
that their proceedings are open to suspicion,
aad that when their proceedings have be-
come known to the public, as in the Hay-
dock Lodge case, they have not been of such a
nature as to lessen the suspicion which necessarily
attaches to all secret proceedings. It is more than
probable that the conduct of the Commissioners of
Lunacy will ere long become the subject of Parlia-
mentary inquiry, and, such being the case, we pur-
posely abstain from making any further observations
on their conduct. In the case of Mrs. SIJUTTLE-
WORTU, as in that of Mrs. CUMMING, we take no in-
terest except in so far as it illustrates the defects
of the law of lunacy. We cannot but re-
mark, however, that Dr. MILLINGEN speaks
of her as " Mrs. ItrionEs, an unfortunate
lady in a state of imbecility of mind,
who had assumed the name of SHUTTLEWORTH:
This is a curious fact. Throughout the whole pro-
ceedings it struck us as most remarkable that this
case should be fought on both sides by strangers.
The minister of the parish, a stranger to the lady,
considers it his duty to have her removed to a "com-
fortable asylum." Does this charitable minister
cause every person whom he finds in his parish " in
a state of utter destitution, in rags, covered, with
ulcers and vermin, and without the common neces-
saries and comforts of life," to be removed to a
comfortable asylum ? If he does, then is he a pat-
tern of a minister, and ere long the parish workhouse
of St. Peter's, Pimlico, will be to be let. Is this as-
sumption of the name of SIIUTTLEWORTII one
of the delusions (not set forth in the cer-
tificate) under which this unhappy lady labours ?
Is this delusion the cause of her being at the present
moment an inmate of York House, Battersea ? Who
pays Dr. MILLINGEN for her board and maintenance ?
These are questions that naturally suggest themselves
cn reading this passage in Dr. MILLINGEN's letter.
Dr. MILLINGEN then puts the following question :
" Now, Sir, do you think that the judges of the Court
of Queen's Bench would have been justified if, on an al-
leged inaccuracy in the medical certificates, they had
discharged this poor creature, and replunged her in her
former melancholy, destitute state, because, forsooth, an
Old Bailey quibbler sought to prove that a conversation
was not a fact?"

For an answer to this question we will refer Dr.
MILLINGEN to one of the most upright men,
one of the most accomplished lawyers, one of
the most learned judges that ever graced the English
Bench—one to whose transcendant merits Lord
DENMAN himself has not unfrequently borne most
willing witness—one whose opinion is of such high
authority, that every judge in Westminster Hall, when
he differs from it, feels it his duty to state that, in
consequence of such difference, he has deemed it
necessary to carefully reconsider the grounds upon
which such differing opinion was formed, and to
express his regret at the existence of such
difference, —we refer him' to Mr. Justice
PATTESON, who, in giving judgment in the
Bail Court in this very case, said,
"My own opinion is that the certificates are not
valid," and this is the opinion which Dr. MILLINGEN,
with the characteristic modesty of " skilful persons,"
deems it decent to stigmatise as an "Old Bailey
quibbler." Dr. 111ILLINGEN proceeds to say that this
application was not made at the request of, or by the
authority of, the patient ! Would any keeper of a
lunatic asylum permit a lawyer to have access to any of
his patients to receive instructions to sue out a writ
of habeas This case of Mrs. SUUTTLEWORTH, like
every other case, demonstrates the necessity of an
alteration of the law. "The writ of habeas was ap-
plied fur on the affidavit of Dr. QUAIL, a "skilful
person," who alleged that the patient was not insane.
It was resisted on the affidavits of other " skilful
persons," who alleged that she was insane. Here, as
in the case of Mrs. CUMMING, we have opinion against
opinion, and unless the grounds upon which the
opinion is founded are set forth, it is impossible to
come at the truth. These cases, coupled with
Dr. MILLINGEN'S admissions, make it more and more
evident that it is absolutely necessary, to the proper
security of the liberty of the subject, that no keeper
of a lunatic asylum should be authorised to keep any
of the QUEEN'S subjects under restraint, except by a
warrant of some public officer, who shall have pre-
viously instituted a public and open inquiry into the
question of the sanity or insanity of the alleged
lunatic, at which inquiry the alleged lunatic
should be present, and should have the power, either by
himself, or by his legal representative, to cross-examine
via/ voce the "skilful persons" who testify to his
lunacy as to the grounds on which they had founded
their opinion, and for this purpose, we repeat, no
tribunal can be found 'so efficient and at the same time
so inexpensive, as the coroner's court. We trust
the time is not far distant when the law of the land
will prohibit the detention of any person as a lunatic,
except upon the warrant of the coroner, founded
upon the verdict of a jury empannelled to try an
inquest of lunacy.

We, on Thursday, proved that there was nothing
very formidable in the amount of the sums that may
become chargef.ble upon real estates in Ireland by
reason of the public works now in progress of con-
struction, or which the relief of the existing distress
in that country may render necessary. Assuming that
the future expenditure will amount to three times that
which Las already taken place ; that two millions of
persons must be provided for, and supplied with the
necessaries of life for fifteen weeks from the present
time, which will bring us to the beginning of April—
before which time works of a reproductive character,
sanctioned and aided by the Government, will, we
doubt not, be in full operation—the charge therefor
win amount to less than threepence-halfpenny in the
pound on the rental for a period of ten years, less than
half the income-tax payable in this country, no
matter from what source that income is derived. It

must not be supposed that these works will be value-

less, or without advantage to the people; undertakings
of a similar description have ever been found pro.
ductive of the greatest benefit to all classes brought
within the sphere of their operation. The report of the
Devon Commission, published last year, speaks in the
_ _

highest terms of the utility of such works, and of their
great importance in a national point of view. It
quotes the opinions of the Commissioners of Public
'Works, and states their entire concurrence with the
sentiments there put forward, that " the execution of
such works lcals to the adoption of improved modes of
cultivation and the abandonment of the rude and
primitive implements in common use, and opens to
the officers of justice and the local authorities places
which had been the secure haunt and.the impenetrable
refuge of the outlaw and the robber;" and that " they
conceive that the advantage of affording aid to the
promotion of such works, in a statistical, moral, or
political point of view, are too obvious to make it ne-
cessary to dwell on the subject at greater length."
And the Land Commissioners, in reference thereto,
say, "that they hope that such opinions, now again
stated by a board which must have the best means of
knowing both the wants and the capabilities of the
country, will have much weight with the Legislature,
and that there will be a disposition to promote, by
liberal pecuniary aid, the execution of such public
works as shall, upon due examination, be found likely
to contribute to the general advantage of the
country. We refer particularly to the opening of ex-
tensive mountain districts by the formation of roads;"
and add, " that they believe the principles of sound
policy and of a wise economy ought to lead to the
undertaking, at the public cost, of works of this
nature, even although the inhabitants of the district,
or the proprietors of adjoining land, are unable or un-
willing to contribute."

We have extracted thus largely from this able
docunr,ent, because it must be obvious that the opinions
of a number of gentleman of zeal and intelligence,
whose especial duty it was to institute the strictest
investigation into everything calculated to encourage
the cultivation of the soil, and to extend a better
system of agriculture, promulgated, too, at a period

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