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

ISIR, —ln your paper of the 9th 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 as) loin
of Dr. Fox, at Northwteals) 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 (tor
the ease 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 Prevoet's character
should not suff r unjustly.
The " Lunatics' h Hefei Society," who had heard of Mr.
Dixon's confinement, instituted an inquiry into the case,
and although there was ample medical evidence, most
c:inclitsivelv establishing the necessity for the step taken
by Sir G. Prevost, yet they persevered in dragging the
whole of an exclusively private* matter before the
public, and placing a wrong conclusion upon the pro-
crediegs. Not content with bringing the case be'ore
Baron Alderson, the society contrived to have Mr. Dixon
examined by the visiting justices of the couety and a
physician who attended them. This latter gentleman
made an affid4vit, 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, utter 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 con, uet was highly praiseworthy, and not in
the least to be blamed, and also that the conduct of Dr.
Fox in the tran,action has been perfectly blameless.
I am not advocating the law of lunacy as it at Feet nt
stands, or the certificate system, but simply wish to
show that the defects of the systi m (if any do really
exist) were not taken advantage of in a wrong way, as
your remarks would rather lead any of your readers to
believe, hut that under any system, the unanimous
',pinion of so many medical men of the first note, would
have justified the course pursued, and ought 'to have
been sufficient fora society
professing to act on purely
philanthropic principles, as the Lunatics' Friend Society.
In my opinion, the working of such self-c.,nstituted
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 wan the pying and inquisitorial (to say nothing
worse) inuthod of ()wattling inturmation un tatnily mat-
ters which lets dtract. ri*ed the present proceedihgs of
the hoc i ty , are unfavourable to tha purify of no five and
singleanindedness which ought alone to be 'their true
gutd&s.

In the present case the society had not a single tuedi•
cal opinicn, that ,I am aware of, to put against the many
which appeared t.n the other side, and they have entailed
annoyaiice.and expense to a high-minded, upright gen-
th man, who had a sufficiently painful task to perform
without his motives being made liable to such miscue-
structi, n, and his character assailed through the instru-
mentality of en officious st,cietY. The Judge's justifica-
tion of Sir G. Prevost is hardly suffici, nt 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 oh( diem servant,
W. Vii. DIXON, Captain, Royal Artillery.
September 11, 1848.

* This word is omitted n► the 1, tier, but the context
shows evidently that it was meant to be inserted.

THE NEW COD FIsHERT IN DAVIS'S STRAITS. It
will be in the recollection of our readersthfiattatiitgi
outttie
month of May last considerable interest was felt in the
shipping and mercantile circles of Hull by the
of two vessels, the Seaflow, r 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
tears were groundless. It Icing a matter of more than
private interest to know how this expedition has mic-
e, eded 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 thrn e 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 o
It tun of cod oil. Captain Weldon, of the Bee, states
that he left fishing the Seaflower, which vessel bad
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 Hay, a stout schooner, with a crew of
20 men, having on board 30,000 fish, of which she had
taker 23,000 before the arrival of the Bee. The Electrn
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
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AWFUL MURDER IN HEATON NORRIS.—This
morning (Friday) we have to announce an awful murder
in Hope-street, iteaton Norris. It appears that James
K,lly, 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 Elia
i
Faulkner, a throstle spinner at the same mill. It appears
that Kelly requested to see Faulkner last night, and shy
not having conceded to his request to meet him, he
waited for her this morning at her own door, and called
to her when she came out to go to her work. He seized
hold of her immediately with his left hand, and as she
iurned to escape from him he drew a large pi cket knife
across her throat. A boy named Sleigh 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 ny. The murderer was iuotnediat, ly arrested by the
bystanders, and he expressed himself satisfied that he
had committed the act. On his way to the police-erne,
he requested to see deceased again. He has been de•
prtst•ed in spirits since his arrest. The
hedeceased was a
very respectable pii g woman. The inquest will he
afternoon
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rin our third dt at four
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. particularsm anee st of
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DEATH OF A FOx•HUNTER.—John Chapman, E,,q.
the celebrate d fox-hunter, died on the 31st ult., at Hui—
mead Hall, Hertford hire, aged GS. He was enthusi-
astically fond of fox-hunting, and even, within
six mouths followed the bounds.