The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-20 00:00:00

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when supported by military prowess and an almost
miraculous generalship, a successor is succeeding
through the assistance merely of consummate cunning
and a magnificent hypocrisy. His policy is triumph-
ant, solely through the characters traced by a goose-
quill and the perspiration of a courier's horse.
Where a Grand Monarch had failed, though assisted
by the baton of a CONDE, and by the most puissant
despotism, Lours PHILIPPE has succeeded solely by
political masquerading. Where a Great Emperor
had only encountered discomfiture, notwithstanding
the vastness of his dominions, and the heroic audacity
of his veterans, the Monarch of the Barriers has been
victorious through the industry of secretaries and
clerks.

From the appropriateness of the time at which
this Portuguese revolution occurred it is manifest
that much forethought had been expended upon its
arrangement. Everything has been undoubtedly
planned with the utmost precision, and with a scru-
pulous eye to convenience. The Palmella Ministry is
not sacrificed until the espousal of the Spanish INFANTA
is absolutely completed. Not until some direct evi-
dence had been given by events that the French in-
fluence was triumphant in the eastern portion of the
Peninsula was the Liberal Cabinet which recently
administered the affairs of Portugal ousted. Directly,
however, the success of the Bresson plot was mani-
fest, the Councillors of Queen MARIA. DA GLORIA are
summarily changed—the well-wishers of the obnoxi-
ous CABRALS, though not the CABRALS themselves,
are inducted to the mysteries of ministerial authority—
PALMELLA and his colleagues, after a brief reign of
somewhere about four months' duration, are expelled
from the official apartments—and a grand Conserva-
tive triumvirate is established at Paris, at Madrid,
and at Lisbon.

While Spain, however, is blessed with a body of
sagacious reformers, and we might almost say, cursed
with an ISTURITZ—PortugaI is, to speak compara-
tively, blessed with a SALDANIIA and cursed with a
population of a most tumultuary character, though one,
no doubt, earnestly solicitous for the realisation of its
individual liberty and the preservation of its com-
mon nationality. The resolute protest of Great
Britain, the suppressed indignation of the people, and
the threatened appearance of the Count DE MONTE-
MOLIN augur the most mournful prospects and the
most terrible danger to Spain. With Portugal there
are a variety of circumstances and probabilities equally
unpropitious. Money will be requisite for the carry-
ing on of the new Government, and as specie
cannot exactly be caught like sprats in the Tagus,
an extraordinary taxation must be attempted, and
the effect of that attempt will inevitably be the in-
surrection of the Minho peasantry, and the forma-
tion of legions of refractory guerillas. It is, indeed,
already reported that a rising of that description
has even now taken place, that DAs ANTAS is presiding
over the rebellion, and that Oporto is decidedly
inimical to the late movement at the palace of the
Sovereign. Whether these occurrences are actual or
fabulous, it is most certain that the new Admini,tra-
tion in Portugal is erected upon a most insecure foun-
dation, and that, notwithstanding the partial po-
pularity of the Marquis DE SALDANRA, the
continuance of French domination through the
instrumentality of himself and his colleagues is

most uncertain. One thing is obvious, that the
insidious encroachments of France upon the liber-
ties and independence of other nations are ex-
ceeding all rational limits. The Pyrenees may
be levelled by an adroit intrigue, but:Patriotism when
once aroused forms a barrier infinitely mare difficult

,o overcome.

That there exists in this country one law for the
rich and another for the poor is a trite observation,
but albeit this difference tells in the generality of
instances in favour of the rich man, yet there is one
case in which the law gives a great and manifest ad-
vantage to the pauper over his more wealthy fellow-
countryman. It is the case of alleged lunacy. The
certificate of two medical men is not a sufficient war-
rant to authorise the detention of an alleged pauper
lunatic in a madhouse. In the case of the alleged
pauper lunatic there must be instituted that public
preliminary inquiry which we have always contended
ought to be instituted in every case before a British
subject is permanently deprived of his liberty.
The necessity of such preliminary inquiry is abun-
dantly proved by a case which was adjudicated on
by Mr. SECHER last week, at the Southwark Po-
lice Court.
" MARGARET WAr.su, an aged woman nearly blind,
alleged to be insane, was brought up from the work-
house of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, for
the purpose of being sent to the county lunatic
asylum.

"Mr. RoniNsox, the master of the workhouse, ac-
companied by the medical officer of the institution,
attended with the certificate of the woman's insanity,
in order to have the magistrate's signature to the
document preparatory to her admission into the county
lunatic asylum. The alleged lunatic was led into
the Court by an old woman, the nurse of the ward,
of which she was an inmate while in the workhouse,
and while the certificate was being filled up, the
alleged lunatic, who was standing with the nurse in
the body of the Court, began to sob and cry, giving
utterance to words indicative of her distress of mind
in being compelled to enter a mad-house. She fre-
quently exclaimed that she was not insane.
" Mr. SECKER, on hearing the woman's complaints
directed her to be led forward, and on ascending the
witness-box, she exclaimed in a piteous tone of voice,
" For GoD's sake, gentlemen, do not send me to a
mad-house, for I am not insane, my only misfor-
tunes being destitute and blind." She then pro-
ceeded to state that she formerly had an allowance of
four shillings a week out of the house, but was de-
prived of that, and taken into the workhouse—that
she had been an inmate of the Wandsworth union,
but had been removed thence to St. George's—that
she was comparatively happy in the former place, but
since her admission into the latter she was very much
annoyed and teazed by a girl in the same ward, who
was in the habit of sticking pins into her, and also of
striking her in the face when the nurse's back was
turned ; that in consequence of the species of annoy-
ance to which she had been subjected, she admitted
that she occasionally gave vent to expressions which
she knew it was wrong to do, but which were attri-
butable to the treatment she experienced."
In answer to Mr. SECKER'S inquiry as to the
truth of this statement, the nurse flippantly replied,
" There is no girl who annoys her—it is all false."
This, which would have no doubt perfectly satisfied the
Commissioners of Lunacy, did not, however, satisfy
Mr. SECKER, and on being pressed, the nurse was
forced to admit that there was a girl in the same ward
with the poor woman, but added she never annoys
her. The alleged lunatic, however, proceeded to
argue her case in the most sane manner possible, and
in the course of her defence she declared that the
master of the workhouse, Mr. ROBINSON, bore some

animosity towards her in consequence of the re-
presentations of this girl. This brought up Mr.
ROBINSON, who indignantly declared it was absurd to
suppose that he could bear animosity towards her.
Of course it was—masters of workhouses have never
been known to bear animosity to particular paupers.
The thing is unheard of.

" Mr. SECKER said that he saw nothing in the
woman's conduct to indicate that she was labouring
under insanity, and that her answers to all questions
put to her there were consistent, and perfectly
rational. Before he signed the certificate for the ad-

mission of the woman into a lunatic asylum he should
wish to witness an instance of her being in the condi-
tion of mind which the document set forth.

" The surgeon then proceeded to ask the alleged
lunatic sundry questions, and amongst them, as to
whether she had not told him, the preceding day,
that Mr. ROBINSON was trying to poison her, and that
she was afraid he would accomplish it if she did not
take care ?

" The reply was—l did not tell you so. I com-
plained that I knew he had an animosity against me,

and that he was determined to put me into a mad-
house. She here imploringly besought the magis-
trate not to be a party in sending her to a lunatic

asylum—to a place where she said she would be con-

---
fined with mad people, and shut out from the society
of all rational human beings.
" Other questions were put to her, all of which she
answered in the same rational manner, exhibiting no
symptom of derangement, but on the contrary, dis-
playing sound sense, and seeming perfectly aware of
the steps that were taken to confine her, if the magis-

trate sanctioned the proceeding, by signing the cer-
tificate of her a dmission into a lunatic asylum.
" The surgeon said that her answers to the ques-
tions put to her on the preceding day were quite irra-
tional, and that it was perfectly well known persons
in her unfortunate condition of mind had lucid in-
tervals.

" Mr. SEC ER, for his part, could not conceive what
danger there was to be apprehended from a poor old
blind woman—that it was possible that she might
have some unfounded fears with respect to the master
of the workhouse, and perhaps talk extravagantly in the
ward to the other inmates, but that he had seen nothing
in her conduct before him to indicate madness, or
anything approaching to it, and therefore should de-
cline signing any document for her admission to a
lunatic asylum.
" The parties then left the Court."

All honour to Mr. SECKER for his wise, judicious,
and humane decision, which has saved this poor
woman from imprisonment for life, to which, had
she not been a pauper, she would have been inevitably
condemned. It may be said that, had she been im-
properly incarcerated, the Commissioners of Lunacy
would have liberated her. We believe they would have
done no such thing. They would never have taken
the trouble to institute proper inquiries. What was
their conduct in the Heydock Lodge case ? How
came it that they did not discover the sanity of Mrs.
CUMMING ? Mrs. CUMMING was seized on the 12th
of May, at her own house, and conveyed to York-
house, Battersea, a private asylum for the insane,
where she remained until the 29th of August,
on which day the proceedings before the Com-
mission de Lunatico Inquirendo, which ended in
her liberation as a sane person, commenced.
Did the Commissioners of Lunacy visit York House
during that period ? Did they see Mrs. CUMMING ?
Did they inquire into the state of her mind ? If they
did, Low comes it that they failed to discover that
which was so self-evident that Mr. Commissioner
BARLOW ordered her immediate liberation, taking
upon himsef the responsibility of dispensing with the
forms usual on such occasions—that Dr. MIL-
LINGEN at once consented to accept Mr. Commissioner
BARLOW'S guarantee, and permitted her to leave the
Court with her friends—and that the very parties who
had caused her incarceration, acting under the advice
of some of the most astute lawyers of the day,
accepted from her a deed disposing of her property,
which, if she were insane at the time of its
execution, is ipso facto null and void. Now, how
comes it that the Commissioners, who, in the course
of these four months, must have visited this asylum,
did not discover all this ? Did they neglect their
duty ? Dismissal is the lightest punishment with
which negligence, in such a case, should be visited.
Were they incompetent to the performance of it ?
The sooner all incompetent public functionaries are
removed the better. At all events, here is a prima
facie case for a Parliamentary inquiry into the
manner in which the Commissioners of Lunacy per-
form their duties. We say Parliamentary inquiry,
for the far-famed Andover case proves that a Home-
office inquiry into the alleged misdoings of Govern-
ment-appointed Commissioners is too often "a
mockery, a delusion, a snare."

Great excuses are to be made for any errors into
which the destitute and impoverished portion of our
Iri,h brethren may fall at the present trying period
Starving men cannot be expected to reason coolly,
and those who are looking upon their wives and
children crying for the food which it is not in their
power to bestow, will be easily induced by the
advice of unprincipled and reckless characters to
take a part in acts of violence and intimidation,
which they would recoil from under other and more
favourable circumstances. We, therefore, gladly
acquiesced in the propriety of immediate attention
being paid to the wants of the people although the
demands were preferred in an importunate and un-
becoming manner ; and we thought it not unbecoming
on the part of the Executive to pardon and overlook,
or at least not to scrutinize with too curious an eye,
the illegal acts committed by the people when goaded
on by the apathy and neglect of those whose especial
duty it was to take immediate steps for the purpose of
procuring food and employment. At the same time
we pointed out the injurious and demoralising con-
sequences of yielding to force and intimidation that
which was not administered from motives of charity
and humanity. What, however, could be done ? A
withholding of the employment on public works in
the districts where acts of violence had taken place,
which might perhaps be the proper way of dealing
with such delinquencies, would lead to the most
fearful suffering. It would be tantamount to a
sentence of death on hundreds, a punishment far too
severe even for the ringleaders and originators of the
disturbances, but to which an immense number of
innocent persons would also be subjected ; indeed it
would fall with greater force on the peaceable and
timid than on the turbulent and bold ; and the
greater proportion of the victims would be women
and children. The demands at first, too, were of the
most moderate character : a means of earning a scanty
subsistence by the sweat of their brow was all these
people sought for. One sufficient meal of the plainest
description in the twenty-four hours for themselves
and their families, in return for their labour, was in
many instances the too modest request of the people ;
and it would be indeed cruel and heartless in the ex-
treme to punish such persons with the utmost rigour
of the law for any excesses into which they might
have been led. We have already commented upon
the proceedings which took place at Youghal. There
the first of the bread riots, as they are termed, took
place. On the Monday of the previous week a meet-
ing of the most peaceful character was held ; the
language used was temperate, the conduct of all most
orderly. They passed votes of thanks to those who
had already afforded assistance, and represented the
difficulties in which they were placed, the hardships
they were suffering under, and implored, with the
greatest humility, that immediate employment should
be given. One of their pastors addressed them, and
in the name of the relief committee stated that within
a very few days work should be provided, and every
means adopted for the mitigation of their distress ; and
they dispersed in peace and quietness, without the
commission of a single act which the most severe

could censure.
The golden opportunity however passed away —a
week elapsed without any practical step being taken—
and again the multitude assembled ; but this time the
demand was made in a peremptory and threatening
manner—the people were exasperated at the delay ;
they were not to be appeased by promises, but took
forcible possession of the town, which they held for
two days, plundered the bread shops and provision
stores, and anarchy and confusion prevailed in the
entire vicinity. At length the relief committee and
authorities were awakened from their slumbers ; im-
mediate relief was at length afforded, and the labourers
triumphed over the gentry, and proved the superior
efficacy of acts of outrage and violence to humble
remonstrance.

The lesson was not lost. It became our painfu
duty to record acts of disturbance in other and nol

distant localities.

Clashmore, Dungarvan, Castle.

martyr, Fermoy, Kilworth, in their turn were sub

jetted to the visits of riotous mobs. The military
were called out in many instances, and hostile
collisions took place. We have now further painful
accounts from Youghal. The people are no longer

satisfied with work ; they seek to dictate to the
officers of the Board of Works the nature of the

employment, and the amount of the remuneration

hey are to receive for their labour—in fact, a

general turn-out has taken place, and those who

were inclined to work in accordance with the regu-
lations promulgated have been by force obliged to

relinquish labour, and to join the disaffected and tur-
bulent. The labourers marched through the town

shouldering their spades and shovels; they sough

for the officers of the Board of Works, but not finding
them they separated, vowing vengeance against any

man who should work at the prescribed rate

The masons have also turned out for an advance of

wages, and as a necessary consequence the Board of

iirorks have determined on not commencing any work

for them ; the greatest fears are entertained generally

of a popular commotion. Such proceedings must be

:erminated by the most prompt and vigorous measures.

If the people are permitted to indulge in such dicta-
tion, and if it is permitted to meet with any success,

or is succumbed to in any manner, it will lead to the

most fearful results, and the entire country will be
disturbed with additional and most unreasonable de-