The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-13 00:00:00

v_

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1848.

Austria is crumbling into anarchy from that
anarchy will spring her regeneration. It is a lament-
able door, however, that no despotism so old and so
lietetogezeosis is that of the House of Hapsburg
car- he taansformed into a free and constitutional
Government without the nation pas4ing through a
tremendous erisis of ruin, blood, crime, rapine, and
atrockY• That doom has descended upon Austria—
it has overshadowed the capital—it has fallen with a
blighting intensity upon the palace. The spectacle
which is now visible in Vienna is as ghastly as that
which, in Faris in 1792, affrighted the whole family
of Europeans. Nor is the political resemblance
merely superficial. The diverse and heterogeneous
classes in France evinced as little tendency to
cohesion, even when heated in the crucible
of the liberal philosophers of the eighteenth century,
as the (*verse and heterogeneous races in the Aus-
titan empire defy all endeavours to fuse them into
one compact and uniform nationality. Whatever
eratcessions have been made by the Emperor FEE.
DINAND have been made as grudgingly as those
which only lengthened the agonies of King Louis
XVl.—tio employ the expressive phrase of one of our
most distinguished jurisoensults, they have been con-
cessions " written in the statute-book with the
trembling hand of Fear, or traced in charaetep of
blood." In- like manner the Diet assemble in
Vienna to inaugurate the new epoch has occu-
pied as precarious a position in regard both
to the pee,ple and to the SOTEREIGN as the
last States-General or the first Constituent Assembly.
Do we loolt. for further marks of similarity? The
head-riots of ninety-tat;) We have had them re-
peated by the unemployed Viennese artizans. The
inounting of tha tricolour at the instigation of Des-
'MOULINS ? We have had the same incident renewed
though without the interposition of a second young
enthueAast and a German Vieux Cardeliers. The
sacking and burning of the Bastile ? We have had it
imitated in the seizure and destruction of the
Arsenal. The murder of its unfortunate Ge-
vernor ? We have witnessed a murder as hide-
outs and diabolical in the recent assassination
of the wrst4led Count LAMIEUG. The devilish
cruelties inflicted on the Princess DE LAMDALLE ?
we have seen cruelties as appalling and infamous
perpetrated on klae person of the miserable Count
LATOVR. Tie flight to Varrennes ? It has been fol-
lowed as unsuccessfully by the flight to Innspruck ;
only that the EMPEReit, after negotiating with the
Viennese, gild returning to the Imperial Castle of
Sehocibrwan, has again fled from the principal city of
his empire, oonducted by an escort of five thousand
soldiers on the road to Linz. The particulars of the
beet awful catastrophe which has befallen the dynasty
of Hapsbnxg-Loriaine are characteristic not only
of the porecysm of a revolutioa, but of the fate which
inevitatry awaits a despotism. The recent occur-
renews in Hungary have only hastened a day which
must ultimate* have arrived. The secret corres-
pondence between the Court and the Ban of Croatia
has, On its revelation, excited a frenzy as terrible as
that which followed the discovered complicity of the
armed refugees and the ill-advised MARIE ANTOI-
NMTE. The appointment of the intriguing JELLA.-

MUCH: to the rank of Civil and Military Governor of
Itung.ary infuriated the population to a state of wrath
such as defied all further restraint. It was
an appointment as insane in its defiance of public
opini on as the granting of the Ministerial portfolio of
Jusface to M. HEBERT almost immediately before the
doer nfal of Louts Pewearra. It required no in•
spin al tongue to announce to the multitude that the
viru s of absolutism had not been cleansed from the
lb o( K 1 of the Government, but that, on the contrary,
tha t virus lurked there, gathering together its latent
Intl uences, and preparing to assert its old predomi-
net ice as soon as an opportunity was discoverable.
Vie nna saw as clearly as Paris did in 1791 that
soy alty only assumed the mask of generosity to
ens ble it to tarry in safety until the arrival of that
mix nent so long hoped for, the moment of royal retri•
buti on. The consequences of all this lamentable
bim idering have been tremendous. At a signal more
significant than the banquet of February the people
rose on Friday, the sixth of this present October-
The; y rose—not as insurgents, not as rebels, not as
marauders, but as revolutionists. Their signal was the
departure of the troops from the capital as auxiliaries
to tae Croatian army of jELLACTIICH—that army
which had been organized to tread out the
fire of freedom under the iron heel of
war in the hot and melancholy ashes of
the Hungarian nationality. Instead of allow-
ing the soldiers to proceed to the railway with-
out obstruction, the National Guard of the suburb of
Gut. ependorf resolved to deprive the Ban of Croatia
(noe v the Governor of Hungary) of that assistance.
A Ix wricade was thrown up close to the Taleor Bridge
on the highway, leading to Ganserndorf; and there,
in the midst of enthusiasm, the Grenadiers fraternized.
with the Academical Legion and the National Guard
frote Hundsthurtn. Possessing, as they now did, a
greitt numerical force, as well as the fervour
of successful revolutionists, it is not surpris-
ing that they routed the Nassau troops
after a brief encounter, killing tied wounding a very
considerable number of their opponents, and shooting
the General BRaDY, the commanding officer. After
the conflict on the road to Ganserndorf, there era; a
lull, but a lull as treacherous as the lull before a
tem pest. An accident as deplorable as that which
occurred before the Hotel des Cepucins, in February,
awoke the storm of the population, and brought at
once to its height a revolution which might other-
wise have been procrastinated. A few shots were
exchanged between two detachments of the National
Guards—the one fighting for the EMPEROR, the
ogler for the people—and the consequence was, that
a desperate battle boon began to rage in the Stephans
Plants. Those who were in favour of the. Govern-
ment were driven into the Cathedral of St. Stephen's,
and were massacred on the flour of the sacred edifice
—the colonel of the regiment being butchered upon
the steps of the high altar. Then it was, that, mad-
dened by the triumph of their arms, the rabble re-
sorted to deeds of atrocity, such as are happily seldom
paralleled, bombarded the garrison of the arsenal,
and dragging forth the unfortunate Minister of War,
Count LATOUR, from his official residence, assas-
sinated him with a ferocity as brutal as that a

savages, and as fiendish as that which we might attri-
bute to demons. He was kicked and beaten about
the head with adzes and hammers, his throat was cut,
his clothes and orders were torn from his body, and
then, naked, mutilated, and still r„palpitating, he was
hung up by the neck to a gibbet, where his limbs
were riddled by musket balls, fired at him throughout
the day by his murderers. The assassins of LATOUR
seemed to emulate the assassins of LAMBERG, and the
retuorse of crime, as in most revolutions, descended
upon the capital to sadden the hearts of the citizens
in the hour of their victory.
While the revolution of October was thus ripening
in their vicinity, while civil war was raging in the
streets, while the SOVEREIGN was flying in consterna-
tion from his palace, the supreme authority of the
Austrian Diet asserted its existence, and decreed that
the national representatives should sit in permanence.
STE OBACH was no longer recognised as their President.
FR.ANZ SMOLLE was elected on the instant as his
successor, and the Diet resolved at once upon those
measures which the emergency seemed to demand
must imperatively, to the end that order might be
restored, and the law rendered above all things trium-
ph.ant. In the first flush of the intelligence, it is site.
ge ther impossible to estimate the real importance of
thi a revolution—this revolution, whose days were al-
moot as cruel as those of September, and whose results
are• nearly as decisive as those of February.

The observations of Mr. Sergeant ADAMS on the
caae of THOMAS BARKER, a respectable young man
who was tried at the Middlesex sessions on Wednes-
day last, and acquitted on the ground of insanity,
are: well worthy of the attention of the humane and
ch aritable, of those possessed of means sufficient to
en able them to mitigate the sufferings, and to provide
for the pressing wants of their less fortunate fellow-
croatures. Of the many afflictions to which the human
ra,:e are subjected, there are none of a more painful
area humiliating character than the mental alienations,
the extraordinary delusions, by which men in the
possession of health and strength, of intellectual
and physical power, of all that can render life
desirable, are so frequently seized and reduced in
a, moment beneath the level of humanity. Such
persons, although their friends may be enabled to
provide for them all the comforts and enjoyments
cif which in their fallen condition they are sus-
ceptible, must at once be considered objects of the
deepest sympathy. How much more lament-
able, however, is the condition of those who
are possessed of no private fortune, but who previous to
ale attack of the malady under which they may be
:suffering had earned for themselves a moderate com-
petence by their own honest industry. Such persons
rare indeed worthy of compassion. Unless their friends
tire in a position to undertake considerable expen-
diture, they must be classed as pauper lunatics, and
deprived of the humble and moderate comforts which
they had previously enjoyed. Their situation must
be, in every respect, wretched, without any ray of
light to enliven the gloom by which they are sur-
rounded, without one mitigating circumstance to
lessen their misery. The immediate friends and rela-
tives of the sufferers are also:worthy of compassion.
A man, perhaps earning by the most unceasing exer-
tions a sum barely sufficient to support his family
with the strictest economy, no extraordinary ex-
penditure can be encountered, no extra sum sup-
, plied to a single member. Under such circum-
stances, a wife or child, a father or a brother, may be
seized with the mysterious malady. The expenses
of a suitable asylum cannot be defrayed out of the
, humble profits that can be realised, and the entire
family are compelled to submit to serious privations,
unless they consent to see one of their body reduced
to the degraded condition of a workhouse pauper.
Surely something should be done to rescue innocent
persons from so painful and humilating a condition.
Surely those possessed of riches could find no more
beneficial employment for their superfluous wealth
than in alleviating the sufferings of such parties.
In the case to which we have alluded, a report of
which appeared in our impression of yesterday, the
prisoner had maintained a highly respectable position
and held situations in some of the most respectable
houses in the metropolis up to the period of his ill-
ness. About twelve months since, however, he had been
attacked by small-pox, and from that time to the pee-
sent had exhibited unequivocal indications of insanity
to such an extent as to induce his medical attendant
to recommend that he should be placed in an asylum
for a short period. It was, however, thought that a
long sea voyage might restore his health, and a pas-
sage was accordingly taken for him to
Sydney, where a brother was settled who
would receive him. Another brother in this country
had exhibited the most fraternal disposition towards
him, but from having a large family, could
not afford to pay the amount required for his main-
tenance in a private establishment. On the day when
the act with which he was charged was committed
he left his brother's house very lightly clad, and came
to London by the North-Western Railway. lle then
wrote a letter at a neighbouring coffee-house, and
took a carpet bag belonging to another gentleman.
Medical and other evidence was submitted to the
jary of various delusions under which he had la-
boured since his recovery from the ~mall-pox, and the
jury at once acquitted him on the ground of in-
sanity. The Learned Sergeant, whose eon.
duct on the occasion was worthy of the
highest approbation, spoke " of the dreadful

want of an asylum for the reception of lunatics who
were one or two degrees removed from pauperism ;" a
want which, from the knowledge which he had him-
self personally acquired, was the source of more pain
to his feelings than could be imagined; and stated
" that in his judicial character many very pressing
cases had occurred where such an asylum would have
conferred the greatest possible benefit ;" and after
mentioning several cases of great hardship, as well to
the unhappy victims themselves as to their innocent
families, added, " It was a lamentable fact that; not-
withstanding this country abounded with institutions
of almost every description, yet there was not one
which applied to these unhappy cases. There was,
it is true, Bethlehem Hospital, where there was a
fund for incurable cases, but at that establish-
ment the patients were discharged every year,
for if that were not the rule, the place
would soon become an asylum. If all the cases
which had come under his judicial notice were to be
put into a ca7endar, they would constitute such a list
as would at once prove how necessary it was that an
institution of this description should be founded."
We believe that it is only necessary to direct the
public attention to the subject to have means adopted
for supplying a remedy. Sergeant ADAMS is a trust-
worthy wittr;:s, whose great experience and position
sntitle him to the fullest credence. We hope that
his statements will not be lost sight of, but that some
steps may be speedily taken for the establishment of
an asylum for those labouring under mental inca-
pacity, whose friends are unable to defray the ex-
penses incidental to their maintenance, and affording
a reasonable prospect of a cure.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have :received the Paris papers of yesterday.

The proposition for issuing paper money on landed
security, was on Wednesday rejected by the As-
sembly, by a majority of 578 to 210. Afterwards
M. XAVIER DURRIEU brought forward a motion to
the effect, that. in n o case, not even during a state ( f
siege, should tile Government have the power of sus-
pending the publication of newspapers. This propo-
sition, which was warmly supported by M. VICTOR
IIr•Go and IV. SA/01ANS, was opposed by M. Maim
and M. SENA RD, on the part of the Government, and,
on a division, it was negatived by a majority of nine
only, the numbers being for the motion 336, against
it 345. This is, perhaps, the most severe blow that
the Governmfmt has yet received, and some
modification in the Ministry would --
a'tta
pear inevitable. General CAVAIGNAC has, it
is said, rent fir Gcncral BEDEAU, to whom he has
offered the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, which M.
13AsrinE has held provisionally since June. AIM.
GOUDCIIAUX and SENARD will also, it is said, retire,
and MM. DIMAURE and VIVIEN are spoken of as their