The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-18 00:00:00

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,
and 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 ccnduct 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. SHUTTLE..
WORTH, 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. RHODES, 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 SHUTTLEWORTH 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 Bt•nch would have been justified if, on an al-
leged inaccuracy in the medical certificates, they had
discharged this poor er( ature, and replunged her in her
former melanc%oly, destitute state, because, forsooth, an
Old Bailey quibbler sought to prove that a cJnversation
was not a fact?"

For an answer to this question we will refer Dr.
MILLING EN 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. MILLING EN,
with the characteristic modesty of " skilful persons,"
deems it decent to stigmatise as an "Old Bailey
quibbler." Dr. MILLING EN 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 7 This case of Mrs. SHUTTLEWORTH, like
every other, case, demonstrates the necessity of an
alteration of the law. The writ of habeas was ap•
plied for 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. MILLING EN'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
viva 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 6 jury empannelled to try an
inquest of lunacy.

We, on Wednesday, proved that there was nothing
very formidable in the amount of the sums that may
become chargesble 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 has 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
n 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 broupht
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 tht.ir entire concurrence with the
sentiments there put forward, that " the execution of
such works leads 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 much 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