The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-19 00:00:00

LUAATIC ASYLUMS.

(From the Times.)
The pisition of a lunatic appears to be .one of the moss
terrible in which a human being can be placed. There is,

however, a still worse condition, which is that of a person of
sane mind who is treated by his fellow-creatures as though
he were mad—of one who, being himself of sane mind, is
incarcerated in an asylum intended only for the insane—
who is, therefore, subjected to bodily restraint, and, still
worse, to the moral and intellectual indignities consequent
upon a supposed deprivation of reason. To be insane is bad
enough—to be considered insane when a patient is not so in
reality must, as far as present suffering is concerned, be in-
credibly worse. Now, the attention of the public has been
recently and very painfully called to the subject of our
Lunatic Asylums by the disclosures made during the inves-
tigation of the Acomb-honse case. In the course of the trial
it appeared that a lady who in the opinion t f a jury was held
to be in a sane mind,—at least, when she was brought under
their notice,—had been confined in a Private Lunatic Asy-
lum; that she had been there treated with great and unne-
cessary ; that she had been subjected to frightfu,
indignities ; that when upon two eccasions she had succeeded
in making her escape she was forcibly brought bac::
with but little regard to the decencies due to her sex and to
her unfortunate position, if she had been really deprived of
her reason. As a formal investigation into all the circutn-
stances of this sad story is now in progress, we will say no
more about it juet now. Another case of the kind has, how-
ever, recently been brought to light. It amounts, in brief,
to thie :—A clergyman named Leech was entitled under the
will of his father to an absolute reversion in the sum of
830,000. He was living in a retired manner at Bayswater,
and it is admitted that he entertained strong views upon re-
ligious subjects, and that he wore a beard. His relatives
were tolerant of these enormities, but when be announced
that it was his intention to marry his servant, one result of
which step might well have been that they would have been
cut off from the inheritance, they suddenly jumped to the
coeclusion that he was insane.. His brother-in-law and his
rt,eistant signed the necessary certificate, and upon the
strength of this very loose proceeding keepers were directed
to seize the patient in his house at Bayswater and convey
him to a lunatic asylum. They did so. His furniture and
other property were disposed of, and there the matter might
have rested, and the unfortunate gentleman might have
remained is confinement for the remainder of his life, but
for the interference of certain tradesmen at Bayswater with
whom be bad been in the habit of dealing for yeasw rs. They
could not understand that their old customer, who had lived
among them so long, and in all respects comported himself
as a rational and respectable man, could be a lunatic. They
succeeded in discovering the place of his confinement, and
suab steps were taken that Mr. Leech's sanity was con-
clusively established to the satisfaction of a jury, and he
regained his liberty. Here are two cases; we have before
us the particulars of a third, hut we are not, unfortunately,
in a condition to publish the names. Suffice it to say that
an unfortunate gentleman who had been suffering from
bodily disorder which finally affected his brain, but who
was not mad, was incarcerated in one of those horrid dens
which are called Private Lunatic Asylums, and there con-
fined for months. By his own account he was treated with
the greatest cruelty, strapped down to a bed with broad
bands of webbing, and kept there till it was supposed be
was dying. The result we will state in the sufferer's own
words:—"My back, from lying in one constrained
posture, was a mass of ulcerated and sloughing
sores; my right hand was swollen enormously,
and useless; and two fingers of the left band were
'Permanently contracted, and the joints destroyed. I also
lost several front teeth." This poor man at last obtained
his liberty, and applied to the Commissioners for redress.
The letter of their Secretary in reply is now before us. The
Commissioners merely say that, although they do not in
tiny degree impugn the integrity of the complainant's
statements, they are not of opinion that inquiry would
answer any good purpose. They add, however, that
"in order to mark their opinion on the subject,
they have granted Mr.-- a licence provisionally for the
limited period of four months cnly, and that the renewal
will depend upon the condition and management of his esta-
blishment being entirely satisfactory in the meantime."
Poor consolation.this for all the misery the wretched sufferer
bad undergone!
Here, then, are three cases following one upon the
other in rapid succession. How many remain behind of
which we know nothing ? The fact would appear to be
that under existing arrangements any English man or
woman may without much difficulty be incarcerated in a
private lunatic asylum when not deprived of reason. If
actually deprived of reason when first confined, patients
may be retained in duress when their• cure is perfected,
and they ought to be released. That our actual system
may be fully understood we publish to-day a well-
digested statement, prepared by a physician who
has especially directed his attention to such sub-
jects. He tells us that there are three kiuds of public lunatic
asylums—the first being public asylums for the pauper pa-
tients of counties and borough:, maintained out of the rates;
—the second " lunatic hospitals" for patients not paupers,
including persons from all ranks and classes in society. The
asylums which fall under one or other of these two categories
the writer considers, on the whole, to be well managed,
although they are susceptible of great improvement. Then
there is a third or hybrid class of public asylums, which are
partly county asylums, and partly lunatic asylums for pri-
vate patients. There are not many of them now, and they
are gradually merging into one or other of the two first-
named divisions. The objections to an arrangement so ano-
malous are so very obvious that we need not dwell upon
them here; but, as these mixed institutions are fast disap-
pearing, it is unnecessary to dwell further upon this part of
the subject. It is not suggested that any such cases as the
three which we have mentioned above have occurred,
or could occur, at any of the public asylums. The 1
opproprium of our system is the " private lunatic
asylum, or licensed house." Many of these esta-
blishments are, of course, perfectly well conducted, but
there are others in which it is much to be feared that a per-
son not being a lunatic might be confined for a lengthened
period, if not for life, with but little chance of redress. They
are mere commercial speculations fur the benefit of the pro-
prietors. All that is required to set up in this line of busi-
ness is in the metropolitan districts a licence, which is
granted by the Commissioners in Lunacy, and in the pro-
vinces by the magistrates in Quarter Sessions. The only
check over the proceedings of toe proprietors Is that in the
metropolitan districts each asylum is visited by the Commis-
sioners in Lunacy four times a-year. In the provinces the
magistrates inspect each establishment in a similar manner.
The Commissioner in Lunacy, moreover, visit the provin-
cial establishments twice a-year. It is stated, however—
and we can well believe it to be the truth—that in one way
or another the proprietors of such establishments always ob-
tain intelligence of an impending visit, and all things are
made snug for the inspection of the visitors. Even so we have
not done with our enumeration of places in which any of our
fellow-subjects may be confined under the pretext that he is not
in his right reason. Any person can take charge of a single
patient without a licence, and, although the same certifi-
cates and formal Pies are required as in the case of private
asylums, these requirements are constantly evaded. "Not
a few of the persons," writes our informant, " who daily
advertise for these single patients are discharged or super-
annuated attendants of asylums, brought up, perhaps, and
prejudiced in favour of the worst forms of mechanical
restraint, and all the horrors of the old system of treating
the insane. A practice prevails of farming out one patient
to this private lodging, and another to that, to avoid the
necessity of a licence, or the inconvenience of an inspec-
tion." These being the places in which lunatics, or per-
sons alleged to be lunatics, can be confined, it remains that
we should add a few words upon the ceremonies which
mast be fulfilled before any of the Queen's subjects can be
remitted to one or other of these places of confinement.
More we cannot hope, from considerations of space, to ac-
complish to-day.
In the first place, there must be an order for the
reception of a patient. What the nature
in of
this order
s
may be does not perticalarly appear
ment whick we now lay before our readers, but at any rate
an order there must be. Then there must be a statement of
certain particulars, signed by some friend or relative—pro-
bably the buugry expectant of the inheritance. Next, there
must-be two cert:ficates, to be signed by two medical mew
wholly unconnected with each other, and who, without pre-
vious meeting or consultation, state that the patient ought
to be put under restraint. So far it would appear that any
unprincipled person whose interest lay that way might bribe
a couple of doctors of no consideration in the profession, and
the patient is trapped. It is stated, moreover, that the
practice as to the filling up of these certificates is lax in the
extreme. When the patient is once admitted the superin-
tendent of the asylum must, within seven days, give notice
to the Commissioners in Lunacy and to the Clerk of the
Visiting Justices of the fresh admission. Ile must add to
this document a certificate stating his own opinion of the
case, and this must be done two days after the admission of
the patient—not before, that his observations may be ma-
tured. After this the only security lies in the visits of the
Commissioners and of the Visiting Justices; but it may well
happen that these are not made until the superintendent
has ample time to convert a dubious or partial case of insa-
nity itro a confirmed one by injud:cious treatment. When a
Commissioner sees him for the first time—the man is mad !

CHARTISM AT A DISCOUNT.—The attempt of a few
of the old Chartist ringleaders in Bradford (says the Leeds
Mercury) to get up a fresh agitation has not been attendee.
with success. The adjourned meetintz on Bradford Moor on
Sunday of ernoon was utterly a failure. Some 50 people
assembled, and a few pence were raised.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—ONE SUILLEs:G PAY,—Yes-
terday the admi3i=ions on payment were 5,285; do. by season
tickets. 596; 0141, 5,881.

[ADVERTISEMENT].—The Earl of Aldborough and
Holloway's ren atkable cure by this powet ful me-
dicine, atrer every other means had failed. See extract term
Isis Lordship's letter, dated Villa Messina, Leghorn, Feb. 21,
iB4s:—"To Professor Holloway.—Sir, I be to acquaint
you that your pills have effected a cure of a disorder in my
liver and stomach, which all the most eminent of the faculty,
at home and all over the Continent, had not been able to
effect—nay, not even the waters of arlabad or Marienbad.
(Signed) ALDBOROUGII." It is not necessary to append
any comment whatever to such a statement a, Vie above. It
must carry conviction to the most sceptical mind. A fact is
more impressive than any argument.

---- - -
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