The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-11 00:00:00

TRH SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY__ EVENING, JULY 11, 1845.

making over to a third party that which it did not pos-
sess itself.—(Scar, hear.)
The subject then dropped.
FOREIGN LOTTERIES BILL.

On the motion of Lord STANLEY the Bill was read
a second time, and ordered to be committed on Monday
next.

TIMBER SHIPS BILL.
This Bill was read a third time and passed.
ASSESSED TAXES COMPOSITION BILL.
This Bill was also read a third time.
Their Lordships then adjourned.

ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE OF
THE MIDDLE CLASSES OF SOCIETY.

A public meeting took place yesterday at the Freemasons'
Hall, Great Queen-street, for the purpose of considering of
the establishment of an institution for the insane of the
middle classes. Among those present we noticed—Lord
Monteagle, Lord Ashley, M.P., Lord Ebrington, M.P., Saml.
Gurney, Esq., Thomas Bevan, M.D., B. B. Cabbell, Esq.,
F.R.S., John Wilks, Esq., Dr. Chardrie, Frederick Cobb,
M.D., W. Dimes,; Esq., Dr. Conolly, Dr. Hamilton, T.
Southwood Smith, M.D., Arthur Stilwell, Esq., Aldean,
Wm. Tite, Esq., F.R.S., Joseph Toynbee, Esq., F:R.S.,
Forbes Winslow,_ Esq., M.D., Wm. Thornborrow, Esq.,
John Forbes, M.D., F.A.S., Dr. Phillip, M.D., &c. &c.
Lord Ashley was to have taken the chair at one o'clock,
but, in consequence of being detained at the House of Com-
mons, his Lordship was not present at that hour.
Shortly after one:o'clock Lord MONTEAGLE, accompanied by
Lord Ebrington, Mr. Samuel Gurney, Mr. Tite, and several
other gentlemen, entered the room, when
Mr. SAMUEL GURNEY, addressing the meeting, said that
he greatly regretted that Lord Ashley had not yet arrived ;
he was sure, however, that every one present must at once
be convinced, that a nobleman who was ever doing good for
his fellow-men, must have been prevented from being there
at that time by being engaged in some good work.—
(Loud cheers.) He was happy, however, to inform the
meeting, that they had a most favourable alternative
in his Noble Friend Lord Monteagle—(Loud cheers)—
who would take the chair till Lord Ashley arrived, who, he
had just been informed, was obliged to attend to particular
business in the House of Commons.
Lord MovnuoLE, on being called to the chair, was re-
ceived with great cheering. He said that en every account
he regretted the absence of his Noble Friend, Lord Ashley,
who he was sure was prevented from being with them at the
hour appointed by the performance of some act of benevo-
lence and good.—(Cheers.) He regretted that his Noble
Friend was not present, because he would have been much
more competent than himself to explain anything that
was necessary. He begged it, therefore, to be under-
stood that he only took the chair until his Noble Friend
arrived, and he trusted that every excuse would be made
for any errors he might commit in opening the meeting.—
(Cheers.) The object of the present meeting was a truly
laudable and benevolent one—(Cheers)—it was for the be-
nefit and the comfort of their fellow-men, and whatever
might have been done in former times for so valuable an ob-
ject, he was sure that of late years the current of public bene-
volence had more and more directed itself, not only to the
poor, but to the superior classes of society—(Cheers)--who
might require the interposition and guidance of knowledge
to assist them in the performance of their duties.—(Cheers )
The affliction of insanity, he should say, in that class which
it was the object of the society to relieve was pecu-
liarly
.distressing : they might imagine themselves above
receiving gratuitous or eleemosynary relief, and such being
the case there was no asylum or place of refuge to which
they could send any of their friends or relations who were
afflicted with temporary insanity. From some institutions
they were excluded by not having property, and from others
from a feeling for their friends.—(Cheers.) What, then,
was the result ?—why, delay took place—delay, which was,
of all things, the most fatal in insanity. It was
well known that skill and benevolence, when applied in
time, produced a result totally different from the same skill,
or even greater, from the same benvolence, or even greater,
if the period of the application of either one or the other was
delayed. The mischief of delay in the case of temporary in-
sanity might be traced to weeks, as well as to months
and years, and it often happened that from that delay the
being, who was only afflicted temporarily with insanity, be-
came a confirmed lunatic. It was to prevent these things
that the establishment of the asylum was proposed, which
would at once give, not only effectual, but immediate assist-
ance to the unfortunate objects it was intended to comfort,
and, if possible, restore them to society and to happiness.
With these few observations he would leave the different
matters connected with the Society in the hands of those
who were more competent to explain them, and lie would
now conclude by requesting the Honorary Secretary (Mr.
E. Conolly) to read the prospectus, which stated fully the
object of the meeting.
PROSPECTUS.

The attention recently paid to the management of the in-
sane, whilst it has led to a great and general amelioration of
their condition, has also made it evident that the injudicious
treatment, and most of the evils to which they have hitherto
been and still are in many cases exposed, have arisen from
the poverty of many so afflicted, and from the predominant
regard to economy in the proprietors of establishments
adapted for lunatics in better circumstances.
By the establishment of county asylums, the pauper lunatic
has been to a great extent provided for, and the publicity,
given to the details and results of management in those in-
stitutions has tended to modify and improve the system
pursued in asylums for the rich. But there is still a large
class of persons in this country, neither wealthy enough to
resort to a good private asylum, nor so destitute as to claim
the privilege of paupers; and to patients of this class the
benefits of efficient suprintendence, and of enlightened and
philanthropic treatment, have not yet been extended. It is
for such persons that the advantages of the proposed Institu-
tion are especially and exclusively designed.
Those who are practically acquainted with insanity know
the great amount of complicated distress and anxiety that
falls upon such unhappy persons, when any member of their
families is attacked with mental derangement. Industrious
and regular habits are often interrupted some time before the
nature of the cause is suspected ; propriety of conduct is
disregarded ; the character is injured ; employment is lost ;
every comfort is gradually sacrificed ; and complete destitu-
tion is sometimes incurred in a vain attempt to overcome or
conceal so serious a calamity.
Innumerable instances of this kind might be adduced from
families whose resources, in the beginning of the attack,
would have been sufficient to afford the patients a chance of
cure in an asylum admitting patients on very moderate
terms, and presenting advantages which would have over-
come the repugnance of relatives to sending them to such an
institution. In such cases, at present, the patients seldom
receive early or efficient attention ; and when at length they
have fallen into the class of paupers, and are sent to the
county asylum, they go there in a state of confirmed malady,
and with very diminished ch,mces of recovery. Even when
a cure happily follows, the associations into which the
patients have been forced often leave a disastrous impression;
they regain their former station and feelings with difficulty,
and' are exposed to such anxieties and distress as not unfre-
quently produce a 'relapse.
The afflictions which follow in the train of insanity in
families of a class above that just spoken of, and not yet
wealthy, are perhaps still more poignant. Persons of good
family and of small income, officers on half-pay without for-
tune, clerks in the public service, or in offices of various de-
scriptions, with salaries dependent on their continued exer-
tions, tradesmen of small property, or retired with a scanty
independence, clergymen with small incomes, men of the
other learned professions who have no other means of sup-
port, tutors, governesses, and many others whose position
does not require to be specified, but who in ordinary circum-
stances enjoy all the comforts of respectable life, are at once
involved in pecuniary embarrassment, and often eventually
reduced to absolute poverty and want, by the occurrence of
insanity in themselves, or in the person of a child, a wife, a
parent, or some dependent relative. For such cases, no ex-
isting establishments hold out the exclusive and immediate
relief which could alone save them from the fast accumu-
lating miseries consequent on a visitation to which the finest
and most active minds are liable in common with the hum-
blest.
In some asylums a limited number of patients are received
on moderate terms, but richer patients and also pauper pa-
tients are received into the same institution—an arrangement
which
hhasmany inconveniences. In others, those whose
mental disorder is complicated with epilepsy, or with para-
lysis, or in whom the disorder is considered incurable, are
altogether excluded; although the burden of these cases on
the relatives of the patients is always the heaviest.
Those who are most conversant with the wants of society
are, it is believed, unanimously of opinion that some asylum
is urgently needed in the neighbourhood of the metropolis
for the reception of persons of the middle classes only ; offer-
ing, for moderate payments, all the comforts suitable to per-
sons of their habits of life, and combining all the advantages
and resources enjoyed in the best institutions for the classes
already provided for, including many improvements in the
method of treatment yet but very partially adopted in pri-
vateand quite unknown, perhaps impracticable, in
management of single cases in private resi-
dences.the
domestic asylums,
The situation, the construction, the organization of such an
asylum, the opportunities for its systematic inspection, the
occupations and amusements provided, and the means of
moral and intellectual improvement afforded by it, should be
such as to comprehend and insure every advantage auxiliary
to recovery in curable cases, promotive of solace, comfort,
and amendment in cases incapable of perfect cure, and con •
ducive to the welfare, and health of all the patients received
into it. _ _

The varied advantages can only be combined in an asylum
of a certain magnitude; and experience shows that the ma-
nanagement of insane persons is in many respects facilitated,
rather than obstructed, by the size of an asylum being such
as to supply a variety of objects capable of attracting atten-
tion, exciting interest, and stimulating to exertion and imita-
tion ; the want of which not only renders small establish-
ment oppressive by their dulness and monotony, but posh
tively retards the cure. By good arrangements, tranquillity
may be secured in any establishment for those to whom it is
indispensable ; but variety and cheerfulness can only be
commanded where the inmates are numerous and the pre-
mises are extensive.

Beyond certain limits, however, the increased size of an
asylum does but add to the difficulties and anxieties of super-
intendence, and counteracts the uniformity of system which
ought always to prevail. The most convenient extent is
probably that of an asylum containing between 200 and
400 beds.

With the views and objects thus briefly stated, it is pro-
posed to establish, in the immediate neighbourhood of Lon-
don, an asylum adapted to the middle classes, capable of re-
ceiving 300
patients, but admitting of some extension. The
cost of about twenty-five acres of freehold land, with suffi-
cient buildings, and every possible provision for contingen-
cies, is calculated at 30,0001.
This estimate of 30,000/. is based upon the most careful
calculations ; but it is proposed to purchase land and com-
mence the building as soon as 10,000/. are raised, and to en-
large the design afterwards according to the amount received.
It is believed that in a house containing 250 or 300 patients,
payments not exceeding 255. or 30s. per head per week will
cover all the current expenses. This is less than is at pre-
sent usually paid in any private asylum, in which a profit is
expected after the expenses are paid.
Every donation of 501., or annual subscription of 56. 55.,
will constitute the donor or subscriber a governor, eligible to
the Committee of Management, which it is proposed to limit
to 25 persons ; every donation of 51. 55., or annual subscrip-
tion of 11. ls., will constitute the donor or subscriber a mem-
ber, having a vote in the election of the Committee of
Management, but ineligible as one of that body ; provided
that no governor or member shall have more than five
votes, and that a subscriber must have been so for six months
before the privilege of voting in respect of his subscription is
exercised.
Governors will have the exclusive privilege of recom-
mending patients for admission, subject to the decision of the
Committee of Management.
It is further proposed, as an integral part of the plan, that
there shall be established in connexion with the asylum a
Charitable Fund, raised by means ofdonations, subscriptions,
and bequests, for the exclusive benefit of the more distressed
among those for whose relief the institution is destined. It is
intended that all sums received under this head shall be im-
mediately funded in the names of trustees specially ap.
pointed, and that the interest alone be available for the pur-
poses of the charity.
The interest of this fund is to be applied to the relief of a I
certain number of persons of the classes already described, to
be elected or nominated, from time to time, from those pa..
tients who have been one year or more in the asylum, and
placed on the list of patients received for a lower payment,
say for fifteen or ten shillings per week ; or even without any
payment whatever.
By this means, in addition to the general relief afforded by
the nature of the asylum, the supporters of it will be enabled
to extend a most charitable and timely assistance :
I. To families in limited circumstances, who have made
great exertions to furnish the annual payments for a time,
but are enabled to continue them. _

2. Toc;;;ln•Widathe occurrence of insanity has bud-
denly and wholly deprived the sufferers or their-families of

all:means of support; and where the assistance of friends can
only be relied on for a limited period.
Mr. SAMUEL GURNEY moved the first resolution. He
said that in rising to address his Hon. Friend Lord Monteagle,
and the respectable body present, he was afraid that it would
not be in his power to add anything to the case that had been
brought before them. He had lately read with satisfaction
the report of the Commissioners on Lunacy, and Lord Ash-
ley's splendid speech lately delivered in the House of Com-
mons—(Hear, hear)—and, in conseluence, he felt that he
was truly well impressed with the importance of the esta-
blishment of such an institution as it was proposed to
found. There was no class of human misery which it was
more appalling to look upon than insanity. There was no
doubt that the investigation made on the subject proved that
there was no class of disease more liable to abuse than insanity.
He had witnessed such abuse, and alluded to the treat-
ment which poor lunatics received in Amsterdam, where
he had known them to be put in places of confinement
not better than those devoted to pigs. There had been
great variety in the mode of treatment in these cases ;
much had been done on the one hand, and much was
wanted to be done on the other. There was
one point to which he wished particularly to refer. There
was one eland society to which the proposed institution was
meant to be applied. That class was not of the lowest order,
but of a certain degree of respectability ; they were unable to
protect themselves when this evil fell upon theta. And there
was no class to which the charity and sympathy of their
fellowmen were more due.—(Hear, hear.) It was a
very excellent thing to give a loaf of bread to
a man who was starving in his cottage, but
he was used to such deprivation, and such a state of misery
would not be so poignant to him as to one who had been
hurled down from a respectable position to the depths of
poverty. He believed that the true pangs of distress were felt
more in the latter instance than in any other. With regard
to the prospects of the Institution, he thought them to be
most excellent. He was of opinion that if 30,0001. could be
raised, and a building erected according to the most approved
principle, it would be a most desirable end; and such was
the charity and kindly feeling that pervaded the community,
that it was by no means to be despaired of that such a
sum could be raised. He hoped that the gentlemen would
take this as an encouragement to the foundation of the Insti-
tution. If, however they failed in going to the full extent,
they ought not to be discouraged on that ground. He took
the plan laid down in the prospectus to be the most advan-
tageous that could be pointed out. If they did not raise the
full amount they could easily hire a house at a low rent, not
in a fashionable vicinity, and fit it up for as many as it was
capable of admitting. Forty or fifty in such a case could be
accommodated without any outlay of capital, and it could be
carried on at a very limited cost. He made these remarks
in order to prevent them from being too soon discouraged, if
they were not able to arrive at the full extent of their
wishes at once. He had no doubt that such an establish-
ment would be conducted very well in the hands of Dr.
Connolly—( Hear, hear)—and it would awaken the eyes of
the community to the necessity of founding a larger institution.
Another feature to which he would allude was the payment for
the parties who were to derive benefit from the Institution.
It would be found, in many cases, lthat when individuals
were so afflicted in this class, that payment to the full ex-
tent would be very difficult. The gentlemen would at once
see, that if they changed the intentiot of Laving payment to
the full amount, there would be no difficulty whatever in
establishing it. It would be of great advantage to have the
establishment under the best regulations, that it should be
no cost to the public, but that it should maintain itself on
the income derived from the patients. He made these re-
marks to encourage them to do something soon. It would
be an easy step to admit 50 or 60 patients, and exonerate
them 25 per cent. from the cost. Some system should be
adopted immediately. The merits of the case itself needed
no comments from him, as it applied to a class of disease
hitherto, in very many instances, most awfully abused.
He trusted that the present meeting would feel as
much satisfaction as he entertained at what had
passed before them. He hoped that this Institution would
be at once carried out in a great measure if not to the full
extent. He then concluded by reading the resolution,
which he would propose :—" That it is highly desirable
to establish an asylum in the neighbourhood of London for
the reception and cure of insane persons belonging to the
middle classes of society, whose circumstances are too limited
to meet the unavoidable expense of private asylums."
Mr. TITS said that the gentleman who proposed the reso-
lution had so fully established his case that it would be only
necessary that some explanation should be offered by
the lay part of the Committee, as to the origin of
this Institution, which was so strongly recommended to
their notice. A medical gentleman, whose acquaintance
he had the honour of possessing, suggested its origin and the
whole scheme. He (Mr. Tite) was quite sure that any one
who had the honour of his acquaintance, or who visited
Hanwell asylum, would feel the sentiment hat he had often
. . .

heard expressed, and which he himself entertained,
namely, that if he or any of his family were to
be afflicted by such a calamity as insanity, he
should be thankful that. there was in existence
such a place as Hanwell to afford protection.—(Hear, hear.)
Every one who visited that asylum would feel, he was
sure, the same sentiment. How were their intentions to be
carried out?

Here Lord Monteagle vacated the chair, in consequence of
Lord Ashle)'s arrival. _ _ _

Lord ASHLEY took the chair amidst loud cheering, and
apologised to the meeting for his absence, by stating that he
had been unavoidably engaged in business of importance in
the House of Commons.

Mr. TITE proceeded to say that a very considerable extent
of accommodation was required in an asylum of this sort to
make it available. It required a considerable number of in-
mates, who should be properly classified. If there were only
40 or 50 patients, there would be an extent of establishment
which would afford accommodation to 200. At first it was
proposed to form a joint-stock company to raise a sum of
money at a small rate of interest, but there seemed such diffi-
culty in carrying it out that it was thought wise to
abandon that part of the scheme, and simply to apply
to the public for money enough to build the establish-
ment. In the hands of Dr. Connolly and the
Committee all the arrangements would be carried out for the
relief of the patients he had no doubt satisfactorily. 30,000/.
was a large sum, but he had no doubt whatever that they
would be enabled to raise it, or as much as would carry
the thing into efficient practice. From inquiries made with
respect to this Institution, he found it had been stated that
they were interfering with the hospitals of this metropolis.
They were of a different character altogether. They
took patients with payment for the purpose of ren-
dering this asylum of a different character altogether,
and Lord Ashley's speech would show that if there
were half-a-dozen such institutions, there would not be
too many for this metropolis. He concluded by seconding
the resolution proposed by the gentleman who preceded him

Dr. Coal.Elio said that:he acfs''ocated the prinCiple on which•
this proposed institution was to be founded, as one sound,
necessary, and proper, but he thought that any statement
that went forth to the world in connexion with so laudable
a purpose should be above all cavil on the part of the persons
who may come forward as interested parties. It was stated,
however, in the prospectus that payments not exceeding
twenty-five or thirty shillings per head per week would
be required to cover all the current expenses. This was a
misstatement not wilfully made. He himself was the owner
of a house at which the rate of payment was lower than 255.,
providing all the comforts at which this society aimed. His
purpose was to enable them te come to an immediate decision
in this matter, and to place that Institution entirely at their
service in such a manner as the Committee thought proper.
♦ GENTLEMAN, whose name we did not discover, rose to
say that this was matter entirely for future consideration.
But he would express his high gratification at hearing that
it was possible to maintain respectable persons at such a small
expense.
Lord ASHLEY said that they were not there for the
purpose of debating, but of carrying certain resolutions.
Mr. MANNE said that the prospectus would intimate that
this institution was to be devoted alone to the advantages of
the middle-classes. He wished to know why all might not
have the advantages that would result from the asylum ? He
would bring under their consideration the propriety of con-
structing it on a larger scale, for all persons who may want
protection.
Mr. WILKES thought that by attempting too much they
might lose everything. It was not their intention to erect a
national establishment for persons of opulence and fortune,
wh• could secure to their relatives all that would be necessary
for their health. The prospectus had already announced that
this establishment was intended to meet the wants of
that peculiar class of society designated in it, otherwise
the objects which they had in view would be frustrated.
Mr. PERCEVAL did not wish to enter into a controversy,
but he desired that those who had experience on these
matters should be heard for the purpose of directing the
judgment of the Committee. It might be said that he, above
all others, should feel a delicacy in coming forward in such a
matter, but, circumstanced as he had been, he felt it neces-
sary to do so, because he believed that the world was not
sufficiently aware of the abominable cruelties exercised in
some lunatic asylums. He did not know why enlightened
men seemed to close their ears against the voice of entreaty
of persons who were witnesses to this cruelty, who would
give opinions on which wiser men could form their judgment
as to what was best to be done. Lord Monteagle, in the
commencement of his address, said that if ever there was an
age of benevolence it was this age in which they lived. He
did not deny that it was a benevolent age, but their
benevolence seemed, however, to have run mad. He
would not oppose the formation of this Society—it
was an advance in the right way. Lunatic asylums
should not be regarded merely as hospitals but as
places of confinement. The public entertained a very
justhorror of throwing sane persons into these establishments
and treating them as if they were insane, but did not seem
sufficiently to appreciate the necessity of discharging and
freeing from restraint those who had been detained the mo-
ment their intellects were restored.—(Hear, hear.) He was
willing to give any assistance in his power to the for-
mation and maintenance of this Society, but hoped
the members of it would, on the other hand, be
willing to co-operate with him in obtaining fro'tn
Parliament a full and complete investigation into the w'aele
system of treating lunatics. He did not mean to sEry that
under the present system one-twentieth of the numbers
placed in these asylums were sane ; but supposing ev en one in
a hundred to be so placed, was it not a dreadful -contempla-
tion for any feeling mind ? The speaker ems about to
allude to other subjects, but was called to order by
Doctor CONNOLLY, who said all these things. had been Tully
considered by the Committee.
Mr. PERCEVAL again rose, but

Lard MONTEACSLE interposed, and said:that if ha had any
suggestions to make, they had better be sent in to the Com-
mittee in writing, and he could assure the Hon. Gentleman
they would meet with every attention.
Mr. PERCEVAL expressed himself satisfi,e(l with what had
fallen from Lord Monteagle, and would tr.'4 tlet.ain the meeting
any longer. •
Dr. Sounnvoon SMITH, in moving th,.3 second resolution,
said—Among the varied forms of huntan suffering which
need the interposition of humanity and science, that of in-
sanity is peculiar in this, that if the 'evil bt : grappled with at
once, it ii in most instances mastered in a short time, but if
it be neglected, it becomes difficult, and I often impossible to
control it, the calamity remaining in its ft ill intensity to the
end of life. Those who have paid most :attention to mental
disease are satisfied that it obeys the SR) ne laws as other
maladies which have their seat in the ph, sical structures of
the body. The physical changes, indeed, which the brain
undergoes—that mysterious organ, by col amon consent re-
garded as the material agent by which at manifestation of
the mind takes place—are at present not I :nown ; but that
some physical change does take place in some part of the
brain, in every case of insanity, few pen ons of competent
knowledge, who have thought at all upon the sub-
ject, doubt. Why those subtle anti :es should have
so peculiar a tendency to become perm:ms mt, if the mental
disease, their index and sequent be neglect 3d, is wholly un-
known ; but there is something analugut 's to it in other
diseases. We know that changes, map preciable by our
gross senses, go on in organs for a long time , the resalt being
early declared to us by the disordered fun( lion of the organ
in question, and if this disordered function I ie neglected, the
physical changes continue, and sometimes become appreci-
able, but whether appreciable or tot, the disease has now
commonly past beyond control. Sometbis 1g like this seems
to happen with regard to the brain. Ti. e anatomist and
physiologist can sometimes connect a certaint visible disordered
condition of the brain with a certain stt i to of insanity ; at
other times this connexion cannot be mad, ; out i but whether

it can be made out or not the ultimate fact is enough for us,
enough for all practical purpose, the melancholy fact taught
us by large and painful experience, that if the first indications
of insanity are neglected, they are extremely apt to increase,
to pass beyond control, and to lapse into confirmed mania, or
incurable imbecility. But why is this fatal delay in the
treatment of these distressing cases so common? Because
for large classes of the community there is no fitting
asylum to which the patient can go, and in which the treat-
ment appropriate to his peculiar affection can be adopted.
For the pauper proper asylums are in some instances pro-
vided ; and there is ground for hope, mainly through the in-
defatigable exertions of your Noble Chairman, whose life is
a strenuous, and we may now begin to say, a successful
struggle, to bring help to those who cannot help themselves
(Cheers)--for pauper maniacs, until lately a neglected and
most wretched class, provision seems about to be made in some
degree adequate to the occasion. But for those who are
above destitution, but without wealth—who are able when
in health to earn a comfortable and independent subsistence,
but whose power of self-support is necessarily lost with the
loss of health—for such sufferers there is: no provision ; yet
ordinary sickness, lasting only a few months, nay, only a few
weeks, throws persons of this class into a state of embarrass-
ment from which they do not recover for several years—they
cannot pass through an attack of common fever, for example,
without being thrown by the expense of it from a state
of comparative ease to that of distressing poverty, per-
haps for two or three years. What then must be their
condition when attacked by such a disease as insanity?
It is most truly stated in the prospectus in your hands,
that the effect often is completely to pauperise not only
the individual sufferer himself but the whole of his family.
Against this calamity it appears to me that the application
•f the principle of combination is one of the appropriate re-
medies. Large numbers brought together in the same es-
tablishment, conducted on a well-devised plan, in which a
due regard is paid to economy, can be supported at a cheaper
rate than is practicable in a small establishment—l trust at
so cheap a rate as to bring it within the reach of the clerk,
the teacher, and the humbler members of the learned pro-
fessions. In the prospectus it is estimated that the cost will
be for each individual from 255. to 30s. per week. I hope
experience will show that it will be practicable to bring the
cost within 20s. per week. Let it be borne in mind that 20s.
per week is 501. a year. It is easy to see how greatly. the
long continued payment even of such a sum must impoverish
the classes in question. To many of them the annual pay-
ment of such a sum for any length of time must be wholly
impracticable, and therefore it is that I regard with
entire satisfaction the Charitable Fund, which it is a part of
the proposed plan to found, for the assistance of those who
are too poor to continue the payment they had commenced,
and who, if unassisted, must submit to the removal of their
relative or friend from the asylum. If there ever was a case
in which assistance is needed, and would be useful, it is this.
I will add one word relative to the improved treatment
likely to result from the establishment now proposed. It
is notorious, that since the establishment of county asylums,
with the inspection and publicity attached to them, a re-
markable improvement has taken place in the treatment of
the insane. A week or two ago I spent upwards of four
hours in the wards of the asylum at Hanwell. In this esta-
blishment it has been found practicable to abolish every
kind and degree of personal restraint. There was no instance
of it in any patient that I saw. The impression left upon
my mind by my visit was the apparent absence of suffering,
and the comparative cheerfulness of the place. Absence of
suffering ! Cheerfulness / What words to be associated with
such a place ! For such an impression to be possible, what
a contrast must there now be to the horrors which a short
time ago were characteristic of these places. I envy
the satisfied consciousness of the man who, enlightened
by. science, has taken a true view of the infirmities
of our nature in their most deplorable shape, and who, sus-
tained in his belief by the benevolence of his own nature and
by a Howard-like devotion, has been able to work this great
change.—(Cheers.) I cannot say that I think even at Han-
well the perfection of treatment has been attained. In such an
institution there are difficulties in carrying out the higher and
more refined parts of the system attempted there—parts
which may be found in practice to be the most efficient of all,
that will not attach to the institution now contemplated. I
believe, therefore, that by the establishment of the proposed
institution, you will not only at once relieve a mass of dread-
ful suffering, but that you will show the means of lessening
that suffering more and more effectually, in all other places,
and to, perhaps, distant ages.—(Cheers.) The resolution is
as follows :

" That patients in every stage, form, and complication of
the disorder should be admissible to such an asylum, when
recommended by a Governor, subject to the decision of the
Committee of Management."
Mr. GRANGER seconded the resolution. He thought the
opinion too prevalent that insanity was not a disease of
the body. Therefore, when insanity attacked an in-
dividual, he was considered as removed beyond the
ordinary means of art. This opinion ought to be alto-
gether eradicated, for the report of the Parliamentary Commis-
sion had shown that where the cases were taken in time, a com-
plete cure was in most instances effected. It was for this reason
that he hailed with pleasure th e formation of a Society like this.
He hoped the means to be adopted by the Institution would
not only ensure relief to a vast amount of suffering, but effect
a general improvement in the treatment of cerebral disease ;
and with these strong hopes and confident conviction of the
results of the Institution, he felt great pleasure in seconding
the resolution.—(Hear, hear.)
The resolution was then put from the chair, and carried
unanimously.

Lord EBiINGTON, in proposing the third resolution, ob-
served that when he entered that room it was for the pur-
pose of obtaining rather than imparting information, being
himself wholly unacquainted with the peculiar features of
the subjects under consideration. He had, however con-
sented formally to move a resolution, because such a task
required nothing more than a bare knowledge of the parties
introduced into it. A short time since, having had occasion
to visit the Devon County, Asylum, he was struck with the
comfort and humanity evinced in its various appliances ; and
he could not help comparing its appearance with that so gra-
phically, so thrillingly presented in the prints of Hogarth.
How dreadful, how heartrending were the miseries depicted
there; what a contrast with the system adopted at
Geneva, and that now pursued at the institutions
latelyformed for the relief of pauper lunatics. Though
he admitted that much remained to be effected for
that inferior class, yet the object now in view was to apply a
remedy to even a greater amount of misery : it was for those
not needing charity, but such assistance as they could re-
ceive consistently with that independence so peculiarly the
characteristic of the middling-class. He would not trespass
any longer on the time of the meeting, but forthwith move
the following resolution :

a That a'Provisional Committee, consisting of the follow-
ing persons, with power to add to their number, be ap-
pointed to carry this object into effect, and that an appeal
be made to the nobility, clergy, and public in general, for
donations and subscriptions :—Lord Ashley, M.P. ; Dr.
Bevan; Benjamin Bond Cabbell, Esq.; Dr. Cobb; Dr.
Connolly; William Dimes, Esq. ; Henry Duesbury, Esq. ;
Dr. Hamilton ; Dr. Hitch ; Sir George Larpent, Bart. ; Dr.
Pritchard ; Dr. Scott ; Dr. Southwood Smith ; Samuel
Solly, Esq. • Arthur Stilwell, Esq. ; William Thornborrow,
Esq. ; William Tite, Esq. ; Joseph Toynbee, Esq. ; Dr.
Robert Willis; Dr. Winslow.
Mr. J. H. HALL, Metropolitan CoMmissioner of Lunacy,
stated that in seconding the resolution just proposed, any
remarks which he might offer must be attributed solely to
his private feelings, and not to' his public capacity. For
some years he had been in close connexion with the
insane, but he could never forget—no, nor scarcely express—
the feelings he first entertained on coming in contact
with those so lamentably afflicted. Familiarity, it was said,
blunted feelings, but he trusted his would never be seared by
even his frequent association with misery.—(Cheers.) Many
a time had he returned from scenes of anguish, worn
out and dispirited—for endeavours to mitigate the suffer-
ings of others left behind feelings of acute pain.
He had not been long connected with these institutions
when he stated publicly that their establishment would
effect a great amelioration in every class of the insane. The
intellect of man might be compared to the rain—now gently
descending on the earth, now swelling the stream now the
rivulet, and now becoming stagnant, muddy, and fcetid. So the
intellect, if imparted to a healthy body, and given to a robust
constitution, would be vigorous and strong ; but if to a weak
and sickly frame, it was usually found impaired. There-.
fore it was that the health of the patient should
be sedulously observed in such institutions ; when
disease affected the body only, and not the mind, the man
might dispose of his person and his property. He concurred
in the opinion expressed by other speakers who had pre-
ceded him, that early admission ought to be a fundamental
principle of the establishment. He knew several instances
where, on his recommendation, servants had been
sent to an asylum at the first symptom of dementia,
and in six weeks had returned to their situations perfectly
recovered. The diseases were merely sympathetic, caused by
a temporary derangement of the functions of the stomach
or lungs, but, if neglected, they would have become per-
manent and chronic in the brain. He hoped, there-
fore, a portion of the Institution would be set apart
expressly to cure disease. (Hear, hear.) It was
impossible to cure diseases by masses. The greatest
care and vigilance was necessary even to insure o'..e
prospect of success ; a minute examination into the state
of the afflicted would be required ; positive limits should
be fixed to the association, of the curable from the incurable,
and a complete separation effected.—(Hear.)

It is not air that from a thousand lungs wreaths back to thine,
Sated with exhalations rank and fell,
The stench of dunghills and the putrid thaw of nature.

It is not air !

—(Cheers.) He should advice also greater liberty and
freedom to be allowed tb e patients than was or-
dinarily acceded in their association with friends or
relatives; and he urged Pais, because he felt that the per-
mission of free intercou►.•se with their fellow-creatures was
one of the most likely means of restoring sanity, and enabling
the aftcted to return to their friends. Economy, he was
glar', to observe, had been regarded in the arrangements al-
eady proposed—an economy 'which would enable its founders
to relieve five instead of one. He knew of a county asylum
where 350 patients were relieved at a cost of 350,0001., while
the establishment now proposed would not require more
than 30,000/. Another county asylum provided for 235
lunatics, erected at a cost of 64,0001., and its entire expenses
were not less than 90,0001., or 4001. a head, a sum which
might give relief to five instead of one. But their institution,
acting on principles of economy as well as benevolence, would
afford those essentials to comfort, at present denied the suf-
ferer—would give them cheerful scenes instead of a lingering
and dreary life, and relieve the mind while it healed the
body. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by seconding the
resolution, which was put and carried unanimously.
Mr. Jour; WILKEs, in proposing the fourth resolution, said
that as the last speaker had referred to his connexion with
the insane, he also, as visiting magistrate of Hanwell, could
testify to the noble exertions which in that institution had
been made to relieve pauper lunatics. But while he rejoiced
at these endeavours to ameliorate the condition of the
poor, he felt deeply the want of an establish-
ment which would provide for the middling classes.
Often had his retirement been intruded on by widowed mo-
thers whose sons, the hope of their old age, intellectual,
promising, aspiring, had, by the very exercise of those
talents too assiduously, become lunatics, sweeping away the
hopes of the mother, and leaving her to despair. Many had
implored him to obtain admission for their afflicted relatives
into Hanwell and other pauper institutions, and many actu-
ally were received by application being made for them in the
capacity of paupers. But now, through Dr. Connolly's laud-
able endeavours, a prospect was held out of an opportunity
for relief being at length afforded the middling classes. A.
curative course would, he trusted, be adopted in the conduct
of the asylum, and, if so, he considered its appliances would
be then complete. With these few observations he would
conclude, merely moving " That Lord Ashley, Benjamin
Bond Cabbell, Esq., and Samuel Gurney, Esq., be appointed
trustees of the asylum."

WntsLow,in seconding the resolution, mentioned, as
a proof of the necessity of such an institution, that the widow
of a gentleman, once in affluent circumstances, but having
only 1001. a year to support herself and seven or eight chil-
dren, came to him for advice respecting a daughter who had
lately become insane. Not being able to put the sufferer
under proper treatment, a younger child was entrusted with.
her charge; and she, from constant attendance on her sister,
shortly after became also a lunatic. Insanity demanded the
sympathy of all ; it was different from every other disease ;
the mind became a wreck, and who could say what was the
fever of the mind ? The consequences of there not being at
present any institution of the kind proposed were, that many