The Sun.
London, England, 1826-11-17 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The swearing in of the Members was again proceeded with to-
day. After all the Counties of England had been tailed over
in alphabetical order, the Members present for Wales, tirot,l4a,
and Ireland, were then called to the table at the same time, arid
took the oaths. • All the English Members not sworn, who hsp-
pened to be present, took the oaths at the same time. Among the
Members who took, their seats in the House for the first time, we
observed the Earl of Brecknock, the new Member for Bath ; .11r.
Spence, the new Member far heading; Mr. Barcitty, ;en-
kinson, Mr. Scott, Mr. Easthope, Mr. Harrison, and Al4;;1eor,
rmut. Upon the county of Suffolk being called over; Mr. Wilks,
the Member for Sudbury, did not appear.
The Members having been sworn and having subscribed their
names, the House adjourned shortly after Four o'clock.

LUNATIC ASYLUM IN MIDDLESEX.

LETTER TO THE MAGISTRATES OF mmtnEsEx.

Or Nris:atior,—llaving been actively engaged for more than a
quarter of a century, in an attempt to ascertain the numbers,
and improve the treatment of what, without any improper use of
language, may justly be called the most helpless, and NO, in
some Measure, the most neglected portion of the human species
(the insane poor in this great'and mighty Empire) ; I feel that I
have acquired a kind of prescriptive right to offer you my senti-
ments i n a question which, I understand, is about to engage
your attention, viz.--the propriety of establishing'a Public Lu-
natic Asylum in the County ofilliddlesex, _ .

I have seen, perhaps, more lunatics, and certainly more lunatic
asylums, than any man in Britain ; and, therefore, I am quite sa-
tisfied that the few observations I now venture to address to you
will meet with all the attention they may appear to merit. You,
Gentlemen, are all perfectly aware, that, about nineteen years.
ago, an Act of Parliament was passed, through the humane exer-
tions Of the Right Hon.. Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, then
Under Secretary of State for the Home Department ; and that this
Act authorises the Magistrates in England and Wales to establith
public asylums for the reception and treatment of the insane poor
within their respective counties; and I also presume you are
equally aware, that several very excellent asyluMs have been
built, under the authority of this Act. How comes it, then, I
would ask, that the question of building such an establishment
in this, the 'metropolitan county of England--4hat the pro-
priety,' if not the necessity of such a measure, Ws escaped
the notice of the magistrates till this Very late. honr? I readily
admit that there are many, very many asylums within the bounds
of the county, established by individuals for their private gain,
where the insane poor of the several parishes have been, and still
are confined; and that the existence of such establishments may
be offered as a plausible excuse, by individual members, for this
neglect of a part of your duty as a general body. While the evil
was kept out of sight, the absolute necessity of the measure may
not have been generally,felt ; but when the question is investigat-
ed, and its proper bearings are brought before you, I ant certain
you will show every willingness to do away with any reproach
your tardiness hitherto may seem to have merited ; and, by your
zeal and unanimity, speedily carry into effect. the humaneprovi-
sions of Mr. Wynn's Act.

The crowded and uncOmfortable state of the majority of the
• private asylums, in the neighbourhood of London, must he known
to' many of you ;.--tbey eau be considered as nothing better thaii.
large prisons, where the insane:re confined ;—as li spitals forthe
treatment and cure of insanity, all of them, I maintain, in at far
as the parish poor are concerned, are wholly unlit, and perfectly,
uselesp. Yet you will allow, that a lunatic asylum ought to be
an hospital, and is what the Legislature has ordered flat county
asylums should he.

Lord Robert Seymour, a most active and intelligent member of
your bodY—S Nobleman' whose exertions, in the cause of hu-
manity, have never been surpassed--hat informed you, in a letter
dated 12th of June, last year (a copy of which is now before
me), " that at Bethnal Green,' in
,one of Mr. Warburton's houses,
be saw three hundred and fifty-two paupers, one hundred
and ninety-two private patients, ;and fifty-three attendants,
making altogether five hundred and forty-four patients ; and that
the physicians who visited the paupers, by order of the parishes',
had repeatedly declared that the crowd in Mr. Warburton's house
made the recovery of these paupers highly improbable." His
Lordship informs you further, " that each of the dormitories con-
tainedfrom sixteen to twenty beds ; and, on the female side, that
many of the paupers lie two in a bed, the bedsteads being only 18
inches from each other; and that the exercising yards were more
crowded than ever yet was dog kennel." From my own know-
ledge, I affirm,' that this description will apply to a very great
majority of the private asylums in the counties of Middlesex and
Surrey.
. • _

It is not in the power of any man, or number of men, to bestow
upon the inmates of such establishments either the medical or
moral treatment that their cure imperatively calls for. Look at
our well-regulated public asylums, as they now exist in the metro-
polis, and in the counties where they have been established under
Mr. Wynn's Act. Look at the numbers discharged, cured, from
these public hospitals, and compare them with the numbers die-
charged from even the beat regulated and least crowded of our
private institutions ;. and then tell me, if you have done well in
allowing the present system of providing for your instate poor to
exist so long : and yetitm.hdia)wisnopeinl).
i'vitsoatfainreaust tolfiethaebs.ittraisatto!nteefe.opuelliivonirgneitor)elif
humanity is concerned. 'There is, however, Gentlemen, still
fort
another point, of more importance than any such abstract feeling,
and which, as Magistrates of this county, and gnardiat, of 'the
rights of the community, you are bound to take into consider:
ation ;--this is, the enormous expense which tte present system
has entailed upon the several parishes. •
By returns
bm‘l‘ia:iiiililei'lltogi?etnltietne.elerikoofdtehlleype;acaei,miit appears that tililelaitta
motert 11,1 S r eo f
are now upwards of seven hundred insane pauper,' in actual con-
co
ew
finement; that, of these,. six hundred are in private asylums,
about fifty in public hospitals, and the rest in pariah workhouses;
and that upwards of eighteen thousand pounds are required for
the support of these paupers, Now, Ido not hesitate to nflirm
(and it can be prevail by a reference to those counties where toy-
lums have been established), that, even deducting the full interest
o asylum,
nt
elf
.evr
oertipivae
ernt
rhyceee;e4 .r
nohfoliirrai.ho
oce tiiiiiiesee,ryi lev
upon ied to
gentlemen,
build
uhn
the
iwy furnish r
ei sdhi
diminished
ill allow, iusiaammaatli
gteat and pressing. losteaeda,tt4ithleFice
die
totiulyesourbeninote
benevolenttio°lairlsksolf the
ito
takenrf)piabing a litelnolcetpe a seilani::ati,uaniavr :I
l'eynetd•pulai:asdin,lerrionsetutatrociat
niertlyisoE bl:it,a)rktout proposingo
Ifguttutlel4' yte,outyp
~wo:anm it:pi
1,11 es
osiis
ols:eraetttimii
:so
to have
rt
ought to
public duties with which you have been entrustad,
The Legislature having full confidence in the p r'per Wings of
ato:lawrEita ondfgisiteihs:iragfreaatru:at:Tantli
allowed
ilevialeldvaeantiasyl)lopwreheifinu.
itileruihiigniiiiilleygitooutfrotelextoiateynise.ti
pyllueer
r
ocejn, t:an establishment is ;Monty proper,fo bruttiaiebssollitit,teolyrtneofi
yourselvesof your
and the inhabitants of Middlesex,
yttvettp.llo6altibee6e'4uteTis.ilpriliirh.ria."'eaetusefifi4lisp):lirtilytest:ht adores • '7o•
Werafifelt:rhr:onueetgtoi Vit'llinteBll;n4;ateiriegnuabsijiutecilt:,:tshteilmee: ge:111
mr. Pea, our present excellent and indefatitgialletillietw)
humane
entri
State, leas been much lauded liar his exertions and su.c-ces
,roving the criminal law, and itt providing for

. -
V " In She licensed houses and workhouses of Middlesex, ,it
npeArs, that, out of 60 patients, 81 only, or about one.eighth,
hrave disoungetl; that, In the lunatic asylums, 01•8851-ra-
tient*, Ib4o, or a luoportiou, nearly one-half, have beta 41`'"-
charged cured, and 171 relieved."--Vide Letter, signed Hobert-
nownei is Times new of 4cl ~loveukorr, logo.