7 JUNE 1851, Page 13

LIBERTY OF THE ABERRANT SUBJECT.

A REPORT of proceedings in the County Court on Monday raises an important question. The prosecutor was Captain Acherley, a gentleman rather too familiar to the public already for interrupt- ing public meetings, and for a very persevering advocacy of his " revivifying lamp." The defendant was the Zoological Society ; which he accused,- under Martin's Act, of "cruelty to animals,"

. more especially of feeding serpents with live pigeons. In vain the

judge protested that his court had no jurisdiction—the prosecutor said that it had, and insisted upon showing as much : he took "the book—liber," but objected to swear upon " the book of Hebrews"; though afterwards he averred that he would swear upon any book for the pursuit of justice. At all this the audience laughed, as most men would ; though the spectacle is one to create-pain rather

than merriment. .

It will be recollected that Captain Acherley has himself been accused of sacrificing life—the victim;- however, being a human one • and that the charge was the subject of a trial.' It was shown that Captain Acherley had obtained the assent of a poor man ,to restore him with the revivifying lamp, and that in the course of his treatment he caused the dying patient to be raised up in bed and somewhat roughly handled. It turned out that the man must have died without that attempt at " cure "; but there can be no doubt that his last moments were harassed in a painful degree. On the trial of that case, Captain Acherley delivered to the jury a very incoherent address ' • but probably the incoherency helped to convince the jury that he had no criminal intent and was not wil- fully negligent of life. The facts remained untouched.

-Putting all these things together, you might consider that enough had been done overtly to justify decisive steps for pre- venting further inconveniences : but we do not see that any power exists for such a' purpose. The reason for putting a. restraint upon a. lunatic is, that his actions are of a kind not within the range of ordinary calculation or even of ordinary. exceptional aberrations ; and this restraint may be imposed in various degrees. Where some doubt exists, as in the case of Mr. Dyce Sombre, the restraint is not very close. But anticipative restraint is only applied to the guardianship of property, not of those persons who may be exposed to personal injury, unless the lunatic shall have been already out- rageous, or unless the man's own family confine him. Thus Dyce Sombre is put under restraint ; and spinsters wedded to harmless delusions are frequently subjected to an inquiry for the purpose of ascertaining whether they are able to take care of themselves, or rather of their property : but Macnaghten is not confined until he has assassinated Mr. Drummond, and there is no inquiry into Ro- bert Pate's extravagant condition until he has struck the Queen. Robert Pate was not wealthy, Macnaghten was destitute, or either of them would probably have been the subject of an inquiry. One effect of this distinction between restraint in matters of property. and freedom where there is no property is, that the initiative is left to the family and -connexions ; a very fair trust when property, alone is concerned, but quite ineffective, as we have seen in in- numerable instances, where the general safety or convenience is concerned.

Nobody would desire to assume that any man is otherwise than in a rational and therefore responsible condition ; but it is a re- markable defect in our system, that we have no means of dealing with the question of sanity, however forcibly it may be suggested by aggressions on the public convenience, whether in a mere public meeting or in a solemn court of law, nor even by unac- countable vagaries which torment the last moments of a dying man. In the protection of property, it is enough that a man en- tertains erroneous opinions on the subject of his stockings, mis- conceives the practical uses of saucepan-lids, holds mistaken theo- ries as to the achievements of his own digestive organs, or gives any other trivial sign of an eccentric mind, for an inquiry into his power of self-control; but in the other branch of lunatic activity, aggression on the person, the mischief must be done before any precautions are taken.