POSTSCRIPT.
SATURDAY NIGHT.
The State Ball at Buckingham Palace out short the sitting of Parlia- ment last night. The House of Lords met, forwarded a few bills, and ad- journed. The. Commons only sat till seven o'clock; but managed to trans- act some important business, in receiving.two measures, introduced by Lord AramEr, to amend the law of Lunacy. He explained his bills; moving for leave to bring them in. The statutes on the subject are of four classes ; relating to licensed private and public asylums, to county asylums, to lunatics under the care of Chancery, and to criminal lunatics. He should deal only with the two former classes, and with them only in England and Wales.
He described the miserable condition of lunatics, especially of the poorer classes, under the present mismanagement; the laxity in visitation and in granting cer- tificates of lunacy. He made a great impression by reading an account of the first release of some lunatics in France from harsh restraint, by Pinel, the ori- ginator of the vim' er and kinder method of keeping the insane.
His first bill would establish a permanent Commission, to visit all licensed houses • with stringent provisions to insure sufficient food, kind treatment, medical care, admission of friends, release of persons improperly detained, and protection of lunatics' property by a summary and inexpensive process. The other bill would extend and enforce the present law of the second class; obliging all counties and boroughs to have an asylum each, and to increase the present accommodation where it is inadequate; securing the immediate sending of fresh cases to proper custody, (an important provision, since the great majority of incurable cases are made so by delay in administering proper medical aid;` com- pelling a classification of curable and incurable patients; and providing for pro- per supervision, submission of rules to the Saeretary of State, the borrowing of money for outlay, &c.
Sir. JAMBS GRAHAM seconded the motion; promising his cordial support to the two bills, and also a third bill, prepared by the Lord Advocate, and applicable to Scotland. .After a few approving words from several other Members, the required leave was given.
On the Motion of Mr. Cneiu vs WYNN, who stated that the Committee on Printed Papers could not make its report by Monday, the adjourned debate on the privilege question was adjourned from that day to the 16th instant.
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