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Northern Star (1837-1852), 20th January 1849, Edition 2 of 3, Page 7, A TREAT FOR THE SAVAGES. ' CHURCH ATiD K...

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      Ote Rational Mode Of Per- Norance Can Be...

      » ap , January 20 , 1849 . THE NORTHERN STAR . 7 ? . I l ii L imruWi I

      Ote Rational Mode Of Pergmanently And Pe...

      OTE RATIONAL MODE OF PERgMANENTLY AND PEACEABLY ^ ADJUSTING THE PRESENT DISf | ORDERED STATE OF EUROPE . H SECTION FOURTH . f ? Law 22 . v ; i' In these townships , after the children shall have Sffeen trained within them to acquire new habits a « d iJ Ktr feelings , derived from the laws of God , there v iiiall be so useless private property . vTriK RATTfVNAT . M ^^ lt ^ . HI ? PP . T ?

      3 ~ s- Seasons fr this law . ¦ £ , Private property is one of the great demo' txalisiRg and repulsive . powers , arising from * t ! ie laws of men , and is the cause of innumerable crimes and gross injustice . So long - « s private property shall be maintained , man ^ mU be trained through its natural influence 5 to be ignorantl y selfish ; that is , to desire to -grasp ever } ' thing that may be converted into -private property for himself ; and , all being ^ educated in this principle , all will openl y or more covertl y oppose their fellows , with a view to ohtain the " largest share in the scramble { of life . The principle of this selfishness , thus \ implanted in childhood and youth , tends to

      create a most vicioui and unfavourable character for the adult . It has an isolating and individualising influence upon each , that checks and stultifies tbe finest and best feelings of humanity . It is strongl y calculated to make man look upon his fellow man as his enemy , and to create general suspicions of the motives and actions of strangers , and even of neighbours- ^ - each being thus taught to endeavour to overreach others , and to take advantage in bargain-making even of those called friends to each other . The evils of private property extend ia « 1 Z directions ; it produces a most unfavourable , unjust , and artificial character in those men and women whose wealth is large , and most unnleasant feelings of hatred and

      jealousy in those who are puffering the innumerable evils of poverty . It fills prisons , and aids to fill lunatic asylum ? , stands in the way often of great-general public improvements , and increases the expenses of societ )' , to protect itself , to an extent that few know how to estimate . It accumulates immense useless property for a small portion of society , and compels the greater mass to live in poverty , or ,

      which is nearl y as bad , in the constant dread of it . It is now deemed b y the laws of men an essential element of society , under the laws o f God , it will be discovered to be an evil of incalculable magnitude , and a never-failing cause of disunion among all classes in all countries . Volumes would be unequal to detairthe loss and unnecessary sufferings which it creates to the human race .

      It is said to be a stimulus to individual exertion ; and such a stimulant is required under the irrational system which has necessarily emanated from the laws of man ; but , under the new arrangements which will arise in a system based on the laws of God . a far more powerful stimulus will perpetually exist , which , instead of stimulating to action for individual gain and isolated advantages , will call forth the daily exercise of all the hig her faculties of humanity , f « r the godlike purpose of benefitting all , to the utmost healthy extent of those povers . Latv 23 .

      * As s « on as the members of these townships shall have been educated from infancy in a knowledge of the law of God , trained to act in obedience to them , and surrounded by external objects all in unison with them , and thus made to acquire a true knowledge of their nature , there shall he no punishment or reward of individuals . *

      Reasons for this Law . It is known to those who have studied nature , that the general and individual qualities of all things created are given to them by the Great Creating Power of tbe Universe and that not THE THINGS CREATED , but THE CREATOR , is the sole author of one and all , whether animate or inanimate , whether mineral , vesetable , or animal , whether rational or irrational existences ; and of course , that whatever compound ofthe general qualities of

      humanity any may have , the general qualities and particular combination of them in each one is alone the work of that Creating Power , and for which it is insanity to blame , and the essence of injustice to punish the poor , passive , created being , whether man or any other animal , except in self-defence , or to obtain the means of sustaining life which could not be otherwise supported ; and that every act of unnecessary cruelty is an act in opposition to tbe laws of God .

      For man , then , to make laws to punish man by man , instead of training them from birth to knew the laws of God , and to act uniformly in accordance with them , is to make it certain that nian has not yet acquired a knowledge of humanity , or learned to know himself , or how to act like a reasonable or rational being . And from the past history of man , it is now made evident that he has been created with powers to progress slowly , through unnumbered generations , from the most ignorant unreasoning savage , toward a state in which , at length , he begins to approach to a condition in which circumstances are forming to advance the growth of his creation , that he may become , for the first time in his history , a full formed man , or a rational being .

      It is now only that he is beginning to acquire the knowledge that kindness , directed by a knowledge of what human nature has been made to be , is far more powerful for good than force of anv character or description ; that by kindness , wisel y and judiciously directed , man from birth may be now easily trained and educated in accordance with the laws of God , to bacome , in every instance , to the -extent that his created faculties will admit , good , wise , useful , and happy ; while the government of force and punishment , in accordance with the laws of men , can never train one

      individual to be good , wise , or happy , in comparison with the goodness , wisdom , and happiness , which all will attain and enjoy under the government ofthe laws of God—laws which will produce continually , and without exceptions , charity , due consideration for all created or trained differences , consequent forbearance , rand inimitable kindness . Under this change , all individual punishment will be discovered to be not only the very cruelty of injustice , but the most erroneous mode of governing beings who are intended to bemade good , wise , and happy , and to be formed into rational men and

      women . The good effects of the decrease of punish ment in lunatic asy lums and schools are beginning to be seen and acknowledged . In the best of both , physical punishments scarcely bow exist . The time approaches when it will be discovered that the speediest mode to terminate the innumerable diseases—physical , mental , and moral—created b y the irrational laws invented and introduced by men during

      their irrational state of existence , in progress towards rationality , will be to govern or treat all society as the most advanced p hysicians govern and treat their patients in the best arranged lunatic hospitals , in which forbearance and kindness , and full allowance for every paroxysm of the peculiar disease of each , governs the conduct of all who have the care of these unfortunates—of unfortunates ge « nerally made to become so through the irrationality and injustice of the present most irrational system of society . The organised , absurd , unjust , and ^ tjnoranV evstem contrived to punish man by 2 m this day , one of the-rtnogrt evidences of the extent * ""J ^^ rathar to cupnk correctly and truly , ot do « n-

      ri ght insanit y , to which the laws *»« » £ , and tho daily incarcerations and murders , private and public , and wars between nat ons are unmistakable declarations , to the , ™ M £ the low state o f intellect and the total absence of right reason among the people ofaU nat ions , chines , and colours . , , .. _ One of the first measures of the population ^ the world , as soon as the present veil ot ig-

      Ote Rational Mode Of Pergmanently And Pe...

      norance can be removed so as to permit it to become rational , will be to adopt arrangements to prevent any necessity for a continuance of governing by force and ' fraud , and of punishing one created being b y another equall y created and as ignorant as itself . While men shall be 80 ignorantly trained and educated as to make laws , or maintain laws , in opposition to God ' s laws , and thus make man the judge of thoughts and actions which he comprehends not , and therefore blames and punishes his fellow-men According to hie notions , whims , and limited faculties , there can be a slow pronorxnw ran he rpmovp . d sn as to nermit it to

      gress only made towards a rational and health y state of terrestrial happiness and uninjurious enjoyments . The writer bad the peculiar opportunity of governing a population of two thousand " five hundred souls , by principles of kindness , for thirty years ; and althoug h the experiments were commenced and continued under many strongly opposing circumstances , created by men ' s laws , yet was it successful in producing knowledge , merality . and happiness , far beyond his most sanguine expectations . And

      whenever an attempt , shall be made to govern on the same principles , in accordance with the laws of God , the necesssity to resort to human punishments will soon cease , and happiness will speedily produce goodness throughout any population that shall be thus wisel y governed . The true way , being the shortest and most p leasant to produce goodness ,, is , first to adopt measures to make the parties rational and happy . When they are made happy , goodness will be easily created .

      The laws of men are the causes of crime ; and when they have created the crimes , they endeavour , by endless unavailing laws , to remove the evil effects proceeding from those laws ; and thus are causes for punishments created by the crimes , being continually reproduced . The laws of God prevent the creation of the causes which produce crime , and render punishments thereby not only useless , but highly injurious ; and the new constitution , emanating from these laws , may justly be termed a constitution for the prevention of crime and misery , and for the creation of virtue and happiness . Robert Owen .

      A Treat For The Savages. ' Church Atid K...

      A TREAT FOR THE SAVAGES . ' CHURCH ATiD KI . V & ' FOB KBW ZEALAND . The first number of the Canterbury Colonist makes us somewhat better acquainted with the proposed scheme of emigration on Church of England princi ples . It has many points of interest . It is founded on the Grecian model , and claims a sort of ' classical * character . Every reader of-history knows how the ancients colonised . They organisedeverything beforehand . The movement was a state mat . ter . The adventurers constituted a complete segment of the parent society . From the commencement they were a body politic with fixed laws—a social community perfect in themselves . Everyone is astonished at the rapid success and development

      of the colonies so formed . In Southern Italy , in Cyrene , in the Grecian Isles , sad in Asia Minor , these settlements formed about the most active and most cultivated portions of the Hellenic world . Art . commerce , and philosophy flowed thence to Corinth and Athens , —and the capital of the civilised world perhaps owed its intellectual supremacy as much as its physical abundance to the supplies furnished from these sources . The English—we may say the European—system of colonisation contrasts very unfavourably with this—that is , when superficially considered . It is not conductive to such rapid aad brilliant results . Neither arts nor philosophy find cultivators for a long time . A good

      deal of the exterior civilisation is even lost . Not a little of the refinement—nearly all the respect for prestige , traditional ranks , royalties , and ' glorious institutions' which marks the Evglishman , or h supposed to mark him , at home—vanishes with the white cliffs . ; The Greek colonies were always Greek . —the English colonies are not English . What they become when they emerge from the chaos in which their character is formed we see in the United States . The same tendencies are impressed upoa our eettleraeats in all parts of the world . The same elements arc present—the same elements are absent—in each and all . The friends of New Canterbury desire to bring about a new

      system ; one which shall perpetuate the parent institutions—particularly hereditary rank and church supremacy—in the newstatesin process of creation . To this end they ad a pt the Greek plan of carrying out with them at firnt all the elements for complete society . They propose to transport rank , letters , refinement , religion , loyalty , priests , lawyers , rulers , doctors , and labourers . There is novelty ( for modern times ) in all this ; and we feel an interest in the experiment , though convinced that it will fail signally . New Zealand is the land fixed upon for the model trial ; the southern portion of the islandliut the precise spot has still to be determined . A million of acres are to be purchased from the New

      Zealand Company at 10 s . an acre ( this is the pnee at which an ordinary emigant could buy it : ) and to be re-sold to the' model' settlers at a minimum of 60 s . an acre ! The surplus 50 s . will be thus applied : —20 s . to build churches : 20 * . to encourage immigration ; 10 s . to other expenses . We shall be curious to see English farmers investing their money in this fashion . Cut zeal is not nice at arithmetic , —and perhaps a few may be found who will do it . In these days of free opinions , it will be something to live in the midst of a population every man of which is sworn to the thirty-nine articles . The promoters of the scheme quote Latin for their clients , and tell them it is a ' classical

      cohmy' to which they are going . We do not kuow what the sturdy yeomen of Yorkshire think of ibis ; but an hour ' s reading of classical authors might suggest some reasons for thinking that mere organisation is not the only thing wanting in order to parallel ancient with modern modes of colonisation . The * classic' nations did not pay 60 s . an acre for land . They seized the soil by force : it cost them nothing—except perhaps a battle . They had a large slave population to do all the work for them . They went out generally independent . These vere the elements of their success . With all his enterprising spirit , the Hellene would hardly have faced a colonial life with land at £ 3 . an acre and no slaves

      to cultivate it . There are , besides , other difficulties in the plan . —Athentum . [ The concoctors of this most precious scheme must suppose that the people of this country are remarkably green , if they imagine they can find flats to purchase ten-shillings-an-acre land at the cost of sixty shillings an acre , and all for the pleasure of building churches , and supposing useless and mischievous priests , lawyers , and hereditary drones . We have no objection to the deportation of the 'higher clas * e & ' from this country to New Zealand , or any other part of the world . We should be only too happy to witness the embarkation of tbe superior orders ' , to carry civilisation' and ' refinement' fo the Cannibal Island ? . Were that day arrived , the masses would have good cause to shout . ' O be joyful I the good time has come ! 'Ed . N . S . l

      Crim. Con. In High Lifk..—In An Action W...

      Crim . Con . in High Lifk .. —In an action which has been brought against a noble duke for criminal conversation , which has formed the topic of much discussion in the higher circles , and which has given birth to many rumours , an application was made on Friday to a judge at chambers , by Mr Edwin James , as counsel for his grace , for further particulars m respect of the dates and the occasions upon which the alleged offences were stated to have been committed . discussion

      The learned judge , after a lengthened , intimated his opinion that the information which was afforded by the statement in the declaration was very vague and inaccurate ; bnt added that the rale of practice in such cases prohibited him from making the order app lied for . The case will , in all proba . bility , come on for trial at the sittings after tbe present term . The damages are laid at an unusually large gum—several thousands . —Observer ,

      The Frankfort Parliament have voted the abolition of public gambling establishments , games of hazard , public lotteries , and lotto , from the 1 st of May , 1849 . The June Insurrection . —The trial of the persons charged with the assassination of General Brea and his aide-de-camp , Mangin , commenced on Monday before the Second Council of War , under the presidency of Colonel Cornemuse : the accused were twenty-five in number . On the table placed in front of the tribunal were deposited an epaulet of General Brea , and the epaulets , uniform , and flannel waistcoat of Captain Mangin . The first sitting presented no interesting incident , and was entirely taken up with the reading of the bill of indictment and the interrogatories of the accused .

      Inquest <Vw Rnv. Nmt.Tvn-F.V T-Ftrafnvft...

      INQUEST < vw rnv . nmT . Tvn-F . v T-fTrAfnvfTi INQUEST ON THE CHILDREN REMOVED FROM THE TOOTING INFANT PAUPER ASYLUM . On Friday forenoon the 12 th inst ., the jury summoned to inquire into the deaths ofthe four children belonging to the Holborn Union , and who whre removed on Friday , the 5 th inst ., from Mr . Drouet's Infant Pauper Establishment , at Tooting , under circumstances that excited g reat public interest and alarm to the Royal Free Hospital , at Gray ' s-innlane , where they ' e-i ^ pired within a day or two after their arrival , from , as it is alleged , Asiatic cholera , re-assembled to resume the investigation at the Royal Free Hospital , asrreeably to adjournment . Mr . Wakley , M . l ' ., acted as coroner , having recovered from his recent indisposition . The jury having proceeded to examine thc different wards in the

      hospital into which the children removed from Tooting had been received , returned to the inquest room , when The Coroner observed that , with a view to institute as full an inquiry as possible into the circumstances of this very distressing case , it was desirable that they should determine their course of procedure , and , if Mr . Drouet had been present , he would have requested him to furnish the jury with the names of any persons he proposed to call as witnesses . The inquiry upon which they were about to enter would not be conducted as a prosecution against any board or person , and it must not be assumed that the deplorable calamity which had occurred in the Tooting establishment was attributable to any culpable neglect . At the same time the

      calamity that had occurred was one calculated to strike terror into the public mind , and he believed it had occasioned more alarm than any event which had occurred in this country within ' his memory . The communications he had received from a great variety of persons showed that a degree of terror had been excited which was calculated to produce a most depressing effect , and mi < rht be attended with great mischief . He must observe that it was not the least extraordinary feature of this case that they were now holding an inquiry in Middlesex connected with events which had , in a great measure , occurred in the county of Surrey . There had , he believed , been upwards of 100 deaths in the establishment at Tooting , and vet no inquest had been held at that

      place . They might probably ascertain in the course of their inquiries how this had occurred—whether the coroner for Surrey had not received notice of the deaths , or whether any public hoard or authority had interfered to prevent an inquiry before a coroner's jury . It might be that the coroner for Surrey had received notice , and that he considered there were not sufficient grounds to institute an inquiry ; but , for his own part , he ( Mr . Wakley ) could only say that if he had refused to hold an inquest under such circumstances , he would have never have felt justified in holding an inquest again in any case of sudden death . So jealous were our forefathers for the preservation of human life that they had provided centuries ago that no criminal ,

      however vile , should die in gaol without an inquest being held to ascertain that his death was not caused bv the misconduct of those under whose care he was placed ; and if the law was so tender with regard to criminals , surely the same consideration should be extended to these infant helpless children , who were not free agents , but who , in these pauper establishments , were more or less , in a state of confinement . He could not understand how it was that no inquiry had yet been instituted before a coroner ' s jury with regard to the number of deaths which had recently occurred in the Tooting establishment . He saw that it was publicly announced in the Times of Thursday , that eighty children who had died in that establishment had been

      interred in Tooting churchyard . A Juror . — "Within what period ? The Coro . ver . —Since the disease broke outwithin a fortnight . Altogether the circumstances were most extraordinary ; hut it would be unjust to assume that the coroner for Surrey had not good grounds for the course he had pursued . He ( Mr . Wakley ) had been out of town in consequence of indisposition , and almost all the information he possessed on the subject was derived from the public journals . He considered that Mr . Grainger had acted with great kindness and propriety in recommending the immediate removal of the children from Tooting . He ( Mr . Wakley ) could not , however , but feel strongly for the situation of the poor children who still remained in tho establishment .

      What must be their feelings when _ they saw van loads and coaches full of other children removed from the abode of disease , while they were still left exposed to its fiercest ravages ! To leave them in such a position , so calculated to excite their fears , was but too likely to predispose them to receive the epidemic . Without imputing the slightest blame to Mr . Drouet , or to the parties who had conducted his establishment , he ( Mr . Wakley ) certainly thought it most desirable that the children should be removed as speedily as possible . The investigation in this case ought to be searcliinff and complete . The public were entitled to know all that could be ascertained with regard to the nature of cholera . If the disease were contagious , it was well it should be

      known , and then measures might be taken to prevent its spread ; while , if it appeared from the experience of those best capable oi forming an opinion , that the disease waa not contagious , much needless fear and apprehension would be prevented . It appeared impossible that the inquiry could bo concluded to-day , but he thought it most desirable that with a desire to allay public apprehension , it should he terminated ., ts speedily as was consistent with a full and searching investigation . Before the next meeting of the jury , he would request Mr . Drouet to attend hefore them , and if he showed any unwillingness to come , he ( Mr . Wakley ) would take care that a summons should be served upon him . The following witnesses were then called : — Catherine Kilbt , a nurse belonging to the

      Holborn Union , deposed , —The number of children brought to the Free Hospital from Tooting was 154 . Johnson was taken ill between five and six o ' clock on Saturday morning ; complained of thirst , and vomited . The children arrived here between seven and eight on Friday night . Johnson also complained Of pain in the stomach ; she was purged once . Mr Whitfield , surgeon to the union , saw ner about halfpast seven . She did not complain of cramp . She cried out for water , and I gave her a little toastanit-water . She died about a quarter past two . She complained of pain across the bowels , but not of difficulty of breathing , or pressure on thc chest . Mr . Whitfield continued with her about two hours after he first came . Bridget Quin was taken ill between eleven and twelve on Saturday night . She complained of sickness , and vomited .

      Mr Whitfield wished to say that the nurse was mistaken as to the time of his * attendance . He remained with Johnson until her death , with the exception of occasional absences for a few minutes . Witness continued . —The symptoms were the same in Quin ' s as in the other case , except that Quin was not purged . She died on Sunday morning , between seven and eight . Keziah Dimoxd . —I was present when James Andrews died , on Saturday , the 0 th of January , at half-past eleven . He was taken ill at six o ' clock in the morning , with purging and vomiting . Mr . Whitfield attended him . He was put within not blankets , and medicine was administered . His skin was very cold . He had no cramps . He was purged five or

      six times . MARY Harris proved the death of Harper . He was not purged , but vomited three or four times . IDs skin and breath were very cold . Mr . R . D . Grainger , member ofthe Council ofthe Royal College of Surgeons , and one of the superintending medical inspectors of tiie General Board of Health was then sworn . —I visited Mr Drouet's establishment at Tooting , on Friday , January 5 , at the request of the Board of Health , for the purpose of inquiring into the causes of the extraordinary mortality that had occurred there . I also Went again on Saturday , the 6 th , Sunday , the 7 th , and on Wednesday , the 10 th . I have prepared a report in consequence of what I saw on those visits , which I have presented to the General Board of Health . I have that report with me , and it is thc wish ofthe Board that it should be produced , along with any other official documents in their possession bearing upon this casebefore the jury .

      , Mr . Waklev . —Has anything taken place with reference to holding an inquest at Tooting ? Mr . Grainger . —A verbal communication took place between the Board of Health and my self on thc subject . I suggested tbe importance and necessity of an immediate inquest being held ; in that view the Board concurred . Thc Board are anxious that an inquest should take place , and , if it is in their power to enforce an inquest , I have no doubt an inquest will yet take place in Surrey . I believe a communication has taken place between the Board of Health and the Secretary for the Home

      Department with reference to the holding of an inquest in Surrey ; and that the GencralBoard of Health acted under the authority of two acts of Parliament . The first was the Public Health Act , which gave the General Board of Health very considerable powers in all parts of England , except London , and a circle of ten or twelve miles round the metropolis . Mr . Drouct ' s establishment therefore , did not come under the operation of that act of Parliament . There was another measure , the Nuisances' Prevention Act , which gave tue Board very limited powers .

      Mr Waklev observed , that he had seen it stated that the Poor Law Commissioners ha d no authority over Mr . Drouet's establishment . Now , if it should appear that these children had lost their lives through any neg lect or mismanagement , a mo ^ t important question would arise as to where the responsibility lay . He believed it would be proved that the children had been removed from the Holborn Union , which was under thc authority of the Poor Law Commissioners , to an establishment in thc Wandsworth Union , which was also under their authority . He could not understand , therefore , how it could be stated that the CommiesionerB had no power over this eBtablishment ,

      Inquest <Vw Rnv. Nmt.Tvn-F.V T-Ftrafnvft...

      especially as the 15 th section of the Poor Law Act oflfcUi provided that the Commissioners should from tune to time make and issue regulations for lnrkS ? V ? lhe P ° ' for tue government ol workhouMis . for the education of chifdrcn therein , ™ Jw tw ! i ' , ? , tof P « ishPoor children . He would think i t his du £ V i / fit s - * d be deoinod ne _ cessary , to summon Mr . Hall , or one of thePooV Law Commission ers , to attend the inquest , for the purpose of affording some explanation on this subject . r Mr . GitAixoEn then proceed .. J to road the following report : — "Sir , —I beg respoctfuny lo state , for tho information of the General Board of Health , that in accordance with the instructions 1 received I visipsneciallv as tlm icti . . „^ : * -n . _ .. T . ^ .

      , ted , on Friday , the 5 th inst ., the establishment of Mr . Drouet for pauper children , at Lower Tooting ; I made a careful inspection of the various rooms occupied as cholera wards for thc reception of the sick children . It is necessary , however , to premise that as the powers of the General Board are limited , under the provision of the Nuisances Removal and Disease Prevention Act , to thc issuing of regulations and to institute inquiries , no authority existed for enforcing any measure which in consequence of this investigation might appear to the tieneral Board to he desirable . I first entered those on the females' side , when I w as struck by a sense of the extreme closeness , oppression , and " foulness of the air , far exceeding in offensivencss anything I have

      ever yet witnessed in apartments , in hospitals or elsewhere , occupied by the sick . "There was , especially , in tho highest degree , that peculiar and sickening smell familiar to all who arc acquainted with close , unventilated , and heated rooms overcrowded with children . The rooms were crowded with beds utterly disproportioned in number to tho space allotted to them . In a room for example , sixteen feet long , twelve feet wide , and less than eight feet hi gh , there were five beds , occupied by eleven children , all ill with cholera In another room ofthe same dimensions there were four oeds , with thirteen cholera patients , of whom four * were in one bed , and three in each of the others . In a third room , eighteen feet long , sixteen feet wide , and ei g ht feet high , there were nine beds , with sixteen children in cholera , two of the beds having three patients in each—a circumstance

      which I observed likewise in other wards . The lighting and ventilation of the whole of these wards was totally insufficient . ' . " On the boys' side tfterc " was a room containing eighteen beds , nearly touching each other , in which were thirty-five boys ill with cholera , twenty-five being in bed , ( two in each bed ) , and ten sitting round the fire , being convalescent . One hoy'had just died on my entrance . In this ward , which is an example of the arrangement of all the main buildings of this establishment , there were windows only on one side—a construction totall y incompatiable with a due supply of light and air . " On the female side I found only one regular nurse , who was passing in and out to attend to the children in several wards ; and on the boys' side , in the room above described , containing thirty-five patients , there was only one nurse ( a male ) in attendance .

      " To those who are acquainted with the nature of cholera , with the violent and most sudden evacuations both by vomiting and purging , it is needless to point out the utter inefficiency of such attendance . I found that the children were continually vomiting in the beds and on the floor , and that , consequently , the sheets , bedding , and floor were covered with the discharges ; that no efficient aid was in a single case afforded to those suffering children , * that some of them were getting out of bed ; and that all needed , not only for decency and comfort , but for actual safety , that careful and watchful attention which cholera patients in the stage of collapse so urgently demand .

      " The various appliances found in ' all properly regulated institutions for administering relief to patients suffering under cholera , and especially for applying continued heat to the surface ot the body ; a point deemed by all authorities to he one of the most essential means for the treatment of collapse , were either totally wanting or quite inadequate . " In passing through the female cholera rooms I observed some small apartments containing unoccupied beds , and on inquiry why those were not used , m order immediately to relieve thc overcrowded beds , I was informed that they were unprovided with fire places or other means of heating .

      " As a medical man it is my duty to state that it is impossible to conceive a state of things more entirely iinsuited as to the construction of the buildings and the overcrowding of the inmates , the absence of all efficient nursing , and the - want of the recognised means of medical and other treatment , than was presented in this establishment . "From the evidence of Mr . Popham , one ofthe parochial surgeons of St . Pancras , who was sent down on Friday evening by thc board of guardians of that parish , it appears the evils described above had become greatly aggravated , in consequence of the increased and rapidly increasing number of the sick .

      " This gentleman says— ' Found everything in very great confusion ; found , in thc cholera wards for boys , with two exceptions , four boys in each bed . Some were dying ; others in a state of collapse ; some recently brought in and placed in the beds with others . In the girls' cholera wards , found five patients in one bed . In the other beds generally four in each . A foul stench in all the wards . The floors wore wet from the matters vomited , owing to thc total insufficiency of nurses and attendants . In the boys' side there are two rooms communicating so as to form one ward . In this ward there were on his arrival sixty-four boys , all suffering with cholera . The number of beds was twentyei g ht , of which some were empty , in order to receive , as he supposes , fresh cases .

      " ' As to the arrangements and attendants , found all defective and in confusion ; one male nurse only to the hoys' ward , and occasionally a female , who was for the most part in bed , owing to fatigue and being unwell . There was only one candle in this ward , and the hoys were crying out for assistance in all directions . " There were no means of applying heat ; only two or three hot bottles to his knowledge could be procured . "' As to the surgery , there was only one pair of scales , one spatula , and some of the medicines were not labelled at all ; in consequence of this total insufficiency , little efficient assistance could be afforded to the patients last ni g ht . The groat crowding , the noxious atmosphere ot the wards , the impossibility of procuring and putting up thc proper medicines , and of attending to so many patients with so few nurses , were most adverse circumstances . Am of opinion , as a medical practitioner , the mortality has been considerably increased by all these causes . '"

      "Mr . Grainger then recommended the obtamingthc assistance of three surgeons , a physician , and additional nurses , and proceeds : —In connexion with the arrangements for the sick , it may here be stated that on Sunday , January 7 th , I again visited Mr . Drouct ' s establishment ; and on inspecting the cholera wards , I was much concerned and surprised , after the explicit recommendations I had made on Friday , to find that some of the more important of them had been so imperfectly carried into effect . "In each of the beds there are for the most part ' still two patients ; thus , in the room for the female children of St . Pancras parish , there were ten beds and nineteen children , many of whom were in a state of the extrcmest collapse . As regards the

      provision for nurses , I am called upon to express my strongest disapproval . On Friday evening four additional nurses were sent down by thc authorities of St . 1 ' ancras ; two of these Returned on Saturday evening—a promise having boon given , according to the statement of Mr . Pop ham , that six additional nurses should be sent to Tooting on the same evening ; which , however , was not realised . I find on Sunday that the proprietor of the establishment had not added a single nurse ; so that the only addition made since Friday consisted of the two women who still remained from St . Pancras ; and yet at this time there were one hundred and seventy-eight cholera patients under treatment , being an increase since Friday of no less than sixty-four . On a more

      close examination the results of this lamentable and reprehensible neglect were most apparent . I found four of the female wards under the care of one nurse —a woman belonging to the establishment , and whom I had seen on ; my previous visit . In the ward with the St . Pancras female patients , nineteen in number , there was but one nurse , who informed me that she had been up since she came on Friday evening . On the boys' side I found that in a small ward , containing , besides several children labouring under ordinary complaints , one cholera patient and eight with diarrhoea , was a nurse of the establishment , who liad been up on Fridav nieht . the greater

      Sart of Saturday , all Saturday night , and on Sunay , till the time of my visit . In the adjoining larger ward , with nineteen patients , some of whom were convalescent , was one male nurse ; whilst in a third room with thirty-two beds , I found only one female nurse sent by St . Pancras parish , who informed me that she had one yoxing woman to help her in the daytime , hut she herselt had been up all the time since her arrival on Friday evening without five minutes' rest . It is ri ght that the names of these two young women from St . Pancras , who have thus hazarded their own lives in the attempt to save that of others , should be recorded ; they are Mary Anne Keith and Sarah Sellers .

      " An attempt was made to make up for the insufficient supply of nurses , b y employing some of the older pauper hoys and girls still free from attack . In one of thc boys' wards , I found , for example , four boys , of the average age of 13 , thus assisting : even some of tho children recovering from cholera were so employed . This is a most objectionable procedure , inasmuch as to bring children , already acted on by the cholera poison , and perhaps on the very verge of an attack , into the contaminated atmosphere of such sick wards as these , was to expose them to imminent danger ; whilst , as regards those who were recovering , it waa of pri-

      Inquest <Vw Rnv. Nmt.Tvn-F.V T-Ftrafnvft...

      mary importance that they , instead of being detained in attendance on the sick , should have been removed as early as possible into properly prepared convalescent wards . " Thc consequences of all this inexcusable neglect was , that on Sunday the bed clothes were still soaked with the evacuations of the suffering children , and that the few nurses who were in the wards were obliged to run from one bed to another , and that the patients were most inefficiently attended on . "With reference to thc medical assistance for tho sick , I found one resident medical officer , twentyfive years of age , a member of thc College of Sur-. m . ^ + W n , ™ i ^^ A ,. ** t „> , \ , ~ j .

      geons and Apothecaries-hall , who had been the medical officer of the establishment during the last two months , having to take the charge of i " 37 t > children , at the remuneration of £ 50 a year , with board and lodging . This gentleman states that he had visited the hulks at Woolwich , where he had seen some cases of cholera ; and also that he had , in two previous situations , had thc charge of pauper patients . "It seems that a significant warning of the approaching outbreak was given iVartcc-ifdr . ys before a single case of cholera had occurred . Three girls were on Friday , December lo , attacked with vomiting , diarrhoea , and collapse ; but this warning was not understood by thc resident medical officer .

      • "If at this time , fourteen days before the fatal outbreak , due and proper measures had been carried into effect , a large part of the evil that has since occurred , it is certain , would have been averted . " It is further evident from the evidence , that after the attack of cholera no efficient mams were adopted either to discover the existence of the premonitory diarrhoea , or for its treatment when it was brouirht under the notice of the resident medical officer . Thus the mistress ofthe girls says ' she had received no direction to question the children whether thev have diarrhoea , ' and a similar statement is made by the master and one of the under-masters , the oniv officials of this class questioned by me : whilst as regards the medical officer , he could not undertake this duty if it had ever been contemplated , beino * overcharged with attendance on the sick . With

      vcgard to the treatment of the premonitory diarrhoea , although all the medical authorities of the Board of Health in England , Ireland , and Scotland , have , in their published instructions , advised tho use of some preparation of opium , that medicine had not been administered in a single case of diarrhoea up to my visit on Friday , the medical officer relying on astringents . ' That there has boon , as in all similar circumstances , , a- large amount of diarrhoea prevailing among the children at this establishment , both before and since the outbreak of cholera , is abundantly proved . One of the assistant-masters stated to me , * he had observed that the boys had been purged during , the last fortnight , and especially since yesterday week . ' ' "The schoolmistress also states , that ' many of thc children have been taken with pain in ' the bowels . '"

      Mr , Grainger then complains of the over-crowding of tho children . " In the schoolroom for boys the master informed me there were , when all were present , 500 ; the length of this room being 91 feet , the width 21 feet , and the height 11 feet . " The ventilation is most defective , and entirely incompatible with the maintenance of health . * # * " In connexion with these schoolrooms , it is necessary to state that Mr . Hall , the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner , informed me that in the beginning of the month of November last he and Mr Tulnell gave Mr . Drouet a written order , limiting the number to be received in the boys' schoolroom to 400 , and in the girls' schoolroom to ICO . This order , which

      ought , under tho ordinary circumstances of health , to have been immediately carried into operation , was neglected , and , as it must be presumed , to the injury of the children ' s health . " The yard or playground was damp and wet , owing , as it appeared , to its limited size , and to the buildings by -which it is more or less surrounded . Mr . Semple , one ofthe medical officers of Islington , stated to me that he had complained of the wet and damp condition of the premises . All this is most unfavourable to the health of young children , for , as there' are no day rooms , the children must either go into the damp yard , or remain in the schoolrooms or dormitories , which , on other grounds , is equall y objectionable . "

      Mr . Grainger proceeds to complain of the keeping of pies , horses , and other animals in a long range of buildings in the vicinity of the yard , and of the ditches , canals , and pieces of water in thc neighbourhood ; at the same time adding , that the injurious locality only p layed an indirect part in the epidemic , as in the village of Tooting not a case of cholera had occurred . " This being the case , the essential causes- ofthe outbreak must be sought in the establishment itself ; and , first , as regards the diet" This consists of meat three times a-week , ' pudding once , and pea-soup throe times a-woek . On inquiry , and questioning a considerable number of children , I am bound to * state that , in many instances , the food has been defective in quality ; tho kind and quality of the diet also have been of an objectionable character , and liable , especially in a season like the present , to have exerted an injurious influence on thc system .

      " Under these circumstances , it is to he much regretted that the proprietor did not , in accordance with the recommendations issued by the General Board , discontinue the use of a vegetable diet . If , instead of feeding these children so often on a kind of food , pea-soup ( known to exert , in many cases , a relaxing influence on the alimentary canal ) , a diet consisting more of solid and dry and farinaceous food , had been substituted for green vegetables when the cholera approached the metropolis , there are sufficient grounds for inferring that the stamina of thc children would have been better maintained , and that , consequently , more resistance would have been offered to the attack of the epidemic influence of cholera .

      " With respect to the clothing , this is insufficient , particularly as concerns tho provision of flannel next the skin , a point of primary importance in maintaining the health of all young children "After maturely considering all the circumstances connected with tho painful occurrence , I am induced to express my firm conviction that the essential cause of all the mischief has been the inordinate over-crowding of this establishment . * * * " In concluding the report it is my duty to call thc attention of the General Board of Health to some facts connected with this distressing ease . It is , in thc first place , certain , that if the various instructions contained in the several notifications of the hoard had been duly observed and efficiently carried into execution , a large part , if not all , the evils that have occurred , would have been avoided . * * * " Jan . 8 , 1849 . " R . D . Granger . " Henry Austin , Esq . "

      Mr . Grainger then read a supplementary report , dated January 11 , which he had submitted to the Board of Health after his visit to Mr . Drouct ' s establishment on Wednesday . In this document he stated that , being desirous to obtain more express evidence of thc epidemic being true Asiatic cholera , he had procured further information from the medical gentlemen , who were either in attendance on the sick , or who had visited them officially on behalf of the London parishes to which the children respectively belonged . Mr . Semple , one of thc surgeons of Islington parish , had visited Mr . Drouct ' s establishment almost daily since the disease broke out , and Mr . Popham and Mr . Bailey , who had boon in

      attendance on thc sick children , expressed their decided conviction that tho cases were those of true Asiatic cholera . Mr . Kite , the resident medical officer at thc establishment , found that in the state of collapse tho urine was suppressed—a material symptom of cholera ; and Mr . Penny , who had had much experience in Calcutta , had also remarked the total absence of the urinary secretions in these casea . Mr . Grainger adds" Since my former report , I have myself made several careful observations , microscopic and others , and I may state that I have in no case of cholera which I have examined , either in this country or in Germany , seen the special characters of jhe disease more distinctly developed . No mark was * wanting . "

      Thc report further stated , that Mr . Grainger had found that the dormitories had been greatly overcrowded , and that so large a number of children had been placed in one dormitory as to be entirely incompatible with health . In the boys' dormitories there had been as many as sixty-six , or more , in one apartment , the beds being mostly about six inches apart ; while on the girls' side , which was inordinately overcrowded , the beds were placed in every possible space , and touching each other . The fire-places in thc g irls' dormitories were also closed , so that at nieht there could he scarcely any

      ventilation . Mr . Grainger then proceeded to describe the new dormitory for boys , which is close to the farmyard , in which were crowded , within a very small space , ten or twelve sties full of pigs , aud where there were also twelve cows , some horses , and a large number of fowls . Mr . Grainger sta k' 3 that he considered it a most unjustifiable procedure on the part of the proprietor , especially after the advice he had rcccivedfronihismediealattendants , tointroduce 150 boys into apartments built upon a spot close to such an accumulation of animals , and also in the immediate vicinity of several foul ditches ,

      The report of Mr . Lovick , a surveyor , was then read by Mr . Grainger . The report went into considerable detail respecting the ditches and sowers , and concluded with suggestions for effecting a temporary improvement iu the defective dvainago of this locality . The Coroner observed , that he was . sure the opinion of thc jury would coincide with his , when he uaid that Mr , Grainger had performed an imtor *

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      tant public service in the examinations he hadniade , and in the preparation of his report , which appeared to be a very valuable and comprehensive document . ( Hear , hear . ) Mr . Graixger , in reply to questions from tho coroner , described the premonitory symptoms of tho disease . All thc symptoms he had ' described were more or less observable in the cases which had occurred at Tooting . Without wishing to create any unnecessary alarm , he " might say that the cholera was liable to break out at any moment in any part of London , and it was , therefore , ofthe utmost importance that the first outbreak of diarrhoea should be at once attended to . In thc month of December , out of 400 children in the Mile-end Workhouse sixty were seized with violent purging and vomiting , but medical treatment was immediately adopted by thc surgeon , and not one of the children passed through cholera . Mr . Wakley . —Do you deem cholera ordinarily , or under anv circumstances , to be contagious ? ., ... ... ... ......

      Mr . Grainger . —I believe it under no form or circumstances whatever to bo a contagious disease . I have never met with any feet which lias led me to believe it to be communicable from man to man . The Coroner . —To what cause or causes do you distinetlv and unequivocally refer the spread of cholera at the Tooting establishment ' i Mr . Giuixobr . — Besides the general causes operating upon tho children , thc only two special causes oHeratimr within the house appeared to me

      to be the clothing and diet of the children , and their condition with regard to overcrowding . I think , if children similarly ted and clothed to those at Tooting , had been divided over the country in healthy drstricts , they would not have been affect-ed by the disease . I think the principal special cause ofthe disease was the inordinate overcrowding of thc establishment : but it is to the system which permits this state of things that all the mischief must eventually be referred . I do not know what number of deaths has taken place . of

      The clerk the Holborn Union Mid there had already been 123 deaths at Tooting alono . Mr . Wakley . —Do you believe the disease can bo taken by emanationsfrom a dead body ? Mr . Grainger . —No ; I have seen nothing to induce me to believe that the disease can be communicated from the dead to the living . Mr , Wakley had asked the question in consequence of seeing in Thc Times of Monday an order issued by Mr . Chapman , a medical officer of tho Wandsworth and Clapham Union . That order was in those terms : " Lower Tooting , Surrey , Jan . ( J . "Ihereby . command that the corpses of all the children now at Mr . Drouet ' s who have died of cholera be buried to night , and that every child who dies of cholera be buried within twenty-four hours of its death in Tooting churchyard .

      " Waltkk Ciur-MAX , Medical Officer . " Wandsworth and Clapham Union for the Tooting District . " Thafc was , without exception , the most frightful document he had ever scon or read . Persons who had been poisoned by arsenic presented many of the appearances of those who died from cholera : and , it such an order as this were to be enforced , it was almost like holding out an inducement to murdeB and a shield to cruelty . He hoped the circumstance would be brought under the notice of the Board of Health , and that measures would be taken to prevent the issue of orders of such a nature .

      Mr . Gbaixoeu said , he must take the share of responsibility which fairly devolved upon him with regard to tho circumstances to which the coroner had alluded . He had expressed to Mr . Chapman lug conviction that tho bodies of those who died from cholera should be interred as speedily as possible consistent with safety ; and such was still his opinion . He was satisfied that Mr . Chapman , in issuing that order , had been actuated by a conviction that it was necessary , as a precaution for the safety ofthe living , that the dead should not remain too long unburiedT Mr . Uraisoer begged now to read a communication with which he had been charged by thc Board of Health , and which concludes as follows : —

      " That the present system of contracting for the maintenance of pauper children is destitute of real and proper securities , and at variance with the spirit and intention of the special provisions of tho Legislature in respect to tho care of parish poor children—namely , that they should be subject to responsible controul ? and , therefore , in the judgment of the Board of Health , the system ought , a 3 speedily as possible , to be put an end to . " The ConoxBii wished to put another question to Mr . Grainger—whether he had examined the general bodily condition of the children ? Mr . Grainger . —I did examine many of them . A very large number of them were , on the whole , generally in a good strong state of health . Thers

      were various indications of great pallor , soreness of the eyes , and a number of them seemed to be labouring under the itch : but many of the children had red cheeks , and appeared to be perfectly healthy . My impression is , however , that you could under no possible known arrangements secure the health of 1 , 400 children collected together in one building , and especially if that building was not arranged for tho purpose , " in hospitals , where there were 150 patients in a large ward , there would be much greater mortality than in smaller ward ? , where there wore only twenty or thirty . As to the diet , some of tho children said they had not enough to oat , and others that they had . The inquest was then adjourned .

      ADJOURNED INQUEST . On Tuesday the inquest on the bodies of the four ? children who died in the Free Hospital , Gray ' s-innroad , was resumed before Mr . Wakley , M . P . The jury assembled in the secretary ' s office , at the Hospital , but it being found inconveniently small , they adjourned to thc Globe Tavern , in Derby-street . As the proceedings were about to be commenced , Mr . Ballamine ( the barrister ) said he had been instructed to appear on behalf of Mr . Drouet , not ; with the view of defending him or any ono under accusation , but of assisting in the investigation which had been very properly entered into . ill - Wakley said he could not permit counsel to appear as such . But the ease was one of so

      important a nature—one in which it was so desirable that the truth should be arrived at—he should be glad ' it Mr . Ballantine would remain in the room and assist Mr . Drouet upon any matters he might think essential for the administration of justice . Mr B . « . LAXir . VB wished to lay before the jury ft report signed by four medical men , now attending tho sick at Tooting . __ Mr . Waklev took the report , and said lie would , at a later period , lay it before the jury ; but the course of proceeding he wished to adopt was , first of all , to call some person connected with the board of guardians of tho Holborn Union , for the purpose of ascertaining what was really the nature and terms

      of the contract entered into between them and Mr . Drouet , of Tooting—whether there had been any violation of it on Mr . Drouet ' s part—any looseness in the conditions of it ; and whether it gave him any undue licence with regard to the children . Then they would come to the legal point as to whether the Poor Law Commissioners could exercise any authority over the establishment—whether , if they could , they wore hound to do so , and , if hound , whether there had boon any neglect or remissness on their part in not doing so . Then the jury would be in a position to examine into the actual state of the asylum and the children previous io the breaking out of disease .

      Mr W . R . James , clerk to the board of guardians ' , Holborn Union examined . —Is a solicitor , and held the office of clerk to the board since 1833 , the yean ofthe formation ofthe union . The board ot guardians entered into an encasement with an-. i > i-oucfr fo send some of thc children to his establishment in . 1817 , and in thc beginning of November in that year some ofthe boys were sent there . There was no distinct or written contract , otherwise than by letters , but they showed fully the terms of the engagement with Mr . Drouet . The board kept minutes o £ all thc proceedings on the subject , and these contained the conditions on which tho children were sent . One of these minutes , dated 25 th October , ( as read by witness ) contained Mr . Drouet ' s

      statement of dietary and general , treatment of thc children , of his terms , which were 4 s . Cd . per head per ? week , and of his being licensed for 1 , 200 , and of their being then only a little over 800 children in the asylum . The same minutes contained a report of a . committee of the board of guardians , expressing their fullest satisfaction with the asylum which they had visited , of the diet , which they considered most ample and healthy , and of the course of insttvetioa pursued , observing that there was scarcely one child so ill as to require medical aid , and that the asylum itself was better situated than that at Norwood , and less exposed to the cold and cutting winds ; the fuardians were at this time negotiating with Mi ^ rouet , and thev sent about eighty boys to him soma days after . This witness proceeded to read several reports , by which it appeared that the guardians placed at Drouct ' s establishment 211 children , at is . 6 d . per week , and that they were visited monthly

      by the guardians , who wore satisfied with their treatment . Thc report , however , dated 9 th May , states that the potatoes were bad , and on the boys being questioned as to the supply of food , forty of them said the supply was insufficient . Mr . Drouet ' s conduct thereupon became violent . He said the boys who did so were liars ; that they were the worst boys in the school ; and that if he did them justice , he would follow out the suggestion of Mr . James , and thrash them well . Some of the boys complained of not having a sufficiency of bread for ? breakfast , on which Mj * . Drouet's conduct became more violent ; he said that they ( the visitors ) were actually unfair ; that they ought to bo satisfied to rely upon his character ; that they had no right to pursue inquiry after that fashion , and that he would be glad to ge ' t rid of tho children who complained . The report concluded by stating that the visitors left without completing their inquiry . On the 17 th the children were again visited by a committee of toe board . They inspected the J tf-ead , meat , asd

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 20, 1849, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_20011849/page/7/