found in after life almost invariably to reflect credit on the Institution where they have been brought up. Many private lodges emulate one another in the appropriation of great part of their incomes to charitable uses; but even this, if it could be known, would give a very imperfect idea of the assistance and encouragement afforded by Masons to their less fortunate brethren. Votes and interest in elections of all kinds, nominations to schools, offices and appointments, patronage, custom, and acts of kindness and friendship have no ascertainable money value, but moral support is no less real than pecuniary help because it cannot be expressed in the form of a balance-sheet, and secrecy is the very essence of Masonic charity, as

it is of everything belonging to the craft.

Such then is Freemasonry, and to quote the words of a German brother"Such a universal association is essentially necessary. tially necessary. All others, depending upon similarity of rank or calling, upon political opinions or religious creeds, suffer more or less from exclusiveness. This union of unions, which joins all good men into one family, in which the principle of equality, together with that of brotherly love, that is, love of the human race, is the predominant one, and the end and aim of all its moral influence upon others-this is Freemasonry.”

EDWARD F. WILLOUGHBY.

EVERY one who reads the newspaper is familiar with the common expression occurring in the trials of prisoners who escape punishment on the ground of insanity, "To be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure; but very few would be able to answer the question, What becomes of these persons? Those who desire to know their destination may incline to accompany us to Broadmoor in Berkshire, about four miles from the Bracknell station on the South Western Railway, and thirty miles from London. This is the State Criminal Asylum for England and Wales, and was erected fifteen years ago (1863), in conformity with an Act passed in 1860, which provided that criminal lunatics should be separately cared for by the State.

The site of the institution is well chosen, covers 300 acres, and commands an extensive and uninterrupted view. The building is of red brick, with a chapel in the centre, and consists of three stories, with distinct additional blocks at the extreme end. It is built on the corridor plan, with day rooms, and single and associated dormitories. The windows alone indicate, from outside, the character of the building, being protected by strong vertical iron bars. In some parts of the building, for the females, these bars do not extend to the whole height of the window, and escape would in such cases not be difficult. In other parts of this division, and throughout the male division, the windows are securely protected. In this and other ways the house is more secure than it was formerly. I find in regard to escapes that, from the opening of the asylum in 1863 up to the end of 1877, there have been not more than twentythree. During the last three years there have been none. The majority recaptured on the next, or fol

were

lowing day; one not till three months; and four were never discovered. Four escaped from the airing court; three while out with a walking party; and four from breaking the windowguard; while one escaped from his bedroom by making an aperture in the wall. An attendant connived at one patient's escape, was prosecuted, and convicted. I may add that prior to the opening of Broadmoor, the proportion of escapes of criminal lunatics detained in England elsewhere was much greater. The opening of Broadmoor has also affected the mortality of this class, having reduced it materially. Some probably regard this as an actual disadvantage; but whatever political economists may say, medical science only sanctions, as yet at least, the adoption of that course of hygiene and treatment which most conduces to the prolongation of human life.

There were, when I visited Broadmoor, 500 inmates 400 men and 100 women, or thereabouts. When we consider that of these unfortunate people more than 300 have either murdered some one, or attempted to murder or maim some one, it may well cause reflection, alike sad and philosophical, on what a disordered brain may lead its possessor to do, what acts to commit. Ninety had killed their own children as well as, in some instances, the wife or husband; upwards of 20, their wives; 8, their mothers; 4, their fathers; and 1, both parents. And another reflection may be made, to the credit of the institution, that no case of actual murder has occurred since it was opened, and that, taking last year, good order was maintained, no premeditated act of violence was committed, and there was no suicide.

And yet no mechanical restraint was resorted to, no fetters, no strait

waistcoats, no leglocks or straps. Some patients are of course secluded in a single room in which a bed made on the floor is the only furniture allowed, and in which the window is protected by a shutter if the patient breaks glass. The room is, when the shutter is closed, only partially dark, as there are two small windows near the ceiling, out of the patient's reach. By the side of the door is an inspection plate, or narrow slit in the wall, with a movable glazed frame, opening outwards, through which the occupant of the room can be observed when necessary. These rooms are well ventilated, and are warmed by means of hot water. I should not proceed further without stating that in addition to the class of cases to which I referred in the beginning of this paper-those namely detained during Her Majesty's pleasure, including those certified to be insane while awaiting their trial, or found insane on arraignment, or acquitted on the ground of insanity, or reprieved on this ground immediately after their sentence-besides these there are convicts who become insane while undergoing their penal servitude. As a rule, however, male convicts of this class are no longer sent to Broadmoor; Dr. Orange having discovered that it was necessary to keep insane convicts distinct from the other class, and to secure their safe detention more completely and certainly; that is to say, to separate lunatic criminals from criminal lunatics, or, as they are usually called, "Queen's pleasure men" —a distinction sometimes really as important as that which exists between a horse-chestnut and a chestnut horse. It will be readily understood that the convicts-really criminals, and often desperate criminals,they are—may differ widely from those who in an access of insanity have committed a crime, and that men who leave prison discipline at Pentonville, or elsewhere, to enjoy the comparative comfort of asylum life at Broadmoor, are very likely either to sham madness in order to stay there,

or escape in order to avoid having to complete on recovery their term of servitude. Anything better than that. In insisting on this distinct classification and accommodation, Dr. Orange did not, in the first instance, intend, I suppose, to prevent the convict class being provided for at Broadmoor; but having set the ball in motion, it went on and on; and instead of an additional building being erected for the convict men, a regulation was made in 1874 preventing their being sent in future to Broadmoor. For the women of this class there was and is ample room, an additional wing having been erected eleven years ago.

Again, there is a reason on the side of the prison authorities why convicts when insane should not be sent to Broadmoor. They are naturally unwilling that the history of their previous treatment should be known and scrutinised at another place. Hence they greatly prefer retaining them in the prisons, or in one of them in which provision has been specially made for insane convict men.

It will probably occur to some to ask whether many or any of those who are "Queen's pleasure men (or women) are found to have been improperly acquitted when subjected to the careful and prolonged medical scrutiny which a residence at Broadmoor allows of; whether, in short, mercy, based on medical knowledge, has mistakenly interfered with the proper action of justice and law? In this matter the doctors and the lawyers are frequently on opposite sides, and the former often find it hard work to rescue an insane prisoner from the clutches of the law. On the other hand it may be admitted that, as regards some physicians at least, a wider view is sometimes as necessary as it is on the part of the lawyers. When absurd reasons are given in the witness-box for a prisoner's insanity— reasons which would equally establish the madness of many persons in society whom no one regards as insane—it is not surprising that the judges are

cautious in admitting the plea of insanity on medical evidence. In seeking a reply to the above question, it is satisfactory to find that, if the evidence of medical experts tends to induce juries to acquit on the ground of insanity those who are responsible agents and ought to be punished, there have only been a few scattered cases admitted which were “doubtful”—whether at Bethlem, when criminal lunatics were sent there, before Broadmoor existed, or at the latter since it was opened. It is also a satisfaction to know that cases of this kind have not been more frequent of late than formerly; and this, although there has been during the last forty years a marked increase in the number acquitted on the ground of insanity. Thus from 1836 to 1848, the ratio of the insane to the prisoners tried was only 1 in 32; between 1848 and 1862 it was 1 in 17; and between 1862 and 1874 as many as 1 in 14.1 It is surely much better that a man should occasionally escape the punishment he deserves, than that any should be punished who labour under mental disease. To show the difficulty of arriving at a conclusion as to the mental responsibility of persons charged with crime, I may mention the case of a schoolmaster who, about eighteen months ago, used his cane on a boy in a very savage manner, pursued him under the table, and destroyed the sight of one eye. This man was sentenced to five years penal servitude. He was of course under the notice of the surgeon of the prison to which he was sent, and was regarded by him as sane. The schoolmasters and pupilteachers, however, took the case up, and agitated for further examination into the state of the man's mind. Dr. Orange was employed to examine him, and, thoroughly familiar with criminal lunatics, succeeded in discovering unmistakable proofs of insanity. In fact he was so poorly the morning of the day he committed this assault, so

1 Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. xxxviii. (Guy).

uncomfortable in his head, and so irritable in mind, that he sent word to the school to say that he was too ill to attend to his duties. It was a school examination, however, and the authorities insisted upon his going. They therefore were mainly to blame for the circumstance which followed. This man was saved from punishment by Dr. Orange's representations, and subsequent observation confirmed the opinion he formed at the time, that he was not only irritable and suspicious, but was labouring under a delusion. He was a dangerous lunatic, in short, when he committed the offence.

In going through the wards I conversed with the superintendent on the main points of interest in connection with the management of the institution, and on some of the characteristics presented by those who go there.

I remarked on the low mortality which I knew obtained there. 66 Ah," said the doctor, laughing, "that goes against us, rather than for us. We are blamed for keeping the patients too well!" Since the opening of the asylum, the yearly average of deaths has been at the rate of 2.88 per cent of the numbers resident. As to diet it is no doubt difficult to understand why this class should fare better, as they seem to do, than ordinary patients in the county asylums. In one particular, indeed, a change in the direction of economy has been made, and a very reasonable change it is. It is connected with an important question which arises, How far can the system of rewards for work be beneficially carried out

It appears that until two or three years ago, the main reward for useful work was a luncheon of bread and cheese and beer in the forenoon, with another, though smaller, allowance of beer in the afternoon. Both these allowances of beer (which were additional to the dinner supply) were discontinued in 1875, and in lieu of them a small portion of the money value of the work done was credited to the workers, with permission to spend it