UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS 
 
 TO 
 
 MENTAL PATHOLOGY. 
 
 By I. RAY, M.D.. 
 
 AUTHOR OF ''MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE OF INSANITY, 
 AND "MENTAL HYGIENE." 
 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 
 1873. 
 
 Y 9 4 o 6 ; ^ 1 j J
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 
 
 I. RAT, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON.
 
 PEEFACE 
 
 The contents of this volume, with two exceptions, 
 have already appeared in print. I am induced to put 
 them into a more accessible shape, for the reasons that, 
 since their first appearance, the subjects they discuss 
 have lost none of their original interest; that many of 
 the questions they present are far from being settled : 
 and that the public are seeking for information respect- 
 ing a disease that has most important relations to private 
 happiness and social order. In making this selection 
 from a much larger number of contributions to the 
 literature of insanity, I have chosen such only as pre- 
 sent the disease in those aspects which have become 
 peculiarly interesting, either from a signal advance in 
 knowledge, or some particular circumstance of the 
 time, or some remarkable social, legal, or t aesthetic 
 relation. Though written on different occasions, the 
 reader will find them, I trust, not entirely deficient in 
 that unity of doctrine and purpose which is expected 
 in a systematic treatise. They are given now with 
 scarcely any other alteration than an occasional change
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 of phraseology, and the omission of personal and local 
 allusions which have lost their original interest. From 
 the scope of this remark, I must except the paper on 
 George the Third, the most of which has been re- 
 written, in order to avail myself of the new materials 
 since presented in the various Memoirs and Diaries of 
 persons who had access to the court, or had other op- 
 portunities of learning about its concerns. 
 
 Though the lawyer and physician will meet with 
 much in the book strictly within the line of their pro- 
 fessional studies, yet the general reader will find in it 
 nothing unworthy the attention of any thoughtful 
 
 mind. 
 
 I. R. 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 
 January 1, 1873.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Address on the Occasion of laying the Corner- Stone 
 of the State Hospital for the Insane, at Danville, 
 Penn., August 26, 1869 1 
 
 Causes of Insanity. 
 
 Reports of Butler Hospital, 1863, 186-1 25 
 
 Statistics of Insanity. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, July, 1819 66 
 
 Objections to Moral Insanity Considered. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, October, 1861 . " . . . 97 
 
 Doubtful Recoveries. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, July, 1836 121 
 
 Delusions and Hallucinations. 
 
 American Journal of Medical Sciences, July, 1868 . . 112 
 
 ( onfinemext of the Insane. 
 
 American Law Review, January, 1869 168 
 
 The Law of Insanity in Criminal Cases 203
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 The Trial of Rogers. 
 
 Law Reporter, February, 1845 210 
 
 The Trial of Baker. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, July, 1846 229 
 
 The Trial of C. A. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, January, 1856 .... 239 
 
 The Trial of Cangley. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, July, 1865 252 
 
 The Trial of Winnemore. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, October, 1867 .... 264 
 
 Insanity of Seduced or Deserted Women. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, October, 1866 .... 282 
 
 The Hinchman Case. 
 
 Law Reporter, August, 1849 294 
 
 The Parish. Will Case. 
 
 Medical Opinions in the Parish Will Case 315 
 
 The Angell Will Case. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, October, 1863 .... 345 
 
 Management of Hospitals for the Insane. 
 
 Report of Butler Hospital, 1863 391 
 
 Medical Experts. 
 
 Read to the American Social Science Association, at 
 Philadelphia, October, 1870 409
 
 CONTENTS. Vli 
 
 Insanity of King George the Third. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, July, 1855 433 
 
 Shakespeare's Illustrations of Insanity. 
 
 American Journal of Insanity, April, 1847 482 
 
 Illustrations of Insanity by Distinguished English 
 Writers. 
 American Journal of Insanity, October, 1847 .... 534
 
 A D D E E S S 
 
 DELIVERED OX THE OCCASION OF 
 
 LAYING THE CORNER-STONE OF THE STATE HOSPITAL 
 FOR THE LNSANE, AT DANVILLE, PENN. 
 
 August 26, 1869. 
 
 We have come together, my friends, to lay the foun- 
 dation of an Institution very unlike the most of those 
 that give rise to occasions like this. The structure 
 whose massive walls are to rest on this spot is to com- 
 memorate no victory of war, no triumph of a cause 
 achieved by sacrifices of life and property. It is de- 
 signed to minister to the advancement and glory of no 
 sect or party, however worthy its ends. It is designed 
 to be not even a storehouse of the treasures of science 
 and art for the promotion of knowledge and the refine- 
 ment of taste. No, my friends, it is nothing of the kind. 
 I am not here for the purpose of kindling anew the fires 
 of patriotism, or of inspiring you with fresh zeal in some 
 popular association of the day, or of awakening your 
 admiration of the works of nature and the products of 
 genius. The institution which we now inaugurate with 
 solemn ceremonies has in it no element of the heroic or 
 romantic. It makes no appeal to the fancy ; it can excite 
 no enthusiasm; it demands no personal sacrifice. On 
 the contrary, it springs from those common instincts and 
 virtues of our nature which have received from the 
 
 1
 
 Z ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 civilizing and christianizing influences of our time a 
 scope and direction unknown to the polished nations 
 of antiquity. To relieve suffering both of body and 
 mind ; to rescue helpless men and women from practices 
 discreditable even to a barbarous age ; to lead back the 
 wandering mind out of the darkness and mazes of dis- 
 ease into the unclouded light of reason ; to remove from 
 many a home some stricken one whom all the arts of 
 affection only serve to embitter rather than to console 
 and heal ; to lighten the burden of those who have ex- 
 hausted their strength and their means in caring for 
 some cherished member of the family circle ; to improve 
 this ministry to the disordered mind by the intelligent 
 application of medical science, — such are the ends which 
 it belongs to enterprises like this to fulfil. Is it not 
 worthy of our warmest sympathy, our deepest respect, 
 our strongest help ? Is it not fitting that it should be 
 inaugurated with the solemnities we have witnessed; 
 that the Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth should 
 lend the dignity of his character and his office to the 
 imposing ceremonial ; that the ministers of our holy re- 
 ligion should invoke upon it the blessing of Almighty 
 God ; that the people of this community should come 
 together to testify their interest in the work ? 
 
 What, then, is the evil we seek to relieve ? What 
 part does it bear in the economy of this our modern 
 life ? To say that insanity is the loss of reason — the 
 great prerogative of man — conveys to the dullest un- 
 derstanding the fact of a great calamity to the sufferer 
 himself; but no one without a professional acquaintance 
 with the subject can have any thing like an adequate 
 idea of the extent and variety of the misery inflicted by 
 this plague of our race. From one thus qualified we may 
 obtain a more particular and definite conception of what
 
 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 3 
 
 is meant by this word — insanity. It means a measure 
 of distress that no bodily ill can produce. It may mean 
 a painful struggle between the convictions of reason 
 and the suggestions of disease, while the mind is tor- 
 tured with the dread of the approaching calamity. It 
 may mean the absorption of the whole soul in one single, 
 horrible idea, none the less horrible because it is false as 
 regarded by others. It may mean that depression of 
 spirit in which the whole universe, material and moral, 
 seems to be enveloped in a funeral pall ; or, as the poet 
 of all time has described it with inimitable fidelity and 
 beauty, when man delighteth not, nor woman neither, 
 and this goodly frame, the earth, seems a sterile promon- 
 tory ; this most excellent canopy, the air, this brave, 
 overhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with 
 golden fire, appears no other thing than a foul and pesti- 
 lent congregation of vapors. It may mean a state of 
 jealousy and suspicion in which every creature, even 
 the nearest and dearest, seems to be an enemy ready for 
 any conceivable mischief or annoyance. It may mean a 
 paroxysm of fury or an overpowering delusion, ending 
 in a scene of blood and carnage, the dearest and most 
 cherished being the victims. It may mean a com- 
 plete change of character and habits, — a course of 
 idleness and neglect of duty in place of industry and a 
 scrupulous discharge of all the requirements of life ; 
 indifference, perhaps hostility, towards the objects of 
 the tenderest affection ; hurry and restlessness without 
 measure or motive, in place of an habitually calm and 
 judicious movement ; extravagant expenditure and a 
 reckless, lawless habit of living, in place of rigid exact- 
 ness and an exemplary demeanor. It may also mean a 
 perpetual sense of anxiety and apprehension, for months 
 or years together, pervading a family circle once the
 
 4 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 abode of peace and love and mutual confidence ; and 
 extreme destitution where once were prosperity and 
 plenty. 
 
 Such are the things which are meant by insanity, but 
 a far more deplorable feature remains to be mentioned. 
 This fearful malady, not content with its ravages on the 
 individual, re-appears in his children and his children's 
 children, vitiating the very principle of life which he 
 has transmitted. 
 
 Is it strange, then, that peculiar interest attaches to 
 this disease, and that special and costly arrangements 
 should be provided even by the State for the purpose of 
 mitigating its evils? And yet such arrangements, with 
 a few trifling exceptions, are of comparatively recent 
 origin. Even among the most civilized nations, the lot 
 of the insane, bad as it is at best, was made still more 
 wretched by the manner in which they were treated. 
 In cases where the recuperative powers speedily effected 
 a recovery, little harm was done. But if the disease 
 became seated and all hope of recovery had fled, the dis- 
 posal of the patient was determined solely by regard to 
 the safety or convenience of society. In this country, 
 if he were considered, as most of them were, to be 
 dangerous to persons or destructive to property, he was 
 thrust into a cell in the county jail, or a cage in the poor- 
 house, or a strong, dark room on his own premises, his 
 limbs, probably, loaded with restraints, and his w r ants 
 supplied very much like those of the brutes whose quar- 
 ters he may have shared. And it could not well be 
 otherwise. Sooner or later, in most cases, the patient 
 becomes intractable, acknowledging no guide nor law 
 but his own disordered will. His ways and his views 
 are incompatible with the peace and safety of a well- 
 regulated household. Every day witnesses some scene
 
 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 5 
 
 of discord, strife, and terror. Excited and restless, he 
 roams about without end or object, alarming the timid, 
 wasting his substance, and adding fresh fuel to the fire 
 that is consuming his senses. The family means, never 
 large, perhaps, are finally exhausted. The utmost efforts 
 of the other members can scarcely keep the wolf from 
 the door, and they are driven to the last resort, — close 
 confinement. Thenceforth, the places that knew him 
 will know him no more. His seat at the fireside is 
 vacant. The face of nature, the sun, moon, and stars, 
 the smiling fields, the ripening crops, will no more glad- 
 den his eye ; the breezes of heaven, the hum of industry, 
 the prattle of children, will no more greet his ear., 
 Though not entirely dead to all the sweet influences of 
 life, yet they will visit him no more. When, from time 
 to time, as the tumult of his disease subsides, some throb 
 of his old affections, some touch of his kindlier nature, 
 some glimpse of the high estate from which he has fallen, 
 reveals a spark of the Divinity that stirs within us, no 
 wise and friendly ministry will be near to cherish the 
 sacred fire, and cause it to illumine, though never so 
 feebly, the dreary pathway before him. 
 
 Such is a picture of the insane that was frequently ex- 
 hibited up to a very recent period, and many an' original 
 may yet be seen at this moment, within the limits of our 
 own State. The time came at last when the public feel- 
 ing called for a change ; and it is a matter of pleasing 
 reflection, peculiarly fit to be remembered on an occa- 
 sion like this, that the Province of Pennsylvania was the 
 first of all those communities which, in the fulness of 
 time, grew up into this glorious Union, to recognize its 
 duties to the insane, and to proceed to perform them 
 in a liberal, generous spirit, without precedent either in 
 the New or the Old World. In 1752 some benevolent
 
 6 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 persons in Philadelphia joined in a petition to the House 
 of Representatives, in which they say that " with the 
 numbers of people the numbers of lunatics, or persons 
 distempered in mind, and deprived of their rational 
 faculties, hath greatly increased in this province ; that 
 some of them going at large are a terror to their neigh- 
 bors, who are daily apprehensive of the violences they 
 may commit, and others are continually wasting their 
 substance, to the great injury of themselves and fami- 
 lies, ill-disposed persons wickedly taking advantage of 
 their unhappy condition, and drawing them into unrea- 
 sonable bargains ; that few of them are so sensible of 
 itheir condition as to submit voluntarily to the treatment 
 their respective cases require, and therefore continue in 
 the same deplorable state during their lives." For the 
 purpose of affording those and other sick persons suita- 
 ble care and treatment, they solicit the aid of the House, 
 in establishing a " small, provincial hospital," which, 
 they declare, " will be a good work, acceptable to God, 
 and to all the good people they represent." Their prayer 
 was granted. An act of incorporation was passed, two 
 thousand pounds were promised, on condition that an 
 equal sum should be raised from private sources, the 
 hospital, extemporized out of a dwelling-house, was 
 opened, Feb. 11, 1752 j and it is a noteworthy fact bear- 
 ing upon the original design, that of the first four pa- 
 tients admitted three were insane. Thus originated the 
 Pennsylvania Hospital, and no benevolent institution in 
 our country has pursued a nobler or a wider career. 
 Nor should it be forgotten, as another claim on our 
 gratitude, that it furnished Dr. Rush with the materials 
 for his work on " Diseases of the Mind," — the first of 
 the kind in the English tongue, displaying thorough 
 observation and original thought.
 
 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 7 
 
 I have said deliberately that this example was without 
 precedent. Bethlehem, the only hospital at that time in 
 the mother country exclusively for the insane, sprung 
 from an old religious House, and was supported chiefly 
 by its charitable endowments. In Catholic countries, the 
 insane were then kept in old monasteries, at the expense 
 of the State or the Church, but with a deprivation of 
 comfort and with positive hardships, which one can 
 hardly read of without a shudder. In one sense they 
 were public establishments, but the public felt no in- 
 terest in their work ; and by the government they were 
 regarded as a means of police for the custody of danger- 
 ous subjects, rather than as institutions for the relief of 
 suffering, or the promotion of recovery. 
 
 The example of the Pennsylvania Hospital was, ap- 
 parently, not without its legitimate influence. In 1773, 
 the State of Virginia opened at Williamsburg a hospital 
 exclusively for the insane, and to that State belongs the 
 credit of having been the first to provide such an estab- 
 lishment at the public expense. Many years elapsed, I 
 am sorry to say, before this worthy example was fol- 
 lowed ; nor was the great want supplied by associations 
 like that which founded the Pennsylvania Hospital, nor 
 by individuals, as in the private asylums of England. 
 The latter class of enterprises was almost unknown in 
 this country until the beginning of the present century, 
 for they required a knowledge of insanity not easily ob- 
 tained by our physicians, an outlay of capital which few 
 of them possessed, and a rate of prices greatly beyond 
 the means of our people. In process of time, they made 
 their appearance, few and far between, but their benefits 
 were confined to the affluent classes. 
 
 The most noticeable event in the history of the cause 
 we are now considering was the establishment of a hos-
 
 o ADDBESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 pital in York, England, by the Society of Friends, in 
 1796. True to their characteristic principles of peace, 
 quiet, and goodwill to men, the movers in this enter- 
 prise conceived that the insane could be more success- 
 fully managed by mild and gentle methods than by the 
 harsh and coercive practices that then prevailed both in 
 public and private asylums. We of this generation have 
 been familiar with such different ways that we find it 
 difficult to believe what we are told on unquestionable 
 authority respecting the treatment pursued in those 
 day^. I do not refer to chains, or close confinement, 
 though they were common enough, but rather to the 
 principle which underlaid this treatment. It was sup- 
 posed to be the fundamental step in the management 
 of the insane, to make them feel that they were in the 
 hands of a keeper who required implicit obedience, 
 and whose look must be sufficient to put down the 
 slightest show of resistance. In one word, their will 
 was to be broken, and they were to know no other will 
 but that of their keeper. Of course such an end could 
 not be obtained without some severe discipline. And 
 there was no concealment nor disguise in the matter. It 
 was understood by all parties concerned to be the way, 
 and the only way, whereby the insane could be success- 
 fully managed. Against the whole of it, however, the 
 Friends entered their most emphatic protest, and the 
 experiment at York showed conclusively that their work 
 was as good as their faith. For the first time in the 
 world, there was witnessed a considerable collection of 
 insane persons enjoying a measure of comfort, never 
 before supposed to be within their capacity, without a 
 blow, or a chain, or a harsh w r ord. 
 
 Impressed by this noble work, the Friends in this State 
 took measures to obtain a similar institution here, and
 
 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 9 
 
 the result was the asylum in Frankfort, opened in 1817. 
 Improving upon the course of the English Friends, they 
 chose a place in the country somewhat remote from the 
 village, having plenty of land, and furnishing abundant 
 opportunity for walking, driving, and working. No single 
 advance on prevalent ideas has been followed by greater 
 good to the insane than this. A considerable tract of 
 land, amounting to hundreds of acres, is now considered 
 as indispensable an appendage to a public hospital for 
 the insane, as arrangements for bathing, or warming and 
 ventilation. 
 
 Thus far, it will be observed, no State, with the excep- 
 tion of Virginia, had provided hospital accommodation for 
 its insane, and such continued to be the case until the 
 year 1832, when the State of Massachusetts established 
 one in Worcester, erected and furnished at its sole ex- 
 pense. True, the bounty of a State had been bestowed 
 in a few cases in aid of enterprises undertaken by be- 
 nevolent persons for the benefit of the insane, but the 
 end could be effectually reached only by taking a new 
 and higher ground. This kind of aid had been granted 
 as an act of grace, to be given or withheld, according as 
 it might suit the conveniences or caprice of the State ; 
 thenceforth it was to be considered a matter of obliga- 
 tion, with all the force if not the authority of a legal 
 enactment. The late Horace Mann, standing in his 
 place in the Legislature of Massachusetts, uttered that 
 memorable declaration that the pauper insane are the 
 wards of the State. It was an instance of that quick 
 discernment of a great moral truth which comes like a 
 flash of inspiration. It taught the people, once and for- 
 ever, the exact nature of their relations to this class of 
 their fellow-creatures. They were to be regarded not 
 merely as paupers reduced to the lowest grade of the
 
 10 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 social scale, perhaps by vicious indulgence, and entitled 
 only to that lowest measure of care and sustenance com- 
 patible with the preservation of life ; nor as criminals, 
 and therefore proper subjects of penal discipline. They 
 were to be regarded as wards of the State, and under 
 that relation entitled to a degree of consideration to be 
 measured only by an active, intelligent, liberal humanity. 
 There were a few who regarded the idea as quixotic, — 
 the utterance of a man of ardent feelings and benevolent 
 instincts, whose zeal had quite outrun his judgment. 
 Looking at the subject, however, from the higher stand- 
 point at which we have now arrived, we do not hesitate 
 to pronounce it to be the offspring of a broad and lofty 
 view of human responsibility and a belief in the great 
 brotherhood of man as a ground of social obligation. 
 
 The example of Massachusetts, executed as well as 
 conceived in a most generous manner, was followed by 
 other States, one after another, so that now, in all 
 except one or two of the newest, there exists more or 
 less public provision for the insane. Why a beneficent 
 enterprise, so much needed and so long deferred, should 
 so suddenly have risen into popular favor, is a matter of 
 instructive inquiry, and so germane to the purposes of 
 this occasion that I venture to give it a moment's 
 attention. 
 
 First and foremost, unquestionably, among the inci- 
 dents that gave rise to this movement, was the example 
 of the corporate hospitals. Few as they were, and 
 cramped in their means, the work they were doing 
 was sufficiently striking to excite reflection in every 
 thoughtful observer. The spectacle they presented was 
 a practical denial and disproof of the prevalent notions 
 respecting the management of the insane. Here was a 
 scene of quiet, good order, and no small amount of com-
 
 ADDRESS AT DANYDLLE. 11 
 
 fort, if not enjoyment, where all traditionary belief would 
 have led one to expect only noise, turbulence, and 
 unmitigated wretchedness. Here it was demonstrated 
 beyond question, that, with an occasional exception, 
 strength and force were not only unnecessary elements 
 in the management of the insane, but were positively 
 detrimental. In view of such results, it was impossible 
 to suppress some uncomfortable reflections respecting 
 the condition of those who had been consigned for safe 
 keeping to the jails and poor-houses, where brute force 
 was the ready substitute for skill and kindness. Such a 
 flagrant discrepancy would seem to be an imputation on 
 the justice and intelligence of the community, that could 
 be removed only by admitting all the insane to an equal 
 share in all the privileges that the science and philan- 
 thropy of the age had provided. Private beneficence 
 was' obviously inadequate to meet the requirements of 
 the case. No power less than that of the State could 
 cope with the tremendous necessity. 
 
 Most fortunately, too, as if to confirm a favorite belief, 
 — that when a great exigency arises, the right man or 
 woman will be found ready to meet it, a young woman 
 in Massachusetts, about this time, became deeply inter- 
 ested in the condition of the insane, and thenceforth 
 devoted her time to the noble purpose of effecting its 
 improvement. With this end in view she visited the 
 jails, prisons, and poor-houses in her native State, and 
 subsequently in other States, that she might see for her- 
 self precisely what that condition was. No place was so 
 distant, no circumstances so repulsive, no lack of wel- 
 come so obvious, as to deter her from the thorough per- 
 formance of her mission. Neither the storms of winter 
 nor the heats of summer could diminish the ardor of her 
 zeal, and no kind of discouragement could prevent her
 
 12 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 from gauging exactly the dimensions of this particular 
 form of human misery. Favored by that exquisite tact 
 and happy address peculiar to her sex, she overcame 
 obstacles that would have defied the ruder efforts of the 
 other sex, and thus brought to light a mass of suffering 
 that seemed more like an extravagant fiction than real, 
 unexaggerated truth. Thus prepared, she went before 
 the Legislatures of the several States in which her 
 inquiries were pursued, and in the name of humanity 
 implored them to put an end to practices that would 
 shock even a barbarous people. This appeal was en- 
 forced, not by vague sentimentalisms about the soften- 
 ing influences of kindness, or the debasement produced 
 by such harsh and heartless treatment, but by a mul- 
 titude of cases given in all their appalling details. It is 
 creditable to our people that this appeal was seldom 
 made in vain, but was usually followed by an act estab- 
 lishing a State hospital for the insane. 
 
 But probably these things would not have had their 
 legitimate effect without the aid of those influences, 
 none the less potent because less obtrusive, designated 
 generally as the " spirit of the age." In a careful 
 review of the events of the present century, one can- 
 not help being struck with the fact that, about the period 
 in question, there began a remarkable moral and intel- 
 lectual uprising, that reached every department of 
 thought and action. It was witnessed in a clearer and 
 wider outlook over the whole field of human require- 
 ment, in a livelier faith in the possibility of human 
 endeavor, in a keener sense of social obligation. My 
 limits will not allow me to dwell on this point. Suffice 
 it to say that, at a period when slavery was abolished in 
 the British West Indies, and many a soul was longing 
 and praying for the same blessed consummation here,
 
 ADDRESS AT DAXVILLE. 13 
 
 in some constitutional way ; when the cry for a larger 
 measure of liberty began to arise from every people in 
 Europe ; when steamships and telegraphs were shorten- 
 ing the distance between nations, and thereby making 
 them better acquainted with one another's wants, sym- 
 pathies, and aspirations j when education was casting 
 off the last of its mediasval vestments, and science had 
 started on a new career of discovery, — it is not strange 
 that men should have been startled by the wrongs of 
 the insane, thus exposed in all their terrible details, and 
 should have resolved on assuming their rightful office 
 of care and guardianship. 
 
 In justice to the hospitals, let me say in this connec- 
 tion that, in their turn, they have repaid their debt 
 to society, by diffusing benefits besides those immedi- 
 ately connected with the care of the insane. We have 
 been so impressed by the immediate effects of this be- 
 nevolent enterprise, that the good which has come from 
 it indirectly has been in danger of being wholly over- 
 looked. To have restored the light of reason to thou- 
 sands and made comparatively comfortable tens of 
 thousands is, certainly, a noble work; but let us not 
 be insensible to the light it has thrown upon the dark 
 places of mental philosophy, and of civil and criminal 
 jurisprudence ; upon the temperament and habits of 
 men, and the course of human conduct. It will hardly 
 be disputed that, without a correct philosophy of the 
 mind, we shall strive in vain to master the great ques- 
 tions of moral and political science that deeply involve 
 the happiness of men. Neither will it be disputed by 
 many, I apprehend, that the actual, available knowledge 
 contained in the writings of all the metaphysicians, 
 from Plato down to Dugald Stewart, is marvellously 
 small, when compared with the mass of words m which
 
 14 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 it is conveyed. To the student familiar with the 
 exacter methods of modern investigation, the reason 
 is obvious. The properties of organic matter, the 
 nature of its functions, and the laws which regulate its 
 action, cannot be thoroughly understood without observ- 
 ing it when under the influence of disease. This sep- 
 arates and analyzes what seemed to be inseparable, and 
 associates by a common bond things supposed to have 
 no necessary connection. It shows us, as nothing else 
 can, the true limits and distinctions between one power 
 and another, and gives us the clew to the secret of 
 their harmonious action. The brain, though not itself 
 the mind, is the organ of the mind, the material instru- 
 ment whereby its operations are conducted ; and it is 
 only by the study of its organic conditions, both in 
 health and disease, that we can expect to obtain any 
 insight into the processes that result from the mysterious 
 union of mind and body. To learn how we think and 
 how we feel ; to understand, in any degree, the won- 
 drous mechanism by which the mental manifestations 
 are accomplished, we must study its morbid aberrations 
 from the line of healthy action, as exhibited in the wards 
 of the hospital. There, in the ravings of the excited 
 maniac, in the gross delusions of the monomaniac, in 
 the mischief and malice of the morally insane, in the 
 gloom and despair of the melancholic, in the dual life of 
 the subject of circular insanity, we have the materials, 
 in part, wherewith to construct a true psychology. Any 
 mental philosophy in which this source of information is 
 ignored must needs be imperfect ; but this fact could 
 not be perceived by the metaphysicians, with whom it 
 was a cardinal principle that, for the successful study 
 of the mental phenomena, one has all the necessary 
 materials within himself. Better views on this point
 
 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 15 
 
 are beginning to prevail. " He who raises moral pathol- 
 ogy to a science/' says one of the prominent thinkers 
 of our day, " expanding, systematizing, and applying 
 many fragmentary observations that have been already 
 made, will probably take a place among the master intel- 
 lects of mankind." x No one who has carefully followed 
 the course of psychological inquiry during the last 
 twenty or thirty years can have failed to observe abun- 
 dant ground for this opinion. In the writings of 
 Spencer, Bain, Morell, Lewes, and others, hardly ex- 
 cepting Comte, we may easily trace the influence 
 exerted by that study of morbid psychology, which has 
 been stimulated by the abundant opportunities of obser- 
 vation afforded by the numerous hospitals for the insane. 
 Is it too much to say that if those writers have struck 
 upon the true path to successful inquiry, and inspired 
 the world with new faith in metaphysics, it must be 
 attributed in some degree to that influence ? 
 
 That the laws involving questions of insanity, and 
 especially the common law, have reflected the same 
 influence, is admitted by all who are conversant with the 
 subject. It is little more than fifty years ago, when 
 the law regarded no one as really insane who was not 
 raving. Or, if the disease was recognized in its less 
 obtrusive forms, it was considered as merely a disturb- 
 ing influence which the patient was bound to control by 
 means of the sanity that yet remained. Insane persons 
 were made to suffer the extreme penalty of the law, if 
 they knew the criminal act was wrong or illegal, or 
 displayed design and contrivance ; and especially was 
 the idea of insanity scouted, if the act seemed to be the 
 result of provocation, or any other rational motive. 
 Within our time, persons have been executed who pro- 
 
 1 Lecky, W. E. K., History of European Morals, i. 167.
 
 16 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 claimed from the gibbet delusions as monstrous as any 
 that may be heard within the walls of any hospital in 
 the land ; and others have been discharged from confine- 
 ment, by due course of law, simply because they could 
 utter a few coherent sentences, and maintain for a few 
 minutes a calm and rational demeanor. Such things 
 are seldom seen now, thanks to the better knowledge 
 and better influences diffused by hospitals for the 
 insane ; and if they are to disappear entirely, it will be 
 owing in great part, no doubt, to the same agency. 
 
 Let me also say that the moral pathology to be learned 
 in these establishments will have an important bearing 
 on some of the prominent questions of moral and social 
 science. If we are ever to obtain a correct theory of 
 human conduct ; to discover, in any degree, the secret 
 springs of action, or to penetrate into the mysteries of 
 human delinquency, it must be by the study of morbid 
 psychology in that broad and liberal manner which is 
 possible only amid large collections of the insane. No 
 one who declines to receive his opinions on trust can 
 help being embarrassed by the problems presented by 
 many an historical name, or those revelations of charac- 
 ter so often found on the records of our courts. We 
 seek in vain for any light on the questions thus raised, 
 and are obliged to rest helplessly in the conviction that 
 there are more things in heaven and earth than are 
 "clreamt of in our philosophies. Indeed these difficulties 
 cannot be overcome by any theories of human conduct 
 which suppose the mind to be in a perfectly normal 
 condition. They point to imperfection, or deficiency, 
 or obliquity, — the result of organic influences, — and 
 they can be cleared up in no degree except by the 
 profound study of organic conditions in connection with 
 abnormal mental phenomena. From this kind of study
 
 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 17 
 
 we may justly expect that a light will be thrown on the 
 field of history and biography, by which many of their 
 pages will be read with sentiments very different from 
 those which they now inspire. It would show us, prob- 
 ably, that much of what the world calls genius is the 
 result of a morbid organic activity ; that many a saint, 
 or hero, or martyr, became such, more by virtue of a 
 peculiar temperament than of a profound sense of moral 
 or religious obligation ; that the horrible crimes which 
 have imparted an infamous distinction to the Tiberiuses 
 and Caligulas of history proceeded rather from cerebral 
 disorder than a native thirst for blood. But we must 
 leave these speculations, and resume our record of 
 events. 
 
 The benevolent movement already alluded to was not 
 long in reaching Pennsylvania. In 1838, the project 
 was agitated of establishing a State hospital for the 
 insane ; but though an act for this purpose passed the 
 General Assembly, yet, owing to the financial embarrass- 
 ments of the time, it was never carried into effect. In 
 1845, another attempt was made, fortified by one of 
 Miss Dix's characteristic memorials respecting the 
 lamentable condition of the insane in the various jails 
 and poor-houses of the State. The attempt succeeded j 
 and again the requisite act was passed, which, after 
 slumbering awhile on the statute book, was revived, 
 the building was erected at Harrisburg, and in 1851 
 was opened for the reception of patients. 
 
 In the mean time, some benevolent persons, strongly 
 impressed by the wants of the western part of the 
 State, undertook to establish a hospital for diseases, 
 both bodily and mental. In this effort they were emi- 
 nently successful ; and after a few years, with liberal aid 
 
 2
 
 18 ADDEESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 from the State, they established a hospital exclusively 
 for the insane, at Dixmont. 
 
 To one not particularly acquainted with the subject, 
 it might have seemed that ample provision had thus 
 been made for the insane of the State. But, in truth, 
 there has never been a time when the provision was 
 commensurate with their number, and with every suc- 
 ceeding year the deficiency has been steadily increasing. 
 To contend that the public duty was fully discharged, 
 when a certain number of buildings had been raised, and 
 a certain amount of money expended, is simply to ignore 
 the principle on which that duty is founded. If the 
 helpless insane are the wards of the State, then each 
 and all of them are equally entitled to its care and pro- 
 tection. To extend them to one, and refuse them to 
 another ; to render it almost impossible for the distant 
 counties to avail themselves of the benefits of the hos- 
 pital, is to act the part of an unnatural guardian. And 
 yet that is precisely what has been done. At this mo- 
 ment, there are hundreds suffering every variety of 
 hardship, who are as clearly entitled to the privileges 
 of a hospital as any of those w T ho have been actually 
 received within their walls. But the utmost capacity 
 of these institutions has long since been reached, or, 
 more truly speaking, stretched to a point quite incom- 
 patible with the highest measure of success. It is so 
 common to crowd hospitals beyond their proper capa- 
 city, that the public is not aware, I fear, what this fact 
 implies. When a hospital intended for two hundred 
 patients is made to receive three hundred, they excite 
 and disturb one another ; dangerous, even murderous, 
 collisions, fearful to think of, become unavoidable ; the 
 means of ventilation are deficient, and consequently the 
 air of the house is loaded with effluvia calculated to pro-
 
 ADDRESS AT DAXYILLE. 19 
 
 duce disease ; the officers, who need the utmost strength 
 and serenity of mind in performing their allotted work, 
 are constantly filled with apprehension ; and the result 
 of it all is that the hospital fails to accomplish that de- 
 gree of comfort and restoration which it otherwise would. 
 Let it be distinctly understood, therefore, that to place 
 a patient in a hospital already full is to inflict a positive 
 injury on many, for the doubtful chance of benefiting 
 one. 
 
 What, then, is the extent of our hospital capacity, 
 and what relation does it bear to the amount of insanity 
 among us? An answer to these questions will show 
 how far we have discharged our duty to the insane. 
 
 The statistics of insanity as usually presented are 
 deplorably deficient in that scientific accuracy which 
 alone can make them of much worth, and those which 
 profess to give the actual number of the insane in the 
 community are especially unreliable. One memorable 
 exception to this last statement was made in 1855 by 
 the State of Massachusetts, which, for the purpose of 
 obtaining various kinds of information respecting the 
 insane within her own borders, appointed a commission, 
 of which the working member was Dr. Jarvis. Probably 
 no statistics on this subject were ever collected, so free 
 from error or inaccuracy as these ; and, for the first time 
 in the world, the actual number of the insane was given 
 with a very near approach to the exact truth. It ap- 
 peared that in that Commonwealth the insane, not in- 
 cluding born idiots or imbeciles, amounted to one in 
 four hundred and twenty-seven of the whole population. 
 There is no reason to suppose that the proportion is 
 much if any less, in this State ; but, to prevent all risk 
 of overstatement, let us estimate it at one in six hun- 
 dred. Supposing the population to be 3,500,000, the
 
 20 ADDEESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 number of the insane will be 5,833. One-third of these 
 may not need, or may be supposed not to need, hospital 
 treatment. Deducting these, we have 3,889 for whom 
 some hospital provision is required, either for purpose 
 of custody or cure. At this present moment, the num- 
 ber of patients in all our special hospitals and asylums 
 is about 1,700, so that there still remain 2,189 who are 
 without the only suitable care and treatment. 
 
 The need of more hospitals has been strongly felt for 
 years, but the Legislature was too well satisfied with 
 what it had done in this direction, to be very anxious to 
 do more. At length the " Medical Society of the State 
 of Pennsylvania," at its annual meeting in 1867, ap- 
 pointed a committee to prepare a Memorial to the Gen- 
 eral Assembly on this subject, as they did at its next 
 session in 1868. In this document they set forth the 
 fact, as already stated, that the number of the insane is 
 greatly in excess of the capacity of our hospitals ; that 
 a large proportion of these persons are kept under con- 
 ditions shocking to the dullest sense of propriety, or 
 even of common humanity, suffering from cold or heat, 
 from bad air, and indecent exposure, chained to the 
 floor, perhaps, deprived of every means of recreation or 
 employment, and dying by that process of decay which 
 physicians call dementia; that the State is annually 
 burdened with the life-long support of persons, who, 
 if subjected to early hospital treatment, might have 
 been restored to society ; and that, in the long run, the 
 expense of such treatment would be far less than that 
 of supporting the chronic insane as they now are sup- 
 ported. The Memorial concluded by urging the estab- 
 lishment, without delay, of a hospital for the district 
 composed of the counties of Wayne, Susquehanna, Wy- 
 oming, Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Sullivan, Bradford,
 
 ADDRESS AT DAXVDLLE. 21 
 
 Lycoming, Tioga, Clinton, Centre, Clearfield, Elk, Cam- 
 eron, M'Kean, Potter, and Forest ; and also, if the finan- 
 ces of the State will justify it, one for the district 
 composed of the counties of Berks, Bucks, Carbon, 
 Lehigh, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Pike, and 
 Schuylkill. 
 
 To the credit of the General Assembly of 1868, the 
 appeal was heeded, and an act was passed providing for 
 a hospital for the insane within the district specified by 
 the Committee of the State Medical Society. The act 
 also provided for a committee, composed of Dr. Curwen, 
 Superintendent of the State hospital at Harrisburg, Dr. 
 Reed, Superintendent of the Western Hospital for the 
 Insane, and Dr. Traill Green, Professor of Chemistry in 
 Lafayette College, to obtain a location, and proceed to 
 the erection of the building. This committee, aided by 
 the advice of several other persons who accompanied 
 them, inspected various places, and decided upon this as 
 the most eligible of all those brought to their notice. 
 Here, then, is to stand the new structure to be devoted 
 to the care of a helpless class of our fellow-men. On 
 this spot, in the midst of a beautiful landscape, with its 
 clumps of noble trees, and its fair meadows stretching 
 by gentle slopes to the waters of the Susquehanna, 
 within sight of the dwellings and workshops and 
 churches of a busy population, will be our Bethesda 
 pool, whose healing virtues shall be felt by thousands 
 yet unborn. 
 
 In conclusion, allow me to address you, in all frankness 
 and sincerity, touching your own duties towards the 
 new institution about to be established among you. 
 What these duties are, you will readily perceive by 
 understanding the relations that necessarily arise be- 
 tween you and it. Its immediate benefits will be ex-
 
 22 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 perienced by the people of this particular region, and 
 they, therefore, are deeply concerned in the results of 
 its operations. From the sad disorder which is to be 
 treated within these walls, no one has any privilege of 
 exemption. No accident of fortune or birth, no measure 
 of strength, no exercise of prudence, may be able to 
 save you from the fate of others once as little likely to 
 meet it as you. Or, if you escape personally, the stroke 
 may fall on child, parent, or neighbor, with far more 
 sorrow than if it fell on yourself. You, therefore, are 
 deeply interested in having it perform its allotted ser- 
 vice successfully, and are bound, as far as in you lies, 
 to promote this end. The Executive will appoint its 
 trustees, who will have the general direction of its 
 affairs ; and their names, I doubt not, will always be a 
 sufficient guaranty for the faithful performance of their 
 trust. The officers, who are to direct the remedial 
 measures, and superintend its daily working, will be 
 equally worthy, I trust, of their charge. But the com- 
 fort of the inmates, the place it is to hold in the regards 
 of the community, may be determined in no small degree 
 by you. Within your respective spheres of duty and 
 of influence, many of you may materially aid the work 
 which is here to be performed. While the State will 
 provide the necessary means of living, there are many 
 things capable of promoting the comfort and gratifica- 
 tion of the inmates, for which it must be indebted to 
 private benevolence. To take from it, as much as pos- 
 sible, the prison-like aspect inseparable from such struct- 
 ures, and give it the amenities of a private residence, 
 it will need objects pleasing to the eye, and calculated 
 to draw the mind from depressing reflections. The time 
 is coming, I hope, when the State will regard these things 
 as no less legitimate appliances in accomplishing the end
 
 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 23 
 
 in view, than those strictly material ones of food and 
 lodging. Until it comes, however, the institution will 
 have to depend, for aids like those, on private bounty. 
 Many of you may be able, without inconvenience, to 
 give it occasionally, a book, or a picture, or a plant, or 
 something else equally calculated to diffuse a little sun- 
 shine through halls that will need all that they can 
 obtain. I know no other way of accomplishing so much 
 good at such little cost, for it must be considered that 
 the benefit of such things is not transient and confined 
 to a few, but will continue, year after year, to soothe 
 and cheer hundreds of successive comers. 
 
 In another way you may afford it material aid. Like 
 every other human enterprise, it will encounter trials 
 and difficulties. Accidents may disturb the even tenor 
 of its way, servants may prove unfaithful, unforeseen 
 circumstances may defeat its wisest plans. In all such 
 shortcomings, many people are swift to censure, and not 
 unwilling to rouse the prejudices of the ignorant and 
 ill-natured. Let it be your duty to examine before you 
 decide ; and, to do that properly, qualify yourselves, as 
 you easily may, to distinguish between the accidental 
 and unavoidable, on the one hand, and carelessness or 
 intentional wrong, on the other. In this way you will 
 often ascertain that what is put forth as unquestionable 
 abuse, or indicative of culpable remissness, is merely 
 the result of that imperfection which attends every thing 
 human, and that many a tale of wrong-doing, when 
 stripped of all exaggeration and false coloring, will be 
 reduced to very harmless proportions. The institution 
 asks for fair, dispassionate, intelligent judgment, and 
 this it has a right to expect, at all times, and under all 
 circumstances. Firmly relying on your candor and 
 intelligence, on the wishes and prayers of every friend
 
 24 ADDRESS AT DANVILLE. 
 
 of the cause, and on the smiles of an ever-gracious 
 Providence, I have the faith to believe that the enter- 
 prise inaugurated here this day will ever prove a 
 matter of just pride to this community, an honor to 
 the Commonwealth, and an incalculable blessing to hu- 
 manity.
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 [In the following observations on the Causes of Insanity, it was 
 my object to show, not only that the prevailing notions respecting the 
 production of the disease are exceedingly narrow and imperfect, but 
 that they entirely ignore the most potent agencies concerned in the pro- 
 cess. As long as such notions constitute our whole philosophy of the 
 subject, attention will be fixed on accidental and subordinate points, 
 while essential and indispensable conditions will be little understood 
 or cared for. Why one person becomes insane, and another does 
 not, both being exposed to the action of the same cause which was 
 thought to be disastrous to one of them, would seem to be one of the 
 first questions for the inquirer to answer, especially as it is suggested 
 by all the analogies of bodily disease. It is not supposed that high 
 living will produce gout in everybody who freely indulges his appetite ; 
 that cold will give rise to rheumatism in all who expose themselves to 
 its rigors ; or that every full-blooded, short-necked individual will 
 inevitably die of apoplexy. It is hard to conceive how the absurdity 
 of attributing an attack of insanity to incidents perfectly innocuous to 
 almost everybody else, or of believing that a host of agencies as 
 diverse in their nature and mode of operation as can well be con- 
 ceived of should agree in accomplishing the same result, should have 
 so completely escaped notice. It shows how superficial our study of 
 insanity has been, notwithstanding it meets us in so many relations 
 of the highest importance both to the parties immediately concerned 
 and to society at large. Inasmuch as it is, of all diseases, that in 
 regard to which the right of private judgment is claimed with the 
 strongest confidence, it ought to be, preeminently, the best known 
 and understood by all who have any knowledge at all. It must be 
 admitted, however, that until very recently the vulgar conceptions of
 
 26 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 insanity could not be corrected by any worthier knowledge on the 
 part of those who professed to be especially acquainted with its phe- 
 nomena. They were more disposed to speculate than to observe, and 
 were not entirely devoid of prejudice and error. 
 
 Of late years the predominant error in the current views respecting 
 insanity has consisted in the neglect of some important organic qual- 
 ities of the brain. That its action could be deranged by those lesions 
 designated as inflammation, congestion, softening, oedema, extravasa- 
 tion, and the like, was a fact always well understood, but any other 
 conditions competent to induce a deviation from the line of sound, 
 healthy activity, were scarcely suspected. In contemplating any in- 
 strument or machine of human invention, our attention is fixed not 
 only by the nice adaptation of one part to another, and the admirable 
 result thus obtained, but also by the flexibility of the materials used 
 in the construction, their fitness for resisting noxious influences, and 
 their power of endurance. And we are well aware that, generally 
 speaking, it is on one or all of these qualities that the practical value of 
 the machine will depend. No matter how ingenious the contrivance, or 
 how perfectly the work is performed, if it is defective in any of these 
 essential requisites, — if it is corroded by the very things it deals with, 
 or speedily breaks down by means of its own friction, — then it is a 
 failure. For ages the structure of the brain has received extraordi- 
 nary attention, and its operations as the minister of the mind have been 
 studied more profoundly than those of any other organ; and yet it 
 never was supposed that its value as a working apparatus depends, 
 in any measure, on the quality of the materials used in its construc- 
 tion. While men recognized the influence of disease and other deteri- 
 orating agencies in depriving other parts of their normal vigor and 
 capacity, this, the most delicate of them all, engaged in the most 
 subtle and complicated processes, was practically considered as be- 
 yond their reach. It was supposed to be as sound, as vigorous, as 
 well fitted for its work, in one generation as another, unscathed by 
 any of those noxious agencies that have ever been checking the nor- 
 mal development of the human faculties. Inherited tubercle, from 
 its chosen seat in the lungs, might at any moment spring into fatal 
 activity ; scrofula might so vitiate the humors as to spread debility 
 over the whole system ; gout and rheumatism might render the muscles 
 and fibrous tissues of father and child, in long succession, sources 
 of exquisite pain ; but the brain alone continued, generation after 
 generation, to retain its pristine vigor under the vices and errors of 
 civilization.
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 27 
 
 \ 
 The researches of Gall and Spurzheim first led to more philosophi- 
 cal views respecting the constitution of the brain ; for although their 
 system has failed to obtain any considerable belief, yet their particu- 
 lar proposition, marking a long stride in the progress of knowledge, — 
 that size is a measure of power, — will scarcely be disputed now. 
 The next step, of little less importance, was made by their followers, 
 in explaining the apparent exceptions to the rule, by supposing a 
 diversity of quality in the materials of which the brain is composed. 
 At a later period, the deteriorating influences of vicious or unhealthy 
 habits and usages were made the subject of an admirable work by 
 Morel, while the effect of nervous disorders on the cerebral organism 
 was investigated by Moreau de Tours with remarkable acuteness. 
 The result of these and other kindred inquiries was to establish 
 beyond a reasonable doubt the principle, that the brain comes into 
 the world with the same imperfections and deficiencies, the same irre- 
 si>tible tendencies to disease or perversity of action, which have long 
 been observed in regard to other organs. Thus was opened a new 
 realm of inquiry, of unprecedented interest to the student of patho- 
 logical psychology, and of immense importance in many practical rela- 
 tions of life. We have as yet but a faint idea of its full significance, 
 but it needs no great faith to believe that it is destined to modify very 
 much our present theories of human action, and throw new light on 
 many a dark problem of human conduct. 
 
 While physicians and philosophers have always admitted, in gen- 
 eral terms, the damaging effect of cerebral lesions on the mental 
 powers, they have been far from being agreed as to its nature and 
 extent. The only particular on which they have manifested some- 
 thing like an approach to unanimity of opinion is that of reducing 
 the impairment of moral liberty thus produced to its narrowest 
 limits. Governed merely by casual appearances, and strongly im- 
 pressed by that show of reasoning power very common with the insane, 
 they shrink from a truth which is the result of special investigation, 
 but none the less certain and worthy of acceptation because completely 
 beyond their range. Within a few years better notions have made 
 their appearance among them ; but the recent investigations, fruitful 
 as they were, have added new difficulties to a subject already regarded 
 with much diversity of opinion. If overt disease, manifested frT 
 appreciable symptoms during life and various lesions after death, can 
 annul responsibility, the question inevitably follows, whether that 
 cerebral condition, — neither of health nor of disease, as those terms 
 are usually understood, — which is produced by tendencies to disease
 
 28 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 or ancestral vices, may not impair it, in some degree, under some 
 circumstances ? This is the question of questions presented to the 
 psychologists of our times, and destined, undoubtedly, to raise sharper 
 conflicts than any other in the whole range of medical jurisprudence. 
 It is involved in obscurity, it is met by the bitter prejudices of those 
 who lead popular opinion, and extensive investigations and various 
 knowledge are needed for its solution. Townley's case is but one of 
 an immense class, and well illustrates what we are to expect here- 
 after. The following pages will give the reader some idea of the 
 general course of inquiry, and the character of the particular questions 
 involved.] 
 
 Nothing connected with insanity excites, more popu- 
 lar interest than its causes ; partly owing, perhaps, to 
 the idea that to learn the cause is the first step towards 
 its cure, but chiefly, no doubt, to an instinctive curiosity 
 to know the why and wherefore of a strange and mo- 
 mentous event. With equal zeal, if not more discretion, 
 the philosopher and the physician have speculated on the 
 subject ; and if an imposing array of figures and adverse 
 incidents, embracing almost every human ill, from a 
 blow on the head to a disappointment in love, were 
 always equivalent to true knowledge, we might fancy 
 that we have little to learn respecting the causes of 
 insanity. When we ponder, however, the meaning of 
 certain current words and phrases, and consider the 
 vague and indefinite ideas which they convey, we shall 
 be inclined to suspect, even without any profound 
 acquaintance with the mental movements connected 
 with disease, that we have been mistaking words for 
 ideas, — grasping at a substance and finding only a 
 shadow. The practical importance of the subject re- 
 quires that it should be rightly understood, and this 
 induces me to enter upon a discussion which might 
 seem, at first sight, more appropriate in a professional 
 treatise.
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 29 
 
 Our first mistake consists of a vulgar misconception 
 respecting the relations of cause and effect, which is Dot 
 confined to the ignorant and unthinking. We see it in 
 the common fallacy which supposes that a specific, 
 prominent, well-defined event must necessarily be pre- 
 ceded by some other event equally specific and promi- 
 nent. This error is the more easily committed, because 
 the imagination is always pleased by discovering an 
 agency whose properties seem to render it abundantly 
 sufficient for the purpose. The mind rests upon it 
 with a certain satisfaction, as if it had arrived at a sure 
 and reliable result. I scarcely need to say how little 
 support is afforded for this notion by the plainest rules 
 of philosophical inquiry. Very often, an event that 
 strongly appeals to the senses, and violently disturbs 
 the present relations of things, may have been prepared 
 by a series of agencies so slight and obscure as to be 
 discovered only by the most keen and penetrating re- 
 search. They seem to be slight, simply because, with 
 our limited vision, we are unable to discern the whole 
 field of their operations, or measure the results of their 
 mutual dependence. Indeed, there can be no surer way 
 of mistaking the real cause of a signal event than to 
 suppose that it lies upon the surface, ready to be dis- 
 covered without skilful and laborious research. 
 
 We see the same misconception in the common dis- 
 position to consider the relation of cause and effect to 
 be determined by proximity of occurrence, or some 
 other casual circumstance, ignoring all distinctions be- 
 tween the necessary and the accidental j and thus we 
 are ever in danger of repeating the process of the 
 untutored mind, by mistaking, in our way, Tenterden 
 steeple for the cause of Goodwin sands. Indeed, it can 
 hardly be denied, that, on this subject, such mistakes
 
 30 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 have been the rule rather than the exception, both with 
 the wise and the simple. When an attack of insanity 
 takes place, and we look among the occurrences of the 
 past life for the cause of so singular a phenomenon, we 
 seize on the most prominent or peculiar, and easily 
 persuade ourselves that we have found the object of our 
 search. It may be a singular, a remarkable, an extraor- 
 dinary event, and yet the proof of necessary connection 
 be utterly wanting. That proof seldom can be obtained 
 without an exhaustive investigation of that and many 
 other occurrences in the life of the patient, — the inner 
 as well as the outer life, — and not always, by any means, 
 then. No partial or superficial investigation can lead to 
 a reliable conclusion. So long as a single incident re- 
 mains untouched, we have no right to pronounce on the 
 sufficiency of any other. But who is willing to take the 
 necessary pains? Who is adequate to such a nice and 
 complicated inquiry ? How are its materials to be 
 obtained ? 
 
 Admitting that the antecedents are thoroughly un. 
 derstood, if that were possible, it would be quite beyond 
 our power to measure the amount of agency exerted 
 by one and another in the production of the disease. 
 The great misfortune, the terrible affliction, the stunning 
 blow, may have had less to do with the final result, than 
 some trouble concealed from the common gaze, deep 
 in the inmost recesses of the inner life. On conversing 
 with those who have recovered from an attack, respect- 
 ing the incidents which led to it, I have found, oftener 
 than otherwise, that they laid far less stress on the 
 prominent event which had been fixed upon by others 
 as the source of the evil, than on something so slight, 
 apparently, as to have escaped the notice of the most 
 intimate friend. In my observation of insanity, nothing
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 31 
 
 has surprised me more than such revelations of mental 
 experience, completely upsetting, as they did, our own 
 elaborate conclusions respecting the cause of the dis- 
 ease. Not that the revelations of those who have been 
 insane are always reliable, even if they have perfectly 
 recovered, for the very disturbance of mind must neces- 
 sarily prevent them from reasoning about or even remem- 
 bering correctly their mental impressions while under 
 the influence of disease ; yet, after all due allowance is 
 made, their conclusions may not be more liable to error 
 than those of outside observers. But, well as we may 
 understand these incidents which are obvious to the 
 senses, we can seldom, if ever, be sure that the morbific 
 agency has been exerted by them rather than by those 
 mysterious conditions of the cerebral organism which 
 are indicative of imperfection or tendency to disease, 
 and derived, in the process of generation, from imper- 
 fections in the parent or ancestor. 
 
 There is another consideration which has been too 
 much disregarded, in this search for the causes of in- 
 sanity. Even they who are not so dull as to suppose 
 that the relation between the effect and the alleged 
 cause is merely one of sequence, often fail to see the lack 
 of any relation between the character of the supposed 
 cause and the constitution of the brain, — the properties 
 of its tissues, and the laws of morbid activity. It is not 
 strange that, in the infancy of medical science, the 
 mumbling of some cabalistic words over a wound was 
 supposed to make it heal speedily ; or that, in cases of 
 injury, the remedy was sometimes applied to the instru- 
 ment by which it was effected. It is strange, however, 
 that, in an age which has laid down the strictest rules 
 of philosophizing, few are disturbed by seeing events 
 placed together in the relation of cause and effect, hav-
 
 32 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 ing as little mutual adaptation as the remedy and the ill 
 here mentioned. We recognize at last the folly of be- 
 lieving, as our ancestors did, that the insane are pos- 
 sessed by the devil, that submersion to the very point 
 of drowning is a sovereign cure, or that the moon has 
 any influence on the movements of mental disease, sim- 
 ply for lack of this relation; but we fail to apply the 
 same test to other alleged agencies in the production 
 of insanity. Although it may not always be incumbent 
 on us to demonstrate, beyond a doubt, this kind of 
 adaptedness between the alleged cause and the cerebral 
 constitution, yet, at the very least, we should be cautious 
 how we offer as a cause of insanity an incident which 
 all actual fact and all analogies forbid us to believe can, 
 in the nature of things, have any influence upon the 
 vital properties of the brain. Considered in this light, 
 many of those incidents which figure among the causes 
 of insanity must be regarded as of little consequence, 
 if not entirely impotent. Taking up the first hospital 
 report within reach, and turning to the table of causes, 
 I find in it hard work, fear of poverty, and jealousy, to 
 mention no others. The habit of repeating, one after 
 another, certain words and phrases, is apt to render us 
 insensible to the errors they represent. But dropping, 
 if possible, all former impressions, and looking upon the 
 matter afresh, by the light of sure and unquestionable 
 knowledge, we shall scarcely find any warrant, I think, 
 for believing that the incidents here named can, in the 
 nature of things, exert a morbific effect on the brain. A 
 poor man can have no apprehension of poverty, while, 
 in the rich, it must be a morbid feeling, of course, — 
 part and parcel of the disease of which it is alleged to 
 be the cause. Jealousy, in process of time, gradually 
 increasing, may become a form of mental disease ; but
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 33 
 
 to call it the cause of insanity is very like saying that it 
 is the cause of itself. Hard work may produce that 
 exhaustion of the vital energies which favors the devel- 
 opment of insanity, but directly it cannot injure the 
 brain. The occasion forbids me to multiply instances 
 of this kind, but these are enough to illustrate my 
 meaning. 
 
 Again occurs a difficulty no less serious than the last. 
 In the series of antecedents which precede an attack of 
 insanity, many of which may seem to be connected by 
 a bond of mutual dependence, by w 7 hat rule of selection 
 are we led to pronounce this or that the efficient 
 cause, — the causa causans? Within w 7 hat period have 
 we a right to look for the noxious agency ? Are we 
 to be confined to the last few weeks? or months? or 
 years? We do not get rid of the difficulty by claiming 
 for our purpose, without regard to time or any other 
 circumstance, the incident or event which seems to the 
 mind of a spectator to have had the deepest appreciable 
 effect. We rather substitute for it one still greater. 
 To select any one incident, and leave out of the account 
 entirely the rest, is merely to express an opinion, not 
 to establish a fact. Such a proceeding is worthless, of 
 course, as a matter of science. It can satisfy those only 
 who are dazzled by a show of knowledge. 
 
 If driven by force of proof to admit that a multi- 
 plicity of incidents are usually concerned, each in its 
 particular way, in producing the ultimate result, we are 
 thus more philosophical in our investigation, more faith- 
 ful to the truth ; but what then becomes of our Tables ? 
 Even if, by any device of columns and figures, we could 
 still preserve the tabular form, their statistical charac- 
 ter would be utterly gone. To enumerate all the events
 
 34 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 which precede the attack is to give a history of the case, 
 not to assign its cause. 
 
 One source, and perhaps the principal, of the preva- 
 lent error, is the habit of regarding insanity as a sharply 
 defined phenomenon, easily separated from all accom- 
 panying incidents, like an earthquake or a chemical 
 action, instead of a condition arising from obscure be- 
 ginnings, culminating more or less rapidly, and declin- 
 ing by imperceptible steps as the darkness of night is 
 succeeded by the light of common day. Any occur- 
 rence which can be properly regarded as its cause must 
 necessarily precede the morbid process. But the diffi- 
 culty is to ascertain that point in the line of sequences 
 which marks the beginning of the diseased action, so 
 that we shall be in no danger of assigning, as a cause, 
 some incident of the morbid process. Of course, the 
 difficulty is all the greater, the longer the duration of 
 the initiatory stage, and the less demonstrative its mani- 
 festations. It often happens, in fact, that the first promi- 
 nent event having, apparently, any connection with the 
 disease, is, clearly, not the cause, but an incident of it ; 
 while all before it is too vague, too obscure, too little 
 known, to furnish any light as to the really efficient 
 agency for which we are in search. To avoid mistake 
 on this point requires a knowledge of the patient's his- 
 tory — to mention no other requirement — too minute 
 and thorough to be often obtained. They who have 
 been immediately around him are seldom capable of 
 observing his mental movements correctly, for to do that 
 implies the highest kind of culture, and they may have 
 only the lowest; and yet it is from their reports, chiefly, 
 that the physician is obliged to draw his conclusions 
 respecting the cause. How little reliance can be placed 
 on this source of information daily experience teaches
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 35 
 
 us, even when we have to deal with persons considera- 
 bly above the lowest grades of mental culture. A sin- 
 gle leaf from that experience will show the nature of 
 the mistake in question, and the ease with which it may 
 be made. 
 
 Prominent among the antecedents of a case is drunk- 
 enness, for instance ; and an incautious observer would 
 straightway pronounce it the cause of the attack. That 
 insanity may sometimes be fairly attributed to drunken- 
 ness, cannot be doubted ; but, considering the nature of 
 maniacal impulses, and the abundant opportunities for 
 gratifying the desire for drink, there is reason to 
 suspect that the vice may be an effect rather than a 
 cause ; and farther inquiry often confirms the suspicion. 
 Again, a person is found to have avoided society, to 
 have shut himself up in his own home, and thus 
 for years dwelt only with himself, — eating his own 
 heart, as old Burton has it, — and when, at last, he be- 
 comes unequivocally insane, his misfortune is attributed 
 to love of solitude. Another, while correctly performing- 
 all the duties of his lot, fears that he will eventually 
 come to want, though with enough at present, and with 
 prospects that forbid any reasonable anxiety. He is 
 frugal to meanness, denies himself and family the com- 
 forts suitable to their station, and acts as if the poor- 
 house were ever looming up in the future. After years 
 of such mental experience, every incident becoming 
 gradually intensified, he is pronounced insane, and his 
 case is duly chronicled as produced by fear of poverty. 
 Now, in cases like these, — and they might be multiplied 
 ad infinitum, — it often needs only a thorough knowl- 
 edge of the mental history of the individual, to find 
 conclusive proof that the drinking, the love of solitude, 
 the fear of poverty, &c, merely mask less obvious steps
 
 6b THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 in the progress of tbat morbid process which finally ends 
 in overt insanity. 
 
 When the prominent events are many and nearly 
 contemporary, the difficulty is scarcely less. By one 
 friend the attack is attributed, for instance, to the trials 
 of an arduous and highly responsible business. Another 
 attributes it to the loss of a dearly beloved associate ; 
 while still another, better acquainted with the patient's 
 private history, is quite sure that he owes his misfor- 
 tune to fast living. According as we consult one or 
 another of these friends, we shall set down as the cause 
 of the disease application to business, or death of a 
 companion, or intemperance. And yet any one of these 
 incidents, calculated though they all are to derange the 
 health of the mind, might have been completely harm- 
 less in the present instance. The business, though 
 arduous and perplexing, might not have been beyond 
 an easy stretch of the mental powers. The emotion 
 caused by the deep affliction might have subsided under 
 the influence of time or the pressure of duties ; and the 
 manner of life, though not conducive to longevity or 
 good health, might have been borne by the help of a 
 strong constitution. It is all a matter of conjecture, and 
 conjecture is no foundation for a scientific conclusion. 
 So that, at last, with all the information within reach, 
 the question to be settled is, not which of these events 
 was the cause of the disease, but whether any one of 
 them was concerned in its production. 
 
 To ignore all these difficulties, or decry them as of lit- 
 tle moment, for the very reason that, if duly considered, 
 they would effectually debar us from arriving at any 
 fixed results, will not help us to obtain the truth. In all 
 philosophy, there is no error more obstinate, or more 
 fatal to true progress, than that so often witnessed, —
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 37 
 
 of believing that any conclusion, however defective, is 
 better than none. To the unwary reader, the Tables 
 which are made up with such an elaborate show of sta- 
 tistical accuracy, representing so many cases as caused 
 by domestic affliction, so many by religious excitement, 
 so many by this, that, and the other, are the embodiment 
 of so much genuine knowledge. True, he may be told 
 that they are put forth only as approximations to the 
 truth ; full of errors, indeed, but through these very 
 errors leading the inquirer to unquestionable truth. 
 Nevertheless, the caution thus implied will scarcely 
 weaken the force of the popular adage, that figures will 
 not lie. Nothing better indicates the true value of such 
 statistical results than the fact that the proportion of 
 cases attributed, in our hospital reports, to " Causes 
 unknown," has been steadily rising from zero to half or 
 more of the whole number. This is not an expression 
 of positive ignorance merely. Rightly interpreted, it 
 means, I apprehend, the conviction that the develop- 
 ment of insanity generally requires a concurrence of 
 several adverse incidents, and that the instances which 
 can be attributed exclusively to any one special event, 
 however prominent or serious, are exceedingly few. 
 Such, indeed, is the lesson of experience. True, it dis- 
 turbs the complacency naturally arising from the sup- 
 posed discovery of something clear, well-defined, almost 
 tangible, which meets the question, and seems to answer 
 the conditions of the case. It destroys, at a blow, a 
 great deal of fancied knowledge, and leaves us to wander 
 about, seeking anew for the solution of the problem. 
 Here, as everywhere else, truth can be found only after 
 long and patient inquiry, and w^e may be assured the 
 rule will not be relaxed in the case of one of the most 
 difficult questions in morbid psychology. 
 
 33U
 
 38 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 Occasionally, no doubt, the disease may be attributed 
 to some particular occurrence, the circumstances exclud- 
 ing apparently every other agency. Even then we fall 
 short of the object of our search, for the question comes 
 back, why such an occurrence, which has happened 
 times without number to the children of men, without 
 any harm, should have proved so mischievous in this 
 particular case? To say that its potency for ill was 
 caused by some previous adverse incident, and that, 
 perhaps, by some other, does not relieve the difficulty. 
 Such philosophy is no better than that of the Indian 
 who thought the earth rested on an elephant, the ele- 
 phant on a tortoise, and the tortoise on a serpent. 
 
 We are thus led to the inquiry, whether there is not 
 something behind all these alleged causes, which imparts 
 to them all their potency ; whether there is not some- 
 thing in the original constitution of the brain and nervous 
 system of the patients which, with more or less aid from 
 favoring circumstances, determines the development of 
 insanity. Most persons preserve their mental integrity, 
 even through a life of trial ; while a few, with no trials 
 at all, or only the smallest, break down utterly and come 
 to naught. It would seem to be an inevitable conclusion, 
 that this difference must depend on the different degrees 
 of vigor and soundness possessed by the material organ 
 by which these trials are sustained. Time out of mind, 
 the popular belief, sanctioned by the wise and learned, 
 has been that, in some degree, insanity is a matter of 
 blood — something transmitted from parent to child. 
 Such is the belief of the simple and the wise now — 
 precisely so — without variation or improvement. In 
 how large a proportion of cases is this the efficient 
 element? what are the laws that regulate its transmis- 
 sion? what are the conditions of its existence and
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 39 
 
 development? — these are questions of which, till re- 
 cently, we knew about as little as our ancestors. Their 
 belief, vague, shallow, and partial, seemed sufficient for us. 
 The knowledge we have gained respecting the laws 
 of hereditary transmission, as witnessed in the brutes 
 and plants, might justly have been expected to shape 
 our views on this subject ; but, curiously enough, it 
 seems, in a great degree, to be theoretically and prac- 
 tically ignored, in regard to man. That it should be 
 disregarded in the actual practice of life is not very 
 strange, because the fact only exemplifies the usual 
 carelessness of consequences, when one is controlled by 
 interest or passion ; but it is strange that observing and 
 thinking men can see, in such transmission, nothing but 
 an infelicitous play of accidents. And many, even, of 
 those who believe in hereditary transmission, have but 
 very imperfect conceptions of its operations and con- 
 ditions, as compared with the exact and abundant in- 
 formation of the breeder and the florist. The prevalent 
 mistake is that of regarding no disease as hereditary 
 that does not descend fully formed directly from parent 
 to child. Now this we know to be contrary to all the 
 analogies of the animal and vegetable kingdom, where a 
 desirable quality is obtained and fixed at last by being 
 repeated and intensified through successive generations. 
 Permanent traits of size, shape, color, speed, endurance, 
 are the results of a gradual work, and nobody contends 
 that they are, in no sense, hereditary, because they did 
 not exist in the same measure in the parent as in the 
 offspring. The fact seems now to be well established, 
 that many hereditary diseases other than nervous often- 
 times do not pass through their successive stages of 
 development in a single generation. The tubercle that 
 suppurates, and destroys the patient in the maturity
 
 40 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 of his years, may have originated in the parent, or grand- 
 parent, in whom it gave no appreciable trace of its exist- 
 ence. It would be regarded as no mark of wisdom to 
 ignore altogether this relation ; and yet many are reluc- 
 tant to believe that insanity is often the result of abnor- 
 mal organic movements that have proceeded from one 
 generation to another, gaining, steadily or fitfully, in 
 intensity. This narrow conception of the great law in 
 question must be exchanged for broader views, before 
 the physical conditions of insanity will be studied as 
 their importance requires. Until we recognize and 
 rightfully appreciate this law of progressive develop- 
 ment, — whether as manifested in improving some de- 
 sirable quality, or moulding some feature into a more 
 graceful form, or strengthening the foundations and en- 
 larging the range of some morbid movement, — we shall 
 fail to get more than a school-boy's notion of the relation 
 of cause and effect in the production of mental disease. 
 Facts illustrative of the true doctrine are abundant, and 
 we have only to consider them carefully to learn their 
 full significance. 
 
 Starting, then, from this settled principle, that disease 
 is an ultimate product elaborated from simpler elements 
 during a period that may embrace more than one gener- 
 tion, — that its essential element, considered in any 
 stage of its progress, is imperfection, defect, abnormal 
 depreciation, to be manifested, under the process of 
 hereditary transmission, in every variety of form, — we 
 shall be led to a correct theory of the production of 
 insanity. Under the adverse influences of a highly 
 civilized condition, the cerebral system suffers in com- 
 mon with the others ; while the signs of such suffering 
 will generally be found only in the mental manifesta- 
 tions, varying all the way from some slight peculiarity ,
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 41 
 
 or anomaly of character, to the gravest moral or intel- 
 lectual impropriety. The defect, under the predominant 
 influences of a different blood, may not be witnessed in 
 any succeeding generation. More frequently, however, 
 even in spite of this conservative influence when pres- 
 ent, it does make its appearance again, in one or more of 
 the descendants, in forms more or less severe than the 
 original. One's daily experience scarcely fails to furnish 
 illustrations of our doctrine. 
 
 This person manifests a certain peculiarity in his 
 manners, in his turn of thought, in the expression of 
 his feelings, in the character of his discourse. This 
 signally lacks the power of adaptation to circumstances: 
 he lives and moves as if in a world to which he does not 
 really belong, and is always above or below the require- 
 ments of the occasion. This goes through life with the 
 constant idea that his deserts are unjustly withheld from 
 him, and without reason and against reason is jealous of 
 every one enjoying blessings beyond his reach. This 
 neglects the common duties of life, and ignores the 
 common sentiments of humanity, while dwelling in the 
 realms of imagination, and charming the world, perhaps, 
 with the beauty of his thoughts. Now all these persons 
 go through the ordinary routine of life very well, for 
 the most part, and no one thinks of attributing to them 
 any mental defect. Nevertheless, there is in them a 
 departure, be it never so little, from the line of normal 
 activities, indicative of a permanent cerebral condition, 
 to be transmitted, probably, to the next generation, and 
 manifested in some form or other of mental irregularity. 
 One child passes through the various phases of hysteria, 
 catalepsy, and other nervous affections, a burden to her- 
 self and to others. Another delights in the mysteries 
 of spiritualism, and finds the extravagances of the
 
 42 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 times more congenial to his mental temperament than 
 the practical realities of life. Another is merely con- 
 ceited beyond all reasonable limits, aiming at much, 
 sure of every thing, and achieving nothing. Another 
 has seasons of deep depression, when a dark cloud that 
 has no silver lining settles down upon his soul ; and 
 this may be succeeded by a period of exaltation, when 
 his whole horizon is bright and joyous. Another, in 
 spite of the holiest influences, becomes, in early life, the 
 slave of criminal impulses, and ends his days in a hos- 
 pital or prison, perhaps on the gibbet. Another becomes 
 unequivocally insane. Thus the abnormal condition of 
 the parent is represented in the children, — not always 
 in the same way precisely, but in any possible form of 
 nervous disorder. The next generation will probably 
 show us the morbid element equally diversified, and 
 exhibiting, it may be to a greater extent, its ultimate 
 results. It is immaterial what may be the character of 
 the primordial germ. It may assume any of the forms 
 here mentioned, as well as countless others, in passing 
 from one generation to another. 
 
 It is another of the organic laws on this subject, that 
 morbid as well as healthy traits may disappear in the 
 second generation, and re-appear with fresh energy in 
 the third. A degree of eccentricity, for instance, which 
 renders a man a by-word in the community, affects not 
 at all the mental integrity of his children, but among 
 those children's children may be observed every form 
 of mental and nervous disorder. And even when the 
 morbid element manifests its presence in each succes- 
 sive generation, it may not pass down in the direct line 
 of descent. The uncle or the aunt, rather than the 
 parent, may present the connecting link between the 
 grandparent and the grandchild. Such facts are neither
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 43 
 
 extraordinary nor anomalous. The suppression of a 
 trait, entirely, for one or two generations, its transmis- 
 sion by collateral descent, its infinite variety of modifi- 
 cations, are facts familiar to those who have studied 
 this subject in the animal and vegetable kingdom. Dis- 
 ease and tendencies to disease, implying as they do a 
 certain organic condition, must necessarily be governed 
 by the same laws of transmission. If these were better 
 understood, we should not be obliged to meet the objec- 
 tion sometimes made by men of liberal culture, that the 
 mental disease or defect so often dies out with the indi- 
 vidual in whom it originated, that its occasional appear- 
 ance in successive generations may be fairly regarded 
 as accidental. No one can help seeing, on a little re- 
 flection, that all the peculiarities of feature, tempera- 
 ment, and mind, in both parents, cannot, of necessity, 
 be transmitted to any single child. By some mysterious 
 law of selection, the forehead of one and the eye of the 
 other parent, the nose of one and the mouth of the 
 other, the vigor of one and the fragility of the other, 
 the stature of one and the complexion of the other, go 
 to make up the form and constitution of the individual 
 child. A feature of the most decided character may 
 thus fail of transmission, even to a single one of a numer- 
 ous progeny. The same law governs the transmission of 
 imperfections and all abnormal traits. No more are they 
 transmitted to each and every child alike. The myopia, 
 or the hare-lip, the tendency to gout or consumption, in 
 one of the parents, may be witnessed in a part only of 
 the children. It could not be otherwise with insanity. 
 
 This occasional disappearance of hereditary disease 
 marks the operation of the great universal law of hered- 
 itary transmission. While Nature indulges in such a 
 vast variety of forms that no two individuals in all this
 
 44 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 immense creation can be found exactly alike, she per- 
 mits no considerable deviation from the normal condition 
 to become permanent. Her tendency ever is to abolish 
 all gross anomalies of form, feature, complexion, — not 
 excepting disease, — and to reestablish, in all their 
 integrity, the original characters of the species. Super- 
 numerary fingers or toes, extraordinary conformations 
 of the limbs, defective or excessive development, — all 
 these may occur in a few generations, but having no 
 place in the normal constitution of the species they 
 sooner or later disappear. Breeders tell us of the great 
 difficulty of maintaining any desirable feature which 
 marks a considerable deviation from the normal type. 
 They succeed only by a persevering system of breeding 
 in and in, and that finally produces a deterioration of 
 the general qualities of the stock ; and it is obvious 
 that without this restraining influence these deviations 
 would become established, and the distinctive characters 
 of the species be utterly lost. 
 
 The same law also restrains the indefinite transmis- 
 sion of disease and defect, which would lead to the same 
 result. While some of the children inherit the defects 
 of one parent, the rest inherit the excellences of the 
 other ; and even when both parents are defective, their 
 sound points, by being firmly fixed in the blood, may 
 maintain their place to the exclusion of the others, and 
 the offspring thus escape the blight. It must be con- 
 sidered, too, that the germs of the disease, when actu- 
 ally transmitted to the child, may, under favoring 
 circumstances, remain latent, and for lack of any activity 
 fail to be transmitted any farther. In common phrase, 
 they die out. Thus it appears that the invariable trans- 
 mission of any quality or condition is contrary to the 
 ordinances of nature ; and that the absolute, uncon-
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 45 
 
 ditional transmission to each and every child of every 
 trait and quality possessed by the parents is simply an 
 absurdity. Amid all the ways and works of the Crea- 
 tor, it would not be easy to find a more wise and benefi- 
 cent arrangement, which preserves the characters of the 
 species, while, by penalties severe, but not inexorable, 
 it prevents the deterioration of the race. Let not the 
 kindness and mercy which preeminently distinguish 
 this provision, become inducements for disregarding its 
 requirements and defying its penalties. 
 
 The course of our inquiry, then, leads us to this con- 
 clusion, — that in the production of insanity there is 
 generally the concurrence of two classes of agencies, 
 one consisting in some congenital imperfection of the 
 brain, and the other in accidental, outward events. I do 
 not say that mental disease is never produced by the 
 latter class of ageDcies exclusively. The present limited 
 state of our knowledge forbids so sweeping a conclusion. 
 Cases sometimes occur where the closest investigation 
 discloses, apparently, no cause of cerebral disorder 
 within the patient himself. There is good reason to 
 believe that the number of such cases would be lessened 
 by a deeper insight into the inner life, and a minuter 
 knowledge of those organic movements which lead to 
 disease. We know that even in those cases in which, 
 to all appearance, the casual incident was most compe- 
 tent of itself to produce the disease, the constitutional 
 infirmity may be often discovered. Drunkenness, epi- 
 lepsy, blows on the head, sun-stroke, would seem capable, 
 if any thing outward could, of producing insanity : but, 
 as a matter of fact, we find not unfrequently, behind 
 these casual events, firmly seated in the inmost consti- 
 tution of the brain, the hereditary infirmity. Can we 
 believe that it took no part in the morbid process ?
 
 46 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 The almost universal conjunction of these two classes 
 of agencies being admitted, it becomes us to thoroughly 
 understand and profit by the fact ; for this, like most 
 facts on the subject of insanity, may be turned to prac- 
 tical account. It might seem, at first sight, that the 
 presence and predominance of the constitutional defect 
 implied a kind of fatality in the course of things, which 
 it would be useless to attempt to resist. That there 
 may be, occasionally, some ground for this idea, it would 
 be wrong to deny ; but, in a large proportion of cases, 
 the morbid element is not so potent as to be entirely 
 beyond control. The peril being understood, it may be 
 kept in abeyance by avoiding all those incidents and 
 influences which are calculated to bring it into active 
 operation, and by faithfully complying with the proper 
 rules of living. And if the particular doctrine here 
 taught would seem to lead to a scrutiny of one's men- 
 tal constitution, more likely to produce the saddest 
 apprehensions and forebodings than any salutary effect, 
 it must be considered, on the other hand, that entire 
 ignorance of the subject must, necessarily, often lead to 
 evil. An exact knowledge of the truth may, occasion- 
 ally, excite unpleasant reflections ; but, in the long run, 
 it will do more good than harm. The various ways in 
 which it may be made practically useful it is not my 
 purpose to describe ; but there is one view of the sub- 
 ject so little understood, though of paramount impor- 
 tance, that it may be worth our while to dwell upon it 
 for a moment. 
 
 To say that a man's character and conduct are deter- 
 mined, in a great degree, by the original constitution of 
 his brain and nervous system, is to utter a truth that 
 can hardly be called new. Few, however, are disposed 
 to make any proper account of those cerebral qualities
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 47 
 
 which imply a deviation, of some kind or other, from 
 the line of healthy action. It is not in accordance with 
 the philosophy of our times to see in them an explana- 
 tion of those strange and curious traits which are utterly 
 inexplicable on the principles that govern the conduct 
 of ordinary men. How, then, could they expect the 
 popular approbation, who find in them a clew to some 
 of the mysteries of human delinquency ? But the 
 teachings of science, the stern facts of observation, 
 cannot be disregarded. Whether we ignore them or 
 not, sooner or later their full significance will be tri- 
 umphantly acknowledged. 
 
 In the popular apprehension, even downright insanity 
 is regarded as of little practical account, unless it courts 
 observation by the force and variety of its manifestations. 
 Only its more demonstrative forms are supposed to be 
 capable of affecting the legal responsibility of men. 
 The world is reluctant to believe that a person who, in 
 most respects, is rational and observant of the ordinary 
 proprieties of life, can be so completely under the in- 
 fluence of disease as to be irresponsible for any of his 
 acts. If the world is reluctant to allow to this descrip- 
 tion of persons the immunities of insanity, it could 
 hardly be expected to treat, with any degree of favor, 
 those traits or conditions of mind which imply, not dis- 
 ease, perhaps, but abnormal imperfection of the brain. 
 And yet it cannot be denied that the course of thought, 
 the sense of moral distinctions, the actual conduct, may 
 be greatly affected by the influence of such imperfection. 
 Are we not bound, then, by a sense of justice and the 
 claims of science, to make some account of it in form- 
 ing our estimates of character, and fixing the limits of 
 responsibility? Can we do otherwise without the 
 grossest inconsistency? Knowing that an individual
 
 48 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 is descended from a line of progenitors abounding in 
 every form of nervous disorder, shall we think it strange 
 that some vestige thereof should have come to him ? 
 And knowing that the quality of the brain is necessarily 
 affected by such disorder, shall we not seek, in this fact, 
 for an explanation of what would be inexplicable upon 
 any ordinary principles of human conduct ? 
 
 The doctrine of transmission here adopted warrants 
 us in assuming that, if fairly considered by the light 
 which the facts of physiology, pathology, and natural 
 history throw upon it, it will furnish a clew to the true 
 philosophy of those minor or obscure derangements of 
 mind, which are much misunderstood, if not entirely 
 ignored. It was once the common belief that no disease 
 could be considered as hereditary whose exact proto- 
 type had not existed in a previous generation. But 
 nobody now believes that hereditary disease is transmit- 
 ted only as disease. Every day's observation shows us 
 that, in this mysterious operation, it is not the disease 
 itself — not the host of morbid movements implied in 
 that term — which is transmitted, but what, for want of 
 a better term, we call the tendency to disease. It shows 
 us that gout, apoplexy, or epilepsy never passes, fully 
 formed, from parent to child, but only such a constitu- 
 tion of the inmost principles of the vital organism, as, 
 under favoring circumstances may, in the course of time, 
 be converted into one of those diseases. The .thing 
 actually transmitted is hidden from the senses, and be- 
 yond the reach of the scalpel or microscope. But it is 
 none the less actual, none the less a power in the organ- 
 ism to be manifested by the most serious effects. Now, 
 insanity is subject to the same law of transmission as 
 other diseases, little as we might be led so to suppose 
 by the prevalent notions respecting it ; and the law is
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 49 
 
 as devoid of mystery, as sure, as explicit, as beneficent 
 as any other in nature. 
 
 Considering, then, that tendency to disease, not 
 disease itself, may be the only thing actually transmit- 
 ted, it is not strange that overt insanity in the parent is 
 not always followed by the same condition in the child ; 
 nor that overt insanity in the child has not always been 
 preceded by the same condition in the parent. Beyond 
 the mere tendency to disease, all the rest is, to our 
 apprehension, — very often, certainly, — a matter of acci- 
 dent. Not the necessities of the constitution, but cir- 
 cumstances, determine whether the tendency remains in 
 abeyance, or is converted into overt disease. Hence it 
 is that insanity may be properly called hereditary, even 
 when undiscovered as such in any progenitor of the 
 patient. 
 
 The tendency once established in any particular brain, 
 the next step of the inquiry is, to know what becomes 
 of it. To this question, the results of observation fur- 
 nish a satisfactory reply. In the first place, like all acci- 
 dental characters, it may die out with the individual 
 himself, and leave no trace of its existence in his off- 
 spring. Secondly, it may be transmitted to his immedi- 
 ate offspring, in whom it may assume any possible form 
 of nervous derangement or defect. Thirdly, it may re- 
 main in abeyance in the next succeeding generation, 
 and be developed in the third with even more than its 
 original gravity. The eccentric old man, whose conduct 
 and discourse make him a by-word among people, per- 
 petuates his name in half a score of children who mani- 
 fest no mental obliquity or defect, while among their 
 offspring may be found a great variety of each, from 
 the simplest peculiarity to furious mania. It may ap- 
 pear in early youth, in the form of chorea, epilepsy, 
 
 4
 
 50 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 catalepsy, proclivity to mischief, or fits of passion ; in 
 maturer years, in the form of alternate excitement 
 and depression, of irresistible propensity to drink, of 
 striking peculiarities of behavior, of some strange, un- 
 expected, and inexplicable act, of raving mania ; in 
 advanced age, in the form of premature decay, or com- 
 plete dementia. The incident which preceded all the 
 subsequent evils may have been a slight eccentricity, 
 hardly perceptible to the world, chronic neuralgia of 
 the head, habitual intemperance, excessive study, or 
 protracted vigils ; a defective development of the brain 
 while young, produced by bad physical influences, such 
 as impure water and air, lack of ventilation, crowded 
 and uncleanly dwellings, hardship, and hunger. Look- 
 ing either to the cause or the effect, we see the utmost 
 possible variety ; and the fact should teach us to be cau- 
 tious how we undertake to circumscribe the range of 
 nature's operations in the broad domain of cerebral dis- 
 ease. But the ailment, whatever it may be, — whether 
 it come in some familiar form of mental disorder, or one 
 of those obscure conditions which perplex both the wise 
 and the simple, — whether it break out suddenly, or go 
 through a long course of development, — is the last of 
 a series of morbid or abnormal movements whose be- 
 ginning was in a previous generation. The more exten- 
 sive and accurate our observations, the more strongly 
 is this fact confirmed ; and it must be thoroughly under- 
 stood and appreciated, if we would avoid a very common 
 error on the subject. 
 
 When unequivocal insanity in the parent is followed 
 by the same affection in the child, nobody is unwilling 
 to recognize in the fact the relation of cause and effect. 
 But when some obscure phase of mental obliquity, or 
 even overt insanity, is followed by some form or degree
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 51 
 
 of mental disturbance not distinguished, by any positive 
 characters, from normal peculiarities or conditions of 
 mind, the idea of any such connection is apt to be con- 
 sidered rather as an ingenious speculation than a strictly 
 philosophical deduction. 
 
 This, then, is the general conclusion to which we 
 are led, by wide and careful observation ; viz., that the 
 hereditary taint of insanity appears, in various stages 
 of progress, from the lowest to the highest grade of 
 intensity, and under a variety of forms and aspects. 
 This being so, it follows that these various forms and 
 stages of the disease are as worthy of investigation as 
 that of the fully formed, fully developed, unmistakable 
 attack. Their effect on the mental capacity and vigor, 
 and on the complexion of the moral sentiments and 
 determinations ; their connection with the habitual feel- 
 ings and transitory impulses, with the power of resist- 
 ing evil and pursuing good, — are points on which we 
 need to be enlightened, in forming our estimates of 
 character, especially in reference to moral and legal' re- 
 sponsibility. They are agencies no less effective than 
 education, social influences, or mental endowments ; and 
 these, surely, are not regarded as unworthy of attention 
 in this relation. To admit the general fact, but deny 
 that it has any practical value, is a sort of philosophy 
 more indicative of prejudice and presumption than of 
 sound, scientific reasoning. That disease may exist in 
 any organ, without appreciably disturbing its operations, 
 is, undoubtedly, true. Such a thing sometimes happens ; 
 but it is an exception to a general rule, — and, conse- 
 quently, only proves the rule, — which is, that disease, 
 infirmity, or defect of an organ, necessarily, in one way 
 or another, affects its functions. That it is often diffi- 
 cult to estimate very precisely the extent of this deteri-
 
 52 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 oration, I grant ; but' cases sometimes arise where the 
 fact is so obvious, that, without any elaborate reasoning, 
 almost instinctively, as it were, we recognize its potency. 
 Let a man whose family abounds with cases of mental 
 disease be arraigned for some unexpected crime, and 
 the word goes round at once, that the trouble is in the 
 blood. 
 
 The next step in our inquiry is, to ascertain how we 
 may be able to recognize the presence of the hereditary 
 taint. By what signs or manifestations have we a right 
 to infer that it exists in any given case ? 
 
 In the first place, we must bear in mind that it would 
 not be inconsistent with any thing we know respecting 
 the laws of disease if it remained in a latent condition, 
 unobserved by the person's most intimate acquaintance. 
 A good physical education may have prevented the de- 
 velopment of diseased tendencies, a sound mental disci- 
 pline may have so strengthened the powers of the mind 
 as to furnish them the least possible play in the habitual 
 mental movement, or no fitting conjunction of circum- 
 stances afforded an opportunity for their exhibition. 
 Even when actually manifested, they may have appeared 
 so little like the traits of disease as not to be recognized 
 as such by the casual observer. Precisely so with one 
 who has inherited a tendency to bodily disease, — con- 
 sumption, for instance. A judicious physical training 
 may have so strengthened his constitution as to render 
 the local defect powerless ; a broad chest and florid 
 countenance may negative any suspicion of pulmonary 
 weakness; easy circumstances and a genial climate may 
 keep the noxious germ where it began, to the latest 
 hour of life, or allow merely that slight development 
 which is cognizable only to the inspection of the expert. 
 And the same sort of analogy might be furnished by the
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY.] 53 
 
 course of other diseases. Now, in these cases, there 
 may exist no doubt as to the inherited tendency ; and 
 we do not expect of the person that amount of endur- 
 ance under exposure, or the power of succeeding in 
 special efforts, which we do — other things being equal 
 — of those who are born with no such tendencies. 
 Neither, when, in spite of all appearances to the con- 
 trary, the disease does break out, are we astonished at 
 the fact, or inclined to ignore its existence. 
 
 Disease in any organ is manifested — if manifested at 
 all — in a disturbance either of its own functions or of 
 those having close nervous connections with it. In one 
 or the other of these two ways only, can disease of the 
 brain be made apparent to the outward observer. It is, 
 therefore, a fair inference, that any considerable devia- 
 tion from the ordinary course of its functions indicates 
 the existence of disease, in some one or other of its 
 phases ; and one of its functions, I take it for granted, 
 is to make manifest the operations of the mind. A notion, 
 ostensibly founded in fact, but really without any such 
 foundation ; an irresistible impulse to do or say a thing 
 abhorrent to one's own ideas of fitness or moral pro- 
 priety ; a loss of self-control, if not consciousness, under 
 extraordinary trial ; the occasional ascendency of appe- 
 tite or passion over all the restraints of education, habit, 
 and conscience ; an act of violence, unprovoked by any 
 adequate cause, and at variance with the character and 
 disposition, coming like thunder from a cloudless sky, — 
 such traits as these warrant us in believing that the 
 disease, or tendency to disease, which existed in the pro- 
 genitor, has been transmitted to the offspring, strength- 
 ened and quickened, perhaps, in its passage through one 
 or two generations. We have also a right to recognize 
 the hereditary taint in those extraordinary phases and
 
 54 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY' 
 
 incidents which, unexpected and unaccountable as they 
 are, always amaze and perplex the superficial observer. 
 If manifested at all, these are its legitimate effects, and 
 they ought not to surprise us. Indeed, it should sur- 
 prise us more if it always remained in abeyance, and 
 gave no token of its presence. 
 
 Of course it cannot be denied, that manifestations very 
 like these attributed to the hereditary fault may and do 
 occur in a normal condition of the cerebral system ; and 
 the. peculiar difficulty of the present question is to dis- 
 tinguish the one from the other. Cough, pain, fever, 
 are unmistakable signs of disease, which we are in no 
 danger of regarding as compatible with a state of perfect 
 health. On the other hand, an act of mischief or folly, 
 which in one man would be the offspring of insanity, 
 would in another be justly attributed to moral deprav- 
 ity. Now, it is a fair question to ask, — and it is entitled 
 to a satisfactory answer, because one of great practical 
 importance, — can we distinguish, in every case, between . 
 these two orders of facts, with any reasonable degree of 
 certainty ? With no disposition to make light of the diffi- 
 culty, I still believe that it requires no extraordinary 
 skill or discernment to save us from mistake beyond 
 what is incident to all human judgment. The occasion 
 hardly admits a thorough discussion of this point, and 
 therefore I will only briefly indicate some of the rules 
 which should govern our inquiries. 
 
 Every act, every course of conduct, must have an 
 adequate cause ; and, in order to ascertain this cause, we 
 may need the largest knowledge of men, and a profound 
 discernment of the springs of action, and of the effect of 
 social, moral, and religious influences. The question 
 whether a certain act is or is not the offspring of in- 
 sanity, must often be decided, not by the intrinsic qual-
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 55 
 
 ities of the act, but by the circumstances of the case. 
 A person of doubtful mental condition must not be con- 
 sidered as responsible for an act of violence, merely 
 because a Fejee islander or a professional bravo might 
 do the same thing as a matter of business or pleasure. 
 And the converse of the proposition, I admit, is equally 
 true. An act of violence must not be attributed to in- 
 sanity merely because, to a person of high culture and 
 correct morals, it seems inexplicable on the ordinary 
 principles of human conduct. In one community, some 
 forms of murder would very properly raise a suspicion 
 of insanity, while in another they might unquestion- 
 ably arise from passion or calculation, and be viewed 
 with indifference, if not complacency. Let the person, 
 therefore, whose mental condition is in doubt, be com- 
 pared, not with somebody else, but with himself, in con- 
 nection with the circumstances in which he is placed. 
 In cases of this description, a man's habitual character 
 furnishes the best clew to the nature of his acts. If 
 these are apparently inexplicable, it is because we over- 
 look the only key that will unlock the mystery. How- 
 ever strange and unexpected they may be, a thorough 
 inquiry will show that they are consistent with the laws 
 of psychology, as displayed in the operations of the 
 mind, in health and disease. For instance, a person 
 commits a flagrant crime, though nothing in his previous 
 history would have led one to begin to anticipate such 
 an event. His record is fair, and not even the closest 
 scrutiny of friend or foe can detect in it a single flaw. 
 No sudden provocation, no ulterior object, no overmaster- 
 ing passion, can be discerned. He comes of a stock, 
 however, whose nervous constitution has* been vitiated 
 by some defect or ailment calculated to impair its effi- 
 ciency and derange its operations. In some shape or
 
 56 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 other, it may have been transmitted to him, and, on the 
 doctrine of chances alone, the fact is more or less prob- 
 able. Here, then, are the only two possible solutions of 
 the difficulty, — depravity or infirmity ; and we have 
 no right to choose the former, merely because the latter 
 cannot be proved by the grosser tests. Indeed, a super- 
 ficial examination finds the one as unsatisfactory as the 
 other. If the act in question is the only indication of 
 disordered mind, in the whole life of the individual, the 
 difficulty of reaching a satisfactory result would be in- 
 creased, no doubt ; but, taking it even in this shape, we 
 are warranted in saying that a single act of insanity, 
 intruded into the midst of a correct and even life, is not 
 more strange than a single act of depravity apparently 
 foreign to the character and disposition. In most cases, 
 however, — might I not say, in all? — a thorough in- 
 spection of the mental manifestations, as displayed in the 
 conduct and discourse, would bring to light certain pe- 
 culiarities which, though not strictly incompatible with 
 soundness of mind, furnish, at least, fair ground for sus- 
 pecting the presence of hereditary taint. Excitement 
 and depression, moody, difficult temper, extraordinary 
 proneness to jealousy and suspicion, a habit of saying 
 or doing proper things under improper circumstances, 
 an unreasonable disregard of ordinaiy ways, customs, 
 and observances, an habitual extravagance of thought 
 and feeling, an inability to appreciate very nicely moral 
 distinctions, gusts of passion, reckless indulgence of 
 appetite, — such are the traits, some or all of which 
 will be generally found in connection with transmitted 
 mental infirmity. 
 
 It may be replied, that these are mental defects sig- 
 nifying, not mental unsoundness, but merely that sort of 
 imperfection that necessarily belongs to human nature.
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 57 
 
 That any one of them, singly and alone, is invariably an 
 indication of cerebral infirmity, I do not contend ; but I 
 think we are warranted in saying, that, under certain 
 circumstances, each one of them may bean unmistakable 
 sign of such a condition, and that in actual practice there 
 can be but little difficulty in making the distinction. Let 
 it be observed, however, that I do not present them as 
 indications of insanity, but rather of a cerebral condition 
 which, under certain circumstances, may become in- 
 sanity. And this is the point that deserves especial^ 
 attention. When a person, hitherto regular and ra- 
 tional in his ways, commits an appalling crime, the 
 world is very reluctant to believe that it could have 
 sprung from any other source than some hidden foun- 
 tain of depravity, deep down in the recesses of the 
 moral being. If, however, a faithful examination of 
 the individual shows any of the above-mentioned traits, 
 have we not a right to suppose that some bodily ail- 
 ment or some moral shock, sudden and severe, may 
 have quickened the morbid element into overpowering 
 activity? There is nothing in the nature of mental 
 disease that forbids the supposition, — nothing in its 
 rise and progress, according to the present state of our 
 knowledge, incompatible with such an event. Change 
 of phases, slow or sudden, rapid development, frequent 
 fluctuations, are eminently characteristic of mental dis- 
 ease. Admitting the morbid element to be present, we 
 can scarcely limit the modes of its operation, nor be sur- 
 prised at any turn it may take. 
 
 Let it be observed, too, that this sudden and rapid 
 development of mental disease which has been lying in 
 embryo is strictly in accordance with the laws of morbid 
 action, as witnessed in the rise and progress of other 
 diseases. Tubercles w T hich have existed in the lungs
 
 58 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 for years, giving no signs of their presence, are suddenly 
 aroused into fatal activity by a severe cold. The germs 
 of inherited gout lie unsuspected in the system, until 
 some impairment of the vital energies, or a prolonged 
 debauch, furnishes the stimulus which they require. 
 An inherited tendency to apoplexy quietly waits a fit- 
 ting occasion for the fatal stroke. And yet the world 
 wants no better argument against the plea of insanity 
 in a given case, than the fact that its existence was 
 never suspected before the act of violence, on account 
 of which it is offered. In making up our opinion re- 
 specting the mental condition of the party concerned, 
 the very act most significant of all is to be completely 
 ignored ! 
 
 Admitting the truth of our doctrine, it becomes our 
 duty to inquire what practical consequences should 
 rightfully follow it. If its legitimate effect were to fur- 
 nish fresh license to passion and diminish the power of 
 self-control, to encourage crime and endanger the wel- 
 fare of society, I should be inclined to regard it as one 
 of those truths which had better be known only to phi- 
 losophers and saints. Believing no such thing, but 
 rather that the highest interests of men will be best 
 promoted by making the mental condition in question 
 more correctly understood, I proceed to the next step 
 of our inquiry. 
 
 When a criminal act is committed by one who has 
 previously given no indications of mental disturbance 
 though the circumstances of the act may raise suspicion 
 of unsoundness, and we find any of those traits which 
 are indicative of hereditary tendency to the disease, we 
 are bound to allow this fact some weight, at least, in our 
 estimates of responsibility. We are bound to allow ample 
 scope and verge for the unmistakable manifestations of
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 59 
 
 disease, before we lay upon the offender the usual con- 
 sequences of crime. How far it should be allowed to 
 affect legal responsibility can only be ascertained by a 
 thorough and intelligent investigation of the circum- 
 stances of each particular case. The results to which 
 we arrive must always be more or less conjectural, but 
 they may, at the least, furnish ground for doubt where 
 confidence might lead to injustice. They might stay the 
 hand of the law until doubt should be converted into 
 certainty, and the cause of truth and right be amply 
 vindicated before men. 
 
 Let me not be misunderstood. It is no doctrine of 
 mine that a man is irresponsible for any and every crime 
 he may commit, or for any moral delinquency, simply 
 because some of his progenitors were insane. What I 
 contend for is, that, when such a fact appears in evi- 
 dence, it should be investigated in alt its relations to the 
 party concerned, under the light derived from the pres- 
 ent state of our knowledge on this subject, in order that 
 it may be ascertained if the mental infirmity, by being 
 transmitted, in some form or other, has determined, at 
 all, his volitions, impulses, or acts. If, under such an 
 investigation, it shall appear that his character or con- 
 duct has been marked by peculiarities like those which 
 usually spring from the hereditary taint, and especially 
 if it appear that the criminal act was accompanied by 
 none of the ordinary circumstances of crime, then a rea- 
 sonable doubt is thereby raised of his legal guilt, and a 
 suspension of judgment justified, until farther develop- 
 ments shall have shown the true nature of the case. 
 If, on the other hand, the act in question appear to 
 have been a rational act, rationally done, — that is, 
 prompted by the usual incentives to action, — and the 
 individual has been free from any mental obliquities that
 
 60 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 might be fairly attributed to the hereditary taint, then 
 it cannot be justly put forth as a ground of exemption 
 from the ordinary consequences of crime. 
 
 The importance of a more intelligent appreciation of 
 this class of cases was strongly exhibited in England, a 
 few years since, where one of them occurred. Though 
 scarcely distinguishable, at first sight, from the ordinary 
 run of crimes, it became the subject of comment in 
 Parliament, and divided the public attention with the 
 Schleswig-Holstein difficulty and the American rebel- 
 lion. It distracted the opinions of eminent experts, it 
 jeopardized the popularity of a cabinet minister, and 
 raised a general clamor throughout the kingdom. A 
 young man of twenty -five, named Townley, was en- 
 gaged to a young lady, both of highly respectable 
 character and connection. Twice the engagement was 
 broken by the lady, ostensibly because, on account of 
 his want of business or means, it was disapproved by 
 her grandfather, with whom she lived, but really — the 
 last time — because of her preference of another, to 
 whom she had become engaged. The affair moved him 
 deeply, and in great agony of mind he solicited and 
 obtained a final interview, which lasted* two hours, in the 
 evening, out of doors. At the close of it, be killed her 
 with a pen-knife, gave notice of what he had done, and 
 assisted in rendering the necessary attentions. It was 
 obvious that he had made no preparations for the act, 
 and he made no attempt to escape. 
 
 It appeared in evidence that he had always borne a 
 good character, and was of an amiable disposition, 
 though somewhat excitable and peculiar. His grand- 
 father's sister and a first cousin had been insane, and 
 an aunt's aunt had had ten children, of whom five had 
 been insane. His own account of the transaction was,
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 61 
 
 that he endeavored to ascertain from her the name of 
 his rival, which she refused to give ; that he kept down 
 his feelings as long as he could, but was finally worked 
 up to a pitch of madness, and did not remember any 
 thing at the last. He admitted that the act was murder, 
 for which he would be hanged, and said he was happier 
 for having done it. Subsequently, he justified the act, 
 on the ground that she had deceived him, declaring that 
 the woman who deceived him must die ; that she was 
 his property as much as if they had been married ; and 
 that he took only what belonged to him. His state- 
 ments, though free from all signs of delusion, unless 
 some vague expressions about a conspiracy might be 
 regarded as such, were full of that peculiar extravagance 
 of sentiment, insensibility to moral distinctions, inconsis- 
 tency, and contradiction, so characteristic of the insane 
 The like of them may be found in the case-books of every 
 hospital for the insane. 
 
 On trial, insanity was pleaded in his defence, but he 
 was convicted. The judge, however, regarding the 
 medical testimony respecting his mental condition to 
 apply to a period subsequent to the homicide (in which 
 testimony was that of a distinguished expert, strongly 
 in favor of his insanity), he transmitted the papers to 
 the Home Secretary, Sir George Gray, and solicited his 
 attention to the case. This gentleman requested three 
 members of the Board of Commissioners of Lunacy to 
 examine the prisoner ; and they reported, as the result 
 of their examination, that his condition was the same 
 then as when he committed the act ; that applying the 
 law, as laid down by the court, he was justly convicted ; 
 but added that, " in view of the extravagant opinions 
 deliberately professed by him, of his extraordinarily 
 perverted moral sense, and of the hereditary taint
 
 62 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 alleged and apparently proved to have existed in the 
 family of the prisoner's grandmother, we cannot con- 
 sider him to be of sound mind." 
 
 In the mean time, in conformity to a statute on the 
 subject, three justices and two medical men examined 
 him, and pronounced him to be of " unsound mind," and 
 he was accordingly sent to Bethlehem Hospital. Where- 
 upon, a strong remonstrance, signed by forty magis- 
 trates of the county, was sent to the Secretary, who 
 immediately appointed another Commission to examine 
 and report on his mental condition ; which Commission 
 was composed of four physicians, of whom two were then 
 Superintendents of hospitals for the insane, and two had 
 been previously, but were then holding the office of 
 " Visitors of Chancery Lunatics." These gentlemen 
 arrived unanimously at the conclusion that the party 
 was of " sound mind," and forthwith the Secretary 
 ordered him into penal servitude for life, in Australia. 
 
 This case affords an apt illustration of the peculiar 
 embarrassments occasioned by the mental condition in 
 question. It is easy to see how the experts honestly 
 arrived at such different conclusions. The absence of 
 any symptoms of insanity previous to the criminal act, 
 and of any conclusive one subsequently, was undoubt- 
 edly a good reason for believing that Townley was not 
 insane ; while his extraordinary notions of right and 
 wrong seemed to indicate one of those selfish, reckless, 
 godless spirits — too common, alas, to make their exist- 
 ence a matter of question — that stop at nothing in order 
 to gratify an impulse or accomplish a desirable end. 
 According to legal definitions, certainly, he was not 
 insane, nor could he have been admitted into any hos- 
 pital for the insane in Great Britain. On the other 
 hand, considering the circumstances of the act, and the
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 63 
 
 remarkable conduct of the prisoner immediately before 
 and after it, in connection with his hereditary tendency 
 to mental disease, there was ground for regarding him 
 as insane rather than depraved. Had the homicide been 
 unaccompanied by this hereditary tendency, or the latter 
 not been followed by any act of violence, this conclusion 
 would hardly have been adopted. As it was, however, 
 the tendency rendered such an act not very improbable, 
 — certainly, not extraordinary, — while the previous 
 character excluded the supposition of consummate de- 
 pravity. It is well known that, in most of those cases 
 where the first, and, for a time, the only symptom of 
 insanity was some terrible act, there was the hereditary 
 taint. This was the essential element in the present 
 case ; and it cannot be doubted that, if the experts had 
 all placed the same stress upon it among the agencies 
 that led to the criminal act, their opinions as to the true 
 character of the case would have been more nearly 
 alike. Forced, perhaps, by the exigencies of the occa- 
 sion, they accepted an alternative from which they 
 would have shrunk in a purely psychological inquiry. 
 The question of sanity or insanity, however proper in 
 the administration of the law, was, in a scientific point 
 of view, little better than a verbal quibble. With as 
 much propriety it might be asked whether a person 
 with tubercles in his lungs is or is not in a con- 
 sumption. 
 
 Under our view of the subject, the true character of 
 the case appears divested, in a great degree, of the 
 difficulties that encumber the professional opinions on 
 both sides. This young man inherited a tendency to 
 insanity, which r however, up to the event in question, 
 had given little token of its existence. In the ordinary 
 routine of life, where there was nothing to try his
 
 64 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 
 
 power of self-control, or disturb the current of his feel- 
 ings, he performed his allotted part quietly and cor- 
 rectly, if not very energetically. But when the woman 
 whom he ardently loved cast him off under false pre- 
 tences, the evidence shows that he became greatly agi- 
 tated ; and under all the excitements of a long, private 
 interview, reason was easily driven from her seat. 
 Whether he was unconscious while inflicting the fatal 
 wounds, as he said himself, is not quite certain, but 
 there can be no doubt that his feelings were agitated 
 beyond all power of restraint. No sooner was the deed 
 accomplished, than the inward tumult subsided, con- 
 sciousness returned, if it had ever been lost, and his 
 usual condition was renewed. Of course, he could 
 hardly help giving some account of the feelings and 
 motives which led to the transaction, and here he be- 
 trayed that sort of moral obliquity, which, though not 
 necessarily indicative of insanity, is frequently wit- 
 nessed in abnormal conditions of the mind. The manner 
 in which he undertook to explain and defend his con- 
 duct was such as, in the opinion of a distinguished ex- 
 pert, no sane man would have adopted. His discourse 
 evinced something more than bad logic and outrageous 
 sentiment, in both of which it abounded. It was full 
 of wild and extravagant notions which no man, fairly 
 claiming to be sane, would have regarded as likely to 
 obtain the slightest credence from any one less credu- 
 lous than the simplest child. Even if we suppose that 
 such had always been his way of thinking, it was, un- 
 questionably, the result of his peculiar mental imper- 
 fection, rather than of mature, deliberate reasoning, or" 
 of vicious habits and training. Not unlikely he under- 
 took to defend his act by arguments that he scarcely 
 believed himself. Such a fact is not uncommon in the
 
 THE CAUSES OF INSANITY. 65 
 
 operations of the insane mind, when called upon to ex- 
 plain conduct to which it has been impelled by the force 
 of disease, but which it knows to be wrong. Now, in 
 all this there is nothing extraordinary or improbable. 
 Admitting the presence of the hereditary tendency, it 
 might have been expected that, under favoring circum- 
 stances, it would affect the mental movements and dis- 
 turb the moral perceptions, to such a degree even that 
 a most horrible act might seem to be a matter of right 
 and duty. Nor is there anything in the history of the 
 case incompatible with this explanation. Every trait in 
 it might find a parallel in the conduct, conversation, or 
 manners of the decidedly insane. The view here taken 
 of Townley's case was fitly confirmed by his final act, 
 which'was to destroy his own life by leaping from one 
 of the galleries of the prison to the floor below. 
 
 The records of my own observation would furnish 
 cases similar in character, if not in their incidents, in 
 which the act of violence was equally sudden and unex- 
 pected, the reason of the patient apparently just as 
 sound, and his reputation equally free from reproach. 
 Had the incidents been similar, experts would probably 
 have differed as widely respecting their nature, and the 
 public would have been as deeply indignant at any show 
 of judicial mercy. It is because they are not extraordi- 
 nary, and because great injustice may be committed, and 
 the humanity and science of the age discredited by such 
 mistakes respecting their true nature, that I have ven- 
 tured on this discussion.
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 [In no department of medical inquiry, probably, has there been 
 manifested so little of the truly scientific spirit as in the statistics 
 of insanity. The plainest rules of philosophical investigation have 
 been disregarded, things have been associated having no necessary 
 relation, and conclusions have been drawn that had but an indifferent 
 foundation in facts. It certainly might have seemed, at first blush, 
 as if the large opportunities for studying insanity afforded by the 
 hospitals of our times would have made us acquainted with many 
 things respecting its origin, propagation, duration, curability, &c, 
 that could well be expressed in statistical forms. That they have not 
 been entirely fruitless in this respect, I am glad to admit ; but the 
 actual result can hardly be regarded as a large contribution to our 
 knowledge. The failure sprung, no doubt, on the one hand, from a 
 mistake as to the true function and limits of statistics, and, on the 
 other, from erroneous opinions touching some of the manifestations 
 of the disease. The first mistake consisted in ignoring the distinction 
 between matters of fact and matters of opinion, and in deeming the 
 one as proper a subject of statistical record as the other. In this way 
 many things were numerically recorded that were rather the ex- 
 pression of the observer's private conclusions than of any definite 
 phenomena having the same significance to everybody else. The 
 proportion of cases at different periods of life ; the weight, height, and 
 complexion of the patients; the number of farmers, carpenters, shoe- 
 makers among them ; how many died and how many eloped, — mat- 
 ters like these may be expressed in a statistical shape, if it is thought 
 desirable, without giving rise to any misapprehension of their mean- 
 ing. But when we undertake to give a numerical value to such events 
 as the causes of the disease, the date of its origin, the number of re- 
 coveries, &c, we are dealing with the uncertain and indefinite, differ-
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. b'7 
 
 ently interpreted by different persons. What we record on thej-e 
 points might greatly differ from the records of other observers, and 
 thus it may be worse than useless as a matter of statistics. And this 
 objection must lie against every incident the meaning of which can 
 be open to doubt or diversity of opinion. 
 
 Statistics which are not really statistics, I have said, are worse 
 than useless ; and the reason is, that they beguile the student with a 
 show of knowledge, and thus take away the main inducement to 
 farther inquiry. Why should he look farther for truth when it al- 
 ready lies before him? Some of the prevalent errors respecting 
 insanity and the insane are fairly attributable to these vicious statis- 
 tics, for figures make a deeper impression on the mind than the most 
 cogent arguments. During the three and twenty years that have 
 elapsed since this paper was written, some of the objectionable features 
 here mentioned have disappeared from the statistics of our hospitals. 
 Evidence of improvement in this respect is particularly manifest in 
 the Tables prepared by a committee of the Association of Superinten- 
 dents of Xorth American hospitals for the insane, and recommended 
 for general adoption by that body at one of its recent meetings.] 
 
 Few persons, I believe, who are practically acquainted 
 with the subject, are quite satisfied with the present 
 methods of reporting the results of management in hos- 
 pitals for the insane, or are prepared to place entire 
 confidence in the general conclusions to which they lead. 
 Certainly the wish has often been expressed that greater 
 uniformity were observed in these methods, and that 
 certain conditions and events connected with the subject 
 were more accurately defined. The evil in question has 
 often been deplored by writers who have the strongest 
 and most enlightened faith in the utility of this kind of 
 statistics ; and, until it is remedied, our most carefully 
 elaborated conclusions can claim but little confidence, 
 and we never can be sure, after all our pains, that we 
 have made any positive advances in knowledge. Gen- 
 eral rules and principles that are fairly drawn from ob- 
 servations have always been regarded as preeminently
 
 68 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 safe, and this strictly inductive method of inquiry is now 
 universally considered as the most effectual means of 
 arriving at the truth. It would seem as if results like 
 these could not be otherwise than correct, because they 
 are but the general expression of the facts themselves. 
 It is this very appearance of certainty which sometimes, 
 as in the present case, blinds us to the actual fallacy ; 
 and we go on accumulating and hugging our treasures 
 of knowledge, as we fancy them, until we find at last 
 that we have been ingeniously deceiving ourselves with 
 an empty show, while the substance has completely es- 
 caped us. 
 
 Statistics has become a favorite instrument for devel- 
 oping truth, and is now applied to branches of inquiry 
 which, a few years since, were scarcely supposed to be 
 within its reach. That it was capable of eliciting phys- 
 ical truth with an extent and accuracy then not thought 
 of, might not have been a wild supposition ; but no one 
 dreamed of seeing it used to elucidate the principles 
 that govern the social position and moral conduct of 
 man, his motives, impulses, and propensities. It is im- 
 portant that an instrument of knowledge so widely and 
 confidently used should be thoroughly understood ; its 
 powers being judiciously estimated, and its application 
 regulated by a suitable regard to the conditions of the 
 case. It is a simple thing, no doubt, to add and sub- 
 tract and divide columns of figures which a patient 
 industry alone was needed to collect ; and, if statistics 
 consisted only of these operations, it certainly would be 
 a very easy affair. But statistics implies something 
 more than a process in arithmetic. It is, or should be, 
 a profound, philosophical analysis of materials carefully 
 and copiously collected, and chosen with an enlightened 
 confidence in their fitness for the purpose in question.
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 69 
 
 The large comprehension, the elevated conceptions, the 
 masterly power of mathematical analysis, were not more 
 essential to Newton in unfolding the law of gravitation, 
 than the acute discrimination of materials and the cor- 
 rect appreciation of their bearing upon the principle 
 in view were to Quetelet in developing the laws that 
 regulate some important events of life and springs of 
 human conduct. Such views, however, have not been 
 prevalent ; and hence has arisen the fact that, thus far, 
 statistics, with all its show of accuracy, has been, com- 
 paratively speaking, singularly barren of results. It 
 would be difficult to mention any great principle of 
 physical or moral science that has been established 
 chiefly by statistical inquiries. A volume would not 
 hold the instances in which they have failed of success, 
 though undertaken with every promise thereof; but I 
 will mention only one, of recent origin, and very well 
 known. 
 
 The taking of the census in 1840 was deemed by our 
 government a favorable opportunity for collecting a mass 
 of useful information of a scientific, moral, social, and 
 economical character. The preliminary steps were ju- 
 diciously taken, the information sought for was highly 
 desirable, and the result appeared in the shape of a portly 
 folio volume. To a stranger it presented peculiar claims 
 to confidence. It was projected by an enlightened gov- 
 ernment, supported by liberal appropriations, and re- 
 ceived the approval of some distinguished names. If 
 statistical inquiries were ever worth anything, they cer- 
 tainly seemed to be in this instance. To those who had 
 a nearer view of the undertaking, it was seen to com- 
 prise a mass of heterogeneous details intrusted to a mul- 
 titude of individuals few of whom could comprehend 
 their nature, or had the requisite skill for assorting and
 
 70 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 classifying their materials, and printed with an unparal- 
 leled carelessness that increased tenfold the original 
 blunders. And yet, with all its pretension, the United 
 States Census for 1840 can be received as reliable au- 
 thority for no single fact whatever. 
 
 It is a common saying that figures will not lie ; but it 
 is very certain that in the hands of the ignorant, the care- 
 less, the undiscriminating, they may become most potent 
 instruments of falsehood. The historian, the chemist, 
 the naturalist, all require unexceptionable authority for 
 the facts that claim their belief, and never hesitate to 
 subject them to a rigid scrutiny. It is probably because 
 statistical facts have met with too easy a faith, that con- 
 clusions drawn from them have so often been swept 
 away by the subsequent progress of knowledge. To 
 those accustomed to the close and careful examination 
 of facts that characterizes other departments of natural 
 science, it is inconceivable what slender materials have 
 served as the foundation of very important deductions in 
 this we are now considering. On the faith of the Cen- 
 sus of 1840, it was proclaimed to the world, with no or- 
 dinary emphasis, that the free colored population is more 
 liable to insanity than the white ; and the fact was ex- 
 ultingly held up by one of our most distinguished 
 statesmen, as an argument in favor of slavery. The 
 Census has gone to every great library in Europe, but 
 without the exposure of its errors ; and in many a 
 future work, no doubt, will be found the record of this 
 strange deduction. A few years since, the world was 
 inclined to yield us the credit of extraordinar} T success 
 in the cure of insanity, because in a certain institution 
 in our country the number of recoveries in recent 
 cases had amounted to 91| per cent of the discharges. 
 It was not made known that this result was founded
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 71 
 
 on the experience of one year in twenty-three cases 
 only. 
 
 The results of experience in hospitals for the insane 
 have been annually published with some minuteness of 
 detail, both because the community is desirous of seeing 
 how far its institutions have met their destined purpose, 
 and because their physicians are actuated by the lauda- 
 ble desire to exhibit the result of observations which 
 their position has enabled them to make upon a much 
 larger scale than they possibly could in a private capa- 
 city. All this is well, and I doubt not much valuable 
 information has been elicited. I trust, however, I may be 
 permitted to question, without giving offence, whether 
 the amount of information is at all commensurate with 
 the real labor involved, and the ostensible accuracy of 
 the facts and deductions. This remarkable failure is 
 deserving of the most serious consideration, in order 
 that its causes may be ascertained and removed, and 
 our future inquiries be prosecuted in a more profitable 
 direction. In this stage of the discussion it will be suf- 
 ficient to say, that, to make our statistics profitable, they 
 should embrace such facts only as are intrinsically im- 
 portant, and free from all admixture with mere opinion. 
 Bearing in mind these tests, we shall be better prepared 
 to measure the real value of the statistics usually con- 
 tained in the reports of our asylums. Of course the 
 limits of a paper like this must confine our attention 
 to the most prominent points. 
 
 No subject connected with insanity possesses so deep 
 and general an interest as its curability, and this fact 
 has lead to the universal practice among asylums of 
 reporting the number of their recoveries. The result 
 is supposed, by implication at least, to be a fair measure 
 of the professional skill and other curative influences
 
 72 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 with which the disease has been combated, and to in- 
 dicate, with more or less exactness, the general curabil- 
 ity of the disease. The question then is, whether these 
 inferences are fairly deducible from the premises. It 
 is admitted that there are various circumstances affect- 
 ing the results of every large establishment that have 
 no necessary connection with them. To leave these 
 entirely out of view would be taking the first step to 
 unlimited error and confusion, while to estimate exactly 
 their respective influence upon the results would be 
 beyond the reach of human penetration. The manner 
 in which they balance and counteract one another, so 
 as to embarrass all our conclusions, will be sufficiently 
 apparent in the course of this discussion. 
 
 The number of recoveries will be affected by the phys- 
 ical constitution of the patients. The more robust and 
 vigorous they are, the more readily will they recover. 
 In rural districts there is a higher condition of health 
 than in the manufacturing and commercial; and this fact, 
 so far as it goes, gives to the asylums of the former an 
 advantage over those of the latter, in respect to the 
 number of recoveries. Again, the comparative sparse- 
 ness of the population in the former, and the greater 
 difficulty of gaining access to the asylum, will delay the 
 admission of many, and thus protract, if not altogether 
 prevent, their recovery. The smaller pecuniary ability 
 of people in the country as compared with those in the 
 city will also lead to premature removals, and conse- 
 quently, so far, to a smaller number of recoveries. On 
 the other hand, asylums on our sea-board which receive 
 large numbers of foreigners worn down by hardships 
 and exposure, many of them sent from home, it may be, 
 because of their liability to insanity, have, in this cir- 
 cumstance, a drawback scarcely known to those of the
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 73 
 
 ural districts. Circumstances like these — and the 
 list might be greatly extended — cannot be expressed 
 in any statistical form : they can only be stated in 
 general terms, and we can obtain only a general im- 
 pression of their influence upon the result. They do not 
 affect the facts, but only prevent us from drawing cer- 
 tain conclusions which, at first sight, they might seem to 
 warrant. There is a very serious objection, however, 
 lying against the facts themselves. 
 
 Statistics can be properly applied only to incidents 
 and events that have an objective existence, for such 
 only are cognizable to all men and admit of neither 
 doubt nor mistake. Just so far as they have a sub- 
 jective relation to the mind, — are merely matters of 
 opinion, — to that degree they are incapable of being 
 statistically expressed. Thus the event of recovery, 
 limited solely to its objective character, only amounts 
 to a certain degree of improvement. Whether the 
 change is a real cure of disease, or a state where dis- 
 eased manifestations are absent merely from want of a 
 suitable opportunity for displaying them, or a temporary 
 intermission of disease governed by that law of period- 
 icity to which nervous affections are closely subjected, — 
 these are questions which every individual will answer 
 by the aid of his own experience and judgment, and con- 
 sequently with all that diversity which is utterly incom- 
 patible with statistical accuracy. The cases are not few 
 which one man would pronounce to be recoveries, while 
 another of less sanguine temper, or more knowledge of 
 insanity, would regard them as merely improvements. I 
 presume that, as a matter of fact, we are often in doubt 
 respecting the condition of patients discharged from 
 our care, and hesitate long before we decide under 
 what head of our general results they shall be placed.
 
 74 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 And when we finally make up our mind, is it with that 
 degree of confidence that would embolden us to deny 
 that anybody else could possibly arrive at a different 
 conclusion ? What then becomes of the value of such a 
 conclusion considered as a statistical fact? 
 
 It is obvious therefore that the question must first be 
 answered, what degree of restoration can be rightfully 
 called recovery. Of course every one answers it for 
 himself as he best can, but statistical accuracy requires 
 that all should answer it alike. It is one of the laws of 
 nervous disease, that it may be suspended or checked 
 for a period varying indefinitely in length, and then, 
 after intervals measured by weeks, or months, or years, be 
 renewed in all its original severity. The intervals may 
 or may not recur with the utmost regularity. They 
 may continue for many months, or appear to be merely 
 a transition state marking the passage of the mind from 
 one paroxysm to another. The restoration may be ap- 
 parently perfect, or marked by many a trace of disease. 
 Now in regard to extreme cases there will be no diver- 
 sity of opinion. An interval in which the mind presents 
 its normal condition, and which extends over a period of 
 years, no one would hesitate to call a recovery, while only 
 a week or two of calm would be universally regarded as 
 not entitled to the name. But it is clear that some con- 
 ventional rule is necessary for determining, among the 
 various intermediate forms and degrees of restoration, 
 what should be reported as recoveries. Now admitting 
 that such a rule might be made, for I would not pre- 
 scribe limits to human ingenuity and acuteness, there is 
 a more serious difficulty remaining, — that of recognizing 
 the condition or event to which the rule is to be applied. 
 Here would arise a diversity of views springing from 
 diversity of temperament, education, and experience ; and
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 75 
 
 no one could be sure that his decision in any particular 
 case is just what others would adopt were it submitted 
 to them. For instance, we might agree to call a lucid 
 interval which continues six months or upward a recov- 
 ery ; but as to the actual fact, whether a lucid interval 
 has really occurred, how are we to prevent conflicting 
 opinions? The truth is, however, that in the present 
 statistics of recovery no conventional rule whatever has 
 been followed. Every individual has decided what should 
 and what should not be called recoveries, just as it seemed 
 good in his own sight. 
 
 I do not see how the usual answer to these objections, 
 that they apply to but a very small proportion of cases, 
 can satisfy anyone having a practical acquaintance with 
 the subject. How can we deny the fact, that, of the 
 patients discharged from our hospitals, there is always a 
 considerable number whose proper place in our annual 
 summary of results is a matter of much doubt. It is not 
 one of those trifling fractions that can have no perceptible 
 effect, but large enough to destroy that precision and cer- 
 tainty which we expect in statistical reports. 
 
 In order that the proportion of recoveries may better 
 represent the relative success of different institutions, it 
 has been a very common practice to divide cases into two 
 classes, the old and recent ;jt being implied that the cu- 
 rability of the disease is chiefly determined by its dura- 
 tion before admission. Certainly this distinction would 
 have the effect in question, were it practicable ; but no 
 one, I presume, would deny that in a large number of 
 cases we are unable to decide satisfactorily to ourselves 
 whether the disease has or has not commenced within 
 the period allotted to recent cases. The earliest aber- 
 rations of the disordered mind differ so little from its or- 
 dinary movements, that they are readily confounded by
 
 76 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 the careless or unskilful observer. And even when the 
 attention is awakened and apprehensions excited, some 
 psychological knowledge is required to prevent one from 
 mistaking morbid for healthy manifestations. Of the per- 
 sons on whom we have to depend for all our information 
 respecting the origin of the disease in the cases that 
 come under our charge, very few possess this knowl- 
 edge, or have observed the cases very closely. To 
 regard the narratives we usually receive with our pa- 
 tients as sufficient authority for a scientific fact, would 
 almost indicate insanity in ourselves. Not that they are 
 invariably false and unreliable, but that we are gen- 
 erally without the means of knowing when they are and 
 when they are not so. We all know, undoubtedly, how 
 seldom the account we first receive of a patient is en- 
 tirely confirmed by those we subsequently obtain, and 
 how often, in consequence, we are obliged to modify 
 our first decision. But, even with the completest his- 
 tory of the case, it is not always easy to say when the 
 disease actually began. For months or even years be- 
 fore the first decided and obvious manifestations of 
 disease, the patient may have evinced something un- 
 usual in his conduct or conversation, although engaged 
 in his customary duties, and by the world at large 
 regarded as in the full possession of his reason. In 
 some cases the morbid peculiarities may be sufficiently 
 developed to attract the attention of the world ; but, not 
 interfering with the performance of the ordinary duties 
 of life, they are looked upon as a part of the natural 
 character, and take the name of insanity only when 
 accompanied by an extra degree of excitement and vio- 
 lence. In cases like these, who will take upon himself 
 to indicate the precise point when disease began? Who 
 will presume to enter that debatable land which lies
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 77 
 
 between the realms of eccentricity and insanity, and 
 assign to each its respective share of the peculiar mani- 
 festations ? 
 
 The large class of periodical and paroxysmal cases 
 present insuperable difficulties to every attempt to bring 
 them under any general rule. The question of their 
 origin is complicated with that of their recovery, and 
 we are under the same kind of embarrassment in decid- 
 ing upon the former that we experience with regard to 
 the latter. If we are to regard every fresh attack that 
 has been preceded by a distinctly marked lucid interval 
 of considerable duration, as a recent case, can we adopt 
 any rule that will prevent us from bringing within the 
 same category those cases in which the interval is 
 scarcely more than a brief remission of the disease ? A 
 single instance will be sufficient to illustrate the diffi- 
 culty. A person is subject to paroxysms of high excite- 
 ment when he is destitute of all self-control, and for the 
 sake of decency and safety must be kept in close con- 
 finement. In this condition he is placed in a hospital 
 where the excitement passes off, and he is discharged. 
 He returns home, engages in his customary pursuits, 
 and, for all practical purposes certainly, appears as 
 sound as ever. In the course of a few weeks or 
 months, the excitement returns. Again he is placed in 
 a hospital, again he becomes calm and lucid, and again 
 is allowed to go home. Are we prepared to say that 
 every such admission of this person is a recent case, and 
 every discharge a recovery? If, on the other hand, 
 such cases are to be regarded as old, what shall we say 
 of those in which the lucid interval continues for years ? 
 True, every chief of a hospital may have a rule of his 
 own ; but the consequence would be that we should have 
 as many different rules and as many results as there are
 
 78 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 hospitals. And even admitting that a general rule were 
 formed and agreed upon, that a certain number of weeks 
 or months should mark the distinction between a mere 
 lucid interval and a perfect recovery, yet no one with 
 any practical acquaintance with the subject can imagine 
 that the application of it would always be easy and 
 uniform. During the alleged interval, is the mind really 
 clear and unclouded by disease, or are its obscurations 
 less dark only because the absence of excitement leads 
 the patient to withdraw himself from the common notice, 
 and refrain from obtruding his fancies upon others ? Is 
 the interval itself, whether clear or otherwise, so well 
 defined that it can be bounded by days or weeks ? These 
 questions must be often asked. Does any one believe 
 they would receive a uniform answer? 
 
 Dr. Thurnam, the Superintendent of the Retreat at 
 York, whose faith in the value of the hospital statistics 
 of insanity is unshaken by such objections, thinks that 
 no practical difficulty will be experienced in determin- 
 ing the date of the disorder, " if it be understood that 
 its origin should be dated from the period when self- 
 control was first decidedly lost, and when overt acts of 
 insanity were for the first time actually manifested ; and 
 that it should not include the time during which, from 
 the a posteriori history, the existence of a latent state 
 of mental disorder, as indicated by more or less of pecu- 
 liarity, may be inferred." l In the spirit of this remark, 
 he approves of the practice which has always prevailed 
 in the institution with which he is connected, of subdi- 
 viding their recent cases into two classes, one contain- 
 ing such as have been disordered according to the above 
 rule three months or less, and the other such as have 
 
 1 Observations and Essays on the Statistics of Insanity, p. 52.
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. «9 
 
 been disordered not less than three nor more than twelve 
 months. If Dr. Thurnam experiences no practical diffi- 
 culty in applying his rule, I can only admire a sagacity 
 which I cannot pretend to share. In a treatise charac- 
 terized by such fulness of detail and acuteness of ob- 
 servation, it would have been gratifying to find how 
 periodical cases are disposed of under the rule, because 
 they peculiarly embarrass this question of recentness. 
 
 Still stronger objections may be urged against the 
 division of cases into curable and incurable, because, 
 when not determined by the duration of the disorder, it 
 is chiefly by considerations that are purely matters of 
 opinion. 
 
 The usual method of comparing the number of recov- 
 eries with that of the admissions or discharges presents 
 a very unreliable indication of the curability of insanity, 
 or even of the relative success of different establish- 
 ments. When we consider how large a portion of our 
 discharges originate in the impatience, or poverty, or 
 nameless caprice of friends, or any other cause than the 
 admitted incurability of the disease, it must be obvious 
 that the number of recoveries can have no necessary 
 relation to that of the discharges, nor to that of the admis- 
 sions, so long as the latter are consequent upon the dis- 
 charges. What the number of recoveries does indicate 
 very strongly is the amount of perseverance and pecu- 
 niary ability exhibited by the friends and guardians of 
 the patients; and any degree of merit which may accrue 
 from the number of recoveries must be shared by the 
 institution with the community itself. 
 
 For the same reason the proportion of recoveries re- 
 ported by our hospitals cannot be regarded as a satis- 
 factory test of the curability of insanity. Every case 
 submitted to the treatment of an asylum may be consid-
 
 80 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 ered in the light of an experiment upon the curability 
 of the disease. If removed before the experiment has 
 been fairly tried, the result proves nothing. How many 
 of these abortive experiments are annually tried in our 
 hospitals, we all know to our sorrow. If, according to 
 the opinion of Esquirol, in which he is supported by Mr. 
 Samuel Tuke, who had peculiar facilities for forming an 
 opinion on this point, the average duration of an attack 
 of insanity is one year, it follows that in a certain num- 
 ber of cases it must exceed a year. Esquirol states that 
 of the twelve hundred and thirty-three recoveries that 
 occurred in a certain number of cases submitted to 
 treatment, more than half of them were subsequent to 
 the first year. If any confidence can be placed in this 
 result as the expression of a general truth, it follows 
 that any patient, not affected with a bodily disease, who 
 is removed after only a year's trial of hospital treatment, 
 cannot be considered as having had more than half a trial 
 thereof. Without inquiring how many of the recent 
 cases discharged uncured are thus prematurely re- 
 moved, there are enough, we all know, to vitiate any 
 result afforded by hospital statistics touching the cura- 
 bility of insanity. One step towards certainty would be 
 taken, if it were always shown how long the disease 
 has existed in this class of cases, and how long they had 
 been under treatment ; in other words, how many had, 
 and how many had not, passed beyond the reach of those 
 restorative influences which nature or art may be capa- 
 ble of exerting. I am not aware of a single instance of 
 such information having been given. 
 
 If these objections to the present method of determin- 
 ing the results of hospital treatment have any validity, 
 we should expect to find them varying from one another 
 to a degree that cannot be explained by any of the ordi-
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 81 
 
 nary causes of diversity. That such is actually the case, 
 I think cannot be fairly denied. I cannot enter into a 
 detailed examination of these results, but a glance at 
 a few of them will answer our purpose. In Dr. Thur- 
 nam's book is a table showing the proportion of recov- 
 eries to admissions in cases of less than twelve months' 
 duration in eleven different establishments, and they 
 range from about 49 to 82 in the 100. The causes of 
 this diversity may be obvious enough in some instances, 
 but very far from it in others. How can we account for 
 the fact that in the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester 
 the recoveries in the above-named class of cases have 
 reached to nearly 83 per cent, while in the Retreat at 
 York, England, they fall short of 62 ? 1 
 
 Differences equally great and equally unaccountable 
 might be adduced without number, but this is sufficient 
 for the purpose of illustration. Even if they could be 
 satisfactorily explained, if we could be made quite sure 
 why in one institution the proportion of recoveries is 
 ten or twenty per cent greater than in another, this very 
 result would establish the existence of modifying cir- 
 cumstances that would deprive our statistics of every 
 claim to accuracy. But, whether explained or not, I see 
 not how any candid mind can help drawing from them 
 the conclusion, that the curability of insanity is as far 
 from being settled as that of many other diseases that 
 have been scarcely subjected to statistical inquiries. 
 
 The number of deaths always appears in the statistics 
 of a hospital for the insane. Over and above the simple 
 
 1 It is not improbable that Dr. Thurnam took his figures relating to 
 the Worcester Hospital from its annual reports, without noticing that the 
 recoveries are compared with the discharges. On comparing the recov- 
 eries of recent cases with the admissions during the period in question, 
 I find that the former is about 78 per cent of the latter. 
 
 6
 
 82 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 fact of showing what has become of the patients, it is 
 supposed to have an important bearing on the curability 
 of insanity and the relative curative success of different 
 institutions. As death is a matter of fact and not of 
 opinion, it is free from one of the objections that lie 
 against recovery as an object of statistical inquiry ; and 
 this seems to be its only advantage. When we en- 
 deavor to estimate the value of the relative number of 
 deaths, as an indication of the mortality of the disease, 
 we are embarrassed, as we were in regard to recoveries, 
 with the very large proportion of cases annually dis- 
 charged from our hospitals neither recovered nor dead. 
 They cannot be left out of the account, and yet they 
 prove nothing whatever as to the issue of the disease. 
 The only perfect experiment on this point would be to 
 trace a considerable number of cases from the com- 
 mencement of the attack to its termination in recovery 
 or death. This would indicate precisely the numerical 
 relation of these two events. To show the proportion 
 of deaths to the admissions or discharges, is to indicate 
 nothing in relation to insanity, beyond the two naked 
 facts, that a certain number entered or left the insti- 
 tution, and a certain number died. The absurdity of 
 connecting together such incongruous facts as the deaths 
 of certain persons with the casual residence of certain 
 others in the same place is strongly illustrated by the 
 practical result. At the Salpetriere, for a certain term 
 of years, the deaths were equal to twenty-six per cent of 
 the admissions, while in many American institutions the 
 proportion, up to the last year, has been between eight 
 and nine per cent. Are we to infer from this fact, that 
 insanity is three times as fatal at Paris as in America, 
 or that the physicians of the latter establishments have 
 been three times as successful as those of the former,
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 83 
 
 in rescuing their patients from the jaws of the fell de- 
 stroyer ? If the facts will bear neither of these infer- 
 ences, what are they good for? 
 
 Mr. Tuke, in his admirable introduction to Jacobi's 
 work on the construction of insane hospitals, very prop- 
 erly proposed to estimate the mortality of these insti- 
 tutions like that of any other community ; that is, by 
 comparing the number of deaths with that of the aver- 
 age number of inmates. The event of death is thus 
 regarded in the light of an incident natural to all man- 
 kind, rather than as the termination of a special disease, 
 and therefore not so much indicative of the fatality of 
 insanity as of the hygienic merits of different establish- 
 ments. Even considered in this latter point of view, 
 great caution is necessary in making the number of 
 deaths the basis of any general conclusions. Local cir- 
 cumstances might give rise to considerable differences 
 in the rate of mortality, independent of the means and 
 appliances devoted to the cure of the disease. The 
 remarks already made in reference to such influences 
 upon the number of recoveries are equally applicable, 
 mutatis mutandis, to that of deaths, and need not be 
 repeated. 
 
 It may be very fairly questioned, too, whether the num- 
 ber of deaths indicates the mortality of insanity, because 
 many of them are caused by diseases that have only an 
 accidental connection with it. The tables usually printed 
 in hospital reports, of the causes of death in the cases 
 that have proved fatal, show — whether correctly or not 
 is immaterial to the present point — that insanity itself 
 destroys but few, if any, of its subjects. It certainly 
 is not very clear how a death produced by diarrhoea, or 
 apoplexy, can have any bearing upon the mortality of 
 another and very different disease. Upon the only ques-
 
 84 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 tion that concerns us in this connection, viz., in what 
 proportion of cases insanity proves fatal, the reports of 
 hospitals fail to throw much light. 
 
 In American hospitals it is the prevailing practice to 
 state the causes of death in the several cases in which 
 it has occurred. What object is supposed to be obtained 
 thereby has never, to my knowledge, been very clearly 
 explained. No one, I apprehend, will venture to say 
 that much light has been thrown on the pathological phe- 
 nomena of insanity by these tables of the causes of 
 death. The vague, loose, and indefinite phraseology, 
 the heterogeneous mixture of popular and technical dis- 
 tinctions, of symptoms and specific forms of disease, by 
 all which traits the}' are too often disfigured, might be 
 pardoned in the report of a superintendent of burial- 
 grounds, but in a document emanating from a scientific 
 man for scientific purposes they excite a feeling of 
 amazement, if not contempt. If these tables are to be 
 considered as a mature and deliberate expression of 
 opinion, and not merely as a matter of form drawn up in 
 compliance with some antiquated rule, they indicate a 
 pathology that has not been enlightened by dissection, 
 and ideas of causation which the irreverent world might 
 say are puerile. 
 
 The leading fact implied by these tables is, that the 
 insane mostly, if not wholly, are finally carried off by 
 other diseases than insanity itself. I do not recollect 
 to have ever seen insanity or mania set down among the 
 causes of death, although one may find almost every 
 other form of disease. Now is the fact here implied 
 true? Are we prepared to promulgate to the world, 
 as an established thing, that nobody dies of insanity ? 
 On the contrary, are we not in the habit, in other con- 
 nections, of speaking of insanity as a serious disease,
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 85 
 
 and one that is more or less fatal? True, an insane 
 person may be attacked by dysentery, or small-pox, and 
 succumb to its violence, and his death would be as prop- 
 erly attributed to such attack as if he had never been 
 insane. The presence of one disease does not necessa- 
 rily preclude the occurrence of another ; and, if death 
 follows the supervention of the latter, their respective 
 agency in producing this result is a question to be set- 
 tled. In the larger portion of cases we should hesitate 
 to attribute it solely to one of them, and yet this is 
 habitually done in regard to the deaths of the insane. I 
 am aware that in our hospital reports we always find 
 some deaths attributed to " disease of the brain" some 
 to " inflammation of the brain" and others to u acute 
 cerebral disease ," by all which terms it is probably meant, 
 that the patients sunk under the violence of the mania- 
 cal attack. Then why not say so? As these terms are 
 often used to designate other affections than proper 
 insanity, I see no propriety in applying them to a form 
 of disease characterized by very different conditions, 
 especially as the term acute mania and its congeners 
 have long been sanctioned by nosologists, and convey 
 an exact, well-understood idea. If there were any pre- 
 tension to consistenc} 7 in the matter, it might be asked 
 why, in the same table, some deaths are attributed to 
 general paralysis, which is a specific form of mental 
 disease, and not to disease of the brain, &c, which may 
 be as properly applied to it as to mania. 
 
 These tables indicate great confusion of ideas, evi- 
 dently arising from the want of well settled, well under- 
 stood views of pathology. Some of the diseases set 
 down in them as causes of death were undoubtedly su- 
 perinduced upon the original disease, with which they 
 had no necessary connection, and produced death solely
 
 86 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 by their own means ; while many others are just as 
 clearly the natural and ordinary results or accompani- 
 ments of insanity, and only mark the last stage of its 
 progress toward the final dissolution of its victim. Of 
 the latter none makes so much of a figure in our hos- 
 pital reports as marasmus. In acute mania and the 
 latter stages of chronic mania, nothing is more common 
 than more or less emaciation of the body ; and it probably 
 has the same pathological relation to the original disease 
 that it has to phthisis or fever when it accompanies them. 
 It is one link in the chain of morbid processes which 
 originate in the brain, and to call it the cause of death 
 would be like saying that the victim of consumption 
 dies, not by consumption, but by diarrhoea which oc- 
 curred a few days before death. Exhaustion, too, is a 
 prolific cause of death in our hospital reports. To call 
 exhaustion a disease, when, in so far as its phenomena 
 meet our observation, it is merely a loss of muscular 
 power incident upon a specific disease, is either to use 
 language in a sense very different from its ordinary 
 acceptation, or to thoroughly confound causes and effects 
 with an utter disregard of every principle of sound 
 pathology. All acute diseases of any duration induce an 
 asthenic condition, but we are not in the habit of saying 
 that patients die for lack of strength any more than 
 that they die for want of breath. Exhaustion is, prob- 
 ably, a convertible term with those above-mentioned, 
 " acute cerebral disease, 11 " inflammation of the brain 11 
 &c, and indicates the same pathological condition. The 
 term acute mania expresses that condition as definitely 
 as possible ; and why not use it, instead of resorting to 
 a kind of innuendo which is misplaced here, however 
 excusable it might have been in the worthy Irishman 
 who, in speaking of a brother that came to a sudden
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 8T 
 
 end in an elevated position, softened down the stern 
 catastrophe, by saying that he died of a great rush of 
 blood to the head ? In this connection it might also be 
 asked whether such terms as dysenteric fever, gastric 
 fever, congestive fever, have a signification sufficiently 
 limited and precise for statistical purposes. If not, then 
 what becomes of the utility of such statistics ? 
 
 Perhaps no circumstance of insanity has excited so 
 much speculation, both in the profession and out of it, 
 as its causes ; and in every hospital report a prominent 
 place is allotted to them. Inquiries that have fur their 
 object to cast some light on the origin of such an ap- 
 palling malady yield to no other in point of interest and 
 importance. It would not be the first time, however, if 
 the very importance of the subject have raised a deter- 
 mination to arrive at results of some kind, but not a 
 corresponding anxiety for their soundness. It would 
 not be the first time, if an imposing array of names and 
 phrases were mistaken by their authors for substantial 
 contributions to knowledge ; nor would it be strange if 
 others were led to participate in the pleasing delusion. 
 I fear that the careful inquirer will seldom rise from the 
 examination of these tables, with the conviction that 
 they have thrown much light on the origin of insanity. 
 Perhaps no point within the range of our professional 
 studies demands a clearer insight into the laws both of 
 psychology and pathology than the successful elucida- 
 tion of the causes which lead the mind astray from the 
 line of healthy action. Here, if anywhere, it will appear 
 whether our studies have led us to a higher philosophy 
 than that which consists in repeating catch-words and 
 echoing the popular voice. Nowhere else in our depart- 
 ment of the healing art is a clear and able head more 
 needed to overthrow the masses of error and prejudice
 
 88 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 that have been accumulating for ages, and, guided by 
 the light of a strictly inductive philosophy, to place us 
 in the path of successful investigation. 
 
 Without pressing the radical objection that might 
 be urged against the attempts that appear in our hos- 
 pital reports, to penetrate into the causes of insanity, I 
 will only advert to a few of their defects which appear 
 on the surface, and equally impair their statistical value. 
 Their total want of precision and uniformity in the use 
 of language, now justly deemed essential in any scientific 
 inquiry really worthy of the name, is not one of the 
 least serious of these defects. The most remarkable 
 step ever made in the pursuit of natural science — one 
 which marks the transition from idle and anile specula- 
 tion on the one hand, to sure and valuable acquisitions 
 on the other — was the adoption of a language the terms 
 of which are so precise and well defined as to convey 
 the same idea to every mind, in every time and every 
 land. In the department of inquiry we are now consider- 
 ing, as well as every other belonging to natural science, 
 such a nomenclature is equally essential to progress. 
 To suppose it may be advanced by the use of ordinary 
 forms of speech, would be no wiser than to attempt to 
 gain the most perfect mastery over the elements by 
 such means as were furnished by the primitive inven- 
 tions of Watt and Fulton. How little such views haver 
 entered into the tables of causes which appear in om* 
 hospital reports, will sufficiently appear from a few illus- 
 trations. In one and the same table are cases charged 
 to " domestic trouble," " bad conduct of children," "jeal- 
 ousy," " infidelity of wife," " ill-treatment of parents " 
 and " abuse of husband." Surely, it would not be easy 
 to find stronger manifestations of " domestic trouble " 
 than are indicated by all these events ; and we are
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 89 
 
 therefore obliged to conclude that the term " domestic 
 trouble," which appears to have given rise to so much 
 insanity, is used in a sense very different from the ordi- 
 nary, but one to which we possess no clew. In another 
 table a number of cases are charged to the account of 
 " disappointment," but whether they were disappointed 
 in love or politics, in the struggle for honor or wealth, 
 does not appear. Another gentleman is more precise, 
 and subdivides the general affection into " disappointed 
 love " and " disappointed ambition." Another uses all 
 three terms, and cases are referred by him respec- 
 tively to " disappointment," " disappointed affection," 
 and " disappointed ambition ; " and another extends the 
 list of disappointments by adding " disappointed expecta- 
 tion." What ideas are we to attach, also, to such vague 
 phrases as " mental excitement," '* anxiety," " expos- 
 ure," " fright," and a host of others too numerous to 
 mention ? 
 
 Can we be quite sure, too, that the same or similar 
 terms used to designate the causes of insanity mean 
 precisely the same thing in the reports of different insti- 
 tutions ? " 111 health " seems to be a prolific source of 
 insanity. If this term were designed to embrace all the 
 physical derangements that often precede the outbreak of 
 insanity, and are supposed to be its cause, then it would 
 convey some definite idea to the mind. In some tables, 
 perhaps, this may be its meaning ; but in others we find 
 it side by side with " fever," "nervous debility," " dys- 
 pepsia," " disease of the liver," " gout," " rheumatism," 
 " phthisis," " menorrhagia," " amenorrhcea," and conse- 
 quently must indicate some condition of the system not 
 embraced in any of these disorders. But what is it? 
 The reporter may understand it perfectly well ; but how 
 are others to know his meaning, without a preliminary
 
 90 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 dissertation on the use of terms, which, however it might 
 help the reader of a work on logic or philosophy, would 
 be of little service in a statistical undertaking. Many 
 cases are also referred to the puerperal condition. That 
 this is often the efficient cause of insanity, I presume no 
 one is disposed to doubt ; but, until this condition is more 
 accurately defined, this general truth can have but little 
 statistical value. What period after parturition does it 
 cover ? the few weeks immediately following, or the 
 whole period of lactation ? Is every case which hap- 
 pens within the allotted period, be it long or short, to be 
 referred to the same origin ? and if not, by what rule 
 are we to be governed in making the distinction? Until 
 these points are settled, the results of different observers 
 will admit of no comparison, and consequently can form 
 the ground of no definite conclusions. The same objec- 
 tion may be urged against some other items usually 
 found in the tables of causes. They are so vague that 
 we never can know the precise meaning attached to 
 them by different observers. 
 
 It is very obvious too that these tables often reflect 
 the peculiar views of their respective framers, so easy 
 is it to find whatever we think we ought to find. One 
 gentleman, for instance, attributes one-tenth of his cases 
 to intemperance, while another is not quite satisfied that 
 he has had a single case arising from that cause. One 
 who, for some reason or other, has been strongly im- 
 pressed by the influence exerted on the female brain by 
 those physiological changes called the " turn of life," 
 regards them as a fruitful source of mental disease ; and 
 in his table of causes the " climacteric period " is made 
 responsible for a very high proportion. One attributes 
 five per cent of his cases to masturbation, while another 
 whose experience is confined to similar cases sets
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 91 
 
 down but half of one per cent to this practice. One 
 expresses the opinion that tobacco gives rise to much 
 insanity, but provides it with no place in his table of 
 causes. Another delivers the same opinion touching the 
 want of sleep, but also fails to place it among the 
 causes. 
 
 There is also much reason to believe that many of the 
 emotions and incidents that are set down as causes of 
 insanity, such as " fear of poverty/' " religious doubts," 
 " anxiety," &c, would often be more justly regarded as 
 its effects. They are the first symptoms that arrest the 
 attention ; and, by means of that common disposition to 
 confound the post hoc with the propte?* hoc, they are 
 placed in the relation of cause to the subsequent aberra- 
 tions. In a multitude of cases it must be difficult, with 
 the slender means in our possession, to decide this 
 point with the slightest approach to certainty. 
 
 Were the objections here urged against these tables 
 of causes devoid of any weight whatever, there is an- 
 other undeniable and unremovable, that strikes at the 
 very root of their supposed value. The objection al- 
 leged against the event of recovery as an object of sta- 
 tistical record — that it is more a matter of opinion than 
 of positive fact — lies equally against the causes of in- 
 sanity. But there is this additional one, that they show 
 not even the opinions of the observer, but of other 
 unskilful and irresponsible persons. Every thing that 
 we learn on this subject is derived from the friends of 
 the patients, and even if they abstain — as they gener- 
 ally do not — from offering their own particular views, 
 yet the facts are so related as to suggest certain infer- 
 ences respecting the cause of the disorder. How crude 
 and puerile the views of such persons often are, how 
 partial and inaccurate their narratives of facts, are well
 
 92 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 enough known to us all. It might seem, at first thought, 
 that a certain series of occurrences, which required only 
 a little activity of attention to perceive, might be clearly 
 and completely related by any tolerably intelligent per- 
 son ; but we know by the most abundant experience that 
 few are able to describe phenomena that lie without the 
 range of their ordinary thoughts and pursuits. To see 
 events is one thing : to describe them is another and a 
 very different thing. For the former a man has only 
 to keep his eyes open ; the latter requires an orderly 
 arrangement of the thoughts, a skilful use of language, 
 and some previous acquaintance with the department of 
 knowledge to which the phenomena in question belong. 
 Of the persons who bring patients to our hospitals, how 
 seldom does one possess these qualifications; and yet 
 their accounts are made the basis of all our conclusions 
 respecting the causes of the disease. The most trust- 
 worthy lay particular stress on such events and inci- 
 dents as, in their opinion, were connected with the 
 production of the disease; their views, of course, being 
 governed by their own habits of thinking and feeling. 
 A hypothetical case will better convey my meaning. A 
 lady about the " turn of life " becomes insane and is sent 
 to an asylum. She has been addicted to potations some- 
 what stronger than water, and moreover has borne an 
 active part in the religious movements of the day. A 
 friend who puts his faith in total abstinence does not 
 hesitate to attribute the disorder to her indulgence in 
 drink, and pays but little regard to any other feature 
 in the case. Another of a cold or sceptical turn of 
 mind, who has been strongly impressed with the evils 
 of religious fanaticism, dwells chiefly on her disposition 
 to plunge into the excitement of religious gatherings, 
 and here finds the origin of her disorder. Her physi-
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 93 
 
 cian, who is accustomed to meet with the derangements 
 incident to that great physiological change in the female 
 system, thinks only of this fact. Now, with all our cau- 
 tion, it cannot be doubted that we should be very liable 
 to attribute this lady's insanity either to intemperance, 
 religious excitement, or the climacteric period, accord- 
 ing to the friend from whom we happened to obtain her 
 history. I do not mean, of course, that we are obliged 
 to coincide with the patient's friends on this point, for 
 we may agree with them as much or as little as we 
 please, but that we are obliged to form our opinions on 
 such data only as they choose to present. No one of us 
 certainly would believe that a patient had been bewitched 
 because his friends think so ; but does it show much 
 deeper wisdom to make the narratives of such persons 
 the ground of any opinions whatever ? 
 
 There is a show of precision in the usual tables which, 
 I apprehend, is not to be found in nature. If we insist 
 upon evidence really deserving the name, the cases will 
 prove exceedingly few, that can be satisfactorily traced 
 to any particular, single cause. The history of cases 
 generally discloses a series of incidents, each of which 
 appears to have had some share in producing the dis- 
 ease. It is impossible to designate any one of tLiem as 
 the efficient cause, or to say that any particular one might 
 have been absent without affecting the result. I cannot 
 see therefore what benefit can be derived from affecting 
 a precision which, instead of casting any light upon the 
 origin of the disease, only conveys to the unprofessional 
 inquirer wrong impressions respecting a matter of fact. 
 
 It has become a frequent though not a general prac- 
 tice, in reports of insane hospitals, to classify the different 
 forms which the disease has presented, for the purpose, 
 I presume, of showing their comparative curability.
 
 94 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 Every superintendent adopts that classification which 
 seems good in his own eyes, and consequently no two 
 of them are alike. For instance, in the reports of one 
 institution the disorder is divided into eight classes ; 
 in another, it is divided into five ; in another, twelve ; in 
 another, sixteen. If there were any foundation in nature 
 for all or any of these classes, then their respective cura- 
 bility would be an interesting object of inquiry. But 
 however convenient such distinctions may be sometimes, 
 for indicating the general features of the case, they are 
 not sufficiently well defined and understood to form the 
 basis of a scientific classification. At any rate, until 
 some particular system is generally adopted with its 
 classes and orders accurately defined and distinguished, 
 I do not see how we can be benefited by considering the 
 disease in so many subdivided forms. No one, I appre- 
 hend, can be sure that by monomania, melancholia, moral 
 insanity, and many other terms that are used to desig- 
 nate different forms of mental derangement, he under- 
 stands precisely what his neighbor does, and that there 
 would be no discrepancy between them in referring the 
 same cases to their respective classes. Indeed it could 
 hardly be otherwise ; for these terms have never been 
 clearly defined by any well-recognized authority, and 
 consequently, without some preliminary explanations, can 
 convey no accurate ideas to others. 
 
 Even without these objections, there is another equally 
 fatal to such attempts at classification, and that is the fact 
 that in a large proportion of cases the form of the dis- 
 ease changes in the course of its progress. The same 
 case, at different periods, may present the aspect of 
 melancholia, monomania, and dementia. To which of 
 them is it to be referred? 
 
 I must terminate this examination of hospital statis-
 
 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 95 
 
 tics without suggesting any better methods of report- 
 ing our results. In so doing, I shall, no doubt, subject 
 myself to the usual reproach cast upon reformers, of 
 making war upon a fancied evil, without offering any 
 thing better in its place. This reproach I shall not 
 trouble myself to repel, content if I have succeeded in 
 placing in a stronger light difficulties and defects that 
 have been more or less apparent to us all. 
 
 Before leaving the subject, however, it may be well 
 to notice the usual reply to objections against the value 
 of the kind of statistics we have been considering. The 
 reply is, that we do not pretend to obtain the exact truth, 
 but only an approximation to it ; and it is implied by the 
 use of this term that the approach is sufficiently near 
 for any practical purpose. This is one of those fallacies 
 which Lord Bacon has classed among the idols of the 
 forum, whereby words and phrases that have a technical 
 meaning are transferred to some other branch of in- 
 quiry, carrying with them by implication all their origi- 
 nal minuteness and accuracy of signification. In pure 
 mathematics we are seldom able to arrive at the exact 
 truth. We can only draw near, or approximate to it, as 
 it is called ; but so close may this approach be made, that 
 the deficiency occasions no practical inconvenience. The 
 term is applied exclusively, by prescriptive usage, to 
 that kind of inaccuracy which arises from the imper- 
 fections of mathematical analysis, never to such as arises 
 from error of the senses or of instruments. We can 
 never obtain the precise number which multiplied by 
 itself will produce 50, but we can arrive as near to it 
 as we please. On the other hand, in natural history, for 
 instance, living beings are arranged into groups that 
 are distinguished by certain characters, but not so ex- 
 actly as to prevent all embarrassment in referring indi-
 
 96 STATISTICS OF INSANITY. 
 
 viduals to their respective groups. In the former 
 illustration, the deficiency can be bouDded by appre- 
 ciable limits : it can scarcely be discerned without the 
 magnifying aid of numbers, and presents no obstacle to 
 the attainment of any legitimate object. In the latter, 
 we can have but an indefinite notion of its extent. It is 
 regarded as a serious drawback on the certainty of our 
 results, and the worth and dignity of the science are 
 deeply concerned in diminishing the evil. It is obvious, 
 therefore, that we have no right to call our statistical 
 shortcomings approximations to the truth, inasmuch as 
 they arise from our own imperfections and errors. But 
 without insisting on the prescriptive use of the term, I 
 might ask by what possible latitude of meaning it can 
 be applied to the statistical results of our hospitals for 
 the insane. Is any one prepared to say, for instance, 
 that they have shown the curability of recent cases with 
 a degree of exactness that can be called, in any sense 
 of the term, an approximation to the truth ? Some 
 would fix it at 90 per cent; others at 70; while an 
 earnest advocate might be found for every intermediate 
 number. And just so with the mortality of recent cases. 
 We are equally far from any result that can chal- 
 lenge general confidence. Is it 5 per cent, or 10, or 15, 
 or 20 ? Good authority might be adduced for any of 
 these estimates. Surely we cannot have the boldness 
 to call results like these approximations to the truth? 
 That they form very suitable data for an opinion, I 
 admit ; but a candid consideration of the subject must 
 convince us, that such an opinion is no more likely to 
 be exact than a shrewd conjecture founded upon one's 
 general impressions of his own experience.
 
 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 [In the following pages, the writer has endeavored to meet the 
 current objections to the doctrine of moral insanity. Like most sub- 
 jects on which opinions are apt to be formed under the pressure of 
 strong feeling, it has been greatly misapprehended, and its advocates 
 subjected to derision and obloquy. Of these objections, one of the 
 most prominent is that it conflicts with the most approved theories of 
 the mental constitution, in which the essential unity of the mind is 
 recognized. That this objection should have found its strongest sup- 
 port among a people who have derived their metaphysics from such 
 writers as Reid and Stewart, and consequently are well prepared, by a 
 distinct recognition of the sentiments and emotions as active powers 
 coexistent with the pure reason, to admit the possibility of their being 
 controlled or modified by disease, is somewhat surprising. A priori, 
 it would be difficult, certainly, to conceive why a sentiment or pro- 
 pensity is not as likely to be thus affected as the intellect. The 
 rightful influence of the psychological teaching most in vogue among 
 us has been counteracted, very probably, more by the misplaced use 
 of a homely phrase than by any profound objection. To the common 
 understanding, it is no better than a contradiction in terms to say 
 that a man has lost his reason — the old English equivalent of in- 
 sanity — while his reason is confessedly untouched. This play upon 
 words has stood, unquestionably, in the place of facts and arguments, 
 and still serves the opponents of moral insanity, as their great piece 
 of resistance. 
 
 By some, the doctrine that the sentiments and propensities may be 
 separately disordered is supposed to depend on the phrenological 
 division of the brain into independent organs, and consequently can 
 receive no countenance from the disbelievers of that system. If this 
 were the only ground of our faith, the objection would be conclusive ; 
 but as we rely solely on the results of observation, we need not 
 
 7
 
 98 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 appeal to the anatomical arrangements of the brain. And yet they 
 furnish a strong argument in favor of this view. Whether the brain 
 consists of a congeries of organs, according to phrenology, or not, 
 we know that it is necessary to the manifestation of the mental phe- 
 nomena. As this is admitted by the firmest believer in the unity of the 
 mind, he has only to extend very slightly the sweep of the propo- 
 sition, to conclude that a diversity of organic structure may be neces- 
 sary to a diversity of manifestation ; or, in other words, that different 
 portions of the brain may be necessary to the manifestation of differ- 
 ent faculties or qualities of mind. 
 
 The other objection oftenest urged against the doctrine of moral 
 insanity is the difficulty of distinguishing it from moral depravity, in 
 consequence of which the boundary between vice and disease is liable 
 to be effaced. This difficulty cannot be ignored ; but, if it is not always 
 overcome in practice, the fact may usually be attributed rather to the 
 lack of suitable opportunities of investigation than to the obscurity of 
 the subject itself. It is certainly not a very philosophical proceeding 
 to ignore a fact merely because it is liable to be mistaken for some 
 other fact. In moral insanity, sufficient opportunity only is needed 
 to discover the element of derangement, disorder, change ; while 
 simple depravity seldom fails to make itself known by its ordinary 
 characters. If men are sometimes unable or unwilling to see the 
 difference, and thus mistake the former for the latter, it is unfortu- 
 nate for them, no doubt, but the fact cannot weaken the doctrine of 
 moral insanity.] 
 
 Insanity, in the* popular apprehension, is comprised 
 under two different forms : one of them characterized 
 by incoherence, noise, violence, or what is denominated 
 raving ; the other, by delusions more or less circum- 
 scribed, accompanied with tranquillity and some degree 
 of reason. Until within a period comparatively recent, 
 no other form of insanity was clearly recognized, even 
 by medical men ; every other mental disorder not 
 obviously embraced in one or the other of these being 
 regarded, perhaps, as hypochondria, hysteria, eccen- 
 tricity, or malice prepense, — any thing, in short, rather 
 than proper insanity. In the progress of science, the
 
 MORAL IXSAXITY. 99 
 
 effect of which always is to reveal analogies and dis- 
 tinctions where none were supposed to exist, it began 
 to be suspected that, besides the mental affections ref- 
 erable to the two general forms above mentioned, there 
 are others dependent on the same essential condi- 
 tion*, and therefore to be regarded as manifestations 
 of genuine insanity. Soon after the disease began to 
 be studied by the methods and in the spirit of modern 
 science, the fact was observed that many of the inmates 
 of hospitals for the insane exhibit no obvious intellectual 
 aberration or impairment. Pinel, who entered upon his 
 labors in this department of the healing art with the 
 current notions of the time,- was much surprised, he 
 says, to find many patients in the Bicetre who presented 
 no lesion of the understanding, but seemed to be under 
 the dominion of an instinct of fury, as if the affective 
 faculties were alone disordered. Farther observations 
 by others once put on the track of discovery made 
 known the existence of still other forms of moral or 
 affective disorder unconnected with lesion of the under- 
 standing ; and thus at last it has become the prevailing 
 belief, among men of distinguished name in this depart- 
 ment of medical science, that the moral faculties may be 
 deranged while the intellectual remain apparently in 
 their normal condition. Of late years a dissentient 
 voice has occasionally been heard from the bench, the 
 bar, the medical profession at large, and even from those 
 who may claim some special knowledge of insanity and 
 the insane. In regard to what might seem to be a plain 
 statement of fact, easily proved or disproved by actual 
 observation, it is a little surprising that there should be 
 any room for difference of opinion among men who have 
 had abundant opportunities for observing the disease. 
 Such, however, is the case. Some of those most capable,
 
 100 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 it might be supposed, of appreciating the labors of Pinel, 
 Esquirol, Marc, Georget, Combe, Conolly, Prichard, Win- 
 slow, Bucknill, and Guislain, do not hesitate to hold up 
 these men as believers in a doctrine destitute of founda- 
 tion and dangerous to society. 
 
 I propose now to examine, with some particularity, 
 the principal objections against the doctrine of moral 
 insanity, and among them some that derive their im- 
 portance more from the position of those who offer them 
 than from any foundation they may have in actual fact. 
 
 That an abnormal condition of the moral powers is a 
 frequent manifestation of insanity, is now one of those 
 well-settled facts that nobody thinks of questioning. It 
 may be a simple perversion of some sentiment or pro- 
 pensity, or a morbid irritability of the affective powers, 
 under certain causes of excitement. It may be a loss 
 of those fine sensibilities which make the family rela- 
 tions a source of active interest and self-sacrifice, or it 
 may be a feeling of hatred and hostility as bitter as 
 it is unfounded. It may consist of some moral obliq- 
 uity which is limited to a narrow range of persons or 
 things, or it may produce a complete inversion of all the 
 ordinary relations of good and evil. It may be hardly 
 discernible under the greater prominence of the intel- 
 lectual disorder, or it may be the most conspicuous 
 element of the mental disturbance. 
 
 Thus far there is no diversity of opinion. So much 
 may be considered as settled. We advance one step 
 farther, and affirm that, for any thing that can be dis- 
 covered to the contrary, the moral disorder may some- 
 times exist unaccompanied by intellectual disorder ; and 
 in proof thereof we produce a multitude of cases exhibit- 
 ing this condition. Here our opponents join issue with 
 us, and endeavor to maintain their position, not by means
 
 MORAL INSANITY. 101 
 
 of cases, of course, — for those could hardly prove a neg- 
 ative, — but by metaphysical arguments, by objections to 
 the fidelity of the observations, by presenting startling 
 consequences, and too often for the credit of their cause 
 by sneers and gibes. We are called visionary and crotch- 
 ety, and the prejudices of all those worthy people who 
 cling to the past solely because it is old are invoked 
 against us for wishing to pull down all the time-honored 
 barriers against crime and immorality. 
 
 In the first place, supposing the intellect to remain 
 unimpaired, it is declared by our opponents that the 
 mental obliquities which. are attributed to insanity may 
 be controlled, and therefore that the individual can claim 
 no exemption from the ordinary measure of responsibil- 
 ity for his acts. This assertion, — and it is nothing but 
 assertion, — it will be observed, is a sort of begging of 
 the question ; and therefore it will be sufficient to re- 
 affirm the -position we hold on this point. So long as the 
 moral sentiments remain in their normal condition, the 
 power to control their manifestations is fully admitted. 
 When, however, they become diseased, the normal rela- 
 tion between them and the intellect is destroyed, and 
 the latter is unable to perform its rightful office. Its 
 own power is not diminished, but that of the moral senti- 
 ments is inordinately increased by the intrusion of a 
 foreign element. It is a matter of relative, not absolute, 
 power ; and it is immaterial whether the derangement of 
 the ordinary relation is in the one or the other. The 
 force of these morbid impulses cannot be resisted, be- 
 cause it is greater than that which the intellect was 
 designed, in the normal constitution of things, x to con- 
 trol. The fact is no more anomalous than that of the 
 marvellous development of muscular power in high 
 maniacal excitement, which defies all ordinary means of
 
 102 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 restraint. It seems hardly necessary to prove, to one 
 who has taken the first lesson in psychology, whether 
 normal or abnormal, that the affective and the intellectual 
 powers work together, each in their proper sphere, in 
 determining the thoughts, feelings, and movements of the 
 individual, and that the absence of one or the other would 
 produce an imperfect and disjointed result. It is but a 
 plain corollary of this position, that a morbid condition 
 of one or the other must produce a similar effect. In 
 many of the cases where the person is impelled by an 
 irresistible impulse to commit some criminal act, it is 
 stated that the feeling was contemplated with horror, 
 and successfully resisted, until at last, having steadily 
 increased in strength, it bore down all opposition. And 
 why this deplorable result? Not because the intellect 
 sees the act in a different light, and willingly gratifies 
 the desire of the heart, but because the control which, 
 in the healthy condition, it exercises over the affective 
 movements, is completely overborne by the superior 
 energy derived from disease. To see any matter of 
 blame in such a process is quite beyond our ability. 
 The individual is entitled to commendation rather than 
 blame for perseverance in resisting so long. This 
 relation of independence between the two elements is 
 not unfrequently observed in other forms of insanity. 
 Patients with considerable delusions may recognize, and 
 perhaps deplore, the mischief they commit. They admit 
 that in striking or teasing others, in stealing or destroy- 
 ing property, they did what they knew to be wrong and 
 contrary to rule. How often do we see a suicidal pa- 
 tient admitting that his attempts upon his life were 
 wrong, in the sight of God and man ; that he ought not 
 to have made them, but something urged him on ; that 
 he is glad they proved unsuccessful, — and yet on the
 
 MORAL INSANITY. 103 
 
 next opportunity renewing them ! Do we regard such 
 a person, when he succeeds, as a felon, confiscate his 
 property and bury his body at a road-crossing? Our 
 ancestors did this ; but we more properly, distinguishing 
 clearly the moral from the intellectual elements of our 
 nature, regard him as the victim of disease, and give 
 him a Christian burial. It ought not, therefore, to be 
 considered as an anomalous fact, that they whose intel- 
 lect is not obviously disturbed should be conscious of 
 and deplore the true moral quality of their criminal acts, 
 without being able to refrain from committing them. 
 These, then, are the facts of our case : and no objection 
 to the doctrine can be valid which ignores any one of 
 them. In this doctrine of irresistible impulse we see 
 nothing inconsistent with our knowledge of mental dis- 
 ease, or opposed to any true philosophy of the human 
 mind. 
 
 Others endeavor to reconcile the absence of intellect- 
 ual derangement with the irresponsibility which they 
 are willing to admit, by the hypothesis that at the mo- 
 ment of the commission of the criminal act — in the 
 height of the raptus maniacus — the intellect is prac- 
 tically obliterated, though immediately before and after 
 it seemed to manifest its usual consciousness and power. 
 We might admit the fact without abandoning, in the 
 slightest degree, the doctrine of moral insanity. The 
 point here made seems to be, at best, but a metaphys- 
 ical subtlety, and the doctrine implied in it one of no 
 very recent origin. The exact condition of the intellect, 
 in these cases, at the moment of the criminal act, is 
 something utterly beyond our reach, and unnecessary in 
 fact for any judicial purpose. A disease is known to 
 exist, — a morbid impulse to commit some crime. The 
 patient is conscious of its existence, knows it is wrong,
 
 104 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 and resists its gratification. At last all resistance is 
 overborne, and the deed is done. Certainly, it is more 
 consistent with all our knowledge of diseased action to 
 suppose that the morbid condition which is admitted to 
 exist goes on increasing in intensity, until it passes 
 beyond the control of the intellect, than that just at this 
 point another morbid condition suddenly appears and 
 as suddenly disappears. The general principle derived 
 from this objection is, that although moral insanity has 
 a real existence as a form of disease, it can never be- 
 come the parent of crime. With this practical reductlo 
 ad absurdum, we will leave an objection which has de- 
 tained us too long. 
 
 Others avoid these difficulties altogether, by recog- 
 nizing no form of insanity exclusively moral. In the 
 cases alleged to be such, they contend that there is 
 more or less intellectual disorder, though we fail to dis- 
 cover it. It does not appear whether this doctrine is 
 founded on the possible fact that, in their superior 
 sagacity, they have always detected intellectual dis- 
 order in cases usually referred to this form of disease ; 
 or on the hypothesis conveniently assumed for the pur- 
 pose, that insanity necessarily implies intellectual aber- 
 ration, and therefore cannot be predicated of any mental 
 disorder of which such aberration is not an active ele- 
 ment. This idea seems to receive some support from 
 the fact that, in other forms of mental disease, delusions, 
 and other signs of a disordered understanding, do often 
 remain concealed for lack of a suitable opportunity for 
 their display, and especially from the fact that in many 
 cases of moral insanity intellectual disorder, though 
 absent in the early stages of the disease, becomes ap- 
 parent enough in the last. Unquestionably, it is a 
 well known pathological law, that serious lesions may
 
 MORAL INSANITY. 105 
 
 exist in the bodily organs without giving any indica- 
 tions of their existence ; but a negative fact like this 
 furnishes no proof of a certain positive fact. If it gives 
 no indication of its existence, our belief in it must be 
 solely a matter of conjecture, of no value whatever 
 except as a guide to some demonstrable result. Un- 
 questionably, too, certain manifestations of mental dis- 
 ease sometimes fail to occur, only because the fitting 
 occasion therefor is not presented ; but that does not 
 help the matter at all, because in these cases of moral 
 insanity where no intellectual disorder appears the most 
 abundant opportunity is afforded for its display. The 
 patient is at large, goes and comes as he will, makes 
 visits, directs his domestic concerns, engages in busi- 
 ness, and in all his movements is free to do or not to 
 do, to speak or to keep silent. What better opportunity 
 could he have for displaying the inmost thoughts and 
 feelings of his soul? Neither do we deny that a symp- 
 tom absent in one stage of a disease may appear in a 
 subsequent stage, but that fact would not warrant us 
 to believe that this symptom actually existed from the 
 first. Is it so that we understand the course of disease? 
 Does any one imagine, in any conceivable instance, that 
 the various lesions which constitute our idea of disease 
 all begin simultaneously ? If we know any thing surely, 
 it is that these lesions occur successively ; and, so long 
 as the presence of any of them cannot be proved by posi- 
 tive evidence, we conclude that their time has not yet 
 come. In mental, as well as in every other protracted, 
 incurable disease, the progress is from bad to worse. 
 Idle, ever changing fancies pass at last into strong and 
 gross delusions ; careless, inconsiderate, heedless man- 
 ners gradually change into brutal ferocity ; and the 
 power to reason correctly about many things is finally
 
 106 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 succeeded by chaotic incoherence and stupidity. Moral 
 insanity often passes into general mental disease, but 
 this fact is no proof that the delusions which mark the 
 latter existed from the beginning in a latent condition. 
 
 However this may be, the general doctrine implied by 
 the objection is, that, in the absence of the intellectual 
 element, the moral obliquity must be regarded as a 
 matter of vice or unbridled passion. It would seem as 
 if the authority on which such cases are reported should 
 protect them from the charge of having been imperfectly 
 observed. We should be slow to believe that the men 
 whose names have already been mentioned were such 
 incompetent observers as to overlook entirely an element 
 of disease easily detected by their less illustrious suc- 
 cessors. Of course, wisdom is not confined to the great. 
 Many a humble explorer of nature's secrets, patient of 
 labor, modest in his pretensions, despising not the light 
 which others have shed on his path, has been rewarded 
 with results that had escaped more distinguished ob- 
 servers. Is it among such that we are to include the 
 marvellous discovery that moral insanity is a myth or a 
 blunder? That question may be answered in a very 
 few words. That cases like these have been observed, 
 where the element of intellectual disorder was obvious, 
 nobody doubts. They only mark the transition point 
 between two different forms of insanity, and establish 
 their close relationship. It is precisely what we might 
 expect. Nature makes no dividing lines between classes 
 and orders. They touch one another at numerous points, 
 and thus reveal their close affinity. These cases show 
 merely that, however much the traits of moral disorder 
 may overshadow every other, a careful examination will 
 sometimes detect indications of intellectual disturbance, 
 and thus illustrate the propositions with which we
 
 MOEAL INSANITY. 107 
 
 started. It must be borne in mind, too, that this form 
 of disease, like every other, is variable, and that cases 
 which are purely moral in one stage of their progress 
 may subsequently become complicated with aberration 
 of the intellect. Nothing can demonstrate more forcibly 
 the correctness of our views than the frequency of this 
 fact ; and the inference is irresistible, that cases which 
 end in unequivocal insanity cannot, at an earlier stage of 
 their progress, have been merely specimens of moral 
 depravity. 
 
 Another class of our opponents contend, that in the so 
 called cases of moral insanity there is no insanity at all, 
 either moral or intellectual. What is regarded as such 
 is nothing more nor less than depravity, for which the 
 individual is accountable. For how are we to distin- 
 guish, they say, between the moral disorder which is the 
 effect of disease, and that which is the natural result of 
 bad education, vicious associates, and evil habits? If 
 every trait of alleged moral insanity may be paralleled 
 by one of unquestionable depravity, where are we to look 
 for the element of insanity when it cannot be found in 
 the intellect ? Many of those who talk thus have no dif- 
 ficulty in meeting a similar objection when offered to the 
 admission of some forms of intellectual disorder. The 
 sayings and doings of many an insane man might be 
 paralleled seriatim, by those of persons whose sanity has 
 never been questioned. Every day, lawyers avail them- 
 selves of this fact to stultify some luckless expert who 
 gives the grounds of his belief in some one's insanity. 
 u Do you believe, sir, that every person who says or 
 does such a thing is insane ? " " Certainly not." " Or 
 a certain other thing? " " Certainly not." And so the 
 whole catalogue of particulars by which the mental dis- 
 ease was manifested is exhausted, and the party is shown
 
 108 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 not to have been insane at all. A sort of logic, — in 
 the vernacular of the day called a dodge, — pardonable 
 in a lawyer who knows no higher forensic merit than 
 that of cunning, could hardly have been expected from 
 a scientific man discussing a question of science ; and 
 least of all from one who has any practical knowledge of 
 mental disease. 
 
 The existence of insanity in any form is not always 
 proved by the presence of any particular symptom, or 
 even group of symptoms, but rather by changes of mind 
 or character, which can be explained on no other hypoth- 
 esis than that of disease. In other words, the party 
 must be compared with himself, not with any imaginary 
 standard of sanity or insanity. " It is the prolonged 
 departure, without any adequate external cause," says 
 Dr. Combe, " from the state of feeling and modes of 
 thinking usual to the individual when in health, that is 
 the true feature of disorder of mind." The soundness 
 of this rule has never been impugned in court or out. 
 In any alleged case of moral insanity, let the party be 
 compared with himself. If it should appear that, though 
 naturally mild and patient, respectful and courteous, up- 
 right and benevolent, kind and affectionate, the person 
 has become restless and passionate, rude and boisterous, 
 unscrupulous and unprincipled, tyrannical and cruel ; 
 and that this remarkable change had been rather sud- 
 denly effected, and apparently by none of the ordinary 
 causes which affect men's characters, it is a fair, it is an 
 inevitable conclusion, that the person in question is in- 
 sane. If these changes of character have occurred more 
 than once, the patient in the intervals exhibiting his 
 normal disposition, then not a shadow of doubt can exist. 
 Where the moral disorder is limited to a single trait, as 
 in homicidal monomania, kleptomania, pyromania, <fcc,
 
 MORAL INSANITY. 109 
 
 the diagnosis is, no doubt, more difficult ; but it is seldom 
 beyond our reach, under an exhaustive investigation. 
 Murder, for instance, is sometimes committed in the 
 most brutal and motiveless style by men who are un- 
 questionably acting under no other influence than the 
 bent of their nature or their manners. Shall we com- 
 pare with them the tender mother who calls for her new- 
 born babe and severs its head from its body, or the 
 exemplary father and husband who feels impelled by an 
 irresistible power to sacrifice his wife and children, 
 till that moment dearer to him than his own existence ? 
 Shall we compare with the practised thief or pickpocket 
 one who, towards the end of a life of honesty and many 
 Christian virtues, purloins at every opportunity articles 
 of little or no value ? Shall we compare the midnight 
 incendiary, governed by some motive of malice or in- 
 terest, with the poor girl who, in consequence of abnor- 
 mal cerebral action induced by other bodily ailments, is 
 borne on, in spite of every good resolution, to burn down 
 the very roof which affords shelter to herself and those 
 she holds most dear ? These are not imaginary cases. 
 They have been actually witnessed, and the books 
 abound with similar ones. True, cases of a disputable 
 character sometimes occur, — cases in which we may 
 well doubt whether the active principle is depravity or 
 disease. I have no wish to conceal any difficulty which 
 this subject may present. Science is full of difficulties, 
 and the pleasure and dignity of its pursuit consist 
 mainly in triumphing over them. The apparent identity 
 of these cases is no reason why we should utterly ignore 
 those where no doubt can exist of the essential differ- 
 ence. Nobody asks us to drop the usual distinction be- 
 tween melancholia and dementia, between hypochondria 
 and mania, because we occasionally meet with cases
 
 110 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 which cannot be unhesitatingly referred to either of 
 these forms of mental disease. In fact, the argument is 
 equally valid against any and every attempted distinc- 
 tion between any conditions or objects having some 
 properties in common. It indicates no remarkable ad- 
 vance in knowledge, if, with all the opportunities which 
 modern science and philanthropy have placed before us, 
 we are unable, in a considerable number of cases, to dis- 
 tinguish those traits of character that result from vicious 
 desires from such as are produced by the action of dis- 
 ease. At any rate, every principle of justice, every 
 emotion of humanity, impels us to treat these cases with 
 a sort of philosophic impartiality, and give them a care- 
 ful and dispassionate examination. 
 
 If the difficulty of distinguishing between moral de- 
 pravity and moral insanity is a sufficient reason for 
 ignoring the latter altogether, the argument would be 
 equally strong against admitting any kind of insanity in 
 defence of crime. Was there ever a case on trial en- 
 tirely free from doubt? Was a case ever tried in which 
 the prosecution did not contend that the sayings, doings, 
 looks, demeanor, alleged to be indicative of insanity, 
 were compatible with mental health and soundness ? Mc- 
 Naughton, who killed the secretary of Sir Robert Peel, 
 and was acquitted on the ground of insanity, talked and 
 acted for the most part like any sane man ; and the 
 notion which led him to commit the act might not, in 
 the nature of things, have been necessarily false, or 
 such as no sane man could possibly entertain. So, in 
 fact, the English public believed ; and fierce was the 
 storm of indignation which his acquittal excited. But 
 do we any the less believe that McNaughton was insane 
 to such a dggree as to be irresponsible for his acts ? We 
 might go through the whole catalogue of causes celebres
 
 MORAL INSANITY. Ill 
 
 in which the plea of insanity has been successfully used 
 during the present century, and observe, in every one, a 
 similar state of facts ; viz., notions which were the veri- 
 table offspring of insanity associated with mental quali- 
 ties and operations indicative of a rational mind, and 
 doubt and dissatisfaction on the part of the public. It 
 seems to be forgotten that men whose insanity is ap- 
 parent to the world are never put on trial. It is pre- 
 cisely because there is room for doubt that the case is 
 tried, — that the evidence for and against may be heard 
 and considered. True, a mistake may be made, and a 
 criminal may unjustly escape the punishment of his 
 crimes. Are we prepared to say, on this account, that 
 insanity ought never to be admitted in excuse for 
 crime ? 
 
 It may be remarked, that some who would not deny 
 the existence of moral insanity object to the name and 
 deprecate its use. This form of disease is supposed to 
 be confined to the moral faculties, as others are to the 
 intellectual ; and therefore, upon the ordinary principles 
 of nomenclature, it is very properly called moral insanity. 
 Emotional, or affective, might signify the same thing, but 
 I am not sure that they would be more acceptable to our 
 opponents. At any rate, until they furnish us with a 
 better, we must of necessity keep the present. Others 
 think that, somehow, the dignity of the profession is 
 compromised by the term ; that it provokes the censure 
 and sneers of the world, and defeats the very object we 
 have in view. I am unable to see how the honest results 
 of a scientific investigation can be detrimental to the 
 cause of truth and justice. If such be really the effect 
 in the present case, it is attributable rather to the thing 
 than to the name, and of course would not be changed 
 by any modification of the latter. Names, unquestion-
 
 112 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 ably, are often more potent than things ; but we might 
 bring ample proof, were it worth our while, that such is 
 not the case here. 
 
 Others who believe in the thing, and do not strongly 
 object to the name, advise medical witnesses to abstain 
 from its use in courts of justice. " If," say they, " an 
 acknowledged expert will but testify, after a due and 
 sufficient examination of the case of an alleged criminal, 
 that he is insane, it matters not whether the insanity 
 manifests itself through the intellectual or through the 
 moral faculties : it is still insanity, in the eye of the law, 
 and is entitled to the privileges and immunities of in- 
 sanity, without splitting hairs betwixt north and north- 
 west side to define the difference of one shade of insanity 
 from another. . . . For all legal purposes, then, it seems 
 idle to suffer the special defence of moral insanity." 1 
 The giver of this sage advice speaks, no doubt, in all the 
 freshness of ingenuous innocence ; but he was evidently 
 never on the witness-stand. Had he ever experienced 
 one of those inquisitorial performances to which lawyers 
 are allowed to subject a medical witness whose testimony 
 has damaged the cause of their clients, he would have dis- 
 covered that it was not quite optional with him what he 
 may declare and what he may withhold. No great stretch 
 of ingenuity, or lack of courtesy, would be required to 
 get from him the obnoxious word, in spite of his good 
 resolves to abstain from " splitting hairs betwixt north 
 and north-west side." The process may be easily im- 
 agined, as, for instance, in the following scene : — 
 
 Lawyer. You believe that the prisoner was insane at 
 that time ? 
 
 Witness. I do. 
 
 1 American Journal of Insanity, xiv. 319.
 
 MORAL INSANITY. 113 
 
 L. What kind of insanity do you call it? 
 
 W. I beg your pardon, but I do not trouble myself 
 with " splitting hairs," &c. It is enough for me and for 
 you to know that he was insane, 
 
 L. Perhaps so ; but, nevertheless, please state for the 
 information of the court and jury whether some of the 
 best writers on insanity do not divide it into several 
 classes and orders. 
 
 W. They do. 
 
 L. Esquirol is high authority, is he not? 
 
 W. He certainly is. 
 
 L. What is his classification ? You are no doubt 
 familiar with it. 
 
 W. He makes five classes, — Lypemania, Monoma- 
 nia, Mania, Dementia, and Idiocy, or Imbecility. 
 
 L. To which of these classes, do you apprehend, does 
 the present case belong? 
 W. Mania. 
 
 L. Is not Mania divided sometimes into intellectual 
 and moral, according as it is confined to the intellect- 
 ual or moral faculties ? 
 
 W. It is. 
 
 L. Do you recognize the correctness of the distinc- 
 tion ? 
 
 W. I do ; but I protest against the name, moral in- 
 sanity. 
 
 L. Very well. Since you admit the thing itself, we 
 will not quarrel about the name it goes by. I choose to 
 call it moral insanity. You may call it what you please, 
 so long as you mean the same thing. 
 
 There is a class of objections to which I shall merely 
 advert, for more than this would scarcely be allowed by 
 a proper respect for the dignity of the scientific char- 
 acter. It is mortifying to our professional pride to see 
 
 8
 
 114 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 men who ought to consider themselves as the ministers 
 and interpreters of Nature, rejoicing in their glorious 
 office and receiving her revelations in a glad and teach- 
 able spirit, on the contrary turning away from them 
 with a feeling of scorn because they conflict with some 
 preconceived notions of their own. There is brought to 
 their notice an order of facts, both numerous and well- 
 authenticated, exhibiting a common incident or quality 
 of a highly important character. But it affords no satis- 
 faction to them. They do not ask if the facts are true, 
 if the conclusions are legitimately drawn. They care 
 for none of these things. It is enough for them that, in 
 their opinion, the tendency is bad ; and upon their short- 
 sighted views of the moral consequences of a scientific 
 conclusion they presume to decide whether it is true or 
 false. A course so unworthy of the true scientific in- 
 quirer, so completely at variance with every principle 
 of sound philosophizing, requires no formal examination. 
 Our opponents are welcome to all the advantage which 
 it may give them ; and it has some effect, no doubt, 
 upon all that description of men whose jealousy of med- 
 ical science is equalled only by their ignorance of the 
 manner and spirit in which it has been pursued. A 
 single passage, in illustration of my meaning, will be 
 sufficient for the present purpose : — 
 
 " The general tendency of the doctrine of moral in- 
 sanity is bad, whatever show or real feeling of humanity 
 there may be in it. It is bad in a religious view, be- 
 cause it tempts men to indulge their strongest passions, 
 under the false impression that God has so constituted 
 them that their passions are not generally governable 
 by their will or their reason, and that, therefore, there 
 is no punishable guilt in indulging them." 1 
 
 1 American Journal of Insanity, xiv. 321.
 
 MORAL INSANITY. 115 
 
 It seems to be a matter of complaint among our 
 opponents, that we do not hesitate, in the absence of 
 other proof, to infer the existence of mental disease 
 solely from the character of the particular act in ques- 
 tion. Their idea is, that we are bound first to prove the 
 existence of the disease, and then — not before — we 
 may be warranted in attributing to it a criminal act that 
 might possibly have been the offspring of moral deprav- 
 ity. They forget very strangely that the only conclusive 
 proof of the existence of mental disease is to be found in 
 the mental manifestations of the patient. He may have 
 lost his appetite, his head may feel tight and oppressed, 
 he may have become sleepless and restless, but these 
 symptoms do not prove him to be insane. It is only what 
 he says or does, as compared with what he said or did 
 when supposed to be sane, that has any bearing on this 
 point, although no doubt these symptoms of bodily ail- 
 ment furnish confirmatory proof. We admit, with them, 
 that the single criminal act, unaccompanied by other sus- 
 picious circumstances, may sometimes be very unsatis- 
 factory proof of insanity ; but we apprehend that such 
 cases are very infrequent. When such an act is really 
 the result of insanity, we can usually find in the ante- 
 cedent or subsequent history of the patient, if we will 
 carefully look for it, some corroborative proof of its 
 presence. Even without it, the act may be of such a 
 nature that the common instincts of humanity impel us 
 to refer it to mental disease ; and this, I submit, is as good 
 ground for an opinion as arbitrary rules and theoretical 
 considerations. When a woman, previously distinguished 
 for every virtue, takes the life of her darling child, am I 
 obliged to stifle my instinctive convictions of her insan- 
 ity merely because no other symptom of mental dis- 
 ease has been witnessed? In such a case we may be
 
 116 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 sure science and humanity render no discrepant testi- 
 mony.. 
 
 In a large proportion of cases, as is well known, the 
 crowning proof of insanity is drawn chiefly from the 
 character of some single act, the previous and subse- 
 quent manifestations of disease being too obscure and 
 equivocal to possess much significance. Now it is going 
 but one step farther, and that not a very long one, to 
 regard such act as the sole proof. The force of the proof 
 is not derived from the number of the diseased manifes- 
 tations, or the precise time of their appearance, so much 
 as it is from their significance ; and in this respect the 
 act of which the person is accused may be far more im- 
 portant than all other traits and incidents together. To 
 leave this out of the account indicates not so much any 
 especial regard for justice or scientific propriety as it 
 does a total inability to comprehend its true legal and 
 scientific relations. There is no reason why we should 
 be cut off from any source of evidence whatever, touch- 
 ing the mental condition of one who pleads insanity in 
 defence of crime. If it should stand alone, single and 
 circumscribed, then certainly it is all the more carefully 
 to be considered and estimated. So that if the act itself 
 exhibit mental disturbance, if it be contrary to the char- 
 acteristic feelings, habits, and principles of the person, 
 it furnishes a no less valid excuse than something which 
 may have occurred days or weeks before. But the act, 
 it is said, is the very thing in dispute, and therefore 
 cannot be fairly used in evidence for or against. This 
 may sound plausible, perhaps; but it will prove, on 
 examination, only a paltry sophism. It is not the act 
 that is to be tried. It is the guilt or the innocence of 
 the individual that is to be established ; and, if the act in 
 question furnish any evidence on this point, it may be
 
 MORAL INSANITY. 117 
 
 legitimately used. Its sufficiency for the purpose is 
 quite another matter, and can be properly estimated 
 only by means of the light which is derived from a pro- 
 found and extensive study of mental phenomena, both in 
 the sane and insane condition. 
 
 Another fruitful source of arguments against the 
 doctrine of moral insanity is found in its supposed 
 consequences and collateral accompaniments. A speci- 
 men or two, by way of illustration, will answer my 
 present purpose. " Almost any man may satisfy his 
 mind, if not his conscience, — a sane man, perhaps, most 
 readily, — that he has been surprised into a crime by 
 some strange and irresistible impulse, some demoniacal 
 instigation, some fatal propensity, or some unaccountable 
 frenzy, that he could not master for its suddenness and 
 its force. Such casualties may be, and doubtless are ; 
 but God only can judge of them. Human laws cannot: 
 their nicest refinements are too gross for such subtle- 
 ties." 1 Here it is virtually admitted that a person may 
 be morally insane, but, inasmuch as the fact can be known 
 only to God, it should not be received as an excuse for 
 crime. Sane or insane, he must suffer precisely as if his 
 sanity were unquestioned. The old maxim of the courts 
 is to be reversed ; for the sentiment of the passage is, 
 better that ten insane persons be convicted than that 
 one sane person should be acquitted on the ground 
 of insanity. This indicates no advance in humanity, 
 if it does in science ; but it is really no more credit- 
 able to one than it is to the other. The writer may 
 speak for himself, but we protest against his meas- 
 uring the professional sagacity of others by his own. 
 There are a few poor mortals, I believe, who, without 
 
 1 American Journal of Insanity, xii. 339.
 
 118 MOEAL INSANITY. 
 
 any great presumption, or uncommon exercise of skill, 
 profess to be able to recognize moral insanity where 
 it really exists. The fact implied in the opening sen- 
 tence, if really true, which I strongly doubt, proves 
 nothing as to the point in hand. In a criminal trial 
 the question is not what the prisoner thinks of his 
 guilt or innocence, but what can be proved to the satis- 
 faction of the jury. If moral insanity is pleaded in his 
 defence, proof of the fact must be found in the ante- 
 cedents of the prisoner, the manner of committing the 
 crime, his mental or bodily condition, all the circum- 
 stances, in fact, connected with the act. I have no 
 hesitation in saying that a patient investigation of the 
 case would always reveal at last its true character, and, 
 I repeat, he must have but a low estimate of his own 
 sagacity, or of his own resources, who can fear that, 
 under such an investigation, a genuine criminal could 
 succeed in passing himself off as insane. It may be 
 said, no doubt, with some truth, that a criminal trial 
 does not always afford the means of a thorough inves- 
 tigation, and that a jury is often governed more by the 
 appeals of counsel than by satisfactory proof respecting 
 the mental condition. The proper remedy for the evil, 
 however, is not to abolish the plea because it is too 
 readily accepted by easy, credulous juries, but, by some 
 change in the mode of procedure, to have it satisfac- 
 torily disposed of one way or the other. To ignore and 
 reject, utterly and forever, a plea, merely because it is 
 occasionally abused, is a puerile folly hardly to have 
 been expected of men who claim any respect for their 
 opinions/ 
 
 This question is important not so much for its patho- 
 logical as its forensic relations. The expert, who be- 
 lieves that there is no insanity without intellectual
 
 MORAL IXSANITY. 119 
 
 derangement, is powerless before the courts in cases of 
 what is called moral insanity. He regards the accused 
 as insane, and clearly entitled to plead insanity in 
 excuse for their acts ; but, as no intellectual derange- 
 ment is apparent, he is obliged to adopt the strange 
 assumption that it is there, though he does not pretend 
 to see it, — a sort of constructive presence to be recog- 
 nized only by an exercise of faith. Now faith, though 
 one of the strongest proofs of a profoundly religious 
 spirit, is but a poor foundation for a scientific deduc- 
 tion. Courts rigidly insist on positive, tangible proofs. 
 Even opinions, though admitted as evidence, are worth- 
 less to them, except so far as they rest on facts ; but worse 
 than worthless are conjectures without the slightest pre- 
 tence of support in actual fact. This doctrine of the 
 constructive presence of intellectual lesion would, in 
 practice, contribute as little to the benefit of the ac- 
 cused as it would to the reputation of the expert. Are 
 such persons as those who are supposed to be subject to 
 this form of disease, — who abound in private life and 
 are found in every hospital for the insane, — are they to 
 derive no benefit from the plea of insanity in courts of 
 justice ? This, certainly, is the legitimate effect of the 
 position that intellectual derangement must necessarily 
 exist, whether apparent or not, in every case of insan- 
 ity. The proper course of the expert is to say that the 
 person is insane, and that the insanity is confined, so far 
 as he can see, to the moral or affective powers, being 
 manifested in the conduct and not at all in the conversa- 
 tion. He thus neither affirms nor denies the existence 
 of intellectual lesion. He simply says that none is per- 
 ceptible. 
 
 I have thus disposed of what I take to be the prin- 
 cipal objections to the doctrine of moral insanity. It
 
 120 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 may be regarded, perhaps, as a work of supererogation 
 by most of those who have been much conversant with 
 the insane, and in the habit of considering the exist- 
 ence of this form of disease as well settled as that of 
 any other. They must bear in mind, however, that 
 objections which seem too puerile for serious refutation 
 are urged upon courts, paraded in newspapers, and 
 patronized by amateur writers on the legal relations of 
 the insane. In this way, they get a factitious authority 
 which deceives the ignorant or unwary, and therefore 
 procures for them a degree of attention they would 
 never obtain by their intrinsic merits alone. When 
 it is regarded as a mark of superior wisdom, and of 
 elevation above the foibles and crotchets of well-mean- 
 ing but simple-minded men, to scout at such results 
 of faithful observation as happen to jostle the prejudices 
 of the world, it becomes a duty to speak.
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 In most diseases we are seldom left in any uncertainty 
 respecting the fact of complete recovery. If the ra- 
 tional symptoms leave any doubt on tins point, we can 
 often supply their deficiency by the direct evidence of 
 the senses. The ear will reveal to us the slightest trace 
 of disease in the heart and lungs, and the touch may 
 enlighten us sufficiently respecting abscesses, morbid 
 growths, and displacements. In mental diseases, how- 
 ever, the senses afford us no help whatever. 1 No 
 friendly tube, no arts of manipulation, will acquaint us 
 with the organic movements going on beneath that bony 
 dome. Whether the disappearance of all or most of the 
 rational symptoms indicates the restoration of the cere- 
 bral organism to its normal condition, or only their 
 temporary cessation, in accordance with a known law of 
 periodicity, is a question which we must often hesitate to 
 answer ; and we are thus left in a state of embarrassing 
 uncertainty as to a point of the greatest practical im- 
 portance. And yet it is laid upon us to decide whether 
 our patient is able to resume his place in the world, or 
 requires weeks or months of farther probation. 
 
 If any hospital physician can say that he has never 
 discharged a patient with all possible confidence in the 
 
 1 It remains yet to be seen whether the ophthalmoscope furnishes any 
 exception to this rule.
 
 122 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 completeness of the recovery, and readmitted him a few 
 weeks afterwards, in an active stage of disease, he cer- 
 tainly has reached a degree of skill to which I can lay 
 no claim. I recognize the necessity of an ample period 
 for the stage of convalescence, and am aware that the 
 views of others on this point often prevail over our own. 
 I admit that the impatience and self-sufficiency of friends 
 generally render it too short, and procure the discharge 
 of the patient when our own unbiassed judgment w r ould 
 dictate a longer stay. My proposition is, that in cases 
 where we can no longer discover sure indications of 
 disease, and where we are allowed to retain the patient 
 as long as we please, without let or hindrance from 
 others, discharge is occasionally followed by speedy re- 
 lapse. Without exaggeration, it may be said that in 
 our specialty, though the cure of the patient may be a 
 veritable triumph of skill, yet to know precisely when 
 he is cured may signify the far greater triumph of that 
 keen insight which looks beneath the surface and dis- 
 cerns conditions utterly hidden from common sight. 
 Under the guidance of books, or on a stated routine, we 
 often succeed in effecting a cure. The course is plainly 
 marked out for us, and it must be our own fault if we do 
 not follow it. Here, however, we can obtain but little 
 assistance from books. We must depend solely on our 
 own resources ; and, if these consist only of a little knowl- 
 edge of routine, we can scarcely avoid some mistakes. 
 If, however, they consist of an ample knowledge of the 
 mental phenomena both in a healthy and morbid state, 
 and especially in a kind of sagacity or tact which en- 
 ables us readily to apply this knowledge to the case in 
 hand, we shall arrive at the right conclusion, where 
 others, less abundantly qualified in these respects, would 
 sometimes err.
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 123 
 
 In the first place, to appreciate rightly the indications 
 of recovery, one must be more or less acquainted with 
 the healthy mind. A man who should undertake to 
 make an autopsy, without the least familiarity with the 
 healthy aspect of the various organs, could claim as 
 little respect for his conclusions as one who should 
 decide a question of recovery from mental disease, with 
 only the most superficial knowledge of the traits of 
 character and operations of the intellect exhibited by 
 the normal mind. How could it be otherwise ? We 
 regard it as a settled principle that the essential con- 
 dition of insanity is a departure from the natural char- 
 acter without any adequate external cause ; and that, in 
 deciding the question of insanity in any given case, the 
 person must be compared, not with any conventional 
 standard of sanity, but solely with himself. Of course, 
 it cannot be supposed that we should be acquainted 
 with the mental character of every patient under our 
 charge. In regard to the most of them, in fact, we are 
 but imperfectly acquainted with the history of their 
 disease, to say nothing of those moral and intellectual 
 qualities which distinguish them in health. In order to 
 accomplish our object, we must chiefly depend upon our 
 knowledge of mental phenomena in the abstract or in 
 the concrete, — as analyzed by the metaphysician, or 
 exhibited in the living, thinking man. The secret of 
 Shakespeare's unrivalled success in the delineation of 
 insanity lay not in an extensive observation of the dis- 
 ease, — for he, probably, had seen very little of it, — 
 but in a profound knowledge of the springs of action, and 
 an exquisite discernment of the countless varieties of 
 human character. He recognized the pregnant truth 
 that disease, whether of body or mind, is governed by 
 laws as inflexible as those of health, and that there is an
 
 124 DOUBTFUL EECOVERIES. 
 
 invariable relation between them, whereby, within cer- 
 tain limits, we are enabled to infer with no less certainty 
 than we are to observe. One of these laws is, that the 
 normal movements of the mind are not entirely lost in 
 the abnormal, but impart to them their peculiar type 
 and mode of expression. Thus, Lady Macbeth, while 
 wandering in her sleep and reviewing the scenes of that 
 terrible night, is but the reflex image of Lady Macbeth 
 before the vision of regal state lured her to destruction. 
 And so skilfully is this same principle applied in Hamlet, 
 that the world is yet in doubt whether the poet intended 
 to exhibit an actual case of insanity passing through its 
 various stages, or merely an irresolute, speculating youth, 
 breaking out occasionally into a simulated paroxysm of 
 frenzy. The faculty which in Shakespeare led to such 
 wonderful results, must be possessed and exercised, more 
 or less, by every successful student of morbid psychology. 
 Among the most common and prominent traits of in- 
 sanity are many exhibited by persons considered sane, 
 and who are so for all practical purposes. Who has not 
 witnessed explosions of wrath as sudden, as unprovoked, 
 as furious, as unreasonable, as any that are exhibited by 
 the insane? Who has not observed, in persons who pass 
 for sane, fancies scarcely to be distinguished from de- 
 lusions ? How many men and women there are in the 
 world, of unquestioned sanity, who sincerely believe 
 that among those with whom they habitually deal are 
 persons systematically bent on thwarting their pur- 
 poses, traducing their character, and marring their 
 peace ! Such manifestations frequently spring, no doubt, 
 from that mental obliquity indicative of a tendency 
 to insanity, or the insane temperament, as it is 
 called, and which, by the way, is far more prevalent 
 than it is generally supposed to be ; but they show,
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 125 
 
 none the less, that the most thorough knowledge of the 
 mental constitution is often needed to enable the psy- 
 chologist to distinguish the manifestations of disease 
 from those of reputed health. 
 
 The aspects of insanity are innumerable and ever new. 
 The longest life and the most diligent observation can- 
 not exhaust their infinite variety. The ordinary ob- 
 server recognizes no other insanity than that -which is 
 characterized by noise and incoherence, and for the 
 same reason — a very limited experience — even a phy- 
 sician is liable to mistake the indications of disease for 
 those of the soundest mental integrity. We all know 
 that not unfrequently a patient may exhibit no positive 
 trace of disease, for weeks or months together, while we 
 are strongly suspicious, all the time, that he has not 
 recovered his normal condition ; and we know how often 
 the event justifies the suspicion. Now, our view of such 
 cases is determined not so much by any special traits 
 they may exhibit as by those general impressions which 
 long familiarity with the disease has left on the mind. 
 
 The result of these different degrees of qualification 
 may be seen in another shape. A beginner in this de- 
 partment of our art hails every improvement as the com- 
 mencement of convalescence, and is apt to regard the 
 appearance of a few healthy traits as the unquestionable 
 presage of recovery. It is not until a later period that 
 he becomes acquainted with that peculiar oscillation 
 which marks the movements of mental disease, and fully 
 comprehends the fact that serious disorder may exist in 
 connection with many sound, healthy manifestations of 
 character. Lawyers, judges, men of the world, may 
 ignore this fact altogether, and plume themselves on 
 their superior sagacity ; but no one in this department 
 of the healing art can do it -without making shipwreck
 
 126 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 of whatever reputation lie may happen to have gained. 
 I do not mean to convey the idea that the kind of 
 professional sagacity here referred to will be exactly 
 proportioned to the number of cases one has seen. It 
 is not the number of cases observed, but the thorough- 
 ness with which they are studied, that imparts it. To 
 one without the power to receive and inwardly digest 
 what the eye sees and the ear hears, a multitude of 
 cases afford but little light, for they leave on the mind 
 only a vague and obscure impression. For years he 
 may traverse the wards of a hospital, day after day, and 
 learn little or nothing of that higher knowledge which 
 his opportunities have placed within his reach. He 
 may learn that most coveted of arts, the art of subduing 
 excitement. He may outstrip his neighbors in all those 
 little appliances which arrest the popular attention, 
 while the nicer shades of distinction between the healthy 
 and the disordered mind, the deep under-currents of 
 thought and feeling which determine the movements of 
 both, ever remain as remote from his apprehension as 
 the poles are asunder. 
 
 We must also bear in mind that no amount of obser- 
 vation or study will always lead us to true conclusions 
 without the aid of that faculty of the mind which en- 
 ables us to apply our knowledge to a case differing from 
 all other particular cases within our experience ; in other 
 words, to eliminate the essential conditions of the case 
 r-4jom the accidental circumstances that accompany them. 
 To some men the case in hand conveys no idea apart 
 from its special facts. Their knowledge consists ex- 
 clusively in particular cases, ticketed, labelled, and 
 filed away in their memory. When the occasion re- 
 quires some power of nice discernment, — of deducing 
 the unknown from the known by the ready perception
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 127 
 
 of some necessary relation between them, — they can 
 only fall back on their insulated recollections. 
 
 We are now prepared to consider some of those in- 
 cidents and conditions which are of great significance 
 in regard to the question of recovery. 
 
 It is a rule sanctioned by the highest authorities, that 
 a patient cannot be considered as recovered who does 
 not fully recognize the fact that he has been insane. 
 As a general rule, it is undoubtedly correct ; but the 
 exceptions are neither few nor insignificant. In every 
 case of complete recovery, — one in which no vestige 
 of disease remains, — unquestionably, the patient is con- 
 scious of having been insane, but he may not openly 
 admit it. This depends on his mental constitution. 
 Men who have always entertained a high opinion of 
 their intellectual gifts, in connection with a proud and 
 haughty spirit, are naturally unwilling to admit so hum- 
 bling a fact as that of their own insanity. They may 
 have been nervous, they may have been excited, they 
 may have talked fast and loud, they may have acted 
 impetuously, or even imprudently, but they knew per- 
 fectly well what they were about, and a few days of 
 quiet and seclusion would have effectually calmed their 
 perturbed spirits. Such is their explanation of occur- 
 rences that cannot be denied, in which, to be sure, they 
 are as wise as the creature that hides his head in the 
 sand and then thinks he cannot be seen. This kind 
 of attempted self-deception is most common in cases 
 characterized by high excitement and extravagant dis- 
 course, rather than by delusions, incoherence, or vio- 
 lence. Delusions that were openly proclaimed are not 
 so plausibly explained ; but they are represented, per- 
 haps, as only idle, fugitive fancies of little consequence, 
 that soon passed away. If the patient is unprincipled
 
 128 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 as well as proud, he may resort to subterfuges that are 
 false as well as weak. A m m once came under my 
 care while in a paroxysm of high excitement, who talked 
 incessantly for two or three weeks of having been 
 robbed, the day before he came in, of a lot of jewelry 
 purchased by him shortly before, on speculation. He 
 finally ceased talking about it, and we heard no more of 
 it, though he never admitted that he had been mistaken. 
 Shortly after his discharge, he came to me showing what 
 purported to be a bill of some $2,000 worth of jewelry 
 sold to him, and part payment received. The date of 
 the bill corresponded with his previous story. I after- 
 wards ascertained that this document was entirely 
 fictitious, procured for a few dollars from an itinerant 
 vender of jewelry. For several years, this man had 
 had annual paroxysms of excitement, alternating with 
 fits of depression, but he had never exhibited delusions, 
 and had not been popularly regarded as insane. He 
 was a physician in good repute, and had never ceased 
 to practise on account of his mental infirmity. This 
 contrivance was a desperate attempt to remove an 
 humiliating imputation on his intellectual integrity. 
 
 This reluctance to acknowledge their infirmity is 
 still more common in a class of patients whose usual 
 condition is marked by striking eccentricities and per- 
 versities. Many of them, probably, labor under a 
 genuine mistake on this point. Men who are always 
 hovering near the line that separates sanity from insan- 
 ity find it hard to believe that they have ever fairly 
 passed over it ; and this difficulty may be shared by 
 friends and neighbors who are not accustomed to a very 
 close discrimination of mental conditions. Their logic 
 is, stated in the usual way, if he were insane at the 
 time referred to, then he was always insane. It may be
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 129 
 
 found, frequently, that the incident or event which 
 brought upon them the disabilities of insanity only 
 implied the exaggeration of some innate quality of 
 mind ; and it is not strange, under the circumstances, 
 that they should overlook the distinction that in the 
 one case they lost entirely the power of self-control 
 which they possessed in the other, and were no longer 
 amenable to reason. 
 
 It may seem paradoxical to say that a person has 
 recovered who fails to recognize the delusions that pos- 
 sessed his mind ; yet there are cases where the patient 
 has passed from a state of agitation, excitement, and 
 delusion into one of calmness, cheerful expectation, and 
 apparent rationality, while still retaining some flagrant 
 delusion. With this exception, his views are correct 
 and clear, all the mental processes are well conducted, 
 apparently ; and he performs his part in the world as 
 well as ever. Such was the case of Greenwood, cited 
 in all the books on the medical jurisprudence of insan- 
 ity, whose will was the subject of much litigation. 
 While unequivocally insane, he believed, with other 
 things equally false, that his brother who then attended 
 him had attempted to kill him by poisoning. This 
 delusion he never relinquished, though for some years 
 he practised his profession as an advocate, and seemed 
 to the world to be in the complete possession of his 
 senses. 
 
 It is seldom safe to discharge a patient while he 
 continues to believe in the reality of any single notion 
 or occurrence that was entirely the offspring of fancy, 
 because such a belief indicates morbid action, which, 
 however circumscribed at present, is ever liable to 
 spread, and induce farther mental disorder. Indeed, 
 the evil is seldom so limited as it seems to a casual
 
 130 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 observer. A long and close inspection of the mental 
 manifestations is likely to reveal, deeply hidden beneath 
 the surface, a broad vein of unsoundness, which a brief 
 trial at large would display to the common gaze. If we 
 could predict that the delusion would always remain 
 insulated from all other mental processes, as in Green- 
 wood's case, then we should hardly be warranted in 
 detaining the patient ; but this we can never do, with 
 the slightest degree of confidence, without a long and 
 careful observation. 
 
 Very ignorant, uncultivated people often fail to rec- 
 ognize their delusions as such, solely from inability to 
 distinguish the subjective from the objective in their 
 mental experience. This trait is not uncommon among 
 the lowest class of the Irish, who will talk of certain 
 imaginary occurrences as if they had really happened ; 
 though how, they do not pretend to know. It is enough 
 for them that the impressions thus stamped on their brain 
 remain as clear and vivid as the most recent images of 
 sense. 
 
 There is another class of patients, and a very large 
 one too, from whom we fail to obtain a decided recogni- 
 tion of their mental disorder. Their conduct and con- 
 versation while deprived of the noblest attribute of 
 their nature excite so much unpleasant if not painful 
 recollection, that they shrink from dwelling upon them, 
 and may even endeavor to silence or divert inquiry re- 
 specting them, by seeming to deny that they had any 
 serious disorder. I have often hesitated to inquire very 
 minutely respecting certain extravagances of thought 
 or feeling, lest I might hear a flat denial of their exist- 
 ence from patients who gave every other indication of 
 recovery. Indeed, this kind of reticence, in some 
 degree, may be observed in by far the larger part of
 
 DOUBTFUL KECOVEEIES. 131 
 
 those who recover. On the other hand, a full, free, and 
 earnest recital of the thoughts, emotions, and acts pro- 
 duced by the mental disorder, is not, by any means, a 
 sure indication of genuine recovery. 
 
 Another circumstance often bearing very significantly 
 on the question of recovery is the duration of the 
 disease. The course of insanity is much longer than 
 that of most diseases of apparently equal severity. I do 
 not say it is never transitory, for there are cases enough 
 on record to settle this point beyond a doubt ; but, with 
 this infrequent exception, its duration is marked rather 
 by weeks and months than by hours and days. Appar- 
 ent recovery within the first six or eight weeks should 
 always be followed by a longer probation than one at a 
 later period. As in most nervous disorders, the course 
 of insanity is marked by fluctuations in the severity of 
 its movements ; and the improvements thus occurring 
 may often seem like convalescence, if not actual recov- 
 ery. When occurring at an early period, or suddenly 
 at any period, or soon after a state of intensely active 
 disorder, such as high maniacal excitement, they are 
 seldom permanent. Esquirol has made a statement, 
 the correctness of which my own observations have 
 abundantly confirmed, that in most cases of active 
 mania u a very marked remission, amounting, perhaps, 
 to a complete disappearance of every trait of disease, 
 occurs within the first month of the attack, and is often 
 followed by a renewal of the disease." My experience 
 would lead me to say that such is the result in by far 
 the greater number of cases. And I would also say 
 that the more complete the remission, the less likely is 
 it to prove an unequivocal recovery. I call to mind a 
 case in which, during the first month, a remission con- 
 sisting of the most rational exercise of the mind on all
 
 132 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 subjects, without excitement or depression, was soon 
 succeeded by high maniacal excitement, terminating in 
 death. True, this kind of improvement is of such brief 
 duration that there is little danger of the patient's 
 being discharged on the strength of it; but it may lead 
 to a prognosis that will cause bitter disappointment and 
 mortification. 
 
 As already intimated, these remissions are not con- 
 fined to the first month ; nor are they peculiar to any 
 particular form of disease, though most common in 
 acute mania. They are not rare even in organic affec- 
 tions of the brain more or less affiliated to general 
 paralysis. A patient who came in recently, with what 
 seemed to be simple mania, soon began to convalesce, 
 and for two months or more presented not a trace of 
 mental disorder. His conduct and conversation, his 
 ways and habits, manners, opinions, and feelings were as 
 free from singularity and impropriety as they were in 
 his best estate. Having kept him as long as I pleased, 
 he went home and resumed his customary employment. 
 Three weeks afterwards he came back highly excited, 
 full of gross delusions, and considerably demented. 
 Thenceforth he passed through the ordinary phases, of 
 organic cerebral affection, and died. In another case, 
 where the indications of organic disease were so strong 
 from the beginning that I gave the friends the most 
 discouraging prognosis, the signs of recovery became 
 so satisfactory at last, that I began to doubt the correct- 
 ness of my diagnosis. At any rate, they were so satis- 
 factory to the friends that they removed him, and he 
 recommenced business. In the course of a few weeks 
 he broke down again, and the result fully justified the 
 original prognosis. A less degree of improvement in 
 this form of disease is still more common, and often
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 133 
 
 leads to the removal of the patient from the hospital, in 
 the delusive hope that a change of scene will complete 
 the apparent convalescence. 
 
 I take the opportunity to remark, in passing, that, if 
 these views are correct, we are forced to believe that 
 too many are discharged from our hospitals as recov- 
 ered, within the first three months after their admission. 
 While admitting that recovery may not very unfre- 
 quently be completed in that period, I apprehend that 
 this large class of cases which, in our hospital reports, 
 are placed in the front rank of successful results, must 
 embrace many that relapse so soon after their discharge 
 as to render it quite certain that their recovery was 
 never complete. It may have been only the remission 
 so common in the early stages of the disease, to be cer- 
 tainly followed by a renewal of the disorder. It may 
 have been that condition of mind resembling recovery, 
 in which one essential quality of the nervous organism 
 is wanting. No trace of disease can be discerned in 
 the conduct or conversation, no perversion or obtuse- 
 ness in the sentiments and emotions, but the patients 
 have no power of endurance. In the hospital, where 
 most of their movements are a matter of routine, ex- 
 empt from care and responsibility, they pass along 
 month after month, without let or hindrance ; but the 
 moment they begin to act for themselves, to assume 
 responsibility and encounter trials, the latent irritability 
 is revived, and proceeds, more or less rapidly, to utter 
 loss of self-control. It would be a great mistake to sup- 
 pose that this condition is confined to those who have 
 had frequent attacks, and whose nervous elasticity may 
 be supposed to have been impaired thereby. It is often 
 met with in recent cases, and should always be consid- 
 ered in determining the question of recovery. It be-
 
 134 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 comes then a matter worthy of our most serious consid- 
 eration, whether these early discharges do not multiply 
 the risks of relapse, and, even when not followed by 
 actual relapse, lay the foundation of a morbid irritability 
 which, sooner or later, is converted into overt disease. 
 There is much reason to fear that the frequency of sec- 
 ondary attacks — greater in this country, I suspect, than 
 in any other — may be attributed, in a great degree, to 
 the shortness of the probationary period which prevails 
 among us. 
 
 Time, of course, will settle every doubtful case ; but 
 this means of deciding the question is not allowed to us, 
 and we are obliged to come to a conclusion on the 
 strength of the present circumstances. In other words, 
 we are obliged to decide, without delay, whether the 
 apparent recovery before us is spurious or genuine. In 
 most of these cases there may be found some trait, inci- 
 dent, or condition, which properly interpreted may lead 
 to the right conclusion. Among the most prominent are 
 a certain impatience, restlessness, and constant dwelling 
 on the one idea of going home. The last is always a suspi- 
 cious circumstance, and always a sufficient warrant for 
 delay. Some manifestation of the feeling in persons 
 who have long been separated from their homes, and 
 are looking forward to the day whicli shall witness a 
 renewal of their happiest relations, would not be strange. 
 But this very natural trait can generally be distin- 
 guished from the kind of restlessness in question, upon 
 a broad consideration of all the incidents connected 
 with this point. A person fully restored, having in 
 mind the sufferings he had experienced, and the liability 
 to relapse, might be supposed to feel a distrust of his 
 power to maintain his place under the trials of life, to 
 shrink from the attempt, and resort to any excuse for
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 135 
 
 delay. Occasionally such is the fact ; but in most cases 
 a very different feeling prevails. Most patients have 
 little apprehension of another attack, even though they 
 may already have suffered many. They labor under a 
 curious obtuseness which incapacitates them from ap- 
 preciating considerations of the greatest moment in 
 respect to their future health ; and the plainest sugges- 
 tions of reason fall unheeded on their ears. Rejoicing 
 in the buoyant sensations of returning health and vigor, 
 they see no danger and cannot be convinced that it 
 really exists. They use but one argument, — a sort of 
 argumentum ad hominern, — and they care for no other. 
 I never was better in my life, they say, and why should 
 I stay here ? Now, their self-confidence, however 
 unsuitable, is quite natural, and is controlled, for the 
 most part, by a regard to proprieties and conveniences. 
 On the other hand, the morbid restlessness in question 
 is far more persistent, and out of all proportion to the 
 occasions that are used in justification of it. It is be- 
 yond the reach of argument and all the arts of persua- 
 sion. The most patient and elaborate exposition of 
 the reasons for farther detention is followed the next 
 day by a renewal of the same restlessness and the same 
 importunities. This trait is always accompanied, I 
 think, by some acerbity of feeling. We are charged 
 with acting from unworthy motives, and are trium- 
 phantly challenged to show a single word or act of theirs 
 indicative of insanity. After fully recovering, ,these 
 patients admit that their restlessness was unreasonable 
 and uncontrollable, and wonder they should have been 
 so completely under its dominion. Such patients when 
 discharged often do well at last ; but in a large propor- 
 tion the morbid condition which gives rise to the feeling 
 continues after discharge, and finally reappears in all
 
 136 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 its original severity. I recollect the case of a ship- 
 master who was attacked with acute mania in conse- 
 quence of suffering and exposure in an open boat after 
 shipwreck. After some five or six weeks, every symp- 
 tom of mental disease had disappeared, and his conduct 
 and conversation became perfectly correct, except that 
 he was incessantly complaining about being kept while 
 he was never better in his life. His wife yielded to his 
 importunities for release, and about a month afterwards 
 she informed me he was doing very well, and that she 
 only regretted not having removed him before. I was 
 not long obliged, however, to suspect that she under- 
 stood the case better than I did ; for the very next week 
 he came back quite demented, and shortly after died. 
 But with all our penetration we shall sometimes find it 
 impossible to decide with much confidence as to the 
 real significance of this symptom ; and, speaking for 
 myself alone, the best matured conclusion may prove to 
 be wrong. It may seem no more than a pardonable 
 degree of impatience under the circumstances, or only 
 a trait of character natural to the individual in his best 
 estate ; when, in fact, as the event proves, it indicates a 
 lingering spark of disease which the unrestricted liberty 
 of home will fan into a devouring flame. On the other 
 hand, it may look very like a manifestation of disease, 
 though the subsequent event leads us to believe that it 
 was only the way of the patient under any circumstances 
 of trial. 
 
 Excitement or depression, occurring in connection 
 with apparent convalescence, is always a suspicious 
 circumstance. A little depression is quite common in 
 this stage of the disease, and only indicates the natural 
 reaction which might be expected after much excite- 
 ment. But if the depression is very marked, and
 
 DOUBTFUL EECOYEKIES. 137 
 
 especially if it is accompanied by any degree of mental 
 distress or anxiety, it is an indication of actual disease, 
 and warrants us in a longer detention of the patient. 
 It may be followed directly by recovery, but full as 
 likely by excitement ; and fortunate it is for the patient 
 if these alternations of excitement and depression do 
 not become habitual. We have no means of predicting, 
 .with any approach to certainty, the next phasis after 
 depression occurring under the circumstances here 
 indicated. If it succeed excitement very suddenly, it 
 is more indicative of farther trouble than when it oc- 
 curs gradually. When it has been preceded for some 
 time by a very satisfactory state of mind — apparently 
 that of genuine convalescence — it must always greatly 
 embarrass our prognosis. Happily, this conjunction is 
 not common. I call to mind a case of puerperal mania, 
 which, in the course of about eight months, passed 
 through the various stages of raving, calmness, return- 
 ing reason, convalescence and apparently completed 
 recovery. The day was fixed for her discharge, and 
 the usual preparations were begun. For five or six 
 days previous to the appointed time, she became taci- 
 turn and sad, and manifested no eagerness to leave. 
 Under the circumstances, however, it was thought 
 better for her to go. On reaching home, she took to 
 her bed, bewailing her own inefficiency, and taking no 
 part in the management of her domestic affairs. After 
 three or four months spent in this manner, she began 
 to recover, and has had no subsequent attack, though 
 she has borne several children. In another case, that 
 of a young, unmarried woman, the several stages of 
 acute mania were passed through in the course of a 
 year. Convalescence began towards the end of the 
 eighth month, and in the course of three or four months
 
 138 DOUBTFUL EECOVEEIES. 
 
 it became so firmly established, that farther stay seemed 
 unnecessary, and a day was fixed for her removal home. 
 Just then she evinced some depression, and within a 
 day or two committed suicide. 
 
 Excitement under similar circumstances is not so 
 common, but it is equally suspicious. While it exists 
 as an immediate sequel of convalescence, I should hesi- 
 tate to discharge the patient. In the seclusion of a 
 hospital it may speedily pass away ; while, under expos- 
 ure to trying circumstances, it would, for the most part, 
 steadily increase until it culminated, perhaps, in a fresh 
 paroxysm of acute mania. It certainly is not always 
 very easy to distinguish correctly that exaltation which 
 is solely a matter of temperament from the excitement 
 which reveals the lingering traces of disease. Bearing 
 in mind that real recovery is generally accompanied by 
 a staid and quiet demeanor, we should always regard 
 with distrust a very different deportment. The transi- 
 tory character of the remission already described is 
 sometimes revealed by a certain exaltation in which the 
 tones of the voice are loud and sharp, the movements 
 brusque and hurried, and the discourse boastful. No 
 matter how clear and acute the mind may appear, no 
 matter how free from palpable marks of disease, if the 
 patient is disposed to talk fast and loud, to whistle and 
 sing, and to be incessantly on the qui vive, we may be 
 pretty sure of a relapse. 
 
 Hardness of feeling towards the hospital, the friends, 
 or any others who have promoted or favored the 
 patient's restraint, must always throw doubt on the 
 genuineness of any apparent recovery. One who is 
 fully restored will harbor no other than feelings of com- 
 placency and gratitude towards those who have cared 
 for him when unable to care for himself, and shielded
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 139 
 
 him from a mortifying and dangerous exposure of his 
 infirmity. He will never cease to entertain the most 
 friendly feeling towards those who, under every provo- 
 cation calculated to try their temper and patience, pur- 
 sued the mild and even tenor of their way, returned 
 his abuse with silence or with gentle words, and ex- 
 hausted all the arts of kindness in soothing his troubled 
 spirit and restoring it to peace and happiness. In fact, 
 it may be justly suspected that a patient manifesting 
 different feelings does not recognize the essential fact 
 that he has been insane, and, generally speaking, this 
 suspicion is confirmed by subsequent events. Some- 
 times, a patient, though he may not heartily acknowl- 
 edge that he has been insane, will admit the existence 
 of some mental disturbance not amounting, however, 
 to insanity. " I did thus and so, I said this or that," he 
 says, selecting some incidents too notorious to be over- 
 looked ; " but," he asks, borrowing a leaf from the prac- 
 tice of the lawyers, " do you contend that every man 
 who does that thing, or says this, is insane ? " He 
 declares that his confinement was premature, not war- 
 ranted by the circumstances of the case, and towards 
 all who participated in the measure he has no other 
 than feelings of indignation and wrath. Or he may say, 
 "I admit that for a few days I was incapable of taking 
 care of myself, and my friends did right in placing me 
 in a hospital. But I soon came to myself, and during 
 the weeks and months that have elapsed since then, 
 there has not been the slightest reason for my confine- 
 ment. In keeping me here, you have been guilty of 
 high-handed oppression." The practical question here 
 is, whether this is a transitory stage of disease, to be 
 succeeded by some change for the better or worse, or 
 only a phasis of character in which normal and abnor-
 
 140 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 
 
 mal elements exist in very uncertain proportions. In 
 order to decide this question, the first step is to ascer- 
 tain the natural temper and disposition of the patient, 
 and oftentimes we need go no farther. If, in his best 
 estate, he were accustomed to look on every one who 
 stood in his way as an enemy, to be arrogant and exact- 
 ing, to find fault with every attempt to serve and please 
 him, and to lie without scruple whenever a lie would 
 seem to serve his purpose, then it can scarcely be con- 
 sidered as entirely the result of disease, if in the 
 hospital he is full of resentment towards those who 
 have done him the greatest possible service, grumbling 
 and complaining about every arrangement, rude and 
 vulgar in his deportment, and totally regardless of the 
 truth. Instead of passing through a stage of disease, 
 he is not very far from his natural condition. In fact, 
 patients of this description, who are far more numer- 
 ous than the unprofessional world is aware of, must be 
 regarded as having recovered to a certain point. That 
 is, the more prominent traits of insanity have disap- 
 peared, their conduct is tolerably correct, and they are 
 capable of managing their own affairs with their cus- 
 tomary ability. To keep them in a hospital until they 
 dismiss their angry feelings would be simply imprison- 
 ment for life. Beyond this point they never can 
 recover, and it is better that they should be allowed 
 the utmost freedom from restraint. It is one of the 
 disadvantages experienced by hospitals for the insane, 
 that the true character of this class of patients is not, 
 and probably never will be, understood by the world at 
 large. With sanity enough to make up a plausible 
 story, they pour their grievances into the public ear, 
 and succeed in creating the impression that they have 
 suffered indignity and wrong from those who were
 
 DOUBTFUL RECOVERIES. 141 
 
 specially bound to shield and protect them. Towards 
 the institution which received them within its protect- 
 ing arms when their malady rendered all domestic 
 arrangements ineffectual, and led them by ways of gen- 
 tleness and skill to as complete a possession of reason 
 as their unfortunate mental constitution would allow, 
 they are always particularly bitter. It would be satis- 
 factory to know the exact proportion in which the two 
 elements of actual delusion and conscious moral ob- 
 liquity enter into the composition of this mental con- 
 dition ; but this will ever remain, no doubt, one of the 
 unsolved problems of pathological psychology. That 
 they are always both there, in some uncertain propor- 
 tion, is a fact beyond dispute. 
 
 In females, the menstrual period may be accompanied 
 by abnormal excitement after convalescence has seemed 
 to be fairly established. By injudicious management, 
 this condition may be so aggravated as to become 
 uncontrollable. It is a safe rule, therefore, never to 
 discharge a female patient until the menstrual function 
 is performed without being accompanied by mental dis- 
 turbance. 
 
 I have thus pointed out some of the conditions and 
 incidents that throw a doubt on the question of recov- 
 ery. However much or little assistance may be derived 
 from these hints, we shall occasionally, in spite of all our 
 skill and the utmost care, fail to discover the smoulder- 
 ing embers of disease on the one hand, or on the other 
 commit the less likely and less mischievous mistake of 
 extending the period of probation beyond the needful 
 limit.
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 On the trial of Hadfield, eight and sixty years ago, 
 for shooting at the king, his counsel, Mr. Erskine, laid 
 down the doctrine that delusion is that quality of insan- 
 ity which renders a person irresponsible for his acts. 
 Though never established by any judicial decision, yet 
 announced as it was by the acknowledged leader of the 
 English bar, in a case that appeared by universal con- 
 sent to justify its correctness, it has, undoubtedly, 
 exerted an influence on judicial opinions, and may be 
 considered as the first considerable innovation upon the 
 rules of the common law respecting insanity in connec- 
 tion with crime. For nearly half a century, its correct- 
 ness, as a rule of law, went unchallenged in any British 
 or American court of justice ; but correct as it seemed, 
 abstractly considered, it frequently proved unsuitable 
 for practical application, owing to some uncertainty as 
 to the true meaning of the trait in question. Many 
 attempts have been made to remedy the deficiency ; 
 but, being suggested rather by metaphysical speculation 
 than by the study of morbid psychology, they invariably 
 failed to meet the requirements of any but the particu- 
 lar case in hand. 
 
 One writer defines delusion to be " the belief of facts
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 143 
 
 which no sane man would believe." Another defines 
 it to be " a belief in something extravagant, having no 
 existence whatever, and out of which the person cannot 
 be reasoned by any conceivable degree of evidence." 
 Another says, " delusion is a belief of facts which no 
 rational reason would have believed." According to 
 these definitions, Columbus must have been laboring 
 under a delusion in thinking he should discover a new 
 world; for such a belief was certainly extravagant, — 
 one which the rational men of his day rejected, but 
 which he could not be reasoned out of. Many a worthy 
 man entertains political or religious opinions which, to 
 some of his neighbors, seem to be the height of folly ; 
 and holds them, too, with a strength of conviction that 
 no evidence can impair. In these definitions, it will be 
 observed, the very point to be proved is assumed. To 
 say that a certain belief is a delusion because no sane 
 man would entertain it, is just a begging of the ques- 
 tion. Another says, a delusion is a belief in something 
 impossible. But who is to decide what is and what 
 is not impossible? What is impossible to one man is 
 possible to another. Belief in something which is im- 
 possible in the nature of things, is, unquestionably, a 
 delusion; but every delusion is not a belief in something 
 clearly impossible. Many a delusion consists in believ- 
 ing, not something impossible, but something without 
 any objective foundation. A man believes that he has 
 fifty thousand dollars on deposit in a certain bank ; but 
 although a bank deposit is not an impossible thing, yet 
 as this person never had a deposit in any bank, having 
 always been little better than a pauper, such a notion is, 
 nevertheless, a delusion. So, although a delusion may 
 be defined very justly to be a belief in something impos- 
 sible, it must be understood that the impossibility may
 
 144 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 be, not in the nature of things, but in the circumstances 
 of the case. With this qualification, the definition may 
 be found applicable in practice, with fewer exceptions 
 than any other. Of course, instances will occasionally 
 occur, where it is questionable whether the circum- 
 stances are such as to render the thing believed im- 
 possible, which only shows that psychological definitions 
 are not quite so clear and precise as those of geometry 
 and algebra. 
 
 The current philosophy respecting the nature of 
 belief has not led to very clear conceptions on this sub- 
 ject. The tendency is to depreciate every other ele- 
 ment of belief as compared with that of the evidence 
 of the senses. To a great extent human belief must 
 rest on that foundation; but much of the belief which 
 determines the opinions and conduct of men springs 
 from the prevalent philosophy, from tradition, from the 
 force of imitation, from superstition, fancy, or fashion, 
 from a nervous temperament, and mental eccentricities. 
 Daily experience shows that, under the influence of such 
 causes, no belief is too absurd and groundless, even for 
 cultivated minds. The history of human progress in its 
 various phases shows that the accredited belief of one 
 age becomes an indication of insanity in the next ; and 
 the psychological student who extends his observa- 
 tions beyond himself into the highways and byways of 
 society, into the purlieus of vice and the wards of the 
 insane hospital, wherever the normal activities of the 
 mind have been disturbed by the deteriorating influence 
 of a faulty hygiene, of bad blood, of education in vice, 
 of indulgence in drink, continued through several gen- 
 erations, will find at every turn how closely the domains 
 of sanity and insanity lie to each other. 
 
 In order to determine whether a certain belief is a
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 145 
 
 veritable delusion, or only the mistake of a sane mind, 
 it may be necessary to scrutinize the psychological char- 
 acter and experience of the individual who entertains it. 
 Such a scrutiny may show that what seemed to be the 
 offspring of disease, — what would have been unequivo- 
 cal delusion, under different circumstances, — was only 
 a mistake of ignorance, a sottish superstition, a freak 
 of eccentricity, or the suggestion of a peculiar tempera- 
 ment. A single instance will sufficiently illustrate the 
 significance of these remarks. 
 
 In litigated cases of insanity where delusion is al- 
 leged, the medical witness seldom escapes being asked 
 if he thinks Martin Luther was insane for having be- 
 lieved that he was sometimes visited by the devil in 
 person, and that on one occasion he hurled his ink-horn 
 at him and drove him out of the room. This the law- 
 yers regard as an admirable dilemma, on either horn of 
 which the expert will find an uncomfortable seat. If he 
 says no, the answer conflicts with some definition of 
 delusion which he has already given ; and if he says 
 yes, it is equivalent to stultifying himself. Thus the 
 counsel achieves an easy victory over the expert, who, 
 while perfectly aware of his awkward predicament, is 
 sorely puzzled how to account for it ; for his opponent's 
 facts are all correct, and his conclusions logically drawn. 
 
 Of course, the scenes related by Luther were all a 
 figment of the brain ; but, at the worst, it was only 
 a hallucination, not a delusion. These differ from each 
 other in this respect, that the false belief implied in the 
 former is connected with impressions made on one or 
 more of the senses, and does not necessarily prove, as 
 the latter does, any derangement of the understanding. 
 When a man declares that he hears a voice speaking to 
 him from the ceiling of his room, and persists in the 
 
 10
 
 146 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 belief, he is certainly insane ; but if he recognizes and 
 admits his mistake, it is only a casual and temporary 
 derangement of the senses, which cannot, in any proper 
 use of language, be called insanity. Even admitting 
 that Luther persisted to the last in believing that there 
 was no optical deception in the case, and that the devil, 
 hoof, horns, and all, actually entered the room where he 
 was writing, the proof is not complete that this belief 
 was equivalent to a delusion. A close inspection of it 
 shows that it Avas only a mistake arising from certain 
 peculiarities of opinion, temperament, and cerebral 
 activity, and wanting the indispensable element of in- 
 sanity. It was, certainly, no delusion to believe in the 
 personality of the devil. It has been the doctrine of 
 the church in all ages, and men have been fond of repre- 
 senting him as going about like a roaring lion seeking 
 whom he may devour. Stories of his bodily appearance 
 among men have always been current, and credited by 
 the ignorant and vulgar, if not by the cultivated and re- 
 fined. His visits have not been confined to members of 
 this or that church, nor has his reception differed w r ith 
 their modes of faith. While the reformer salutes him 
 with his familiar weapon, — that weapon by which he 
 spreads consternation among his foes, — St. Dunstan 
 tweaks his nose with a pair of red-hot tongs. Indeed, 
 in the Middle Ages, the devil's doings on earth were a 
 favorite theme of the clergy, whereby they hoped to 
 terrify the sinner and strengthen his sense of depend- 
 ence on them. Legends of his pranks were rehearsed 
 at every fireside and social gathering, and no philo- 
 sophic doubts arose to weaken the intensity of this 
 belief. Then as now he was regarded as at the bottom 
 of all the mischief in the w T orld, the only difference 
 being that while it is with us, generally, a merely spec-
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 147 
 
 ulative belief, like that of an old superstition which 
 reason discards, but which maintains its hold on the 
 mind by the force of early impressions, it was with the 
 people of those times a real, active, earnest belief, veri- 
 fied by many a man's personal experience. From a 
 belief in his personal existence and his license to do 
 mischief, to that of his personal bodily presence among 
 men, was but a step. Considering the power with which 
 he was endowed and the great purposes that might be ful- 
 filled by an actual visitation, its possibility could hardly be 
 questioned. That Luther should have so believed, there 
 were peculiar reasons over and above those of a general 
 nature. Though an energetic reformer, he was no phi- 
 losopher like Erasmus, and therefore was quite satisfied 
 with the popular belief of his day. He never doubted 
 that, in the great contest on which he had entered, the 
 powers both of earth and hell were arrayed against him, 
 and the pope and his priests were not more clearly dis- 
 cerned in the opposing ranks than the devil and his 
 angels. Thus far, certainly, there was no delusion. 
 He believed no more than everybody else believed. If 
 there was any delusion at all in the case, it consisted 
 in going one step farther, — in realizing his theoretical 
 belief. He thought he saw the devil with his bodily 
 eye, and felt his hot breath upon his cheeks. But this 
 was not necessarily a delusion. It might have been 
 merely a strong impression received in a moment of 
 cerebral excitement, when the nervous susceptibility 
 was sharpened by earnest meditation, by a glow of en- 
 thusiasm not many steps removed from the grossest 
 fanaticism, and by a well-grounded assurance that his 
 foes would leave no stone unturned to effect his ruin. 
 Under such circumstances, the inward readily becomes 
 the outward ; the intense conception takes on a bodily
 
 148 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 form ; in one word, to use a metaphysical phrase, the 
 subjective becomes the objective. That such was 
 actually the fact in Luther's case is rendered still more 
 probable by other incidents in his psychological expe- 
 rience. He complained that the devil lay by his side 
 when in bed at night, and caused him more annoyance 
 than his beloved Catharine caused him joy. Not only 
 that, but the devil would keep him awake disputing on 
 religious subjects, and these disputes he reported in full. 
 This phenomenon is admirably illustrated by Shakes- 
 peare, in the case of Macbeth, who saw a dagger in the 
 air with its handle turned towards him. Indeed, most 
 persons, I apprehend, can call to mind something of a 
 similar kind in their own experience, and many remark- 
 able stories may be found in the books. Nobody ever 
 regarded Macbeth as insane, and yet, psychologically 
 considered, Luther's case was precisely similar. 
 
 It may be objected that as Luther never recognized 
 the true nature of the apparition, and never admitted 
 that he was deceived, therefore, according to present 
 definitions, he must be regarded as insane. The objec- 
 tion is well taken ; but a careful examination of it will 
 enable us, I doubt not, to remove the difficulties which 
 it implies. It has been just explained how the decep- 
 tion arose ; that is, in consequence of a conjunction of 
 circumstances not incompatible with entire soundness 
 of mind. That Luther did not so understand the mat- 
 ter only shows that he was no philosopher, as I have 
 already remarked, and that to his apprehension the inci- 
 dents in question were within the line of natural occur- 
 rences. To believe in the reality of a hallucination 
 necessarily implies delusion and insanity only when it 
 refers to something impossible either in the nature of 
 things or the circumstances of the case. One who be-
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 149 
 
 lieves his legs are made of glass, or that his head has 
 been turned round, is insane and nothing less. He does 
 not even pretend to give a reason for his belief. It is 
 so, and he knows it is so. On the other hand, if the 
 thing believed is not thus impossible, it may indicate 
 only an error of opinion which the person shares in 
 common with others of undoubted sanity. Thus the 
 two elements of Luther's belief are easily accounted for 
 without resorting to the theory of insanity. The appa- 
 rition itself was the result of certain cerebral conditions 
 of a casual, transient nature ; and, secondly, the persist- 
 ent conviction of its reality was consistent with the 
 common belief. 
 
 The world has always been willing to admit that 
 supernatural occurrences are within the limits of possi- 
 bility, and that they have actually taken place. How 
 they are to be distinguished from those which, while 
 they appear to be such at first sight, are, in fact, the 
 offspring of cerebral disturbance, is a question not easily 
 answered. As yet there is scarcely the beginning of 
 an approach to unanimity of opinion respecting it. In 
 practice, it has been generally decided rather by favor- 
 ite habits of thinking than by any fixed rules of philoso- 
 phizing. The celebrated vision of Colonel Gardiner, in 
 whicli he saw the Lord Jesus Christ on a cross, and 
 heard him reproach him for his crimes, is described by 
 his pious biographer, Dr. Doddridge, as sent by God. 
 Few, I imagine, would attribute to such an origin the 
 vision of Lord Herbert, who, while hesitating to publish 
 a book he had just completed against the Christian re- 
 ligion, made a formal appeal to the Deity, praying that 
 he might be directed by some celestial sign whether he 
 should or should not print it, and received a favorable 
 response in an audible voice from the heavens.
 
 150 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 We know very well that hallucinations have been 
 exhibited by men of great mental endowments and 
 activity, as insulated facts having little or no connec- 
 tion with the ordinary mental movements. Dr. John- 
 son, while walking in the street, thought he heard the 
 voice of his mother, then many miles away, calling to 
 him, " Sam, Sam." Sir Joshua Reynolds, after being 
 engaged many hours in painting, and then walking in 
 the streets, said that the lamp-posts seemed to him to be 
 trees and the men and women moving shrubs. Silvio 
 Pellico had hallucinations in prison. He heard groans 
 and stifled laughs. It seemed to him that while sitting 
 at the table some one plucked him by his coat, and at- 
 tempted to blow out his light. While young, when in a 
 room alone at night, without any light, he saw phantoms 
 all around him, and even after the lights came he would 
 see them in the dark corners. 
 
 In most, if not all, of these cases, there was, undoubt- 
 edly, some cerebral defect; but, although hallucinations 
 may indicate that the highest quality and condition of 
 the brain are not present, yet they do not imply un- 
 soundness, — insanity. In fact, Moreau de Tours con- 
 siders them a proof in favor of his theory, that insanity 
 and genius spring from cerebral conditions essentially 
 alike. 1 In some of the cases just mentioned, the defect 
 was an insane temperament, — that constitution of mind 
 in which there is an hereditary tendency to insanity 
 indicated by singularities of conduct, opinion, manner; 
 in some, it was a high degree of nervous susceptibility 
 readily inducing cerebral movements of an extraordi- 
 nary character ; in some, it was a casual determination 
 of blood to the brain ; and in some it was manifested by 
 
 1 La Psychologie Morbitle. Paris : 1859.
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 151 
 
 epilepsy or other nervous disorder. Luther's case fur- 
 nishes no exception to the general rule ; for, though tech- 
 nically sound, it can hardly be doubted that the genius 
 of the great reformer was of that kind which is nearly 
 allied to insanity. The fact need not be regarded as 
 derogating from his mental ability, for it may have fitted 
 him all the better for the part he was called to perform. 
 A man of cooler passions and less intense conceptions 
 might have written books less offensive to a refined 
 taste, and avoided some injudicious courses, but proved 
 unequal to the internecine war which any determined 
 attempt at reformation was sure to provoke. In such 
 conflicts it is not always the well-balanced minds that 
 achieve the noblest victories. There, it would seem 
 as if the individual must be moved by the quicker and 
 stronger impulses that proceed, if not from disease, yet 
 from some abnormal condition very like it. 
 
 I have dwelt on the case of Luther, not so much 
 because it represents a considerable class as because it 
 indicates the line of inquiry on which all of a doubtful 
 origin should be examined. It gives us a clew to the 
 follies of witchcraft and to those popular delusions 
 which prevailed epidemically in the fifteenth, sixteenth, 
 and seventeenth centuries. Witchcraft, for instance, 
 was a matter of popular belief. The clergy preached 
 it, the courts punished it, and the Bible was supposed 
 to teach it. Few doubted it, and fewer still ventured 
 even to whisper their doubts. The first step thus ac- 
 complished, the next was not difficult. The arts of the 
 devil and the malicious acts of his deluded followers, 
 the compact written in blood and the hellish orgies of 
 the witch-sabbath, the riding through the air on broom- 
 sticks, the witch marks found on the person, the potent 
 efficacy of prayer and of the utterance of sacred names,
 
 152 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 — all these were topics of conversation in the family 
 circle and in social gatherings, exciting wonder and 
 awe, and leaving impressions never to be effaced. 
 With few books and no newspapers, with scarcely any 
 interchange of ideas beyond a very limited circle, with 
 the hardships incident to a new settlement, the habitual 
 dread of hostile neighbors, and the gloom of the sur- 
 rounding forest, all combining to exclude the joyous 
 and hopeful aspects of life, it is just what might have 
 been expected, that, being thus early and constantly 
 familiarized with the wondrous scenes of witchcraft, 
 they should have become, at last, so vivid to the minds 
 of our New England forefathers, as to assume, occa- 
 sionally, the appearance of an objective reality. For 
 this there was only needed, singly or collectively, a 
 constitutional tendency to hysteria or insanity, an ardent 
 imagination kindled solely by such material as witch- 
 craft lore could furnish, and that propensity to imitation 
 and thirst for notoriety which act so large a part in 
 producing eccentric mental movements, especially in 
 the female sex. Thus was the second step accom- 
 plished, and all without the occurrence of proper 
 insanity. 
 
 Many false beliefs springing from a coarse supersti- 
 tion can be distinguished from genuine delusions only 
 by a careful investigation of the individual's mental 
 habits and associations. The difficulty of making this 
 distinction is sometimes increased by the fact that such 
 beliefs may have been modified and made the ground of 
 criminal conduct by the presence of actual disease. A 
 colored man who once came under my charge had killed 
 his mother in a paroxysm of insanity. When asked, 
 after recovery, what prompted him to commit such a 
 horrid deed, he replied that he thought she was work-
 
 DELUSIONS AXD HALLUCESTATIOXS. 153 
 
 ing some fatal spell of witchcraft upon him, and there- 
 fore lie acted in self-defence. On further inquiry, how- 
 ever, it appeared that, following the traditions of his 
 race, he had always believed in witchcraft, and had 
 always suspected, if not believed, that his mother prac- 
 tised it. So that the belief which led him to kill his 
 mother was not a delusion ; and yet it was none the 
 less a valid excuse for the crime, for the reason that 
 while the belief was, ordinarily, passive and harmless, 
 it became, under the excitement of a maniacal paroxysm, 
 an incentive to a most revolting murder. 
 
 For the most part, the true character of a false belief 
 may be inferred from the accompanying traits and inci- 
 dents. A single, independent, solitary delusion, accom- 
 panied with no other deviation from the normal condition, 
 is a rare occurrence. It is usually associated with 
 other delusions or singularities of thought, with pecul- 
 iar ways and manners, with strange and irrelevant 
 conduct. When any of these traits are present, there 
 needs no refinement of definition to convince us that we 
 have to deal with a genuine delusion. And yet we are 
 hardly ready to accept the proposition of Dr. Forbes 
 Winslow, " that no notion of the mind, however ridicu- 
 lous, fallacious, and absurd, should be admitted to be a 
 delusion or evidence of unsound mind, unless it be 
 obviously and unmistakably the product of a diseased 
 intellect. " But Dr. Winslow's large experience must 
 have made him acquainted with cases of unquestionable 
 delusion unaccompanied by any other mental or bodily 
 ailment. Even when accompanied by other minor dis- 
 turbances, it is not a very philosophical proceeding to 
 make them the proof of the principal and prominent 
 one. If he means to derive the evidence of disease 
 from the quality of the act which springs from the
 
 154 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 delusion, as he may very justly, we can only say that 
 such an inference would receive little countenance from 
 the courts. 
 
 There is another phase of belief of great medico-legal 
 importance, which often proves no less embarrassing 
 than delusions. 1 refer to such notions as are charac- 
 terized less by false belief than by singularity and ex- 
 travagance to a degree that may seem incompatible with 
 soundness of mind. No rule or definition will enable 
 us to distinguish such as spring from insanity and such 
 as are only the freaks of what is called eccentricity. 
 The reason is, that there is really no dividing line be- 
 tween these two mental conditions. The latter may 
 exist from childhood and continue for life ; but we know 
 that it is often the precursor of insanity, and no amount 
 of skill or sagacity can determine the limits of the 
 transition period. To avoid mistake as far as possible, 
 we must be guided by the antecedents of the person, 
 by an enlarged knowledge of mental disease, and espe- 
 cially of diversities of character, always bearing in mind 
 what our experience of men teaches, that very strange 
 opinions have been entertained by persons of unques- 
 tionable sanity. We are not too readily to pronounce a 
 man insane because he professes views that may be at 
 variance with our notions of moral propriety. They 
 may confirm the suspicion of insanity raised by other 
 circumstances. Such is the view of an eminent Amer- 
 ican jurist, Judge Redfield (On the Law of Wills, 83), 
 in commenting on an English case (Morgan v. Boys). 
 A will was contested on the ground of insanity, the 
 proof of which was to be found in one of its dispositions, 
 that his executors should " cause some parts of his 
 bowels to be converted into fiddle-strings, that others 
 should be sublimed into smelling salts, and that the
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 155 
 
 remainder of his body should be vitrified into lenses for 
 optical purposes." In a letter attached to the will, the 
 testator said: u The world may think this to be done in a 
 spirit of singularity or whim, but I have a mortal aver- 
 sion to funeral pomp, and I wish my body to be con- 
 verted into purposes useful to mankind." The Judge 
 does not insist "that the mere absurdity and irreverence 
 of the mode of bestowing his own body as a sacrifice 
 to the interests of science and art, in so bold and awful 
 a mode, was to be regarded as plenary evidence of men- 
 tal aberration," but he thinks that a jury would be very 
 likely to regard it in this light — and not unjustly — 
 in case of an unnatural or unofficious testament. w The 
 man who has no more respect for himself or for Chris- 
 tian burial, than this will indicates, has no just claim to 
 the regard or respect of others." Still, it is to be con- 
 sidered that the present mode of disposing of the 
 body is not so strongly fixed in the instincts or custom 
 of mankind as to prevent an occasional deviation, under 
 the influence of some potent motive, like a devotion to 
 science, a contempt of vulgar prejudices, a foolish but 
 not diseased love of notoriety. Jeremy Bentham 
 directed his body to be dissected, and accordingly it 
 made its appearance on the table of one of the anatom- 
 ical theatres of London. A distinguished surgeon of 
 Massachusetts ordered that his skeleton should be pre- 
 pared in the usual way, and placed in the museum of an 
 institution of which he was President. A few years 
 since an Englishman, who had lived much in the East 
 and professed his belief in the Mahometan religion, left 
 a will, bequeathing his property, with the exception of 
 various legacies, to the poor of Constantinople, and also 
 towards erecting a cenotaph in that city, inscribed with 
 his name, and bearing a light continually burning there-
 
 156 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 in. A thorough review of the habits and opinions of 
 the testator showed that there was nothing strange or 
 absurd in this bequest, and it was finally admitted to 
 probate, (Austen v. Graham, 29 Eng. L. & Eq. 38.) 
 
 A remarkable case was recently published in the 
 Annates Medico- Psychologiques for July, 1866, under the 
 title " Partnership with God,' 7 that is worthy of an 
 extended notice in a paper like this, because it illus- 
 trates very strikingly the principles that should govern 
 our judgment in this class of cases. In 1861 there died 
 at Neufchatel a notary, Isaac Yaugneux, eighty-two years 
 old, married, but childless. He devised his property to 
 his wife, who died four years after, and she devised it to 
 her niece, who, when quite young, had been adopted by 
 them. Among her uncle's papers this niece found one 
 sealed up, bearing this inscription, Contrat de Societe, 
 On examination it proved to be articles of partnership 
 drawn up some years before his death, when about to 
 leave his legal employments and engage in the wine 
 and liquor trade. Nothing less than a literal copy of 
 this document can give an adequate idea of its character. 
 
 Articles of Partnership between the great Sovereign 
 God, the all-powerful and all- wise Eternal on the one part, 
 and me, the undersigned, Isaac Vaugneux, his very vile, 
 very miserable, and very humble servant and zealous adorer 
 on the other, have been drawn up as follows : — 
 
 Article 1. This connection has for its object the trade in 
 liquors. 
 
 Art. 2. My very respectable and very magnanimous asso- 
 ciate will deign to bestow, as his share in the capital, his 
 blessing on our enterprise, in the manner he shall judge most 
 agreeable to his paternal views and the accomplishment of 
 the immutable secrets of his eternal wisdom. 
 
 Art. 3. I, the undersigned, Isaac Vaugneux, engage, on
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 157 
 
 ray part, to turn into the above-named partnership all the 
 capital that may be necessary ; to do all the business required 
 in the hiring of cellars ; in the purchases and sales ; in keep- 
 ing the accounts ; and, in one word, to devote my time, my 
 labor, and my moral and physical powers, to the best good 
 of the concern, conscientiously and in good faith. 
 
 Art. 4. The books, kept by single entry, shall exhibit every 
 transaction; and the several balances, carried to the debit 
 and credit side, shall be increased by interest calculated pro 
 rata., up to the 31st of December of each year, when a settle- 
 ment of the account shall be made. 
 
 Art. 5. The net profits shall be equally divided between 
 my high and mighty Associate and myself. 
 
 Art. 6. A special account shall be opened with him, in 
 which shall be passed to his credit his share of the profits, 
 and to his debit the several sums which shall have been de- 
 livered by me, the undersigned, either to pious corporations, 
 to the poor individually and collectively, or finally to any 
 other pious work which the Spirit of my God shall inspire 
 me to do. 
 
 Art. 7. When my God shall deem it good to take me from 
 this world, the settlement of the affairs of the partnership 
 shall be immediately intrusted to my nephew, M. Frederic 
 Preud'homme Favarger, who is hereby requested by me to 
 undertake this oharge, after which the share of the profits 
 coming to my great and well-beloved associate, is to be im- 
 mediately delivered to the direction of the praiseworthy 
 chamber of charity of Neufchatel, to which I now bequeath it. 
 
 With the liveliest satisfaction in having associated my 
 God in my labors, I commit myself for success to the wise 
 dispensations of Providence. 
 
 Thus done, covenanted, and settled, at Neufchatel, in my 
 house, under my private signature and the seal of my arms, 
 the seventeenth day of September, in the year of grace one 
 thousand eight hundred and forty-seven (1847). 
 
 l.s. Signed, I. Vattgkeux, Notary.
 
 158 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 The great events which have occurred in my country, 
 and the changes that have taken place since this partnership 
 was formed, especially in respect to the persons engaged in 
 the administration of affairs, have induced me to change the 
 destination of that portion of the profits coming to my great 
 and magnanimous associate ; and in consequence thereof, 
 and in conformity to the inspiration of his good Spirit, I 
 make the following change in Article 7th : — 
 
 The net proceeds coming to my respectable associate, after 
 settlement, if any such there be after my death, is to be re- 
 mitted, not to the chamber of charity of Neufchatel, but, on 
 the contrary, to the pastors then in office in the parish of 
 Neufchatel, to be by them devoted to pious uses at their dis- 
 cretion, some portion to be given to evangelical missions 
 designed to spread the knowledge of the only true God 
 throughout the earth. 
 
 I have the confidence to believe that those gentlemen will 
 willingly accept the charge I have assigned to them without 
 consulting them, and that they will enter into my views, for 
 which I here testify, in advance, my sincere and lively grati- 
 tude. 
 
 Thus done, written and signed in my house at Neufchatel, 
 the twenty-fifth of March, one thousand eight hundred and 
 fifty (1850). 
 
 Signed, I. Vaugneux, Notary. 
 
 March 10, 1855. Our enterprise having been blessed, the 
 share coming to my great and magnanimous associate, as it 
 may appear on page 79 of my book (current accounts), and 
 page 60 (account of my associate), is to be paid over, three 
 months after my death or that of my wife, to MM., the 
 pastors, as above named. The executor of my will, my 
 nephew, Frederic Preud'homme, having deceased, it will be the 
 duty of my successors to fulfil the conditions of the existing 
 partnership, by paying over this share to MM., the pastors,
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 159 
 
 if, as I expect, they should be willing to take charge of it, to 
 be invested in the most productive manner, and the capital 
 and income used according to their discretion under the 
 divine inspiration. 
 
 A copy of this document was placed in the hands of 
 one of the pastors by the writer before his death. After 
 the widow died it was opened, and the pastors made 
 application to the Council of State, according to the 
 municipal law, for authority to receive the money. 
 This was refused, for the reason, as the Council state, 
 that the paper in question is " the act of a disordered 
 mind." The niece, when she came in possession of the 
 property, fulfilled the wishes of her uncle by making a 
 gift of the money for the purposes he had indicated. 
 This she did out of the high regard she had for him, 
 and gratitude for care and kindness towards herself. 
 She repels with a good deal of warmth the idea that he 
 was insane. " Although he might have been regarded 
 as somewhat original," she says, " yet it never entered 
 into the thought of any one that his reason was de- 
 ranged. I, who was always admitted to his closest inti- 
 macy, know that he possessed all his faculties to the 
 last moment, and I revere his memory as that of a just 
 and upright man." It is also stated that no trace of 
 mental disorder could be found in any of his writings ; 
 that his books were well kept, the entries made, the 
 interest reckoned, and the balances got as correctly as 
 possible, all according to the articles of copartnership. 
 
 No one can help suspecting, at first glance, that the 
 head of this worthy wine merchant was somewhat 
 turned. The astonishing audacity with which this 
 really religious man associates the Almighty with him- 
 self in a mere matter of trade and traffic, the coolness
 
 160 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 with which he assigns to the partners their respective 
 duties in the concern, and the perfect confidence on the 
 part of one who had been accustomed to legal forms and 
 proceedings, that such a paper would not fail by reason 
 of any legal defect, would certainly justify such a suspi- 
 cion. But a broader view of psychological diversities 
 of character will lead us to doubt whether the case is 
 not one of those occupying that border land between 
 sanity and insanity which bears the name of eccentric- 
 ity, oddity. Taking into view the prominent incidents 
 of the case, it may be satisfactorily explained without 
 resorting to the theory of insanity. 
 
 Here was a worthy old man, accustomed to see the 
 hand of God in every event of life, and to look to God 
 at every turn for help and direction, about to embark in 
 a new undertaking. Feeling that men must labor in 
 vain without the blessing of God, and feeling it, too, not 
 as a glittering generality, to be coldly acknowledged 
 and then forgotten, but as a vital principle of action di- 
 recting and controlling every movement, his first thought 
 was naturally to secure that blessing for himself. Both 
 reason and religion assured him that nothing could 
 more effectually accomplish this object than, while work- 
 ing for himself, to work for the glory of God. What 
 more acceptable service could he render than to devote 
 a portion of his earnings to charitable and religious 
 uses ? That this purpose may not be lost sight of, that 
 it may be ever kept before him as the sole, animating, 
 all-pervading principle of his life, he resolves to recognize 
 and consecrate it in a form the most solemn and imper- 
 ative. Thus far, surely, there is no trace of insanity. 
 The purpose is worthy of the strongest endeavor and 
 the purest aims, and is steadily and successfully pur- 
 sued for years. The logic, too, is all correct, without
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 161 
 
 fault or gap. The only thing to which exception can 
 be possibly taken is the form which he has chosen for 
 the expression of his intentions and motives. This 
 seems to savor of insanity, but it will hardly bear the 
 test. Be it observed that it conflicts not at all with 
 the object proposed, but rather aids and promotes it. 
 It exhibits no trace of delusion or even irrelevance. 
 True, the idea of forming a partnership with God seems 
 most extravagant and presumptuous, and the language 
 used is perfectly shocking to a correct religious taste. 
 The presumption, however, is more apparent than real. 
 This old man, having been accustomed all his life to the 
 use of legal forms, with a high opinion, no doubt, of 
 their fitness for the expression of all ideas whatever, 
 not unnaturally, though somewhat pragmatically, chooses 
 them on this occasion. It only shows the force of habit 
 and the narrowing tendency of a professional routine. 
 Any other man, having resolved upon accomplishing the 
 same thing in a similar spirit, would have formally de- 
 clared his intention to devote one-half the profits of the 
 new enterprise to charitable and religious purposes, and 
 reverently invoked the divine blessing on his labors, 
 And he might have opened an account on his books 
 with " Charity Fund," or something equivalent, making 
 the same entries to debit and credit, and directing his 
 executors to pay over the balance that might exist at 
 his decease to some institution or trustee. The docu- 
 ment in question exhibits a very common mark of eccen- 
 tricity, — that of saying or doing a very proper thing in 
 a queer, singular manner. In insanity the mental affec- 
 tion as often appears in the design as in the execution. 
 In fact, the latter may be all right, while the former is 
 all wrong. We must bear in mind, too, the effect of 
 religious associations and of the prevailing style of 
 
 11
 
 162 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 religious thought and feeling. That must vary with 
 the moral and intellectual culture, the form of faith, the 
 customary observances, the temperament and spirit. All 
 this must be considered before we can properly estimate 
 the true pathological significance of this extraordinary 
 contract. Many a prayer and sermon may still be heard, 
 once more frequently than now, implying a close par- 
 ticipation in the counsels of God, and administering 
 advice, suggestion, and even reproof, more befitting a 
 member of a mercantile firm writing to his partner than a 
 worm of the dust addressing his Creator. In the works 
 of English divines, two hundred years ago, may be found 
 passages relating to the counsels of the Almighty clothed 
 in terms of such gross familiarity that to quote them 
 even would be enough to expose one to the charge of 
 irreverence. We venture upon one quotation, how- 
 ever, that the reader may see how conventional are all 
 proprieties of speech on sacred subjects, and thus under- 
 stand that much latitude in this respect does not neces- 
 sarily imply insanity. It shows very strikingly that 
 such things must be judged not by any arbitrary rule, 
 but by the light of prevailing practices, modes of 
 thought, and forms of expression. It is from Flavel, a 
 non-conformist divine of Charles the Second's time, 
 whose writings have been held in great repute, and 
 frequently reprinted, even down to our own day. The 
 following extracts are from a sermon setting forth the 
 scheme of redemption, the text being Isaiah liii. 12: — 
 
 " Having told God how ready and fit he was for this ser- 
 vice, he will know of him what reward he shall have for his 
 work, for he resolves his blood shall not be undervalued : 
 hereupon, verse 3, the Father offers him the elect of Israel 
 for his reward, bidding low at first (as they that made bar- 
 gains use to do), and only offers him that small remnant, still
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 163 
 
 intending to bid higher ; but Christ will not be satisfied with 
 these, he values his blood higher than so ; therefore, in verse 
 4, he is brought in complaining, I have labored in vain and 
 spent my strength for naught. This is but a small reward 
 for so great a suffering as I must undergo ; my blood is much 
 more worth than this comes to, and will be sufficient to 
 redeem all the elect dispersed among the isles of the Gen- 
 tiles, as well as the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Here- 
 upon the Father comes up higher, and tells him he intends 
 to reward him better than so, and therefore, verse 6, says, It 
 is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, &c. . . . 
 Here you may suppose the Father to say when engaging 
 this bargain with Christ for you: — 
 
 "Father. My Son, here is a company of poor miserable 
 souls that have utterly undone themselves, and now lie open 
 to my justice. . . . What shall be done for these souls? 
 
 " Son. O my Father, such is my love to and pity for 
 them, that rather than that they shall perish eternally, I will be 
 responsible for them as their surety : bring in all their bills 
 that I may see what they owe thee, Lord, bring them all in 
 that there may be no after reckoning. . . . 
 
 " Father. But, my Son, if thou undertake for them, thou 
 must reckon to pay the last mite, expect no abatements ; if I 
 spare them, I w T ill not spare thee." 
 
 The feature in the proceeding of Yaugneux which 
 raises the strongest suspicion of insanity is the testa- 
 tor's unhesitating belief that such dispositions of prop- 
 erty would be confirmed by the law. It might be 
 supposed that a person professionally acquainted with 
 the laws of his country would have avoided a mistake 
 so fatal. to the fulfilment of his own wishes, and pro- 
 vided for an object he had so near at heart, by measures 
 strictly conformable to law. There would seem, at first 
 thought, to be something in this ; but, practically, such 
 mistakes, I apprehend, are too common among lawyers
 
 164 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 to be a strong indication of mental aberration. M. Vaug- 
 neux is not the first nor the last in his profession who 
 has drawn a will that could not be executed, or shaped 
 it in such a manner as to frustrate the strongest wishes 
 of the testator. 
 
 In this connection, it is proper to consider another 
 fact that may have had some bearing on this case. The 
 idea of forming a partnership with God did not originate 
 with M. Vaugneux. In the fourth volume of an old col- 
 lection of Causes Celebres, published in Paris in 1736 
 by Jean de Nully, may be found a similar case that was 
 adjudicated in Paris a few years before. A young 
 Frenchman, named Duhalde, after various unsuccess- 
 ful business enterprises, " resolved," as he expressed it 
 himself, in his diary, " to form a partnership with God, 
 promising and vowing to fulfil all the conditions, as here 
 set forth, and engaging my heirs, whoever they may be, 
 to execute them, in case I shall die before being able 
 to do it myself." The business of the firm was to be 
 trading in precious stones, and was to continue five 
 years, from 1719 to 1724. By the conditions of the 
 partnership, he was to furnish the funds, fifteen thou- 
 sand livres, — all he possessed, — and God was to bless 
 the enterprise. He obligated himself to form no other 
 partnership during the five years. At the end of this 
 period, the accounts of the firm were to be settled ; and, 
 after deducting the original capital, fifteen thousand 
 livres, any dowry a wife might bring him, and any lega- 
 cies he might receive, the remainder was to be equally 
 divided between him and God. In October, 1724, when 
 the partnership expired by limitation, Duhalde made up 
 the books and presented an exact account of receipts and 
 disbursements. After making the deductions just indi- 
 cated, the profits were represented by three collections
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 165 
 
 of precious stones, one of which was in Amsterdam, one 
 in Madrid, and the other in Paris. The last-named he 
 placed in a packet, and marked it, " Half for the Poor,-' 
 and at the foot of the account he wrote the following 
 words : — 
 
 " Cursed be my heirs, whoever they may be, if, under any 
 possible pretext, they withhold from the Poor half of the 
 proceeds of the sale of the stones above-named, in case I die 
 without executing my own wishes. And if, by some extra- 
 ordinary chance, my fortune shall be reduced to this single 
 amount, let it be considered as a sacred trust which is to be 
 sacredly paid." 
 
 Duhalde died shortly after, leaving a wife and child, 
 and the " HOpital General " claimed of the executors of 
 his will the portion of stones indicated to be given to 
 the poor. The widow, by her counsel, resisted this 
 claim, chiefly on the score of some legal objections 
 drawn from the provisions of the Coutume de Paris 
 respecting wills, whereby the contract and its results 
 were shown to possess no legal validity. Another objec- 
 tion, extra legal in its nature, was that in this arrange- 
 ment there could be created no obligation on the part 
 of God. A partnership supposes equal and reciprocal 
 obligations. Even Duhalde himself was not obligated, 
 for he had not signed the articles of partnership. This 
 very objection was urged in the Yaugneux case. The 
 fact was also stated that Duhalde was a very singular 
 man, with odd, strange ways ; but it does not seem to 
 have been contended that these mental peculiarities 
 amounted to testamentary incapacity. By the counsel 
 for the will, one of whom was the son of the celebrated 
 Chancellor D'Aguesseau, it was contended that there 
 was nothing in reason or Scripture to forbid the idea of
 
 166 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 a contract with God. He contributed nothing directly 
 to the funds of the firm ; but was not the testator in- 
 debted to him for the capital on which he started? 
 tl Considered as a contract with God, the present case is 
 not without precedents in the dealings of God with 
 man. Did not the Lord make a covenant with Abram, 
 whereby the latter, in reward for his fidelity, obtained 
 the land of Egypt for his posterity? Did he not also 
 make a covenant with Noah, promising never again to 
 cut off all flesh by the waters of a flood, and to place 
 the bow in the cloud as the eternal seal of the promise ? 
 The sacrament of baptism, too, — is not that in the nature 
 of a contract with God? Will it be said that this being 
 a contract for spiritual purposes has no analogy to a 
 business partnership like Duhalde's ? But what was 
 the animating spirit of the latter? Was it not the love 
 of God and our neighbor? Was not the object of this 
 connection a purely spiritual good ? In thus renounc- 
 ing his earthly goods, and associating himself with the 
 Almighty, did not Duhalde form a more perfect union 
 with God ?" The court, governed solely, it may be pre- 
 sumed, by the legal considerations, decided in favor of 
 the will. 
 
 It can scarcely be doubted that Vaugneux's profes- 
 sional studies had made him acquainted with this old 
 case, because the collection in which it is contained is 
 well known to every French lawyer. It might have 
 suggested to him the bold idea of associating himself 
 with God, and the decision of the court would have 
 removed any doubts respecting its legality. 
 
 In consideration of all the circumstances necessary 
 to be considered, we can scarcely hesitate to believe 
 that this testator can be charged with no mental defect 
 equivalent to insanity, and was competent, of course, to
 
 DELUSIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS. 167 
 
 devise his property'as he did. Had he, on the contrary, 
 as Dr. Chatelain, who reports the case, observes, com- 
 pletely disinherited his heirs, who had a moral right to 
 rely on his bounty, then the case might have borne a 
 different construction.
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 Until within a comparatively recent period, hospitals 
 for the insane were used only for those who were sup- 
 posed to be dangerous to others, or who needed public 
 support ; and admission was procured, on the order of 
 the judicial or municipal authorities. As the nature of 
 mental diseases became better understood, the hospitals 
 began to be regarded as being well fitted for the cure 
 of curable cases, and, at last, this has got to be their 
 principal purpose, insomuch that those who were held 
 merely for safe keeping have had to give place to those 
 who sought for recovery under their healing influences. 
 This change of function occurred so gradually, and in 
 such strict accordance with an enlightened humanity, 
 that no additional legislation seemed to be necessary to 
 sanction a step which, though prompted by the best of 
 motives, was unaccompanied by any of those legal for- 
 malities that were required for the admission of other 
 classes of patients. The danger of these institutions 
 being converted to the nefarious purpose of depriving 
 sane persons of their liberty was scarcely thought of. 
 A crime so revolting to every sentiment of right and 
 humanity, and requiring the cooperation of parties so 
 unlikely to work together, seemed to be too improbable 
 to make any special legislation supererogatory. So, 
 too, the duty of placing the insane in establishments
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 169 
 
 that were regarded as best calculated to effect their 
 restoration, seemed to spring so naturally from the 
 purest affections of our nature as to require no act of 
 the legislature to give it force and validity. Fifty 
 years ago, it struck the people of that generation, that 
 to legalize such a duty was like reenacting a law of 
 nature. 
 
 Of late years, with little or no foundation therefor, 
 a change of sentiment has occurred, whereby admission 
 to hospitals for the insane has come to be regarded, by 
 some persons, as exceedingly liable to be perverted by 
 bad men from its proper purpose. To prevent this 
 result, additional legislation has been proposed, which 
 should surround this measure with safeguards commen- 
 surate with the abuses that threaten it. Such legisla- 
 tion, varying considerably in its character, has been 
 actually adopted in a few States. In some, it has 
 refrained from disturbing the right and duties of friends 
 as prompted by natural affection and consecrated by 
 time-honored practice. In others, it has substituted for 
 these the action of public authorities ; and a service of 
 love and humanity has been replaced b} 7 an unfeeling 
 process of law. With these exceptions, however, there 
 has been no change of law respecting the confinement, 
 or, technically speaking, the isolation, of the insane. 
 How far the right of friends exists, under the common 
 law, to provide for the insane as they would for any 
 other description of sick persons, — that is, by giving 
 them the benefit of all the means and appliances which 
 a progressive philanthropy and science have furnished, 
 — is not very clearly defined ; for, in the few cases that 
 have been reported, the decisions of courts have been 
 somewhat conflicting. Nor has all uncertainty been 
 removed^ even where laws have been specially enacted
 
 170 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 for this purpose. And thus it happens that, in regard 
 to a measure involving the highest welfare of a large 
 class of persons, we have the utmost diversity of 
 opinion; and the public mind is vexed by wild and ex- 
 travagant projects utterly inconsistent with existing 
 modes of thought and established customs. In a matter 
 so closely connected with the dearest interests of fam- 
 ilies, one, too, which so easily arouses the prejudices of 
 the multitude, the law should give no uncertain sound. 
 No one should be in doubt how far his duties to the 
 victim of disease are modified by the single fact that 
 the disorder is seated in the brain, rather than in the 
 stomach or lungs ; nor should any one run the risk of 
 finding an office of kindness and humanity made the 
 occasion of a troublesome suit at law. As to the ne- 
 cessity of some legislation on this subject, there 
 can scarcely be two opinions ; but we shall be better 
 prepared to determine exactly what it should be by 
 considering the existing law as declared by judicial 
 authorities. 
 
 The case of Colby v. Jackson, 12 N.H. 526 (1842), 
 was an action of trespass for assault and battery, and 
 false imprisonment, in which the plaintiff claimed 
 damages of the defendant, for having placed him, while 
 insane, in confinement, without having strictly com- 
 plied with the requirements of the statute. The select- 
 men of the town, one of whom was the defendant, being 
 solicited to take charge of Colby, who was supposed to 
 be dangerously insane, applied to the Judge of Probate 
 for authority to act, and were accordingly directed by 
 him to make inquisition into the case. This they did, 
 but made no return of the inquisition, though they 
 found him to be dangerously insane, and had him con- 
 fined in a cage at the poor-house for two or three months.
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 171 
 
 It was urged by the defendant that the dangerous 
 element in the patient's case atoned for the irregu- 
 larities in the mode of commitment ; bat a verdict was 
 given for the plaintiff, with nominal damages. The 
 defendant excepted to the rulings of the court at the 
 trial. Chief Justice Gilchrist, in rendering the decision 
 of the court, declared, in the most unqualified manner, 
 that an insane person, however dangerous he might be, 
 could not be kept in confinement beyond the period 
 necessary for obtaining an inquisition, or some other 
 legal process. " The right to imprison the plaintiff," he 
 said, " was an authority given by law. . . . Such 
 an authority is possessed by no person unless under the 
 sanction of, and after compliance with, the forms of law. 
 No relationship, however near, no ties of friendship, 
 however close, between the lunatic and his keeper, 
 would render the existence of such a rule consistent 
 with the safety of the community. . . . Every cage 
 could be a licensed private mad-house. . . . Any citi- 
 zen could confine his neighbor, provided only he were 
 insane ; and, if the confinement were to continue as long 
 as the insanity, both would probably end only with the 
 life of the patient." 
 
 In Nottidge v. Eipley, 12 Law Reporter, 279, which 
 was an action to recover compensation in damages for 
 incarcerating the plaintiff in an asylum, tried in the 
 Court of Exchequer, June 23, 1848, it appeared that 
 the plaintiff was placed in a private asylum by her 
 mother and brother-in-law ; all the requirements of the 
 statute for the admission of patients into asylums hav- 
 ing first been strictly complied with. The insanity was 
 not denied; but, inasmuch as she did not appear to have 
 been dangerous, the counsel for the plaintiff contended 
 that the confinement was illegal, and claimed heavy
 
 172 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 damages. Their view of the illegality of the measure 
 was fully sustained by Sir Frederick Pollock, the Lord 
 Chief Baron, and for the reason alleged. His views are 
 summarily expressed in one of the head-notes of the 
 case. " Unless a person alleged to be insane is of un- 
 sound mind, and dangerous to herself and others, no 
 person can remove her from her home to an insane 
 asylum, without the sanction of a commission of 
 lunacy." To one of the Commissioners in Lunacy, who 
 was a witness in the case, and whose especial business 
 it was to look after the asylums, he said : " It is my 
 opinion yon ought to liberate every person who is not 
 dangerous to himself or to others." 
 
 In the first of these cases, the rule is laid down in 
 the most unequivocal manner, that, under the common 
 law, no person can be confined on account of insanity, 
 without some process of law. In the other, an excep- 
 tion is made in favor of such cases as are supposed to 
 be dangerous. As the statute (8 & 9 Vict. c. 100) 
 prescribes certain conditions without which no person 
 can be received into any asylum or hospital for the 
 insane, this may be fairly considered as equivalent to a 
 grant of authority. It can hardly be supposed that 
 this provision was overlooked at the trial, though it is 
 a curious circumstance that it was not once mentioned 
 by either party. However this may be, it appears none 
 the less clearly what was the opinion of the court re- 
 specting the common law on this matter. 
 
 In the matter of Shuttleworth, 9 Q. B. 651 (1846), 
 a somewhat different view was taken. This was an 
 attempt, by means of a writ of habeas corpus, to obtain 
 the discharge of a lady from an asylum in which she 
 had been detained several months, for the reason that 
 one of the queries which always accompany the order
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 173 
 
 of admission was not answered precisely in the words 
 prescribed by the act. The return to the writ was, that 
 she was " of unsound mind, memory, and understanding, 
 and incapable of governing herself or her property, or 
 managing her affairs, and unfit and unsafe to be at 
 large." Governed by this return, Mr. Justice Cole- 
 ridge observed that " he was not prepared to concede 
 that if the certificate were deficient, they were to dis- 
 charge." To the counsel who claimed the discharge 
 on the ground that the confinement was illegal, the 
 Chief Justice, Lord Denman, said : " Is not the confining 
 of a dangerous lunatic founded on common law princi- 
 ples?" And, as if to recognize in the most distinct 
 manner the right of friends to care for the patient, even 
 though it involved confinement, he further said : " If 
 the court thought a party unlawfully received or de- 
 tained was a lunatic, we should still be betraying the 
 common duties of members of society, if we directed a 
 discharge. . . . Should we, as judges or individuals, be 
 justified in setting such a party at large ? . . . I should 
 be abusing the name of liberty, if I were to take off a 
 restraint for which those who are most interested in the 
 party should be most thankful." 
 
 In Commonwealth, ex relatione Nyce v. Kirkbride, 
 county of Philadelphia, March 7, 1868, 2 Brewster, 400, 
 the relator claimed his discharge from the Pennsylvania 
 hospital for the insane, where he had been kept several 
 months, on the ground that if insane he was not danger- 
 ously so. The return to the writ was that he was 
 insane, and that his discharge would be dangerous to 
 his family. Upon this point much evidence was given 
 on both sides. The two physicians of the hospital, and 
 seven other witnesses, most of them relatives, concurred 
 in establishing the correctness of the return, while a
 
 174 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 few others testified, quite positively, that he was sane. 
 The court, not being satisfied that he was dangerous, 
 directed him to be discharged. In rendering the judg- 
 ment of the court, Judge Brewster declared " that the 
 power to remand, where there has been no finding of 
 lunacy, should be confined to the preservation of the 
 patient, and the public peace and morals." 
 
 Shortly after the hearing of the case just mentioned, 
 Moore, an inmate of the same institution, was brought 
 before the same court, on a writ of habeas corpus. His 
 discharge was claimed on the ground that he was not 
 then, and never had been, insane. In declaring the 
 opinion of the court, Judge Allison, while distinctly 
 recognizing the fact of Moore's insanity when admitted 
 into the hospital some eleven or twelve weeks pre- 
 viously, regarded him as so much improved, " though 
 manifesting, in court, considerable excitement of man- 
 ner," as to conclude that " it would not be unsafe to 
 discharge him from custody, or that he would not do 
 violence to himself or others." On this ground, mainly, 
 "aided by the belief that his entire recovery would be 
 aided by freedom rather than by farther restraint of 
 liberty," the court directed his discharge. 
 
 In January, 1845, Josiah Oakes was brought before 
 the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, on a writ 
 of habeas corpus ; the object of which was to procure 
 his discharge from the McLean Asylum for the Insane, 
 to which he had been committed by his family, on the 
 16th of the previous month. Chief Justice Shaw, in 
 delivering the opinion of the whole court, replied to the 
 allegation of counsel that the constitution makes it im- 
 perative upon the court to discharge any person detained 
 against his will ; and that, by the common law, no per- 
 son can be restrained of his liberty, except by the judg-
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 175 
 
 merit of his peers, or the law of the land. " We think," 
 said he, " there is no provision, either of the common 
 law or the constitution which makes it the duty of the 
 court to discharge every person, whether sane or in- 
 sane, who is kept in confinement against his will. x The 
 provision, if it be true, must be general and absolute, 
 and not governed by any questions of expediency to 
 suit the emergencies of any particular case. The right 
 to restrain an insane person of his liberty/is found in 
 that great law of humanity which makes it necessary 
 to confine those whose going at large would be danger- 
 ous to themselves or others. . . . The necessity which 
 creates the law creates the limitation of the law. . . . 
 If there is no right to exercise that restraint for a fort- 
 night, there is no right to exercise it for an hour. And 
 if a man may be restrained in his own house, he may 
 be restrained in a suitable asylum, under the same 
 limitations and rules. . . . The provisions of the con- 
 stitution, in relation to this subject, must be taken 
 with such limitations, and must bear such construc- 
 tion, as arise out of the circumstances of the case. 
 Besides, it is a principle of law that an insane person | 
 has no will of his own. In that case, it becomes the 
 duty of others to provide for his safety and their own. 
 . . . The question must then arise, in each particular 
 case, whether a person's own safety, or that of others, 
 requires that he should be restrained for a certain time, 
 and whether restraint is necessary for his restoration, 
 or will be conducive thereto. The restraint can con- 
 tinue as long as the necessity continues. This is the 
 limitation, and the proper limitation." The court being 
 satisfied that Oakes was insane when admitted into the 
 asylum, and that he had not yet fully recovered, refused 
 to discharge him, adding, that " the restraint should
 
 176 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 last as long as is necessary for the safety of himself and 
 of others, and until he experiences relief from the pres- 
 ent disease of his mind." 8 Law Reporter, 122. 
 
 Here the point is well made, that, if the common law 
 does not authorize the confinement of the insane, its 
 operation must be absolute and unconditional. No ex- 
 ception is made in favor of those who are dangerous, or 
 are offensive contra bonos mores. Its silence creates no 
 warrant for depriving a person of his liberty, even for 
 a single hour. If, on the other hand, the apprehension 
 of danger does warrant us in law to restrain a person's 
 liberty, then, for a reason equally strong, the promotion 
 of the person's comfort and restoration should have the 
 same effect. The court takes care, by repeated itera- 
 tions, to have it understood that to promote the re- 
 covery of the patient is a sufficient warrant for his 
 confinement in an asylum. It is required also by the 
 law of humanity, which, like the common law, is founded 
 in reason, and thus may be justly regarded as part and 
 parcel of the common law. 
 
 The views of Chief Justice Shaw were fully indorsed 
 a few years later, in Pennsylvania, in the well known 
 case of Hinchman v. Richie, Brightly, 143 (1849). The 
 plaintiff having been placed in an asylum by his friends, 
 without any legal process, his counsel contended that 
 the act was contrary to the Bill of Rights, and a viola- 
 tion of the constitution of Pennsylvania. The court, 
 Judge Burnside, said : " 1 do not agree to that proposi- 
 tion: it would have been true, had he been charged 
 with a crime ; but the right to restrain an insane person 
 of his liberty is found, as expressed by Chief Justice 
 Shaw of Massachusetts, ' in the great law of humanity.' 
 The Pennsylvania hospital was in existence half a cen- 
 tury before the adoption of the constitution of 1790,
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 177 
 
 and it was in existence and operation, as well as this 
 asylum, when the amended constitution of 1838 was 
 adopted. So that those gentlemen (and they were men 
 of talent and distinguished ability, in both conventions, 
 and especially the convention of 1790) who formed this 
 constitution, had the practice of the Pennsylvania hos- 
 pital before them ; and the late convention had before 
 them, in addition to that, the practice of this asylum. 
 I then negative the proposition that it is a violation of 
 the constitution of Pennsylvania so to arrest and confine 
 an insane man." 
 
 Alluding to this case, Wharton and Stille, in their 
 Treatise on Medical Jurisprudence, say : " There are, 
 necessarily, cases when the safety of property, and the 
 health of the patient himself, require confinement in an 
 asylum, though there be no danger of violence to him- 
 self or others ; and it is not likely that the existence of 
 such cases will be again judicially questioned. . . . The 
 law, in such a case, undoubtedly is, that confinement is 
 justifiable, if either the safety of the patient or others 
 require it, or it is necessary for his restoration to 
 health." 
 
 The doctrine clearly implied in most of these cases is, 
 that, without some legal process, insane persons cannot 
 be held in confinement under the common law, though 
 exception is made of such as are proved to be danger- 
 ous to themselves or others. Danger, then, is the ele- 
 ment which is to legalize that which, without it, would 
 be manifestly illegal. It is proper that a doctrine of 
 such extreme importance, determining, as it must, the 
 question of confinement or liberty, should be thoroughly 
 understood, in order to avoid mistakes involving the 
 most serious consequences. Let us, therefore, consider 
 it by the light of professional observation, — the only 
 
 12
 
 178 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 light that can be trusted on a strictly professional 
 subject, remote from men's ordinary thoughts and ex- 
 perience. 
 
 A proclivity to mischief is one of the most common 
 traits of the insane. Yielding to passions unchecked 
 by moral or prudential restraints, controlled by delu- 
 sions that are mistaken for the most vivid of realities, 
 moved by impulses that are completely irresistible, 
 delighted by what would otherwise have caused unut- 
 terable pain and disgust, they are, necessarily, by the 
 very conditions of the case, dangerous. Not that the 
 danger is always imminent, or always extreme. If pas- 
 sionate and quarrelsome, the patient may, for a while, 
 be kept in good humor by adroit management ; if sui- 
 cidal, he may merely revolve the idea of self-destruction 
 until a peculiarly favorable moment invites him to make 
 the attempt ; if strong delusions lead him to regard his 
 dearest friends with distrust and aversion, he may long 
 refrain from actual violence by lack of a vigorous will 
 that may come, sooner or later. Under the skilful man- 
 agement of a hospital, removed from countless causes 
 of excitement, and guided by those who are well ac- 
 quainted with the ways of the insane, he may cause no 
 alarm ; and, indeed, may seem, to a casual observer, 
 quite free from dangerous dispositions. This element 
 of insanity is so dependent on circumstances, so shielded 
 from observation, so masked by amiable traits of char- 
 acter, so modified by physiological conditions, — by a 
 little more or a little less blood in the head, by the ap- 
 proach of a menstrual period, or some unusual nervous 
 movement, — that it may be easily overlooked by an 
 unpractised eye. A long, close observation of a certain 
 patient may enable one to say that he is harmless ; but 
 it would be the height of foolhardiness to say this of
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 170 
 
 any patient on the strength of one or two interviews. 
 The records of insanity show that some of the most 
 fearful acts of violence have been committed by those 
 who were supposed to be harmless, and who, for years, 
 had possessed unrestricted liberty. We do not deny 
 that some insane persons may go all their days without 
 harm to person or property ; but we do deny that we 
 ever can predict with any tolerable degree of certainty 
 that such will be the case. 
 
 The prominence given by courts to this matter of 
 danger seems to imply that the only function of hospi- 
 tals and asylums sanctioned by law is to take the cus- 
 tody of such insane as are unsafe when at large, and 
 without friends to care for them. Hundreds of years 
 ago, such was undoubtedly the fact ; but in our days, 
 thanks to modern philanthropy, these establishments are 
 arranged and managed with the special purpose in view 
 of curing the disease, and restoring the sufferer to 
 society. For this eminently proper and commendable 
 purpose they are resorted to by thousands, as medicinal 
 springs and water-cures are for the relief of bodily dis- 
 eases, with as little thought of law in the one case as in 
 the other. It is not easy to see why the legislature 
 should prohibit the friends from doing that for the res- 
 toration of the patient, which may be done for the pro- 
 tection of society against contingent danger. The 
 remarkable change that has been effected in hospitals 
 for the insane, whereby, instead of being dreary prisons 
 for the safe keeping of dangerous people, they have 
 become pleasant abodes, furnished with every appliance 
 for promoting the mental and physical comfort of their 
 inmates, and fitted by all their arrangements to reclaim 
 the wandering mind, should not be ignored by the legis- 
 lative power. It is to be regretted that from any
 
 180 CONFINEMENT OE THE INSANE. 
 
 quarter countenance should be afforded to the vulgar 
 notions which represent these useful and benevolent 
 institutions as prisons, Bastiles, into which those who 
 enter leave all hope behind. 
 
 But it is not merely for the curable and the dangerous 
 classes that hospitals are established. There are a mul- 
 titude of other mental conditions that require their 
 peculiar ministrations, and many other ends to be ob- 
 tained besides the cure of the patient, and the safety of 
 his friends. The comfort of individuals, the peace of 
 families, the good order of society, are objects as clearly 
 within the scope of the operations of a hospital, as the 
 cure of the curable and the custody of the dangerous. 
 There is that large class without near friends or rela- 
 tives, whose freaks and fancies render them improper 
 inmates of a private family. There are those who wan- 
 der from their homes, and expose themselves to serious 
 privations and dangers. There are men who preach or 
 proclaim their delusions in the streets, followed about 
 by a rabble of men and boys. There are women who 
 fancy themselves in love with men, and persecute them 
 with their unseasonable attentions. There are those 
 who disregard all the conventions of society, entering 
 houses at unsuitable times, dressing without thought of 
 the customary proprieties, or even decencies, stirring 
 up strife between neighbors, spreading discord and con- 
 fusion wherever they go, and exciting the alarms of the 
 weak and timid. There are those who, while under the 
 easy and uniform restraints of a hospital, are harmless 
 and comfortable, but become dangerous subjects the 
 moment they take their accustomed place in society, in 
 full control of themselves and their families. Now, are 
 all these afflicted ones to be denied the care and protec- 
 tion of the hospital because they are neither curable nor
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 181 
 
 technically dangerous ? If such is the law, have we 
 not good reason to say that the law is regardless of that 
 advance in Christian sentiment, which, in these our 
 days, would bring within the benign influences of the 
 hospital all the unfortunate victims of mental infirmity? 
 
 In the Nyce case, the judge had some conversation 
 with the patient, on the strength of which he remarks, 
 that "it must be conceded that the relator has sufficient 
 intelligence to remember and detail the history of his 
 family and business life ; " and concludes that, " even if 
 partially insane, it might be a serious question whether 
 a court upon a finding of lunacy would order his con- 
 finement in an asylum." In other words, the opinion of 
 the judge is, that partial insanity does not warrant the 
 confinement of the insane. We are not told precisely 
 how this form of disease differs from other forms ;' and 
 yet, if this is to be the rule, such knowledge would seem 
 to be indispensable. Let us see, then, for ourselves 
 what ground there is for this distinction. 
 
 The use of certain terms, as a matter of convenience, 
 rather than as an expression of a scientific fact, has led 
 to a widely prevalent error respecting the nature of 
 insanity. Excepting in a few forms of mental disease, 
 such as raving mania and the last stages of dementia, 
 where the power of correct reasoning is entirely lost, 
 some of the mental operations of the insane are con- 
 ducted with ordinary correctness. On many subjects 
 the judgment is as sound as ever, the power of adapting 
 means to ends is unimpaired, the perception of moral 
 relations is scarcely obscured, and to the casual observer 
 no indication of insanity whatever may appear. We are 
 not referring to monomania, strictly so called, — a mania 
 which is confined to a single idea, — but to insanity 
 generally, in which time and occasion only are needed
 
 182 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 to show that the mental operations are extensively in- 
 volved. They may show that this person, so calm in 
 his manner, so judicious in his remarks, so pure and 
 high-toned in his feelings, entertains notions respecting 
 the doings and designs of certain individuals, as baseless 
 as the fabric of a vision, which no argument nor proof 
 of any kind can make him abandon. Impelled by these 
 notions, and utterly ignoring the laws of God and man, 
 he is ready to commit some violence upon the supposed 
 offender, as if it were something both right and neces- 
 sary for him to do. Every week the newspapers relate 
 some dreadful atrocity committed by persons who were 
 only partially insane. Indeed, it is this very ability, still 
 left them, to pursue a connected train of thought, to make 
 plans and arrangements for future action, that makes 
 them far more dangerous than those are whose minds 
 are in a state of general bewilderment and confusion. 
 This great mistake respecting the extent of the morbid 
 influence exerted by disease is one which the world is 
 reluctant to correct. It meets our notice on the bench 
 and at the baj" ; in the circles of the refined and edu- 
 cated, as well as of the coarse and ignorant. It is made 
 an occasion of hardship and wrong to the unfortunate 
 and helpless, and blocks the way to every improvement 
 in the administration of the laws. 
 
 Another reason assigned by the judge why a person 
 partially insane should not be kept in an asylum is de- 
 rived from Dugald Stewart. " It is a question," says 
 this eminent philosopher, " whether certain kinds of 
 insanity have not a contagious tendency. That the in- 
 coherent ravings and frantic gestures of a madman have 
 a singularly painful effect in unsettling and deranging 
 the thoughts of others, I have more than once experi- 
 enced in myself; nor have I ever looked upon this most
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. lSo 
 
 afflicting of all spectacles, without a strong impression 
 of the danger to which I should be exposed if I were to 
 witness it daily." All this amounts to nothing except 
 to show what wretched logic even a great metaphysician 
 may be guilty of. It is very much as if he had said : " I 
 am so terribly afflicted with bunions, that it gives me 
 extreme pain to walk a quarter of a mile : therefore I 
 advise everybody to refrain entirely from walking; " or, 
 " I have more than once experienced great pain and 
 irritation in my eyes when reading by gas-light, there- 
 fore every man who reads by gas-light does it at the 
 peril of Ills eyes.*' Although not strictly germane to 
 the matter in hand, we cannot forego the opportunity 
 to say that Mr. Stewart's experience is exceptional ; that 
 of the hundreds of sane people, within our cognizance, 
 who have been closely associated with the insane in 
 large establishments, for years together, we cannot call 
 to mind one who became insane, or was likely to be so. 
 No doubt where there is a strong disposition to the dis- 
 ease, such association tends to develop it ; and this effect 
 is especially obvious where the parties brought together 
 are nearly related, and the offices of care and attention 
 naturally incident to such relation draw largely on the 
 bodily strength and the moral emotions. The danger 
 arising from this cause is often a sufficient reason for 
 removing the patient from home and the customary sur- 
 roundings. But, however that may be, the question 
 is not as to the effect upon sane people of intimate asso- 
 ciation with the insane. Even if it were as bad as the 
 court would have us believe it is, it would not follow 
 that the partially insane would be likely to lose the little 
 sanity that remains, by associating with persons more 
 insane than themselves. Such is not the experience of 
 men who have had charge of thousands of patients and
 
 184 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 observed them under every possible variety of influence. 
 For the most part, the insane are too much occupied 
 with their own condition to be troubled by the conduct 
 or discourse of others. A few, perhaps, would find 
 fresh occasion for their morbid suspicions and alarms, 
 by being exposed, indiscriminately, to other patients ; 
 but it must be understood that, in modern hospitals for 
 the insane, the means of classification are so ample that 
 the mischief which might result from improper associa- 
 tions is reduced to almost nothing. Those who are 
 likely to annoy one another are easily kept apart, and 
 those are brought together who would exert a salutary, 
 or at least a negative, influence on others around them. 
 If the court supposed that the relator, in this case, was 
 in danger from his associations, it is to be regretted that 
 the medical gentlemen who had charge of him were not 
 particularly examined on that point. Their testimony 
 would have furnished far better grounds for a practical 
 conclusion, than the nervous apprehensions of Dugald 
 Stewart. 
 
 Another reason advanced by the court for the dis- 
 charge of Nyce is strictly legal; yet, without undue 
 presumption, we think we may venture to examine it. 
 " A judge," it is alleged, " has no power upon habeas 
 corpus, to make a decree which may result in imprison- 
 ment for life, without the chance of a jury trial. . . . 
 A man is sent to an insane asylum by his relatives and 
 family physician. They institute no proceeding in 
 lunacy, but deprive him of liberty and property, with- 
 out any direct sanction of law. ... At last he is able 
 to sue out a writ of habeas corpus, and comes before a 
 judge who cannot be expected to be an expert upon 
 such a question, and who, looking at the evidence, con- 
 cludes that the man is insane, and remands him. It is
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE IXSAXE. 185 
 
 then res adjudicata, and it might be that no other judge 
 would review the decision. Thus, without a finding of 
 lunacy, without the right of traverse to a jury, or appeal 
 to the Supreme Court to correct errors in the proceed- 
 ing, a man may be detained for life." 
 
 Xow, to our apprehension, no mode of legal procedure 
 is so well calculated to determine the truth in cases like 
 these, as a hearing under a writ of habeas corpus. The 
 judge is not an expert, it is true ; neither are jurymen. 
 He can have the testimony of experts, and they can do 
 no better. In regard to these as well as other witnesses, 
 he enjoys a privilege that does not exist in a jury trial. 
 He can continue the hearings until he has had the fullest 
 opportunity to learn the merits of the case. Supposed, 
 as he is, to be a man of considerable culture and some 
 knowledge of men, he would be far more likely to weigh 
 the evidence correctly and discern its real significance, 
 than the majority of jurymen, who are totally unfitted 
 by education and habits to appreciate the value of 
 testimony on a question so strictly professional as that 
 of insanity, to say nothing of their liability to be gov- 
 erned by prejudices or whims. Surely, if there is any 
 description of cases more likely to be adjudicated cor- 
 rectly by^judgejj mn by a jury^ihis is it. We cannot 
 see how a case thus disposed of becomes res adjudicata, 
 in the sense attributed to it by the court. What is to 
 prevent the same or any other judge from reviewing the 
 case after the lapse of a few months? The condition of 
 the person may have so changed within that period as 
 to furnish satisfactory reasons for again issuing the writ. 
 Certainly, no judge would refuse to grant the writ, un- 
 der such circumstances. Neither is it very clear how 
 the decision of a judge can keep a patient in confine- 
 ment for life any more effectually than the verdict of a
 
 186 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 jury. They both fulfil their appropriate purpose of de- 
 claring authoritatively as to an existing state of facts. 
 What the facts may be at some future period, it is for 
 future judges to determine. The verdict of a jury con- 
 vened by a commission of lunacy does not place a man 
 in confinement. It may authorize the guardian or com- 
 mittee to do it, and his action could be traversed only 
 by a writ of habeas corpus. Without that, it may be a 
 confinement for life, if he and the keeper will it. 
 
 Another reason assigned by the court for its decision 
 in this case is, that a judge may err; and in this con- 
 nection the opinion of Spurzheim is quoted, that even 
 experts may err, for they certainly disagree. Unques- 
 tionably, judges and experts are both liable to mistake ; 
 nevertheless, the law requires that in certain cases the 
 judge shall decide without the intervention of a jury, 
 and permits experts to testify, however widely they may 
 differ from one another. Their differences may embar- 
 rass a jury even more than they would a judge, unless 
 it determines in the outset, after the manner of juries, 
 to give no heed to them whatever. " Spurzheim," says 
 the court, " was not willing to trust the solution of such 
 questions to the medical experts." What Spurzheim 
 actually said will hardly bear this construction ; for his 
 statement, as quoted by the court, is, that, " as sometimes 
 the most experienced and able men are at a loss and find 
 it impossible to decide whether there is insanity or not, 
 it must be obvious that not every one who knows how 
 to compose some prescriptions ought to be trusted with 
 the privilege to dispose of the liberty of his fellow-citi- 
 zens;" meaning, of course, that, as the most accomplished 
 expert may sometimes doubt, it would be improper 
 to rely on the opinion of a mere compounder of pre- 
 scriptions. He expresses neither willingness nor un-
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 187 
 
 willingness to trust the solution of such questions to 
 medical experts, for that was not the point he was 
 considering. 
 
 The reason assigned in the case of Moore, for the dis- 
 charge of the patient, would be equally applicable in a 
 large proportion of the cases in our hospitals, and there- 
 fore deserves to be carefully examined. Undoubtedly 
 there is a patient, now and then, whose convalescence 
 would be as speedily conducted to the last stage of re- 
 covery at home as in a hospital ; but it is difficult to 
 distinguish them from the much larger portion who 
 would be grievously injured by the change. Friends 
 often solicit it, and no duty incumbent on the physician 
 is more embarrassing, requiring a readier discernment of 
 the countless phases of mental disorder, more practical 
 sagacity in penetrating beneath the surface, than that 
 of meeting their wishes judiciously. In most instances 
 where the step is taken against his advice, the experiment 
 fails ; and a protracted continuance of the disease, if not 
 an utterly incurable condition, is the result. And the 
 cause will be obvious on a little reflection. The period 
 of convalescence is precisely the particular stage when 
 the peculiar management of the hospital is most needed 
 to complete this process surely and safely. The patient's 
 reason has returned ; he sees things and persons in their 
 true aspect ; he feels that buoyancy of spirit which 
 usually accompanies returning health ; he becomes im- 
 patient of confinement because he cannot see its neces- 
 sity ; his friends yield to his importunities, and he 
 becomes again the master of his own movements. With 
 a brain still weak and irritable, wanting that firmness 
 which only time and rest can give, he turns a deaf ear 
 to all advice, resumes at once his ordinary habits and 
 pursuits, soon uses up all his little power of endur-
 
 188 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 ance, loses all self-control, and again passes under the 
 cloud. 
 
 Such was actually the result in Moore's case. A few 
 weeks after his discharge he died of brain disease, 
 precipitated, probably, by the premature removal of all 
 restraint. Had he continued a few weeks longer under 
 the gentle restraints of the hospital, and its carefully 
 measured indulgences, the requisite degree of nervous 
 firmness might have been acquired, and he would thus 
 have been prepared to encounter successfully the trials 
 of unrestricted freedom. The courts may only claim 
 the right to discharge those whose convalescence is 
 fully established ; but, in thus deciding what is a purely 
 medical question, let them consider that they assume the 
 functions of the physician. If the physician hesitates to 
 take this, perhaps the most important, step in the man- 
 agement of an insane patient, still discerning under his 
 constant observation some lingering traces of disease, 
 some indications of irritability that might be readily 
 converted into uncontrollable excitement, well may the 
 judge shrink from assuming the delicate and responsible 
 duty. 
 
 This review of the judicial aspects of the case shows 
 that the common law is quite unreliable for any practi- 
 cal purpose. By one court, it is decided that the friends 
 of an insane person have no right to confine him, except 
 to meet some pressing emergency, and then only for a 
 period long enough to enable them to resort to some 
 legal process. By another it is decided that they may 
 thus dispose of him as long as he continues to be dan- 
 gerous." By one court, this matter of danger is regarded 
 as strictly medical, to be determined by experts ; by 
 another it is treated as if it were clearly within the 
 province of the court, the opinions of the experts being
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 189 
 
 overruled, it may be, by the opinions of the judge. One 
 court recognizes this right of friends to confine the pa- 
 tient without regard to any particular element of the 
 disease, but decides that it terminates when the stage 
 of convalescence begins. Another decides that this 
 right is absolute and unconditional, unrestricted by any 
 stage or quality of the disease. It is obvious, there- 
 fore, that additional legislation is required in most of the 
 States, and the question is thus directly before us as to 
 the legal provisions that would most effectually meet 
 the necessities of the case. And let us first clearly un- 
 derstand what these necessities are. 
 
 In the first place, the law should put no hinderance 
 in the way to the prompt use of those instrumentalities 
 which are regarded as most effectual in promoting the 
 comfort and restoration of the patient. Secondly, it 
 should spare all unnecessary exposure of private trou- 
 bles, and all unnecessary conflict with popular preju- 
 dices. Thirdly, it should protect individuals from 
 wrongful imprisonment. It would be objection enough 
 to any legal provision, that it failed to secure these 
 objects, in the completest possible manner. 
 
 It is a fair question, certainly, whether the forms and 
 processes now in use would not sufficiently answer the 
 purpose, if applied to all cases indiscriminately. This 
 question we propose to answer. 
 
 In every State, the law provides for the appointment 
 of a tutor, guardian, trustee, or committee, who has 
 charge of the person and estate of the insane person. 
 In some States, the mode of procedure is a simple hear- 
 ing before some judicial officer, who, if convinced of the 
 person's insanity, appoints a guardian. In others, some 
 court appoints a commission, who, acting in connection 
 with a jury, inquire into the facts, and make report to
 
 190 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 the court, by whom a guardian or committee is appointed. 
 Now, it is proposed to make it obligatory on the family 
 or friends of the patient to place him under guardian- 
 ship, in order to procure his admission to any hospital 
 for the insane. It would be a sufficient objection to 
 this course, that there is no necessary relation between 
 the two things, — placing a person in a hospital for the 
 purpose of procuring his recovery, and subjecting him 
 to interdiction. This is clearly shown by the customs 
 of our people ; for of the thousands of persons in our 
 hospitals and asylums, not one in twenty is under guar- 
 dianship. Had there been any thing essentially wrong 
 in this, it would hardly have been left to this day and 
 generation to discover it. No one, with any practical 
 knowledge of the matter, — of the feelings and motives 
 that govern men when brought face to face with the 
 question of confining an insane friend, — can fail to see 
 that this course is quite incompatible with the first two 
 requisites above mentioned. What is implied by inter- 
 diction ? It implies the taking of property out of the 
 hands of its rightful owner, and giving the control of it 
 to another. It implies, perhaps, the settlement of his 
 affairs, the termination of his business relations, the dis- 
 solution of partnership, the resignation of every office 
 of honor or trust, — all in a manner more or less preju- 
 dicial to his interests, and solely to meet an exigency 
 that may be of very brief duration. Surely an attack 
 of insanity is afflictive enough, without any supererog- 
 atory misery like this. It would be difficult to give 
 even a plausible reason why a person laboring under a 
 disease of the mind should be treated so differently, in 
 this respect, from one sick with pneumonia or fever. 
 Nobody thinks of placing the latter under guardian- 
 ship, in order to get him into a fever hospital ; and
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 191 
 
 yet he may be confined to his house, and incapable of 
 taking care of himself, for as long a period as the 
 former. 
 
 There is another and a very important reason why 
 this measure should be avoided if possible. When the 
 patient comes to himself, and learns that his business, 
 successfully established by many years of industry and 
 enterprise, has been wound up, perhaps, at considerable 
 sacrifice, and that he is unable to dispose of a single 
 dollar of his hard earnings, the intelligence will scarcely 
 help to promote his recovery. It would lead many 
 to think that admission to the hospital is purchased 
 at too dear a rate ; and, if they had been filled with 
 suspicions and apprehensions, they would find in it con- 
 firmation of their fears, and imbibe feelings of hostility 
 that might remain after all other traces of disease had 
 disappeared. And when released from restraint, in- 
 stead of being welcomed back to their old pursuits and 
 the familiar scenes, and cheered by the fact that their 
 business relations had been maintained at little or no 
 loss, they find themselves obliged to renew the struggle 
 of life, in new ways and with new associates; and fortu- 
 nate will they be if the effort prove not too much for a 
 brain rendered morbidly irritable by recent disease. 
 Physicians who have charge of hospitals for the insane 
 are in the habit of advising the postponement of inter- 
 diction to the latest moment ; and in a public communi- 
 cation the English Commissioners in Lunacy once gave 
 similar advice. " It is hardly necessary to observe/' they 
 say, " that proceedings by commission are, generally 
 speaking, advisable only where the insanity is likely to 
 be of a permanent character. . . . "Wherever a reason- 
 able hope of recovery exists, and the income of the 
 lunatic can, in the mean time, be properly administered
 
 192 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 for his benefit, without a commission, the general prac- 
 tice among the friends and relatives of the insane is to 
 avoid resorting to proceedings which entail unnecessary 
 cost, which, by the disclosures they occasion, are most 
 painful to the feelings of the family, and which, by the 
 excitement they produce, are sometimes injurious to the 
 patient himself." 
 
 It is easy to see, in view of such discouragements, 
 what would be done with the patient, or rather what 
 would not be done with him. He certainly would not 
 be sent to a hospital, if by any possibility he could be 
 kept at home, or somewhere else. Every makeshift 
 would be resorted to that friends and neighbors could 
 suggest, every experiment would be tried offering the 
 least prospect of success. Not until all these had had 
 their turn and failed, and the friends had become 
 wearied and worried to the last point of endurance, 
 the patient meanwhile getting more and more difficult 
 to manage, would the hateful measure be submitted 
 to, which is needed for his admission to the hospital, 
 too late, probably, for any benefit from its kindly influ- 
 ences. 
 
 It is now well understood that, in most cases, an 
 attack of insanity is most speedily conducted through 
 its various stages towards recovery, within those estab- 
 lishments that have been expressly designed for this 
 purpose : and that the sooner they are resorted to, the 
 better, unless special and exceptional circumstances 
 forbid it. Experience shows that the sooner all connec- 
 tion with domestic associations and familiar scenes is 
 severed, and all intercourse with friends and acquaint- 
 ances suspended, the sooner the morbid process will be 
 stayed, and the work of restoration begun. Whatever 
 tends to discourage this measure, — to favor its post-
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 193 
 
 ponement until every other has been tried and has 
 failed, must prove prejudicial, both to the patient and 
 his friends. It does not meet the difficulty to say that 
 this reluctance is unreasonable, a mere matter of preju- 
 dice, and that if people refuse to comply with the laws 
 they must abide by the consequences. It is not very 
 unreasonable, surely, to wish to avoid a certain positive 
 evil, though at the risk of encountering a greater one 
 that may never happen. It is immaterial whether the 
 measure in question were avoided for the wisest of rea- 
 sons or for the most senseless of prejudices. We must 
 legislate for men as they are, not as they should be, 
 having reference to their customs and feelings, as well 
 as their abstract sense of right and of the fitness of 
 things. Laws, the best in the world, theoretically 
 considered, fail to effect their purpose when not in 
 harmony with the ways, manners, usages, and spirit 
 of the people for whom they are made. Believing, 
 therefore, that to make interdiction preliminary to 
 isolation would cause infinitely more mischief than it 
 would prevent, we are obliged to look for some other 
 way less burdened with objections. 
 
 In most if not all of the States, there is a provision 
 whereby a magistrate, generally of the lowest grade, is 
 authorized to send to some place of custody any insane 
 person going at large and declared to be dangerous, 
 though these conditions are much like those fictions of 
 the law that are not to be literally construed. Although 
 originally intended as a measure of police, applicable 
 to insane vagrants, it is sometimes used to secure the 
 isolation of persons having friends and social position. 
 But there are serious objections to its being employed 
 for this purpose. Having been in use from time imme- 
 morial as a police measure, and consequently associ- 
 
 13
 
 194 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 ated with the idea of vagrants and dangerous subjects, 
 the friends, naturally enough, shrink from it ; and the 
 patient, if not entirely devoid of reason, conceives that 
 he is treated as a criminal, and is vexed and irritated 
 accordingly. Nevertheless, it has some advantages 
 over the last-mentioned measure. It is prompt in its 
 operation, and affects the person only, and not the 
 property. 
 
 People who have little knowledge of insanity, and a 
 great deal of faith in time-honored phrases, have pro- 
 posed, as a preventive of the abuses incident to isola- 
 tion, a trial by jury, impanelled especially for the 
 purpose. This method has been actually adopted in 
 Illinois by legislative enactment, under a pressure of 
 popular excitement arising from accidental causes. 
 Except that it leaves the property undisturbed, it is 
 open to all the objections that lie against the measures 
 already considered. It is equally shocking to every 
 notion of domestic propriety, and equally repugnant to 
 that instinctive delicacy which shrinks from exposing 
 the infirmities of those we love. A jury trial is a pub- 
 lic affair; the proceedings may be printed in the news- 
 papers, and the griefs of a stricken family become food 
 for heartless gossip. A grosser perversion of this noble 
 institution from its proper ends can scarcely be imag- 
 ined. Although an admirable contrivance for eliciting 
 truth in disputed transactions between man and man, it 
 is totally unsuitable as a means of obtaining correct 
 results in regard to questions purely scientific. When 
 we are told that in the place where it was adopted, all 
 the patients in a large public hospital — the epileptic 
 and the paralytic, the idiotic and the imbecile, the rav- 
 ing maniac and the poor demented creature not knowing 
 his right Jiand from his left — were subjected to its
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 195 
 
 operation, it seems more like a phantasmagoric jumble 
 of social and legal proprieties, — 
 
 " The brood of folly without father bred," — 
 
 than the work of the assembled wisdom of a large and 
 intelligent State. 
 
 Let us look at it for a moment. The question for the 
 jury to decide is whether the person before them is 
 sane or insane. The friends and attendants tell their 
 story, the family physician, and perhaps other experts, 
 give their opinions, and then the jury must agree or 
 disagree upon a verdict. In will or contract cases 
 where the mental condition of the party is in question, 
 there are always side issues on which a verdict may be 
 made to rest, irrespective entirely of the principal issue. 
 But here the naked question, sanity or insanity, covers 
 the only possible issue, and it must be squarely 
 met. If they are sensible men, they will be governed 
 by the views of the experts. If, as is more probable, 
 they think that they, as well as doctors, know some- 
 thing about insanity, they will have an opinion of their 
 own, and decide accordingly. Now, in the former in- 
 stance, it is the experts who really decide the case, and 
 the jury becomes a superfluous appendage to the pro- 
 cedure. In the latter, a question of medical science, 
 involving the happiness of families, and the highest wel- 
 fare of an individual, is determined by men completely 
 ignorant of the whole subject. In all jury trials, the 
 jury are not allowed to be judges of the law. Are they 
 any more competent to be judges of medicine ? If it 
 were a question between medical men whether a certain 
 patient had this or that affection of the heart, or whether 
 another is suffering from rheumatism or neuralgia, who 
 would think of submitting it to a jury of twelve men
 
 196 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 drawn from the common walks of life ? And yet this is 
 just like what we propose to do when we undertake to 
 settle the question of insanity by means of such a tribu- 
 nal. Only those who are well acquainted with the 
 popular notions of insanity can conceive how futile the 
 result would be. For twenty-five years the writer of 
 this was in charge of a hospital for the insane ; and of 
 the many hundred patients under his care, — setting 
 aside the raving and the demented, — there was scarcely 
 one who was not regarded by some friend, neighbor, or 
 acquaintance, as unequivocally sane. The most com- 
 mon forms of insanity — those which include the great 
 majority of cases — are regarded, by many people, no 
 small portion of whom may be found among the refined 
 and educated classes, as any thing but insanity. So 
 surely as this question is given to a jury who under- 
 take to think for themselves, just so surely will they err 
 in their verdict or fail to agree upon any. 
 
 People who expect to find in legislation a panacea for 
 all social evils have imagined that the requirements of 
 the case would be met by the appointment of a commis- 
 sion whose business it should be to take cognizance of 
 every case proposed for admission into a hospital, and 
 give or withhold its sanction. It might be a permanent 
 board consisting of a few members, or the duty might 
 be performed in each town or county by some resident 
 therein appointed especially for this purpose. While 
 this is regarded as a mere matter of form, very little can 
 be said against it, or for it. But, in order to prevent the 
 abuses which are supposed to be so imminent, a regular 
 inquisition is necessary, conducted strictly according to 
 the forms of law. Any good which this procedure may 
 possibly accomplish would be obtained at the sacrifice 
 of many important objects. For observe how it would
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 197 
 
 work practically in a case of acute mania, as it often 
 appears. The patient is noisy, boisterous, and self- 
 sufficient, bent on going out about bis business, and 
 threatening violence to all who endeavor to prevent it. 
 He refuses proper food and medicine, perhaps insists on 
 having stimulants, and requires the unremitted attention 
 of two or three men. The house is in confusion, the 
 family are frightened, attendants are obtained with dif- 
 ficulty, and every day reveals some fresh phase of the 
 trouble. Endurance is possible no longer, and applica- 
 tion is made to the commissioner. He appoints a day 
 for hearing the case, and notice is given accordingly in 
 the public papers. Counsel appear for the patient and 
 solicit more time for preparation. Of course, the request 
 must be granted, and another week or ten days of ago- 
 nizing care and anxiety must be endured. At the trial, 
 the affairs of the family are laid open to the public gaze; 
 the actions and the discourse of the patient are described 
 in his presence by those who would, in the natural 
 course of things, regard them as something they were 
 bound by every sentiment of honor and propriety to 
 conceal ; and when, at last, the commissioner signs the 
 order for his admission to the hospital, he goes with re- 
 doubled excitement, and with tenfold hostility towards 
 those who have never ceased to love and protect him. 
 If the patient is really insane, — and such is admitted to 
 be the fact in the great majority of cases, — what method 
 could be better calculated to exasperate him to fury, 
 and, on recovery, to fill him with mortification and 
 bitter feeling. 
 
 In view of the very strong objections that lie against 
 all these methods, it becomes a fair question whether we 
 can do better than to retain the old one, whereby the 
 relatives assumed the management of the case, acting
 
 198 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 according to their best judgment under the advice of 
 friends and physicians, and legalize it by a statutory 
 enactment. That it possesses the first two require- 
 ments above mentioned, — the prompt isolation of the 
 patient and the relief of the friends, — is not disputed. 
 Can it not be accompanied by conditions that would 
 secure most effectually the third requirement ? If it 
 can be shown that this matter has been much misunder- 
 stood ; that the apprehended evil, judging from the past, 
 is one of the very smallest dimensions ; and that by suit- 
 able safeguards it may be rendered as little liable to 
 abuse as any transaction between men, then, surely, 
 there can be no reason why a practice so natural, so 
 consonant to our best feelings, and so conformable to 
 our customs, should not be continued. The complaint 
 is, that under the exercise of this privilege sane men and 
 women have been imprisoned for an indefinite time. 
 That such a thing is possible, that it may have actually 
 occurred, we do not deny. But, at the worst, it must 
 have been of very rare occurrence, because superintend- 
 ents of hospitals who have had charge of thousands of 
 patients, and whose opportunities of knowing, therefore, 
 are larger than those of all other persons put together, 
 tell us they have met with scarcely a single case of 
 wrongful imprisonment; and because the alleged cases 
 when impartially investigated do not sustain the com- 
 plaint. The prevalent notion on this subject has been 
 derived, in some measure, from novels and periodicals, 
 where cases of this kind, by the license allowed to such 
 writers, have been used to heighten the interest of the 
 story. It only indicates that change in modern civiliza- 
 tion whereby much of the old machinery of the poet and 
 story-teller has become effete; and thus it happens that 
 the castle and convent and poor debtor's prison, as places
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 199 
 
 for confining luckless heroes and heroines, have given 
 way to lunatic asylums. They have mauy qualifications 
 for this purpose. Their walls are strong, their windows 
 barred, their doors locked ; and, though utterly devoid of 
 cells and dungeons, it required no great stretch of the 
 imagination to conjure them up. Thus, it is not strange 
 that readers who readily believe whatever they find in 
 print should get the impression that cases so repre- 
 sented are, if not literal facts, founded in fact, and ex- 
 press an actual reality. 
 
 But the most prolific source of the prevalent impres- 
 sion on this subject is, unquestionably, the stories of the 
 insane themselves. Generally, insane people do not re- 
 gard themselves as insane, and consequently can see 
 no reason for their confinement other than the malevo- 
 lent designs of those who have deprived them of their 
 liberty. And they are all the more inclined to this 
 conclusion by feelings of hostility already engendered 
 towards their friends and all others who have exercised 
 any control over their movements. Many of them are 
 discharged, much improved, perhaps, but before they 
 have fully come to themselves, and regained the power 
 of seeing their relations to others in the true light. 
 They are ready, on the first opportunity, to spread their 
 fancied grievances before the public, and often with a 
 degree of ingenuity that deceives even the cautious and 
 intelligent. And the task is not difficult. A story cir- 
 cumstantially and plausibly told is universally regarded 
 as presumptively true ; and, if it is one of oppression 
 and wrong, it enlists the deepest sympathies of the 
 hearer. The hero or heroine of the story is invested 
 with the character of a martyr, and people are filled with 
 ndignation and wrath at the thought of an act of high- 
 anded oppression having been perpetrated in the very
 
 200 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 midst of them. Even if the exact truth of the case 
 ever comes to light, — even if a trial at law reveal 
 scenes of violence occurring day after day for weeks 
 and months together within the family circle, a wife or 
 mother beaten and cursed, children frightened and run- 
 ning in terror from the house, and prove the existence 
 of delusions as gross as ever usurped the seat of reason, 
 — it fails to meet the eye of many who heard the origi- 
 nal story, or, if seen, is received with a stronger feeling 
 than mere distrust. Many are reluctant to admit that 
 they have been deceived, and many are loath to give the 
 lie to what has afforded them a thrilling sensation. 
 
 In England and France this right of the friends of an 
 insane person to place him in a hospital without any 
 process of law has always existed, and is now secured 
 by acts of the legislature. The same may be said of 
 Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode 
 Island, and several other States. In all these places 
 the law requires compliance with certain conditions, the 
 general purpose of which is to prevent abuses. The 
 principal of these is a certificate of insanity signed by 
 one or more physicians, and the application of some 
 responsible person. In the " project of a law for regu- 
 lating the legal relations of the insane," which was 
 unanimously sanctioned by the " Association of Medical 
 Superintendents of North American Hospitals for the 
 Insane," we find the following section : " Insane persons 
 may be placed in a hospital for the insane by their legal 
 guardians, or by their relatives or friends in case they 
 have no guardians, but never without the certificate of 
 one or more reputable physicians, after a personal ex- 
 amination made within one week of the date thereof; 
 and this certificate to be duly acknowledged before 
 some magistrate or judicial officer who shall certify to
 
 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 201 
 
 the genuineness of the signature, and of the respecta- 
 bility of the signer." 
 
 Under such a provision the insane may be promptly, 
 quietly, and, with a few possible exceptions, rightfully, 
 placed by their friends in some hospital for the insane. 
 For the possible exceptions, we would have a provision 
 applicable to them alone, and not, at the same time, sub- 
 jecting all the rest to positive discomfort and injury. In 
 the " project of a law " just mentioned, we find the fol- 
 lowing provision : " On a written statement being ad- 
 dressed by some respectable person to some high judicial 
 officer, that a certain person then confined in a hospital 
 for the insane is not insane, and is thus unjustly deprived 
 of his liberty, the judge, at his discretion, shall appoint 
 a commission of not less than three nor more than four 
 persons, one of whom, at least, shall be a physician, and 
 another a lawyer, who shall hear such evidence as may 
 be offered touching the merits of the case, and, without 
 summoning the party to meet them, shall have a per- 
 sonal interview with him, so managed as to prevent him, 
 if possible, from suspecting its objects. They shall re- 
 port their proceedings to the judge, and if, in their 
 opinion, the party is not insane, the judge shall issue an 
 order for his discharge." True, this only abbreviates 
 the wrong : it does not prevent it altogether. But when 
 we consider how small it is, compared with the good 
 which is accomplished, may we not fairly regard it as 
 one of the unavoidable results of that imperfection which 
 is incident to all human arrangements, and which we 
 witness every day of our lives, even in this matter 
 of wrongful imprisonment? Men are arrested, kept in 
 durance, charged with a criminal offence, and yet found 
 on trial to be innocent of the charge, — the victims, 
 perhaps, of conspiracy or perjury. This is no rare, ex-
 
 202 CONFINEMENT OF THE INSANE. 
 
 traordinary thing, — one case in ten thousand, — kindling 
 the wrath of every newspaper-writer in the land, and 
 calling for special and summary legislation, but an every- 
 day occurrence, exciting as little feeling as the most 
 common operations of nature. We are told very calmly 
 that such wrongs are a part of the price we pay for 
 public order and good government. 
 
 Justice to all parties requires some such legislation 
 as we have indicated. That it would prevent all popu- 
 lar clamor, we do not believe. Inasmuch as the notion 
 in question — that sane people are shut up on pretence 
 of insanity — has little or no foundation in reason, it 
 would hardly be expected that it would be amenable to 
 reason. As long as men are swift to believe any plau- 
 sible story of wrong-doing, without inquiry or hesitation j 
 as long as newspapers can find in such stories the mate- 
 rials of a great sensation ; as long as there is a prevalent 
 belief that no one is insane who is not furiously mad, — 
 so lpng will the confinement of the insane in establish- 
 ments expressly designed for the purpose be viewed 
 with feelings of distrust, whatever may be the legal 
 provisions by which it is regulated.
 
 THE CRIMINAL LAW OF INSANITY. 
 
 In all modern Christian communities, insanity has been 
 theoretically considered as a sufficient excuse for criminal 
 acts. In practice, however, it has not always had that 
 effect. In fact, it has never been regarded with great 
 favor, either by the learned or the unlearned, as a plea 
 in defence of crime. This sentiment has probably sprung 
 from various causes, among which may be mentioned 
 the prevalent ignorance respecting its manifestations, 
 the obscurity in which it is often involved, the facility 
 with which it may be offered to screen the guilty from 
 merited punishment, and, of late, the frequency of the 
 plea arising from the increased prevalence of the disease. 
 Of these, the principal, no doubt, is the one first men- 
 tioned, though it is that which people are least willing 
 to admit. 
 
 In some of its forms, insanity can scarcely be mis- 
 taken, and especially in those which are marked by 
 raving : but persons thus affected are never brought to 
 trial. If, however, the patient is tolerably quiet, says 
 but little, and that little coherently, and exhibits only a 
 few delusions mixed up with rational ways and thoughts ; 
 if he is only filled with dismal forebodings and over- 
 whelmed by a sense of despair ; if he has only yielded 
 to an irresistible impulse, — then the presence of disease
 
 204 THE CRIMINAL LAW OF INSANITY. 
 
 is not so obvious, because not manifested by what are 
 popularly supposed to be its proper characters. The 
 traits here mentioned were either not regarded as those 
 of insanity, in any proper sense of the word ; or, if con- 
 sidered to be the result of disease, and to that extent 
 implying insanity, they were not supposed to deprive 
 the mind, necessarily, of all self-control, which may and 
 should be exerted by the faculties that remain beyond 
 the sphere of the morbid influence. Or, to adopt the 
 distinctions of the law, they may not deprive the mind 
 of those elements of crime which consist of intention, 
 free will, and malice. On these points every one feels 
 at liberty to have an opinion of his own ; but, being 
 matters of scientific observation, it is obvious they can 
 be correctly judged, with authority, by those only who 
 have had professional skill and experience. Whether 
 a certain trait or combination of traits is or is not the 
 offspring of disease, is a question of fact to be deter- 
 mined by observation ; and to undertake to determine it 
 without such qualification is, certainly, no mark of wis- 
 dom. Yet this lawyers virtually do, when they lay 
 down rules respecting the effect of insanity on respon- 
 sibility. 
 
 Another reason for the backward condition of the law 
 in reference to insanity is the persistent habit of re- 
 garding it strictly from the legal point of view, ignoring 
 entirely its medical aspects. It would seem to be a 
 sufficiently clear and satisfactory notion, that a certain 
 person is innocent of the crime imputed to him, because 
 he is insane, mad, deranged, beside himself, bereft of 
 his reason, as the fact of mental disease is variously 
 designated. But it is not enough for the lawyer. It is 
 immaterial to him whether the person is technically sane 
 or insane. He only wishes to know whether the mind
 
 THE CRIMINAL LAW OF INSANITY. 206 
 
 is deprived of either of the essential elements of crime, 
 above mentioned. Under the dominion of these techni- 
 cal views, lawyers are unable or unwilling to recognize 
 the fact well understood among medical men, that in- 
 sanity exerts an influence over men's thoughts and ac- 
 tions completely sui generis. How far they are willing 
 to receive it as an excuse for crime depends upon the 
 question how far they can make it square with their 
 notions respecting the proper ingredients of crime. Did 
 the person alleged to be insane, they say, know that the 
 act was wrong and illegal ? Or, in other words, did it 
 indicate those qualities of mind which would have made 
 it criminal in one whose mental condition had not been 
 questioned? The thoroughly legal mind, while admit- 
 ting the impropriety of punishing a person for an act 
 whose nature and quality he could not discern by reason 
 of mental impairment, is quite unwilling to regard in- 
 sanity as, per se, an unconditional excuse for crime. 
 " If, notwithstanding the madness of the accused," says 
 Mr. Stephen, " he did commit a crime, it is impossible 
 to suggest any reason why he should not be punished 
 for it." 1 Which is equivalent to saying, he is undoubtedly 
 innocent, but, on any proper construction of the law, he 
 is undoubtedly guilty. In fact, a madman reasons ab- 
 surdly, of necessity, and is unable to distinguish a gross 
 delusion from an objective reality ; but, says the lawyer, 
 having once started upon a course of reasoning from 
 false premises, the successive steps of his reasoning 
 should follow one another with logical precision. " A 
 man is tried for wounding with intent to murder," says 
 Mr. Stephen. "It is proved that he inflicted the wound 
 under a delusion that he was breaking ajar. The intent to 
 
 1 General View of the Criminal Law of England, p. 96.
 
 206 THE CBIMINAL LAW OF INSANITY. 
 
 murder is disproved, and the prisoner must be acquitted ; 
 but, if he would have had no right to break the supposed 
 jar, he might be convicted of an unlawful and malicious 
 wounding. Wrongfully to break a jar is a malicious 
 act; and if a man wounds another in so doing, he wounds 
 him unlawfully and maliciously. In other words, the 
 delusion must, for the purposes of the trial, be taken to 
 be true." * This is virtually saying to the insane man : 
 " You are not to blame for mistaking a man's head for 
 an earthen jar. Such was the force of your disease, 
 you could not help it; but it ought to have been as 
 clear to you as to everybody else, that you had no right 
 to break the jar, and therefore you can claim no immu- 
 nity from punishment for making such a sad mistake." 
 As if the disorder which caused the mistake could not 
 possibly, at the same time, have deranged his notions of 
 right and wrong. 
 
 The same inability to perceive the radical difference 
 between the operations of the sane and those of the 
 insane mind, has led to other conclusions equally un- 
 founded. One of them is, that madmen must be pun- 
 ished, in order to deter other madmen from doing 
 wrong. As if every madman regarded himself as 
 insane, and, at the same time, were capable of learning 
 a lesson of caution from the fate of other insane persons. 
 As if most of them do not regard their own acts, how- 
 ever injurious and wrong, as perfectly right and deserv- 
 ing of commendation rather than punishment; or, if 
 technically wrong, as conducing to proper and desirable 
 ends. In the whole range of fallacies respecting the 
 effect of insanity on legal responsibility, not one is so 
 destitute of foundation as the idea that the punishment 
 
 1 General View of the Criminal Law of England, p. 92.
 
 THE CRIMINAL LAW OF INSANITY. 207 
 
 of the insane will have the slightest effect on the con- 
 duct of others who are insane. 
 
 In the trials of criminal cases in England, where 
 insanity was pleaded in defence, there was always 
 substituted for the real question at issue some meta- 
 physical dogma utterly irrelevant to the guilt or inno- 
 cence of the prisoner. Did he know the act was illegal? 
 Did he know the act was wrong, contrary to the laws 
 of God and man? Did he manifest contrivance in com- 
 mitting the act ? Was he led to it by the ordinary in- 
 ducements to crime ? Such are the questions on which 
 responsibility has been made to depend, instead of the 
 single and only essential question, whether the act was, 
 or was not, the offspring of disease. 
 
 The first approach to a sound and rational theory 
 of legal responsibility in the case of the insane was 
 made in the trial of Hadfield, where his counsel, Mr. 
 Erskine, declared that the only question for the jury to 
 determine was, whether the act did, or did not, spring 
 from delusion. Sound as the principle is, it was not 
 immediately appreciated ; for in the next notable trial, 
 a dozen years afterwards, that of Bellingham, the cus- 
 tomary tests were offered, and not a word was said 
 about delusion. But it made its appearance occasion- 
 ally in the courts, until on the occasion of the trial of 
 McNaughton, some thirty years ago, it was authorita- 
 tively declared to be the law of the land, that delusion 
 does not necessarily annul responsibility, even whenThe 
 criminal act is its direct offspring. Since that time, 
 trials of this kind have been more frequent than ever 
 before, all over Christendom ; and though in many of 
 them were exhibited a commendable knowledge of insan- 
 ity, and a great advance, in fact, beyond the notions that 
 once prevailed, no sound, settled principle of responsi-
 
 208 THE CRIMINAL LAW OF INSANITY. 
 
 bility has yet been generally recognized. Every case, 
 whatever the issue, has given rise to public complaints, 
 and excited some bitterness of feeling. 
 
 In this country the practice of the courts has followed 
 pretty closely that of England, and there was a sufficient 
 reason why it could not have been better. In the entire 
 absence of institutions for the cure and custody of the 
 insane, no opportunity was afforded for seeing on a large 
 scale the less as well as the more demonstrative forms 
 of the disease. Consequently, the prevalent notions of 
 insanity were associated with the sight of those wretched 
 creatures whose violence required the closest confine- 
 ment in the jails or poorhouses, under circumstances 
 that deprived them of almost every attribute of human- 
 ity. Those subjects of the disease who were still 
 allowed to mingle with their fellow-men were supposed 
 to be not insane in the strict signification of the term, 
 but merely strange, singular, or queer, without being 
 deprived of all power of self-control, of all notions of 
 right and wrong, and of the nature and consequences of 
 crime, — certainly not to that degree which rendered 
 them irresponsible for their acts. In the early settle- 
 ment of this country, they were generally regarded as 
 the willing subjects of Satan. Governor Winthrop, in 
 his History of New England, mentions the case of 
 Dorothy Talbye, who was executed for killing her child. 
 It needs no great knowledge of the disease to see that 
 this poor woman was insane ; but the worthy Governor 
 speaks of her as " so possessed with Satan, that he per- 
 suaded her (by his delusions which she listened to as 
 revelations from God) to break the neck of her own 
 child, that she might free it from future misery." The 
 idea of insanity seems not to have entered his head. 
 And yet Governor Winthrop well represented the intelli-
 
 THE CRIMINAL LAW OF INSANITY. 209 
 
 gence and culture of his time. During the next hun- 
 dred and fifty years, our forefathers scarcely enlarged 
 their knowledge of mental disease, except to discard, in 
 some measure, the notion of Satanic influence. In 1785, 
 one Goss was executed in Connecticut for killing his 
 wife. He believed she was a witch, and that he was 
 haunted by witches and wizards. He called himself 
 the second Lamb of God ; said he was the brother of 
 Jesus Christ, and sometimes said he was the child born 
 of the woman mentioned in the Revelation of St. John, 
 before whom the dragon stood ready to devour the child. 
 He declared the sheriff could not hang him ; that his 
 heavenly Father would interpose, if the attempt were 
 made, and liberate him. Thirty thousand males above 
 fifteen years old, he said, would be instantly killed by the 
 shock. 
 
 Here too, as in England, the progress of improvement 
 has been slow and vacillating ; but, on the whole, our 
 record is better than hers. We can call to mind only 
 three cases of insane persons executed during the last 
 thirty or forty years, — Prescott, in New Hampshire, 
 1834 ; Baker, in Kentucky, 1845 ; and Maude, in New Jer- 
 sey, 1860. The cases of Rogers in Massachusetts, and 
 of Freeman and Thurston in New York, gave rise to very 
 full discussions, both in court and out, respecting the 
 effect of insanity on the mental operations and its re- 
 lations to the law, which left a marked impression on the 
 criminal jurisprudence of the country. In the cases 
 which elicited the following notices were displayed 
 either some curious traits of insanity, or some remark- 
 able administration of the law, or some signal develop- 
 ment of public sentiment ; and therefore they are well 
 worthy the attention of the thoughtful inquirer. 
 
 14
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 [No criminal trial in this country, in which insanity was pleaded in 
 defence, has become more widely known and been oftener cited than 
 that of Abner Rogers. Still, there was nothing extraordinary in the 
 incidents of the case. The insanity of the man was quite demonstra- 
 tive, and entirely free from those questionable features that some- 
 times give rise to serious doubts. Nevertheless, the character of the 
 prisoner, who belonged to that class of social Pariahs which seem 
 destined by their blood and breeding for a life of vice and crime, the 
 eminent virtues and services of the deceased, and the strongly ex- 
 pressed opinion of the surgeon of the prison, who stood high in his 
 profession, that the apparent mental disorder was simulated, raised a 
 very general prejudice against the plea of insanity. The ability of 
 counsel and the intelligence of the court and jury, however, did not 
 suffer it to prevail. 
 
 To the medical jurist this trial derives its interest chiefly from the 
 attempt of Chief Justice Shaw to correct what seemed to him some 
 defects in the criminal law of insanity. He enters into no elaborate 
 examination of these defects. He presents no cases in point. We 
 only know that the law, as he found it, seemed to him inadequate to 
 afford protection to a class of persons who are clearly entitled to it. 
 The precise object he had in view in his manner of stating the law is 
 not very apparent. He was convinced, probably, that Rogers was in- 
 sane, but was doubtful as to his acquittal under the existing rule. We 
 are left in doubt whether he was seeking for some general statement 
 that would admit of universal application, or for something that would 
 be sure to cover only the case before him. It is evident, from the 
 manner in which he handles the subject, that he finds himself on 
 uncertain ground, groping about for something sure and stable which 
 he may lay hold upon. He hesitates and vacillates, returns again
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 211 
 
 and again to qualify what he has said, or to add some condition for 
 the purpose of enlarging or restricting the range of its application. 
 As might be supposed, his ideas lack precision and lucid arrangement, 
 and the reader is not always sure of his exact meaning. ^ 
 
 "The person tempted," he says, "must have memory and intelli- 
 gence, to know that the act he is about to commit is wrong, to remem- 
 ber and understand that, if he commits the act, he will be subject to 
 the punishment ; and reason and will, to enable him to compare and 
 choose between the supposed advantage or gratification to be ob- 
 tained by the criminal act, and the immunity from punishment which 
 he will secure by abstaining from it." These ideas he repeats in the 
 next following sentence, with some unessential change of language. 
 On the next page, as if suspecting that there might be conditions of 
 irresponsibility not fairly represented by these terms, he declares that 
 a man is not punishable, " if his reason and mental powers are either 
 so deficient that he has no will, no conscience or controlling mental 
 power; or, if through the overwhelming violence of mental disease his 
 intellectual power is lor the time obliterated, he is not a responsible 
 moral agent, and is not punishable for criminal acts." Then, as if 
 apprehensive that these tests may not cover "cases of partial insan- 
 ity, where the mind may be clouded and weakened, but not incapable 
 of remembering, reasoning, and judging, or so perverted by insane 
 delusions as to act under false impressions and influences," he lays 
 down the rule of law, as he understands is ; but it is impossible to see 
 how it differs materially from that which he first stated. The phrase- 
 ology is slightly changed, and it is added that the person must be able 
 " to recollect the relation in which he stands to others." All this, 
 excepting the last named condition, is repeated in the next sentence. 
 This is shortly afterwards followed by a repetition, more than once, 
 of the test furnished by the fact of the prisoner's being overwhelmed 
 by the force of disease, and driven by an irresistible and uncontrol- 
 lable impulse. 
 
 The course of reflection pursued by the Chief Justice is a matter 
 of conjecture, but he has furnished us with a clew sufficient to indi- 
 cate it with tolerable correctness. He finds, at the start, among the 
 tests of responsibility sanctioned by authority, that of knowing the 
 act to be contrary to law. This he is obliged to discard because it 
 conflicts with the ancient maxim, Ignorantia legis neminem excusat. 
 The other tests usually associated with it he adopts ; and accordingly 
 he tells the jury that insanity is a sufficient excuse, if the prisoner did 
 not know right from wrong. in regard to the particular act, and could not
 
 212 . TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 understand that he would deserve punishment by doing it. He is not 
 aware of what any attendant in a hospital would have told him ; viz., 
 that many of the insane do things, every day, which they know and 
 admit to be wrong and deserving of punishment. He might have 
 learned the same thing from the case of Hadfield, who admitted that 
 it was wrong and unlawful to kill the king, and deserving of punish- 
 ment. He had learned, however, that insane persons are sometimes 
 blindly and automatically urged to criminal acts by " the overwhelm- 
 ing violence of disease," so that the deed is "the involuntary act of 
 the body without the concurrence*of a mind directing it, 1 ' and he might 
 have suspected that the case before him was one of that description. 
 It is a little surprising that one so accustomed to the incisive logic of 
 the law did not perceive that this condition of irresponsibility is em- 
 braced in the other ; for a person who is impelled by the overwhelm- 
 ing violence of disease, meaning thereby the blind fury of active 
 mania, can scarcely be said to know right from wrong, or to have any 
 fear of punishment. In any case, the plea of irresponsibility must rest 
 on the fact that the person was under stress of disease, the difference 
 in different cases being merely one of degree. The insane man who 
 commits a criminal act, perfectly conscious that it is wrong and pun- 
 ishable, is, most certainly, overborne by the force of disease. 
 
 Again, it appeared in evidence, that the prisoner entertained de- 
 lusions, and it seems to have occurred to the Chief Justice that they 
 ought to furnish the sought for test of irresponsibility. Rogers's 
 special delusion was, that the warden intended to shut him up and 
 then take his life. Believing thus, he would have felt justified in 
 taking the warden's life, as an act of self-defence ; and this he did, 
 perfectly conscious, all the time, of what he was doing, and never re- 
 gretting it. But it is not thus that the Chief Justice puts it to the 
 jury. His question is, whether the prisoner, under the influence of 
 the delusion, did not experience an "outbreak 11 that "must for a 
 time have overborne memory and reason, and become an uncon- 
 trollable impulse. 11 He thus confounds two mental conditions as 
 different as possible. The man who, prompted by a delusion, kills 
 another, acts from a motive, baseless, no doubt, but still to him a 
 sufficient motive. The man who, in a fit of homicidal mania, com- 
 mits murder, is urged by an irresistible impulse, and is afterwards 
 surprised and grieved by what he has done. It is a little surprising 
 that the Chief Justice, abandoning all other tests, had not been 
 content with giving to the jury that alone — delusion — which was so 
 successfully and satisfactorily pressed by Erskine in the Hadfield case.
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 213 
 
 It can hardly be supposed that he was deterred from it by the gloss 
 put upon it by the English judges on the occasion of the McXaughton 
 case, which occurred just before, for it does not appear that their 
 opinion had come to his knowledge ; nor is it likely that he rejected 
 this test because it afforded no protection to the victims of moral 
 insanity. As it is, we are left in doubt whether he understood de- 
 lusion to be a sufficient excuse for a criminal act committed under 
 its influence, unless accompanied by an outbreak of violence. 
 
 The judge's instructions to the jury in the Rogers case illustrate 
 the utter futility of seeking for a universal test of irresponsibility in 
 any particular impairment of the mental operations. When a watch or 
 an engine gives out, nobody supposes that it is always the same wheel 
 or lever or spring that is at fault. It needs no special instruction to 
 convince us that this result will follow a derangement of any part of 
 its complicated machinery. The brain is a machine of the most 
 delicate and complex character, whose working, as indicated by 
 the mental manifestations, will be deranged by imperfection or im- 
 pairment in whatever part of the structure it may occur. The better 
 knowledge of insanity which now prevails demands that these tests 
 and definitions should be abandoned, and the teachings of science be 
 accepted as the only proper rule of law. 
 
 One statement made by the Chief Justice, in his charge, has a pe- 
 culiar interest now, as indicating a near approach to the position 
 which has since been so happily taken. He tells the jury that, if they 
 find that the homicide was " the result of disease,"' they are bound 
 to acquit. Had he discarded every other condition of irresponsibility, 
 and planted himself firmly upon this, saying to the jury, " You have 
 only to consider, first, whether the prisoner was laboring under a men- 
 tal disease, and, secondly, such being admitted, whether the act in 
 question was the offspring of that disease," he would have achieved 
 the honor of making a signal advance in the criminal law of insanity. 
 Thirty years after, this very principle was declared, in State v. Pike, 
 49 X. EL, by Chief Justice Periey of Xew Hampshire, whereby "his 
 name will be associated with the final settlement of this important 
 branch of the law as long as our legal system shall endure."] 
 
 We are glad that this trial 1 has been fully reported. 
 The very unsatisfactory condition of the law on the sub- 
 
 1 Eeport of the Trial of Abner Rogers, Jr., indicted for the murder of 
 Charles Lincoln, Jr., late Warden of the Massachusetts State Prison ;
 
 214 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 ject of insanity as a defence of criminal acts is, perhaps, 
 attributable, in a great measure, to the circumstance 
 that, while the principles which have been laid down at 
 different times were more or less shaped by the partic- 
 ular facts of the case in hand, the latter have been but 
 imperfectly reported ; and thus, the principles being 
 divested of their main support, their truth is not at 
 once and universally recognized, their applicability to 
 practice is entirely misconceived, and new principles are 
 again laid down, supposed to be sounder, and to better 
 meet the requirements of the disease. Hence, cases 
 essentially alike have led to new and even conflicting 
 constructions of the law, by judges who might have 
 agreed respecting the legal principles applicable to any 
 particular case which they tried together. A judge who 
 has heard, from the lips of various witnesses, numerous 
 circumstantial details of the freaks and vagaries of the 
 prisoner, and the strong testimony in his favor of ex- 
 perts, with whom he may be personally acquainted, 
 cannot resist the conviction of the prisoner's insanity ; 
 and he feels bound, as a matter of necessity, to construe 
 the law in such a manner as to afford due protection ; 
 and yet such a construction might not have been thought 
 of, had only the general features of the case been pre- 
 sented to him in chambers. A rigid application of the 
 principles laid down by the English judges, in their 
 recent exposition of the law on this subject, would have 
 consigned to the gibbet several prisoners who were pre- 
 viously tried by some of these very judges, and acquitted 
 with their approbation. So different is the position of 
 
 before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, holden at Boston, 
 on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 1844. By George T. Bigelow and George Bemis, 
 Esqs., Counsel for the Defendant. Boston : Charles C. Little and James 
 Brown, 1844.
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 215 
 
 him who speculates upon a case in his study, from that 
 of him who beholds it clothed in mortal form, breath- 
 ing and moving before him. 
 
 Without going into a detailed account of the trial, 
 we would call attention to some of its most important 
 medico-legal features. 
 
 It appears that in the afternoon of the 15th of June, 
 1813, as Mr. Lincoln, the warden of the Massachusetts 
 state prison, was passing through the shoe-shop, Abner 
 Rogers, one of the convicts, seized a knife and inflicted 
 upon him several wounds of which he instantly died. 
 Rogers was tried for murder. The act was admitted, 
 and the plea of insanity made in defence. The evidence 
 relative to the existence of insanity was remarkably 
 copious, explicit, and satisfactory ; and though much of 
 it was given by convicts, yet every material fact was 
 abundantly confirmed by witnesses of unquestioned 
 credibility. In cases much less clear than this, grand 
 juries have often refused to find a bill ; and probably 
 nothing but the relation of the parties to each other, 
 and the state of public feeling, led to a different course. 
 It seems that the disease was first manifested on Mon- 
 day the 12th of June, about two o'clock in the morning, 
 when Rogers was heard crying or groaning in his cell, as 
 if in great distress, and was found by the watchman stand- 
 ing before the grated door, with his hands crossed upon 
 his breast, and trembling. When reproved for making 
 so much noise, he replied that u he couldn't help it, 
 that he was going to die ; " that he had " heard Cole 
 and Sam Robinson [convicts] say that the warden was 
 going to keep him in solitary the rest of his time, which 
 would kill him ; ' ; that " he should never go out of his 
 cell until he went out feet first." Between this period 
 and that of the homicide, scenes like this were repeated
 
 216 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 several times. He often spoke of hearing voices that 
 forewarned him of impending punishment, which con- 
 sisted in heing shut up by the warden, and having 
 the checkerberry or popo game played upon him ; com- 
 plained of pain in his head ; appeared to be laboring 
 under much mental distress ; would beg of one and an- 
 other to intercede for him with the warden ; disregarded 
 his dress ; and, though employed in the shop, was so un- 
 steady in his work and irregular in his ways as to annoy 
 the others, and induce those who had charge of him to 
 represent to the warden that he was deprived of his 
 senses, and to request that he might be removed. The 
 most prominent features in his disorder were the hallu- 
 cinations of hearing, which occurred chieffy in the night. 
 They were confined to one or two expressions, and pro- 
 ceeded from only two or three individuals. For a few 
 days after the homicide the mental manifestations were 
 not materially different. In conversation, he talked much 
 of the voices, and appeared to be unconscious of having 
 committed the fatal act ; he had a bewildered, unnatural 
 look, and ate his food voraciously. Gradually he ad- 
 mitted that he had killed the warden, that the voices 
 were probably only imaginary, and that he must be 
 necessarily punished as an example to others. In the 
 course of ten or twelve days, all manifest traces of his 
 delusions had disappeared, and then he declared that 
 when he committed the murder he knew not where he 
 was or what he was doing. 
 
 In a case like the present, it may be worth our while 
 to see how the ingenuity of the prosecuting officer, 
 sinking under the difficulties of a bad cause, disposed 
 of the facts which, in the opinion of the medical wit- 
 nesses who had spent years in the observation of the 
 insane, established the reality of insanity beyond a
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 217 
 
 doubt. The only course left for him was, to show, if 
 possible, that these symptoms were feigned, or capable 
 of being explained without resorting to the theory of 
 insanity. The hallucinations he regarded as mere 
 dreams, the effect of disturbed sleep or nightmare. 
 That a person may dream that he hears voices, and for 
 a time believe them to be real, is not improbable. But 
 we venture to say that the instance was never known 
 of a person of sound mind hearing false voices, night 
 after night, uttering the same expressions, and coming 
 from the same individuals. To confirm his view of the 
 matter, he suggested that Cole and Robinson, for the 
 sake of teasing Rogers, might have really told him these 
 things during the day, though the impression abroad is, 
 that the convicts have no conversation with one another. 
 Finally, as if dissatisfied with both these explanations, 
 he doubts if Rogers heard any voices at all, and attrib- 
 utes them, as well as every other sign of disease, to 
 simulation. In one word, he denies the fact and calls for 
 proof. The only proof we can ever have in such a case 
 must be drawn from the accompanying circumstances, 
 which will always furnish sufficient for the purpose. If 
 the hallucination is described with an air of sincerity 
 and good faith, if it be attended by other symptoms of 
 deranged mind, and by indications of bodily disease ; if, 
 in short, its origin, progress, and termination are in 
 accordance with our ordinary experience, then there 
 can be no reasonable ground for doubting its reality. 
 That such proof existed in the present case, we have 
 the authority of the medical experts for believing. If 
 a young man, thirty years old, many of which had been 
 spent in prison, and possessing less than an average 
 share of intelligence, could succeed in deceiving a per- 
 son of such eminent skill and ability as Dr. Bell, who
 
 218 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 repeatedly examined him, we may as well conclude, at 
 once, that simulation of insanity can seldom be detected. 
 The common opinion is, among those who are at all 
 qualified to form such an opinion, that, sufficient oppor- 
 tunity being given, simulated insanity can always be 
 detected by those who have much practical knowledge 
 of the disease. Rogers's insanity did not present those 
 indefinite, negative characters generally selected by 
 simulators, but was a form of disease quite common in 
 hospitals, and one whose features are easily recognized. 
 To simulate it with the least success requires a degree 
 of knowledge and a continuity of vigilance and self- 
 control possessed by few ; certainly not by such men 
 as Rogers. It forms no part of our present object to 
 mention the particular grounds on which the medical 
 witnesses rested their belief in the genuineness of the 
 manifestations. We would take the opportunity, how- 
 ever, to remark that the testimony of Dr. Bell presents 
 one of those happy instances of thorough and sagacious 
 investigation, peculiarly satisfactory and gratifying to 
 those who best know the difficult and delicate nature of 
 the duty he had to perform. 
 
 If Rogers were not insane, then, of course, in killing 
 the warden, he must have been actuated by motives. 
 In trying to convince the jury of this fact, the district 
 attorney adopted a course which evidently shows that 
 he was not himself convinced. He says that Rogers 
 " was a lazy, reckless, and wicked person ; " that " Mr. 
 Braman was in the habit of reporting him for not doing 
 his work right; " that "he was frequently punished;" 
 that he consequently contracted a strong resentment 
 against Mr. Lincoln, uttered threats, and avowed a pur- 
 pose of revenge ; that for some time prior to the hom- 
 icide he manifested his usual steadiness and self-control ;
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 219 
 
 that his manner of doing the act was deliberate and 
 well managed : and that subsequently he confessed he 
 had done wrong and expected to suffer. All these 
 points, except the last, are the offspring of the district 
 attorney's own brain. B ram an never reported Rogers 
 for not doing his work right, nor did any one else. On 
 the contrary, all the witnesses on each side who spoke at 
 all on this point agreed in representing his behavior as 
 good, — " better than the average of convicts;" and 
 the district attorney himself remarked that Braman and 
 Crowninshield spoke well of his conduct and work. So 
 far from having been frequently punished, it appears 
 that during the six months previous to the 12th of June 
 he had been punished but once, and then slightly. The 
 district attorney said he frequently received minor pun- 
 ishments which were not recorded ; but we find no 
 evidence to that effect. That Rogers may have uttered 
 threats is not at all unlikely; for we presume it is not 
 uncomm'on for convicts, when unusually irritated, to vent 
 their spleen in this manner, without entertaining any 
 serious, settled purpose of revenge. In regard to his 
 conduct and manner during the three or four days pre- 
 vious to the homicide, the testimony is unanimous in 
 representing them as very unusual. All the witnesses 
 testified that he appeared as if in great distress, and 
 acted irregularly and strangely. We do not see that 
 his manner of perpetrating the deed evinced more 
 deliberation or contrivance than any one not quite an 
 idiot would have displayed. But, had it been other- 
 wise, who needs to be told that forecast, caution, and 
 ingenuity are not incompatible with the existence of 
 insanity, — that they are evinced by a large proportion 
 of the insane? Neither is his manner of speaking 
 of the act any more indicative of thorough sanity.
 
 220 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 When an insane person first becomes conscious of 
 having committed some grievous wrong, he does not 
 sit down to reflect upon the matter, and coolly come to 
 the conclusion that he was deprived of reason at the 
 time, and consequently irresponsible for his acts ; but 
 the sense of wrong-doing and guilt is generally excited 
 at once, and he speaks of the expected punishment as 
 something which may be hard to bear, but not unjust 
 or improper. It is not until reason is quite reestab- 
 lished that he views this point in its true light. Rogers's 
 remark, therefore, that " no mortal could save him from 
 hanging, for it would not do to overlook his offence," 
 is very like what an insane man would have said on 
 first becoming conscious of such a dreadful act. At 
 any rate, he would not have been likely to say it, had 
 he been simulating. If any doubt of Rogers's insanity 
 could remain after the evidence given at the trial, it 
 must have been effectually removed by his subsequent 
 history as related by Dr. Woodward, physician of the 
 lunatic hospital to which he was sent on being ac- 
 quitted on the ground of insanity. 1 We have no hesi- 
 tation in saying that his last performance, that of 
 bolting through a closed window without attempting 
 
 1 It appears from Dr. Wood ward's account that, during the four or five 
 months he was in the hospital, Rogers had turns of great restlessness, 
 when lie complained of headache, vertigo, and loss of appetite. At these 
 times he was very irritable, and his pulse was over a hundred. He also 
 looked anxious and distressed, and was apprehensive of heing poisoned. He 
 said he saw evil spirits in his room and smelt corpses under his bed. He 
 told an associate that the food offered him was a corpse, — he could smell 
 it. At last, while at prayers in the chapel, one evening, he became very 
 uneasy, said the room was full of dead bodies, and begged to go out. His 
 request not being heeded, as the service was nearly over, he bolted head 
 first through the window, so rapidly that the noise was mistaken by those 
 near him for the report of a pistol or gun. He fell fourteen feet, and died 
 within thirty-six hours.
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 221 
 
 to raise it, is one no man in his senses could have 
 done. 
 
 The remarkable testimony of Dr. Walker, the physi- 
 cian of the prison, derives some importance from his 
 official character, and therefore we are constrained to 
 subject it to a close scrutiny. He testified that, in his 
 opinion, Rogers was not insane when he committed the 
 homicide. To some, this gentleman's name may be a 
 sufficient guaranty for the correctness of this or any 
 other opinion he may offer ; but the medical jurist will 
 be satisfied with nothing short of the amplest proof. 
 What, then, are the grounds of this opinion? On the 
 morning of the homicide, Rogers went to the hospital 
 for medical relief, approaching the physician in a quiet, 
 steady manner. " I asked him," says the doctor, " what 
 was the matter. He threw himself into gesticulations 
 at once, put his hands to the side of his head, and said : 
 'lam in great distress here ; I am in pain all over. I 
 am in pain right through here, and feel as if I could not 
 govern my mind.' I said to him, ' I understand this. 
 If you will do your part towards meriting kind treat- 
 ment, you will receive it.' He became collected imme- 
 diately, was attentive to ray advice, and went quietly 
 away." From this interview alone, — for the doctor 
 never put eyes on the prisoner afterwards until he saw 
 him in the court-room, — he was satisfied that Rogers 
 was of perfectly sound mind, and came to the hospital 
 for the purpose of deceiving him. " My reasons for 
 this opinion are, that, when he passed the door of the 
 room where I was, I saw his countenance, and there 
 was nothing unusual in its expression. He approached 
 me at first with his common gait, and with his usual 
 calm appearance and collected manner, and without any 
 manifestations of distress. On making his statement to
 
 222 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 me, he threw himself into the position I have described. 
 He did not feel the pain he pretended to have in his 
 head : if he had, he would have walked more carefully, 
 so as not to jar it, and his distress would have shown 
 itself in his countenance. He made no remonstrance 
 against my advice. He said nothing about hearing 
 voices." We venture to say that never was a case of 
 suspected simulation so summarily disposed of before. 
 Distinguished medical jurists have thought that long 
 and repeated interviews with the prisoner, vigilant ob- 
 servation of his movements, the trial of various tests, 
 a knowledge of his past history, and a careful examina- 
 tion of his physical condition, were all required, in a 
 greater or less degree, to establish beyond a doubt the 
 true nature of the case. They have thought that no 
 investigation less thorough and patient than this could 
 satisfy the requirements of justice and of their own pro- 
 fessional reputation. Dr. Walker reached his object by 
 a shorter — we doubt if it will prove to have been a 
 smoother — path. Mortals less happily endowed cannot 
 but wonder at the marvellous sagacity which, without 
 the slightest intimation from others respecting the pris- 
 oner's designs, could discern at a glance the signs of 
 simulation, and in five minutes or less become convinced 
 beyond the reach of a doubt. Not a word did he care 
 to know of Rogers's previous conduct or conversation, 
 nor did he deem it worth while to ascertain his present 
 thoughts and feelings. The prisoner said he had great 
 pain and distress all over ; but to look at his tongue, to 
 examine his pulse, to feel of his skin, &c, did not seem 
 to be among the doctor's means for ascertaining the ex- 
 istence of physical disease. He looked at him for the 
 space of five minutes, saw him walk, and heard him say 
 he had a pain in his head, and could not govern his
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 223 
 
 mind. That was enough. What need of a multiplicity 
 of examinations and a long report? 
 
 We find some difficulty in examining particularly Dr. 
 Walker's " reasons " for believing Rogers was not insane, 
 for they seem to have but little to do with the question. 
 We are quite unable to see how his change of manner, 
 as noticed by the doctor, can be regarded as indicative 
 of simulation. It certainly was not inconsistent with the 
 most perfect sincerity; while, if simulating, he would, in 
 all probability, have begun to act his part the moment lie 
 came in sight or hearing of his physician. His not favor- 
 ing the alleged pain in his head by a more careful gait 
 might perhaps indicate that the pain was a mere pretence, 
 provided he were of sound mind, which was the very 
 point to be proved. Few insane men would take any 
 such precaution. They would be as likely to stand on 
 their heads, or beat them against the wall, in order to 
 relieve their distress, as to walk with a slow, measured 
 gait. His not mentioning the subject of the voices is, 
 at best, but a negative proof of simulation, and had as 
 little to do with this point as the opposite fact would 
 have had. Had he been simulating, he would probably 
 have spoken of the voices; but regarding them as reali- 
 ties, and not the offspring of disease, why should he 
 have spoken of them ? Dr. Walker could not prevent 
 Cole and Robinson from addressing him. Indeed, it was 
 not the voices which he considered a grievance : it was 
 the designs of the warden and others, revealed to him 
 by the voices, of which he complained ; and it was that 
 feeling of distress in the head, so common in the 
 initiatory stage of mania, that he sought the aid of the 
 doctor to remove. 
 
 We observe that in this trial the utmost freedom was 
 allowed to counsel, in quoting from medical books on the
 
 224 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 subject of insanity. Page after page, from French, Eng- 
 lish and American authors, was read to the jury, with- 
 out the slightest check from the court, except the re- 
 mark that, at some future time perhaps, the practice 
 might be subjected to some regulations. In Maine it 
 has been expressly decided, contrary to the custom in 
 every other State, that in criminal cases medical books 
 cannot be read to the jury ; and in civil cases only by 
 consent of parties. The principal reasons assigned for 
 this rule of the Maine court are, first, that in receiving 
 books as evidence — in which character they really ap- 
 pear, in whatever shape they may be introduced — we 
 are debarred of that invaluable means of eliciting truth, 
 cross-examination ; and, secondly, that books without the 
 least authority among scientific men may be represented 
 to be worthy of the utmost confidence of the jury. 
 These reasons are not without some weight, but they 
 seem to be more than balanced by others ; and thus we 
 are reduced to the alternative of choosing the least of 
 the two evils. If the practice in question is an anomaly 
 in judicial procedure, the idea of submitting the fact of 
 the existence of insanity in a given case to the decision 
 of twelve men, not one of whom, perhaps, ever saw a 
 case in his life, or ever made the disease a matter of 
 stud)', is no less an anomaly in the common sense and 
 common practice of mankind. Men charged with such 
 a duty would seem to have a claim to all the light that 
 can be furnished them. If they are to decide profes- 
 sional questions, let them have access to the fountains of 
 professional knowledge, — to the Marcs and Esquirols 
 who have spent their lives in acquiring it. Their exten- 
 sive means of observation may have given them the op- 
 portunity to become acquainted with facts, unknown to 
 any witness that can be summoned, but which are essen-
 
 TEIAL OF ROGERS. 225 
 
 tial to the correct adjudication of the case in hand. True, 
 a book cannot be cross-examined like a witness, and there 
 is not equal reason why it should. Scientific works pre- 
 sent us the results of their authors' observations, with- 
 out reference to any particular purpose for which they 
 may be used; and, if their ability and good faith are 
 acknowledged by those most competent to judge, it would 
 seem as if there could be nothing gained by cross-ex- 
 amining in regard to any point they may have treated. 
 When Esquirol says that one quarter of the insane have 
 hallucinations ; and Marc, that a majority are uncon- 
 scious, when they recover, of any thing that occurred 
 during the violent stage of their disorder, does any- 
 body believe that a cross-examination of these writers 
 would show that the above proportions are incorrectly 
 stated? Unquestionably, juries may not always be able 
 to satisfy themselves exactly what degree of confidence 
 this or that writer is entitled to ; but they labor under 
 the same difficulty in regard to witnesses. We have 
 known the opinions of the shallow and conceited pre- 
 tender to science avail as much with the jury as those 
 of the most accomplished expert. It would seem as if 
 it came within the province of the court to instruct the 
 jury in regard to the relative authority of different 
 books that may have been read, as well as the compara- 
 tive credibility of different witnesses. Considering how 
 often the subject of insanity comes before our courts, is 
 it unreasonable to expect that it should be embraced 
 among their studies, so far at least as to make them 
 acquainted with the degree of authority respectively 
 possessed by the leading writers ? Shall a judge com- 
 mend to a jury the conclusions of Lord Hale regarding 
 insanity two hundred years ago, while utterly ignoring 
 
 15
 
 226 TEIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 the works of men of our own time, who have spent years 
 in observing its phenomena? 1 
 
 In charging the jury, the court adopted no particular, 
 concise principle relative to legal responsibility, but 
 used a multiplicity of expressions variously modified, to 
 designate that condition of mind which absolves from 
 the legal consequences of crime. This fact might seem 
 to indicate some dissatisfaction either with the prin- 
 ciples or phraseology of previous decisions. Its fre- 
 quent recurrence to this point, and each time with some 
 modification of language, may have been, perhaps, only 
 the result of a very proper anxiety to lay down no prin- 
 ciple which would either fail to protect the victim of 
 disease or furnish immunity from punishment to genuine 
 guilt. Collating the various passages in which the court 
 mentions the mental conditions of irresponsibility, and re- 
 jecting all expletory and equivalent expressions, we have 
 the following as the sense of the court on this point : 
 viz., A person is not responsible for any criminal act he 
 may commit, if, by reason of mental infirmity, he is inca- 
 pable of distinguishing between right and wrong in regard 
 to the particular act, and of knowing that the act itself will 
 subject him to punishment ; or has no will, no conscience, 
 nor controlling mental power ; or has not sufficient power 
 of memory to recollect the relations in which he stands to 
 others and in which they stand to him ; or has his reason, 
 
 1 A few years afterwards, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts 
 made a rule, Commonwealths. Wilson, 1 Gray, 339, prohibiting the read- 
 ing of books altogether. " Facts or opinions," says the court ( Chief 
 Justice Shaw), "on the subject of insanity, as on any other subject, 
 cannot be laid before the jury except by the testimony, under oath, of 
 persons skilled in such matters. Whether stated in the language of the 
 court or of the counsel, in a former case, or cited from the works of legal 
 or medical writers, they are still statements of fact, and must be proved 
 on oath."
 
 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 227 
 
 conscience, and judgment so overwhelmed by the violence of 
 the disease, as to act from an irresistible, uncontrollable 
 impulse. 
 
 We are not sure that these conditions of irresponsibil- 
 ity would furnish protection to all who might require it. 
 Rigidly construed, they certainly would not. No general 
 propositions of this kind not in accordance with the phe- 
 nomena of insanity can meet the requirements of the 
 case ; and the above, as well as others like them, we are 
 quite sure would never have been formed by one practi- 
 cally acquainted with the insane mind. To such it is 
 matter of daily observation, that many an inmate of an 
 insane hospital is capable of distinguishing between right 
 and wrong, knows well enough the relations between 
 himself and most others, and never acts "rom irresistible, 
 uncontrollable impulse, but deliberately and cautiously, 
 with a full consciousness of the consequences. No in- 
 considerable portion of the insane know perfectly well 
 when they do wrong, and may sometimes be deterred 
 therefrom by the fear of punishment or deprivation of 
 privileges. Ask a patient of this kind why he did this or 
 that wrong thing, whether he was driven thereto by an 
 irresistible impulse, and he will be likely to reply, " No. 
 I acted as I did because it gave me pleasure. I suppose 
 the devil was in me." 
 
 When will the world recognize the truth, as well 
 established as any in nature, that insanity not only im- 
 pairs the intellectual or reasoning powers, but perverts 
 the moral faculties, vitiating the tastes and sentiments, 
 and furnishing strange motives and impulses. The radi- 
 cal error in all these principles of responsibility is to 
 suppose that in any case of insanity we can say exactly 
 how far the operations of the mind are, or are not, 
 affected by the disease. For it is conceived to be the
 
 228 TRIAL OF ROGERS. 
 
 duty of the jury to satisfy themselves that the prisoner 
 is not only insane, but so insane as to be irresponsible 
 for crime. Why then do courts persist in attempting to 
 analyze, define, and describe mental operations which 
 are confessedly beyond the reach of our apprehension ? 
 Simply because more than one hundred and fifty years 
 ago, a distinguished judge, following the lights of his 
 time, declared that " partial insanity seems not to excuse 
 men in the committing of any offence for its matter 
 capital. 7 ' 1 We trust, however, the time is near when 
 such authority on such a subject will be regarded by 
 our courts as entitled to but little weight amid the 
 superior lights of our own time. 
 
 1 Lord Hale, Pleas of the Crown, 30.
 
 THE TRIAL OF BAKER. 
 
 [The case of Baker painfully illustrates the mischief that may be 
 produced under our legal system, by popular ignorance and passion. 
 The jury went to their seats possessed of the idea that pervaded the 
 whole community, that an audacious attempt was to be made to screen 
 a murderer from merited punishment by means of that last resort of 
 unscrupulous counsel, the plea of insanity. Of course, on minds thus 
 prepared, the testimony of friends and experts, showing, unquestion- 
 ably, the presence of disease, had no more weight than an idle tale. 
 As might have been expected among a people of little culture, and 
 with ample leisure for discussing passing events, this case was, un- 
 doubtedly, a topic of frequent and exciting conversation ; every 
 damaging circumstance being exaggerated, and many invented by 
 their inflamed imaginations, until the prisoner became, in the eyes of 
 every man, woman, and child, an embodiment of the most fiendish 
 iniquity. The historian, the orator, the jurist, setting forth the ines- 
 timable blessings of trial by jury, and the man of the world brought 
 up to believe in it as the palladium of personal liberty, make little 
 account of some of the elements that enter into a verdict in a case 
 that has been discussed in every village gathering, and has provoked 
 from partisans on both sides every species of persuasion and menace. 
 This is no exaggeration. Who has not, in a jury trial, seen the ties 
 of relationship sundered, and a man set at variance against his father, 
 the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against the 
 mother-in-law? 
 
 Amidst a sparse population,, it needs only some effort to ascertain 
 how every individual feels in regard to the pending case, and but 
 little ingenuity to adapt the proper arts of persuasion accordingly.
 
 230 THE TRIAL OF BAKER. 
 
 It needs no prophet to predict the result when one party is weak and 
 the other is strong, in position and influence. Not many have the 
 courage to brave the ill-will of parties able and ready to punish them 
 for daring to perform their duty on the witness-stand. To incur the 
 hostility of a powerful family, in a matter involving the deepest interests 
 and exciting the strongest feelings, is a kind of moral suicide that few 
 are disposed to commit, without some stronger inducement than the 
 simple love of justice. Consequently, it may happen, as it did in 
 this case, that under the forms and solemnities of a judicial proceed- 
 ing an outrage is committed upon justice which one can scarcely 
 allude to but in terms of the severest reprobation. If this were an 
 exceptional case, happening accidentally, as it were, it might not be 
 well, after so long an interval, to bring it again before the public eye. 
 But inasmuch as such cases spring from certain principles of human 
 nature, and are indicative of certain phases of our social system, and 
 therefore are liable to be repeated, — as indeed once occurred to 
 the fullest extent under my own observation, — it may be profitable 
 for reproof and correction that the trial of Baker should be kept in 
 remembrance.] 
 
 The document, whose title-page 1 we have quoted 
 below, discloses one of those revolting cases of judicial 
 ignorance and barbarity which fill us with horror and 
 amazement. It is with feelings of unspeakable morti- 
 fication and sorrow that we find it reserved for the 
 year of our Lord, 1845, in the State of Kentucky, to 
 present us, in the administration of the law, with a 
 triumph of passion, revenge, ignorance, and political 
 faction, over the pleadings of humanity and science, 
 unparalleled, we venture to say, in the judicial history 
 of our country. We shall not spend words upon the 
 
 1 Life and Trial of Dr. Abner Baker, Junior (a Monomaniac), 
 who was executed October 3d, 1845, for the Alleged Murder of his 
 Brother-in-law, Daniel Bates ; including Letters and Petitions for 
 his Pardon, and a Narrative of the Circumstances attending his Execu- 
 tion, &c, &c. By C. W. Crozier. Trial and Evidence, by A. R. 
 M'Kee. Louisville, Ky., Prentice & Weissinger, Printers. 1846.
 
 THE TRIAL OF BAKER. 231 
 
 actors in this affair, for such persons would heed the 
 strongest expressions of public indignation as little as 
 the winds. People who are addicted to such pungent 
 arguments as bowie-knives and pistols would scarcely 
 feel the paper bullets of the brain. As faithful jour- 
 nalists of matters connected with insanity, we could 
 not overlook this case; while it will give those worthy 
 people who mourn over the prevalence of the plea of 
 insanity in defence of crime an opportunity to see the 
 other side of the matter, and derive what consolation 
 they can from the sight of a wretched maniac proclaim- 
 ing his wild delusions from the gibbet. 
 
 Dr. Baker, the accused in this case, was a practising 
 physician in Clay County, Kentucky, of a well-known 
 and respectable family, and at his decease about thirty 
 years of age. One of the editors of this publication 
 states that as early as 1838 and 1839 he manifested 
 some singularities of deportment that caused much 
 speculation among his friends. Once while attending 
 the medical lectures he suddenly, and without the least 
 provocation, began to abuse a fellow-student for looking 
 at his head, suspecting him of looking at a lock of white 
 hair, and threatening to take his life if he did it again. 
 He then resided with this editor, who also says, — 
 though neither of these facts appeared in evidence at 
 the trial, — " That he would frequently alarm the family 
 "at a late hour in the night by crying out that some per- 
 sons were in the house. We would light a candle, and, 
 followed by Dr. Baker, who was armed with the tongs 
 or shovel, would examine every apartment, even to the 
 garret; and he would after this still insist that there 
 were persons in the house, as he heard them whisper- 
 ing." We hear nothing more of his mental irregular- 
 ities until within a year of the homicide, when some
 
 232 THE TRIAL OF BAKER. 
 
 notions he expressed to his father respecting Bates's 
 treatment of his wife awakened in the father's mind the 
 suspicion which he had previously entertained, that his 
 son was becoming deranged. This, and the following 
 facts respecting his mental condition, we find in the 
 evidence given at the trial. 
 
 In May, 1844, he married a young girl of a wealthy 
 and respectable family, herself of an unblemished char- 
 acter, and went to reside in the family of this James 
 Bates, whose wife was a sister of Baker. From this 
 time till the day of his execution he was possessed with 
 the idea that his wife was unchaste, — a subject, indeed, 
 of nymphomania. On this point he seems to have spo- 
 ken very freely and with almost everybody ; and among 
 a multitude of persons whom he mentioned as having 
 criminal intercourse with his young wife, at one time 
 or another, w T ere her teacher, her uncles, this brother- 
 in-law Bates, and even negroes. He believed that she 
 commenced this infamous conduct as early as her ninth 
 or tenth year, and continued it at every opportunity 
 subsequently. In regard to some of these persons, he 
 declared that they came into his sleeping-room at night, 
 and accomplished their purpose even in his own pres- 
 ence ; and that on one occasion, whilst visiting his father's 
 family, his own mother lent her assistance. He also 
 imagined that his mother and sisters kept a house of ill- 
 fame ; that Bates treated his own wife with great cru- 
 elty, and had debauched her younger sister, and that 
 in conjunction with his (Baker's) wife he once at- 
 tempted to poison him. He told a witness that they 
 gave him some toddy, and, though he took but a sip of 
 it, yet " it swelled up his head until it felt as large as a 
 bushel ; and that, if he had drank as much as usual, it 
 would have blown him to hell in five minutes." He
 
 THE TRIAL OF BAKER. 233 
 
 frequently expressed his belief that Bates was at the 
 head of a conspiracy to kill him, and that for this pur- 
 pose he had collected muskets and other weapons in 
 his house, and had set his negroes to waylay him in 
 secluded places. 
 
 During the period between his marriage and the hom- 
 icide, he manifested various symptoms of bodily ill- 
 health. His brother, also a physician, testified that 
 " his bowels were costive, stomach irritable, mucous 
 membrane covering the mouth and fauces red and much 
 swollen," and that he was " watchful and restless." 
 Another witness stated that " his countenance had a 
 haggard expression," and he " looked as if just recov- 
 ering from a spell of sickness." He seems to have 
 neglected his business, and taken but little interest in 
 any thing beyond the circle of his delusions. Finally, 
 after one attempt, in which he was defeated by the vig- 
 ilance of Bates, he succeeded in shooting his victim on 
 the 13th of September, 1844. He made no attempt to 
 escape, was quietly arrested, tried by a magistrate, and 
 discharged on the ground of insanity. His brothers 
 took him home with them, and endeavored to restore 
 him to health ; but, not completely succeeding in this 
 purpose, they concluded, at the end of some three or 
 four months, to send him to Cuba, for the benefit of 
 change of air, scene, &c. While here, Governor Owsley 
 of Kentucky issued a proclamation in which Baker 
 was described as a fugitive from justice, and a reward 
 was offered for his arrest. This immediately induced 
 his family to get him home and surrender him to the 
 authorities of the State. 
 
 His trial began on the 7th of July, 1845, before the 
 Hon. Tunstel Quarles, judge of the fifteenth judicial 
 district. Public feeling seems to have been much ex-
 
 284 THE TEIAL OF BAKER. 
 
 cited. The friends of the deceased and of the prisoner, 
 respectively, made unusual efforts, the former to obtain 
 his conviction, and the latter his acquittal. Armed 
 men were observed in every part of the court-room ; 
 and a long array of eminent counsel appeared on each 
 side. A considerable number of witnesses were exam- 
 ined, to whom the largest liberty was allowed in giving 
 their testimony, much of which was mere hearsay and 
 rumor. Whether the courts of Kentucky ever pretend 
 to be governed by any rules of evidence is what we do 
 not know ; but in this case, certainly, there was a com- 
 plete defiance of all rules recognized in this part of the 
 world, for the witnesses were permitted to ramble on 
 pretty much as they pleased. The two following pas- 
 sages, each of which is a continuous extract, will give 
 the reader some idea of what is considered evidence 
 in Kentucky : — 
 
 " Witness was at the Lunatic Asylum in Lexington, and 
 saw the inmates, and did not then believe that a man could 
 be deranged upon one subject and not upon all. Witness 
 was told by Mrs. Dr. Reid, that Dr. Reid said that Dr. Baker 
 was deranged, and had been in that condition for twelve 
 months. Said, damn his derangement. Witness had a con- 
 versation with Mr. Woodcock, the clerk of Clay, and attorney 
 Einsworth, and they said that the best ground of Abner 
 Baker's defence was derangement, and witness said then that 
 was a fashionable w T ay of defence. Witness has since read 
 upon the subject a little, and heard some conversation, and 
 noAv has no doubt that Abner Baker is a monomaniac." — 
 p. 81. 
 
 "Witness told Baker that a neighbor woman had told his 
 (witness's) wife, that Bates had said that if he (Baker) ever 
 came down he would kill him." — p. 15. 
 
 4
 
 THE TEIAL OF BAKER. 235 
 
 After this specimen, no one can be surprised that most 
 of the witnesses, though not medical men, were allowed 
 to express their opinion respecting Baker's mental con- 
 dition ; and the manner in which some of them expatiated 
 on this point is certainly curious, if not very instruc- 
 tive. Two medical witnesses only were examined, one 
 for the government, the other for the prisoner. The 
 former, Dr. Reid, seems to have obtained some new light 
 on the subject of insanity, which we feel bound to notice 
 for the sake of our professional brethren, w T ho might 
 not otherwise receive its benefits. He states that " he 
 had not expressed the opinion that Dr. B. was insane, 
 but he has been of the opinion that Dr. B. was laboring 
 under illusions of mind in regard to his wife." Again 
 he says, that " a person who can lay all his plans for 
 carrying out any thing desired to be accomplished would 
 not be laboring under insanity." This gentleman's 
 answers seemed to be the mere echo of the questions 
 put to him by either side ; for he finally admitted that, 
 supposing the facts respecting Baker's extraordinary 
 notions, as we have mentioned them above, to be true, 
 he was unquestionably insane. Dr. Richardson, of Lex- 
 ington, who, for many years, had been a professor in the 
 Transylvania University, was called by the other side ; 
 and though he had never been devoted expressly to the 
 care of the insane, yet he appears to have seen some- 
 what more of such patients than most practitioners. He 
 had visited Baker in jail, and heard the testimony at the 
 trial, and could have no doubt that he was insane. His 
 notion, however, that the position Baker sat in was 
 strongly indicative of insanity, savors more of the fanci- 
 ful than the scientific. But the evidence established 
 beyond a doubt the existence of Baker's delusions, while 
 it disclosed not a shadow of foundation for them in the
 
 236 THE TEIAL OF BAKER. 
 
 conduct of his wife or of Bates. Indeed there was no 
 attempt to prove that their characters were otherwise 
 than irreproachable, or that his delusions were not as 
 baseless as the fabric of a vision. 
 
 All the counsel declined to furnish their speeches to 
 the editor, except one who pleaded for the prisoner, so 
 that we do not know on what ground precisely his con- 
 viction was urged. Neither does the charge of the court 
 to the jury appear ; and therefore we are left in the dark 
 as to the views of the court on the law of insanity. The 
 jury were out two days ; and it is not the least remark- 
 able trait of this remarkable trial, that, " during a great 
 part of the time," as the editor states, " a large body of 
 influential men, most of them armed, stood in full view 
 of the jury." It is not surprising that the result of such 
 deliberations was the conviction of the prisoner. A 
 motion was made for a new trial, but without success; 
 sentence was pronounced and a day appointed for the 
 execution. Thus ended another act of this judicial 
 tragedy. A sadder is to follow. 
 
 The friends of Baker now made every effort to pro- 
 cure his pardon. Six of the jury signed a paper recom- 
 mending him to mercy, — we say signed, though two of 
 them made their mark, " like honest, plain-dealing men," 
 — in which they say that Baker " was in a state of mental 
 excitement and delusion respecting his wife and said 
 Bates, which may be considered insanity." One of this 
 number also certifies, am<5ng other things, that, " from 
 the evidence, they believed that Dr. Baker was deranged 
 upon those subjects, and not a fit subject for example : 
 but from our understanding of the law applied to 
 the evidence we had to find a verdict of guilty. I do 
 further certify," he continues, " that, if the delusions 
 which were proved upon Baker had been facts, it
 
 THE TRIAL OF BAKER. 237 
 
 would have been a full and good excuse for killing hiin 
 (Bates)." 
 
 Another certificate, in which the same sentiments are 
 expressed in the same words, was signed by four other 
 jurymen. Such a juxtaposition of the most latitudina- 
 rian indulgence to crime with the most servile obedi- 
 ence to the letter of the law is without its like, we 
 apprehend, in all the annals of criminal jurisprudence. 
 Applications for his pardon were made by hundreds of 
 persons, comprising some of the most respectable and 
 best known citizens in the State. The leading medical 
 men in Kentucky, among whom were several professors 
 of the Transylvania University, and our friend Dr. 
 Allan, the worthy superintendent of the Kentucky Luna- 
 tic Asylum, after examining the testimony given at the 
 trial, declared their belief that he was deeply insane when 
 he committed the homicide. The result of the movement 
 was only to procure a reprieve of a few weeks, and he 
 was finally executed on the 3d of October, 1845. Under 
 the gallows he made a speech, rehearsing his delusions 
 respecting his wife and Bates, and glorying in the 
 bloody deed for which he suffered. Taking hold of the 
 rope, he exclaimed, " Behold the necklace of a whore I" 
 Thus, under the sacred names of justice and law, was en- 
 acted a fearful tragedy which outraged both. A proper 
 pride of country would have induced us to bury in ob- 
 livion, if possible, a case indicative of a state of civili- 
 zation more like that of the middle ages than of the 
 nineteenth century. But an imperative sense of duty 
 impels us to hold up its atrocities to the public view, in 
 the hope that such exposure will convey an impressive 
 and a salutary lesson. When a gross outrage is com- 
 mitted on the rights of humanity, we regard it as the 
 duty of every honest man, when reasonable opportunity
 
 238 THE TRIAL OF BAKER. 
 
 offers, to proclaim his disapprobation in tones that 
 shall reach the wrong-doer, even in his most secret 
 refuge. 
 
 In taking leave of this case, we would express the 
 hope -that no similar one will ever be permitted again to 
 disgrace our country and the age.
 
 CASE OF C. A. 
 
 [The following case presents one of those forms of insanity which 
 are very apt to be misunderstood by people not practically conversant 
 with the disease. The patient is depressed, certainly, but it is a kind 
 of depression that may proceed, apparently, from the ordinary 
 troubles of life, and indicate no pathological disturbance. He is 
 regarded as low-spirited, moody, cross-grained, and absorbed in his 
 own reflections ; and, as he is obstinately taciturn, nothing more is 
 learned of his mental condition. This form of disease begins with 
 simple depression, which gradually deepens until every ray of light 
 and hope is extinguished, and a sense of intense and inexplicable 
 wretchedness excludes every other thought and care. Ordinary pur- 
 suits have lost their interest, the sweet influences of life are all un- 
 heeded, and the time is spent in reverie or restless movement. Then 
 succeeds suspicion of the designs of those around the patient, — mem- 
 bers of his own family, or even intimate friends, — and this finally 
 grows into a settled conviction that plans and conspiracies are form- 
 ing against his life and peace. In most cases, probably, the persons 
 suspected are not at first identified with any particular individual. 
 They are a sort of abstraction ; and, when asked who they are, the 
 only reply is, " They do or say so and so." The movements and 
 expressions of others are watched, scrutinized, and misunderstood ; 
 and the most innocent occasions are tortured into proofs of hostility 
 and hate. The perceptive powers are morbidly quickened, until they 
 give rise to false impressions. Sounds and sights the most insignifi- 
 cant are thus distorted into some painful relation to himself, and 
 when all is silent he may hear mysterious voices charging him with 
 crimes and revolting indecencies. Thus far he may give no intima- 
 tion of the thoughts and feelings that possess his mind, for he avoids
 
 240 CASE OF C. A. 
 
 conversation and seeks solitude. The end of it all is mania, demon- 
 strative enough to satisfy the most incredulous. But before this takes 
 place, his delusions, rendered for a while unusually intense, may pre- 
 cipitate him upon some fearful act of violence. A dear friend or an 
 utter stranger coming before him at such a moment, he suddenly, and 
 with an irresistible impulse, avails himself of any means at hand, and 
 takes the life of his fancied tormentor. 
 
 In no form of insanity are the mental processes more completely 
 beyond the government of right reason than in this ; and yet it is a kind 
 of derangement not apt to be recognized by the ordinary observer. 
 He only sees a person quiet, speaking coherently, perhaps rationally, 
 when he speaks at all, inoffensive, unsocial ; low-spirited, perhaps, 
 even deeply despondent, but, to all appearance, not crazy. Hence 
 the difficulty of convincing people of the existence of mental 
 disease when disguised by so much outward propriety ; for though 
 the looks, manner, turn of thought, and mode of expression are as 
 demonstrative of insanity as the raving of mania, yet these things 
 signify little or nothing to the common observer. Had this person 
 been tried, any number of people might have been brought to testify 
 that they had known him well, and, though rather strange in some of 
 his ways, they never supposed he was insane. And if he had been 
 poor and friendless, and the public sentiment strongly against him, 
 he, probably, would have been convicted. 
 
 Seventeen years have passed since this sad occurrence, during 
 which period A. has been in the hospital. His condition during the 
 first few months after admission is described in the following notice. 
 Since that was written, the manifestations of disease have been steadily 
 getting more positive and numerous. The first of this kind were 
 paroxysms of fury that broke out suddenly, on some trivial occasion, 
 in which he raved at the top of his voice, and struck out wildly right 
 and left. They lasted but a few minutes, and the next day he ap- 
 peared as usual. Not long after these began he became suicidal, and 
 made several attempts upon his life. In the course of a year or two 
 more, he assaulted violently fellow-patients on little or no provoca- 
 tion, and once came near killing his attendant. Thenceforth he was 
 treated as a dangerous person, and prevented by suitable restraint 
 from doing harm to others. He was visited by his family from time 
 to time, but he never spoke to them, nor manifested any interest in 
 their visits. After the first few years, he became completely silent, 
 uttering not a syllable to any one from year's end to year's end. For 
 the last three or four years he has been peaceful, and required no
 
 CASE OF C. A. 241 
 
 restraint. In fact, there is little reason to doubt that he has become 
 somewhat demented. 
 
 He has probably entertained delusions from the beginning, though 
 his extreme taciturnity has prevented their detection. In regard to 
 his moral condition, the indications are more positive. To maintain 
 an unbroken silence for a dozen years or more, to express no wish 
 for his liberty, to make no inquiry for family or friends, to manifest 
 neither joy nor sorrow at any event within his knowledge, all show 
 a profound derangement of the moral sentiments.] 
 
 In August last I was requested by the Attorney-Gen- 
 eral to hear the evidence which was to be presented to 
 the grand jury, touching a homicide committed by a 
 young man, in a neighboring town. From this evidence 
 and my own personal observations, I have compiled the 
 following history of this interesting case. 
 
 THE PARTIES. 
 
 C. A. and V. A. were cousins, the sons of respectable, 
 thriving farmers who had always lived in the same 
 neighborhood, and were, respectively, twenty-three and 
 twenty-five years old. They had been very intimate 
 and fond of each other from childhood, and had the 
 reputation of being remarkably correct and amiable 
 young men. They had been at the mines in California, 
 and while there had lived together much of the time. 
 V. came home in the spring of 1855 ; and shortly after 
 became a merchant's clerk in Boston. C. came home on 
 the 9th of June, 1855, and resided in his father's 
 family. 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE HOMICIDE. 
 
 On the 18th of August, V. came to his uncle's house 
 on a friendly call, between nine and ten o'clock in the 
 morning, and after conversing with some of the family 
 
 16
 
 242 CASE OF C. A. 
 
 went into the corn-crib, where he met C. Shortly after, 
 he was seen walking away from the crib, and when a few 
 rods from it he was struck down, mortally wounded, by 
 a shot fired from the window of the crib by C, and died 
 about twelve hours afterwards. This was the second 
 time the cousins had met since their return from Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 CONDUCT OF THE PRISONER ON THE OCCASION. 
 
 While they were raising the w r ounded man, C. came 
 out of the crib, passed by them and went towards the 
 house, but said nothing and offered no assistance. He 
 soon went to his room as usual. To the question re- 
 peatedly put to him, why he had killed his cousin, he 
 gave no other reply than to say that " they had had no 
 difference. " The gun had been kept in the crib, and was 
 not carried there by him. During the two' days that 
 elapsed between the act and his arrest, he appeared as 
 usual; and, though strongly urged to fly by those who 
 were not aware of his real condition, he showed no de- 
 sire to go. When taken by the officer, he made no re- 
 sistance nor objection, but wept a little. This was the 
 first time he had shown any emotion. When questioned 
 by the officer, he said that the act was accidental, — 
 that he put on a cap to try the gun, and it accidentally 
 went off. V., during the few hours that he lived, said 
 repeatedly that he could conceive no reason why C. 
 should have shot him, that they had always been on 
 good terms, and that nothing passed between them while 
 in the crib calculated to irritate him. He merely asked 
 C. if he had been to see the girls.
 
 CASE OF C. A. 243 
 
 CONDITION' OF C. BETWEEN THE 9TH OF JUNE AND 13TH OF 
 AUGUST. 
 
 On his return from California in June, his family and 
 others observed a notable change in his appearance and 
 demeanor. Though naturally cheerful and lively, inter- 
 ested in his friends and fond of society, he had now be- 
 come shy and taciturn, avoiding his friends, and evincing 
 no interest in any person or thing. The most of his time 
 he spent in his room alone, occasionally going out to fish, 
 or to work on the farm, and once or twice he visited a 
 neighbor. He seldom came down to see persons who 
 called on him, and when, out of doors, he observed any 
 one approaching, he would avoid him. He refused to 
 see an old acquaintance who called three times, and his 
 own relatives he treated in the same manner. A married 
 sister and her husband, neither of whom he had seen 
 since his return, visited the family, and he scarcely 
 spoke to them during the six days they stayed. In order 
 to see him at all, they were obliged to go to his room. 
 All the witnesses who had previously known him, as well 
 as some who had not, stated that they thought him, at 
 that time, strange and singular. Some of them, in 
 fact, expressed their apprehension that he was losing 
 his reason. 
 
 He kept his bed much of the time, and w r as often 
 heard at night, pacing his room ; had, at first, some 
 diarrhoea, perspired much, and complained of headache. 
 He refused to take medicine. 
 
 CONDITION IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 From the few witnesses who had known him in Cali- 
 fornia, it was impossible to gather a complete account of 
 his mental condition while there. None of them had
 
 244 CASE OF C. A. 
 
 much communication with him, and they could give only 
 a few facts that incidentally came under their notice. 
 One witness stated that the change in his manner be- 
 gan to be exhibited during the summer of 1854. He 
 became silent, secluded himself from company, worked 
 irregularly, and spent much of his time in bed. Witness 
 accompanied him in the journey home from California, 
 and represented him as manifesting no interest nor fore- 
 thought in the arrangements. When they reached Sac- 
 ramento, he seemed bewildered, and had to be directed at 
 every step. Witness bought the tickets. On board the 
 boat he kept aloof from everybody, and when spoken to 
 he got up and moved off. While at San Francisco, he 
 showed no wish to go out of the house, and did not call 
 upon an uncle living there. Here, too, the witness had 
 to buy his ticket, as well as at Panama. Through 
 the whole journey he was silent and indifferent about 
 every thing. After having arrived at New York, and en- 
 gaged tneir passage in one of the Fall River boats, they 
 proceeded to a clothing-store to obtain such articles as 
 they needed. While there, C. was suddenly missing ; 
 and the witness, being unable to find him, went home 
 alone. A few days afterwards, C. made his appearance 
 at his father's house, and subsequently told the witness, 
 when inquired of about this affair, that he had got lost- 
 Witness was told by another man that C. asked him if 
 he had heard Y. say any thing about a girl, and, at the 
 same time, said that he (C.) heard folks say, as they went 
 by, that he had fallen in love with a girl, who died in 
 consequence. This same man also stated to witness that 
 C. would sometimes talk to himself about this affair. 
 Another witness testified that once he went to his cabin 
 to spend an evening with him and his companions. 
 C. soon went out and stayed outside all the time he
 
 CASE OF C. A. 245 
 
 was there. Had heard other people speak of his pe- 
 culiarities. 
 
 On the morning of the inquisition before the grand 
 jury, I visited the prisoner in the county jail. I found 
 him a stout, strongly built young man, with a ruddy face, 
 and having, at first glance, the aspect of high health. I 
 soon observed that he averted his eye, and that his coun- 
 tenance had a dull, vacant look. He sat down before 
 me, bending forward, with his arms on his knees, and 
 his eyes turned to the floor. I put to him various ques- 
 tions, beginning with ordinary topics, and ending with 
 his health, his relations to others, his feelings to his 
 friends and relatives, and his motives in killing his 
 cousin. In no instance did he reply without a long de- 
 lay, and when the answer came it was very brief, and, 
 for the most part, very indefinite. To many of my 
 questions I got no reply at all. When asked if his friends 
 or anybody else had worried him in any way, he replied 
 that they had not. After the question had been re- 
 peatedly put in different forms, he finally admitted that 
 they had " talked about him." " When they went by my 
 cabin they said, ' What do you make out of this fellow ?" ; 
 This was all I could get from him on that point. When 
 questioned about the homicide, he replied that it was 
 accidental, but offered no explanation. At the begin- 
 ning of the interview the pulse was 110, but before I 
 left him it fell to 100. He was perspiring very freely, 
 though the weather was not hot. 
 
 Having heard the evidence, I testified that, in my 
 opinion, the prisoner was insane when he committed the 
 homicidal act. The grand jury did not indict him, and 
 the next day his friends brought him to the hospital. 
 "When they took him from jail, he made no inquiries as 
 to where he was going, expressed no wish of any kind,
 
 246 CASE OF C. A. 
 
 walked through the streets without the least interest in 
 any thing he saw, and came to the hospital without a 
 single remark about it. 
 
 CONDITION IN THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 Here his deportment has been uniformly correct, and 
 his manners gentle and gentlemanly, though very quiet 
 and retiring. He manifests the same reluctance to con- 
 verse, and seldom speaks, except in reply to questions, 
 and then only after a long pause. He spends much of 
 his time in reading books, which he selects himself from 
 the library, but until lately has shown no interest in 
 the news of the da} r . At first he kept himself aloof 
 from other patients, but, after a week or two, he would 
 join them in a game of cards or draughts. He frequently 
 goes out to work on the farm, but, of late, has declined 
 going, unless in company with a gallery-attendant, in- 
 stead of a farm-laborer. When out, he is very diligent 
 and does his work well. The Sunday services, and lect- 
 ures at other times, he constantly attends, though he 
 declined at first. During the first ten weeks he saw no 
 one whom he had ever seen before, and made no mention 
 whatever of his family or friends. At the end of that 
 period he was visited by some of the family, — his father, 
 mother, uncle, and aunt. He shook hands with them all, 
 but asked no questions, and manifested no interest in 
 what was told him. 
 
 Twice only have I conversed with him respecting his 
 mental experience and the motives of his conduct. He 
 spoke with great reluctance, pausing long before reply- 
 ing to my inquiries, and declaring, rather emphatically, 
 that he did not wish to converse on the subject, as it was 
 very painful to him. In the first interview I endeavored 
 to ascertain the range which his suspicions had taken.
 
 CASE OF C. A. 247 
 
 After a tedious questioning, I obtained nothing more 
 than the admission, without any explanations, that his 
 parents had not treated him exactly right. At the 
 second interview, after some inquiries which led to 
 nothing, the following questions and answers passed 
 between us. Having first assured him that the only 
 object I had in view was his own welfare, which I rep- 
 resented as being deeply concerned in my knowing the 
 truth, I presented other considerations to the same 
 effect, which need not be stated. 
 
 Q. — Was the shooting of your cousin accidental, as 
 you once told me it was ? 
 
 A. — It was not accidental. 
 
 Q. — Had you thought of doing it previous to that 
 interview in the corn-crib? 
 
 A. — Xo. 
 
 Q. — Were there any differences between you ; did 
 he annoy you in any way ? It is said you lived happily 
 together in California. 
 
 A. — There was something. 
 
 Q. —When did it occur? 
 
 A. [after a long pause]. — Seven or eight years ago. 
 
 Q. — What was it about ? 
 
 [No reply; countenance flushed; much agitated.] 
 
 Q. — Was there a young lady in the case ? 
 
 A. — Yes. 
 
 To all further inquiries on this point, he steadily 
 refused to reply. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Had this case occurred in the ordinary manner, and 
 unaccompanied by any homicidal act, no one, with a 
 professional knowledge of the subject, would have hesi- 
 tated to regard it as one of unquestionable insanity. Of
 
 248 CASE OF C. A. 
 
 all the indications of this disease, he manifested the 
 strongest, — a striking change of manners, habits, con- 
 duct, and appearance, without any sufficient cause. When, 
 in connection with this trait, we consider the loss of all 
 interest in his friends and customary pursuits, his uncon- 
 cern respecting things which once would have concerned 
 him deeply, his quitting work and lying in bed, though 
 without any bodily ailment, his taciturnity and avoidance 
 of his friends, his dull and vacant look, — considering- 
 all these, the existence of the disease seems to be beyond 
 a reasonable doubt. How far this view of the case is 
 affected by the homicidal act, is a point not quite so clear. 
 That an insane man should commit such an act, certainly 
 is not very strange ; but we must be satisfied that the 
 circumstances of the act do not militate against the sup- 
 position of insanity. If the prisoner had acknowledged 
 the act, and given some reason for it drawn from his de- 
 lusions, it would justly have been regarded as confirma- 
 tory proof of the disease. On the contrary, he denied 
 at first that the act was intentional. It is not usual, 
 certainly, for the insane to deny their bloody deeds. 
 Acts of petty mischief perpetrated in their calmer mo- 
 ments they will frequently ignore, and with some in- 
 genuity, perhaps ; but, when urged on to some fearful 
 deed by that overpowering sense of its necessity which 
 springs from strong delusion, they acknowledge and jus- 
 tify what they have done. If the prisoner had shot his 
 cousin under the belief that he was one of those who 
 had annoyed him in some way or other, we should have 
 expected that he would instantly and openly declare, 
 " I killed him designedly , and he richly deserved his 
 fate. I am satisfied. 7 ' Supposing, therefore, his subse- 
 quent admission to be true, — that the shooting was 
 really intentional, — it is a question of much importance
 
 CASE OF C. A. 249 
 
 whether the first statement is compatible with the ex- 
 istence of insanity. After a careful consideration of all 
 the circumstances of the case, I cannot see in this fact 
 a sufficient reason for doubting the correctness of my 
 opinion respecting the prisoner's mental condition. It 
 is probable that he was governed by a sudden mental 
 movement, more or less directly connected with his 
 delusions, for it is obvious that the act was not premedi- 
 tated. The sight of his cousin, while his mind was har- 
 assed with suspicions and apprehensions, called up some 
 old passages between them which, probably, had never 
 raised an unkind feelingin the heart of either ; but then, 
 by a confusion of ideas not uncommon with the insane, 
 they led him to associate his cousin with those who were 
 disturbing his peace and destroying his comfort. The 
 means and opportunity concurring at that moment, he 
 obeyed the impulse thus suddenly produced, to sacrifice 
 a persecutor. Now 7 , it is well known that when an 
 impulse of this kind has passed off, and the person has be- 
 come conscious of the havoc he has committed, it some- 
 times happens that he is ashamed of, and frightened at, 
 the consequences of his conduct, and, under the influence 
 of those feelings, endeavors to conceal it, and, perhaps, 
 takes to flight. His mind was not so far deranged — 
 after the violence of the homicidal paroxysm had sub- 
 sided — as to prevent him from seeing and appreciating 
 the legal consequences of the act, though even these 
 could not arouse him from his habitual listlessness, and 
 inspire him with the requisite energy for avoiding them. 
 He did, therefore, what was consistent with his appre- 
 hensions and the temper of his mind, — he denied that 
 the act was intentional, and passively waited fur the re- 
 sult. When, subsequently, he found there was nothing 
 to gain or to lose by telling the truth, he admitted that
 
 250 CASE OF C. A. 
 
 the act was intentional, and assigned a very inadequate 
 motive for his conduct, — a motive which, under the cir- 
 cumstances, is clearly indicative of insanity. 
 
 It may possibly be regarded as a suspicious circum- 
 stance, that his victim had become obnoxious to him, not 
 by being associated with those who were embittering 
 his existence, but by reason of an old event which, 
 probably, had long since ceased to excite any hard feel- 
 ing whatever. Usually, no doubt, the maniac seeks for 
 the objects of his vengeance among those whom he be- 
 lieves to be engaged in machinations destructive of his 
 present peace. Actual occurrences make less impression 
 on his mind than the images that crowd upon his distem- 
 pered fancy, and a real enemy excites less emotion than 
 one of his imaginary tormentors. But neither obser- 
 vation nor a knowledge of the laws of association w r ill 
 warrant us in saying, that, in the mind of the maniac, 
 old grudges never get mixed up with present delusions. 
 In his readiness to mistake the subjective for the objec- 
 tive, he is apt to overlook the single step which separates 
 real wrongs and annoyances from such as have only a 
 delusive existence. We know very well that, in some 
 forms of insanity, the patient finds his grievances among 
 incidents and events that made no impression, apparently, 
 at the time, and had been almost forgotten by every one 
 else. After the lapse of weeks or months, an innocent 
 remark, or look, or gesture is called up, and ingeniously 
 tortured into a damning proof of hate and hostility. We 
 may fairly suppose, therefore, that in the present case 
 an old love-passage suddenly obtruded its rekindled 
 heart-burnings among the suspicions and jealousies that 
 agitated his distracted mind, and thus prompted the 
 fatal deed. 
 
 Had the case gone to trial, this old affair would prob-
 
 CASE OF C. A. 251 
 
 ably have been presented as furnishing a rational motive 
 for the criminal act, and thus invalidating the plea of in- 
 sanity as a ground of defence. Leaving out of view all 
 the positive indications of the disease, it would be suf- 
 ficient to say, in regard to this point, -that the subsequent 
 intimacy between the parties, and the declarations of 
 the dying man, show that the wound had been healed, 
 if it had really existed. However suspicious this denial 
 of the intention may seem to those not much acquainted 
 with insanity, it will be regarded in a very different 
 light, I think, by all who have had the opportunity of 
 witnessing, on a large scale, the operations of the insane 
 mind. Difficulties like this are not uncommon in cases 
 which are subjected to judicial investigation. Not un fre- 
 quently the medical jurist is puzzled by some particular 
 incident or trait, apparently adverse to the general con- 
 clusion which is warranted by all the other phenomena 
 of the case. It only shows how multiform is nature, 
 even in its wanderings, and how feeble are our concep- 
 tions of its infinite variety.
 
 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 
 
 [Since the following paper was written, a case of homicide, Com- 
 monwealth v. Andrews, was tried in Massachusetts, in which transi- 
 tory mania was pleaded in defence. The plea gave rise to much 
 discussion ; and, by one or two who engaged in it, and prob;ibly by 
 others who never published their opinions, this form of insanity was 
 strenuously denied. It was alleged that the related cases were care- 
 lessly observed, or were reported by men of a fanciful turn of mind, 
 and that among the thousands of patients in our hospitals for the 
 insane not one of the kind has ever been found. Of course, the 
 proof of the occurrence of a form of disease so sudden and evanescent 
 must necessarily be wanting. in that fulness and accuracy always 
 desirable for such a purpose, because the cases are observed, mostly, 
 by those only who happen to be at hand, — persons not likely to under- 
 stand the true meaning of such a manifestation. What they do report, 
 however, is more or less significant to others acquainted with mental 
 diseases, and ought not to be rejected as utterly worthless. It may 
 be legitimate ground for a scientific conclusion, and, for lack of any 
 better, must be used when the exigency admits of no delay nor farther 
 investigation. In the following case, the evidence was incomplete ; 
 and though consistent, probable, and sati>factory, so far as it goes, 
 yet leaving much to be desired. Upon this evidence, such as it is, it 
 was necessary to adopt that conclusion which seemed least encum- 
 bered with difficulty. The theory of transitory insanity explains the 
 phenomena of the case better than any other; and, in adopting it for 
 this reason, we certainly violate no rule of philosophy. And this 
 position is none the less tenable because the law requires something 
 more, holding the criminal to be of sound mind and responsible for 
 his acts, until the contrary is rendered, not probable, but proved. 
 
 I do not see how we can refuse to believe in the existence of this 
 form of mental disorder, for it is supported like many other facts in
 
 CASE OF BERNARD C ANGLE Y. 253 
 
 physical science that are generally accepted. Cases enough have 
 been observed — some sixty or seventy, as stated by Dr. Jarvis, who 
 has written an elaborate paper respecting it — to preclude the idea of 
 chance, accident, or mistake, and by men whose standing and attain- 
 ments forbid our considering them as incompetent for the purpose. 
 There is no force in the objection that cases are not found in our 
 hospitals ; for, being just Avhat they are, transitory, suddenly coming 
 and suddenly going, there is little occasion for sending them to hos- 
 pitals. As a matter of fact, however, they are sometimes found in 
 hospitals for the insane. 
 
 Caspar, a German writer on medical jurisprudence, of same note, 
 disbelieves it to be a distinct form of mental disease, because he has 
 seen several cases of melancholia attended with a violent outbreak, 
 where the signs of any other derangement were so faint that the cases 
 may have been readily Aistaken for transitory mania ; and so he 
 jumps at the conclusion that all the reported cases only represented 
 other forms of disease obscurely manifested. That an observer not 
 much conversant with insanity might make such a mistake, one can 
 readily conceive ; but to regard this as a valid objection in the face of 
 such observers as those whose authority is invoked, is, certainly, no 
 proof of superior penetration. Caspar himself relates a case pre- 
 ceded, as he admits, by no mental disturbance, which he designates 
 as a "sudden outbreak of mental derangement, 1 ' and thus avoids, as 
 he supposes, any sanction of the doctrine of transitory mania. The 
 difference will not be very obvious to his readers, probably, if it is to 
 himself.] 
 
 Not less interesting to the student of morbid psychol- 
 ogy, than the well-defined, well-recognized forms of in- 
 sanity, are those obscure, anomalous conditions of mind 
 which occasionally appear, but in regard to which he 
 fails to obtain any light from the standard books. Though 
 more numerous, probably, than they are generally sup- 
 posed to be, yet they are comparatively so rare and so 
 iai perfectly understood, that, for the most part, after ex- 
 citing a little temporary curiosity, they pass away and 
 are .forgotten. And yet they must ever constitute a 
 very important class of mental disorders, for the reason 
 that their existence, however infrequent, must necessa-
 
 254 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 
 
 rily modify the conclusions that might be drawn from the 
 more common forms of mental disease. In fact, no 
 physician needs to be told that many important steps in 
 the progress of his science have been made by the care- 
 ful and persistent observation of what, at first, seemed 
 to be anomalous or exceptional cases. In this way have 
 neuralgia, pyaemia, diphtheria, albuminuria, and many 
 other diseases, obtained a local habitation and a name, 
 and thus become easily recognized and intelligently 
 treated. In the more special department of mental 
 disease there occur to us, as instances of a similar kind, 
 delirium tremens, general paralysis, homicidal mania, 
 pyromania, kleptomania, and Bell's disease. These views 
 would furnish a justification, if any were needed, for 
 occupying a few minutes with some account of a case 
 lately reported in the public prints, and presenting some 
 traits of peculiar interest to the medical jurist. 
 
 In the Belfast (Ireland) Journal of March 4th, 1864, 
 is a report of the trial of Bernard Cangley for the mur- 
 der of Peter Reilly. As all the essential facts are given 
 in the evidence of Reilly's wife, they cannot be better 
 presented than by quoting it entire : — 
 
 " I am the wife of Peter Reilly. He lived at Coolnacola, 
 in this county. He had eleven acres of a farm. He was 
 pretty well off. He was in the habit of lending money to 
 people in the country. At all times he w T as in the habit of 
 keeping money in the house. I was yesterday married a year 
 and a half to him. I never saw the prisoner since thirteen 
 or fourteen years ago. He lived in the same neighborhood 
 with me. I recollect the 22d of January ; after dusk my 
 husband and myself were sitting by the fire. The prisoner 
 opened the door and came in. A little boy called James 
 Molloy was in the kitchen with my husband and myself. He 
 was a servant. We three were the only occupants of the
 
 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 2oO 
 
 house. The clock was after striking six. When the prisoner 
 came in he asked, 'Is it here that Peter Reilly lives?' 
 Either myself or my husband answered,' Yes :' after the answer 
 was given, the prisoner got a seat and sat down at the fire. 
 I lighted the candle, seeing a stranger. When he sat down 
 at the fire, my husband asked him, did he come far ? He 
 said, ' A pretty good piece; do you know me?' 'Plow 
 should I know you?' said my husband. 'Do you not know 
 Cangley, that the ass took the hand off?' said Cangley. 
 When he said this, my husband shook hands with him, and 
 said, ' You are welcome.' My husband told me to get some 
 supper ready. I then went into a room beside the kitchen ; 
 I signed at my husband to follow, to know from him what I 
 would get ready. I got tea. We took tea together in the 
 parlor, off the kitchen. We then came out and sat down by 
 the fire as before. Cangley read to us out of a newspaper. 
 I sent Cangley with Molloy to sleep in the apartment above 
 my sleeping-room. They went to it by a ladder out of the 
 kitchen. I told Molloy to go to bed a few minutes after ten. 
 Cangley went up after Molloy. Before Cangley went up to 
 bed he went out of the house for a couple of minutes, and 
 then went to bed. During the time we were talking at the 
 fire, we were talking about his mother and about his family. 
 There was no quarrelling: He told us that since he had left us 
 he had herded with a gentleman farmer in Meath. He said 
 that he was employed there and used to go to Smithfield mar- 
 ket with cattle. Myself and my husband remained up after the 
 others went to bed, about half an hour. I fell asleep after 
 twelve o'clock. I think my husband went to sleep at the 
 same time. Some time after, I was awakened by something 
 like a foot moving on the loft over my head. That was after 
 one o'clock ; nearer two than one. All was over about two. 
 When I heard the noise, I said, ' James, good boy, take care 
 you don't fall.' I thought it was Molloy. My husband was 
 not awake when I said that. When I spoke, Cangley 
 answered and said, ' It is not James, Mrs. Reilly, it is me.'
 
 256 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 
 
 From his voice, I thought he was standing at the room door. 
 The door was at the ladder and behind it. I asked what 
 it was that he could not sleep. He said that he saw 
 flashes of fire through the window. There is no window 
 in the loft. Any person in the loft could see the kitchen 
 window. Any person in bed could see the light on the 
 floor, but not the window. My husband awoke when I 
 spoke a word or two. I was in bed all this time. The door 
 was laid to, but not fastened. My husband said it was the 
 moonlight. It was a nice moonlight night. When my hus- 
 band said that, he got out of bed. I remained in bed. He 
 opened the room door to go out into the kitchen. When he 
 went out he had nothing on him but his shirt. He had 
 nothing in his hand, — no weapon of any kind; as for as I 
 know he walked to the street door. The first thing that 
 next attracted my attention was his shouting, ' I am mur- 
 dered.' I then jumped out of bed. I had nothing on me 
 but my night-clothes. I saw Cangley standing beside my 
 husband. [Witness here became much affected.] Cangley 
 ran at me as hard as he could. He made a stab of a knife 
 at me. He stabbed me in the belly. I had no weapon in my 
 hand at that time. When he stabbed me I caught him by 
 the side of the neck somewhere. He made three more stabs 
 at me. He stabbed me with one in the side of the belly. 
 He had on his trousers, suspenders, and shirt. I attempted 
 to catch the knife, and he pulled the knife through my hand. 
 Altogether I was stabbed twice in the belly and got cut in 
 hand and arm. After my hand was cut, he got the knife 
 and went back from me. I then took up the hedge-slasher. 
 I made a blow at him, but did not hit him. I had not this 
 weaj)on before he stabbed me. He was standing close at the 
 door, and the ladder at the door prevented my getting the 
 blow at him. He then went out. 1 shut the door after him. 
 I heard the cry of my husband about a minute after he went 
 out into the kitchen. My husband was at the back of the 
 kitchen door, standing. After Cangley went out, my hus-
 
 CASE OF BEEXABD CANGLEY. 1-Ji 
 
 band came toward the room door. I went to light a candle, 
 but he fell on the floor before I lighted it. From the time 
 Cangley went out, it was two minutes when my husband fell. 
 I went to lift my husband. He could not speak. He was 
 bleeding so that one could hear the blood coming out like 
 out of the pipe of a kettle. The little boy then came down. 
 I sent him out for the neighbors. I fainted. "When I came 
 to again. I found Pat Smith and the little boy in the house. 
 My husband died at three o'clock. He lay on the floor. I 
 could see the features of Cangley when he was coming towards 
 me. It was a moonlight night. I did not see any weapon 
 in his hand. I can only speak from what I felt. I had knives 
 in the house. None of them was used." 
 
 On cross-examination, she said that the prisoner had 
 not been in that part of the country for ten years ; that 
 he did not seem to have any grudge about the ass having 
 bitten off his hand ; and that they were not talking of 
 money matters. 
 
 Immediately after the act, Cangley went to the nearest 
 police-station and gave himself up, saying that he had 
 stabbed a man. He told the man's name, and where the 
 man lived, and said the weapon he used was a clasp- 
 knife, which he had thrown into a bog. 
 
 It was testified that shortly before the homicide 
 Cangley had been in prison, but for what cause, or how 
 long, it was not stated. 
 
 When asked by the Court why sentence of death 
 should not be pronounced upon him (for, of course, he 
 was convicted), he replied that " he was unconscious of 
 the act." 
 
 The counsel for the Crown, in referring to the motives 
 for the act, suggested that he might have been actuated 
 by a feeling of revenge on account of the mutilation he 
 had suffered while in Reilly's service, or that his in- 
 
 17
 
 258 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 
 
 tention was to get possession of Reilly's money. It was 
 not pretended, however, that either of these suggestions 
 was supported by one tittle of evidence. The counsel 
 for the prisoner rested his defence on the plea of in- 
 sanity. No medical expert testified ; but the surgeon 
 who was called to the Reillys was asked some questions 
 respecting insanity. The Court laid down the rule of 
 law according to one of the oldest patterns ; viz., if the 
 prisoner did not understand the nature of the act, or, if 
 he understood it, did not know it was wrong, then he is 
 not responsible for the act. The verdict of Guilty was 
 approved by the Court, who seem to have been much 
 scandalized by the pretence of insanity. 
 
 Regarding the case from a very different stand-point, 
 we are necessarily led to very different conclusions. 
 The act in question was prompted, of course, either by 
 some rational motive of interest or passion, or by an 
 insane impulse ; and although we are obliged to found 
 our conclusions upon a very meagre account of the case, 
 yet we can scarcely doubt their correctness. 
 
 The counsel for the Crown did not pretend to assign 
 a motive for the act, for he was well aware that the cir- 
 cumstances attending it absolutely forbade it. Who ever 
 heard of a man arising in the night for the purpose 
 of robbing or murdering his host, walking so heavily 
 as to wake up his wife, and calmly speaking to her as he 
 approached her door? It is impossible to believe that 
 any one in his senses would proceed to execute such 
 a purpose in such a manner. And the absurdity, of 
 the notion is heightened by the fact that the person, 
 after accomplishing his end, straightway goes to the 
 police and tells them what he has done. The annals of 
 crime, we venture to say, furnish no parallel to such a 
 case. If his purpose were to kill, he scarcely accom-
 
 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 259 
 
 plishes it ; and if it were to rob, he leaves the house 
 without even making the first attempt. 
 
 The only other theory on which the prisoner's con- 
 duct can be explained is that of insanity. The indi- 
 cations of this disease, it must be admitted, were few and 
 indecisive ; but this is just what might have been ex- 
 pected in the form of mental disease supposed to have 
 existed here. It must have been a paroxysm of transi- 
 tory mania, suddenly beginning and as suddenly ending, 
 after the briefest possible duration. The cases of this 
 kind on record, though few, certainly, are so well attested 
 that we can scarcely deny the existence of the form of 
 insanity which they illustrate. And it is a noticeable 
 feature of most of them, that the patient is bent on 
 destroying life. Apart from the absence of all rational 
 motive, the grounds on which we must rest our belief 
 that Cangley's was a case of transitory mania are his 
 own declarations, that at the moment he saw flashes of 
 fire, and that he was unconscious of the act. This state- 
 ment about the flashes of fire does not look like one made 
 up for the occasion. Such a notion would not be likely 
 to occur to a person of his grade of culture ; and the 
 perception which it implied has been often noticed in 
 abnormal movements of the cerebral system. The sim- 
 ulation of such a trait implies more knowledge of disease 
 and a nicer art than can be fairly attributed to the pris- 
 oner. Indeed, a sane man would have so committed the 
 act as to render simulation unnecessary. He had only to 
 get down quietly into the room of his hosts, and either 
 rob them or inflict the fatal wound while they were yet 
 sleeping, and hurry away before being recognized. 
 
 It cannot be, as he declared at the trial, that he was 
 " unconscious " of what he was doing, using the term 
 in its ordinary signification, because after the homicide
 
 260 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 
 
 he told the police precisely what he had done. He 
 probably meant what multitudes of the insane have said 
 before, under similar circumstances, that he did not 
 know why he should have done such a thing. He may 
 have heard others use the word " unconscious " in speak- 
 ing of his mental condition, and naturally supposed that 
 to be the proper word for him to use in order to de- 
 scribe this unusual state of mind. Of course, such a 
 person must not be held to a very correct application 
 of metaphysical terms. 
 
 There (5an scarcely be a reasonable doubt that Cang- 
 ley committed the bloody act in a short and sudden 
 paroxysm of mania, and under an impulse that he 
 could neither understand nor restrain. Of course, he 
 was entitled to an acquittal, while society was equally 
 entitled to such a disposal of his person as would have 
 prevented any repetition of the murderous act. The 
 occurrence of the homicide shortly after going to bed, 
 and probably going to sleep, would naturally raise a 
 suspicion that Cangley was in a state of somnolentia, 
 or sleep-drunkenness, as the Germans call it, when 
 the person suddenly awakes while dreaming of being 
 assaulted or threatened in a frightful manner, some 
 minutes elapsing before he fully comes to himself. In 
 this state of mental confusion and alarm, he mistakes 
 the first person who comes within reach for his imagi- 
 nary foe, and attacks -him with whatever weapon comes 
 to hand. It is possible that Cangley's was a case of this 
 kind ; but the evidence, lamentably meagre as it is, would 
 hardly warrant this conclusion. He did not pretend that 
 he had been dreaming, though, if such had been the 
 case, it is inconceivable that he should have omitted to 
 speak of it when describing his state of mind, unless we 
 suppose — and this is not at all unlikely — that such an
 
 CASE OF BERNARD CAXGLEY. 261 
 
 explanation seemed to him less credible by others than 
 that which he actually gave. His acquaintances might 
 have thrown some light on the matter, but it is one of 
 the many curious features of this case that not one of 
 his family or old friends appeared on the witness- 
 stand. 
 
 Here this account of a rare and interesting case 
 might properly end, but it gives rise to some reflections 
 that deserve to be very thoughtfully considered. It 
 appears that no expert was called to testify respecting 
 the prisoner's mental condition, or to enlighten the court 
 and jury respecting the nature of transitory mania ; he 
 was not recommended to mercy, nor was any attempt 
 made to obtain a farther observation of his case. How 
 striking the contrast, in this respect, presented by the 
 case of Townley ! He was examined by a distinguished 
 expert, before the trial, who testified that he was insane. 
 Next, a board of magistrates, assisted by medical men, 
 examined him, and pronounced him insane. Then a 
 committee of the Board of Commissioners in Lunacy, 
 appointed by the government, examined him, and pro- 
 nounced him insane ; and, finally, another committee of 
 experts was appointed by the government for the same 
 purpose, by whom he was declared to be sane. The 
 result of these proceedings was, that execution was 
 stayed until the question of his insanity was effectually 
 settled by his killing himself under remarkable circum- 
 stances. The difference between these two cases was, 
 that one had friends able and willing to obtain for him 
 every possible privilege, while the other had none. Had 
 Cangley been subjected to the same sort of inquisition 
 that Townley was, who can suppose that his fate would 
 not have been averted? Inequality like this is discredit- 
 able to any system of criminal procedure, for the acquit-
 
 '262 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 
 
 tal of the innocent is a no less essential end of justice 
 than the conviction of the guilty. The law says, that 
 when insanity is pleaded in defence of crime it must be 
 proved ; but it ignores the fact that the party, if really 
 insane, is necessarily incompetent to prove it, and, if 
 poor and friendless, is unable to procure the assistance 
 of others to the fullest extent. Are we not warranted 
 by the united voices of humanity and science in claim- 
 ing, as a right, not as a favor to be purchased by wealth 
 or influence, that when reasonable doubts are raised 
 respecting the sanity of the prisoner in a criminal suit, 
 the law shall provide for a satisfactory inquisition into 
 his mental condition ? 
 
 Medical men have been much reproached for the facil- 
 ity with which they allow themselves to support the plea 
 of insanity in defence of crime. For their efforts in 
 this line of duty, they have sometimes been exposed to 
 a degree of public odium not calculated to enhance their 
 peace or prosperity. We are quite willing, for one, to bear 
 this reproach, provided it be considered in connection 
 with that practice of the law which was exemplified in 
 Cangley's case. If those are reprehensible views which, 
 one time in a hundred, promote the acquittal of a guilty 
 man, how shall we characterize a system which no less 
 often, at least, procures the conviction of one really 
 irresponsible for his acts? Are we to be charged with 
 arrogance and disrespect because we speak in fitting 
 terms of those who thus ignore the teachings of science, 
 and, guided only by some poor metaphysical conceits 
 that have nothing to recommend them but their age, 
 sit in judgment on their fellow-men? When we are 
 told, for instance, that delusion is not a valid defence for 
 a criminal act, unless the act is amply warranted by the 
 circumstances, supposing the notion that prompted it to
 
 CASE OF BERNARD CANGLEY. 263 
 
 have been really true, instead of a delusion, are we to 
 speak softly and blandly about such a rule of law, and 
 refrain from saying, with all possible plainness of speech, 
 that it conflicts with the elementary truths of insanity 
 on which only such rules should be founded ? It seems 
 to be a spurious kind of comity that would oblige us 
 to withhold our censure, even in the face of the whole 
 bench of English judges. 
 
 One of the results of the more careful and extensive 
 study of insanity in these latter days is the discovery 
 that, in the state of mind which is characterized by 
 delusion, the patient may have lost all power of dis- 
 tinguishing right from wrong, even to the utter destruc- 
 tion of all moral responsibility. Another is the discovery 
 of a mental condition in which the understanding and 
 will are completely dissevered, and the patient is borne 
 on to the commission of some bloody deed by an irresist- 
 ible impulse. These are not speculations or conjectures, 
 but well observed, well authenticated ; and not to recog- 
 nize them as such in any attempt to fix. the limits of 
 legal responsibility is no more a mark of wisdom than it 
 would be to teach chemistry now as it was in the days of 
 Priestley, or to try old women for witchcraft in the spirit 
 and understanding of Sir Matthew Hale. Medical juris- 
 prudence can be of any worth only so far as it faithfully 
 represents the acknowledged truths of science.
 
 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 
 
 On the 29th of April last, George W. Winnemore was 
 indicted by the grand jury in Philadelphia, Pa., for the 
 murder of Dorcas Magilton, on the 25th of April, 
 four days before ; and the 3d of May following was 
 assigned for his trial, before the Court of Oyer and 
 Terminer. 
 
 It appeared in evidence that the husband of the 
 deceased came home one day, after an hour's absence, 
 and was let in by the prisoner, who said he had just 
 before come in and found Mrs. M. with her throat cut, 
 and quite dead. The prisoner went for a policeman, 
 and was himself arrested while leaving the premises, 
 shortly after. The evidence against him was circum- 
 stantial, of course, and consisted of but few facts. A 
 razor identified as his was found in the privy ; two bank- 
 bills of two dollars each were in the possession of the 
 deceased the day before, and two bills of two dollars 
 each were found in the prisoner's pocket. His own 
 statement, that he entered the house a few minutes only 
 previously to the husband, was disproved by two wit- 
 nesses, neighbors, who had been looking in that direc- 
 tion from their windows, steadily, for half an hour before 
 they saw Mr. M. go to the door. To meet this evidence, 
 the prisoner's counsel contended that it was impossible
 
 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 265 
 
 to identify so common a thing as a razor, hundreds of 
 thousands of which may be made after the same pattern ; 
 that, though the bills were of the same denomination, 
 yet their identity was not established ; that he was not 
 pressed for money, and could have borrowed it from his 
 brother, if necessary ; that he had never been guilty of 
 any criminal act, and was regarded by all who knew 
 him' (and the evidence on this point was quite satisfac- 
 tory) as a quiet, inoffensive, well-disposed young man. 
 
 The defence did not consist solely in an endeavor to 
 prove an alibi. It appeared that the prisoner began to 
 suffer from epilepsy at two or three years of age, and 
 continued so to suffer until he was ten or eleven years 
 old, Evidence respecting his disease subsequent to that 
 period was entirely wanting, except that on his way to 
 court one day, in the course of the trial, he had a fit. 
 It appeared, too, that when seven years old he had a fall 
 on the head, described as being a very serious one, and 
 now indicated by a scar. The witnesses who testified 
 to his having fits said he would sometimes have thirty 
 or forty in a day. Of late years, his brother said, he 
 professed to be able to see the dead as plainly as he saw 
 the living. At times he imagined himself to be an In- 
 dian chief, and would talk the Indian language. The 
 words of the witness would seem to imply that this 
 sort of clairvoyance was paroxysmal, because " when I 
 thought he was himself," he said, " I would ask him 
 about it, and he would know nothing of it." He also 
 professed to be able to know what was going on miles 
 away. His sister stated, that at times during the last 
 eight or ten months " he acted very foolish," " would 
 make motions with his hands, and talk strangely," and 
 that she was afraid to be alone with him. To another 
 witness he seemed to talk very incoherently, saying,
 
 266 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 
 
 among other things, that he saw about him spirits the 
 size of a pin's head. His mother and elder sister both 
 testified to strange manifestations during the last few- 
 months. The former said, " He would laugh, jerk about, 
 make queer faces." " He would dance around the room 
 like an Indian." " Sometimes his eye looked very vacant, 
 sometimes very glassy." " I often felt afraid of him." 
 The sister said, " He would make peculiar grimaces, and 
 twist his fingers in a peculiar manner." " I sometimes 
 feared he would do me harm." Others spoke of his being 
 in an unconscious state half an hour at a time ; and others, 
 of his being very absent-minded. It appeared that he 
 had made two attempts, at least, upon his own life, and 
 that an uncle had committed suicide. 
 
 Upon this state of facts, the counsel set up the de- 
 fence of insanity. Several physicians were examined, 
 only one of whom could be regarded as an expert in 
 insanity ; but their testimony was not founded upon 
 such a knowledge of the case, either in its general or par- 
 ticular relations, as was needed to make it very satisfac- 
 tory. Their testimony was confined to some desultory 
 remarks respecting the effect of epilepsy on the mind, 
 but it embraced nothing like a complete methodical 
 statement of facts. Indeed, the counsel for the govern- 
 ment were not disposed to have it, and did what they 
 could to prevent it. When the testimony referred to 
 the nature of epilepsy generally, they interposed the 
 objection that it had no connection with the prisoner's 
 case ; and, when it had special reference to the prisoner, 
 it was stopped, on the plea that the witness had not 
 heard all the evidence in the case. No medical witness 
 had made a particular examination of the prisoner, nor 
 heard all the evidence given at the trial. The plea of 
 insanity, thus feebly supported, could hardly be ex-
 
 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 267 
 
 pected to prevail ; and accordingly the prisoner was 
 convicted, and on the 29th of August was executed, 
 persisting to the last in declaring that he did not 
 commit the deed. 
 
 The counsel, feeling that the trial had not been a fair 
 one, endeavored to obtain a new trial, but failed. They 
 then requested the Governor to appoint a medical com- 
 mission for the purpose of investigating the prisoner's 
 mental condition, and in this too they failed. As a last 
 resort, a few days before the execution they requested 
 some gentlemen, who were familiar with epilepsy and 
 insanity, to have a personal interview with the prisoner, 
 the result of which was the following petition addressed 
 to the Governor : — 
 
 To his Excellency, Johx W. Geary : 
 
 The undersigned, all of whom have been engaged for 
 many years in the care of the insane, have, this day, at the 
 request of Damon Y. Kilgore, had an interview with George 
 W. AYinnemore, and, in consequence thereof, beg leave to 
 make the following statement : — 
 
 Winnemore now, and probably for some time past, shows 
 indications of an abnormal state of mind ; of a mental con- 
 dition which may be attributable to the epileptic fits to which 
 he has been subject from infancy. In regard to its degree 
 and kind, we feel unable to speak exactly, because one inter- 
 view, though j^rolonged to between two and three hours, was 
 not sufficient for the purpose. 
 
 We would also state, that epilepsy, especially when of long- 
 duration, oftener than otherwise impairs the mental powers, 
 sometimes in one way, sometimes in another ; and therefore, 
 whenever an epileptic is charged with crime, nothing less 
 than an exhaustive investigation of his history and of all the 
 circumstances of the case can remove the suspicion that the 
 crime may have been committed in one of those abnormal 
 conditions that are so often the sequel of epilepsy.
 
 268 TEIAL OF WINNEMORE. 
 
 In consideration of these facts, therefore, we respectfully 
 pray your Excellency to stay his execution for a few weeks, 
 in order that a deliberate scientific investigation of Winne- 
 more's case may be made by the undersigned. 
 
 Isaac Rat, M.D., 
 
 Late Superintendent of the Butler Hospital for the Insane at Providence, R. I. 
 
 J. H. WORTHTNGTON, M.D., 
 
 Superintendent of Friends' Asylum for the Insane, Philadelphia. 
 
 ,S. Preston Jones, M.D., 
 
 Assistant Physician Penn. Hospital for the Insane. 
 
 In the interview referred to, the prisoner was found 
 to be a spare, slim young man, of a decidedly nervous 
 temperament, with a quiet, ingenuous manner, and a 
 cheerful expression. He was disposed to talk, and 
 answered all inquiries freely and fully. His language 
 was free from low, coarse expressions, and indicated 
 some degree of intellectual culture. He showed a little 
 carelessness of dress, and a certain kind of untidiness, 
 very characteristic of some classes of the insane. 
 
 He said he had been an epileptic from his earliest 
 recollection, the fits occurring sometimes several in 
 the day, and sometimes at intervals of a twelve-month. 
 They were generally brief, and within half an hour 
 or so he was himself again. Occasionally he did not 
 so readily recover, and was disabled for a week or 
 two. He had no premonition of the attacks, though 
 sometimes they were preceded by a little exhilaration, 
 indicated by unusual laughing and talking. Neither 
 did he experience the epileptic aura, nor was he aware 
 that the fits were ever simply epileptiform, scarcely 
 visible to the observer. He was not aware that the 
 fits were preceded or followed by an unusual sense of 
 distrust or suspicion or apprehension. He could call to
 
 TRIAL OF TVINXEMORE. 269 
 
 mind two occasions of being quite unconscious for 
 several hours, though continuing his employment, and 
 appearing to others as usual. On the first, which hap- 
 pened while quite a boy, he got a boat and spent the 
 day in rowing about on the river ; and, when asked about 
 it the next day, he had no recollection of the occurrence, 
 the period being an utter blank in his mind. During 
 the last few years, this paroxysmal kind of unconscious- 
 ness had occurred several times, but had not extended 
 beyond half an hour or a little more. He believed in all 
 the notions of spiritualism as professed and practised at 
 the present time, but he also believed something more 
 than this. His spirit, he said, had the power of leaving 
 the body at will, and going to distant lands and to other 
 worlds. The spirits of both the dead and the living 
 often appeared before him, clothed in bodily shape and 
 perfectly visible to the bodily eye, and they conversed 
 together in audible language. He regarded himself 
 as made a victim to serve some ulterior purpose ; and 
 when asked what enemies he had who would perse- 
 cute him so, he intimated that the matter originated in 
 deeper counsels than those of man. When pressed still 
 farther on this point, he declared that for some good and 
 wise purpose, known only to God himself, he was to be 
 sacrificed ; and he was perfectly willing. On the subject 
 of his approaching death he spoke calmly, and even 
 cheerfully. He said he did not expect a reprieve, nor 
 did he wish to live. Life had no charms for him. He had 
 tried repeatedly to take his own life, and while in the 
 service he always had exposed himself in every possible 
 way, in the hope that an enemy's bullet would do for 
 him what he had been unable to do for himself. He 
 wished for no clergyman, because no clergyman could 
 tell him any thing about the spiritual world that he did
 
 270 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 
 
 not already know. He believed in God, and in future 
 rewards and punishments ; and being perfectly innocent 
 of the crime laid to his charge, why should he have a 
 clergyman? He stoutly maintained that he did not com- 
 mit the act for which he was to suffer. He had been in 
 the habit of visiting the deceased occasionally, their com- 
 mon belief in spiritualism having led to the acquaintance ; 
 and on this occasion, going into the house as usual, he 
 found her dead — murdered. In this interview he ex- 
 hibited none of the traits of a criminal, either in his 
 language, manner, or countenance, but rather those of a 
 dreamy, visionary youth, whose speculations had carried 
 him far beyond the common experience of man, — so 
 far, in fact, that he hardly knew, at any time, whether he 
 was in the body or out of the body. In these statements 
 respecting his own mental experience, there is no reason 
 to doubt his entire belief. The air of sincerity and 
 good faith by which they were accompanied could not 
 have been counterfeited even by a consummate actor. 
 We ought, perhaps, to except from the scope of this 
 remark the denial of his guilt ; for there was nothing 
 peculiar in that, considered apart from the rest of his 
 discourse. 
 
 Here our knowledge of the prisoner's history ends. 
 Farther investigation might have removed all the ob- 
 scurity resting on his psychological condition ; but we 
 need not, on this account, withhold the impressions made 
 by the facts that came within our reach. 
 
 Whether from hereditary predisposition or not, it is 
 obvious that the prisoner was born with a nervous sys- 
 tem strongly inclined to morbid manifestations. One of 
 these, which actually made its appearance at a very 
 early period, was epilepsy, which, of all the forms of 
 cerebral disorder, stands among the gravest. Coinci-
 
 TBIAL OF WINNEMOBE. 271 
 
 dent with this, either as a direct effect, or a collateral 
 result of the original nervous defect, there appeared in 
 childhood instances of unconsciousness, which, patho- 
 logically considered, may be affiliated to somnambulism 
 and catalepsy. And these continued to occur through 
 the latter years of his life, though not perhaps in so 
 well marked a form. It could hardly have been ex- 
 pected that his intellectual operations would entirely 
 escape from the influence of this abnormal condition of 
 the nervous system. Hence, his distaste for exact and 
 practical knowledge requiring continuous attention and 
 effort, and his fondness of reverie and dreamy specula- 
 tion, which needed neither discipline nor preparation. 
 This trait strengthened with advancing years, until 
 his whole intellectual life became little better than a 
 dream, in which the inward and the outward, the real 
 and the imaginary, were inextricably mingled and con- 
 fused. 
 
 For legal purposes, it might seem necessary to sepa- 
 rate the epileptic element from the rest, and ascertain 
 the precise amount of its influence upon the moral 
 character and conduct. But the elements of nervous 
 disorder were too long and too intimately associated 
 to allow of this. Even under very different circum- 
 stances, the effect of epilepsy on the mental manifes- 
 tations is often determined, somewhat, by the training 
 and habits of the individual. Not to the same extent, 
 certainly, that mania is, but enough to be taken into 
 the account in any estimate of its psychological con- 
 sequences. In this case it may have had the effect of 
 rendering his notions on certain subjects still more 
 extravagant and remote from the line of common belief 
 than they would otherwise have been. Whether or not 
 it ever produced unequivocal delusions, is a point on
 
 272 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 
 
 which the evidence is not very clear. His spiritualistic 
 experience was that, for the most part, of thousands of 
 other people never supposed to be insane ; and yet it is 
 difficult to draw the dividing line between this kind of 
 experience and downright insanity. That the one passes 
 into the other is a matter of common observation, and, if 
 some of his most extravagant notions respecting his 
 intercourse with spirits be held in common with a few 
 other spiritualists, it may be questioned whether these 
 are not of the class who have entered this transition 
 state, or even completed their passage through it. The 
 probability of such a fact can scarcely be doubted. We 
 know that the delusions of the insane are often merely 
 exaggerations of their habitual belief. Belief in spirit- 
 ualism in any shape is more a matter of temperament 
 than of evidence and reason, and thus is furnished 
 an additional proof that Winnemore was endowed with 
 a nervous system peculiarly liable to abnormal activity. 
 I do not mean to convey the idea that the facts of spir- 
 itualism are entirely the creation of fancy or of fraud. 
 Many of them are susceptible of proof, and are attested 
 by evidence that places them beyond a reasonable doubt. 
 They indicate the existence of agencies, certainly, that 
 have not yet been admitted into the philosophy of the 
 schools. It is to be regretted that the prevalent ten- 
 dency is to ignore them entirely, rather than to make 
 them a subject of scientific investigation. It is sur- 
 prising that physicians, especially, with such well recog- 
 nized affections before them as catalepsy, somnambulism, 
 ecstasy, and double consciousness, should jump to the 
 conclusion that all the facts of spiritualism and animal 
 magnetism are utterly anomalous and impossible. 
 
 Winnemore's notion about his being a victim, which 
 might eeem at first sight to be a genuine delusion, was,
 
 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 273 
 
 probably, only a rational notion carried to the utmost 
 verge of extravagance. When his innocence should 
 be proved hereafter to the satisfaction of everybody, as 
 he believed it would, the consequence would be an utter 
 change of popular opinion on the subject of capital 
 punishment, and thus he might regard himself as a 
 sacrifice offered up for the good of humanity, — not 
 merely as a martyr whose blood, in the ordinary and 
 regular course of events, would become the seed of a 
 great benefit, but as the favored child of a magnificent 
 destiny prepared and arranged in the counsels of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 It was not alleged that his disease had produced any 
 moral perversion. On the contrary, the evidence showed 
 that he always displayed the same mild, quiet, inoffen- 
 sive disposition, from first to last. An attempt was 
 made on the trial to prove that he had stolen, or. was 
 suspected of having stolen, from his friends ; but it came 
 to nothing. 
 
 If the deed was committed under the influence of his 
 disease, — supposing the charge to have been true, — we 
 are necessarily led to inquire what particular phase of 
 it was present. No one supposes that his mind was gen- 
 erally so impaired as to be incapable of discerning right 
 from wrong, of knowing that murder is forbidden both 
 by human and divine law, or of controlling the feeblest 
 impulses of passion. The act could not have sprung 
 from such a condition as that. Neither is there any 
 ground for the supposition that be was under the do- 
 minion of that blind fury so frequently exhibited by 
 epileptics immediately before or after a fit; or that his 
 mind was overpowered by apprehensions of danger ; or 
 a sense of persecution and outrage from persons, real or 
 imaginary, around him. Neither of these phases of the 
 
 18
 
 274 TRIAL OF WINNEMOEE. 
 
 disease had he ever exhibited, and though it is not im- 
 possible, perhaps, that the latter occurred on this occa- 
 sion for the first time, there is not the slightest reason 
 to believe that such was the fact. We then come to the 
 only other epileptic condition in which the act could 
 have happened, — that of utter unconsciousness ; and 
 though we have no direct evidence respecting it, neither 
 are we met by any circumstance of the case that would 
 render it impossible. He had been in this state more 
 than once before, and it was one of its incidents that he 
 had no idea whatever of what he thought or did while 
 in it. It appears that the woman was fond of making 
 pictures of a peculiar kind ; and he declared that it 
 affected him very strangely and painfully to look at 
 them, insomuch that when they were exhibited in court 
 during the trial he begged that they might be removed, 
 for he could not endure the sight. Coming upon them, 
 suddenly perhaps, as he entered the room, they might 
 have had the effect of inducing one of those abnormal 
 conditions of mind in which his acts were beyond the 
 reach of consciousness or proper will. To a person of 
 his very susceptible nervous organization, already the 
 subject of many morbid manifestations, such an event 
 might not have been impossible. True, the supposition 
 borders on the marvellous ; but we must bear in mind 
 that Winnemore manifested a class of phenomena con- 
 fessedly curious and obscure. If any one supposes that 
 the marvellous is incompatible with true science, de- 
 serving only rebuke and derision, let him consider that 
 every step in the progress of science has been but the 
 repetition of a marvel, derided at first as unworthy of 
 the serious attention of the philosopher, and welcomed 
 at last with triumphant admiration and joy. Whether, 
 as a matter of fact, the deed was committed as here sup-
 
 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 275 
 
 posed is a question that cannot be conclusively an- 
 swered. Of this, however, we may be assured, that it 
 was either thus committed, or was prompted by the 
 ordinary motives of crime, — interest or passion. Diffi- 
 culties surround both hypotheses, while the question is 
 also complicated by very grave doubts as to whether 
 the deed of violence was done by the prisoner at all. 
 If he killed the woman unconsciously, he might also 
 have thrown the razor into the privy unconsciously ; but 
 all this would not have prevented his knowing, when 
 he came to himself, that he entered the house with the 
 razor in his pocket, for such must have been the fact. 
 In this connection, it must be borne in mind that he 
 always denied that the razor found in the privy was his, 
 for that, he declared, got broken and was thrown into 
 the street, several days before. On the other hand, it 
 was not pretended that he was a hardened criminal, 
 and it did not appear that he had led a vicious life. It 
 seems to be quite incredible that the alleged motive — 
 that of getting a few dollars — would have induced 
 such a man to murder a woman, deliberately and de- 
 signedly, from whom he had experienced nothing but 
 kindness. 
 
 Farther observation and inquiry might have thrown 
 more light on this interesting case. At subsequent in- 
 terviews his manner and manifestations might have 
 been different, indicating a wider reach of the pathologi- 
 cal element. His counsel told us that he varied consid- 
 erably at different times, and that during the trial he 
 was sometimes so dull that they could hold no intelligent 
 communication with him. Something might have been 
 learned from those who had been conversant with him 
 during the last four or five years, while he was serving in 
 the army at a distance from his home and friends. That
 
 276 TRIAL OF T7INNEM0RB. 
 
 period must have embraced many interesting facts in 
 his psychological history, and it is to be regretted that 
 no opportunity occurred for learning them. Left as it is, 
 it gives the physician scope for abundant speculation, 
 but no certain conclusion ; while to the lawyer its results 
 must seem more like a triumph of ignorance and passion 
 than of professional skill overcoming every device and 
 obstacle and arriving at last to a sure and satisfactory 
 end. 
 
 It is a wise constitutional provision that enables the 
 executive, in certain cases, to remedy the mistakes of 
 the judicial authority, and secure to the criminal the 
 benefit of those mitigating circumstances of which the 
 courts can take no cognizance. Hampered by no rigid 
 rules of proceeding, enjoying a certain freedom of choice 
 in the use of the means at his disposal, allowed to go 
 behind and beyond the records of the courts, the Gov- 
 ernor of a State is able, in the exercise of his preroga- 
 tive, to perform a service of the highest importance to 
 society. Although the power thus given to him is to be 
 used discreetly, yet its use is not a matter of caprice 
 or arbitrary will. Whatever course he may take, whether 
 he interposes or refrains from interposing, he is respon- 
 sible for his decision to the conscience and understanding 
 of the community, — not merely to that aggregate of 
 individuals whose suffrages have placed him in power, 
 but to that immense society which has some regard for 
 the triumph of right and the progress of humanity. 
 Failing to obtain a new trial, Winnemore's counsel 
 appealed to the Governor to appoint a medical com- 
 mission for the purpose of ascertaining, by a suitable 
 investigation, the prisoner's mental condition. The 
 appeal was unsuccessful. Almost at the very last mo- 
 ment, they engaged the gentlemen whose names have
 
 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 277 
 
 been already given, to visit the prisoner, with the hope 
 that even in a single interview, for no more was possible, 
 they might find enough to warrant them in asking for 
 a stay of the execution, in order that they might have 
 a suitable opportunity for making a thorough exam- 
 ination of his case. The result has been already given. 
 The wisdom of the Governor's course is not very 
 obvious. It would seem to be the very case for executive 
 interposition. The prisoner had had a hasty trial ; im- 
 portant evidence had arrived too late ; those who were 
 well acquainted with his history, psychological and 
 pathological, during his latter years, were too far off to 
 be available ; though laboring under a disease which 
 almost invariably impairs the mind, no physician had 
 examined him for the purpose of ascertaining the precise 
 effect which it had exerted upon him ; poor, and compar- 
 atively friendless, he was without the usual means of 
 securing the favorable regards of men. Circumstances 
 like these pleaded trumpet-tongued for every privilege 
 and indulgence which the laws and customs of the land 
 allow. A medical commission, whatever might be the 
 result of its inquiries, could not change the legal status 
 of the prisoner. If unfavorable to the idea of mental 
 impairment, the execution would have happened all the 
 same, though delayed for a week or two. If, on the 
 other hand, it showed that the prisoner was really irre- 
 sponsible, from the long continued effect of disease, the 
 executive might have felt obliged to save him, and far 
 be it from us to intimate that this would not have been 
 gladly done. We can only suppose that the Governor 
 had too readily received the impression, somewhat cur- 
 rent among intelligent people, that the defence of in- 
 sanity is generally a contrivance of ingenious counsel, 
 favored by fanciful doctors, for saving a criminal from
 
 278 TRIAL OF WINNEMORE. 
 
 merited punishment ; and consequently that no proper 
 purpose would be served by disturbing the results of 
 the trial. However that may be, one cannot but regret 
 that he should have lost the opportunity thus offered of 
 adding to the laurels so nobly won in the field another 
 not less durable earned in the humbler service of hu- 
 manity. 
 
 The case of Winnemore has brought to mind that of 
 Fyler, also an epileptic, who was tried in Onondaga 
 County, N. Y., in 1855, for killing his wife. It was the 
 first time, in this country, to my knowledge, when epi- 
 lepsy was pleaded in defence of crime. The two cases 
 were strikingly similar in many important points. Both 
 men were young ; in both the disease had existed several 
 years, but without producing any very obvious mental 
 impairment beyond the immediate effects of a fit; in 
 both there was no evidence that a fit had occurred about 
 the time of the homicide, or that they had exhibited 
 any of the ordinary signs of a fit ; in both the proof 
 that they committed the act at all was only circumstan- 
 tial, and both protested their innocence to the last ; in 
 both there was an apparent absence of any adequate 
 motive. In other respects they exhibited a remarkable 
 contrast. In Fyler's case the homicide occurred in 
 February, 1854. The Grand Jury indicted him the 
 following March, and he was arraigned for trial the next 
 June. The prisoner's counsel not being ready, the 
 case was postponed, and a special term for the trial was 
 ordered by the Governor, in November. Another post- 
 ponement was obtained, and the trial finally came on 
 in February, 1855, or a year after the act was committed. 
 A verdict of guilty was rendered, when his counsel 
 moved a suspension of sentence, on the ground that 
 the prisoner was then insane. In this they succeeded.
 
 TRIAL OF WIXNEMORE. 279 
 
 A medical commission was appointed to investigate 
 his mental condition, who reported that he was then 
 insane, and he was thereupon committed to the asylum 
 at Utica. 
 
 A word or two more before I close, on the general 
 issue presented by such cases as Winnemore's and 
 Fyler's. It can scarcely be denied that epilepsy, consid- 
 ered as a source of mental impairment, has not been so 
 thoroughly studied as most other forms of cerebral 
 affection. Physicians have given their attention too ex- 
 clusively to the fit, and the state of things immediately 
 preceding and succeeding it ; and this is not strange 
 when we consider that most epileptics, during the first 
 few years, continue their customary employments, and 
 to the world at large seem to have suffered no mental 
 deterioration. Indeed, they are seldom the subjects of 
 any medical observation at all. It is not, generally, until 
 the mental powers have become very obviously impaired 
 that they find their way into a hospital, where their 
 mental condition is closely observed. What we need, 
 above all things else, in the medical history of this disease, 
 is more information respecting that general impairment 
 of the mind which, sooner or later, in a greater or less 
 degree, is sure to follow. The frequency of the disease 
 makes its medico-legal relations a subject of the highest 
 importance, for the trials in which it will be offered in 
 defence of criminal acts will be steadily increasing in 
 number. The older medical jurists were disposed to 
 make its exculpatory effects a matter of time, and sought 
 for an arbitrary period before and after the fit within 
 which they should be confined. We know enough more 
 of epilepsy than they did to be sure that such views 
 are too narrow, though quite unable, certainly, to say 
 precisely in what degree. The more conversant we
 
 280 TULAL OF WINNEMORE. 
 
 become with epilepsy, the more strongly is the convic- 
 tion forced upon us that its damaging effect upon the 
 mind begins at an earlier period than that usually as- 
 signed, and that some of the phases of this process are 
 as yet imperfectly understood, even when recognized 
 at all. There is reason to believe that some epileptics 
 lose their proper consciousness occasionally, even when 
 not under the immediate influence of a fit. In what 
 proportion of cases this may occur, how often it may 
 appear and how long it may last, — these are questions 
 for future inquirers to answer. It is our duty, however, 
 to see that the general fact, imperfectly as it is under- 
 stood, should have its legitimate influence on judicial 
 decisions. The excessive susceptibility of epileptics to 
 nervous impressions, which become distorted if not 
 utterly changed on their way to the sensorium, is a 
 phenomenon not clearly recognized by the profession at 
 large, although it cannot have failed to meet the atten- 
 tion of the close observer. In medico-legal inquiries it 
 should never be ignored or forgotten ; for it may be the 
 very phase of mental disturbance which prompted the 
 criminal act. Let it not be objected that these are dan- 
 gerous innovations, because such a thing ought not to 
 be said of any scientific conclusion, honestly and intelli- 
 gently reached. The distrust naturally felt towards any 
 considerable advance upon existing views is no proof 
 against it with any well-disciplined mind ; and no class 
 of persons has had better evidence of the fact than that 
 which is engaged in the study of insanity and the insane. 
 It is not long since it was proclaimed, from many a high 
 place in the world, that to make any other form of insan- 
 ity than idiocy and raving mania an excuse for crime is 
 a dangerous innovation, to be frowned upon by every 
 friend of public order.
 
 TRIAL OF YVIXXEMORE. 281 
 
 In view of what we already know of epilepsy and of 
 what still remains to be learned, we have a right to 
 require the utmost circumspection and the closest inves- 
 tigation whenever the legal liabilities of epileptics are 
 in question. The fact of its existence being established, 
 is it going too far to say that legal responsibility is pre- 
 sumptively annulled, and that the burden of proof lies 
 on the party that alleges the contrary ? People are 
 scarcely ready for it yet, perhaps, but to that complexion 
 must they come at last.
 
 THE INSANITY OF SEDUCED OR DESERTED 
 WOMEN. 
 
 The acquittal of Mary Harris, lately tried in Washing- 
 ton, has greatly exercised the public mind, and given 
 rise to an unusual amount of objurgation. And the 
 leading facts of the case, superficially considered, 
 seemed to warrant this state of feeling. A young 
 woman, smarting under the loss of her lover, provides 
 herself with weapons, travels hundreds of miles to find 
 him, watches patiently for a suitable opportunity, and 
 at last deliberately shoots him dead at his desk in a 
 Government office. She is then tried, with the sym- 
 pathies of the court, jury, and audience all in her favor, 
 acquitted on the plea of insanity, under a more liberal 
 rule of law on this subject than was ever admitted 
 before in any English or American court, and imme- 
 diately, without the slightest let or hindrance, is set at 
 large. Thus regarded, and in that aspect alone has it 
 been regarded by most persons, the result seems to 
 have been but a mockery of justice, worthy of the 
 severest condemnation. But, for all that, the girl may 
 have been insane, and therefore very properly acquit- 
 ted ; for there was nothing in the case incompatible 
 with the phenomena of insanity. Among the medical 
 witnesses who thought her insane was Dr. Nichols,
 
 IXSAXITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. 283 
 
 Superintendent of the Government Hospital for the 
 insane, who, for more than twenty years, has been ex- 
 clusively engaged in the care of the insane, and is well 
 fitted, both by his mental qualities and his abundant 
 experience, to pronounce an opinion on such a case ; 
 and it is not strange that the jury shrunk from a con- 
 viction in the face of his testimony. 
 
 It is no part of my present purpose to discuss the 
 question of this woman's insanity ; and I shall there- 
 fore say but little more about it than to express the 
 conviction that the existence of the disease, when she 
 committed the homicide, was satisfactorily proved. 
 The evidence of the fact was more full and decisive 
 than it usually is in cases of such a character, or of any 
 character in which the marks of the disease are not 
 obvious to the most superficial observer. The essential 
 features of the disease were there, easily discerned by 
 all who were willing to see them. The heaviest blow 
 that a proud and sensitive woman could receive sud- 
 denly fell upon her, and reason reeled under the shock. 
 A change of character took place, in which strange 
 moods of mind, marked sometimes by depression and 
 sometimes by excitement, were frequently exhibited. 
 Acts, sometimes of petty mischief, sometimes of fearful 
 violence, towards those she had most reason to love, 
 astonished and alarmed her friends. These effects of 
 the moral shock were intensified by a considerable 
 degree of uterine derangement, and rendered somewhat 
 periodical and paroxysmal in their manifestations. Her 
 mind thus unsettled, and drifting about under the in- 
 fluence of every morbid feeling, was finally led to con- 
 template the idea of murder, and, after accomplishing 
 the act, to regard her conduct with no very definite 
 sentiment of joy or of sorrow, — with no realizing sense
 
 284 INSANITY OF DESEETED WOMEN. 
 
 of the enormity of her crime, or of its legal consequences 
 to herself. 
 
 The psychological and pathological aspects of the 
 case were presented by Dr. Nichols with a force and 
 clearness seldom exhibited on the witness-stand, and 
 evincing a profound and sagacious observation of mental 
 phenomena resulting from disease. Altogether, the case 
 is full of instruction, and deserves to be carefully pon- 
 dered by all who are engaged in psychological studies. 
 
 In any notice of this case, one is bound in duty to 
 speak in terms of the severest reprobation of the closing 
 scene of a trial that abounded in discreditable incidents. 
 As soon as the verdict was announced, without one 
 murmur of disapprobation, the prisoner was set at 
 large. The evidence of the experts, on which the 
 verdict must have been founded, implied that she was 
 insane, not only when she committed the homicide, but 
 also at the time of their examination, which was shortly 
 before the trial. It was not pretended that she had 
 recovered. Indeed, such an admission might have been 
 fatal to the defence. And thus a woman, having com- 
 mitted a capital crime under the influence of insanity, 
 is again let loose upon the community, to repeat the 
 act whenever an occasion may be offered. It is to be 
 presumed that no law of the district would have author- 
 ized her detention ; though, in the face of so many ir- 
 regularities that marked the course of the trial, we are 
 not sure on this point. If such is the fact, however, it 
 is to be hoped that Congress will not suffer another 
 winter to go by without providing by law, as many 
 States already have, that every person acquitted on 
 trial for a criminal act on the ground of insanity shall 
 be remanded to custody, and not be relieved therefrom 
 until fully recovered.
 
 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. 285 
 
 As already stated, it is not my purpose to discuss 
 the points of this case, but rather to call attention to 
 a class of cases of which this may be considered as 
 a fair representative. They are greatly misunderstood, 
 for the double reason that the mental impairment 
 alleged to exist is not readily discerned, and that the 
 offence is committed under the ordinary provocatives 
 to crime. And the misunderstanding is not confined 
 to the unprofessional public ; but medical men are 
 found, and among them even some practically conver- 
 sant with mental disease, who can see in the plea of 
 moral insanity only a lawyer's dodge, aided by the 
 easy subservience of crotchety doctors. 
 
 Differing as these cases do in some respects, yet they 
 have many features in common which establish their 
 essential identity. In all, there has been a grievous 
 disappointment or outrage, more calculated than all 
 others to try a woman's temper, and disturb the healthy 
 balance of her mind. In all, there has been a strong 
 and sudden revulsion of feeling, in which love and 
 confidence were succeeded by the deadliest hate. In 
 all, there has been more or less mental disturbance 
 exhibited, not so much in the form of delusion as in that 
 of paroxysmal fury and uncontrollable criminal impulse. 
 In all, there has been an entire abandonment of every 
 interest and feeling not connected with the single pur- 
 pose of revenge. In all, the person gives herself up 
 to justice, glories in the bloody deed, and is careless of 
 the future. 
 
 In the condition thus indicated, the thoughtful in- 
 quirer cannot fail to perceive the peculiar influence 
 of those organs which play so large a part in the female 
 economy ; and this fact must be duly pondered if we 
 would avoid serious mistake as to the true character of
 
 286 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. 
 
 the mental disturbance. An act not to be distinguished, 
 perhaps, on a casual inspection, from the ordinary run 
 of crimes, may, nevertheless, have been prompted more 
 by those physiological movements characteristic of the 
 female constitution, than by well-considered motives, or 
 strong, healthy feeling. With women it is but a step 
 from extreme nervous susceptibility to downright hys- 
 teria, and from that to overt insanity. In the sexual 
 evolution, in pregnancy, in the parturient period, in 
 lactation, strange thoughts, extraordinary feelings, un- 
 seasonable appetites, criminal impulses, may haunt a 
 mind at other times innocent and pure. Dr. William 
 Hunter, who certainly was neither superficial nor crot- 
 chety, contended that young, unmarried women, guilty 
 of killing their new-born offspring, are so distracted by 
 conflicting feelings, sharpened to morbid acuteness by 
 the great physiological movement of parturition, as 
 to be hardly responsible for their acts. 1 Some dozen 
 or fifteen years ago, a young woman, on one of the 
 steamers running between New York and Fall River, 
 gave birth to a child, and immediately threw it into the 
 sea. At first she denied the act, but seemed to manifest 
 some bewilderment of mind. Not much was known of 
 her history. The case was tried before the late Judge 
 Story, who, if he had been guided by the rules of law, 
 rather than the instincts of his kind and generous 
 nature, would have favored her conviction ; but, on the 
 contrary, as if sharing the humane sentiments and in- 
 telligent views of Hunter, he gave the jury to under- 
 stand that the ends of justice would be best promoted 
 by her acquittal, and the jury followed his advice. 2 
 
 1 Medical Observations and Inquiries, by a Society of Physicians in 
 London, vi. 266. 
 
 2 In the course of the discussion that followed the reading of this
 
 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. 287 
 
 It is no mark of wisdom to ignore the presence of the 
 sexual element in the phenomena displayed by this 
 class of cases. It is no whim, but a suggestion of sound 
 physiology, that the nervous erethism, excited even by 
 courtship, has a controlling influence over the female 
 will. 
 
 Among the circumstances above mentioned we have 
 two very efficient agencies in the production of insanity, 
 — a strong moral shock and an irritable condition of 
 the nervous system. Is it strange that a person thus 
 situated should become insane ? It would be strange, 
 indeed, if this event did not occasionally happen. 
 
 The common reluctance to attribute insanity to this 
 class of persons arises principally, no doubt, from the 
 fact that they act from a rational motive, — from that 
 prolific parent of crime, revenge. That this should be 
 considered incompatible with insanity only indicates 
 how imperfect are the prevalent notions respecting this 
 disease. It needs but little observation of the insane 
 to see that they often act from rational motives. Strike 
 an insane man, and he will be very likely to strike back. 
 Promise him a reward for good behavior, and he will 
 probably endeavor to earn it. Put him upon his honor, 
 
 paper to the Association of Superintendents of Hospitals for the Insane, 
 Dr. Walker, Superintendent of the South Boston Hospital, related a 
 case strongly illustrative of the intimate sympathy between the uterine 
 and cerebral systems. While on his way to the meeting, by one of the 
 Sound boats, his attention was called to a young woman of delicate con- 
 stitution, who had some uterine ailments. The bedding being cold and 
 damp provoked an unusually severe attack of these ailments, so that 
 " for half an hour," the doctor said, " she was a complete maniac. She 
 did not know what she said or did. If she had been alone she might 
 have thrown herself overboard, or have done herself any injury what- 
 ever, and in my judgment no responsibility would have attached to the 
 act." In the course of three hours the paroxysm passed off, and the 
 mind cleared up.
 
 288 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. 
 
 and he will be likely to keep his word. Do him a 
 grievous wrong, and he will remember it and retaliate, 
 perhaps at some distant day. And when a man has been 
 made insane, ostensibly by insult and abuse, the disease 
 is not calculated to soften his feelings towards the of- 
 fender, unless it crushes them altogether, or to deter him 
 from inflicting punishment. It may be disproportionate 
 and cruel, and therein consists the manifestation of dis- 
 ease. Insanity may lead a man to regard his friends as 
 no better than enemies ; but it seldom leads him to con- 
 sider his enemies as friends, and treat them accordingly. 
 The common sentiment respecting this class of cases 
 was expressed by Erskine in his admirable defence of 
 Hadfield, while discussing the doctrine, which subse- 
 quently became an authoritative rule of law, that delu- 
 sion constitutes the criterion of that form of insanity 
 which renders a person irreponsible for criminal acts. 
 A woman, he said, had been recently tried for killing 
 the man who, after cohabiting with her several years, 
 utterly cast her off; and inasmuch as she acted from the 
 spur of a real and not an imaginary grievance, he thought 
 she should have been convicted. But, as if his instincts 
 were a safer guide than any rule of law, he said it must 
 be a consolation to those who prosecuted her that she 
 was acquitted, because she was then " in a most un- 
 doubted and deplorable state of insanity." And gener- 
 ally, if not always, such must be the practical result. 
 The testimony shows neither delusion nor hallucination; 
 neither incoherence nor incongruity ; the experts render 
 a hesitating, indecisive opinion ; the public sentiment, 
 completely dazed by the coolness and contrivance which 
 marked the murderous act, scouts at the idea of insanity. 
 The jury, however, in that tale of outrage and affliction, 
 related with all the force and distinctness peculiar to
 
 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. ^89 
 
 legal evidence, cannot help seeing the rise and progress 
 of a mental distraction, call it by whatever name you 
 please, in which the sense of the right and the good is 
 overwhelmed or distorted, and the spirit of revenge 
 seeks for its victim, as if moved by an automatic and 
 irresistible impulse. The verdict of acquittal is not 
 the fruit of a morbid sentimentalism, or of a fashionable 
 indulgence to crime, but of a true humanity enlightened 
 by true science. Let those who suppose that such ver- 
 dicts are rendered only in this country and at this time 
 consider that the case alluded to above occurred in 
 England more than sixty years ago, — a period when 
 English juries were not supposed to be influenced by 
 any superfluous leniency to crime. 
 
 What we are greatly in need of now is a collection 
 of these cases, accurately reported ; and one could 
 hardly do a better service for medical jurisprudence 
 than to supply this deficiency. One of them came 
 under the writer's notice with such unusual opportu- 
 nities for observation as to render it worthy of a place 
 in such a collection. 
 
 An Irish girl, about twenty years old, handsome and 
 high-spirited, while living at service in the family of 
 an eminent lawyer in ProvideDce, became acquainted 
 with a young man, an American, who, as she said, prom- 
 ised to marry her. One evening he got her on board 
 the steam-boat in which he was employed, and there 
 treacherously attempted, though without success, to 
 violate her person. From that time forth all communi- 
 cation between them ceased, her love was turned into 
 hate, and she determined to have revenge. She pro- 
 cured a knife, and at every opportunity sought him in 
 his accustomed haunts, all the while performing her 
 duties properly, and attracting no attention by her man- 
 
 19
 
 290 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. 
 
 ner or discourse. In the course of a few weeks she met 
 the false lover in the street, and plunged the knife in his 
 bosom. She went home quietly, where she was arrested 
 next day, and thence sent to jail. The wound was 
 severe ; but the man finally recovered, though for a time 
 it was thought he would die. 
 
 While she was in jail, the writer was requested by 
 her counsel to visit her, for the purpose of ascertaining 
 her mental condition. The warden said she had been 
 an exceedingly troublesome subject ; that she often 
 got terribly ugly, when she would curse and swear, 
 break whatever was breakable in her room, and destroy 
 her clothing, and that consequently he was obliged to 
 keep her very close. During our interview she was 
 calm, good-natured, and communicative. When asked 
 about the fits of passion spoken of by the warden, she 
 said the other women provoked her, and then she could 
 not help getting mad. She conversed correctly enough 
 on ordinary topics, showing a mind rather bright, though 
 uncultivated ; but when the assault was referred to, she 
 became grave, shed tears, and broke out into some pas- 
 sionate expressions. The night before her trial she 
 made an attempt at suicide, and came very near suc- 
 ceeding. At the trial all went smoothly until the young 
 man was put upon the witness-stand. The moment she 
 caught sight of him, and before he had spoken a word, 
 she began to pour out a torrent of vituperation which 
 no efforts of her counsel or her female attendants could 
 stop. As this was uttered at the top of her voice, the 
 confusion and embarrassment that ensued can be better 
 imagined than described. To go on with the trial was 
 impossible, and the court directed the officer to take 
 her to the hospital. 
 
 For a few days after her admission she was tolerably
 
 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEX. 291 
 
 calm, but protested against being confined as a lunatic, 
 and demanded that she should be sent back to jail. She 
 was willing to be tried, she said, and to be punished if 
 she had done wrong, but they must not suffer that man 
 to come in sight. In this style she talked to the last, and 
 no person in the house disclaimed the imputation of in- 
 sanity more loudly than she. It was not long before she 
 had a paroxysm like those the jailer described, and for 
 several months they recurred once in two or three 
 weeks. With little or no provocation she began to 
 scold and curse, vociferating with all her might, and 
 tearing off her clothes. This continued two or three 
 days, when she became calm, regretted what she had 
 done, and promised to be good. But even during her 
 quiet intervals she was more or less cross, querulous, 
 and quarrelsome. Collisions with the attendants and 
 patients were of frequent occurrence, and all rules and 
 regulations she utterly contemned. Several benevolent 
 ladies who had visited her in jail called to see her, but 
 she was always averse to seeing them, and finally re- 
 fused altogether, for she said she wanted neither their 
 help nor their sympathies, — she could take care of 
 herself. During the last few months of her stay the 
 paroxysms became less frequent, and the intervals ex- 
 hibited a more comfortable frame of mind. But from first 
 to last she declared she had no regret for what she had 
 done, that she had a right to do it, and was determined 
 to kill him if he ever came in her way. After staying 
 eighteen months in the hospital, she was discharged by 
 order of the Attorney-General, and went to reside with 
 some friends at the South. 
 
 The psychological experience of this poor girl — the 
 successive steps that intervened between the first shock 
 to her feelings occasioned by her lover's treachery and
 
 292 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. 
 
 the state of raving mania in which it culminated — it is 
 not very difficult to understand. In the course of a few- 
 hours, undoubtedly, her love was succeeded by hate and 
 resentment. With her whole heart and soul absorbed 
 in a sense of the wrong she had suffered, burning with 
 shame at the indignity with which her warm, trusting 
 attachment had been repaid, and ever dwelling on this 
 one idea, these feelings became intensified every day 
 she lived. The shrinking delicacy of the female char- 
 acter, the sense of right and wrong, the fear of man 
 and the fear of God, all disappeared, utterly extin- 
 guished by the immovable determination to be re- 
 venged. With the accomplishment of her purpose, it 
 might be supposed that she would regain her ordinary 
 tone of feeling ; but after such extreme tension the 
 proper elasticity of the mind is not easily recovered, 
 and often it is hopelessly lost. The nervous excitement, 
 instead of passing quietly away, like the electric fluid, 
 at numerous points, could find escape only in successive 
 explosions of fury. In this state of mind it is not 
 strange that her moral perceptions were blunted ; that 
 wrong seemed to her right, and a murderous assault 
 justifiable. In all this it is easy to see the strict rela- 
 tions that existed between the normal and the abnormal 
 manifestations of her character, between the essential 
 and the accidental incidents that marked the development 
 of the mental affection. Had she been a girl of a higher 
 grade of culture, or blessed with a larger religious 
 element in her education, she might have borne her 
 wrongs in a submissive, Christian spirit. Had she 
 been endowed with a less irritable, nervous tempera- 
 ment, she might have maintained her equanimity, and, 
 severely as she may have felt her wrongs, still re- 
 strained her thirst for revenge within the limits of the
 
 INSANITY OF DESERTED WOMEN. 293 
 
 law. Had the offender gone away far out of her reach, 
 the tumult of her feelings might have gradually sub- 
 sided, and her ordinary serenity been regained. But 
 constituted as she was, controlled by circumstances 
 as she was, disappointment, shame, and outrage could 
 be followed by only the saddest possible consequences.
 
 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 [The following case presents an extraordinary instance of the 
 triumph of popular passion over justice, reason, character, and com- 
 mon sense ; and it is interesting now, not so much on account of any- 
 unusual phase of mental disease, or of any new principle of law 
 involved in it, as of the fearful amount of injustice that may be com- 
 mitted under the forms of a judicial process. When reading the nar- 
 rative of a star chamber trial, there is apt to be mingled with the 
 feeling of wrath and indignation provoked by it a comforting sense 
 of security against any renewal of such performances. With a child- 
 like reliance on the aid of counsel, the independence of juries, and 
 the integrity of courts, people who derive their notions from books 
 fondly imagine that they are no longer possible. The pleasing 
 thought must vanish before such a case as Hinchman's ; for, though the 
 government is shorn of its influence, yet a power mightier than the 
 government, and unchecked by scruples, is ever ready to shape 
 the conclusions of a jury trial. 
 
 The practical effect of this case is mischievous beyond measure. 
 It must lead every one with the least degree of salutary prudence in 
 his nature to shrink from an act of duty or neighborly kindness, ex- 
 posing him as it might to popular odium and pecuniary ruin. So 
 long as it is held to exemplify a correct operation of law, who will 
 venture to lay his hands upon a maniac, though destroying the 
 peace, perhaps threatening the lives of those around him? The 
 judge said that such interference might spring from mercenary motives, 
 and if the jury should find that to be the fact they were bound to 
 convict, notwithstanding the acknowledged benefit that was derived 
 from it. We would like to believe that this is an exceptional case 
 arising from a fortuitous concourse of adverse circumstances not likely 
 to happen again. So long as the action of conspiracy is recognized by
 
 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 295 
 
 our courts, we have reason to expect its repetition ; for the same ele- 
 ments might be there, and as potent as ever. We might have the 
 same artful appeals to the passions of the jury, the same manipulation 
 of their opinions outside of the court-room, the same timidity and 
 vacillation of the court, the same disregard of truth on the part of wit- 
 nesses. One must have been a dull observer of the times to sup- 
 pose that a concurrence of all these things would be a very improbable 
 event. 
 
 The point to which I would call particular attention is, that Hinch- 
 man represents a class of cases grossly misunderstood, and conse- 
 quently giving rise to much injustice. Unfortunately, insanity is one 
 of those subjects of which everybody knows, or thinks he knows, 
 something; and, in accordance with a common tendency of the mind, 
 people readily imbibe the notion that, beyond their little attainments, 
 nothing more is possible to be known. And when this notion is enter- 
 tained, as it generally is, with some pride of opinion or strength of 
 prejudice, it bids defiance to every attempt to eradicate it. Many a 
 man will admit in general terms that insanity is an object of scientific in- 
 vestigation conducted according to the strictest rules of philosophizing, 
 with abundance of materials at command, who, when it comes to a 
 case in hand, though he may not have observed a half dozen insane 
 persons in his life, and pretends to no scientific culture of any kind, 
 will scout at the idea of yielding his own opinion to the authority of 
 the Esquirols and Conollys of the time. Daily experience teaches 
 that it is often easier to enlighten a man profoundly and confessedly 
 ignorant than one who knows a little. This explains the difficulty 
 of convincing people that a man apparently sane may be actually 
 insane. If it were a matter of navigation, or mechanics, or any 
 other subject to which they had never given a thought, nothing would 
 be farther from them than to presume to have an opinion of their own. 
 And yet who will estimate the range of observation, the keenness of 
 perception, the careful deduction, the acquaintance with mental mani- 
 festations, sane and insane, which are required to decide correctly in 
 an obscure case of insanity ! 
 
 Insanity is a disease from which, frequently, the patient completely 
 recovers, having relinquished all his delusions and fancies, regarding 
 his thoughts and actions in their true light, and contemplating all his 
 relations to others as he did while confessedly sound. On the other 
 hand, there is a proportion of cases in which recovery is not so com- 
 plete. All the prominent delusions may have disappeared, the conduct 
 may be conformed to the ordinary rules of propriety, the dis-
 
 296 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 course may be coherent and even shrewd, and to any casual obser- 
 vation the patient may appear to be, as the phrase is, all right, and 
 yet all the while many of the morbid notions that sprung from the 
 disease still linger in his mind. Though aware that he was under a 
 cloud, he cannot believe that he was really insane ; he thinks his friends 
 acted maliciously in putting him under restraint ; is utterly insensi- 
 ble to the suggestions of affection, of reason, and of common sense ; 
 takes counsel of mischief-making advisers, and finally devotes his 
 time and his means to the work of harassing his own flesh and blood 
 in vindictive suits at law. The friends, to avoid exposure of his in- 
 firmities and keep their private griefs from the public gaze, may offer 
 little or no resistance to his legal measures ; the law gives him what- 
 ever he asks for; the case goes forth to the world as another "unpar- 
 alleled outrage," and is made the text of many a diatribe against 
 physicians guilty of the presumption of signing a certificate of insan- 
 ity. It is to the impression made by this class of cases that we are 
 to attribute a very prevalent belief that sane persons are often confined 
 in our hospitals for the insane by the aid of medical men, induced by 
 some corrupt motive to participate in the crime, and abetted therein 
 by the officers and directors of these institutions. The world is reluc- 
 tant to believe that facts so clearly and circumstantially related and 
 stories so plausibly told are solely the offspring of an insanity that 
 gives no other indication of its presence. It is because the world is 
 generally ignorant respecting a very common trait of this disease. 
 In a large proportion of cases it is attended by more or less moral 
 obliquity, by reason of which the normal relations of good and evil 
 are so distorted as sometimes to be completely inverted. In this 
 demoralization we seldom fail to witness a remarkable disregard of 
 truth. Whether the disease has so obscured their perceptions as to 
 render them unable to distinguish between the real and imaginary, 
 or whether, perceiving correctly enough, they wilfully choose the 
 false rather than the true, is not always apparent. Sometimes it is 
 one and sometimes the other, and not unfrequently, perhaps, both 
 have a share in producing this trait. However this may be, it is 
 certain that among the lingering traces of their disease exhibited 
 by many of the partially recovered is a mendacity so audacious 
 as to defy all conception, except with those who have had a long pro- 
 fessional acquaintance with mental derangement. And even they 
 are sometimes misled by that cunning which is another element of 
 the moral perversity engendered by insanity. In view of these facts, 
 it is not strange that these persons make an impression upon people
 
 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 297 
 
 of culture and reflection, scarcely less strong than upon the ignorant 
 and thoughtless. The number of those who are governed as to what 
 they believe by the most elementary laws of evidence is extremely 
 small, and that knowledge of insanity which would furnish a clew to 
 the true character of the revelations they hear is confined to a still 
 smaller number. 
 
 The incompleteness of recovery just mentioned is not confined to 
 insanity. It may be witnessed after an attack of almost every other 
 disease. For a period, longer or shorter, morbid action in any organ 
 may leave it in a weak, irritable condition; while the patient may 
 have resumed his customary duties, and appeared to his friends to 
 have fully regained his health. The trouble will be manifested by 
 some slight pain or uneasiness in the part affected, some irregularity 
 in its action, some imperfection in its performance, some loss of its 
 power of endurance. These conditions either disappear after awhile, 
 or they may continue with more or less severity, until succeeded by 
 another attack of the original disease. To expect the mind imme- 
 diately after an attack of insanity to beTs clear, as bright, and as 
 'strong as ever, and as free from all hitch and obliquity in its move- 
 ments, would be as unreasonable as to suppose that the lungs, or 
 
 ^- p __ r . 
 
 stomach, or liver, just after recovering from an acute inflammation, 
 
 would perforin its functions without a single trace of the disease 
 which so thoroughly deranged its action. 1 ] 
 
 Ox the 12th of March last, before Judge Burnside, 
 one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 
 sitting at Nisi Prius, in Philadelphia, began the trial 
 of the cause of Morgan Hinchman v. Samuel S. Richie, 
 Edward Richie, John M. Whitall, George M. Elkinton, 
 John Lippincott, John D. Griscom, Anna TV. Hinch- 
 man, John L. Kite, Elizabeth R. Shoemaker, Benjamin 
 H. Warder, Philip Garrett, Joshua K. Worthington, 
 Charles Evans, William Biddle, and Thomas Wistar, Jr. 
 The defendants were charged with a malicious conspir- 
 
 V 
 
 1 For the facts in this case I have depended on the report in the Public 
 Ledger newspaper, and a pamphlet called " Speeches of Defendants' 
 Counsel, and the Charge of Judge Burnside in the Case of Hinchrnan v. 
 Richie et ah., reported by Dyer and Murphy, Philadelphia, 1849."
 
 298 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 acy to confine the plaintiff in the Friends' Asylum for 
 the Insane, near Frankford, Penn., either for the purpose 
 of compelling him to settle his property on his wife and 
 children, or of obtaining it for some one or more of the 
 defendants. To help the reader to understand the case, 
 we will state that the Richies are brothers, one of them 
 a relative of the plaintiff, and took the leading part in the 
 act of arresting him and conveying him to the asylum ; 
 that Lippincott, Elkinton, and Whitall assisted in this act ; 
 that Kite, who is a physician, gave a certificate of insan- 
 ity ; that Elizabeth R. Shoemaker is his wife's sister, and 
 Anna W. Hinchman his own sister, both being charged 
 with abetting in some way the conspiracy; that Gris- 
 com was the plaintiff's family physician, and advised 
 him to go quietly ; that Wistar was charged with having 
 some connection with the sale of plaintiff's property ; 
 that Warder is one of the managers of the asylum, and 
 gave the order of admission ; that Biddle is charged with 
 being corruptly placed on the sheriff's jury that tried 
 the question of his insanity after he was placed in the 
 asylum ; that Evans was the visiting, and Worthington 
 the resident physician, and Garrett the steward of the 
 asylum. The jury found a verdict against the first seven 
 just named, and assessed the damages at $10,000. The 
 rest were acquitted, — Evans at the close of the plain- 
 tiff's evidence. 
 
 It appears that the plaintiff had been for three or four 
 years previous to this event a farmer in the neighbor- 
 hood of Philadelphia, prior to which he had been a 
 teller in a bank. In 1839 he married Miss Shoemaker, a 
 woman of exemplary worth and respectable connections, 
 and a member like himself of the Society of Friends, as 
 were also the families of each. They were equal in point 
 of property, the wife's being settled upon her by him, but
 
 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 299 
 
 with a power of revocation which she subsequently used 
 at his request, and for his benefit. It was testified by 
 Hinchman's mother, whose character as a careful, in- 
 telligent, and affectionate parent was placed beyond the 
 reach of doubt, — and her testimony in every essential 
 respect was corroborated by that of many others, — that 
 soon after his marriage his conduct became so strange 
 and unnatural as to raise the suspicion of insanity ; that 
 this suspicion was finally turned into positive belief, and 
 that she and his wife came to the conclusion that the 
 discipline of an asylum was necessary, in order to arrest 
 the farther progress of the disease, and restore his 
 mental health. To aid them in effecting this measure, 
 they applied to the Richies, one of whom was a relative 
 of the family, and with both of whom they, as well as 
 the plaintiff, had been in habits of frequent and familiar 
 intercourse. They met him at a tavern, disclosed their 
 intentions, and forthwith carried him to the asylum, 7th 
 of January, 1847. Soon after, a commission of lunacy 
 was issued, which found him insane for some months 
 previous. After a residence of six months he was dis- 
 charged as recovered, but has not lived with his family, 
 and has been chiefly occupied in preparing this suit. 
 
 In the present case the defendants rested their defence 
 on the plaintiff's insanity, of which they presented 
 uncommonly clear and abundant evidence, although pre- 
 vented from calling those who were most capable of fur- 
 nishing it. The persons who had always been on the 
 footing of a familiar acquaintance with Hinchman and 
 his family, who had known him intimately from his child- 
 hood and marked every phase of his mental condition, 
 who had been made acquainted with every incident of 
 his domestic life, and been his confidential friends and 
 advisers, were made parties instead of witnesses in
 
 300 THE HIKCHMAN CASE. 
 
 the case, — many of tliem apparently for no other reason 
 than to shut their mouths. True, there was one, not in- 
 cluded in the band of conspirators, who might have un- 
 folded a tale of moodiness and excitement, of attempts at 
 suicide, of frequent unkindness and annoyance towards 
 those most entitled to his regard, but it was not for her 
 to lay bare to the public gaze the privacies of her domes- 
 tic hours. The witnesses who did testify to his insan- 
 ity seem to have labored under the usual difficulty, — 
 that of conveying to others the strong and well-grounded 
 convictions of their own minds. Where the disease is 
 evinced in gross delusions, it is comparatively easy for 
 one to describe them with clearness and precision, and 
 thus give an intelligible reason for his belief; but where 
 the disease is chiefly manifested in the conduct or dis- 
 position, appearing in acts unseasonable or inappropriate 
 to the circumstances of the patient, in moods and freaks 
 not incompatible with sanity, perhaps, but quite foreign 
 to his natural character, then the witness is naturally 
 embarrassed in endeavoring to convey to others the 
 impressions so strongly felt by himself. His opinion is 
 founded upon a general view of the life and character 
 of the person for the period under consideration. On 
 the witness-stand he finds that this view is to be analyzed ; 
 and each particular, in itself alone no proof of unsound- 
 ness, is to be subjected to the unrelenting scrutiny of 
 court and counsel. They are satisfied only with mani- 
 festations which in and of themselves, independent of 
 all others, are unequivocal proofs of mental unsoundness. 
 How little of insanity is manifested in this manner is 
 well known to those practically acquainted with the 
 disease, but by most others it is supposed to be always 
 associated with gross delusions, or acts of ungovernable 
 fury and frenzy. Still, the evidence was sufficient, we
 
 THE HIXCH3IAX CASE. 301 
 
 should imagine, to satisfy any unprejudiced mind that 
 Hinchman was unequivocally insane ; and that his friends 
 were perfectly justified by the kind and degree of his 
 malady in placing him in an asylum, whether for cura- 
 tive or merely custodial purposes. Of course our limits 
 will scarcely permit us to give more than a general sum- 
 mary of its most important parts. 
 
 The mother of Hinchman testified that soon after his 
 marriage she observed a change in his temper and de- 
 meanor, that showed itself in turns of moodiness and 
 dejection, in rudeness and ill-nature, in inconsiderate and 
 unkind treatment of others, and appeared with more or 
 less frequency up to the time of his going to the asylum. 
 Several specific instances were related of rude and un- 
 feeling treatment which she received from him when 
 visiting his family, although from his childhood upward 
 he had ever evinced a kind and affectionate disposition. 
 Many witnesses bore testimony to similar freaks and 
 caprices of temper during the period in question, and 
 among them w T ere mentioned repeated instances of the 
 most heartless disregard of the feelings of his wife, of 
 his mother, and his sisters. The mental disturbance 
 was sometimes so great that he abandoned himself to 
 acts that bore the impress of madness on their very 
 face. One witness found him kneeling on the floor, sigh- 
 ing and groaning, then rolling himself over the floor, 
 and finally breaking away and running into the street. 
 In 1844 he severely whipped a child he happened to 
 meet in the street, but whom he did not even know, for 
 the reason, as he afterwards told the father, that he 
 feared he would hurt the other little boy with whom he 
 was playing, and then asked the father's forgiveness. 
 More than once he stripped himself stark naked in his 
 kitchen in the presence of a female domestic, in order to
 
 302 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 bathe. In 1844 he became a defaulter to the bank of 
 which he was teller, and in informing his mother and wife 
 of the fact he added that it was revealed to him that, if 
 he did not stand up in meeting and confess his sin, his 
 first-born child would be taken from him. Once, having 
 invited some ladies into his carriage, he drove through 
 the streets with a young, unbroken horse, much to their 
 astonishment and fright. After selling a couple of pigs, 
 he insisted that one was bigger than the other, and worth 
 just two cents more, which the buyer paid. 
 
 Coming down to the period near that of his removal 
 to the asylum, a witness stated that he came to her 
 house in December, 1846, to sell some pork, saying 
 that he had killed a pig on purpose for them, though 
 they had not engaged any. He talked fast and wildly 
 upon a variety of subjects, no one else speaking. To 
 another in the same month he insisted on selling two 
 pounds of butter, for the purpose of raising a thousand 
 dollars ; and said if he did not take the butter, he (the 
 witness) must find him (Hinchman) a purchaser for his 
 Marshall Street property. He left on the minds of wit- 
 ness and wife a strong impression of his derangement. 
 Three witnesses stated that he came into the monthly 
 meeting on the 4th of January, 1847, and spoke several 
 times, incoherently and unintelligibly, so that they could 
 not tell which side he was on. He was not dressed like 
 a Friend, his face was flushed, and he had a wild look. 
 Another stated that the day before Hinchman was taken 
 to the asylum he came to her father's house, where he 
 was not in the habit of visiting, and dined with them; 
 that while at table he went into a long conversation 
 about his property and his money ; that he poured out 
 his money upon the table and counted it over, telling 
 them that Judge Fox had promised to get money for
 
 THE HIXCmiAN CASE. 303 
 
 him, but could not do it, because people said that he 
 (Hinchman) was crazy. He left the impression upon 
 her and the family that he was deranged. Two others 
 testified that on the same day he came to their house 
 and behaved in such an unusual and extraordinary 
 manner that they thought he must be insane. Hinch- 
 man's mother testified that she concluded from his wife's 
 statements that he was getting worse, that he had no 
 intervals between his turns of excitement, that he com- 
 plained much of his head, and that his memory was 
 leaving him. Dr. Griscom, his physician and friend, 
 who knew him intimately, advised him to accede to the 
 wishes of his family, and go to the asylum. Dr. Evans, 
 the physician of the institution, testified that he found 
 him laboring under some functional derangement of 
 the digestive organs, accompanied by delusions. He 
 imagined that he had syphilis ; and although told that he 
 had no such disease, and he admitted that he had not 
 been exposed to it, yet he still persisted in the notion. 
 He assured the doctor that his wife, mother, and sister- 
 in-law were entirely deranged, a delusion he had mani- 
 fested previous to his admission into the asylum, and 
 once expressed his belief that he was placed in the 
 asylum as a punishment for taking the money from the 
 bank, as already related. Shortly before leaving, he 
 said he was sensible that when he entered the asylum 
 his mind was not right, but that then he was relieved. 
 The witness also stated his belief that Hinchman's 
 disease was more likely to be cured by the discipline of 
 an asylum than by any other measure. It may also be 
 mentioned, in this connection, that two of his fellow- 
 clerks in the bank to which he was a defaulter, and one 
 of its directors, expressed at the time their belief that he 
 was insane when he took the money. A committee of
 
 804 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 the Friends' meeting to which he belonged, to whom 
 was referred the subject of his treatment of his mother, 
 reported that he was insane, and on that ground ought 
 not to be disowned. 
 
 To meet such evidence as this the plaintiff produced 
 some sixty or seventy witnesses, who testified substan- 
 tially that they never saw or knew him to be otherwise 
 than sane. Their means of observation were occasional 
 interviews in the streets, in meetings of a horse com- 
 pany, and petty business transactions. Few of them 
 were ever in his house, and not one was an intimate 
 acquaintance. Their testimony was merely negative, 
 and did not invalidate a particle of the evidence pre- 
 sented on the other side. Similar testimony might be 
 given respecting the majority of insane men. It was 
 not pretended that Hinchman was habitually deranged 
 during the whole period in question of seven or eight 
 years. His mother expressly says that at times he 
 appeared like himself, and she as well as others de- 
 scribed his disorder as manifesting itself in " spells/' or 
 " turns," in the intervals of which, of course, he be- 
 haved with his natural correctness and propriety. 'It 
 was to be expected, therefore, that to the most of those 
 who saw him but seldom, and were comparative stran- 
 gers to him, he would exhibit no symptoms of mental 
 derangement. 
 
 The motive of the conspiracy, as set forth in the 
 declaration, was either to compel Hinchman to settle his 
 property on his wife and children, or obtain it for some 
 one or more of the defendants. Now, in regard to 'the 
 latter, there does not appear to be one tittle of evidence 
 in support of this charge, nor indeed could there be. In 
 no event could any of the defendants be benefited by 
 his property, except his own and his wife's sister, and
 
 THE HIXCHMAST CASE. 305 
 
 they could only upon the contingency of the death of 
 Hinchman, of his wife and of his children, and this con- 
 tingency was brought no nearer by his being placed 
 in an asylum. Indeed, the plaintiff's counsel scarcely 
 attempted to prove this charge. They mainly endeav- 
 ored to convey the impression that the object of the 
 conspiracy was to change the control of the property 
 from his hands to his wife's. That it was placed in 
 charge of a commission was a necessary consequence of 
 his being insane and in an asylum ; but they attempted 
 to show that the defendants made his liberation from 
 the asylum contingent upon his conveying his property 
 to his wife, by giving her a deed of trust. The only 
 proof they offered was the testimony of some of the 
 attendants of the asylum, which was substantially that, 
 in passing along, they heard, or thought they heard, Dr. 
 Worthington and Mr. Garrett, while in conversation with 
 Hinchman or his friends, say something about a deed of 
 trust. That is, a man declared to be insane by a jury 
 of inquest, and whose property is placed in charge of 
 a commission, is solicited to execute a deed of trust 
 of that property ! Were his counsel serious in making 
 this point, or did they suppose that the defendants were 
 fools as well as knaves ? The facts really established by 
 the evidence in regard to the management of his prop- 
 erty by others were, that on the discharge of the com- 
 mission his real estate was restored to him just as he 
 left it, and his personal property accounted for to him 
 within two hundred dollars of his own estimate, a num- 
 ber of debts having been paid, his family supported, and 
 an execution advantageously satisfied by the good offices 
 of Edward Richie. 
 
 It was also suggested by Hinchman's counsel, that 
 another motive which induced his mother to procure his 
 
 20
 
 306 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 removal to an asylum was to gratify her revenge for 
 some rude treatment she received from him a year or 
 two before. Not a particle of evidence is offered of the 
 fact; while, on the other hand, several ladies of the high- 
 est respectability, who had been intimately acquainted 
 with her from her youth, testified, in the strongest 
 manner, in favor of her character as a kind and affec- 
 tionate mother. If the counsel possessed any proof of 
 such an object, we cannot but wonder that she was not 
 placed upon the roll of defendants. That they should 
 have made the insinuation without proof, stabbing a 
 defenceless woman in the dark, was probably one of 
 those innocent liberties which are supposed to be com- 
 patible with professional honor and dignity. Taking this 
 view of the case, they were obliged to change the part 
 previously assigned to the wife on the theory that the 
 object of Hinchman's imprisonment was to throw the 
 control of the property into her hands, and accordingly 
 the senior counsel declared that " she was imposed 
 upon, and had no hand in it." In regard to this position, 
 we need only repeat the remark of the court upon it, 
 that we can see no foundation for it in the evidence. 
 There seems to be no end to the puzzles and contradic- 
 tions presented by this most extraordinary trial, but our 
 limits will confine our notice to one more only. 
 
 On the close of the plaintiff's evidence, it was moved 
 that Dr. Griscom, Miss Hinchman, Dr. Evans, and Messrs. 
 Warder and Wistar should be acquitted, no evidence 
 appearing against them. The court advised the acquittal 
 of Evans and Hinchman, but the jury acquitted only the 
 former. This gentleman is the visiting physician of 
 the asylum, in which capacity he makes himself ac- 
 quainted with the mental condition of the patients, 
 prescribes their medical and much of their moral treat-
 
 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 307 
 
 ment, and decides when the} 7 liave recovered. It is 
 for him to say whether the patient is or is not insane, 
 and by his opinion the managers are guided in settling 
 the question of the patient's discharge, or further de- 
 tention. He it was who decided the fate of Morgan 
 Hinchman for six months and more ; who pronounced 
 him insane, treated him as an insane man, and finally 
 discharged him as recovered from the disorder. If any 
 wrong was committed upon this man, Dr. Evans was 
 unquestionably the principal offender. The others 
 merely conceived and initiated the wrong, while he 
 consummated and continued it month after month. All 
 their efforts to gratify the unnatural passion of the 
 mother, or strip him of his property for their own or his 
 wife's benefit, would have been powerless without his 
 cooperation. If Hinchman were really not insane, who 
 was more deeply responsible for his confinement than Dr. 
 Evans? If, on the other hand, he were insane, — and the 
 acquittal of Dr. Evans was tantamount to the admission 
 of the fact, — wherein consists the guilt of those defend.- 
 ants who conveyed him to the asylum? If Dr. Evans 
 were correct in his opinion of Hinchman's insanity, and 
 consequently entitled to an acquittal, why should Dr. 
 Kite have been punished, who had no other connection 
 with the case than to give a certificate of insanity ? 
 
 If we are to receive the construction put upon the 
 law by the court, — namely, that " a conspiracy to do a 
 lawful act, if for an unlawful end, is indictable," — then 
 perhaps the innocence of some of the defendants would 
 not necessarily follow the admission of Hinchman's 
 insanity. That is, although they might lawfully carry 
 him to the asylum on account of his insanity, yet, if 
 they were to be benefited thereby in a pecuniary re- 
 spect, then it would be an unlawful act, whether he
 
 308 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 were sane or insane. However much this construction 
 might affect the Richies and some others, we cannot see 
 how it could bring Lippincott into the conspiracy. He 
 was on his way to the coach-office, in order to take his 
 seat for Frankford where his daughter was ill, when he 
 was met by some of the defendants, who told' him they 
 were about to take Hinchman to the asylum, and in- 
 vited him to take a seat in their carriage. There is no 
 proof that he had the slightest reason to suppose that 
 they had any other object than the ostensible one, — 
 an act of humanity. And, even if he had, it does not 
 appear that he laid a finger upon Hinchman. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great pains taken by the plain- 
 tiff's counsel to give a strong coloring of guilt to this 
 transaction, and the vindictive character of the verdict, 
 we can see in the act no unusual features, no suspicious 
 circumstances. It was a reasonable, an honest, a humane 
 measure, deliberately and conscientiously planned, and 
 judiciously carried out. For several years a gentleman 
 has been regarded by his family, and many of his rela- 
 tives, friends, and neighbors, as subject to occasional 
 derangement. He purloins money, and the act is attrib- 
 uted to insanity. He offers violence to his mother, and 
 the meeting to which he belongs forbears to deal with 
 him, because he was insane. He disturbs the peace and 
 comfort of his family, but the partner of his joys and 
 sorrows bears and forbears, hoping that his malady will 
 finally yield, and every " spell " will be the last. Finding 
 their hopes disappointed, and the disease steadily gain- 
 ing strength, the wife and the mother, after deliberately 
 consulting with their and his friends and relatives, 
 finally resolve to place him in one of those institu- 
 tions which are supposed to possess peculiar facilities 
 for restoring the health of the disordered mind. To
 
 I 
 
 THE HENCHMAN CASE. 309 
 
 cany this measure into effect, they solicit the good 
 offices of a couple of gentlemen, one a relative, and 
 both his tried and faithful friends ; and they, like good 
 friends and neighbors as they are, perform the unpleas- 
 ant duty. A petition is immediately offered for a com- 
 mission of lunacy, and a jury of inquest find him insane. 
 All the privileges and indulgences at the command of 
 one of the most excellent establishments in our country 
 are afforded him, so far as they are found compatible 
 with his condition and comfort. He corresponds with 
 and visits his friends, and receives their visits. Under 
 this wholesome discipline his mental health improves ; 
 and after a few months, without the slightest objection 
 from any one, he is discharged as restored to his usual 
 health. Now, in this whole history we cannot discover 
 a single strange or unusual feature, — not a single mark 
 of fraud, or malice, or unfairness. To discover in it 
 such qualities, required feelings perverted and em- 
 bittered by disease, a public sentiment poisoned by the 
 machinations of artful and unscrupulous men, and a 
 jury with imaginations inflamed by pictures of a wor- 
 thy and harmless man seized at mid-day by a band of 
 ruffians, torn from the embraces of his w 7 ife and children, 
 immured in a prison worse than the Bastile, denied the 
 sight of his friends, stripped of his property, and in 
 daily peril of his life from the assaults of raving 
 maniacs. 
 
 In another and a very important point, this case is 
 not without a frequent parallel. We are satisfied that 
 Hinchman belongs to a class of patients — not a small 
 one by any means — who recover so far as to be able to 
 resume their customary pursuits and to conduct with 
 tolerable correctness, but never obtain a healthy tone 
 of thought or feeling on the subject of their infirmity.
 
 310 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 Instead of manifesting any gratitude towards those who 
 watched over and cared for them when unable to care 
 for themselves, and conducted them safely from under 
 the cloud that enshrouded their minds, they regard them- 
 selves as having suffered a grievous wrong in every step 
 of their management. They are unwilling to admit that 
 their intellect has been obscured for a moment ; and 
 this kind of pride, joined with a certain moral obliquity 
 attributable to disease, makes them burn with hate and 
 hostility towards every one who had any agency in 
 effecting their seclusion, — the very partner of their 
 bosom, as well as the institution under whose restora- 
 tive influences reason has regained some measure of her 
 lost dominion. Such feelings have only to be artfully 
 stimulated and managed by mischievous acquaintances 
 to find vent in law-suits and criminal prosecutions. 
 
 The court, we are glad to see, afforded no countenance 
 to a notion of the plaintiff's counsel, that a person could 
 not be deprived of his liberty, even on account of in- 
 sanity, without a trial by his peers ; and distinctly 
 approved of the doctrine laid down, and settled, we 
 trust, for all coming time, by Chief Justice Shaw, of 
 Massachusetts, 1 that the right to restrain an insane 
 man of his liberty is to be found in the " great law of 
 humanity." Subsequently, however, the right is so 
 often affirmed by the court in connection with some 
 condition or qualification, that we are left in a little 
 doubt as to the exact principle which it would as- 
 sert. " If," it says, " Morgan Hinchman was placed in 
 this asylum for the mercenary purpose of getting him 
 to convey his property in any way, it was a foul con- 
 spiracy ; if it was honestly and conscientiously done for 
 
 1 Law Reporter, viii. 122.
 
 THE HIXCHMAX CASE. 311 
 
 the purpose of restoring him to health, they conscien- 
 tiously believing him to be diseased, and you should be 
 of that opinion, it presents a case in which, as I have 
 told you, the patients may be taken in ' charge by rela- 
 tions and friends, by wives and by mothers." This is 
 very plain, but how are we to understand the following 
 remark? " If you are satisfied that Morgan Hinchman 
 was so partially insane that it was dangerous to him- 
 self, dangerous to his wife, and dangerous to his chil- 
 dren, for him to be at liberty, and that these men acted 
 from pure motives, and placed him in the asylum for the 
 purpose of restoring him to health, restoring him sound 
 to his family, I hold them justified." Again, one of 
 the points offered by the defendants is, " that if they 
 acted under circumstances such as would have induced 
 a man of ordinary intelligence to believe the plaintiff 
 insane, and requiring medical treatment in an asylum, 
 the plaintiff cannot recover." To this the court answers: 
 " I accede to this if the jury find it was their only 
 motive to restore him in health and soundness to his 
 family." By this language it seems to be implied that 
 the insanity of a party will not necessarily justify another 
 in placing him in an asylum : because the motive of the 
 latter may be bad. To extend to an insane man the 
 benefits which an asylum affords is usually supposed to 
 be a sufficient and justifiable reason for placing him in 
 one. If in the deep recesses of the heart there lurks a 
 mercenary feeling, — a consciousness of benefit to be de- 
 rived, some day or other, from this measure so salutary 
 to another, — we respectfully submit to the common sense 
 of our readers whether such a sentiment can be made 
 a subject of judicial inquiry. We cannot learn, from 
 the judge's charge, on which side the burden of proof 
 respecting the character of the motive is to rest. This
 
 312 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 would seem to be an important point. The practical 
 consequence of this doctrine of the .court, if confirmed, 
 would be to deter the relatives of any patient from taking 
 measures for his seclusion, because it may result in their 
 pecuniary benefit, and thereby subject them to the 
 charge of being actuated by mercenary motives. While 
 they keep aloof, no one else will interfere ; and the un- 
 fortunate patient is left to his own courses, until his 
 disorder has become incurable, and seclusion is rendered 
 a measure rather custodial than curative. Such a result 
 the court certainly could not contemplate with favor; 
 and it is to be regretted that the opportunity was not 
 taken to rebuke, in the strongest manner, that jealous, in- 
 termeddling spirit which, with the most imperfect knowl- 
 edge of the facts, and no personal interest whatever in 
 the matter, presumed to condemn the most salutary 
 measures, and to poison by its machinations the very 
 fountains of justice. This notion of improper motives 
 pervades the charge of the judge, starting up before 
 him at every turn, like a troubled ghost, and frightening 
 him from every position that common sense and common 
 justice invite him to take. 
 
 The defendants declare that the finding of the inquest 
 " that the plaintiff was insane is a justification of the arrest 
 and confinement, so long as it is necessary for the health 
 and improvement of the party." The judge replies sub- 
 stantially that this position is correct, provided there 
 were no corrupt nor fraudulent contrivances in the pro- 
 ceeding. It had been testified by one of the plaintiff's 
 witnesses, that Edward Richie told him that he (Richie) 
 and Biddle handed to the sheriff a list of jurors for the 
 inquest of lunacy, who were accordingly summoned. 
 This fact was flatly denied by the sheriff, who emphati- 
 cally declared that every member of that jury was
 
 THE HIXCHMAN CASE. 313 
 
 selected b} 7 himself, without the slightest suggestion 
 from any one. The acquittal of Biddle shows that the 
 jury chose to believe the sheriff; and consequently, 
 there having been no fraud, the finding of the inquest, 
 upon the above admission of the court, was a justifica- 
 tion of the arrest and imprisonment. With what con- 
 sistency, then, could the jury render a verdict against 
 Elkinton, Lippincott, and Whitall, who had no other 
 connection with the case than to assist in such arrest? 
 We are almost forced to the conclusion, by this and 
 other similar inconsistencies, that some victims were 
 deemed necessary to appease the wounded pride and 
 morbid feelings of the plaintiff, and that the jury were 
 guided in their selection by any other consideration than 
 that of guilt. 
 
 Our limits will prevent us from adverting to every 
 objectionable feature presented by this case. A volume 
 would scarcely suffice for that, but the specimens given 
 will enlighten the reader respecting its general char- 
 acter, and especially of the animus that pervaded the 
 trial. It is perfectly obvious that, by artful appeals to 
 the popular passions through the newspaper press, the 
 defendants had been tried and condemned in the public 
 mind long before they w^ent through the formalities of a 
 legal trial. This explains why it was that a band of men 
 and women, than whom our sister city has few more eminent 
 examples of moral integrity and worth, were arraigned 
 like felons, held up to the scorn and contumely of the 
 world, and stripped of their property as a punishment 
 for their crimes. But we are not anxious to prolong 
 an examination which, the farther we go, only deep- 
 ens our mortification and grief. Thus much we felt 
 bound to say, in our character of faithful journalists, 
 of a trial which can scarcely find its parallel, except
 
 314 THE HINCHMAN CASE. 
 
 in the trials for treason that disgraced the reigns of 
 the Stuarts. 
 
 " Can such things be, 
 And overcome us like a summer's cloud, 
 Without our special wonder ? "
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 [The case which forms the subject of the following- opinion will 
 take a foremost place among the causes celebres of our country ; for, 
 in regard to the curious pathological questions it raised, to the num- 
 ber and distinction of the experts whose opinions were obtained, to 
 the social prominence of the parties concerned, to the magnitude of 
 the pecuniary interests involved, and to the dramatic element that 
 characterized the movements which led to the testamentary acts, it 
 is certainly unprecedented in our judicial annals. It occasioned an 
 immense amount of inquiry and discussion respecting the effects of 
 apoplexy, paralysis, and epilepsy, on the mental condition. The 
 records of hospitals were searched, the personal experience of para- 
 lytics exhibited; and, besides the written opinions of gentlemen 
 specially conversant with insanity, several eminent physicians con- 
 tributed the results of their learning- and observation. Never, in 
 fact, were the mental and pathological effects of paralytic affections 
 more thoroughly investigated ; and in the numerous papers thus pro- 
 duced the medical student will find a rich mine of information. 
 
 Most of the testimony was submitted in print to several gentlemen 
 supposed to be specially skilled in mental diseases, and their opinion 
 requested as to the mental condition of the person to whom it re- 
 ferred. Among the opinions obtained in reply to this request was 
 the following, from the writer of these remarks. 
 
 Since it was written, it happens that the prominent feature of 
 the case, oj/Ju/sia, or loss of speech, has been considerably investi- 
 gated by various observers. These investigations have greatly in- 
 creased our knowledge of its anatomical and pathological relations; 
 but I am not aware that such knowledge would have thrown any 
 light on the questions presented in Mr. Parish's case. Had an 
 autopsy, for instance, revealed a serious lesion in a certain convolu-
 
 316 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 tion of the brain, the fact would have been interesting as a confirma- 
 tion of a general law, but would not have helped us to decide whether 
 that gentleman was competent to make a will. For the question was 
 not whether his brain was diseased, but whether it appeared from 
 actual observation that he had or had not a testamentary capacity. 
 
 It is a noteworthy fact, in the trial of this case, that the Surrogate 
 wisely determined that the medical opinions should be given in 
 writing, with the understanding that, though not clothed with the 
 authority of legal evidence, they would be carefully considered and 
 credited with all the weight to which they were really entitled.* Such 
 a remarkable disregard of technicalities was at once significant of 
 his own breadth of mind, and conducive to the most exact and com- 
 plete expression of belief. It enabled the expert to utter — what is 
 impossible in the usual method of examination and cross-examination 
 — his opinions and the reasons for opinions, with that coherence and 
 logical relation absolutely necessary to show their full force and sig- 
 nificance. This was a movement in the right direction, and is well 
 worthy of imitation wherever the mode of procedure admits of it. 
 
 The Surrogate admitted the first codicil and excluded the other 
 two. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, which decided 
 against all three codicils ; and this decision was affirmed by the Court 
 of Appeals, — the court of last resort.] 
 
 Henry Parish, a prosperous New. York merchant, 
 made his will in the year 1842, being then fifty-four 
 years old. It is a long and elaborate instrument, dis- 
 tributing his property, supposed at that time to be worth 
 about $750,000, among a considerable number of rela- 
 tives, and indicating a nice balancing of their respective 
 claims on his bounty. Having provided liberally for his 
 wife, and distributed a large share of the estate among 
 his kindred, he constitutes his brothers Daniel and 
 James the residuary legatees. While in Europe, in 
 1843, he had what seems to have been an apoplectic 
 attack, from which, however, he shortly recovered, and 
 continued as well apparently as ever, both in body and 
 mind, until the 19th of July, 1849, when he had another 
 apoplectic attack, much more severe. In the course of
 
 THE PAEISS WELL CASE. 317 
 
 about a fortnight he was out of immediate danger, but 
 never recovered his ordinary condition. His right side 
 (including the upper and lower limbs) was found to be 
 somewhat paralyzed, the power of articulation Avas lost, 
 and his natural elasticity and vigor were gone. These 
 traits continued with little change until he died, in 
 1856. 
 
 Within a year from the date of the attack he became 
 able to walk with a crutch, and the aid of another person 
 generally. It does not appear that he ever obtained the 
 use of his right hand. Until within a few months of his 
 death he continued able to utter a few monosyllables, 
 described by some of the witnesses as " oh, dear," 
 "yes," and "no," and a few inarticulate sounds. Dur- 
 ing this period he had several attacks of bodily illness, 
 such as cholera morbus, inflammation of the lungs, 
 abscess under the jaw, and intestinal inflammation. 
 
 The functions of the bladder and rectum were some- 
 what disturbed, a part of the time at least; and hence 
 arose an increased frequency of evacuating these organs. 
 Epileptic fits occurred within a few months of the apo- 
 plectic attack of July, 1849, at intervals varying from 
 eight days to six months or more. When not laboring 
 under a particular illness, he sat in his library, walked 
 to market with his servant, or drove out in his carriage 
 with his wife, or one of her brothers. 
 
 On the 29th of August, 1849, his cross in lieu of a 
 signature was subscribed to a codicil to his will, which 
 gave to his wife the house he then occupied, and a cer- 
 tain store and lot, all which had come into his possession 
 subsequently to the execution of the will, the house de- 
 vised to his wife by the will having, in the mean time, 
 gone out of his possession. This codicil was, in like 
 manner, executed the 17th of December, 1849.
 
 318 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 On the 15th of September, 1853, a second codicil was 
 subscribed in like manner, which repeats the bequests 
 of the first, and bequeaths to his wife some $350,000 
 in certain stocks and bonds. It also bequeaths $50,000 
 to various charitable institutions, and revokes the ap- 
 pointment of Daniel Parish as one of the executors of 
 the will, as well as the bequest to him of $10,000 as 
 executor. 
 
 On the 15th of June, 1854, a third codicil was made, 
 which substitutes his wife, as residuary legatee, in the 
 place of Daniel and James Parish. 
 
 These codicils were contested in the Surrogate's Court 
 on the ground that, when they were made, the testator 
 had not a testamentary capacity, and the question before 
 us now is, what was the mental condition of Henry Parish 
 during the period between the attack in 1849 and his 
 death in 1856. 
 
 Paralysis, the sequel of apoplexy, is not invariably 
 accompanied by very obvious mental impairment ; but 
 such is very frequently the case, especially after the 
 attacks have been repeated once or twice. The occur- 
 rence of epilepsy in the present case, subsequently to 
 the paralysis, is an additional indication of a high 
 degree of morbid action in the brain. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, therefore, some degree of mental impair- 
 ment might have been naturally expected. 
 
 The manifestations of mental impairment ma} T not be 
 very patent in a person deprived of the power of articu- 
 lation, but they cannot easily be mistaken by those 
 who are practically conversant with mental affections. 
 Speech is but one means of expressing ideas and emo-
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 319 
 
 tions. Signs, writing, actions, may be less easy, but 
 are none the less accurate or accessible. Deaf mutes 
 are a standing exemplification of this fact. The mental 
 condition of the testator, therefore, is to be ascertained 
 by his acts and demeanor, — by observing what he did, 
 and by considering what he omitted to do. 
 
 For a few years previous to his attack in 1849 he 
 had retired from business, except the investment of his 
 income in real estate, bonds, mortgages, and stocks. 
 There is nothing in this requiring much exercise of 
 thought. The essential points in any transaction of 
 this kind are few, easily accessible, and easily compre- 
 hended. If he had retained his mind unimpaired, it 
 might have been reasonably expected that he would 
 continue to manage his affairs in this way, especially 
 as it had been a favorite occupation with him. If he 
 were competent for any thing, he was for this. He 
 could have indicated the securities he wished to pur- 
 chase, by pointing them out in the papers or writing 
 the name. If he wished for commercial paper, he had 
 only to visit or send for a broker, and select from his 
 stock such as he preferred. His dividends he might 
 have collected for himself, and the little assistance he 
 might have needed in any of these transactions could 
 have been furnished by his book-keeper or some friend. 
 With his love of accumulation, and the gratification 
 he derived from a good bargain, he never would have 
 delegated, in any degree, the business of investing his 
 income, even to his own wife. It appears, however, that 
 within a year from the attack he gave her a power of 
 attorney for selling his securities, and that she usually 
 collected his dividends. While it is impossible to say 
 how far his opinion was consulted in the greater por- 
 tion of his purchases, it is doubtful at best whether
 
 320 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 any single transaction was entirely the result of his 
 own free will and unguided understanding. The usual 
 practice of his wife was to drive into Wall Street with 
 him, and there, stopping before some broker's office, 
 to send for one of the firm, who came to the carriage, 
 and, having ascertained how much money was to be 
 invested, the broker offered various notes and stocks. 
 It is said that, as these were read to him, he expressed 
 what was regarded as his token of assent or dissent. 
 Sometimes the business was finished at this interview ; 
 at other times — and this seems to have been the more 
 common proceeding — a day or two was taken for con- 
 sideration, when the result was communicated to the 
 broker by Mrs. Parish. In the latter case we have no 
 means of knowing how much Mr. Parish had to do 
 with the result ; and in the former his agency, even if 
 apparently independent, might really have been only 
 the expression of her wishes. There was no reason 
 why she should interpose, except to prevent him from ac- 
 cepting unsatisfactory paper, — a contingency not likely 
 to happen when dealing with such men as the Wards. 
 If his sign or sound was thought to indicate a refusal 
 of what he might as well have accepted, it was of no 
 consequence, because there was enough more equally 
 good from which a choice might be made. His assent 
 or dissent, therefore, might have been expressed with- 
 out the slightest reference to the quality of the paper 
 offered, and yet the actual purchase been perfectly satis- 
 factory. 
 
 In the loans, too, which were habitually made, it 
 is impossible to discern his controlling agency. Dr. 
 Markoe, who hired $10,000 of his funds, says he ap- 
 plied for the loan through Dr. Delafield, and never 
 exchanged a word with Mr. Parish about it, except to
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 321 
 
 thank him for the accommodation. Mr. Youngs, the 
 builder, applied to him for loans of money, but always 
 in the presence of Mrs. Parish, and the result, whatever 
 it was, was always by her knowledge and, consent. The 
 same is true of the loans to Wiley. One of them, it 
 seems, was larger than the amount of his funds in the 
 bank ; and when the fact was pointed out by his wife 
 he appeared to be much irritated, became " furiously 
 mad," the witness said, " and rapped his hand as hard 
 as he could on the table three or four times.'' Mr. Tile- 
 ston's account of his negotiation with him for the use of 
 $200,000 worth of United States scrip, besides exhibit- 
 ing the agency of others in the matter, throws much 
 light on the question of Mr. Parish's capacity. When 
 asked on what terms he would allow the bank to place 
 this stock in the hands of the Comptroller, he held up 
 two fingers, which, Mrs. Parish said, meant $2,000 per 
 annum. Then he began to manifest some uneasiness ; 
 and after repeated unsuccessful attempts to ascertain 
 his meaning, Mr. Tileston was obliged to leave the 
 transaction unfinished. Two or three days after, he 
 was told by Mr. Delafield that Mr. Parish was not satis- 
 fied with the security, viz., the capital of the bank and 
 the liability of the stockholders for $1,200,000 more, but 
 required the individual security of the directors. This 
 Mr. T. declared to be out of the question ; but he offered 
 a mortgage of the bank building, appraised at 8175,000. 
 This also was declined, and further negotiation was 
 abandoned. Now, if Mr. Parish understood the matter 
 correctly, and the three witnesses present are quite 
 sure that he did, the transaction shows very equivocal 
 proof of any capacity for business ; the more striking, 
 because a few years before he had loaned the same stock 
 for the same purpose, and on security far less perfect 
 
 21
 
 oAA THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 than that now offered ; and if Mr. Parish did not compre- 
 hend the matter, it shows that these witnesses entirely 
 misunderstood the meaning of his signs and looks. 
 
 The exclusive agency of others in some of these 
 investments is established by the testimony of Mr. 
 Kernochan, who says that Mrs. Parish often consulted 
 him about the " investments that were being made, or 
 about to be made." 
 
 From all these transactions, I cannot resist the im- 
 pression that Mr. Parish was no longer the same man. 
 In all probability, before his illness it was not his 
 custom to consult his wife about investments, nor her 
 custom to consult others. 
 
 The testimony also shows abundantly that Mrs. 
 Parish took a prominent part in many other matters of 
 business, which men do not usually delegate to their 
 wives. Mr. Kernochan speaks of their both coming to 
 the office, and of Mr. Folsom's showing and explaining 
 the books to Mrs. Parish. On these occasions she com- 
 monly spoke to him, he says, about the renting of prop- 
 erty and the collection of dividends. 
 
 In regard to much smaller matters in which he 
 seemed to take a part, the indications of capacity are 
 not very obvious. At one time, in the summer of 1850, 
 he was in the habit of accompanying his servant to 
 market, where he would point to various things ; but no 
 one could understand what he wanted, and if they 
 guessed at his meaning, and sent the articles to his 
 house, portions of them were sometimes returned as 
 unsuitable. Austin, the poulterer, says that on one 
 occasion when various kinds of poultry and game were 
 carried out to him, in order that he might choose for 
 himself, he only flourished his cane, and acted as if he 
 were crazy. When accompanied by his wife in his visits
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 32 J 
 
 to the market, it seems to have been the custom for her, 
 finally, to order the dinner. Just before going to bed 
 he usually went to the kitchen and ordered his break- 
 fast, which order, as interpreted by the cook, was some- 
 times countermanded by his wife, and something more 
 suitable for his condition substituted. The evidence of 
 Sammis shows that his wife regarded him as not compe- 
 tent to purchase his own shoes, and Jones's testimony 
 shows the same thing in relation to his clothes. 
 
 Again, it appears that during the whole period of his 
 illness he never played a game of whist, nor engaged in 
 any other amusement. Now, when we consider that he 
 had of late years been passionately fond of whist, that 
 it was often played by his wife and her friends in his 
 presence, and that if his mind were unimpaired he must 
 have been ready to adopt any means of whiling away 
 the tedious hours of confinement, it seems impossible to 
 account for his abstinence from this game, on any theory 
 which supposes his mind to have been untouched by 
 disease, or reduced to any grade much above the lowest 
 form of dementia. The knowledge of such games is 
 among the last things that fade from the disordered 
 mind ; and in every hospital for the insane, patients re- 
 duced to an almost vegetative existence may be seen 
 playing at games of checkers or whist, if not as skilfully 
 as in their best days, yet in compliance with all the rules 
 of the game, and with more or less gratification. 
 
 Among the facts which seem to be relied on as proofs 
 of the testator's mental soundness, I need notice only 
 some of the principal. He recognized his old friends. 
 He went through the ceremony of taking wine with his 
 guests. To a person standing by him in the open air 
 uncovered he made the motion to put on his hat. He 
 is said to have smiled at the time when a joke was
 
 324 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 uttered in his presence on one or two occasions. He 
 would point to his head or other parts to indicate that 
 he had pain there. When the affairs of a neighbor were 
 spoken of, he is said to have pointed out of the window 
 in the direction of that neighbor's house. He indicated 
 a wish to change his clothes when soiled. One attendant 
 says he had taught him to turn down the coverlet when 
 he wanted the urinal. He listened with apparent atten- 
 tion to certain conversation, and manifested displeasure 
 at interruption. A nurse says when the hour for taking 
 medicine came around he would point to the pill-box. 
 These incidents, even if correctly represented, indicate 
 but a very small measure of mental capacity. They are 
 not incompatible with any of those forms of dementia in 
 which every idea of cause and effect, of the value of 
 property, of the ties of consanguinity, and the relative 
 claims of family and friends, has long since disappeared. 
 
 A few other facts of a higher character are mentioned 
 in the evidence, which may seem to require a more par- 
 ticular notice. Youngs, the builder, says that, when he 
 read to him bills for work, Mr. Parish would some- 
 times stop him, and look inquiringly, whereupon Youngs 
 would ask if he wanted any explanation, when Mr. Par- 
 ish would say " yes." The force of this testimony is 
 greatly weakened, if not entirely destroyed, by Youngs 
 himself, who says that Mr. Parish made two sounds, 
 uttered in quick repetition, " eh, eh, eh," and " nah, 
 nah, nah," as he spells them, and which, he supposed, 
 meant respectively yes and no. 
 
 The same witness says, that after some repairs of the 
 roof had been projected, but not begun, Mr. Parish would 
 call his attention to it whenever he saw him, " by point- 
 ing upwards with his first forefinger, though it might 
 have been two sometimes, raising his hand as high as the
 
 THE PAKISH WILL CASE. 325 
 
 lower part of his face, and at the same time looking 
 upward." On being asked if he referred to the roof, 
 "he would nod his head ' yes.' " This piece of testimony 
 is open to the same objection as the last, — the point on 
 which its whole value depends is a matter of guessing. 
 Mr. Parish did not really say yes, but only something 
 which, the witness supposed, meant yes ; and even if 
 Mr. Parish really intended to remind him that the roof 
 needed repairing, the fact would only show a degree of 
 intellect far below what is required for testamentary 
 purposes. 
 
 Mr. Wiley says, that, having borrowed some money of 
 him, he handed him a promissory note. " After looking 
 at it, he made a motion to me, uttering a continued kind 
 of sound, putting the note on his knee, and striking it 
 with the ends of his fingers several times, as much as 
 to call my attention to it, I thought ; I took hold of the 
 note then, and looked at it, and I saw there had been 
 omitted 'interest from date.' " Another note, correctly 
 written, being given him, he looked at it as before, 
 " bowed his head several times," and put it into a 
 satchel. Now, even if Mr. Wiley were perfectly correct 
 in his conjectures respecting Mr. Parish's meaning, the 
 fact would prove little. A man who, like Mr. Parish, 
 had been giving or receiving such notes all his life, 
 would readily observe so important an omission as that, 
 if he observed any thing. It would show only one of 
 those automatic movements of the mind, like those con- 
 cerned in playing games, and implying no more exer- 
 cise of thought. 
 
 Again, the same witness says, " He would sit quietly 
 on the reading of the paper, and when the price of any 
 particular stock had advanced from the previous day's 
 sales, he appeared to take notice of it ; would rise in
 
 326 THE PAEISH WILL CASE. 
 
 his chair, make a motion with his hand, and sometimes 
 nod his head, and sometimes shake his hand, always 
 uttering a noise." The witness thought that Mr. Parish 
 would make no such sound, gesture, or motion when any 
 other subject was read about. At the best, this fact 
 would indicate only a little attention and memory, 
 such as are generally witnessed in all but the lowest 
 forms of dementia. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Taylor states that he administered the 
 Lord's Supper to him at least seventeen times during 
 his illness. He says, " His manner was uniformly devout 
 and humble. He seemed to be always very much 
 impressed with the solemnity of the occasion." In place 
 of the regular responses he " made a sound of acquies- 
 cence," and with his left hand he conveyed the bread 
 and cup to his mouth. All this displays but little in- 
 telligence. Like every person born and educated in 
 a Christian land, he was well acquainted with the 
 ordinances of religion, and in partaking of them no 
 more exercise of thought was required than in par- 
 taking of his regular meals. 
 
 The fact that during these six years he never entered 
 a church would seem to imply that the religious senti- 
 ment had little of that activity which might have been 
 expected in a sane mind. The same witness states that 
 after every service Mr. Parish gave him money from his 
 own pocket ; but this act, with the thousand others 
 which are performed by the insane with the utmost cor- 
 rectness, shows no exercise of the reasoning powers. 
 
 Fisher says, he would put the newspaper on his 
 
 knee and point to the part he wished to have read. 
 
 If this were so, it would only prove that he knew how 
 
 to read, but nothing at all respecting his mental capacity. 
 
 Without noticing other acts of a similar character,
 
 THE PAEISH WILL CASE. 327 
 
 many of which appear in the evidence, let us see what 
 inferences may be drawn from the manner in which he 
 was managed by his family and attendants. 
 
 Wing-rove's description of a morning's operations — 
 of his motions with his hands and head ; his " yanne, 
 yanne, yanne ; " his searching his wife's wardrobe, though 
 assured that it contained nothing belonging to him; his 
 taking up his pantaloons one after another, putting them 
 to his mouth, and repeating his customary sound, " yanne, 
 yanne, yanne ; " of his visit to the market, where he 
 would sit in a chair, and take the game handed him, 
 and put it to his mouth as he did the pantaloons — 
 strikingly illustrates that mental decrepitude so fre- 
 quently the sequel of paralysis. Many other scenes in 
 his domestic life tell the same story. Clark, the coach- 
 man, who was in his service during the whole of his ill- 
 ness, says it was his custom to visit Mr. Parish in his 
 room, every morning, between nine and ten o'clock. " I 
 would go in," he says, " he would nod his head, a smile 
 on his countenance, and then he would put up one finger 
 or two, and say, ' nea, nea,' or ' aney, aney,' to know how 
 the horses were ; then he would hold up the fingers 
 again, just repeat it ; then I would ask him if it was 
 about feed ; I would tell him the horses were very well, 
 and I had plenty of feed ; then I would say, ' Good-by, 
 Mr. Parish,' and then he would nod his head, a smile on 
 his countenance, and say, ' Neay, neay, neay,' as much 
 as to say ' Good-by ; ' I took it for that." Henry Dela- 
 field says that it was his custom to drive out with him 
 on Sundays, and that when they drove down town the 
 carriage would stop near his stores in Wall, Pearl, 
 Water, and Pine Streets. " He would point at the build- 
 ing ; then looking at me inquisitively, I would ask him if 
 he wished any information about the building; he would
 
 328 THE PAHISH WILL CASE. 
 
 say, yes ; I would then tell him the building appeared 
 to be in order and all occupied.' 7 
 
 Mr. Wiley says, that when he visited him at Hell 
 Gate, as he often did, " I would recount the business of 
 the day in the city, such as I would think would be in- 
 teresting to him." " How long a time," he was asked, 
 " would you spend in talking with him ? " " From two 
 to five minutes," was the reply. 
 
 The only possible theory whereby all these indications 
 of mental infirmity can be explained consistently with the 
 supposition that his mind was unimpaired, is, that being 
 unable to express his thoughts by means of speech he 
 necessarily appeared deficient in understanding. This 
 theory receives but slender support from the facts in 
 the case, and the general experience of men. Let the 
 question be put to any one in the full possession of his 
 faculties : " Were you to be suddenly deprived of the 
 power of speaking, and of the use of your right hand, 
 your mind remaining unaffected, do you suppose that, 
 for six or seven years, you would continue as incapable 
 of making known your thoughts as Mr. Parish was ? " 
 There certainly would be but one answer to that ques- 
 tion. A tolerable facility of writing with the left hand 
 could be obtained by a little practice, and in the mean 
 time a dictionary, block letters, hieroglyphics, and maps, 
 would enable him to convey his meaning without fear 
 of mistake. Every day would also witness an improve- 
 ment in the use of signs and gestures. In every actual 
 case of this description on record (i.e., mere loss of 
 speech), so far as I know, the integrity of the mind was 
 shown either by what the patient did, or by the ideas 
 communicated in the manner here mentioned. In one, 
 the patient, a collector of taxes, pursued his customary 
 duties ; in another, a blacksmith went to his shop, and
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 329 
 
 gave directions to his workmen ; in another, an old gentle- 
 man continued to enjoy his game at whist as much as 
 ever. 1 The facts that through this whole period of 
 six years or more Mr. Parish never wrote, unless, 
 indeed, it might be that he wrote his own name, in a few 
 instances, — a fact not clearly established ; that his signs 
 and motions were very few, not one of them having an 
 unmistakable meaning ; and that, notwithstanding his 
 great desire at times to make known his wishes, he fre- 
 quently failed, much to his own discomfort and irritation, 
 render the conclusion unavoidable that his mind was 
 reduced to a very low grade of dementia, — that state 
 in which its operations consist of a few feeble, disjointed 
 efforts of perception and memory. His whole panto- 
 mime consisted of a nod and shake of the head, and a 
 motion in which he raised his left hand (with two fingers 
 pointing upward, and the rest closed on the palm) 
 towards his mouth, and finally rested his fingers upon 
 his teeth. The nod and shake of the head were sup- 
 posed by some to indicate assent and dissent, and his 
 communication of ideas was confined entirely to making 
 one of these motions in reply to any question what- 
 ever. Thus every thought or wish attributed to him 
 originated with somebody else. This, of course, might 
 not be objectionable, necessarily, provided there could 
 be no doubt respecting the meaning of these motions, 
 and also that the questions were clearly understood. 
 Kernochan and Folsom, however, state that the same 
 question repeated after a short interval, or in different 
 terms, elicited both the nod and the shake. Jones, the 
 
 1 For cases of this kind, see Pinel, Sur l'Alienation, 90 ; Kay, Med. 
 Jurisprud. of Insanity, p. 163 ; Cooke on Nervous Diseases, p. 246, Boston 
 ed., 1824; Ed. Phrenological Journal, II. 410; III. 316; IX. 17; IX. 
 471; X. 352.
 
 330 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 tailor, makes a similar statement. In regard to the 
 motion of the hand, Kernochan says that those about 
 him supposed that he meant by it to invite suggestions, 
 or gain information, but that he could never make that 
 out with any certainty. In reply to Mr. Tileston's propo- 
 sition to hire his United States stock, it seems that he 
 made this motion, or something very like it, whereupon 
 Mr. Tileston says, " I believed that he intended to convey 
 the idea that he required $2,000 per annum for the loan 
 of the stock, which was confirmed by Mrs. Parish saying 
 that that was exactly what he intended to convey." 
 Gibson states that when he solicited from him a sub- 
 scription to some charity, he made this motion, and that 
 Mrs. Parish, who was present, immediately asked if he 
 meant $200 ; to which he assented, bowing his head. 
 
 By some of the witnesses it was stated that he, at 
 times, said, " oh, dear," and " yes," and " no," quite dis- 
 tinctly ; but Kernochan, who visited him more or less 
 frequently, during his whole illness, says that he never 
 heard him utter an articulate sound. He was in the 
 habit of making a few inarticulate sounds, always re- 
 peating them rapidly, but as each witness expresses the 
 sound in his own way, there is some doubt as to their 
 number and identity. As written by them, they are 
 "yanne, aney, yah, neay, yey, yet, nay, nan, nin, niah, 
 nich," and some others. The first five or six were prob- 
 ably the same sounds differently rendered by different 
 persons, and by some supposed to express assent, as 
 the others were supposed to express dissent. This, 
 certainly, was not always their meaning, for some of 
 them were used when he was irritated ; and at other 
 times the same sounds were uttered when he was un- 
 der no excitement. Some of them were regarded by 
 some of the witnesses as equivalents of yes or no, but
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 331 
 
 they seem to have been used at times when he was sup- 
 posed to have the power of uttering distinctly those 
 words. It is certain that the nod and shake of the head 
 were not always accompanied by any sound, articulate or 
 otherwise. The most probable conclusion is, that these 
 inarticulate utterances had no meaning at all, but were 
 merely ejaculatory sounds accompanying the feeling or 
 emotion of the moment. 
 
 On the question of Mr. Parish's mental capacity, these 
 signs and sounds are not without great significance. 
 Considered under any possible aspect of the case, it is 
 quite impossible to believe that a person in the full posses- 
 sion of his mind, though without the power of speech or 
 of his right arm, would not, during the space of six or 
 seven years, have acquired greater facility in the com- 
 munication of his ideas. 
 
 The moral traits which made their appearance after 
 the attack are also very significant in this connection. 
 Some degree of irritability is not an uncommon sequel 
 of paralysis, and does not necessarily imply intellectual 
 impairment. But in this case there was a kind of petu- 
 lance and of anger, never exhibited in connection with 
 soundness of mind. It was not merely excessive and 
 frequent, but irrelevant and puerile. It was the anger 
 of a child, and signified as plainly as any other fact in 
 the case that the manly, vigorous, and well-balanced 
 mind of Henry Parish had been reduced by the shock of 
 disease to a lower level than that of the feeblest child's. 
 Dashing at and striking his wife, with other manifes- 
 tations of childish displeasure, seem to have been a 
 frequent incident ; and many witnesses speak of his ex- 
 hibiting irritation when the people about him failed to 
 ascertain his wishes. The scene at Root's, where the 
 violence of his movements, occasioned solely by his
 
 332 THE PAEISH WILL CASE. 
 
 wife's not returning to the carriage the moment he ex- 
 pected her, attracted the attention of the passers-by, was 
 a striking illustration of this trait of disease. And so 
 was his conduct with the box, as related by Dr. Markoe. 
 On this occasion, after much questioning, which failed 
 to elicit his wishes, his wife asked if he wished her to 
 get a certain box ; " and as soon as this suggestion was 
 made to him, he assented to it most vehemently." Accord- 
 ingly, the box was obtained from the bank and placed 
 in his lap ; but, says the doctor, " he was very much dis- 
 pleased with something connected with the presentation ; 
 the box was left unopened, and conveyed back to the 
 bank that same afternoon." Another witness present 
 says he threw it upon the floor, and pushed it about 
 with his hand. Is it possible that a person of sound 
 mind, or any mind at all, would indulge in such conduct 
 as this ? He is supposed to be exceedingly anxious to 
 obtain his will ; and when, after much trouble, he has 
 succeeded in getting it within his grasp, he dashes it 
 upon the floor unopened, and cares for it no more ! 
 
 It would appear that many persons of intelligence, 
 education, and knowledge of the world, who visited Mr. 
 Parish more or less frequently, came to the conclusion 
 that his mind was not materially impaired ; that he under- 
 stood any proposition made to him, and was capable of 
 transacting business. 
 
 This fact may be easily explained without discredit- 
 ing their honesty or sagacity. They arrived at their 
 conclusion through a series of errors, both of fact and 
 opinion, which any one might readily commit who had 
 no practical knowledge of abnormal states of mind. To 
 form a correct opinion in a case of doubtful sanity re- 
 quires, in addition to this kind of knowledge, a mind free 
 from bias, and full opportunitiei of observation. Few,
 
 THE PAEISH WILL CASE. 333 
 
 if any, of the gentlemen who bore testimony to the 
 mental capacity of Mr. Parish possessed these qualifica- 
 tions. They called on him, some for business, and some 
 for old acquaintance sake. They were impressed, in 
 the outset, with the idea that he labored under no 
 other disability than the loss of the power of speech ; 
 and for the most of them, if they entertained any sus- 
 picion of the correctness of this impression, it would 
 have been neither convenient nor proper to test the 
 measure of his capacity by appropriate means. He 
 greeted them with a look of recognition, and perhaps 
 a shake of the hand, and they put to him questions 
 respecting his health or a matter of business. To these 
 he replied by a motion of the head, to which they very 
 naturally affix the same meaning that they would to 
 a similar motion in any other person. Any doubt on 
 the point is removed at once by the suggestion of 
 others, who are supposed to be familiar with all his 
 signs and sounds, and perfectly to understand their 
 meaning; and they go away quite satisfied that he 
 understood every thing they said, and was capable of 
 understanding a great deal more that was not said. The 
 conversation, if such it may be called, was confined, 
 with one or two exceptions, to simple ordinary matters 
 which required no exercise of thought, and which were 
 within the comprehension of any degree of mind not 
 unequivocally imbecile. Matters of greater moment, re- 
 quiring some effort of the reasoning powers, such as 
 testamentary dispositions would imply, were never in- 
 troduced. 
 
 It will be observed that these persons also committed 
 the common mistake of supposing that if Mr. Parish 
 understood the terms of a question he necessarily un- 
 derstood its merits. This is not true of sane people
 
 334 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 always, while nothing is more common among the insane 
 than expressions of assent or dissent in reply to propo- 
 sitions far beyond their comprehension. In every in- 
 stitution for the insane may be found patients with the 
 dress and deportment of gentlemen, performing all the 
 little commonplaces of life with unexceptionable correct- 
 ness, but ready to assent to any proposition however 
 absurd. Without the careful application of some test, 
 most persons would conclude that these patients, who 
 replied so promptly with a yes or no to the question 
 asked them, really understood the subject talked about. 
 Thus, when asked to purchase the paper of a certain 
 mercantile house, Mr. Parish might have recognized the 
 name, estimated the sum correctly, and been conscious 
 that a bargain was to be made, without having any clear 
 idea of the standing of the house, -the nature of the 
 security, or the actual value of the paper. 
 
 In interpreting the meaning of such signs and sounds 
 as Mr. Parish used in his interviews with these gentle- 
 men, it is obvious there would be much room for the 
 play of the imagination. Even careful and cultivated 
 minds might easily be led astray by some casual bias, 
 and thus have mistaken their own fancies for actual 
 facts. Mr. Isaac H. Brown, in describing one of his 
 interviews with him, says that he held up his hand with 
 the first two fingers crossed, signifying, as he understood 
 it, that he wished Mrs. Parish to give him (Brown) ten 
 dollars. Mr. James Watson Webb says that, on meet- 
 ing him once and referring to a former acquaintance 
 abroad, he burst into tears, indicating, as he (Webb) 
 supposed, his inability to speak. The Rev. Dr. Taylor 
 speaks of his " sensible and intelligent replies," and 
 Major Delafield of his " complaining of his sight," and 
 of " his eye beaming with intelligence." So difficult
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 335 
 
 it is even for the most honest and sagacious to refrain 
 from mixing up their own inferences with the impres- 
 sions made upon their senses. 
 
 During the period in question Mr. Parish was attended 
 by several physicians for some bodily ailment : and these 
 gentlemen, though not professing to be particularly con- 
 versant with mental disease, and though at the time of 
 their professional attendance they made no investigation 
 of mental condition, were requested, on their examination 
 before the Surrogate, to state their opinions respecting 
 it. Their opinions are entitled to most respectful con- 
 sideration, but can claim our assent only so far as they 
 are supported by facts. Whether a certain person is 
 sane or insane, imbecile or demented, is a question not 
 to be decided by vague impressions, or a superficial 
 observation, but by facts sufficiently numerous, definite, 
 and clear, to admit of but one construction by those who 
 are qualified by their studies and experience to appre- 
 ciate them properly. Dr. Johnston, who visited him 
 professionally from the beginning of the attack till the 
 27th August next, thought he understood the questions 
 put to him about his ailments ; but the Doctor declined 
 to express any opinion respecting his mental condition 
 generally. Drs. Wilkes, Dubois, Markoe, and Delafield, 
 who visited him more or less frequently (the two latter 
 during the greater part of the period in question, and 
 the two former during a few weeks only for affections 
 of the eyes), concur in the opinion that his mind was 
 unimpaired by his disease. The kind of facts which 
 led them to this result has been already indicated and 
 examined. Nothing stronger is adduced. Indeed, few 
 of those facts were witnessed personally by any one of 
 these gentlemen; and the only ground on which they can 
 claim some confidence in their opinion must be that im-
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 pression which was made upon them by signs or sounds 
 that cannot well be imitated, or by facts which, while 
 they might be well enough described, might be differ- 
 ently interpreted by others. It cannot be denied that 
 this may be legitimate ground for an opinion. Facts 
 which indicate little or nothing to one person may be 
 pregnant with meaning to another. Still they should be 
 facts, and admit of an accurate description ; otherwise, 
 the opinions that are founded upon them cannot obtain 
 the confidence of others. Such facts, though they be 
 more significant to one and less to another, will at last 
 be appreciated at their true value. Dr. Markoe states 
 that at an early period he and Dr. Delafield recognized 
 the importance of the question respecting Mr. Parish's 
 mental condition, and that they had several consultations 
 about it; and yet, in reply to the question, " Did you ever 
 make any examination of Mr. Parish, or apply any test 
 to him, for the exclusive purpose of ascertaining the 
 state of his mind ? " he says, " I never did in any shape 
 or way." This is to be regretted. Many insane persons 
 are free enough in their communications to render ex- 
 periments and tests unnecessary ; but Mr. Parish's case 
 was just one of those where the spontaneous manifesta- 
 tions are so obscure and uncertain, that nothing less than 
 a course of systematic observations, managed expressly 
 for this purpose, could establish the fact of mental 
 soundness against all the presumptive evidence to the 
 contrary. The Doctor puts it forth as one of the grounds 
 of his opinion, by implication at least, that Mr. Parish 
 " possessed the faculties of memory, perception, com- 
 parison, judgment, and, in fine, all the ordinary faculties 
 of the mind." What is meant exactly by this last phrase 
 is not very obvious, but surely it cannot be denied that 
 all the faculties here mentioned are manifested more or
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 337 
 
 less in almost every form of mental derangement, in- 
 cluding even imbecility and dementia. The fact proves 
 nothing as to the soundness or strength of the mind. In 
 any case of doubtful mental condition, the question at 
 issue is not whether the patient possesses these facul- 
 ties, but whether they exist in their normal state. Dr. 
 Delafield also says that he never applied a test expressly 
 for the purpose of ascertaining Mr. Parish's mental con- 
 dition, for the reason that he had no doubt about it, and 
 that every visit he made was a test. Such a reason is 
 calculated to produce surprise rather than conviction. 
 Dr. Delafield must be aware that in any scientific in- 
 quiry the object is to obtain a degree of proof satisfac- 
 tory, not only to the inquirer himself, but to every one 
 else. He is quite sure, no doubt, that Mr. Parish could 
 read, but the fact is disputed by others ; and yet how 
 easily it might have been placed beyond the reach of 
 contradiction by some simple test ! We are therefore 
 forced to conclude that the medical testimony, laboring 
 as it does under these defects, cannot affect any position 
 respecting Mr. Parish's mental condition which the 
 other testimony warrants us in taking. 
 
 Before closing my remarks on the medical testi- 
 mony, I would advert to Dr. Markoe's explanation of 
 Mr. Parish's inability or unwillingness to learn to write, 
 though perhaps there would be no danger of its pass- 
 ing for more than it is worth, even if left unnoticed 
 altogether. It seems that within a few months after the 
 attack, various trials were made to teach Mr. Parish to 
 write with his left hand, but, beyond writing his name 
 wholly or partly a few times perhaps, nothing was accom- 
 plished. After a number of trials, estimated by Dr. 
 Delafield at from five to twenty, he refused to proceed, 
 and at no subsequent time were the trials resumed. This 
 
 22
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 unwillingness to persevere in the attempt to obtain a 
 means of communication, which would have been of 
 inestimable value, is attributed by Dr. Markoe to " his 
 early discouragement acting upon a somewhat peculiar 
 temperament." This explains nothing. It only substi- 
 tutes one difficulty for another. The proper question is, 
 why a man like Mr. Parish, naturally of a strong will and 
 much firmness, and supposed to be in full possession of 
 his mind, on finding himself deprived of the power of 
 speech, should become so easily discouraged in attempt- 
 ing to learn what was so necessary, not only to his 
 interests, but to his hourly convenience and comfort. 
 Any one who will make the experiment will find that it 
 is not impossible to write with the left hand, even at 
 the first attempt, and that a little practice will enable 
 him, as it has many others, to write with considerable 
 facility. Another and an insuperable objection to Dr. 
 Markoe's theory is, that it does not explain Mr. Parish's 
 unwillingness to make up words by means of the sepa- 
 rate letters of the alphabet on cards. This device was 
 tried after the attempts to induce him to write were 
 abandoned, but with no better success. He would not 
 try to use them, and refused to have any thing to do 
 with them. I find it impossible to account for his re- 
 fusal to avail himself of so simple and easy a means of 
 communication, upon any theory which supposes him to 
 have been able to read, and competent to the transaction 
 of the very smallest matter of business. Unquestionably 
 he was easily discouraged, and the cause of it is obvious 
 enough. The same stroke which shattered his intellect 
 also deprived him of his firmness, his perseverance, his 
 resolution, his manliness, and, in respect to all these 
 qualities, reduced him to the condition of a child. This 
 statement is confirmed on almost every page of the
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 339 
 
 testimony. Every witness who saw much of his daily 
 life, and some who saw but little of it, speak of his fre- 
 quent tears, his petulance, his freaks of ill-humor, and 
 his gusts of passion, characterized in every instance by 
 extreme puerility. How much of this unwillingness or 
 inability to learn is fairly attributable to discouragement 
 is not very obvious. It scarcely required the resolu- 
 tion of a child to construct words with the separate 
 letters of the alphabet ; and his refusal to make the 
 attempt admits of no other explanation than extreme 
 insensibility to the importance of the object, — an expla- 
 nation utterly incompatible, of course, with the measure 
 of understanding which is claimed for him. 
 
 Enough has been said, perhaps, to prove the mental 
 impairment of Henry Parish during the latter years of 
 his life, but it may be proper also to scrutinize the per- 
 formance of those acts which are the subject of the 
 present contest. Here, if anywhere, we ought to meet 
 with unequivocal traits of a judgment and sagacity equal 
 to the occasion, — unquestionable proof that he fully 
 understood both the terms and the merits of the various 
 testamentary dispositions which he adopted. They might 
 counterbalance many facts of an opposite character ob- 
 served under other circumstances, if not turn the scales 
 decidedly in his favor. The actual facts, however, are 
 of the same complexion as the rest. 
 
 Mr. Lord, who prepared all these codicils and wit- 
 nessed their subscription, says that in each instance 
 he received the necessary instructions, not from Mr. 
 Parish, but from another person deeply interested in 
 their provisions, and present on the occasions when the 
 various dispositions were discussed and adopted. Each 
 particular provision was read aloud, and Mr. Parish was 
 asked if he acknowledged that as a part of his will. He
 
 340 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 replied by nodding or shaking his head, implying thereby 
 assent or dissent, and that provision was retained or 
 rejected accordingly. These motions were accompanied 
 by a sound represented as being, on the occasion of the 
 second codicil, a pretty distinct yes or no, but on the 
 occasion of the first they were supposed to be only an 
 attempt, scarcely successful, to imitate those words. By 
 the second codicil he gave to his wife various stocks, 
 most of them then standing in her name (having been 
 purchased by the receipts from his property since his 
 attack), and also gave a considerable sum to various chari- 
 table institutions. Considerable difficulty occurred, osten- 
 sibly, in perfecting the different arrangements according 
 to his wishes. When desirous of making a communica- 
 tion, the usual practice was resorted to of mentioning 
 interrogatively various things ; and, if the right one 
 happened to be hit on, it received his assent, and was 
 supposed to express his will. It was not until after 
 several interviews and much ineffectual questioning, 
 that this codicil was finally executed. Mr. Lord, ob- 
 serving that this new arrangement of the property 
 would place Mr. Daniel Parish in an awkward position 
 as one of the executors, suggested the revocation of 
 his appointment as executor, and of the legacy of 
 110,000 that accompanied it. This suggestion was 
 adopted. At the re-execution of the first codicil, Mr. 
 Lord was told by Mrs. Parish that Mr. Parish wished 
 to revoke the legacies to his nephews and nieces ; but 
 he says (although Mr. Parish assented to it in the usual 
 way) that he dissuaded her (^frs. Parish) from pressing 
 it, because it would fatigue and disturb him, and might 
 as well be done at some other time. " In this he (Mr. 
 Parish) acquiesced, with an expression rather of pain 
 or regret." At the making of the third codicil, be-
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 341 
 
 tween three or four years after, the same suggestion 
 was made again, and again Mr. Lord dissuaded, telling 
 Mr. Parish, " that would be harsh." 
 
 A careful examination of the circumstances connected 
 with the preparation and execution of these codicils 
 reveals some incidents strikingly incompatible with 
 soundness of mind. 
 
 At the execution of the first codicil, and also at its re- 
 execution a few months afterwards, neither the will nor 
 a copy was before them. This, certainly, is not the way 
 such things are usually managed ; and it appears still 
 more strange, when we bear in mind that either just be- 
 fore its execution, or between that and the re-execution, 
 Mr. Parish was supposed by those around him to be 
 exceedingly anxious to get possession of his will ; yet 
 when the box containing it was placed in his hands, 
 from some unaccountable caprice it was thrown upon 
 the floor, and returned to the bank unopened. Such 
 conduct admits of no other explanation than that of 
 insanity. 
 
 The fact, too, that it was left for Mr. Lord to suggest 
 the revocation of the appointment of Daniel Parish as 
 executor, shows a dulness of perception that could 
 hardly have been expected from Henry Parish in the 
 normal condition of his mind. 
 
 Then, again, his course respecting the proposed revo- 
 cation of the legacies to his nephews and nieces deserves 
 attention. At the making of the first codicil he is, 
 apparently, very desirous of revoking these legacies, 
 but is easily diverted from his purpose. Four years 
 after, when he is engaged in making new dispositions of 
 his property (having meanwhile allowed the matter to 
 pass over in silence), he again reverts to it, and is again 
 turned from it by Mr. Lord. Now, all this a perfectly
 
 342 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 
 
 sane man might do j but in one of doubtful sanity, and 
 surrounded by those whose interests were advanced by 
 these contested changes in his testamentary dispositions, 
 it certainly has a very suspicious appearance. 
 
 Again, it is not denied that every item in these con- 
 tested codicils originated in the mind of some one else, 
 though sanctioned and adopted ostensibly by him. This, 
 too, might occur with a testator of unimpeachable sound- 
 ness ; but when we bear in mind that Mr. Parish was 
 undeniably unable to communicate his wishes in regard 
 to any person or subject, unless such person or subject 
 were first mentioned to him, then it is obvious that these 
 codicils might have only very partially expressed his 
 will, — namely, just so far only as others chose to help 
 him to express it. True, this may not have vitiated 
 these codicils necessarily ; but, under all the circum- 
 stances of the case, it must weaken our confidence in 
 his testamentary capacity. 
 
 It may be contended perhaps, that, even if a consid- 
 erable amount of mental impairment were proved, he 
 might still have retained mind enough to constitute what 
 the law regards as a testamentary capacity. What this 
 is exactly, has never been authoritatively decided ; but 
 it has been a favorite doctrine of courts, that, in case of 
 mental decrepitude, much less capacity is required to 
 make a will than to make a contract, and that, in the 
 exercise of the testamentary privilege, men's minds are 
 not to be too accurately gauged. As the recognition of 
 a pretty general fact, there can be no objection to the 
 doctrine; but to apply it as a universal rule, without 
 discrimination, would be unphilosophical and unjust. 
 
 In a case of admitted mental impairment, where the 
 extent of that impairment is involved in doubt, certain 
 other considerations should have place in deciding upon
 
 THE PARISH WILL CASE. 343 
 
 the validity of a testamentary act disputed on the ground 
 of incapacity in the alleged testator. Some wills require 
 more capacity than some contracts ; and many a man 
 who might be able to sell houses or lands, with a tol- 
 erable understanding of the matter, would be quite 
 incapable of making a proper and judicious distribu- 
 tion of a large estate among a considerable number of 
 relatives, friends, and public institutions. So, too, the 
 same understanding might be adequate to one descrip- 
 tion of will and not to another. A man having a small 
 estate, and no relatives besides his wife and a single 
 child to leave it to, might be safely trusted to indicate 
 the proportions he would wish them to have, but would 
 be utterly incompetent to devise his property under 
 wholly different circumstances ; viz., large and compli- 
 cated possessions, and a host of relatives with very 
 unequal claims on his bounty. The only practical prin- 
 ciple is, sufficient capacity for the occasion ; and that 
 implies, in the testator, a memory strong enough to bring 
 before the mind all those who would naturally be remem- 
 bered on such an occasion, judgment enough to discrim- 
 inate fairly between their respective claims on his 
 bounty, together with a knowledge of the value of 
 property and the relations of number. And, inasmuch 
 as the moral sentiments are often weakened and per- 
 verted by the same disease that enfeebles the intellect, 
 it is also required that his own proper intellectual dis- 
 cernment should appear by affirmative proofs to be 
 unaffected by the direct and special influences of others 
 holding at the time a relation to the individual which 
 made him dependent upon them for everything, especially 
 if such others are wholly or mainly interested in the con- 
 tested act. That Mr. Parish had not sufficient capacity 
 for the occasion, according to the requirements here
 
 344 THE PAEISH WILL CASE. 
 
 mentioned, is, I believe, abundantly shown by the facts in 
 evidence, already referred to concerning the testamen- 
 tary acts and his ordinary mental- manifestations. 
 
 The conclusion to which I have been led by a careful 
 examination of the evidence in this case, may be ex- 
 pressed in the following propositions : — 
 
 In consequence of the apoplectic attack of 1849, the 
 power of speech was lost and the mind greatly impaired 
 during the rest of his life. 
 
 This impairment was sufficient to render him incapa- 
 ble of transactions requiring any exercise of thought. 
 
 The codicils in question disposed of large amounts 
 of property in various ways, and required, in a much 
 higher degree than can be supposed to have been pres- 
 ent, the exercise of memory, judgment, and discretion, — 
 an appreciation of the numerous claims on his bounty, 
 and a knowledge of numbers and quantities. 
 
 The mental powers here indicated were not possessed 
 by Mr. Parish subsequent to the attack in July, 1849; 
 and consequently these codicils, so far as they exhibit 
 any of those powers, express, not the will of Mr. Parish, 
 but the will of other persons, and are therefore in- 
 valid.
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 [Frequently as wills are disputed on the score of mental incompe- 
 tence, the rules of law by which such cases have been adjudicated 
 present but a small approach to harmony of opinion. Considering 
 the many forms of mental disorder and the imperfect knowledge 
 respecting their effect on the mental operations possessed by those 
 whose duty it is to administer the law, the fact could hardly have 
 been otherwise. Not that legal opinion on this subject is quite so 
 unsettled as it once was ; not that some principles may not now be 
 considered as generally received. No court would presume to estab- 
 lish the will of a man who had disinherited children, brothers, or 
 sisters, believing them, as a matter of delusion, to be plotting against 
 his life, or peace of mind, however sensible and prudent he might 
 have been in all other respects. But would the existence of partial 
 insanity in any form whatever be regarded as sufficient ground for 
 invalidating a will which did not recognize some very distant heir-at- 
 law ? In the following case, the reader will observe, a question of 
 this character had to be met ; and, though the decision may have been 
 correct, it can hardly be received as a precedent for any other case 
 with conditions not very like its own. Exactly how far in the line of 
 kindred the invalidating effect of delusion may reach, is a point 
 that yet remains to be settled. 
 
 Well settled, however, as the doctrine respecting the legal effect 
 of delusion seems to be, there is always manifested, in cases of this 
 kind, a lingering apprehension of its insufficiency, especially if ac- 
 companied by indications of mental vigor and clearness in other 
 directions. Hence arises a strong endeavor, as in the case before us, 
 to prove that the disease embraced within the range of its influence 
 other subjects than those directly connected with the will. Although 
 the testatrix was shown to have harbored most gross and persistent
 
 346 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 delusions respecting the designs of her relatives, yet she seemed 
 so correct on many other subjects, and that to a class of persons 
 whose culture and habits of observation gave much weight to their 
 impressions, that it was deemed to be of the highest importance to 
 show that her insanity was exhibited in regard to other persons and 
 things. And this fact being satisfactorily proved, was, probably, no 
 less potent in shaping the verdict of the jury, than the principal 
 delusion itself; though it would have hardly sufficed to set aside a 
 will that made a tolerably natural distribution of property among her 
 relations. However this may be, I think we are warranted, by our 
 present knowledge of the effect of insanity on the mental operations, 
 in adopting the general conclusion of this notice, that, whatever may 
 be the mental condition of the testator in other respects, the testa- 
 mentary capacity should be denied, when disease of any grade or 
 form has been allowed to obtrude its shadow between the mind of the 
 testator and the natural objects of his bounty. 
 
 Another point of great medico-legal importance, illustrated in this 
 case, is the essential psychological distinction between mistake and 
 delusion. The will was impugned on the ground of delusions enter- 
 tained by the testatrix respecting the designs of her relatives, who 
 had been engaged, for more than one generation, as she supposed, 
 in defrauding her of her property and making attempts on her life. 
 To overthrow this position, it was ingeniously alleged that all the 
 notions cited as indications of a disordered mind were fairly de- 
 duced from a very natural mistake respecting the meaning of cer- 
 tain expressions contained in some old letters of her uncle. Other 
 persons, it was said, would have adopted the same construction ; more- 
 over, an effort was made to establish the facts as she understood 
 them. This argument was well calculated to effect its purpose with 
 men who had never given a thought to such subjects, or who would 
 have been not much wiser if they had ; but it has no support in our 
 knowledge of insanity, or the facts of the case. A mistake respecting 
 a state of facts will always be admitted by a sane person, upon ade- 
 quate prouf of error. The false belief of the insane, call it mis- 
 take or delusion, is never relinquished. No array of proof, no 
 force of argument, even by those in whom they always had the fullest 
 confidence, can make the slightest impression. On the contrary, 
 they cling to their belief all the more firmly, the stronger the reasons 
 offered against it. Such was the case with this lady, who steadily 
 resisted to the last, proofs of her mistake, if so it may be called, that 
 would have been all-powerful with any sane mind. In fact, however,
 
 THE AXGELL WILL CASE. 347 
 
 she had contracted this belief in the evil designs of her relatives long 
 before she met those old letters. They only made it a little more 
 circumstantial.] 
 
 To the medical jurist, no class of cases can be more 
 interesting than that of wills involving questions of 
 mental condition. In the litigation of a will, a wider 
 range of inquiry is opened, a larger variety of relations 
 is exposed, than is permitted or required in that of a 
 crime or a contract. The investigation may extend over 
 a lifetime, and be pushed into the inmost recesses of the 
 inner life. In no class of cases is there more needed a 
 familiar acquaintance with the operations of the mind, 
 sound as well as unsound, in order to reconcile seeming 
 discrepancies of testimony; an extensive observation, to 
 show the full significance of many a trait; and the tact, 
 springing from long experience and sagacity, that can 
 enable one to appreciate the nicer affections of mental 
 competence that result from cerebral disturbance. In the 
 following account of a will-case recently tried in Provi- 
 dence, the psychologist will see a curious exhibition of 
 mental obliquities extending over the greater part of a 
 long life, the jurist will see some old principles under 
 new phases, and the general reader will be struck by 
 many an incident which gives to the narrative an air of 
 the strange and marvellous. 
 
 In the year 1780, Joseph Angell was married to Desire 
 Hopkins, daughter of that Commodore Hopkins who, in 
 the Revolutionary war, dealt the first successful blow 
 at the enemy on the water. The match was not a happy 
 one. The husband proved improvident and dissipated, 
 left his family some seven or eight years after the mar- 
 riage, and went to Maryland, where he engaged in teach- 
 ing school. Their only child was a daughter, Eliza, the
 
 348 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 testatrix in this case, born in 1783. In 1790, the deserted 
 wife, receiving neither aid nor comfort from her spouse, 
 obtained a divorce, and in 1793 married Samuel Leon- 
 ard, a prosperous widower, residing in Taunton, Mass., 
 with three children by a former wife. By the last mar- 
 riage there were two children, both of whom survived 
 to adult age, Samuel and John B. The advent of the 
 bride and her child into the family of her second hus- 
 band was not followed by the utmost harmony, and 
 some hard feeling apparently existed between the An- 
 gells and Leonards from the beginning to the end. In 
 1807, Mr. L. died, and in 1820 the widow with her own 
 children moved back to Providence. Two years after- 
 wards, they came into possession of the Commodore 
 Hopkins estate in North Providence, and there they 
 resided ever after. In 1834, Samuel died ; in 1843, the 
 mother; in March, 1853, John; and on the 12th of 
 October, 1860, the testatrix. 
 
 In 1846, both John and his sister made their wills, in 
 which they bequeathed their property to each other. 
 After the death of John, she was in possession of two 
 considerable estates, one in Taunton, derived from her 
 step-father, consisting of stores, and some land eligible 
 for building in the outskirts of the town ; and one in 
 North Providence, consisting of the old homestead, a few 
 tenements, a mill-privilege, and some 230 acres of unoc- 
 cupied land, mostly suitable for building-lots. The for- 
 mer estate was taxed, when her will was made, at $30,- 
 000, and the latter at $75,000. 
 
 On the 25th of April, 1854, this lady executed her 
 will, the validity of which is now contested. In this 
 will she gives an annuity of $100 to one of her poor 
 relations, who died before her ; an annuity of $600 to a 
 cousin residing in South Carolina, and when she dies an
 
 THE AXGELL WILL CASE. 349 
 
 annuity of $300 to each of her daughters while they 
 remain single : some gold watches which had belonged 
 to her step-father, and a few other personal effects, such 
 as pistols, rings, sleeve-buttons, to his grandchildren ; 
 and directs her executor to appropriate to each of her 
 step-father's two sons as much as he may deem necessary 
 to make them comfortable, the amount not to exceed $40 
 per month. In no other particular does she recognize 
 the existence of relations. She gives to the town of 
 North Providence a lot for a town-house, with certain con- 
 ditions, which the town did not choose to accept. With 
 these exceptions, all her property is given, in trust, to 
 Rev. Dr. Wayland, late President of Brown University, 
 Rev. Dr. Caswell, Professor in the same, and Rev. Dr. 
 Granger, then minister of the First Baptist Church, and 
 their successors, to be devoted by them to the erection 
 of two Baptist Churches with parsonages attached, and 
 to the support of a minister in each. One is to be on 
 her estate in Taunton, the other on her estate in North 
 Providence, both " to be built of stone of suitable dimen- 
 sions,' 7 in " a plain and substantial manner." In order 
 to build and support the former church, she devotes one 
 of the Taunton estates, called the Barney farm, to be let, 
 mortgaged, or sold, as the trustees may deem best. To 
 build and support the latter, she devotes all the rest of 
 her property, after all charges upon the estate are paid. 
 If the " rents, profits, and proceeds" thereof "are not 
 sufficient within a reasonable time to pay for the build- 
 ing of said last mentioned church and parsonage," then 
 the trustees are directed to sell as much of her Taunton 
 estate as may be necessary for this purpose. In no 
 event, however, is any of the North Providence property 
 to be sold. These objects being accomplished, the trus- 
 tees are directed to divide the residue of the " rents,
 
 350 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 income, and profits " into three equal parts, one to be 
 appropriated by them to " the support and education of 
 the children, male and female, of orthodox Baptist min- 
 isters," one to " the support and education of the chil- 
 dren, male and female, of orthodox Baptist missionaries," 
 and the other to " the support and education of young 
 men who are candidates for and intend to become min- 
 isters of the orthodox Baptist Church." The trustees 
 are to appoint their successors, and to appropriate from 
 the funds of the estate " a reasonable compensation for 
 their services." 
 
 On the 9th of July, 1855, she executed a codicil in 
 which she bequeaths to the American Colonization So- 
 ciety " all estates and property of every kind and nature 
 whatsoever, which may come to me directly by descent 
 or devise from my father, Joseph Angell, deceased, 
 whether the same be situated in the State of Virginia 
 or elsewhere." 
 
 This will was admitted to probate by the Probate 
 Court, from which decision the heirs-at-law appealed to 
 the Supreme Judicial Court. The case was tried in 
 April, 1862, but the jury did not agree. The second trial 
 in November next was followed by the same result; but 
 on the third, in May of the next year, the jury returned 
 a verdict setting aside the will on the ground of insan- 
 ity. The trials were all of unprecedented length, the 
 longest occupying five weeks. In the matter of evi- 
 dence, the trials were but a repetition of each other, — 
 certainly, in every essential point ; and therefore, in 
 making up this account, there seemed to be no impro- 
 priety in using the evidence, without referring precisely 
 to the trial in which it appeared. 
 
 The first trial was before Chief Justice Ames ; the 
 second, before Mr. Justice Brayton : the last, before Mr.
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 351 
 
 Justice Bullock. Counsel for the appellants, Blake, 
 Matthewson, B. N. Lapham, C. M. Smith ; for the appel- 
 lees, Curry, C. I. Reed, of Taunton, W. H. Potter. 
 
 The testimony of the appellants disclosed many indi- 
 cations of mental disorder, the most prominent of which 
 was the belief, without proof and against proof, that her 
 father, who died within a few years after he left Provi- 
 dence, having married a widow supposed to be wealthy, 
 a few months before his death, had left her a large estate, 
 but of which her uncles, then living in Baltimore, had 
 somehow got possession, and transmitted to their chil- 
 dren. This belief she entertained during at least the 
 last twenty years of her life. Against the children of 
 these uncles, — persons of the highest respectability, 
 whom she was in the habit of meeting frequently, and 
 some of them familiarly, — she made it a theme of bitter 
 reproach that they were living in ease and luxury on 
 property that had been stolen from her. Whenever one 
 of them showed signs of prosperity, whether it was in 
 building a block of stores, in putting children to school, 
 or furnishing a house, she declared it was derived from 
 her property. When one of them went South in the 
 way of business, she declared it was for the purpose of 
 visiting those plantations which rightfully belonged to 
 her. All this she believed without a tittle of proof that 
 her father left a single dollar behind him for her or any- 
 body else. For a part of the time, at least, she had 
 abundant proof that he died poor, and that the widow 
 whom he married was almost as poor as he. 
 
 She also believed that her relations hated her, and had 
 attempted, in various ways, to annoy and wrong her ; and 
 this belief she expressed to visitors, to servants, to 
 chance acquaintances, and to her relations themselves, 
 sometimes talking about it for hours together. No
 
 352 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 general expression can convey an adequate idea of the 
 intensity of this feeling, and therefore we are obliged to 
 refer particularly to statements made by witnesses, 
 though these must be only a selection from a multitude 
 like them. Several of her relations, who were in habits 
 of familiar intercourse with her for many years, declared 
 that she frequently spoke of the wrongs and insults she 
 had received from her relations. One, whose acquaint- 
 ance with her was very intimate, said she was never 
 with her an hour without hearing something from her 
 on this subject. The same kind of discourse was held 
 to other relatives ; her charges of wrong-doing often 
 being made against the parents, brothers, or sisters of 
 the person she was addressing. A witness who rented 
 a mill belonging to her brother, and who, in consequence, 
 was in the habit of going to the house, and thus seeing 
 her frequently, for seventeen years, said that the treat- 
 ment she received from her relations was, from the be- 
 ginning to the end, her constant theme, not dropped even 
 on the evening when her brother was drawing his last 
 breath in an adjacent room. A neighbor, whose acquaint- 
 ance with her was still longer, said she was always im- 
 puting bad designs to her relations, and he never knew 
 her to speak otherwise. Another, an eminent lawyer, 
 whose acquaintance with her was chiefly confined to 
 several visits he made her, some for the purpose of in- 
 ducing her to make an exchange of land, which would 
 be for their mutual benefit, and some for the purpose of 
 persuading her to join him in a gift of land (their 
 estates being contiguous) to an orphan asylum, the 
 friends of which were seeking a site, said she would 
 constantly fly from the subject and talk against her rela- 
 tives, so that he was unable to accomplish any thing. To 
 the switchman at the station near her house, and a
 
 THE AXGELL WILL CASE. 353 
 
 mechanic who rented one of her tenements, the shame- 
 ful treatment she received from her relatives was the 
 burden of her story. The wrongs and wrongful designs 
 which she imputed to them were cheating her out of 
 her property, treating her or her brother discourteously, 
 and making various attempts upon her own and her 
 mother's life by poisoning or shooting. 
 
 That she was treated improperly by the sons of her 
 step-father, is not impossible, though there was no evi- 
 dence of it, and thus she may have had good reason for 
 hating them very cordially. With this possible exception, 
 she seems to have been treated by her relations respect- 
 fully, honorably, and courteously, and often with great 
 forbearance. Her feelings towards the descendants of 
 those uncles who defrauded her, as she believed, were 
 attributable, of course, to this delusion, one part of 
 which was that these descendants were enjoying what 
 they knew to be the fruits of iniquity. Towards some 
 others, her feelings must have sprung solely from morbid 
 suspicion and distrust. Certainly, many of them had 
 nothing to do with her father's property. 
 
 As might have been expected, these delusions, exist- 
 ing, as they did, for many years, were accompanied by 
 various other mental manifestations such as are fre- 
 quently observed in the insane, and are more or less 
 characteristic of insanity. The most prominent were 
 suspicions, if not fixed belief, of wrong-doing or wrong- 
 intending, on the part of those with whom she was con- 
 versant, or who had been connected with her affairs. So 
 many instances of this feeling appeared in evidence, 
 that our limits oblige us to make a selection, and that 
 very limited. She declared that she had never received 
 in full her share of her paternal grandfather's estate, 
 charging the executor of his will, Moses Brown — a 
 
 23
 
 354 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 man distinguished in his day, as she well knew, for up- 
 rightness — with fraudulent practices in the settlement 
 of the estate ; and this not only without proof, but 
 against proof. She also declared that she never received 
 her share of her maternal grandfather's estate. She 
 always believed that her step-father had been grossly 
 defrauded by his clerks, — men who for many years 
 afterwards enjoyed an unsullied reputation in the very 
 community where all the parties were well known, — 
 who had made fortunes out of the estate. One of her 
 neighbors, a gentleman of the highest respectability, 
 she charged with unfairness in running the line be- 
 tween their respective lots. A Bleachery Company which 
 had hired land of her she charged wrongfully with fenc- 
 ing in more land than they were entitled to, and with 
 laying pipes to take water from her springs. So strongly 
 had this last notion taken possession of her mind, that 
 she directed her servants to dig down and cut off the 
 pipes where there was no indication of the ground 
 having been disturbed for many years. When she saw 
 the railway people repairing the line fence, she would 
 charge them with moving the fence in upon her land, 
 and sometimes even when they were at work on the 
 track, and not on the fence at all. She told one wit- 
 ness that everybody wanted to rob her, except her milk- 
 man. In talking with another about a suitable person 
 to manage her affairs, after her brother's death, she said 
 she could trust nobody. At one period she was in the 
 habit of locking her servants in their rooms at night. 
 Once, on going to bed, she found a window open which 
 she had directed a servant to close, and declared it was 
 left open purposely to let in her relatives. She said the 
 same respecting an outside door she once found open in 
 the morning. Coming home late one evening she found
 
 THE AXGELL WILL CASE. 355 
 
 her gate locked, according to her own direction, and 
 afterwards recorded in her diary her conviction that it 
 was done purposely to annoy her. In her diary she 
 writes, " My poor cat has been missing ever since last 
 Tuesday, killed because my cat, I suppose. She is all I 
 had left of former days." She thought it strange that 
 a certain one of her relatives, a young woman who fre- 
 quently stayed with her several days together, should 
 express a desire to be rich, and said she felt afraid of 
 her. During the latter years of her life she manifested 
 great distrust of her servants. She said they always 
 wanted to rob her. Three of them stated that it was 
 her practice to lock them up in their rooms over night. 
 Having disagreed with the man who had taken charge 
 of her place, and dissolved the engagement, she sat up a 
 part, if not the whole, of the night before he went away, 
 apprehending harm. When it was suggested to her that 
 she should have a man sleeping in the house, she replied 
 that she would feel safer alone. A witness stated that 
 during a visit of a few weeks which she made her, it was 
 her practice to close the shutters before the lamps were 
 lighted. She stopped her paper, the Christian Watch- 
 man, the organ of the Baptists in New England, because 
 they charged her fifty cents more than any other sub- 
 scriber ; and she pronounced it a cheating concern. 
 Within a year or two of her death, a couple of ladies, one 
 of them a distant connection of the family, called on her 
 and were courteously received. The conversation having 
 turned on her lonely situation, they asked if she was 
 not afraid of being molested. She replied that she had 
 nothing to tempt burglars; when they asked if she had 
 none of the Leonard plate in the house. Her whole man- 
 ner changed instantly, and she told them, w T ith some 
 warmth, that if they had no better purpose in calling
 
 35(5 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 than to try to find out how much plate she had, they 
 had better go along, as they.did immediately. 
 
 Intimately connected with this spirit of suspicion and 
 distrust, was a disposition to charge the people around 
 her with stealing and injuring her property. With 
 others thus charged, was one extensively known, and 
 regarded as preeminently honest and just, — a leading 
 member and preacher of the Society of Friends. Be 
 had hired her place, and had much occasion, of course, 
 to handle her property. Him she charged with stealing 
 her asparagus, currant-bushes, strawberry-plants, lilacs, 
 loam, and some planks for firewood. Another, who had 
 hired the place, she charged with stealing wood, tearing 
 up the barn-floor, pushing down five or six rods offence, 
 and not feeding the cow. She also said he stole her 
 key and filled the key-holes with sand. She charged the 
 man who milked her cow with taking more than his 
 share. Being unable to find some papers which had 
 been in her possession, she declared they were stolen, 
 though they were afterwards found in the hands of her 
 lawyer, where she had placed them herself, or some one 
 on her behalf. One of her poor relations, whom she was 
 in the habit for years of sending for in all domestic 
 straits, she charged with dishonesty. To one witness 
 she declared she could keep no food in the house, be- 
 cause the servants stole it, and said that one of them 
 stole her sheets and cut them up into night-clothes with 
 an axe, on the barn-floor. Two of her servants testified 
 that she charged them with stealing, and examined their 
 clothes when they left. Her neighbors she charged 
 with stealing her chickens, and taking boards and shin- 
 gles from her barn. 
 
 The idea of being poisoned seems to have been very 
 familiar to her mind. She often stated that, when they
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 357 
 
 lived in Taunton, the children of her step-father by his 
 first wife poisoned the well and the coffee, and placed 
 on the window-sill and other parts of the house a white 
 powder, which she believed to be poison. She also 
 charged them with attempting to get rid of their young 
 half-brothers (children of her mother), by offering them 
 hot punch in which poison was put. John, she said, 
 did not drink it ; but Sam did, was very ill, and died in 
 consequence some twenty-five years afterwards. Among 
 the witnesses were many relatives, and they all concurred 
 in the statement that she never ate or drank in the 
 houses of her relatives, and that when she accompanied 
 them on excursions she would never partake of the 
 refreshments they carried with them. The reason she 
 gave for it was, that she was afraid of being poisoned. 
 The same apprehensions were manifested in regard 
 to her house-servants, and the people whom she em- 
 ployed to manage her place. She refused to eat some 
 sweet corn which one of the latter sent her, saying she 
 would eat nothing he might send, adding that she once 
 drank some cider he sent in, and was made sick by it. 
 She suspected, if she did not really believe, that her well 
 had been poisoned by the Quaker preacher then liv- 
 ing on the place. She was in the habit, at one time, of 
 locking up her coffee-pot over night, for fear of her 
 servants poisoning it at the instigation of her relatives. 
 The same relative who frightened her by expressing a 
 desire to be rich, she suspected of poisoning the food. 
 A woman, who had been employed by her as a servant 
 for a little while, subsequently came to draw water from 
 her well. She imbibed the notion that this woman came 
 for the purpose of poisoning the water, and so strong 
 was this belief, that within twenty hours of her 
 death, when prostrated by a shock of paralysis and
 
 358 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 unable to articulate, she wrote on a slate, " woman came 
 to draw water," alluding to a statement she had pre- 
 viously made to the witness, that Mrs. P. had come to 
 draw water and had poisoned the well. 
 
 Several instances of that kind of fancied insult so 
 characteristic of the insane appeared in evidence. She 
 said that one day, when approaching the house of her 
 cousins, the Misses G., with whom she had been for 
 some years on friendly terms, some one came to the 
 window and shut the blinds. This she considered a 
 deliberate insult, and never entered the house again 
 for the rest of her life, — nearly twenty-five years. 
 Once the wife of another cousin grossly insulted her, 
 she said, by a look, — a such a look as she should not 
 forget to the last day of her life." In both cases the 
 strongest disclaimers were made of any wish or thought 
 to insult her, but without affecting her belief. 
 
 One instance, at least, was related of that disregard of 
 moral propriety not unfrequently observed in the insane, 
 even those who, to the casual observer, seem to retain 
 their sense of moral obligation. Once, a year or two be- 
 fore her death, she engaged a man to watch her grounds 
 by night, and when about proceeding to his duty put into 
 his hands two pistols, and charged him to shoot down 
 the first person or beast that came on the grounds, — she 
 would hold him harmless. He of course declined the 
 duty. 
 
 Several instances were related of that common trait 
 of insanity, — the inability to appreciate the true rela- 
 tion between means and end. A witness, whose duties 
 made him acquainted with the sick and destitute in her 
 part of the town, was requested by her to bring such 
 cases to her knowledge, that she might send them some- 
 thing. A suitable case occurring, — that of a poor woman
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 359 
 
 in the last stage of consumption, with a couple of chil- 
 dren who could not attend the Sunday school for want 
 of clothes, — he told her of it, reminding her of the 
 request she had made. On leaving, she handed him 
 something wrapped in a bit of rag, which was found to 
 be five little pickled cucumbers. At another time she 
 sent by her servant four cold potatoes to a woman in 
 consumption. Living in a district supposed to be rather 
 lawless, she naturally thought of protecting herself by 
 means of fire-arms ; but instead of keeping a single re- 
 liable weapon within reach, as sane people would, she 
 was in the habit, for several weeks at least towards the 
 close of her life, of sleeping with a six-barrel revolver 
 under her pillow, an old horse pistol on each side of the 
 bed, and another at the foot of the bed, — an arrange- 
 ment far more likely to harm herself than anybody else. 
 And these pistols she insisted on having reloaded every 
 four or five weeks, though assured by the gunsmith 
 repeatedly that it was unnecessary to have it done so 
 often. 
 
 The idea of shooting or being shot not unfrequently 
 occupied her mind, from an early period. She once 
 brought a pistol to a female friend and endeavored to 
 persuade her to learn to use it, and once fired a pistol 
 out of the window, as she said, at some fancied in- 
 truder. A story she often told was, that on a journey 
 to South Carolina, in early life, she observed on board 
 the steamer a man who watched her and kept near her 
 for several days, until, his coat blowing open, she caught 
 sight of a pistol sticking out of his pocket, when she 
 got frightened and went below. This man she believed 
 to be Commodore Barney, a relative, whose -nephews 
 were claimants, with herself and many others, of an 
 English estate th^en in Chancery, who designed to shoot
 
 360 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 her in order to better the claim of his nephews. During 
 the last fifteen or twenty years of her life, she was fond 
 of telling a story of a man coming to her door and snap- 
 ping a pistol at her as she opened it. This story was 
 told with many variations. Sometimes it was a man 
 whom she had seen for several days loitering near the 
 house, and sometimes it was a horseman. Sometimes 
 it was a servant and sometimes herself that went to the 
 door. Sometimes he only presented his pistol, when she 
 said she also had a pistol, and turned to get it, when he 
 was scared and went off. At first she did not pretend 
 to know who it was, but latterly she always said it was 
 the son of one of her cousins, instigated by other rela- 
 tives to put her out of the way. 
 
 There was much evidence proving that fickleness of 
 purpose so common with the insane. The people whom 
 she employed in one way or another spoke much of this 
 troublesome trait. Once she engaged a man to take the 
 wood from a certain lot at a stated price per acre ; but 
 when he had nearly finished she forbade his cutting 
 more, or carrying away what remained on the ground. 
 He agreed to this, on being paid for what he had cut. 
 Afterward she got him to take away what he had cut, 
 though at a quarter of a dollar less than by the terms ot 
 the original contract. Another was engaged to clear up 
 a piece of swamp covered with a growth of brush and 
 small trees, all of which he was to have for his labor. 
 He went to work, but before he had got to that part 
 which would afford any remuneration for his pains she 
 stopped him and gave the job to another. Thinking a 
 brood of newly hatched chickens would suffer from the 
 rain, she had them taken from the hen and put into the 
 kitchen sink. Soon, however, she imagined they would 
 suffer from the heat indoors, and had them taken back
 
 THE AXGELL WILL CASE. 361 
 
 to the hen. Again she changed her mind, and directed 
 them to be brought back to the kitchen. Exactly how 
 many times the change was made the witness could not 
 say. The same trait was exhibited in regard to the 
 work of her domestic servants, several of whom testified 
 that she frequently changed their work without any 
 reason. 
 
 Some of the reasons which she gave for her belief in 
 the great Virginia estate are strikingly illustrative of the 
 ways of the insane mind. She said that when a young 
 girl she occasionally met in the street a servant woman 
 who would exclaim when passing, " Poor child ! what a 
 pity she could not have her rights ; " that a lawyer once 
 said, alluding to her claims on the English property, 
 that if she wanted property she could find it nearer 
 home than England ; that a relative, of hers, one of the 
 Angell family, once came to her greatly exercised about 
 a question of conscience, — viz., whether, if she knew of 
 property in the bands of persons that had no right to it, 
 it would be her duty to disclose it, and thus bring dis- 
 grace on near relatives, such as a father or mother, or a 
 friend ; that once her uncle Thomas began to talk to 
 her about property, saying that he knew of her having 
 property in the hands of some persons from whom she 
 could not obtain it, and when he had thus excited her 
 suspicions she questioned him further, but his mouth 
 was shut. Whether all or any of these incidents ever 
 occurred as related, or were magnified out of some trivial 
 expressions, of course we have no means of knowing. It 
 is not improbable that they were all the mere coinage 
 of a distempered mind. 
 
 Some facts in her domestic management might be 
 paralleled in that of many an insane person. A cousin, 
 accompanied by her husband, made her a visit and spent
 
 362 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 the night, Miss A. lighting them upstairs, putting them 
 into different rooms, and locking the doors. Many years 
 after, this same cousin called upon her about eleven 
 o'clock, but found her just ready to go into town. Miss 
 A. invited her to stay until she returned, directing 
 another cousin then staying with her not to get dinner 
 in the mean time. Late in the evening she made her 
 appearance, seemed surprised to find her cousin there, 
 and invited her very plainly to find a lodging somewhere 
 else. She refused to leave the house at that late hour, 
 and was sent off to bed in the dark, without dinner or 
 supper. At breakfast next morning they had nothing 
 to eat but rye-and-indian cake, and a very small bit of 
 butter. Another, who resided in Maine, in the course of 
 a visit to Providence was invited to dine with her, and 
 she found the dinner scanty and the table-cloth ragged. 
 A servant stated that, there being only three in the 
 house, she bought at one time fifty scup, half a dozen of 
 which would have been an ample dinner for them all. 
 At another she bought a large turkey, and at another 
 a large goose, both of which spoiled before they were 
 half eaten. One witness spoke of her getting a quarter 
 of veal, and at another time a side of pork, all of which, 
 except a part of the pork which was salted, spoiled 
 before they attempted to eat it. Two or three witnesses 
 saw her getting breakfast by a fire of green wood. 
 
 Several witnesses testified to that disregard of little 
 proprieties and observances which is so common with 
 the insane. She would express her sentiments respect- 
 ing her relatives, not only to those who would naturally 
 be interested in them, but to her servants, and to people 
 but little known to her, and often, during one winter at 
 least, at the table of a public boarding-house. A witness 
 once saw her near her mill-dam — about half a mile from
 
 THE ANGELL WELL CASE. 363 
 
 her house — with a calash on her head and flour on her 
 black dress, looking " dirty and miserable," with a troop 
 of boys teasing her. The same witness once saw her, 
 when chasing some cows, dash through a pool of water 
 that lay between them. Another once found her in high 
 altercation with her farmer, her hair down and dress 
 open ; and he led her away into the house. Another 
 spoke of finding her in the road near her house, with her 
 head bare, hair flying in all directions, and no shawl on. 
 There seems to have been occasionally a failure of the 
 perceptive power, not so much indicative of mania as 
 of impending trouble in the brain. One of her tenants 
 said that, having paid his quarter's rent on one occasion, 
 he recollected, a moment or two after leaving the house, 
 that he had omitted speaking about some repairs, and 
 returned for that purpose. Scarcely three minutes had 
 elapsed; but she did not recognize him, and he found 
 it difficult to make her understand who he was. Subse- 
 quently she mistook him for the carpenter who shingled 
 her house, and complained that he had done the work 
 badly. He explained, but she repeated the mistake 
 several times afterwards. Once, having engaged a man 
 to cut some hay, she came down in the course of the 
 day to see how the work was going on. The switch- 
 man, whose station was near by, said he walked towards 
 her, and that they met but a few steps from the workmen, 
 she crying out, " What are they doing ? Why, they are 
 ploughing up my meadow. What shall I do? " He told 
 her that they were only raking up the hay with a horse- 
 rake, and it was all right. She kept on crying out, 
 " What shall I do ? They are ploughing up my meadow," 
 and rushed into the field and ordered the people to stop. 
 They gave no heed to her, and she started towards 
 the city, saying she would tell Judge S. The witness
 
 364 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 said she was not more than twenty feet from the horse- 
 rake. 
 
 Twice there seem to have been hallucinations, within 
 the last year or two of her life. Once she said she had 
 smelt chloroform three nights in succession, but it was 
 proved that there was none in the house. Shortly 
 before her death she awoke in the middle of the night, 
 and, as she stated, found Mrs. P. — the woman who poi- 
 soned the well — standing over her. 
 
 She manifested much of that curious inconsistency 
 which constitutes so common and so remarkable a feat- 
 ure of insanity. Among the friends and associates of 
 her brother was her cousin, W. M. B. They were much 
 together, and every day interchanging tokens of kind- 
 ness and good will. On his death-bed the brother took 
 his friend by the hand, the sister standing by, and asked 
 him, as his last request, if he would continue to do for 
 her as he had for him. For seven years he continued 
 to visit her almost daily, and perform for her some little 
 offices of kindness or care. He settled difficulties with 
 her servants and tenants, renewed insurance on her 
 tenements, and often paid the premium himself to save 
 her the trouble, lent her money, advised her in the 
 management of her affairs, and by countless services of 
 this kind endeavored to redeem the promise made to 
 her brother. And yet, a year or two before she died, 
 she declared to one of her fellow-boarders that W. M. B. 
 would as lief murder her as not, and had instigated a 
 man to come to her house and shoot her. Once, at 
 her own request, W. M. B. engaged a woman to go to the 
 house and render such services as she could. This 
 she did for several weeks, being treated by Miss A. 
 courteously and confidentially. Yet to this very woman 
 she said that W. M. B. visited her as a spy, and was at
 
 THE AXGELL WILL CASE. 365 
 
 the head of the conspiracy against her. After urgently 
 inviting Mrs. K., the mother of W. M. B., to visit her 
 according to her usual custom, when she came to town, 
 she said that Mrs. K. came as a spy for the Gs. Her 
 vehement desire to see the churches built in her own 
 lifetime, and the utter uselessness of her land, except 
 to be sold, were sufficient reasons to induce her to ad- 
 vertise the land as she did, and to sell at a fair price, as 
 she did not. She was never willing to set her price, and 
 persons desirous of buying went away convinced that 
 she did not wish to sell. Fair prices were offered, and 
 those in whom she had most confidence advised her to 
 accept the offers ; but, with one or two trifling excep- 
 tions, she sold no land in Xorth Providence. She gave 
 as a reason for refusing to name her price that the 
 assessors would hear of it, and the next year they would 
 increase her taxes. 
 
 Of all the fancies which this woman adopted, it did 
 not appear in evidence that she ever relinquished one 
 to the weight of the most abundant proof. Many in- 
 stances, on the contrary, appeared of her persisting to 
 believe them as veritable truths, in spite of proofs suffi- 
 cient to convince any sane mind. The dying request of 
 her brother to W. M. B. has been already noticed. Shortly 
 after that scene, she reported that this gentleman refused 
 to assent to this request ; and though he assured her she 
 was mistaken, and offered in proof of it the attentions 
 and services he had since rendered, yet she was uncon- 
 vinced, and continued to circulate the report. She be- 
 lieved that this gentleman must have obtained some of 
 her Virginia property, on the ground that he could not 
 otherwise have built a block of stores and done some 
 other things ; and though he explained to her the origin 
 of all his property, she was unconvinced. His mother,
 
 366 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 too, she believed to be indulging in a style of living 
 which her husband's salary, as a college professor, 
 could not support, and therefore she must be enjoying 
 her Virginia property. The amplest proof failed to 
 disabuse her of a notion which was founded on mere 
 rumor, for she had never been in this lady's house. The 
 same sort of charges were made against his brother, 
 then a professor at West Point, on the same sort of 
 foundation, and with the same resistance to proof. She 
 harped upon certain furniture which W. G. had sent 
 from Baltimore to this gentleman's grandfather ; and 
 though he showed her the original account of his grand- 
 father as trustee of W. G.'s wife, in which he had cred- 
 ited himself with this furniture, she was faithless, and 
 continued to believe as firmly as ever that the old carpet 
 and andirons were part of the spoil of her father's estate. 
 And so with her belief that she had been wronged in 
 the settlement of her grandfather A.'s estate. To her 
 he bequeathed two hundred silver dollars ; but the 
 executors, for good and sufficient reasons, which were 
 approved at the time by her uncles and aunts, set off to 
 her a certain lot of land in lieu of the dollars. When 
 the formal statement of the executors, which had been 
 put on record, was shown to her, as well as an extract 
 from their accounts explaining fully the transaction, 
 she coolly replied that she knew all that before, and 
 kept on saying to the last year of her life that she had 
 been wronged in the settlement of her grandfather A.'s 
 estate by Moses Brown, whose name, long after his 
 death, was a synonyme for all manner of uprightness in 
 this community. A year or two before she died she 
 sent for a neighbor, J. W., to come and cut up an apple- 
 tree which she said G. — the man who had hired her 
 place for the year — had cut down with the intention of
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 367 
 
 carrying away. He assured her that the tree had blown 
 down, and that any one could see that it had rotted off 
 nearly, and showed no marks of an axe. Another person, 
 besides G-. himself, said the same. But she insisted on 
 having the tree cut up and put into the cellar, and when 
 the door was shut and locked she exclaimed, " I guess 
 G. can't get it now," and continued to tell the story of 
 G.'s cutting down her apple-tree. 
 
 At last, on the 11th of October, 1860, this lady was 
 struck down by that common sequel of chronic insanity 
 — paralysis — which finished her life the next day. 
 
 The testimony disclosed many other indications of 
 mental obliquity sufficient to swell this article to the 
 dimensions of a volume. It was necessary to make a 
 selection, and though the most prominent ones have 
 been taken, yet many others, less striking to the casual 
 observer, are not less significant to those conversant 
 with mental disease. In stating the above facts, it has 
 been my endeavor to adhere strictly to the evidence, — 
 its letter as well as its spirit, — avoiding every word or 
 turn of expression which would tend to give it a higher 
 coloring than the exact words of the witness would bear. 
 
 All the testimony was carefully heard on the first trial, 
 by the writer, and on the second trial by him and by Dr. 
 Tyler, of the McLean Asylum, while on the third it was 
 heard only by the writer ; and they unhesitatingly ex- 
 pressed the opinion that the testatrix was insane when 
 she made the will and codicils. By them the belief 
 that her relatives hated her and were ready to annoy 
 and wrong her, and the belief that her father left her a 
 large estate in Virginia of which her relations had de- 
 frauded her, were regarded as pure delusions, which, in 
 connection with the suspicions, the notion of being 
 poisoned, the indiscriminate charges of stealing, the
 
 Sti 8 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 breaches of propriety, the insensibility to argument, the 
 fancied insults, the hallucinations, &c, constituted an 
 actual case of insanity, presenting nothing strange or 
 extraordinary, as compared with the usual exhibitions 
 of the disease. 
 
 To meet this clear and abundant proof of insanity, the 
 other side produced many witnesses from various walks 
 of life, who, on the strength of more or less intercourse 
 with the testatrix, declared that they saw nothing strange 
 or unusual in her conduct or conversation. They con- 
 tended that the will was a rational act, rationally done ; 
 and endeavored to show that her notions respecting her 
 relatives, her Virginia property, and some other fancies, 
 had some foundation in fact, sufficient for a credulous, 
 suspicious mind, and therefore could be justly regarded 
 as mistakes, not delusions. The weakness of these several 
 positions will be made apparent by a little examination 
 of the evidence, and of the phenomena of insanity. 
 
 A lawyer wrote her will ; another was her adviser and 
 friend, from the death of her brother to her own ; two 
 or three physicians had casually met her, one at her 
 house, on the occasion of the sickness of some mem- 
 ber of the family, and another, as well as an ex-judge 
 of the Supreme Court, in the parlor of a Saratoga hotel ; 
 several clergymen had conferred with her on the sub- 
 ject of missionary efforts, of plans for the religious 
 teaching of the people in her neighborhood, and of 
 contributions to a fund for educating young men; chari- 
 table and religious men sometimes found her zealous 
 and liberal when appealed to for aid and cooperation ; a 
 dealer in real estate conversed with her about selling 
 her land ; a grocer sold her groceries, and a bookseller 
 books, and she paid them promptly ; and finally, passing 
 by others whose acquaintance with her was \ery casual
 
 THE AJSTGELL WILL CASE. 369 
 
 a gerrtleman whose long and honorable career as a lead- 
 ing minister in his denomination, as the president of a 
 college, and a writer on education and mental science, 
 have made his name familiar as household words, was 
 intimately acquainted with her for many years, and 
 conceived a high regard and respect for her, — these 
 persons, one and all, declared that they never saw 
 anything " strange or unusual in her conduct or con- 
 versation, dress or demeanor." To those practically 
 conversant with the insane, it would be a waste of words 
 to prove that such a fact is not incompatible with the 
 existence of insanity. Having her delusions somewhat 
 under her control, it is not strange that she refrained 
 from introducing them when in the company of certain 
 persons, especially those whose position would naturally 
 forbid discourse of any kind on family difficulties. It 
 was in the retirement of home, in the abandon of familiar 
 intercourse with servants, relatives, and neighbors, that 
 she would chiefly give vent to her belief and her feelings 
 respecting her relatives and their unprincipled conduct. 
 Occasionally, however, as the evidence shows, the pro- 
 prieties of place and person were disregarded, and her 
 complaints were poured into the ears of a very different 
 class of people. In fact, the gentleman last referred to, 
 and two or three others who came to the same conclu- 
 sion, admitted that she spoke to them harshly about her 
 relations, but that they, feeling no interest in the sub- 
 ject, paid but little attention to what she said. If they 
 had encouraged her to go on, they might possibly have 
 observed something strange or unusual in her conversa- 
 tion. That she had some self-control is obvious from 
 the fact stated by many witnesses, that, when talking 
 with them on her favorite theme, she would stop the 
 moment her brother John made his appearance, because 
 
 24
 
 370 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 she knew such talk annoyed him exceedingly, he having 
 no faith in her fancies, as he called them. Neither was 
 her interest in religious enterprises, nor the character of 
 her own religious sentiments, incompatible with the ex- 
 istence of delusion ; for if correct and clear on any sub- 
 ject, as she might be in the form of insanity alleged, it 
 is not surprising that she was so in regard to them. 
 
 To meet directly the evidence which seemed to estab- 
 lish the existence of insanity beyond a doubt, the attempt 
 was made to explain some of the facts so as to make 
 them not incompatible with perfect sanity. Her feelings 
 towards her step-father's family, it is said, were justified 
 by their treatment of herself and mother. That she 
 might have been treated coldly, even discourteously, by 
 the older children, is not unlikely, though, as already 
 said, there was no evidence of the fact. It would not 
 have been a very strange or extraordinary event; nor 
 would it have been surprising had she spoken unkindly 
 of them and avoided all intercourse, for such would have 
 been the course of an aggrieved but rational mind. In 
 the true spirit of insanity, however, without the slightest 
 color of proof, and against all reasonable supposition, she 
 persists through her whole life in charging them with 
 various attempts to kill her by poisoning the well, by 
 poisoning the food, and by putting poison about the 
 house ; in charging them with actually poisoning one 
 brother and intending to poison the other. Between the 
 alleged fact that they treated her disrespectfully and her 
 conclusion that they meant to take her life, there is all 
 the interval that separates sanity from insanity. To other 
 relations she attributed the same designs, though there 
 was not a tittle of evidence to show unkind feelings or 
 improper conduct towards her. Some were poor and 
 dependent, coming and going at her call ; others had a
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 371 
 
 reputation in the community which should have placed 
 them beyond suspicion, and all without exception treat- 
 ing her courteously and kindly. In regard to one family 
 she offered a reason for her dislike, — a reason which 
 had no other foundation than her own disordered im- 
 agination. 
 
 The other main delusion — that of having inherited 
 from her father a large property in Virginia, of which 
 she had been defrauded by her uncles and their descend- 
 ants — had a reasonable foundation, it was contended, in 
 actual facts. In order to make this explanation intelli- 
 gible, it will be necessary to state some facts connected 
 with this delusion. In 1796, a letter was received in 
 Providence from her uncle James, then living in Balti- 
 more, in which he speaks, among other things, of his 
 brother Joseph, father of the testatrix, " who died," he 
 says, "(or rather, I am inclined to think from reports, 
 was poisoned by his wife), near Moorfield, in Virginia, 
 a few months since." In a postscript he returns to the 
 matter: "Joseph," he says, " had married a widow in 
 Virginia, possessed of an estate worth a considerable 
 sum of money, which she held in her own possession at 
 the death of her former husband, subject to her control. 
 From what I can learn, there were marriage articles (or 
 something like it) between them. He desired on his 
 death-bed (so report says) that his body might be 
 opened, as he suspected foul play. The corpse was in 
 consequence arrested on its way to the place of burial ; 
 and no person appearing to push the business, supposing 
 he had not a relative in America, it was interred without 
 inspection, nor but for that circumstance should I have 
 ever heard of it. I have, however, engaged a friend 
 who lives in Moorfield to procure a copy of the agree- 
 ment (will, if there is any), and from whom I soon ex-
 
 372 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 pect to hear. That there is property there that his 
 heirs will inherit, I have no doubt ; but whether it will 
 fall to me as elder brother, I cannot say." 
 
 The contents of this letter became known, no doubt, 
 to the testatrix and her mother. The latter, naturally 
 enough, would not care to cherish the memory of her 
 divorced husband ; and the former, then but thirteen 
 years old, would scarcely remember all the particulars of 
 this letter. At a later period of life, she became desirous 
 of knowing the exact circumstances of her father's death. 
 Whether this letter was in existence, she knew not, nor 
 where to seek for information about it. 
 
 In 1836 she ascertained that one of her relatives had 
 in his possession many old family letters and other papers, 
 and at her request they were given to her. Among 
 them she found about a dozen letters written from Bal- 
 timore in 1792, by her uncle W. G., to another uncle, 
 J. W., then in Providence. The burden of these letters 
 is, that he is trying to settle his business and go to 
 the north ; that he wants his brother-in-law to buy him a 
 'farm and provide stock, carriages, seeds, &c. In almost 
 every letter he speaks of having in his hands funds be- 
 longing to " Eliza," which he is desirous of investing in 
 connection with his own, or in a separate property. In 
 one of them he says : " I have a small sum of money, the 
 property of Eliza (which is accumulating, though it is 
 lying idle), that I wish to make the foundation of a pur- 
 chase for her, that will be productive now, secure the 
 money, and facilitate my plans. If any advantageous 
 small spec can be made for her, I should be glad." In a 
 previous letter, he says: " If the Colonel will sell his con- 
 tiguous land reasonable, I would endeavor to purchase 
 it for Eliza. . . . You must know I can devote this 
 money to no other use than purchasing property for
 
 THE AXGELL WILL CASE. 373 
 
 Eliza, as her funds must pay for the land." This is a fair 
 specimen of the references to Eliza in these letters. Had 
 she seen no more, she might have had ground for a 
 faint suspicion that she was the person referred to, and 
 consequently that her father, who, she knew, did actually 
 die about that time, had already deceased and left to her 
 a trifle of property, which, by some means or other, had 
 come into the possession of her uncle. But these very let- 
 ters contained unequivocal evidence that the facts she 
 suspected were, some of them false, and others impos- 
 sible. In one of them her uncle speaks of making this 
 investment " for a little daughter,' 7 and she might have 
 known, had she inquired, that he had a daughter named 
 Ann Eliza. Indeed, that fact appears in one of the 
 letters. More than this, she found in them mention of 
 her own father as then living. Mr. G-. says : " I have 
 just received intelligence from Berkely that Joseph 
 [her father] keeps school, and behaves soberly and dis- 
 creetly. He has twenty scholars, and appears and acts 
 reputably. God grant it may last." Subsequently, his 
 wife says, in a letter to Mrs. W. : " Brother Joseph has 
 established a school of twenty scholars, and attends it 
 with great sobriety and diligence." And thus it was 
 that the casual mention of a family name in connection 
 with money set that disordered chord in vibration ; and 
 under its influence, without proof and against proof, in 
 the true spirit of insanit} T , she arrives at the monstrous 
 conclusion that her father, while yet in the flesh, had 
 died, leaving her a large property which he had acquired 
 by his second marriage ; that her uncles had fraudulent- 
 ly got possession of it ; that their descendants, though 
 above suspicion in their respective communities, were 
 living upon it, and cognizant of the wrong ; and, that 
 they might enjoy undisturbed the fruits of the wrong,
 
 374 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 were instigating attempts upon her life. If this is not 
 delusion, — gross, unequivocal, baseless delusion, — I 
 know not what delusion is. 
 
 In 1855 she obtained possession of the original letter 
 of her uncle James, in which he communicated the fact 
 of her father's death, and from that she learned that he 
 died some four or five years subsequent to the writing 
 of those letters in which " Eliza's guineas " are men- 
 tioned. Yet not one jot did she relinquish of her faith 
 in that strong belief that her uncles had cheated her out 
 of her father's estate. She proclaimed it far and wide, 
 and triumphantly appealed, for the truth of her story, to 
 these old letters about " Eliza's guineas," written some 
 three or four years before he died, or was even married. 
 
 In 1857 she employed the person named as executor 
 of her will to pursue some inquiries into the circum- 
 stances of her father's marriage and death, and of the 
 property he left. These inquiries were very satisfac- 
 torily answered, and among the papers obtained were 
 copies of the inventories, both of the effects which he 
 left, and of the property which his wife possessed when 
 they were married. From these it appeared that the 
 value of all their possessions, consisting of clothing, 
 household furniture, and stock, amounted to just £99 
 7s. 9c?. Of a small parcel of land in that region, they had 
 made a conveyance, for a few shillings the acre ; but the 
 deed was not perfected. She was now assured by her 
 executor, whose professional and social position war- 
 ranted the utmost confidence in his judgment, and in 
 whom, in fact, she had placed more confidence than in 
 anybody else, that she had not the shadow of a claim 
 upon any property left by her father, and that she ought 
 to abandon the notion for ever. She did no such thing. 
 She treated these proofs precisely as all insane persons
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 375 
 
 treat the proofs of their delusions, — precisely as she 
 had treated the most conclusive proofs of other delu- 
 sions. She continued to believe in this great Virginia 
 property, and even more earnestly than ever. The testa- 
 mentary disposition she had made of it two or three 
 years before, she suffered to stand ; and once at least, 
 within a few months of her decease, she declared to a 
 witness her conviction that she would finally obtain that 
 property. Up to the very last, she declared to one and 
 another that the children of those uncles were living on 
 her property, and seeking her life. It was never a 
 matter of suspicion or doubt, but always, from first to 
 last, through a series of twenty years or more, a matter 
 of intense, unwavering belief. 
 
 In reply to all this, the appellees say that she did not 
 suppose the " Eliza's guineas " to have been a legacy 
 from her father, but money intrusted by her father to 
 her uncle, to be invested for her benefit, but which he 
 appropriated to himself. Believing this, the next step 
 very naturally taken was to believe that, after her 
 father's death, this same uncle had got possession of the 
 large estate which he had bequeathed to her. These two 
 conclusions, they allege, were the result of a highly 
 suspicious, distrustful temper, which, belonging to the 
 natural constitution of her mind, cannot be regarded 
 as an indication of insanity. This explanation scarcely 
 helps them. Were the mental process precisely as they 
 state, it shows a gross suspicion without the slightest 
 foundation in fact, growing out of another suspicion about 
 as baseless as the last. But in neither case was it a 
 mere suspicion. It was a fixed, positive, unwavering 
 belief, maintained to her dying day. After the conclu- 
 sive evidence obtained by the executor, that her father 
 left her nothing, then certainly her continued belief in
 
 376 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 the great property was undeniably a delusion. It may 
 be justly asked when this notion ceased to be a suspi- 
 cion, and began to be a delusion. Was it at the very 
 moment when this evidence was placed before her? If 
 so, then it appears that, while the facts in the case were 
 somewhat doubtful and obscure, she merely suspected 
 fraud ; but when all doubt was removed, and the fact 
 of her father's poverty conclusively established, she 
 believed it ! Of course, long before that time, probably 
 from the very hour when she first read those old letters, 
 she believed it as firmly as she ever did afterward. 
 Unquestionably, a very suspicious person may suspect 
 many very improbable things, with little or no proof; but 
 the moment he believes them he is under a delusion. It 
 is this confounding of two essentially different states of 
 mind, — suspicion and belief, — which makes the expla- 
 nation of the appellees utterly fallacious. 
 
 The attempt was made to explain away other things 
 which were regarded as incidents of insanity. The 
 executor alluded to her refusal to eat at the table of her 
 relations, and remarked that " she was terribly afraid of 
 other people's dirt." This statement, whether it origi- 
 nated with him or her, hardly helps the matter, consider- 
 ing what manner of persons those relations are, and the 
 fact that she often dined at a hotel, and for several sum- 
 mers in succession spent a week or two at Saratoga. 
 She kept pistols in her room, because, it was alleged, 
 she lived in a lawless sort of district, and one or two of 
 her neighbors were put upon the stand to testify that 
 they also kept pistols in the house. This was an evasion of 
 the true issue. It was not the fact of being armed which 
 was regarded as indicative of insanity, but the manner 
 in which this matter was managed. A sane person would 
 have done just what her neighbors did, — put a loaded
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 377 
 
 revolver under her pillow or within reach, and been sat- 
 isfied. She, on the contrary, makes a perfect arsenal of 
 her room, — a six-barrelled revolver under her head, an 
 old horse-pistol on each side, and another at the foot of 
 the bed, as if this multiplicity of weapons were any bet- 
 ter than one ! as if they were not more likely to harm 
 herself or her servants than any unwary burglar! And 
 these implements of destruction must be taken to the 
 gunsmith's every four or five weeks, to have the charges 
 drawn and be reloaded. Perhaps there was no single 
 incident of this woman's life more characteristic of in- 
 sanity than this lack of all true relation between the 
 means and the end of self-protection. Her charges of 
 stealing, so often and so earnestly made against the honest 
 old Quaker who lived a year or two on her place, the 
 same witness accounted for by the fact that the testatrix 
 was opposed to all agricultural improvements, and wanted 
 everything to remain just as it was in her mother's 
 time. He thought differently, and so he scraped the 
 trees, trimmed the currant-bushes, reset the straw- 
 berry beds, &c. She thus lost sight of many familiar 
 objects which she thought must have been stolen. If she 
 really came to her conclusions in this manner, the fact 
 is not very creditable to her sagacity, and it is scarcely 
 conceivable how any sane person could make such a 
 mistake, — to attribute improvements like those to petty 
 larceny. Such a process of thought, however, is very 
 characteristic of insanity. In order to explain away her 
 belief that her step-father's clerks had defrauded him, 
 it was alleged that such a village rumor prevailed at the 
 time, nearly sixty years ago, and therefore that it was 
 not strange she should entertain the same notion. But 
 this is not sufficient. What was, with others, an idle 
 rumor seriously believed by nobody, was, with her, a
 
 378 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 matter of earnest belief, and repeated to the discredit of 
 persons who, for half a century, in many relations of life, 
 social and business, had maintained an unsullied repu- 
 tation. 
 
 The manner in which she undertakes to accomplish 
 her designs shows no indication of insanity ; but one 
 would hardly appeal to it as a proof of a clear and vig- 
 orous mind. The greater part of her estate in North 
 Providence consists of unoccupied land, valuable only 
 for building purposes. Situated on the very border of 
 a considerable and growing city, it would naturally be 
 sought, while the abundance of other land similarly 
 situated would prevent it being taken, except in the 
 most satisfactory way. As long as equally eligible land 
 can be obtained by purchase, — and that, to all human 
 foresight, will be for many years to come, — this cannot 
 be leased advantageously, except, perhaps, for a term so 
 long as to practically defeat one of the conditions of the 
 will. Eventually, perhaps, it may become valuable, even 
 for leasing ; but between the loss of interest on one side, 
 and taxation upon its market value on the other, its whole 
 worth may have been sunk, long before that time. And 
 yet she refused to sell during her life, while land was 
 up and her neighbors were selling ; and in her will for- 
 bids the sale of a single acre, even for the accomplish- 
 ment of her plans. Through all coming time, this estate 
 must remain in the hands of the trustees, who, while 
 invested with unlimited discretion in everything else, 
 are allowed no discretion at all in a matter where they 
 needed it most. 
 
 These trustees, too, are not required to give bonds : 
 they are made responsible to nobody, and they are al- 
 lowed to compensate themselves for their services. Not 
 a single provision is made for preventing an abuse of
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 379 
 
 the trust, or stopping it after it may occur. Instead of 
 guarding, in every possible way, against the usual fate 
 of such trusts, — a fate that was most distinctly pointed 
 out to her by her most confidential advisers, — the dis- 
 positions of the testatrix would seem to have been made 
 expressly for the purpose of inviting it. 
 
 So far, indeed, the will presents no conclusive proof 
 of mental disorder; but the codicil, executed a few 
 months subsequently, reveals a strong, striking delusion, 
 calculated, beyond all others, to annul her testamentary 
 capacity. There, deliberately and solemnly, she puts 
 upon record her belief in that great Virginia property 
 which, she was in the habit of declaring, was left by her 
 father and purloined by her relations. True, at that 
 time, she had probably found the letter of her uncle, 
 giving an account of her father's decease, and express- 
 ing the suspicion that he had left property. This might 
 have warranted her even in indulging the same sus- 
 picion that her uncle had, sixty years before, and in 
 making it the basis of a testamentary bequest. But not 
 long after, the inquiries of her executor removed every 
 ground of suspicion, and furnished abundant proof that 
 her father left her nothing, because he had nothing to 
 leave. Did she thereupon revoke that codicil ? Cer- 
 tainly not. Her declarations to witnesses show that she 
 believed this notion of the Virginia property to the very 
 last. The idea of property in the moon could not have 
 been more indicative of folly. 
 
 True, the executor testified that this codicil was made 
 at his suggestion, in order to preclude all claims from 
 any heir-at-law who might possibly share her belief that 
 she had property in Virginia, and thus to save himself 
 from future annoyances. The executor's course in the 
 matter implied no opinion necessarily, respecting the
 
 380 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 character of this bequest. For even if he had then 
 believed as firmly as he did after his inquiries that her 
 father left nothing whatever, he might still have advised 
 the codicil, because he could not be sure that some one 
 might not have got the impression that the testatrix had a 
 good claim upon property in Virginia. However that may 
 be, the essential fact is not affected. Her willingness to 
 accept the codicil implies the existence of the belief 
 on her part, and therefore it is immaterial whether it 
 originated with herself or her executor. Whether any 
 possible benefit from it could compensate for the legal 
 consequences of this formal recognition of a palpable 
 delusion, is a question which naturally arises, but which 
 I need not discuss, because not exactly within my 
 province. 
 
 The next point put forth by the appellees was much 
 stronger apparently, but it lacked the essential element 
 of strength, — a substantial foundation. The will, they 
 alleged, is a rational act, rationally done, for a purpose 
 worthy of the soundest reason, and under the most sa- 
 cred of human obligations. Several of the witnesses — 
 men whose position and whose relations to her might be 
 supposed to have procured for their opinions on such a 
 subject some deference — stated that when they objected 
 to this disposition of her property, and tried to convince 
 her that it would ultimately fail of its purpose, as all 
 other religious trust-funds had, her invariable reply 
 was that it was in accordance with the expressed wishes 
 of her brother ; that the object nearest and dearest to 
 his heart was to establish and endow Baptist churches ; 
 that she felt bound by an imperative obligation to carry 
 his wishes into effect, and consequently had no choice. 
 
 Unquestionably, if she had promised her brother so 
 to dispose of the property obtained from him, such a
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 381 
 
 will should be regarded as valid, in morals, if not in law. 
 He had a right to exact such a condition, and she was 
 bound to observe it. But as it regards her own prop- 
 erty, — that which came from other sources than him, — 
 it was all very different. Her disposal of that must be 
 bound by the usual conditions of a testamentary be- 
 quest. She could neither promise to dispose of it in a 
 certain way, nor carry such a promise into effect, unless 
 possessed of testamentary capacity. 
 
 As to the promise itself, on which so much stress was 
 laid by herself and her counsel, it is to be considered 
 that beyond her statement there was not the slightest 
 proof in evidence that he wished his property might, 
 after death, be devoted to religious or any other partic- 
 ular purposes. No one ever heard him express such a 
 wish. On the contrary, four gentlemen, all friends and 
 companions, with whom he was in the habit of express- 
 ing his views very freely, declared that in matters of 
 religion he maintained a sort of philosophical indiffer- 
 ence ; that he did not confine his attendance on church 
 to any particular denomination ; and that, as one of 
 them expressed it, he had no faith in creeds, nor the 
 expounders of creeds. Indeed, it would seem, from the 
 statement of one of them, that he had no active religious 
 belief whatever. He had contemplated, no doubt, the 
 erection of a church, in his lifetime, on his land in 
 Taunton, and had obtained estimates of cost, &c. This 
 project he frequently spoke of; and when the land was 
 offered for sale, one lot was reserved for a church, and it 
 was so stated in public. Once, when passing by the land, 
 before the sale, he pointed out this lot to the friend who 
 was with him. The reply indicated very clearly the 
 thought which was passing in both minds : " I advise 
 you," said his friend, " to build at once, before you
 
 382 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 undertake to sell." It was to enhance the value of his 
 land, and there was no proof that he regarded it in any 
 other light. So, too, he would point out a lot on the 
 North Providence estate, as that which Eliza intended 
 for her church. 
 
 There is another fact of no insignificant bearing on 
 this alleged vehement desire to execute her brother's 
 wishes. Thirteen months were suffered to elapse be- 
 tween his death and the execution of her will. Had she 
 died suddenly during this period, — an event not very 
 unlikely at her age, — then the dearest wishes of her 
 brother would have come to naught, and this property 
 would have gone to those hated relatives, instead of 
 being " given to the Lord." There was no reason for 
 the delay, had her mind been made up; and it appeared 
 that during this period she mentioned various other 
 charitable objects to which she thought of bequeathing 
 her property. The only possible conclusion is, that the 
 disposition she finally adopted was her own deliberate 
 choice, — not the execution of another's wishes. 
 
 The psychological history of this lady is easily read 
 by the light of the evidence ; and it may be worth our 
 while to notice some of the prominent incidents of 
 that mental movement which, beginning in the deepest 
 emotions of childhood, fostered by the peculiar circum- 
 stances of her lot, and determined in a great degree, 
 probably, by hereditary tendencies to disease, ended 
 finally in delusion and disorder. It was the work 
 of years, it is true, and not obvious to the casual 
 observer ; but it was none the less real or serious. 
 
 Though too young at the time to be much affected by 
 the separation of her parents, yet, in the latter years of 
 her childhood, it must have been a subject of curious 
 and earnest speculation. At the age of ten, the second
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 383 
 
 marriage of her mother introduced her to new domestic 
 scenes, calculated to impart a peculiar tone to her 
 thoughts and feelings. At the age of thirteen, news 
 came of the death of her father in a remote State, 
 coupled with intimations that he was poisoned ; and it 
 cannot be doubted that thereby a most suggestive and 
 life-long impression was made upon her mind at this 
 most susceptible period. When she first began to be- 
 lieve or suspect that attempts were made to poison her 
 or any of her family does not appear. The evidence 
 only showed that the belief existed, at least, some thirty 
 or forty years before her death. It sprung, very prob- 
 ably, from the circumstances of her father's death, of 
 which she always retained some recollection. In fact, 
 the idea of poisoning and being poisoned thus suggested 
 to her susceptible imagination, became so familiar to her 
 mental experience as to defy the utmost efforts of reason 
 to dislodge it. 
 
 This habit of mind was unquestionably strengthened 
 by an event which happened towards the middle period 
 of her life. An English gentleman bearing her name 
 had died, leaving a considerable property, the heirs to 
 which were supposed to live in this country. Various 
 members of her family became interested in the matter, 
 and one of them went to England for the purpose of 
 making inquiries and prosecuting claims. It appeared, 
 however, that they were not the heirs of this man ; and 
 the property went in another direction. But the idea 
 thus suggested to her mind of being entitled to property 
 in England was never abandoned by Miss A., though in 
 her later years she said but little about it. It was ac- 
 companied by suspicions of foul play, and of attempts 
 upon her life on the part of those who might better 
 their own claims by getting her out of the way.
 
 384 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 Thus far the mental disorder had not a very wide or 
 conspicuous operation. It was not obvious to the world, 
 and interfered with none of the ordinary performances 
 of life. A naturally active mind, a good education, an 
 agreeable person, and social advantages, masked the 
 morbid traits of her character, and enabled her to bear 
 her allotted part in life with tolerable credit. Even those 
 best acquainted with the workings of her mind would 
 venture only to call her peculiar or fanciful. Neverthe- 
 less, the morbid element was steadity, though slowly, 
 gaining strength, when it received an extraordinary 
 stimulus from the reading of those old letters. The 
 unusual circumstances attending her father's death, and 
 the air of mystery in which that event as well as the 
 whole history of his residence in the South was enveloped, 
 had furnished food for much morbid reflection ; but now, 
 for the first time, her ideas assumed definite shape. In 
 her suspicious and credulous temper, the mention there 
 made of her own Christian name in connection with 
 money and investments afforded confirmation strong as 
 holy writ of the traditional belief that her father had 
 married a rich planter's widow, and died leaving a large 
 estate ; while it also suggested the additional belief that 
 that estate had belonged to her as her father's heir, 
 but somehow had been wrested from her by dishonest 
 uncles. The marvellous improbability of the whole 
 tissue of events supposed in this belief caused neither 
 hesitation nor doubt. Ever after, she did not suspect, 
 but she believed with her whole heart and her whole 
 soul, that she had been robbed by her own relatives of a 
 valuable estate. Habitually dwelling on this idea, she 
 was always seeing in every occurrence some fresh proof 
 of the existence of this estate, and of the iniquity which 
 defrauded her out of it. Did a relative build a block of
 
 THE AKGELL WILL CASE. 385 
 
 stores, he certainly must have obtained the means from 
 her property. Did another send his boys to a boarding 
 school, his salary was too small to allow such an expense, 
 and it could have been derived only from her property. 
 When one of them went to Virginia, it was for the pur- 
 pose of visiting her plantations. The style of house- 
 keeping in which her relatives indulged was diligently 
 scrutinized, in order to show that they were living be- 
 yond their ostensible means, and of course on the fruits 
 of iniquity. A belief originating and entertained like 
 this can be called by one name only, — delusion; and 
 delusion is insanity. 
 
 Its first fruit was an excessive anxiety to ascertain 
 where that property was, and for this purpose it was 
 necessary to learn when and where her father died. 
 While her mother and brother were living, she could do 
 but little. They did not share in her belief; and seeing 
 that the subject, when introduced, always excited her, 
 they lent her no assistance in prosecuting her inquiries. 
 After their death, however, she was free to pursue the 
 desire of her heart, without let or hinderance from others. 
 The very difficulty of getting information only strength- 
 ened her delusion, for to her distempered fancy the fact 
 that they to whom she applied professed to be utterly 
 ignorant was conclusive proof that they were partici- 
 pants in the crime. With her relatives, servants, and 
 some others, it was the prevailing theme of her dis- 
 course ; while in every descendant of those faithless 
 uncles, whatever his position or character, she saw a 
 foe fattening upon the spoils of her father's estate, and 
 perhaps seeking her life in order to avoid exposure. 
 At last the original letter containing the account of her 
 father's death, burial, &c, fell into her hands ; and thus 
 she was enabled to confirm her traditionary belief, so far 
 
 25
 
 386 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 as it went. At last she ascertained precisely what prop- 
 erty her father had possessed, and what he left behind 
 him. But the information came too late. For years 
 her belief had been a delusion, and the most palpable 
 proofs of his absolute destitution did not shake it in 
 the slightest degree. 
 
 During the latter years of her life it is obvious that 
 the mental infirmity had greatly extended its influence. 
 The fear of being poisoned had steadily increased, until 
 the circle of the suspected embraced many of her kins- 
 folk and most of her servants. To this was added the 
 fear of foes from without as well as foes within. Doors 
 and windows were kept fastened day and night, and she 
 retired to rest in a bed surrounded by fire-arms. The 
 suspicion and distrust of her earlier years were con- 
 verted at last into utter disbelief of human honesty. 
 All, from the kind old Baptist deacon who managed her 
 charities, to the honest old Quaker who managed her 
 farm ; from the cherished friend of her brother, unceas- 
 ing in his offices of kindness towards her, to the humble 
 cousin who was ever her willing drudge, — all were, in 
 her eyes, cheats, thieves, and liars. To the broadest 
 moral distinctions she became insensible, charging with 
 fraud and malice persons whose company and assistance 
 she courted, and putting into the hands of the man who 
 was to watch her premises the instruments of death, 
 with directions to use them upon the first one who came 
 along. The management of her property now betrays 
 that lack of mental vigor, and the style of her house- 
 keeping that insensibility to little conveniences and pro- 
 prieties, which mark the progress of her malady no less 
 clearly than other more demonstrative traits ; and thus 
 year after year, for the greater portion of her life, she 
 was brought more and more under the influence of dis-
 
 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 387 
 
 ease, though seldom, if ever, deprived entirely of self- 
 control, or all sense of the fitness of things. To say that 
 she was therefore not insane, is merely to say that she 
 was not a raving maniac nor a stupid clod, devoid of all 
 sense and reason. 
 
 It may be worth our while to observe that this case 
 involves some questions touching the effect of mental 
 disease on the testamentary capacity, that are not yet 
 definitely settled. In cases where a will has been 
 disputed on the ground of insanity, the kind of mental 
 impairment alleged has generally been that which ac- 
 companies congenital imbecility, paralysis, acute disease 
 of some bodily organ, the decay of old age, intoxication. 
 It consists of enfeeblement rather than perversion, and 
 affects the memory and judgment rather than the opin- 
 ions and sentiments. These cases involved simply a 
 question of capacity, and courts were always seeking 
 some standard by which the testamentary capacity could 
 be measured. In the case of imbeciles, the ability to 
 count ten, to tell the day of the week, or measure a 
 yard of cloth, was once considered evidence of a dispos- 
 ing mind ; and though the standard was raised in later 
 times, it was still an arbitrary one, having no necessary 
 relation to the thing compared with it. In other cases 
 of mental enfeeblement, courts have said that the testa- 
 tor should possess mind sufficient to transact the com- 
 mon business of life, or be capable of making a contract, 
 or doing any other binding act. And this was the com- 
 mon doctrine, until it was discovered, almost within 
 our own generation, that some wills require a stronger 
 understanding and a wider comprehension than some 
 contracts, and vice versa. This led to what may now be 
 considered a settled principle, viz., that the testamentary 
 capacity must be estimated in reference to the circum-
 
 388 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 stances of the particular act itself. Thus, a will dispos- 
 ing of a large amount of property to various persons, 
 for various purposes, and under various conditions, re- 
 quires a larger capacity than one devising a small prop- 
 erty to the only two or three relatives the testator may 
 have, or than a contract marked by few and simple 
 conditions. 
 
 No sooner was this principle favored by courts, than 
 it was found too narrow to cover all the ground which 
 the subject presents. A class of cases began to make 
 their appearance in which the testator, while possessing 
 many of the highest powers and the ordinary traits of a 
 sane mind, — transacting business correctly, mingling in 
 society without exciting surprise, and discharging cred- 
 itably the duties of a good citizen, — was bereft of reason 
 in relation to certain subjects, believing notions utterly 
 impossible in the nature of things or the circumstances 
 of the case. Under the principle just mentioned, such a 
 person could not be pronounced intestable; but if the 
 delusion had reference to persons whose interests were 
 thereby affected in the dispositions of the will, then, very 
 clearly, the will might have been the offspring of in- 
 sanity ; and if it were, then, in spite of all the rules and 
 definitions, it ought not to stand ; and so it appeared to the 
 court in one of the earliest cases reported, — that of Green- 
 wood, who disinherited his brother under the delusion 
 that he had been poisoned by him. On an appeal, how- 
 ever, this decision was reversed by Lord Kenyon, who, 
 while he admitted the hardship of the case to the sur- 
 viving brother, felt unwilling to quit the old landmarks. 
 Some years afterwards a case of this description — Dew 
 v. Clark — was decided in Doctors' Commons, under the 
 benigner spirit of the civil law, by Sir John Phillimore, 
 in whose long and elaborate judgment the true principle
 
 THE AXGELL WILL CASE. 389 
 
 which should govern this class of cases was maintained 
 with so much clearness and ability that it has been ac- 
 cepted, with scarcely a murmur of dissent, as the estab- 
 lished law of the land. Finding that the testator was 
 insane on the subject of his daughter, whom he had dis- 
 inherited, he pronounced against the will ; the question 
 at issue being, not whether the insanity would vitiate 
 any will (" a will generally ") of the deceased, but this 
 identical will. 
 
 One more class of cases remained to be disposed of, — 
 that where the insanity is not only partial and limited, 
 but has had no influence, apparently, on the testamen- 
 tary act. Is every insane person to be deemed intes- 
 table, however partial the disease, and however free from 
 its influence the testamentary act may be, or only so 
 when the act is shaped and colored by the disease ? In 
 the only reported case 1 where this question has been 
 clearly mooted, Lord Brougham came out strongly in 
 favor of the former opinion, and, in the course of his 
 discussion, even questioned whether the advocates of 
 the latter opinion would have the courage to say that 
 the will of the man who declared that he was the Christ 
 should be admitted to probate, though it bore no marks 
 whatever of an unsound mind. 2 This is an extreme case, 
 and the courage which would be wanting here might 
 be found amply sufficient in those far more numerous 
 ones where the mental affection is less extravagant and 
 absurd. 
 
 1 Waring v. Waring, 6 Moore, P. C. Cases, 349. 
 
 2 Lord Brougham's doctrine was approved by Lord Penzance in Smith 
 v. Tibbetts, 36 L. J. R., x.s., Probate Court, 97 (1867), and subsequently- 
 disapproved by the Court of Queen's Bench, in Banks v. Goodfellow, 39 
 L. J. R., N.8., Q. B. 257 ; 5 L. R., Q. B. 54 ; Lord Chief Justice Cockburn 
 delivering the opinion of the Court.
 
 390 THE ANGELL WILL CASE. 
 
 In this country, the law would seem to be complicated 
 by the legislative acts that have been passed in the dif- 
 ferent States on the subject of the will-making power. 
 In Rhode Island, for instance, it has been enacted that, 
 to make a valid will, a person must, among other qualifi- 
 cations, possess a " sane mind." If this language is to 
 be taken literally, then certainly no distinctions as to the 
 nature or extent of the disease can be compatible with 
 a due observance of the law, which requires nothing less 
 than the implicit adoption of Lord Brougham's rule. It 
 will be contended, no doubt, that this language must be 
 interpreted by the rules of the English law ; in other 
 words, that the meaning of one of our statutes must be 
 determined, not by the ordinary signification of terms, 
 but by the decisions of English courts, not in themselves 
 harmonious. Such a course would be in curious con- 
 trast to that usual adherence to the language of a stat- 
 ute which allows the intentions of the legislator to be 
 completely frustrated by a misplaced preposition, or an 
 improper tense or mood. It adds another leaf to the 
 chapter of contradictions and inconsistencies which 
 form so large a part of the law of insanity.
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS FOR 
 THE INSANE. 
 
 Hospitals for the insane, conceived in the modern 
 spirit, came in with the present century. Establish- 
 ments for the custody and treatment of the insane had 
 existed, sometimes in connection with general hospitals 
 of which they constituted a department, and sometimes 
 separately, and independently of any other. In Eng- 
 land, buildings were erected expressly for the purpose ; 
 but on the continent old monasteries were, at one time, 
 almost exclusively used. In these rude, prison-like 
 structures, patients were herded together without much 
 attempt at classification ; while every arrangement, every 
 incident of management, was founded on the idea that, 
 in mental disease, violence and insubordination are the 
 rule, not the exception, to be met and overcome "by 
 opposing force. No attempt was made to act directly 
 on the mind by means of work, books, or amusements. 
 Drugs were thought to be the only thing that promised 
 any good, and they certainly were allowed to have 
 their perfect work. At the old Bethlehem, in Lon- 
 don, it was customary, up to no very remote period, 
 in addition to the special medication supposed to be 
 required in each particular case, to bleed and physic 
 most of the patients every spring. Instruments of re-
 
 392 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 straint were abundant. Day in and day out, patients 
 were confined to their chairs or benches, for months, 
 if not years together ; and many who were free by day 
 were chained to their beds by night, lest they might 
 possibly do themselves some harm. At last, this dreary 
 record of cruelty and contumely, of ignorance and un- 
 skilfulness, was finished. At last, the insane came to 
 be recognized as possessing, in some degree, at least, 
 the attributes of humanity, and therefore as fit subjects 
 for the ameliorating arts of philanthropy and science. 
 The point gained was not the mere disuse of chains, 
 nor the reform of gross abuses, but the general recog- 
 nition of the fact that the management of the insane 
 is a matter of scientific inquiry and experiment, and, 
 consequently, always and forever, susceptible of im- 
 provement. The result has been what might naturally 
 be expected, when men begin to aim at something be- 
 yond an old routine. Every year witnessed some new 
 advance ; and, on looking back, it is easy to discern the 
 broad interval between the uncouth, cold, dark, jail-like 
 structure and the well-warmed, well-lighted, well-venti- 
 lated, commodious, and even elegant edifice, abounding 
 in the conveniences and amenities of a domestic resi- 
 dence ; between the harsh and peremptory keeper with 
 command in his look and a bunch of keys at his girdle 
 and the courteous attendant who gently leads his charge 
 in the ways of propriety and decorum; between the 
 discomfort of needless restraint and the enjoyment of 
 the largest liberty compatible with the end in view ; 
 between the irksomeness of perpetual idleness and vacu- 
 ity and the buoyant sensations that spring from mental 
 and physical occupation. 
 
 In this retrospect, we may also discern an incident 
 characteristic of most reformatory movements, — the
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 393 
 
 tendency to run to opposite extremes; and perhaps I 
 could not better use this occasion than to consider it 
 with some degree of particularity. The reformer's 
 creed frequently contains but a single article of belief; 
 namely this, because a thing is bad therefore the 
 directly opposite thing is necessarily good. The effect 
 of this fallacy has been strikingly manifested, for in- 
 stance, in the controversy, not yet settled, respecting 
 mechanical restraint as applied to the insane. Every- 
 body admits that it has been grossly abused, but an 
 immense difference prevails as to the practical inference 
 that should be drawn from the fact. While it leads one 
 party to use it for proper purposes and in a judicious 
 manner, so as to secure its benefits and avoid its evils, 
 it leads another to disuse it altogether as an unmiti- 
 gated wrong. Of course, abundant reasons are offered 
 for the correctness of each of these conclusions, and 
 they are not without their force; but — in accordance 
 with a common phasis of belief — they have probably 
 less to do with actual opinions, than a state of feeling 
 antecedent to all reasons. This accounts for the diffi- 
 culty of arriving at the truth in all questions of practi- 
 cal reform ; but the number of those who learn from it 
 a lesson of caution against hasty conclusions will always 
 be small. In the present case there is a touch of the 
 romantic in the idea of managing the insane entirely 
 without mechanical restraint, and solely by moral sua- 
 sion or the gentle laying on of hands ; and when first 
 announced, it is not strange that it was taken at once 
 into public favor. It had all the eclat of a great dis- 
 covery, worthy of being compared with that of anaes- 
 thetics or the vaccine virus ; and in England, where it 
 originated, it needed more than an average share of 
 moral courage to regard it with the slightest distrust.
 
 394 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 One thing leads to another ; and the idea of complete 
 non-restraint was followed, in the fulness of time, by 
 that of banishing all those distinctive architectural 
 arrangements supposed to be indispensable to the 
 proper care and custody of the insane. Open fires on 
 the hearth, windows without guards, and doors with- 
 out locks, have been adopted in one or two hospitals 
 lately erected in England. It is not surprising that 
 men of a sanguine, philanthropic temper, should hail 
 such innovations with their warmest approval, and that 
 under the pressure of public sentiment they should 
 be sustained, temporarily at least, at all hazards. The 
 careful observer, who studies insanity like any other 
 object of scientific investigation, will hardly be satisfied 
 with the reasons offered for such a radical reform ; and 
 though willing to accept results as the proper tests of 
 their soundness, he will require that the experiment 
 shall be tried on a large scale, by various parties, and 
 its indirect and contingent as well as immediate results 
 be fairly taken into the account. No experiment in 
 the management of the insane can be considered suc- 
 cessful, merely because no indications of failure are 
 visible for a limited period, or under peculiar circum- 
 stances. For the very object may be, not to prevent 
 an evil which otherwise would be sure to happen, but 
 to meet a contingency that may never occur. The 
 mere fact that it does not occur has no necessary con- 
 nection with the means of prevention. No one at all 
 conversant with hospitals for the insane can have failed 
 to see that, in some degree, their results are apparently 
 a matter of chance. To attribute them entirely and 
 exclusively to management would be no mark of wis- 
 dom. The man who congratulates himself on the suc- 
 cess of his measures for preventing suicide, on account
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 395 
 
 of entire exemption for several years, will find his self- 
 complacency somewhat ruffled when, without any change 
 of practice, several cases occur in rapid succession. So, 
 too, he may find that the large proportion of recoveries, 
 and the small proportion of deaths and casualties, which, 
 for a time, seemed to be indisputable proofs of his skill, 
 are attributable to causes over which he had little or 
 no control. Now, to ascertain how far this element of 
 chance prevails, must always be a work of time : and we 
 may fairly challenge the soundness of any conclusions 
 where sufficient account has not been made of its in- 
 fluence. 
 
 Another error very incident to measures of reform 
 in our specialty is to mistake individual traits for gen- 
 eral conditions, and thus conclude, prematurely, that 
 what is applicable to one case is no less applicable to 
 all. Diversities of disease, of previous management, of 
 natural character, may all be ignored, and some pro- 
 crustean plan regarded as embodying all the wisdom 
 worth retaining. A patient long subjected to mechani- 
 cal restraint improves under its disuse ; therefore no 
 patient requires it, and complete non-restraint must 
 be the unexceptionable rule. Another is annoyed by 
 the sight of locks and guards, which, in fact, are un- 
 necessary for him ; therefore they are annoying to all 
 and unnecessary for any. Another desires to go out 
 unattended, and undoubtedly is all the better for the 
 privilege ; therefore unrestricted freedom in this par- 
 ticular should be the general rule. Deductions like 
 these may seem somewhat puerile, but they are scarcely 
 exaggerations of what have actually been made. Now, 
 with all admiration for the spirit underlying these pro- 
 jected reforms, I am still obliged to doubt whether they 
 do not exhibit some confusion of thought, both as to
 
 396 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 the ends which are proposed and the conditions of a 
 successful experiment. These two questions it may 
 be well to consider for a moment, beginning with the 
 latter. 
 
 Morbid movements of the nervous system often require 
 considerable time for their completion, and are marked 
 by a certain periodicity not apparent in other affections. 
 What we happen to see may be but a single phasis of 
 the movement, to be followed by others equally promi- 
 nent, before the morbid cycle is completed. What it 
 may reveal precisely, we cannot predict before it is 
 completed. Now, a kind of management that may be 
 very proper in regard to one of these phases may not 
 be so in regard to another, because the wishes and 
 feelings of the patient, the force of his impulses and the 
 gravity of his disease, may present the utmost possible 
 difference. An inflexible rule of management, by ig- 
 noring these diversities, must necessarily occasion much 
 mischief, directly or indirectly ; and not more does the 
 individual differ from himself at different periods, than 
 does the general condition of the house. The expedi- 
 ency of non-restraint, for instance, might be very differ- 
 ently manifested, even in the same establishment, at 
 different periods, insomuch that several months of com- 
 plete disuse of restraint might, very properly, be fol- 
 lowed by as long a period of its abundant use. We 
 should not suppose we had cured a case of epilepsy or 
 hysteria, merely because the period since the last fit has 
 been much longer than any previous interval ; or that a 
 maniacal patient had recovered, because the high ex- 
 citement had passed away and he replied to a few ques- 
 tions correctly ; why, then, should we be required to 
 accept any principle of management which has been 
 tried, however successfully, on a limited scale and for a
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 397 
 
 limited period ? It is no satisfactory reply to the patent 
 objections that lie against this or that arrangement, to 
 say that no harm has arisen from it, so far. Great 
 care, aided by great good luck, may unquestionably 
 save us sometimes from the legitimate effects of a faulty 
 arrangement. But in any provision relative to the man- 
 agement of the insane, it should be implicitly required 
 that its operation shall depend as little as possible 
 on the chances of fortune or the short-comings of men. 
 Its merit should consist, in a great measure, in its inde- 
 pendence of these contingencies. Success, in spite of 
 manifest danger, would be a very feeble argument in 
 favor of repeating the experiment. To say of it that 
 we have got along under it without any untoward 
 event, is to render but a vulgar estimate of success, 
 though one most intelligible, perhaps, to the multitude. 
 Let us bear in mind, too, that a broader field of trial, a 
 wider scope of comparison, a more impartial judgment 
 of results, is necessary, than any single individual can 
 fairly claim. 
 
 Much error has been committed on this subject, in 
 consequence of misunderstanding the proper ends of 
 any reformatory measure in the management of the 
 insane. The philosophical test of social and political re- 
 form — the greatest happiness of the greatest number — 
 must not be exclusively adopted here. A provision is 
 not to be hastily discarded merely because it has been 
 attended by abuses, or because its evils, on the whole, 
 seem to overbalance its benefits. The careful inquirer 
 will first ascertain whether, by some administrative 
 change, the former may not be prevented, and the lat- 
 ter retained. To give up a provision which is known 
 to serve an excellent purpose, because in the hands of 
 the careless and heartless it has been made an instru-
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 ment of wrong, may be wise under some circumstances, 
 but can hardly be considered a triumph of professional 
 skill. True science, true skill, consist in meeting the 
 exigencies of each particular case ; and though these 
 must sometimes be subordinate to the general good, this 
 necessity must be regarded as a defect rather than a 
 merit. The question we have to deal with is, how 
 we can best reach the needs of each one of those indi- 
 viduals who make up the collective body under our 
 charge ; and so long as we keep this end before us, we 
 may be sure we are on the right course. When, how- 
 ever, we strive after something above and beyond this, 
 seeking, for instance, to establish some general rule or 
 practice calculated to strike the fancy and to win the 
 applause of the inconsiderate, there is great danger that 
 the other and more important end will come to hold an 
 inferior place in our regard. There may be no incom- 
 patibility between these ends, for many, I doubt not, 
 are steadily keeping them both in view ; but there is 
 a natural tendency to seek that which is most easily 
 appreciated by all who look only on the outside, and 
 which, by such, would be regarded as indicative of 
 originality and vigor. We see it in the idea too often 
 put forth, of claiming merit for encountering great risks 
 with but little actual damage. So many epileptics have 
 frequented a room having an open fire, so many uneasy, 
 discontented patients have been allowed to go and come 
 as they please, so many pugnacious ones have mingled 
 freely with the rest, so many homicidal ones have been 
 intrusted with edge-tools ; and yet nobody has fallen 
 into the fire, nobody has eloped, nobody has been struck, 
 nobody has been killed or wounded. As if such a re- 
 sult might not possibly have been a remarkable instance 
 of good fortune rather than the sign and seal of a
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 399 
 
 blessed reform ; and as if the welfare of the individual 
 patient were a matter of little concern compared with 
 the working of a general rule. I would not be under- 
 stood as saying, that in the management of the insane 
 we are to incur no risks whatever ; in other words, that 
 we are to withhold from them every privilege and the 
 slightest measure of freedom, because they might possi- 
 bly abuse them. The whole theory of modern manage- 
 ment implies risk, to be avoided, however, as much 
 as possible, by the exercise of discernment and tact. 
 Sometimes, indeed, a desirable end can be obtained 
 only through more or less risk, and on the general 
 question there can be but one opinion. But such risks 
 must be carefully distinguished from those which in- 
 volve the welfare of others, or tend only to glorify indi- 
 viduals. If an attempt to benefit a particular patient 
 by some exercise of risk, applicable solely to him, fail, 
 he alone is affected ; and if the circumstances fairly 
 justified the attempt, he cannot complain. But if, while 
 it is applied to one person, its consequences fall upon 
 another, then the latter has good reason to be aggrieved. 
 When a sanguine believer in non-restraint systemati- 
 cally exposes his patients to the assaults of those who 
 are inclined to such mischief, in the vain expectation 
 that any practical amount of vigilance can obviate 
 actual harm, he will hardly be able to justify the 
 occurrence of unpleasant casualties by pleading the 
 common good. The sufferers would reply, and very 
 properly too, that they were placed under his care 
 for their own particular good, and not for the purpose 
 of enabling him to work out some favorite theory. 
 And they might also say that they were so placed, 
 mainly for the purpose of being saved from themselves 
 and others.
 
 400 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 I believe that the reasons urged in favor of some of 
 these reformatory measures are founded in incorrect 
 notions of insanity, and especially of the thoughts and 
 feelings of the insane. It is contended that the safe- 
 guards which have been placed around the patient 
 should be removed, because they are supposed to annoy 
 him by constantly reminding him of his infirmity, and 
 proclaiming from every door and window that he can- 
 not be trusted. Unquestionably, in a small proportion 
 of cases, restraint of any kind is disagreeable, and, per- 
 haps, unnecessary ; but it is equally certain that to 
 many patients it is not even a source of discomfort. The 
 latter class have an habitual sense of insecurity, fear to 
 be left to themselves, and welcome the means of restraint. 
 Many of those, even, whose form of disease is marked 
 by high excitement, feel at times a consciousness that 
 they are unfit to be at large, and recognize the necessity 
 of those abridgments of their freedom which a hospital 
 involves. Much of the repugnance which the insane 
 are supposed to feel to the restrictive arrangements of 
 a hospital may be fairly attributed rather to that cap- 
 tious, fault-finding spirit so common in the disease, than 
 to any keen sensibilities in the matter. 
 
 When restraint of any kind is required, let it be 
 applied, we are told, by the look and the touch of an 
 attendant, not by barbarous implements of wood and 
 iron. Mistakes have been made, no doubt, as to the 
 amount of interference compatible with the best in- 
 terests of the insane, but we ought not to err very 
 widely as to the amount of care and vigilance that may 
 be reasonably expected of attendants. Natural dispo- 
 sition and temperament, tact and culture, may aifect the 
 result somewhat ; but we well know that beyond a cer- 
 tain point these qualities, in their best estate, are per-
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 401 
 
 fectly impotent. For a short neriod and an imminent 
 emergency, we may be warranted in relying upon them 
 implicitly. But lengthen the period, or render the con- 
 tingency more remote and uncertain, and to that extent 
 personal vigilance becomes unreliable. An attendant 
 placed in charge of a patient incessantly bent on self- 
 destruction may be safely relied on for several hours ; 
 but let it be his sole business to prevent a patient from 
 striking when the impulse comes, which may be but 
 once in two or three months, and who that knows any- 
 thing of the subject supposes that the blow will not be 
 struck at last ? The continuity of attention required 
 for this purpose may not be impossible, but in practice 
 it would be idle to expect it. In fact there is really no 
 relation between the end and the means. The question 
 is not which of the two kinds of restraint, personal or 
 mechanical, is preferable in this case, but whether the 
 latter is not the only one capable, in the nature of things, 
 of effecting the purpose. Considering the matter in 
 reference to its immediate effects on the patient, and 
 unconnected with theories or biases, it seems difficult 
 to conceive how there could be two opinions about it. 
 And in the class of cases where either would be admis- 
 sible, I have been led by twenty years' experience to 
 believe that a simple contrivance of leather or cloth 
 placed on the limbs, performing its service quietly and 
 steadily, is infinitely preferable to an array of attendants 
 holding the hands and feet, and at every relaxation 
 of their efforts provoking renewed struggles from the 
 patient. 
 
 It has been of late years somewhat fashionable to 
 ignore some prominent traits of insanity, or at least to 
 suppose that they may be kept in abeyance by devices 
 of management. The insane should be treated more 
 
 26
 
 402 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 like the sane, trusted with responsible duties, and 
 thrown much upon their own power of self-control. No 
 one would dissent from the general principle implied in 
 this statement, because it is characteristic of all humane 
 and intelligent management ; but unquestionably some 
 have been disposed to carry it to an almost unlimited 
 extent. Among them was one whose name was inti- 
 mately associated with the history of our specialty in 
 this country. His practice was to treat his patients as 
 if governed by the principles, motives, and impulses of 
 sane men, until the contrary appeared. Very brilliant 
 results sometimes followed this management, and some 
 not so well calculated to recommend it for general 
 adoption. He was fond of taking visitors to a window 
 and showing them three or four patients mowing to- 
 gether in an adjacent field, all of whom had committed 
 homicide. There was something very extraordinary, 
 no doubt, in such an exhibition. To those who are 
 governed by appearances merely, it indicated the 
 triumph of the strong will and the commanding pres- 
 ence over the lower instincts of a diseased mind, and 
 excited the usual admiration produced by the mar- 
 vellous. 
 
 No good can come by shutting our eyes to an old 
 truth, merely because it is old, and believing that the 
 world has always been mistaken in the idea that a dis- 
 position to mischief is a frequent element of insanity. 
 Tamed, diverted, modified it certainly may be; but there 
 can be no graver error than to suppose that, by any 
 system of treatment, it may be utterly extinguished. 
 And even if it were possible to eradicate this element of 
 the disease, there remains another which should prevent 
 us from relying too much on the discretion of the insane. 
 The guiding, determining power of the patient — the
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 403 
 
 balance-wheel, if I may use the figure, which regulates 
 the mental movement — is generally more or less im- 
 paired, and some foreign power must, to that extent, 
 take its place. For this reason the patient is taken from 
 home or his customary surroundings, where he is fol- 
 lowing the bent of his disordered fancies, and placed 
 where his liberty of action is greatly curtailed, and his 
 movements directed by others. To some, scarcely any- 
 thing more is necessary than the unavoidable restrictions 
 of the hospital. In others, the gravity of the disturbing 
 element may call for the utmost amount of restriction at 
 our disposal. In some shape or other, restriction is an 
 essential element in all hospital management of insanity; 
 but it would be preposterous to contend that just so 
 much or so little is the exact measure best suited to all 
 cases alike, or to any considerable proportion. 
 
 In the above remarks it has been my intention to 
 indicate the only channels which the course of improve- 
 ment can possibly take, and to state my reasons for dis- 
 senting from some current opinions on this subject. I 
 am not disposed to anticipate only failure from the most 
 skilfully managed experiments, nor to regard free and 
 full inquiry in any direction as useless. What may be 
 accomplished hereafter must be a matter of speculation, 
 but probably the future will be much like the past. Men 
 will continue to jump at conclusions, to imagine that 
 they have found some royal road to the desired object, 
 and that their own new ways are better than any old 
 ones. One project after another will pass away, but not 
 without leaving some pregnant suggestion behind. In 
 the mean time, let us be less anxious to discover new 
 truths than to turn the old ones to the best possible 
 account, and then we need have no apprehension that 
 the dark ages will return. The latter object is within
 
 404 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 the reach of all ; the former is reserved for the gifted 
 few. 
 
 We may bear in mind for our encouragement that in 
 this country are circumstances peculiarly favorable to 
 our progress. Establishments for the insane are every- 
 where provided, in addition to the usual executive 
 officers, with a board of general direction, who watch 
 over their interests and control more or less their man- 
 agement. This kind of organization is simple ; it is in 
 accordance with the customs of the land, and very well 
 secures the object in view. In England, some twenty 
 years ago, it occurred to a few amateur philanthropists 
 that the efficiency of these establishments would be 
 greatly promoted by placing them under the supervision 
 of a large central board. Accordingly such a board was 
 created by Act of Parliament, and its members, twenty 
 in number, appointed by the Crown. They visit, once 
 at least every year, by sub-committees, every house, 
 whether public or private, in which the insane are kept 
 for hire ; make suggestions and recommendations on 
 every point connected with the specialty ; bestow cen- 
 sure or praise with a liberal hand ; advise the removal 
 of patients, even, from establishments in which they 
 have been placed by friends ; recommend, when the case 
 seems to warrant it, the withdrawal of the license, with- 
 out which no private individual can have charge of the 
 insane ; and make an annual report of their proceedings 
 to the Lord Chancellor. Their office is advisory entirely; 
 but, occupying their position, it will be readily seen that 
 their suggestions can have scarcely less force than a 
 positive order. Under the supervision of such a board, 
 it is supposed that abuses will be seen and prevented ; 
 that defects will be pointed out and the proper remedy 
 suggested ; that new ideas will be disseminated ; im-
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 405 
 
 provements made in one place be rendered the common 
 property of all, and a high standard of excellence estab- 
 lished. These are very desirable objects no doubt ; the 
 only question is as to the qualifications of the commis- 
 sioners for the appointed duty. The Lord Chancellor 
 may send them forth under the sanction of the highest 
 authority in the realm ; but he can endow them with no 
 knowledge of a specialty so peculiar as that of providing 
 for and managing the insane. It can be obtained only 
 by a long and familiar intercourse with them, — by a 
 practical acquaintance with their wants, ways, manners, 
 tendencies, and impulses. It could hardly be supposed, 
 considering the ways of persons in power, that many 
 such men would receive the appointment merely on 
 account of fitness for the office, without any claim on 
 the score of political service or popular favor, or the 
 dictation of a powerful friend or clique. Occasionally 
 we observe in the English Lunacy Commission the name 
 of some one creditably known for professional attain- 
 ments ; but, with these few exceptions, the members 
 are barristers, clergymen, surgeons, military officers, 
 members of Parliament, country squires, — all very re- 
 spectable gentlemen, no doubt, and some of them emi- 
 nent in their respective lines, but who, previous to their 
 appointment, were probably never inside a hospital for 
 the insane, except perhaps as casual visitors. On some 
 points of general direction, their education and oppor- 
 tunities might enable them to offer sound and seasonable 
 advice. But on all questions of a strictly special char- 
 acter their opinion can be worth nothing ; and yet those 
 are the questions with which their mission is chiefly 
 concerned, and on which their views are promulgated 
 with all the moral, if not legal, force of an Act of Parlia- 
 ment. To such views the officers of the hospitals are
 
 406 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 called upon to yield convictions which may be the result 
 of much study and observation, or lose all their hold on 
 the public confidence. Had a committee of just such 
 gentlemen been appointed for the purpose of improving 
 the condition of English surgery, and with this object in 
 view had visited the hospitals once or twice a year, wit- 
 nessed the operations, inspected the instruments, read 
 every ticket of the diet and medicines prescribed for 
 the day, and then submitted to the Lord Chancellor an 
 elaborate report of their proceedings, full of criticism 
 and counsel, the whole performance would have been 
 regarded by everybody as highly ridiculous ; and yet in 
 all essential conditions the cases are precisely parallel. 
 Their opinion on the subject of restraint and seclusion 
 is actually worth as much as their opinion on the dis- 
 puted questions of the circular and the flap amputation, 
 or the high and the lateral operation for stone would be, — 
 neither more nor less. Even if better qualified than 
 they actually are, their visits must necessarily be too 
 few and far between to furnish that full and precise 
 knowledge of the hospital which alone can warrant 
 either praise or censure. Only a long succession of 
 visits will enable one to become acquainted with its 
 prevailing character and spirit, and to distinguish casual 
 incidents and temporary arrangements from such as con- 
 stitute an inseparable part of the habitual routine. 
 
 It may be thought that these objections to a central 
 board of supervision would not lie against it were it 
 composed entirely of experts, — of men who have had 
 much practical experience in the management of hospi- 
 tals. Such men would unquestionably do better. Their 
 advice would at least be worth listening to, and many 
 of their suggestions might well be adopted ; but I am 
 not sure that the good thus done would more than bal-
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 40 7 
 
 ance the unavoidable evil. Each one of these men would 
 have opinions and practices of his own. He would 
 believe them to be the best, and would naturally be 
 desirous of seeing them generally adopted. He might 
 disclaim all wish to force them upon others ; but they 
 would none the less influence his judgments respecting 
 the opinions and practices of other men. They would, 
 moreover, have the benefit of all the prestige attached 
 to his official position, and thus obtain a currency to 
 which their intrinsic merits would scarcely entitle them. 
 All this would be prejudicial to true progress, which re- 
 quires that scientific principles should make their own 
 way in the world, to be finally accepted or rejected, 
 according as they stand the decisive tests of all truth. 
 
 Happily for us, one of the principal reasons for a cen- 
 tral supervisory board in England — viz., the large number 
 of private, irresponsible houses — does not exist here; 
 while the political relations of the States to one another 
 would be incompatible with the plan of a national board. 
 Thus our institutions are all perfectly exempt from ex- 
 traneous interference, the superintendent and directors 
 acting in their several spheres, under those induce- 
 ments to fidelity found most effective among men, — the 
 former, by his learning and skill, promoting directly the 
 special object in view ; the latter, by their personal in- 
 fluence, securing the public confidence on the strength 
 of their own frequent and intelligent supervision. Noth- 
 ing need prevent any board of directors from being 
 composed of men as competent, in point of ability and 
 intelligence, to promote the welfare of the insane and 
 advance the general cause as those of any central, 
 supervisory board. Independent of outside official in- 
 fluence, both they and the superintendent are at liberty 
 to think for themselves and to act upon their own views.
 
 408 MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 
 
 They are seldom if ever obliged to suppress their honest 
 convictions, or conform to practices which they do not 
 thoroughly approve. It would seem to be hardly neces- 
 sary, in this age of the world, to contend that, in matters 
 of science, the freest possible expression and exercise 
 of opinion is essential to all true progress. Errors are 
 incident, no doubt, to free inquiry ; but they are insig- 
 nificant when compared with those which result, more 
 or less directly, when the range of inquiry is rigidly 
 prescribed, and all conclusions must conform to an 
 established pattern. If an honest inquirer gets upon 
 the wrong track, it is better that he should find it out 
 for himself, as he generally will, than be driven from it 
 by superior force. The utmost diversity of practices 
 and opinions would be a surer sign of progress than any 
 uniformity which is obtained by restricting the freedom 
 of inquiry.
 
 THE EVIDENCE OF MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 In all judicial investigations, the matters of fact which 
 they involve are derived from the testimony of wit- 
 nesses. The exact manner in which this testimony is 
 elicited, and the limits within which it is confined, vary 
 in different countries, and to such a degree as to be 
 almost incredible to one who has always associated in 
 his mind the administration of justice with a particular 
 mode of procedure. In all Anglo-Saxon communities 
 the tendency has been, for a considerable time, to con- 
 fine testimony more and more strictly to matters of fact 
 within the personal knowledge of the witness ; and thus 
 has been gradually formed a body of doctrine called the 
 rules of evidence, marked by singular exactness and 
 discrimination. One exception to the general principle 
 has to be permitted. To promote the ends of justice, it 
 sometimes becomes necessary to obtain the opinion of 
 the witness rather than any facts he may possess, be- 
 cause what is wanted is, not merely the naked facts, but 
 the inferences to be derived from them, — their signifi- 
 cance with reference to the points in issue. To some 
 persons certain facts would imply nothing beyond the 
 impression made upon the senses, while to others they 
 might signify the existence of another order of facts of 
 vital importance. If a person has been particularly con- 
 versant with that department of knowledge to which
 
 410 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 such facts belong, he may thus be able to see in them a 
 meaning utterly hidden from all who have not had that 
 experience. The circumstances of a wound may be 
 observed and described by any one ; but whether that 
 wound would be necessarily fatal is a matter of opinion, 
 to be determined only by those whose studies and duties 
 have made them acquainted with the ultimate effects of 
 wounds. The conduct and conversation of a certain 
 person may be correctly related by any one who has ob- 
 served him ; but only those who have witnessed abnor- 
 mal conditions of mind on a large scale may be competent 
 to say whether the mental manifestations thus described 
 are indicative of insanity. Any nurse can tell us how her 
 patient died shortly after taking a certain pill or potion, 
 but only a physician can enlighten us as to the actual 
 connection between the two things. Now comes the 
 peculiar difficulty. Considering that every man's ex- 
 perience differs, more or less, from every other man's ; 
 that education, taste, temperament, determine in some 
 degree the significance even of the experience itself, it is 
 no more than what might be expected that men should 
 often differ in the conclusions to which they are led by 
 the same state of facts. And yet, natural as it is, the fact 
 is freely attributed to a very different cause. The cry 
 arises for some change that shall place skilled testimony 
 beyond the reach of improper influences, and thus render 
 it perfectly reliable. That it is sometimes vitiated by 
 the faults and infirmities incident to men, I would not 
 deny. Whether the popular complaints against skilled 
 testimony are well or ill founded ; whether its imputed 
 defects are a necessary consequence of modern scientific 
 inquiry, to be tolerated in connection with the admitted 
 merits of our judicial system; and whether they can be 
 obviated by any practicable change of the system, are
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 411 
 
 questions I propose to discuss on this occasion ; and 
 though I may be unable to propose a remedy for all 
 the evils complained of, I may at least succeed in show- 
 ing that the evil is not unmingled with much good. 
 
 The first objection to be noticed against skilled testi- 
 mony, as taken at present, is that it is notoriously dis- 
 crepant, if not contradictory, and therefore unreliable for 
 judicial purposes. Nothing can better indicate the prev- 
 alent vagueness of thought on this subject than the idea 
 that the lack of unanimity in skilled testimony completely 
 destroys its value as evidence. Lawyers especially are 
 fond of declaring, as if the fact were a conclusive proof 
 of this position, that experts equally numerous and 
 skilful may always be obtained on both sides of a case. 
 As if a trial ever occurred in which the evidence 
 was perfectly harmonious, — without the slightest dis- 
 crepancy in regard to what the witnesses profess to 
 have seen and heard. Absolute, unexceptional agree- 
 ment is never expected, because it is a well-established 
 fact in human experience that all men do not see and 
 hear the same things precisely alike. Why then expect 
 unanimity in matters of opinion any more than in mat- 
 ters of fact ? Are the conclusions of reason more exact 
 and uniform than impressions on the senses? If the 
 former are to be distrusted and excluded from judicial 
 proceedings, as some would wish, with what consistency 
 can we admit the latter ? If the one, with all its dis- 
 crepancies, is to be received as, on the whole, the best 
 means for learning the truth, may not the same argu- 
 ment be used in favor of the other ? 
 
 Considering the proper function of the expert, we 
 shall understand why skilled testimony should often be 
 discrepant, and why, nevertheless, it should be indis- 
 pensable to the purposes of justice. He is to tell us the
 
 412 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 significance of certain facts that have appeared in evi- 
 dence. He has made that class of facts his particular 
 study. He has enjoyed opportunities for seeing them 
 displayed on a large scale, and under circumstances 
 peculiarly favorable to observation. He is thus enabled 
 to infer from the naked facts the existence of certain 
 other facts, or bring them, it may be, within the range 
 of some general truth. It does not follow, however, that 
 every one thus qualified must arrive at precisely the 
 same conclusions, for the simple reason that all cannot 
 have had precisely the same experience. To expect 
 from them invariable unanimity whenever they appear 
 on the witness-stand would be as reasonable as to expect 
 every judicial decision to express the united opinion of 
 the full bjench; that all historians should agree respect- 
 ing certain characters or events ; that literary critics 
 should praise or condemn with one voice. Now do 
 scientific pursuits insure any nearer approach to una- 
 nimity of opinion? We know that geologists are far from 
 being agreed concerning the condition of the earth at 
 any previous period, as indicated by facts apparent alike 
 to all ; that philosophers differ respecting the correlation 
 of forces ; that tillers of the soil, with all their reliance 
 on practical experience, are agreed as to scarcely a sin- 
 gle practice in husbandry. Why then be scandalized 
 by the spectacle of chemists, physicians, or surgeons 
 uttering conflicting opinions on any questions that may 
 arise within the range of their respective pursuits? 
 Indeed, agreement may imply less research, less attain- 
 ment, than disagreement. Lord Thurlow once said that 
 " the decrees of the Scotch judges were least to be 
 respected when they were unanimous, as in that case 
 they probably, without thought, had followed the first 
 of their number who had expressed an opinion; whereas,
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 413 
 
 when they were divided, they might be expected to 
 have paid some attention to the subject." 
 
 It may be remarked in passing, as one of the curious 
 phases of the error in question, that it is more prevalent 
 amung the thinking and cultivated classes than among 
 all others of a different description. Their idea is that 
 the statements of the expert should be as unquestion- 
 able as Gospel truth ; that when once uttered, nothing 
 can be added to it or taken from it. To them dis- 
 crepancy implies incompetence, or something worse, and 
 draws out expressions of contempt and disgust. Even 
 when such discrepancy has led to an obviously righteous 
 verdict, they are far less disposed to hail the triumph of 
 true science than to decry the testimony of experts and 
 pronounce it unworthy of confidence. They expect of 
 an expert nothing less than omniscience and infalli- 
 bility, and this shows how little of intelligent thought 
 has been given to this subject. As if there were no 
 controverted points in physical science, and its fol- 
 lowers were bound to present an invariable unanimity 
 of opinion ! 
 
 Besides the natural tendency of the mind to diversity 
 of belief, there is another cause of it to be found in the 
 nature and objects of scientific truth. This is not to be 
 regarded, as it often is, as something fixed and invari- 
 able, like an object of sense, or the solution of a 
 geometrical problem. In fact, all science is progres- 
 sive, and its condition at any particular period repre- 
 sents the fruits of the observation and study of all who 
 have engaged in its pursuit. Every one contributes to 
 the common stock according to his ability and oppor- 
 tunity. These contributions may sometimes convey 
 discrepant meanings, because the limits of science are 
 beyond reach; and consequently the inquirer must ever
 
 414 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 fall short of a complete attainment. Valuable as each 
 one's attainment may be, it covers but a small portion 
 of the great domain of science, whatever the industry 
 or genius by which it was accomplished. And though 
 it may be correct, abstractly considered, yet it cannot 
 be accepted as a final result. In other words, a matter 
 of scientific research must be regarded from every pos- 
 sible point of view, and under every variety of circum- 
 stance, before we can be sure of understanding it very 
 thoroughly. A person pursuing his inquiries in the 
 field that has fallen to his lot, with such talents and dis- 
 positions as he may have received or acquired, arrives 
 at certain conclusions. Another, acting in like manner, 
 arrives at conclusions apparently conflicting. And yet 
 the several results of scientific investigation, differ as 
 they may from one another, may have been fairly 
 reached according to the rules and processes of philo- 
 sophical inquiry. Some prove to be more valuable than 
 others. Some will stand unaffected by the results of 
 further investigation. Others will have to be modified, 
 if not utterly swept away, by the subsequent progress 
 of knowledge. All, however, in their several ways, 
 indicate steps or stages towards the attainment of the 
 final object, no one of which could have been dispensed 
 with without detriment. 
 
 Without denying that the testimony of experts is 
 often contradictory, as in the nature of things it some- 
 times must be, it must be borne in mind that such con- 
 tradiction may be more apparent than real. What seems 
 to be contradictory may be found on a closer inspection 
 to be merely supplementary. It becomes a question, for 
 instance, whether certain stains are made by blood. On 
 the strength of some approved chemical tests they are pro- 
 nounced to be blood, and the fact may be of the highest
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 415 
 
 importance to the party concerned. But another expert, 
 who has made extensive microscopical researches on the 
 blood, is satisfied that the stains in question are made 
 by the blood of some inferior animal. The practical 
 effect of the latter conclusion is to destroy the force of 
 the former; but there is really no contradiction between 
 them. The one is merely the complement of the other, 
 indicating, not error nor deception nor superficial at- 
 tainment, but simply the progress of knowledge. Again, 
 skilled testimony may seem contradictory only because 
 it is partial, the subject matter being regarded from 
 different points of view. A person's will is disputed on 
 the ground of mental unsoundness. One expert declares 
 that he frequently met the testator, conversed with him, 
 and dealt with him ; that, in his remarks on persons and 
 things, he evinced uncommon shrewdness, and that he 
 was interested in the events of the clay. He there- 
 fore concludes that the testator was perfectly competent 
 to make his will or transact any other business. On the 
 other side, it is testified that the testator entertained 
 delusions respecting some of his heirs, believing them 
 to be hostile to him, and engaged in attempts to destroy 
 his peace and comfort, if not his life. On the strength 
 of this fact he is declared to be unsound and incompe- 
 tent. Here, too, there is no real contradiction. On one 
 side, the testimony is negative ; on the other, it is posi- 
 tive. It only illustrates the old story of the knights who 
 read the inscriptions on the shield from opposite sides. 
 
 It must be considered too, in this connection, as 
 explanatory of some of the discrepancies of experts, 
 that, in the practical application of science, much must 
 depend on the person's particular experience, and that 
 discernment of relations with which men are differently 
 endowed. Persons who would be allowed to testify as
 
 416 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 experts in a given case, as engaged in pursuits having 
 a common name, may have pursued their inquiries in 
 paths somewhat remote from one another, and conse- 
 quently be unequally fitted to meet the question before 
 them. A person is found dead, for instance, with wounds 
 and fractures of the head, and a kitchen poker lying 
 near, with blood and hairs on it. One medical man, 
 governed by appearances that would have conveyed the 
 same impression to most men, testifies that the wounds 
 were made by the poker. Another, who has enjoyed 
 peculiar opportunities for observing wounds made by the 
 favorite weapons of burglars and assassins, thinks the 
 blows were inflicted by one of these. If he were right 
 in his conclusion, it was not discreditable to the other 
 that he was not familiar with the effects of slung-shots 
 and dipseys. In a case of alleged insanity, one expert, 
 guided by the common light, comes to the conclusion 
 that the person is not insane. Another, guided by a 
 class of cases that happened to fall under his notice, 
 though scarcely known to others, sees indications of 
 insanity in certain acts or traits that, otherwise, he 
 would have regarded, with the rest of the world, as 
 merely the singularities of a sane mind. Neither is 
 there here any irreconcilable conflict of opinion. Both 
 truly and faithfully declare the results of actual obser- 
 vation, one being the fitting supplement of the other. 
 And thus it must ever be, for science is progressive and 
 its domain without limits. 
 
 It has been seriously urged as an argument against 
 skilled testimony, leaving out of view its moral and intel- 
 lectual aspects, that it has the effect of confusing and 
 distracting the minds of the jury at the very moment 
 when they need to be self-confident and sure. If this is 
 a sufficient reason for excluding such testimony, it may
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 417 
 
 be urged with equal force against the admission of ordi- 
 nary testimony, in which the discrepancies are a fruitful 
 source of embarrassment to court and jury. And with 
 a far stronger force it may be urged against the ad- 
 dresses of counsel, the very purpose of which, half the 
 time, is to distract and puzzle the jury. Yet it was 
 considered a great advance on the side of humanity, in 
 England, when counsel were allowed to speak for the 
 accused in criminal trials. It is not one of the privileges 
 of a jury to have the formation of their verdict made 
 easy for them ; but it is very properly the privilege of 
 the accused to have whatever may enure to his benefit 
 brought to the knowledge of the jury. The argument 
 we are considering is little heeded in the ordinary affairs 
 of life. Men are seldom deterred from resorting to 
 various counsellors by the fear of receiving conflicting 
 advice. They take counsel one of another, in order to 
 learn whatever belongs to the matter in hand, and thus 
 obtain the materials of a correct decision. 
 
 This objection to the testimony of experts comes with 
 an ill grace from lawyers, in view of the fact that it is 
 regarded as sound law to admit, in questions of mental 
 condition, the opinions of ordinary witnesses. Such, in- 
 deed, is the practice in nearly every State in the Union. 
 When we express our surprise that so absurd a rule 
 should ever have been admitted, the only reply we ob- 
 tain is, that the jury will judge of the value of such 
 opinions and allow to them their proper weight. That 
 the jury will judge of their value is certainly true, but 
 whether they will judge correctly may be very far from 
 true. However this may be, we hear nothing of the 
 tendency of such evidence to confuse and distract the 
 minds of the jury. We cannot help being surprised 
 when we see opinions confessedly worthless admitted 
 
 27
 
 418 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 with scarcely a murmur of dissent ; while others, the 
 fruits of reflection and experience, are viewed with dis- 
 trust, and received under a tacit protest. 
 
 There remains to be noticed another complaint against 
 skilled testimony, — the one most current among men of 
 culture and worldly knowledge. Inasmuch as experts 
 are engaged by one or the other of the litigant parties, 
 it is contended that they testify under a bias, and con- 
 sequently are not trustworthy. They are employed, it 
 is said, much like counsel, with a distinct understanding 
 as to what they shall utter, even before they have heard 
 a syllable of the evidence on one side or the other, and 
 paid for the service like counsel. Impartiality, under 
 such circumstances, is out of the question. The expert, 
 though bound by his oath to tell the whole truth, tells 
 only so much of it as will help his employers. His 
 position, therefore, embarrasses the jury, who cannot 
 safely accept or reject his testimony. In reply, let me 
 say that this objection depends for much if not all its 
 weight, on some misstatement of facts, a little false col- 
 oring, and a complete ignoring of the exact purpose of 
 skilled testimony in a judicial proceeding. It is only 
 a scandal, not a matter of fact, that experts are employed 
 like counsel, for hire, without regard to the merits of the 
 case. If such bargains have ever been made, I do not 
 hesitate to pronounce them rare exceptions to the usual 
 course, and regarded by the great body of scientific men 
 as base and dishonorable. Because a man's opinions are 
 worth money, it does not follow that they are corruptly 
 bought. Nor is it very obvious how a fair compensation 
 for this, more than for any other service, should obscure 
 his perceptions of truth. That experts testify in the 
 interest of a party is very true, but their testimony may 
 be none the less reliable on that account. That it is
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 419 
 
 sure to favor the party that calls them rather than the 
 other, could not well be otherwise. It is an incident of 
 our judicial system, which leaves to the parties them- 
 selves the duty of maintaining their own cause, and it 
 does not necessarily imply any unworthy bias. This will 
 be manifest when we consider the manner in which the 
 expert is engaged. The evidence to be produced is laid 
 before him, so far as it can be ascertained, and he is 
 requested to give his opinion respecting it. After due 
 consideration, he may say, " If you can prove the facts 
 as here stated, and if their force cannot be weakened by 
 evidence not here anticipated, you have a good cause, 
 and I am willing to testify to that effect," Or, as fre- 
 quently happens, he is obliged to say that, " supposing 
 these facts proved, they would not warrant the con- 
 struction you wish to put upon them, and my evidence 
 would not help you." Whatever conclusion he may 
 reach on this preliminary examination, the party is duly 
 warned that the evidence, as brought out on the trial, — 
 for it can seldom be exactly anticipated, — may oblige 
 him to modify or abandon it altogether, and it is for them 
 to decide whether they will take the chance. That this 
 result actually happens occasionally, is a fact within the 
 knowledge, I apprehend, of all who have been much 
 consulted for this purpose. Thus it is that if the tes- 
 timony of the expert is wholly and unconditionally in 
 favor of one side only, it is simply because this result 
 is warranted by the facts. Otherwise, he would not 
 have been placed on the witness-stand at all. The idea 
 that his receiving compensation from one of the parties 
 is calculated to warp his judgment and make him see 
 things differently from what he otherwise would, might 
 have some foundation, were the circumstances under 
 which he is engaged not precisely as I have represented.
 
 420 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 The opinion sought for happens to be favorable, honestly 
 and conscientiously so ; it is uttered on the witness- 
 stand, and compensation follows. The objection has no 
 weight except on the supposition that this order of 
 things is reversed, — that the opinion follows the com- 
 pensation. That this may possibly occur, is not denied. 
 I am speaking of the general rule. 
 
 Under the fancied weight of the objections I have 
 been considering, it has been proposed to place some 
 restrictions on the admission of skilled testimony, where- 
 by the freedom at present allowed would be consider- 
 ably curtailed. Before examining the various methods 
 proposed for this purpose, let us inquire into the practi- 
 cability of any change under existing circumstances. 
 
 The accepted theory of our criminal law supposes that 
 the accused is entitled to whatever, under the rules of 
 evidence, can be truthfully alleged in his favor. He is 
 not only entitled to any facts that bear upon hrs case, 
 but also to any construction of those facts which a com- 
 petent judgment can supply. Though twenty or a hun- 
 dred experts pronounce him to be sane, he has the right 
 to put in evidence the opinion of the one solitary expert 
 who believes him to be insane. He could not be said to 
 have had a fair trial if such opinion had been shut out. 
 In allowing the parties to a suit to furnish the evidence, 
 each for itself, with no restriction on the privilege, with 
 some trifling exceptions, we have been accustomed to 
 think that we have taken the highest attainable step 
 towards perfection in our administration of justice. It 
 is not easy to see how any exception to the general prin- 
 ciple can be furnished by the evidence of experts. On 
 the contrary, wherever there can be any ground for 
 diversity of opinion, as there generally is in matters of 
 science, it is simply a requirement of justice that such
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 421 
 
 diversity should be fully and fairly expressed. Then 
 the jury proceed to their deliberations, satisfied that 
 everything has been said that could be said, for and 
 against, and that nothing has been kept out which either 
 party thought conducive to success. 
 
 Of course, I am aware that advantage is sometimes 
 taken of this beneficent rule to foist opinions on the jury 
 that are utterly unworthy of their confidence. It is an 
 infirmity of many men to suppose that the possession of 
 a little actual knowledge warrants them in claiming a 
 great deal which they never did possess. Under the 
 influence of this infirmity, they rush to the witness-stand 
 to assume a duty for which they are entirely incompe- 
 tent. In the character of experts, however, their opin- 
 ions may have the same weight with the jury as those 
 of better men. It cannot be disguised that this is one 
 of the crying evils of our time, and is sufficient to 
 account for much of the current prejudice against ex- 
 perts. Juries cannot decide between adverse opinions, 
 even when sincerely desirous of relying on the best 
 rather than that which confirms their own foregone con- 
 clusions. The most discouraging aspect of the evil is 
 that, with juries constituted as they now are, reflecting 
 as they do a public opinion satisfied with the feeblest 
 excuses for human delinquency, and ever ready to favor 
 the weak when opposed to the strong, it seems to be 
 beyond the reach of correction. Still, while fully admit- 
 ting this fact, we would regard it only as an unavoidable 
 offset against the greater good of our present mode of 
 procedure. 
 
 Believing, therefore, that the current objections to 
 skilled testimony are of far less weight than is usually 
 attributed to them, and that, greater or less, the evil 
 complained of is incident to a system which, on the
 
 422 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 whole, is best calculated to promote the ends of justice, 
 and is in harmony with our social and political insti- 
 tutions, I am unable to see any imperative reasons for 
 much change. And this conclusion is only strengthened 
 by an examination of the various methods that have 
 been suggested for rendering skilled testimony more 
 satisfactory.- 
 
 In order to provide the community with a class of 
 experts both competent and impartial, it has been pro- 
 posed to have them appointed by the Executive of the 
 State, no others being allowed to give opinions in evi- 
 dence. It is understood, of course, that the duty would 
 be assigned to men of distinguished attainments in their 
 respective callings, and of a character that would raise 
 them beyond the reach of improper influences. This, 
 certainly, is a consummation devoutly to be wished; 
 but, in view of the experience the country has had of 
 Executive appointments, I doubt if it could be reason- 
 ably expected before some distant millennial period. But, 
 even were it otherwise, there are practical difficulties in 
 the way, I apprehend, sufficient to prevent the success 
 of this method. Men whose standing and character 
 would render them fit subjects for such an appointment 
 would, for the most part, be debarred by the pressure of 
 private duties from accepting it. On the supposition 
 that the emoluments of the office would be worthy of 
 its dignity and importance, we know very well that the 
 appointment would be sought by men with small qualifi- 
 cations for the work ; and we know, too, that by means 
 of the customary appliances for obtaining office many 
 of them would succeed. Besides, we have no guaranty 
 that the Executive, even though not pestered by office- 
 seekers, would make the wisest possible selections. How 
 is he — a mechanic, or trader, or lawyer, or politician — to
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 423 
 
 be able to distinguish between the claims of true science 
 and empty pretension? In times like these, when the 
 medical profession is invaded by people whose only 
 claim to public confidence consists of some popular form 
 of charlatanism, with or without the sanction of a col- 
 lege, and who are upheld by many of those who repre- 
 sent the fashion and culture of the social world, we 
 might expect appointments to the office not remarkably 
 calculated to flatter our professional pride, or increase 
 our regard for medical experts. Thus, the only advan- 
 tage which this method can pretend to claim, that of 
 providing a better class of experts, would not be effect- 
 ually secured. 
 
 There is another practical difficulty, which of itself 
 would be fatal to the project. Such is now the division 
 of labor in the various pursuits of art and science, that, 
 in determining precisely the range of the expert's prac- 
 tice, it would be difficult to avoid making it either too 
 broad or too narrow. A person appointed as an expert 
 in surgery might be expected to testify in cases involv- 
 ing operations on the eye, or the ear, or the foot, and 
 yet, even with a high surgical reputation, be less com- 
 petent than many others who had made a specialty of 
 diseases of those parts. Many an eminent physician, 
 whom no Executive would hesitate to license as an 
 expert in diseases generally, might know comparatively 
 little of insanity. It is getting to be distinctly under- 
 stood that one who gives his time and attention entirely 
 to a particular pursuit is to be recognized as an expert 
 in questions pertaining to that pursuit, to the exclusion of 
 those who have attended to it incidentally, as a subordi- 
 nate part of a more general department of inquiry. Nor 
 is it easy to see how, under the most favorable condi- 
 tions, the evils now complained of would be abated by
 
 424 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 this method. We should have as much diversity of 
 opinion, for the simple reason that such diversity is as 
 likely to spring from excess as from deficiency of knowl- 
 edge. In every trial where expert testimony is given, 
 we see men of distinguished name on one side as well 
 as the other. 
 
 It has also been suggested, as an improvement on the 
 present practice, that experts should be assigned by 
 the court, in each particular suit, who, alone, should be 
 allowed to express opinions in evidence. Beyond the 
 chance of securing a higher degree of honesty and com- 
 petence, I see nothing in favor of this course. Even if 
 practicable, it is open to the objection that it limits the 
 sources of information in a manner repugnant to the 
 spirit of our judicial system. Nobody pretends that all 
 knowledge, even in the narrowest specialty, is confined 
 to one, two, or three individuals ; and whatever ability 
 they might exhibit, one or the other party would be 
 likely to imagine that some important point could be 
 established, if they had an unrestricted choice of ex- 
 perts. 
 
 It is not very obvious how this course could be fol- 
 lowed under our present mode of procedure. Not being 
 called by either party, their evidence could not be 
 elicited like that of other witnesses, by examination in 
 chief and cross examination. It would have to be given 
 to the court or jury in the shape of a report, that might 
 or might not be received with the binding force of evi- 
 dence. Nor is it easy to see how the matter of compen- 
 sation could be adjusted with a proper regard to the 
 means of the different parties. The most obvious way 
 of disposing of it would be to include it in the costs of 
 court, but this would render the expense no less onerous 
 to a party of narrow means. Whether large or small, it
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 425 
 
 would imply a bargain between the court and the expert 
 rather shocking to our ideas of judicial dignity. It 
 might, perhaps, be fixed by law ; but in all probability 
 it would be placed too low to induce any persons of 
 eminent skill to undertake the duty, which might occupy 
 days and weeks together, with the abandonment of all 
 other employment. 
 
 This method has probably been suggested by the 
 practice of some foreign countries, France and Ger- 
 many, where the law requires the judge to appoint the 
 experts when needed, who inform themselves of the 
 facts in the case previous to the trial, and report their 
 opinion to the court in writing ; this report being used 
 like other documentary evidence. But it must be borne 
 in mind that in Germany, for the most part, there is no 
 trial by jury ; and that in France a criminal case passes 
 through its most decisive stages before it is submitted 
 to a jury. The report of the experts is examined by the 
 jury as a part of the documentary evidence, and their 
 estimate of it is determined by that of the judge. When 
 we shall have abolished the trial by jury, or made the 
 jury the mere mouthpiece of the judge, we may be ready 
 to have the experts appointed by the court, — and prob- 
 ably not till then. 
 
 On a comparison of the two systems, it must be ad- 
 mitted that, in one of its phases at least, that of France 
 and Germany has a decided advantage over ours. There, 
 in criminal cases, the government provides the experts 
 for the sole purpose of obtaining the truth, whether for 
 or against the accused. They are hampered by none of 
 the incidents of personal feeling or a rigid technicality, 
 and their investigation is made with all the deliberation 
 and thoroughness of a scientific inquiry. If the accused 
 fail to obtain exact justice, it is not for lack of skilled
 
 426 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 testimony. Here, it is left to the accused to employ 
 such experts as he deems necessary to prove his inno- 
 cence. If poor and friendless, he is quite unable to 
 profit by this privilege ; for in all the States, with a few 
 exceptions, the aid furnished by the government scarcely 
 remedies the defect, and thus he may be convicted, when, 
 with the help of an ample fortune, he would have been 
 acquitted. 
 
 Other methods of obtaining skilled testimony so as to 
 obviate the defects of the present have been proposed ; 
 but, being manifestly impracticable under our modes of 
 procedure, it would be hardly worth our while to con- 
 sider them here. It is idle to expect our people to adopt 
 any method which implies a change in the essential feat- 
 ures of a jury trial. 
 
 Can nothing be done, then, to diminish the occasions 
 of complaint, now so freely made against the testimony 
 of experts? Not much certainly, because, as we have 
 seen, much of the complaint is not well founded; but 
 unquestionably the defects of the present practice might 
 be corrected in some degree, at least, without changing 
 a single essential *feature of the existing system. 
 
 In some States, when the friends of a convicted felon 
 apply to the Executive for his pardon, on the score of 
 insanity, it is customary for this functionary to appoint 
 experts to examine the person, and report their conclu- 
 sions respecting his mental condition. Skilled testi- 
 mony on any subject, thus obtained, is free from the 
 objections made against it as it is usually obtained. It 
 is not given in the interest of one party or the other; 
 it is unbiassed by any pecuniary arrangements, and it 
 escapes the damage of a cross-examination. It is the 
 well matured conclusions of a calm, deliberate, thorough 
 investigation. I propose, therefore, to make it obligatory
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 427 
 
 on the Executive to appoint such a commission when 
 applied for under the circumstances above mentioned. 
 Of course, the provision would be applicable only to 
 those cases in which the alleged mental disorder is still 
 existing. 
 
 A similar purpose is still better served in the State of 
 Maine. There it was enacted by the Legislature, a few 
 years ago, that, whenever insanity was to be the defence 
 in a criminal case, due notice thereof should be given 
 to the court, by which the prisoner should be sent to the 
 State hospital for the insane, that he might be observed by 
 the superintendent, who, when satisfied thereon, should 
 report to the court respecting his mental condition. 
 During the twenty-one years that the law has been in 
 operation, as I am informed by Dr. Harlow, the super- 
 intendent, thirty persons have been admitted under its 
 provisions, of whom twenty-four were found to be in- 
 sane, and the rest not insane. Of the former, fourteen 
 were tried, acquitted on the ground of insanity, and 
 some of them sent back to the hospital. Ten, having so 
 far improved as to be considered safe to be at large, 
 were discharged and taken care of by their friends ; the 
 Government, for some good reason, declining to bring 
 them to trial. 
 
 Our present mode of examining experts is not by any 
 means the best calculated to elicit a well considered 
 opinion. Within a few T years a change has been intro- 
 duced, which is not a step in the right direction. The 
 practice used to be for the expert to hear all the evidence 
 given at the trial; and then he was asked for his opinion 
 founded on that evidence, supposing it to be true. At 
 last the idea was started that in this way the expert 
 was assuming the functions of the jury, to which be- 
 longs the duty of passing on the credibility of the wit-
 
 428 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 nesses ; and the practice now is, in most of the States, 
 to put to the expert a hypothetical case, and ask his 
 opinion on that. Of course, the counsel on each side, 
 out of the facts that have appeared in evidence, con- 
 struct a hypothetical case as fairly as will best serve 
 their purpose, and no more so. By this means the ex- 
 pert may be obliged to assent to the propositions of both 
 sides, and thus apparently nullify his own well matured 
 convictions. And this may be accomplished, not by any 
 addition to or even suppression of facts, but solely by 
 such a twisting and coloring as is quite easy to the 
 unfailing ingenuity of counsel. Besides, it is difficult 
 to see how the objection in question is obviated by this 
 course. Though you may not ask the expert's opinion 
 on the evidence he has heard, supposing it true, you 
 may recite every word of that evidence, not as some- 
 thing actually uttered, but as something that might have 
 been uttered, and ask his opinion about that. The rule 
 reminds one of those fictions of the law which were once 
 supposed to promote the ends of justice better than the 
 literal truth. 
 
 It should be considered that much of the unmerited 
 distrust of experts' testimony springs from the manner 
 in which it is elicited. Here the spirit and practice of the 
 law are strikingly conflicting. While the former accords 
 to the parties the benefit of the ripest and richest attain- 
 ments of science and art, the latter provides a way for 
 overwhelming them with utter discredit. If there is any- 
 thing that should be carefully pondered, with every 
 difficulty and objection anticipated, it is the testimony of 
 an expert in court. And yet he takes the stand, ignorant, 
 for the most part, of the particular points on which he 
 will be cross-examined, and surprised by questions he 
 did not anticipate. Cross-examination, though an ad-
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 429 
 
 mirable means for detecting falsehood and helping the 
 memory, is sometimes nsed to obscure and pervert the 
 truth, and throw suspicion and distrust on the most 
 honest attempt to tell it. The object of counsel h\ ex- 
 amining witnesses is not to elicit the whole truth, but 
 only so much of it as will best serve their purpose. 
 Whatever does come out adverse to this end is to be 
 discredited by every allowable means, and they are 
 neither few nor small. Men who have spent a lifetime 
 practising the arts of cross-examination seldom fail to 
 damage the testimony of an expert, however cautious 
 and clear headed he may be. In this manner the grav- 
 est truth may be arrayed in the colors of error, and the 
 profoundest wisdom invested with the garb of folly. It is 
 hard for the expert to maintain his self-possession while 
 ingenious counsel are endeavoring by every kind of pro- 
 fessional art to destroy the legitimate effect of his testi- 
 mony. The result is, that many an honest and truthful 
 expression of opinion is deprived of its proper weight 
 with the jury, and to that extent the ends of justice are 
 defeated. To some degree, no doubt, this is unavoidable 
 in the nature of the case ; but it cannot be denied that 
 counsel often assume a license that forms no necessary 
 part of a jury trial. If the judge would use his rightful 
 authority to keep the cross-examination within its proper 
 limits,' insisting upon that kind of courtesy which marks 
 the intercourse of gentlemen on all other occasions, there 
 would be far less reason for distrusting and sneering at 
 the testimony of experts. 
 
 This evil would be entirely avoided if the testimony 
 of experts could be given in writing and read to the 
 jury without any oral examination. It would thus be 
 deliberately prepared, its explanations well considered, 
 and its full force and bearings clearly discerned. It
 
 430 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 would go to the jury on its own merits, no advantage 
 being gained by either party by the superior adroitness 
 of counsel in embarrassing the witness, and pushing his 
 statements to a false or ridiculous conclusion. It is not 
 for me to pronounce an opinion on the practicability of 
 such a change ; but there certainly does not seem, at 
 first sight, to be any insuperable obstacle in the way. 
 It would work no injustice to either party, and it could 
 be managed without additional inconvenience. There 
 certainly can be no difficulty in civil cases, where both 
 parties consent to the arrangement. In a famous will- 
 case heard a few years ago in the Surrogate's Court of 
 New York City, the judge preferred to have the opinions 
 of the experts submitted to him in writing, with the 
 understanding that, although they could not be received 
 as evidence, they would be carefully read, and allowed 
 all the weight their intrinsic merits deserved. The 
 arrangement was approved by both parties, and I am not 
 aware that the result was unsatisfactory to either. 
 
 In another particular there might be a change for 
 the better, involving no alteration in the letter or 
 spirit of the law. Of late years, courts have often 
 evinced a disposition to depreciate the testimony of ex- 
 perts, and the thoughtless cry against it has found an 
 echo in their willing utterances. If, instead of sneer- 
 ing at such testimony, they would exert their rightful 
 power to render it worthy of respect and confidence by 
 gladly availing themselves of its help, and discriminating 
 between the claims of true science and the pretensions 
 of mere charlatanism, much less would be heard, I im- 
 agine, of the popular complaints on the subject. 
 
 But no possible change in our methods of eliciting 
 expert testimony, nor even that improvement which is 
 implied in more exact and comprehensive attainment,
 
 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 431 
 
 will ever place it beyond complaint, so long as the 
 courts themselves, in utter disregard of their proper 
 functions, assume the part of the expert. This is a 
 spectacle that has become so common of late years as 
 to excite little or no surprise. In cases of disputed 
 sanity, have we not seen the judge calling the party to 
 his side, and, after a few minutes' conversation, pro- 
 nouncing him sane and safe to be at large, in spite of 
 the declarations to the contrary of men long conversant 
 with the discourse, conduct, ways, and manners of the 
 insane ? Have we not heard a judge declaring his will- 
 ingness to discharge from our hospitals every patient 
 not clearly dangerous, and then setting up his own 
 peculiar tests of danger ? In a recent case that came 
 under my notice, of application to a judge to order the 
 commitment of a woman to a hospital for the insane, 
 supported by an abundance of testimony that she had 
 been insane for several years, during which she had 
 been constantly uttering the most revolting delusions 
 respecting those who were nearest and once had been 
 dearest to her, openly charging her husband and daugh- 
 ter with practices not fit even to be named, worrying 
 them by the most painful forms of annoyance, and ban- 
 ishing all peace and comfort from their lives ; roaming 
 from one boarding-house to another as often as her pres- 
 ence became intolerable, breaking away from the most 
 careful and considerate arrangements made for her sup- 
 port, and finally driving her family from their home by 
 her unceasing persecutions, — in that case did we not 
 hear the judge, while admitting that she was clearly 
 insane, decide that she was not a suitable subject for a 
 hospital ? 
 
 It is not a sufficient defence of such judicial perform- 
 ances to say that the judge, acting without a jury, as in
 
 432 MEDICAL EXPERTS. 
 
 the cases alluded to, must decide points of fact as well 
 as of law; because neither judge nor jury can rightfully 
 decide on a question of fact contrary to the evidence, 
 even of experts. The judge who assumes the functions 
 of an expert wanders from his own proper sphere, while 
 he belittles and degrades the office of the true expert. 
 
 The conclusion of the whole matter is, that it is with 
 this as with many other imperfect institutions. We must 
 look for improvement, not so much to any devices of 
 legislation, as to broader views and a firmer spirit on 
 the part of those who administer the laws, to a higher 
 sense of professional honor, both in the lawyer and the 
 physician, and to a healthier public sentiment.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 [If insanity in a private individual occupying a high social position, 
 and engaged in important affairs, is always embarrassing and often 
 disastrous, one may faintly conceive of the extent of such a result 
 when it occurs in the sovereign of an empire. The purpose of the 
 following pages was not to minister to a vulgar curiosity by an ex- 
 posure of mental infirmities that reduce the most favored mortal 
 to the level of the lowest, but rather to present, as a matter of in- 
 struction, a manifestation of the disease under circumstances of ex- 
 traordinary interest and importance. Every good citizen may well 
 ponder upon such a complete and sudden dislocation of all the normal 
 relations existing between the executive and the other branches of 
 the government. No attempt to prevent it or provide for it by legis- 
 lation can ever obviate entirely the difficulties necessarily connected 
 with such a contingency. As a matter of history, however, of the 
 cases of insanity in the sovereign that have occurred during the last 
 hundred years, not one, with a single exception, perhaps, — that of 
 Peter of Russia, — has given rise to a political crisis or blocked the 
 wheels of government. Still, it is obvious that such an event has 
 been avoided, rather in consequence of some happy concurrence of 
 circumstances than by any prospective provisions of law. A daring 
 departure from prescriptive forms and usages, a bold assumption of 
 authority, may have been required, while the customary functions of 
 the government were scarcely disturbed. Yet this experience fur- 
 nishes no security for the future. It does not enable us to contem- 
 plate the possible occurrence of the calamity in question, with any 
 more complacency. It is easy to conceive that, in a republican form 
 of government like ours, the difficulties accompanying it would be 
 
 28
 
 434 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 far less manageable than in one where those immediately around the 
 patient are bound to him by ties of loyalty and long association. 
 When, exactly, to interfere, how the interference should be made, 
 when it should cease, — these are questions which, we cannot doubt, 
 would fearfully try the conservative powers of our system. If it be 
 true that history is philosophy teaching by examples, we may reason- 
 ably believe that, in such an event, some salutary lessons might be 
 derived from the case of George the Third. 
 
 Like everything connected with state affairs, the incidents of King 
 George's attacks are involved in considerable obscurity. Some of 
 them, as related, are obviously fabulous ; and, together with others 
 less improbable, had their origin, undoubtedly, in the gossip which 
 would naturally spring from such an interesting event as the insan- 
 ity of the Sovereign. In this paper, care has been taken to in- 
 dicate the source of its materials, and to make use of none that could 
 ,not be well authenticated.] 
 
 To the mere pathologist, the insanity of a prince is 
 not more interesting than that of a peasant ; but to the 
 historian, to the medical jurist, to all who are engaged 
 in the care of the insane, the attacks of George the 
 Third are invested with peculiar interest. He was a 
 prominent figure in a period that teemed with great 
 'men and great events, whose memorials are yet around 
 us ; and twice the recurrence of his disorder gave 
 rise to a degree of political feeling that has seldom 
 been equalled, and to political discussions that settled 
 for ever a vital principle in the British constitution. 
 
 George the Third had a moderate intellectual capac- 
 ity, but an obstinate will. Of abstract speculation he 
 was totally incapable, and philosophical views of any 
 kind were beyond his reach. His theory of govern- 
 ment began and ended in a firm maintenance of the 
 royal prerogative, and the whole duty and privilege 
 of the subject were comprised in the single precept, 
 " Fear God and honor the King." As a result, partly 
 of defective training and partly of original inaptitude,
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 435 
 
 he disrelished intellectual pursuits, but was fond of 
 mixing himself up with the administration of affairs, 
 even in the smallest particulars. Here he showed no 
 lack of industry nor of energy. He was a stranger to 
 sensual passion, and in the common observances of life 
 was a model of propriety. He never forgot what he 
 deemed an injury, and they who thwarted his wishes 
 or opposed his measures were regarded as factious or 
 dishonest. Always looking upon his eldest son as a 
 rival near the throne, " he hated him,' 7 says Brougham, 
 " with a hatred scarcely consistent with the supposition 
 of a sound mind." He was fond of music, and occa- 
 sionally went to the theatre ; but, with these exceptions, 
 he sought for recreation solely in riding and walking, in 
 looking after his farm, and in an easy intercourse with 
 his family and dependants. Few men would have seemed 
 less likely to be visited by insanity. His general health 
 had been always good ; his powers were impaired by 
 none of those indulgences almost inseparable from the 
 kingly station ; he was remarkably abstemious at the 
 table; and took much exercise in the open air. Insanity 
 had never appeared in his family, and he was quite free 
 from those eccentricities and peculiarities which indi- 
 cate an ill-balanced mind. 
 
 Five times was George the Third struck down by 
 mental disease. The first was in the spring of 1765, 
 when he was twenty-seven years old ; 1 the second in 
 1788, the third in 1801, the fourth in 1804, and the 
 fifth in 1810. Excepting the last, from which he never 
 recovered, the attacks were of comparatively short 
 duration, none of them continuing very obviously be- 
 yond six months. 
 
 1 Adolphus, History of England, i. 175.
 
 436 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 The particulars of the first attack were studiously 
 concealed by his family, and its true character was not 
 generally known at the time. There seems to be no 
 doubt, however, that its symptoms were similar to those 
 of the subsequent attacks. Shortly before, an eruption on 
 the face, which had troubled him for some years, had so 
 entirely disappeared that it was supposed he had applied 
 external remedies to repel it. This was followed by 
 considerable cough and fever, and then by mental dis- 
 turbance. In the course of a few weeks he completely 
 recovered. 
 
 During the latter part of October, 1788, the King 
 seemed to be not in his usual health. He had con- 
 siderable pain in his limbs ; felt weak ; slept but little ; 
 was hurried and vehement in his manner. On the 22d 
 he " manifested an agitation of spirits bordering on 
 delirium," said his physician. A few days afterwards, 
 on returning from a long ride, he burst into tears and 
 said, " he wished to God he might die, for he was going 
 to be mad." He kept about until the 4th of November, 
 when he had an outbreak at dinner, and was consigned 
 to the charge of attendants. During the first few days 
 there was considerable constitutional disturbance, and 
 it was feared he might, not survive. One of Sheridan's 
 correspondents says : " The doctors say it is impossible 
 to survive it long, if his situation does not take some 
 extraordinary change in a few hours. ... Since this 
 letter was begun, all articulation even seems to be 
 at an end with the poor King ; but for the two hours 
 preceding he was in a most determined frenzy." In the 
 course of the succeeding night he had a profuse stool, 
 then perspired freely and fell into a profound sleep. He 
 awoke with but little fever, " but with all the gestures 
 and ravings of the most confirmed maniac, and a new
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIED. 437 
 
 noise in imitation of the howling of a dog." He soon 
 got calmer, and talked of religion and of being inspired. 
 A day or two after, the same person writes : " This morn- 
 ing he made an attempt to jump out of the window, and 
 is now very turbulent and incoherent." He also says 
 that the King revealed some state secrets, much to the 
 astonishment of Pitt. 1 
 
 Miss Burney, afterwards Madame D'Arblay, was then 
 in the personal service of the Queen; and in her " Diary," 
 recently published, the progress of the attack may be 
 traced with some degree of minuteness. The first night 
 after the outbreak at dinner, she says, he was very 
 restless, getting up and wandering into the Queen's 
 room to see if she was there, and talking incessantly 
 until he became hoarse, exclaiming, " I am not ill, I am 
 only nervous." " He was never so despotic ; no one 
 dared oppose him. He would not listen to a word." 
 Next night he got up and insisted on going into the 
 neighboring room, where his equerries were. There he 
 saw his physician, Sir George Baker, whom he called 
 an old woman, and wondered that he ever took his 
 advice, for he knew nothing of his complaint. From 
 this time he rapidly grew worse. On the 12th and 
 13th of November he appeared considerably better, and 
 continued so until the 20th, when he became as bad 
 as ever. From this period his condition was vari- 
 able, — always more or less excited ; rather petulant, if 
 not irascible ; scolding his gentlemen for slighting him. 
 On the 29th of November he was removed to Kew, 
 where were better opportunities for exercise. Through 
 the month of December there was little if any change in 
 his condition. During the first two or three weeks in 
 January he became less irritable, was quite calm at 
 
 1 Moore. Life of Sheridan, p. 360. Amer. edition.
 
 438 INSANITY OF KING GEOKGE THE THIRD. 
 
 times, and then would read and make sensible remarks 
 on what he had read. From the latter part of the month 
 he steadily improved. February 2d Miss Burney acci- 
 dentally saw him walking in the garden ; and to avoid 
 meeting him, in compliance with the rules, ran off at 
 full speed, and he after her, the physicians and attend- 
 ants in full chase after him. She finally stopped until 
 he came up, when he put his arms around her neck and 
 kissed her. He talked incessantly, blurting out whatever 
 came uppermost. " He seemed to have just such re- 
 mains of flightiness as heated his imagination without 
 deranging his reason, and robbed him of all control of 
 his speech, though nearly in his perfect state of mind as 
 to his opinions. . . . He opened his whole heart to 
 me, expounded all his sentiments, and acquainted me 
 with all his intentions." He declared he -was as well 
 as he ever was in his life, talked of the official situation 
 of her father, of music (when he undertook to sing), and 
 then of her friends. He said he was dissatisfied with 
 his ministers, and showed a list of new ones he had pre- 
 pared. On the 17th he received the Chancellor, on the 
 18th drank tea with the Queen, and on the 7th of March re- 
 ceived the address ot the Lords and Commons in person. 1 
 
 One of his first excursions after recovery was to 
 a poor-house in the course of erection, of which he 
 inspected every part, especially the rooms for lunatics, 
 and expressed much satisfaction that such excellent 
 accommodations were provided for persons laboring 
 under the misfortune of insanity. During his conva- 
 lescence, it is said, he passed much of his time in read- 
 ing the debates on the Regency Bill. 2 
 
 The King was attended at first by his own physicians, 
 
 1 Diary and Letters, chap. x. 
 
 2 Wraxall. Posthumous Memoirs of his own Time, p. 520. Phila.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIRD. 439 
 
 Sir George Baker and Dr. Warren ; and they were 
 shortly after joined by Sir Lucas Pepys, Drs. Reynolds, 
 Gisborne, and Addington, of whom the latter alone had 
 given any special attention to the treatment of insanity, 
 and he discontinued his attendance after a few days. 
 They had all achieved professional distinction, but War- 
 ren enjoyed an undisputed preeminence. He was not 
 only at the head of his profession in London, and de 
 servedly so, but such were his talents and manners that 
 he associated intimately with the leading men of the day 
 (Burke, Fox, Sheridan, &c), and was appointed physician 
 to the Prince of Wales. The attack not readily yielding, 
 it was thought proper by the Queen and the ministers, 
 who had the direction of these matters, to have the con- 
 stant attendance of some one particularly skilled in dis- 
 eases of the mind. Their choice fell on the Rev. Dr. 
 Francis Willis. This gentleman was educated for the 
 Established Church, and took charge of a parish in Lin- 
 colnshire. Having some knowledge of medicine, in 
 which he took the regular degree of M.D. at Oxford in 
 1759, he was fond of prescribing for the medical as well 
 as the spiritual wants of his people, and especially for 
 mental diseases. He was soon regarded as very suc- 
 cessful in this department of the healing art, and was 
 so much resorted to that he provided an establishment 
 designed expressly for the treatment of the insane. He 
 was much patronized by the higher classes, and for fifty- 
 eight years had never less than thirty patients under 
 his care. He was at this time seventy years old, but 
 " seemed to be exempt from all the infirmities of old 
 age ; and his countenance, which was very interesting,, 
 blended intelligence with an expression of placid self- 
 possession." 2 Miss Burney describes him as " a man of 
 
 1 Wraxall, Idem, p. 447.
 
 440 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 ten thousand, — open, honest, dauntless, light-hearted, 
 innocent, and high-minded." The common opinion was 
 that he was employed at the suggestion of Addington ; 
 but a lady of the court represents that the step was 
 taken at the instance of the wife of one of the equerries, 
 her mother having been cured by Willis. 1 He joined the 
 corps of physicians on the 6th of December, and took 
 up his quarters in the palace. 2 In the consultation 
 which settled their respective functions, Willis was to 
 have charge of the domestic and strictly moral manage- 
 ment; in accordance, however, with such general views 
 as had been agreed upon. The medical treatment was 
 arranged in the morning consultation ; and it was under- 
 stood that Willis was to take no decisive measure, either 
 medical or moral, not previously discussed and permit- 
 ted. Pepys, G-isborne, and Reynolds attended, in rota- 
 tion, from four o'clock in the afternoon until eleven the 
 next morning. Warren or Baker visited in the morning, 
 saw the King, consulted with Willis and the physician 
 who had remained over night, and agreed with them 
 upon the bulletin for the day. Willis was soon joined 
 by his son John, whose particular function seems not 
 to have been very definitely settled. Willis professed to 
 regard him as equal to himself in point of dignity and 
 responsibility, but his colleagues considered him as 
 merely an assistant to his father. Two surgeons and 
 two apothecaries were also retained, each one in turn 
 staying twenty-four hours in the palace. The personal 
 
 1 Lady Harcourt's Diary. British Museum. 
 
 2 Among the gossip of the court, it was related that the " King asked 
 Willis, when he entered the room, if he, who was a clergyman, was not 
 
 : ashamed of himself for exercising such a profession. ' Sir,' said Willis, 
 ' our Saviour himself went about healing the sick.' ' Yes/ answered 
 the King, ' but he had not £700 a year for it.' " — Lord Malmesbury's 
 Diaries, &c, iv. 317.
 
 INSANITY OF KIXG GEORGE THE THIRD. 441 
 
 service was rendered by three attendants,. whom Willis 
 had procured from his own establishment, and the King's 
 pages, — one attendant and one page being constantly 
 in his room. 1 
 
 The medical treatment seems to have consisted chiefpy 
 of " bark and saline medicines. " An alterative pill, con- 
 taining a little calomel, was given him once. Once, and 
 once only, blisters were applied, — to the legs; but 
 they occasioned considerable irritation and restlessness. 
 
 It was determined that the moral management of the 
 King required strict seclusion from his family and minis- 
 
 1 And vet, notwithstanding: all this attendance and supervision, the 
 King told Lord Eldon he was knocked down by a man in the employ 
 of one of his physicians. " When I got up again," he added, " I said my 
 foot had slipped, and ascribed my fall to that ; for it would not do for me 
 to admit that the King had been knocked down by any one." [Twiss, 
 Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon, chap, xviii.] From 
 the same source, no doubt, Miss Burney and Lady Harcourt heard what 
 they have reported respecting the brutal treatment suffered by the King 
 from his attendants. They represent that he was beaten, starved, chained 
 to a staple, and enclosed in a machine which left him no liberty of motion. 
 In the interview with Miss Burney in the garden, already mentioned, the 
 King complained that one of the attendants knocked him down, " seized 
 him in his arms, carried liim into a chamber, and throwing him violently 
 on a sofa exclaimed in an insolent manner to the attendants, " There is 
 your King for you." That two silly women should have thought these 
 preposterous stories related to some actual occurrences is not strange, 
 though Miss Burney herself doubted the truth of the last ; but when 
 Mr. Massey, in his History of England during the Reign of George the 
 Third (hi. 384), relates them as if they were unquestionably true, we 
 are almost ready to relinquish all faith in history. History, it is said, 
 repeats itself. With equal truth we may say that the tales of the insane, 
 and the way they are received, are but a repetition, generation after gen- 
 eration, of the same gross delusion and childish credulity. The stories 
 of George the Third respecting the abuse he suffered, — how like those 
 paragraphs of the newspaper reporter and the sensational novelist, which 
 in our own day kindle the wrath of those worthy people who are always 
 ready to accept a tale of outrage for gospel truth, without evidence and 
 against reason.
 
 442 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 ters, and, as far as possible, from all other company. 
 But nothing can more strikingly indicate the change 
 that has occurred since that time, in respect to one means 
 of managing the insane, than the fact that, for two or 
 three months after Willis took charge, the King was fre- 
 quently subjected to mechanical restraint. There was 
 nothing, however, in his condition which would now 
 be considered in England a sufficient reason for its 
 application. He was not disposed to injure his person or 
 his clothing, his attendants or his furniture. In the 
 King's case — and this, no doubt, was an example of the 
 ordinary practice — it was evidently used by way of 
 discipline, as a means of subduing turbulence and in- 
 creasing self-control. Willis said, in his second exami- 
 nation by the committee of the House of Commons, that 
 when he took charge of the King he was dissatisfied 
 with the restraint which had been previously used, and 
 for five days " endeavored to persuade and explain " that 
 some more efficient method would be resorted to, unless 
 there was a " ready compliance " with his wishes. The 
 King seems to have been insensible to this kind of intimi- 
 dation, and the new mode of restraint was applied, with 
 the effect, as Willis states, of accomplishing the desired 
 purpose more perfectly than before, being " more firm, 
 but not so teasing to the patient." It does not appear 
 what means of restraint were used by Willis, or by the 
 other physicians in subsequent attacks, but an incident 
 related by Wraxall renders it probable that one of them 
 was that time-honored implement which is still associated 
 with the popular idea of insanity. While walking through 
 the palace, during his convalescence, accompanied by an 
 equerry, they observed a strait-jacket lying in a chair. 
 The equerry, averting his look, as if to conceal some 
 embarrassment, the King said : " You need not be
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 443 
 
 afraid to look at it. Perhaps it is the best friend I ever 
 had in my life." 1 This incident does not strengthen a 
 favorite position of the advocates of non-restraint, viz., 
 that it leaves disagreeable impressions upon the patient's 
 mind. 
 
 Of another fact respecting the King's treatment I can- 
 not find a sufficient explanation. Between the 6th of 
 December and the 13th of January he went out of doors 
 but twice, and for a month previous not at all. Consid- 
 ering the form of the disorder and the facilities for 
 exercise which the grounds afforded, this is certainly 
 surprising. On one occasion, when the King had been 
 promised a walk, Dr. Warren revoked the promise, 
 because, as the day was cold, and the King had perspired 
 freely in the night, there would be some risk of his 
 taking cold. It appears that on that night the restraint 
 had not been removed at all. 
 
 The political consequences of the King's illness proved 
 to be of the deepest interest, whether we regard the 
 magnitude of the questions at issue, or the men by 
 whom they were discussed. The array of talent which 
 distinguished the Parliament of that period has never 
 been equalled before or since. The interests of the ad- 
 ministration were supported by Pitt, Thurlow, and Wil- 
 berforce, while the forces of the opposition were led by 
 Fox, Burke, Sheridan, Windham, Grey, Loughborough, 
 and North. During the two or three months that the 
 struggle lasted, every weapon of argument, wit, ridicule, 
 and invective was used by the contending parties with 
 a dexterity and vigor which such men only could dis- 
 play. 
 
 When the King's incapacity was announced, Parlia- 
 
 1 Posthumous Memoirs, &c, p. 520.
 
 444 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 ment immediately set about to provide a regency. Both 
 parties agreed that the Prince of Wales should be the 
 Regent, but differed very widely as to the exact amount 
 of authority and privilege he should receive. The Whigs 
 contended that he should exercise all the functions of 
 the Sovereign precisely as if there were a demise of the 
 Crown. The ministers, on the other hand, were deter- 
 mined to hamper the Regent with limitations and restric- 
 tions which would have shorn the regal office of much 
 of its dignity and power. The real question at issue, 
 therefore, was, which of the two parties that divided the 
 country should possess the administration, and hence 
 the violent party spirit which characterized all the po- 
 litical proceedings of the time. The first step was to 
 ascertain officially the exact condition of the King, and 
 accordingly each House appointed a committee to exam- 
 ine his physicians. These committees proceeded imme- 
 diately to the duty assigned them, and within a couple 
 of days their reports were presented to their respective 
 Houses, — that of the kords on the 10th, that of the 
 Commons on the 11th, of December. 
 
 To each physician was put the. following questions: 
 " Is his Majesty incapable, by reason of the present state 
 of his health, of coming to Parliament, or of attending 
 to public business ? What hopes have you of his recov- 
 ery? Is your answer to this question founded upon 
 the particular symptoms of his Majesty's case, or your 
 experience of the disorder in general ? Can you form 
 any judgment or probable conjecture of the time his 
 Majesty's illness is to last? Can you assign any cause 
 for his illness? Do you see any signs of convales- 
 cence?" The replies to these questions evince a knowl- 
 edge of insanity quite creditable to men not expressly 
 devoted to this branch of the science, — one that would
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 445 
 
 hardly be expected by us who witness so frequently 
 the remarkable discrepancies of opinion that characterize 
 the reports of medical commissions, albeit they may 
 include men whose names are not entirely unknown 
 to fame. The replies also evince a certain discretion 
 and reserve worthy of imitation on the part of those 
 who are called upon for professional opinions. Few 
 medical witnesses succeed, as most of these gentlemen 
 did, in hitting that happy medium between saying too 
 much and saying too little. They all expressed strong 
 hopes of the King's recovery, because the majority of 
 patients actually do recover, and they saw nothing par- 
 ticularly unfavorable in his case. None of them saw any 
 signs of convalescence, and, with one exception, none of 
 them pretended to assign causes or limits to his disorder. 
 Willis said he would recover within a few months, and 
 thought the attack was produced by " weighty business, 
 severe exercise, too great abstemiousness, and little rest." 
 The other physicians were as well aware as Willis, no 
 doubt, of these facts in the history and habits of the 
 King, and possessed better opportunities than he had of 
 knowing how far they had affected his mind, but re- 
 frained from assigning them as causes of the disorder. 
 Willis's opinion, though confidently uttered, was merely 
 a speculation, resting on no very substantial grounds. 
 The King's business had not been weightier than usual; 
 and, though fond of exercise, there is no evidence that 
 he carried it to a degree incompatible with its proper 
 object, the promotion of health. His abstemiousness 
 consisted merely in avoiding that excessive indulgence 
 in the pleasures of the table which was common among 
 the higher classes of that period, and was practised by 
 him for the purpose of warding off disease. The want 
 of sleep was probably one of the effects rather than a
 
 446 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 cause of his mental affectiou. Whether the committee 
 were satisfied with Willis's theory does not appear ; but 
 most of them probably were, like the rest of the world, 
 curious to learn the cause of the attack, but readily sat- 
 isfied with elaborate phrases and dogmatic assertions. 2 
 Sheridan, however, saw in it a fair mark for his wit, and 
 he was not the man to neglect an opportunity of that 
 kind. Willis had stated, in proof of the correctness of 
 his opinion, that the medicine which had been given to 
 his Majesty ever since Sunday morning, in order to meet 
 and counteract those causes, had had as much effect 
 as he could wish, and " his Majesty had certainly been 
 gradually better from the first six hours of his taking 
 it.' 7 The orator said that, when he heard Dr. Willis 
 assert that his physic could, in one day, " overcome the 
 effects of seven and twenty years' hard exercise, seven and 
 twenty years' study, and seven and twenty years' absti- 
 nence, it was impossible for him to keep the gravity fit 
 for the subject. Such assertions put him in mind of 
 those nostrums that cure this and that, and also disap- 
 pointments in love and long sea-voyages." 2 
 
 The policy of the cabinet was to make it appear that 
 the King's illness would be of short duration, and let it 
 be implied, as an obvious consequence, that the measure 
 
 1 Just previous to the attack, an eruption on the legs, of some duration, 
 had suddenly disappeared. This incident, considered in connection with 
 a similar one in the first attack, may be fairly regarded as a more efficient 
 exciting cause than any one of those mentioned by "Willis ; and yet he 
 overlooked it altogether. 
 
 2 The fact that the medicine referred to — which was simply Peruvian 
 bark — was determined upon in the consultation of the whole corps of 
 the King's physicians, and that no other observed any improvement in 
 his condition, gives additional pungency to the ridicule, while the whole 
 incident throws much light on Willis's character. 
 
 The Parliamentary Debates on the Regency are contained in the 27th 
 volume of Hansard.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 447 
 
 of appointing a regent should not be precipitated. On 
 the other hand, the policy of the Whigs was to represent 
 the disorder as incurable, or, at least, of very uncertain 
 duration, and therefore that the sooner the regency was 
 established the better for the country. In this view 
 they received but feeble support, certainly, from the 
 examination of the physicians ; but Warren, who was 
 high in the counsels of the Whig party, had privately 
 encouraged the idea that the King would never recover. 
 True, in his examination just referred to, and also in the 
 examination on the 7th of January, he expressed as 
 much confidence as the others in his ultimate recovery. 
 The fact furnishes a striking illustration of the distort- 
 ing influence of party spirit, even upon the views of 
 scientific men on scientific subjects. Willis, who always 
 professed to be quite sure of the King's recovery, and 
 was equally high in the estimation of the other party, 
 inspired the administration with confidence in the policy 
 they had adopted. Every occurrence at Kew was whis- 
 pered about in political circles, before it was many hours 
 old, colored and exaggerated, of course, by the prevalent 
 hopes and fears. The names of Warren and Willis became 
 as familiar as household words, and even served as rally- 
 ing points for the two great parties into which the country 
 was divided. In less than a month from the first exami- 
 nation, both parties were equally ready for another, and 
 equally confident of deriving political capital from the 
 result. For this purpose the Commons appointed a 
 select committee, which commenced its sittings on the 
 7th of January, and made their report, 400 folio pages 
 long, on the 13th. 2 The same questions as before were 
 
 1 The report of the first examination may be found in the parliamentary- 
 debates and annual registers of the time, but not so this, which long 
 eluded my search, until found in a collection of pamphlets, entitled,
 
 448 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 put to the physicians, and were followed by the same 
 replies, except that Willis, when asked if he had ob- 
 served any signs of convalescence, replied affirmatively. 
 The greater part of the examination was directed to 
 matters having only an incidental connection with the 
 King's condition, — the communications sent from Kew 
 to the ministers and other leading characters, the do- 
 mestic arrangements of the palace, the dissensions of the 
 physicians, the merits and proceedings of the Willises, 
 — to anything, indeed, calculated to strengthen one 
 side or weaken the other. Upon the signs of recovery 
 or convalescence the examination was particularly search- 
 ing, because, more than anything else, they determined 
 the political movements of the day. Willis, when asked 
 if he saw any present signs of convalescence, replied : 
 " About a fortnight ago, his Majesty would take up 
 books and could not read a line of them ; he will now 
 read several pages together, and make, in my opinion, 
 very good remarks upon the subject. I think, in the 
 main, his Majesty does everything in a more rational 
 way than he did, and some things extremely rational." 
 This trait had been observed for the last five or six 
 days, the books having been selected by the King, and 
 read aloud. To the same purpose, he also stated that 
 his patient was less frequently and less intensely excited, 
 and less frequently required restraint. Beyond the 
 simple acknowledgment that he was more quiet, the 
 other physicians were not disposed to go, in regard to 
 the signs of convalescence. They denied that he had 
 appeared rational, even for a moment, but none of them 
 
 " History of the Regency," published by Stockdale, and brought to ray 
 notice by the librarian of Brown University, Mr. Guild. From this 
 report chiefly I have obtained all that seemed worth preserving respect- 
 ing the management of the King.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIRD. 449 
 
 had happened to see the King reading, and they were 
 not disposed to take any fact of Willis's observing as a 
 ground for their opinions. His constant attendance gave 
 him an advantage over his colleagues, for it enabled 
 him to see for himself much that they would never know 
 at all, or only at second hand ; and such observations, 
 we are all very well aware, sometimes leave a stronger 
 impression on the mind than the most definite and tan- 
 gible facts communicated by others. 
 
 Willis's character, conduct, and practices were sub- 
 jected to a very searching scrutiny, not more for the 
 purpose of obtaining information than of torturing every 
 incident into matter of censure against himself or his 
 employers. It cannot be denied that he gave his adver- 
 saries abundant opportunities of this kind ; for, with all 
 his experience, and the frost of seventy years on his 
 head, he had not a philosophical turn of mind, nor the 
 art of concealing his deficiency by a prudent reserve. 
 He had stated that nine out of ten of his patients recov- 
 ered under his hands, but he was unable to tell how many 
 he had received or how many he had cured. When fur- 
 ther pressed, he said that the ground of his calculation 
 was the fact that his first fifteen patients were cured, 
 and that, subsequently, several instances occurred often 
 going away together radically cured. The declaration 
 of his colleagues respecting this alleged success — that 
 it required other evidence than his bare assertion — 
 was not calculated to restore the harmony which had 
 been so thoroughly disturbed. He was obviously very 
 restive under the unusual restrictions imposed upon 
 him. To be associated on equal terms with some half 
 dozen other physicians, equal to himself in professional 
 eminence, and more than his equals in general culture, 
 he found a very different position from that of controlling 
 
 29
 
 450 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIEU. 
 
 an establishment where his simple word was law. He 
 felt — very correctly, no doubt — that a great obstacle 
 to the King's recovery consisted in his being obliged to 
 see so many different persons, under circumstances cal- 
 culated to excite strong emotion. He was actually dis- 
 turbed, and sometimes even prevented from sleeping, by 
 the visits of so many medical men, — never less than half 
 a dozen every day; and, accordingly, Willis, "thinking- 
 it his duty," as he says, " to do for his Majesty what he 
 should do for any private gentleman/' put up a written 
 notice that no person should be admitted into his Maj- 
 esty's rooms without permission of himself or son. For 
 this order, which was more easily given than enforced, — 
 for none of his colleagues seem to have regarded it, — he 
 was severely handled by the committee, who endeavored 
 to make it appear like an attempt on his part, and that 
 of the Lord Chancellor, whose sanction he pleaded, to 
 conceal, in some degree, the King's real condition. 
 
 Another obstacle to the King's recovery, apprehended 
 by Willis, seems rather fanciful than real. " When his 
 Majesty," he says, " reflects upon an illness of this kind, 
 it may depress his spirits and retard his cure more than 
 a common person ; " but, subsequently, he states that 
 ■' this apprehension is somewhat relieved by his knowl- 
 edge of the King's sense of religion, which may lead 
 him, with a proper resignation, to reflect on what it had 
 pleased God to afflict him with." 
 
 The want of good faith was broadly charged upon 
 Willis by his colleagues, and in the examination there 
 came out one instance of it which has obtained a popular 
 celebrity. Warren stated that, on the day Willis arrived, 
 it was agreed, in general consultation, " that quiet of 
 body and mind were to be endeavored to be obtained by 
 every means possible ; and that everything should be
 
 IXSAXITY OF KIXG GEORGE THE THIRD. 451 
 
 kept from his Majesty that was likely to excite any 
 emotion; — that though his Majesty had not shown any 
 signs of an intention to injure himself, yet that it was 
 absolutely necessary, considering the sudden impulses to 
 which his distemper subjects people, to put everything 
 out of the way that could do any mischief." The very 
 next day, however, he put into the King's hand a razor 
 and a penknife. " I asked him," says Warren, " how he 
 could venture to do such a thing. He said he shuddered 
 at what he had done." Willis said, in explanation, that 
 the King " had not been shaved for a long while, perhaps 
 a fortnight or three weeks ; and the person that had 
 been used to shave him could not complete the parts of 
 his upper and under lips ; and being confident, from the 
 professions and humor of his Majesty at that moment, 
 I suffered his Majesty to shave his lips himself; and then 
 he desired he might have his whole face lathered, that 
 he might just run over it with a razor ; and he did so in 
 a very calm manner. His nails also wanted cutting very 
 much ; and, upon his assurance, and upon my confidence 
 in his looks, I suffered him to cut his own nails with a 
 penknife, while I stood by him. It is necessary for a 
 physician, especially in such cases, to be able to judge, 
 at the moment, whether he can confide in the professions 
 of his patient ; and I never was disappointed in my 
 opinion whether the professions of the patient were to 
 be relied on or no." He denied that he said to Warren, 
 he shuddered at what he had done, and also denied that, 
 in regard to such matters, he ever agreed not to be 
 governed solely by his own discretion. After professing 
 such views, he found it a little inconvenient to answer 
 the question, why he never afterwards repeated this 
 indulgence. He replied, however, that it had a bad 
 moral effect, his Majesty taking it ill that he was not
 
 452 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 allowed other privileges, such as going upstairs to see 
 his family, and doing other imprudent things. " Do you 
 think," asked the committee, " that the expectation of 
 the liberties which the King might call for would be 
 of more danger to him than the use of razors and pen- 
 knives ? " " To be sure," was the reply, " because the re- 
 fusal would irritate him much and increase his disorder." 
 " Whether," continues the committee, " you refuse to the 
 King all indulgences which may be safely given, lest he 
 should demand those that ought to be refused ? " "I do 
 a great many," said Willis. Those, certainly, were very 
 embarrassing questions. 
 
 This incident furnished Burke with the materials of a 
 violent diatribe against the ministers, who, he said, had 
 committed his Majesty to the care of a man in whose 
 hands he was not safe for a moment. x 
 
 It also came out that, within five days after he took 
 charge of the King, Willis allowed him to have an inter- 
 
 1 There is a traditionary anecdote connected with this razor scene, 
 strongly illustrative, if true, of Willis's character. Burke asked him, it 
 is said, what he would have done, if the King had suddenly become vio- 
 lent while these instruments were in his hand. Having placed the candles 
 between them, he replied, " There, sir, by the eye ! I should have 
 looked at him thus, sir, — thus ! " whereupon Burke instantaneously averted 
 his head and made no reply. If such a scene as this occurred at all, it 
 could not have been in the committee-room, as Burke was not on the 
 committee. Why so prominent a member of the House was not placed 
 on the committee with Fox, Sheridan, &c, has always been a matter of 
 surprise. The authority for this anecdote is Reynolds, the playwright, 
 who says he had it from Willis himself. (Life, &c, ii. 15.) Among the 
 gossip of the day was a similar story respecting the effect of Willis's 
 tone on Sheridan when about to examine him. " ' Pray, sir, before you 
 begin,' said Willis, ' be so good as to snuff the candles, that we may see 
 clear, for I always like to see the face of the man I am speaking to.' 
 Sheridan was so confounded at this speech of the basilisk Doctor, that 
 he could not get on in his examination, and for once in his life he was 
 posed." (Swinburne's Courts of Europe, ii. 75.)
 
 INSANITY OF ETNG GEOEGE THE THIRD. 453 
 
 view with his daughters, and another with the Queen, 
 without the consent or knowledge of his colleagues, and 
 contrary, as they alleged, to the terms of their agree- 
 ment. In defence of his course, he said : " I am sure 
 that such occurrences can scarce be too frequent, as it 
 comforts the patient to think that he is with his family, 
 and that they are affectionate to him ; and upon inquiries 
 of patients who have been cured of the same indispo- 
 sition, they have always mentioned those occurrences 
 having given them the greatest comfort, and, as they 
 thought, helped very much towards their recovery. 
 . . . The irritation occasioned by a patient's seeing 
 his friends or relations is entirely overbalanced by the 
 softening him into tears, which ever leads to amend- 
 ment." 
 
 Another incident in Willis's management, which had 
 greatly scandalized his colleagues, was deemed worthy 
 of the notice of the committee. It was the allowing 
 his Majesty to read the tragedy of Lear. It seems 
 he refused the King's request to have it, though too 
 crazy, he thought, to be affected by it, one way or 
 the other ; but allowed him to have a volume of plays, 
 which happened, without his knowledge, to contain 
 Lear. 1 
 
 In the practical knowledge of insanity, and the man- 
 agement of the insane, Willis was unquestionably in ad- 
 vance of his associates ; but, following the bent of his 
 dictatorial habits, he often spoke without measuring his 
 words, and often overstepped the limits of professional 
 etiquette. Hence he suffered under the severe hand- 
 ling of the committee, to whom he presented a good 
 
 1 Willis's statement that he had never read this play is not calculated 
 to raise our estimate of his general culture.
 
 454 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIED. 
 
 many vulnerable points of attack. It is obvious, in fact, 
 that Willis was a bit of a charlatan, and not always 
 above the arts of that character. Sheridan remarked, 
 in one of his speeches, that Willis professed to have the 
 gift of seeing the heart by looking at the countenance ; 
 and added, looking at Pitt, that the declaration seemed 
 to alarm the Right Honorable gentleman. 1 
 
 But, with all these imperfections, it cannot be denied 
 that Willis evinced much practical sagacity in his views 
 of the nature and management of mental disease, and a 
 sturdy independence and self-reliance which, while they 
 are always elements in a great character, were in 
 him, under the circumstances, very remarkable. Let 
 those who are emulous of his success strive to imitate 
 him in these qualities, rather than in his dogmatism and 
 disregard of professional observances. 
 
 The report of the committee was a fruitful topic in the 
 subsequent debates in Parliament, furnishing fresh ma- 
 terials for declamation and intrigue. On no other occa- 
 sion, probably, were the prominent qualities of the cele- 
 brated men who figured at that period more strikingly 
 exhibited. Night after night, for weeks together, wit- 
 nessed the unrivalled self-possession of Pitt, the clear, 
 close, vehement argumentation of Fox, the irresistible 
 wit of Sheridan, the multifarious knowledge and riotous 
 fancy of Burke. But the prize, which seemed to be 
 almost within the grasp of the Whigs, rapidly receded 
 from their view. Towards the last of January the King 
 had unquestionably improved, and on the 25th of Feb- 
 ruary Warren signed a report declaring him " free from 
 complaint." 
 
 1 There is nothing of this kind in the report of the committee, but it 
 may have been suppressed. Sheridan would hardly have invented the 
 fact, and then called on Pitt to witness its truth.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 455 
 
 The question of recovery was also embarrassing, for 
 although it might be obvious enough to the family and 
 friends, yet it was not so easy to establish it satisfac- 
 torily to the country. An apparent recovery is not 
 always a real one. Often, after a person seems to have 
 regained his natural feelings and views, and has recog- 
 nized his mental disorder, and is preparing, perhaps, to 
 resume his customary pursuits, he again passes under 
 the cloud, and, to all appearance, is as far from sanity as 
 ever. Burke was as ready for this as for any other 
 occasion, and his remarks upon it exhibited his wonder- 
 ful faculty of acquiring and appropriating every descrip- 
 tion of knowledge. " The disorder," said he, " with 
 which his Majesty was afflicted, was like a vast sea 
 which rolled in, and at low tide rolled back and left a 
 bold and barren shore. He had taken pains/' he con- 
 tinued, " to make himself master of the subject, he had 
 turned over every book upon it, and had visited the 
 dreadful mansions where those unfortunate beings were 
 confined. . . . An author of great authority, having 
 mentioned the uncertainty of the symptoms of sanity, 
 had declared that, after having been kept a month (and 
 the rule was, at all the houses he had visited, though 
 anxious to discharge the patients speedily, as they all 
 were, to keep them a month after their recovery before 
 they turned them out of the house), they would some- 
 times dread the day of their departure, and relapse 
 on the very last day. . . . He drew a picture of the 
 King's supposed return, which he described as most 
 happy, if really cured ; but as horrible in the ex- 
 treme, in its consequences, if a sudden relapse took 
 place." 
 
 The only effect of the King's alleged convalescence 
 was to suspend all Parliamentary proceedings relative
 
 456 INSANITY OF KING GEOKGE THE THIED. 
 
 to a regency, while, quietly and without opposition, he 
 resumed one after another his regal functions. 1 
 
 His Majesty's third attack 2 began about the 22d of 
 February, 1801 ; and though supposed by the public to 
 have recovered within three or four weeks, it is certain 
 that he was not fully restored until the last of June. 
 He was attended by Drs. Gisborne, Reynolds, Pepys, 
 John Willis, Robert Darling Willis, and Thomas Willis, 3 
 
 1 Willis Was rewarded by Parliament with a pension of £1,500 for 
 twenty-one years. He was shortly after employed to treat the Queen of 
 Portugal, but she proved to be incurable. For this service he received 
 £20,000. These fees were without a parallel in the records of the medical 
 profession. Dr. John Willis received for his services £650 per year dur- 
 ing his life. 
 
 In Frederick Reynolds's " Life and Times," I find the following notice 
 of Willis's establishment : " Gretford and its vicinity at that time ex- 
 hibited one of the most peculiar and singular sights I ever witnessed. As 
 the unprepared traveller approached the town, he was astonished to find 
 almost all the surrounding ploughmen, gardeners, threshers, thatchers, and 
 other laborers, attired in black coats, white waistcoats, black silk breeches 
 and stockings, and the head of each ' Men poudre, frise, et arrange'.' These 
 were the Doctor's patients ; and dress, neatness of person, and exercise 
 being the principal features of his admirable system, health and cheerful- 
 ness conjoined to aid the recovery of every person attached to that most 
 valuable asylum. The Doctor kept an excellent table, and the day I 
 dined with him I found a numerous company. Amongst others of his 
 patients, in a state of convalescence, present on this occasion, were a Mrs. 
 B., a lady of large fortune, who had lately recovered under the Doctor's 
 care, but declined returning into the world from the dread of a relapse ; 
 and a young clergyman, who occasionally read service and preached for 
 the Doctor. Nothing occurred out of the common way till soon after the 
 cloth was removed, when I saw the Doctor frown at a patient, who 
 immediately hastened from the room, taking with him my tail, which he 
 had slyly cut off." 
 
 2 " Mrs. Goodenough (sister to Mr. Addington) told Miss Jennings 
 that the King had an attack somewhat similar to the present in 1795, 
 from which he recovered in about a week." (Diary and Correspondence 
 of Hon. George Rose, i. 322.) 
 
 3 Robert and John Willis were sons of Francis, and probably Thomas 
 was, but of this I am not quite certain. Lord Sidmouth (Addington)
 
 IXSAXITY OF KIXG GEORGE THE THIRD. 457 
 
 who seems to have been a clergyman as well as a doc- 
 tor. The early stage of the disease was much like that 
 of 1788, except in being of shorter duration. On March 
 2d there seems to have been a sudden exacerbation of 
 his disorder ; but about five p.m. he fell into sound sleep, 
 which continued a couple of hours. Shortly after, he 
 again went to sleep, and continued sleeping until four 
 a.m., when he awoke quite tranquil, and asked how long 
 he had been ill. In the mean time his pulse fell from 
 134 to 84. 1 After the first week or two he could control 
 his morbid manifestations to such a degree that, to them 
 who saw him only occasionally, he seemed to be less 
 under the influence of disease than he really was. In- 
 deed, as early as the 7th of March he played at back- 
 gammon and piquet, and it was commonly reported and 
 commonly believed that he had completely recovered, 
 though on the 4th Reynolds had stated that " much time 
 would be necessary to complete the cure." 2 The bulle- 
 tins ceased on the 12th of March, when Reynolds ended 
 his attendance. He received the resignation of Mr. Pitt 
 on the 14th, and transacted business on the 17th. 3 He 
 continued under medical care until the end of June, 
 appearing very well whenever circumstances required 
 the exercise of self-control, but constantly exciting the 
 
 says (Diary, iii. 38) that " Dr. Willis and his two sons got £10,000." In 
 the beginning of this attack it was proposed to send for the elder Willis ; 
 but the proposal met with opposition, the reason for which may be found, 
 probably, in the remark made by Addington to Lord Colchester, that old 
 Willis was "rude and violent." (Colchester, i. 244.) He finally came, 
 however, as early as the 27th of February ; but how long he stayed does 
 not appear. It could not have been long, for his name is scarcely men- 
 tioned in the contemporary notices of the King's illness, 
 i Rose, i. 325. 
 
 2 Diaries of Lord Malmesbury, iv. 28. 
 
 3 Rose, i. 335.
 
 458 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 apprehensions of his family and physicians by some 
 manifestations of mental disturbance. It appears that 
 some time in May, apparently, the royal family were 
 all at Kew ; but the King was kept in a house by him- 
 self, in the immediate charge of the Willises. 1 John 
 Willis, writing to Lord Eldon, May 16th, intimates that 
 " artificial prudence " is still absolutely necessary, and 
 informs him that his conversations with the King have 
 not been of much service. " He seems," he continues, 
 " rather to select and turn any part to his purpose than 
 to his good." 2 Five days after, Addington writes to 
 Lord Eldon that, " during a quiet conversation of an 
 hour and a half, there was not a sentiment, a word, a 
 look, or a gesture, that I could have wished different 
 from what it was ; and yet my apprehensions, I must 
 own to you, predominate. The wheel is likely to turn 
 with increasing velocity (as I cannot help fearing) ; and 
 if so, it will very soon become unmanageable." 3 Four 
 days after, one of the Willises writes that the King " is 
 in a perfectly composed and quiet state. He told me, 
 with great seeming satisfaction, that he had a most 
 charming night, — i but one sleep from eleven to half- 
 past four ;' when, alas ! he had but three hours' sleep 
 in the night, which upon the whole was passed in rest- 
 lessness, in getting out of bed, opening the shut- 
 ters, in praying at times violently. . . . He frequently 
 called, ' I am now perfectly well, and my Queen, my 
 Queen has saved me.' . . . The King has sworn he 
 will never forgive her if she relates anything that 
 passes in the night." 4 June 9th, one of the royal family 
 writes to Thomas Willis, " He has been very quiet, very 
 
 i Rose, i. 354. 
 
 2 Twiss, Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon, i. 204. 
 
 3 Idem, i. 205. 4 Idem, i. 205.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 459 
 
 heavy, and very sleepy. . . . God grant that his eyes 
 may soon open, and that he may see his real and 
 true friends in their true colors." Three days after, she 
 again writes that " the sleepiness continues to a great 
 degree. I am told the night has been tolerable, but he 
 has got up in his usual way, which is very vexatious." 1 
 Four days after, one of the Williseswrit.es: " His Maj- 
 esty rode out this morning at ten o'clock, and did not 
 return till four. He paid a visit in the course of the 
 day to Mr. Dundas. His attendants thought him much 
 hurried, and so did his pages. He has a great thirst 
 upon him, and his family are in great fear. His Majesty 
 still talks much of his prudence, but he shows none. His 
 body, mind, and tongue are all upon the stretch every 
 minute ; and the manner in which he is now expending 
 money in various ways, which is so unlike him when 
 well, all evince that he is not so right as he should be." 2 
 
 A considerable change seems to have occurred within 
 a few days of the date of this letter, since his physicians 
 were discharged, and we hear no more of his disorder. 
 He was strongly averse to having the Willises any longer 
 about him ; though, as he says, " he respected the char- 
 acter and conduct of Robert Willis." " No one," he says, 
 " who has had a nervous fever can bear to continue the 
 physicians employed on the occasion." 3 
 
 During the first three weeks of the attack there was 
 actually a suspension of the royal functions, and with it 
 a suspension of some political arrangements of the high- 
 
 1 Twiss, i. 206. 2 Idem, i. 208. 
 
 3 The only tiling respecting the medical treatment in this attack which 
 has rewarded my inquiries is, that the Prime Minister, Mr. Addington, 
 one day recommended a hop pillow for procuring sleep, which proved 
 perfectly successful. " In this attack sleep always calmed and quieted 
 the King, while in that of 1788 he would awake from a long sleep more 
 turbulent than ever." (Malmesbury, Diaries, iv. 46.)
 
 460 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 est importance. Pitt had resigned, but there was no 
 one to receive his resignation, or sign the commission 
 of his successor ; so that it would have been difficult to 
 answer the question, Who is now Prime Minister ? Of 
 the other members of the administration some had 
 resigned, and their successors had taken their places ; 
 while others who had resigned still held on, because 
 their successors had not been sworn in. Pitt and his 
 friends continued to perform the necessary routine 
 duties of their offices, and Mr. Addington held constant 
 communication with the palace. 1 This change of minis- 
 try, which was exceedingly distasteful to the King, was 
 regarded by some as the exciting cause of this attack ; 
 but it is probable that the differences between the 
 Prince of Wales and his wife had also much to do with 
 it. It was ushered in by a violent cold, which he con- 
 tracted by remaining long in church on the 13th, — a 
 chilly, snowy day. 
 
 Again, on the 12th of February, 1804, the King mani- 
 fested unequivocal signs of mental disease, occasioned, 
 it was thought, by the publication of certain correspond- 
 ence between the Prince of Wales and the Duke of 
 York, and immediately preceded by a cold and a conse- 
 quent fit of the gout. This attack continued longer than 
 the last ; but, like that, was much less severe than the 
 attack of 1788. He was attended by' Sir Lucas Pepys, 
 Dr. Eeynolds, Dr. Heberden, and Dr. Simmons, physi- 
 cian of St. Luke's, 2 and was in the particular charge of 
 
 i Life, &c, of Lord Sidmouth, by Pellew, i. 309. 
 
 2 Why none of the Willises were employed on this occasion does not 
 appear. It was probably, however, for the same reason that was alleged 
 for their not being employed at first in the next attack, — viz., the Queen's 
 apprehension that their presence would excite unpleasant associations 
 in the King's mind. In fact, the King conceived a strong dislike for the 
 Willises ; but it seems to have been a common impression at court
 
 INSANITY OF KIXG GEOEGE THE THIED. 461 
 
 the latter, who resided in the palace. The few scanty 
 notices I have been able to find convey but little in- 
 formation respecting the character or progress of this 
 attack. About the 25th of February it was generally 
 understood that the King was improving; but in the 
 bulletin of the 26th it was stated that his speedy re- 
 covery could not be expected. 1 We learn that on the 
 9th of March Lord Eldon walked with him around the 
 garden, when he observed, as he says, "at first a mo- 
 mentary hurry and incoherence in his Majesty's talk; 
 but this did not endure two minutes. During the rest 
 of the walk there was not the slightest aberration in his 
 Majesty's conversation, and he gave me the history of 
 every administration in his reign." 2 On the 23d of 
 April he presided at a council. On the 2d of May 
 Addington walked with him in the garden, and thought 
 him perfectly well. 3 Five days after, Pitt conversed 
 with him three hours, and was " amazed at his cool and 
 collected manner." i May 25th, the Duke of York writes 
 that the King seems to dwell much upon the illegality 
 of his confinement ; and the next day Pitt, in a note to 
 Eldon, expresses some alarm in reference to a conver- 
 sation in one of the audiences two days before. " The 
 topics treated of were such as did not at all arise out of 
 any view (right or wrong) of the actual state of things, 
 
 ( Malniesbury , iv. 316) that they managed him much better than Sim- 
 mons. 
 
 1 Bulletins must necessarily be brief and very general in their terms, 
 and therefore not calculated to convey very accurate information ; but 
 those which -were issued by the physicians during this illness often indi- 
 cate much confusion of ideas, and an uncertain, vacillating prognosis, 
 which did not escape the notice nor the censure of Parliament. For in- 
 stance, the very next day after the bulletin above mentioned, the bulletin 
 said, " He is still better than he was yesterday, and gradually approach- 
 ing recovery." (Rose, ii. 121.) 
 
 * Twiss, i. 228. 3 Life of Sidmouth, i. 313. 4 Malmesbury, iv. 306.
 
 462 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 but referred to plans of foreign politics, that could only 
 be creatures of an imagination heated and disordered." 1 
 
 About the same time, his family and physicians re- 
 marked an unduly familiar tone of conversation, and other 
 little improprieties of manner. When conversing on 
 serious matters and business, he was cool, rational, and 
 dignified ; but on lighter subjects he would indulge in 
 unseemly levities. Pitt advised him in a letter to put 
 himself under medical direction, and Eldon did the same. 
 The King, after reading them, said he had received two 
 very foolish letters. 2 Since 1801 he had conceived and 
 often expressed a great dislike of medical men. 
 
 His conduct at this period, as described by one of 
 his court, indicates a phasis of insanity which, though 
 common enough, is apt to be greatly misunderstood by 
 people not professionally acquainted with the subject. 
 " Mrs. Harcourt confirms all that Lady Uxbridge had 
 told me, — that the King was apparently quite well 
 when speaking to his ministers, or to those who kept 
 him in a little awe : but that towards his family and de- 
 pendants his language was incoherent and harsh, quite 
 unlike his usual character. She said Symonds did not 
 possess in any degree the talents required to lead the 
 mind from wandering to steadiness ; that in the King's 
 two former illnesses this had been most ably managed 
 by the Willises, who had this faculty in a wonderful 
 degree, and were men of the world, who saw ministers, 
 and knew what the King ought to do ; that the not suf- 
 fering them to be called in was an unpardonable proof 
 of folly (not to say worse) in Addington, and now it 
 was impossible, since the King's aversion for them was 
 rooted ; that Pitt judged ill in leaving the sole dis- 
 posal of the household to the King ; that this sort of 
 i Twiss, i. 244. 2 R ose , ii. 149.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 463 
 
 power, in his present weak and of course suspicious 
 state of mind, had been exercised by him most improp- 
 erly. He had dismissed and turned away, and made 
 capricious changes everywhere, from the Lord Cham- 
 berlain to the grooms and footmen. He had turned 
 away the Queen's favorite coachman, made footmen 
 grooms, and vice versa; and what was still worse, be- 
 cause more notorious, had removed lords of the bed- 
 chamber without a shadow of reason ; that all this 
 afflicted the royal family beyond measure ; the Queen 
 was ill and cross, the Princesses low, depressed, and quite 
 sinking under it ; and that unless means could be found 
 to place some very strong-minded and temperate person 
 about the King, he would either commit some extrava- 
 gance, or would by violent exercise and carelessness in- 
 jure his health and bring on a deadly illness. . . . She 
 said that Smart, when alive, had some authority over 
 him ; that John Willis also had acquired it, but in a 
 different way. The first obtained it from regard and 
 high opinion, the other from fear ; that, as was always 
 the case, cunning and art kept pace, in the King's char- 
 acter, with his suspicion and misgivings, and that he 
 was become so very acute that nothing escaped him." 1 
 
 Even so late as September 11th, Lord Auckland says, 
 he was much dissatisfied with the Queen, and that in 
 the large house to which he is to return, he is to have a 
 range of apartments wholly separate from hers. 2 
 
 The general impression at the time was, that in both 
 these attacks the King was deprived of his reason for a 
 short period only ; and Parliament was readily satisfied 
 by the declarations of ministers that there was no neces- 
 sary suspension of the royal functions. Before the ques- 
 
 1 Malmesburj, iv. 326. 
 
 2 Journal and Correspondence, ii. 213.
 
 464 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIED. 
 
 tion of a regency could be fairly started, the bulletins 
 ceased, and he was supposed to have recovered. Of 
 course there was no examination of the physicians, and 
 the public had no means of learning the subsequent prog- 
 ress of the disorder, because they alone to whom the 
 facts were known were most interested in saying nothing 
 about them. That the ministry were playing a very 
 bold game seems to have been more than suspected by 
 one of themselves. In 1804, Mr. Rose says, " How Mr. 
 Pitt can carry on the government if the King is to be 
 in the hands of his physicians, I cannot discover." 1 It 
 was not until the examination of the physicians relative 
 to the next attack (1810), some of whom had also 
 attended him in 1801 and 1804, that the true state of 
 the case was revealed. 2 It then came out for the first 
 time that both these attacks were of much longer dura- 
 tion and greater severity than the public had been led 
 to suppose ; that about the middle of March, 1801, and 
 after the bulletins ceased, a relapse took place ; that in 
 1804 Dr. Simmons continued in the palace as late as 
 June ; and that either Heberden or Sir Francis Millman 
 attended the King up to October. 3 And yet it had be- 
 come a matter of history that, during those very periods 
 when his Majesty was in charge of medical men on ac 
 count of mental disorder, he was exercising the highest 
 
 1 Diaries, &c, ii. 149. 
 
 - It must be borne in mind that the memoranda showing the progress 
 of the disease, which we have given, were mostly published only a few 
 years ago, so that, in fact, the whole state of the case was not generally 
 known until long after the examination of the physicians in 1811. 
 
 3 Indeed, as late as December the King had not entirely regained the 
 confidence of his family. Lord Malmesbury says (iv. 344), on the 
 authority of one of the court, " The Queen will never receive the King 
 without one of the Princesses being present ; never says in reply a word ; 
 piques herself on this discreet silence ; and, when in London, locks the 
 door of her white room (her boudoir) against him."
 
 INSAMTY OF KING GEORGE THE THIED. 465 
 
 functions of sovereignty. On the 14th and 17th of March, 
 1801. — which, as we have just seen, was only fifteen 
 days subsequent to the date of a " severe paroxysm," 
 — measures of vital interest and importance to the 
 country received his assent and concurrence. On the 
 14th Pitt ? s resignation was accepted, and the new min- 
 isters received their commission. On the 17th the King 
 presided at a council. On the 9th of March, 1804, a 
 commission under the King's sign-manual was passed, 
 by virtue of which fifteen bills received the royal assent, 
 and on the 23d his assent was given to many other 
 bills. 
 
 It is not surprising that the discovery of his real men- 
 tal condition, half a dozen years afterwards, excited both 
 astonishment and indignation. In Parliament, the con- 
 duct of Lord Eldon, who, in consequence of his office as 
 Lord Chancellor and of his intimate personal relations to 
 the King, was held responsible for these transactions, 
 was condemned in the strongest terms. Earl Grey 
 charged him with having done what was equivalent to 
 treason. " What," said he, " would be the character, 
 what the appropriate punishment of his offence, who, 
 knowing his Sovereign to be actually at the time incom- 
 petent, — who, in the full conviction of his notorious and 
 avowed incapacity, and whilst he was under medical care 
 and personal restraint, should come here, and in the name 
 and under the pretext of his Majesty's commands, put the 
 royal seal to acts which could not be legal without 
 his Majesty's full and complete acquiescence ? " . . . 
 " I will ask the noble lord," he continued, in another 
 part of his speech, " what he would have done had a 
 case of a similar nature come before him in Chancery ? 
 I will suppose such a case ; and that in the interval, 
 when it appeared from the testimony of physicians that 
 
 30
 
 466 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 the unfortunate individual was incapable of exercising 
 bis mental faculties, a person had prevailed on an attor- 
 ney to make a will for him, would the noble lord have 
 given his sanction to such a proceeding ? Would he 
 have taken the opinion of the interested individuals in 
 preference to that of the physician ? Let the noble lord 
 apply this case to himself. I say that his Majesty's name 
 has been abused. The noble lord has said, on his own 
 authority, that his Majesty was not then incapacitated 
 from acting ; but will your lordships allow yourselves 
 to believe that his Majesty's health was then such as to ad- 
 mit him to act in his royal capacity, upon an authority 
 which contradicts that of his physicians ? " 
 
 In his defence Lord Eldon declared that, on the 27th 
 of February, and again on the 9th of March, 1804, the 
 King's physicians had pronounced him competent to per- 
 form a certain act ; or, as the matter was described more 
 particularly in his Memoirs, he inquired of the physicians 
 if, in their opinion, the King was competent to sign an in- 
 strument, provided he (Lord Eldon) had satisfied himself 
 that the King understood its effect. To this query Sir 
 Lucas Pepys and Dr. Simmons replied affirmatively, the 
 other physicians being supposed to concur. Chiefly, 
 however, he grounded his defence on the right to judge 
 for himself respecting the King's mental condition, irre- 
 spective of medical opinions. " I have been significantly 
 asked," said he, " if I would supersede a commission of 
 lunac}' against the opinion of physicians. I have often 
 done so. The opinions of physicians, though entitled 
 to great attention, were not to bind him absolutely. 
 ... It was most important to the Sovereign that the 
 Chancellor should not depend wholly on the evidence 
 of the physicians, if he himself thought the King per- 
 fectly competent to discharge the functions of the royal
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 467 
 
 authority." 1 In a letter to Perceval, he declares that if 
 the King had been found to understand the nature of 
 the act he was asked to perform, he should have been 
 bound by his sense of right and duty to have sanctioned 
 such act, though he might have believed, with his phy- 
 sicians, that some delusions might occur an hour after- 
 wards. 2 
 
 Eldon declared in the debate that, on the 9th of March, 
 1804, the King understood the duty he had to perform 
 better than he did himself, and among his papers was 
 found what he regarded as a conclusive proof of his 
 opinion. " On applying to the King," he says, " to ob- 
 tain his sign-manual to several bills, he (Eldon) began 
 to read an abstract of the bills with more of detail than 
 usual, when the King said, ' My lord, you are cautious.' 
 He (Eldon) begged it might be so, under existing cir- 
 cumstances. ' Oh/ said the King, ' you are certainly 
 right in that ; but you should be correct as well as cau- 
 tious.' Eldon replied he was not conscious that he was 
 incorrect. l No,' said he, ' you are not ; for if you will 
 look into the commission you have brought me to sign, 
 you will see that I there state that I have fully con- 
 sidered the bills proposed to receive my sign-manual. 
 To be correct, therefore, I should have the bills to peruse 
 and consider.' I stated to him that he had never had 
 the bills whilst I had been Chancellor, and that I did not 
 know that he had ever had the bills. He said during a 
 part of his reign he had always had them, until Lord 
 Thurlow had ceased to bring them ; and the expression 
 his Majesty used was, Lord Thurlow said it was nonsense 
 his giving himself the trouble to read them." 3 
 
 Lord Eldon, as well as the physicians, made the com- 
 
 1 Stockdale's Parliamentary Register, 1811, i. 
 
 2 Twiss, i. 356. 3 idem, i. 226.
 
 468 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 mon mistake of confounding the power to understand the 
 exact terms of a transaction with that of perceiving all 
 its relations and consequences. Such a mistake, natural 
 enough as it might have been to him, could hardly have 
 been expected from the physicians, especially under cir- 
 cumstances so peculiar and important. It would be con- 
 sidered a bold assertion, that a person, regarded by his 
 family and physicians as insane, was perfectly competent 
 to make a contract or execute a will ; but to declare that 
 the King, who by their own admission was more or less 
 insane, was nevertheless competent to exercise the most 
 important functions of his office, was, to say the least of 
 it, to assume a tremendous responsibility. But they 
 knew very well the wishes of the court on the subject ; 
 and it could hardly have been expected of court physi- 
 cians that they would be over scrupulous on such an 
 occasion, especially as they were aware, no doubt, that 
 the measures in question were proper enough in them- 
 selves, and the royal assent was merely a matter of form. 
 This unquestionably was the real ground on which 
 Eldon acted, though it did not furnish the kind of de- 
 fence exactly which he was disposed to set up. The 
 nation was at war ; a change of ministry was in prog- 
 ress, both in 1801 and 1804 ; a project of a regency 
 would have distracted the national councils and impaired 
 the national vigor ; and the disease, scarcely severe 
 at any time, seemed likely to be of very short dura- 
 tion. A man much less devoted to political ends than 
 Eldon might, under such circumstances, have considered 
 it perfectly justifiable to avoid the real evils of a regency 
 question by allowing one more theoretical than prac- 
 tical, and followed by salutary consequences. In fact, 
 the same thing was done by Lord Loughborough, who 
 went to his Majesty on the 24th of February, 1801, —
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 469 
 
 AddiDgton having declined the service, — and obtained 
 his signature to a commission for giving the royal assent 
 to the Brown Bread Bill, 1 the bill being actually taken 
 to the King by Dr. Willis, and signed in his presence 
 only.* 
 
 There was another charge against Lord Eldon, which 
 cannot be so easily parried. It was insinuated by Earl 
 Grey, in the debate already alluded to, that he used the 
 facilities of his position to prevent a junction between 
 Fox and Pitt in 1804; and it appears, from his own 
 papers, that he used similar means to accomplish the 
 removal of Addington, his own colleague, and bring in 
 Pitt. These might have been precisely the arrange- 
 ments which the King would have favored, had his mind 
 been perfectly sound ; but no man could have promoted 
 them as Eldon did, without forfeiting every claim to up- 
 right and honorable conduct. 3 
 
 About the 25th of October, 1810, the King was again, 
 and for the last time, smitten by mental disease, conse- 
 quent, it was generally supposed, upon the fatal illness 
 of a favorite daughter, the Princess Amelia. It was 
 first indicated by unusual hurry and restlessness of man- 
 ner, by indiscreet talking, addressing unseemly language 
 to the Princesses, giving away valuable articles, such 
 as gems, and turning away his servants capriciously. 4 
 
 1 Life of Lord Sidmouth, i. 302. 2 Rose, i. 311. 
 
 3 True, Eldon pronounced the charge that he had taken advantage of 
 the King's weakness to prejudice him against Mr. Fox to be a direct false- 
 hood. His biographer candidly remarks, that "this denial must not be 
 extended beyond the charge it was meant to meet, of having taken ad- 
 vantage of the King's weak state to excite a prejudice against Fox in the 
 royal mind," — meaning, probably, that, as he did not believe the King 
 to be incompetent, he might safely deny that he took any advantage of 
 his weakness. (Twiss, i. 356.) 
 
 4 Rose, ii. 248.
 
 470 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIED. 
 
 Within a few days he was in a state of extreme ex- 
 citement, attended by high fever and great loss of sleep. 
 During the first six or eight months, the disorder was 
 characterized by paroxysms of this kind, alternating 
 with intervals when he was free from fever, calm, and 
 quite rational in his conversation. At times he was ex- 
 tremely violent ; and on one occasion, 7th of November, 
 1810, they were obliged to close the doors and windows, 
 and finally the apothecary of St. Luke's came over with 
 some of his attendants and applied restraint. 1 Four 
 days after, he came to himself, asked how long he had 
 been confined, and when told, he said he had no recol- 
 lection of the time, and that this was the fourth blank in 
 his life. 2 Up to the 17th of this month, he continued 
 to improve ; but on that day he undertook the task of 
 dismissing and remunerating all the persons employed 
 in the Princess Amelia's establishment, — a task in 
 which he puzzled himself at last, and which he was 
 obliged to leave unfinished. 3 This was followed by a 
 paroxysm of excitement, which, however, soon subsided, 
 for on the 4th and 5th of December he is said to be 
 " surprisingly well." On the 6th he became excited, 4 but 
 towards the middle of the month he began again to im- 
 prove, and on the 17th of January he walked out on the 
 terrace, for the first time. 5 On the 26th, Eldon and Per- 
 ceval spent an hour and twenty minutes with him, con- 
 versing on private and domestic affairs. Referring to 
 this interview, the former said : " He is not well, and I 
 fear he requires time. In the midst of this state, it is 
 impossible to conceive how right, how pious, how relig- 
 ious, how everything that he should be, he is, with the 
 
 1 Colchester, ii. 288. 2 Rose, ii. 445. 
 
 3 Colchester, ii. 291. 4 idem, ii. 288. 
 
 5 Idem, ii. 308.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIRD. 471 
 
 distressing aberrations I allude to." 1 Perceval met him 
 again three days afterwards, and it was said that " for 
 the first half hour of their conversation nobody would 
 have supposed from the King's manner that he had been 
 indisposed at all." 2 When in a passion, it appears that 
 he spoke in Latin, as was the case in a former attack. 
 
 From this time forth till July, there occurred no 
 marked change for better or worse in his Majesty's dis- 
 order. He was more or less excited, and entertained 
 various delusions ; but he was fond of conversing on pub- 
 lic and domestic affairs, and it was supposed that what 
 he heard did not tend to hasten convalescence. He 
 became impatient of restraint and importunate to be 
 restored to his royal state. He had fixed on May as the 
 period for resuming the royal functions, but before that 
 time came he insisted on immediate resumption. 3 The 
 Queen, in a note to Lord Eldon, soliciting the attendance 
 of one of the council at Windsor, at least once a week, 
 says: " The King is constantly asking if not one of the 
 council is coming to receive the reportof the physicians, 
 and seems to feel that putting it off procrastinates his re- 
 covery, as his Majesty {she is sorry to say) thinks himself 
 too near that period." * Lord Ellenborough, under date of 
 April 3d, speaks of the King's " delusions and irregulari- 
 ties and extravagances of plans and projects of which 
 we hear daily." 5 On the 25th of May, the Duke of York 
 had an interview with him, in which his mental condition 
 was pretty fairly exhibited. " He appeared at first very 
 much affected at seeing me, and expressed himself in the 
 kindest and most affectionate manner upon my reap- 
 pointment to the chief command of the army, but soon 
 
 i Twiss, i. 359. 2 Colchester, ii. 314. 
 
 3 Buckingham, Memoirs of the Court of England, i. 57. 
 * Twiss, i. 363. 5 Idem, i. 363.
 
 472 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 flew off from that subject, and then ran on, in perfect 
 good humor, but Avith the greatest rapidity, and with 
 little or no connection, upon the most trifling topics, at 
 times hinting at some of the subjects of his delusion, in 
 spite of all our endeavors to change the conversation." 1 
 Dr. Robert Willis, one of the King's physicians, ex- 
 pressed to the Duke his alarm at this " frivolity, or 
 rather imbecility of mind.' 7 
 
 Occasionally during this spring, he was quite con- 
 scious of his condition, and once, at least, manifested this 
 consciousness in a curious manner. Francis Horner, in 
 a letter to his father, mentions that at a concert of 
 ancient music the King himself made the selection. 
 " This," he says, " consisted of all the finest passages to 
 be found in Handel, descriptive of madness and blind- 
 ness : particularly those in the opera of Samson ; there 
 was one also upon madness from love, and the lamen- 
 tation of Jephtha upon the loss of his daughter, and it 
 closed with ' God save the King,' to make sure the ap- 
 plication of all that went before." 2 
 
 About the middle of July, 1811, the disease took an 
 unfavorable turn, and from that time forth only the worst 
 event was expected. In October, his bodily health had 
 considerably declined, and at times he became more 
 violent than ever. In November his reasoning faculties 
 " were quite gone," writes Lord Colchester in his diary. 
 From those who, in one way or another, were con- 
 nected with the court, we learn something respecting 
 the King's delusions. Once, in January, he refused food, 
 apprehending that they wanted to poison him. 3 One 
 very persistent notion was, that he was married to Lady 
 
 i Twiss, i. 363. 
 
 2 Memoirs and Correspondence, ii. 70. 
 
 3 Colchester, ii. 356.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIED. 473 
 
 Pembroke, with whom he was enamoured before his 
 actual marriage. " They refuse to let me go to Lady 
 Pembroke/' he complained to one of his sons, " though 
 everybody knows I am married to her; but what is worst 
 of ail is, that infamous scoundrel, Halford (Sir Henry), 
 was by at the marriage and now has the effrontery to 
 deny it to my face." x Another of his notions was that 
 all marriages were dissolved by act of Parliament. He 
 thought he was Elector of Hanover, and was much exer- 
 cised as to what was to be done about Hanover. 2 In 
 July he sometimes talked as if he were conversing with 
 persons long since dead, such as PercevaPs father, or 
 some old Hanoverian minister ; and sometimes also, con- 
 cerning himself, as an antediluvian to be shut up in 
 Noah's ark. The last notion was expressed during one 
 of his former attacks. 3 Another strange fancy is men- 
 tioned by Lord Eldon. " It was agreed," he says, " that 
 if any strong feature of the King's malady appeared dur- 
 ing the presence of the council, Sir Henry Halford 
 should, on receiving a signal from me, endeavor to recall 
 him from his aberrations ; and accordingly, when his 
 Majesty appeared to be addressing himself to two of the 
 persons whom he most favored in his early life, long 
 dead, Sir Henry observed, ' Your Majesty has, I believe, 
 
 forgotten that that and both died many years ago.' 
 
 1 True,' was the reply, l died to you and to the world in 
 general, but not to me. You, Sir Henry, are forgetting 
 that I have the power of holding intercourse with those 
 whom you call dead. Yes, Sir Henry,' continued he, 
 assuming a lighter manner, ' it is in vain, so far as I am 
 concerned, that you kill your patients. Yes, Dr. Baillie, 
 — but, Baillie, Baillie,' pursued he with resumed grav- 
 
 1 Buckingham, i. 50. 2 Colchester, ii. 303. 
 
 3 Idem, ii. 343.
 
 474 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIED. 
 
 ity, ' I don't know. He is an anatomist : he dissects his 
 patients ; and then it would not be a resuscitation merely, 
 but a re-creation, and that, I think, is beyond my 
 power.' " 1 The Princess Amelia he imagined to be still 
 alive and residing in Germany, where she would never 
 grow old ; and he urged one of his physicians who had 
 lost his wife to believe that she had met a similar fate. 2 
 At a later period (1813), he believed he was surrounded 
 by angels, w T ith whom he conversed. 3 
 
 In this attack, the physicians first employed were 
 Heberden, Baillie, and Halford : Reynolds and Robert 
 Darling Willis were added to the medical staff in the 
 early part of November. In the course of a fortnight, 
 Simmons was called in ; but as the family were unwilling 
 to comply with his wishes in regard to the management, 
 he did not attend. 4 These physicians were all examined 
 by a committee of the Commons on the 14th of Decem- 
 ber, and by a committee of the Lords about the same 
 time. The questions propounded were precisely the 
 same as those of 1788 ; and the replies were of a very 
 similar character. They all concurred in the opinion 
 that the disease would ultimately yield, but no one un- 
 dertook to set limits to its duration. The same reasons, 
 too, were also given for this favorable prognosis, — the 
 patient's previous good habits and firm health, the sud- 
 denness of the attack, and the general curability of the 
 disease. To the question, whether his Majesty's age, 
 then seventy-two years, was not an unfavorable circum- 
 stance, the unanimous answer was, that, as a general 
 rule, extreme age was an unfavorable circumstance, in 
 
 1 Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors, Art. Eldon. 
 
 2 Autobiography of Cornelia Knight, i. 179. 
 
 3 Madame D'Arblay's Memoirs (Letter in 1811). 
 
 4 Rose, ii. 453.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 475 
 
 mental as well as other disease ; but, in the present 
 case, it would probably have little influence upon the 
 result, because the King had borne his ago remarkably- 
 well, and the attack had originated in circumstances 
 independent of any bodily indisposition. To the ques- 
 tion, whether the King's very defective sight — for he 
 had become almost, and soon after, entirely blind — 
 might not operate unfavorably, the reply was, substan- 
 tially, that, in the early stages of the disorder, it would 
 be more likely to have a beneficial effect than otherwise, 
 by keeping from him many sources of irritation ; while, 
 in the later stages, it might, by diminishing his means 
 and opportunities of occupation, retard his recovery. 
 To the question, whether the fact of his having had so 
 many previous attacks was not an unfavorable circum- 
 stance, Reynolds and Baillie replied — to them only was 
 the question put — that his having recovered from so 
 many previous attacks furnished strong grounds for 
 expecting recovery again. Baillie, however, qualified 
 his opinion by the suggestion that the susceptibility to 
 disease might be increased by its frequent recurrence, 
 and thus prove an obstacle to recovery. 
 
 In regard to the form of disease, Willis and Heberden 
 set up some distinctions between delirium and insanity 
 that seem more fanciful than real under the light of our 
 better knowledge of the disease. The former said the 
 King's disorder- was more allied to delirium than in- 
 sanity. " Taking these two points as extreme points," 
 he said, " derangement will lie somewhere betwixt them. 
 The derangement which is the object of this inquiry I 
 consider as partaking of delirium, but never of insan- 
 ity." Heberden said : " It is not merely the delirium of 
 fever, nor is it any common case of insanity. It is de- 
 rangement attended with more or less fever, and liable
 
 476 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 to accessions and remissions." They sought no doubt to 
 give the impression that it was simply a case of delir- 
 ious wandering produced by bodily disturbance, which 
 would readily pass away with the condition on which it 
 depended. It is impossible to see any ground for this 
 opinion. This attack closely resembled the others. It 
 was manifested by hurry, restlessness, caprices, indis- 
 cretions, violence, and delusions. In one word, it pre- 
 sented all the characters of ordinary acute mania. It 
 should be remarked, however, in this connection, that 
 some of the writers on insanity of that period divided 
 what we call mania into two classes, — viz., derangement 
 of mind and insanity. The first would now be called 
 acute mania, or acute delirious mania, and the other 
 chronic mania. This no doubt led to Heberden's dis- 
 tinction, though it certainly was not well made in the 
 case of the King. 1 
 
 Dr. Simmons and Dr. John Willis, who had both 
 attended the King in former attacks, had not been 
 employed in this, the Queen fearing it might awaken 
 disagreeable emotions. In fact, she had promised him 
 that neither of them should have charge of him again. 2 
 A year having passed and brought no improvement, 
 Simmons and Munroe, physician of Bethlehem, were 
 joined to the medical corps on the 9th of October. 
 
 Towards the middle of January, 1812, the physicians 
 were again examined by committees of the Lords and of 
 the Commons. From this examination we gather that 
 during the months of April, May, and June, the King 
 was apparently improving. About the middle of July 
 he became much worse, the disease being attended by 
 
 1 The Report may be found in Stockdale's Parliamentary Register, 
 1810, and Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, first series, v., xix. 
 
 2 liuek gham, i. 133.
 
 INSANITY OF KING GEOEGE THE THIED. 477 
 
 increased excitement and stronger delusions. His sight 
 and hearing were quite gone, but the other senses were 
 as acute as ever. He retained a consciousness of his 
 regal state; and during the latter part of the year, when 
 there seemed to be a little improvement, he bore his 
 part in conversation very correctly for a few minutes, 
 and related anecdotes of the past. The physicians were 
 all as confident in the opinion that his recovery, though 
 not hopeless, was highly improbable, as they were the year 
 before in the opinion that he would recover. This change 
 in their prognosis they attributed chiefly to the change 
 in the phasis of the disorder, which occurred in July. 1 
 
 The very confident expectation of recovery expressed 
 by the physicians during the first few months was hardly 
 warranted either by the circumstances of the case or the 
 nature of insanity. He must be a bold man who would 
 predict recovery in any case as strongly as it was pre- 
 dicted here of this old man, whose nervous system had 
 been already tried by repeated attacks of mental disease. 
 Physicians who have but a casual acquaintance with in- 
 sanity are apt to be more sanguine in their prognosis 
 than those who have been specially conversant with the 
 disease. The latter are so accustomed to see the most 
 favorable indications during the early stage followed 
 by renewed excitement and unalterable derangement, 
 that the) 7 learn to distrust the permanence of any im- 
 provement at that period. 
 
 There are many points in regard to the delusions, 
 management, and medical treatment, of great interest to 
 the professional reader, not touched upon at all in the 
 examinations of the physicians. From other sources we 
 learn that restraint was applied to the person, and this 
 probably is what is meant by some obscure allusions in 
 
 1 Hansard, xxi. 73.
 
 478 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 the examination to a change of management. The fact 
 is not calculated to strengthen the doctrine of absolute 
 non-restraint, which is now put forth as the sign and 
 seal of a signal advance in the treatment of the insane. 
 Plenty of attendants and careful supervision are all that 
 is needed, we are told, to enable us to dispense entirely 
 with restraint. It cannot be supposed that any such 
 means were lacking in the case of a monarch on whose 
 realms the sun never set. Starting, as the family and 
 the physicians did, with the determination not to employ 
 restraint if it could be possibly avoided, 1 the event 
 showed that leather and canvas were found at last to be 
 preferable to the hands and arms of attendants. 
 
 The examination of the physicians discloses nothing 
 respecting the medical treatment. From other sources 
 we learn that, objecting to be bled, he was leeched, which 
 led Sir Everard Home to say, in the spirit of a pathology 
 rather prevalent at that time, that he would have bled 
 him till he fainted. 2 
 
 The annoyance produced by the visit of so many phy- 
 sicians together, and which was so much complained of 
 by Willis in the illness of 1788, was so obvious, that it 
 was concluded to be best for the physicians to see him 
 singly. 3 
 
 Bulletins, necessarily general and vague, were issued 
 twice a day in the earliest stage of the attack, as well 
 as private advice for the eyes of the court and cabinet. 
 These two sources of information were not always cal- 
 culated to convey the same impression, and occasionally 
 there was a remarkable discrepancy between their re- 
 spective statements. How untrustworthy the bulletins 
 were, the public learned from the examination of the 
 
 i Colchester, ii. 282. 2 Rose, ii. 458. 
 
 3 Colchester, ii. 292.
 
 INSANITY OF KEVG GEORGE THE THIRD. 479 
 
 physicians, by which it appeared that for a day or two 
 at one time, in the attack of 1801, the King was supposed 
 to be so very dangerously ill, " that the physicians were 
 in great despondency and alarm," while the bulletins 
 represented his condition as very favorable. 1 The fact 
 was noticed in Parliament and drew out some severe 
 rebukes. 
 
 The examination was chiefly directed, not so much to 
 the present condition of the King as to the attacks of 
 1801 and 1804, several of the physicians having attended 
 him at one or both those periods, and to some interviews 
 between the King and his ministers. It showed the usual 
 amount of intrigue and cabal on the part of the King's 
 friends, with subserviency to the predominant party and 
 disregard of each other on the part of the physicians. 
 As in the illness of 1788, the policy of the Tories was 
 to stave off the regency by representing the attack as 
 speedily curable, while the Whigs were equally strenu- 
 ous in precipitating this measure. But the result ap- 
 peared so doubtful, and the exigencies of the country 
 were so pressing, that it could not long be evaded ; and 
 accordingly the Prince of Wales was made Regent in 
 February, 1811, — an event which enabled the Whig 
 party, as is well known to all who are acquainted with 
 the history of that period, to verify the scriptural decla- 
 rations respecting the faithlessness of princes. 
 
 The following account of the King's condition subse- 
 quent to 1812 is given by an anonymous writer, but no 
 authority is mentioned for the statements it contains, 
 and I have been unable to verify them. 
 
 " At intervals he still took a lively interest in politics. 
 His perception was good, though mixed up with a num- 
 ber of erroneous ideas ; his memory was tenacious, but 
 
 1 Rose, i. 325.
 
 480 INSANITY OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD. 
 
 his judgment unsettled ; and the loss of royal authority 
 seemed constantly to prey upon his mind. His malady 
 seemed rather to increase than abate up to the year 
 1814, when at the time the allied sovereigns arrived in 
 England he evinced indications of returning reason, and 
 was made acquainted with the astonishing events which 
 had recently occurred. The Queen one day found the 
 afflicted monarch engaged in singing a hymn and ac- 
 companying himself on the harpsichord. After he had 
 concluded the hymn, he knelt down, prayed for his family 
 and the nation, and earnestly supplicated for the com- 
 plete restoration of his mental powers. He then burst 
 into tears, and his reason suddenly left him. But he 
 afterwards had occasionally lucid moments. One morn- 
 ing, hearing a bell toll, he asked who was dead. ' Please 
 your Majesty,' said an attendant, ' Mrs. S.' ' Mrs. S.,' 
 rejoined the King, ' she was a linen-draper at the corner 
 
 of street, and brought up her family in the fear of 
 
 Gocl. She has gone to heaven : I hope I shall soon fol- 
 low her.' He now became deaf, imbibed the idea that 
 he was dead, and said, ' I must have a suit of black, in 
 memory of George the Third, for whom I know there is 
 a general mourning.' In 1817 he appeared to have a 
 faint glimmering of reason again. His sense of hearing 
 returned more acute than ever, and he could distinguish 
 persons by their footsteps. He likewise recollected that 
 he had made a memorandum many years before, and it 
 was found exactly where he indicated. After 1818 he 
 occupied a long suite of rooms, in which were placed 
 several pianos and harpsichords. At these he would 
 frequently stop during his walk, play a few notes from 
 Handel, and then stroll on. He seemed cheerful, and 
 would sometimes talk aloud, as if addressing some noble- 
 man ; but his discourse bore reference only to past
 
 INSANITY OF KIXG GEORGE THE THIRD. 481 
 
 events; for he had no knowledge of recent circum- 
 stances, either political or domestic. Towards the end 
 of 1819 his appetite began to fail. In January, 1820, it 
 was found impossible to keep him warm ; his remaining 
 teeth dropped out, and he was almost reduced to a skel- 
 eton. On the 27th he was confined wholly to his bed, 
 and on the 29th of January, 1820, he died, aged eighty- 
 two years." l 
 
 1 Georgian Era, i. 
 
 It is a curious coincidence that this monarch, who suffered so much from 
 mental disease, should have been pursued, as if by a kind of fatality, by 
 insane people. In 1786, an old woman (Margaret Nicholson) attempted 
 to stab him as he was alighting from his carriage ; in 1790, a lieutenant 
 of the army (John Frith) threw a stone at him through the window of 
 the carriage in which he was riding; and in 1800, a soldier (James Had- 
 field) shot at him with a pistol in the theatre. Miss Burney says that, 
 during his illness in 1788, they were often annoyed by insane persons, 
 who contrived to elude the restrictions of the palace and to roam over 
 the grounds. The persons who committed the first two assaults were so 
 obviously insane that, without any further action, the Privy Council sent 
 them to Bethlehem Hospital. Hadfield was brought to trial, and, it being 
 on an action of treason, his counsel was allowed to speak in his defence ; 
 for until quite recently this privilege was never permitted in criminal 
 cases, except those of treason. It was on this occasion that Erskine 
 made his great forensic effort, and obtained the acquittal of his client. 
 
 31
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S DELINEATIONS OF 
 INSANITY. 
 
 [It has been the welcome privilege of a comparatively recent 
 period to recognize the extraordinary merit of Shakespeare's repre- 
 sentations of insanity. To the critics and literary men of an earlier 
 time, the phenomena of this disease were as little known as the 
 modern theories of heat or electricity. Dr. Johnson could see in the 
 madness of Hamlet only a provocative of mirth ; and even Coleridge, 
 profoundly as he discoursed on the various springs and forms of 
 human thought, regarded it as a clever sham, used for the purpose 
 of concealing a real design. And so, for many years, one of the 
 most remarkable manifestations of Shakespeare's genius was but 
 slightly appreciated by his most intelligent admirers. 
 
 The revolution in the management of the insane, that occurred 
 towards the end of the last century, produced among its legitimate 
 effects a better knowledge of insanity, that became visible in works 
 of literature as well as in the current opinions of society. Previously 
 to the publication of the following paper, the " mad folk " of Shake- 
 speare had been but little regarded from a pathological point of view. 
 In a series of papers in the "London Magazine," in 1824, by Mr. 
 William Farren, then an actor on the English stage, they were, for 
 the first time, severally discussed in a manner that evinced, for an 
 unprofessional man, a very accurate perception of the workings of 
 the disordered mind. The insanity of Hamlet he regarded as real, 
 not feigned, and though treating it like a critical observer of men, 
 rather than as a student of disease, it cannot be denied that his view 
 was strongly sustained. In 1859, Dr. Bucknill, now one of the 
 English Chancery Visitors in Lunacy, published a volume, entitled 
 "The Psychology of Shakespeare," consisting of an elaborate criti-
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 483 
 
 cisni on the insane characters. He brought to his task a practical 
 knowledge of insanity obtained while in charge of a large hospital 
 for the insane, and much of that philosophical sagacity that detects 
 the springs of human conduct. It is a valuable contribution to 
 Shakesperian literature, and every true admirer of the great poet 
 will be grateful for the light it throws on the characters in which 
 mental disease was a controlling element. A similar attempt in the 
 same direction, and not unworthy to be named in connection with it, 
 was subsequently made by our countryman, Dr. Kellogg, Assistant 
 Physician in the State Hospital for the Insane at Poughkeepsie, and 
 the intelligent reader of Shakespeare will be well rewarded by a care- 
 ful study of its contents. Preeminent above all other works of this 
 description is a little volume from the pen of the late Dr. Conolly, of 
 England, entitled "Hamlet/ 1 in which he proves that the insanity 
 of the Prince is not feigned, but genuine, by tracing its manifesta- 
 tions from one period to another, and showing that every step in the 
 progress of the affection represents the ordinary course of the disease, 
 and is so true to nature as to banish the idea of simulation. Hamlet's 
 insanity, he thinks, does not consist of a few freaks ingeniously as- 
 sumed for purposes of deception, but is a regular case of mental 
 disease whose manifestations are all in accordance with the laws of 
 mental pathology and the normal constitution of the patient's mind. 
 And so clearly and forcibly is this idea developed, that the author's 
 conclusion seems to be as irresistible as that of a mathematical demon- 
 stration. But, whether convinced or not, the reader willingly yields 
 to the charm of a work clothed in the graces of a finished style sel- 
 dom surpassed in purity and elegance.] 
 
 It is a curious fact that metaphysicians, whose special 
 province it is to observe and analyze the mental phe- 
 nomena, have shown much less knowledge of mind as 
 affected by disease, than writers of poetry and romance 
 whose ideas are supposed to be the offspring of imagi- 
 nation, rather than a sober observation of facts. No one 
 would look into Locke, Kant, or Stewart, to find any 
 light on insanity ; but in the pages of Shakespeare and 
 Scott are delineations of this disorder that may be 
 ranked with the highest triumphs of their masterly
 
 484 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 genius. The cause of this difference is obvious. The 
 one looks at mind in the abstract ; the other, in the con- 
 crete. The former seeks for its laws and modes of 
 operation exclusively in the inmost recesses of his own 
 being. The latter is more curious to observe the work- 
 ings of minds around him, and none of them are deemed 
 to be unworthy of attention, even though controlled by 
 the influence of disease. 
 
 To represent a character whose mind has been blasted 
 by the touch of disease, but still retains the semblance 
 of its former integrity as well as its power to awaken 
 our interest and sympathy, has not unfrequently been 
 attempted, but seldom so successfully as to satisfy those 
 who are professionally acquainted with the subject. 
 That knowledge of insanity which is obtained by special 
 study of its phenomena in the wards of a hospital is 
 confined to medical men, and is used for scientific rather 
 than literary purposes. The opportunities afforded to 
 the poet and novelist for studying this disease are con- 
 fined to the few patients that meet their observation in 
 the ordinary walks of life, and most of whom possess an 
 order of intellect not particularly interesting in its best 
 estate. With the aid only of materials thus furnished, 
 to construct a character which, with all its aberrations, 
 shall still manifest, in a certain degree, its natural con- 
 sistency and congruity, the insane bearing the impress 
 of the sane, and each in harmony with the other, — like 
 the needle retaining its polarity amid all its variations, 
 — this is the work of the master mind. 
 
 Such a mind was Shakespeare's ; and it is because he 
 clearly perceived at a glance those numberless shades of 
 distinction which entirely escape the notice of ordinary 
 observers, that his characters, whether sane or insane, 
 are neither personified abstractions of specific qualities,
 
 Shakespeare's delineations oe insanity. 485 
 
 marked by a name and assigned a part in the play, nor 
 servile copies from life which have lost their interest 
 under the process of transference, but real, mortal men 
 who live and act before us, and lose their senses it may 
 be, and whose names live after them in the memory of 
 men. His success in this difficult line is to be attributed 
 to that distinguishing faculty of his mind, of deducing 
 with wonderful correctness general principles of charac- 
 ter from the narrowest possible range of observation. 
 And yet he had peculiar difficulties to overcome. He 
 had not only to divest himself of the popular misconcep- 
 tions of insanity, which regard it as a jumble of intel- 
 lectual manifestations acknowledging no principle of 
 cohesion or concatenation, but his opportunities for 
 observing the insane were scanty and imperfect. No 
 friendly asylum furnished subjects for study whose men- 
 tal endowments were worthy of his study ; and such as 
 he occasionally met by the roadside, or beheld through 
 the bars of their prison-house, were for the most part, 
 it is probable, too far degraded by neglect and unkind- 
 ness, to be available for any poetical purpose. It is not 
 to be supposed, however, that he. was guided solely by 
 intuition. He unquestionably did observe the insane, 
 but he observed them as the great comparative anato- 
 mist of our age observed the remains of extinct species 
 of animals, — from one of the smallest bones recon- 
 structing the whole skeleton of the creature, reinvest- 
 ing it with flesh and blood, and divining its manners and 
 habits. By a similar kind of sagacity, Shakespeare, from 
 a single trait of mental disease that he did observe, was 
 enabled to infer the existence of many others that he did 
 not observe, and from this profound insight into the law 
 of psychological relations he derived the light that special 
 observation had failed to supply. Thus, in spite of all
 
 486 SHAKESPEARE'S DELINEATIONS OF INSANITY. 
 
 the obstacles in his way, he succeeded, to a degree that 
 has seldom been equalled, in representing insanity, both 
 in the form of maniacal wildness and disorder, and in 
 that of extreme depression and gloom. Its progress 
 through its various stages, from the first scarcely per- 
 ceptible deviation from the soundness of health to its 
 termination in recovery or death, is traced with that 
 thorough fidelity to nature so characteristic of all his 
 conceptions. 
 
 In the tragedy of King Lear, Shakespeare has repre- 
 sented the principal character as driven to madness by 
 the unexpected ingratitude of his daughters ; or, more 
 scientifically speaking, he has represented a strong pre- 
 disposition to the disease as being rapidly developed 
 under the application of an adequate exciting cause. It 
 is no part of his object to excite curiosity by a liberal 
 display of wildness and fury, nor awaken our pity by 
 the spectacle of a mind in ruins, and unconscious of its 
 wretchedness. He aimed at dramatic effect by opening 
 the fountains of sympathy for a being of noble nature 
 and generous impulses cruelly despoiled of the highest 
 endowment of man, but not so far as to lose all trace of 
 his original qualities, or cease for a moment to command 
 our deepest respect. In Lear, we have a man of a hot 
 and hasty temper, of strong and generous passions, of 
 a credulous and confiding disposition, governed by im- 
 pulses rather than deliberate judgment, rendered impa- 
 tient of restraint or contradiction by the habit of command, 
 with a nervous temperament strongly susceptible to the 
 vexations of life, and, moreover, with all these moral in- 
 firmities aggravated by old age. With these simple ele- 
 ments of character is mingled and assimilated more or 
 less of mental derangement, with equal regard to patho- 
 logical propriety and dramatic effect. And so nicely
 
 shakespe abe's delineations of insanity. 487 
 
 adjusted are the various elements of sanity and insan- 
 ity, and so admirably do they support and illustrate one 
 another, that we are not surprised in the progress of the 
 action by violent contrasts ; and we feel at last as if it 
 were the most natural thing in the world that Lear 
 should go mad, and precisely in the way represented by 
 the poet. Mad as he becomes, the prominent attributes 
 of his character are always to be seen. Through the 
 whole play, he is the same generous, confiding, noble- 
 hearted Lear. In short, assuming Lear to be an histor- 
 ical portrait instead of a poetical creation, we should 
 say there existed in his case a strong predisposition to 
 insanity, and that if it had not been developed by the 
 approach of old age, or the conduct of his daughters, it 
 probably would have been by something else. His incon- 
 siderate rashness in distributing his kingdom among his 
 children, his disinheriting the youngest for the fearless 
 expression of her feelings, and his banishment of Kent 
 for endeavoring to recall him to a sense of his folly, — 
 all indicate an ill-balanced mind, if not the actual inva- 
 sion of disease. This view of the case is confirmed by 
 the conversation between the sisters, immediately after 
 the division of the kingdom. Goneril says : " You see 
 how full of changes his age is ; the observation we have 
 made of it hath not been little. He always loved our 
 sister most ; and with what poor judgment he hath now 
 cast her off, appears too grossly." " 'Tis the infirmity 
 of his age," replies Regan, " yet he hath ever but slen- 
 derly known himself." " The best and soundest of his 
 time," continues Goneril, " hath been but rash ; then 
 must we look to receive from his age, not alone the 
 imperfections of long engrafted condition, but, there- 
 withal, the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric 
 years bring with them." Regan then adds: " Such in-
 
 488 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 constant starts are we like to have from him, as this of 
 Kent's banishment. 77 With a knowledge of insanity that 
 could hardly have been expected from any but a profes- 
 sional observer, Shakespeare has here and elsewhere 
 recognized the fact that very many of those who become 
 insane are previously distinguished by some of those 
 mental irregularities that pass under the name of oddity 
 or eccentricity. 
 
 The next thing we hear of Lear is his beating one 
 of GoneriPs gentlemen. Her remarks on learning the 
 fact show that his mental condition has not been im- 
 proving since his abdication, and prepare us for the 
 mournful sequel. 
 
 "By day and night he wrongs me ; every hour 
 He flashes into one gross crime or other, 
 That sets us all at odds. I'll not endure it ; 
 His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us 
 On every trifle." 
 
 The development of the early stage of Lear 7 s insan- 
 ity, or its incubation as it is technically called, is man- 
 aged with masterly skill, the more surprising as it is 
 that stage of the disease which attracts the least atten- 
 tion. And the reason is that the derangement is evinced 
 not so much by delusions or gross improprieties of con- 
 duct, as by a mere exaggeration of natural peculiarities, 
 by inconsistencies of behavior, by certain acts for which 
 very plausible reasons are assigned though they would 
 never have been performed in a perfectly sound state of 
 mind, by gusts of passion at every trifling provocation, 
 or by doing very proper things at unseasonable times 
 and occasions. With his own free will and accord he 
 gives away his kingdom, but finds it difficult to sink the 
 monarch in the private citizen. He attaches to his per- 
 son a band of riotous retainers, whose loose and lawless
 
 shakespeake's delineations of insanity. 489 
 
 behavior proves destructive to the peace and good order 
 of his daughter's household. Goneril describes them 
 as 
 
 " A hundred knights and squires ; 
 Men so disordered, so debauched and bold, 
 That this our court, infected with their manners, 
 Shows like a riotous inn." 
 
 Under such an infliction it is not strange that she 
 should remonstrate, and had not the divine light already 
 begun to flicker, he would have acknowledged the jus- 
 tice of the reproof. As it is, however, instead of admit- 
 ting some share of the fault, he attributes the whole of 
 it to her, flies into a passion, pours upon her head the 
 bitterest curses, upbraids her with the vilest ingrati- 
 tude, and forthwith proclaims his wrongs to the public 
 ear. Like most cases of this kind in real life, it would 
 have, to a stranger, the appearance of a family quarrel 
 springing from the ordinary motives of interest or 
 passion, but where, really, the ill regulated conduct 
 resulting from the first influences of disease provokes 
 restrictions more or less necessary and appropriate, that 
 become exciting causes of farther disorder. Another 
 life-like touch is given to the picture, in Lear's attribut- 
 ing all his troubles to filial ingratitude, not being 
 aware, of course, that he was on the high road to insan- 
 ity long before he had any reason to doubt their kind- 
 ness. In fact, nothing is more common than for the 
 patient, when telling his story, to fix upon some event, 
 and especially some act of his friends, as the cause of 
 his troubles, which occurred long subsequently to the 
 real origin of his disorder, and might have had but an 
 accidental connection with it. 
 
 The conduct of the daughters faithfully exhibits the 
 strong tendencies of human nature. No doubt their
 
 490 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 patience was severely tried, — such a trial as only the 
 mildest temper joined with the firmest principle could 
 enable them to stand successfully. Wanting these, how- 
 ever, his irregularities are met with reproaches and re- 
 strictions, instead of kind and conciliating measures ; an 
 explosion follows, and in mutual hate and anger they 
 separate. To their heartless natures such conduct may 
 not have appeared like unmitigated ingratitude towards 
 a father who had loved and cherished them as the very 
 idols of his heart, but to be founded on provocation that 
 seemed to justify their behavior. Such is the ingrati- 
 tude of the world, ever coupled with some shallow 
 pretence of wrong or indignity sustained, and often pre- 
 senting the fair, outside show of a worthier feeling. In 
 the daughters' treatment of their father, Shakespeare 
 strips off the thin disguises of conventional morality, 
 and lays bare that heartless selfishness which is ever 
 ready to sacrifice to momentary ease and gratification 
 the tenderest sympathies of our nature. It is fearful to 
 think how often the case of Lear and his daughters is 
 paralleled in actual life, and it is this very commonness 
 of the fact that prevents us from regarding it as a curious 
 monstrosity fitted to excite but a momentary horror, and 
 which imparts a deep moral interest to the represen- 
 tation of the poet. 
 
 When the astounding fact of GoneriPs baseness is 
 finally made so plain to Lear that he can no longer doubt 
 it, his senses appear to reel under the shock, and for a 
 moment he questions his own identity. " Does any here 
 know me? — Why, this is not Lear; does Lear walk 
 thus ? speak thus ? Where are his eyes ? Either his no- 
 tion weakens or his discernings are lethargied. — Sleep- 
 ing or waking ? — Ha ! sure 'tis not so. — Who is it that 
 can tell me who I am ? "
 
 shakespeabe's delineations of insanity. 491 
 
 The continued objurgations of Goneril, and her bare- 
 faced impudence in proposing a diminution of his train, 
 soon produce a reaction in his mind, and Lear gives 
 vent to his feelings in that blasting curse whose bitter- 
 est ingredient was the wish that she might feel 
 
 " How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is 
 To have a thankless child ! " 
 
 Then bursting into tears of which his noble nature is 
 ashamed, he quits the presence of a child upon whose 
 affection he had reckoned for the support of his declining 
 years, and resolves to go to his other daughter who had 
 shared in his bounties, certain that he would receive 
 from her the hearty welcome and tender regard that had 
 been scornfully refused by her sister. While pondering 
 upon past scenes, he is conscious that his mind has sus- 
 tained a fearful shock ; and, as is often the case in such 
 circumstances, he has a vague presentiment of the sad, 
 fatal result. 
 
 " O, let me not he mad, not mad, sweet Heaven ! 
 Keep me in temper ; I would not be mad ! " 
 
 On arriving at Regan's residence, he finds that she 
 refuses to see him, and that his faithful follower has 
 been placed in the stocks. These things excite his sus- 
 picion that all is not right, and renew the agitation that 
 had been momentarily quieted. Still he is slow to be- 
 lieve what is evident enough to everybody else, and 
 fondly hugs the delusion in which his only hope of hap- 
 piness rests. But when the conviction is forced upon 
 him that Regan even goes beyond her sister in ingrati- 
 tude, he utters a wail of heartfelt wretchedness and 
 lofty indignation, ending with another foreboding of the 
 impending calamity. " 0, fool, I shall go mad/' Driven 
 with contumely and scorn from that shelter in the aflfec-
 
 492 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 tions of his child which he had fondly expected to find, 
 he goes forth at night and braves the pelting of the piti- 
 less storm. The howling of the wind, the roar of thun- 
 der, and the flash of lightning are welcome, for at least 
 they lack the sting of filial ingratitude, and are in 
 mournful accordance with the tumult in his own crushed 
 and bleeding bosom. One dark, overshadowing, all-en- 
 grossing idea — the cruelty of his daughters — is sug- 
 gested by every object, gives a tone to all his reflections, 
 and, like the worm that never dies, is gnawing perpet- 
 ually at his heart. Well might he invoke the fury of 
 the elements upon his head, for the worst they could do 
 would be mercy compared with the torments his own 
 flesh and blood had inflicted. 
 
 " The tempest in my mind 
 Doth from my senses take all feeling else, 
 Save what beats there." 
 
 There is now obviously a degree of incoherence and 
 absurdity in the thoughts that race through his mind, 
 though they are never destitute of that grandeur and 
 boldness of expression indicative of his lofty and noble 
 nature. But the idea of the thunder cracking nature's 
 moulds and destroying the germs of the race, contained 
 in his invocation to the elements, is a little too fanciful 
 for even a figure of poetry. In a similar strain he 
 charges the elements w T ith conspiring with his daughters 
 against his old white head, and soon after imagines that 
 the Gods have raised the storm for the purpose of find- 
 ing out their enemies. This is crazy enough, no doubt ; 
 but his apostrophe to sinners of various kinds, that 
 immediately follows, is both correctly and beautifully 
 expressed. He seems to be fully aware that his thoughts 
 are deviating from the right track, and exclaims that 
 his " wits begin to turn." The predominant idea follows
 
 SHAKESPE ARE'S DELINEATIONS OF INSANITY. 493 
 
 him into the next scene, and ever and anon intrudes 
 upon his reflections, though he always recoils from it 
 with a kind of horror, as if conscious it had the power 
 to deprive him of his reason. " 0, that way madness 
 lies." Unable as the insane are to perceive their own 
 insanity, yet this apprehension of its approach so fre- 
 quently repeated by Lear usually occurs during its 
 incubation. While still able to control his mental mani- 
 festations, the patient is tortured with anticipations of 
 insanity ; but when he actually becomes so insane that 
 the most careless observer perceives the fact, then he 
 entertains the most complacent opinion of his intellect- 
 ual vigor and soundness. And yet this is one of the 
 nicer traits of insanity which the ordinary observer 
 would hardly be supposed to notice. But Shakespeare 
 was no ordinary observer; and this, I imagine, explains 
 the cause of his preeminence in certain parts of his 
 art. 
 
 The appearance of Edgar, who is feigning madness in 
 order to avoid his enemies, again excites Lear's predomi- 
 nant idea, and fixes it permanently in his mind. The 
 former's ragged, wretched, degraded condition, he can 
 attribute to nothing but filial ingratitude, and he pours 
 out curses on Edgar's unnatural daughters. He is no 
 longer able to correct the errors of his own judgment; 
 reason exercises but a feeble control over his conclu- 
 sions, and scarcely a gleam of light struggles through 
 the darkness which envelops his soul. The predomi- 
 nant idea, however, has not yet relinquished its hold, 
 and it still gives direction to his thoughts. The very 
 images of his daughters appear before him in visible 
 forms, glowering upon him with looks of scorn and hate. 
 The idea of placing them on trial enters his mind, and he 
 proceeds to the business with all due forms and solernni-
 
 494 shakespeake's delineations of insanity. 
 
 ties. Edgar, the fool, and Kent are appointed to the 
 bench ; his daughters, in the shape of jointstools, are 
 arraigned before the court ; and Lear appears as witness 
 against them. Then, after a brief interval during which 
 it would seem as if he imagined them to have been con- 
 victed and sentenced, he exclaims with touching pathos, 
 " Let them anatomize Regan, see what breeds about her 
 heart. Is there any cause in nature that makes these 
 hard hearts ? " 
 
 The scene on the heath between Lear, Edgar, and 
 the fool, has not its like, we may safely say, in the whole 
 range of English dramatic literature. No less a genius 
 than Shakespeare's would have ventured to bring to- 
 gether, face to face, three such difficult characters, — 
 one actually mad, one falsely pretending to be so, and 
 the third a fool ; and yet in the successful management 
 of such discordant and intractable materials, he has 
 given a fresh instance of his wonderful skill. Nothing 
 could have seemed more likely to disappoint and dis- 
 please, than to bring the noble-hearted Lear, staggering 
 under the shock of his daughters' ingratitude, with 
 blasted heart and bewildered reason, into such strange 
 companionship ; and yet who can finish this scene, with- 
 out feeling that he has read a new chapter in the history 
 of mental disease, of most solemn and startling import? 
 The sight of another in rags and wretchedness reveals 
 to Lear a deeper depth of agony in his own soul. He 
 sees in the stranger only another victim of filial ingrati- 
 tude, — the counterpart of his own case, — and Edgar's 
 weak and blighted condition forewarns him of his own 
 approaching fate. Its first effect, as we have already 
 observed, is to produce a shower of curses on Edgar's 
 unnatural daughters, and the next to draw him towards 
 his fellow sufferer by that kind of sympathy which, irre-
 
 shakespeake's delegations of insanity. 495 
 
 spective of social condition, is awakened by mutual 
 affliction. In this play of wild and discordant fancies 
 the fool mingles his humors, which fall on the ear like 
 sounds of jollity and mirth ascending from a house of 
 mourning. The successful management of such deep 
 masses of light and shade, whether in poetry or paint- 
 ing, requires the master hand of a Shakespeare or a 
 Rembrandt. 
 
 Thus far the progress of Lear's insanity is represented 
 with the closest fidelity to nature. It is not more differ- 
 ent from the disease as daily observed, than Lear's moral 
 and intellectual constitution, when in health, is different 
 from ordinary men's. At every interview reason seems 
 to have lost somewhat more of its control. The men- 
 tal excitement has been steadily increasing, until now, 
 having reached its height, he goes about singing, danc- 
 ing, and capering through the fields, fantastically deco- 
 rated with weeds and flowers, looking, acting, and talking 
 like a madman. His perceptive organs are deceived by 
 hallucinations ; and his discourse, though tinctured with 
 his natural shrewdness and vigor of thought, is full of 
 incoherence and incongruity. In short he is now what 
 is called raving. In the representation of this condition 
 we have another instance of Shakespeare's unrivalled 
 powers of observation. To ordinary apprehension, the 
 raving of a maniac is but an arbitrary jumble of words 
 and phrases between which no connecting threads can 
 be discerned. But in fact, discordant and heterogeneous 
 as they may appear, they are nevertheless subjected to 
 a certain law of association, difficult as it may be fre- 
 quently to discover it. The phenomenon may thus be 
 physiologically explained. In consequence of the cere- 
 bral excitement, impressions long since made — so long 
 perhaps as to have been forgotten previous to the at-
 
 496 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 tack — are so vividly and distinctly recalled, that they 
 appear to be outward realities. So long as the intellect 
 retains its integrity, it is able to recognize the true 
 nature of this phenomenon ; but, when touched by dis- 
 ease, it ceases to correct the error of perception. The 
 impressions are actually considered to be what they ap- 
 pear, and the patient thinks and discourses about them 
 as such. In his mind's eye he sees sights, and in his 
 mind's ear he hears sounds, imperceptible to others ; and 
 this is the source of much of our difficulty in discovering 
 the object and relevancy of his remarks. Persons and 
 things appear before him in "the greatest variety and 
 confusion ; and past scenes and associations are recalled 
 in all their original freshness, suggesting thoughts to 
 which he alone possesses the clew. The images raised 
 in the mind by this morbid excitement are also rapidly 
 changing, thus giving to the thoughts that phantasma- 
 goric character by which they are so distinguished in 
 mania. They seem to be suggested and associated very 
 much as they are in ordinary dreaming, in which the 
 mind is occupied with impressions previously made, and 
 uncontrolled by that regulating principle necessary to 
 give them logical sequence and cohesion. In sleep the 
 person we are addressing, for instance, unaccountably 
 changes into some other ; the scene in which we are en- 
 gaged suddenly vanishes away, and another appears in 
 its place ; the powers of memory are endowed with an 
 energy seldom witnessed in the waking state ; the rela- 
 tions of space, of time, of place, of form, of color, are 
 sadly embroiled; the living and the dead, the near and 
 remote, wisdom and folly, stand side by side, and no 
 sense of the strange combination is perceived. We may 
 strive perhaps to believe it a dream ; but, with some ex- 
 ceptions, we strive in vain. Precisely so it is in mania
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 497 
 
 which may, with some propriety, be designated as dream- 
 ing with the senses all open, the morbid excitement ren- 
 dering the images unnaturally vivid. 
 
 Another source of our difficulty in discovering the 
 filiation of the maniac's thoughts has been generally 
 overlooked, and the fact strongly shows with how little 
 sagacity the operations of the insane mind have been 
 studied. The maniac, being restrained by no sense of the 
 propriety or fitness of things, expresses every thought 
 that enters his mind, or at any rate is governed by no 
 principle of selection. In the sound mind, on the con- 
 trary, a considerable portion of the thoughts never find 
 utterance in words, being suppressed from their want of 
 connection with one another, or their irrelevancy to the 
 subject in hand. Every one must be aware how often, 
 in the course of ordinary conversation, thoughts start 
 up having the remotest possible connection with any- 
 thing already said, — so remote, indeed, as to defy any 
 one but himself to discover it. Any person who should 
 utter every thought that arose in his mind, in the freest 
 possible conversation, would most certainly be taken for 
 a fool or a maniac. This mental defect is far from being 
 confined to the state of raving. In a greater or less de- 
 gree it occurs in almost every form of insanity. Even 
 those whose delusions are very circumscribed ; who con- 
 duct for the most part with great propriety, and to com- 
 mon observers betray no indication of unsoundness in 
 their conversation, will usually evince it, when very 
 talkative and encouraged to talk without interruption. 
 Their remarks may be correct and even shrewd ; not a 
 single word may be uttered w sounding to folly," while 
 there is a certain peculiarity in the association of their 
 ideas never witnessed in the sound mind. Though not 
 easily described, it is readily recognized by those who 
 
 32
 
 498 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 are conversant with the insane, and to them it is a con- 
 clusive proof of mental disease, though they may be 
 incapable of making the grounds of their conclusions in- 
 telligible to others. Courts and juries are not always 
 disposed to make sufficient allowance for this fact, and 
 regard with suspicion the embarrassment of the medical 
 jurist, who sees that what is to him the strongest proof 
 of insanity is to others no proof at all. Bearing in mind 
 these facts, we readily see how there may always be 
 some method in madness, however wild and furious it 
 may be, — some traces of that delicate thread which, 
 though broken in numerous points, still forms the con- 
 necting link between many groups and patches of 
 thought. It is in consequence of Shakespeare's knowl- 
 edge of this psychological law, that in all his represen- 
 tations of madness, even though characterized by wild- 
 ness and irregularity, we are never at a loss to perceive 
 that the disease is real and not assumed. Not so, how T - 
 ever, with most writers, even of distinguished name, 
 who have undertaken to represent the workings of a dis- 
 eased mind. Unaware of the law in question, and gov- 
 erned by the popular notions on the subject, they seem 
 to have aimed only at unlimited extravagance and inco- 
 herence. Otway, for instance, in " Venice Preserved," 
 represents Belvidera in that state of mental disturbance 
 which results from wounds of the softer affections of the 
 heart. A speech full of those strong and vehement 
 expressions characteristic of deep-felt emotion, but pre- 
 senting no trace of delusion, finishes w T ith the following 
 jargon, which, we venture to say, no insane person would 
 have uttered in such a connection, though it might, very 
 likely, proceed from one simulating the disease, — 
 
 " Murmuring streams, soft shades, and springing flowers, 
 Lutes, laurels, seas of milk, and ships of amber."
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 499 
 
 In the first scene in which Lear makes his appearance 
 after becoming stark mad, his mind is solely occupied 
 with images formed under the influence of the intense 
 excitement of the internal perceptive organs. He at 
 first fancies himself in a battle, and then as engaged in 
 the sports of archery and falconry. Something reminds 
 him of Goneril, and then succeed to one another, by a 
 natural association, the ideas of a white beard, of the 
 flattery of his courtiers, and of the detection of their de- 
 ceptions. When Gloster hears his voice and asks if it 
 be not the King's, Lear replies, " Aye, every inch a 
 king.' 7 Visions of his royal state then pass before his 
 eyes, and he is reminded of the criminals he pardoned 
 and the crimes they committed, and thence, by a natural 
 transition, he is led to some caustic reflections on the 
 frailties of woman. Another remark of Gloster turns 
 his mind to the examples of self-righteousness and self- 
 deception, servility and time-serving, with which the 
 world abounds, and in a strain of bold, indignant sar- 
 casm he lashes the vices to which poor human nature is 
 especially prone. All this is exceedingly natural. It is 
 not uncommon to meet with madmen of the most wild 
 and turbulent description mixing up their utterances 
 with the shrewdest remarks upon men and things, and 
 the keenest and coolest invective against those who have 
 incurred their displeasure. The poet, perhaps, has used 
 the utmost license of his art in the present instance ; but 
 if few madmen have exhibited'so much matter mingled 
 with their impertinency as Lear, it may be replied, in 
 justification, that few men are endowed like Lear with 
 such a union of strong passions and natural shrewdness 
 of understanding. 
 
 Here endeth the madness of Lear. By his youngest 
 daughter he is placed in the charge of a physician whose
 
 \ 
 
 ( 
 
 500 shakespeaee's delineations of insanity. 
 
 medicines throw him into a deep sleep, from which and 
 his madness together he awakes as from a dream. The 
 manner of his recovery displays the poet's consummate 
 skill, that could delineate the most touching and beau- 
 tiful traits while observing the strictest regard to facts. 
 Lear at first knows not where he is, nor where he has 
 been. He scarcely recognizes his own friends, and 
 almost doubts his own identity. 
 
 " Pray, do not mock me, 
 I am a foolish, fond old man, 
 Fourscore and upwards ; and, to deal plainly, 
 I fear I am not in my perfect mind. 
 Methinks I should know you, and know this man ; 
 Yet I am doubtful ; for I am mainly ignorant 
 What place this is ; and all the skill I have 
 Remembers not these garments ; nor I know not 
 Where I did lodge last night." 
 
 A faint idea of recent events now occurs to him, and 
 he says to Cordelia, : — ^ 
 
 / j "Your sisters 
 
 V \ Have, as I do remember, done me wrong." / 
 
 A more faithful picture of the mind, at the moment 
 when it is emerging from the darkness of disease into 
 the clear atmosphere of health restored, was never exe- 
 cuted than this of Lear's recovery. Generally, recovery 
 from acute mania is gradual, one delusion after another 
 giving way, until, after a series of struggles, which may 
 occupy weeks or months, between the convictions of 
 reason and the suggestions of disease, the patient comes 
 out a sound, rational man. In a small proportion of 
 cases, however, this change takes place very rapidly. 
 Within the space of a few hours or a day he recognizes 
 his true condition, abandons his delusions, and contem- 
 plates all his relations in an entirely different light. 
 
 The management of Edgar's simulation strikingly
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 501 
 
 evinces the accuracy and extent of Shakespeare's 
 knowledge of mental pathology. In placing the real 
 and the simulated affection side by side, he has shown 
 a confidence in his own skill which the result has per- 
 fectly justified. In no other way could the fidelity of his 
 delineations have been subjected to so severe an ordeal. 
 We are left in no doubt as to his views of what is and 
 what is not genuine insanity ; and by holding before us 
 an elaborate picture of each, he enables us to compare 
 them together, and to judge of his success for ourselves. 
 In these pictures he has availed himself of no equivocal 
 traits; the touches of his pencil are of that strong and 
 decided character that admits but a single meaning. 
 Not more true to nature is the representation of Lear 
 writhing under the stroke of real insanity, than is that 
 of Edgar playing upon the popular curiosity with such 
 shams and artifices as would most effectually answer the 
 simulator's purpose. The one is an exhibition of char- 
 acter as genuine, and marked by as distinctive traits, as 
 the other ; and Shakespeare would have been as unlikely 
 to confound them, and mistake the one for the other, 
 as to fail to recognize the commonest forms of nature 
 around him. 
 
 Edgar's first design is to personate a Tom o' Bedlam 
 beggar, — one of a class of lunatics who were discharged 
 from Bethlehem Hospital when restored in some measure, 
 that they might subsist upon the charities of the com- 
 munity. Accordingly, he provides himself with their 
 usual dress and appurtenances, repeats their phrases, 
 and imitates their practices for exciting the compassion 
 of the charitable. In his anxiety to produce an impres- 
 sion, he falls into the common mistake of simulators, who 
 overact their part, and thus betray their true character 
 to the practised observer. We could not commit a greater
 
 502 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 error, however, than to regard this fact as a fault of the 
 poet, who displays in it a power of philosophical discrim- 
 ination which, when strongly marked, is indicative of 
 the highest order of genius. The object of the part is 
 to deceive the multitude, not the professional student ; 
 and for this purpose nothing could be better calculated 
 than the gibberish which he utters in his double char- 
 acter of a lunatic beggar and a victim of demoniac pos- 
 session. Had it been Shakespeare's design to represent 
 a case of real demonomania, or of chronic mania, we 
 should unquestionably have had something very differ- 
 ent from the part of Edgar. If the former, we should 
 not have found the patient talking so clearly about his 
 own case, while indulging in unlimited incoherence and 
 rambling about everything else ; and if the latter, we 
 should not have seen a strain of acute moralizing suc- 
 ceeded, more than once, by a trait of mental imbecility. 
 Poetically considered, the feigned madness of Edgar is 
 well calculated, by force of contrast, to deepen the im- 
 pression made by the real madness of Lear. The abject 
 condition of the former excites our pity, as an object of 
 physical distress which we would endeavor to relieve. 
 In the case of Lear, however, all the finer emotions 
 of the soul are aroused by the sight of a noble nature 
 crushed to the earth by sufferings which touch the in- 
 most springs of humanity. 
 
 We cannot dismiss this play without a passing notice 
 of the Fool, in whose character Shakespeare has shown 
 that his observation of mental impairment was not con- 
 fined to one or a few of its forms. He is used like the 
 same character in other plays, his quips and cranks serv- 
 ing as a foil to the humors of his stronger-minded 
 companions. They who find fault with the poet for in- 
 fusing too much wisdom into the folly of his fools may
 
 shakespeake's delineations of insanity. 503 
 
 well take a lesson from him in certain branches of 
 psychological study. In the present instance, he knew, 
 what is not geuerally known even now, as we often have 
 painful reason to remark, that a very obvious degree of 
 intellectual deficiency is sometimes accompanied by a 
 little shrewdness of observation and practical sagacity. 
 They who are much conversant with this form of mental 
 impairment have no difficulty in believing that the very 
 person who is unable to rise to the simplest abstract 
 truth may occasionally utter a shrewd remark, and suc- 
 ceed as well as wiser men in " shooting folly as it flies." 
 It was this class of subjects that furnished the domestic 
 fools and court-jesters of the olden time. With not suf- 
 ficient understanding or character to awaken the jeal- 
 ousy of their patrons, or exercise any restraint upon 
 their manners, they had the sense to discern the foibles 
 and follies of their superiors, and ready wit enough to 
 extract from them food for amusement and mirth. The 
 biting jest and timely reproof were good-naturedly re- 
 ceived, for their acknowledged imbecility rendered them, 
 for the most part, quite irresponsible for their sayings 
 and doings. With such characters royalty could unbend 
 without loss of dignity, and enjoy a jest even at its own 
 expense. 
 
 In Hamlet, that noble play in which beyond all others, 
 perhaps, Shakespeare has displayed the wonderful di- 
 versity of his powers, we have another and a very differ- 
 ent picture of disordered intellect, but one no less 
 remarkable for its fidelity to nature, nor less calculated 
 to awaken the interest and sympathy of the reader. Be- 
 fore considering the origin and progress of Hamlet's 
 insanity, it may be thought incumbent upon us to dis- 
 pose of a preliminary question now discussed by every 
 commentator on Shakespeare.
 
 504 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 It is somewhat curious that, until within a few 
 years, Hamlet's derangement was universally regarded 
 as feigned. Aside from his own intimation after meet- 
 ing the ghost, that he might " put an antic disposition 
 on," it is difficult to conceive of any foundation for this 
 opinion. And yet it would seem as if the strongest and 
 clearest reasons alone could warrant the idea that the 
 most faithful delineation of a disordered mind ever made 
 by man represents a deceptive counterfeit, not a truth and 
 a reality. Without a single adequate reason, this notion 
 has been handed down, like an heirloom, from one critic 
 to another, unquestioned and apparently unquestionable, 
 in the very face of the fact that Hamlet's insanity, which 
 is supposed to be assumed for the purpose of concealing 
 his plans, immediately excites the apprehensions of the 
 king, and leads to his own banishment from the State. 
 True, it is supposed to answer another purpose, — that 
 of enabling him to break off his attachment with Ophelia, 
 which the dread mission he had to perform forbade him 
 any longer to entertain. But the necessity of this step 
 is unsupported by a single proof. No intimation of it is 
 given in the course of the play, and it has no foundation 
 in the nature of things. Of course, no possible difficulty 
 would be allowed to prevail against a theory deliberately 
 founded on such premises as these. A most perverse 
 ingenuity has been exercised in endeavoring to recon- 
 cile some passages in Hamlet's conduct with the admit- 
 ted qualities of his character and the ordinary springs 
 of human action. It would be hardly worth our while 
 here to expose any particular instances of this kind. 
 Enough of them will appear in the course of this inquiry 
 to justify our opinion, while the attentive reader will 
 not fail to see that Hamlet's disorder is often manifested 
 under circumstances that forbid the idea of simulation.
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 505 
 
 It may be well to remark, in passing, that the reluct- 
 ance of critics to abandon the old view of Hamlet's 
 mental condition, springs, in great measure, from their 
 inability to discern the essential distinction between 
 real and feigned insanity. If, say they, the latter is made 
 to resemble very closely the real thing, it is only a proof 
 of the poet's power of imitation, not of his intention to 
 represent a case of genuine disease. They forget that 
 the purpose of feigned insanity is to deceive, — to trick 
 the spectator into the belief of something that has no 
 real existence. Therefore, no traits of the disease are 
 exhibited but such as are calculated to make this im- 
 pression in the strongest manner, those being carefully 
 avoided which are not generally obtruded upon the ob- 
 server, as well as those which pass in the world for 
 something else, such as eccentricity, bad humor, low 
 spirits. The purposes of the simulator require that the 
 traits he assumes should be obvious immediately, and so 
 he forces them on the attention with no regard to patho- 
 logical proprieties, or to any principle of subordination. 
 That Shakespeare bore this distinction in mind in the 
 present instance, is obvious in every scene of the play. 
 All can recognize insanity in one who raves or utters 
 gross delusions ; but how few can see it in Hamlet's 
 scorching rebuke of his mother, in his harsh treatment 
 of Ophelia, in his murder of Polonius, in his famous solilo- 
 quy on death, or in his welcoming address to his old 
 school fellows. In much of this conduct and discourse 
 most persons would see nothing more than an extreme 
 acerbity of temper, an early experience of the hollow- 
 ness of life, and at the worst, perhaps, a fit of depres- 
 sion. 
 
 It is to be considered also that there are many traits 
 of the real disease that defy the utmost efforts of mim-
 
 506 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 icry to simulate. The perversion of the moral affections, 
 the sincere and solemn earnestness with which the 
 patient announces and maintains his delusions, that 
 peculiar concatenation of the thoughts, so difficult to 
 describe, but so characteristic of insanity, — all these are 
 traits as far beyond the power of the simulator to imi- 
 tate, as the quick pulse, furred tongue, and dry skin of 
 its more recent and acute forms. 
 
 It has been occasionally suggested that Hamlet's in- 
 sanity is real, but the idea has never been supported by 
 proof drawn from the pathological aspects of the case. 
 Some — and they belong to the class that have illumi- 
 nated the pages of Shakespeare with the torch of a pro- 
 found and philosophical criticism — have come to the 
 conclusion that the truth lies in an eclectic view of the 
 case, less burdened with difficulties. They admit that a 
 cloud unquestionably hangs over Hamlet's understand- 
 ing, but they are reluctant to attribute so sad and hum- 
 bling an incident as madness to such a noble and elevated 
 character. His profound speculations on the purposes 
 of life and his solemn questioning of its meaning, the per- 
 tinency of his replies, the exquisite wit and wisdom of 
 his discourse, the sagacity and forecast displayed in his 
 plans, the true nobility of his nature, — all forbid the 
 idea of madness. These persons embrace the popular 
 error of regarding madness as but another name for 
 confusion and violence, overlooking the daily fact that it 
 is compatible with some of the ripest and richest mani- 
 festations of the intellect. They flout at the idea of real 
 madness, as if it were connected with images of straw 
 and straight-waistcoats, while in the simulation of the 
 disease they see no breach of pathological, moral, nor 
 dramatic propriety. In regard to this point, it is enough 
 to state it as a scientific fact, that Hamlet's mental con-
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 507 
 
 dition furnishes, in abundance, the characteristic symp- 
 toms of insanity, in wonderful harmony and consist- 
 ency. 
 
 The insanity of Hamlet, supposing it to be real, fur- 
 nishes us with a satisfactory clew to some of his conduct, 
 and especially to the leading principle of the play. 
 Although no other of Shakespeare's plays has excited so 
 much speculation, there still prevails a remarkable dis- 
 crepancy of opinion on the most interesting questions 
 connected with it. No one denies that the character and 
 conduct of Hamlet are in the strictest accordance with 
 the principles of human nature, but no two are agreed 
 upon what particular principles they are to be explained. 
 In plain terms, Shakespeare's science of human nature 
 is more profound than that of his critics. Had his char- 
 acters been constructed as the heroe*s of the novel and 
 drama often are, to illustrate the workings of some par- 
 ticular passion or rule of action, made, so to speak, like 
 those automata that execute a series of motions by an 
 ingenious combination of springs and levers, it would 
 have been comparatively easy to discover the principle 
 of their construction. It is for the very reason that 
 Hamlet is no machine, but a living, human soul, that, as 
 in the case of most distinguished men, his character is 
 not so easily read. 
 
 The principal cause of the failure of critics to dis- 
 cover the central principle of this admirable creation of 
 Shakespeare's genius is that they have overlooked one 
 of its most important elements. The pathological ele- 
 ment working in the midst of his motives and impulses, 
 and throwing its shadow over his affections, they have 
 failed to discern; while others of very questionable ex- 
 istence have been found in abundance. Goethe says, — 
 " It is clear to me that Shakespeare's intention was to
 
 508 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 exhibit the effects of a great action imposed as a duty 
 upon a mind too feeble for its accomplishment. In this 
 sense I find the character consistent throughout. Here 
 is an oak planted in a china vase, proper only to receive 
 the most delicate flowers : the roots strike out, and the 
 vessel flies to pieces. A pure, noble, highly moral dis- 
 position, but without that energy of soul that consti- 
 tutes the hero, sinks under a load which it can neither 
 support, nor resolve to abandon altogether. All his obli- 
 gations are sacred to him ; but this alone is above his 
 powers." Certainly, Hamlet is not one of that class of 
 persons to whom such a commission as he received is 
 peculiarly congenial ; but on other occasions, when the 
 utmost energy of purpose and of performance is required, 
 we witness nothing of this feebleness of will. His spirit 
 fully awakens to the call, his nerves are braced, and his 
 execution is prompt and decided. He instantly decides 
 on following the ghost, feels " each petty artery in his 
 body hard as the Nemsean lion's nerve," and fiercely 
 throws off his friends who would prevent him. In kill- 
 ing Polonius, when his hand as rapidly executes as his 
 mind conceives, he shows no lack of energy, no halting 
 between two opinions. True, he evinces great infirmity 
 of purpose in regard to the great mission assigned him, 
 but this must be accepted as one of those inconsistencies 
 so characteristic of the insane mind. 
 
 Mr. Hudson, the very able lecturer on Shakespeare, 
 attributes Hamlet's irresolution, not to any original de- 
 fect in his mental constitution, but to the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances in which he^is placed. A refined, amiable, 
 and conscientious man, with high notions of honor and 
 a strong sense of reverence, is suddenly required to 
 become the minister of vengeance, — to destroy his 
 uncle, the husband of his mother, and his king. Is it
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 509 
 
 strange that lie should hesitate, that he should shrink 
 from the terrible duty imposed upon him, and dally with 
 excuses for delay? Had he not been affected thus, he 
 would not have been Hamlet, and would have failed to 
 excite that feeling of personal regard produced by his 
 noble nature, his gentle and gentlemanly demeanor. 
 There is much truth in this view of Hamlet. The cir- 
 cumstances in question undoubtedly had great influence 
 upon him ; but not to an extent, as here supposed, un- 
 becoming his reputation as a scholar, a gentleman, and 
 a prince. In his interview with Ophelia, where he stu- 
 diously lacerates her feelings with harsh and bitter sar- 
 casm, we see none of this extraordinary refinement of 
 feeling ; and in consigning his old friends Rosencrantz 
 and Guildenstern to the fate that was intended for him- 
 self, we can perceive no signs of a troublesome tender- 
 ness of conscience. 1 
 
 On the supposition of his real insanity, we have a 
 satisfactory explanation of the difficulties which have 
 received such various solutions. The integrity of every 
 train of reasoning is marred by some intrusion of dis- 
 ease ; the smooth, deep current of his feelings is turned 
 into eddies and whirlpools under its influence, and his 
 most solemn undertakings conducted to an abortive 
 issue. His clearest perceptions, his holiest purposes, his 
 strongest determinations, are followed by the doubts, 
 apprehensions, and scruples that torment and distract 
 the disordered mind. While his whole soul is occupied 
 with the idea of revenge, he is ever finding excuses 
 for postponing the moment of execution, — constantly 
 
 1 In a work lately published by this gentleman, entitled " Shake- 
 speare's Life, Art, and Characters/' he declares that subsequent reading 
 and reflection have convinced him that Hamlet's madness is real, and not 
 feigned.
 
 510 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 turned from his purpose by the merest whim, and justi- 
 fying his conduct by reasons too flimsy to satisfy any 
 but a disordered intellect. Such is the nature of in- 
 sanity, — to talk, but not to act ; to resolve, but never to 
 execute ; to support the soundest projects for action by 
 the most imperfect performance. 
 
 In Lear we are presented with the origin, progress, 
 and termination of a case of acute mania, — that form of 
 mental disorder in which the mind becomes at last com- 
 pletely unsettled, and all its operations pervaded by 
 discord and confusion. Hamlet's insanity differs from 
 Lear's, in not having the successive steps of its progress 
 so well marked and regular ; in presenting less inco- 
 herence of thought and less nervous excitement. In his 
 case, acute general mania like Lear's would have been 
 incompatible with that degree of forecast and self-con- 
 trol which the character required ; and simple mono- 
 mania, where the sphere of the mental aberration is a 
 very limited one, — the individual for the most part ob- 
 serving the ordinary proprieties and courtesies of life, — 
 would have been equally out of the question, because it 
 would not have exerted the requisite influence over the 
 action of the play. With great skill therefore, — a skill 
 founded on what would seem to be a professional knowl- 
 edge of the subject, — Shakespeare has selected for his 
 purpose that form of the disease in which the indi- 
 vidual is mad enough to satisfy the most superficial 
 observer, while he still retains sufficient power of re- 
 flection and self-control to form and pursue, if not to 
 execute, a well-defined, well-settled purpose of revenge. 
 In order the better to understand the conduct of Ham- 
 let, we should bear in mind that he was a man of warm 
 affections, refined tastes, and a quick sense of honor, and 
 possessing a high order of intellectual endowments. With
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 511 
 
 these simple elements of character, the manifestations of 
 disease are made to harmonize and blend so intimately 
 together, that it is not always easy to distinguish be- 
 tween them. 
 
 It is obvious that the death of his father and the pre- 
 cipitate marriage of his mother have already depressed 
 his spirits, and thrown an air of sadness and gloom over 
 his conversation and general bearing. The iron had 
 entered his soul, and on his first introduction to us we 
 perceive some indication of the torture it produces. 
 When his mother reproves him for unduly yielding to 
 his grief, he touchingly replies, — 
 
 " 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, 
 Nor customary suits of solemn black, 
 Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, 
 ' No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 
 Nor the dejected havior of the visage, 
 Together with all forms, modes, shows of grief, 
 That can denote me truly. These, indeed, seem, 
 For they are actions that a man might play : 
 But I have that within which passeth show ; 
 These but the trappings and the suits of woe." 
 
 A moment after, we find him bewailing, in the heavi- 
 ness of his spirit, the cheerless aspect of all outward 
 things, and harboring thoughts of self-destruction. Sub- 
 sequently, in the famous soliloquy, we find him dwelling 
 earnestly and anxiously on the subject of suicide, and 
 sounding the depths of the untried world, but without 
 the aid of philosophy or religion. Shakespeare has here 
 evinced his usual fidelity to nature, in attributing to 
 Hamlet sentiments that are entertained by almost every 
 person whose insanity is accompanied by much depres- 
 sion, although such frequency of the trait is far from 
 being generally known. In this state of mind, full of 
 grief, mistrust, and weariness of life, he has an inter-
 
 512 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 view with the ghost of his father, whose communications 
 are followed by effects that might have been readily an- 
 ticipated. In view of the villany by which he is sur- 
 rounded, thus solemnly and fearfully made known to 
 him, his mind grows giddy, and for a moment he loses 
 all control over his thoughts. This is evident from his 
 replies to his friends, when asked what news the ghost 
 had brought him, and which were aptly designated by 
 them as " wild and whirling words." This fact ex- 
 plains the light and disrespectful manner in which he 
 speaks, of and to, the ghost, while administering the oath 
 of secrecy to his friends, — a manner entirely at vari- 
 ance with the respect and reverence he unquestionably 
 entertains for his father. " Ha, ha, boy ! sayest thou 
 so ? Art thou there, true-penny ? " " Hie et ubique ! 
 then we'll shift our ground." " Well said, old mole ! 
 canst work i' the earth so fast?" This is something 
 more than the natural reaction of the mind after experi- 
 encing some powerful and extraordinary emotions. It 
 betrays the excitement of delirium, — the wandering of 
 a mind reeling under the first stroke of disease. Impos- 
 sible though it is to explain this on any other theory, it 
 has given but little trouble to commentators, who have 
 been content to see in it, as Dr. Johnson did, in " the 
 pretended madness " of Hamlet, as he calls it, a " cause 
 of much mirth." 
 
 In this scene he adjures his friends, if they see him 
 bearing himself however strange or odd, " as he might 
 perchance think meet to put an antic disposition on," 
 never to let drop the slightest intimation of his design. 
 This remark, on which the theory of Hamlet's insanity 
 being feigned is mainly founded, indicates at most an 
 indefinite, half-formed resolve to accomplish a purpose
 
 shakespeabe's delineations of insanity. 513 
 
 by simulating a disease that was already overshadowing 
 his spirit in all its fearful reality. 
 
 His visit to Ophelia, as described by herself, is gen- 
 erally regarded as the first act of the part he had 
 determined to assume. Perhaps there is no single in. 
 cident of the scene incompatible with the theory of sim- 
 ulation ; but it is to be borne in mind that the indica- 
 tions of derangement are here confined to looks, gest- 
 ures, and demeanor. Not a word escapes his lips ; but 
 a language more expressive than that of the voice 
 betrays the violence of his emotions. From a mere 
 description of looks and behavior, it is impossible to 
 judge whether they are the cunning device of the simu- 
 lator or the involuntary manifestations of disease. She 
 alone who witnessed the scene could decide that ques- 
 tion; and can we believe that Ophelia could be deceived 
 by any possible play of those features in which she had 
 been wont to read the language of his inmost soul? Al- 
 though we have admitted that no single incident in this 
 interview is incompatible with simulation, yet when we 
 regard the whole picture which his appearance pre- 
 sented, — his pallid face, his piteous look, his knees 
 knocking each other, his hatless head and down-gyved 
 stockings, his deliberate perusal of Ophelia's face, and 
 the sigh, " so piteous and profound as it did seem to 
 shatter all his bulk," — we feel as little disposed to 
 believe all this to be a well-acted sham as we should 
 the wail of a new-born infant, or the flush that glows 
 on the cheek in the fever of consumption. The skilful 
 physiognomist, the practised observer of men, might 
 mistake the meaning of such an exhibition ; but not she 
 whose senses are quickened by the vigilant sympathies 
 of woman's love. Considered then as a picture of a 
 remarkable phasis of insanity, we discern in it some of
 
 514 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 those exquisite touches that always distinguish the gen- 
 uine from the false ; and to attribute these to a mere 
 counterfeit of the disease is to show how little we 
 are able to appreciate the wonderful fidelity of Shake- 
 speare's conceptions, or his sense of poetical propriety, 
 that saved him from the solecism of confounding the 
 features of the true and the real with those of the spu- 
 rious and false. Poetically, dramatically, and pathologi- 
 cally true, is this exhibition of Hamlet in his interview 
 with Ophelia. We see him in a sudden paroxysm of 
 his disorder that renders him heedless of his personal 
 appearance, obeying the instinct of his affections, and 
 making his accustomed way to her whose love had shed 
 a radiance over his opening prospects. Dark and fearful 
 images of disease throng into his mind, degrading to an 
 uncertain and secondary place that which had been en- 
 shrined in its inmost sanctuary. He is dimly conscious 
 of the spell by which he has been transformed, and 
 clearly so of his utter impotency to dissolve it. In this 
 tumult of strange and contending emotions he has lost 
 the power of speech, for he had already lost the power 
 to think and feel like himself. He can only gaze into 
 her face as if to penetrate into the mystery that sur- 
 rounds him, and then heaves a convulsive sigh that 
 threatens to end his being. Such is madness ; and 
 such scenes as this, and others that subsequently oc- 
 curred between Hamlet and Ophelia, have happened 
 a thousand times in real life, where the insane lover 
 thrusts himself into the presence of his mistress, only 
 to frighten and distress her by the painful exhibition of 
 clouded intellect and disordered affections. 
 
 In all Hamlet's interviews with Polonius, the style of 
 his discourse is indicative of the utmost contempt for 
 the old courtier ; and he exhibits it in a manner quite
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 515 
 
 characteristic of the insane. To the common observer, 
 such hearty and undisguised contempt, such pungent 
 sarcasm, and such relentless sporting with the old man's 
 servility, savor more of malice than of madness, and 
 Afford strong ground for the theory that he was acting 
 a part. But nothing is more characteristic of the insane 
 than a fondness of annoying those whom they dislike 
 by ridicule, raillery, satire, vulgarity, and every other 
 species of abuse ; and in finding the sore spot of their 
 victim, and adding venom to their sting, they display 
 an aptitude in which they are seldom surpassed by the 
 sane. In this spirit Hamlet, who looks upon Polonius 
 as an intriguing, meddlesome old man in the interest of 
 the court, calls him a fishmonger, doubts his honesty, rails 
 at old men, makes him eat his own words, and finally 
 thanks him for leaving his presence. Had Hamlet been 
 feigning insanity, it still would have been hardly con- 
 sistent with his character to have treated in such a style 
 the father of one so dear to him as Ophelia, for whose 
 sake alone he was entitled to receive from Hamlet for- 
 bearance, if not respect. 
 
 Towards his old friends, Rosencrantz and Guilden- 
 stern, his discourse and manner are suitable to his own 
 character and to their ancient friendship. He treats 
 them respectfully, if not cordially ; discourses sensibly 
 enough about the players, and other indifferent subjects, 
 occasionally losing his self-control and uttering a remark 
 strongly savoring of mental unsoundness. " God, I 
 could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king 
 of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.''' 
 It is a well observed fact, though not generally known, 
 that in a large majority of cases the invasion of insanity 
 is accompanied by more or less sleeplessness, and dis- 
 agreeable dreams. I have not yet met with the case,
 
 516 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 however sudden the outbreak of the disease, in which 
 the first symptom did not exist for some time before any 
 suspicion of impending derangement was excited in the 
 minds of the friends. Although strongly suspecting, if 
 not knowing, that they are in the interest of the king, 
 sent expressly for the purpose of observing his move- 
 ments, he makes no attempt to impress them with a con- 
 viction of his madness, as might have been expected had 
 he been acting a part. For certainly if he had been 
 anxious to spread the belief that he was really mad, he 
 would not have neglected so favorable an opportunity 
 as this interview with the courtiers. On the contrary, 
 he calmty and freely describes the state of his feelings, 
 as he previously did to his mother. " I have of late 
 (but wherefore I know not) lost all my mirth, forgone 
 all custom of exercises, and, indeed, it goes so heavily 
 with my disposition, that this goodly frame, the earth, 
 seems to me a sterile promontory ; this most excellent 
 canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firma- 
 ment, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, 
 it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent 
 congregation of vapors." A most faithful and vivid 
 picture is this of a mental condition that is the precur- 
 sor of decided insanity, — the deepening shadow of that 
 steadily advancing eclipse by which the understanding 
 is to be darkened. In Hamlet the disease has not yet 
 proceeded so far as to prevent him, in his calmer mo- 
 ments, from recognizing and deploring its existence, 
 though he mistakes its character. Like every other per- 
 son in his condition, he is very far from considering him- 
 self insane, and indeed there is no reason why he should. 
 He entertains no delusions ; persons and things appear 
 to him in their customary relations ; and for the most, 
 part he well sustains his character as a man and a prince.
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 517 
 
 His unwonted excitability of temper, his occasional dis- 
 regard of some minor propriety of life, the cloud which 
 envelops all outward things, depriving them of their 
 worth and beauty, — in the eyes of the world, these do 
 not constitute insanity, and are not incompatible with the 
 most perfect integrity of intellect. Why then should he 
 suppose himself insane, or beginning to be so ? 
 
 Hamlet now, in the true spirit of insanity, upbraids his 
 own indecision and want of energy, doubts whether the 
 ghost were an honest ghost, and contrives a plan, by 
 means of the players, to test the truth of his declara- 
 tions. So much ingenuity and forecast as this contriv- 
 ance evinces are not often witnessed among those who 
 are popularly regarded as insane; but it must be recol- 
 lected that Hamlet is yet in the initiatory stage of the 
 disease, before the intellect has shared in that obliquity 
 which marks the manifestations of the moral senti- 
 ments. 
 
 We next meet with Hamlet in his remarkable inter- 
 view with Ophelia, — remarkable not more for his lan- 
 guage and conduct than for the difficulties which it has 
 presented to commentators, to whom it has proved a 
 perfect j^ons asinorum. Some regard his treatment of 
 Ophelia as unnecessarily harsh and unfeeling, even for 
 the purposes of simulation, and in this instance, at least, 
 can see no cause of mirth in his pretended madness. If 
 Homer sometimes nods, so may Shakespeare. Others 
 think that Hamlet's love for Ophelia was but lukewarm, 
 after all, and therefore he was justified in treating her 
 in such a w T ay as to lacerate her feelings and outrage 
 her dignity. The most natural view of the subject — 
 that which is most readily and obviously suggested — 
 relieves us of all these difficulties, and reveals to us the 
 same strong and earnest significance which appears in
 
 518 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 every other scene of this play. If Hamlet is really 
 insane, as he presumptively is, and as we have much 
 reason to believe that he is, then his conduct is what 
 might have been naturally expected. It discloses an 
 interesting feature in mental pathology, — the change 
 which insanity brings over the warmest affections of the 
 heart, whereby the golden chains wrought by love and 
 kindness are utterly dissolved, and the forsaken and 
 desolate spirit, though it continues among men, is no 
 longer of them. Such aberrations from the normal course 
 of the affections were closely observed and studied by 
 Shakespeare, who saw in them that kind of poetical 
 interest which master-spirits like his are apt to discern 
 in the highest truths of philosophy. The frequency 
 with which he introduces insanity into his plays shows 
 that it was with him a favorite subject of contemplation ; 
 and from the manner in which he deals with it, it is 
 equally obvious that he regarded it. as not only worth 
 the attention of the philanthropist and physician, but as 
 full of instruction to the philosopher an$l the poet. He 
 perceived that many of its phenomena were calculated 
 to touch the warmest sympathies of our nature, and 
 therefore peculiarly suitable for producing dramatic 
 effect. If in this feature he differs from every other 
 poet, it is not from that fondness for dwelling on the 
 morbid anatomy of the mind, which is the offspring of a 
 corrupt and jaded taste, but from a hearty appreciation 
 of all the works and ways of nature, and a ready sym- 
 pathy with every movement of the human soul. 
 
 In no instance are these views so strongly confirmed 
 as in this remarkable scene. The gradually increasing 
 excitement, the frequent, sudden starting from the sub- 
 ject, his denial of his former affection, and the general 
 air of extravagance and perversity that pervades the
 
 shakespeaee's delineations of insanity. 519 
 
 whole scene, — all indicate a most thorough mastery of 
 the phenomena of insanity, and the most consummate 
 skill in combining and displaying them in action. Es- 
 pecially is this obvious in the rapid transition from the 
 calmness and courtesy with which Hamlet first addresses 
 Ophelia, to the storm of contending feelings which im- 
 mediately after ensues. He has just been speculating 
 on themes of the deepest moment, endeavoring to pene- 
 trate through the gloom that veils the future from the 
 present, when she passes before him. The sight of her 
 awakens a healthy and tender emotion. 
 
 " Soft you, now ! 
 The fair Ophelia. — Nymph, in thy orisons 
 Be all my sins remembered." 
 
 She immediately takes the opportunity to return him 
 the gifts she had received from him, with an intimation 
 that he had ceased to love her. Quick as thought, the 
 current of his feelings is changed, and the demons of 
 mistrust, jealousy, and anger run riot in his bosom. The 
 courtesy of the gentleman and the tenderness of the 
 lover are forgotten, and words of gall and bitterness are 
 poured out upon the gentle being whom he loved with 
 more than the love of forty thousand brothers. I need 
 not remind those who are at all conversant with the 
 insane, how very natural this is ; and how unnatural it 
 would have been in Hamlet, had he been acting a part, 
 is sufficiently obvious from the disposition of critics to 
 regard it as a fault in the author. The fury and extrava- 
 gance of mania, the moodiness of melancholy, he might 
 successfully mimic ; but to do violence to his affections, 
 to desecrate and trample upon the idol that had been 
 enshrined in his heart of hearts, — this was beyond the 
 power of mimicry. 
 
 In Hamlet's remarkable interview with his mother,
 
 520 SHAKESPEARE'S DELINEATIONS OF INSANITY. 
 
 his discourse is rational and coherent enough; but it is 
 pervaded by that wild energy, that scorching sarcasm, 
 that overwhelming outpouring of bitter truths, which, 
 though not incompatible with perfect soundness of mind, 
 are exceedingly characteristic of madness. Well might 
 she say, — 
 
 " These words like daggers enter in mine ears." 
 That his mind is in a state of fearful commotion, is 
 also shown by the reappearance of the ghost, which, in 
 this instance, is present only to the mental eye. His air 
 and manner as noticed by his mother are strongly ex- 
 pressive of the inward emotion, and such as the most 
 consummate actor could scarcely imitate. 
 
 " Alas, how is't with you ? 
 • That you do bend your eyes on vacancy, 
 And with the incorporal air do hold discourse ? 
 Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep, 
 And as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm, 
 Your bedded hair, like life in excrements, 
 Starts up, and stands on end." 
 
 When she tells him that the image he beholds is the 
 very coinage of his brain, resulting from ecstasy, like 
 most insane men he repels the idea of being mad, and 
 offers a test of his soundness, which, if not always con- 
 clusive, indicates, at least, on the poet's part, a close 
 observation of the operations of the insane mind. 
 
 " It is not madness 
 That I have uttered : bring me to the test, 
 And I the matter will reword ; which madness 
 Would gambol from." 
 
 This test was once successfully applied by Sir Henry 
 Halford to a patient laboring under some degree of men- 
 tal disorder, who insisted on making his will which had 
 been already prepared according to his instructions, and 
 to the several items of which, when read to him, he dis-
 
 SHAKESPEARE' S DELEGATIONS OF INSANITY. 521 
 
 tinctly assented. In order to determine the real condition 
 of his mind on the subject, Sir Henry proposed to apply 
 Shakespeare's test; but instead of rewording the matter 
 precisely as he had just heard it, he made a very differ- 
 ent disposition of most of his property. In most cases 
 of acute mania attended with much excitement, as well 
 as in that form of mental impairment called dementia, 
 the patient would be unable, no doubt, to repeat what he 
 had just before deliberately uttered ; but in such cases 
 as Hamlet's, where some of the mental operations are 
 perfectly well conducted, the power of repeating cor- 
 rectly one's own statements is not necessarily lost, and 
 consequently is no proof of sanity in doubtful cases. 
 
 Hamlet's conduct at the grave of Ophelia was madness 
 in its purest state. The unexpected news of her death, 
 the sight of her funeral solemnities, the passionate lan- 
 guage of her brother, are too much for his self-control, 
 and he gives vent to his feelings in the most extravagant 
 expressions of grief and defiance. He is truly in a tow- 
 ering passion, but it is the passion of a madman, without 
 end or aim, and justified by no sufficient provocation. 
 The apology which he afterwards offers to Laertes, beg- 
 ging him to attribute the impropriety of his conduct 
 to madness, deserves a moment's attention. It is one of 
 the rarest things in the world for a madman to admit 
 the existence of his own insanity. It has been already 
 remarked, however, that Hamlet's disease is yet in its 
 initiatory stage where paroxysms of wildness and fury are 
 intercalated with intervals of calmness and self-control 
 when, through the cloud that envelops his spirit, he is 
 able to discern his true relations to others, and the occa- 
 sional influence of disease over his thoughts and actions. 
 Bearing this fact in mind, we shall hesitate to attribute 
 the above apology to a misapprehension, on Shake-
 
 522 shakespeahe's delineations of insanity. 
 
 speare's part, of the true characters of insanity. On the 
 contrary, it evinces a most delicate perception of its 
 various forms, which leads him to introduce a feature 
 that the simulator would have scarcely ventured to 
 assume. 
 
 The final event, the crowning catastrophe of the piece, 
 most aptly finishes the story of Hamlet's irresolution, 
 his vacillation, his forereaching plans, his inadequate 
 performance. The nearest object of his heart — the 
 revenge of his father's wrongs — is at last accomplished, 
 but by means of a contrivance he had no part in ef- 
 fecting. 
 
 It may be thought, perhaps, that in deciding the 
 question whether Hamlet's madness be real or feigned, 
 some weight should be allowed to the original history 
 in which he is represented as having actually simulated 
 the disease. This fact is certainly entitled to some con- 
 sideration, but my own reflections upon it have rather 
 confirmed than weakened the view I have taken of the 
 subject. Shakespeare was so much in the habit of varying 
 from the tale or history that formed the groundwork of 
 his plays, that this fact alone would deter us, in a doubtful 
 case, from expecting that any particular trait or event in 
 the former would be faithfully represented in the latter. 
 In tracing the history of his plays, however, we find him 
 acting upon a general principle that should not be over- 
 looked in settling a difficulty like the present. This was, 
 that he never hesitated to vary from the original when- 
 ever the higher objects of the drama required it. It 
 could have been scarcely otherwise, indeed, if his own 
 work were to be distinguished from its prototype by 
 marks of a nobler lineage. The puerilities of the old 
 story-tellers were to be exchanged for incidents of 
 commanding interest, the common natures that figured
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 523 
 
 in their narratives were to be transformed into more 
 ethereal spirits, and their lame and impotent conclusions 
 were to give place to lessons of ever enduring truths. 
 Thus, in the present case, the wronged prince who is 
 undistinguished by any mark of superiority from the 
 common herd of kings' sons, and who resorts to an arti- 
 fice in order to revenge his wrongs, is to be transformed 
 into 
 
 " The expectancy and rose of the fair State, 
 The glass of fashion, and the mould of form." 
 
 The shining worth and dignity of such a character 
 would have been essentially compromised by an impost- 
 ure, however justified by the end ; while the example of 
 a refined and noble spirit staggering under the weight 
 of a great responsibility, with powers crippled by the 
 intrusion of disease, — at one time, a dangerous maniac 
 rushing recklessly into crime ; at another, discharging 
 offices of friendship and uttering words of profoundest 
 wisdom, — is a spectacle worthy of men and gods. Indeed, 
 the principle in question is so common in Shakespeare, 
 and its application in the present case so obvious, that 
 it appears to me scarcely necessary to strengthen the 
 position by additional arguments. 
 
 In this play, for the first and only time, Shakespeare 
 has ventured on representing the two principal charac- 
 ters as insane. His wonderful success in managing such 
 intractable materials, the world has long acknowledged 
 and admired. They are never in the way, and their in- 
 sanity is never brought forward in order to enliven the 
 interest by a display of that kind of energy and extrav- 
 agance that flows from morbid mental excitement. On 
 the contrary, it assists in the development of events, 
 and bears its part in the great movement in which the 
 actors are hurried along as if by an inevitable decree of
 
 524 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 fate. Herein lies the distinguishing merit of Shake- 
 speare's delineations of insanity. While other poets 
 have made use of it chiefly to diversify the action of the 
 play, and to excite the vulgar curiosity by its strange 
 and striking phenomena, he has made it the occasion of 
 unfolding many a deep truth in mental science, of dis- 
 playing those motley combinations of thought that are 
 the offspring of disease, and of tracing those mysterious 
 associations by which the ideas of the insane mind are 
 connected. Few men, I apprehend, are so familiar with 
 those diversities of mental character that are, in any de- 
 gree, the result of disease, as not to find the sphere of 
 their ideas on this subject somewhat enlarged by the 
 careful study of Shakespeare. 
 
 Ophelia is one of those exquisite creations of the 
 poet's fancy, whose earthly types occasionally cross our 
 path in the course of our sublunary pilgrimage. Like 
 them she wins all hearts, but, too delicate to encounter 
 the world's rude shocks, she is unable to survive the 
 wreck of her affections ; and, like them, her brief his- 
 tory consists in being seen, and loved, and mourned. 
 The morning of her days which had been illumined by 
 the light of love and parental affection had been early 
 clouded by the death of her father and the misfortunes 
 of her lover ; life had no longer any joys in store, and 
 in mercy she is spared all further afflictions, by the 
 loss of reason and a premature death. Wisely has the 
 poet abbreviated the duration of her madness. The pro- 
 longed exhibition of this afflictive disease in one so 
 gentle and lovely would have distressed the mind of the 
 beholder, in a manner unfavorable to dramatic effect. We 
 see enough to understand that she is no longer conscious 
 of her sufferings ; and after listening to the snatches of 
 songs that flit through her memory, with the same kind
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 525 
 
 of melancholy interest with which we hear the sighing 
 of the autumnal breeze through the limbs and leaves of 
 the trees, we are willing that the finisher of all earthly 
 sorrows should come. There is no method in her mad- 
 ness ; no quips and cranks of a morbidly active inge- 
 nuity surprise and gratify the curious beholder, and no 
 bursts of passion such as madness alone can excite fall 
 on his astonished ear. Like one who walks in his sleep, 
 her mind is still busy, but the sources of its activity are 
 within. Heedless of everything else, her mind wanders 
 among the confused and broken recollections of the past, 
 deserted by the glorious light of the Divinity that stirs 
 within us, but which is soon to be rekindled with un- 
 quenchable brightness. 
 
 In the character of Macbeth, Shakespeare has exhib- 
 ited a mental phenomenon of a pathological kind which 
 he seems to have correctly understood, and in that re- 
 spect was greatly in advance of the current notions of 
 his own and perhaps the present times. It has been 
 already observed, that, when the brain is morbidly ex- 
 cited, previous impressions, even some that may long 
 since have been forgotten, are often so distinctly and 
 vividly recalled as to appear to have an objective exist- 
 ence. This activity of the perceptive organs is not 
 confined to madness, but may also occur whenever the 
 nervous system is unusually excited by protracted watch- 
 ing, by errors of diet, by long and anxious meditation, by 
 powerful emotions, or by the presence of other diseases. 
 In this condition, the ordinary relations between the 
 mind within and the world without are quite reversed. 
 The imaginary takes the place of the real ; the inward is 
 no longer reflected from the outward, but the latter be- 
 comes the mere shadow of the former. Thus in Macbeth
 
 526 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 the suggestions of bis own unprincipled ambition, the 
 predictions of the weird sisters, and the goading of bis 
 wife, kept the prize of royalty constantly before his eyes, 
 only to be won, however, by the foulest treachery and 
 violence. This one thought takes possession of his 
 mind, absorbs his whole being, and so often and intently 
 does he revolve the only means for accomplishing his 
 purpose, that finally the very instrument thereof appears 
 before him in a visible shape. He sees a bloody dagger 
 with its handle towards him ; and so clear is the image, 
 that nothing less than the sense of touch convinces him 
 that it is merely a dagger of the mind, " proceeding from 
 a heat-oppressed brain. 7 ' The deed was done and the 
 prize was gained ; but, tortured almost to distraction by 
 the most painful apprehensions, he sought in vain for 
 security and repose, in the commission of fresh crimes. 
 In this state of agitation induced by his bloody career, 
 the murder of Banquo was more than sufficient to re- 
 produce that morbid activity of the perceptive organs, 
 which invested the images of the mind with visible 
 forms, and gave them an outward existence. The image 
 of his slaughtered brother-in-arms, so foully taken off, 
 glides into the banqueting-room and seats itself at the 
 table. But the suggestions of reason are no longer able 
 to correct the error of sense. Not more real to Macbeth 
 are the forms of his invited guests, than is the dreaded 
 image in his own seat ; for it shakes at him its gory 
 locks and glares upon him with its vacant eyes. His 
 mind is driven from its propriety, he forgets his situa- 
 tion and relations, and, carried away by the force of the 
 hallucination, he reveals to the company the tremen- 
 dous secret which they should have been the last to 
 learn. 
 
 The reader scarcely needs to be told how the true
 
 527 
 
 meaning of this phenomenon is perverted and its terrible 
 power worse than lost, — even made ridiculous, — in its 
 representation on the stage, by the introduction of a 
 real ghost as visible to everybody else as to Macbeth. 
 The absurdity of the whole matter is heightened by the 
 guests pretending not to see what is plainly before their 
 eyes, and wondering what should so startle their royal 
 host. This puerile contrivance is but a sorry compliment 
 to the intelligence of the audience, who, if they could 
 once forget the prescriptive usages of the stage, would 
 be infinitely more impressed by a proper representa- 
 tion of the scene. The sight of a king springing from 
 the banquet-table, in the midst of his lords and nobles, 
 gazing on vacancy, with horror and alarm depicted in 
 his countenance, addressing to the imaginary object be- 
 fore him words of reproach and defiance, is calculated 
 to make a far deeper impression on the beholder than 
 the trumpery contrivance of an actual ghost. With the 
 first appearance of the ghost in Hamlet, however, the 
 case is very different. In Macbeth it is the poet's object 
 to exhibit, by means of the ghost, the power of conscious 
 guilt upon an over-active brain ; while in Hamlet he 
 merely makes use of a vulgar superstition for bringing 
 out a fact necessary to the action of the play. How 
 clearly Shakespeare appreciated this difference, is also 
 evident from the manner in which the ghost is afterwards 
 introduced during the interview between Hamlet and his 
 mother. This is meant to be regarded merely as a men- 
 tal apparition, — a previous impression reproduced in 
 consequence of the inordinate nervous excitement under 
 which he is suffering at the moment, — because, though 
 as distinctly visible to Hamlet as the actual ghost in the 
 first act, it is, unlike that, visible to no one else. True, 
 he speaks to it, and the apparition answers, but its words
 
 528 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 are obviously intended to be audible only to him, for his 
 mother hears no voice, and sees no form. 
 
 The pathological correctness of Macbeth's character 
 is made still more manifest by attributing to him a hal- 
 lucination of another sense, — that of hearing. In that 
 matchless interview between him and his wife immedi- 
 ately after Duncan's murder, he declares that, among 
 other circumstances attending that fearful deed, he heard 
 a voice cry, 
 
 " Sleep no more ! 
 Glamis hath murdered sleep ; and therefore Cawdor 
 Shall sleep no more, — Macbeth shall sleep no more ! " 
 
 The cerebral excitement produced by the circum- 
 stances of the murder has so sharpened the sensibil- 
 ity of the auditory organs, that the slightest sound, or, it 
 may be, even the very thoughts of his soul, ring through 
 his ears in words of unmistakable meaning. 
 
 We may admire, while it would not be very easy to 
 explain, the wonderful sagacity of Shakespeare in con- 
 ceiving that true theory of apparitions, which now, after 
 more than two centuries, is just beginning to be adopted 
 by scientific men. 
 
 In the character of Lady Macbeth, the poet has exhib- 
 ited a mental condition of a most curious and interesting 
 kind, which, though not strictly insanity, is unquestion- 
 ably of a pathological nature. The successive crimes 
 into which her husband's ambition has plunged him pro- 
 duce in her a state of mental disquietude that under- 
 mines her weaker constitution and eventually occasions 
 her death. The circumstances connected with the mur- 
 der of Duncan are stamped upon her brain, as if with a 
 hot iron, and there they remain in characters of fire, not 
 even to be temporarily effaced by sleep. To such a 
 pitch does the nervous excitement increase, that in sleep
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 529 
 
 she rises from her bed, and acts over her own part in 
 the bloody scene. Again she reproaches her husband 
 with his irresolution, wonders that the old man should 
 have so much blood in him, endeavors in vain to wash the 
 spots from her hands, and is startled by a knocking at the 
 gate. The wound is too deep to be healed ; no medicine 
 can be found to cleanse the bosom of such perilous stuff, 
 and nature finally succumbs under the weight of bodily 
 exhaustion and mental anguish. Within the whole round 
 of human wretchedness, there is not a case more deplor- 
 able than that of the man or woman who, with the moral 
 depravity adequate to the commission of great crimes, 
 wants the nervous hardihood capable of sustaining the 
 shock they give to the mental constitution. Such a case 
 has Shakespeare presented in Lady Macbeth, and with 
 so much power and truth that no lapse of time, no 
 change of human condition, will ever weaken its effect. 
 To be convinced of the unapproachable preeminence 
 of Shakespeare in the delineation of insanity, we have 
 only to compare him with the poetical luminaries of his 
 own generation. Fletcher, who is generally regarded as 
 inferior to none of them, has represented one of his 
 female characters — the jailer's daughter in "The Two 
 Xoble Kinsmen " — as going mad from love. Some scenes 
 are a feeble imitation of Ophelia, and the whole effort 
 probably originated in a feeling of emulation excited by 
 that part. But how inferior to that exquisite creation, 
 as a specimen of mental pathology, or an expression of 
 poetical taste ! Both her conduct and conversation are 
 crazy enough, no doubt. Not a single word nor act, sep- 
 arately considered, is inconsistent with real insanity ; 
 but there is a visible straining for effect, a certain ex- 
 travagance of thought, a perpetual recurrence to the 
 cause of her disorder, an abruptness in changing the 
 
 34
 
 530 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 
 
 train of reflection, far more characteristic of simulated 
 than real insanity. The author has committed the popu- 
 lar error of supposing that the lunatic is ever dwelling 
 on the cause of his calamity, and hence the love-cracked 
 damsel utters the name and expatiates upon the perfec- 
 tions of her lover at every breath. It has already been 
 remarked that in acute mania, if we except the initiatory 
 stage when reason is not quite driven from her throne, 
 the patient seldom even alludes to the events connected 
 with the origin of his disease. Lear, for instance, talks 
 much of the ingratitude of his daughters, but not after 
 he becomes raving mad. The manner in which Fletcher 
 has executed his task, shows how little he was inspired 
 by those lofty conceptions of the true object of dramatic 
 representations of insanity, which impart to Shake- 
 speare's insane characters inexhaustible interest and 
 instruction. To put crazy speeches into the mouth of a 
 person, and send him capering through the fields, is 
 an easy matter, — any tolerably shrewd attendant in a 
 lunatic hospital might do as much. But to observe 
 through a succession of scenes the method that is in 
 madness, to make its various phases consistent one with 
 another and preserve the individuality of the character 
 through them all, and, more than all else, to present a 
 picture calculated not only to excite emotions of sym- 
 pathy with physical distress, but to strike the imagi- 
 nation and gratify the poetical sentiment, — this is the 
 work of the highest order of genius alone. In the hands 
 of inferior writers, insanity is too much regarded as an 
 absolute condition in which all personal distinctions are 
 annulled and all traces of the individual's former self 
 effaced. But not so with Shakespeare. Lear, while 
 forming the prominent figure in the motley group that 
 wandered in the forest, was no less Lear than when
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 531 
 
 seated on a throne and dispensing favors to his depen- 
 dants. The tempest of fury exhibited by Hamlet at the 
 grave of Ophelia is not inconsistent with the character 
 of the speculating, irresolute prince who mournfully so- 
 liloquizes on his infirmity of purpose, and quails before 
 the solemn commission he has taken upon himself to 
 perform. Considered in a still higher aspect, — as a 
 creation of poetical art, — we see in the jailer's daugh- 
 ter none of those shadowy reminiscences of youthful 
 joys, none of those delicate allusions to the subject of love, 
 none of those flitting images of purity and peace, none 
 of those bursting throbs of filial affection, — not one, in 
 short, of those exquisite touches that throw a melan- 
 choly charm over the madness of Ophelia. She is gross, 
 carnal, of the earth, earthy, and her imagination wanders 
 into forbidden paths. She is but a poor mad woman 
 whom idle boys would gather around in the streets, and 
 humane people would wish to place in a hospital. What- 
 ever truth there may be in the opinion some critics have 
 entertained, that Shakespeare had any part in the 
 writing of this play, it is very certain that this charac- 
 ter, at least, received not a single finishing stroke from 
 his pen. 
 
 In this review of Shakespeare's delineations of insan- 
 ity, I trust I have made it appear in some measure how 
 their wonderful fidelity to nature renders them not only 
 valuable as pathological illustrations, but exceedingly 
 effective in producing a dramatic impression. Great as 
 he is in every other attribute of the poetical character, 
 yet in this department of the art he seems to be with- 
 out a rival. No other writer, unless it may be Sir Wal- 
 ter Scott, has made the slightest approach to his success. 
 In several of this writer's novels, the workings of a dis- 
 ordered mind are displayed with the hand of a master
 
 and that too with a degree of pathological accuracy 
 which ordinary men would hardly acquire by years of 
 observation within the precincts of a hospital. But the 
 novelist possesses an advantage over the poet in the 
 broader limits within which he may exercise his art, 
 untrammelled by the restrictions imposed upon the other 
 by severer rules of composition and the comparative 
 brevity of his efforts. 
 
 I have already intimated that in his knowledge of in- 
 sanity Shakespeare was greatly in advance of his own 
 and succeeding generations, and that this was owing, not 
 to any superior advantages he possessed for the study of 
 the disease, but to an extraordinary power of observation 
 which, more than any other mental attribute, perhaps, 
 deserves to be considered as the true inspiration of 
 genius. It needs but a glance at the common views of 
 insanity that prevailed in his own, and even later times, 
 not merely among the rude and uneducated, but among 
 men of distinguished names, to show how little they 
 evince of his profound science of mind. By a profession 
 which has always numbered in its ranks a large proportion 
 of the luminaries of the age, the insane generally, with the 
 exception of such as were actually raving or reduced to 
 a state of idiocy, were regarded as having reason enough 
 to enable them to conduct with tolerable propriety, and 
 made responsible for their actions to a degree that would 
 startle the criminalists of our own time, ready as most of 
 them are to look upon the plea of insanity as the last re- 
 sort of ingenious counsel. Sir Matthew Hale declared, 
 many years after Lear was written, that insanity affects 
 only the strength and capacity of the mind, and upon 
 this idea he has actually founded a test of responsibility. 
 " Such a person as laboring under melancholy distempers 
 hath yet ordinarily as great understanding as ordinarily
 
 Shakespeare's delineations of insanity. 533 
 
 a child of fourteen years, is such a person as may be 
 guilty of felony or treason.'' These views, it is true, 
 belong to a province of insanity somewhat remote from 
 that which engaged Shakespeare's attention ; but there 
 can be no difficulty in inferring, from his delineations of 
 the disease, in what light he would have regarded them. 
 Can we suppose, for instance, that if the question of the 
 responsibility of Hamlet for the killing of Polonius had 
 been referred to him, he would have pronounced him 
 guilty of murder in the first degree, because he possessed 
 more understanding than a child fourteen years old ? 
 Had the great jurist, in forming his opinions on this sub- 
 ject, meditated upon the pictures of Shakespeare as well 
 as the statements of Lyttleton and Coke, it would have 
 been better for his own reputation and better for the 
 cause of humanity. Would that we were able to say that 
 the courts of our own times have entirely avoided his 
 error, and studied the influence of insanity upon human 
 conduct more by the light of Shakespeare and of nature 
 than of metaphysical dogmas and legal maxims.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY BY DISTIN- 
 GUISHED ENGLISH WRITERS. 
 
 Next to Shakespeare, no English writer has been so suc- 
 cessful in making insanity conducive to the exhibition 
 of character under strong and impressive aspects, as 
 Sir Walter Scott. This, indeed, might have been ex- 
 pected, from the fact that no other has partaken so 
 largely of some of the distinguishing attributes of 
 Shakespeare's genius, — his faithful and profound ob- 
 servation, his skilful appropriation of its results, and, 
 above all, his hearty appreciation of every striking 
 or extraordinary form of mental manifestations. The 
 same breathing, speaking lineaments, the same life-like 
 touches that impart an inexpressible charm to his 
 characters, are no less obvious in those whom he has 
 represented as victims of mental disorder. We scarcely 
 need to criticise their fidelity : we are assured of it by 
 intuitive evidence. Any one who doubts it would be 
 ready to pass his hands over the face of a living man to 
 satisfy himself that it was real flesh, and not an imita- 
 tion in wax. 
 
 Scott's best representation of madness is unquestionably 
 Madge Wildfire, in the " Heart of Mid Lothian." She is 
 an admirable illustration of a form of chronic insanity in 
 which the mental manifestations are distinguished less
 
 BY SIE WALTER SCOTT. 535 
 
 by delusions and gross incoherence, than by a certain 
 irregularity and unsteadiness not easily described. The 
 general condition is aptly characterized by the remark 
 applied to Madge, that her " mind, like a raft upon a 
 lake, was agitated and driven about at random by each 
 fresh impulse." For a moment or two she pursues a 
 train of reflections with tolerable coherence, when 
 some fanciful or grotesque idea, some incident in her 
 experience, seizes her attention, and diverts her thoughts 
 into some new channel. With a single exception, she 
 exhibits no delusions ; but that which she does enter- 
 tain seems scarcely necessary to confirm our convic- 
 tions of her insanity. And yet the mental disorder so 
 obvious, even without the addition of delusion, we should 
 find it not easy, in an actual case, to establish or prove 
 satisfactorily by the most careful description. Were we 
 asked on the witness-stand, in a court of justice, our 
 reason for believing Madge Wildfire insane, we should 
 have to rely solely on her fancy that she was once dead, 
 and danced on the green sward by moonlight with other 
 dead folks. Proof drawn from the general style of her 
 conduct and conversation would fall on unwilling ears 
 as something too fanciful or theoretical to deserve 
 serious consideration. It certainly would have gone 
 hard with Madge, had she been on trial for some capital 
 crime, and this delusion of hers been overlooked ; for it 
 could have been easily shown, that she could distinguish 
 between right and wrong ; that she knew the wicked 
 would be punished hereafter for their deeds ; that she 
 could lav plans, and select proper means for accomplish- 
 ing her ends, — all which would have been considered 
 as clearly incompatible with the kind of insanity which 
 annuls criminal responsibility. True, a whole century 
 and more has elapsed since that time, and left us the
 
 536 ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY 
 
 benefit of its light ; but I am not quite sure that her 
 case would be more favorably regarded, even in our 
 own times. 
 
 The distinction between the form of disease repre- 
 sented in this character and other forms is admirably 
 preserved. Its drifting thoughts are never exchanged 
 for the sudden and violent transitions of acute mania, 
 nor the solemn and persistent absurdities of pure mono- 
 mania. For a moment or two, she pursues a train of 
 thought with tolerable correctness, and then her mind 
 is diverted from the track by some incongruous image 
 or fantastic association. The fault is not so much in 
 the thoughts themselves, independently considered, as 
 in their vicious succession, the bond of union being 
 broken at frequent intervals. In Madge, these unnatu- 
 ral transitions are made more abrupt than they would 
 otherwise have been, by a considerable degree of ex- 
 citement which imparts to the mental movements a 
 constant hurry, if not confusion, not easily described. 
 Her memory is strong, her conceptions are vivid, her 
 sense of the true and the beautiful is still keen, and 
 many of her relations to others are correctly discerned. 
 But her mind is intensely introspective, absorbed in an 
 outspoken reverie from which it is drawn only by sug- 
 gestions from without. Her emotional nature also shares 
 in the disorder that pervades her intellectual operations; 
 for the least opposition or a fancied slight raises a gust 
 of passion that spares neither friend nor foe. This 
 trait is admirably displayed by Madge, who, while 
 quietly making her way to church, suddenly turns and 
 spies Jeanie about to sit down on her father's grave. 
 " She followed her with long strides, and, with every 
 feature inflamed with passion, overtook and seized her 
 by the. arm. ' Do ye think, ye ungrateful wretch, that
 
 BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. 537 
 
 I am gaun to let you sit down upon my father's grave ? 
 The deil settle ye down, if ye dinna rise and come into 
 the Interpreter's house, that's the house of God, w T i' me, 
 but I'll rive every dud aff your back ! ' She adapted 
 the action to the phrase ; for with one clutch she stripped 
 Jeanie of her straw bonnet and a handful of her hair 
 to boot, and threw it up into an old yew tree." 
 
 That Sir Walter well understood the form of disease 
 he had to deal with, is made very evident by many of 
 those exquisite touches which, like that just mentioned, 
 would seem to have been beyond the reach of any but 
 the strictly professional observer. 
 
 What can be better than Madge's reply to Jeanie Deans 
 when she said she was never in Bedlam. " Weel, I think 
 thae daft carles the magistrates send naebody to Bedlam 
 but me, — they maun hae an unco respect for me, for 
 whenever I am brought to them, they aye hae me back 
 to Bedlam. But troth, Jeanie, (she said this in a very 
 confidential tone,) to tell ye my private mind about it, I 
 think ye are at nae great loss ; for the keeper's a cross 
 patch, and he maun hae it a' his ain gate, to be sure, or 
 he makes the place waur than hell. I often tell him he's 
 the daftest in a' the house." 
 
 Something suggests a comparison between her own 
 condition and circumstances and those of Bunyan's Pil- 
 grims ; and the fondness with which she recurs to this 
 idea, and her ingenuity in managing the comparison, con- 
 stitute a very life-like trait in this portrait of insanity. 
 Her exhibition in the parish church illustrates the ways 
 and manners of the class of insane to which she belonged, 
 better than a volume of description. We cannot forbear 
 to extract a passage from this exquisite scene. 
 
 " She swam rather than walked up the centre aisle, 
 dragging Jeanie after her, whom she held fast by the
 
 538 ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY 
 
 hand. She would, indeed, have fain slipped aside into 
 the pew nearest the door, and left Madge to ascend in 
 her own manner, and alone, to the high places of the 
 synagogue ; but this was impossible without a degree of 
 violent resistance, which seemed to her inconsistent with 
 the time and place, and she was accordingly led in cap- 
 tivity up the whole length of the church, by her gro- 
 tesque conductress, who, with half shut eyes, a prim 
 smile upon her lips, and a mincing motion with her hands, 
 which corresponded with the delicate and affected 
 pace at which she was pleased to move, seemed to take 
 the general stare of the congregation, which such an 
 exhibition necessarily excited, as a high compliment, and 
 which she returned by nods and half courtesies to individ- 
 uals amongst the audience, whom she seemed to distin- 
 guish as acquaintances. Her absurdity was enhanced 
 in the eyes of the spectators, by the strange contrast 
 which she formed to her companion, who, with dishev- 
 elled hair, downcast eyes, and a face glowing with 
 shame, was dragged, as it were, in triumph after her. 
 
 " Madge's airs were at length fortunately cut short 
 by her encountering in her progress the looks of the 
 clergyman, who fixed upon her a glance at once steady, 
 compassionate, and admonitory. She hastily opened an 
 empty pew which happened to be near her, and entered, 
 dragging in Jeanie after her. Kicking Jeanie on the 
 shins, by way of hint that she should follow her exam- 
 ple, she sunk her head upon her hand for the space of a 
 minute. Jeanie, to whom this posture of mental devo- 
 tion was entirely new, did not attempt to do the like, but 
 looked around her with a bewildered stare, which her 
 neighbors, judging from the company in which they saw 
 her, very naturally ascribed to insanity. Every person 
 in their immediate vicinity drew back from this extra-
 
 BY SIR, WALTER SCOTT. 539 
 
 ordinary couple as far as the limits of their pew per- 
 mitted, but one old man could not get beyond Madge's 
 reach, ere she had snatched the prayer-book from his 
 hand, and ascertained the lesson of the day. She then 
 turned up the ritual, and, with the most overstrained 
 enthusiasm of gesture and manner, showed Jeanie the 
 passages as they were read in the service, making at the 
 same time her own responses so loud as to be heard 
 above those of every other person." 
 
 In the last scene of all, in the agony of spirit pro- 
 duced by the execution of her mother, she recurs to this 
 passage between herself and Jeanie, and with a pathos 
 heightened by her distracted emotions she exclaims, 
 "Oh, Jeanie Deans, — Jeanie Deans! save my mother, 
 and I will take ye to the Interpreter's house again, and I 
 will teach ye a' my bonny sangs, — and I will tell ye 
 what came o' the — " 
 
 Few of Scott's young ladies inspire a deeper interest 
 than Clara Mowbray in " St. Ronan's Well," and for no 
 other reason, that I can see, but that the blight of insan- 
 ity has fallen upon her joyous spirit, and insulated it in 
 the very midst of the allurements and promises of life. 
 She does not, however, so much illustrate any particular 
 form of insanity, as that peculiar condition of the mind 
 which is generally the precursor, and sometimes the fol- 
 lower, of a decided attack of the disease. To its former 
 relation with insanity, 1 have already adverted, p. 443, 
 and the latter is also full of interest to the poet and the 
 psychologist. It may be well to premise, however, that 
 I do not suppose that, in the mental impairment of Clara 
 Mowbray, Scott expressly designed to represent that 
 particular condition that precedes or follows an attack 
 of insanity. It was enough for him to represent what 
 had come within the range of his observation. Its exact
 
 540 ILLUSTKATIONS OF INSANITY 
 
 relation to decided, unquestionable insanity, he prob- 
 ably regarded as a subject belonging to the scientific 
 inquirer. 
 
 It is a well confirmed fact that in a certain proportion 
 of those who recover from an attack of insanity, the 
 mind never exactly regains its normal condition. Al- 
 though the person's thoughts may be apparently, and 
 perhaps really, correct, and his duties performed with 
 the utmost propriety, yet there is an oddity in his ways, 
 a singularity in his dress and demeanor, a brusqueness 
 of manner, and a general want of harmony between the 
 manifestations of his character and conduct, that attract 
 the attention of the bystander and give rise to special 
 remark. The morbid influence is witnessed only occa- 
 sionally, and is confined to points of secondary conse- 
 quence, — the " minor morals " and the minor manners 
 of the individual. The shadows of disease flit across 
 his mental horizon, like clouds in a summer sky, before 
 the face of the sun, merely subduing, while they pass, 
 the brightness of its light. We are no sooner aware of 
 their presence than they have vanished, and the glorious 
 luminary shines out again in its undimmed splendor. Such 
 persons are more or less aware of their infirmity, and 
 are able, to a certain extent, especially in the presence 
 of others, to exercise their self-control, and restrain 
 the manifestations of disease. It is when alone and un- 
 observed, when forming or executing their plans, or 
 even when quietly following their ordinary routine of 
 duty, that they betray, unconsciously to themselves, the 
 infirmity by which they are mastered. To those who 
 have frequent intercourse with them, their mental im- 
 pairment is perfectly obvious; but they would find it 
 difficult, merely by a description of their conduct and 
 conversation, to convince others of the fact who have
 
 BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. 541 
 
 not had the same means of acquaintance. It is one of 
 those things that cannot be described, — it must be seen . 
 in order to be adequately conceived and understood. 
 
 This condition of mind is admirably represented in 
 Clara Mowbray. From others we learn that she has " a 
 bee in her bonnet," and we find indeed that her insanity 
 is a matter of common remark, but we hear nothing of 
 it from her own lips. To the casual observer she appears 
 merely to be a free-spoken young lady, rather regardless 
 of those conventional forms by which the intercourse of 
 society is maintained, but whose discourse sparkles with 
 wit, and lacks neither vigor nor point. At the most he 
 observes only an unfeminine independence, or a dash of 
 eccentricity quite compatible with the soundest condition 
 of mind. If then she says nothing " sounding to folly," 
 and behaves, in our presence at least, like many young- 
 ladies whose manners have been somewhat neglected, 
 we may be asked where we find the evidence that she is 
 otherwise than perfectly sane. We find it in her dis- 
 taste of society and impatience of its forms, and espe- 
 cially in those occasional freaks which are at variance 
 with every principle of prudence and common sense. 
 We find it in her appearance before a brilliant company 
 in her riding-dress ; in thoughtlessly giving away the 
 costly present of her brother ; in the variety of feminine 
 labors begun but never finished, that lie scattered about 
 her boudoir. Some of the traits which she exhibits also 
 are not natural to her character, but proceed from a 
 physical condition that is intimately connected with 
 insanity. The inward grief that consumes her heart 
 produces a kind of nervous erethism, which occasionally 
 breaks out into extravagant spirits and an unnatural 
 buoyancy of the feelings, which, though sometimes as- 
 sumed for one purpose or another, are the involuntary
 
 542 ILLUSTBATIONS OF INSANITY 
 
 reaction of the prevalent and habitual condition. In 
 such a state of mind it scarcely needed so severe a blow- 
 as the disclosure of her brother's designs to dissolve 
 the feeble bond that holds her shattered intellect to- 
 gether. 
 
 Noma of the Fitful Head, in the " Pirate/' " is meant/' 
 says the author, " to be an instance of that singular kind 
 of insanity, during which the patient, while he or she 
 retains much subtlety and address for the power of im- 
 posing upon others, is still more ingenious in endeavor- 
 ing to impose upon themselves." It is a less common 
 form of the disease than general mania, but its patho- 
 logical characters are equally constant and well defined. 
 Although apparently a simpler disorder than the latter, 
 because fewer of the mental powers are involved in the 
 morbid action, yet I am not sure that it has been more 
 successfully represented by literary writers. The phe- 
 nomena that first meet the attention are so strange and 
 extraordinary, that others less striking are apt to be 
 overlooked altogether. The mind is so steady to its 
 favorite fancies, and so consistent and coherent in 
 maintaining them, that less opportunity is afforded for 
 the display of the writer's skill than in those forms of 
 derangement where the bonds of association are more 
 delicate and obscure, and the thoughts have a more mot- 
 ley and impulsive character. The task of the simulator, 
 however, who chooses it for the purpose of deception, is 
 far from being lighter. He may easily profess the ex- 
 traordinary notions of the monomaniac, and even avoid, 
 with some ingenuity, the absurdities to which they lead, 
 but there are numberless other traits which all his skill 
 would utterly fail to represent. What sane mind can 
 fully imitate the monomaniac's style of reasoning which, 
 while it has some show of logic, would never have been
 
 BY SIR WALTER SCOTT. 543 
 
 offered, even in jest, by a rational understanding? What 
 power of mimicry can represent his transparent sincer- 
 ity, his unfaltering confidence, the prevailing tendency 
 of his unsuggested and spontaneous reflections to the 
 morbid point, his abstracted air, his constrained and fit- 
 ful movements? The most accomplished actor, after 
 years of observation, would fail, I think, to imitate these 
 traits well enough to deceive the practised observer of 
 the insane. The writer has an easier task, and conse- 
 quently has been more successful. He deals only with 
 mental manifestations. The air, the manner, the-gesture, 
 the look, the act, though equally bearing the impress of 
 insanity, do not come within his province. Considered 
 in this light, Noma must ever be regarded as a most im- 
 pressive and life-like delineation of monomania. The 
 lofty bearing, the magnificent pretensions, the grandilo- 
 quent announcement of her supernatural powers, and the 
 constant yet unconscious endeavor to deceive others, as 
 she had already deceived herself, are represented with 
 unimprovable fidelity. Noma's insanity, however, is evi- 
 dently but a secondary feature in her character, and 
 subordinate to the higher part she plays in the course of 
 events in which she is destined to mingle. The idea is, 
 not so much to represent this part as the result of insan- 
 ity, as to make the latter a sufficient reason for what 
 would have been inexplicable and impossible without it. 
 The force and pertinency of her discourse are not indeed 
 incompatible with very serious lesion of the understand- 
 ing, but other traits and qualities are attributed to her 
 character, only at the expense of its pathological cor- 
 rectness. She keeps a vigilant eye on what is passing 
 around her, displays a mother's affection for her son, and 
 a very natural interest in the honor and happiness of 
 her kindred. This was necessary to the development
 
 544 ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY 
 
 of the plot, but not very strictly in accordance with the 
 nature of the disease. The monomaniac retains but little 
 interest in anything but his own delusions, and family 
 and friends are generally regarded with indifference, if 
 not positive dislike. I will not say that no exception can 
 be found to this rule, but Scott would scarcely be helped 
 by the admission that the type of one of his prominent 
 characters is to be found in an extreme case, a solitary 
 instance, rather than a large class of mankind. It is 
 understood to be the peculiar merit of Scott as well as 
 Shakespeare, that the men and women in whom he en- 
 lists our interests are no questionable existences, whose 
 mortal affinities are hard to be discerned, but bear upon 
 their front the unmistakable features of humanity. And, 
 with the single exception before us, neither has deviated 
 from the general principle upon which he labored in his 
 conceptions of character. 
 
 By no English writer have the delusions of pure mono- 
 mania been more truthfully represented than by Dr. John- 
 son in " Rasselas," — an achievement we should hardly 
 have expected from one whose own mental movements 
 were of the most regular and measured character. An 
 old astronomer had been so long and deeply engrossed 
 in the observation of the heavens, that he finally imbibed 
 the idea that he could control their motions and regulate 
 the distribution of their blessings. In homely phrase, 
 he imagined that he was " clerk of the weather." Who 
 that has mingled much with the insane has not witnessed 
 the counterpart of the childlike naivete and unquestion- 
 ing self-confidence with which he relates his wonderful 
 powers, and which is admirably set off by the grandilo- 
 quent language of Johnson ? 
 
 " I have possessed for five years the regulation of the 
 weather, and the distribution of the seasons : the sun has
 
 BY DR. JOHNSON. 545 
 
 listened to my dictates, and passed from tropic to tropic 
 by my direction ; the clouds at my call have poured their 
 waters, and the Nile has overflowed at my command ; I 
 have restrained the rage of the dog-star, and mitigated 
 the fervors of the crab. The winds alone, of all the 
 elemental powers, have hitherto refused my authority, 
 and multitudes have perished by equinoctial tempests 
 which I found myself unable to prohibit or restrain. 
 I have administered this great office with exact justice, 
 and made to the different nations of the earth an impar- 
 tial dividend of rain and sunshine. What must have 
 been the misery of half the globe if I had limited the 
 clouds to particular regions or confined the sun to 
 either side of the equator?" 
 
 His account of the manner in which he obtained and 
 became conscious of his powers presents an excellent 
 illustration of the characteristic mistake which the insane 
 very often commit on this point. " About ten years ago, 
 my daily observations of the changes of the sky led me 
 to consider, whether, if I had the power of the seasons, 
 I could confer greater plenty upon the inhabitants of the 
 earth. This contemplation fastened on my mind, and I 
 sat days and nights in imaginary dominion, pouring upon 
 this country and that the showers of fertility, and second- 
 ing every fall of rain with a due proportion of sunshine. 
 I had yet only the will to do good, and did not imagine 
 that I should ever have the power. One day as I was 
 looking on the fields withering with heat, I felt in my 
 mind a sudden wish that I could send rain on the south- 
 ern mountains and raise the Nile to an inundation. In 
 the hurry of my imagination I commanded rain to fall; 
 and, by comparing the time of my command with that of 
 the inundation, I found that the clouds had listened to 
 my lips." 
 
 35
 
 546 ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY 
 
 The immediate execution of his command he repre- 
 sents to be the sole ground of his faith, and is quite 
 unconscious that the thought in question was but a re- 
 sult of the morbid action that had long been established 
 in his mind. Judging merely from his own account one 
 might be led to suppose that his mind was as firm and 
 steady as ever, and that the fact of the necessary connec- 
 tion of the two events was forced upon him by irresistible 
 evidence. His friends would probably have told us a 
 different story, and made us acquainted with strange 
 deviations from his natural demeanor or style of think- 
 ing, long before his delusion had taken a definite shape. 
 An insane person can seldom trace very clearly the 
 initiatory steps by which he has been brought into 
 trouble, or led to some extraordinary conclusion; and 
 the ability is not always gained after the recovery. 
 In seeking for the causes of the remarkable change that 
 has come over him, he is apt to fix upon some person 
 or incident which had but a trivial or accidental connec- 
 tion with it, or appeared at a subsequent elate. As in 
 the present case, the execution of the command is re- 
 garded as the first noticeable fact in the history of his 
 case, while the idea of uttering such a strange command 
 scarcely arrests his attention. It may be well to add 
 that this coincidence between the thought -and subse- 
 quent event frequently appears in the narratives of 
 persons relating to the origin of their disorder, and prob- 
 ably arises from that misplacement in the succession of 
 their ideas, which is not an uncommon phenomenon of 
 insanity. 
 
 The accuracy of Johnson's picture of monomania is 
 farther displayed by the astronomer's account of the 
 mental conflicts he endured, and of the final triumph of 
 his delusion. When asked if some other cause might
 
 BY RICHARDSON. 547 
 
 not have produced the concurrence, he replied that such 
 objections did not escape him. " I reasoned long against 
 my own conviction, and labored against truth with the 
 utmost obstinacy. I sometimes suspected myself of 
 madness, and should not have dared to impart this secret 
 but to a man like you, capable of distinguishing the 
 wonderful from the impossible, and the incredible from 
 the false.'' A more faithful and graphic description than 
 this, of what is called the incubation of insanity, could 
 not be* had. The strange fancies that ever and anon 
 intrude themselves into the mind, the gradually weak- 
 ened struggle by which they are resisted, the suspicion 
 of one's own madness, the ultimate conviction of the 
 reality of the marvellous belief, the unfaltering self-com- 
 placency with which the patient proclaims his own men- 
 tal integrity and vigor, — how common, how life-like, are 
 these traits ! In the latter part of the passage, how- 
 ever, the old astronomer is altogether too cool, too sen- 
 sible, too considerate on the subject of his belief. True, 
 the convictions of the monomaniac are always too strong 
 to be shaken by any possible force of evidence or reason : 
 but he never troubles himself about the impression they 
 make upon others, because they seem to him self-evi- 
 dent, as it were, beyond question or cavil. I do not 
 deny the possibility of his thinking that others ought to 
 differ from him, according to "the laws of demonstra- 
 tion," but I have never met with an instance of the 
 kind. 
 
 Richardson, in " Sir Charles G-randison," has tried his 
 hand upon a case of acute mania characterized by 
 depression. The lady Clementina, whom he has endowed 
 with every possible feminine virtue, rather suddenly 
 falls into fits of absence and revery, in which the subject 
 of her thoughts seems to assume an objective existence.
 
 548 ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY 
 
 With unnatural precipitation the mental malady increases 
 in severity, — the depression frequently alternating with 
 a state of restlessness and excitement, though never 
 rising to the pitch of fury or raving. The cause of the 
 trouble, as we subsequently ascertain, is an affair of the 
 heart, though, after making every allowance, this seems 
 to be rather a forced conclusion. Before the course of 
 her affections had been thwarted, before a single ob- 
 jection could have been reasonably anticipated, before, 
 probably, such a woman could be supposed to be con- 
 scious of the existence of the tender passion, she ingen- 
 iously reasons herself into the belief of insuperable 
 difficulties, and the peace and joy of her pure and inno- 
 cent soul give place to sorrow and bewildering reveries. 
 To such a soul, no sentiment can be more congenial, 
 and consequently none more healthy, than love. To 
 represent it, therefore, under such circumstances, as 
 nearly allied to madness, betrays an inability to appre- 
 ciate one of the most beautiful harmonies between our 
 moral and physical nature, or at least the willingness to 
 sacrifice it to the paramount object of drawing forth the 
 tears of sentimental young ladies and gentlemen.. In- 
 deed, Richardson's task was hardly within his vein. The 
 lighter movements of the heart, especially as they are 
 revealed through the conventional guises of society, 
 have never been more faithfully portrayed than by him ; 
 but the deep currents of passion, the central springs of 
 character in which are the issues of moral life, seem to 
 have been entirely beyond his reach. 
 
 As a picture of mental disorder considered without 
 reference to its origin, the merit of Clementina is some- 
 what various. Occasionally, the hand of the master is 
 plainly visible, especially in representing the drifting 
 character of the thoughts, and in managing the tran-
 
 BY RICHARDSON. 549 
 
 sitions from depression to excitement. In these respects, 
 I am inclined to regard some scenes as perfect. How 
 genuine and life-like are her whole appearance and man- 
 ner when found by her maid about to visit the Chevalier, 
 in order, as she said, to deliver him a message from God! 
 They impress us like some of those marvellous pictures 
 whose figures seem to stand out from the canvas, and 
 imbibe the Promethean fire, while we gaze upon their 
 expanding features. Richardson seems, however, to 
 have exhausted his resources before he had finished his 
 task, which, considering the interminable length to which 
 everything he handles is spun out, is not surprising. 
 Through some whole scenes her discourse is unexcep- 
 tionably sensible and appropriate, and we lose sight 
 altogether of her insanity. Of course, in the conver- 
 sation of the insane, we expect to find " matter and im- 
 pertinency mixed ; ? ' but in the present case the mixture 
 is often almost entirely composed of the former element. 
 In shunning the common error of representing the dis- 
 course of the insane as a jargon of words unconnected 
 by a single tie of congruity or coherence, he has com- 
 mitted the opposite one of freeing it from every trace of 
 insanity, and rilling it with pertinent and judicious re- 
 flections. To avoid these two extremes of error has 
 always been found, I imagine, the most difficult part of 
 the task of writers who undertake to delineate insanity. 
 We have previously remarked that in a large proportion 
 of cases the mental disorder is indicated in the patient's 
 discourse, not so much by wild and extravagant expres- 
 sions as by the peculiar and not easily described suc- 
 cession and grouping of the ideas. Richardson seems 
 not to have been aware of this fact. The lady talks alto- 
 gether too much and too sensibly of her lover, for one 
 in her distracted condition. If there is any subject in
 
 550 ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY 
 
 the world on which the insane manifest their insanity, 
 provided they talk about it at all, which they very sel- 
 dom do, it is usually that which is intimately connected 
 with the origin of their disorder. However sober and 
 correct their conversation may be on indifferent matters, 
 on that they are sure to wander. 
 
 The prominent fault, however, of this attempt of Rich- 
 ardson to delineate insanity, is that the disease contrib- 
 utes no additional interest to the character. It brings 
 out no new trait, and magnifies none with which we 
 were previously acquainted. The patience, resignation, 
 and sweetness of temper which it leads her to exhibit, 
 are not the exclusive offspring of insanity, and might as 
 well have been exemplified in any other disease. We 
 are grieved for her distressed family, and especially for 
 the gentle sufferer herself; but we are not sure that our 
 feelings are anywise different from what they would be 
 were she laboring under an attack of pneumonia or gas- 
 tritis. We see only affliction, disappointment, and sor- 
 row, and we feel accordingly. We are made acquainted 
 with no new phases of character, and our deepest inter- 
 est and warmest sympathies are not enlisted by the 
 sight of moral or intellectual treasures which only the 
 storms of mental disease can upheave from the depths 
 of their concealment. In short, she is the same Signora 
 Clementina that we knew when sane, and in the enjoy- 
 ment of every blessing ; and we cannot disguise the fact 
 that we are heartily rejoiced when she fairly gets 
 through the disorder with which the author, in his wis- 
 dom, has seen fit to visit her. 
 
 Richardson has one merit, however, in his delineation 
 of insanity, that ought to atone for a multitude of defects. 
 At a time when the insane were treated with harshness 
 and even barbarity, for the purpose of subduing their
 
 BY BICHARDSOX. 551 
 
 wills, he set himself decidedly against the popular prac- 
 tice, and contended for the opposite kind of treatment. 
 He fairly exhibited the results of the two different 
 methods : and in a manner more convincing than the 
 most formidable array of statistics could have made it 
 demonstrated the superiority of that mild and indulgent 
 management which is now firmly established among all 
 civilized nations. Indeed, with some propriety, he may 
 be regarded as the pioneer of that blessed reform which, 
 shortly after, was quietly introduced and almost per- 
 fected by the Quakers at the York Retreat. Merit of 
 this kind is seldom duly appreciated by the world, for it 
 does not strike the imagination like that of brilliant dis- 
 coveries in the physical sciences ; and the very reason 
 that reforms like that in question are so obviously sanc- 
 tioned and confirmed by common sense and the feelings 
 of common humanity is apt to detract from the merit of 
 those who conceive them.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Addington, recommends a hop pillow 
 
 for the King, 459 ; supposed to have 
 
 recommended "Willis, 440. 
 Allison. Judge, decision respecting 
 
 confinement of the insane, 174. 
 Aphasia, lntelv much investigated, 
 
 315. 
 Approximation to truth, what it means, 
 
 95. 
 
 Beliefs false, how distinguished from 
 delusions, 152. 
 
 Bentham, his disposal of his body, 
 155. 
 
 Books, not allowed to be read in trials, 
 226. 
 
 Brewster, Judge, h : s decision respect- 
 ing confinement. 173, 181, 184. 
 
 Bucknill, writes about Shakespeare's 
 mad folk. 483. 
 
 Bulletins, 461. 
 
 Burke, complained th u the King was 
 not safe in Willis's hand*. 452: 
 had visited hospitals for the insane 
 and read many book- on insanity, 
 455. 
 
 Bumey, Mis=, describes the first attack, 
 437 : describes her meeting with the 
 King, 438; repeats his story of hav- 
 ing been abused. 441. 
 
 Burnside, Judge, his decision respect- 
 ing confinement. 176. 
 
 Capacity, testamentary, compared with 
 capacity for making contracts. 343. 
 387. 
 
 Causes of insanity, imperfectly under- 
 stood, 25; often confounded with the 
 incident*, 2D: uot necessarily the 
 most prominent event. 31; often 
 confounded with its effects, 36, 90: 
 cannot be ascertained without a 
 thorough knowledge of patient's 
 antecedents, 34; most efficient is 
 inherent cerebral defect, 38; obvi- 
 ated by infusion of better blood. 
 41 ; their vagueness of meaning, 
 88. 
 
 Census of 1840, misrepresents the 
 amount of insanity among colored 
 free people, 69. 
 
 Clara Mowbray, character of her insan- 
 ity, 539. 
 
 Classification of mental diseases, 94. 
 
 Clementina, character of her insanity. 
 547. 
 
 Colby v. Jackson, 170. 
 
 Coleridge, Justice, his decision respect- 
 ing confinement, 173. 
 
 Combe, his definition of insanity. 108. 
 
 Confinement of the insane, a natural 
 duty of friends, 169; authorized by 
 constitution of PennsUva* ia. 176; 
 laws respecting it still conflicting, 
 188: commissions of lunacv to be
 
 554 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 avoided as long as possible, 191; 
 
 seldom if ever, abused, 198. 
 Conolly, his essay on Hamlet, 483. 
 Conspiracy, action of, a source of 
 
 flagitious suits, 294. 
 Contracts with God, cases of, 156, 164; 
 
 implied in the ancient covenants of 
 
 God with man, 166. 
 Crime, elements of, 205. 
 Cross-examination often frustrates the 
 
 purposes of skilled testimony, 428. 
 
 Danger, its relation to confinement, 
 177. 
 
 Deaths from insanity, not accurately 
 represented in hospital statistics, 82 ; 
 how their proportion is obtained by 
 Tuke, .83; causes of, vaguely ex- 
 pressed, 84. 
 
 Delinquency, often the result of cere- 
 bral imperfection, 16, 47, 48. 
 
 Delusion, a legal test of insanity, 142, 
 207; not always recognized after 
 recovery, 129, 130; definition of, 
 143; uot to be confounded with 
 singularities of belief, 144; not re- 
 garded as a valid defence, 262. 
 
 Demented persons, can play at whist 
 and other games, 323 ; observe little 
 proprieties and usages, 334. 
 
 Denman, Lord, decision respecting 
 confinement, 173. 
 
 Depression, in relation to recovery, 136. 
 
 Development of disease, true doctrine 
 of, 40; sometimes rapid, 57. 
 
 Devil, personality of, 146; once sup- 
 posed to cause insanity, 208. 
 
 Disease, manifested by disturbance of 
 function, 53; time of its beginning 
 uncertain, 76 ; Dr. Thurnam on this 
 point, 78; how transmitted, see 
 Transmission. 
 
 Dix, Miss, notice of, 11. 
 
 Drunkenness, a symptom, as well as 
 cause of mental disease, 35. 
 
 Eccentricity, 42, 154. 
 
 Eldon, defends his transactions with the 
 King, 466 ; charged with preventing 
 the junction of Fox and Pitt, 469. 
 
 Epilepsy, sometimes manifested by 
 unconsciousness without convulsion, 
 274; its effect on the mind in its 
 early stages, not much studied, 279 ; 
 always annuls legal responsibility, 
 281." 
 
 Erskine, Lord, relates a case of excus- 
 able homicide prompted by revenge, 
 288. 
 
 Excitement in relation to recovery, 
 136. 
 
 Executive, proper occasion for his 
 interposition, 276; not likely to ap- 
 point most suitable men as commis- 
 sioners, 422. 
 
 Experts, their testimony influenced by 
 training, habits of study, experience, 
 410; not infallible, 413; not biassed 
 by pecuniary motives, 418; how 
 they are engaged, 419; should not 
 be appointed by the Executive, 422; 
 nor by the courts, 424; not now 
 examined in the best way, 427; 
 every one not an expert who pro- 
 fesses to be one, 421 ; their function 
 not to be assumed by judges, 430. 
 
 Farren, writes about Shakespeare's 
 
 mad folk, 483. 
 Flavel, extract from, 162. 
 Fletcher's representation of insanity, 
 
 529. 
 Fools of Shakespeare, 502. 
 Friends, establish hospitals in York and 
 
 Frankford, 8. 
 Fyler, case of, 278. 
 
 Gall and Spurzheim, contributed much 
 to our knowledge of insanity, 27. 
 
 Gardiner, Colonel, his vision, 149. 
 
 George III., bis natural traits, 434; 
 first became insane in 1765, 435; 
 next attack in 1788,436; incidents 
 of his convalescence, 438, 448; his
 
 IXDEX. 
 
 555 
 
 gibe at Willis, 440; abused, he said, 
 by his attendants, 441: was re- 
 strained by strait-jacket, 442; gave 
 sign of convalescence by reading, 
 448; bent on reading Lear, 453; 
 allowed to shave, 451; nnd see his 
 family, 453; attacked in 1801, 456; 
 recovers in a few months, 457; at- 
 tacked again in 1804, 460; continued 
 capricious and headstrong after ap- 
 parent recoven r , 463: the last two 
 attacks longer than they were sup- 
 posed to be, 463; continued in both 
 to exercise powers of sovereignty, 
 464; dislikes the Willises, 460; wants 
 to read bills before signing them, 
 467; is attacked again in 1810, 469; 
 near dying, 436: has various delu- 
 sions, 472; had become blind, 477; 
 impatient to resume his regal func- 
 tion?, 471 ; selects the music of a 
 concert, 472; condition during his 
 last years, 479; approves of strait- 
 jackets, 443. 
 
 Ghosts of Shakespeare not meant to be 
 visible, 527. 
 
 Goethe, his theory of Hamlet, 508. 
 
 Gilchrist, C. J., his decision respecting 
 confinement, 171. 
 
 Goss, case of, 209. 
 
 Greenwood, case of, 120. 
 
 Grey. Earl, attacks Eldon for allowing 
 the King to exercise regal powers, 
 465. 
 
 Hale, Lord, on partial insanity, 228. 
 
 Hallucinations, how distinguished from 
 delusions, 145; how they are some- 
 times excited, 148, 150; their fre- 
 quency, 225 ; their true nature known 
 to Shakespeare, 528. 
 
 Hamlet, really insane, 504; how re- 
 garded by Goethe, 508: by Hudson, 
 509; theory of insanity explains his 
 conduct, 507, 519. 
 
 Hardness of feeling exhibited by the 
 insane towards friends, 138. 
 
 Harris, case" of, 282. 
 
 Heberden, Dr., describes the King's 
 insanity, 475. 
 
 Herbert, Lord, his vision, 149. 
 
 Hereditary taint, its various forms and 
 stages, 51 ; how recognized, 52 : may 
 remain latent, 52 
 
 Heredity, its tendency to abolish devi- 
 ations from the normal type, 44. 
 
 Hinchman v. Richie, 176. 
 
 Hospitals for the insane, established in 
 Pennsylvania, 6, 8, 17; have im- 
 proved our knowledge of healtby 
 mind, 13; danger of crowding them, 
 18; duty of the community to, 23; 
 have become pleasant abodes, 179; 
 intended for incurables as well as 
 curables, 180; prejudices against 
 them, 198. 
 
 Hudson, his theory of Hamlet, 509. 
 
 Hunter. Dr. William, on infanticide, 
 286. 
 
 Hypothetical cases, 428. 
 
 Impatience in relation to recover}', 134. 
 
 Insane, the, their condition before the 
 era of hospitals, 4; in Catholic coun- 
 tries, kept in old monasteries, 7; 
 circumstances leading to reform, 10; 
 the State obliged to assume their 
 care, 11; hospitals solicited by 31 is s 
 Dix, 11; State bound to provide for 
 all. not a part, 18; number of, in 
 Massachusetts and in Pennsylva- 
 nia, 19; the common law on their 
 confinement, 170; their propensity 
 to mischief, 178, 402; too proud to 
 acknowledge their delusions, 128; 
 in most States committed by magis- 
 trates, 193; in some by jury, 194: 
 most of them regarded by somebody 
 as sane, 196; not deterred from 
 crime by fear of punishment. 206; 
 can distinguish between right and 
 wrong, 227; sometimes deny their 
 acts, 248; sometimes provide against 
 their consequences, 249; unable to
 
 556 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 defend themselves in criminal suits, 
 262; some apparently recovered, 
 den}' they have ever been insane, 
 and are bitter towards all who treated 
 them as insane, 309; may under- 
 stand the terms and not the merits 
 of a question, 333; may possess all 
 the mental faculties, memory, judg- 
 ment, &c, 336; fond of charging 
 others with wrong-doing, 356; will 
 talk with strangers about their pri- 
 vate affairs, 362; given to practical 
 inconsistencies, 364; their mental 
 processes resemble dreaming, 496; 
 they give utterance to all thoughts 
 alike, 497. 
 
 Insanity, what it means, 3; its con- 
 nection with organic qualities of the 
 brain overlooked, 26; a matter of 
 blood, 38; generally the product of 
 more than one generation, 41; dis- 
 tinguished from depravity, 56; di- 
 vided into old and recent, 75 ; mis- 
 take respecting the range of its 
 morbid influence on the mind, 182; 
 appears under two general forms, 
 98 ; supposed by some to be always 
 attended by intellectual derange- 
 ment, 104, 106; how proved, 115; 
 once mistaken for some other disease 
 or the work of Satan, 203, 208; its 
 range of operation on the mental 
 faculties, 227 ; better understood by 
 novelists and poets than by meta- 
 physicians, 434; plea of, 262; remis- 
 sion in the early stage, 131. 
 
 Interdiction, to be avoided if possible, 
 190; opinion of English Commis- 
 sioners in Lunacy respecting it, 
 191. 
 
 Irresponsibility, no single test of, 213; 
 Judge Shaw's tests, 226. 
 
 Irreverence, somewhat conventional, 
 162. 
 
 Jarvis, Dr., on transitory mania, 253 ; 
 his census of the insane, 19. 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, his hallucination, 
 150; represents a case of monomania 
 in Rasselas, 544. 
 
 Judges should not assume the func- 
 tions of experts, 430. 
 
 Kellogg, writes about Shakespeare's 
 mad folk, 483. 
 
 Language, should be used with pre- 
 cision, 88. 
 
 Lear, character of his insanity, 486. 
 
 Lecky, Mr., remark respecting mental 
 pathology, 15. 
 
 Legislation on confinement of the in- 
 sane, in Pennsylvania, Massachu- 
 setts, Rhode Island, &c, 200; act of, 
 recommended by superintendents of 
 nospitals, 200 ; what is really needed, 
 201. 
 
 Lunacy, English Commissioners of, 
 nature of their duty, 405. 
 
 Macbeth and wife, their cases described, 
 525, 528. 
 
 Madge Wildfire, character of her in- 
 sanity, 534. 
 
 Maine, disposal of persons in, charged 
 with crime, 427. 
 
 Mania transitorj r , Dr. Walker's case, 
 286; its existence denied, 252. 
 
 Mann, Horace, declares the pauper in- 
 sane to be wards of the State, 9. 
 
 McNaughton, his case referred to, 110. 
 
 Mendacity of the insane, 296. 
 
 Menstrual periods, accompanied by 
 increased excitement, 141. 
 
 Mischief, propensity of the insane to, 
 178, 402. 
 
 Mistake as distinguished from delusion, 
 346. 
 
 Moral insanity, not dependent on 
 phrenology, 97; described by Pinel, 
 99; admitted by most of the best 
 observers, 99; not depravity, 106, 
 107; its name disliked, 112; ten- 
 dency thought to be bad, 114, 117.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 557 
 
 Moore, case of, 174, 18S. 
 
 Nichols, Dr., opinion in the Harris case, 
 
 283. 
 Non-restraint, not supported by George 
 
 III.'s case, 478. 
 Noma, her case described, 542. 
 Nottidge v. Ripley, 171. 
 Nyce v. Kirkbride, 173. 
 
 Oakes, case of, 174. 
 
 Ophelia, her case described, 524. 
 
 Opinions, medical, given in writing, 
 316; unanimity in, not to be ex- 
 pected, 411; of ordinary 'witnesses 
 sometimes admitted, 417. 
 
 Otway, fails in his illustrations of in- 
 sanity, 498. 
 
 Paralysis, its effects discussed in the 
 Parish case, 315; its manifestations, 
 318; loss of voice in, supplemented 
 by gestures, writing, &c, 328: indi- 
 cated by irritability, 331; leads to 
 petulance, freaks of passion, 339; a 
 common termination of insanity, 
 367. 
 
 Partnership with God, 156, 165. 
 
 Pathology, mental, throws light on 
 healthy mental operations, 14; also 
 on moral and social questions, 16. 
 
 Pellico, his hallucinations, 150. 
 
 Pennsylvania, the first State to provide 
 for the insane, 5; its constitution 
 authorizes confinement of the insane, 
 176. 
 
 Perley, C J., decision in State v. Pike, 
 213. 
 
 Pollock, Sir Frederick, decision re- 
 specting confinement, 172. 
 
 Psychology, its study assisted by men- 
 tal pathology, 123. 
 
 Peeovery, often confounded with im- 
 provement, 73; affected by various 
 accidental circumstances, 72; not 
 
 exactly defined, 74; proportion of, 
 81; not always followed by recogni- 
 tion of delusions, 129, 130; fre- 
 quently imperfect in bodily diseases, 
 297. 
 
 Redfield, C. J., on strange wills, 154. 
 
 Reformers, run to extremes, 393. 
 
 Remission, its occurrence in the early 
 stage of insanity, 131. 
 
 Restraint, true doctrine of, 393, 400. 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, his hallucina- 
 tion, 150. ' 
 
 Richardson, his success in representing 
 insanity, 547. 
 
 Sane persons, supposed to be confined, 
 296; scarcely one authentic case, 
 198. 
 
 Science, conclusions of, change with 
 increase of knowledge, 414. 
 
 Scott, happy in his illustrations of in- 
 sanity, 534. 
 
 Seduction, its connection with insan- 
 ity, 286. 
 
 Sexual influences, in connection with 
 insanity and crime, 285. 
 
 Shakespeare, well acquainted with 
 morbid psychology, 124; how he 
 studied it, 485; fond of delineating 
 it, 518. 
 
 Shaw, C. J., decision in the Oakes case, 
 174, 310; in the Rogers case, 210, 
 226. 
 
 Sheridan, ridicules Willis, 446. 
 
 Simulation of insanity, can be detected, 
 218; how distinguished from real 
 insanity, 301, 304, 501, 505. 
 
 Spiritualism, worth investigating, 272. 
 
 Spurzheim on insanity, 186. 
 
 Statistics, applicable to facts, not to 
 opinions, 66; imply more than a pro- 
 cess in arithmetic, 68; applied to 
 recoveries, 72; applied to deaths, 
 81; wrongly regarded as approxi- 
 mations to truth, 95. 
 
 Stephen, on the plea of insanity, 205.
 
 558 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Stewart, thinks insanity contagious, 
 
 182. 
 Story, Judge, decision in a case of 
 
 infanticide, 286. 
 Suicide, committed impulsively, 102; 
 
 contemplated by a large proportion of 
 
 the insane, 511. 
 Suspicion, a common trait of insanity, 
 
 353. 
 
 Tables of causes, unreliable, 33, 37, 
 84 et seq. ; often reflect the special 
 views of their makers, 92. 
 
 Temperament, insane, 150. 
 
 Tendency to disease is transmitted, 
 49; what becomes of it, 49; how 
 distinguished from natural qualities, 
 54; practical consequences, 58. 
 
 Testimony, skilled, charged with being 
 contradictory, 411, 414; and venal, 
 418; must sometimes be discre- 
 pant, 413; decried by men of cul- 
 ture, 413 ; said to distract the minds 
 of the jury, 416; how obtained in 
 foreign countries, 425; its purposes 
 frustrated by cross-examination, 
 428; sometimes given in writing, 
 430. 
 
 Townley, case of, 60, 261. 
 
 Transmission, hereditary in animals 
 and 'plants, 39; how it modifies 
 diseases, 39, 41; and tendency to 
 disease, 43; cannot perpetuate all 
 the traits of both parents, 43; ab- 
 normal deviations die out, 44. 
 
 Unanimity of opinion in skilled evi- 
 dence, 411. 
 
 Unconsciousness, used with uncertain 
 meaning, 259. 
 
 Virginia, the first State to provide a 
 hospital specially for the insane, 7. 
 
 Walker, Dr. C. A., his case of transi- 
 tory mania, 286. 
 
 "Walker, Dr. W. J., testifies in the Rog- 
 ers case, 221. 
 
 Wharton and Stille', on confinement, 
 177. 
 
 Willis, Dr. Francis, called to attend 
 George III., 439; applies restraint, 
 442 ; described by Wraxall and Miss 
 Burney, 439 ; his physic ridiculed by 
 Sheridan, 446; allows the King to 
 shave, 451; his character and dis- 
 position, 454; his traditionary re- 
 plies to Burke and Sheridan, 452; 
 his establishment described, 456; 
 his compensation, 456, 457 ; called in 
 in 1801, but soon ceased his attend- 
 ance, 457. 
 
 Willis, John, employed in the attacks 
 of 1788 and 1801, 440, 456. 
 
 Willis, Robert, employed in the at- 
 tacks of 1801 and 1810, 456, 474. 
 
 Willis, Thomas, employed in the at- 
 tack of 1801, 456. 
 
 Wills, how affected by hostility to re- 
 lations, 345. 
 
 Winslow, on delusions, 153. 
 
 Winthrop, Governor, on a case of in- 
 sanity, 208. 
 
 Witchcraft explained, 151. 
 
 Woodward, Dr., his account of Rogers, 
 220. 
 
 Writing with left hand, soon acquired, 
 328. 
 
 Cambridge : Press of John Wilson and Sou. 
 
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