Star. — London, England, 1810-12-19 00:00:00

his Majesty been bodily indisposed one ot i t hin the last fortnight ?--Yes ; there has been .s considerable accession of fever about the King. you a ttach any importance to such bodily in: , i ;n , ns as his Majesty has been subject to for the fanlight attack considerable importance to ce ssion of fever ; and there was accession of fe. w i t hin the last fortnight ; we had no alarm on of any other indisposition. us i n g the Word " fever'," do you mean an* ac. 1,4 the mental disease, or of bodily indisposi. L.. 01 bodily indisposition, when we have made of the word fever ; the • King had fever, though gn ioanied with an aggravation of the mental dis , ve t it was independent of that. gas it at the suggestion, or at the request of the I Chzicellor, that he saw the King ; or was the itellor, upon his arrival at Win sor, to inquire his Majesty, informed that it was settled that he add attend upon him ?d--It was not at the sugges of the Chancellor, and his Lordship said that he nit ever prepared to expect pea a circumstance; rather at the recadmiendittioi of the physicians lendance , ;hen Lord Thurlow aiiti Mr. Pitt saw the King, his former illness, were any of the physicians pre t at the same time ?—Yes, I was present. Were any physicians present when the Lord Chao-. l ot saw him the other day ?—No. N or a ny other person?--Not .any person was in Tw o, but the Chancellor f Sir Henry Halford educed the Chancellor to the. King, and then re ' ; and no other.person was in the room. mbave stated, that one of the inducements to the senor's seeing the King was, that Parliament to meet the next day ; did the physicians desire Chancellor to see the King because they were re that Parliament was. to meet the next day not know whether that was not ode of the rea s ; but it was notdokwith any disrespect to Par ent,only with a Voeir, as it had been in the foriner in the year 1788,.diat Mr. Pitt and the Chancel. might both have to say, that they did not take tate of the King merely from the representation is medical attendants.' • • • , -• Has there been at any tame, in your opinion, any lection between the defect subsisting in his Ma r's sight, and the mental tliaorcler under whiCh his Testy at present lab Ours, or at any foriner period Aired Id° not apprehend there,is. You have said, that you are not the less. sanguine , his Majesty's ultimate recovery, than ybu were . you gave your evidence before the Privy Coun. ; 'are you less-sanguine. of his Majesty's speedy very than you were at that period ?"—Yes, of his 'sty's tpredy recovery; from the 'relapse which . place immediately afkeiwards; we certainly have so fair a prospect. Can pm state any - probable time for his Majesty's recovery ?—No, T • Cannot indeed ; I think Xing is very:mach in the s a me StateAhat .I, saw in the latter end of the - . year 176 g, ?oil die be- I - of the _Year 178 g; 'belt it varies so, there are An'y fluctuations, that When we see tie King a better, and tolnron..a 14ete bettet for t4ro or days, we are ungoirie, . and if tyre , Conies a it throws us back again there are Such 'I, it is impossible to give any positive and opinion ; and indeed in this case there. is no ittive time in the nature of this malady ; Too can seldom say; when men have a common fever, the symptoms have been formed three or four one can form a pretty, pod judgment as ta . the . ion of the disease but in this , T. believe, noboay .ter seen able to ascertain anypreciai time. Then I understand, from the nature of the malady, impossible for medical skill to 'ascertain the time recovery, as in a feier or other ordinary disease ? 9St so. Are you of opinion, that that difficulty is increas ed his Majesty's advanced age, and by any other in that may have attached to his Majesty ?- 7 .ing's is a green old age ; there is so much alt . integrity of constitution about him, that T that that certainly does not operate upon my ; and I believe not upon tire mind of any, so ,ch as it would in the case of any ocher person. D - o you know how long the Chancellor remained the Kin ?-.Very little more than a quarter of hour; I think Sir Henry ; Halford said he minuted and that it was 18 minutes. ou have stated, that when Lord Thurlow saw his ..y in 1788, and when Mr. Pitt saw his Majesty )utthe same time, you were present at those inter . ?—I was present when Mr. Pitt went-in, and I ink I was once present when Lord Thurlow went in. Nobody was present the day before yesterday, when Lord Chancellor went in ?—No. Was the absence of the Physicians, upon this (x -i, al the Physicians' own suggestion, or at the !st of the Lord Chancellor ?—At the Physicians' i suggestion, that the Chancelloi should form his opinion. Did not the duration of his continuance depend the opinion of the Physicians ?—Entirely ; the iulation of the Physicians was, that he should see Majesty for a quarter of an hour. It was Sir Henry Halford's own • motion, that he to the King to see the Lord Chancellor, hxvinp ; so proposed to the Ki ng , h e communica to the other Physicians that he had so proposed, . they after some discussion consented to it ?—Yes. But it was not first of all proposed to the Physi ':lns.as a measure by Sir Henry Halford ? It had discussed among us some time before, and Sir Henry Halford at that time thought he saw the King in such a state in which we all said if we had ten him we should have wished it : there was no blame in the world attache d to Sir Henry Halford. When his Majesty's Physicians occasionally, in their daily reports, describe his Majesty as being bet ter, do they mean to confine themselves exclusively to his mental disorder, or to combine with it any con liderations of his bodily state ?—To combine them ; then t h ey say he is better, they mean both. tl Fever, i n t h e b ulletins, means not m e rely fever ; Dose the menta l disorder aggravated by fever ?—At s times t h e Ki n g h as had fever, and it has per h aps ,'"e_e* the most prominent part of his disorder; there rue been ixiiods when the King was very seriously ill with f. N . ['Withdrew. .Dr. Matrintw BAILLIE called in and examined. ~acq3aint the C omm i ttee, whether the state of his ^t comin g health is such as to render him incapable, coming in person to his Parliament, or of attend t9 any kind of pablit , bosineseri--The aate'd his , s h7s M: • vithin th es c onsid . TOI ,*!ti •r.s as fanlight accessi c Rithin the nt of any Il sing th • ef the boc of the sl °l ompanied ; vet it v Was it at ti d Chancel ncellor, u r bis Maje uld • attend of the Ch not even as rather attendance When Lorc his former t at the sal Woe anY oi sa w bin Nor any 01 mo m, bu odueed th ; and at You have s ancellor's s to meet Chanall are that P do not knol ns ; but it ent, only se in the yt might be state of tl his medica Has there .ection ty's sight, jesty at p bowed ?—. You have his Mak: .en you ga ;'are you overy tha. jesty's :pi ,k place it so fair a Can you s ate rec King is in the la ing of tl many flue .0 better, . days, Psei it 1 tiers, ided`n ?t hintive tit y seldom the sy , one co don of ever see Then I it is impossi recovery, Just so. • Are you his Majs 'ty that rent irate ink that I d ; anC sch as it e Do you ▪ *th the I hour ; . m, and t • You has Majesty in ▪ sboutthe view s ?_] !r think Iwa 11 Nobody the Lord h Was th sion, al quest of • own sugg own opini lt Did no e oflnn the stiputa t . toi e • ~ . is males It was proposed and hark red to the and they it But i t • as e'icen disc s henry Kin g in ['lsl.. • Majesty's health is stele as to prew'ent bit Parliament, or attending to any kind of .puk ness. What are 'the hopes yon - entertain of his Majesty's mlcovery ?—I think it very probable, that ultimately the King will recover. Do you found your opinion, given in your ansvver to the previous question, upon the particular symp tlms of his Majesty's disorder, or upon general ex perience in other cases of the same nature ; or upon both ?—Not upon general experience, but upon the likeness that I understand the present indisposition of his Majesty hears to the other three indispositions of the same general character. In that particular species of the disorder his Ma jesty has fallen into, has it been found, from expe rience, that the greater number of persons so affected have been cured ?—I really cannot give a very satis factory atsswer to that question from any experience of my own, for that has been limited ; but I under. stand the greater number of cases of that kind have recovered for the time r although in many instances there are returns tithe indisposition in the same indi vidual. Can you form any judgment, .or probable conjec true, as to the duration of his Majesty's illness ?—I can form no satisfactory conjecture at all ; the only I ground of comparison is, by regard to the former ill nesses of his Majesty, and that might be very deceitful, but that appears to be the only ground on which we can form any conjecture with respect to the probable duration of his Majesty's indisposition. As far. as experience enables you to judge of his Majesty's disorder, do you think it more probable that his Majesty will, or will not recover, so as to render him capable of attending to public business ?—I should think it much more probable, it his Majesty was to recover, he would recover with the lull power to I .t ransact public business as before his present illness. What degree of experience have you had yourself, in this particular species of disorder ?—My experience. has been very limited, certainly ; I have now been about_twenty years in businsss, and I have occasio nally 'seen patients affected with an illness of a situ'. lar character; but not in any great number. Has any amendment already taken place in the course of his Majesty's disorder, and does the ap pearance of such amendment continue at present ? His Majesty is certainly better now, than he has been in some periods of his present indisposition ; I do not think that of late there has been any appearance of much improvement. Can you assign the present disorder of his Majesty to any particular cause ?—I have no doubt in my own mind that his complaint arose out of the great affec tion that his Majesty had for his deceased daughter, and the great affliction that he felt during her long and tedioas illness. When were yell first eatied.in, to see the King ? I believe it was the 25th of October. Were you. in the habit . of attending on the King before this illneii ?—No, not at all. bid you ever visa 'the tin& as a patient, before this illness ?—No, nevei. In ordinary cases, wthfld you suppose that a pa- Cent was knorp likely to recover from a mental ma lady, having been affected with mental malady three or four times previously, than if he had never been so affected•?--/ do not know iery,weil what answer to give to that question : I think it bears two ways ; it ap. pears to me, that when a person has had au indisposi tion with certain symptoms three or four times, and has recovered, it always gives a considerable presump tion, provided the constitution is not much weakened in its powers, that the person will recover again ; at the same time it may be said, that the susceptibility to disease is increased by the number of attacks, and in that point of view the person might not be so likely to recover. I think, however, that the other reasoning has more power altogether than the last, and therefore I should say, that if the constitution is not much weakened, it gives a presumption, if a I person has recovered from a similar disease three times, that he has a considerable chance of recovering the fourth time. When you talk of the King's recovery, and com petency to public business, you mean, the complete recovery, as you would speak of anoth4r patient, to be competent to the management and direction of all affairs ?—I think so. Ido not say that the King, may not fall b'ck and be liable to any future attack of a similar indisposition ; but as tar as I can judge of it, it is most probable, that if be does reco ver, he will recover with the same power of perform- ing his duties, as a Sovereign, as before. Have any of the Royal family seen the King, since l his indisposition ?—Not as far as I know ; but I be-, here at the time when he was beginning to be hurried at first, his family saw him but since the disease established its charaiter, /believe, none of the Royal family have seen him. I believe nobody, since the ?sth of Octbber. Is the hurry, of which yciu speak, to be understood As subsequent or anterier to the 25th of October ? He was certainly very•much hurried on the 25th of October ; but I believe there were little marks of the same sort before that ; and they were observed by his, family, before they were observed by strangers. , Did you observe any symptoms of it before the 25th of October,?—l think once or twice I observed a little, but it did not strike me much ; on the 25th it was very well marked. I saw the King twice a day before the 25th,to give an accountof his daughter. Did you make any observation, on the state of the King, on the 24th of October ?—I have no recollec tion of making any particular observation. Can any persons have any access to his Majesty, without the knowledge or consent of the Physicians ? -I believe not • there are certain persons of course established about his Majesty, but there is no stran ger ; occasionally one or two of his Majesty's confi dential pages have come into the room for an instant, but I do not know that any body else has. Has any person, other than the Royal family, or his pages, or attendants, seen the King, since you have been in attendance upon his Majesty ?—Yes; the Lord Chancellor saw his Majesty the day before yesterday. Were you consulted on the propriety of the Lord Chancellor's seeing the King ?—lt made a part of general conversation, among the Physicians, the dad ' -before the Lord Chancellor saw the King; and it was thougbt upon the whole, perhaps, that it would • be more satisfactory that the Chancellor should "see the King, lso iiietife an accOunt.of Nutt from tars own ebservation. ' Was that a Matter that iniitested iterate the 4. ticians in their medical capacity or was it thrown ch. from any other quarter was not thrown out from any other quarter so far as I know. From which of the Physicians did the first sugges tion come, of the propriety of the Chancellor seeing the King ?—I believe it van from Dr. Ht..berden. What reasons did Dr. Heberden assign, for wish ing the Chancellor to see the King ?—There was no reason assigned, lout that I have assigned now, that it was thought desirable Parliament should have, not.l simply the report of the Physicians, but the report of the Lori Chancellor, from his own observation. Did the Physicians consider it any part of their duty, to discuss what wouldhe most satisfactory $O. Parliamett ?—I really do not know, whether they may not have gone beyoaa their duty ; I do not proc tend to say whether it was wise or not. Do you know that his Majesty had been informed. , previously to such consultation among the Physicians,l that on that day the Chancellor would be at Win *or ?— ; „Yes, he was informed. . . By whom was he so informed ?—I believe tr sir' Henry Halford. Was such information communicated by Sir Henry l Halford to the King, in consequence of any discus- sion amongst the Physicians ?--There was no discus sion, as far as I recollect, by which Sir Henry was empowered to make any communication to the King; and the fact is, I believe, it was thought afterwards better, that the communication had- not been made. Has his Majesty been subject to any bodily indispo sition, within the last fortnight?—His body has hardly been at any time perfectly free from indisposition. Do you attach any importance to the indisposition to which his Majesty, has been subject, in the course of the last fortnight, as affecting his general health ? —I should not I think, attach much importance to it ; the idea that naturally occurs to the mind, in con sidering a small defect of bodily health is this, that as the King during the whole of this indisposition, has had more or less of bodily indisposition, though sometimes very little, yet it becomes an additional though a slight proof that he may probably recover, that he has that bodily itilment : if there was precisely the state of mind which the Kinghas without bodily ailment, we should say, there was altogether a less chance of the King's recovering, than it he had the bodily ailment just stated ; at the same time, I think it right to say, that sometimes that bodily ailment has been very little. Does the King's age reader his recovery more or less probable, than if he were a younger person ? It certainly renders it less probable; at the same time, age is a relative term : the King, at 7'2, is stronger and younger, if one may use that expression, than many persons of (4:2, and therefore may have a better chance than most persons would have at the same period of life. Does the King's defect of sight at all influence, in your opinion, the probability or improbability of the King's ultimate recovery ?—I have really no experi ence at all, and therefore what I shall say to the Com mittee must be considered as a conjecture, and there. (fore probably of little value. I should conceive that, in the earlier period of an indisposition like the King's, blindness would probably be an advantage ; that it would lessen the excitement ; but when a person af flicted like the King, goes on towards recovery, I conceive that the want of sight would be a disadvan-• i tage, because he would be deprived of many amuse ments that would occupy his mind and assist in the complete. recovery. I conceive,, that when a person, similarly situate with regard to complaint as the King, has got into a state of convalescence so as r be able to take exercise, perhaps the having sight would be then a disadvantage again, because he would be roused by a great many objects, and take violent ex. ercise, which might possibly bring back a return of the complaint. What I say now, however, is alto gether conjecture. Do you think that the King's defect of sight is less likely to have an influence upon the ultimate recovery of the King, than upon the duration of his disorder ? ,—I should think it less likely to have an influence I upon the positive recovery of the King, than upon the duration of his illness. Can you, under the circumstances which peculiarly attach to the King's situation, his defect of sight and his age, form in your own mind any conjecture, at all satisfactory to you, as to the probable duration of the King's illness ?—I really cannot. I can only give the answer I have done before ; we can only conjec ture, and there is no other ground of judgment I can perceive, than that of comparing the present with that of his Majesty's former illnesses ; at the same time, I think, the circumstances are such, as to ren der it likely that the present indisposition will be a longer indisposition than some of the former. Have you ever known an instance of a person, of the King's age, and deprived of sight, recovering per fectly from an attack, such as his Majesty now labours under ?—I have never known, so far as I recollect,,l but one person who was affected with this disorder, who was as old as the King, and that person saw ; but that person did not recover. Have you a more or less sanguine expectation of his Majesty's ultimate recovery, now, than you had at the period when you were examined before the Privy Council ?—I have rather a less sanguine expectation ; but the differene; in that respect I ought to say is very little. Have you a more or less sanguine expectation of his Majesty's speedy recovery, now, than you had at that period ?—I never thought it likely that his Ma jesty would recover soon ; if there is any change in my sentiments now, it is most probably that it will be , longer than I thought at one time. What has made you somewhat less sanguine of the King's speedy recovery than you were when examined before the Privy Council ?—That there has been ano. ther attack since I was examined ; and 1 think the , remission since the attack has been hardly so complete as some of the former ones were. Having stated, in the earlier part of your examil sfation, that you believed his Majesty's affection for the deceased Princess, and grief during her illness, ; was the cause of his Majesty's indisposition, will you state whether, in your opinion, the circumstance of such a cause being assignable, is favourable or other wise, with regard to the prospect of his Majesty's re covery can only answer that question by conjec ture ; but I should say, upon the whole, it was rather 'favourable. It is better to know some fixed cause for the complaint, and it is better likewise that the cause should have anemi a which it bas done in the present :i n crsl nook.. gasisailr.lB tnillSerifasts .i Pr. WILLIAM HVBERDOI Wilding P ia examines: You are desired to acquaint the Committee, wbo.'t ther the state of his Majesty's health is such, as to I render him incapable of coming in person to his Par o f liament, of of attending to any kind pf public buata4 ness ?—lt is. , What are the hopes you entertain of his Majesty's recovery ?—1 entertain the greatest expectation of his Majesty's recovery. 1 Do you found the opinion given in your answertiaa the previous question, upon the particular symptotAs of his Majesty's disorder, or upon geiteralexperietide-. in other cases of the same natute, or upon:. both I found my opinion upon the symptoms of 'his Ma jesty's case, together with the knowledge of what hoof happened in his Majesty's previous inctispositioas of the same kind. ..f In that particular species of the disorder his Mit• jesty has fallen into, has it been found, from expe. rience, that the greater number of persons so affected have been cured ?—I believe it has. Can you form any judgment or probable conjecture of the duration of his Majesty's illr.ess canfores - no judgment of any particular period, which is likely.' to be the termination ; but the experience of Iris Ma. jesty's former illnesses of the same kind, indoce ins • to expect that it will not be very distant. As far as experience enables you to judge of his Majesty's disorder, do you think it more probable that his Majesty will or will not recover, so as to render him capable of attending to public business ?—I think there is every reason to expect that his Majesty will., recover, and be perfectly competent to transact pub. lie business. -~. What degree of experience have you had yoursar in this particular species of disorder have had very limited experience of my own. Has .any amendment already taken place, in th• course of his Majesty's disorder ; and does the ap• pearance of such amendment cnntinue at present ? There has been a considerable amendment; and the amendment continues at present. State your opinion upon the present state of hie Majesty's health, as compared with that at the time you were examined before the. Privy Council ; do yoe conceive him to be better or worse, or in the sane state ?-4 should conceive him to be very much incise same state. It would be right to add to that answer, that his Majesty has not continued uniformly in the same stair, since I was examined before the Privy Council ; but has been worse for a few days, and since then has been better again. When did you last see the King t—l saw the Kieg yesterday morning. What was his state at that time understood that his Majesty had passed a very good night : but previous to my seeing his Majesty in the morning, it had been mentioned to him, that his physicians, or some of thew, were coming to town for the purpose -Of being examined ; and I believe it was owing to • that cause. that his Majesty had a little hurry upas him at the time I saw him : I conceive it was owing to that cause, because his conversation was directed to that subject. By whom had the communication been made to. the King, that his physicians were coming to town to: be examined —I understood it to have been made by Dr. Reynolds. D d Dr. Reynolds make that communication to the King, by the advice and with the concurrence of the other physicians, or with their knowledge ?—Dr. Reynolds meaning to come to town sooner than the other physicians, had seen his Majesty earlier, and mentioned it to him, I believe, when he was by him.- self, and previous to any communication with the other physicians. Will you have the goodnessto define what you meaa by the word 46 hurry ?"—Talking more rapidly, and with quicker transitions from one subject to another. Is the Committee to understand, that you mean tir express an incoherent talking ?—No. Asjou presume that the communication made to the King,had occasioned the hurry you witnessed, do you mean to inform the Committee, that after having had a good night, the King has been, in the prevent illness, invariably better than when he has passed • sleepless night, or a night with very little sleep ? He his, very generally, been better after passing • good night. Has that always been the case ?—lt has not alway 4 been the case. When you state that you expect that the King's re, covery will not be very distant, whet limitation of time do you apply to the words " very distant ?"—I can apply no distinct limitation ; but in his Majesty's lase illness I was called to attend him on the 12th of Fe bruary 1804 4 and his Majesty first presided at a Council I think on the 2Sd of April followings I should expect his illness, in the present case, to fol low nearly the same character as in that illness ; and what I understand to have been the case in his former illnesses. Do you expect that, dating from this day, his Ma jesty is likely to be so far recovered within one month as to be able to preside at a Council ?—I cannot pot. sibly give any distinct answer to that question ; there is nothing that makes it impossible, and there is no thing that leads me to say it will be so. Have you seen such symptoms of his Majesty's disorder, since you were examined before the Privy Council, as to lead you to hope his recovery will be more ipeedy, than you did hope at the time you were so examined ?-1 think there are no circumstances to lead me to expect it would be more speedy than when I was examined before the Privy Council. Have there been any circumstances which have in duced you to abate of your hopes and expectations of a speedy recovery ?—No circumstances to induce me to abate my hopes of his ultimate recovery ; and no other circumstance to Make me doubt of his speedy recovery, than there having elapsed another fortnight,. without his being at present forwarder than he was at that time. Have his Physicians been disappointed in their ex pectations of the fluctuations in the King's disorder, since the 29th of November I—They have not been disappointed in their general view of the case ; at each particular period of remission of his Majesty's illness, they have entertained a hope that it might go on to a nearer approach to recovery than it has done. When were you first called upon so attend the King, in your professional capacity the 1 2th o f Fe. hroary 1804, I began a regular attendance upon his Majesty. He may have occasionally asked me some things, on the subject of his health Wore that : butt not as a entacaltatinn Of a who:voila". Phi.;.;,.. f • • I I • . I • • it ( I I I I 3 O 4 t.° it ° To