The Express.
London, England, 1849-08-04 00:00:00

COMMISSIONS OF LUNACY.—YEninthkr.

NOMA TAIT Lot. CIBANCTIA.OI4 AT SIT RITA?. APTIORACI.
IN as &WAND Vicuna. Ax ALLIOSD
This ...is • religion of Habash Vann, t.t les-tpool,
spinstr, a ais•eT and one if thip sell of kin Of Mr. Edward
Mears (•aa sherd lunatic), setting forth that the said
Et sard Vies, of Lie. re• el, wine and spirit merthent,
now i , and fir some time past has been, in far depraved of
his reams and undenta••dwg that he is rendered altosr!thst
unfit •mi unable to gow•ra iiinnialf, or musts•. his airs;d
and rashes that a commission in the femur- et • wit of
Innings. i quiremin es-ght items to inquire of the alned
Las.•r • .h. said B .ward Views.
Mr B 'lraqi Vie-n, allrod lunatic, is 48 vein of as.,
sod tto •on of • small farmer and cloth manufsc•urcr in
't I•r icar Whitonavta, who rosootly s 1 4 at Sao ►d

eranuei age of 140 end upwards. The alleged mimic
en apprewicesbip to a spirit dealer at Brougntosnon-Furnms,
in the count] of Lannon ; and eventually, in the month of
Jannuy, 1833, went into partnership with bit brother. Mr.
Mat*. w Vicar', end Mr. John Newby Moore, seeds-water
manufacturers, deadline, and wine.mt 'chants, at Liverpool.
Tole partnership continued until 1846, dining the
whole of whisk time Mr. Edward Views rusted
as traveller for the firm. In 1844, from the nett-
led life he fad been leseiog for some years, which C• 132
piakit him Ul live somewhat freely, his health gave
way _• was seised with delirium ',means, and having
also bad MN domestic diffusers"a with his wi to, he wits.-
drew free the active part he bed taken in the business if
the fires, sad retired into Use country, at • place called
Milken Ground, near Broughtoueen-Furnese, • few mike
from his father's house' where, in the latter end of 18191, he
had another att.ek of d brims tremens, from which, heW.
ever, he shortly moored. In February, 1847, he had,
again a still more severe attack, wnich was of lot ger darn
lion ; and Si he was then much escited,snd suffered u, dames
lain dahlia's, he wrieonder the eedeles of a Mr. Allele, es, his
medical attendant, memo. d to the Welton Lodge Limed.
Asylum, near Liverpool, whence ha contrived to ',cape ma
the 19th of Much last, sod has continued at large sees
since.
Mr. Roll, Q C in support of the petition, read the a4O-
- of Mr. Joseph Chump, a sum on of Liverp al, whit
deposed that he bad known the alleged lunatic for 16 yeas.,
and had been his medical attendant. Ou the 25 hof Feb-
nary, 1847, be, at the request of Mr. Matthew Vicars, Ms
brother and partner, visited Mr. Edward Vicars, for the
purpose of b.quiriog int • the state of his mind, and found
hie labouring under strong mental delusions; mime
others, that he (the alleged lunatic) had no stomach or inter
dose. Mr. Churton then certified that lie was of nusonod
mind, and upon that certificate be wee taken and
lesartersted in the Walton Ledge Lunatic Asylum.
meducted b Dr. Liebfield. Oa the 17th of lan-
het Mr. Chant= was again called in to
the alleged lunatic, and found him labouring
ender mental- delusions, the most conspicuous of
WM& was that electricity was a powerful agent in the pro-',
linden of insanity, that such agency win exercised upon
himself by the magistrates and other designing people with-
out the asylum, aided by those within, fur the purpose of
keeping him in a state of lunacy, so as to justiiy his
detention in the asylum. A great number of affidavits
to the aims effect were read by Mr. Bolt, from which he
'lntended that, in February:lB47, when he was taken
to the lunatic asylum, the alleged lunatic was not of sound
mind.
Mr. Melina said he should not dispute that.
Mr. Rolf said undoubtedly the delusion', such as they
were, of the alleged lunatic, had been very much modified
by the treatment of Dr. Lichfield, but stiU they contiaued to
same extent, and to such extent that his pennon could not
Seal with him k referents to the affairs of the partnership,
ere to its Ilmsiuden, and that he could not be entrusted with
the mansesmut of his own fortune, now very considerable,
'Meg eat of the prosperous state of the Are of which he
was • member. The partners of the alleged lunatic had
offered that if he could protium unlace. s of his sanity by
two eminent physicians, between whom there was no nu-
out, they would at ones treat with him with a view to dis-
solve partnership, and divide with him the capital and profit
of the wenn.
Mr. Renshaw followed on the gams side. He contended
'but the affidavits showed a very strong animus oa the part
at the alleged lunatic towards lunatic asylums, and that it
wee impossible to my what that delusion might drive him to
do. The &swain, Mliughtes, believing that the govern.
meat of the (nanny had persecuted his in some way, was
driven to take away the life of Mr. Drusinased, when he
mistook for the Prime Miaow. It was idle to say that the
Whited lunatic, Mr. Edward Vicars, was now • perfectly
mild and sane men. 111•Natiehten was remarkably mild at
knee, in the bosom of kis family, who had no idea that he
laboured under any delusion, and see the awful eatimarophe
which malted from his going at large. The badness in
which Mr. Vicars, the alleged lunatic, was a partner, began
is 1836, when each of the three partners subeeribed a
capital of 1.0001. That business bed been eminently
prestigious, and was now worth 18,0001. Ought a man,
subject to a deletion such as had been described, to hays the
entire control of his property ? Ss satusittsd that under all
circumetanoss, the CAN was one which called for inquiry by
a jury.
The affidavit of Dr. Southey wet reed, who deposed that
he had visited the alleged lunatic so recently as In July last,
and that on all ordinary eubjestie he was sane and mph!, of
managing his own affairs ; but respecting electricity, and its
powered being applied in sash a manner es to enable the
keepers of madhouses to render their patients ionize, and to
keep them in that state, he laboured under a delusion. The
affidsyit of Dr. finthey concluded in these words—" Now,
although I ani convinced that in his present state of mind, it
would be an set of cruelty to place Mr. Edward Vickers in
any asylum, or, indeed, fp iatufers with his free agency,
yet I am sorry to say that I would not noel my belief that
ha is of perfectly sound Iliad, in consequence of the above
stated delusion respecting electricity."
Tee Lord Chancellor said it would seem from Dr.
Smithey that a paean may be of unsound mind, but yet
suable or inanagiag his own affairs.
Me. Meliss said be appeared for Mr. Edward Vicars, the
alleged lunatic. la the sari,' part of 1847 Mr. Vicars was un-
doubtedly of unsound mind. That was the result of
exosseive drinking, induced by hi. habits of life, he being
the travelling partner of his firm—that of wins and
spirit merchants, and compell. d to drink with their
customers. Though, in the first instance, he was per-
haps properly enough confined in a lunatic asylum, yet
his delua.,a speedily assumed so modified and harm-
less
a form wedge the treatment he received than, that It
amounted to • grievous and intolerable cruelty and wrong to
keep him incarcerated there fur a peind of two years. Is
that place he was never visited by his friends or partners;
they, on the contrary, stood carefully and coldly aloof, and
never took any stein to anaertain what modifications his ma-
lady had undergone, or to procure his release from a plain
which he loathed and abhorred, and so to restore him to the
bosom of kis funky and the world. This treatment,
added to his own mandoline= that he was perfectly able
to manage his own affairs, so excited and irritated his
feelings as to induce a degree of violence, in which his
original delusion was to some extent merged and forgot-
ten. It was under thus feelings that he had effected his
escape from the asylum in March last; end no sooner had he
recovered his liberty than his delusion and violence lett him,
and his whole deportment anumed that wilding' and intel-
ligence by which he was chi/um:Led aforetime. The
learned counsel read a voluminous mass of affidavits to prove
the alleged lunatic's sanity since his release, into which our
limits will not allow us to WM.
_ _ _ _

The Lord Chancellor said, independently of the roes
don, whether the alleged lunatic was of unarmed mind or
not, there was the position in which he stood with tepid to
his property.
Mr. Matins said he understood the issue which the other
side raiss d was, that then should be two indifferent medical
men to moon on the etate of his min&
The Lord Chancellor was much disposed to nominate
' two indifferent 'medical men, but he did not bind the pat-
ths to it. It seemed to him that it world be much better
for the alleged lunatic, U the partnerabip were put en end
to. The delusions of the party bad certainly been
very much reduced. He (the Lord Chancellor) had seen
proof of a very greet improvement: that was borne out by
all the medical men, except one. The weight, however, of
the medical testimony wee, as to the degree of recovery, but
se to there not being an entire recovery, the evidence we-
eny conclusive. Under all the circumstances, his lordship
directed a commission to hen., and within a week, it the
parties could prepare themeless. His lordship also directed
that the sum of MO4. was to be advanced out of the partner-
ship estate to Mr. Bolden, the alleged lunatic's solicitor, to
enable him to prepare and conduct his cam on the forthcom
ing innity, Mr. Bolden undertaking to account for that sum
in turn way as the Lord Chancellor shall direct.