The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-15 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR CF THE SUN.

SIR,—In the communication made in this case to
the Home Secretary by Mr. W. T. Cox and two
other magistrates, and by Dr. Goode and Mr. Har-
wood, and published in The Sun of the 12th inst.,
there is an important error, which, with your per-
mission, I should like to correct.

It is stated :—" Upon the trial of the prisoner,
Mr. J. H. Sims, the Governor of the Gaol in which
the prisoner was confined, deposed to the fact of the
prisoner beim., insane at that period—viz., on the
11th of December." I never was at the trial asked
by counsel whether I considered the prisoner sane
or not. Immediately after council had elicited an
opinion of insanity from Dr. Winslow and Mr.
Gisborne, I was asked whether I considered the
prisoner was in the same state then as he was when
he came into the gaol; my answer was in the afllr
mative, not that I meant to imply that I considered
him insane, for I never have done so.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
J. H. Sias, Governor of the Gaol.
County Gaol, Derby, Jan. 13.

The Derby Mercury publishes a letter from Mr.
Gisborne, surgeon to the Derby county prison, and
another from his partner Dr. Goode; both letters
having for their object the personal justification of
the writers as to their share in the transaction which
led to Townley's respite. Noticing the statement
of Mr. Mundy, M.P., that the Visiting Justices were
greatly surprised "that they were not informed by
the surgeon to the gaol when he first became aware
of the prisoner's insanity, after having previously
given us his decided opinion that the man was per-
fectly sane"—Mr. Gishorne says :
Townley entered the gaol on the 24th August. I saw him
on the 25th, and occasionally visited him till the 6th Octo-
ber, the date when I made the following note in my jour-
nal :—Oct, 6, Townley aperient pills. Good health, mind,
and body." In my interviews with the prisoner our conver-
sation was of the most general character, I found him placid,
free, and satified ; he eat his food, slept well, and neither
asked for nor needed any medical advice; in fact, during
the whole of his imprisonment, he only twice or thrice re-
quested to see me as his health was good. Up to October
the Gth I never once alluded to the crime on which he was
to be arraigned, for with that I had nothing to do, My
conversations with him had only proved to me that
his mind. was weak, and that he was ill-educated. The
evidence thus before me disclosed no grounds for
suspecting insanity. I was impressed as the public were
that he was sound in mind and body. The above curt note
was made for recalling to my memory his general state of
health, and not for the purpose of supplying the visiting
justices with any formation. The visiting justices, though
they met on Oct. 9, Nov. 13, and December, never indivi-
dually or collectively officially asked me one word as to
Townley's mind, or ever called my attention to it. As soon
as a winter assize was arranged, I visited Townley more
frequently, not that he required it. I also made repeated
inquiries of the governor, chaplain, and turnkeys as to what
they had observed, and as to his remarks. I did so because
I thought it possible that the judge might ask my opinion

as to his mental condition. During the last seven or eight
weeks I frequently discussed and entered into details of the
horrible tragedy and of his religious views ; he was always
open and unequivocal in stating his opinions, though they
were of the most absurd character ; he justified his acts and
often expressed comfort at the approaching termination of
his life. Sometimes I thought his monstrous notions might
bo all pretence—that he had an object to accomplish, so I
often travelled over the same ground with him to test his
sincerity. From all that I saw and heard I was sorely
' perp iesed as to the true state of his mind. Sometime I
thought he was insane—again I thought he was sane, In
this difficulty I remained till the assiaes approached. Mr.
Leech called on me a fortnight before the trial ; I told him
that I was desirous of having nothieg to do with either the
prosecution or defence, that I could only state to the jury
what I had observed, and that I considered Townley suf-
fered from a morbid condition of mind. Some days after-
wards I had a consultation with Dr. Hitchmann, and our
joint opinion was that no case of legal insanity could be
established, and that an intelligent jury would be certain to
find him guilty. About this time, Dr. Forbes Winslow, a
great authority in lunacy, saw Townloy, and reported on
his case. This I read carefully. Dr. Winslow had no doubt
that Townley's delusions and statements emanated from
organic brain mischief ; that he was insane. I put all these
varied and accumulated facts, opinions, &c. together, and
after balancing the evidence before me, and endeavouring
to give a mature and impartial judgment, I came to the cone
elusion, through the portals of doubt, that Townley was of
unsound mind. His essential defects were net discernable
in discussing et dinary topics,but on matters relating to Miss
Goodwin he was monomaniacal. My early impressions were
made on superficial data I believed then to be correct. I now
consider the note in my journal regarding his mind to be
erroneous. Mr. Mundy's language at the sessions implies
that the magistrates having read my note on or about the date
it was written (Oct. 6), have remained till the day of Town-
ley's trial under the conviction that my " decided opi-
nion" was that he was " perfectly Lane." I must now
very respectfully ask the Visiting Justices whether my
consideration entry was ever seen by them till January
3, 1564, the day previous to the sessions. If that be a
fact, how could my note have misled them I If they
were uninformed of my written opinion, why should it
surprise and aggrieve them ? It is asked by Mr. Mundy,
,4 why I did not communicate the change that had taken
place—that change taking plies at the gaol ?" If this
applies to Townley, my reply is, that no change did take
place in him ; if to royeeif, I answer, that almost till going
into the witness-boa, I was undecided as to the opinion
I elteuld give. I told Mr. 14.ech I phould be guided touch