The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-25 00:00:00

- _

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/4:

" A variety of Metal insanity, but very distinct float the
disorder of the feelings; and moral affections, as pervading
the whole mind and perverting the moral character of the
individual. In this instinctive madness the understanding
is unclouded, as it is in moral insanity. There is no hallu-
cination or delusion. The will is occasionally under the in..
thence of a disordered impulse, which suddenly drives the
person affected to nets of the lima revolting kiud and to the
commission of what he has no motive for doing. This impulse
is instinctive ;it is irresistible. Individuals who have telt
the approaches of this disorder have been known to take
precautions against themselves; they have warned their
wives and children to escape from within their reach till the
paroxysm shall have subsided. Among the verities of insane
impulse there is none that butt, r characterises the nature of
this deplorable affection than the homicidal impulse."
Well indeed may Equirol ask
" What, then, is this terrible disease which, mocking the
sweetest feelings of existence, drives a man to the violation
of the most sacred laws of nature, and impels him to kill
his fellow-creature—to destroy the persons dearest to him
The miserable victim of disease does not attempt to reason
before he commits the murder; and at the time he is not
actuated by any passion or by any motive, but is instantly
driven to the commission of the crime. A husband kills
wife whom he tenderly loves, the father a son that is the
most dear to him, and a mother her nursing babe. This
phenomenon could not take place without admitting the
total suspension of all intelligence, of all moral sensibility
of all will."
It is evident, then, that the legal definition of insanity
and that which is based upon the actual disease itself are at
variance, The former does not recognise insanity without
delusion; the latter admits a form of insanity in, which there
is no delusion, in which the understanding is unclouded,
but in which, nevertheless, the will is under the influence
of a disordered, uncontrollable, irresistible impulse, which
impels the individual affected to the destruction of human.
lire. 'The occurrence of this form of insanity is as, susta-iis
its power over the Willis irresistible. Its duration is equally
short, and seldom extends beyond the period of the commis-
sion of the act to which it impels. The persons subject to
this form of insanity are generally those in whom the here-
ditary predisposition to this disease exists ; and it is fre-
quently followed by insanity of a more easily recognised
type and of a more permanent character. Is it not then.
strange that this form of insanity, which is so well known
both to continental and to English medical psychologists, is
as yet unrecognised by our laws ? That such is the case is
evident from the above quotation from the learned Baron's
charge to the jury. Ought, then, human life to rest upon
so limited, and, as has been shown, so incorrect a view of
twhich b psychologistsiejust
st ot teh nrwe will
aedeclare that it ought
insanityasie—stthhaaPt t
thefollrd lmel
a oNi
vcf
cannotail
aanteirlfseudnbtyil idtelruesci°ogn:
but by the peculiarities above named.
If c
easy
to show
applythat theseth e factsgreatt the
cse
probability
oo fa
sffe
Townley,iseuthraitn f
tt ut•hil
el
be a
g
moment he inflicted the fatal wound he
W
from
insane impulse. This probability is at least supported by
e ns
evidence quite as strong as that which was adduced for the
sanity of the man. By nature he was predisposed to in-
sanity, which only required an exciting cause to render that
which was already dormant in his mind palpable in the
commission of some overt act. A man of his mental con-
stitution would feel more deeply than an ordinary mind,
and his impressions would, from their intensity, he calcu-
lated to overpower an intellect endowed with such peculiar
susceptibilities,

Ar,7•44.4Wgi•Coe,C> WS 1.),1P.E,11
a condition that he acted upon an imaginary existiaja
things as if those things were real." '
Now, this legal definition is not the definition whirVier4,...4,..,
dical psychologists deduce from the forms of insant; ,t_4„;%"
come under their notice. There is a form of insular ' /TN
t+,!;,
this legal definition does not touch, but which is never,
less of frequent occurrence, and which irresistibly impels f
victim to the commission of acts apparently of outrage ti
murder. This species of insanity is termed by the French
medical psychologists " naanie sans delire," and by the Eng-
lish "instinctive madness or insane impulse." According
to Esquirol, "Itis in some respects a different affection
from that which has been designated moral insanity," By
Pritchard it is regarded as _

Hence we see his intense love for Miss Goodwin, and his
excessive grief on the night of the 15th of August, after
receiving her letter putting an end to their engagement.
The continued distress of mind which he suffered from this
date until tie 21st of August—the sleepless nights which
he paefted in this interval of time, the loss of food, the taking
of 'morphia and of spirits, which would induce a condition
of brain favourable to the accession of insanity, the inter-
view with Miss Goodwin, and the learning from her own
lips that another had supplanted him in her affections—
were exciting causes, which at length, suddenly and at
once, developed the insane impulse which impelled him to
the fatal attack. At that moment his intelligence, his will,
and his moral sensibility wers in as complete abeyance as
ever were those of the most confirmed maniac. That he
went to Wigwell without the intention of murdering Miss
Goodwin is admitted by the counsel for the prosecution in
the following remarks:—
" He (Mr. Roden) never suggested that the prisoner went
to Wigwell with the intention of committing the murder.
He was, on the contrary, bound to say that there was no
evidence of any such intention, and he had no doubt the
idea never occurred to the prisoner until after he found his
hopes were disappointed."
Here, then, is an admission on the part of the prosecu-
tion that there was no premeditation to comtn4t murder—
and this view receives a large share of confirmation from
the fact that Townley took with him to Wigwell the
letters which he had at various times received from Miss
Goodwin, with, no doubt, the intention to return them
to her, should she insist upon the termination of the
engagement which had hitherto existed between them.
Had he meditated murder, there would have been no ne-
cessit yto carry with him those letters to the person whom
he was intending to kill. It is evident when he left home to
visit Miss Goodwin he had no such intention—that the im-
pulse to destroy her arose suddenly and at once during his
interview with her, and that it was instantly obeyed. It is
fair to presume that during that interview he learnt for the
first time that she loved another ; that the alleged interfer-
ence of her grandfather was merely an excuse to hide her
motives ; and that she was about to be lost to him for ever.
A mind constituted like his, and already morbidly excited
by the anxiety, by the loss of rest and food, and also by the
congestion of the brain produced by the taking of morphia.
and of spirits during the last six days, could not withstand
the shock of this sudden realisation of his worst fears, Re
instantly gave way under the crushing intelligence he had
whichession led to Miss of his mind
spent itself in the on
,wg, ithohuet
was irresistibly
without
rresistibly
jtuhset
croencesciviocuds,naeneds inof thisrig dihctonandtiwonr
on
impelled to what, if committed in sane state of mind,
would have been a most foul and deliberate murder. The
temporary insanity which
commission thus took
of the ssact.
Goodwin's death. Before the breath possession
had lett her body his
consciousness returned, commi
act, he instantly employed himself in stanching the blood
which flowed from the wound he
an,
d and, recognising the danger of his
had made, and in thus
endeavouring to the utmost of his power to save the life of
her whom he so dearly loved. This was not the act of a
deliberate murderer. It was that of a man suddenly bereft
of reason, and who was for the time being entirely under
the influence of an insane impulse. Ought such a man to
, be Bent to the scaffold ?
The law in its present defective state, with delusion as
its only test for insanity, may say " Yes;" but medical psy-
chologists will not endorse the assertion. The form of in-
sanity which impelled Townley to kill Miss Goodwin has
already been followed by a more palpable and a more per-
manent
form. of that disease. This result is but the con-
firmation of what I have previously stated that " insane
impulse" is frequently followed by insanity of a more
recognisable and lasting character. It was affirmed in evi-
dence by Dr. Forbes Winslow that on the 18th of Novem-
ber, and again on the night beforo the trial, he examined
Townie-y,
and that on both occasions he found him to be
affected by undoubted moral insanity, What, then, is the
duty of the Government under these circumstances ? To
consign the criminal to the hands of the executioner without
a further investigation of his case ? Certainly not. Such a
step would no doubt be legal justice ; but in the estimation,.
of medical psychologists it would be little short of legal
murder. Let full and ample justice be done to all parties
concerned concerned in this peculiar tragedy. This can
only
be
ren-
dered by the appointment by Government of a medical
commission to inquire into the facts of the case, to examine.
mind
Townley, and•to report upon the probable state of
and uhis on his
at the moment of his attack upon his vi!)nttymt,
ing
A h short of
mental condition at the present
part on y
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
of London, Member
C. BLACK, M.D., University
of London,
of the Royal College of Physicians
College of Surgeons,
Fellow of the Royal

moderate
wholesome to use. These advantages have
in price, and
general preference. It is sold in
packets by
Governor-General of Algeria has addressed
2,280 Agents.
The
letter to the Chamber of Commerce of Oran on the
that body to the Emperor,
rbayilway from Oran to Saint-
psurabij,einctgotfhtahte
theapplicationworks
fmtandee
Denis du Sig might be commenced as soon as possible. The
Marshal states that he had consulted the company having
the concession, and had received for answer that, in conse-
quence of the prescriptions of the Committee of Fortifications,
and approved of by the Minister of War, a new direction
had to be given to the line in question, for which fresh sur-
veys were now being made, and wauld be completed as
rapidly as possible. The Governor-General concludes by
assuring the Chamber that the section from Oran to Saint
Denis will be executed long before the prolongation of the
line from Blidah shall have reached the Sig.
RENAMING THE STREETS OF LONDON AND RE-
NUMBERING THE HOUSES.--Tie Metropolitan
Board of Works has lately done a great deal towards the
simplication 'of the London Directory, and removing the
confusion arising from the repetition of the names of
streets and the minute subdivision of public thoroughfares
under many titles. During the past year the Board has
abolished no fewer than 610 names of places, and revised
and adjusted 10,293 numbers of houses in London.

THE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN,"
ts.4,Contaillitir, the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
had Every Evening ot
V. R. GLN;NIE. NEWS AGENT,
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The WeatiaT....
Sun Office, Dec. 25, 1863.

This day at Two:', RM OMETER..
I.lo:,:'et
moderate, and hazy.

1)5,z6,!,
(kit

LONDON, Flt DEC. 25,1863.

Jll abundant harvest last autumn
throughout
the country—the continuance of peaceful relation
generally in Europe, up to the close of
the
non-appearance of any tokens whatever of an alarm.
ing increasoof destitution among the manufacturing
optratives of Lancashire—an extraordiaary diminu-
tion very recently in the mortality of the metropolis,
a mortality of late very considerably indeed below
the average of the corresponding period of the last
ten years—Behold! four conspicuous masons
for a profound sense of national gratitude
to Divine Providence at this particular Christ-
mas time. It can hardly be out of place to
say so at this season, even in the columns of a
public newspaper. Without any inclination what-
ever to sermonise, we may, here, let us venture to
hope without indecorum, on this most beloved of all
the Christ:an anniversaries, recall to mind these
nnr very notable considerations, considerations very
notable indeed to Eo gland and the English, to Lon-
don and the Londoners, on this present twenty-
fifth day of December. The abounding crops I The
Prevailing tranquillity amonr, the nations of Chris-
tendom—ha far r'
, at least, as our own foreign relations
with them, one
sad
all, are in any way what-
ever, directly or indirectly, concerned ! The
preservation, within
certain reasonable bounds,
of the at one time very alarming
destitution caused
by what is called the Cotton Famine throughout
the North ! The almost unparellelled salubrity of
this dead winter season in our own densely populated
metropolis!
When a Popular Preacher is assuming
d indee, no secret Whatever just now—as is, in regard
to the Rev. J. M. BELLEW—the character of a three-
volumed Novelist, it may be allowable on the part
of a journalist to emphasise thus pointedly, though
very briefly and with a certain comprehensible
hesitation the while, under the circumstances, facts
have here enumerated
impressive as those we