The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-03 00:00:00

THE CASE OF COLONEL DYCE

SOMBRE.

TO TILE EDITOR OF TEE SUN.
Sin, -The very severe and as I feel unmerited cen-
sure cast upon my conduct towards Mr. Dyce Sombre,
by the Lord Chancellor iu his recent judgment, coupled
with the improper and unwarranted aspersions of Mr.
Bethel in the course of his arguments (aspersions which
no alleged privilege of the her can possibly justify),
render it essential that I should in vindication of my
own character enter into a plain and simple statement
of my connexion with Colonel Dyce Sombre, from the
time of our first acquaintance up to the latest period.
My acquaintance with Mr. Dyce Sombre commenced at
Brussels in the year 1844. A certificate had previously
been signed by nine of the most eminent physicians of
Paris as to the perfect soundness of his mind and full
capacity to manage his own affairs. In common, I be-
lieve, with most of the medical world I felt considerable
interest in the case, which formed a topic of general con-
versation at the time; my own professional experience
more particularly with respect to mental diseases induced
me to adopt the views of the Parisian physicians, and to
believe that Mr.,Sombre was at that period perfectly sane,
and I deeply sympathised with a person who had for a
considerable period exercised sovereign power, and who
had experienced such lamentable vicissitudes of fortune.
At that period, however, I entertained not the slightest
idea of a closer intimacy with him, or of in any way
undertaking the management of his affairs. My circum-
stances were, and I am happy to say still are, perfectly
independent. I suggested to Mr. Sombre that he
should submit himself to the examination of the most
eminent medical men in any metropolis which he might
happen to visit, in order to accumulate the greatest pos-
sible body of unexceptionable evidence on his case, and
that disinterested and gratuitous advice constituted the
only part which I at that time took in the transaction.
I again met him at Brussels in April, 1845, when I be-
came on much more intimate terms with him. In the
interval he had acted on my advice, and had been ex•
amined by the Medical Council of St. Petersburgh, at the
desire of the Minister of the Interior of Russia, and he
produced to me a certificate signed by ten of
the most celebrated physicians of that country,
that be (Mr. Dyce Sombre) " was in a perfect
state of mind." A similar certificate had been also
obtained from several members of the faculty at Brussels;
and, with such powerful evidence in addition to that
which had previously been obtained, I bad no doubt
that my former opinion as to his sanity was perfectly
correct. He represented to me the painful position, nay,
the comparative state of destitution in which he was
placed, the sufferings he had undergone, and he feelingly
depicted the degradation (as he justly termed it) of
having a scanty allowance irregularly doled out to him
through a medical gentleman appointed by the Court of
Chancery, who actually received 5,0001. per annum out
of Colonel Dyce Sombre's fortune, from which he was in
the first instance to pay all his own private expenses,
and then to apply the balance for Colonel Sombre's be-
nefit iu such manner as he deemed most advisable, as
may appear by the letter of the Lord Chancellor's
private secretary to Colonel Dyce Sombre of the 22d
January, 1845. This gentleman who, as I have been
informed, had attained the mature age of twenty-two
years when invested with such extraordinary powers,
lived at Paris while Mr. Sombre resided at Brus-
sels, and it was therefore impossible that his ad-
vice could be of any real utility. Colonel
Dyce Sombre expressed his anxious desire to be
emancipated from what he was pleated to term the con-
trol of this medical incubus. lie also spoke of the pecu-
niary difficulties in which he was then involved in con-
sequence of his declining to receive money from such a
quarter. Entertaining a deep sympathy at his unme-
rited sufferings, I was induced at his urgent request to
advance him 500/. ate' ling on no other security than his
I 0 U, which sum was paid to him in the month of
May, 1805, through Mr. De Peer, of Brussels, who drew
on my bankers, Messrs. Cox and Co., of Craig's-court,
Charing-cross, and in the month of August following I
transmitted to Baden Baden, where ho was then'resid-
ing, a further sum of 1001. through the same agency, a
pretty good proof that I at least did not consider him of
unsound mind. These sums were paid to me in Decem-
ber last, with interest at the rata of five per cent. per
annum. More than two years after, Mr. Sombre was
placed in the receipt of his entire surplus fortune (about
one-half of which was absorbed in the allowance of
4,000/. per annum to the Honourable Mrs. Sombre and
the expenses of management in the Court of Chancery),
which allowance was mainly obtained through my
instrumentality and exertions. And I also enabled
him to get rid of his medical attendant, and thus effected
a saving of 5001. per annum from his estate. In July
1845, two months after I had made the first advance of
500/., Mr. Sombre urgently requested that I would un-
dertake the entire management of his affairs, and offered
to make any reasonable recompenco for my services. He
represented his utter friendlessness; that there were none
to act on his behalf in whom be could place the slightest
reliance (Mr. Goldsmith, the father-in-law of Lord
Lyndhurst, through whom the petition of 1844 had been
presented, and who was to have received 20,0001. in the
event of the commission being superseded, was 110 longer
in communication with him); and that he was without
the support or assistance he so urgently required. lie
offered to pay eae for my services, and the necessarily
.heavy expenditure I would have to encounter in conduct-
mg the transaction, the sum of 10,000/. in the event of
the commission being superseded within a limited period.
I felt that, under the entire circumstances of the case,
the sum so gratuitously and repeatedly offered was
by no means extravagant or unreasonable, consider-
ing the importance of the object to be attained, the
great wealth of Mr. Sombre, and the proverbial
delays and expenses of Chancery proceedings.
If I did not succeed, I could receive no remu-
neration for my services, or even repayment of the
heavy costs to which I might eventually be put. If Mr.
Sombre was of unsound mind, the contract would be
utterly valueless, I could not of course recover any
claim from a lunatic, nor would he be in a position to
pay me, but if as I (in common with the physicians of
Paris, St. Petersburgh, and Brussels) supposed and
believed he was perfectly sane and under no legal
disability, he was quite competent to enter into a valid
contract, and there could be no greater impropriety iii
making a fair agreement with him than with any other
person whatsoever. And in this opinion I am fully borne
out by the report of Doctors Bright and Southey, for-
warded to the Lord Chancellor in August, 1847, in
which they say :
" In conclusion, we are bound to admit, that we were
unable to elicit any possible delusions under which Mr.
Dyce Sombre labours, though, at the same time, we re-
gret to add, that we feel no confidence that he is entirely
free from such delusions.
"So far as respects the management of property we
entertain no doubt of his competency to take care of it,
and we think that if he were entrusted with the surplus
of his unappropriated income, one great cause of unea-
siness would be removed."
I cannot, therefore, conceive there was any "plunder-
ing" in the transaction, or conduct deserving of the
harsh observations that have been applied to it. In
pursuance of this arrangement I entered actively
upon the duties I had undertaken, and although
I did not succeed in obtaining a supersedeas of
the commission, I yet procured for him a con-
siderable accession of his income, he being placed, as
I have already stated, in receipt of his entire surplus in.
come, and the medical attendant being dispensed with .
In April, 1848, Mr. Sombre stated that our agree-
ment ha,d; ended, as he was not discharged from the
jurisdiction of the court within the stipulated time, and
he thought, notwithstanding the great advantages he
had derived from my exertions, that I had no further
claim upon him. I thought otherwise, inasmuch as he
had declined following my advice, and coming to
England to submit himself to the examination of emi-
nent English physicians, which refusal he justified on
the ground that the Court of Chancery bad broken
faith with him on a former occasion, when Lord Lynd-
hurst sanctioned his arrest, although protection to his
person had been granted. We disagreed on these
points, and I totally withdrew from the management
of his affairs, and all communications ceased between
Mr. Dyce Sombre and myself. I thought myself
aggrieved by his conduct, and:that I had not been fairly
treated, inasmuch as having placed himself in my
hands, and my remuneration being contingent on suc-
cess, ho was bound implicitly to follow my instructions.
I moreover stated to his true friends, Lord Comber-
mere and Mr. Princeps, that I would be quite satisfied
to receive the actual expenses out of pocket, and the
various sums I had from time to time paid to him.
This reasonable proposition was not then acceded to,
although highly approved of by all his friends.
The petition of 1848 was presented without any
knowledge, privity, or consent, and I was not in any
manner concerned in the proceedings that took place.
This fact will sufficiently appear from the affidavit of
Mr. Charles Shadwell (brother to the Vice-Chancellor of
England), sworn the 18th January last, in which the
following passage occurs:—" And I say that in the pre-
paring of the said petition, in the presenting of the same,
and in every other proceeding consequent thereon, I
have been wholly instructed by the said D. 0. D.
Sombre, and not by any other person acting on his
behalf except the counsel I have instructed in this
matter."

This petition was dismissed, and Colonel Sombre sub-
sequently applied for my advice and assistance, which I
peremptorily refused, except upon the terms in being
paid the money I had advanced and the expenses I had
incurred on his account. I also thought that I was
entitled to remuneration for my great trouble, but this
was not pressed, although every gentleman ac-
quainted with the circumstances of the case fully parti-
cipated in the opinion to whict Mr. C. Shadwell gave
expression in a letter addressed to me, dated the Ist
aicemb(r last, in which he says:—" In short I cannot
but feel that without such an active and zealous friend
as you have proved in the management of this matter,
Mr. Dye° Sombre would now be in the same unpro-
tected, friendless, and needy state as he was when you
first took him by the hand and entered upon the subject
at Brussels. I have thought it but right to state thus
much, in common justice to you."

The matter was referred to arbitration, Mr. Princeps
consenting to act on behalf of Mr. Sombre, while I
named Major Richardson. After a minute and search-
mg investivttion these gentlemen decided that 2,140/.
should be paid to me for expenses and cash advanced, a
portion immediately ani the remainder by instalments. I
should say that I had previously informed the arbitra-
tors that I did not wish to inconvenience Mr. Dyce
Sombre in any degree, on which account it was (I have
reason to b:Jrove) settled that the payment should be
made at remote intervals. During that reference Colonel
Sombre submitted to me the names of six gentlemen
whose unanimous report as to his sanity formed
the basis of the last petition. In the choice
of these gentlemen I had no part whatever—
I never consulted a medical practitioner in England as
to his mental capacity. Having in 1845, and ever since,
become thoroughly convinced that he did not labour
under any insane delusion whatsoever, but that be was

perfectly competent to mansge his own affairs, I was, of
course, satisfi•-d of the hilt authority of these gentle-
! t- ,Ittental diseases, and re-
joiced that they coital conscientiously state their unhesi-
tating belief in the soundness of his mind, but I never
attempted to influence their opinion, no: was I even pre-
sent at any of the examinations or consultations which
took place during Colonel Sombre's sojourn in London.
This is a plain and unadorned narrative of the !'hots of
the case. I feel that I have not acted improperly in any
respect, or in any manner derogatory to the character of
a man of honour and a gentleman, my conscience per-
fectly acquits me, and I can bear with equanimity the
taunts and sarcasms uttered by the venal tongues that
are willing to espouse any cause for which they may be
handsomely paid.
The errors ccmmitted by Colonel Dyce Sombre in his
own conduct of his case have been sufficiently commented
on, and have indeed constituted a most unjustifiable
ground for vilifying him even as a lunatic. Bat I would
ask the unscrupulous assailants of my character, whe-
ther these errors do not sufficiently prove that the ser-
vices which he is presumed to have purchased from me,
were essential, in kind, to his struggle for emancipation'
I have the honour to remain, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
A. S. MAHON,
ST

RIDE AMONG THE WEAVERS

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUE.
SIR,—In The Sun of yesterday appeared a report of
a strike among the weavers of this town, the cause of
which was therein assigned to bo that a higher rate of
wages had been paid here than in any other part of the
country (Selkirk excepted).
In justice, I demand that you state through the same
medium that that report was premature and very im-
probable. The reduction proposed here is twenty-five
per cent., and although several attempts have been made
to ascertain what were the prices paid for the same
work in Alloa district, as yet no proper answer has been
given. Yesterday morning a deputation of workmen,
bearing a letter of introduction from the manufacturers
hero, was dispatched thither to try to arrive at that in-
formation. This fact, of itself, proves that the report of
your former correspondent was both premature and
uncertain.
In just;ce to the workmen of Galashiels, I hope you
will grant the above a place in your paper, that so un-
reasonable a stigma may be wiped off their character.
I your obedient servant,
Galashiels, May 2, 1849. G. ANDERSON.