The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-17 00:00:00

TESTIMONY OF THE INS„,
(From the Institute, Medical Journal.)
case of considerable interest, and of some nicety in
!al jurisprudence, has recently been brought to the
of our tribunals. An unfortunate inmate of Arm.
eatic Asylum, at Peckham; dies in December last, and upon examination his left
arm and four of his ribs on the right side were found to be
fractured. His keeper had made no report of any casualty
having happened to him, and, in feet, denied all know-
ledge of how the deceased came by the injuries which
caused his death. We do not, of course desire to dis-
cuss the imerits of an investigation which involves the
most serious consequences to the party accused, and is
still pending; but it c..'aunut, prejudice him to state that
the keeper's denial was not relied. upon, and a
itnquiry
took place before Mr. Carter, the 'Coroue* r forelle county
of Surrey.
At this inquiry a difficulty arose, which' lifr:Carter
had neither the legal knowledge nor the geed sense to
osi
grapple with. It was clearly his duty, it?ire satiefied
that there was reason to believe that the deceased bad
met his death by violence, tot *amine evere• witness, if,ho
could g:ve evidence of the circumstance, lead to have their
final admissibility to be decided by the 'highest authori-
ties—the judges of the land. To Mr. Carter, aea.„.ee,
it
Lappeared otherwise. With the exception of the keeper,
who was under suspicion, and who had asserted his
ignorance of everything relating to the trithSaCtioll,
so one could depose to the treatment of the
deceased, but his fellow lunatics. The jury
that some or one of them should be examined, 'Mr.
Carter, however, refused to take this course, on -the
ground that a person declared by law to be luntitic,
eas h' law an incompe tent witness; and the
jury, iin the absence of sufficient evidence,
Arrived ! at the unsatisfactory verdict of Man-
slaughtt6 against soak person or persons unknown."
We would here interpose this obvious comment, that if
Mr. Other's view of the ease were correct, the keepers
of our pauper lunatic asylums might be guilty of the
utmost brutality to their patients, with an impunity al-
most certain.
At this stage of the proceedings, however, the Com-
missioners in Lunacy interfered. The Coroner's Court
had not performed its functions well, and the keeper was
therefore by the direction of the Commissioners ap-
prehended on Saturday last, and charged before
Mr. Norton, the magistrate, with the man-
slaughter of the deceased. Here the scene was entirely
changed. The counsel for the prosecution intimated his
intention of calling one of the poor men from the in-
firmary where the deceased was kept, and who could
speak to important facts. Accordingly, to use the lap
guage of the reporter, " Richard Dorsally, a red-faced
funny little ',lrishman, mounted the witness-box," and
being questioned as to the nature of an oath, to which
questioning (we again quote the reporter) " his answers
were as lucid and satisfactory as could be given by the
Bishop of London or Cardinal Wiseman," he was al-
lowed to be sworn, and detailed a narrative, which upon
the face of it, whatever be its value, seems clear and con-
nected, and which elicited from the magistrate the com-
pliment, that he as well as everybody who had heard it
was convinced of its truth. The result is, that the
keeper has been committed to take his trial at the wan-
ine- sessions of the Central Criminal Court.
With the guilt or innocence of the keeper, we st
present have nothing to do. In the interests of that
profession which we aim at worthily representing, it is
indeed of the deepest moment that the care of the in-
sane should be entrusted to persona of judgment
and humanity ; and that wherever violence and
inhumanity are proved they should promptly be checked
and punished. But we are now only concerned in di-
recting attention to the different course pursued by the
coroner and the magistrate as to the examination of a
witness declared by law to be " of unsound mind," and
to ascertain which of them acted in accordance with the
:known principles of medical jurisprudence.
As we have already suggested, our opinion is, that
the coroner was wrong, and that a person tendered as a
witness in a judicial proceeding is not necessarily in-
competent because he has been pronounced insane. To
hold otherwise were to confound all distinctions, and
contradict the general experience of those who have
made insanity their study, and explained the various
aberrations of that complex machine—the human mind.
In order fully to sustain our opinion we will consider
this interesting topic, first in its legal and then in its me-
dical bearings.
The competency or incompetency of witnesses was once
a much more subtle and difficult inquiry than it has now
become under the ameliorating influence of the Legisla-
tun?. Many legal impediments to a full investigation of
facts have been swept away in the progress of time, and
what time brings, knowledge. The distinction between the
admissibility and the effect of evidence has been more
clearly defined, and the prevailing rule ie to refuse as
seldom as possible the admission of testimony, leaving
its force and value to be determined by the wisdom and
experience of the tribunal before which it is given.
Some test, however, of competency, that is of admis-
sibility, must be laid down and abided by. In all
civilized and Christain countries, before a witness can
give evidence, an oath is administered to him, upon the
obligation of which he is to speak the truth. We need
riot allude to the excepted case where an affirmation is
made instead of au oath taken. The principle is the
same, the form different. Such is the law of England.
The test thefe.is, does the party tendered as a witness
understand the nature and acknowledge the obligation of
an oath? If he does he is competent as a witness. An
infant of tender years cannot understand the nature of
an oath, therefore by our law it is incompetent.
An atheist does not recognize the obligation of an oath,
therefore, by our law he is incompetent. But a mad-
man during a lucid interval may be and has been ex-
amined in our courts es a witness, and to apply the test
to the instance before us, the witness Richard Donelly,
having satisfied the magistrate that he understood the
nature of an oath "as well as the Bishop of London or
Cardinal IVisemae," he was properly admitted as a
witness.

Such we believe to be the law. All our great law
writers have recognized twu kinds of insanity or mental
unsoundness—dementia naturalis and dementia acci-
dentalis. The one means idiotcy, the other niadness—
the one born with the sufferer, and permanent; the
other, permanent, temporary, violent, or partial, and
having a different operation and a distinct influence upon
every individual whom it seizes. Of the former class,
❑one would be found competent as witnesses; but to
establish a universal rule which should exclude the latter
would be a manifest solecism in jurisprudence, and tend
en occasions to a lamentable failure of justice.
We have hitherto abstained from mentioning the ac-
tual which Richard Donelly, " the funny red-
faced little:lrishman," waslabouring under, because it was
not important in reference to the legal bearings of this
question. It is, however, important as to the medical
bearings, and before entering upon them, which we shall
do in a subsequent article, we beg to inform our readers
that this poor fellow was labouring under the harmless,
and perhaps to him not altogether disagreeable idea,
that "sometimes ho had one butt of beer and at
other times two butts of beer in his inside." We shall
have as little difficulty in showing that such a delusion
ought not in fact, as we have already shown it does not
in law, incapacitate a man from giving his testimony in
a court of justice.

PRODUCTIONS FOR THE ExHIBITION.--IMPROVE-
10IENT IN COSTUME.—In November last a declaration was
issued, bearing the signatures of a large number of Royal
Academicians and other artists, complaining that the present
European costumes (particularly the male attire) " is in-
simplicity, or dignity of aspect, devoid
dignified historic painting, utterly incon-
gruousand no less unfavourable to the living
oc of na sl
li s t
requisitese
with n t Nv i
sticiu
forg rl p
taucdrei e
,g,
figure, both as regards appearance and convenience ;" sag-
gesting to designers and makers of every article of dress' to
avail themselves of the favourable opportunity afforded by
the Exhibition to display " such forms as may afford a series
of transitional changes from the present fashion to a style
consistent with the foregoing views and the advanced tastes
of the age." Among those who have specially turned
attention to this subject are Messrs. H. J. and D.
Nicoll, of Regent-street, who intend devoting a
great portion of the space allotted to them in the
Crystal Palace for the of the various court and ge-
neral male attire worn in this country during the past two
or three centuries, the object of which will be to show the
practicability by gradual-trausition of arriving at a graceful
and elegant costume, calculated for properly displaying th
human figure, and annihilating the existing inelegant, un- `
classical, and monotonous dress in which the limbs of the
masculine portion of her Majesty's subjects are daily to be',
seen enveloped. One of the garments in this collection is
In addition
a modern Paletot, registered on the 13th inst., the merits of
which are the dispensing with as many seams as possLble,
those seams which are preserved flowing in curvilinear lines,
in accordance with Hogarth's line of beauty. Of the hate-
vial at present used in the construction of garments,
meveeryet.
variety of colour and shade, and of 'the finest
forte, the alter-
will be ranged in a semicircle in arathate
Nicoll will show 200 specimens of woollennol
shades, giving to the
nate relief of the darker by the lighter
it will be covered with glass, and
whole a pleasing effect.
sliivveinggifgraerathee3r3inft.lobg6inftg's at
fabric ; these
d, the Tartan of every known
to this, will also be displayed,
Clan (79 in number).
Protectionists was held at Cam-
A meeting of
(I,!nil;calloiseadndinwaommanas,
attributing•
Saturday, when resolutions agricultural
bridge on
operations of free trade were unanimously
distress to the Earl of Hardwick presided. "cloths in
itny
adopted.
The be held at Ely on the sam ' b.
e.eu ject.
ug is about
t°
mus,EB AND SUICIDE AT COLCHESTER.--111 our
'''.
f saturday we detailed the circumstances under which
...v.v.()
wer efound—the woman with her throat cut, and the man
hanging from the bed-post. Their names were George Von- .
der and Charlotte Parmenter. They appeared to have been
ina state of destitution. At the inquest, on Friday, after
hearing all the evidence that could be obtained, the jury
came to a verdict,," That the woman Was murdered by Yon-
der, and that he afterwards hung himself in a fit of temporary
derangemeat"

SUNDAY TRADING PREVENTION BILL.-00 Satur-
day the Bill brought forward by Mr. William Williams to
prevent unnecessary trading on Sunday within the metropo-
litan police district and City of London was printed. .I
contain.:; 'twelve clauses, and is to come into force on lettle_oci
of November. Sunday trading is prohibited afternine o'clock
in the morning, under a penalty of ris. for the.tirstefooorffecentceen.
Medicine, milk, cooked meat, and newspaper:,
eh°
o'clock, are exempted, as also publicans, from
of the Act. Barbers are not to open shop or
Servants are
calling after ten o'clock on Sunday
eYreadeizthe ex-
posedeg°o(feandersexhercipseerathtieniar
saved tf.roornstati
(11: operation.
l pe na t i
clCooarti:
of rrection for fourteen
may be committed to the .11
within seven days.
weighing only three-quarters of
days. All proceedings under the Act must be commenced
A steam-engine,
exhibited in Yorkshire, in full motion.
Gmat Exhibition, and has been made
It is intended for the
workman in Saddleworth.
by an ingenious
Speaker
The Right Hon. thegave his first Parlia-
mentaryan ounce, is being
Th
dinner en Saturday last, at his temporary official
residence in Eaton-square. Houseeet Constables
notl
morning.e
cirsecna;

SHIZURE OF OYSTER-BOATS.--011 Wednesday one
of the French war steamers which arrived here on Monday,
on her return from St. liellier, captured eleven oyster-boats,
which were dredging on the French limits, and took them to
sty Tunes.