The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-26 00:00:00

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demonstration of it at Welchpool. He said he saw Mrs.
Ruck making signs to some men, who said hush, ~ he
meaning himself, "is not asleep." He said he saw her
drinking with those rwn. lie said that on the platform, on
the journey to Shrewsbury, all the people noticed her in-
decent cow:uct, and pitied hint very much indeed, some of
them saying if they were Mr. Ruck they wou!(I get rid of
such a wife as that. He also said that en his arriv-
ing at Reading he discovered bis wife had criminal
conversation with Mr. Barnet. He said that Mr.
Barnet bad tried to poison him. The conversation lasted
an hour and a half. The next day he went over the same
ground, and when I attempted to reason with him he was
very angry with me. There were four conversations on
four consecutive days, and during all these conversations
he manifested the same delusions. About a fortnight ago I
came to town with Mr. Ruck, who saw his solicitor, Mr.
Wainwright. I had been with them all the morning. Mr.
Ruck, later in the day, saw Mr. Wainwright again, and
though he had been with him all the morning, he said,
" Who is this Mr. Wainwright ?" I said, "Do you not

know him ?" He said, no.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant Petersdorfi—l was
brought up as a medical man, but never qualified. I was
apprentice to an apothecary. I should say that when I
conversed with Mr. Ruck on other occasions he showed
that he was under delusions. He bad spoken of Mrs. Ruck
before. The last occasion was in April, when be was visited
by Mr. Ackworth. On the 9th of November Mr. Ruck was
in a fit state to drive himself out. I asked him to drive
me out twice, but he refused, on the ground that the horse
would came down; and he did come down since.
Mr. James—Perhaps the horse was unsound also.
Laughter.)
Witness—Not in the head—in the legs. (Laughter.)
Mr. Chambers —ln the understanding. (Renewed
laughter.)
Mr. Sergeant Petersdorff—You dined with Mr. Ruck and
Mr. Fisher ?
Witness—l did.
Mr. Sergeant Petersdotff—Of course you did not take
too much wine ?
Witness—Well, I had quite enough. (Laughter.)
Mr. Sergeant Petersdorff—You were there to control
others—why did you not control yourself?
Witness—l did, sir, when I paid the bill. In this case it
was paid by Mr. Fisher, and I thought I bad no right to
interfere.
Mr. Sergeant Petersdorff—Did not you take Mr. Ruck
somewhere else afterwards?
Witness—We went to the Radnor.
Mr. Sergeant Petersdorff—Did not you and Mr. Ruck
have some spirits afterwards?
Witness—Decidedly not.
Re-examined—Between the time when Mr. Rack parted
with Mr. Wainwright in the morning and saw him again in
the afternoon, when he did not know him, we went to Dr.
Johnson's, at Woburn-square. We afterwards went to the
Radnor Luncheon-rooms, at the corner of Chancery-lane.
He took nothing but a pint of stout and some sandwiches;
with the exception of these delusions he was enabled to talk
rationally and to act with propriety. The dinner party with
Mr. Fisher was at the London. After we had got out after
dinner I perceived Mr. Ruck was somewhat intoxicated. I
did not perceive it when it was going on.
Mr. Chambers—But you were not so much affected that
you could see it in him ?
Witness—Well, I am not much used to taking wine.
Richard Brown examined—l am an attendant at Moore-
croft Asylum, and attended on Mr. Ruck. In July
last he told me that while he was at Reading Mr. Barnet
and his wife tried to poison him. He also said that three
years before his wife and her mother had tried to poison him.
He did not like women with red petticoats. He would not
meet them. He would say, " it, I can't stand this,"
and he would walk round two miles to avoid them.
(Laughter.) Last Sunday week we walked to Southall,
and went into a public-house for refreshment. Two drovers
came in there. One of them began talking about Welch-
pool. Mr. Ruck winked at me, and when be came out he
said " I thought that man knew something of my case," and
that if so he would have sent me out of the room, as the
conversation would not have been fit for me to hear. He
said It was a hard case that be was confined in such
a place, as he could not open his mind to any one, as his
solicitor had told him not to say anything except in his pre-
reuce.

Mr. James—But that is true; he could not say anything
without it being reported.
Witness—l am not bound to report everything.
Mr. James—But you do when you think it worth while.
Witness—Yes.
Mr. James—Did you think this conversation on Sunday
about the Welsh drover was a delusion ?
Witness—l did.
Mr. James—Have Ten ever seen a Welsh drover
Witness—l have seen 'em with Welsh cows. (Laughter.)
Mr. James—Well, altering a quotation from Dr. Johnson,
" Who drives Welsh oxen should himself be Welsh."
(Great laughter.) Did he look like a drover ?
Witness—He was dressed like one.
Mr. James—Oh, I do not ask you whether he looked
like a Welsh drover naked. (Laughter.) Did he look
like one dressed?
Witness—He did.
Mr. James—And after all he was an undertaker ?
Witness—lie was. (Roars of laughter.)
Mr. James—Did you consider his aversion to ladies in
red petticoats as a delusion?
Witness—l did.
Mr. James—Did you report that to Dr. Stillwell.
Witness—l did.
Mr. James—Why ?
Witness—l thought it an extraordinary thing that a
gentleman should be afraid of three ladies!
Mr. James—By no means. (Laughter.)
Mr. Chambers said that perhaps it would be now a conve-
nient time to examine Mr. Ruck.
The Commissioner having assented,
Mr. Ruck left his place behind his counsel, and took his
seat near the learned Commissioner, by whom he was exa-
mined to the following effect :
The Commissioner—You have been present during the
whole of this inquiry ?
Mr. Ruck—l have.
The Commissioner—And it has not disturbed your mind ?
Mr. Ruck—Net at all.
TheComraissioner— Having heard the whole of the evidence,
have you anything to say in reference to these alleged
delusions ?
Mr. Ruck—At the time when these suspicions took pos-
session of my mind I was then in an azitared state of mind
from drink, and thus the suspicions were formed; and at
that time I was pot into the asylum without any means of
inquiry whether my suspicions were founded on facts, and
up to this hour I have had no opportunity of investigating
the facts. I merely wished for inquiry. I should not have
taken much trouble, and as soon as I was told I had
in a drunken state made charges which were false
I should immediately have abandoned them. I believe if
I bad seen Mr. Fisher there would have been no necessity
for to Moorccroft. I was then as sane as lam
nosy, though gthgoouignli I bad my suspicions as to my wife.
The Commissioner—You were a little intemperate at that
time?
Mr. Ruck—Yes. •
The Commissioner—And you have been abstemious since
you went to the asylum ? You bad not seen your wife for
a considerable time until yesterday
Mr. Ruck—Not since February.
The Commissioner—January, I believe.
Mr. Ruck—l don't think it was in January or February.
I think it was last November.
The Commissioner—lt must have afforded you great
pleasure to see your wife yesterday.
Mr. Ruck—l was very happy to see her looking so well.
The Commissioner—Your mind has been disabused of all
the Impressions it had formed ?
Mr. Buck—Yes.
The Commissioner—Can you explain to the jury how it
happened that they took possession of your mind?
Mr. Ruck—lt must have been from jealousy and excite-
ment.

The Commissioner—Assuming that these suspicions were
caused by inebriety, then when the effects had gone off did
the suspicions last? Were the suspicions entirely removed
from your mind ?
Mr. Ruck—l wished to ascertain if I had good ground for
my suspicions, and requested to see my solicitor that I might
investigate the facts.
The Commissioner—And have the facts been investigated
to your satisfaction ?
Mr. Ruck—Yes, entirely.
The Cemmissioner—Who has been investigating them ?
Mr. Ruck—My solicitor, Mr. Wainwright.
The Commissioner—Did you entertain suspicions until
yeu saw Mr. Wainwright?
Mr. Ruck—My mind was not divested of them.
Tae Commissioner—What facts did be investigate?
Mr. Ruck—Quite sufficient to prove to me that my sus-
picions were purely imaginary. One fact was that a gentle-
man who was mentioned was not at Weld:Tool at the time.
Another was that Miss Jones lay down by my side at night.
I have found that was untrue.
The Commissioner—Were there any other facts brought to
your knowledge by Mr. Wainwright which aided you in
throwing these impressions cff your mind?
Mr. Ruck—Yes, I find that the name of the commercial
traveller whom I suspected of familiarity with my wife was
Bailey, and not Beach.
The Commissioner—Was there any other fact communi-
cated to yeu by Mr. Wainwright whkichwoapsewneedllyroeucr
received in
Mr. Ruck—Yes, that
remarks which I stated werecharacter
rsnlade wasat untainted. As
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The Commissioner—But up
I don't think anything
of the investi-