The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-08 00:00:00

Mr. Edwin James, 'QC., Mr. Lush, Q.C.., and
Mr. Prentice were counsel for the plaintiff; Mr.
Bovill, Q.C., Mr. Coleridge, and Mr. Hannan were
counsel for the defendant.
Mr. Edwin James, in stating the case to the jury
said, the plaintiff was a young man, about 29 years
of age, and he had brought this action for his im-
proper detention in a lunatic asylum, under the
pretence, of insanity, by his uncle, under very ex-
traordinary circumstances. The plaintiff is the son
of the late Mr. Fletcher,who died in 1848, and who
was at the time of his death a partner in the firm of
Alexander, Fletcher, and Co. He left. a will giving
the plaintif £5,000 on attaining his 24th year and
a reversion in £5,000 left to his mother for life, and
made him residuary legatee of his property in the
firm, which he valued at .£40,000.1:ke delusion upon
which two doctors bad declaredlim insanelivhs his
belief that be bad a claim on his uncle for that
amount, not one shilling of which had he ever re-
ceived, though he had made repeated applications for
it. At last an account was rendered in which the de-
fendant stated the balance due to the plaintiff's father
at the time of his death at £14,000 ; but had debited
him with his share of estimated losses down to
1857 at upwards of £117,000. In 1849 the plaintiff
obtained a cadetship, and his mother went with him
to India. There he kept up an establishment that
brought him into difficulties, and he was obliged to
give up his cadetship and return to England in
1851. In 1855 he obtained a commission in the
Turkish Contingent, and he went to Kertch, where,
'from the heat, from the suffering he underwent,
from bad and poor living and excitement, he took
to drinking, and was then seized with a fit of an
epileptic character. When the regiment was dis-
banded, he returned to England in 1856, with
nothing to depend upon, when he was told by the
defendant that his father had practically died insol-
vent, but by some arrangement he allowed him
from the firm 4a sum of 30s. per week. He was
about this time living in a small lodging in Orchard-
street, Oxford-street, when he was sued for his
lodging, though his aunt had promised to pay it,
and he ultimately found himself in Whitecross-
street prison. He had been educated at Oxford,
and when in Whitecross-street he was diacovered
by an old college friend, without the means of ob-
taining a loaf of bread, without a change of linen.
His friend, compassionating his situation, called
upon his uncle, who sent him a small sum of money.
Ultimately the plaintiff had to pass through the
Insolvent Court for £2OO. He was confined in
Kensington House private lunatic asylum by the
defendant, from which he ultimately escaped, in
the curious manner the plaintiff would describe.
The learned counsel called the following witnesses :
. Mr. Edward Phillip Fletcher was then examined
by Mr. Lush. He said—l am now 29 years of
age, and my father was a member of Alexander,
Fletcher, and Co.'s firm. I was educated at Eton
and Oxford. My father went out to India to take
charge of the business there, leaving myself and
fiaisttheereisnwEieugAlvaansdh,
earned
pluiet died there in
in,andwasrelaBd4B. ..by(lmahre.
Lush. It contained a disposition of the deceased's
property, which was considerable, and much in
favour of his children, and an account of the rela-
tives whom he appointed as guardians.)
Examination resumed—My mother was a Catho-
lic. After my father's death I was taken into the
firm as a clerk, and I subsequently went out to India
as a cadet. I was accompanied by my mother,
and after having been there some time, I returned
to Englani, accompanied by .mx mother. I saw
my uncle after my return, and in 1852 I went to
Australia, where I was appointed to a clerkship in
the Commissariat Department. I then returned to
England, and in the Crimean war I went to Kertch,
where I was appointed Deputy-Assistant-Commis-
sary in the Ordnance Field-train. At Kertch I led
rather a "fast life," and got an illness such as I
never had before. It was more like hysteria than
anythingfromc
al
three andours. the
I fitsw alsastaetdtende
commonlya ed
men. I returned to England in 1856, an. don my
l in London
about three hours. On my arriva
way home I had one of those fits which lasted
ree to fourelse, h
lodged at the house of a Mrs. F0x,1856 in Howard-
Bou-
street, Strand. I went thence
logne, to see my mother, who was then stopping
there. On my return to London I went to the
house of an old servant of my father—a clerk,
in to
where I lodged for five months. I was then with-
out means of living. I went thence to the house of
a Mr. Hemsworth, and, in 1857 I wrote to my
uncle, James Fletcher, for an account of my father's
property. No answer was given until Mr. Hems-
worth applied to the executors on the subject, and
I ultimately got the account now put into my hand.
It came from the executor—Mr. Cunningham, a
merchant.
Mr. Bovill—that account must not be taken as
having come from Mr. James Fletcher.
Examination resumed—The account is signed by
the members of the firm, Fletcher, Alexander, and
Co., namely, Mr. C. D. Bruce,
James Alexander,
C. Pearce, and another, all members of the firm.
(Account read :—Say for his capital, £35,000, and,
in all, the balance due to him in 1848 was £49,000,
subsequently totally reduced, by liquidation, &c.,
which were accounted for by losses after the death.)
Applications were made, in my name, to my uncle
James, on the subject of the account just read, and
I did not for some time after receive any allowance
from him. In July, 1857, he commenced an allow-
ance to .me of 30s. per week, which was continued
to me up to December in that year, when I was
arrested for the lodging-money due from me to
Mrs. Clark. I was then taken to Whitecross-street
prison, and my allowance was then stopped from
me. While in Whitecross-street an old college
friend of mine, Mr. Croker Adams, called upon M=.3.
I had been then two months in Whitecross-street,
and without any allowance during all that time.
Mr. Croker Adams called on my uncle, and he then
renewed the allowance of 30s. a-week to me. I
was discharged under the Insolvent Debtors' Act ;
my debts were then about.£27o. When discharged
under the act I went to lodge at the house of a
Mrs. Draper, in Orchard-street, where I had a re-
newal of some attacks of the illness from which I
before suffered. I was attended there six weeksby
a medical man named Squires. I communicated
the state of my father's affairs to him. I remember
in the month of February a Dr. Wood having
called upon me. Dr. Squires did not give me the
least intimation of Dr. Wood's coming. I had seen
my uncle James about three weeks before, in the
h notan made ade
said, a 6
11, 1 and month of January. I was in the habit of drawing
cheques upon the firm of Alexander, Fletcher, and
Co., of King's Arms-yard, City, for my allowanco.
6wli v 1 enlam When Dr. Wood called upon me he asked me if I
askdeeaddtyoosueecaint.
see it."
it.
de-
clined,ad
He then added, "If you do not let me see your
will, that I may judge whether it is a rational ac-
count, I shall certify that you are of unsound mind
and unfit to take care of yourself. " Dr. Squires
then with Dr. Wood, and they both left toge-
ther. I dined out a few days after that at the
house of Mr. Rudd, at Islington, and while there
Mr. Hemsworth called on me. I
then went back to
my lodgings, and I told my landlady I should
leave the house, as there was a conspiracy against
me ; and I instructed her not to admit Mr. Squires,
should he again call. "then went into my bed-room,
and hearing a noise, I went into •my sitting-room,
and I there saw Mr. Squires sitting down, with his
coat off, and his hat on a chair. I told him I did not
desire to see him. He said he wished me very much
to go with him to a medical friend of his in the
country. I declined, saying I should not • and he
asked me if I would write that. I replied would,
and added I should leave the lodgings and go to
Australia, or anywhere, in order to escape annoy-
ance. He then left me, saying he was sorry I de-
clined to go with him to his medical friend. I left
the lodgings next day, having received notice to
quit, and I went to lodgings in Brooksby-street,
Islington, provided for me by my friends. I there
wrote the letter which Mr. Squires wished, and
forwarded it to him ; and while at my lodgings on
the 13th of Marc, I saw a brougham drive up to
the door, and Mr. Squires in it. I declined to re-
ceive him, and he then went away. I then wrote
again to him, expressing my disinclination to com-
municate wi h him, and. I then wrote to my uncle

Jom•ee dd
oionr
,that
wlettsegruitroesSsqtauiiirdeisn'
gcalls
-
camiensg and
outroef fetr hi
upon me. On the Sunday morning following, on
posite, and looking very pale and much agitated.
The letter of the uncle, Mr. James Fletcher, in
answer, was here put in, and read by Mr. James.
It. stated that So-aire had not his (Mr. James
Fletcher's) authority to call upon him.
Examination continued—On the Sunday morning
that Squires called on me, I had not then received
my uncle's letter. Squires came into the house with
a portion of a letter in his hand, and he was accom-
panied by a Mr. Gill, a medical man. Mr. Gill
threatened to put my affairs into the hands of a bar-
rister. I said he might do so, and they then ques-
tioned me about my father's property, and his share
in the house of Alexander, Fletcher, and Co. I said
I degred to have an account of them. Squires then
said that my suspicions about the family and the
firm were unfounded ; and he then added he should
place my letter in the hands of a barrister, and
that he was sorry to say I was of unsound mind
and unfit to take care of myself. They both left
me then. I then wrote to Mr. Hemsworth of what
had occurred, and on the 14th of March—the same
day on which the medical certificates were signed,
I went into the King's Arms-yard to the firm, there
drew a cheque, and received the £3O. I returned
home and had a friend to tea with me. On the
next day, the 15th, a person called, and introducing
himself to me as a colonel, said he wished me to
accompany him to Kensington-house to see some
lawyers on the subject of my affairs. I said I knew
nothing of Kensington-house, and that I should
not go. He then said the business had reference
to that on which the parties called upon me on
Sunday, and I said they had my address, and that
I could not be losing my time in looking after
them. He then left me, and returned almost im-
mediately, said he had something more to say to
me, and almost immediately after the door was
opened, and a tall, thick-set man, with a stick in
his hand, entered the room and put a long printed
paper into my hand. .
The paper, signed by the plaintiff's uncle, Edward
Charles Fletcher, a Lieut.-Colonel in the army, and
Justice of the Peace, was here put in by Mr.
James, and purported to be a warrant for the con-
signment of plaintiff to Kensington-house as a
private patient of unsound mind. The certificate
of Mr. Gill, that he had examined him and found
him to be of unsound mind, and unfit to take care
of himself, was also put in and read. It described
a general incoherence of manner in the plaintiff,
peculiar expressions of his face, his delusions with
regard to money, his general strangeness of man-
ner,, so that the servants at Mrs. Draper's, in
Orchard-street, refused to wait upon him; his
capricious feelings with regard to the disreputable
associates who called upon him requesting his
landlord for one hour to turn him (Mr. Gill) out
like a dog, and describing him at other times os
gentle and familiar.
Examination continued—Plaintiff deposed there
was not one word of truth in those statements.
[The certificate of Wm. Squires, member of the Col-
lege of Surgeons, was then put in, also dated 14th of
March, 1858, and stated the grounds upon which he
formed his diagnosis of the symptoms which led him
to believe that plaintiff was of unsound mind ; and,
amongst them, attempts by him to commit suicide
by attempting strangulation]. This the plaintiff ex-
plained by stating, that when attacked with the fits
of epilepsy or hysteria, he felt a sensation of suffo-
cation in the throat, and that he put his hands to
his throat, not to injure, but to relieve himself.
Examination continued—The next delusion as-
signed by Dr. Squires was my delusion respecting
a lady with large fortune, whom I wished to marry.
There was such an attachment by me to a lady, who
had a fortune, but I broke it off in 1848. He asked
me if I intended, in the event of marrying the lady,
if I meant to prosecute my claims against my
father's partners, with her fortune, and I said I
should prosecute my claims. Another delusion at-
tributed to me by Dr. Squires, was my fancying, I
saw blood upon the wall ; and I can explain that
by stating that after I had the fits of epilepsy, and
while I was recovering, I fancied I saw blood on
the wall. On the day of the 15th of March, when
Dr. Wood and the keeper called upon me, and when
Dr. Wood asked me to accompany him to Kensing-
ton Rouse, I declined, having then read the paper,
He said I must accompany him, and I said I must
first breakfast. I then breakfasted, and having
asked him if it was a lock-case, I called my land-
lady's daughter up stairs to be a witness. He said
I must accompany him. Sandys, the keeper, was
the man who was with him. They got a cab, and
conveyed me from my lodgings to Kensington
House. They did not use force. When I arrived
at Kensington House I was shown into the draw-
ing-room, where there were patients. I arrived at
the asylum between ten and eleven, and at the din-
ner hour, two o'clock, I was asked to take dinner.
I declined to take any, because the effect of finding
myself in such a place as that, had taken away
my appetite. As to the employment of curative
means, I was not aware that they employed any,
except, perhaps, some slight administration of
morphia and quinine. During the time I was
in the asylum, from the 15th of March to the
30th of June, my uncle, Colonel Fletcher, the de-
fendant in this case, never called to see me, neither
did my uncle James, nor any other relative. My
mother was at the time at Boulogne. On the 30th of
June, I was out walking with the keeper and
another " alleged" lunatic, and while they were
engaged in looking at the horses iu Rotten -row, I
took an opportunity, and slipping down a narrow
footway between the Duke of Wellington's Monu-
ment and Apsley-house, I got into a cab, and made
my escape. I had been without means, and had
put on another suit of clothes before I left the
asylum, in order that I might pledge them when I
got out, for my necessities. I called on a friend, and
asked him to befriend me. Some evening after
that, I went into the Brown Bear, St. Giles's, kept
by my friends the Churchills, and while there, a
policeman, accompanied by Sandys, the keeper,
entered, and the latter said, " Mr. Fletcher, I want
you." I turned to Miss Churchill, and said, " What
shall I do, there is no back way by which I can
escape ?" She said, " Run up stairs, Edward, and
lock yourself in a' room." I ran up, and got into
Mrs. Garrett's room. She was a member of the
family, and received me. Sandys called upon the
policeman to break in the door, and Mrs. Garrett
asked him by what authority he came there, and to
produce his warrant, which staggered and confused
him. Mrs. Garrett aided me to make my escape,
and furnished me with veil, gown, cuffs, bonnet, and
everything ; and so attired, I got out on the roof,
land passing over the roofs of two houses in Drury.
lane, I entered a window, and, having remained in
the room for some time, I emerged therefrom, and
entering the window of another house, I proceeded
down stairs, and the people of the house Were much
astonished at my appearance. (Laughter.) I then
eseaped and went to the house of a friend, where I
was specially visited by the Commissioners of
Lunacy. They questioned me, and advised me to
put my affairs into Chancery. They then left me.
I have been since living very well, and my health
has been good.
Mr. Bovill here read an undated letter from the
plaintiff to his uncle James, in which he spoke of
the severity of his mother, as a person who had
caused great disquiet to him and to her family.
Plaintiff continued—That was not the first time
in which I knew my mother was going to make
a disgraceful marriage. In 1851, when she was
living in Berners-street, I knew it, and she told me
so herself.
The Lord Chief Justice—What do you mean
when you say she was going to make a disgraceful
marriage ?
Plaintiff—Because I knew ho was very inferior
to her in position, and that he was much younger
than her.
A Juror—Those are very good reasons.
Plaintiff—And also, that he was not able to sup-
port her. I knew him to be the same person who
was paying attention to her at Boulogne, and whom
she was disposed to marry there, and I was indig-
nant, and might have said, " I should sooner anni-
hilate her ;" but I have no recollection that I said
so.
Mr. Bovill here read another letter from plaintiff
to his uncle James, beginning "My dear James,"
and stating that he was determined to go on in
legal prosecution of his claims ; that the firm had
robbed him, and stating that he knew what he was
about ' • that he was not so powerless as they sup-
posed him ; that he would not be longer trifled or
trampled upon by his proud family ; and that unless
redress were afforded him' blood should flow."
Plaintiff—l wrote that letter under great irrita-
tion and disappointment, and I delivered it myself.
After my return from Australia I obtained as Ini-
dian cadetship through the influence of
James, with my uncle Colonel Fletcher, with whom.
I was not then on terms of friendship, and Egoon
relatives for
bution was then got up for me by
my outfit, which was about £lOO. I went to IT y
going out to n-
uncle James's house, prior to my
my outfit, for
dia, and he gave me £4O towards
which I gave him an authority to receive payment ;
0 my tailor had to be
but he has not yet been paid,
paid first. I went afterwards to my uncle's house
my unc

in Chandos-street, but I was not then asked to stop
there. It was a large house, but my uncle had a
large family—l cannot say how many children,
and he also had a governess. I spoke to Mr.
Wickings, my solicitor, and to Mr. Cunliffe, my
father's executor, about my father's affairs, and I
was told by them that my father died in debt,
but I do not know how or why he was in-
debted. I do not remember Mr. Cunliffe tell-
ing me that he was obliged to swear my
father's assets under £3,000, but I wished to know
from him where my father's property was gone,
and how it had gone. I believe Mr. Wickings to
be a•gentleman very high in his profession, and I
recollect having heard that Mr. Wingate, of the
firm of Wingate and nd solicitor to the exe-
cutors, had investigated Co.,;he accounts for the execu-
tors, and that there was not a penny for any one.
I believe Mr. Wingate also to be a very respectable
man in his profession, but to the best of my recol-
lection he did not show me a balance-sheet. I have
had the story dinned into my ears, not only by the
two solicitors, but by Mr. Cunliffe, one of the exe-
cutors, that they had looked into the accounts and
found that there was not only not any property left
by my father, but that he died largely in debt.
That account had been dinned" into my ears for the
last ten years, but I was not satisfied with that
answer. _ _

A Juror—That is right.
The Lord Chief Justice—That, Mr. Bovill, is not
the question which we are trying.
The Foreman of the Jury—That is the point, my
lord. We have not had any evidence, not one par-
ticle, to establish the_ insanitty_of_the plaintiff";' it
has not been shOwn—not at all—and unless the
defendants can adduce something different we can-
not much longer stand this.
The Lord Chief Justice,—lt is quite right that
they should confine themselves to that.
[Mr. James here put in the will, of plaintiffsfather, wherein he bequeathed, amongst other be-
quests, a sum of £5,000 to him, not of the money
or estate of the firm, but property unconnected with
it ; and the will appointed plaintiff's uncle James a
trustee, for the purposes of the testator's will.]
This closed the examination of the plaintiff.
Mr. Charles Read was then examined by Mr.
James, and he said—l am a fellow of Magdalen
College, Oxford.
Mr. James—Yes, my lord, and author of White
Lies, and .Never. too Late to Mend, well-known
tales that appeared in the London Journal.
(Laughter.) How long have you been acquainted
with Mr. Fletcher ?

Mr. Read—l became acquainted with him shortly
after he came out of the asylum; and he has since
been dependent upon me and upon the Rev. Mr.
Gibbons for his support. He told me he had large
claims to property, and I told him to put the matter
in Chancery, and recommended him to submit his
papers to Doctors Routledge and Dixon, the latter
of whom is author of " Fallacies of the Faculty."
(Laughter.)
Dr. John Morgan, examined by Mr. Lush, said,
I visited Mr. Fletcher in the lunatic asylum, and
expressed my opinion that he was not a fit subject
to be confined in such a place. I visited him again,
and on that occasion I discussed his case with Dr.
Wood, and told him I thought it was hardly a case
for a lucatic asylum: He gave me the history of
his attacks. I wrote to Colonel Fletcher, his uncle,
who is defendant in this action, shortly after my
first visit on the subject, and detailed the circum-
stances of my visit, saying that I thought, although
there were some things that might render it desir-
able to have medical supervision, yet I thought
that might be better done under the care of a
-medical man in the country than in a lunatic asylum.
The letter from Dr. Morgan to Colonel Fletcher
was here put in, and in it he said he was not aware
of Mr. Fletcher having been addicted to drink.
Having expressed an opinion that he believed care
would bring him about, the letter concluded by
saying, he believed,ein his conscience, Mr. Fletcher
was not a subject for confinement in a lunatic
asylum.
Colonel Fletcher's answer was also put in, and
stated that he had first heard of his nephew's state
of mind from a medical man, in Orchard-street,
who once attended him. The letter then referred
to the epileptic fits which Mr. Fletcher was sub-
ject to, and said, looking at all the circumstances,
he (Colonel Fletcher) should, were Mr. Fletcher his
I own son, have taken the same course in relation to
him, in placing him in an asylum - and as to" not
le moving him from Dr. Wood'sftsylum, that was a
step which he should take the responsibility of
upon himself.
The Lord Chief Justice —lt was more in refer-
ence to his habits of hard drinking, and to the
attacks of epilepsy which such habits were calcu-
lated to bring on, than to his state of mind, that
I alluded when I said I thought it advisable th at he
should be placed under some careful medical super-
vision in the country ; but as related to his state of
mind, I never saw anything in it that could induce
me to think his case was one fit for a lunatic
asylum.
Mr. Bovill—Those fits that you speak of were
not epilepsy at all.
The Lord Chief Justice—What do you call them ?
Mr. Bovill—Well, really I don't know. (Laugh-
ter.) I think they call them maniacal. To wit-
ness—ln your opinion, what is the state of his

mind ?
Dr. Morgan—From the evidence you have heard
here to-day from him I think you can form a cor-
rect opinion. (Laughter.)
A Juror—That's good.
The Lord Chief Justice—Did Dr. Wood describe
his case to you ?
Dr. Morgan—Yes, he described it very clearly to
me, in a manner leading me to suppose that the
plaintiff's ailment was rather one of nervous affec-
tion than of disturbed mind.
The trial was adjourned at this stage of the
proceedings, and will be resumed to-morrow (this
day.)
The plaintiff was five hours and a half under ex-
amination.

CRIMINAL COURT, July 7.

NEW COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Wightman.)
John Bardoe, 32, seaman, was indicted for cut-
ting and wounding Charles Oliver, with intent.
Mr. Metcalfe and Mr. Gent prosecuted; Mr.
Sleigh, instructed by Col. Hughes, the Secretary of
the Asiatic Home and Strangers' Friend Society,
appeared to defend the prisoner, a quiet and intel-
ligent-looking negro.
Mr. Metcalfe, having briefly stated the case,
called

Mr. Maggi, who said that he was in business as
a shipchandlor at 21, Minories. He had a customer,
one Captain Coppelo, a native of Genoa, and about
the end of April he came to him and bought some
goods, and then said that he had a black seaman,
whom he had left sick on board the Dread-
nought hospital-ship, and that he wished to have
him again ; he asked him if he would let the negro
come to his house, and stay until the Guinea,
another vessel belonging to Captain Copello, came
to the port of London, and then, if the seaman had
no objection, ship him on board that vessel.
About the end of May the prisoner was brought to
the house, where he was told he could stay if he
liked, and not otherwise. The prisoner asked him
if he was a slave, and witness said "No," and if ho
g-house for
suited him he might stay. He did so for a few
days, at the end of which he became ill, and refused
to come out of a room which he occupied, saying
that he was too ill, when witness wanted him to do
so, telling him that he wanted to take him to tho
hospital, but ho refused, and barricaded the door of
wife used to attend to him.
the room. He would ninottitmakateea
wanted to take him to the hospital that he said he
By the Judge—lt was when. I told him that I
would not go.
black seamen in Ratcliff-highway. I have nothing
to do with it. I believe my wife had been there.
He used
to dine at my house. I served him.
Cross-examined—l know a boardin
He never told
me that the prisoner was his slave. Ih
heard him say that he had bought him. had never
I might
have said so. No one told me so. I never went on
Captain Copello was
board the Dreadnought.
Two men were shown to Wt.
those men there. The prisoner 1 ness.—l never saw
house with a signed paper.
. was brought to my
it. The paper was signed by My clerk went about
interpreter to Captain Copello.y a man who acts as an
can-
not speak English. I The prisoner
can speak a little the dialect
which he understands.
on board the vessel I should not have put him.
said I could_unless he wished to go. I have
he would ,i. 0 put__ him on board, but would not unless
the time 16 The Guinea had come into port about
She lay • wanted to get him away from my house.
minories.lll the docks ; that is not far from the
, By a Juror—The prisoner used to live in my
'Anse.
This witness at the end of almost every answer
said that he should not have sent the prisoner on
board the vessel unless he wished it, &pi that he
riritfhoomd.e.Witness,s