The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-26 00:00:00

COMMISSION OF LUNACY.

EXTRAORDINARY LOSS OF MEMORY.

A commission, in the nature of a writ de lunatico
inguirendo, having been directed to the Sheriff of
Bristol, to inquire into the state of mind of Edward
Thomas, Esq., a gentleman possessing considerable
landed property in the West Indies and in this king-
dom, and who had been much mixed up in the ques-
tion of Slave Emancipation, was opened yesterday,
at Long's Royal Hotel, Clifton, Wore the Commis-
sioner, Mr. Barlow, Queen's Counsel, and the in-
quiry occupied the whole day. The petitioner was
Mrs. Thomas, wife of the alleged lunatic, on whose
behalf Mr. Stone, of the Western Circuit, and Mr.
Taddy, appeared. The property in question being very
considerable, much interest appeared to be excited.

Mr. Stone directed the attention of the jury to the
singular description of lunacy which he should have
to establish against Mr. Thomas, who was 54 years
of age, and had a wife and six sons. It was well
known that there were three great faculties of the
mind which were liable to be attacked with lunacy
—the memory, the judgment, and, the imagination.
In this case it was the first of these faculties which
had become so much impaired as to render Mr.
Thomas totally unfit to manage his affairs. While
on his voyage home to England he was accompanied
by one of his connexions, and by various persons with
whom he was well acquainted, and within a day or
two of his landing in England he had completely
forgotten the name of the ship in which he had
sailed when he came home, where he was, or any of
the friends by whom he was accompanied. On
Friday last the solicitor to the petitioner had waited
upon him, and read over and explained to him the
day fixed for this inquiry, repeatedly named it to
him, and yet within half an hour he had forgotten
all about it, and addressed a letter to the solicitor,
saying that he should be obliged if he could in-
form him the day when the inquiry would
take place. The disease of the memory had also
begun to affect the imagination ; he fancied himself
at times in America, and at other times in the
West Indies, and pretended to point out the houses,
trees, and other objects which were familiar to
him. At times, too, he was under the apprehension
that persons were lurking about the house in order
to carry him off and bury him alive. He had also a
tin box in which he picked up all the old scraps of
newspapers and other things about the house, and
fancied that the box was of immense value, constantly
kept it under his bed, and when he went out took it
with him in his carriage. On general matters and
abstract questions the unfortunate gentleman was a
man of very superior conversational powers, so that
they would have to rely on the medical testimony.
The Learned Gentleman then called

Mr. John Sealey, Solicitor-General of the Island
of Barbadoes, who stated that he was well acquainted
with Mr. Edward Thomas, and had married his
niece. He left Barbadoes with him on the Bth of
July last in the ship Britannia. Mr. Thomas was
then in a weakly state of health, and of most decid-
edly impaired memory. Remembered on one occa-
sion his coming on deck and saying he had just been
and had a pleasant excursion on shore, and on being
informed that he had been at sea several days, he ap-
peared much surprised. Since his arrival witness
had conversed with him, and he had completely for-
gotten his having come over with him in the ship,
even when reminded of it. Witness considered him
decidedly incapable of managing his affairs.
Mr. Benjamin T. Bovell gave similar testimony.
At this part of the proceedings the unfortunate gen-
tleman was brought into the room, and to a casual
observer would not appear to be labouring under any
aberration of intellept. When, however, he came to
be tested by the examination of the Learned Commis-
sioner and the jurors, he fully bore out the testimony
Adduced as to the impaired state of his memory.
Isabella White, a servant of Mr. Thomas, was
next examined. She stated that Mr. Thomas kept
asking her what her name was almost every minute
in the day. He would also ask her to tell him where
he was, and not to deceive him, as he was almost sure
he was in Barbadoes. One day he thought Mrs.
Thomas was going to place a keeper over him, and he
armed himself with a carving-knife and two razors,
which he carried about with him the whole day. He
would sometimes sit down and cry for hours, saying
the learning he had had was of no use to him now.
Mr. Mortimer, Dr. Young, and Dr. Pritchard, one
of the Metropolitan Commissioners of Lunacy, were
then examined, and gave it as their opinion, that his
memory was so impaired that he was not at all capa-
ble of managing his affairs. ,

The Learn-edCommisstoxEa briefly summed up, and
The Jury returned a verdict, " That Mr. Edward
Thomas had been of unsound mind and incapable of
managing his affairs since the 12th of August last."

DEATH raw/ VOLUNTARY STARVATlON.—Consi-
derable sensation has pervaded the neighbourhood of
Camden-town, in consequence of a rumour obtaining
circulation that Dr, George Swiney, well known from
his eccentric habits, had expired on that day from the
effects of voluntary starvation. The unfortunate gen-
tleman possessed a large fortune, but lived in the
greatest seclusion, not going out of doors more than five
or six times during an entire year. The only person
about him was his housekeeper. He had never shaved
for the last two years, and his beard extended nearly to
his waist. He was always most abstemious in his diet,
but during the last few months, notwithstanding the en-
treaties of his housekeeper, he would scarcely partake of
any food, and for the last month he peremptorily refused
to allow the slightest nourishment to pass his lips ex-
cepting now and then small quantities of cider andwat,er.
In consequence of this refusal he gradually sank. On
Sunday morning last, becoming nearly insensible, his
housekeeper called in Mr. Knaggs, surgeon, who found
him in a state of stupor, and having rallied him a little,
prescribed for him, but he refused to take the medicine,
and expired shortly after. Some few weeks prior to his
death Dr. Swiney sent his housekeeper' to a chemist's in
the neighbourhood for some prussic acid, but the che-
mist refused to let him have it. Before death the de-
ceased gentleman made a will, which proves the eccen-
tricity of his character. He desires that he shall be in-
terred in St. Martin's burial-ground, Pratt-street, Cam-
den-town, and that his funeral should be on foot ; his
coffin to be covered with bright yellow cloth, and the
pall and cloaks of the mourners to be of the same ma-
terial and colour. Three female children, to be clad in
white, chosen by his chief executor, are to precede his
coffin, for which service he has left to each of them a
legacy of 201., and also 201. to be expended in providing
their funeral dresses. He has bequeathed 5,000/ to the
trustees of the British Museum, for the establishment
of a lectureship on geology, and 5,0001. to the Royal
Society of Arts, out of which sum the first freeholder,
whether in England, Ireland, or Scotland, that should
reclaim and bring into cultivation the largest amount of
waste lands, was to receive 100 guineas, to be presented
in a goblet of equal value ; this gift to be renewed every
five years. Five gentlemen of high attainments in lite-
rature, art, and science, have been appointed by Dr.
Swiney as his executors. They have already had his
will carried into effect, by placing his body in a coffin
covered with bright yellow cloth, and studded with gilt
nails, and there is but little doubt the whole of his ex-
traordinary requests will be rigidly adhered to.
DEATH FROM EXTENSIVE Loss or BLOOD.—We&
nesday Mr. Wakley, M.P., held an inquest at the Pitt's
Head, Paddington, St. Marylebone, on the body of Mr.
Thomas Lomas, aged fifty-eight, late landlord of the
house. It appeared from the evidence of two females,
in the service of deceased, that on Monday last he served
in the bar up till nearly five o'clOck, when he was- seized
with a violent vomiting of blood, and retired to bed.
Being averse to medical advice, no surgeon was sent
for until he had a second access of vomiting, when, con-
trary to his wish, Mr. Cholm tndeley, a surgeon of Not-
tingham-place, was called In by deceased's wife. Mr.
Cholmondeley said, that he visited deceased at eight
o'clock on Monday evening, and found three chamber
utensils each half full of blood, expectorated by deceased.
Another vessel contained a large quantity of coagulated
blood that had been passed through the rectum. Deceased
complained of pain and depression of the chest, and
witness was of opinion that the stomach was loaded with
blood. He prescribed for the deceased and the emission
of blood ceased, and on going away he left orders that
if it returned he should be instantly sent for. Accord-
ingly he was sent for between three and four o'clock
next morning, and found that deceased had emitted as
large a quantity of blood as before. He again pre-
scribed for him, and, though pulsation had nearly
ceased, deceased had his mental faculties so little im-
paired that he was able to direct his wife how he should
best dispose of the business after his death, and to point
out the precise spot in Kensal-green cemetery in which
he wished to be buried. Deceased had two nearly simi-
lar attacks in 1842 and 1843, and was cured by the ad-
ministration of diluted sulphuric acid, alum, digitates,
and infusion of roses. Deceased attributed these sin-
gular attacks to previous intemperate habits. Ver-
dict—Died of exhaustion, produced by extensive vomit-
ing of blood.
CAUTION TO LICENSED VICTUALLERS.—.A young
man, representing himself as a commercial traveller,
with dark hair, dark eyes, black whiskers, about five
feet eight inches in height, and smart walk, called at the
house of Mr. Daniels, a respectable licensed victualler,
and landlord of the Crown and Masons' Arms public-
house, near her Majesty's Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and
requested to know if he could have a bed-room and board
for a week. From his respectable appearance and repre-
sentations, and the superior manners he possessed, an
affirmative reply was given, and he was asked into their
private parlour, where he partook of all the good com-
forts of this life for near a week, when he, as usual,
went out for his morning's walk after breakfast yesterday
morning, stating that he should go up' to the Royal Ar-
tillery Barracks, and see the band perform their military
duties, and should return to partake of dinner. The
gentleman, however, forgot to do so, and has not since
been heard of, but has left the reckoning unpaid, and no
doubt made a hasty retreat from the town.
A wealthy wine-grower at Verzy, in the Aube,
named Beuzard, having a glandered horse, was a few
days ago giving him a drench, recommended by the
veterinary doctor, which the gag, by which the animal's
mouth had been kept open, slipped out, and M. Beuzard
received a wound in his cheek from one of the teeth of
the horse's upper jaw. On the next day his face became
dreadfully inflamed, and every symptom of the.glanders
appeared, and increased in violence until his death, which
rapidly ensued. . •
BERLIN, JAN. 20.—Her Majesty the Queen has
had some hours quiet sleep during the night, and is to-
day free from feYer.