The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-31 00:00:00

MOST EXTRAORDINARY CASE

(To the Editor of the Ala 1100
Sint,-1 sin surprised that the:extraordinary case lam
about to mention has not, lout ere now, attracted public at-
tention. If it occurred in England or Scotland, it would be
cried up as a physical wonder (as indeed it is,) and all the
.world be posting to witness it. The phenomenon, however,
haScrefited so little interest here hitherto, that, though'it is
known to many in this conntry, no one has yet stated the case
through the -press, and though it comes in a special manner
within the province of the medical faculty, none of our phy-
sicians, that I- am aware of, have made inquiry into it, or
given any information respecting it either to their brethren
abroad or to the scientific portion of the public at home.
The case is as follows :--

- .
At a little diStatice.frOm the road leading•frotri'Swynford to
Cuilteniagh, and about a mile and a half from the former.
town, resides Mr. James Kavanagh, an honest, industrious,
and respectable villager.' He has a son grown to - man's
estate, who has been confined to his bed for the last four
years, and-during that period he 'has not spoken a word, nor
has he • been known to eat or drink anything whatever—
nevertheless his colour is fresh, and his strength very little,
if at all, impaired. He gets up daily to permit his bed to he
dressed, and the moment it is ready he gets into it again
without taking the slightest .notice of anything said to or
about him. He does not seem to sleep, at least no one can
enter his room unknown to him, but he takes no farther no-
tice of persons, even threatening to maltreat him, than by
fixing his eyes sharPly upon them. The only exception is
when any person blasphemes or curses, and then he looks
most fiercely, and turns away his head.
Previous to his getting into this strange state, he was fully
in poisesSion of all his faculties of mind and body, and had
the character of being a pious and ingenuous young man—
an obedient son and a good neighbour. His present state is
so extraordinary a deviation from the laws:of nature, that it
is eminently worthy of investigation, and I trust that some
of our Mayo physiologists will inquire into it, and favour the
public with the result of their observations.
At first view of so extraordinary a case, one might be led
to suspect imposition ; but be assured there is none in this.
Mr. Kavanagh's family never sought to give publicity to it,
and the present notice is entirely without their knowledge or
consent, and probably may not be pleasing to them, though
nothing can be farther from my intentions than to give them
pain ; and I trust that even they, upon reflection, will see
the propriety of calling the attention, not onlyof the medical
faculty, but of the public at large, to as extraordinary a case
as any upon record, and which it would be a sin against good
taste and philosophy to permit to pass into oblivion without
some effort to investigate the cause. I have the honour to
be, sir, your obedient servant,
PA TRICK Lynn. JOHNSON.

"CHARITABLE BEQUEST."-SHAMEFUL IMP

SITION

Many of our readers have no doubt been interested by an
advertisement under the head of " Charitable Bequest, which
appeared in the-. Mercury of Jan. 11th, and stated, that " a
benevolent pious Christian has directed to be placed in trust
£20,000, to he lent out to deserving persons who are in need,
in sums from £5O to £250, on their own personal bond.
Honesty, sobriety, integrity, and frugality, are essential qua-
lifications. Applications, with references, made by letter
only (post paid), will receive due attention. Address to J.
B. Fielding, Esq. Metropolitan, .opposite Chancery -lane,
Holborn." . In consequence of this offer, a gentleman in this
town wrote to the address above given, and, in a day or two,
received the following reply :
No. 5, Carey-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Sir,--`fie are directed by J. B. Fielding, Esq. to state, you'
will be accommodated with two hundred and fifty pounds for
three years, at five per cent.. interest, payable half-yearly.
You must remit a post-office order for three pounds, to. pur-
chase the bond stamp. You will have the money on or about.
the 3lst iOstant, when we shall call upon you to. sign the
same.—Remain yours, . PRICE & WILSON.
The demand of three pounds as a preliminary startled our
informant, and he made inquiry of a solicitor as to the pro-
bable character of J. B. Fielding, Esq. and his agents; when
he was informed, that another party had already instructed
the solicitor to write to his London agent to make the very
same inquiry ; that a messenger had been sent to the Metro-
politan, which is a public-house, where the host and hostess,
informed him, that they knew nothing of Mr. Fielding, but
that he sometimes called for letters addressed to him there ;
and that no fewer than three hundred had already been
banded over. to other parties who had recently been there
applying for his letters. Two individuals, who had travelled
all the way from Birmingham to obtain a loan of part of the
£20,000, arrived at the very time the messenger was at the
Metropolitan, and lost their expenses for their pains. The
client of the legal gentleman who bad corresponded with his
agent in town, had addressed an application for £l5O, and
had received a reply, in which £2 was asked for, "to pur-
chase the bond ; ' and the letter was signed Follett- and
Nephew, 37, Carey-street, Lincoln's inn Fields; so that
this benevolent Mr. Fielding seems to need a good many
lawyers to reply to applications for aid. Inquiries have been
made as to the existence of any legal firm named Price and
Wilson, and none can be found, either at 5, Carey-street, or.
in the law list; while the place from which Follett and Ne-
phew date is a small coffee shop.—Leeds Mercury.

THE QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE.—COMMITTAL OF THE,
SHETUFFS.-111 the Court •of Queen's Bench, on Monday,
Sir William Gossett, the Sergeant-at-Arms, produced the
bodies of the sheriffs, whom he held in custody under the
warrant of the House of Commons, for a contempt of its
authority. Sir William put in the warrant, which (after a
long ar;:umentagainst its validity, by the counsel who ap-
peared for the sheriffs,) the judges held to be sufficient, and;
the Sheriffs were sent back to their old quarters, in the cells
of the House of Commons.