The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-08-19 00:00:00

lung upon a particular and pre;ailin

the imagination was cons

'ntly at work in that pursuit;

there was danger that the month
predominance o •er the other facultiL
subdue them. This was the case here. _
down, the imagination obtained perfect sw,_
was no doubt but the solution of his malady
one. It had its rise in the cause to which he bad been ad-
verting. Its symptoms were betrayed in 1812, and they
manifested themselves again in 1843, when he was in a
state of maniacal delusion. Much of what bad

cquire

, and in the end
roke

d there
an evil

• •••• •• •••••••
taken place between 1843 and 1845 had not been
elicited from the witnesses, but there was this fact
in evidence that Mr. Rawson had been remonstrating
with him during that time about his close attention to bu-
siness. A few days before the fatal catastrophe, he had
heard of his father's death in Germany, and that ch cum-

stance might very possibly have tended still further to in-
crease the exc Vment under wh.ch he was labouring. The
nearer the actual scene was approached, the stronger was
the evidence relative to the insanity. Two days before
the sulphuric acid was swallowed, he was considered as a
distracted man. There was a wildness of eye and manner
about him, which, if the witnesses were believed, rendered
i. unnecessary to call the members of the family from
ime fact. At the very
ired, there were insane

Ceir unhappy home to prove the s
ti ue when the acid
symptoms : there was the same wildness, the same d s
traction, totally irreconcilable with a sane state of mind.
Was there a man whom he addressed who would not pro-
nounce Mr. Schwabe not guilty, on the -

.17
if he (Mr. Schwabe) was withtaking away the
life of another; and if they would lead to such a con-
clusion in the case of murder, why not come to the same
conclusion in a case like the present? The question in
both was the same; the state of mind was the question to
examine; in 1):)th the act must be criminal; and the state
of mind must be such as the law requires in a criminal
act. For these reasons he humbly submitted that his
client was entitled to a verdict.

The learned Judge then summed up. He said that, in
order to make out the allegations of the defendant, that
the contract was void because Mr. Schwabe committed
suicide, it was essential for the jury to be satisfied that
Mr. Schwabe died by his own voluntary act, and that at
the time when he did that act he was in such a state of
mind that he was able to distinguish between right and
wrong, to appreciate the nature and quality of the
act be was doing, so as to be a responsible moral agent.
The burden of proof on this head was on the defend-
ant, and the jury might assume that he was a moral
agent, unless the plaintiff showed the contrary. He
had stated this in as distinct terms as h could, be-
cause he took it for granted that it would be here-
after questioned, and he bad used terms about which
there could be no controversy. When the defendant
made out that the party died by his own voluntary act,
then the burthen of proof was changed, for every man
was presumed to be in possession of his faculties unless
the contrary were proved; and if the jury thought that
Mr. Schwabe died by his own voluntary act, then it was
for the plaintiff to make out that he was not a responsi-
ble, moral agent at the time. As to the question of his
having died by his own voluntary act, the jury could not
have much doubt, for the evidence was distinct that he
died by sulphuric acid, and there was nothing in the evi-
dence to throw any doubt about it having been his own
voluntary act to take it. There remained the question whe-
ther he took it to destroy life. If he took it in ignoranee
of its properties, or from any experimental whim (which it
was hard to think that any man would swallow sulphuric
acid for the sake of experiment), then it was not taken to
destroy life, but if he took it to cause his own death, then
the question arose, was he in such a state of mind at the
time as to be able to distinguish between right and wrong,
and to appreciate and understand the nature and quality
of the act he was doing. After quoting and commenti
upon the evidence of C

and the of

to the insanity, his Lordship proct
the singularity of the fact, a

r. Sebv

all haste home to tell h

er what
was said

necessity of

oy his life

great loss by
they provided

But was there any

ice of his &corn-