Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-11-26
Tue STEALING PROPENSITY.

srh
WI. =, hs in any case constitutional-butt to the
rronensity to acuuireor accumulate, for the mere
ss.ke of ACQUISITION or accumulation, ana not
for the sake of any benefit beyond. This they
.n,nose TO be one of the innate human facultles
.ris,ing, in various degrees, and different sra
res of development, in every mans mina: ane
ScuItv in itself is considered not only innocent,
~, ;na;snsnsable. As George Combe says, IN
h;s system of Phrenology, sit prompts ine nus
handman. the artist. the manufacturer, tne u'el
chan, 20 activity in their several vocauohs' anu,
;,.tsad of being necessarily the paien' o! ~
. miserable and degraded appetite, Is one VI
the sources, when properly directed, OF the oou
10 e I'D sIegancies OF life. Its regular activi.
-. ~ 49, finishes civilized man from the savage
Ts.;r r.oular. or merely instructive and reck-
,..s mse Of it-that is, the abuse or neglect OF IL
ia unite another thing-and upon that we pur-
nose now TO offer some comment, suggested DIS
Our readers well perceive, by transactloh Oh
remarkable character, when mas receh''y Kan
an Mace i'm Southern city.
g" I isdv in highly respectable standing, has it
..ems been convicted, or is likely to be- OF steahng
from the dwelling of female acquaintance
nrohablv of the same respectfully as 70 repu-
f.,;on With herself-the offender having peeh
h.rs,ofore esteemed by all who knew her, as
an exemplary character. How can sucn an al
fair he ex3lained2 Does it imply radlcaly
and universally depraved mlndf OF does u lht ~
W,
rsce;yed by any Court Of Justice, or ought It 10
=. as sufficient answer to the accusation oil
thrfi-supposing either that there IS NOT anu
a., there can or cannot be Proved an apparent
aro,sns;tv and an actual habit in the inoi-
rr;draI under the same circumstances, to DO the
tbjn92 Or if il be not legal insanity, Is u NOR
all And what allowance IN reason ought ona-
r;,y 60 make for such a habit7 These are que
rjcs of some interest, il not Of some Importance;
and nerhaps there is no better way OF throwing
Ight over the subject to which they relate, .han
he f,rnishiny other well authenticated facts OF
q similar description, attended in some cases
with circumstances which may answer LII s'i"e
sort the purpose of an exp,ana"'.
A gentleman. rather advanced in life, OF high
10 respectable character and good family, was
n the custom Of frequenting grocery IN tue
ne;ghborhood of his dwelling nouse-oeing
nan of large property-sometlmes Ior cohuiei-
riaI and sometimes OstenSibiy Tor Sociai puipo-
zee The trader, after some time, accidentally
S;s.oyersd that his oranges in a certain re-
,;red nortion of his shop were disappearing De-
vond his means of accounting for TINS PUT MIN
n ianpth on the alert, and the result was, tnat
h;s wsal,bv and respectable customer, whom the
hr.o,b Of SANDER never had assaed, prov 10 De
the author of the loss; he was In the haoit, as II
turned out. Of regularly taking certain num-
her of them every day, unless accioen,aiIy PR
~xAn
ere msual number, with the view OF supply Tor
chs Sabbath.) The owner deeply shocked, but
S;snosed tu make the best OF the case, went pri-
s,.,sIv IN a relative of the offender ana comniu-
nicated these facts.
SWell Sir, said the gentleman, having pa
tiently heard the statement that isn't tne @ors,
Of it; he is in the habit Of s SIC; aga MS O'eao
The result was, that the grocer concluded 10
.,r nothing of the circumstances to any other
nerson than the relative, and the latter pieageo
b;s honor 10 nav all the expenses OF the onen-
Ser,s habit, both for the past and the future.
We might mention numerous other instances
Of this kind, but do not wish TO incur tne haIaIo
- rounding the feelings Of those who might
Snw.ver unreasonably. suppose themselves or
their friends to be gratuitousy brought INTO no
,;c. Rut our readers must all have met win
.uch cases. and both the medical ana lnorai au
thorites are full OF them. sL.;,,
Connie saws that Drs. Gall and Spurzheim
saw. in the prison Of Berne, r,ckeIy cnilo, -
wears old, who "could not refrain from sleai-
y!ns y and who, with his pockets full oil oreaa,
,,Ss1,,;nad that of others. That this boy could
no, rsfrain.,. by the way, is much more EKeiy
.ha - the other case cited above, since the cniia
;. .wnc;,lv stated to have been not only rlcket
~ hit "badly organized" and perhaps was
In consequence partly insane 10 all in,en's, VI
essentially non conpos. Such Deing tne case,
however the propensity w w. n, -.
LII wonld seem to be the more naturally at
to original aaS seeopdne
the theory OF the fnren sboS observe of Lord
Kaimes and several other distinguished phlloso-
nhsrs, who never heard of that science.
The same propensity, observed IN some per,
.,ns onlv during intervals of insanity, would
the sonouso. m pns auhory
~ tr.nce savs-sI could mention several In
stances Of insane persons of known integrity
and honesty during their intervals OF caimnesS,
Who had an irresistible propensity to cheat OF
steal, upon the accession of manlaoal parox,
ysms.' Spurzhem had in his own poSSess.on
the skull Of such person, who died at prague
in Bohemia Gall was acquainted with TWO cl-
tizens of Vienna, who having led lrreproacna
bic lives in their sanity, were in madness distn
euished for an extraordinary, and, no doubt IN
their case irresistible inclination to steal. They
wandered over the hospital continually, when
permitted, picking up whatever they could lay
their hands upon--straw, rags, clothes. wood,
&c. striking exempfication of what is meant
~ .conistiveneSs in its naked state, and without
sh.t direction Of reason, or that condensation of