The republic., 1851-08-05

cased and he falsely conceived that ia
of the said birth, he had lost character among his
] former associates and friends and was no longer
held in esteem among them; that such conception
was an unwarranted aud unsound deluslon which
affected bis intercourse with society and that such
delusiOn Increased in intensity till his mind be-
came diseased thereby, and he thereafter was sub
ect 10 great, causeless, and violent paroxysns OF
rage, produced by such diseased state OF his mind.
The law on this subect has been read by tho
prisoners counsel from 'sheliord on Lunscy,
| page 40: ''Insane deusion consists in a belief Of
facts which rational person would have believed.
| This delusion may sometimes exist IN one or two
| particular subjects; though, generally, there are
other concomitant circumstances, such as eccen-
tricity irriability violence, suspicion, exaggera-
| tion Inconsistency, and other marks and symp
| toms, which may tend to confirm the existence of
delusion, and 10 establish its insane character
| The counsel had insisted that they had proved
instances in all these specifications. But such in
stances do not prove insanity. If a man have not
| any of these he is an angel quote from Chitty's
| Medical Jurisprudence, page 355;
"The circumstances of person -eyincing the
most harsh conduct, sudden bursts of passion, or
of display Of .unkind or unnatural feeling toward
child, without any cause, will not of themselves
establish insanity; 80 the proof that person had
given way to the supposition that he had actually
seen an appartion have seen is not legal evil
dence of isannity butonly of weakness, or imbecil
| ity, perhaps attributable TO temporary weakness,
or i'll health. Nor will proof Of great eccentricity
| establish insanity"
Mr.. Bradley stopped his citations from Shelford
at page 277 at 292 and 293 of the same
thor il will be seen that he affirms tho same doc
| trne of Chitty. will read these to you by way Of
| completing the chart with which the gentleman
has provided you for your voyage:
"There are many circumstances which, though
not OF themselves enough TO establish actual in
sanity, where il had not before become decided,
are still strong indiciG of its contInuanccsuch as
great irritabilty, violent passions, occasionally
deep depression, eccentric habits, suspiciousness,
inconsistency changeableness, and the like. If
actual insanity has never existed, many, or most
nf hes ircu uTna ma md vet
tablish positive arrangement; but, where actual
arrangement has previously existed, lighter things
| become combinations"
! Ifa man have not any of these, he is an angel.
Although they may make up insanity, they do not
establish insanity Menin active and scholastic life
have been notorious for some and all oil these char
acteristics. One OF the best and abest men, bene
| factor Of his species, Bishop Berkeley had notion
| that there was no such thing as matter. Men have
fallen from the height of fortune and glory by hay-
| ing these characteristics and inhrmity OF nature
Even the great Napoleon, at whose name but lately
the world grew pae-do you believe that If he had
/ had firmly a balanced mind as Oliver Crom-
| we'll, ne would have fallen as he did These are
marks which should induce you to look carefully
to whether any OF the marks of insanity exist in
| the prisoner.
on the came page of " shellord," Mr.. Fenda
| read
1t may be difficult, and perhaps would be dan
gerous, to attempt to define what is the essence Of
insanity Delusion has been generally laid down
essential that is, the fancying things TO exist
| which can nave existence, and are iilpO5slDle
according to the of things, that trees will
| walk, or statues nod and which fancy proof or
| reasoning will remove. An opinion against ra-
tional probability is not necessarily insane opin
| ion it is not drawing right conclusions from
| manifestly wrong premises, but erroneous infer
onces from premises which may be true.'
This principle was affirmed by the circuit court
in the Of the Travers will, with the qualihca-
ton, ssncxt to impossible"
The instance put by Erskne in the case OF Had
ford, and cited by the prisoners counsel. illus.
trates the principle. The man who thought himself
to be Jesus Christ fanced an impossible thing. And
| named Wood ina gincd that princess was
in tower, and, being denied the usc OF ink, he
had other means of communication but by
writing his letters in cherry juice, and throwing
them into the river which surrounded the tower,
and the prisoner received them in boat. This
was delusion; no such facts existed. Deusion is
the fancying of things 10 exist which can have no
existence, and are impossible and next to inposs-
bic, according to the nature of things.
What. gentlemen, is here alleged? Bear in mind
the principles laid down in the gentlcman's own
books and contrast them with this case. When
heard the defence of insanity brought forward,
and what the counsel expected to prove, looked
TO see what the dousion would turn out to be when
stated to if they would labor TO prove that the
child, being born three or four months after mar
riagc originated this deception and dclusion. III
they proved that the offence it was no dclusion
at all because where man acts ON real clrcum-
stances no matter how wildly and extravagantly,
and contrary to the course of human experience,
it is no defence Therefore watched carefully to
ace how they would bring out case Of delusion.
l give my friends credit TOR their ingenuity and
they bring it out in this way:
They say it is true that the child wac born That
is real circumstance. And it is claimed that il
had the effect of producing the deluson that Day
abandoned by his friends, and that he thus lost
the reason which was capable of controlling him
What seemed to me unimportant was made use OF
as the foundation stone of the defence, without
which they could not move an inch, and without
which their whole superstructure would topple and
fall. The deluson that no falsely conceived
that he had lost his character among his former as
socates and friends and was no longer held in CO.
teen by them. Now, unless il can be shown that
he falsely conceived that he did lose his character
among his former associates and friends, they must
fail, for that is their foundation. They say it is
deusion; that he did not lose his character; that
his friends and associates sympathized with and
adhered to him witnesses. Therefore they say
it must have been deluson that he had lost caste
There is the test. Did he ever act as if he had lost
character and esteem among his former friends and
| associates?
Why, gentlemen, instead of fancying that he had
lost character among his former friends and asso-
ciatcs, he constantly among them. You are
told by them that his conduct studied and re-
served. He did not fancy that they had repelled
him; he went to seek their sympathy You recol-
J lect Marsoett, who tells you that on the Monday
evening when the murder was committed he came
and annoyed him with business with which he
(Day) had nothing to do; and that he remained
talking SO long that those who were present be-
came tired of him; and that he got into the hac k
with them. Did this show that he fancied that his
former friends had abandoned him? Would a
man tell his grievances to those whom he thought
bad abandoned him, and subject himself TO gibes
and jeers? You recollect that when Day was
jecred by Ridgway he colored up. He went to
other persons to complain. This shows he did not
fancy that they bad abandoned him.
MIR. Fendall then referred TO the testimony OF
Crimes Sears, and others, in this connexion, and
adverted to the several English cases of lunacy
which had been cited by the defence. They did
( not apply TO this the persons had been
proved to be insane before the commission of their
offences, and were clearly cases of dtusion, as
stated by Shelford. [Want of time prevents us
from giving detailed reportl
Mr. +. noticed the testimony of Wilson, who
related that she had conversation with Day, who
told her that he could give life, and pointed up to
the sky and said he had been there, and had as
cerancd there was no heaven, no hell, and no God;
and appealing to his companion for the truth OF
this, the latter said ''ycs." Mr.. +. supposed that
the assent to this proved the other person, Tucker
to be insane, too. The learned counsel had said
. that the declaration of Day that he did not
J believe in future state proved him to be
p Il Il. - -.