Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-06-19
Extraordinary Accusation OF Lunacy.

Extraordinary Accusation Of LunaCy.
A remarkable attempt to confnc Mr.
Leach, London clergyman of the Church
of England, in lunatic asylum fer life, has
attracted large degree of public attention
The attempt was made by his nearest rela-
tlves, his mother, his married sister and her
husband, and apparently from the most un-
worthy motives. Mr.. Leach appears to have
been very eccentric gentleman, and under
tile influence of somewhat singular religious
convictions, but perfectly harmless, good
natured and rational, in his social inter
course, and withal, man Of learning and
ability. AS evidence Of insanity; It vas
proved that he thought servants ought I'd be
treated more on an equality, and carried
bis principles On this point somewhat to an
extreme. Feeling lonely he #as in the
habit of associating with his women SERVANTS,
would occasionally kiss them and sometimes
take them on his knee, drawing distinctions,
however, III these delicate attentions One
kiss he would IMPRINT upon The lips anoth-
er upon the cheek; but the former kind Of
caress was reserved exclusively for the young
woman he Intended to make his wife, Cler-
gyman though he was; he was In the habit
of playing whist With His female donissties,
but then the gariie was sanctified by his fead-
ing chapter or singing hymn Between
the deals. These we're no doubt, strange
eccentrltitits, But by no means proofs Of in
sanity 70 meet him III a drawing room,
Of, as dnc Of the witnesses more cautiously
put it; Sin the compahy Of lcarred and sci
cnti6c men," no one would suppose lin id
sane, and his tailors and tradespeorle found
hin, rtinctdal in payment and obliging in
manner. For years, even his frierds i'd
mitted hifi, to be eccentric, but never tho't
IF putting him in the mad house.
But about the year 1857, his relatives a.
woke to conviction that their son and bro
Tier could no longer be safely permitted to
rtn at large. They discovered he was &C
tually about to marry dne IF the damsels
whom He had hitherto beeh cottented With
taressing It seems difficult to understand
how Charge cf insanity could rest Upon
this slight fourdation, OF why lis mother
and sister should at this point take up arms
against him. But there were other facts,
which shed some light upon the matter It
turns out that on the death Of HE mother,
Mr. Leach would become entitled to $780,
600 If he died without children and in
testate; that forture mttst come to Mr. and
Mrs. sedden This was too splendid a pros
pect to be obscured by servant maid and
a young family. The doctor was called in
and the thing was managed. Poor Mr. L.
was consigned to an asylum. A commits
sion in lunacy was called to decide upon the
case, but the jury could not agree upon a
verdict. Another just come to the conclu-
sion that Mr.. Leach is quite competent to
manage his own affairs In this verdict ev-
cry friend to the sacredness Of personal lib
erty will concur. Eccentricity is one thing,
madness is another Dr. Winslow, when
first consulted on the matter, recommended
his friends to wait until Mr. Leach had com
mitted some overt act Of insanity That
overt act was, according to Mr.. and Mrs.
Soldiers opinion, committed when he was
about to marry bis servaHt-maid. The jury,
who had the whole case very ably brought
before them, naturally and properly looked
with suspicion on sssch proof of insanity
Us this. they, no doubt, remembered that
a marriage might prevent the addition Of
$50 900 to the fortune Of those friends who
sought to prove tie madness.
Mr. leach himself accounted for his in
sehtfon to marry his servant by stating that
re lived completely ;soiatea shat he new
er saw any ladies', afrd that he had diseov-
cred aFfties and virtues in her which IN
duced hlD4 t. think that she would make
Esirs good wife, and that he had carefully
weighed the disparity between their ages
and condition, and had come to the conclu-
sion tsses tIaey should be happy together
lie also tfs,ss defended himself against the
charge CT frsanit5, and briefly disclosed the
whole tf1Eth of tie matter in letter to his
brother m law, Mr.. Sedden. "Nobody,"
Ire wrote, ''cyer thought Of imprisoning
Chas. Mathews ~her he nrarricd Madam
Vestfis. And though there is religious
r>otiso associated with mine, if that would
indrate insanity, you might as we'll impris-
en- the whole body of Quakers, of Metho-
dis"s, of Swcdenborgians, of Mormonites,
and kaow rot how many, who act accor-
ding to their eousclences, and believe that
they act more or less under divine influence
il their every day proceedings. 1t is
arieyous to think that but for my temper on
the Friday previous, and my divulging my
intended marriage which, by the way, if
| had chosen, | could have contracted Sc
creA y-neither you nor any one else would
ever have cared for my religious opinions
or conduct that is to say-not two pen
ny piece
1.-The London' su1y Neus' speaks thus
about the affair: 1.-THE case is. a most dis
crcditable one to the mother and the broth
er-in-law and the consequences of a YER
dict, affirming, on such grounds, the in
sanity Of llr. Beach, might have been to
the last degree dangerous. IF ecccnt-icity
ard a med;caE certificate arc all that IS re-
qui1ed to deprive man Ct his liberty and
shut him up in a mad house, what becomes
Of the boasted liberty Of this eccentric and
doctor-ridden British people p
Figs rs: Digs What cog lives up
On will keep hog" If anybody doubts
the truth of the saying, let him kill his use
less dog, snl pun G zig it the pen and give
it tie dogs allowance. He will find in a.
for, ,nontlsx.- tIe+ ho Iac.a f5be fat ,nrlvsvl