New-York tribune., 1867-05-17
had for notes given for che purchase Of slaves
a doctrine unnecessary except in benightOd
A STFANGE WILL CASE.

the year 1856, was the widow or prosperous
tea merchant Of London, and the fortunate pos
SCISSOR of about G4OO000 She had, at the time
of her death, sister, Mrs. Tebbitt, and several
nephews and nieces. To them. as well as to
almost everybody, it would appear, with whom
she had ever come into contact, she left small
legacies The bulk of her property she bequeath-
ed to Mr John Sims Smith, medical
gentleman who had once brought her
through a dangerous sickness, and to his
brother. Mr.. Samuel Smith, who had been for
several years the manager of her property.
The probate of the will, offered by these two
gentlemen, was resisted by the heirs at law,
on the grounds that the instrument had been
procured by undue influence, and that the de-
ceased was not of sound disposing mind. AT
our last reports, the London Court OF Probate
had the case still under advisement
On the point of undue influence, no testimony
thus far seems to have been elected which
ought to shake the validity of the document Ill
dispute; but of the insanity OF the testatrlx
there can hardly be any rational doubt. 1t Is
true that great many witnesses-several OIL
them, to be sure, legatces under the will-bore
testimony to the worthy widows shrewdness III
money matters and sharp, busness-like habits.
Mr.. Edward Smith, son of the medical gentle
man aforementioned, thought he had never
known a saner woman; but then she had
given him 10000. A surgeon gave favor
able opinion of her strength OF mind, ana
her eminent ability az a whist-player. But
there were some awkward facts to set OIL
against these opinions. In the first place, Mrs.
Thwaites believed herself to be the Holy Ghost.
Mr.. John Sims Smith, she said, was God the
Father Her ideas as to the Trinity, however,
were rather foggy, for she had faith, also, IN an
invisible Creator; and when her husband died
she refused to put on mourning for him because
he was the devil. She was seven degrees
above God, who could do nothing without
her: and if she died, chaos would
come again. Fortunately, however, she
was immortal. She furnished apartments IN
her house in Hyde Park Gardens at an ex-
pense of G25,0O0, expecting TO be delivered
there of the Savior of the world. In few
wears she was to come into possession OF
Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
When she hemmed busters, as she did some
times in a state of temporary blindness, God
put the needle in at one side of the cloth and
the devil drew it out at the other. " have
power" said she one day, cover the whole OF
creation Ii was through me the cholera came.
"My Father said to me, My dear, turn on the
" 'srrcw.' and the cholera came After that he
said, Turn it off, and then it disappeared"
Her husband she had drawn through the moon
by his own gross electricity, and through the
darl, volcanoes of the earth, and he now
reicnrd King of the Devil. If she was per
plcxcd how 10 act, she used TO speak to God
about the matter. and he would say, MY
dear. do so and SO, and | will see you
Through"
Taking these astounding hallrcinations IN
connection with the fact that she cherished
animosity toward most of her relations, we can
not easily believe that with all her shrewdness,
and business habits, and cleyernesS at whist
she was very fit person to dispose OF the
large sum of money which she inherited from
her husband. the King of the Devil" Inc
counsel for the proponents seem TO have rehed
chiefly on the argument that alterations upon
certain particular points or rs one OF
tho advocates mildly expressed 1t, Ger
tain mystical and peculiar views ot re-
ligion.n were in no manner inconsistent
with general soundncSS of mind so that Mrs.
Thwaites, in spite Of her enthusiastic senti-
montS. was quite rs capable OF making VIII
"A John Bnyan. or Swedcnborg, or DIR. Cum
ming. We venture little in predicting that few
persons will agree with this opinion. We
have no doubt that the popular verdict has
awarded the right to this crazy old ladys
money. not to the two gentlemen to whom she
willed il, but to her legal representatives. The
decision of the court however i'll view OF recent
case in Philadelphia. will be awaited with some
interest. If Mrs. Thwaitcs who turned on
" the screw" to produce cholera, was not sane
enough to make will, it is not easy to un-
derstand how George w. WinnemOre. who was
driven hither and thithcr by the influence of
an Indian spirit can he sane enough to be
hanged for murder. The science of medical
Jurisprudence, aud, indeed we may say
in general. the phenomena of mental pa
thoogy, still offer rich fields of investigation
The lax practices of most modern courts,
both criminal and probate, require thorough
and scientific correction. However the Ihwaites
case may turn out, it is well known that'the
prevailing tendency of the tribunals is to re-
strict testators power of giving away his
own property when there is reasonable
cause for suspecting his mental capacity while
the quick verdict in the WinnemOre case, and
in some others that we could name, looks as II
Judges and iurieS were getting more and more
inclined toward an opposite construction OF the
principles of responsibility when lives instead
of dollars depend upon their verdict. 1t is a
moor rule that will not work both ways.