The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1870-04-27
,NDT42

s the time of the brutal treatment whic
Q caused the death of the poor wretch
o Dutton, in his simple account, sal,
that Hodgsen first knocked the deceaS
! ed down and kicked him severely, anc
: that Wood then pulled the helpless ol
: map down on his hands and knees
: cheked him, kicked on the chest ane
2 stomach, struck him with his knee
: then jerked his right knee into hi
side. The prisoners could not hav,
5 been found guilty if the evidence o
the insane man, Dutten, had been re
jected, or if the jury had not believed
; in its truthfulness. There was bu
one other eyewitness of the tragedy
J and he also was a lunatic, but too i'm
} beetle even to give his testimony. In
this case the insane witness 1abored un-
der the delusion that he was constant
ly attended by spirit or voice telling
him not to eat nor drink, and bring
ing to HIM happy news about the pre-
sent condition of his father and moth
er, who were dead.
The London correspondent of the
New York WorM speaks of this case
as the only one ever decided by the
evidence of a confessed lunatic. This
is mistake. A case precisely similar
occurred in England, in February,
1851. Moses Barnes and Richard
Donnelly, the deceased and the wit
ness, were both lunatic patients in a
Mr.: Armstrong; asylum at Gambler
well and they were at that time plac-
cd in ward called the Infrmary,
over which single sane attendant
Samuel Hill, the prisoner-had the
charge. AS many as nine patients
slept in this ward; and the prisoner,
Hill, was assisted by three of the pa
tients, of whom the witness, Donnelly,
was. one. Hill, the keeper, killed
Barnes and having been indicted
for manslaughter, he was tried, and
convicted mainly on the evidence of
he lunatic Donnelly, at the Central
Criminal Court. AT the trial, after
Donnnelly had teen called, and be-
fore he had been sworn, he was ex-
amined by the prisoners counsel. He
said, 81 am fully aware that I have
a spirit, and twenty thousand of them.
They are not all mine. I must in
quire; can tell where / am. I know
which are mine. Those ascend from
stomach to my head, and also those
in my ears; I don't know how many
they are. The flesh creates spirits by
the palpitation of the nerves and the
'rheumatics ; all are now in my body
and round my head; they speak to me
ircessantly, particularly at night.
That spirits are immortal 1 am taught
by my religion from my childhood, no
matter how faith goes all live after
my death, those that belong to me and
those which do not Satan lives after
my death, so does the Living God"
Alter more of this kind, he added,
"They speak to me constantly; they
are now speaking to me I; they are not
separate from me; they are round me,
speaking to me now; but l can't be
spirit, tor I am flesh and blood; they
can go IN and out through walls and
places which I cannot. I 60 to the
grave, they live hereafter-unless, in
deed, I've a gift different from my
father and mother that I don't know.
After death my spirit will ascend to
heaven or remain in purgatory. 1
can prove purgatory. l am Roman
Catholic | attended Moorields, Chel-
sea Chapel and many other ,chapels
round London. I believe purgatory /;
I was taught that in my childhood
and infancy. 1 know what it is to
take an oath; my catechism taught
me from my infancy when it is lawful
to swear it is when Gods honor, our
own or our neighbor require it.
When man swears, he doesit in justify
ing his neighbor on prayer-book or |
obligation. My ability evades while
[ am speaking, for the spirit ascends
to my head. When 1 swear appeal
to the Almighty; 1t is perjury, the
breaking lawful oath or taking an
unlawful one; he that does it will go
to hell for all eternity"
He was then sworn, and gave per-
fectly connected and rational account
of transaction which he reported I
himself to have witnessed. He was
in some doubt as to the day of the
week on which it took place and on
said: "These crea-
lures insist upon it that it was Tues
lay night, and think it was Mon
lay :" whereupon he was asked, "Is /
what you have told us, what the
spirits told yon, or what you recollect
without the spirit ?" and he said, mo;
,he spirits assist nae in speaking of the
late; I thought, it was Monday, and
hey told me it was Christmas eve
tuesday; but L was an eyewitness,
IN ocular witness 0ethe fall to the
ground" .- |,
The question as to the propriety of
he admission of Donnelly as a wit
less, having been reserved for the
opinion of the of judges of England in
he following May, after the argument
f the counsel for the prisoner against ,
he admissibility of the evidence had
een heard. Lord Chief.J ustice Camp
ell said, 'sThe question is important,
nd has not yet been solemnly decid-
d, after argument. But have no
oubt that the rule. was properly laid 2
own by Parke, B., in the case which |
,as tried before him, and that it is
or the judge to say whether the insane
ersen has the sense of religion in. his }
hind, and whether he understands the
ature and sanction of an oath and
hen the jury to decide on the credi-
ility and weight of his evidence. As
D the authorities cited the question is,
4 what sense, the term mon compus' !
ras, there used. A man may, in one
ense, be mon compus,' and yet be
ware of the nature and sanction of
n oath.a In the particular case be- l
,,o tho oourt T think that the iudoe