Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1872-04-10
Insurance Trial.

seli. The agent Of The Company wen
immediately 10 the residence Of the Wid
ow and bought Up the policy by Civ
ing her the amount Of the premium
paid. An action 70 recover the amour.
OF the policy was afterwards brought. anJ
a trial was had at the last term Of the U.
s Circuit Court. before Judge Smallcy.
D We give below his Honor's charge to the
2 jury as reported for the Free Pres:
! LIST. As to the meaning Of the except.
ing clause in the policy, 4" it he shall die
by his own hand" Did Mr.. Green take
: his own lifc-if he did take it-under.
standingly, Intentionally? Was he fully
conscious at the ume Ofthe commission of
the deed Of the consequences of its CON-
mission! The weight Of testimony ap-
pears to show that Mr.. Green drowned
himself, although the burden of proof
on that point is for the defence. yet il is a
matter Of very little consequence either
way. You must consider the evidence
fairly and come to your " conclusions.
The important question for you to de-.
eide is, the mental, and therefore rcspon-
si6le, condition of Mr.. Green on the mora.
ing of his death and this brings to the
definition of insanity, a most difficult def.
milton to give. The best one that | know
Of is that it is a disease of the brain by
which the freedom of the will is impaired.
The Circuit Judge of this United
States Circuit, has laid down the rule 10
such eases as the present, which [ shall
give you as the rule of this Court. 1t is
this:
If Jacob Green. at the time he was
drowned, was conscious of the act he was
committing, intended to take his own life.
and was capable of understanding the ma
ture and consequence of his act, defend
ants are not liable if the act was thus !
committed, it is immaterial whether he
was capable of understanding its moral =
or of distinguishing between right :
and wrong.
If, on the other hand, he was not con- \
and had no such capacity, but =
under an insane dclusion ov%erpower. ,
ng his understanding and will, or was i'm. +
'elled by an uncomfortable impulse, which II
either understanding nor will could resist, m
defendants are liable, and FOUR yer. n
net must be for the plaintiff. 6,
Now. applying the evidence in this G
ase to the test of the rule, and your con- q,
lnSlons will, perhaps, be more readily K,
btainej. .
We learn from this evidence that in. NJ
unity was hereditary in the family of 20
Ir. Green, on the male side that his il.
4ther was out Of his mind some time pre-. No
ous to his disease that Mr.. Green was III
for several weeks before his q,
cath, that at times he became greatly de- an
'essed' complained of a loss of appetite al
I'd of severe headache; that on the W
before he died he expressed a M
SD frequently to see Mr.. Rodney Roby, ca.
some matters which he desired to talk an
err with him that finally when Mrs. III,
zen got Mr.. Roby to call and see her III,
sband, there was nothing in particular m,
he wished to ask him about; that on the
following day, when Mr.. Roby called tina
Mr.. Green's shop to inquire about his cit
alth, he was so convinced by his actions
d words during the interview, that his ref
was in a critical condition, that he beo
called in DR.. Carpenter, who, at can
conclusion Of his visit told Mr.. Green for,
t he must stop his work immediately ma
60 home and rest, to which Mr.. Green hi,
lied that he could uot-he had so much two
10. The Doctor then said he must. or tho
be obliged to. Mr.. Green at did,
perceiving the doc tors meaning, said: do
% you mean to say that | am going to ton,
ia,
lis Honor then briefly described the tho
of Mr.. Greene at his home that owe,
1t; spoke OF his frequent prayers that to St
would not suffer him to lose his ton
on, &C., and asked whether all these ahor
not indications of insanity. He then
rred to the worry and anxiety of Mr..
en- in regard to his policy ofinsurance Kell
1t was larger than he could carry, Islar
wished to have the premium paid hush
and give up the policy. Iron
r. Greene lett home early the next dam,
ing to see about sending a corpse to d. NJ,
He was shortly after seen at comr
roA' MS remains we're dis explC
red IN the Lake near by. Now remem-
g all these facts, it is for the jury
zen was conscious feiter
e act when he threw himself into the aa.oo
and that he was doing SO intention tho i.
and understandingly. / ESQ, the defen. vosto
) are not liable. Ii, on the other
f, you are of the opinion that he acted
r an insane daluo;o,