Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-03-19
e1nalarsat tvm 1Irstpaps:


viousiy explained to me that he was
In the power of the Court of Chan
cery, and that until we succeeded in
setting aside the proceedings of the
Lunacy Commission, there was 81 :
rious necessity for keeping the mar
riage strictly secret. Ny husband
and i kissed and bade goodbye till
tomorrow, as the clock struck the
hour. l little thought, while | look
| ed after him from tie street door,
that menths and months were to
pass before I saw Roland again.
A hurried note from my husband
reached me the next morning. Our
marriage had been discovered-we
could never tell by whom-and we
had been betrayed to the doctor.
Roland was then on his way back to
the asylum. ai He had been warned
thatfs rec would be used if he resist
ed. Knowing that resistance would
be interpreted in his case, as new
outbreak of Madness. he had wisely
submitted. .-ytl
l have made the sacrifice, the 1T
ter concluded, it is now for you to
help me, Attack the Commission in
Lunacy-and be quick abont it.
We lost no time in preparing for
the attack. On the day when I re-
celved the news of our misfortune,
we left Eastbourn for London, and
at once took measures to obtain the
best legal advice. % -.a. =. :. -.
My dear father-though / was far
from deserving his Endness-enterr
! ed into the matter heart and soul. In
due course of time we presented a
petition to the Lord Chancellor
praying that the decision of the LuI
macy Commission might be set aside.
We supported Tour petition by
quoting the evidence of Roland s
friends and neighbors, during his
three years z residence in the Lake
country as a free man. These wor-
thy, people-being summoned before
the 1unacy Commission-had one
and all agreed that he was, TO their
Judgment and experience, perfectly
quiet, harmless and sane.
Many of them had gone out shoot
ing with him. Others had often ac-
feompanied him m sailing excursions
on the lake. Do people trust a mad
man with a gun, and with the man
agement of aboat? As to the Hact
Of violence, (which the heirs at law
and the nextnrof KIN had made the
means of imprisonlng Roland in the
madhouse, it amounted TO this: Q
He had lost his temper, and had
knocked q man down Twho had Of
Tended him. d Very wrong, no doubt
but if that is a proof of madness,
what thousands of lunatics are still
at IargeI Another instance produe-
ed to prove his insanity was still
more absurd. It was solemnlY de-
cclared that be had put an image of
the Virgin Mary in his boatawhen he
went otltfon his sailing excursions! |
have seen the imag ge-it was beau
tiful work of art. Was Roland mad
to admire it and take it with himP
His religions conJictions leaned to-
wards Catholicism. fihebetrayed
insanity in adorninghis boat with an
image of the Virgin Mary, what is
the mental condition of most of
the ladies in Christendom, who wear
the cross as an ornament around
their necks? We advanced these ar
guments In. our petition after quot
ing the evidence Of the witnesses.
And more than this, we evenowent
the length of admitting, as an act Of
respect to the Court, that my poor
husband might be eccentric in some
Of his opinions and habits, But we
put it to the authorities whether
better results mightnot be expected
from placing him under the care of
a wife who loved him, and whom he
loved, than from shnttlng him up in
an asylum among incurable madmen
as his companions for life. -. y.
Such was our petition, SO far as I
am able to describe. "
The decision rested with the Lord
Justices. f n They decided against us.
Turning a deaf ear to our witness.
es and our arguments, these merci-
less lawyers 8 declared that the doc
tors individual assertion Of my hus-
bands insanity was enough for them.
They considered Roland's comfort
toibe sufficiently provided for in the
asylum, with an allowance of 9F0o
a year, and, to the asylum they con-
signed him for the rest of his days.
. So far as,I was concerned, there
suit of this Infamous Judgment was
to deprive me7ef the position of Ro-
lands wife; noo ilunaticl being capa-
BILE of contracting msrriageiin law.
So far as my husband was concern
ed the; result may be best stated in
the language of a popular newspa-.
per which published an article on the
case stIt is possible, /" said the arti-
cleAI wish 1 could personally thank
the man who wrote tAA''for the
Court Of Chancery to take a man
who has a large fortune, and is in
the prime of life, but is little
touched in the head, and make
monk of him, and l9then report to it
self thatsthe comfort and happiness
of the lunatic have been effectuallvi
provided for at an expenditure of
lffOs a year." -..s ..aF- h..
Roland was determined, however,
that they should not make a monk
of him, and you may rely uponit, So
was l aga Il s.aa.z 20 ....s.aE q.
But one alternative was left us.
The authority of the Court of Chan
ceryAwithi1 its Jurisdiction the
most despotic authority on the face
of the earth. Ell Our one hope was in
taking to flight. The price of our
liberty as citizens of England, was
exile from our native country, and
the entire abandonment of Roland's
fortune. We accepted those hard
conditions. . Hospitable America Of
fered us a refuge, beyond tie reach
of mad.doctors and Lords Justices. 4
To hospitablea America our hearts
turned as to our second country; the 4
serious question was, how were we to
get there? 10 ssp u; 7al -ts bslil
4 la o&@nvoYkaI 70 o0r,aovoo o,,1 i