The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-19
A FAMOUS CRIMINAL: AND
A o III

criminal asylum. in which so many insane
mrrderers arc immured during the pleasure
of the crown. and / do not remember 10
have read any very vivid description OF II.
and vet know IL somewhat intimately. L
am not going TO use real names IN the
course OF this narrative. because some
members Of the family most deeply inter
ested I'm the tragedy IL records are stii
alive. and It would be causelessly cruel to
fix anew upon them a stigma which has
long since faded out OF the memory or the
world.
What I know about Broadmoor ] know
chiefly from one who had himself been an
inmate there-a medical man whom 1 VIII
cali Layland. He firmly believed himself
TO have been a member OF the medical stan
Of the asylum, and I knew him of and on
for a year or two. without being In the
least degree inclined to doubt his W de-
scription OF himself. He was a man VINO
gave one the impression OF being prema-
turely aged. At first sight he looked as IL
he had reached the Psalmists limit OF
three-score years and ten. but, as one got
10 know him better. signs OF youth cropped
out here and there, and when be warmed
into companionship. and opened his mine
for the reception OF new thoughts, and the
very eloquent and scholarly presentation OF
old ones, he looked not a day beyond his
real age, which was not more than hve and
forty. We first met in a town on the Med
~iterranean %littoral, in a large cafe into
which I dropped occasionally for a bout at
chess or a game of billiards. I owed my
Introduction to him to a Belgian doctor,
whose acquaintance / had made over the
chess-board, a man now dead this ten years
but always 10 be remembered by me Tor the
curious combination he presented Of pro-
found learning. shrewd knowledge OF men
and an almost childlike simplicity OF char
acter. LayIand and the Belgian were old
friends. They had studied together in the
school of the Hotel Dieu. and they had cor
responded for years. Each was compelled
TO spend four or five months of the year In
the mild air OF the south. and they had met
and renewed their friendships after an in
terregnum of silence which had extended
over nine or ten years.
/ made the acquaintance of the Belgian
doctor very near the close of one season,
Just as the approach of the summer heats
was driving the cloud Of annual visitors
away. We met again In the autumn, and
II was then he introduced me to L1yland.
j met the latter almost nightly for two
whole seasons. before 1 had the faintest
suspicion Of the dreadful truth about him.
He was every where accompanied by a
brother. a man five years younger than
himself. I never noticed that there was
any particular affection between them, and
i did, indeed, remark that when the two
were by themselves, they sat mumchance.
though each would brighten up and talk
vividly enough with any third person whom
he knew. But the brothers, though they
seemed to find little interest in each others
society, were inseparable. 1 began to have
an idea that the younger watched the elder.
He would leave him willingly enough in
the charge of his old Belgian confrere
whilst he himself engaged I'm a game of
billiards at one of the near tables. and, as
time went on. he appeared to be willing to
leave him in my society. L was about to
say that he appeared to trust him with us,
or us with him. but that would express too
strongly what I desire to say. 1 saw no
reason why Layland should be taken care
of. He seemed in all respects competent to
look after himself. clear in mind. and. de-
spite his white hair and STOPPING shoulders.
vigorous frame. and yet the brothers. So
licitude about him was evident. The solicit
luuC III HOl Give OnC lnt llpItSSlOu VI
being over and above a~ffectionate. 1t was
even at times a little grim, but it was al
ways there.
/ have said that the elder Layland was
a brilliant talker. and so he was when he
had anybody with him who made talk in
any degree discursive: but when he was
left to his own devices he was apt to be-
come something of a bore. He had two
themes only OF his own choice. and IL he
were not actually fenced from them he
would find his way to them as inevitably
as Mr.. Dick found his way to the head OF
Charles the First when he sat down to his
memorial. One OF these themes was Broad
moor. At first he could not fail to be in
teresting to one. who. like myself. has
made something more than a superficial
study of the infinitely varying forms of
mental arrangement, but he told the same
stories. offered the same examples, went
over the same diagnoses over and over
again. until / began to have a half humor-
Gus dread OF his approach to those expert
ences. His other ~favorite theme was one
on which his brother invariably intruded
with impatience. We've heard all that
before. Dick. It's very old pie for both of
cs. Let's try a new dish" And he would
turn the conversation into any other chan
mel he could think Of.
The elder Layland's second theme was
one over which he became excited.
II devoted myself" he told me early in
our acquaintance. Ito the study OF tox-
Zoology and medical Jurisprudence, because
] liked the work. of course. but also be-
cause 1 saw in it a way OF escaping from
the dull and undistinguished routine to
which the average medical man finds him.
self condemned from the time of taking
his diploma to the day of his death. had
the luck to be engaged in a very hard
fought case at the Old Bailey. 1t was
written about in the scientific journals.
The Lancet and the British Medical each
gave me a special article. / have the lead
ing articles I'm the Times, Standard, Tele-
graph. Daily News. Scotsman, and a
dozen others. II was a cause celebre, and
II made me famous. That was luck, of
course. There isn't the ~faintest shadow
o. a doubt about it. I hanged that woman
and I was a specialist from tha time for
ward.
II may have been instrumental, 1 dare
saw. In the condemnation of n dozen neo-