The Sun. — 1842-02-21 (London, England)

COMMISSION OF' LUN AC Y.-SIN. GU LAR CASE. On Saturday a CornWission of Lunacy wa; opened before Mr. Commissioner Blunt, at the Greyhound Inn, Grange. road, Old Kent-road, to imrire as to the soundness of mind of Jacob Emmett, aged 51, the only surviving son of the late Mr. Thomas Emmett, the well-known extensive cow-keeper and market-gardener, who resided on the farm near the Green Man Inn, Old Kent-road, Mos it one period of his life es a proof, on one was possessed of immense wealth, and, . occasion he, for a wager, produced a half-a;-'bushel measure LO filled with guineas. At his death the property the two brothers of the unfortunate subject of thi: i.nequiry; but in the year 1836 a fire consumed the whole of ti.' rot:, stock, and other property, to the amount of several t sands of pounds, which was uninsuree. This circumatat. so affected their minds as to induce them to neglect the bus, c..e ness. Everything went to decay, and in the following year they were declared bankrupts. Before, however, the affairs could be wound up, Jacob Emmett was left without a pro-, tector, in consequence •f the death of both leis brothers (the bankrupts), which occurred in the year 1836, within a few months of each other. Ilia father had left an annuity of 601. a-year to take care of him ;in addition to which there will be, it is expected, a handsome surplus arising from the procerty after the creditors have been fully satisfied, eighteen shillings in the pound having already been paid. In order to protect ibis property and provide for the care of the lunatic, the commission was issued. The Jury was composed of fourteen freeholders of the county of Surrey ; amongst whom were T. Puckle, Esq., the foreman; eight other Magistrates; Mr. John Brown and Mr. Henry England, of the Old Kent-road ; and Mr. W. J• Pierce, of the Grange. road. William Humphreys, solicitor to the Commission, had ext. mined Mr. Jacob Emmett on several occasioi;s, between the early part of 1837 and.the present time. He wasable to read the Bible, in which he appeared to take delight, anj he also attended divine service ; but he seemed incapable of coi.'W"' hending anything about religion. He could not cast figures in any way; he could not count fifty, or tell whether it was mom or less than sixty. lie knew the several coins by name, but was totally ignorant of their value; for instance, he would say there were three sixpences in four shillings, and fourteen shillings in a sovereign ; and, as regards time, though he said his own age was 51, he would, when speaking of persons whom he knew, say that he had been acquaintcdvvith them 60 or 70 years. Charlotte Gigg, of Prospect-place, Old Kent-road, stated that she was cousin to Jacob Emmett, who was now living with her, and had done so for years ; he had been in the same state of mind ever since she could recollect. He was perfectly harmless, but he was ignorant of the value of money, or how to lay it out properly. Whenever he went to buv anything he could only recollect one article at a time, and did not know when the proper change was given to him. He was no doubt of unsound mind, and incapable of taking care of himself or his property. Several witnesses gave similar testimony. The Learned COMMISSIONER summed up, and the Jury, without hesitation, found "That Jacob Emmett was of unsound mind, and incapable of taking care of himself and his properfYs and had been so since the Ist of August, 1837."  A barliarons murder was committed, on the Ist inst., in the district of Olaliccia (Corsica), by an uncle on the on pac. er. son of his nephew, against whom he entertained a grudge count of a disputed inheritance. lie laid in wait for his victim, and shot him in broad daylight with a double-barrelled gun, caus. ing his instantaneous death. The murderer then made his escape to the forest, and has not yet been apprehended. dEsq.to, atthceoaltaet,eChFisreeldninh,