John Haslam

“ Death, from which, as other human beings, she now shrunk with horror, was then the most desirable of all events.—Respecting the child, she observed her mind was as suddenly seized with the conviction that she had destroyed it, as a person is attacked with the shivering fit of an ague, and feels the sensation of cold in the hottest day of summer. ”

“ Something of affecting interest may be excited by the weaknesses and wanderings of Maria, but Cervantes has exhibited the happiest and most correct picture of systematic insanity; although the vehicle of chivalry in which it is conveyed, has, to our own countrymen, blunted its interest as a physiological portrait of madness:—his sallies have provoked mirth, and so keen is the relish for the ridiculous, that in the luxury of laughter, the reader has forgotten the tribute of commiseration. ”

“ If therefore, there be the same Belief in delusion as in reality—if the maniac be persuaded that his vision has brought him into the presence of the Almighty, or that the fancied voice is the divine command, he becomes the subject of pity and protection, but not of punishment. If he be acknowledged insane upon many subjects, and kills another, should he be supposed of sound mind on account of having committed such outrage? ”

“ On a more attentive consideration, there appears to be something latent and perhaps mischievous, in the terms Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, as applied to cases of [20] insanity. If an insane person be responsible for his conduct, I know of no law which sanctions his confinement. If he can discriminate between Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, on what pretence is he to be deprived of his liberty? Is it humane to suppose him in his senses when he becomes most outrageous? ”

“ He is not to palm on the court the trash of medical hypothesis as the apology for crime; neither should the lunatic receive his cure at the gallows by the infirmity of his evidence—but above all his opinion should be so thoroughly understood by himself ”

“ The important duty which the medical practitioner has to perform, when he delivers his testimony before a court of justice, should be clearly defined, conscientiously felt, and thoroughly understood,—his opinion ought to be conveyed in a perspicuous manner; he should be solemnly impressed that he speaks upon oath, the most sacred pledge before God [4] between man and man—and that the life of a human being depends on the clearness and truth of his deposition. ”

“ As Insanity is a disease, by the unanimous concurrence of physicians, most certainly to be remedied at the commencement of its attack: it ought to be a leading object with those who possess the power to legislate, to afford every facility to the medical attendant, that he may have an early access to the treatment of this malady, for the restoration of the patient, and for the security of the public. ”

“ Ought he to be punished when he is most to be pitied? If it be supposed that the terror of example will prevent the sallies of the maniac, it is a lamentable mistake. His belief in the Good of his principle, his faith in the Right of his actions, are superior to arguments,—his motive cannot be controlled by reason, nor baffled by the fear of punishment. Impressed with a belief in the truth of his delusion, he hurries forward to its accomplishment: and in the [21] pursuit of the phantom cannot be diverted by the most awful consequences. ”

“ When a medical person is employed concerning any one to whom insanity is imputed, his principal enquiry is concerning his insanity: it is not his object to ascertain how much reason he possesses, but how far, and on what topics he is insane. And having gauged his insanity he has performed his duty. If it should be presumed that any medical practitioner is able to penetrate into the recesses of a lunatic’s mind, at the moment he committed an outrage ”

“ There is a degree of intellect, although mean, when compared with superior minds, which will enable a human being to take charge of himself, and transact his affairs; and there is also an inferior degree, which incapacitates him from the performance of those offices: and patient examinations at repeated interviews will enable the observer to ascertain his competency, and to afford a satisfactory evidence of the state of his mind: for the mind of every man may be gauged, both as to its acquirements and capacity. ”

“ During the course of my experience I have witnessed only two attempts of such imposture, and in both instances the deception was so clumsily executed, that it required but little knowledge of the disorder to detect it. To sustain the character of a paroxysm of active insanity would require a continuity of exertion beyond the power of a sane person;—they do not keep up the deception when they suppose themselves alone and unwatched;—the assumed malady then disappears, and the imposture is re-commenced when they are in the society of others. They are likewise unable to prevent sleep. ”

“ Although there is much fairness and impartiality in the examination of the patient by the commissioners and jury to ascertain by actual enquiry that his state of mind tallies with the evidence deposed: yet it sometimes occurs, that the patient, fully aware of the proceedings, will by subtilty endeavour to defeat them. He will artfully conceal his real opinions and even affect to renounce such as have been deemed proofs of his insanity, and on many occasions he has been so skilfully tutored as to foil the united penetration of lawyer and physician. ”

“ It alone interests me to describe the phœnomena of mind—to compare the performance of its offices in a sound and morbid state—and to measure by the accredited standard of common sense and intelligible reasoning, the degree of imbecility, inability, or incapacity, which disqualifies an individual to conduct himself and manage his affairs.
The necessity of legal interference and protection in cases of insanity, having been [91] sufficiently adverted to; it now remains to shew that a person from imbecility of mind may be equally incompetent to the management of himself and affairs. ”

“ To impress ordinary persons with the existence of insanity, some prominent and strongly marked features are absolutely required; as the popular feeling and intelligence concerning madness is the result of those glaring exhibitions, those caricatures of disease which the stage represents or romances propagate. Of methodical madness, of systematic perversion of intellect, the [12] multitude can form no adequate conception, and cannot be persuaded that insanity exists without turbulent expression, extravagant gesture, or phantastic decoration. ”

“ It is of frequent occurrence, that persons labouring under insanity, although of exemplary lives and unblemished character, shall believe themselves guilty of the most atrocious crimes;—reputation, the dearest possession of the sound mind is sacrificed without a regret [40] by the despairing lunatic;—he accuses himself of cowardice, of fraud, of secret murder, or of a turpitude at which man revolts:—and others blessed with opulence, and enjoying those comforts which render life desirable, become apprehensive of terminating their existence in the work-house. ”

“ It is presumed, that no person, actually under a commission of lunacy, could legally dispose of his property by will, because such instrument confides the management of his affairs to others. But in the judgment before cited, and where the law is expounded by the highest and most competent authority, it appears, that the legal definition of a lunatic, implies a person interchangeably visited by insanity and reason. ”

“ On the practitioner of my own profession I have ventured to impress the importance and moral obligation of his evidence before the tribunal of justice, and to enforce, that the value of medical opinion becomes enhanced by perspicuity of conveyance, and derives authority from the exposure of its foundations. It has likewise been my object, to direct his attention to those leading points which usually constitute the subjects of his deposition, or are presented for his solution during the course of legal examination. ”

“ Whatever may be the subject of discourse, and however rationally he may appear to treat it, the experienced practitioner will expect, and he will not often be disappointed, to find that by some unaccountable association, even ordinary topics are linked with his darling delusion,—the map of his mind will point out that the smallest rivulet flows into the great stream of his derangement. ”

“ It is not necessary to enter on an investigation, or to enumerate all the particular states of mind which may be comprehended under the terms Insanity, Madness or Lunacy, but it [70] is a subject of grave and important enquiry to ascertain what degree of mental derangement, or imbecility ought to disqualify an individual from being the master of his person and property. It has sometimes occurred that persons evidently under mental derangement have for months continued to transact their affairs with prudence, and have conducted themselves quietly in society. ”

“ All the cases decide that mere imbecility will not do; that an inability to manage a man’s affairs will not do, unless that inability and that incapacity to manage his affairs amount to evidence that he is of unsound mind; and he must be found to be so. Now there is a great difference between inability to manage a man’s affairs, and imbecility of mind taken [77] as evidence of unsoundness of mind. ”

“ All that we can know of the mind of an individual is from the communication of his ideas in terms or signs which are conventional between us, in order to be intelligible, or from his actions. Thus by discourse, which is imparted to the ear, or by intelligible characters presented to the eye, which convey his thoughts, and by his conduct, we are enabled to estimate the character of his mind. ”

“ The ordinary class of persons, who are usually summoned to act as Jurymen; and who are sufficiently virtuous and intelligent; have in common with the mass of mankind formed their opinions of that state of mind which is denominated madness, and it should be observed that such opinions are not very easily removed or altered. It will be a curious and instructive enquiry, to investigate the circumstances which have, in all probability, contributed to fix their [9] notions on the subject of insanity. ”

“ I conversed sometimes with my physician and my wife of the phantasms which at the moment surrounded me; they appeared more frequently walking than at rest, nor were they constantly present. They frequently did not appear for some time, but always reappeared for a longer or a shorter period either singly or in company, the latter however being most frequently the case. I generally saw human forms of both sexes, but they usually appeared not to take the smallest notice of each other, moving as in a market place, where all are eager to press through the crowd ”

“ Respecting the quantum of reason which the lunatic possesses, the physician may safely conclude, where he betrays no derangement, that on such topics he is of sound mind; and the fact is firmly established, that those who are insane on particular subjects, will reason correctly on ordinary and trivial points; provided they do not become associated with the prevailing notions which constitute their insanity. ”

“ The motive for the injury inflicted has generally been virtuous and honorable in the deluded imagination of the maniac. It is true that on most occasions there has been the utmost subtilty of contrivance and deliberate execution of the projected mischief, whether it has been directed against others, or exerted for their own destruction. The execution of the project so far from being unwise, has usually deceived and astonished the wisest; but the principle, the firm belief, the motive to action, has been the “stuff which dreams are made of.” ”

“ Sometimes the desire of death is so ardent, that they will perpetrate any crime in order to be arraigned and condemned at the bar of justice. Of this extraordinary perversion I shall take the liberty to relate a very striking instance. ”

“ It is sufficient for the medical practitioner to know [14] that his mind is deranged, and that such state of insanity will be sufficient to account for the irregularity of his actions; and that in a sound mind, the same conduct would be deemed criminal. If violence be inflicted by such person during a paroxysm of rage, there is no acuteness of metaphysical investigation which can trace the succession of his thoughts, and the impulses by which he is goaded for the accomplishment of his purpose. ”

“ It is likewise well known, that even ideots, who are ordinarily tranquil, and apparently harmless, will occasionally burst into paroxysms of fury, and deal indiscriminate destruction to those around them, frequently without the slightest cause, and certainly without pre-meditation:—and whose inferior scale of intellect does not enable them to give a reason for their actions. These states have been mentioned that they may be recognized by the medical practitioner, and become known to the advocate, in order that he may apply them to the existing law. ”

“ To state that certain acquirements were to be attained as the proof of competency, would be an imperfect criterion. Much might be acquired memoriter, which the learner would not understand: a very feeble intellect, insufficient for the purposes of human affairs, might be trained to answer correctly a string of known questions, without being able to comprehend or adapt them to any useful purposes. It should likewise be considered that the different departments of employment require very different degrees of mental capacity. ”

“ A very different opinion has however prevailed; and it has been conceived that the terror of example would deter lunatics from following the dictates of their distempered minds: and many worthy and pious persons who have been the stanch fautors of the dignity of our species, have maintained, that the Deity never so far abandons the being fashioned in his own likeness, and to whom he has imparted a ray of his intellectual light, as to deprive him of the power of discriminating between right and wrong. ”