LUNACY versus LIBERTY.
. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
• • • 10, Edgeware Road, ratit September I32.Sin—Being fully persil ailed that a much more bereficent code of laws might be nstituted for the protection of insane. persons I beg leave to lay 'idol e the public the following remarks as a stimulus to sue'll a humane undertaking. By so doing, I wok no popt;larity, assume no sanetity ; but shall, with au unshaken in- tegrity, wbich nothing can alai in or destroy, pursue my object, until some more humane legislative enactments are conceded to those helpless beings. If . it is found requisite to deprive a person of his liberty who is of unsound mind, it is certainly equally right to secure his property for him while under that restraint. The moment posons become incapacitated to manage their affairs, some protector ought to be found immediately to keep them harmless and secure their property.. This is the view I take of the subject—when the person is declared to be of unsound nand, let a common Jury or Inquest decide the question; and let the Loan CHAN-el.:Limit become the common parent, in the same way, but not with that extravagance attending commissions de brat- ico. It is not uncommon (though we know its illegality) to sufflr insane por- ous to sign documents in Private Lunatic Asylums: if such deeds could be proved against any keeper, his licence ought to be cancelled, and he ought never to get another. • You are; Sir, not to .suppose, for a moment, that all persons afflicted are as ucid as I was while under restriction. • An undue advantage may be taken of persons so situated,•and they may sign documents which may cause their ruin. I know a case.of a person who has been confined twenty years in an extensive establishment East of London, and powers of attorney have been regularly signed by him at the mad-house, for the receipt of his dividends at the Bank; but ince the publication of my pamphlet, the proprietor has refused to let it be done on his premises. The consequence has been, that he has left the establishment, and is at home, managed by his sister, without a keeper ; and she takes him to the Bank, and.compels him to sign his name in the books, and she receives the money.. He is very harmless, brit decidedly insane. I have no wish to raise an unnecessary clamour against keepers of lunatic establishments ; but, on the contrary; wish to remove the stigma entailed on them, and to afford sufficient protection to their unfortunate inmates ; to secure, by some salutary code, a reciprocity advantageous to both keepers and patients, and a respectability that keepers do not now possess with the public, and cannot, under existing laws. If laws were passed adequate to the purpose of affording protection to all par- ties Concerned, institutions might be established where the curative process might be carried on to great advantage. It is that hopelessness which; as you justly observe, is written on their very gatesfor, it may be said, to cross their threshold is to pass "that bourne from which FEW travellers return"— which is the reason persons do not voluntarily resign themselves up in the early
stages of the malady. •
I will me ntion another case, showing the absolute necessity of a revision of the laws : I have the information from a gentleman of unquestionable veracity, who was a witness to the whole affair. A gentleman living at Highgate, of large independent property, whose lady was dead, anxious to secure his property among 1iis relatives, made a will, and my informant was a subscribing witness to it. He secured, in the most provident manner possible, a due portion to all those he considered most deserving among them. It seems, a near relation, by some means or other, became acquainted with the contents of the will, and thinking that enough was not left to him, he employed a mad-doctor. On the gentleman's return from the City one day, he finds two 'strangers waiting his appearance ; upon being introduced to them, he very naturally inquires their errand, and they confess they are keepers sent to take care of him. The gentleman was immediately put under restraint, without oath or inquiry, and never had his liberty snore; he is lately dead, but the ether parties are all living. The medical gentleman employed on the °evasion is now in high practice, im- mensely rich, and has at least one hundred patients in private at their own homes, or singly in his cottages, the major part of which are in the same situa- tion. His profits, at a moderate calculation, most be 10,000/.. per annum, and the Commissioners of Lunacy have no control whatever over loin. •
• I consider an inquest on the deprivation of reason fir more requisite than in
cases of sudden death ; the former is a kind of living death, if I may so term it. My limited ambition centres but in one point only, from which no bribe shall swerve me ; and which will afford, eventually, that consolation and peace never attainable by the prowl and avaricious in a conscientious endeavour to amelio- rate the condition of those afflicted Leings. And happy indeed should I be, were I armed with authority, to wander, daring the remainder of my days, from cell to cell, to console and administer comfort to the wounded mind of the un- fortunate maniac,—to indulge him in every species of innocent recreation, and amply supply him with • all the varied gifts of bounteous nature,—flowers of every hue, fruits of every season; and carefully to watch the cheering gladness that would Ulume the vivid eye, so peculiarly perceptible in that lamentable dis- order; and as life's taper wanes silently, from the folly and hypocrisy of the age to-drop into eternal sleep amid those Wings and those endearing reflections.
I am, Sir, most respectfully, your humble servant,
WILLIAM GSIGGS,.
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