friendship: yet there is another feature which his disorder assumes, and which always secures the commiseration of mankind. It more frequently occurs in the deranged state of these pitiable persons that they seek to revenge on themselves the supposed crimes they have committed. In our own country, there are more lunatics who destroy themselves, than attempt the lives of others; and in these cases the Coroner’s jury has always agreed on a merciful interpretation. Indeed there are but few instances of the impotent folly of degrading the carcass, excepting where self-destruction has anticipated the rigour of the law.
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
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. 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.
A woman about 36 years of age, who had been well educated, but whose conduct had not been exempt from some irregularities, in consequence of intemperance and manifold disappointments, became affected with madness. She was by turns furious and melancholic, and conceived she had murdered one of her children, for which she ought to suffer death. She
detailed the manner in which she had destroyed the child and the motives which actuated her, so circumstantially, and with so much plausibility and feeling, that if I had not known her child to be living I might have been deceived. By her own hands she had repeatedly endeavoured to terminate her existence, but was prevented by constant vigilance and due restraint. Her disposition to suicide was afterwards relinquished; but she still persisted that for the murder of the child she ought to suffer death, and requested to be sent to Newgate, in order to be tried, and undergo the sentence of the law:—indeed she appeared to derive consolation from the hope of becoming a public example, and expiating her supposed crime on the scaffold. While in this state, and with a hope of convincing her of its safety, the child was brought to visit her. When she beheld it there was a temporary burst of maternal affection; she kissed it, and
for a few moments appeared to be delighted:—but a look of suspicion quickly succeeded, and this was shortly followed by a frown of indignation, which rendered the removal of the child a measure of wholesome necessity. Perhaps, in no instance, was the buoyancy of madness more conspicuous over reason, recollection, and feeling. She insisted they had attempted to impose on her a strange child, which bore a faint resemblance to her own; however, by such subterfuges she was not to be deceived; she had strangled the child until life had totally departed, and it was not in the order of nature that it should exist again. The effect of this interview was an exasperation of her disorder,—she became more cunning and malignant, and her desire for an ignominious death was augmented. To render this more certain, and accelerate her projected happiness, she enticed into her apartment a young female patient, to whom she appeared to be
attached, and having previously platted some threads of her bed-quilt into a cord, she fixed it round the neck of the young woman and proceeded to strangle her. Fortunately some person entered the room, and unloosed the cord in time to save her. When this unhappy maniac was questioned concerning the motive which induced her to attempt the destruction of a person for whom she had manifested kindness; she very calmly replied, that as the murder of her own child was disbelieved, she wished to exhibit a convincing proof of the ferocity of her nature, that she might instantly be conveyed to Newgate, and hanged, which she desired as the greatest blessing. With considerable satisfaction I may add, that in a few months, notwithstanding her derangement had been of three years duration, this woman perfectly recovered, and for a considerable time has performed the duties of an important and respectable office.
Influenced by curiosity, and a wish for the advancement of professional knowledge, I have always been induced to scrutinize as deeply as possible into the feelings of lunatics who have perfectly recovered; I therefore wished to be informed from this patient in her sane state, what were her feelings and opinions concerning her former condition. She recollected most of the circumstances which had transpired during her illness, but she was unable adequately to comprehend, or to give any account of her disorder—it seemed to her like a wearisome and protracted dream, but more distinct and connected—she almost doubted with her present feelings if she could be the same person, to have entertained opinions and resentments so different from her natural character. When questioned concerning her attempt to strangle the young woman, she rejoiced that no fatal consequences had ensued, yet she seemed to attach but little
responsibility to any thing she might have committed in that frame of mind. 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. On enquiring if these former impressions often recurred to her mind; she replied in the negative;—that although she could accurately recollect them when questioned, yet they now seemed removed to a vast distance from the natural range of her thoughts:—and that she found herself pleasantly occupied in contriving plans for the welfare and happiness of her future life.