A letter to Sir Henry Halford, Bart., K.C.H., President of the Royal College of Physicians, &c. &c. &c. touching some points of the evidence, and observations of counsel, on a commission of lunacy on Mr. Edward Davies / by G. Man Burrows.

  • Burrows, George Man, 1771-1846.
Date:
1830
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to Sir Henry Halford, Bart., K.C.H., President of the Royal College of Physicians, &c. &c. &c. touching some points of the evidence, and observations of counsel, on a commission of lunacy on Mr. Edward Davies / by G. Man Burrows. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    the contrary, I maintain that I have not, in any instance, departed from the line which the strictest principles justify. No blame can attach respecting the medical treatment of him ; for, in truth, there was no opportunity of exercising any. During the month which Mr. Lawrence and I attended him, previous to the 4th of August, when he was taken to Crouch Hill, he was never under the least control. His mother would not permit it. Consequently, he adopted or rejected our pre- scriptions as he pleased. Between the 4th of August and the 26th of December, when the jury pronounced him of sound mind, no prudent physician, under such conflicting circumstances, would have ventured to be responsible for the medical charge of him. Whether I was right or wrong in my judgment of Mr. Davies' state of mind, is not here the question. Those most competent to judge coincided with me. None, however, who supported the same opinion need vindication. The event has fully falsified the verdict. It appears that Mr. Davies has never since that verdict was pronounced evinced a sound mind, nor been capable of managing himself and his affairs. And, as the climax of this extraordinary case, he now acknowledges that he was, and still is, insane, and justifies those who have affirmed it; and has voluntarily placed himself under the care of two of the physicians who, on the inquiry, gave the strongest testimony of his existing insanity ! May this result teach those inexperienced in the subtleties of intellectual disorders to be less confident in their judgment! 'May it prove both an example and a warning to future juries on commissions of lunacy! Finally, may it originate some measure to protect British jurisprudence from a similar reproach ! I think, Sir, I must have satisfied the most sceptical, that, from some cause or other, a hostile party feeling in Mr. Davies' case has been particularly pointed against me. Still, there are other, and more striking, proofs of it to be adduced. In the report of Mr. Brougham's speech in The Times