Responsibility in mental disease / by Henry Maudsley, M.D.

  • Maudsley, Henry, 1835-1918.
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Responsibility in mental disease / by Henry Maudsley, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    ing the party accused did the act complained of with a view, under the influence of insane delusion, of redressing or revenging some supposed grievance or injury, or of producing some public benefit, he is nevertheless punish- able, if he knew at the time of committing such crime that he was acting contrary to the law, by which is meant the law of the land. This answer really conflicts with a former answer; it is obvious that the knowledge of right and wrong is different from the knowledge of an act being contrary to the law of the land; and it is certain that an insane person may do an act which he knows to be contrary to law. because, by reason of his insanity, he believes it to be right, because, under the influence of insane delusion, he is a law unto himself, and deems it a duty to do it, perhaps with a view of producing some public benefit. The uprightness of English judges has happily been seldom called in question, but it may well be doubted whether the result of their solemn deliberations, as embodied in their answers to the questions put to them by the House of Lords, will commend their wisdom to the approbation of foreign nations and future ages. If it be true, as is sometimes said, that the verdict of foreign nations is an anticipation of the verdict of posterity, there are already sufficiently strong indications that their con- clusions will be no honour to them in times to come. That they are unanimously condemned by all physicians who have a practical knowledge of the insane, may not affect the confidence of those who accept them, seeing that judges and physicians take such different stand-