288 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



duty it is, not only not to permit 

 any sane person to be kept in con- 

 finement, but to examine with the 

 utmost care any person having the 

 appearance ot" sanity ? Was the 

 plaintiff restrained from addressing 

 them lest he should be importu- 

 nate ? Sir L. Pepys, attended by 

 a chain of as learned men as ever 

 blessed this country, had several 

 opportunhies of seeing the plaintiff, 

 and offreeinghimif bethought him 

 sane. I therefore place sir L. 

 Pepys at the head of the witnesses 

 for the defendant. The latter con- 

 versations are of no importance, as 

 the learned gentleman gave the 

 lunatic special notice of their in- 

 tention, and his mind was conse- 

 quently prepared: lam, therefore, 

 bound to place sir L. Pepys at the 

 head of my witnesses; for if the 

 plaintiff was sane, it was his duty 

 to have liberated him. The highly 

 respectable gentleman, Mr.Keene, 

 whose manner of giving his evi» 

 dence did him infinite credit, has 

 told you that he had the freest per- 

 sonal interviews'with the plaintiff, 

 and the most unrestrained inter- 

 course by letter ; he has also told 

 you, that he has reason to believe 

 that the plaintiff was confined for 

 the same disease in 1801 ; and I 

 am told that the effects of it were 

 nearly fatal to his wife and to him- 

 self. But my learned friend has 

 been instructed to state, that there 

 were two conspirators against the 

 plaintiff. Mrs. Chawner, who had 

 an illicit intercom se with more 

 than one, as the plaintiff has stated 

 it, finding Mr. Chawner in the 

 way, thinks it convenient that he 

 should be shut up in Mr. Warbur- 

 ton's mad-house. What is the re- 

 sult? Before the end oftheyearMr. 

 Warburton certifies, that the piain- 



tifl' may with safety return, oT 

 hopes he majr with safety return, 

 to the bosom of those of whom he 

 had entertained an unfounded sus- 

 picion. What was Mrs. Chaw- 

 ner to get, by withdrawing 100/. 

 per annum from an income ah-eady 

 too small ? What was she to get 

 by the absence of her husband 

 from the care of his family, and 

 from the duties of his church ? 

 How does she conduct herself on 

 his return home ? She receives 

 him with the greatest affection. 

 The witness, Chamberlain, who 

 appeared anxious to go all lengths, 

 himself said, that he never saw 

 people happier: to use his own ex- 

 pression, " she was a nice gentle- 

 womanly person.'' Anxious to re- 

 lieve her husband from any thing 

 which might renew unpleasant re- 

 collections, she takes upon herself 

 to send back the keeper, and be 

 leaves them happy. Does this re- 

 main ? No, for that mind which 

 had recovered its tone by being 

 kept quiet, and by abstineilcefrom 

 wine and spirituous liquors, by in- 

 dulgence is again disordered. The 

 first person I shall call to you, — a 

 person of whom I can hardly 

 speak, I owe him such obligations,- 

 not alone, but in company with all 

 those who have applied to him, as 

 a man of as high character and re- 

 putation as any man within these 

 walls, and I need not say more,— 

 I mean Mr. Croft: and is Mr. 

 Croft a conspirator ? and a con- 

 spirator against whom? Against a 

 member of his own family ? He 

 signs a certificate, that, as it con- 

 cerns himself and family, he would 

 be most unwilling to do, as it is 

 well known that when this dread- 

 ful disease has once visited a fami- 

 ly, its renewed visitations are al- "* 



