310 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



a fit in his hay-field, and fell from 

 his horse, from which period he 

 appeared much deranged in his 

 memory, understanding, temper, 

 and deportment ; and the witnesses 

 gave several instances of his singu- 

 lar conduct with respect to his 

 mode of life, and his wrong notions 

 about his aft'airs. Among these 

 was a fancy that Burrowes was in 

 a conspiracy with some of his 

 neighbours against him. He ad-, 

 mitted, however, on a cross-exa- 

 mination, that the witness was 

 allowed to manage his own affairs, 

 and that notwithstanding his 

 threats, and the apprehensions of 

 his friends that he would destroy 

 his own life, no steps were taken 

 to put him under control 'as a de-r 

 ranged person. 



Mr. Winkley, a schoolmaster of 

 Harrow, deposed to having waited 

 on him on the Wednesday preced- 

 ing the Saturday on which the 

 crime was committed, to take in- 

 structions for altering his will, in 

 presence of two of his neighbours ; 

 and that he brought the new will 

 on Friday afternoon, when the 

 prisoner executed it in their pre-- 

 sence, and that of two other wit- 

 nesses; and all these persons de- 

 posed that he appeared to them 

 perfectly collected and capable of 

 business during this whole trans- 

 action. 



Here the evidence closed on the 

 part of the crown . ! ! • i fit 



The prisoner said nothing in his 

 own defence, but a number of 

 witnesses were brought to prove 

 his insanity from the time of his 

 fit and fall in July, 1811. 



Mr. Hyatt, an apothecary of 

 Ealing, who attended him, de- 

 posed to that effect, but admitted 

 that he had not advised his friends 



to proceed to a statute of lunacy, 

 though he attended a consultation 

 on that subject a few days before 

 the unfortunate event, and fully 

 intended to recommend such a 

 proceeding. He had always re- 

 garded the prisoner as a violent and 

 passionate man, but never so much 

 as since the fit in July. 



Dr. Ainslie had visited him seve- 

 ral times in prison during the last 

 June, and was convinced his de- 

 rangement must have been of long 

 standing, and that it was of the 

 character of thederangement arising 

 from epilepsy. 



Mr. Warburton asserted it to be 

 characteristic of insanity proceeding 

 from epilepsy for the patient toi 

 take antipathies, with strong desires 

 of vengeance, against individuals, 

 often their dearcbt friends, and not 

 to be reasoned out of them, though 

 rational on every other subject. He 

 was fully convinced of the prisoner's 

 real insanit3% 'i\ :^i-- 



Mrs Hayden, 'the 'prisoner's 

 house-keeper for twenty years, 

 confirmed the testimony of Mr. 

 Withers concerning his irregulari- 

 ties of conduct, and threats of de- 

 stroying himself. In some parts of 

 her evidence, however, she grossly 

 contradicted herself, and also the 

 other witnesses. '. ' ' 



The clerk of the Petty-bag ofilce 

 in the Court of Chancery produced 

 the statute of lunacy obtained 

 against the prisoner on June 17, 

 1812, with the decision of the 

 jury that he was deranged since the 

 30th of March last. .'..i:" 



Sir Simon le Blanc, after sum- 

 ming np the evidence with graat 

 perspicuity, stated to the jury, 

 that the fact being proved beyond 

 all doubt, it was for them to con- 

 sider whether, at the time of it% 

 commission, 



