A LETTER
TO
THE LORD CHANCELLOR.
A
LETTER
TO
THE RIGHT HONORABLE
THE
LORD CHANCELLOR,
ON THE
NATURE AND INTERPRETATION
OF
UNSOUNDNESS OF MIND,
AND
IMBECILITY OF INTELLECT.
BY
JOHN HASLAM, M.D.
LATE OF PEMBROKE HALL, CAMBRIDGE.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY R. HUNTER,
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD.
1823.
PRINTED BY G. HAYDEN,
Little College Street, Westminster.
A LETTER.
My Lord,
The present address originates in an anxious wish for the advancement ofmedical knowledge, where it is connected with those maladies of thehuman mind, that are referable to the court, wherein your Lordship hasso long administered impartial justice. The disorders which affect thebody are, in general, the exclusive province of the medicalpractitioner; but, by a wise provision, that has descended to us fromthe enlightened nations of antiquity, the law has considered thosepersons, whose intellectual derangement rendered them inadequate to thegovernance of themselves in society, or incapable of managing theiraffairs, entitled to its special protection. If your Lordship shouldfeel surprized at this communication, or deem my conduct presumptuous,[Pg 6]the thirst of information on an important subject is my only apology;and I have sought to allay it in the pure stream that issues from thefountain-head, rather than from subordinate channels or distantdistributions. Although personally a stranger to your Lordship, nearlythirty years of my life have been devoted to the investigation andtreatment of insanity: of which more than twenty have beenprofessionally passed in the largest receptacle for lunatics;—and thepress has diffused, in several publications, my opinions and experienceconcerning the human mind, both in its sound state and morbid condition.
The medical profession, of which I am an humble member, entertains verydifferent notions concerning the nature of UNSOUNDNESS of mind, andIMBECILITY of intellect;—and this difference of opinion has beendisplayed on many solemn occasions, where medical testimony has beendeposed.
If a physician were to attempt to search into the existing records andprocedures on insanity, to collect its legal interpretation, suchinvestigation would probably be a waste of his time, the source[Pg 7] ofabundant, and perhaps of incurable error; but to these inconveniences hewill not be subjected in attentively considering your Lordship'sjudgments, of which I have availed myself on the present occasion, andwhich, having