denominated a lucid interval, which in a former work[102:A] I have
endeavoured to explain, as far as such state becomes obvious to the
medical practitioner. Its legal force I do not pretend to calculate.
According to the legal interpretation of a lunatic, he ought, in common
justice, at those bright periods when he possesses an _extremely
sound mind_, to be lawfully allowed the free and valid exercise of
his volition. But having noticed in the work above mentioned that
the term _interval_ is extremely indefinite, as applied both to time
and space, it is the province of the law to define its duration
and extent. As a constant observer of this disease for more than
twenty-five years, I cannot affirm that the lunatics with whom I
have had daily intercourse, have manifested these alternations of
insanity and reason. They may at intervals become more tranquil, and
less disposed to obtrude their distempered fancies into notice. For
a time their minds may be less active, and the succession of their
thoughts consequently more deliberate;—they may endeavour to effect
some desirable purpose, and artfully conceal their real opinions,
but they have not abandoned or renounced their distempered notions.
It is as unnecessary to repeat that a few coherent sentences do not
constitute the sanity of the intellect, as that the sounding of one
or two notes of a keyed instrument, could ascertain it to be in tune.
To establish its sanity it must be assayed by different tests, and it
must be detected to be as lucid on the subject of those delusions,
which constituted its insanity, as on topics of a trivial nature. But
the law alone must determine whether it will consider an individual
sane act as a lucid interval, and infer soundness of _mind_, which is
the abstract term for all the intellectual phenomena, and implies the
aggregate of the ideas, of the individual, from a single and successful
effort.
[102:A] Vide Observations on Madness and Melancholy pages 44
and 210.
If the performance of a sane act by an insane person should be deemed
valid, let the converse of the proposition be allowed. Many who have
been of accredited soundness of mind have in some instances made such
a testamentary disposition of their property as has astonished those
who have survived them. Without apparent reason or provocation they
have left their property away from their nearest relations to public
institutions, officers of state, or to those with whom they were very
slightly acquainted. Has this single act, independently of other
concurring or collateral evidences of derangement, born the imputation
of insanity? Would the uniform tenor of sane and consistent conduct,
for many years, both prior and posterior to such act, be set aside for
this individual deed? If it should, then long existing insanity ought
to be overlooked by a single act of consistency. The reader must be
aware that this is general reasoning, as no particular case has been
the subject of discussion. The search has been directed to a broad and
general principle, without prying into subtil distinctions;—it is
reasoning as far as a knowledge of the human intellect, in its sane and
disordered state, may be expected from medical opinion; but it presumes
not to dictate to that constituted authority denominated law, which in
all civilized nations, has been wisely established for the protection
and happiness of the community.
_Printed by G. HAYDEN, Brydges Street, Covent Garden._
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
The following corrections have been made to the original text:
Page 9: wanted the means[original has “sn” in inverted type] of
direct information
Page 9: subtil craziness[original has “crasiness”] of Hamlet
Page 13: having gauged[original has “guaged”] his insanity
Page 15: where he betrays[original has “bewray”] no derangement
Page 18: gratuitous and groundless supposition[original has
“suppposition”]
Page 20: Is it[original has “is”] christian-like to deem him
Page 36: These apparitions[original has “apparations”] were
obtruded
Page 54: although it[original has “its”] deserves the fullest
consideration
Page 58: where he perfectly recovered.[period missing in
original]
Page 60: witnessed only two attempts[original has “at-attempts”
hyphenated across a line break]
Page 64: state of the person’s[original has “persons’s”] mind
Page 73: obstacle to its advancement.[period missing in
original]
Page 79: medical persons in[original has “person sin”] the
treatment
Page 89: if such term be[original has “he”] legally insisted
Page 100: but the volition[original has “voli-lition”
hyphenated across a line break] of a sound