A letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Shaftesbury etc. etc. etc. on the laws which regulate private lunatic asylums : with a comparative view of the process 'de lunatico inquirendo' in England and the law of 'interdiction' in France : to which are added a few observations on the causes of insanity and improvement in its treatment during the last twenty-five years / by Edward J. Seymour.

  • Seymour, Edward J. (Edward James), 1796-1866.
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Shaftesbury etc. etc. etc. on the laws which regulate private lunatic asylums : with a comparative view of the process 'de lunatico inquirendo' in England and the law of 'interdiction' in France : to which are added a few observations on the causes of insanity and improvement in its treatment during the last twenty-five years / by Edward J. Seymour. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    il i 35 :'ii It is to be observed, that nothing short of unsound- ft ness of mind, rendering the individual unable to transact jf) his own affairs, will satisfy the court. ^ | When a commission of lunacy has been sealed, the j|| unhappy object is placed in a lunatic asylum, or in a :ii house with attendants, under the care of the person to whom he is entrusted; and, of course, in these cases ]f Ins personal liberty is completely, or nearly so, abridged; lil* nothing short of confinement has been adopted by our ji laws. In this respect it appears to me, that the authorities ^ do all, and the family of the lunatic little; on the contrary, a’; in France the greater part of the case is thrown on the family and the sanction received from the court. jj^i I subjoin a translation of the law of interdiction from the Code Napoleon, known to have been the production of the most learned and experienced of the French bar after long deliberation. j, 1. Any one who, having obtained his majority, is in an habitual state of imbecility or dementia or furious madness, ought to be interdicted, even when lucid in- j| tervals occur. 2. Any relation is admissible to promote the interdic- tion of a relation, and the same of husband against wife or vrife against husband. 3. In case of furious madness, if the interdiction be ', not demanded either by the husband or the wife, or the ^ relations, the Procureur Imperial^ in case of imbe- ft cility or dementia, may also set it on foot against any 'ft one who has neither husband, nor wife, nor known relatives. c 2 ft: