The Insanity of King George III

Art. YII.? To the mere pathologist, the insanity of a prince is not more interesting than that of a peasant; but to the historian, to the medical jurist, to all who are engaged in the care of the insane, the attacks of George III. are invested with peculiar interest. He was a prominent figure in a period that teemed with great men and great events, whose memorials are yet around us; and twice the recurrence of his disorder gave rise to a degree of political feeling that has seldom been equalled, and to political discussions that settled for ever a vital principle in the British constitution.

George III. had a moderate intellectual capacity, but an ob- stinate will. Of abstract speculation he was totally incapable, and philosophical views of any kind were beyond his reach. His theory of government began and ended in a firm mainte- nance of the royal prerogative, and the whole duty and privilege of ^the subject were comprised in the single precept, Fear God and honor the King. As a result, partly of defective training and partly of original inaptitude, he disrelished intellectual * Itead before the Association of Superintendents of Insane Hospitals, May 22, 1855. 15y Dr Ray, of Butler Hospital, Providence, It. I.?From the American Journal of Insanity.

pursuits, but was fond of mixing himself up with the adminis- tration of affairs, even in the smallest particulars. Here he showed no lack of industry, nor of energy. He was a stranger to sensual passion, and in the common observances of life was a model of propriety. He never forgot what he deemed an injury, and they who thwarted his wishes or opposed his measures were regarded as factious or dishonest. Always looking upon his eldest son as a kind of rival near the throne, ” he hated him,’ says Brougham, ” with a hatred scarcely consistent with the supposition of a sound mind.” He was fond of music, and occasionally went to the theatre; but, with these exceptions, he sought for recreation solely in riding and walking, in looking after his farm, and in an easy intercourse with his family and dependents. Few men would have seemed less likely to be visited by insanity. His general health had been always good ; his powers were impaired by none of those indulgences almost inseparable from the kingly station ; he was remarkably abste- mious at the table; and took much exercise in the open air. Insanity had never appeared in his family, and he was quite free from those eccentricities and peculiarities which indicate an ill-balanced mind. Five times was George III. struck down by mental disease. The first was in the spring of 17Go, when he was twenty-seven years old ; the second in 1788 ; the third in 1801 ; the fourth in 1804; and the fifth in 1810. Excepting the last, from which he never recovered, the attacks were of comparatively short duration, none of them continuing very obviously beyond six months.

The particulars of the first attack were studiously concealed by his family, and its true character was not generally known at the time. There seems to be no doubt, however, that its symp- toms were similar to those of tho subsequent attacks. Short ly before, an eruption on tho face, which had troubled him for some years, had so entirely disappeared, that it was supposed he had applied external remedies to repel it. This was followed by considerable cough and fever, and then by mental distur- bance. In the course of a few weeks he completely recovered. During the latter part of October, 1788, tho King seemed to be not in his usual health. Ho had considerable pain in his limbs?felt weak?slept but little?was hurried and vehement in his manner. On tho 22nd, ho ” manifested an agitation of spirits bordering on delirium,” said his physician. A low days afterwards, on returning from a long ride, ho burst into tears, and said^ ” he wished to God ho might die, for ho was going to >e mad. He kept about until the 4th of November, when ho ia< an outbreak at dinner, and was consigned to tho charge of attendants. During the first few days tliere was considerable constitutional disturbance, and it was feared he might not sur- vive. One of Sheridan’s correspondents says : ” The doctors say it is impossible to survive it long, if his situation does not take some extraordinary change in a few hours. * * * Since this letter was begun, all articulation even seems to be at an end with the poor King ; but, for the two hours preceding, he was in a most determined frenzy.” In the course of the suc- ceeding night he had a profuse stool, then perspired freely, and fell into a profound sleep. He awoke with but little fever, “but with all the gestures and ravings of the most confirmed manaic, and a new noise in imitation of the howling of a dog.” He soon got calmer, and talked on religion, and of being inspired. A day or two after, the same person writes: ” This morning he made an attempt to jump out of the window, and is now very turbulent and incoherent.” He also states that the King re- vealed some state secrets, much to the astonishment of Pitt.

Miss Burney, afterwards Madame D’Arblay, was then in the personal service of the Queen, and in her “Diary,” recently published, the progress of the attack may be traced with some degree of minuteness. The first night after the outbreak at dinner, she states, he was very restless, getting up and wander- ing into the Queen’s room to see if she was there, and talking incessantly until he became hoarse, exclaiming, ” I am not ill; I am only nervous.” ” He was never so despotic; no one dared oppose him. He would not listen to a word.” Next night he got up and insisted 011 going into the neighbouring room, where his equerries were. There he saw his physician, Sir George Baker, whom he called an old woman, and wondered that he ever took his advice, for he knew nothing of his complaint. From this time he rapidly grew worse. On the 12th and 13th of November he appeared considerably better, and continued so until the 20th, when he became as bad as ever. From this period his condition was variable?always more or less ex- cited?rather petulant, if not irascible?scolding his gentlemen for slighting him. On the 29th of November he was removed to Kew, where were better opportunities for exercise. Through the month of December there was little, if any, change in his condition. During the first two or three weeks in January he became less irritable, was quite calm at times, and then would read and make sensible remarks on what he had read. From the latter part of the month he steadily improved. February 2nd, Miss Burney accidentally saw him walking in the garden, and, to avoid meeting, in compliance with the rules, ran off at full speed, and he after her, the physicians and attendants iu * Moore’s Life of Sheridan, p. 360. Atner. edition.

full chase after him. She finally stopped until he came up, when he put his arms around her neck and kissed her. He talked incessantly, blurting out whatever came uppermost. ” He seemed to have just such remains of flightiness as heated his imagination without deranging his reason, and robbed him of all control of his speech, though nearly in his perfect state of mind as to his opinions. * * He opened his whole heart to mex expounded all his sentiments, and acquainted me with all his intentions.” He declared he was as well as he ever was in his life?talked of the official situation of her father, of music, (when he undertook to sing,) and then of her friends. He said he was dissatisfied with his ministers, and showed a list of new ones he had prepared. On the 17th he received the Chancellor, on the 18th drank tea with the Queen, and on the 7th of March received the Address of the Lords and Commons in person.* One of his first excursions was to a poor-house in the course of erection, of which he inspected every part, especially the rooms for lunatics, and expressed much satisfaction that such excellent accommodations were provided for persons labouring under the misfortune of insanity. During his convalescence, it is said, he passed much of his time in reading the debates on the Regency Bill.f

The King was attended, at first, by his own physicians, Sir George Baker and Dr Warren, and they were, shortly after, joined by Sir Lucas Pepys, Drs. Reynolds, Gisborne, and Addington, of whom the latter alone had given any special at- tention to the treatment of insanity, and he discontinued his attendance after a few days. They had all achieved professional distinction, but Warren enjoyed an undisputed pre-eminence. He was not only at the head of his profession in London, and deservedly so, but such were his talents and manners that he associated intimately with the leading men of the day,?Burke, Fox, Sheridan, &c.?and was appointed physician to the Prince of Wales. The attack not readily yielding, it was thought proper by the Queen and the ministers, who had the direction of these matters, to have the constant attendance of some one particularly skilled in diseases of the mind. Their choice fell on the Rev. Dr Francis Willis. This gentleman was educated for the established church, and took charge of a parish in Lin- colnshire. Having some knowledgo of medicine, he was fond of prescribing for the medical as well as the spiritual wants of his people, and especially for mental diseases, llo was very soon regarded as very successful in this department of the healing art, and was so much resorted to, that ho provided an establishment designed especially for the treatment of the in- sane. He was much patronized by the higher classes, and for nfty-eight years he had never less than thirty patients under his care. He was at this time seventy years old, but ” seemed to be exempt from all the infirmities of old age, and his counte- nance, which was very interesting, blended intelligence with an expression of placid self-possession.”* Miss Burney describes him as “a man of ten thousand, open, honest, dauntless, light- hearted, innocent and liigh-minded.” He joined the corps of physicians on the 6th of December, and took up his quarters in the palace.-f* In the consultation which settled their respective functions, Willis was to have charge of all the domestic and strictly moral management?in accordance, however, with such general views as had been agreed upon. The medical treatment was arranged in the morning consultation, and it was understood that Willis was to take 110 decided measure, either medical or moral, not previously discussed and permitted. Pepys, Gisborne and Reynolds attended, in rotation, from four o’clock in the afternoon until eleven the next morning. Warren or Baker visited in the morning, saw the King, consulted with Willis and the physician who had remained over night, and agreed with them upon the bulletin for the day. Willis was soon joined by his son John, whose particular function seems not to have been very definitely settled. Willis professed to regard him as equal to himself in point of dignity and responsibility, but his colleagues considered him as merely an assistant to his father. -Two surgeons and two apothecaries were also retained, each one, in turn, staying twenty-four hours in the palace. The personal service was rendered by three attendants, whom Willis had pro- cured from his own establishment, and the King’s pages,?one attendant and one page being constantly in his room.J * Wraxall, ibiil. p. 447. “h Among the gossip of the court it was related that the ” King a<-ked Willis, when he entered the room, if he, who was a clergyman, was not ashamed of himself for exercising such a profession. ‘Sir,’ said Willis, ‘our Saviour himself went about healing the wick.’ ‘ Yes,’ answered the King, ‘but he had not 700/. a-year for it.’”?Lord Malmesbury’s Diaries, <f-c., iv. 317. ? Tho kind of supervision and attendance that was practised during this illness, and which was the same, probably, in the subsequent attacks, would Beem sufficient to have prevented the slightest abuse of trust; and yet the King told Lord Eldon that, in one of his attacks, but which it does not appear, he was knocked down by a man in the employ of some of his physicians. ” When I got up again,” he added, “I said my f?>ot had slipped and ascribed my fall to that; for it would not do for me to admit that tho King had been knocked down by any one.” [Twiss, i.?”Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon.] We learn nothing further respecting this fact, and are left in doubt whether it actually occurred, or originated iu that intellectual or moral obliquity, (almost universal among the insane, but the exact nature of which has never been thoroughly understood,) which leads them to exaggerate, distort, and pervert much that falls under their obser- vation, and to fabricate much that never occurred at all. This curious trait of

The medical treatment seems to liave consisted chiefly of ” bark and saline medicines.” An alterative pill, containing a little calomel, was given him once. Once, and once only, blisters were applied?to the legs?but they occasioned considerable irritation and restlessness.

It was determined that the moral management of the King required strict seclusion from his family and ministers, and, as far as possible, from all other company. But nothing can more strikingly indicate the change that has occurred since that time, in respect to one means of managing the insane, than the fact that, for two or three months, the King was frequently subjected to mechanical restraint. There was nothing, however, in his condition which would be considered at the present time a sufficient reason for its application. He was not disposed to injure his person or his clothing, his attendants or his furniture. In the King’s case?and this, no doubt, was an example of the ordinary practice?it was evidently used by way of discipline, as a means of subduing turbulence and increasing self-control. AY illis said, in his second examination by the Committee of the House of Commons, that when ho took charge of the King, he was dissatisfied with the restraint which had been previously used, and for five days ” endeavoured to persuade and explain,” that some more efficient method would be resorted to, unless there was a “ready compliance” with his wishes. The King seems to have been insensible to this kind of intimidation, and the new mode of restraint was applied, with the effect, as Willis states, of accomplishing the desired purpose more effectively than before, being “more firm but not so teasing to the pa- tient/ It does not appear what means of restraint was used by \ illis, or by the other physicians, but an incident related by Arax all renders it probable that one of them was that time- honoured implement which is still associated with the popular idea of insanity. While walking through the palace, during his convalescence, accompanied by an equerry, they observed a strait-jacket lying in a chair. ‘1 lie equerry averting his look, as if to conceal some embarrassment, the King said : “You need not be afraid to look at it. Perhaps it is the best friend I ever had in my life. * 1 his incident does not strengthen a favourite position of the advocates of non-restraint, that it leaves disagree- able impressions upon the patient’s mind.

Of another fact respecting the King’s treatment I cannot find a sufficient explanation. Between the Gth of December and the mental pathology deserves to bo closely studied, not only because it !h curious, but because it will bo found, I tlnnk, to have some important bearing on human vera- city, and human testimony in thu normal state.

J 3th of January lie went out of doors but twice, and for a month previous not at all. Considering the form of the disorder and the facilities for exercise which the grounds afforded, this is certainly surprising. On one occasion, when the King had been promised a walk, Dr Warren revoked the promise, because, as the day was cold, and the King had perspired freely in the night, there would be some risk of his taking cold.*

The political consequences of the King’s illness proved to be of the deepest interest, whether we regard the magnitude of the questions at issue, 01* the men by whom they were discussed. The array of talent which distinguished the parliament of that period has never been equalled before or since. The interests of the administration were supported by Pitt, Thurlow and Wilber- force, while the forces of the opposition Avere led by Fox, Burke, Sheridan, Windham, Grey, Loughborough, and North. During the two or three months that the struggle lasted, every weapon of argument, wit, ridicule and invective was used by the con- tending parties with a dexterity and vigour which such men only could display.

When the King’s incapacity was announced, parliament im- mediately set about to provide a regency. All parties agreed that the Prince of Wales should be the Regent, but differed very widely as to the exact amount of authority and privilege he should receive. The Whigs contended that he should exercise all the functions of the Sovereign precisely as if there was a demise in the Crown. The ministers, on the other hand, were determined to hamper the Regent with limitations and restric- tions which would have shorn the regal office of much of its dignity and power. The real question at issue, therefore, w(is, which of the two parties that divided the country should possess the administration, and hence the violent party-spirit which characterized all the political proceedings of the time. 1 he first step was to ascertain officially the exact condition of the King, and, accordingly, each House appointed a committee to examine his physicians. These committees performed the duties’ assigned them on the 10th of December, and their reports were laid upon the table a few days afterward.

To each physician was put the following questions: ” Is his Majesty incapable, by reason of the present state of his health, of coming to parliament, or of attending to public business? W hat hopes have you of his recovery? Is your answer to this ques- tion founded upon the particular symptoms of his Majesty’s case, or your experience of the disorder in general ? Can you form any judgment or probable conjecture of the time his Majesty s illness is to last ? Can you assign any cause for his illness ? Do * It appears that 011 that night the restraint had not been removed at all. you see any signs of convalescence?” The replies to these ques- tions evince a knowledge of insanity quite creditable to men not expressly devoted to this branch of the science?one that would hardly be expected by us who witness so frequently the remark- able discrepancies of opinion that characterize the reports of medical commissions, albeit they may include men whose names are not entirely unknown to fame. The replies also evince a certain kind ot discretion and reserve worthy of all imitation 011 the part of those who are called upon for professional opinions. Few medical witnesses succeed, as most of these gentlemen did, in hitting that happy medium between saying too much and saying too little, ‘ihey all expressed strong hopes of the King’s lecoveiy, because the majority of patients actually do recover, and they saw nothing particularly unfavourable in his case. JNone ot them saw any signs of convalescence, and, with one exception, none ot them pretended to assign causes or limits to his disorder. Willis said he would recover within a few months, and thought the attack was produced by ” weighty business, severe exercise, too great abstemiousness, and little rest.” The other physicians were as well aware as Willis, 110 doubt, of these facts in the history and habits of the King, and possessed better opportunities than he had of knowing how far they had affected his mind, but refrained from assigning them as causes of the disorder. Willis’s opinion, though confidently uttered, was merely a speculation, resting on 110 very substantial grounds. Ihe King’s business had not been weightier than usual, and though fond of exercise, there is no evidence that he carried it to a degree incompatible with its proper object, the promotion ot health. ^ His abstemiousness consisted merely in avoiding lat excessive indulgence in the pleasures of the table which was common among the higher classes of that period, and was prac- lsec >3 lmn tor the purpose of warding oft disease. The want 1 ? s Ge^ Probably one of the etl’ects rather than a cause of with^inr.’ iec^on’ Whether the committee were satisfied lmblv J ls8 theory does not appear; but most of them pro- of tlin nfT?’ i i? res.t ?* ^ie world, curious to le^rn the cause dorrmitin .lC.’ .*JUt ^adily satisfied with elaborate phrases and for^his wiflSSUi ?nS’ Sheridan, however, saw in it a fair mark tlmt kind.’ “willis 5 stated0 ?PI?rtunity “f onininn tl>it n i- ? ‘ proof ot tho correctness of lus j ?? it medicine which had been given to his Majesty denly disappeared. TliU^hn^.1 ?’? ( r”’)’!on 0,1 tho log*, of Homo duration, hud aud* t’.ie fir->t attack, may bo fnirlv I ,c?1n”1”ere^ ‘? connoxion with u iiimiliir ono in one of tliose mentioned Ly Will it ?!.?) ?*eitin(i onuio tlmn nny Jlist. of Etujlaml, i. 75, ‘ ‘ ^ 0 Wriooksd it altogether.?Adolphut’ ever since Sunday morning, in order to meet and counteract those causes, had had as much effect as he could wish, and ” his Majesty had certainly been gradually better from the first six hours of his taking it.” The orator said that, when he heard l^r. Willis assert that his physic could, in one day, ” overcome the effects of seven-and-twenty years’ hard exercise, seven-and- twenty years’ study, and seven-and-twenty years’ abstinence, it was impossible for him to keep the gravity fit for the subject. Such assertions put him in mind of those nostrums that cure this and that, and also disappointments in love and long sea- voyages.

The policy of the cabinet was to make it appear that the King’s illness would be of short duration, and let it be implied, as an obvious consequence, that the measure of appointing a Regent should not be precipitated. On the other hand, the policy of the Whigs was to represent the disorder as incurable, or, at least, of very uncertain duration, and therefore that the sooner the Regency was established the better for the country. In this view they received but feeble support, certainly, from the examination of the physicians; but Warren, who was high in the councils of the Whig party, had privately encouraged the idea that the King would never recover. True, in his examina- tion just referred to, and also in the examination on the 7th of January, he expressed as much confidence as the others in his ultimate recovery. The fact furnishes a striking illustration of the distorted influence of party-spirit, even upon the views of scientific men on scientific subjects. Willis, who always pro- fessed to be quite sure of the King’s recovery, and was equally high in the estimation of the other party, inspired the adminis- tration with confidence in the policy they had adopted. Every occurrence at Kew was whispered about in political circles, before it was many hours old, coloured and exaggerated, of course, by the prevalent hopes and fears. The names of Warren and Willis became as familiar as household words, and even served as rallying points for the two great parties that divided the country. In less than a month from the first examination, both parties were equally ready for another, and equally con- fident of deriving political capital from the result. For this purpose the Commons appointed a select committee, which com- menced its sittings on the 7th of January, and made their report, 400 folio pages long, on the 14th.$ The same questions as * The I’ar. Debates on the Regency arc contained in tlic 2/th vol. of Hansard.

t The fact that the medicine referred to?which was simply Peruvian hark?was determined upon in the consultation of the whole corps of the King’s physicians, and that no other observed any improvement in his condition, gives additional pungency to the ridicule, while the whole incident throws much light on W illis’s character. + The Report of the first examination may he found in the Parliamentary Debates before were put to tlie physicians, ami Y^i^’had’observed any replies, except that Willis, when asked if he V^T^ter part signs of convalescence, replied affirm,i 1 y- q. an jn_ of the examination was directed to ma e cornmunica- cidental connexion with the Kings com ‘ ieajjnrr charac- tions sent from Kew to the ministers am dissensions of ters, the domestic arrangements of the pal. , ^iUises ?to the physicians, the merits and proceed ? Qr weaken anything, indeed, calculated to strong u. pnnv.vlescence the the other. Upon the signs ol recoveiy o morc than any- examination was particularly searching, )eca^ .’ nts 0f the day. thing else, they determined the politica ? ^ convalescence, Willis, when asked if he saw any presen . p - w()ul(1 tajce up replied: “About a fortnight ago, his .j ^ ^ nQW rcacl books and could not read a line ol thu , ^ several pages together, and make, in my op - > ^l-ifesty remarks upon the subject. I think, in the ^am, his Majesty does everything in a more rational way than 10 <. 1 ‘ vej for things extremely rational.” (This trait had wen ? ^ the last five or six days, the books having been st stated King, and read aloud.) To the same f urpose, he also^ stat^ that his patient was less frequently and loss in. t ? y ?? ^ and less frequently required restraint Beyom c ni.Vsieians knowledgment that ho was more quiet, the ot ie I were not supposed to go in regard to tho signs of con . ” > They denied that he had appeared rational, even 01 a u > but none of them had happened to see the King 1 olu J?’ they were not disposed to take any fact of Williss o )se ? a ground for their opinions. His constant attendance g.i an advantage over his colleagues, for it enabled him o himself much that they would never know at all, 01 o y second-hand; and such observations, wo are all veiy wt asometimes leave a stronger impression on tho miiu nin most definite and tangible facts communicated by others. Willis’s character, conduct, and practices were subjected o ^ very searching scrutiny, not more for the purpose ol obtaining information than of torturing every incident into matter ot cen- sure against himself or his employers. It cannot bo domed that he gave his adversaries abundant opportunities of this kind ; lor, with all his .experience, and tho frost of seventy years on his head, he had not a philosophical turn of mind, nor tho power ot concealing his deficiency by a prudent reserve, llo had stated and Annual Register* of tho time, bat not ho tln?, which hmjt eluded my until found in a collection of pamphlet*, entitled, ” llintory of thu Ui’genoy, |>?l” ltslied by Stockdalc, and brought to my notloe by tho librarian of llrown Univer- sity, Mr. Guild. From thin Import chiefly I hnve obtained ul tluvt iwomcd worth preserving respecting tho management of tliu King.

that nine out of ten of his patients recovered under his hands, but he was unable to tell how many he had received or how many he had cured. When further pressed, he said that the ground of his calculation was the fact that his first fifteen patients were cured, and that, subsequently, several instances occurred of ten going away together radically cured! The declaration of his colleagues respecting this alleged success? that it required other evidence than his bare assertion?was not calculated to restore the harmony which had been so thoroughly disturbed, lie was obviously very restive under the unusual restrictions imposed upon him. To be associated on equal terms with some half-dozen other physicians, equal to himself in pro- fessional eminence, and more than his equals in general culture, he found a very different position from that of controlling an establishment where his simple word was law. He felt?very correctly, 110 doubt?that a great obstacle to the King’s recovery consisted in his being obliged to see so many different persons, under circumstances calculated to excite strong emotion. He was actually disturbed, and sometimes even prevented from sleeping, by the visits of so many medical men?never less than half-a-dozen every day?and, accordingly, Willis, ” thinking it his duty,” as he says, ” to do for his Majesty what he should do for any private gentleman,” put up a written notice that no person should be admitted into his Majesty’s rooms without per- mission of himself or son. For this order, which was more easily given than enforced, for none of his colleagues seem to have regarded it, he was severely handled by the committee, who en- deavoured to make it appear like an attempt on his part, and that of the Lord Chancellor, whose sanction he pleaded, to con- ceal, in some degree, the King’s real condition.

Another obstacle to the King’s recovery, apprehended by Willis, seems rather fanciful than real. ” ^ hen his Majesty, he says, ” reflects upon an illness of this kind, it may depress his spirits and retard his cure more than a common person;” but, subsequently, he states, that ” this apprehension is somewhat relieved by his knowledge of the Kings sense of religion, which may lead him, with a proper resignation, to reflect 011 what it had pleased God to afilict him with.”

The want of good faith was broadly charged upon Willis by his colleagues, and in the examination there came out one in- stance of it which has obtained a popular celebrity. Warren stated, that, 011 the day Willis arrived, it was agreed, in general consultation, ” that quiet of body and mind were to be endea- voured to be obtained by every means possible; and that every- thing should be kept from his Majesty that was likely to excite any emotion ; that though his Majesty had not shown any signs of an intention to injure himself, yet that it was Jtemper sary, considering the sudden impulses to w 11c C0Xld do subjects people, to put everything out ot the way that could a any mischief.” The very next day, however, he pu mto Mi King’s hand a razor and a penknife. Ia* He said he Warren, ” how he could venture to do such a thin ? , ati shuddered at what he had done. Willis sau , -1| s a that the King ” had not been shaved for a long w i , P ^ fortnight or throe weeks ; and the person tlia i<u under shave him could not complete the parts ot ns upp , r 0f lips; and being confident, from the his his Majesty at that moment, 1 suflered his >.1 Y , ? lips himself; and then he desired he might havo i> vie did lathered, that he might just run over it with a lazor, ? so in a very calm manner. His nails also wan e< ^j8 much; and, upon his assurance, and upon my con u . wi.:ie looks, I suffered him to cut his own nails with a pen 1 > I stood by him. It is necessary for a physician, ?*1K ‘ such cases, to be able to judge, at the moment, w le i ,. confide in the professions of his patient; and 1 was neve . pointed in my opinion whether the professions o (u’v|r’ were to be relied on or no.” He denied that ho sau o > he shuddered at what he had done, and also demon ux,? , gard to such matters, lie ever agreed not to be governet so ? y > his own discretion. After professing such views, he toun little inconvenient to answer the question, why ho nove! a wards repeated this indulgence. Ho replied, however, m had a bad moral effect, his Majesty taking it ill that ho was i allowed other privileges, such as going up stairs to see his ,uu* and doing other imprudent things. ” Do you think, asi <.<( ? committee, ” that the expectation of the liberties which tho uil might call for would be of more danger to him than tho ust o razors and penknives?” ” To bo sure,” was tho reply, ‘’because refusal would irritate him much and increase his disortoi. “Whether,” continues the committee, “you refuse to tho King all indulgences which may be safely given, lest he shouhl de- mand those that ought to be refused?” ” I do a great many, said Willis. Those, certainly, were very embarrassing questions. This incident furnished Burke with the materials of a violent diatribe against the ministers, who, he said, had committed his Majesty to the care of a man in whoso hands he was not sale toi a moment.*

• There is a traditionary anecdote connected with thl* riw.or Mono, Htronuty

trative, if true, of Willi*’* character. llurko Mkwl hin>, it in aid, what ho v “ll 1 have (lone, if tho King had *udd<’idy become violent while thw InitruntolltH in his hand. Having placed tho candle between them, ho ropll*d? ” H’? It also came out that, within five days after he took charge of the King, Willis allowed him to have an interview with his daughters, and another with the Queen, without the consent or knowledge of his colleagues, and contrary, as they alleged, to the terms of their agreement. In defence of his course, he said, ” I am sure that such occurrences can scarce be too frequent, as it comforts the patient to think that he is with his family, and that they are affectionate to him ; and upon inquiry of patients who have been cured of the same indisposition, they have always mentioned those occurrences having given them the greatest comfort, and, as they thought, helped very much towards their recovery… . The irritation occasioned by a patient’s seeing his friends or relations is entirely overbalanced by the softening him into tears, which ever leads to amendment.” In this statement of Willis, we may recognise the views of one of our early asso- ciates, the first President of this Society, between whom and Willis this was not the only point of resemblance.

Another incident in Willis’s management, which had greatly scandalized his colleagues, was deemed worthy of the notice of the committee. It was the allowing his Majesty to read the tragedy of Lear. It seems lie refused the King’s request to have it, though too crazy, he thought, to be affected by it, one way or the other ; but allowed him to have a volume of plays, which happened, without his knowledge, to contain Lear.*

In the practical knowledge of insanity, and the management of the insane, Willis was unquestionably in advance of his asso- ciates; but following the bent of his dictatorial habits, he often spoke without measuring his words, and often overstepped the limits of professional etiquette. Hence he suffered under the severe handling of the committee, to whom he presented a good ]>y tho EYE I I should hiivo looked at him f/ius, sir?thus!” whereupon Burke instantaneously averted his head and made no reply. This must have occurred, if at all, in the committee-room, hut no mention of it is made in the printed report. It may havo been expunged, however, by the committee. What the common practice it”, 1 am unable to sav; hut that such a thing is sometime* done, we have the authority of Sir Samuel ltomily for believing. He states that some of the testimony of the physicians, in 1S10, to the effect that the cause of the King’s illness in 1801 was the resignation of I’itt, and the cause of the attack in lb04 was the publication of the correspondence between the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, was suppressed. [“Memoirs,” &c., ii.lCj.] The authority for this anecdote is Reynolds, tho playwright, who saj’s he had it from Willis himself. [“Life,” &.c., ii. l.r>.] Among the gossip of the day was a similar story respecting the effect of Willis’s tone on Sheridan when about to examine him. ” ‘ Pray, sir, before you begin,’ said Willis, ‘ be so good as to snuff the candles, that we may see clear, lor 1 always like to see tho face of the man I am speaking to?* Sheridan was so confounded at this speech of the basilisk Doctor, that he could not get on in his examination, and for once in his life he was posed.”?Sicinburiie’s Courts oj Europe, ii, 7f>.

• Willis’s statement that he had never read this plav, is not calculatcd to raise

our estimate of his general culturc. many vulnerable points of attack. It is obvious, in fact,, that Willis was a bit of a charlatan, and not always abov tliat character. Sheridan remarked, in one of his speec it , ? Willis professed to have the gift of seeing the heart y ? at the countenance; and added, looking at Pitt, tha ie c ration seemed to alarm the right lion, gentleman. But, with all these imperfections, it cannot be ( e”10t ‘ 1 Willis evinced much practical sagacity in his views o ie n, ^ _ and management of mental disease, and a sturdy uu epeni and self-reliance which, while they are always elcmcn s ‘ great character, were in him, under the circumstances, 1 . than wonderful. Let those who are emulous of his suc cess s to imitate him in these qualities, rather than in his < ogma and disregard of professional observances. # . , The report of the committee was a fruitful topic in ie su quent debates in parliament, furnishing lresh materials or i ex . mation and intrigue. On no other occasion, proba y, the prominent qualities of the celebrated men who gui u that period more strikingly exhibited. Night aftei nigi , weeks together, witnessed the unrivalled self-possession o , the clear, close, vehement argumentation ot box -t ie lires . wit of Sheridan?the multifarious knowledge and riotoust.incy of Burke. But the prize, which seemed to be almos wi; nn grasp of the Whigs, rapidly receded from their view. ow the last of January the King had unquestionably impioyct, a on the 25th of February Warren signed a report declaring mm ” free from complaint.” e ni The question of recovery was also embarrassing, oi though it might be obvious enough to the family and yet it was not so easy to establish it satisfactorily to the col|n^ rJ* An apparent recovery is not always a real one. Often, a tr person seems to have regained his natural leelings and vicnn , and has recognised his mental disorder, and is prepaung, per haps, to resume his customary pursuits, he again passes urn cr the cloud, and, to all appearance, is as far from sanity as ever. Burke was as ready for this as for any other occasion, and nis remarks upon it exhibited his wonderful faculty of acquiring and appropriating every description of knowledge. ” ‘1 he disorder, said he, ,l with which his Majesty was afflicted, was hko a vast sea which rolled in, and at low tido rolled back and left a bok and barren shore. He had taken pains,” ho continued, to make himself master of the subject, ho had turned over eveiy book upon it, and had visited the dreadful mansions wheio ? There ia nothing of thin kind in the rcj><>rt of tho committee, hut ^ nmy ‘,:.NOi been aupprewed. Sheridan would hardly have invented tho fact, and then callcu on l’itt to witness its truth.

those unfortunate beings were confined An author of great authority having mentioned the uncertainty of the symp- toms of sanity, had declared, that after having been kept a month, (and the rule was at all the houses he had visited, though anxious to discharge the patients speedily, as they all were, to keep them a month after their recovery before they turned them out of the house,) they would sometimes dread the day of their departure, and relapse on the very last day… . He drew a picture of the King’s supposed return, which he described as most happy, if really cured; but as horrible in the extreme, in its consequences, if a sudden relapse took .place.” The only effect of the King’s alleged convalescence was to suspend all parliamentary proceedings relative to a regency, while, quietly and without opposition, he resumed, one after another, his regal functions.*

• It may bo a matter of surprise, at first sight, that, considering the disagree-

ment between Willis and his colleagues respecting the signs of convalescence, some other physician of eminence in this branch of the art was not called in. ” Why,” said Burke, “is not the keeper of one mad-house confronted with the keeper of another ?” referring to Monro, who then visited Bethlehem. It is probable, how- ever, that the Government suspected?very justly too?that the measure, while it would certainly introduce a new element of discord into the medical councils, might not ho surely strengthen their position.

WilliH was rewarded by parliament with a pension of 1500/. for twenty-one years. He was shortly after employed to treat the Queen of Portugal, but she proved to be incurable. For this service he received 20,000/. These fees are without a parallel hi the records of the medical profession. Dr John Willis received for his services G50/. per year during his life.

It is somowhat calculated to abate our confidence in history, to find that so recent and public a fact as the result of Willis’s treatment of this case should bo related in such a contradictory manner. By many, if not the most of those who refer to it. including even such respectable authorities as the ” Biographic Universelle” and ‘’ Penny Cyclopoedia,” it is represented to have been a complete cure. But the truth is?and obvious enough, too, it might seem?the poor Queen, who had been for 8?me time hovering on the verge of insanity, became unequivocally deranged in 171)2, and so continued without any improvement. In the early stage of her disease, she conceived the idea that she was doomed to eternal perdition. Her son, the Prince of Brazil, assumed the regency in 1792. In 1S07. when the kingdom was invaded by the French, she followed the fortunes of her house across the ocean, though much against her will, and finally died in 1810, aged eighty-one. In Frederick Reynolds’s ” Life and Times” I find a notice of Willis’s establish- ment, which seems to be worth copying :?”Gretford and its vicinity at that time exhibited one of the most peculiar and singular sights I ever witnessed. As the unprepared traveller approached the town, he was astonished to find almost all the surrounding plowmen, gardeners, threshers, thatchers, and other labourers, attired m black coats, white waistcoats, black silk breeches and stockings, and the head of each ‘bieit poudri, frisc ct arrangt.’ Theso were the Doctor’s patients; and dress, neatness of person, and exerciso being the principal features of his admirable system, health and cheerfulness conjoined to aid the recovery of every person attached to that most valuable asylum. The Doctor kept an excellent table, and the day I dined with him I found a numerous company. Amongst others of his patients, in a state of convalescence, present on this occasion, were a Mrs. B., a lady of larj;o fortune, who had lately recovered under the Doctor’s care, but declined returning into the world, from tho dread of a relapse; and a young clergyman, who occa- sionally read service and preached for tho Doctor. Nothing occurred out of the common way till soon after the cloth was removed, when 1 saw tho Doctor frovs u His Majesty’s third attack began about the 22nd of February, 1801, and though supposed by the public to have recovered within three or four weeks, it is certain that he was not restored until the last of June. He was attended by Drs. Gis- borne, Reynolds, Pepys, Hobert Darling Willis, John Willis, and Thomas Willis.* The early stage of the disease was much like that of 1788, except in being of shorter duration. Aftei the first week or two, he could, for the most part, control his morbid manifestations to such a degree, that, to them who saw him only occasionally, he seemed to be less under the influence of disease than he really was. Indeed, as early as the 7th ot March, it was commonly reported, and commonly believed, that he had completely recovered, though on the 4th Reynolds had stated that ” much time would be necessary to complete the cure, f The bulletins ceased on the 12th of March, when Rey- nolds ceased his attendance; but on the 14th or loth ot the same month he had a “severe paroxysm/’ as it was called, which, however, must have soon abated, as he transacted business on the 17th. He continued under medical care until the end of June, appearing very well whenever circumstances required the exercise of self-control, but constantly exciting the apprehensions of his family and physicians by some manifestation of mental disturbance. John Willis, writing to Lord Kldon, May lGth, intimates that “artificial prudence” is still absolutely necessary, and informs him that his conversations with the King have not been of much service, “lie seems,” he continues, “rather to select and turn any part to his purpose than to his good. J live days after, Addington writes to Lord Eldon, that ” during a quiet conversation of an hour and a halt, there was not a senti- ment, a word, a look, or a gesture, that I could have wished different from what it was; and yet my apprehensions, I must own to you, predominate. The wheel is likely to turn with in- creasing velocity, (as 1 cannot help fearing,) and if so, it will very soon become unmanageable.”? Four days after, one of the Willises writes, that the King “is in a perfectly composed and quiet state. He told me, with great seeming satisfaction, that he had had a most charming night?’ but one sleep from eleven to half-past four;’ when, alas! he had but threo hours’ sleep in the night, which, upon the whole, was passed in restlessness, in getting out of bed, opening the shutters, in praying at times at a patient, who immediately hastened from the room, taking with him my tail, which he had slyly cut olF.” * Robert and .John Willis were sons of Francis, and probably Thomna also, but of this I am not quite certain. _ . t Diaries of Lord Mahiicshury, iv. 28. + Twigs Fubhc aud Private Life of Lord Chancellor Kldon, i. 204. ? Ibid. i. 205. TIIE INSANITY OF KING GEORGE III. Ill violently… . He frequently called, ‘ I am now perfectly well, and my queen, my queen has saved me.’ …. The King has sworn he will never forgive her if she relates anything that passes in the night”* June 9 th, one of the royal family writes to Thomas Willis, ” He has been very quiet, very heavy, and very sleepy God grant that his eyes may soon open, and that he may see his real and true friends in their true colours.” Three days after, she again writes, that ” the sleepiness continues to a great degree. I am told the night has been tolerable, but he has got up in his usual way, which is very vexatious.”f Four days after, one of the Willises writes: “His Majesty rode out this morning at ten o’clock, and did not return till four. He paid a visit in the course of the day to Mr. Dundas. His attendants thought him much hurried, and so did his pages. He has a great thirst upon him, and his family are in great fear.

His Majesty still talks much of his prudence, but he shows none. His body, mind, and tongue are all upon the stretch every minute ; and the-manner in which he is now expending money in various ways, which is so unlike him when well, all evince that he is not so right as he should be.”| A considerable change seems to have occurred within a few days of the date of this letter, since his physicians were discharged, and we hear 110 more of his disorder. He was strongly averse to having the Willises any longer about him, though, as he says, ” he respected the character and conduct of Robert Willis.” ” No one,” he says, ” who has had a nervous fever can bear to continue the physicians employed on the occasion.?

During the first three weeks of the attack there was actually a suspension of the royal functions, and with it a suspension of some political arrangements of the highest importance. Pitt had resigned, but there was no one to receive his resignation, or sign the commission of his successor; so that it would have been difficult to answer the question, who is now prime minister? Pitt and his friends continued to perform the necessary routine duties of their offices, and Mr. Addington held constant communication with the palace.|| This change of ministry, which was exceed- ingly distasteful to the King, was regarded by some as the exciting cause of this attack; but it is probable that the differ- ences between the Prince of Wales and his wife had also much ? Twins, i. 205. t Ibid. i. 206. Ibid. i. 208.

? Tho only thing respecting the medical treatment in this attack which has rewarded my inquiries is, that the prime minister, Mr. Addington, one day, reoom- in ended a hop pillow for procuring sleep, which proved j>crfectly successful. ^ In this attack sleep always calmed and quieted the King, while in that of 17SS he would awake from a long sleep moro turbulent Uian ever.”?Malvicsbury’s Diarua, to do with it. It was ushered in by a violent cold, which he contracted by remaining long in church on the 13th?a chilly, snowy day.

Again, on the 12th of February, 1?04, the King manifested unequivocal signs of mental disease, occasioned, it was thought, by the publication of certain correspondence between the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, and immediately preceded by a cold and a consequent fit of the gout. This attack continued longer than the last, but, like that, was much less severe than the attack of ‘88. He was attended by Sir Lucas Pepys, Dr. Reynolds, Dr Heberden, and Dr Simmons, physician of St. Luke’s,* and was in the particular charge of the latter, who resided in the palace. The few scanty notices I have been able to find convey but little information respecting the character or progress of this attack. About the 25th of February it was generally understood that the King was improving; but in the bulletin of the 26th, it was stated that his speedy recovery could not be expected.! We learn that, on the 9th of March, Lord Eldon walked with him around the garden, when ho observed, as he says, ” at first, a momentary hurry and incoherence in his Majesty’s talk, but this did not endure two minutes; during the rest of the walk there was not the slightest aberration in his Majesty’s conversation, and he gavo me the history of overy administration in his reign.”}; On the 23rd of April, he presided at a council. On the 2nd of May, Addington walked with him in the garden, and thought him perfectly wcll.? Fivo days after, Pitt conversed with him three hours, and was ” amazed at his cool and collected manner.”[| May 25th, the Duke of York writes that the King seems to dwell much upon the illegality of his confinement; and the next day, Pitt, in a note to Eldon, expresses some alarm in reference to a conversation in one of the audiences two days before. ” The topics treated of were such as did not at all arise out of any view (right or wrong) of the actual state of things, but referred to plans of foreign politics, * liy none of tho \ illiscs wero employed on thU occasion does not appear. It was probably, however, for the twine reason that vu alleged for their not being employed in the next attack?viz., tho Queen’s apprehension that their presence would excite unpleasant associations in the Kind’s mind. In fact, tho King con- ceived a strong dislike for the Willises; but it scorns to have boon a common impres- sion at court, [Malniesbury, iv. 1110,] that they managed him much better than Simmons.

• Hulletins must necessarily be brief, and very general in their terms, and there-

fore not calculatcd to convey very accurate information ; but those which wore issued by the physicians (luring this illness often indicate much confusion of ideas, and an uncertain, vacillating prognosis, which did not escape tho notice nor the censure of parliament. For instance, tho very next day after tho bulletin ahovo mentioned, the bulletin said, ” Ho is still better than he was yesterday, anil gradually approaching recovery.”

that could only be creatures of an imagination heated and dis- ordered.”*

His conduct at this period, as described by one of his court, indicates a phasis of insanity which, though common enough, is apt to be greatly misunderstood by people not professionally acquainted with the subject. ” Mrs. Harcourt confirms all that Lady Uxbridge had told me?that the King was apparently quite well when speaking to his ministers, or to those who kept him in a little awe ; but that towards his family and dependents his language was incoherent and harsh, quite unlike his usual character. She said Simmons did not possess, in any degree, the talents required to lead the mind from wandering to steadi- ness;?that, in the King’s two former illnesses, this had been most ably managed by the Willises, who had this faculty in a Wonderful degree, and were men of the world, who saw ministers, and knew what the King ought to do;?that the not suffering them to be called in was an unpardonable proof of folly (not to say worse) in Addington; and now it was impossible, since the King’s aversion for them was rooted ;?that Pitt judged ill in leaving the sole disposal of the household to the King;?that this sort of power, in his present weak, and, of course, suspicious state of mind, had been exercised by him most improperly: he had dismissed and turned away, and made capricious changes everywhere, from the Lord Chamberlain to the grooms and toot- men ; he had turned away the Queen’s favourite coachman, made footmen grooms, and vice versd, and what was still worse, because more notorious, had removed lords of the bedchamber without a shadow of reason ;?that all this afflicted the royal family beyond measure ; the Queen was ill and cross?the Prin- cesses low, depressed, and quite sinking under it;?and that, unless means could bo found to place some very strong-minded and temperate person about the King, he would either commit some extravagance, or would, by violent exercise and carelessness, injure his health, and bring on a deadly illness. …. She said that Smart, when alive, had some authority over him ;?thnt John Willis also had acquired it, but in a different way: the first obtained it from regard and high opinion, the other from fear ??that, as was always the case, cunning and art kept pace, in the King’s character, with his suspicion and misgivings, and that he was become so very acute that nothing escaped him. t The general impression at the time was, that, in botli these attacks, the King was deprived of his reason for a short period only ; and parliament was readily satisfied by the declarations of ministers, that there was no necessary suspension of the roval functions. Before the question of a regency could bo fair y started, the bulletins ceased, and lie was supposed to have recovered. Of course, there was no examination of the phy- sicians, and the public had no means of learning the subsequent progress of the disorder, because they alone to whom the facts were cnown were most interested in keeping them to themselves, ^as not until the examination of the physicians, relative to ? attack (1810), some of whom had also attended him in and 1804, that the true state of the case was revealed.*

ien came out for the first time, that both these attacks were o much longer duration and greater severity than the public een, t0 suppose,?that, about the middle of March, QnAT^0-1” ^16 bulletins ceased, a relapse took place,?that, in 804, Dr Simmons continued in the palace as late as June,? Mic that either Heberden or Sir Francis Millman attended the ing up to October, t And yet it had become a matter of lisory, that during those very periods when his Majesty was m c aige ot medical men on account of mental disorder, he was exercising the highest functions of sovereignty. On the 17th o . arch, 1801 -which, as we have just seen, was only two or lee ays subsequent to the date of a “severe paroxysm”? tasures of vital interest and importance to the country received s assen ail(] concurrence. On the 14th of April, Pitt’s resig- m?c,n was?acc(;Pted, and the new ministers received their com- TCin<yn ? ^ ^arc^> 1804, a commission, under the . f ^ ‘S1gn-manual, was passed, by virtue of which fifteen bills to min n r?T m assent> an(l> on the 23rd, his assent was given to many other bills.

dit!rmS ^ie discovery of his real mental con- ? i ?’ ,. a dozen years afterwards, excited both astonishment ‘ 1 1.1U ^”ation. In parliament, the conduct of Lord Eldon, inHiiw consecluence of his office as Lord Chancellor, and of his for thpco If6rS? -r6laticms ^e King, was held responsible Earl Cirpv rj|nsactl0^> wa? condemned in the strongest terms, to treason ? having done what was equivalent the anmmrint ? ^ ‘ ” W0UM ke the character, what Sovereign to hH punif1Tnent of his offence, who, knowing his full conviction of his ‘notU’-0 UmC ‘ncomPet,ent ~who>in th? whilst ho wic i notorious and avowed incapacity, and must he was under medical care and personal restraint, shonld It must be borne in mind fW o disease, which we have “wen ? memoranda showing the progress of tlio in fact, the whole state of the c ^ Ino8^y published orily a few years ago, so that, nation of the physicians in lSll*86 WUS “0t Kener^Hy known oven after the exami- Indeed, as late as Decenilipr 11 v of his family. Lord MalnH HlmV..’0 ? ac’I,ot entirely regained tlio confidence court, ” The Queen will never receiv^’J^- a41’) thu authority of one of tlio present,?never says in renlv a l ? without ono of tho Princesses being and, when in London! locks ,1 ? ;Tplqu.(J.8 hor8olf on this discreet silence,? e Uoor of htr room (her boudoir) against him.” come here, and in the name and under the pretext of his ?Majesty’s commands, put the royal seal to acts which could not be legal without his Majesty’s full and complete acquiescence?” ? ? ? ? “I will ask the noble lord,” he continued, in another part of his speech, ” what he would have done, had a case of a similar nature come before him in Chancery? I will suppose such a case; and that, in the interval, when it appeared from the testimony of physicians that the unfortunate individual was mcapable of exercising his mental faculties, a person had pre- vailed on an attorney to make a will for him; would the noble lord have given his sanction to such a proceeding? Would he have taken the opiuion of the interested individuals, in pre- ference to that of the physician ? Let the noble lord apply this case to himself. I say that his Majesty’s name has been abused, -the noble lord has said, on his own authority, that his Majesty Was not then incapacitated from acting ; but will your lordships allow yourselves to believe that his Majesty’s health was then such as to admit him to act in his royal incapacity, upon an authority which contradicts that of his physicians?”

In his defence, Lord Eldon declared, that on the 27th of February, and again on the 9th of March, 1804, the King’s physicians had pronounced him competent to perform a certain act; or, as the matter was described more particularly in his Memoirs, he inquired of the physicians if, in their opinion, the King was competent to sign an instrument, provided lie, Lord Eldon, had satisfied himself that the King understood its effect. To this query Sir Lucas Pepys and Dr Simmons replied affirmatively, the other physicians being supposed to concur. Chiefly, however, he grounded his defence on the right to judge for himself respecting the King’s mental condition, irrespective of medical opinions. ” I have been significantly asked, said lie, ” if I would supersede a commission ot lunacy against the opinion of physicians. I have often done so. ihe opinions ot physicians, though entitled to great attention, were not to bind him absolutely 11 was most important to the Sovereign that the Chancellor should not depend wholly on the evidence of the physicians, if he himself thought the King per- fectly competent to discharge the functions of the royal autho- rity.”* In a letter to Percival, he declares that if the King had been found to understand the nature of the act he was asked to perform, he should have been bound by Ins sense of right and duty to have sanctioned such act, though lie might have be- lieved, with his physicians, that some delusions might occur an “TidlfSarJd, in the debate, that, on the 9th of March, 1804, the King understood the duty he had to pcrform beUer than he did himself, and among his papers ^as iound >haUie regarded as a conclusive proof of his opinion. O - PI y ? the King,” he says, “to obtain his sign-manual to several b ^ he, Eldon, began to read an abstract of the bills w detail than usual, when the King said, ‘My loid, you a tious/ He, Eldon, begged it might be so, under existing circu stances. ‘ Oh !’ said the King, ‘ you are certainly rig 1 1 > but you should be correct as well as cautious. E on r P ‘ was not conscious that he was incorrect. _4 No, sau le, ^ , not; for if you will look into the commission you iav ? me to sign, you will see that I there state t la i.wo y sidered the bills proposed to receive correct, therefore, I should have the bills o pe . j sider/ I stated to him that he had never had the bills whilst I had been chancellor, and that I dul not know la t, ? had the bills. He said, during a part ot his reign, . always had them until Lord Thurlow had ceased to Jlin? ‘ and the expression his Majesty used was, Loid iui ,nv )f# was nonsense his giving himself the trouble to ie<u lcin’ Lord Eldon, as well as the physicians, made 10 c mistake of confounding the power to understand the exact terms of a transaction, with that of perceiving all i s re a and consequences. Such a mistake, natural enough as 1 mi^ ^ have been to him, could hardly have been expected lom i ^ physicians, especially under circumstances so peculiar am im portant. It would be considered a bold assertion, that a person regarded by his family and physicians as insane was pel ec y competent to make a contract or execute a will; but to c ec art that the King, who, by their own admission, was moie or ess insane, was, nevertheless, competent to exercise the niost im portant functions of his office, was, to say the least ot it, to assume a tremendous responsibility. But they knew very we the wishes of the Court on the subject; and it could hardly have been expected of Court physicians that they would bo over- scrupulous on such an occasion, especially as they were aware, no doubt, that the measures in question were proper enough in themselves, and the royal assent was merely a matter ot form. This, unquestionably, was the real ground on which Eldon acted, though it did not furnish the kind of defence exactly which he was disposed to set up. The nation was at war; a change of ministry was in progress, both in 1801 and in 1801; a project of a regency would have distracted the national councils and impaired the national vigour ; and the disease, scarcely severo at any time, seemed likely to be of very short duration. A man mucli less devoted to political ends than Eldon might, under such circumstances, have considered it perfectly justifiable to avoid the real evils of a regency question by committing one more theoretical than practical, and followed by salutary conse- quences. In fact, the same thing was done by Lord Lough- borough, who went to his Majesty on the 2-itli of February, 1801?Addington having declined the service?and obtained his signature to a commission for giving the royal assent to the Brown Bread Bill*

There was another charge against Lord Eldon, which cannot be so easily parried. It was insinuated by Earl Grey, in the debate already alluded to, that he used the facilities of his position to prevent a junction between Fox and Pitt in 1804;, and it appears, from his own papers, that he used similar means to accomplish the removal of Addington, his own colleague, and bring in Pitt. These might have been precisely the arrange- ments which the King would have favoured, had his mind been perfectly sound; but no man could have promoted them as Eldon did, without forfeiting every claim to upright and honour- able conduct.f

About the 25th of October, 1810, the King was again, and for the last time, smitten by mental disease, consequent, it was generally supposed, upon the fatal illness of a favourite daughter. It began, like the former attacks, with unusual hurry and rest- lessness of manner, which, within a few days, passed into a paroxysm of high excitement, accompanied by much fever. During the first few months the disorder was characterized by paroxysms of this kind?in one of which he is said to have been “unconscious of surrounding objects”?alternating with inter- vals, when the King was free from fever, calm, composed, and quite rational in his conversation. He was attended by Reynolds, lleberden, Baillie, Hal ford, and liobert Willis, the latter resid- ing in the palace and having the immediate custody of the King, as his father had in 1788. The physicians were examined by a committee of the Commons on the 14th of December, and by a committee of the Lords about the same time. The questions propounded were precisely the same as those of 1788, and the replies were of a very similar character. They all concurred in the ojHnion that the disease would ultimately yield, but no one ? Life of Lord Sidmouth, i. 302. p. . + True, Eldon pronounced the charge, that he had taken advantage of the.K in weakness to prejudice him against Mr. Fox, to be a direct falsehood. His >i< D ? 1 candidly remarks, that this “denial must not be extended beyond the’charg meant to meet, of having taken advantage of the King s weak s a c nQj. prejudice against Fox in the royal mind”?meaning probably. ia^ ? ,lUV.lU. 1’uiieve the King to be incompetent, he might safely deny that lie too ) undertook to set limits to its duration. Th^me reasons, too, were also given for this favourable prognosis P’ attack, vious good habits and firm health, the suddenness uesti0n, and the general curability of the disease. 1 I t an whether his Majesty’s age, then seventy-two years, w ^ unfavourable circumstance, the unanimous answer . ‘ ‘ . ‘ ce a general rule, extreme age was an unfavoura e cu ‘ ^ in mental as well as other diseases; but, m the Prcs uge the would probably have little influence upon the 1C^U ? ,’ i ^ad King had borne his age remarkably well and the: attack M originated in circumstances independent of any oc y ectjve sition. To the question, whether the Kings very ^lind sight?for he had become almost, and soon a or e y,’ ? ?might not operate unfavourably, the rep y was> ‘ likely that, in the early stages of the disorder, it would be more litely to have a beneficial effect than otherwise, by iteepm0 -^t many sources of irritation ; while, in the latei s aocs.’ rp?ard by diminishing his means and opportunities of occupa 1 , . his recovery. ?To the question! whether the fact of his havin had so many previous attacks was not an unfavoura ) e stance, Reynolds and Baillie replied?to them on y *. question put?that his having recovered from so many ] attacks, furnished strong grounds for expecting recoveiy t . Baillie, however, qualified his opinion by the suggestion 1,1 susceptibility to disease might be increased by its Irequen i<- rence, and thus prove an obstacle to recovery.

In regard to the form of disease, Willis said it was moie a 1 to delirium than insanity?meaning that it was charactei izet ^ ) mental excitement rather than by fixed, definite delusions. has never borne the character of insanity,’ he said: i ncv gets beyond derangement.” This description, lie ad dec, wa strictly applicable to the attack of 1801. Heberden sai . is not merely the delirium of fever, nor is it any common ease 0 insanity; it is derangement attended with more or less level, and liable to accessions and remissions.” The form ot disease which they had in view is common enough ; and though tne progress of science may have contributed nothing to our know- ledge of nature or of its treatment, it certainly has improved our nomenclature*

The Report conveys no information respecting the medical oi moral treatment, and we are left in doubt whether mechanical restraint was used. In fact, the examination was chiefly directed, not so much to the present condition of the King as to the attacks of 1801 and 1801, several of the physicians having * The Report may bo found in Stockdale’s Parliamentary Register, 1810, and Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, 1st ser. xix.

attended him at one or botli those periods, and to some inter- views between the King and his ministers. It showed the usual amount of intrigue and cabal on the part of the King’s friends, with subserviency to the predominant party and disregard of each other on the part of the physicians. As in the illness of 1788, the policy of the Tories was to stave off the regency by representing the attack as speedily curable, while the W higs Were equally strenuous in precipitating this measure. But the result appeared so doubtful, and the exigencies of the country were so pressing, that it could not long be evaded; and, accord- lnoly> the Prince of Wales was made Regent in February, 1811 - an event which enabled the Whig party, as is well known to all who are acquainted with the history of that period, to verify the scriptural declarations respecting the faithlessness of princes*

The progress of the disease may be gathered from casual notices in the memoirs, correspondence, diaries, &c., of the time, but not so exactly as it might be on some interesting points. On the 26th of January, Eldon spent an hour with him. ” He is not well,” says the Chancellor, ” and I fear he requires time. Iu the midst of this state it is impossible to conceive how right, how pious, how religious, how everything that he should be, he js, with the distressing aberrations I allude to.”f In his clearer intervals he became somewhat impatient of restraint, and was rather importunate to be restored to his regal state. rIhe physi- cians, in their report to the Chancellor, which must have been about the first of February, say that ” he appears to be going in the most favourable manner. It is right to mention, and We do not think it an unfavourable circumstance, that he has occasionally adverted to the subject of his former delusion, but. in so slight a manner as to increase our confidence in its gradual subsidence from his Majesty’s mind.’ * rlhe Queen, in a note to Lord Eldon, soliciting the attendance of one of the council at Windsor at least once a week, says: ” The King is constantly asking if not one of the council is coming to do so, [to receive the report of the physicians,] and seems to feel that putting it oti procrastinates his recovery, as his Majesty (she is sorry to say) thinks himself too near that period.”? Spring brought no im- provement of the King’s disorder. In a note of Lord Ellen- borough, April 3rd, he speaks of the King’s ” delusions and irregularities, and extravagances of plans and projects, of which we hear daily.”|| May 25th, the Duke of York had an mtei- * Rom illy (Memoirs, ii. 177) says that the Prince was determined to change in the cabinet, in consequence of the strong representations o one King’s physicians of the probability of his recovery. . ? t Twiss, i. 359. ; Ibid. i. 359. g IUd. i. 353. II Ibid. ?. 303. view with him, in which his mental condition was pretty fairly exhibited. ” He appeared/’ he says, ” at first, very much affected at seeing me, and expressed himself in the kindest and most affectionate manner upon my re-appointment to the chief com- mand of the army; but soon flew off from that subject, and then ran on, in perfect good humour, but with the greatest rapidity, and with little or no connexion, upon the most trifling topics, at times hinting at some of the subjects of his delusion, in spite of all our endeavours to change the conversation.”’* Robert Willis expressed to the Duke his alarm at the King’s ” frivolity, or rather imbecility, of mind.”

Until July, the cloud which enveloped the mind of the King occasionally lifted up, and thus were strengthened the hopes of his complete restoration. It was one of the curious traits in his case, that, at those times, he became conscious of his infirmity, though he sometimes manifested this consciousness in rather an uncommon manner. An instance is related by Francis Horner, in a letter to his father, in the spring of 1811. ” There was a very affecting proof of the King’s melancholy state given last week at the concert of ancient music; it was the Duke of Cambridge’s night, who announced to the directors that the King himself had made the selection. This consisted of all the finest passages to be found in Handel descriptive of madness and blindness, particularly those in the opera of Samson; there was one also upon madness from love, and the lamentation of Jephtha upon the loss of his daughter; and it closed with ‘ God save the King,’ to make sure the application of all that went before, “f Dr Simmons and Dr John Willis, who had attended the King in former attacks, had not been employed in this, the Queen fearing that it might awaken disagreeable emotions. A year having passed without any improvement, these two physi- cians were joined to the medical corps on the 9th of October, together with Dr Monro, then visiting physician at Bethlehem. Ihey were all examined touching the King’s condition, both by a committee of the Lords and a committee of the Commons, towards the middle of January, 1812.

Fiom this examination we gather that, during the months of Apnl) ^a3r’ an(l June, the King was apparently improving, very little disorder being exhibited,” says Heberden. It was characterized by exaltation, extravagance, and frivolity?false reasoning upon leal facts. About the middle of July the dis- ordei assumed a, new character, gross delusions being exhibited in connexion .with the last-mentioned traits. His sight and healing were quite gone, but the theor senses were as acute as ever. He retained a consciousness of his regal state, and during the latter part of the year, when there seemed to be a little im- provement, he bore his part in conversation very correctly, for ^ few minutes, and related anecdotes of the past. The physicians were all as confident in the opinion that his recovery, though not hopeless, was highly improbable, as they were, the year before, in. the opinion that he would recover. This change in their prognosis they attributed chiefly to the change in the phasis of the disorder, which occurred in July.*

This report leaves us entirely in the dark respecting the nature of the delusions which possessed the King’s mind, but the following passage from Lord Eldon’s papers indicates one of them. ” It was agreed that, if any strong feature of the King’s malady appeared during the presence of the council, Sir Henry Halford should, on receiving a signal from me, endeavour to recal him from his aberrations; and, accordingly, when his Majesty appeared to be addressing himself to two of the persons whom he most favoured in his early life, long dead, Sir Henry observed, ‘Your Majesty has, I believe, forgotten that and ? both died many years ago.’ ‘ True/ was the reply, ‘ died to you and to the world in general, but not to me. You, Sir Henry, are forgetting that I have the power of holding inter- course with those whom you call dead. Yes, Sir Henry Halford/ continued he, assuming a lighter manner, ‘it is in vain, so far as I am concerned, that you kill your patients. Yes, Dr Bailhe but, Baillie, Baillie/ pursued he, with resumed gravity, ‘ I don’t know. He is an anatomist; he dissects his patients; and then it would not be a resuscitation merely, but a recreation, and that, I think, is beyond my power.

The following memoranda of his condition from 1812 till his death are given by an anonymous writer, but are well authen- ticated, I believe, and comprise all that I have been able to find respecting this period. ” At intervals he still took a lively interest in politics. His perception was good, though mixed up with a number of erroneous ideas; his memory was tenacious, but his judgment unsettled; and the loss of royal authority seemed constantly to prey upon his mind. His malady seemed rather to increase than abate up to the year 1<S14, when, at the time the Allied Sovereigns arrived in England, he evinced indi- cations of returning reason, and was made acquainted with the astonishing events which had recently occurred. The Queen, one day, found the afflicted monarch engaged in singing a hymn, and accompanying himself on the harpsichord. Alter he had concluded the hymn, he knelt down, prayed for his

• Campbell’s Lives of tlie Lord Chancellors, art. ” Eldon, vii. -?

family and the nation, and earnestly supplicated for tlie com- plete restoration of his mental powers. He then burst into tears, and his reason suddenly left him. But he afterwards had, occasionally, lucid moments. One morning, hearing a bell toll, he asked who was dead. ‘ Please your Majesty,’ said an attendant, ‘Mrs. S/ ‘Mrs. S.P rejoined the King, ‘she was a linen-draper, at the corner of street, and brought up her family in the fear of God. She has gone to heaven : I hope I shall soon follow her/ He now became deaf, imbibed the idea that he was dead, and said, ‘ I must have a suit of black in memory of George III., for whom I know there is a general mourning/ In 1817 he appeared to have a faint glimmering of reason again ; his sense of hearing returned more acute than ever, and he could distinguish persons by their footsteps. He likewise recollected that he had made a memorandum many years before, and it was found exactly where he indicated. After 1818 he occupied a long suite of rooms, in which were placed several pianos and harpsichords; at these, he would fre- quently stop during his walk, play a few notes from Handel, and then stroll on. He seemed cheerful, and would sometimes talk aloud, as if addressing some nobleman; but his discourse bore reference only to past events, for he had no knowledge of recent circumstances, either political or domestic. Towards the end of 1819 his appetite began to fail. In January, 1820, it was found impossible to keep him warm ; his remaining teeth dropped out, and he was almost reduced to a skeleton. On the 27th he was confined wholly to his bed, and on the 29th of January, 1820, he died, aged 82 years.

: Georgian Era,” i. No authority is given for the statements in this work, and I am unable to verify them.

It is a curious coincidence, that this monarch, who suffered so much from mental diseases, should have been pursued, as if by a kind of fatality, by insane people. In 1786, an old woman (Margaret Nicholson) attempted to stab him, as he was alighting from his carriage ; in 1790, a lieutenant of the army (John Frith) threw a stone at him through the window of the carriage in which he was riding ; and, in 1800, a soldier (James Hadfield) shot at him with a pistol in the theatre. Miss Burney says that, during his illness in 1788, they were often annoyed by insane persons, who contrived to elude the restrictions of the palace and to roam over the grounds. The persons who committed the lirst two assaults were so obviously insane that, without any further action, the Privy Council sent them to Bethlehem Hospital. Hadfield was brought to trial, and, it being on an action of treason, his counsel was allowed to speak in his defence; for, until quite recently, this privilege was never permitted in criminal cases, except those of treason. It was on this occasion that Erskine made his greatest forensic effort; and it is a fact that may abate our pride of progress, that it has never been equalled in the clear appre- hension it displays of the phenomena of insanity, in its plain and cogcnt views of responsibility, and its triumphant demolition of those principles which had been legarded, from the earliest times till that moment, as the settled law of England respecting insanity.

Like everything connected with State affairs, the incidents of King Georgo’s attacks have been enveloped in secrecy and mystification, and hence the difficulty ? distinguishing between the true and the false. Some of them are obviously _ ulous, and> together with others less improbable, had their origin, undoubtedly, ln 1 *at sort of gossip which would naturally spring from such an interesting event as “e ‘“sanity of the sovereign. Considering that the purposes of this narrative could be answered only by the strictest historical accuracy, I have been careful, in every instance, to indicate the source of my materials, and to make use of none that could not be well authenticated. The necessity of this kind of caution can scarcely e appreci.^e,] by those who have never learned, from their own inquiries into past events, how the false, the fabulous, the exaggerated and the true become blended toge- ? le.r l^yond the power of the most patient research to separate. To relate a striking incident, or a pointed anecdote, is an easy and agreeable duty; but to search out the I11! 10r’ty on which they rest?in other words, to perform a great deal of fruitless our is a task often difficult and disagreeable.

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