Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 2.djvu/901

 894 FEDERAL REPORTBB^ �and observations are in the line of mental disorders seldom agree, either as to the definition of the disease, or as to the fact of its existence in a particular case. Dr, Hammond, in his work on Diseases of the Nervous System, (p. 332,) defines it to be "a manifestation of disease of the brain, character- ized by a general or partial derangement of one or more fao- ulties of the mind, and in which, while consciousness is not abolished, mental freedom is perverted, weakened or de- stroyed." �But this is too general for our present purposes. We want now, not a medical but a legal definition of insanity — one which will aid us in forming a correct judgment in the case under consideration. After carefully weighing the opinion of the supreme court of the United States, to which our atten- tion has been called by both parties to this controversy, {Ten-y v. Ins. Co. 15 Wall. 590,) I have oome to the conclu- sion (and I so charge you) that in law a man is insane when he is not capable of understanding (1) that a design is unlaw- ful, or that an act is morally wrong; or, (2,) understanding this, when he is unable to control his conduot in the light of such knowledge. Bearing this definition in mind, what waa the condition of Matthew Waters, the insured, on the even- ing of July 19, 1877? Doubtless, his latest utteranoes to the world are contained in the letter to his brother, and the coun- sel on both sides, in their able presentation of the case to your consideration, attempted to sustain their different theo- ries largely, if not mainly, from its contents ; the one counsel finding in the letter the most indubitable evidence of the insanity of the writer, and the other, the equally clear proof of his mental soundness. �It is not the province or the disposition of the court to express any opinion on the subject. The law casts that duty and tesponsibility upon you. But it is my province to say to you that in considering it you must dispossess your minds of ail prejudice or partiality. You must allow your judgment and not your feeiings to control you, and, placing yourself in such a frame of mind, you should consider the contents of the letter in the light of the circumstances which surrounded ����