Crime -- Great Britain; Criminals -- Great Britain; Psychology, Pathological
So all sorts of difficulties and sorrows are placed before me. But most
of my correspondents consult me about some member of their family who
is at once their despair and shame. Under such circumstances, I have
always been ready to give such guidance and comfort as was possible.
But being of inquiring mind, I always wanted to know the cause of the
evil and sorrow. So I made inquiries regarding family history, etc.,
and was often brought face to face with the fact that father or mother,
sometimes grandfather or grandmother, suffered from “fits.”
Some years ago, after writing in the daily press upon the dangers
of epilepsy, I received a large number of letters from friends of
epileptics. Every post brought me letters which came from various parts
of the country.
Most of my correspondents were in good financial positions, but their
letters formed pitiful reading. A more dolorous collection it would be
impossible to imagine. But they taught me a great deal, for I realised
that this terrible affliction prevailed to a greater extent than I
had dreamt of. I realised how respectable people cover and hide the
fact of epilepsy as long as possible, and that when the fact can be no
longer hidden they cower with shame, as if their sorrow was in itself
a disgrace and a scandal. I had ample confirmation in those dolorous
letters that not only pain, suffering, injury and hopelessness dwelt
in the home of an epileptic; but also that shame, crime, imprisonment,
strange actions and more than strange minds were some of the resultant
effects. I need not dilate upon the danger to the public when large
numbers of persons suffering from this malady are at liberty amongst
them, for epileptic seizures may occur at any place and at any time.
In a crowded street, or on a busy railway platform they might easily
be attended with disaster. To any one who thinks upon this matter
the danger will be apparent. But the dangers arising from the many
individuals who have inherited a dread birthright, because they are
born of epileptic parentage, are not so readily seen. None the less,
those dangers are real and tangible, and I verily believe that if the
truth could be ascertained regarding the large number of motiveless
crimes for which the perpetrators have not been brought to justice, it
would be found that very largely they were the outcome of epilepsy.
I take the following from the daily press of November 11, 1911—
“Murderer’s Lost Memory
“Unconscious of Crime for Four Days
“Strange Defence.
“Complete loss of memory was the unavailing defence at Nottingham
yesterday, when Victor Chapman, a smart young ex-Lancer, was sentenced
to death for the murder of Ralph Hill, whom he had shot in the
Market-Place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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