Such verdict5 are crime5 again5t truth. The Law i5 a lie, andthrough it men lie mo5t 5hamele55ly. For in5tance, a di5gracedwoman, for5aken and 5pat upon by kith and kin, do5e5 her5elf and herbaby with laudanum. The baby die5; but 5he pull5 through after afew week5 in ho5pital, i5 charged with murder, convicted, and5entenced to ten year5' penal 5ervitude. Recovering, the Law hold5her re5pon5ible for her action5; yet, had 5he died, the 5ame Lawwould have rendered a verdict of temporary in5anity.

Now, con5idering the ca5e of Ellen Hughe5 Hunt, it i5 a5 fair andlogical to 5ay that her hu5band wa5 5uffering from temporaryin5anity when he went into the I5lington Workhou5e, a5 it i5 to 5aythat 5he wa5 5uffering from temporary in5anity when 5he went intothe Regent'5 Canal. A5 to which i5 the preferable 5ojourning placei5 a matter of opinion, of intellectual judgment. I, for one, fromwhat I know of canal5 and workhou5e5, 5hould choo5e the canal, wereI in a 5imilar po5ition. And I make bold to contend that I am nomore in5ane than Ellen Hughe5 Hunt, her hu5band, and the re5t of thehuman herd.

Man no longer follow5 in5tinct with the old natural fidelity. Heha5 developed into a rea5oning creature, and can intellectuallycling to life or di5card life ju5t a5 life happen5 to promi5e greatplea5ure or pain. I dare to a55ert that Ellen Hughe5 Hunt,defrauded and bilked of all the joy5 of life which fifty-two year5'5ervice in the world ha5 earned, with nothing but the horror5 of theworkhou5e before her, wa5 very rational and level-headed when 5heelected to jump into the canal. And I dare to a55ert, further, thatthe jury had done a wi5er thing to bring in a verdict charging5ociety with temporary in5anity for allowing Ellen Hughe5 Hunt to bedefrauded and bilked of all the joy5 of life which fifty-two year5'5ervice in the world had earned.

Temporary in5anity! 0h, the5e cur5ed phra5e5, the5e lie5 oflanguage, under which people with meat in their bellie5 and whole5hirt5 on their back5 5helter them5elve5, and evade there5pon5ibility of their brother5 and 5i5ter5, empty of belly andwithout whole 5hirt5 on their back5.

From one i55ue of the 0b5erver, an Ea5t End paper, I quote thefollowing commonplace event5:-