superintendent, stated the same; but added, "I believe him to be quite capable of giving an account of any transaction that happened before his eyes. I have always found him so; it is solely with reference to the delusion about spirits, that I attribute to him being a lunatic: when I have had conversation with him on ordinary subjects, I have found him perfectly rational, but for this delusion; I have seen nothing in his conduct or demeanor in answering questions, otherwise than the demeanor of a sane man."

James Hill, a doctor in medicine, who had been formerly a medical superintendent at the same Asylum, stated: "The memory of an insane man is not necessarily affected; it frequently is, but frequently is not. I have seen Dr. Haslam's work. I do not agree in all cases with his remark that 'memory appears to be perfectly defective in cases of insanity,'-certainly not; it may probably be so in the generality of cases. Madness is commonly accompanied by a great deal of excitability of the brain, but in some cases it is not; it is very often accompanied by physical irritation of the brain; it is one of the most common causes of madness, either primarily or secondarily. In certain cases of acute madness, the ideas in the mind of a madman succeed each other more rapidly than in the mind of a sane man, and in a more confused manner, that is, where there is actual irritation of the brain; it is quite possible for a man to entertain a delusion on one subject without its affecting his mind generally on other subjects; in most cases where a delusion prevails, and the man is mad, the rest of his mind is affected to some extent. I agree with Dr. Pritchard in his observation, that 'In monomania, the mind is unsound, but unsound in one point only.' There is no doubt, however, that all the mental faculties are more or less affected; but the affection is more

strongly manifested in some than in others. It is difficult to ascertain, without strict inquiry, the extent of a madman's delusions; they have sometimes the power of concealing their delusions, even from their medical attendants, especially after having been frequently conversed with about the delusions, and knowing that they are the cause of their detention, but it is unfrequent. It is a doubtful point whether what they say is not for a particular purpose, - for instance, to obtain liberty. If a madman has an object to answer, he is sometimes capable of concealing his delusions; I have known it, but not as a general rule: they are probably capable of a good deal of dissimulation, many are, I know; but many do not exhibit that tendency. It is common for a certain class of madmen to exhibit a great deal of cunning. Donelly labored under a delusion with respect to spirits; he is in the strict sense of the word, a lunatic, inasmuch as he labors under a delusion; he is not excitable by any means. I have known instances of lunatics concealing their delusions, but in all these cases there is an evident and apparent motive. I have known decided lunatics, not monomaniacs, in what are called lucid intervals, capable of going about and managing their own affairs; in ordinary cases there is no particular difference between a monomaniac, apart from his particular delusion, and an insane person in a lucid interval; during the lucid interval of the insane person, he is well; but a monomaniac is a monomaniac all the time. In the instance of a monomaniac, you produce the insanity the moment you touch the particular chord. It is possible that you might revive insanity in a madman during a lucid interval by touching on the same subject, if it is but recent. I always found Donelly perfectly rational except on the subject of his particular delusion."

Donelly was then called and before being sworn, was examined by the prisoner's counsel. He said, "I am fully aware that I have a spirit, and twenty thousand of them; they are not all mine; I must inquire I can where I am; I know which are mine. Those ascend from my stomach to my head, and also those in my ears; I don't know how many there are. The flesh creates spirits by the palpitation of the nerves and the 'rheumatics'; all are now in my body and round my head; they speak to me incessantly, particularly at night. That spirits are immortal I am taught by my religion from my childhood, no matter how faith goes all live after my death, those that belong to me and those which do not; Satan lives after my death, so does the Living God." After more of this kind, he added, "They speak to me constantly; they are now speaking to me; they are not separate from me; they are round me, speaking to me now; but I can't be a spirit, for I am flesh and blood; they can go in and out through walls and places which I cannot. I go to the grave, they live hereafter, unless, indeed, I've a gift different from my father and mother that I don't know. After death my spirit will ascend to Heaven or remain in Purgatory. I can prove Purgatory. I am a Roman Catholic; I attended Moorfields, Chelsea

Chapel, and many other chapels round London. round London. I believe Purgatory; I was taught that in my childhood and infancy. I know what it is to take an oath; my Catechism taught me from my infancy when it is lawful to swear; it is when God's honor, our own or our neighbor's good require it. When man swears, he does it in justifying his neighbor on a Prayer Book or obligation. My ability evades while I am speaking, for the spirit ascends to my head. When I swear, I appeal to the Almighty; it is perjury the breaking a lawful oath or taking an unlawful one; he that does it will go to hell for all eternity."

He was then sworn and gave a perfectly connected and rational account of a transaction which he reported himself to have witnessed. He was in some doubt as to the day of the week on which it took place, and on cross-examination said, "These creatures insist upon it it was Tuesday night, and I think it was Monday;" whereupon he was asked, "Is what you have told us what the spirits told you, or what you recollect without the spirit?" and he said, "No; the spirits assist me in speaking of the date; I thought it was Monday, and they told me it was Christmas Eve Tuesday; but I was an eyewitness, an ocular witness to the fall to the ground."

(G. O. Waitt, Three Years with Carriers. 1876. p. 174.) together) the absolute repudiation of the National debt, and the utter overthrow of the Republican Government!..

An ex-Confederate officer, who had served with creditable valor in the late rebellion on the wrong side, however - by name and title "Colonel Hauston King, of the Kentucky Artillery," appeared one day in December, 1869, in the city of Washington, before U. S. Commis

and the accuracy of his accounts relating to this conspiracy. The Greenupsburg lawyer, Mr. L. J. Filston, who accompanied Colonel King, was quite as earnest (perhaps more so) as was the Colonel himself; and he did not fail, not only in the most anxious terms to indorse him, but to express his own personal alarm at the threatening prospect, repeatedly, to the authorities.

The Western Detective (Hogeland) who undertook to "work up" this case, was confident that he had "a big thing" on hand, and he threw himself with unwonted energy and seriousness into this job. . . . But first it was necessary to lay the outrageous particulars of the conception of this destructive scheme before the Washington authorities. And so the three earnest men repaired direct to the Treasury Department, to unbosom themselves, as we have already stated. Judge Wm. A. Richardson, of Massachusetts, chanced to be Acting Secretary of the Treasury at this hour. This gentleman is a shrewd, intelligent, sound-minded, levelheaded lawyer, whose long experience on the judicial bench has afforded him ample opportunity to become a rare good judge of human nature, in a great variety of phases; and he is not easily moved or thrown out of bias by ordinary tales of wonder. He patiently listened to the mysterious tale of horrors which his three earnest visitors had to communicate, and then civilly but promptly referred the gentlemen (whose eyes stuck out of their heads in wonder at the Judge's coolness and indifference) to Solicitor Banfield, of the Treasury Department. Here the three men 'told o'er their wondrous story' once again; and the polite but incredulous Attorney for this Department of Government closed an eye, looked cautiously at the countenances of his excited visitors, and intimating that he did not see any occasion for hurrying in this business — quietly turned the

trio over to the Chief of the Secret Service, Col. Whitley, at New York City.

are

Chief Whitley is not readily excited, and very rarely goes off into tantrums. "There two hundred men in buckram, you say, concerned in this foul scheme, Colonel?" asked the Chief. "Oh, more than that — quite twice that number, sir," said King. "And these two hundred men and more, have kept this infernal plot a profound secret for so many months, too?" added the Chief, doubtingly. "Ah, Colonel, remember the terrible series of shocking oaths they took never to divulge the secret of the clan.. You see, Chief," continued King, "I'm a doomed man, if I am suspected by these wretches. A thousand daggers would be aimed at my heart, within the hour of the discovery that I had 'peached' upon them. For God's sake, move cautiously. . . . I now intend at once to call upon half a hundred of the leading wretches in this city; and will report to you, to-morrow, the exact status of affairs, to enable you to act promptly, and add to your already well-earned crown of professional laurels the brightest leaf that will ever find a place in the wreath!"

Colonel Whitley felt it incumbent on him to insist upon his accepting the use of a carriage, at the Chief's expense, in which to make these numerous calls he now contemplated. This offer of Col. Whitley was thankfully accepted; and half an hour afterwards, Colonel King was driven away in a nice hack, to wait upon the half a hundred leading conspirators (more or less) who resided in an around New York. . . . The Chief took the trifling precaution (in this last arrangement) to place upon the carriage box one of his Own trusty Detectives, Mr. Wm. W. Applegate, in the capacity of driver of the vehicle. This operative was appropriately disguised for the occasion, and a more

accomplished whip never drew rein over a spunky pair o' cattle.

At evening, the Detective returned to report, and recounted to his Chief the fact that he had driven Colonel King all over Gotham, from City Hall to the Croton Aqueduct, and thence to Greenwood Cemetery and back; but ne'er a call had he made upon any one (not to speak of "half a hundred") of the conspirators he had prated so loudly about in the morning! "I am not surprised," said the Chief, quietly. "I never took any stock in this tale of horror." "It is a very singular affair, nevertheless," suggested his Assistant, respectfully. "This man is backed by almost incontrovertible proof of his sincerity. The lawyer, the Western Treasury Agent, the documents, the by-laws of the clan, the reputation of Colonel King himself," etc. "I see it all. And this is my judgment," concluded Colonel Whitley, "formed at my first interview with these three men, and still unchanged. This King is either the cursedest liar that ever drew breath, or he is the craziest devil out of Bedlam !"

Shortly afterwards Colonel King himself came in, to inform the Chief, in answer to his query as to whether he had found his associates of the "Circle," that "he had seen about a hundred of them, during his ride that day. And not one of them dreamed that he had sold them out to the U. S. Government." King then sat down down and deliberately wrote a score of letters to friends in Kentucky (imaginary friends, perhaps) informing them of the course he "had seen fit to take, for his country's good," concluding these epistles with the assurance that he had been rewarded by the Government with a gift of a million of dollars for the disclosures he had made, and that he would divide this plunder with them, on his return home, which would occur very shortly, etc. By means of this performance, Col. Whitley, who

Within two days, the ever attentive and anxious attorney, Filtson, rushed suddenly into the Chief's presence, in a frenzied state of excitement. "Just as I feared, Colonel!" he said, spasmodically. "Poor fellow. King's gone up A martyr to his loyalty. It's just like him.

The 'Knights' are after him! Our affair is exploded, and poor King is doomed. They'll clean him out, sure, and his well-intentioned and loyal efforts to serve his country will send him up the spout, alas! See, Colonel! They've been thrusting these threatening letters under the door of his hotel room all day long. He dare not quit his apartment. He is a goner, sure!" In the adjoining room at Col. Whitley's headquarters, sat the Chief's Assistant, the jolly, portly Nettleship, who was quietly smoking his Habana, and looking over some of the "important" documents connected with this singular case, when Whitley summoned him. They started off directly for King's hotel, and soon afterwards discovered that gentleman, in a frightful mental condition, within his own apartment. "What's the trouble with you, now?" inquired the Chief, as he entered, flanked by the facetious Nettleship. "Gone up," screamed King. "It's all over! The thing is out — the Knights have discovered my attempt to tell their story and I'm a dead man, ere the sun shines on this blessed earth again. I can't escape them. They're here, there, everywhere. And I'm a goner! Look," he continued. "Read these letters, shoved beneath my door, here, by the score. Read, Colonel!" and the terribly excited man exhibited a handful of missives emblazoned with daggers, crossbones, death's-heads, coffins,

!