Identity, Crime, and Legal Responsibility in Eighteenth-Century England PDF
Preview Identity, Crime, and Legal Responsibility in Eighteenth-Century England
Identity, Crime, and Legal Responsibility in Eighteenth-Century England Dana Y. Rabin Identity, Crime, and Legal Responsibility in Eighteenth-Century England This page intentionally left blank Identity, Crime, and Legal Responsibility in Eighteenth-Century England Dana Y. Rabin © Dana Y.Rabin 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court Road,London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2004 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St.Martin’s Press,LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States,United Kingdom and other countries.Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-51716-9 ISBN 978-0-230-50509-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-50509-4 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rabin,Dana Y.,1965– Identity,crime,and legal responsibility in eighteenth-century England / Dana Y.Rabin. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1.Insanity–Jurisprudence–England–History–18th century. I.Title. KD7897.R33 2004 345.42(cid:2)04—dc22 2004050533 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 For Craig This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments viii 1 Crime, Culture, and the Self 1 2 ‘Of the Persons Capable of Committing Crimes’: Pleas of Mental Distress in the Eighteenth-Century Courtroom 22 3 Old Excuses, New Meanings: ‘Temporary Phrenzy,’ Necessity, Passion, and Compulsion 61 4 Bodies of Evidence, States of Mind: Infanticide, Emotion, and Sensibility 95 5 ‘An indulgence given to great crimes’? Sensibility, Compassion, and Law Reform 111 6 The End of Excuse? James Hadfield and the Insanity Plea 142 7 From Self to Subject 164 Notes 170 Selected Bibliography 217 Index 230 vii Acknowledgments It is gratifying to be able to thank the many individuals and institutions who have helped to make this book possible. Tom Green and Michael MacDonald guided the research for this project through the dissertation stage. As I reconceptualized the project and wrote the book, Tom Green was a constant source of knowledge, support, and friendship. I would like to thank the librarians and archivists at the Public Record Office, the Corporation of London Record Office, Westminster Abbey Muniments Room and Library, the Guildhall Library, the British Library, and Lincoln’s Inn Library. The staff at the Newberry Library, the Huntington Library, and the library at University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign did all they could to help me to track down the sources I needed. A fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities funded a summer in Cambridge where I participated in an interdiscipli- nary seminar on ‘The Enlightenment Invention of the Modern Self’ directed by Leo Damrosch at Harvard University. A fellowship from the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and the Newberry Library and a Littleton-Griswold Research grant from the American Historical Association funded a summer in Chicago at the Newberry Library. Financial support from the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign Research Board funded research trips to England. A good deal of the writing was done in the beautiful setting of the Huntington Library supported by a Barbara Thom Postdoctoral Fellowship. The University of Illinois has been my intellectual home since 1997. Formal departmental colloquia as well as countless reading groups and coffees provided friendly and challenging discussions of crime, respon- sibility, and the self. Scholars from various institutions and disciplines have discussed my ideas with me and improved this study with their comments and sug- gestions. I would like to thank Amanda Bailey, J. S. Cockburn, Leo Damrosch, Barbara Donegan, Joel Eigen, Jim Epstein, Bob Frank, Amy Froide, Jeffrey Gossman, Bob Griffin, Cynthia Herrup, Caroline Hibbard, Rab Houston, Margaret Hunt, Mark Jackson, Mark Micale, Marilyn Morris, Carol Neely, Steve Pincus, Nick Rogers, Tom Tentler, Jennifer Thorn, Martha Umphrey, Joe Ward, the members of the first annual Bloomington Eighteenth-Century Studies Workshop on the ‘Signs of the viii Acknowledgments ix Self’ at Indiana University, and the members of the University of Illinois early Europe group. I very much appreciate the time and effort of the anonymous reviewers who engaged with the manuscript and gave me invaluable comments and suggestions. Special thanks go to my editor at Palgrave Macmillan, Luciana O’Flaherty. To friends and family, I would like to express my special gratitude. Antoinette Burton has believed in me and encouraged me with a friend- ship I cherish. Amy Masciola discussed defendants and selves with me in countless long-distance phone calls, visits, and vacations in Maine. Susanne Pohl and Clare Crowston encouraged me to be bold. Kathy Oberdeck gave sensitive, nuanced suggestions. Becky Conekin provided friendship, advice, and laughter across the pond. The memory of my father, David, inspired me. My mother, Pauline, my sisters Roni and Leora, and my brother Michael, always gave their love and support. My children, Jonah and Eve, gave me new perspectives on life, Lego, and love. The biggest thanks of all go to Craig Koslofsky who read each word of this book in its every incarnation and never stopped believing in the project or in me. His heroic efforts on my behalf cannot be detailed here, but they are never forgotten, and so it is to him that I dedicate this book.
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