§ MR. J. LOWTHERasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If his attention has been called to the committal to York Castle on the 16th of March, for contempt of the Court of Chancery, of Mr. John Murgatroyd, a person of unsound mind; and, whether it is the case that in an Official Report addressed to the Lord Chancellor it is stated that the parties at whose instance the committal was ordered, were well aware of Mr. Murgatroyd's state of mind; and, if so, what steps it is the intention of the Government to take upon the subject, with a view to provide against the recurrence of such proceedings?
MR. BRUCEsaid, in reply, that he had communicated with the Lord Chancellor respecting this case, and was informed that the Governor of York Castle had written a private letter to the noble and learned Lord to state that Mr. John Murgatroyd, who had been imprisoned for contempt of the Court of Chancery in omitting to discharge his duties as an executor, was a person of unsound mind. The solicitors who obtained the order for the committal were immediately communicated with, and the result was that, at their instance, the prisoner was discharged. They affirmed that, when they applied for the order, they had no knowledge that Mr. Murgatroyd was of unsound mind.