Note 861 — Chapter VII · (continued 2)

The earliest unmistakable instances of those violent outbreaks which showed the presence of disease, were in the debates on the regency bill, in February 1789, when Sir Richard Hill, with brutal candour, hinted at Burke's madness, even in his presence. Parl. Hist. vol. xxvii. p. 1249. Compare a letter from Sir William Young, in Buckingham's Mem. of George III. 1853, vol. ii. p. 73; ‘Burke finished his wild speech in a manner next to madness.’ This was in December 1788; and, from that time until his death, it became every year more evident that his intellect was disordered. See a melancholy description of him in a letter, written by Dr. Currie in 1792 (Life of Currie, vol. ii. p. 150); and, above all, see his own incoherent letter, in 1796, in his Correspond. with Laurence, p. 67.