The delusion of persecution is certainly one where the tendency to homicide seems most logically commanded; the insane is under the influence of an irritating or terrible pressure; his enemies obsess him, without giving the slightest pretext for their hostility, they persecute him, slander him, threaten him, prevent him from enjoying life, if he is rich, from winning his bread, if he is poor; his nights are disturbed by the injurious remarks of the neighbors, his days are spent in the same anxieties; all means are good to his persecutors who have mysterious resources, who, not content to lose him outside, penetrate into the intimacy of his thought, force him to want what he does not want, and grant him not an hour of respite.

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