2l8 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



being informed, that he had found means to efcapc 

 from his prifon, and had recovered the ufe of his 

 reafon. 



A great many phyfical remedies are employed 

 for the cure of madnefs ; and it frequently proceeds 

 fram a moral caufe, for it is produced by chagrin. 

 Might there not be a polTibility to employ, for 

 the reftoration of reafon to thofe difordered beings, 

 means direflly oppofcd to thole which occafioned 

 tlie lofs of reafon; I mean, mirth, pleafure, and, 

 above all, the pleafures of mufic ? We fee, from 

 the inftance of Saul, and many others of a fmiilar 

 nature, what influence mufic poflefles for re-efta- 

 blifliing the harmony of the foul. With this ought 

 to be united treatment the mod gentle, and care 

 to place the unhappy patients, when vifited with 

 paroxyfms of rage, not under the reflraint of fet- 

 ters, but in an apartment matted round, whero- 

 they could do no mifchief, either to themfelves 

 or others. I am perfuaded that, by employing 

 fuch humane precautions, numbers might be re- 

 ftored, efpecially if they were under the charge of 

 perfons who had no intereft in perpetuating their 

 derangement ; as is but too frequently the cafe, 

 with refpedt to families who are enjoying their 

 eftates, and hcufes of reflraint, where a good board 

 is paid for their detention. It would likewife be 

 proper, in my opinion, to commit the care of men 



difordered 



