108 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



A NEW AUDIEWCE. 

 Lunatic Asylum, Worcester, Jan., 18G1. 

 Gentlp:men : — I came here last evening, at the 

 request of Dr. M. Bemis, Superintendent of this 

 Institution, to speak, as he requested, "upon 

 some of the more pleasing topics of agriculture," 

 to the inmates of the establishment. In company 

 with the doctor, in the early part of the evening, 

 I went through most of the Wards, and saw the 

 inmates in all their different degrees of hallucina- 

 tion ; and out of some three Jiundred and seventy, 

 there were only half-a-dozen who showed a decid- 

 ed aberration of mind. These, like some of us 

 who think we are sane, were a little inclined to 

 that infirmity called cacoethes loquendi, or rage 

 for speaking, and were very gracefully gesticulat- 

 ing and addressing imaginary audiences, and ev- 

 idently with great satisfaction to themselves. 

 They were all clad in plain, neat clothing, while 

 the long halls up and down which they were lei- 

 surely walking, were scrupulously neat, so that 

 the floor and walls actually glistened in the gas 

 light. The bed-rooms were equally sweet and 

 clean. Each of these halls has a recess large 

 enough to afford room for one or two windows, 

 a sofa on each side, a piano near the front, and a 

 table covered with books and papers in the cen- 

 time. In each Ward I found patients exercising 

 by walking, while others were reclining upon a 

 lounge, or here and there a group of three or 

 four engaged in social chat, or occupied with 

 some interesting game. At the end of one hall, 

 a young man was discoursing "Fisher's Hornpipe" 

 on a violin, and did no discredit to the Art. In 

 the women's wards, groups were sewing, knitting, 

 conversing, or indulging some one of the number 

 who had a fancy to be dressed in all the finery 

 the department could afford. Indeed, there were 

 no signs of discontent, and few of restraint. — 

 Most of the patients appeared cheerful and healthy, 

 and every where met the doctor with a pleas- 

 ant smile, which seemed to say, — "You are our 

 tried and considerate friend." There was a won- 

 derful influence every where, unseen, but not un- 

 felt. All things were done in a firm, but moder- 

 ate and quiet manner, and I soon found that I 

 was surrounded by a system that pervaded every 

 thing, but never chafed, unless violated. In- 

 stinctively the voice of the visitor falls to that of 

 his attendant, and he soon yields to the quiet in- 

 fluences of the place. 



When there, a few years ago, I saw cells with 

 grated windows and iron doors, and within their 

 walls denuded and desperate men in terrible de- 

 lirium. 



"Where are those cells now, doctor ?" I in- 

 quired. 



"They occupied the place of the billiard room 

 which we have just left," was the reply. 



"Probably replaced in some more retired part 

 of the buildings," I suggested. 



"No," said the doctor, "never replaced — there 

 is no need of them," 



"But what do you do with those persons brought 

 hero in a paroxysm of frenzy ?" 



"My Supervisor takes the key to the patient's 

 irons, dismisses the officers who brought him, 

 and removes his bonds ; moves quietly about 

 him ; speaks in low, gentle and loving terms ; 

 walks with him, looks from the windows, sits 

 down, and wins him over to himself in spite of 

 his malady ! There is rarely a case so obstinate, 

 that our system does not overcome it in twenty- 

 four hours, so that violence and danger are not 

 anticipated." 



Wonderful power ! There is nothing in na- 

 ture, thought I, so noble and so mighty as a lov- 

 ing heart. When I last looked into one of those 

 cells, a man sprang at the door, and with the 

 strength of a giant and the ferocity of a tiger, 

 shook the iron frame-work until it seemed about 

 to yield to his power, and with awful impreca- 

 tions smote the stone walls or empty air with his 

 already excoriated fists. Another was prone upon 

 the floor, having divested himself of every particle 

 of clothing in a recent paroxysm. The cold was 

 intense, yet neither seemed to heed it. I was 

 nearly horror-stricken when I learned last evening 

 that the person who was so ferocious was from 

 my native town, and for many years my acquain- 

 tance, an excellent gentleman and scholar. How 

 wise is the Providence that hides the dark future 

 which lies before many of us ! Who v/ould with- 

 draw the veil and look into that future, if he could ? 



No one thing more distinctly marks the pro- 

 gress of the age than the treatment of this unfortu- 

 nate class of our population. These improve- 

 ments have been wrought out by men of learning 

 and benevolence ; not by one person, in a day or a 

 year, but by an aggregation of study and observa- 

 tion, mingled with large experience in many in- 

 stitutions like this. And what a noble monu- 

 ment to the State of Massachusetts does such a 

 spectacle as this present, contrasted with a cus- 

 tom which some of us can remember, of chaining 

 such persons in the kitchen, or enclosing them in 

 a cage like a wild beast ! 



But ray new audience is ready — let us join it. 

 On entering, I found some three hundred persons 

 seated in a chapel whose ceiling was the roof, and 

 the cross-timbers and other parts were hung with 

 festoons and wreaths of evergreens. The inside 

 finish, I think, was chestnut, varnished, and com- 

 bined with the just and beautiful architectural 

 style, gave the whole the appearance of fairy land. 

 My audience was as respectful and attentive as 

 those of our best towns, and during the hour and 

 a quarter in which I addressed them, v:>re iride 



