Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1830-06-17
THE ATAD-HoTsE.
s7r-;lsl4ied for The Telegraph. from the Ge,
MN NJ Ern-fi-

81 AAfc R1SuOpOas. IIls IdiRtfs VDuEfID.f
country clergyman, who had devoted much
Of has ai,sation and property to the education
OF this, his only son, resolved, notwithsland
ing his years and The length ofths journey, to
accompany him to the place ofhis future res.
idence. 81 must CO." ssid the old man, "and
see where he is to reside, and give MIN last
token ofrny love, which shall make my mem
CRY dearer to him thaa ever"
After their arrival IN town, they sought Gu;
the curesities ID afforded; and the day before
'7he fathers return, visited the Insane Hespi.
aal. The maaifeldsseenes of misery, which
they there witnessed, wrought upon tbs sons
mind with all the power Of novelty. He was
particularly affected with the appearance oil
an aged aud venerable looking man, who had
once been in nigh life, bat now appeared
like perfeSt child in every thing he said and
did. The eversser described to than how
= his unhappy being had been deprived OF bis
properly and reputation, and at length of his
sFeason by tbs vices Of his sons; and, as he
fproceeoed, the old man grinned ghasty
smile AZ every interval of the narration, as II
no wosid confirm Its truth. ''Formerly, j."
confused the Oysrseer, chs had moments OF
Fgasoa, AID inca hS bssogght his Maker with
au edrnesfness and melancholy which even
affected me- to take him oul of the world
But he has such moments no more Sorrow
has etaeed from bis mind the last vestgc OF
reason" This also tho old man confirmed by
bis usual token Of assent; anu, as If he sill
retained an obscure rec collection of the Incl
dents related, cast his eye, pensirely towards
heaven. Ihs sUR walked on in silence at his
fathers side, till they arrived at their lodgings
"Great God" he then exclaimed, show terri
BILE IS the doom OF the maniac. Never, that
l remember, have felt such horror within
me as at this moment. TIE exist and vet not
10 exist To have all the faculties OF the
mind blotted out, and in the very bloom of
HE 10 be nothing but a breathing corpse
nothing but the wandering shade of a depart
cd SOUL How are these wretched beings ex-
Cleded from the number ofthe living! irnpris
oRed, buried, treated as If they were not pre-
sens, as If they heard not" He paused for
lev moments, walking back and forth with
melancholy aspect, and then exclaimed, CON-
the destiny Of humanity Isnudder to tbiu1
what am, when consider what may be -
s."Much as pity the cpuditon Of these un-
happy beings" said the father, "ths amount
of their actual suffering is far less than we
SHOULD be likely to imagine. Can the wantof
eonsciousaess be a source of misery to those
who have no conscioasness?"
'sNo more, replied the son, ethan death
can be 30 the slain. But if this conscious
ness still exists, or returns atintery2ls to the
bswildertd mind-if the miserable nan en-
treats hIs God with tears TO remove him from
life; or points like the maniac we have stem,
to the Hithered top of trss whose neither
branches are yet green, and s1claims with
trembling, III is dead aboye'"--
"Moderats your feelings" said the father
ssY on imagine the consciousness Of such per-
SOM to possess the same slearpaRs and in
stensity as your own bot of this their enfesb-
Z led minds are no longer sapable. And If
they were--ths physician never despairs OF
his patient tiil inseusible to pain. There is
still hope of his recovery"
"Hopei ali, fear it is, at best, feeble
CLEAN OF hope, like that of the criminal on his
way to execution, And what fear attends
that hope! Think what it is my father, to
look apon the rains of ones owa mindl-to
have only reason sufficient 10 perceive its rap
Id dininuhon-to witness the extinction Of
that divine spark which constitutes our dignj-
~ and our whole happiness,-to find ones
self not only arrived at the utsaest limit of
his progress, but sinking step by step from
We every previous attainment My Cod! Ny
God! what an agonzng ssnsahon!-And fit
chance to be a nan who has almost gam ed
the summit OF lna proreme IL ssch an ons
looks down into the frightiui gulph beneath
him, If he already feels ms foot sliding and
him! see him he still eiings TO his hold
with one remDling hand; be still struggles
. with ali the energy of his exietence, TO avoid
the dismal euph, but in vain, in vain! His
p strength fails hjm; nc yields a. ,sst to des-
palr, ana disappears. And il the return Of
reason be SO dreadful 10 thess whose 'nlnds,
as yse say, are sefseblGd what must it be to
q toose whose wild, boiling blood eaa be bound
= only with chains, If reason returns to such
ai3ainds as these"
tis was again silsst, and his father also
: Sd. pensiye and refiscting, for he had already
felt the pangof separation He thought hos~
far b. should soon be removed from his only
= son; and 10 now InanY dangers that son
would be exposed, on account of his youth
ard the inpetuous FIRE of his character. Al
these thl.gS. together with the feelings a.
; ready awakened, filed his heayt with anguish.
Death" said the son, again breaking the
5 s'ienss CT me scene, f'has been Called Shs
2iRV of terrors, what then must be INSANITY
end madness, winch makes evou death bies-
arg? how triihng, now very trfIng, is the
dissolution of the body, when compared with
fhat more terrible death, 10 winch sympathy
- bot insult and contempt; IN which there is
nolhns 10 make misery honorable; in which
Toan IS cast alive in the grave, to zee the
horrors Of his own corruption,'
"YOur images are lrghtlul,' said the ia-
iheY
s.,Somor SO Than the case demands. The