The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-09-29

was but one continued act Of devotion to
his liberalor. Il
Next room to Chevinge, three unfortu-
nate soldiers had been in chains for many
years, without any one knowing the cause
of this rigor. They were generally quiet
and inoffensive, speaking only to each 9th
er, and that in language unintelligible to
the rest of the prisoners. They had, how
ever, been granted the only privilege which
they seemed capable Of aPpreciating-,hai
of being always together in the same cell.
When they became aware Of change IN
their usual mode of treatment, they suspect
ed it to proceed from unfriendly motives.
and violently opposed the loosening OF their
irons. When liberated, they would not
leave their prison. Either from grief or
want Of understanding, these unhappy
creatures were insensible TO the liberty now
offered to them.
After them came a singular parsonage,
one of those men whose malady is the more
difficult Of cure, from its being "a fixed
idea, occasioned BY excessive pride. He
was an old clergyman, VINO thought himself
Christ. His exterior corresponded TO the
vanity Of his belief; his gait was measured
and solemn; his smile. sweet yet severe,
forbade the least familiarity; everything,
even to the arrangement Of his hair, which
hung down in long curls On eachside OF his
pale, resigned, and expressive countenance,
gave him singular resemblance to The
beautiful head Of our SAVIOR. lfthey tried
TO perplex him, and said, III thou art Him
whom thou pretendes,: in short, if thou an
God, break thy chains and liberste thysell!'
he immediately, with pride and dignity, re-
piled, In vain shalt thou tempt thy Lord
The sublimity of human arrogance in de-
rangementl
The life Of this man was d complete TO
nance. in which religious enthusiasm play
ed the first part. He had made pilgrimages
on foot to Cologne and Rome, and had
then embarked for America, where, among
the sayages, he Gsked his life in the hope o.
converting them to the true faith. But all
these travels, all these voyages, had the
melancholy effect Of turning his ruling
idea into a monomania. On his return "a
France, he publicly announced himself a:
Him whose gospel be had been preaching
far and wide. Seized and brought before
the Archbishop Of Paris, he was shut up il
the BicetIe as lunatic, his hands and feel
were loaded with heavy irons, and loI
twelve years he bore with singular patience
this long martyrdom and the incessant sar
casms to which he was exposed.
Argument with such minds is useless
thew neither can nor. will understand it,
} Pinel, therefore, never attempted to reason
with him; he unclaimed him in silence, AM
loudly commanded that every one for tn,
i, future should initiate his reserve, and neve
: address single word to this poor lunatic
This line Of conduct which was rigorously
7 observed, produced an effect on this sell
conceited man far more powerful than lh,
: irons and the dungeon. He felt himsel
. humbled by this isolation, this total aban
, donment, in the full enjoyment Of his liber
~. At length, after much hesitation, n
: began to mix with the other in7alids From
: that time forward he visibIy improved, an,
in less than year was sufficiently recover
: ed to acknowledge the folly Of his fome
D ideas, and TO leave the Bicetre.
2 Fifty lunaties were in this manner .eleas
! ed from their chains in the space Of few
; days. Amongst them were individuals iron
every rank Of life, and from every country
/, Hence the great confederation in the treat
e ment Of insane patients. which, until then
r had been looked on as imPracticable, or a
: least fraught with the utmost danger.