New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-12-11
pENNS VI VANIA INSTITUTION FOR
IDIOTIC CHILDREN.

MEDIA, Penn, Dec 8, 1857.
This quiet little village anorg the picturesque hills
Of Wet Chester has bsen todsy tdrcnged with vls-
tors from PhiIAdelphs and elsewhere.
II has been selec ed a. the sls for masO6 sent
buildng for the Pennsylvania institaion for ldiotc
Cbdrep and the ceremony Of laying the cornerstone
too ace to- day.
The eereuor les were very interesting and were con-
Quoted BY Bishop Potter.
Mis- Dr. who has taken great interest in the enter
prize, was TO have BEEN present, and handled the
trove; but accident prevented her arrival.
The ceremonies were performed in the open cir, on
bill top, With mag ni6osnt LANDSCAPE in font, and
| noble belt OF forest trees IN the rear.
Twas q touching tight, that Of great concourse
of men and women out upon the hills, on Winter
day. with beads uncovered aud revefently DO we'd q,
the Bishop stood up and with ousstretohed arms in
veked the blessing Of Heaven upon their enterprise.
After this an address was delivered by Dr. Howe OF
Bostop.
DIR. Wilbur of your State Institution a. Syracuse
made some interesting remarks and Mr.. Titus Of your
city made very sensible, off hand speech.
The Bishop and several Pent sylvsnians Of note
spoke aso and there was manifested great deal Of
resolution and pluck under the sober, q1skerisn
deesnor of the assembled friends of the Iustitutor.
After their long march up the hill, they marched
down sgaip; but suspect that something more viii
come of it than csme Of the renowned march Of the
King of France, Penn.
ADDRESS OF DIR. HOWE on LAYING THE CORNER
STONE OF THE PENNSYLVANIA INSTITUTION
FOR IDIOTIC CHILDREN.
You have gathered together this day to show your
regard for work which will ava AIKEN little plolc 10.
teIest and excite no public enthusiasm. Ii viii be
unknown or disIegarded by the many. Worldly men
shaka heir hi nv w q
superior wisdom; ard foolish men may even indulge
in wittcisDs at your expense:
But the most ursympstbetic and unapprecstive of
all will be those unfOrtunstes 10 whose behalf you
labor; who understand Whist You DO for
them nor lessen your satisfaction by their thanks.
Nevertheless, it is meet and proper that you should
msIifeet by outward show aud ceremony your sense
of the iu pOrsnce Of the work which you undertake
Nature leads men to manifest their emotions by
ceremopjsls or more enduring movements and these
naI'fesfstoIs have their reflex sction-for evil if the
emotion be evil-for good IL that be good.
We must net then 40 tndon pomp and ceremony as
childish becsuse they have been 30 much devoted TO
childish things but rather adhere to them, srd drect
them upward. We arc yet too feeble 10 our moral
nature 10 be 10y al to the abstract goed without the aid
of concrete signs In all times men have used public
cerenonias TO marx their serse of great occasions.
In The early sges to show their respect for bodily
and courage; In the later for intellectual
power ard requirement; but in all there must be the
supposed element of greatness This IL the thing they
honor Bat The real greatness Of an event depends not
the Pyramids thought their purpose would be known
through all tine and the structures be etsrnal they
who nailed two bits Of wood together On Calvary
thepght the men DRY thereof would perish before the
timber would rot
Now the occasions which call forth public ceremo-
Des are e,uoDg the best tAits of the hight which
people has gar ed in true civilizations; orpeope honor
most WI at they post desire TO bestropg and brave,
rich srd luxurious, powerful and dominant, learned
and furious wise and goOd according to the nature
of The cal, ore they who hear aud heed il. 1t was
ALL ct tId to nund n
me Mt en- Bunker Hill; il would be bard 70 get dozen
to Nurd light houss-yet light house is the noblsr
monument.
Hospitals are nobler monuments, even, than light.
houser They are amorg the jewels which shine out
With IL light through the cloud of greed aud sell
fsbpess which br0ods overthe land othe eyes OF 40
gels they chi brighter than the church spires which
tower 90 ambitiously above them. Works done IN
them If done in The spirt of love, are more socepts
bic offerings to God than ever prayers and praise.
But as the stars differ in brightness so do hospitals
differ in the be suty and holiness Of their mission They
offer in the nature Of the works they have to do; and
the order in which people provide them usua ly cor
responds with the isiog scale OF their own civilzs-
ton. Hospitals for tho wounded usually precsde
those for the sick Beside the honor in which war is
held man struck down in battle, or IN the street,
feems nearly like one Of US than he who falls
sick.
Provisions for the sick usually prsoede those for the
inssDe upon the same principle. Sickness seems
TO people than ir sanity does Every one feels
that be- OF his child, bis brother, may be sick at
any time but he thinks ii ess likely that any of his
kith lin will 90 mad. Hence yeu find hospitals for
the sick smorg people who have cot yet risen 10 .
Consciousness Of their duty to the insare
10 appeals to the people and TO government in be-
half OF HOSPITALS have at first to press strongly the
economical considerations. These are easily under
stood and promptly answered. Many mans reluc-
lance 10 vote appropriation for an insane hospital
hiss been by the argument that would re-
store many to reason, aud turn over TO the public
productive workers - of inssne psupers
hospital for incuIsbes, even if il we're not open to
other objections would obtain less favor thsn ord
nary one. You would have TO aoduce higher motives,
and they mis TIT be above popular Tesch.
The same principle holds with regard TO the treat
ment Of different classes Of the inrm. The wounded,
the sick the insane usually provided for be-
fore any organized effort Is made in behalf of the
blind and the deaf mutes.
Ii is tie in the treatment of these two CLAUSES.
People provide asylums for the blind long before they
nee TO consciousness Of their spiritual wants. and pro-
vide schools for their instruction.
Tried by this est you will find that the extent TO
which public provision made in the Old World for the
spt RIG and the IL him. corresponds very nearly with
the eleva Of the different countries in the scsls OF
civilization. There may be an occasional exception,
as where supershous notion that the insane
possessed by spirit MusulDans to make pro-
vsons for their care. But it Isl Christian and civil
lied Europe alone that hospitals are founded and
maintained in high spirit Of senefosDce.
But ever there you will that they flourish Or
apguish ACCORDING TO the moral tons of the psOps.
For rstanoe favored by the generous impulse Of toe
Blind were planted by the Able Hsdy from Madrid
to Petersburg; but, While they multiply and flourish
| in France, England, GeImspy Holland aad Belgian
they, for the mest psIt, laDgush ellie shes AID yoI
will ind that little Cs0ton Of Switzerland MAINTAINS
schools better appointed than the royal establishments
| Of Spain and Russis.
1t lie much the In this country. Hospitals aud
Asylum abound ever who're in he North nowhere 10
the South call for al effort ia behalf Of say class
OF irnrm who hsve been long neglected IL esp ,nded
to ssseIly by people ard legislatures through the
Northern and WesteInste bat finds only faint echo
ntbe South and South Wes from an enlightened few
The socia Institutions do not encourage the spirit Of
| humanity in the people. New.York, Penstylv.ni.