The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1858-05-12

Sauterne ana fOugcOt between us, cOu-
tinued our cUnve rsaiioa at the top of the
voice. A word sr oxen in an ordinary key
stood no more chance Of being beard than
the voice of fsh from the bottom Of
Niagara Falls. -e:. -zsH 4
"And, SIR" said I, screaming in his
ear, "yon mentioned something before din
her, about the danger incurred in the old
system of soothing. How is that?"
Yes" he replied, "there was, OCCASION
ally, very great danger. indeed. There is
no accounting for the caprices of mad
men; and, in my opinion, rs well as in that
of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether it
is never safe to permit them to run at
large unattended. \ luna;ic may be
Southed,' as it is called, for ii time, but, in
the end, he is very apt to become obstrep-
Ierous.. His canning, too, Is proverbial
and great. Ii he has q project in view,
ne conceals his design with Il marvellous
wisdom; aud the dexterity with which he
couutertults sanity, presents, to the meta
physician, one of the most singular prob
lens in the study of mind. When a mad
man appears Thoroughly sane, indeed, it is
high time to put him i'll straight jacket "
"But the donacr, my dear sir, OF which
YOU were speaking In your own exi'eri-
euce-during your control of this house;
have you had practical reason to think
liberty hazard, US, III the case vi a unatic!"
Here? in Dy own experience! !-why,
| may say, yes. Fur example: no very4
long while ago, a singular circumstance
occurred in this very honse. The 'sootli-f
lug system you know, was then in oper-
alton, and the patients were at large.
They behaved remarkably well especial
Hy so--any one of sense might have known
that some devlish scheme was brewing
from that particular fact. that the fellows
behaved so remarkably well. And, sure
lcnough. one fine morning the keepers
found themselves pinioned hand and foot,
and thrown into the cells, where they were
attended, assf they y'we:e the iuhatics, by
the lunulics themselves, who had usurYed
the Offices of the keepers" 81 ,r
lyon d, Mt tell me so! I;never heard
of anything so absurd in my life!"
Pact it all came to pass by means Of
II stupid feIlow-a lunatlc who, by some
means, had taken it into his head that he
had Invented better system of govern
ment than any ever heard Of before of
.unatic government, l mean. He wished
10 give his Invention a trial, suppose g
, and so he persuaded the rest OF The pa
; tents 10 join him in a conspiracy for the
overthrow OF 'he reigniDg powers.
And he really succeehed?''
. "No doubt of it. Tne keepers and
kept were sooa made to change places.
Not that exactly either for The mddnen
4 had been free, bat the Keepers were shut
up in cells forthwith, and treated, Fam sor-
7 " to say, in very cavalier manner"
. BAT 1 presume counter revolution
4 was soon effected THIS condition Of
t things could not have long existed. The
country people in the neighboThood I
visitors coming to see the establishment;
: would have given the alarm - 's' '.t'
{ There you are out, The head rebel
was too GINNING for that He admitted
/. no visitors al all with the exception, one
d day, of very stupidlookins young gen
e ileman of whom he had no reason to- bt
: afraid. He let him III to see the place
: : just hy way of variety to have II little
fun with hin AS soon as he had gam
$ moned him sufficiently, he let him out, anu
e sent him about his business" !"
. "And hot0 long, then, did the .madmar
. reign ?" $ '''.
Oh ip1o
certainly how much longer can't pre-
If csely say. In the mean time, the luna
IL ties had remarkably jolly season of it.
!, that you may swear They dolfed their owl
h shabby clothes, and made free with tht
@ family wardrobe and jewels. The celar
h of the chateau were we'll stocked will
J. wine; and these madmen are just the dev
lis that know how to drink it. They lir
J. ed well, can tell you."- ..., :.
e And the treatment what was the par
ticular species Of treatment which tn,
/. leader of the rebels put into operation?'
! "Why, as for that, a madnan is no
r necessarily fool, as have. already OBJ
,, served; and it is my h)nest. opinion tha
If his treatment was a much better treat
}. ment than that which it superseded I
was a very capital system indeed simple
! neat no trouble at all-in fact it wa
4 delicious = it was"
: Here my hosts observations, we're Gu
It short by another series of yeqs, of th
E, same character as those which had previ
k ously dIsconcerted us This time, howey
Sc ever they seemed to proceed from person
,r rapidly approaching. Rs a.slr .bsa.
IS "Gracious Heayensln / calculated :
Of '1he lanatics have most undoubtediy bro
ken loose" oieg sa ctli q. 1l5
Il very much fear lis So" replie
!" Monsieur MailIard, new becoWing ,exces
in sivey pale, lie had scarcely fal slerl u
sentence, before loud, shouts and inlpreca
lr items we're heard beneath the Windows; an
= Immediately afterward, il ,hecame eyldeI
e. that some persons outside weFegeblleagoI
ing to gain chtcaGeo inio &c room. I'D III
,ll,r q AlIt.aTll .,