Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-09-08
For the Spirit of the Age.
A visit to the Lnnatic Asylum.

made q short visit to the N. G. Institution IN
or the insane. situated near Raleigh. 1t was
bright, sunny September afternoon, and
he calmness of the Sabbath day added to
The serenity Of the occasion and the impress
Iveness of the place. As we approached the
Institution, the rawlings of the frantic, the ~
Of the joyous, and the sad songs d
of the melancholy, were distictly audible ~
" The gay still laughed, the solemn brood of
care sped on, and each one, as before, still !"
chased his ~favorite phantom" These vari- Il
Gus evidences of joy and sorrow, hope and u
despair, delusion and folly, seemed but the +,
representation in miniature of man and the
state o~fsociety out in the +" wide, wide world"
Every mailman does not wear a straitjacket,
and the walls of the Lunatic Asylum only
contain samples of the various classes of the
race.
One gloomy inmate was uttering her feel
ings in plaintive notes to the following effect:
Break, wretched heart, and let me die
Why linger longer here ?
Since all of hope and Joy is gone,
Life seems so dull and drear.
Bleed, wounded spirit, bleed, and burst
This prison-house of clay;
Nothing now letters thee to earth
Nothing invites thy stay"
As the sound Of the singers voice, which
was one of much sweetness and touching pa
! thos, died away, one was almost tempted to
: express the hope that the breaking heart had
obeyed the mandate of its possessor, and
ceased to beat-that the wounded spirit had
ceased to bleed-that the soul of the sufferer
had passed away with the departing melody,
and was at rest.
We were politely received by the authori-
ties of the place. 1t was the hour for divine
"a Il - 1~.A GC- e tho m
mates, Who were sufficiently restored to at
tend the service. had been seated in the
chapel, the minister and our party were in
n troduced. Seriousness perVaded the congre-
in cation; and when the exercises were COM
ro- menced, the attention of all was at once ar
,lv rested. Many joined in singing the beauti-
full hymn,
"When | can read my title clear,
his To mansions in the skies"
ems And then went up to the Almighty Throne
oos the petitions of these His unfortunate crea
lures, which, from the earnestness and sim
~ plicity of their devotion, were doubtless &C
ceptable in His sight.
God is love" said His ambassador ant
e. he led his hearers to contemplate that Low
in the natural world-in it's marvellous beau
d ty, order and harmony; in the regular SUI
re. cession of the seasons, and the adaptation
all things to promote mans happiness. Ma
ying ural religion teaches the oenevolence OF goo
q the character andall His works, from the smai
est flower to the stupendous system
with {" worlds on worlds in phalanx deep"-fro
the least insect that futters in the sunbeam
to the tallest seraph in His presence, pr
81 claim His goodness.
'ngth Behold, again, His love in the creation
bands man, in the noble faculties with which
athes has endowed him, and in the high destiny
anal which he has appointed him.
their But the greatest exhibition of His lo
horns was the gift of His son. As the speaker DIV
: IN upon this fact, tears gathered in many ey
2 - and moistened many cheeks; showing tt
I the the gospel has not lost its power. In
q the s@azIiouTT,bss t tim @,i it1ssEgelIsd devils from t tn !
dixie hearts Of those equally possessee, Tot 9
= the shirts. The tomahawk Of -sssaoras
Noe Of Being present on this occasion afforded
!. PonI opportunity of seeing many of the pate
- which otherwise would not have been
meet sented. And a detected, melancholy ass
crowd blage it was, though an ACCORDINGLY inter
xas, to ing one. The spectator imagines that he
tons" see the peculiar idiosyncrasy of-each n
being lesloiy traced in the countenance. I
good S soaIt anu naughty look IS all that is left
and in its fall, dethroned reason. That
we're less, bestial expression, is the ashes of an
ounce tellect which appetite and sensual indulge
and have consumed. That miserlv co,nteps
y the still wearing an expression of cupidity.
! cried longs to one who worshiped the god of m
nee has mon; but with such warm devotion die
oood kneel at the shrine of his idolatry. that
;s AZ nobler faculties left him a prey to the ru
passion. But those gloomy, despairing
lures are indexed with the shadows of str
larry IN attachment, and the ghost of murdered a
2 bony tons.
!, gush- A large proportion of the sufferers are
lsound Ylcums OF disappointed love. The histor
of the one young lady, still beautiful, though
l. 90 the wreck OF what she once was, is afec
and mournful. She was betrothed to a VI
an 'en to whom she was devotedly attached.
oe- wedding day had been appointed. But, a
ter how uncertain are all human calculation
ytrem- NJ
which Are but the transient pageant of an hon,
ldren And earthly hopei is like the passingf flower
noklng That springs to fall, and blossoms but to I
nc sur Before the fixed time arrived. a fatal
: odors ease had borne the youth to the tomb
in the burning, seething sirocco of disappt
!, oflife. ment and despair had bl:ghted all the c
oraan ished a~nticipations of a young and conf,
a heart, and left the disconsolate maid a h
~ u00i less Lunatic.
|u1i Let the callous misogynist, who is &C
III Cne TONED TO repeat that great fallacy which
nnrmur been embalmedi in verse by Goldsmith. {
the tall that he might prove it a fallacy,) that
granite Love is all an empty sound
storm The modern fair ones Jest,
crash Not known on earth, or only found
lid sa. To warm the turtles nest"
and the Stand rebuked in the presence of such
ing the ioar re = ~ th ;rIe anu unuying affection,
: .u" Scenes like those which meet the e.
y. ana the Lunatic Asylum are well calculat,
gleam- sadden the heart, and invest feeling and
sum timent with gloom. The brightest Il
till the beneath the sky are shrouded in the
ewels- pail of mourning, the merry laugh is of
-satt;ro wild wall of woe, and the dew-drops of
,;Jn:-I3 ness seem but the tears of sorrow.
~ After all. there may not be so mucl
Sleeping ference between the inmates of the ad-l
shower; and the man who is suffered to 90 at |
softly only because he exhibits a little more 81
weaving cd in his madness" Indeed, Master H
rs zone argues that all men are insane: and it