The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1868-07-31
NUMBER i38.
INSIDE EEDLAM.
SCENES IN BETHLEHEM HOSPITAL.

n The London Telegraph describe
t some OF the scenes in the Bethlehem
Q Hospital for the insane in England:
: "ln Bethlehem Hospital every effor
s is used to make the lite of the inmates
cheerful- As you walk down the corli
} dors you hear the cooling oil fpigeons anc
the quick, jubilant notes Of singing
birds, fitting TO and fro in large ane
we'l-tended aviaries. Presen " you
/ come TO an aquarium; anon TO a Sand
!; OF flowers, whilst there are Statue; les
and ensraviogs on the walls. Every
where, H2it; everywhere, elbow room
and breathing space. Hen,e, az you
are led.onirom stage. 10 stare you oiad-
uaIly get into a sfaie of mild in Viii, Il
II is not in the least surprisi OF o you TO
lind yourself withsome very geni lemdn-
ly lulatics playing billiards; nor do you
feel at all asIonisled by and-by to he lr
piano iii neigbboring room, and re-
eognize bitlot Beethoven. Pats OF
Bethlehem seem more like q club t,ian
madhouse. Every man is allowed TO
smoke after lie dinner; and it is with a
strange Keeling of scmi-bewilderm n ti
that you STROLL info a readIng-room aud
see gentleman quietly enjoying bis
tobacco over number of the HIS. ra-
ted News. @Mad ~ Certainly; has been
mad for Yeats; will be mad for years;
but not tor all that mise .ble-noL tor
all hat cut off from he fellow, hip OF his
race! 1t is hardly The sufferers from
acute m.inia, perhaps, thatafiiiot one the
most" -H ri. fsI-- ta-r..-.-
/ 'Here and there. over fine a nd proud
face, you see a shadow pass like a thun-
der cloud, as the hian's bour of torment
comes upon him; but in mat there is
stlll some courage and manhood leff.-
Yonder, stricken by tie worst kind of
melancholia, a poor creature, his hair
all gray or grizzled, rocks himself in
cessantiy to and fro upon his seat,
shrinks from touch as from fife, and
gives no answer TO a kindly salutation
but moan. If this be his state at mid
diy, what Is 1t when the night closes
in? Pass on; and now, how Told, think
you, is the rosy gentleman half ajleep
in chair by the chimney cornerY The
rosy gentleman looks up with sur
prising amount OF briskness, as he hears
the question, and answers, Ninety,
sir. he is not dreaming, not roman c.
ing; He came to this spital-thnk of |
it!-in January, 1927, already forty |
eight years old; and there Is still col |
or on his cheeks. Less cheerful. but ro- |
bust IN his language to degree which |
neighborhood. Our men swore terri
bly, in Flanders, but this grand old We
teran would out'wear thirty troopers.
Never was there an old gentleman SO
utterly unfit for publication"
I'm the female wards, situated in the
eastern part of the hospital. we meet
with many more cases of chronic and |
persistent delusion thaa amongst the
men. The very first lady. for instance,
whom We accost soon describes herself
as Queen of Heaven and Eatth,' and
speaks of her Most Gracious Majesty
Queen Victoria in sighting tone and
de hout en- bas. A poor unhLppy gcnile-
woman has been here for yea \; she has
grown old and sharp and wrinkled; her
white hair hangs in great tangled heaps
about her, and there is an awful look,
like that of hunger, in her eyes Us she
presses towards the door of her little
room, aud would fain pass on and hus-
tie by you. 1nvoluntarily, a man
shrinks from the touch for just second;
aud it is not your first impulse. but
re,ufn Of your reason. aud your rever-
ence for woman, which makes you ac-
cept and press the hand chat she offers
you. Ah, it is a thin worn hand Hon
estly, one is glad enough to mount to
the uppe galleries, where the more
hopeful, at any rate the quietcr, eases
are TO be met with.
sDecorous as private d'awing-room
are many of these apartments, where
some of the patients sit reading, others
others again, practising at the
piano. A J.oor. girl-wh0 is, il the Strict
sense, young lady-ea-
gerlv accosts us as we pass. As one
might guess. it is the old story of love
that came to nothing. The face is
bright still, and pretty, though the fine
eyes are troubled, and there Is painful
lille catch in the vol e. Senslbly aud
quietly, with kind OF subducd eager
ness that l. wonderfully touching, she
pleads lor he's release; she is quite we'll;
SHE would be quite safe; she can take
rare of herself perfectly. A crucial
question is then asked; aud she cries,
'Ah but shall tell you the truth, or
not the TRUTH When L tell you the
ruth, you keep me here Aud The
truth God help us, Is that she is en-
gagged TO a young gentleman, and that
the greater part of Europe belongs to
him. The soft but earnest voice. la
dy's in every tone--rrembles down in-
10 tears, but The eyes, though suffused,
look proud, and have touch of anger
in them, as she says. You Keep me
here because tell the truth Noquiet-
er voice could you hear; and you must
be strangely constituted ifyou can turn
away from such an interview without