The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-05-17


their establishments, by which each depart
ment. was compelled to provide. fen its
lunatics. -, sl'ss5l N 81
60 far Is know, only one religious order
OF men has undertaken the care Of the in
sane. The /" Brothers of st. John Of God y
do not cohfine themselves to this work |;
they have also in France reformatory and
industrial schools, and hospices for the
aged poor, and used formerly to have the
care of several hospitals but, on their re-
turn TO France after the Revolution, in
1913, they found that the insane peor Of
Brittany were 50 terribly neglected, that
they did not hesitate in dev0ting themselves
to the Improvement of their condition.
There was certain fitness In this, for st.
John of God, rs if to prepare him to be the
founder of the order which bears his name,
had experience in his own person the hor-
rors OF Q medieval Sganish asylum, and had;
among his works q charity, preceded our
English and French physicians by three
hundred years in endeavUring to govern
Inmates by kindness, instead of cruelty.
The first house opened by the 6 Brothers Of
Charity" as they called themselves, was as
Oman, in Brittany but the present build
ing was only begun In 1928, and has under
gone repeated enlssgements since th..sinne,
the new handsome church attached 20 the
asylum being hardly yet completed, This
gradual enlargement has unavOidably
caused BOme confusion and nregufarity IN
the arrangement. of the different parts Of
the building, which is in every other respect
one Of the most perfect of the kind; ON the
Contfnent-bu IL IL tho best proof Of the
weH-mefited success Of the community in
their isbors. There are about six hundred
patients at present in the asylum, Of whom
patients of the two departments of MOrbi-
han and Cotes du Nord the remainder
being divided into several classee. Accord
ing the rank in life of the patient, and the
amount Of attendance required fog him.
There are about one hundred brothers in
the community, all Of whom are employed,
more or less directly, in the care of the in
sane, and the amount of watchfulness exer-
cised by them over their charge day and
night cannot be exceeded in the best man.
aged asylums. The day rooms and dormi-
tories for all classes of patients are more
cheerful than in most French institutions,
having pictures, statuettes, and other orna=
pents in them, mostly of religious char
acter. ALI kinds of amusements are pro-
vided and encouraged, and I was glad to
see many interested either in reading books
and newspapers, or in playing cards, chess,
draughts, billiards, and (of course, being
Frenchmenl at dominoes. More serious
occupation is found for those whom it may
benefit; the admirable farm and park are
to great extent kept in order by the pa
tients; while others act as clerks or ac-
countants. Yet the religious complain that
their efforts in this way are greatly hindered
by the laziness and untidiness natural to
the Bretons with whom they have to deal.
The Brothers of st. John of God have two
other asylums in France one at Lyons, of
which l know very little, and one at Lille.
This last is by no means SO admirable or
convenient building as that at Oman but
much more can be here done in the way of
employing the inmates. Thus there is a
theatre, band of ." orpheonistes," and of
vocal performers, q kind of "estaminet.n
and even fre-brigade, which has several
times been of use in the town. 1t may be
doubted whether this last mentioned occu-
patton is one which might not be very inju-
rlous to lunatics; but of course the mem
pers OF the fire-brigade are specially Sc
iected patients, and, at any rate, the re-
hgious assure me that they have never
observed any evil results.
All the other religious communities in
france who undertake the care of the in
sane are communities of nuns. In some
few of these asylums female patients only
are received, las at Saint Brieuc and
Rennes) but in most of them there are also
lay men servants, who have the charge of
the intirmary, and having the general direc-
lion of the house.
Of all these establishments, the largest,
and in some respects perhaps the best, is
the Bon Sauveur," at Caen. The good
work was begun here in 1920 by an ecclesi-
astic of the town, and has been usually
prosperous. 1t now covers a very large
space, near the glorious Norman church,
built by William the Conqueror, in one of
the most open suburbs of the town. The
buildings are grouped, very irregularly,
round q large open arcade or cloister, but
are so completely disconnected that the
" service (for baths, meals, etc., must be