Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1870-11-30
A Lunatie Colony.

Mahnes, only few have heard of the
strange town of Gheel, and scarcely any
have thought it worth their while to visit
it. Yet at a distance of only twenty miles
from these cities is to be found one of
the most interesting phenomena of the
present day.
At Gheel, q large proportion of the
population consists of insane persons,
who share in all the daily tolls and pleas
ures of their sane fellow-citizens who
live in fraternal equality with them and
are permitted freely to take part in their
religious festivals and ceremonies. This
custom has lasted for centuries, and ira
dition has preserved the following sad
and tragic legend of the original institu-
ton.
Early in the seventh century chapel
had been erected on the desert lands
of the campine, and dedicated to st.
Martin, the Apostle of Gaul. The few
pious pilgrims who built their huts in the
neighborhood were the founders of the
Gheel 1t was in this desert spot that
the fair Dymphinia, according to the
legend, sought refuge from the cruel
love of her father, wicked king of Ire
land She was accompanied in her flight
by an aged priest named Gerrebert, who
had converted her to Christianity. The
king discovered her retreat-Gerrebert
was killed by his guards, and the mis-
fortunate Dymphinia was murdered by
the impious hands of her own father.
Tradition states that some lunatics,
who were the witnesses of this horrible
deed, were restored to their senses. The
miraculous cure was ascribed to the VIZ
tues of the murdered princess, who from
that time became the patron saint of the
insane. A custom then arose of leaving
lun ltics in the charge of a few inhabitants
who had settled there. The cluster of
huts became village, and in later times
an important town. In the twelfth CEN
fury large church, dedicated to ST.
Dymphinia, took the place of the old
chapel of st. Martin, and in A. ID. 400
the popular belief in the miraculous power
of the saint was confirmed by the Bull of
Pope Eugenius Nv.
At this distance of time it is impossible
to discover whether the cures were real or
imaginary, but, at all events, we can
easily perceive how what at first was a
work of charity and piety soon became a
source of prosperity to the country, and
of freedom to the insane who were
brought there. At Gheel the combi-
nation of northern climate with the
sandy soil of the south rendered the
means of livelihood difficult to obtain
through the barrenness of the SOIL
Economy, as well as kindness, prompted
the sane to live in common with the insane
guests. The lunatics were adopted into a
family, and shared the same room, and
in early times, the same bed, with their
hosts. Their guardians, who could i'll af-
ford the time to keep and watch them
within doors, usually took them with
them in the fields, when they went to
work, and thus gradually the lunatics in
their lucid moments became fellow-work-
ers in the fields, as well as companions in
the house, and lived freely and fearlessly
with their keepers.
1t is wonderful to see how soon the
lunatics accustom themselves to the reg
ular hours and habits of their guardians.
The whole system which prevails at Gheel
may be summed up in the two words
liberty and work. The lunatic is at lib
erty to move about as he likes he is
treated as fellow-creature, and not like
wild beast only fit to be Gagged and
chained or forced into submission. He
may be seen-except in those cases when
the physician does not think it advisable
peacefully smoking his pipe at the vii
lage inn, and reading the paper, or play
ing cards and drinking beer with his
friends and neighbors. In houses where
they can all Ike part in the household
economy.
In the town the female lunatics work
in the lace manufactures while some of
the males find employment in the work
shops of bootmakers, tailors, and other
tradesmen. They are all attentive, also
to their religious duties. BY being per
mitted to take his part in religious offices,
and to take the sacrament whenever his
reason is sufficiently conscious of what he
is doing, the lunatic is raised in his own
estimation, as well as in that of his fellow
citizens Such is the lunatic colony OF
Gheel. Whether the same system adopted
there could with safety be introduced in
other parts of the world, is a question
that must be medicated but, at all
events, the philanthropists who visit that
spot will return convinced of the advan
tags of an instruction which alleviates
the wretched position of lunatics, and
which, by giving them reasonable free
dom, restores them sooner to health and
to society.