New-York tribune., 1876-12-06
THE HOUSE CASE.


Events have vindicated, though in an indi-
Jersey justice. Mrs. House, indicted and tried
for the murder of her husband and acquitted
upon some indefinite notion of self-defense,
has, after sufficient medical inquest, been
committed to the State Lunatic Asylum. OF
her insanity there can be nc question in the
minds of those who have read the extraOrdi-
nary letters which she has written. UndOubt-
edly her mental infirmities have been aggra-
vated by the experiences through which she
has recently passed, but there is reason to be-
lieve that for several years she has been
morally Irresponsible; and 1t would have been
vastly better for her and for many others, if
she had been sent long ago to her present
place of residence. There is popular
feeling that many persons sufficiently
sane for liberty are unjustly placed in mad
houses, and there treated with great inhu-
manity. The idea is an old one, and although
there is infinitely less truth in it than there
once was, there is some truth in it still. But
whether it is exaggerated or not, there Is
grave reason for believing that many lunatics
are left quite unrestrained, and in not few
instances unsuspected. Mrs. Houses is a case
in point. She was constantly doing strange
things she had that uncomfortable temper
which is one of the signs of an unsOund mind
her life was erratic, and passed in constant
defiance Of cOnventiOnalities; and the only as
tOnishing point is that the murder which she
committed should have been her first one.
Yet she was only one of hundreds hardly sane
enough for freedom and yet not deemed in
for
ample evidence of her inability to restrain
herself, she was released. Fortunately, she has
done no serious mischief during her brief
enlargement but if she had, would it have
been very surprisingf
? The superintendents of lunatlc asylums COM
plain that patients are too often brought to
them only after the disease has become in
curable through time or neglect. Society also
has right to complain that human lives are
placed in jeopardy through the sensitive disn-
clination of relatives and friends to take those
measures of restraint which are authorized by
law. Unless deed of violence has actually
been committed by the llnatic which will give
the officers of justice an opportunity of acting
he may go on for months and years, a great
trouble to all, and yet considered no more
family when one of its members is in this
condition, is that he can be managed at
home, and open scandal and modification
avoided. 1t is unpleasant to speak plainly
of this erroneous course, because 1t is often
pursued out of the deepest affection; but all
the same it is erroneous and may result in
frightful consequences. 1t Is well enough un-
derstoOd that there is no real kindness in
allowing child always to do as it pleases;
but it is not so well cOmprehended that it is the
hight of cruelty to allow one bereft of reason
the same freedom of action which is accorded,
as a matter of course, 20 the rational. How
thankful would poor Mary Lamb have been if
she had been sent to a Bedlam, bad as Bed
lams then were, before her irresponsible hand
had taken the life of her mother! More than
one unhappy homicide has awakened to intel.
lectual consciousness only to ask in abiding
wretcbedness why he was permitted to do
deed to his right mind so terrible!
Meanwhile, it is for those to whose care luna
tic asylums are intrnsted. so far to respect
public prejudices as to permit the utmost pub
licty consistent with good management, and
to see to it that there is no real occasion for
suspicious of cruolties perpetratcd within the
walls Of their establishments. A case like that
of Mrs. Gleason, if she was unnecessarily sent
to Blacllwels Island. and cruelty treated there,
does great deal of harm apart from its personal
injustice. What is needed is an intelligent COM
prehenson of the subject on the part of the
public, moral courage sufficient to overcome
prejudices and antipathies and such regulation
of the asy,ums as will put an end to all except
the most ignorant and pervcrsc suspicious.
----------------
The letter we printed yesterday from W. W. 5,
one of the most prominent of the recent graduates