, 1876-06-17
Religious Excitement and En-.
SANITY.


Since the report has gone forth that
Moody's meetings in the New York Hip.
podromc drove eight persons into nsan.
ity, the PttsbRrg ComwerciI has taken
the pains to summarize from the annual
report OF the Massachusetts, State Insane
Asylum, prepared hy DR.. Woodward,
the Rpcrintcndcnt, the statistical state
ments ofthc number of patients in that
institution made insane from different
causes. 1t appears from this table that
intcmpcrance is The most ordinary cause
Of insanity. But the next most prolific
cause OF insanity is "reigious rrvivals'
or excitement, In ten years, from 1893
to 1913, there were more made insane
from intcmpcrancc than religion. But
during tn. last named year, arcmarkable
one for revivals," something similar to
the present year, there were more than
double the number driven TO insanity by
religion than intemperancc, the ratio
from the eSOlc being, intempsnnce, six
and one fourth per cent; religion.
twelve and thrcc-tourths per cent. In
the same report there is II table showing
the causes Of insanity in ten different
asylums in the United States. In several
OF these, religion was more trightful than
intcmperaEcc. In the Hartford Asylum,
Connecticut, in 1896, there were insane
from intempcrancc, 1903, and from relir.
ion, ITO. In the Ohio Asylum, in the
same year, thlce were % cases of insanity
resulting from intcmperance and ~ from
religion. Ia the Bloominudalc Asylum
the rates we're, intcmpcrance, 10; reIig.
ion, IA. In ten Asylums, OF the whole
number Of patients, 314 were insane by
religious excitement, and 30 suicides
were attributed to the same cause. The
probability is, however, that none of
these persons had woll balanced minds,
the revivals not being to blame, but the
feeble intellect giving way under them.
We do not believe this last statement.
If the writer means that "the feeble in.
tcllect' gives way under vague, myste.
rious and indcfnablc system of religion,
that the teaching is so involved and tor
turors that instead Of presenting clear
conceptions OF truth, it only serves to
darken counsel, We agree with him. But
it, as the Scriptures assert, "the way Is
SO plain that wnytaring men. though
simpletons, shall not err therein" we
cannot believe that the fGeblcst mind
can he driven into insanity. To take
such position is in effect to assert that
the plan of salvation is inadequate to
the spiritual wants of man, us well ms
positive qualification of the doctrine of
Christ. Strange, indeed, that He who
came into the world to clohe men in
thel. ilght minds. should he the direct
cause of unsettling their minds, and a
consequence sending them to lunatic
asylums. We don't believe word of it.
Rather, we are led to believe that it is
feeble" religion, perverted religion,
an imbecilc religion, superstitious, fan
atical religion that unsettlcs the minds
OF the weak and ignorant, and fills our
almshouses and asylums. Intcmpcrance
and an Incorporate, Intoxicating relig.
ion set men and women crazy and un.
balance their intellectual powers
Wadsrorth Enterprise.
Berlin University has 400 distinct lee.
ture courses. Cambridge has $500 stu.
dents; Leipsic has 5000; Yale, 1851;
Harvard, 1878.
----------e-S-s--