The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1882-02-23
WHO Is INSANE 2

The recent letter of Mrs. Scoville to
Mrs. Garfield, requesting the good offices
of the latter in securing a pardon for
! Guiteau, has reduced US to the necessity
of the conclusion that insanity is hered1-
tary in the Guiteau family, and that the
disease is not confined to Guiteau alone.
There is a latent germ of the dread dis
ease in the sister, and good Mr.. Scoyille
sbouId make arrangements for private
ASYLUM for his wife. That Guiteau was
technically insane, or rather that his
brain was diseased, could scarcely be
doubted, and the jury that broke his
neck were, doubtless, impressed with
the same opinion; but he was not in
sane to that degree which rendered his
confinement necessary, or relieved him
from the moral or legal responsibility
that attaches to anything he might do
or any crime he might commit. The
killing of the president. the excitement
of the trial, the jeopardy of her brother,
and the excellent prospect for his speedy
removal from the scenes of this transi-
tory life have all combined to unseat the
reason of Mrs. Scoville, and quicken to
action the latent germ of insanity IN
herited. 1t would not surprise us to
learn that the result of this
concatenation of causes was the
development by this lady OF
distinct indications of an unsound mind.
If the plea of insanity act as a bar to
punishment for crime when the presence
of the disease is no more clearly defined
than in the case of Guiteau? Nine crimi-
nails out of every ten charged with the
commission of Ofienses could avail them
selves of its advantage. There are as
many different phases of insanity as
there are changes of the moon, and in
the deliberation upon a plea of insanity
the measure of responsibility Is the
history of the accused, the clrcum-
stances of which are the indices of the
disease. There are now, in the world.
around us, mingling with us in all the
walks of life, in all the social com
mercial, religious, and political relations
of life, as many persons afflicted with the
incipient and milder forms of what is
called insanity, as there are persons
troubled with that insiduous destroyer
of happiness, dyspepsia, and the higher
II oh
move the more common are the two
diseases: but we will, for the present, be
confined to the discussion of that which
effects the brain-there is moral
insanity and mental insanity.
The disease of the brain corresponds in
IL the variety of symptoms of manufs s.
tation to dyspepsia in the stomach, and
as such it is so recognized by those who
who have made it study. Insanity is
an incident of civilization. 1t is one of
the prices we pay for knowledge and
refinement. In nina eaSas ont of fen
that, to which society gives the aesthetic
appellation, eccentrieity, is insanity IN
one or more of its phases, as developed
in its multitudinous ramitications. And
vet, should one of these eccentrics COM
pass crime, would a plea of insanity
forbid him to suffer the penalty, that for
the protection of society is thereto at
tached. Among the higher orders of
society in business, scientific and art
circles are found hundreds of eccentric
persons, and the character of their eccen-
tricities are as diversified and as differ
ent as their names or their features.
Any of these eccentricities INDUCED to
any alarming extent are liable to termi
nate in positive eraziness, and the pres
ence of real insanity can only be de-
tected when the pur,uit of the eccen-
tricity results in specific acts, that are
per Sc repugnant tos the intuitions of
the average citizen. Then and not
till then has the indulgence become
detrimental to the public good, and the
person SO affected becomes a subject for
confinement and treatment. Our asy-
lums contain only a small portion of
those who are effected with a diseased
brain. They are all around us, and are
successful in business pursuits, and full
fill with credit aud distinction the va
rious relations of life. They are to be
found among our preachers, our lawyers,
physicians, aud amid the conservators of
the peace, and in the administrative and
Legislative departments of government.
Many OF our farmers, mechanics and Ia
borers are thus affected, and in proper
ton to their number, more are found
among scientific researchers, wooers of
of the muse and men of vast literary at
tainments. From the above desultory
but none the less true thoughts, we
draw the conclusion that man can have
a diseased mind and not be insane to
degree that relieves him of ofresponsibility
morally and legally for an act done or
n crime committed, and in conclusion
PROFOUND the question, "Who is in
sane?"
Ventures and speculation seem to be
the order of the day. Congress proposes
10 tApUiIuivi.V - .,..,. -, u -.
to the tune of $l0000,0O0.
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GnquestionabIy the Very Hest.
BALTIMORE, Md, April -, 1881.
! have recently been using your Browns
Iron BitterS in my family. consisting of