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LECTURE
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        LECTURE





              ON






    IDIOC Y:




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              OF THE










EASTEBN LUNATIC ASYLUM OF VIRGINIA AT WILLIAMSBURG













          RICHMOND, VA.




      ENQUIRER BOOK AND JOB OFFICE.



              1859. 
VUc|  7(5-/3 Xtem3 
NOTE.
The following effort is one of a Course of Lectures,
which  has been recently introduced by the writer, as
a means of treatment in the Eastern Lunatic Asylum.
Touching the utility of Lectures in Asylums for  the
Insane, it would be  out of place to say more at this
time, than that they have  been delivered  to  the  pa-
tients of  several of the best institutions for the insane
in Scotland and America; and where so adopted, that
they have been very favorably  spoken of by  those
having the supervision of the charities referred  to in
such relation.
   Williamsburg, May 1859. 
 
A  LECTURE  ON IDIOCY.
" Rome is yet a  city of  palaces and temples, and of
ruins still more glorious and divine than they."  Such
is the commencement of one of Shelley's  prose para-
graphs—a style of  writing in prose, as elegant  and
eloquent, as his poetry is refined an'd exquisite.  After
speaking of  the sublime  ruins of  Rome in other as-
pects,  he proceeds  to allude to their moral bearing.
And he concludes, that  these gigantic relics, though
only calling to mind sad recollections of gladiatorial
shows, of reckless power,  and barbarous rites, still
are grand and glorious, when the reflection is hence
evolved as to the  capabilities of man in working out
mighty results—and  the  hope of future noble efforts
in a better direction is thus educed from works, which
in themselves are only the dreary tokens of  man's
errors.  There is truly something in the general aspect
of Rome, which  at  once reveals to the traveler from
our  new  country, evidence of the vast power dis-
played by the human race in erecting structures which
time itself has not prevailed against;  and  at the same
moment the entire  absence of the better  feelings of 
6
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
the heart, to the latter of which the present age offers
a picture directly the reverse.
  The last of  the conquering empires, Rome concen-
trated all that was proud and mighty, and glorious of
the great nations, over  whose wide realms her victo-
rious  eagles flew.  We turn to the Piazza del Popolo,
the Piazza di  Monte  Citorio and  the  Piazza  di  San
Giovanni Laterano, and we see  piercing the sunny air
and mounting to the azure sky of Italy, three obelisks
hither conveyed  from the far-away  sands of  Egypt,
and taken from the once proud temple of the sun at
Heliopolis—which was merely a heap of ruins in the
reign  of Augustus, but was a splendid  city when the
dynasty of the Pharaohs ruled over the Valley of the
Nile.   Again  you enter  the  magnificent  collections
from the antique in the  Vatican, the Capitol, and the
Villa  Albani.  And you view before you  the mira-
cles of Grecian art; Niobe, weeping for her lost off-
spring ; the marvelous Laocoon, the  noblest group of
statuary that genius has  ever produced; and the im-
mortal beauty which shines  forth in the Apollo Bel-
videre, as bright and effulgent an  embodiment of all
the perfections of sculpture, as is  the  sun, of which
Apollo was the  deity, of the most vivid light which
gushes forth from Heaven's broad dome.  But further,
as relics  in relation to another conquered people, on
the Via  Sacra,  stand^the  graceful  arch,  along the
frieze of  whichris represented the triumphal  proces-
sion of Titus,  on the occasion of his victories over the
Jews—the ornaments of the temple at  Jerusalem, the
table  of  the show bread, the seven-branched  golden 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
 candlestick, the silver trumpets, and other spoils from
 the holy city being still visible, as wrought  by the
 chisel of the cunning artificer in the olden days.  But
 again, in the chaste Pantheon, we find a type of Rome's
 multitudinous conquests; for  having adopted the dei-
 ties of  all  the lands which she overcame, a place of
 worship was here provided  for  the whole of  them.
 Lastly,  as  a specimen of the intrinsic majesty and
 grandeur of  Rome  herself,  we  have,  besides  other
 gigantic remains, the sublime and imposing extent of
 the wonderful Coliseum.
         " A ruin—yet what a  ruin! from its mass
          Walls, palaces, half-cities, have been rear'd.
          While stands the Coliseum, Eome shall stand;
          When falls the Coliseum, Koine shall fall;
          And when Eome falls—the world."

   Yet in the very pride of the unsurpassable grandeur,
 which Rome here exhibits, lie the depths of her weak-
 ness in character, when compared with the nations of
 the present day.  For in this  colossal structure what
 do we see?—A structure that arises at the close  of
 ancient  civilization,  of Roman conquests, of Roman
 adaptation  to  the  civilization of  anterior empires.
 What  do we behold?  Naught alas! that appeals  to
 any of the best feelings of the heart, naught that re-
 dounds to man's government of himself, or sacrifice  of
 himself to  the welfare of others.  The voice of the
 dead ages answers us!  Let the truthf be told,  in the
 words of a  poet, whose superb genius  was as  essen-
tially grand  as this wondrous erection: 
8
LECTURE  ON IDIOCY.
       " I Bee before me the gladiator lie;
        He leans upon his hand—his manly brow
        Consents to death, but conquers agony,
        And his droop'd head sinks gradually low—
        And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow
        From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,
        Like the first of a thunder-shower;  and now
        The arena swims around him—he is gone
        Ere ceased the inhuman sliout which hailed the
          wretch who won."

  Let us now turn to the present: like  Rome,  we
Americans can also boast of god-like  men in  our an-
nals, and illustrious deeds on the historic page; as she
had, we likewise are perhaps characterized by promi-
nent faults,  and by some compensating virtues.   Our
eagles too have flown over a space equal to that which
was traversed by those  of Rome.   To the obelisks,
and especially  to the Cyclopean  coliseum, we  can
show nothing  equal or analogous.  But we  possess a
class of institutions scattered through  the country, to
which Rome was a stranger,  and through which we
have  attained  an  exalted  position,  that she never
reached, or even had the soul to aspire unto.   Each
state of the Union either has or will soon have some
suitable provision for their mentally afflicted children—
and truly the stars, emblazoning our radiant  standard,
are in this relation fit types  of what they designate,
since here at least we are under  benign and heavenly
influences.  Fcf three orders of suffering in behalf of
which public aid is especially demanded, aid has been
extensively  provided in America.   First, there are the 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
9
insane:  and then come the blind, and the deaf mute—
unfortunates whose mental manifestations  appear in a
measure clouded, rendering them  very suitable reci-
pients of public assistance—because owing to the close
connection between the  senses and various psychical
phenomena, the  absence of any sense seems to involve
a mental  condition of a peculiar  nature.   Placed in
asylums where scientific experience can systematically
act,  the deaf  and  dumb and the  blind become new
creatures, alike as to action and enjoyment, when com-
pared with their previous condition, or with what they
would be elsewhere.
  If in  Rome  the traveler witnesses to the utmost the
sublime in art, both in architecture, in  painting  and in
sculpture; if,  as to the past, he realizes in the relics
of antiquity, objects which powerfully excite the  as-
sociations of classic lore; he  finds in a neighboring
territory an analogous source of interest, as appealing
to his feelings, by offering to view the finest scenery
that the earth  can  afford; and  modern remembrances
which thrill the spirit  equally as much as the most
marked  examples in ancient times!  In Switzerland,
indeed,  the American tourist must  feel  a coequal inte-
rest  with that excited in  the  sunny plains of Italy.
In visiting Switzerland, the advice is given by those
acquainted with  its matchless  landscapes,  to  take a
route along the foot of  the higher Bernese Alps in
Oberland, as exhibiting the most impressive mountain
views in the land of Tell and  Winkelried.  Here rise
the majestic,  towering  summits of Finsteraahorn, of
Moneh,  of Jungfrau and the Schrechhorn, of Aaahorn,
             2 
10
LECTURE OX IDIOCY.
Eigher and  Wetterhorn.  From  natural causes,  the
snow on these elevated peaks  is of a more continu-
ous  and  of  a more lustrous purity than elsewhere.
They glisten  in the  sun of noon;  and at  morn  and
eve  they  are  arrayed in dazzling mists, and bathed
with the rosy hues of the  rising and  setting sun, so
that they often assume an ethereal radiance that seems
rather like a land of magic than  plain reality.  South-
western Virginia and Eastern  Tennessee have been
called the Switzerland of America.  They doubtless
present  much imposing scenery; and  are by far  the
finest region  of country  that  I myself have  ever
visited.   But, after  all,  they lack the  essential  attri-
butes of the  Swiss  mountains.  In the first place,
there is the absence of water, without which element
no  prospect can claim to be of  the highest  character;
and we have secondly, in Switzerland, altitudes far
more lofty than any in Virginia; and moreover, the
bright  crown of eternal snow  is also wanting in  the
latter.
  In the midst of the glorious Alpine heights to which
we have referred above, is found Mount Abendberg.
At  an  open space,  three  thousand five  hundred  feet
above the level of the sea, we have below us the beau-
tiful, clear  lakes of  Thun  and  Brienz, as  pellucid
mirrors  repeating again the noble views which  tower
above them, and form a grand monument to  God's
power and  majesty.  Below we see a thick forest of
green pines; but on the opposite side rises the highest
of these soaring mountains, the incomparable  Jung-
frau, sovereign of the mighty Alps.   Far down  below 
LECTURE ON  IDIOCY.
11
lies the fair town of Interlachen, on the narrow strip
dividing  the  sparkling  lakes  of  Thun and Brienz,
with  its  lively stream, its white dwellings and twin
rows of trees.  At  the  open space above  mentioned,
has been erected a plain but convenient hospice.  And
we find in this an example of a  provision which is now
being  made  for a fourth class of those afflicted men-
tally—thus  offering an  additional contrast  between
ancient and modern times.   This class is the unfortu-
nate one of  idiots  and  cretins.   Here in  the pure
atmosphere of these aerial  heights, a  Swiss physician
(with  a  most extraordinary name, but most  praise-
worthy exertions) has during some years labored ear-
nestly for the ill-fated cretin.
  Cretins are idiotic  from  birth,  and  their wretched
appearance betokens  their hapless mentafc condition.
The  forehead is low, the top of the head comes to  a
point,  the lower part of the face is  prominent, the
look is dull  and stupid; and  they have thick lips, a
large,  flat  nose, and  coarse  hair.  A characteristic
complication is bronchocele or goitre, that is a swelling
of the thyroid gland, one of the glands of the neck;
imparting to  these melancholy objects  a still  more un-
pleasant aspect.  Wherever there are cretins, goitres
are met with, but goitres exist in some places where
there are no cretins.  In approaching the  countries
where cretinism exists, one meets with but few goi-
tres ;  these are afterwards found more frequently, and
at length cretins are to be seen.  Cretins  often how-
ever do not exhibit this symptom.  Mr. J. Hutchinson,
in a recent article in the "Medical Times and Gazette/' 
12
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
says of those whom he saw in a late visit to Abend-
berg, " none of the patients were affected with enlarge-
ment of the thyroid gland to any noticeable extent."
The cretins  however are usually the children of goi-
trous persons.  Cretinism springs up not  necessarily,
in mountainous regions, but in the low, narrow valleys
of elevated  localities.  Dr. Guggenbuhl believes that
there are at present not  fewer than 10,000 cretins in
the Swiss Cantons, and at least an  equal  Dumber in
Piedmont.   And in Savoy, and the three departments
of France—Isere, Basses and Haute Alps, or  Lower
and  Upper Alps, M. Niepce  enumerated  in 1S50, no
less than 54,000 cretins, or about five per cent, of the
whole population, estimated at nearly a million.   Es-
quirol  states that they occur  among  the Alps,  the
Pyrenees, the Asturias, the  Carpathian mountains, the
Cordilleras, <fec.   Parents of healthy constitution  and
sound organization  of  body  seldom have cretins in
their families.  When  females of  the Valais marry
Savoyards, who are usually dissipated, they are more
apt to be thus afflicted, than when marrying French-
men or mountaineers of the higher Alpine country,
generally of sober habits.   Stammering is common in
the Valais, and parents who have this defect, are more
liable to the calamity of cretin children than  others.
It was once supposed that  goitre and cretinism were
owing  to drinking snow-water, but they  have  been
detected where there is no snow.   A more plausible
supposition  is that  they are owing  to  a deficiency of
iodine  in the  water of affected  districts.   Certain at
least it is, that this  is a favorite remedy in broncho- 
LECTURE  ON IDIOCY.              13
 cele, and is much  more  universally diffused  through
 nature,  than was  formerly imagined—and  hence  if
 there  be a deficiency, it is probable  that  ill-effects
 must ensue.*  Dr. Guggenbuhl attributes cretinism to
 close,  confined, humid situations, impure  water, want
 of attention to cleanliness,  and other  errors  of daily
 life.  A writer in  the Daily  Press says,  "It  would
 seem  that  the moist and cold valleys,  the marshy
 vapors, the want of circulation of air, the waters is-
 suing from  the snows, are the chief  causes which pro-
 duce cretinism."  And authorities generally agree that
 it is chiefly discoverable in low, marshy, confined val-
 leys, in mountain regions.   It has been asserted indeed,
 that it never appears at  an altitude of  3,000 feet; M.
 Boudin says in a report  to the international  statisti-
 cal  congress, that it  does not ascend in  Switzerland
 above  1,000 metres, in Piedmont above 2,000, and in.
 South  America above 4,700—a metre being 39.37 in.
  We easily comprehend that Dr. Guggenbuhl  not
 only consulted the feeling of the beautiful in selecting
 Abendberg  as the seat of  his most laudable endeavor,
 but  moreover in  the pure atmosphere  of  these  aerial
 heights found a powerful agent to aid him  practically;
 and  one of  his principal remedial  means consists in a
 continued exposure of the poor cretins to the air and
sunshine—those who  cannot walk being laid on the
  * Burnt sponge formerly administered here,  probably owed its effi-
ciency to the iodine contained in it, and it is a curious fact that the stems
of a sea-weed are sold in the shops, and chewed by the inhabitants of
South America, wherever goitre prevails, for the same purpose.  It is a
species of laminaria or sea-tangle, one of the algee, and is  called palo
coto, literally, goitre-stick. 
14
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
grass  to inhale the wholesome  breezes of that high,
pure  region.   It may be  mentioned, moreover, that
Messrs. Schubbu and Buzzorini have shown by their
experiments,  that  the  human  lungs  absorb on  the
mountains a much larger amount of oxygen than oc-
curs in the plain—for which  reason in the former lo-
cality, the nervous system is more active, animal heat
is stronger, and the nourishment imparted to the body
more  abundant.
  Dr. Guggenbuhl's treatment  is always in the  first
place .directed towards improving the physical develop-
ment, before attempting aught in the way of teaching.
Mild  preparations of iodine and cod-liver oil  are  em-
ployed.  Electric shocks on  the head  and feet are
given  during sleep, or in the bath, where the little
patients generally pronounce their earliest  distinct
words.  In addition, use is made of  aromatic frictions
on the back, with baths of the same; of preparations
of steel  and bark; of the waters of Wiedegg,  which
are in the neighborhood; of  a diet  of goat's  milk, of
meat  and  some few vegetables,  excluding potatoes.
Gymnastic  exercises, which require  the  daily  use of
every  muscle,  are deemed very important, and  excite
the children  to  emulation in their feats;  while the
exercise of the faculties of the mind are equally carried
on in mental  gymnastics, according to the powers of
each  little  scholar.   Great and unwearied pains are
taken to teach  them to articulate words  distinctly,
and analogous measures are  adopted, to those men-
tioned hereafter, as regards idiocy proper and its treat-
ment. He begins also by exercising  the organs of 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
15
sense, and employs for this purpose, colors, painting
and music.  A writer in Chambers' Edinburgh Jour-
nal says:  " Music has been found  to  be a powerful
and soothing means, interesting and refining; and we
can bear witness ourselves to the thrilling effect of the
voices of the  happy little  group, who sang to us in
their infantile  manner the praises of their God.   Few
persons, we think,  could have restrained their  tears
while listening to that infant choir, and reflecting that
but for  the  christian love which watched over  them,
their voices might still have uttered nothing but groans,
and their souls remained ignorant of God their maker."
  As to other  results, Mr. Hutchinson affirms, that he
was totally unprepared for  them.   Of the sixteen cre-
tins present, with the exception of a blind one, all had
been taught to read and write, more or less.   One,
who now acted as  a monitor, Fritz Weeir, aged six-
teen, entered at 8, unable to stand or speak, and  com-
pletely idiotic. He had now mastered three languages,
and showed his copy-book in which were written long
lessons in German, French and  English.   Dr.  Gug-
genbuhl  informed Mr.  Hutchinson, that  his case has
many parallels there.  This pupil is able to run and
walk, though awkwardly.  A female, whose appearance
induced the Princess Henrietta of Wurtemberg to call
her the little  worm, underwent a similar transforma-
tion.  She was at first more like a skeleton than any
thing else,  covered with  skin, this  being cold and
wrinkled.   The muscles  were immovable, her  face
deadly white,  and her forehead and cheeks wrinkled
like those  of  old persons.   In three months the de- 
16
LECTURE ON  IDIOCY.
 formities  began  to disappear, the  wrinkles  vanished,
 and  she besides learned to talk  and  express herself
 well.
   This noble institution, which at the outset was treat-
 ed with ridicule, has since received  the utmost atten-
 tion from  high and low.  *The daughter of the Russian
 embassador described it in its infancy with enthusiasm,
 the king of Wurtemberg gave it a personal inspection,
 and the king of Prussia ordered two  children to be
 placed there  from  the principality of Neufchatel—a
 part of Switzerland in political connection with Prus-
 sia.  The  celebrated countess of Hahn Hahn, who had
 taken her  daughter to the Abendberg, in the vain hope
 of  enacting a cure (her age,  sixteen, rendering this im-
 possible),* with  a  most natural  sympathy for others
 similarly unfortunate, requested  that a Valaisan child
 should be  always maintained there  at her expense, to
 be  called  her child, one succeeding the other when
 cured, and for which she bestowed the necessary funds.
 The  success of this establishment too  at Abendberg,
 has given  rise  to several others, particularly in Wur-

  *It is singular to trace the continued similarity discoverable in dif-
 ferent nervous affections.  Thus we see in  insanity as  in cretinicsin, the
 essential importance as to recovery, of the date of the malady.  Agaiu
 we find, as in  the latter, the marked influence of the hereditary tendency
 in insanity.  We see  further that Dr. Guggenbuhl especially laments
 that in many  instances parents cause a relapse from removing children
prematurely  from Abendberg—so common a circumstance in lunatic
asylums.  And in the treatment at Abendberg, as in lunatic asylums, we
 see the mo6t  desirable results arising, not  from one or two measures,
but  from a multitude of items of treatment, alike moral and physical,
all acting conjointly so as to produce one result—a state of things so
different from home arrangements. 
                LECTURE ON  IDIOCY.              17

temberg, Bavaria, Sardinia, Prussia and Saxony.  The
king of Sardinia took up the subject with royal muni-
ficence, and ordered an investigation on this point, in
every parish throughout his dominions.
  Compared with so general an awakening, how oppo-
site was the former condition of the cretin.   It is said
indeed that in the last century, when the French sol-
diers first met with these wretched objects, they were
so cruel that in their horror or feeling of disgust, they
actually had the brutality to attack the poor creatures
with their bayonets.  The neglect or bad treatment at-
tending the unfortunate cretin, was also the evil destiny
of the equally hapless idiot.   The court fool or jester
was a regular official during the barbarous ages of the
        o                 o               o
past.   Often, however, as  in the admirably drawn cha-
racter of Wamba, in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, the
individual was a wit rather  than the  reverse;  and
doubtless many knaves,  even at an early period of the
custom, assumed  the garb of folly, merely  for their
better  success at court.   But nevertheless,  originally
the mere institution of such an  office is traceable  to
the inhuman proclivity to  ridicule  persons so afflicted.
Thus  history, or rather according to present  views,
the legends  of Rome, inform  us, " that Lucius Junius
Brutus  simulated  folly  so well that Aruns and Titus,
sons of Tarquin, having been sent  to Delphos to con-
sult the oracle, brought  him back, to make sport for
them.   This ridiculous abuse  was handed down even
to our own time, and was so general in the middle
ages, that  a council, held  at Paris in 1212,  defended
the  bishops for  having  about their persons, fools  to
             3 
18
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
 make them laugh:'1  Other views in times of ignorance
 were equally  prejudicial  to  the poor victim.   Thus
 take the opinion here of the great leader in the re-
 formation,  Martin  Luther:  "Idiots," says he,  "are
 men  in  whom  devils  have  established  themselves.
 Eight years ago,  I  myself saw a child  of this  sort,
 which had no human parents, but had proceeded from
 the devil.  He was twelve years old, and in outward
 form  exactly resembled ordinary children.  He did
 nothing but eat, consuming as much as four hearty la-
 borers.   If touched,  he  yelled  like  a mad creature,
 and with a peculiar scream.   I said to the princess of
 Anhalt, with whom  I was at the time, ' if I had the
 ordering of things here, I  would  have  that  child
thrown  into the Moldau, at the risk of being held
its murderer.'   But  the elector  of  Saxony and the
 princes were not of my opinion."
  The original meaning in  the Greek of the  word
 " idiotes," was a private man ;  in other words, under
this primary signification, all  persons except those  in
public office are idiots.  From its first  meaning,  it
came then to denote an individual incapable of  hold-
ing a public station, and hence  ultimately the mean-
ing was  transmuted into the  idea  of  those  merely
wanting in capacity.   In succinctly describing idiocy,
perhaps we cannot accurately  go further than  this.
For the definitions  of such a condition have generally
proved  as  unsatisfactory  as those of insanity.   And
the same remark applies to  any short description  of
idiocy.  Thus, take M. Morel's attempt in this regard.
"Idiots," he says, " have scarcely any articulate sounds. 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
19
They express their sensations by gestures, or after the
manner of  [the  lower?]  animals, by strange cries,
which strike with fright and horror those near them."
This  account will  apply to  many, but  not  to all.
Then again, there have been by Hoffbauer and others
various divisions  made, proceeding from  imbecility,
which is the least mental  deficiency, to an almost en-
tire abolition of apparent psychical faculties.  Thus,
at one side of the scale Pinel and Esquirol give an ac-
count of an idiot who resembled a- sheep in her  incli-
nations, manner of action, as well as in the shape of
her head.   This was a girl  at  the Salpetriere.  She
had a strong dislike to animal food, but ate greedily of
fruit and vegetables, and drank only water.   The sole
indication that she  ever  gave  of  feeling or  emotion,
either  of pleasure or pain, was by crying  be, and a
few other syllabic interjections. She was accustomed
to move her head with a sort of alternate contraction
and extension of muscles, and  to  rub  it against the
person of  the nurse.  If inclined to  resist, she at-
tempted  to strike with the  top of her head.  When
placed in  a chair,  she  would always slide down
on the floor, and  she slept on  the  ground, rolling up
her limbs  as  the quadrupeds  do.  She was eleven
years of age, her  head was very small,  and her  back
and shoulders  were  covered  with  hair  two inches in
length.  Another unfortunate,  at the same  extensive
establishment, was a musician, notwithstanding her
different imperfections.  On  witnessing dancing, she
leaped in time; and on hearing  singing, she repeated
it  in a rough  voice,  not  the words,  but the airs, of 
20
LECTURE ON  IDIOCY.
 which she learned a great many.  Fruit being placed
 at her door, of which she  was  extravagantly fond, an
 interne of the hospital commenced a complicated air,
 and she would abandon and not touch the fruit, but
 beat time, until the music  had ceased.  This  scene
 also took place on a visit  to her from M.  Litz, the fa-
 mous pianist; when too he improvised several airs,
 she  took them up immediately.  In an account of the
 trial of a case of idiocy, which  Dr. Pagan gives in his
 treatise on " The Medical  Jurisprudence of Insanity,"
 he  says  that  one  of the counsel observed,  " I  have
 read somewhere, that the following beautiful lines are
 ascribed to an idiot:

      " Could we with ink the ocean  fill;
         Were the whole earth of parchment made—
       Were every single stick a quill,
       .  And every man a scribe by trade,
       To write the love of God  above,
         Would' drain the ocean dry;
       Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
         Though stretched from earth to sky."

  As a general rule,  however,  it is such  faculties as
music, number and the power of rhyming,  that are
found in minds otherwise idiotic; and even here, there
can  be  never a breadth of mental  action leading  to
important results.  Dr.  Howe  thus speaks of one of
these exceptional cases :  "A few years ago, when one
of these prodigies was at the height of his renown, he
was  examined by  Mr. A----,  a rude but very able
mathematician, who tried in vain to  perplex  him  by
arithmetical questions.   These were  solved instanta- 
LECTURE ON  IDIOCY.
21
 neously and correctly, as Mr. A----was obliged to
 acknowledge, after a quarter of an hour's work, with
 a slate  and  pencil, upon  each of them.   He then ex-
 amined him a little  upon  other  subjects; and being
 asked whether the youth  would  not make a great
 mathematician, replied contemptuously, 'No!  he will
 never be any thing but a thundering cypherer!'"
  Dr. Guggenbuhl, comparing idiocy and cretinism,
 says, that cretinism "is always accompanied by some
 great defect in the constitution; while the intellect is,
 nevertheless, capable of being acted on.  Idiotism, on
 the  contrary, is often found  in a beautiful, well-pro-
 portioned body."   This paragraph, perhaps, has a ten-
 dency to mislead and go beyond the truth.  For idiocy
 is often complicated  with  other  maladies.  Esquirol
 remarks, "Idiots  are rachitic, scrofulous, epileptic, or
 paralytic," and  Mr. Ferrus likewise,  it  may  be  ob-
 served,  quotes  Esquirol and  Pinel as  correcting  an-
 other erroneous opinion, and declaring that the idiotic
 are more liable to diseases generally than those of
 good minds.
  Of the definitions of  idiocy, that of  Mr. Sagaert
 seems as satisfactory as any other—" that diseased con-
 dition of the cerebral  organ, in consequence  of which
 an individual,  under  ordinary circumstances, is' pre-
 vented from attaining to that degree of mental devel-
 opment and maturity usually possessed by children in
 early infancy."
  He who has witnessed the distress which is entailed
by the existence of an idiot in a single family, will be
measurably  prepared  to give his  sanction  to any  ra- 
22
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
 tional scheme for alleviating such a  visitation.  But
 we find that  idiots constitute a large class, as com-
 pared with some other sufferers who have called forth
 the sympathies of the public into  the most  decided
 action.   Thus they far exceed  in  numbers  the deaf
 mute, for whom so much has been done.  The number
 of idiots in the American Union may be estimated  at
 35,000.
  Idiocy being a morbid diathesis of universal preva-
 lence amongst civilized nations, it can scarcely be won-
 dered at, when so much has been  effected for the re-
 maining divisions of those with the mind in a peculiar
 condition, that at last steps  have been recently taken
 to provide for the pitiable idiot.  After the insane, the
 deaf mute and the blind have been  general objects  of
 systematic and practical charity for many years.  When
 we  look into any practical  procedure, after a  theory
 has been advanced for any precise time apparently, it
 generally happens,  that further research reveals the
 germ of such theory far in the past.   In the present
 light, we may designate three items of this character.
  In  the first place, idiots have ever  and anon been
placed in the institutions for the deaf  and dumb, and
 this  is  natural enough, for  some  idiots are   mute—
though  not from  an  incapability of hearing; instances
of the kind, however, might easily be confounded with
deaf mutes.  A  case  of this order is mentioned by
Esquirol, and indeed we presume that other establish-
ments than that thus referred to have received one  or
more.   Secondly, Dr. Richard Poole, formerly super-
intendent of the  Montrose asylum for the insane, in an 
LECTURE ON  IDIOCY.
23
article on education, in  the Encyclopedia Edinensis,
published in 1827, made some striking observations on
the practicability of improving the condition  of the
imbecile.  A third source is traceable in a circum-
stance occurring in  France in 1801.  M. Bonnaterre
discovered at this date,  a wild boy in  the  forest  of
Aveyron.  Pinel pronounced him idiotic; but Itard,
physician-en-chef of the deaf and dumb, declared him
to be merely untaught.   Itard took him to  his own
house, and for six years made energetic but unavailing
efforts to educate him; and ultimately the unfortu-
nate was conveyed to a hospital, where he ended his
days.  A result,  however, of Itard's labors were two
volumes which  he published in 1807; and  in 1S37,
Seguin, an eminent  founder of the  present ameliora-
tion, in commencing his exertions, may be said to have
derived assistance from this experiment  and its teach-
ings.   Seguin's exertions were thus begun at the Bice-
tre; and about the same period, M. C. M. Sagaert, the
director of the  institution  for  deaf mutes at Berlin,
founded in that city the existing excellent asylum for
idiots.  In point of fact, there  have been several phy-
sicians  of note,  who  have  turned  their attention  in
France for many years in this direction—Voisin, Fer-
rus, Belhomme.  In  1828 Ferrus, then the principal
physician at Bicetre, undertook the education of a few
of the more intelligent idiots;  and in 1S39, when Dr.
Voisin  was made physician of the establishment,  a
school was organized, which, although producing some
good effects, was very incomplete, until M. Seguin,
who since 1837, as above stated, has occupied himself 
24
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
 in private with  the education of idiots, was in 1S42
 named director.
   The following list includes most of the institutions
 for the idiotic, now in operation.  In Scotland,  two—
 one at Baldovan, and a second at Edinburgh.  In Eng-
 land,  at Redhill, Highgate, Colchester and Bath.  Dr.
 Hybertz  has devoted  himself to this cause in Copen-
 hagen, and also M.  Moldenhawer.  In Schleswig, Dr.
 Hansen is similarly employed.  At Bendorf near Cob-
 lentz, Dr. Erlenmeyer has a small  establishment of
 the kind.  In Saxony, Dr. Kern at Leipsic, and Dr.
 Gliische at Hubertsburg near Dresden; in Wurtemberg,
 Dr. Miiller at Winterbach, and Dr. Zimmers at Maria-
 berg, are all in charge of institutions for treating idiocy.
 As likewise  Pastor  Frobst at Exberg in Bavaria, and
 Pastor Bost  at  Laforce in France.  There are  also
 schools for adult idiots in  the lunatic asylum of Mid-
 dlesex county, at Hanwell, England, and at the Bicetre
 in France.   In this country, there is a state institution
 at Boston, at Syracuse and at Columbus.   That now
 at Germantown is to be removed to a spot near Media,
 the county  seat of Delaware county,  Pennsylvania.
 An  English  journal enumerates Virginia amongst the
 states possessing charities  of the kind.  But it seems
 our policy ever to allow ouselves to be outstripped in
 some matters by our sister states of the Union.   There
 is likewise a private establishment for idiots at  Barre,
Massachusetts.
  Many of these institutions have conferred honor on
the  exalted personages who have taken an  interest in
them.  Amongst other visits last year  to  Essex Hall, 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
25
the asylum at Colchester, was one from Prince Albert.
The duke of Cambridge also paid a visit here, and the
duke of Wellington.  In New York, too, the manage-
ment of the state asylum of this character was en-
trusted  primarily by Governor  Hunt, to  some of her
most distinguished citizens, of  whom I may mention
William L. Marcy and John C.  Spencer.  Only seeing
the working of other schools, induced these most able
statesmen to  become warm  supporters of this noble
undertaking, instead of almost  opposition  and entire
surprise at their appointment in the outset.  Mr. Spen-
cer indeed observed at first, " This is all wrong * *  *
the idea of teaching and training idiots is preposterous,
because teaching involves the  existence of mind, and
it is the want of it that constitutes the idiot.  Do not
take it  as personal, but I must say I think none but
fools would think of teaching fools."   This would seem
as famous a jest in New York, as an analogous one with
us.   For  when  the asylum  under  consideration was
originally located  elsewhere  (at the Bull's Head ta-
vern), the country people  in  the neighborhood, says a
contemporary journal,  " when  they were told it was
to be fitted up as a school-house for  idiots, shook their
heads,  and  pretty generally agreed that  folks who
thought natural fools could be taught any thing, were
but little better than natural fools themselves."
  The analogous joke in Virginia to which  we allude,
consists in the idea, that when the directors of the
Eastern asylum  have done  aught particularly objec-
tionable to some one or other, it has been  often said
by the party thus aggrieved, that the directors them-
             4 
26
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
selves should be placed in the asylum as patients.  This
sort of thing would do very well at first, and before be-
coming threadbare.   In the British parliament, I have
seen it stated that when an old joke  is frequently re-
peated, it is the custom to put down  the nuisance by
the cry of " Joe Miller."   But in Virginia there seems
to be an  utter want of knowledge on  this  point,  that
wit loses its effect, when the same old jest  is repeated
over and  over again, ad nauseam.*
  Now let us look at  the opinions of these able  and
distinguished gentlemen of New York, Messrs. Spencer
and Marcy.   And we would invoke here particular at-
tention the more, as we cannot but conclude that  Vir-
ginia should be led to adopt a similar policy, with such
and analogous testimony.   After visiting then  the  two
institutions in  Massachusetts, Mr. Spencer avowed to
Governor Marcy his  conversion from  skepticism ; his
conviction that the undertaking was feasible, and  that
being the case, his  recognition of the  propriety on the

  " In addition, so common is this tendency, and so delightful seems the
idea involved, that any one officially connected with the asylum is always
at a disadvantage in this regard.  In praise of originality, it has been
said, " he who follows in the footsteps of another will always remain be-
hind"—an adage as true and valuable as it is quaint; but let an officer of
the asylum carry it  into action, and there is at once raised  the cry of
" no wonder he acts thus and so, because he belongs to the lunatic asy-
lum."  So a Norfolk paper criticising the speech of a gentleman from
Williamsburg, observed that it was just such a speech as might be ex-
pected from that quarter.  And  in like manner, I once heard a rabid
politician from the city of Richmond say of an admirable production in
relation to political economy, written  by a learned gentleman in this
section of country, " it should be  torn up, and its leaves pasted on the
walls of your bedlam." 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
27
part of the  state of New York in entering upon the
work ; and Governor Marcy expressed analogous senti-
ments.  Such was the original skepticism—such the
early conversion  of  these  two great minds, as asso-
ciated with the  cause of  the poor idiot.  Governor
Marcy, until he was called back to Washington, took
an active part in the management of the new institu-
tion, and ever after evinced a deep interest in  its wel-
fare.  In our opinion,  when occupying the chair of
state at Washington, the foreign ministers were about
as inferior to him as the idiot is to the child of good
powers.  This great man has scarcely been appreciated
to a due extent in the United States; for we have had
few statesmen who approached  him  in  intellectual
might.  Mr. Spencer continued to act  as chairman to
the executive committee of the New York asylum up
to his decease; and, second only to the  superinten-
dent,  had most to do with the  pitiable inmates.  He
became the most enthusiastic member  of the board of
trustees; so  much so, that even  the  superintendent
was at times anxious lest he should  use too flattering
expressions  in  the reports  to the  legislature, which
were always drawn up by him.  As such seems to be
the opinion generally of those who have any experience
in this regard, we do not deem it requisite  to do more,
at least as to the views of Americans, than to add the
remarks in  such relation, of a member of the daily
press: " We trust that in the course of ten years
more, this class of unfortunates will  be as amply pro-
vided for as the insane, the blind, or the deaf  and
dumb.  The object of these institutions is to  recover 
28
LECTURE OX  IDIOCY.
to sanity that  proportion of youth of a backward de-
velopment, capable of  being brought up to the  ave-
rage of the race, which would lapse into utter idiocy
without the application  of special training.   There
are not a few instances of persons of apparent mental
imbecility in childhood, and even in early youth,  who
have been brought up not merely to the level of man-
kind, but even  to  a distinguished intelligence, by the
use of  wise and scientific, intellectual, moral and phy-
sical treatment.  Failing  of this success, they propose
developing the imperfect  faculties of those  hopelessly
inferior to the common run of men, and to teach them
habits  of  cleanliness,  employment  and  self-control,
which  greatly contribute to their own happiness, and
to the comfort of those who have  charge of them.
We  believe that no one who has ever seen what im-
provement can be worked even in what seem to be
the most desperate cases, has grudged his  proportion
of the expense necessary to accomplish and extend it."
So decided in truth was the result in the experimental
institution  near Albany,  that no  vote was recorded
against any legislation  in its behalf in either house—
it being visited during four successive winters by a
large proportion of the members of both branches of
the legislature, and every opportunity being afforded
them to learn the principles and observe the methods
of instruction  employed.   So much  for American ex-
perience  in  such  relation; foreign  testimony being
abundantly effectual to  the same  end.    Did space
allow,  we should  properly  conclude our effort, by a
regular statement of treatment.  But for the want of 
LECTURE ON  IDIOCY.
29
room, we proceed merely  to present some desultory
items of management, and cases illustrating this.
  If aught is to be done  for the class of individuals
under  consideration,  it is only to  be  effected by  a
public institution; isolated  exertions  procure little
success.  Idiots we  may consider as beings not alto-
gether deprived of psychical  faculties, but as endued
with them in a mass, on a very diminished scale; and
they have  hence been spoken of by some, as  having
their faculties  in a sleeping  state, so latent as to call
for  external effort to  awaken them into action.  It is
thus, as  M. Seguin observes, that knowledge  which
ordinary children acquire  unconsciously, entirely es-
capes the  idiotic; or  can  only be imparted to them
by the aid of some one, who  will take the pains him-
self to  instruct  and  evoke  into  action  their feeble
mental powers, by suitably directed and strenuous ex-
ertions on his part.  In his publication on the subject,
M.  Seguin  presents  an illustration of the nature  of
these  endeavors  and  of their  success.  He likewise
pays particular attention to gymnastic exercises, with
the intent of strengthening the weakly physical powers
of the idiot; and to  lull  the nervous excitement  to
which many of them  are exposed, by operating revul-
sively  on the  muscular system.  Moreover, through
the same means, he  inculcates order, discipline and
obedience.   The leading  idea which M.  Voisin con-
veys, in the successive articles which he has published  **"
in reference to  this subject, is the  important conside-
ration, that however  feeble in intellect the individual
may be,  still it is man upon whom we are to act—and 
30
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
 we should never forget the vast influence of circum-
 stances  in  modifying human character.  Place  the
 idiot in a  public institution, under  the  care of  a
 teacher of suitable abilities;  let him be surrounded
 by every influence which science, hygiene or  medicine
 dictates; let him be  under the continuous sway of a
 mode of instruction  calculated to arouse his feeble
 mental faculties—a method founded on truths evolved
 from  experience;  and we cannot be surprised at his
 becoming a  different creature from what he is, when
 left without an effort to lessen the intense degradation
 of his primary condition ;  or where, if any attempt is
 made, it must be inevitably rendered futile by  the want
 of experience, and the absence of constancy.
   The following are some  of the particulars  in treat-
 ment : There is a row of  circular  blocks of different
 sizes, and there is a  row of orifices, into which they
 respectively fit.  The idiot is taught to put each in its
 appropriate place,  and thus he makes his first compa-
 rison and gets his first ideas of size.   There is in addi-
 tion a set of red, green, blue, yellow and white balls
 and cups.   To fit each ball to its proper cup leads him
to a comprehension of a difference in color.   Form he
 derives from another set  of variously  shaped blocks.
 Of the ladder also much use  is made.  The teacher
 hangs one of the boys on this  by the  hands.   He has
 but to let go to drop a few  inches on a  soft bed under-
neath ; but he has  no sense to teach  him  that.  He
clings tightly to the round, and perhaps cries  at the
uneasiness the act  gives him,  but he does not move.
The teacher puts his arm about him and  lifts him up, 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
31
lifts his hand, places it on the next round, and cheers
and encourages  him in a kind, loud voice—then the
other hand.  And so after repeated lessons, it  is at
last almost forced upon his sluggish mind.  M. Sagaert,
who is in charge of one of the most successful schools
(that  at Berlin), places great  reliance upon regular
hours, baths, gymnastic and other physical exercises.
He finds complicated with many cases, and the  chief
obstacles to be contended against, bronchitis, scrofula,
epilepsy and hydrocephalus.  Still he unhesitatingly
expresses his belief that the enterprise is one which
ought to be and  will be undertaken and pursued; that
the advantages derived are at least sufficient to justify
it, and that there are many idiots who may be brought
in a condition to earn their living.
   Amongst other means of treatment,  the older boys
have been instructed in the  care  and  management of
horses and cattle; whilst the smaller  ones  have had
their corresponding duties to perform, such for exam-
ple, as for one to feed the poultry, another the rabbits,
and a third the squirrels.  Thus they learn to feel care
and responsibility, and acquire new ideas in watching
animals.  An exercise in which the boys take especial
delight, is the military manual,  which they go through
at the word of command, drawn  up  in a line, with
mimic guns. At the Bicetre, tickets of good conduct
were  given to those  designated by the pupils them-
selves, as having done some kind and generous action—
for instance, having been seen to run to the aid of
those who had stumbled at play, or who had  divided
among their companions the bon-bons received from a 
32
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
 visitor.  Thus they are constantly on the look out for
 good actions in one another, but are forbidden to report
 bad conduct, as tending to encourage envy and malice.
 One of the best exercises of the body was there found
 to be the use of the wheelbarrow, insomuch as it com-
 pels the  idiot  to walk and balance  himself unaided.
 As regards fencing, Prince Albert, who had taken much
 interest in an English institution of the kind, observed
 to one of its instructors, "Don't you think fencing a
 good thing?"   "Yes," was the reply, " it is the best
 thing possible, because every well directed muscular
 action implies a willing attention, which improves the
 mind!"  At this same establishment, a boy was  ob-
 served to  like  bowling; he  could  not read a single
 letter, but the  master carved the  letter at the top of
 the pins, and whenever the bowl  knocked a pin down,
 he was not allowed to knock down another' until he
 had named the letter, and thus he became capable of
 reading.  One  pupil never could fix his eye upon any
thing, but he was brought  to do so by catching a great
 glare;  and the children were now taught their letters
by drawing them with phosphorus in a dark room.  Of
the 49 pupils, 26 were writers  in books, 23 on  slates,
 9 were readers far advanced, and 11 progressing; 10
 were in the alphabet, and 10 drawing.  Many of them
were employed in making mats, and the bishop of Ro-
 chester had all the mats  for his  palace at  Daneburg
made in this asylum.  Dancing M. Vallee observes to
be one of the best exercises for developing the muscles
 and imparting  the power to direct  and govern their
actions.  And this opinion we should  judge  to be very 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
33
 correct; for a writer on dancing has pointed  out the
 fact,  that in other modes of exercise, special sets of
 muscles are called into play, but that in dancing every
 muscle of the body, as it were, is excited to action.
   The following are cases showing  the  benefit to be
 derived from the influence of an institution devoted to
 this class of the unfortunate:
   Case i.—An orphan  boy.  His father died from in-
 temperance, and his mother from consumption.  He
 was left in poverty at a very early age, with none but
 a sister's feeble hand to sustain  him. He was an im-
 becile in body and mind.   Thrown among the jeering
 street boys of a village, his moral tastes were  easily
 perverted; he could not speak with  distinctness, walk
 erect  or  think aright.  He became obstinate, untruth-
 ful, profane, and generally depraved.  He  was shut
 out from* the common schools.   After entering an asy-
 lum, he was transformed into a bright boy, stammer-
 ing in  speech and  somewhat tottering in  gait, it is
 true;  but after a year's  residence, he was sent  home
 alone, a distance of 150 miles,  by railway and stage,
 paid his own fare, made a visit to his friends, and was
 an industrious, useful and trusty boy.
  The appearance of Wattie and Willie, at 11 and 12
years  of age, was  painful  and disgusting in  the ex-
treme.  Both  were  partially  paralysed,  and entirely
dumb, being incapable of understanding more than a
dozen words.  After going  to the asylum, they both
exhibited as much intelligence as ordinary children of
their  age.   Both wrote well on the  black-board, and
few children of their years  equaled  them in a know-
             5 
34
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
ledge of grammar and geography; with the  rules of
arithmetic likewise, they became familiar;  as regards
deportment, they acquired extremely amiable and af-
fectionate manners.
  Case iv.—A girl 15 years old.  She was mischiev-
ous, vicious, very nervous, and could not speak  dis-
tinctly.   After being  in the  asylum, she read well,
wrote a handsome hand, and became remarkably pro-
ficient in  grammar and geography;  she sewed  very
neatly, and was very capable as an  assistant in house-
hold matters.
  Case v. was a complete wild  girl, of twelve years
of age.  To elude the  gaze of  intelligence,  or  even
the look  of kindness, from a stranger, she would run
to the woods, hide herself behind the trees, or shrink
down upon  the floor,  and skulk  beneath a desk or
chair, roll herself into a ball, and remain  motionless,
with  her face to the  ground  or floor.  She did not
speak an  intelligent or intelligible word.   She knew
not a letter, but was, altogether,  a  moving, pitiable
object.  After fourteen  months  spent in  an asylum,
she had become passive, obedient, cheerful, affection-
ate and happy.  She was valuable as an  assistant in
the kitchen, sewing room or laundry; and in the school
room had made marked progress in  reading and wri-
ting.   Her articulation was more  distinct, and she
began to converse with confidence  in herself, and was
fond of the needle.
  At the Highgate  asylum near London, eight of the
female inmates have been employed as servants, show-
ing the efficiency of their training. 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
35
  In the foregoing  pages, we have presented the ac-
tion, and comments in relation to such action concern-
ing the hapless idiot, in connection with Europe, and
the states  of  the American Union on the  Atlantic
slope.  We may  fitly terminate our effort,  by giving
the condition of affairs  on  this point in the valley of
the Mississippi, or in other words, at the growing west.
And the more so, as we are enabled, from  the  items
now before us, touching the treatment  of idiocy, in
this latter section, to fill up certain  particulars which
we had left incomplete, with regard  to  the general
subject of  treatment.  In the history then, in the first
place, of the endeavor to aid this afflicted class in Ohio,
which led  to the establishment  of an institute at Co-
lumbus, under charge of Dr. Paterson, we have to men-
tion a visit to Columbus of Dr. Wilbur, superinten-
dent of the New York state asylum for  idiots.  Dr.
Paterson, it may be remarked, was  formerly assistant
physician  of the Ohio lunatic  asylum at Columbus,
and subsequently superintendent of the Indiana state
hospital for the insane.  Dr. Wilbur, in the visit just
named, explained to the citizens  of Columbus the mode
of instruction adopted, and demonstrated the astonish-
ing progress in reclaiming  these unfortunates, by the
exhibition  of two pupils who had been under his man-
agement about four years.   They  had been selected
from a class presenting the least hope of improvement;
they were, when first placed under tuition, respec-
tively six  and  eight years  of age, driveling and help-
less, unable to  talk, uttering only inarticulate sounds,
unable  to  walk from partial  paralysis,  apparently 
36
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.
 knowing nothing, even the hand from the foot.  Their
 proficiency, on being taught, had been such, that they
 exhibited  a better knowledge of spelling,  writing,
 geography, grammar and arithmetic, than many chil-
 dren instructed in the best schools, for only the  period
 referred to, and commencing with the alphabet.  Dr.
 Hill's  edition of  the " Medical  Counsellor," gives
 therein an interesting account of the exhibition:  " Not-
 withstanding," says  he,  " the unmistakably  idiotic
 form of the heads, the actions and  manners of these
 youths, the exhibition of mind and  intellect, in their
 exercises in orthography, geography, and arithmetic,
 even to the extent of readily solving  questions in frac-
 tions, seemed to make it perfectly absurd to  call them
 idiots, and difficult to  comprehend that they  were.   It
 would  seem rather that the organs of the mind  had
 been simply torpid, or  at rest,  which  only needed
awakening.  Practically we  have no doubt this is the
 case, whatever the theory of idiocy may be."
  A second series of remarks  on  the subject, emana-
 ting from  the  west, is found in a late valuable  report
 of the  Eastern lunatic asylum  of Kentucky at Lexing-
ton, and comes from the  pen of the  able superinten-
 dent of that institution, Dr. William  S. Chipley. The
 wonders, he observes, wrought in the treatment of the
 idiot cannot be effected to any considerable  extent by
 individual effort.   The state  must come to  the aid of
 these despised and neglected children of misfortune.
 Early,  systematic  and unremitting  training  is neces-
 sary to accomplish the  surprising  and almost incre-
 dible results that have been  witnessed in the schools 
LECTURE ON IDIOCY.              37
for  idiots  in  this and  other  countries.   Experience,
patience and unfaltering devotion to the cause,  are
qualities  absolutely demanded   to  insure success.
These qualities are rarely found among the rich; and
if found among the poor, the necessary leisure would
be wanting to enable them to put them to the test.
Schools devoted exclusively to the training and instruc-
tion of idiots can alone offer any thing of moment in
this humane course.  As to the question of economy,
25,000 dollars are now annually bestowed in Kentucky
towards the continuance of a miserable existence  on
the part of these ill-fated  beings.  Now  this large
sum, he contends, would  be more than  sufficient to
school every idiot in the  state, of a suitable age for
education, putting all of them into a  condition  to earn
their own support.  Thus, in the course of a few years,
the question would be, whether idiots should be sup-
ported for a term of years, and prepared  to earn their
own subsistence  in  some useful  employment,  or we
should contribute large sums to  a greater  number of
disgusting and revolting objects during life.  He con-
cludes by the observation,  " Experimental schools have
been  elsewhere  followed  by permanent and well en-
dowed institutions; and the education of idiots is now
the settled policy of many European governments, as
it is of at least three of the states of this Union.  May
Kentucky soon be found emulating their noble exam-
ple."  And we cannot terminate our own remarks more
suitably than by most earnestly expressing the same
wish, as it is applicable to our  own glorious and be-
loved commonwealth.