may be diminished in such a case, but in our present ignorance of what medicine not drawn from the stores of the moralist or religionist-can reach what are called the distinct faculties of pride, vanity, selfishness, or imagina tiveness, we are really at a loss to guess what Dr. Cheyne means. Has he a different drug for each passion, and sentiment, and affection? We with him think there are cases of lunacy not extending so far as to render the mind altogether powerless, and in which moral or religious considerations ought not to be pressed on the patient's mind; but do we therefore believe that mind to be insensible to such considerations? Far from it; even in these cases the cure-if there be cure at all-is from within. The insane man who refuses to listen to his doctor or nurse preaching patience or morality, is in all probability doing what any sane man in the community would do well to imitate, and we should regard such a case with hope. Of this a remarkable instance is given in the case of a gentleman who has published a very minute account of the state of his mind and its struggles during a malady of many years' continuance, and an enforced residence at more than one asylum.* Details such as he has given are rarely communicated to the public, as the very fact of such communication is not unlikely to be regarded as a proof of the disease being still subsisting; but in this, and in Cowper's, and, indeed, in every case where light has been thrown in on the secrets of the prison-place, it seems plain that allowing the insane person to work out, as it were, the problem which he proposes to himself, gives a far better chance of ultimate restoration than the effort to convince him that he is in the wrong, by telling him that his hallucinations are all illusion. A man in the delirium of fever sees as outward realities with the waking eye, scenes and persons that it is physically impossible should be in his sick room; yet he has for the fact of their being present the same evidence that he has had of any other incident which

he has ever witnessed. His eye and ear are deceived, and he believes the intelligence brought by these erring servants. It is absolutely impossible that he should not believe them. If his physician tells him that such an occurrence is an ordinary one in fever, or if he happen otherwise to know the fact, there is no danger in all probability of such a scene ending in insanity. Suppose, however, his physician too fine a gentleman to converse with him at all on the matter; suppose his attendants to be ignorant, and instead of being able to account for the phenomena, deal with the sick man as if he were speaking falsehood, or as if he were insane, is it not probable that such treatment would create actual insanity; and, if so created, would not the best chance of recovery in the supposed circumstances be from the man's own mind dealing with the facts of the case, and examining them with the aid of such imperfect information as he can bring to bear upon the subject? And yet in cases analagous or identical with this, it would appear from the statement of recovered lunatics, that until the patient consents to admit every fancy of the manager of an asylum to be a rule of infallible right, there is scarce a possibility of his recovery being regarded as complete. We believe that both the moral and medical treatment of the disease have greatly improved, even in the short interval since these essays were written, but we have little doubt of the truth of Perceval's statement, that the theory adopted in most of the asylums a few years ago was to break down all resistance, and hold the patient's mind altogether in subjection. In the process, conscience, and natural affections, and moral feeling were obliterated, and recovery was a state worse than death. The last state of the man was worse than the first.

The diseased state of the organs of sense often produces actual madness. The sufferer is unacquainted with the nature of false perceptions, and acts on information which he is unable to correct. It would seem that

insanity arising from this cause ought to admit of an easy cure. The false information given by the ear or eye is likely to be corrected by the other senses, yet there is often great subtlety shown by the sufferer in evading the new information thus received. Voices address the ear, and the eye being turned to the place from which they seem to proceed, sees that is vacant. If the person be not led to believe that the imagined voices are referable to the diseased state of the auditory nerves, he will in all probability become suspicious of conspiracies, and imagine his enemies have employed a ventriloquist to cheat him by imitating the accents which he hears. This is a simple and a frequent case, one which we should think almost certain of cure. If the solution which any physician would give of symptoms, which nothing but the patient's ignorance could aggravate into insanity, be believed by the sufferer, there is in all probability an end of the difficulty. If it be disbelieved, yet let it be stated calmly, and leave it to produce its own natural effect. It probably will at first be like every thing else evaded, but will at length find its place in the reasonings of the patient, and be in all probability the means of cure. Nothing under any circumstances can be done by deception. What is called, and truly so, insanity, is more often removable by mind dealing with mind, than thought. With the mind in every state, fair dealing is the only true

course.

18

The first essay is little more than a general statement of the subject; the second, "on false perceptions and supposed demonism," is valuable, chiefly for some narratives, probably drawn from what the author witnessed in his own practice, and which give some new illustrations of the way in which ignorant people are actually frightened into permanent insanity, by experiencing some of the very frequent illusions of the senses, which they refer to supernatural power or demoniac interference. In delirium occasioned by drunkenness, the drunkard sees double, hears things that are not uttered, and in cases of habitual intemperance, the false perceptions continue, even when the sufferer is not under the immediate influence of intoxication.

In

delirium tremens the sufferer fancies that he sees fairies, devils, and spirits watching him, grinning at him, and whispering together; such maniacs are seen suddenly starting up and listening with fixed attention at keyholes and crevices in the wall for their spiritual enemies. Having no suspicion of the true nature of their malady, they often conclude that their powers of vision and of hearing are miraculously increased. "A man labouring under insanity produced by intoxication," says Dr. Cheyne, "lately told us that he could hear what was uttered in a whisper at a distance of half a mile."

"The ear is very liable to be deluded-a a person may fancy that he hears the hissing of a boiling kettle, the ringing of bells, the roaring of the sea, the clamours of a tumultuous crowd, and a variety of discordant sounds, as well as articulate voices, if the circulation of the brain, or of a part of that organ be diseased. On the other hand, oral language is not always understood-words, even when distinctly heard, convey no meaning audible language ceases to be intelligible when visible language is, as in the case recorded by Dr. Darwin of Shrewsbury, of an old gentleman who was superannuated, whose hearing and vision were perfect, but who could only call up a train of ideas from the latter. When he was told it was nine o'clock and time for him to eat his breakfast, he repeated the words distinctly, but without understanding them. Then his servant put a watch in his hand, upon which he said, why, William, have I not had my breakfast, for it is past nine o'clock?' On almost every occasion his servants conversed with him by means of visible objects, although his hearing was perfect; and when this kind of communication was used he did not appear impaired in his intellects. state came on from a stroke of the palsy; and, till he and his servants had recourse to this language of signs, he was quite childish."-Essay ii., p. 62.

This

Hearing is more frequently disordered than sight, or any other of the senses. Dr. Cheyne tells us that the apparitions which attended Nicolai not only peopled his apartment but spoke to him. There can be no doubt that the ear is often deceived at the same time with the eye, but Nicolai's own account of the spectral illusions with which he was visited, does not say any

thing of his ever being addressed by his visitors: and we are inclined to believe that in his case the eye was the only sense engaged. Nicolai was the Prussian reviewer, who ventured on a parody of Goethe's Werther, and was rewarded for his work by figuring as the head chamberlain, who directs the witch dances in the Walpurgis scene of the Faust. In several books on the theory of apparitions, an account of Nicolai's spectres is given. In Anster's notes to Faustus, we find Nicolai's own account, as communicated to the Royal Society of Berlin. In Cowper's affecting narrative of his insanity, it is plain that the auditory nerves were greatly disturbed. In one of his efforts to effect suicide, he had suspended himself from the top of the door of his room by his garter. The chair which he used for the purpose, he pushed away with his feet, and hung at his whole length. "While I hung there," he says, "I distinctly heard a voice say, three times, it is over." "* It is not clear to us that in this case the eye was also deluded; for Cowper, who describes his dreams does not speak, at least does not speak with such distinctness as to give perfect evidence on the subject, of any illusions of the waking eye. "My thoughts," he says, "in the day became still more gloomy, and my night visions more dreadful.

One

morning, as I lay between sleeping and waking, I seemed to myself to be walking in Westminster Abbey, waiting till prayers should begin. Presently I thought I heard the minister's voice, and hastened towards the choir. Just as I was upon the point of entering, the iron gate under the organ was flung in my face with a jar that made the abbey ring. The noise awoke me, and a sentence of excommunication from all the churches upon earth could not have been so dreadful to me as the interpretation which I could not avoid putting upon this dream."† In Tasso's insanity both ear and eye were affected. The illusions were so powerful as to throw into shadow all external impressions, while his own reasoning powers exercised upon them as realities, was such as almost to convince his friends against the evidence of their senses, that the phantoms

with which he was visited were not the coinage of the brain, but supernatural beings, engaged in conversation with the poet. Manso relates an extraordinary scene, in which, after arguing with the poet against the possibility of his fancies having any foundation in truth, he received the following reply :— "Since I cannot persuade you by reasoning, I will convince you by experience. I shall cause you, with your own eyes, to see that spirit, the existence of which my words cannot cause you to believe." "I accepted the offer," says Manso ;" and the following day, as we were sitting by ourselves together by the fire, he turned his eyes towards a window, and held them a long time so intensely fixed on it, that, when I called him, he did not answer. At last, Lo,' said he, the friendly Spirit, which has courteously come to talk with me. Lift up your eyes, and you shall see the truth.' I turned my eyes thither immediately; but though I endeavoured to look as keenly as I could, I beheld nothing but the rays of the sun, which streamed through the panes of the window into the chamber. And whilst I still looked around without beholding any object, Torquato began to hold, with this unknown something, a most lofty converse. heard, indeed, and saw nothing but himself; nevertheless, his words, at one time questioning, at another replying, were such as take place between those who reason strictly on some important subject; and from what is said by the one, the replies of the other may be easily comprehended by the intellect, although they be not heard by the ear. The discourses were so lofty and marvellous, both by the sublimity of the topics, and a certain unwonted manner of talking, that, exalted above myself into a kind of ecstacy, I did not dare to interrupt them, nor ask Torquato about the spirit which he had announced to me, but which I did not see. In this way, while I listened between stupefaction and rapture, a considerable time had elapsed, till at last the spirit departed, as I learned from the words of Torquato, who, turning to me, said, 'from this day forward, all your doubts shall have vanished from your

Southey's Cowper, vol. i. p. 135,

I

mind,' and I, or rather they are increased, since, though I have heard many things worthy of marvel, I have seen nothing of what you promised to show me to dispel my doubts.' He smiled and said, You have seen and heard more of him perhaps and here he paused. Fearful of importuning him by new questions, the discourse ended; and the only conclusion I can form is what I before said, that it is more likely that his visions or frenzies will disorder my own mind than that I shall extirpate his true or imaginary opinion."

The letter in which Manso relates this event was written immediately after the incident it describes, so there is no room for disputing any of the particular details on the ground of imperfect recollection or the kind of over-statement, which leads biographers to make the most of every thing unusual. The solitude in which Tasso lived during years of poetical exertion, and long intervals of insanity, was of itself not unlikely to create habits of talking and thinking aloud, which rendered the conversation with the imagined spirit, one more easily sustained than, had his life been passed less with the creations of his own fancy, would have been conceivable. Previous to the visits of the Platonic Demon whom he wished to introduce to Manso, he had been tormented by the daily vexations of a Folletto, or haunting sprite, which he fancied, found pleasure in disarranging his papers, stealing his money, and playing him one mischievous trick or another. He was troubled with undefinable apprehensions: lights danced before his eyes; at times he heard the most frightful noises indistinct and unlike any thing with which they could be compared. At times the ticking of an imagined clock, or the tolling of a non-existing bell, disturbed him; at times voices were heard like those of the stupid critics of his "Jerusalem," at times it was the barking of more harmless dogs, or the cackling of geese. When he awoke from sleep it was a relief, for he was freed from fantastic visions for a while, but the waking fancy soon simulated the wildest dreams. "I have dreaded," he says, "the falling sick

Black's Life of Tasso, vol. ii. p. 242.

ness, apoplexy, and blindness. I have had headaches and pains in the intestines, the side, the thighs and legs; I have been weakened by vomiting, dysentery, and fever. Amidst so many terrors and pains there appeared to me in the air the image of the Glorious Virgin, with her son in her arms, sphered in a circle of coloured vapours, so that I ought by no means to despair of her grace. And though," he adds, "this might easily be a phantasy, because I am frantic, disturbed by various phantoms, and full of infinite melancholy, yet by the grace of God I can sometimes withhold my assent, which being, as Cicero remarks, the operation of a sound mind, I am inclined to believe it was in reality a miracle."t

In the life of St. Teresa we have instances not unlike these of Tasso; and the Aurea Legenda, as well as Llorente's History of the Inquisition, are full of them the solution of the hagiographer and the witchfinder assuming always that the facts had a firmer basis of existence than a visionary's waking dreams, and thus we find in their narratives angels and devils playing the parts which modern medicine gives to capricious "Faculties," or "Powers," or "Sentiments," or, yet more strange, to "Endowments," seated aloft on their phrenological thrones, and at times descending to the help of the philosophical inquirer, like the gods coming to the relief of the embarrassed epic poet, to save him from perplexities with which his human skill is unable to deal.

Dr. Cheyne tells us that "where delusions both of hearing and sight co-exist, nothing can prevent insanity but an enlightened judgment." How little hope, then, could there be for cure at a time when the medical theorist was, as it were, in league with the faithless servants of the mind-when angelic visits were looked for with impatience, both by the patient and his physician, and their absence was regarded as a proof of the departing favour of heaven.

In one part of the volume before us, the case is mentioned of a young man of rank becoming monomaniacal. He refused to take food, and made

some attempts to choke himself. "We were told," says Cheyne, "that a few weeks before he had been in Scotland with Mr. Campbell, of Row-had partaken of his delusions, and that fanaticism had gradually degenerated into insanity." This, Dr. Cheyne adds, was described as a case of religious madness. A knowledge of other facts connected with the case satisfied Dr. Cheyne that the gentleman in question, after having made a profession of religion was betrayed into drinking wine with freedom-that this was followed by other irregularitiesthat remorse and insanity ensued. We are enabled to add, from an account since published by the person in question, that in addition to the sense of shame, and ingratitude, and remorse-and the feeling of self-accusation, that his conduct was calculated to bring disrepute on the doctrines taught by Mr. Campbell and his followers; in addition to all these and other causes which were enough to produce madness, (if indeed they were themselves, in the extreme degree in which they existed, essentially different from insanity) there was added the subtle effects of mercury upon the humours of the body, during the use of which the poor man had the imprudence to expose his frame to currents of air, while washing, every morning, his whole person in cold water-and this in November. That the mind should have sunk under such circumstances, can scarcely be a matter of surprise; but whether we are to attribute such ruin to the natural effects of bodily disease, of the medicine employed, and the incaution of the patient while using it, or whether we refer it to fanaticism, we cannot think that it gives any support to the notion that true or even absurd views of religion are likely to endanger mental health. In the case of this gentleman both ear and eye were engaged, but through all his delusions there seemed to be an active and vigilant judgment exerting itself in the examination of all the phenomena which a diseased state of the nerves was perpetually creating. Spirits were perpetually visiting and addressing him, and this for many years; it is not surprising that he came at last to know their features-to call them by name, and even when they chose to play invisible, that they were not able

quite to conceal their voices, and what they were about. Nothing can be more instructive to any person having at heart the cure of a lunatic patient than the work to which we allude, as it is quite plain to us that during a considerable part of the time in which he was confined in lunatic asylums, and warring with the masters of such places and their servants, his mind was in a state to have yielded assent to a more rational theory of the sights and words which disturbed his thoughts, than the very ingenious views of the matter which, in the absence of better information, he adopted, and in his last published volume seems to have no wish to abandon. Had he been possessed of the kind of information that Nicolai or Spalding, whose case is told by Dr. Cheyne, possessed, his insanity could not have lasted for any length

of time.

Nothing can be better than what Dr. Cheyne says on the subject of such patients. The only qualification which we should think of making in the advice which he gives is that we think even the insane-when there is any reasoning power left-should be informed of the natural effects of disease. It is not probable that they will at the instant assent-but if they assent to the degree of admitting that a view opposed to theirs is tenable, there is, we think, great chance of cure. In fact, if the person who believes himself under Satanic influence, once admits, and is in earnest in the admission, that his is but one solution, among others, of the phenomena which are to be accounted for, we think that the single fact of his continuing to differ with any one of the very eminent persons who conduct lunatic asylums on a subject upon which it is not very easy, in the calmest state of mind, to come to a sound conclusion, is perfectly consistent with entire sanity of mind-nay, perfectly consistent with judicious medical as well as moral treatment. "If there be," says Baxter, "as some fancy, a possession of the devil, it is possible that physic may cast him out; for if you cure the me lancholy (black bile) his bed is taken away, and the advantage gone by which he worketh; cure the choler (bile,) and the choleric operations of the devil will cease: it is by means and humours in us that he worketh."