bill -+o provide^ 
 
 
Library 
 
 OF THE 
 
 University of NortK Carolina 
 
 THE LIN nCAV DATTCD.Onv 
 
 C 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 
 Given as a 
 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
 
 Form No. A -368 
 
OF 
 
 fm 
 
 On the Bill to provide for the establishment of 
 a State Hospital for the Insane in North 
 Carolina; delivered in the House of Com- 
 mons, December 21sf., 1848. 
 
 Mr. R. said, that in contributing his humble aid to- 
 wards the accomplishment of the purpose proposed by the 
 Bill before the House, he could truly say he never per- 
 formed a more agreeable duty, as a public man. It ac- 
 corded with his views of duty as a representative, his 
 ense of State pride as a North Carolinian, and his feel- 
 ngs of humanity as a man. The object of government, 
 (said Mr. R.) is to take care of all. And the JF^presen- 
 Lative of a confiding and generous people can perform 
 no more welcome task, than that of providing for a miti- 
 gation of one of the most awful calamities visited upon 
 our race. "Tis true, those bereft of reason are discon- 
 nected with the political influences which make and un- 
 make public men ; they have no agency in sending us 
 here, in elevating us to still higher places, or in visiting 
 
 /'. 
 
 p*«f»1 
 
eenfetire upon u=> for what may be our [misdeeds. But 
 whilst this consideration does not release us from the 
 obligations of duty, what a noble opportunity does it at 
 the same time afford us, for the exercise of disinterested 
 good. To our pride as North Carolinians, this measure 
 appeals in the most forcible and patriotic language. 
 North Carolina is the last of the old thirteen, with the 
 exception of Delaware, that has not made provision for 
 the indigent insane. Shall we allow this reproach of in- 
 sensibility to human suffering longer to rest upon our 
 name ? So far from shunning the responsibility of this 
 measure, we ought rather to rejoice at the opportunity 
 it affords us, of vindicating the generosity of our people, 
 nnd elevating the character of our State. To our feel- 
 ings of humanity as men, the appeal is irresistible. And 
 it is indeed a consoling reflection, that amid the din and 
 confusion of political strife, we may here for a while at 
 least, find a resting place, and engage in a work calcu- 
 lated to still all the angry passions of our nature ; we 
 may for a time, pause in our partizan struggles and vie 
 with each other in doing the work of good. 
 
 In this age of discovery and improvement, with the 
 recorded experience of so many countries, and such a 
 length of time, it would be labor lost, to attempt to prove, 
 that these institutions for the especial benefit of the in- 
 sane, with buildings and fixtures erected with a peculiar 
 view to the purpose contemplated, and under the control 
 and management of those exclusively devoted to such 
 duties, are better calculated to restore those who are not 
 incurable, and to administer to the comfort of those who 
 are, then any other system ever yet devised. The great 
 utility and incomparable blessings of these institutions 
 are not to be established by any process of logical deduc- 
 tion. They do not rest on any learned and plausibio 
 theories of the physiologist and the physician ; nor on the 
 fanciful and ingenious speculations of the phrenologist and 
 metaphysician. They are confirmed by the facts of in- 
 ductive experience, by the record? of statistical data care* 
 
fully preserved ; a knowledge ol' which places the matter 
 beyond controversy. 
 
 These statistical data prove conclusively, that iii most 
 cases, insanity proceeds from physical disease, acting 
 through neglect or improper treatment upon the natural 
 functions of the brain. How apparent then, must it be 
 to every one, who has witnessed much of the sufferings, 
 and difficulty of treatment of mere physical disease, that 
 this malady of the mind, depending in a great degree on 
 physical derangement, requires a degree of care, of 
 knowledge, of unremitting attention, of peculiar capa- 
 city on the part of those entrusted with its relief, that 
 the ordinary physician has neither the time, the ability, 
 nor the adaptation of character to apply to it. It re- 
 quires a peculiar endowment oi' moral as well as intellec- 
 tual faculties, to " minister to a mind diseased." This 
 kind of talent is rare ; but thanks to a kind Providence, 
 such is the expansive and prolific nature of the human 
 mind, that the supply has thus far kept pace with the 
 demand, which the benevolence of government has crea- 
 ted. This remarkable kind of talent however, flourishes, 
 and finds a theatre for its exercise, not in the crowded 
 thorough-fares of commerce, not in the turmoil and agi- 
 tation of worldly employment, not in gay saloons of fash- 
 ion ; but in the quiet and partially isolated retirement 
 of nature. Unpretending, benevolent, and gentle in its 
 character, it shrinks from rude contact with the noisy 
 world. Hence it is, that these institutions for the relief 
 of the insane, must assume a regulation somewhat pater- 
 nal and domestic in its character. Genial air, cheerful 
 prospects, and healthful exercises, are indispensable to 
 their successful operation. In a country of such prac- 
 tical habits, and of such sparse population as ours, such 
 requirements as these I have mentioned, are even for the 
 affluent, beyond the reach of private enterprise ; and as 
 for the indigent, charity feels that its duty is performed 
 in merely " feeding the hungry and clothing the poor." 
 It requires the sanction of government to provide perma- 
 
^> 
 
 neutjv for the wants ol those who appeal to us only 
 tarough their maniac cries ; and who usually excite our 
 horrors as much or more, than they do our sympathies. 
 Government owes it not only to the destitute maniac, to 
 provide i or his sufferings, but it owes it to the more for- 
 tunate, t > protect (hem. from the horrifying spectacle of 
 an aberration of intellect in their follow beings. And in 
 accomplishing so benificent a purpose, for both the sane 
 and the insane, can it, ought it to hesitate, in imposing 
 the paltry burthens upon those more highly favoured by 
 the God of nature, necessary for their own, as well as for 
 the good of their stricken brethren 1 
 
 The system now generally pursued for the treatment 
 of the insane, in nearly all the States of this Union, as 
 well as in all civilized countries, belongs to the discove- 
 ry of modern science and to the progress of modern im- 
 provement. Until within the period of the existence of 
 our own government, young as it is, the old plan of the 
 dark ages — which grew out of the idea, that those bereft 
 of reason were the victims of God's especial displeasure, 
 and therefore had no claims on man's sympathy — of 
 treating the insane as outcasts, was the only one known. 
 The dark and noisome cell, the chain and the hand cuff, 
 the bar and the bolt, lash and the torture, the scanty 
 meal and the time-worn vesture, were, for ages, the por- 
 tion of these victims of misfortune. This cruel system, 
 and the false idea upon which it rested, are now, and it 
 is hoped, forever rejected, as unwise, unfeeling, unchris- 
 tian. JNew light upon this, as upon nearly every other 
 branch ot knowledge, has dawned upon the world. The 
 discovery of the philanthropic Pinel, during the excesses 
 of the French Revolution, whose horrors were so natu- 
 rally productive of insanity — that "kindness and firm- 
 ness" were the great agents in relieving and alleviating 
 the miseries of derangement — first gave the impetus to 
 that benevolent system, which has dried up so main- 
 tears, healed so many wounded hearts, and soothed ho 
 many pangs of suffering. With rapid slfid^Si, this ha- 
 
mane and wis« system has marched ®ver the Christian 
 world. France, unrivaled as she ever is in science; Eng- 
 land, foremost as she always is in deeds of greatness and 
 glory, and the States of this Union, the wonder and ad- 
 miration of the world, as they are, in adventure, enter* 
 prise, and improvement, have reared this benevolent 
 structure upon sure foundations, and in cementing it 
 with the tears of sympathy, have provided tor the wants 
 and sufferings of millions yet unborn. 
 
 Experience, that teaeher whose precepts carry proof, 
 and frequently conviction, in their very utterance, has 
 established beyond controversy, the fact, that brute force, 
 physical restraint, and personal severity, instead of re- 
 lieving, only tend to aggravate the tortures of the mani- 
 ac. The mind of man, whether sane or insane, whether 
 aspiring in its loftiest flight to the sublime and the infin« 
 ite, or whether clouded in its vision by the dark curtain 
 of despair, can not be chained and tethered by human 
 force. It came from God, and nothing short of the fiat 
 of heaven can chain it down to earth. Deprive it, in its 
 dark state of gloom, of those genial influences which na- 
 ture alone, aided by those heavenly qualities of gentleness 
 and sympathy, can administer ; and in the paroxisms of 
 its own phrenzied energy, it shrinks back within itself, 
 and literally devours its own existence. On the other 
 hand, a proper regard to physical and mental culture at 
 the same time, if applied in season, rarely fails of afford, 
 ing relief. Change of scene and association, genial food, 
 personal comfort, balmy air, and cheerful views, tend to 
 divert the mind from its painful contemplations, and at 
 the same time to invigorate the physical system ; whilst 
 "kindness and firmness" those great agents in governing 
 and directing the human mind in all phases of its condi- 
 tion, serve to guide and control it, in its struggles to 
 throw off the shackles of darkness. Confine the poor 
 maniac with felons and criminals ; instead of hearing 
 the accents of kindness, let him hear only the clanking 
 of his chains; instead of his vision being greeted with 
 
^> 
 
 t'lie appliances of a cheerful chamber and a comfortable 
 conch, let him see nothing but the walls and grates of 
 his dungeon, 'and his bed of straw ; instead of witness* 
 ing the. impulses of feeling hearts, let him discover that 
 he is cut oil' from all sympathy of his race, (for strange 
 as it may seem, his perceptions are rather quickened than 
 destroyed by his malady,) and instead of subduing the 
 wild passions of his distempered mind, you only stamp 
 it with a conviction of his degradation, and he sinks 
 i\ewn in hopeless and incurable despair. These indis- 
 pensable means to which I have alluded, cannot be se- 
 cured in the busy and anxious theatre of industry and 
 agitation, in which the world is engaged. The domestic 
 hearth, with all its sympathies and kindness, cannot 
 command them. Then you must resort to comparative- 
 ly isolated locations ; you must obtain the services of 
 those who devote their lives exclusively to this noble and 
 praise worthy vocation , you must congregate, those un- 
 fortunate victims, where time, opportunity, knowledge, 
 and experience can all be commanded in ministering to 
 their wants. 
 
 Whilst the balance of the christian world is moving on 
 in these noble enterprises, shall North Carolina, our 
 native land, where repose the ashes of our fathers, and 
 where the destiny of our children is cast — shall North 
 Carolina stand still, with folded arms and slumbering 
 ryelids? Shall our people longer bear the reproach of in- 
 sensibility to human wo ; or of niggardliness, in refusing 
 to grant a pittance of that bounty with which.kind Hea- 
 ven has blessed us, for the purpose of lifting that dar!; 
 curtain which shuts out the light of reason from the minds 
 of so many of our fellow beings ? Shall we, as the cho- 
 sen guardians of the rights and interests of a confiding 
 people, repose so little trust in their generosity, their hu- 
 manity, their justice, as to fail to do that, which appeals 
 to us not only in the language of sympathy, but in the 
 stern demands of duty ? Head that Memorial now lyin~ 
 on vour desks, to which is affixed the nnmn of one - who is 
 
 »MJM5 l». I- T 1 1 \- . 
 
devoting her lite- to doing good; who comes among us as 
 the friend of the unfortunate, the poor and the needy ; 
 who is an ornament, not only to her sex, but to human 
 nature itself; whose meekness and gentleness of charac- 
 ter, and whose labors, fatigues and exposure in behalf of 
 suffering humanity, appeal to us, by all the ennobling 
 considerations of chivalry and devotion to her sex. Read 
 that memorial, the unbribed and disinterested tribute 
 which a feeling heart pays to misfortune's claims, and 
 you will there see our duty inscribed in language which 
 it requires a heart of adamant to disregard. You there 
 see that there are hundreds within the borders of our 
 State, who are immured in noxious cells, inhaling the "va- 
 pors of dungeons," confined with felons, and dragging 
 out a miserable existence on beds of straw — and for no 
 other crime, than that of being the victims of an afflict- 
 ing dispensation from Heaven. And must this continue 
 to bo ? 'T is true, these victims of calamity cannot ap- 
 peal to our judgments in the language of reason ; but 
 they appeal to our hearts in the tones of lamentation and 
 wo. If we fail to perform our duty, the shriek of every 
 maniac in our borders will hereafter sound the note of 
 reproach upon our names. Their dismal cries and awful 
 groans will haunt us in our slumbers, and their ghastly vis- 
 ages will freeze our hearts with terror, even to our dying 
 day. Whilst to our shame, we must admit, that North 
 Carolina is behind most of her sisters in the great phys- 
 ical improvements and enterprises of the age ; yet it has 
 ever been our boast, that in all the attributes of the private 
 and social virtues, we acknowledge no superior. Let us 
 now prove that this is no vain and idle vaunting. Whilst 
 other States may excel us in enterprize, in wealth and in 
 public spirit, yet let us recollect, in the language of a la- 
 mented son, it has long been our pride, that there are 
 none, 
 
 Whose doors open faster, 
 
 At the knock of distress, or the tale of disaster." 
 
 Although we may not boast of our populous Cities and 
 
 2 
 
Commercial Marts ; although we may not have as many 
 proud Seminaries of learning ; although we may not cov- 
 er our surface with a net- work of Rail Roads and Canals ; 
 yet let us prove that we have hearts to leel for misfortune, 
 and that we know how to provide for the private wants 
 and personal comforts of our people, if we are somewhat 
 regardless of their public pride and prosperity. 
 
 I am aware that this bill may be objected to on ac- 
 count of what may seem to be the magnitude of the sum 
 proposed to be appropriated. The amount is not large, 
 compared with the purposes contemplated, and the ben- 
 efits to be realized. It cannot be less, if the Institution 
 is to answer the ends designed. If we are to provide for 
 the insane at all, we must make provision for the whole 
 of them. From the best information that can be obtain- 
 ed, there will probably be not less than 250 patients in 
 the State. And the same information authorises the con- 
 clusion, that a building necessary for the comfortable 
 provision of that number cannot be built for much less 
 than $100,000. I learn that about ten years since, the 
 State of Tennessee — that noble daughter of the Old North 
 State, who here presents to her mother such a glorious 
 example — erected an institution for the insane at a cost 
 of about 25 or 30 thousand dollars. It was found to be 
 utterly unfit for the purposes intended — and one year 
 since, the Legislature of that State concluded to abandon 
 it as an outlay of so much money lost, and made an ap- 
 propriation of {$100,000 for the erection of a new one. 
 Let us take warning by this example. If we attempt to 
 provide for the insane at all, let us do it in a style com- 
 mensurate with our pride, our character and our ability ; 
 above all, commensurate with the wants of our people. 
 Gentlemen should recollect that a building of this sort is 
 not like a private dwelling. Space, air, prospect, pecu- 
 liar arrangement are indispensable. Let us then, instead 
 of wasting $30,000 or 050,000 to no purpose, expend 
 what is requisite ; and there it is for generations, com« 
 plete in all its parts, the memorial of our generosity, the 
 pride of the State, the asylum of the unfortunate. 
 
II 
 
 So for from this Institution being objectionable on ac- 
 count of the burthen it will impose on the people, it is 
 strougly recommended on the score of economy. Have 
 gentlemen ever turned their attention to the sums annu- 
 ally expended in some of the counties of the State, for 
 keeping in confinement the indigent insane, and in oth- 
 ers, by way of allowance to their destitute parents and 
 friends, who take care of them? This charge belongs to 
 County expense, and comes out of the County tax ; but 
 still, the people have to pay it. And I doubt very much, 
 whether the tax proposed by this bill, which can contin- 
 ue but a few years, even if it were perpetual, would bear 
 more heavily on the people than the charge already ex- 
 isting, on account of the indigent insane. This expense 
 is now incurred in keeping them in prison, beyond the 
 reach of relief ; we propose to convert it into the means 
 of ministering to their comfort, and restoring them to 
 reason. As an example of this false notion of economy, 
 I learn there is a maniac in the prison of Stokes County, 
 the keeping of whom for several years has cost the Coun- 
 ty some $1600 or §1700 : and this poor unfortunate be- 
 ing is, no doubt, in a worse condition now, than when he 
 first entered the door of his prison — perhaps beyond the 
 reach of restoration forever. How much better, wiser, 
 and more humane is it, to convert this annual charge up- 
 on the respective counties, now expended in aggravating 
 the sufferings of the afflicted, into a means of ministering 
 to their comfort and aiding in their relief. Let gentle- 
 men recollect, that it is the taxes for County purposes,, 
 that are felt most grievously by the people. As a mere 
 question of economy, then, we may well conclude, that 
 such an institution will lessen the burthen now imposed 
 for the relief of the poor, to as great or even a greater 
 extent than will be necessary for its establishment and 
 successful operation. In considering the item of expense, 
 we should also recollect, that the more comfortable and 
 commodious this institution may be, the better may we 
 expect it to support itself. Whilst we provide for taking' 
 care of the poor, the wealthy who may seeek an asylum 
 
12 
 
 beneath its shelter, are expected to pay for the benefits 
 received. If then, you make°a meagre appropriation for 
 the erection of a building that will barely answer for the 
 wants of the destitute, we cannot expect those who are 
 wealthy or in even comfortable circumstances, to place 
 their friends there. They will resort to other States for 
 that comfort and relief they cannot find at home. By 
 examining the reports from these institutions in other 
 States, we find that many of them not only go a great 
 way towards paying their own expenses, but in some 
 few instances they have actually yielded a nett income 
 besides. Let us not then, by a false economy, throw a- 
 way what we do appropriate. Let us not, for the sake 
 of saving a few thousands now, run the risk of a failure 
 in the purpose contemplated. Let us erect such an in- 
 stitution as will answer the wants of all our insane, both 
 the rich and the poor ; that the former may be induced to 
 seek that relief from it. which will enable us, in a great 
 measure, to take care of the latter. 
 
 As to the method proposed in the bill before us, of 
 raising the money necessary for the erection of this insti- 
 tution, by a slight increase of the tax on real estate and on 
 polls, I think it eminently proper, and by far the most 
 sure and practicable. 'Tis true, it falls upon all classes 
 and interests in society. And it is right that it should — 
 not only because it is intended for the benefit of all classes 
 but because every one should be allowed to contribute ia 
 proportion to his ability, to what will belong to all. It is 
 right that the poor man as well as the rich should feel 
 that having aided in its establishment, he and his chil- 
 dren have a vested interest in its benefits. It is for no 
 temporary purpose, it is for no sectional advantages. It 
 is for posterity. It is right then, that the land which is 
 immovable, that the permanent wealth and capital of the 
 country, should bear the charge. Again, the method pro- 
 posed is certain and^definite. Make a charge upon the 
 treasury generally, and I fear, that after providing for 
 «ur liabilities, which must be paid, nothing will be left 
 
for the purposes of charity. This methodof raising the 
 money is recommended by another consideration. The 
 people will submit to it without murmur or complaint. 
 It is not like imposing a tax for any sectional improve- 
 ment, the benefits of which may be local, and against 
 which the feelings and prejudices of other sections may 
 be aroused. It is for no purpose of doubtful utility. It 
 appeals to all the nobler and better feelings of our na- 
 ture, and every generous heart in the State must ac- 
 knowledge its importance. The demagogue who prates 
 so much about the rights of the poor, will be disarmed, 
 and hissed from the stump, when he attempts to excite 
 against us the prejudices of the poor, by crying out, tax- 
 es! taxes ! It is mainly for the wants of the poor, that 
 we now propose to provide. I would not, if I could, de- 
 prive the poor man of the privilege of aiding in the erec- 
 tion of this institution. The poor man will scarcely feel 
 the addition of the slight tax proposed. Small as may 
 be the pittance paid by the poor man, yet it is his right 
 to contribute it, and it would be a hardship to deprive 
 him of it. Like the mite that constituted the offering of 
 the poor widow in the Scripture, it will be hallowed by 
 the feelings and motives that actuated the giver. 
 
 I am aware it may be said,'there is no pressing neces« 
 gity for our founding an institution for the insane in this 
 State ; inasmuch as the number of such institutions in 
 other States affords every facility and convenience for 
 the relief of the afflicted among us. The mere statement 
 of this objection carries its own refutation with it. In the 
 first place, our State pride should revolt at this 
 idea of dependence upon the liberality and benevolence 
 of our sister States. How can we reconcile ourselves to 
 the thought, of relying upon the labors of others, for those 
 blessings which are equally within our reach, as the re- 
 ward of a discharge of public duty? How can we ab- 
 solve ourselves from the obligations of this duty, by 
 availing ourselves of the means afforded by those who 
 have performed theirs, instead of their reasoning on the 
 false premises thus advanced ? Jn the second place, this 
 
ft. 
 
 reliance on the institutions of other States, provides for 
 the rich only, who can afford to bear the expense ; whilst 
 it leaves the poor and needy to suffer. And it is raainly 
 for the poor and the destitute that we are called on to 
 provide. 'Tis true, they have nothing to give in return 
 but the tribute of grateful hearts; a) id what higher re- 
 ward ought a benificent government to desire. The 
 duty of government to provide for the physical wants of 
 the poor, is recognised and observed by all Christian 
 Countries ; and in our own State, the law makes provis- 
 ion for that. If it is the duty of the Legislature to pro- 
 vide for the corporal wants of the posr, how much 
 greater the obligation to provide for their mental suffer- 
 ing. For, what are hunger, nakedness and want com- 
 pared with the loss of reason ? What are all the tortures 
 of the quivering flesh, compared with those of the brain ; 
 through which are " whirling the thousand shapes of 
 fury"? 
 
 " For pleasures, hopes, affection gone, 
 The wretch may bear, and yet live on ; 
 But there's a blank repose in this, 
 A calm stagnation, that were bliss 
 To the keen, burning, harrowing pain, 
 Thats' felt throughout the breast and brain." 
 
 In the third place, this dependance on the institutions 
 of other States, considered as a question of political econ- 
 om3 r , is decidedly objectionable. It carries the money, 
 and that to no inconsiderable extent, from our borders ; 
 not to come back to us through the regular channels of 
 commercial exchange, but keeping up in proportion to its 
 expenditure, a constant drain upon our circulating medi- 
 um, the current of which has no reflux. In the fourth 
 place, a reliance upon distant institutions prevents that 
 resort to early remedial treatment, which experience has 
 fully established to be so absolutely necessary to the re- 
 storation of the insane. Distance, expense, exposure 
 both to the accidents of travel and to the public eye, de- 
 ter the friends of the unfortunate from an early resort to 
 distant asylums, until delay frequently places the suffer- 
 
15 
 
 er beyond the reach of cure. How necessary then, to 
 have the means of relief near at hand, to have an asylum 
 of our own, inviting the wretched to its hospitable shel- 
 ter ; a structure built at the public charge, in which eve- 
 ry freeman in the land may feel he has an interest. 
 
 Under these considerations, Mr. Speaker, can we doubt 
 as to our duty? And if we know that duty, shall we 
 fail to perform it ? Shall we hesitate to impose the slight 
 tax proposed, lest heartless demagogues may cry out 
 against taxation, and attempt to inflame the public mind ? 
 Sir, the people will sustain us. Our constituents have 
 hearts — hearts of sympathy and of feeling, and to them 
 will we appeal. We shall receive their gratitude, in- 
 stead of their censure. Think of how many minds now 
 shrouded in darkness, we may be the means of restoring 
 to the light of knowledge and of christian hope. Think 
 of the many whose awful ravings of despair, we may con- 
 vert into grateful invocations of blessings on our heads, 
 Think of how many anxious and watchful mothers' and 
 sisters' cheeks , that are now suffused with the tears of 
 sorrow, we may cheer and enliven with the smiles of joy. 
 Think of how many a fond father's heart now sunk in de. 
 spondency, at the contemplation of the suffering of an 
 afflicted son or daughter, will leap with joy at the suc- 
 cessful issue of our labors. Although the thanks and the 
 prayers of their grateful hearts may never reach our ears, 
 yet like holy incense they will ascend to Heaven, calling 
 down the favors of Almighty goodness on our efforts. 
 Who knows but in future time, some son or daughter, or 
 more remote descendant of one of ourselves, may be over- 
 taken with misfortune, may pine in penury and want, 
 may be turned with a rude hand from the door of plenty, 
 may be exposed to the peltings of the storm, may suffer 
 the gnawing pangs of hunger, may feel the horrors of 
 ignominy and shame — till the brain reels under the 
 shock, and the mind becomes eclipsed with maniac dark- 
 ness. Yes sir, who of us knows, but that hereafter some 
 child of misery, in whose veins shall flow the same blood 
 that now pulsates in our hearts, may be incarcerated in 
 
the felon's dungeon, wear the chafing fetters of confine- 
 ment, and vent their unheeded and maniac cries to prison 
 walls ? In the dispensation of Providence this may 
 take place. Then we are appealed to not only by every 
 consideration of patriotic pride, of representative duty, 
 and of an expanded benevolence and christian philan- 
 thropy—but we are appealed to by what may be wt»nts 
 and sufferings of our own flesh and blood, to act, and to act 
 promptly. Let us lay the foundation of an institution, to 
 which our posterity can point with pride, whenever they 
 mention our names. Let us rear a structure beneath 
 whose dome, heaven born charity shall set up her altar, 
 and benevolence erect her shrine — within whose walls, 
 the unfortunate of posterity shall find a refuge and a 
 home, when we shall be no more. We shall thus ereet 
 to our memories a monument more imperishable than 
 one of brass; and we shall inscribe on grateful hearts, 
 in letters of enduring affection, the name of her,* from 
 whose efforts are issuing streams of goodness, that are 
 beginning; to overflow for the benefit of mankind. 
 
 *This noble «nd praise-worthy woman, (Miss D. L. Dix, of 
 New York) has long been devoting her life and fortune to the 
 relief of suffering humanity, especially of the indigent insane. 
 She has, by her unremitting exertions and personal appeals, 
 succeeded in inducing the Legislatuies of many of the States 
 to make provision for the insane ; and is now urging upon 
 Congress to appropriate five millions of acres of the public 
 lands to this humane purpose. May her efforts be crowned 
 with success.