If any apology be due for pointing out how the mysterious connection between mind and matter may be illustrated by a study of idiocy, I will observe that the subject is of such absorbing interest that it is well that it should occasionally be removed from the heated arena of biological bias, into the calmer and more judicial atmosphere of the class of readers who may be interested in the important subject I am endeavouring to elucidate.
TREATMENT AND RESULTS.
"Distinguish'd link in being's endless chain, Midway from nothing to the Deity. Though sully'd and dishonour'd, still divine, An heir of glory, a frail child of dust. Helpless immortal!"—Young.
According to the census of 1881, there were about 32,717 idiots and imbeciles in England and Wales; the Census Commissioners, however, ascertained that owing to the reticence of parents, the returns were far from trustworthy, and, after careful inquiry, they estimated the total number of idiots and imbeciles at 41,940; of these, it is calculated that about 3,000 cases belong to the four Eastern Counties. Of this number, it is estimated that, after deducting pauper and other cases not considered suitable for this charity, there remain at least 1,000 idiots who need the benefits of the Eastern Counties' Asylum, whereas, our present accommodation is limited to 250 cases.[39]
The Board of Directors being forcibly impressed with their inability adequately to supply the wants of the district, have recently instituted a Permanent Endowment Fund. As the institution is mainly supported by voluntary contributions, the fluctuating nature of which has often caused considerable anxiety, the Board has felt the desirability of placing a considerable portion of their resources on a more solid basis; and it is with the view of giving stability and permanence to the work of the Asylum, that the Endowment Fund has been started, which it is proposed shall be inalienable, the interest only being used for the purposes of the Institution. In the year 1891, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, with the view of furthering this object, graciously consented to preside at a Festival Dinner, at the Hotel Metropole, London, which resulted in an immediate contribution of £6,000. This fund, started under such happy auspices, has already reached the sum of £25,334 12s. 8d., which it is hoped may eventually reach £50,000, the amount which the Directors think indispensable to insure the efficient maintenance of the Asylum.
Now let us bring this matter home to ourselves. Where are the 3,000 unhappy blighted individuals that claim the Eastern Counties for their home? It is true that some of them are in the homes of the affluent, but the greater number are in the cottages of the poor, where the trouble of providing for one such member often reduces a working family to pauperism; the poor child beloved by its parents, is, perhaps, loathed by their neighbours, is avoided by other children, hidden from visitors, a constant care and sorrow to the mother, a source of anxious foresight to the father; in fact, the poor idiot child is like a Upas tree, that poisons the whole atmosphere around it, and the burden of his presence in a poor man's family is a new weight added to the load that was already sinking them down. Perhaps you may say, we agree with you, we lament as you do, that the narrow home of the humble artisan should be rendered intolerable by the presence of these stricken members of our race; but, we have been given to understand, that if not absolutely incurable, but very little can be done for them, that they baffle the efforts of the most zealous educators, and are almost beyond the reach of human sympathy.
Now this was the language generally used half a century ago, and a celebrated French authority on the subject, Esquirol, considered that idiots were what they must remain for the rest of their lives; that there was no possibility of ameliorating their condition, and that no means were known by which a larger amount of intelligence could be developed in them.[40] In fact, an effort to ameliorate the condition of the congenital imbecile was regarded by psychologists and physicians as absolutely hopeless, and the standard "Dictionnaire de Médecine," published in 1837, broadly stated that it was useless to attempt to combat idiotism; in order that the intellectual exercise might be established, it would be necessary to change the conformation of organs which are beyond the reach of all modification. So great was the pessimism prevalent on this subject, that it was insinuated that the idea of teaching an idiot could only enter the brain of one somewhat closely allied to that class!
Now, I am happy to tell you, that in the broad daylight of the nineteenth century, science gives an emphatic denial to this statement. Yes, the results obtained at our own Asylum and elsewhere, show that much, very much, may be done for the unhappy idiot, who in a private house is an intolerable incubus, but who, under proper training in a suitable asylum, becomes sociable, affectionate, and happy. It has been shown that in the majority of cases, the idiot may not only cease to be a source of annoyance and danger to those around him, but by care and training he may be made able to contribute to his own sustenance; the knowledge of simple trades of a mechanical kind, such as that of a carpenter, shoemaker, or tailor, has been reached by some, and household industrial pursuits have fitted others for domestic usefulness.
A celebrated German authority, Herr Saeger, of Berlin, has stated that in his establishment he had indubitable cases of idiocy, in which the head was small and malformed, yet in which the results of education were so triumphant, that they were ultimately able to mix with the world without being recognised as idiots. Further, he tells us that in one instance a young man underwent confirmation without the priest suspecting that he had been delivered from idiocy.