And there is more than charity in reserve for all such. We believe there
is an opportunity of development which many of them could not have in
this life.
And so we may well believe it will be with lunatics. The reasonable view
is, that they will begin just where they left off. As they are, they are
not fit for the better world; and it would be unjust to send them to a
world of woe. Some were idiots from their birth, and so have acquired no
evil propensities of which to be divested. In other cases the idiocy was
simply due to a clot on the brain. They have left their bodies behind
them now, and the clot too. They simply begin at the point where their
reason deserted them; and it will come back in due time.
It is a very nice point to determine where insanity begins. I was
discussing this question lately with the Superintendent of a large
lunatic asylum. We agreed that, while putting no premium on crime, we
have to recognize that in many cases there is no real responsibility
where in general it would be expected. The whole study of lunacy
strongly indicates that there is a necessity for a process of
elimination and development under more favorable conditions than the
present life ordinarily supplies. And we may be sure that if there is
such a necessity, it is provided.
In this connection I think of Blind Tom.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177