the senses and memory are quite per- | how long any case of this kind will fect, and the excess of rudeness and vindictiveness is a sure symptom of insanity. The distinction betwixt insanity and inflammation of the brain, is of great importance in the treatment; for whatever may be proper in the treatment of brain fever, in the treatment of nervous fever or insanity, the antiphlogistic treatment must be improper, and if practised with severity, will frequently prove fatal,—will in every instance do injury, and render ultimate recovery more difficult and doubtful. If, upon an attack of spontaneous mental disease, the medical attendant, without any investigation but what relates to the symptoms present, talks of having the head shaved, or blistering the head, or using the cuppingglasses, or leeches, to the head, or of using the lancet, or of keeping the patient very low ;-he had better be at once dismissed, or he will most likely prove the messenger of death, or at least the messenger of an inveterate disease, which might have proved slight under a more gentle treatment. Nor must the attendant be flattered by the violent symptoms subsiding under severe depletion, and other antiphlogistic measures; they would most likely have subsided if nothing had been done, and with a much better chance of not returning. The most confirmed cases of insanity generally intermit, more particularly so at the commencement; and the best efforts for preventiug the disease becoming permanent, are to be made during the lucid intervals. Another cause of many not permanently recovering, is, that those who, having used the severe antiphlogistic treatment, and finding it to do no good, then cease to use any medical means, not appearing to have any knowledge of medical treatment that is not calculated to reduce the patient in constitution; and, not unfrequently, when the means are proper, they are not persisted in long enough to have their full effect; and many never have recovered, for want of a little more patience and perseverance in the right measures. I have known many who never have perfectly recovered, who would, no doubt, if the medical and moral treatment, under which they were convalescent, had been continued. Nor does it seem possible to foretell require. Even those that seem most promising, I have found in a hundred and fifty perfect recoveries, of what were deemed recent cases, that four months was the average length of time taken for the cure, but some of these took twelve months. Still the greatest cause of so many not recovering is, no doubt, the extremely defective state of our public and other large asylums, in which the curative means are most shamefully, or ignorantly, neglected. In a large prison, where, perhaps, more than two-thirds of the inmates are idiots, or incurable lunatics, it cannot be expected that the moral treatment can be good, the thing is out of the question; but the medical treatment might surely be the best which the present state of medical knowledge can afford. Yet, in many of them there is no medical treatment at all, in reference to the mental disease; the very idea of it is disclaimed. I was lately in company with two learned physicians, both attached to a public asylum, and they severally told me, with the greatest confidence, that no medical treatment could be of any use in the cure of insanity; and, as a proof that they were consistent, there were no medicines kept at the asylum which they attended. Without contending that there is no medical specific for the cure of a mental disease, yet, if there are physical impediments to recovery, which I contend there are, and if medicine is useful and even necessary in the removal or prevention of those physical impediments to recovery, then medical treatment must be useful and necessary. And as a proof of the utility of medical treatment, I will state a fact: At the Retreat, the moral treatment has, no doubt, been brought to as great a perfection as in any other place in the world; and from the steady habits of the superintendants and servants, we may rest satisfied that it has been good. At first they practised the severe antiphlogistic treatment as medical means of cure, but finding no good from it, they gave up all medical treatment, and trusted, for success, entirely to moral treatment. In the first sixteen years, they only discharged, recovered, fifty-six. In the first sixteen years, the number discharged, recovered, from Spring-Vale, was two hundred and twenty-four, solitary confinement, except in cases of great rudeness and noise, and then only while they last. I would forbid shaving the head, blistering the head, or bleeding the head, either with cupping-glasses or leeches. I would forbid the use of the lancet, for though a single bleeding in some cases would of itself do no injury, but rather good, still the good will not balance the risk and inconvenience of it. Setons and issues are admissible in very particular cases, indicating the want of them. I would forbid more than one emetic, and that a gentle one; I would forbid violent drastics; I would forbid too all preparations of mercury, unless some visible symptom shewed the want of them. I would forbid all opiates or narcotics, most strictly. As food, I would forbid salt-meat and cheese, and any thing hard of digestion. I would entirely forbid strong malt liquors, and spirits of all sorts, and only allow porter, small table-beer, or wine, in very moderate quantities. The diet should be light and nourish and upwards of seventy removed, so | patient to sit up; the necessary remuch improved, as to require no fur-straint should be disguised as much ther restraint. Spring-Vale is only as possible, and there should be no half the size of the Retreat, and seldom more than two-thirds full, while the Retreat is generally quite full, with patients waiting for admission. At Spring-Vale the medical treatment was gentle, but unremitting. Had it been the same at the Retreat, no question, the recoveries would have been upwards of four hundred and fortyeight, instead of fifty-six, that is, eight times as many as there were; for, no doubt, they would have had plenty of patients, it being always understood, that the best medical means are such only as are quite consistent with the best comforts of the patients. Medical treatment is both useful and necessary, upon two fixed principles, the one mental, the other physical: First, the giving of medicines operates as a cordial of hope to the mind of the patient, who, in the use of it, is made to believe that means of recovery are in use. And it may be taken for granted, that, in all cases of insanity, particularly those of the melancholy or desponding cast, there is a tendency to a want of healthy tone in the diges-ing, and in quantity ample, it being tive functions, and to a want of healthy action in the secretions. And if these are not causes of the disease, they most assuredly aggravate and retard, or prevent, recovery; and to counteract this tendency, the aid of medicine is required, nor can I think that there is any disease more certainly requiring the aid of medicines, or in which they may be more certainly useful. I grant that they should be administered with a gentle hand, and with due discrimi-ments, and constantly diverting the nation, as alteratives; but I consider the regular use of mild tourics and aperients, and the occasional use of diuretics and sudorifics, as quite indispensable for the best means of cure. Such, however, is the nature of insanity, and the very errroneous treatment it has so frequently met with, that it may be of more consequence to point out what is absolutely wrong than what may be right. I would of course forbid all severity in the management of the insane; all coercion of itself does injury, and the use of it should never go beyond what is absolutely necessary. No tight ligatures should be used in any case, nor should the patient be ever bound down; liberty should, in every case, be given for the necessary to take the greatest care that the patient does not sink under the violence of the disease: if the health of the body sinks, hopes of recovery from the mental disease must sink with it; for, as physical debility increases, nervous irritability will increase too. The patient should not be indulged with more than a moderate quantity of sleep. Activity, exercise in the open air, employment, amuse thoughts by strong and opposite, and pleasurable sensations,-the cordial of hope, and the consolations of religion,are the life of recovery; personal cleanness too is strictly to be observed. To describe an institution for the best means of cure for insanity, as a public and national measure, the flights of imagination, or the efforts of invention, are not required; we have only to copy what has been done long ago, and is now doing by other nations. I will, however, give a short indulgence to fancy. I will suppose, that, instead of that very expensive building in St. George's Fields, as if to make a proud display of the aberrations of the human mind, a large tract of land had been purchased some ten miles or more from London; this land enclosed so as to prevent escape;-that it should have had the advantages of "hill and valley, fountain and fresh shade," be healthy and airy, with delightful prospects of passing objects in sight, of a much travelled road, or water navigation, | with plain buildings; and that the best medical, as well as moral, means had been used; the lands affording employment for some, and active amusement for others; —and not only would it have done much good in the cure, but it would have served as an excellent example for other parts of the kingdom; and, instead of so many large prisons, as if intended to "fright the isle from her propriety," we might have had desirable institutions, that should have been acceptable to the feelings and imaginations of the weak and nervous, and the admittance to which should not only have been considered as a valuable privilege, but a great blessing, and a source of happiTHOMAS BAKEWELL. ness. Spring-Vale, near Stone, 22d Oct. 1825. PRIDE AND VANITY. PRIDE and vanity are tempers of the mind, which, it may be justly said, maintain a more general occupancy of the hearts of men, than any other dispositions whatever; but although their existence is universal, yet their peculiar difference seems not to be generally known or observed. It is, however, evident that both have their foundation in the intellectual defection of the human mind. That part of each disposition which belongs to the sensibility of our nature, may be considered not only as innate, but innocent. The original feeling is, doubtless, the gift of the Creator, as much so as the capacity to reason or judge; hence the evil lies in the misdirection of the feeling, in consequence of its union with the degenerate intellect of man. The Divine Being himself has complacency in the works of his own hands; for, on a survey of them, he beheld them as perfectly adapted to the purposes for which they were designed; and, as a proof of his approbation, declared that "they were very good.' But the perfection of the natural and moral attributes of Deity necessarily excludes dispositions in the least resembling those which are at present under review. We are led to consider pride as causing the lapse of angels. Their minds being finite, and therefore susceptible of mutation and degeneracy, might at certain times have been destitute of that efficiency which their clear and elevated intellects were naturally calculated to afford, and thus pride, or the feeling of inordinate self-esteem, might have been engendered, and consequently moral deterioration would have been the natural result. Pride may be distinguished from vanity, by considering the former as inordinate self-esteem, and the latter as inordinate self-complacency. The source of the former is an erroneous estimate of certain properties or qualifications, one's own judgment being the test; while the source of the latter is an erroneous estimate of certain properties or qualifications, the judgment of others being the test. The feeling which forms an ingredient in the former disposition, has become closely allied to hatred or malevolence, and that which forms an ingredient in the latter, is closely allied to love or benevolence. Hence, pride frequently exhibits itself under the form of a repulsive quality; while vanity often appears in the aspect of an attractive one. The proud man says in his heart, "Stand at a distance, and cast not your eyes upon me;" while the vain man whispers, "Listen to my story, and applaud me." "Excited pride produces displeasure, anger, and fury; while excited vanity causes delight, affection, and attachment. The objects of the former have often been subjected to degradation, oppression, and death itself; while the instruments of the latter have frequently been elevated to familiarity and honour. Pride has been considered as noble and magnanimous, and vanity as mean and empty; for it has been said, that great minds are more susceptible of the former, and little minds of the latter. But it may be doubted whether pride and vanity are the causes, or the effects, of those qualities. Perhaps circumstances have more influence than the structure of the mind, on the existence of pride and vanity. If a person possesses an excellence, real or supposed, that is calculated to excite the respect, reverence, or fear of others, pride is likely to be the resulting disposition; but if he possesses an excellence that is calculated to excite love, admiration, or wonder, on the part of others, then vanity is likely to be formed. Thus one man is apt to be proud of his station, rank, | wealth, or influence; another is vain of his honour, talents, learning, and acquirements: and a woman, of her connexions, beauty, ornaments, and accomplishments. It must, indeed, be admitted, that the irascible are seldom vain, and the gentle seldom proud; but an irritable temper may be the fruit of pride, and a gentle one the fruit of vanity. But as distance and unfrequency of approach are favourable to ideas of dignity, so the proud man, being difficult of access, gains the ignorant homage of the spectator. On the other hand, as familiarity exposes one's weaknesses, so vanity, descending too low in its search for food, excites contempt for the subject of it. Thus pride may be considered as noble, and vanity mean. It is frequently said, that a little pride is necessary. This assertion, viewed in connexion with the pure and holy law of God, is preposterous. Pride, being a vice, cannot be necessary to the practice of virtue, on Christian principles. Pride is a transgressor of both tables of the law, It does not give God the glory due unto him; and it robs man of the benevolence due to him. It is also a sin against natural truth, for it is founded on error. Prudence would no doubt sufficiently perform the office, which the advocates of pride desire it to do; but there is this difference, pride has always feeling in its composition, while prudence is the mere dictate of the understanding. Prudence, in this respect, is as much superior to pride, as intellect is to feeling, or as the man is to the animal. It is generally believed, that pride is more consistent with merit than vanity is. Pride, having a repulsive quality, has a tendency to increase the distance which it makes between the subject of it and other persons, and thus encourages a progressive advancement in real or fancied excellence; while vanity, using a gratulatory retrospection, dwells so much on the acquisitions already in possession, as to delight in passive enjoyment, rather than exert itself in making further acquisitions. There can be no doubt that the most of our deeply-rooted dispositions are formed in infancy and early years; although it sometimes happens that a change of circumstances, connexions, pursuits, &c. will completely alter the character in any period of advanced life: yet the poet betrayed no inconsiderable knowledge of human nature, when he said, "as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." To admire, in an infant's ears, its beauty, sprightliness, dress, &c. is a direct attack made on its moral nature, and will inevitably produce the disposition of inordinate self-complacency: whilst, on the other hand, to lay too much stress on the adventitious distinctions which the providence of God has made in its favours, or to require abject submission on the part of those who are its inferiors, is the most effectual method of sowing and cherishing pride in the predisposed soil of the human heart. The attention of parents and instructors cannot be too assiduously directed to the consideration of this view of the subject. It is worthy of remark, that men are more apt to esteem natural endowments than moral excellencies, and accordingly to value themselves in the same respect, when they are the subjects of them; although the scriptures represent moral conformity to the Divine will, as the great end which Jesus Christ had in view by taking upon him our nature, and becoming the captain of our salvation. reason seems to be, that natural excellence being restricted to few, is more apt to be discerned by the outward man; while moral excellence is the result of arduous labour only; and man's moral nature being more difficult of recovery than his intellectual, the moral sense of mankind is generally weak and imperfect. The As these dispositions are seated in the heart, and derive their nourishment from the exercise of a disordered understanding, it will, of course, be necessary to enlighten the understanding, and also to render the knowledge thus communicated constantly efficient. The proud man should more frequently consider the relation in which he stands towards the Divine Being, than that in which he stands towards his fellow-creatures, especially those beneath him; and let him fervently pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit to give vividness to his ideas of the Divine character, and permanence to the impression produced by the presence of those ideas in his mind. He must also reflect on the wonderful condescension of Jesus Christ, who, although he was from eternity in the form of God, took upon him the form of a servant, and, in this form, humbled himself unto death, even the painful and ignominious death of crucifixion. Such a contemplation, conducted in a spiritual manner, will most effectually repress and subdue the tumultuous risings of pride. Let the vain man also consider the spirituality and extent of the divine law, together with his own fruitless endeavours at perfect conformity to its requisitions: let him contrast the estimate which the Divine Being forms of human actions, with the erroneous one which doting and short-sighted mortals indulge; and let him glance at the purity, and humility, and simplicity of Him in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily. In short, that the vain or proud man may be cured of his distemper, he must undergo a radical moral change: he must be born again, and renewed in the spirit of his mind, after the image of him who at first created man in righteousness and true holiness. Z. Aberdeen, 13th Sept. 1825. SOLITARY HOURS. (Continued from col. 997.) source of true felicity. But independently of the express declarations and implied intimations of the scriptures, the alarming fact might be fully established by the light afforded us from the volume of nature. The varied, complicated, and pungent calamities, to which the human family are subject, demonstrate, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that man hath wofully departed from the fountain of all good;-that he hath lifted up the weapons of rebellion against his bountiful Benefactor; for the dictates of reason and revelation concur in assuring us, that had man never sinned, he never would have been the subject of suffering. It is not, however, the writer's intention, at this time, to direct the reader's attention to the apostasy of man. He intends rather to consider the consequences which have resulted from that apostasy, as they are displayed in the sufferings of the human family; and then to deduce some important inferences from them. "Man," says an individual, who, in the righteous dispensations of Providence, had his own share of the afflictions of life,—“man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards." And though the scriptures had preserved an unbroken silence on the subject, we might have been fully persuaded of the truth of the above remark, from our own individual experience, and from the scenes which we daily witness: for where is the man, who, in some shape or other, has not expe No. VI.-On the Afflictions incident to rienced the calamities incident to the Human Nature. "God proclaims His hot displeasure against foolish men, And putrify the breath of blooming health. And desolates a nation at a blast." Cowper. THE doctrine of the depravity of man, and his consequent alienation from the Supreme Being, is invariably inculcated throughout the volume of inspiration. There is scarcely a page of sacred writ that does not bear either direct or indirect testimony to the mournful truth, that the human mind is awfully estranged from the alone present probationary state? or where is the individual who has been entirely exempt from the painful spectacle of witnessing the sufferings of some of his hapless fellow-creatures? In vain should we traverse the wide range of human existence in quest of so fortunate a being. The afflictions to which the family of Adam are subject, are of the greatest variety, and affect both the corporeal and mental part of our nature. Our bodies are in every part susceptible of suffering; and if we ourselves have not experienced all the variety of pain, of which our material nature is susceptible, we may witness it in the calamities of our fellow-men. In one corner of yonder hospital, the receptacle of diseased beings, you witness an individual suffering the |