favoured regions. The duties of hospitality, though remunerated with a small sum, were in consequence more onerous to these poor peasants than they would have been elsewhere. To render them less so, it became a matter of necessity to allow the poor afflicted guest to live in every respect as a member of the family, to take part in the common repasts, to follow the members of the household to their daily avocations in garden, field, or house; for left alone he could not be, and special surveillance would necessitate the sacrifice of the time of one of the working members of the family. The presence of the lunatic during the daily work of the family led to a further step, which had a most beneficial effect upon his condition-namely, to his association in the labours of the family during his lucid intervals, and thus sprung up an intimacy and a mutual attachment which has established a kind of patriarchal relation between the insane intrusted to the care of the inhabitants of the commune of Gheel and their foster-fathers (pères nourriciers), which prevails to this day, and forms a striking contrast to the mutual distrust, and at least one-sided dislike which, under other circumstances, is so frequently found to exist between the insane and their keepers.

The people of Gheel have, moreover, a firm belief in the miracles that seemed to point out their country as a fit place for the cure and care of the insane; and this faith in a providential mission gives them a feeling of power and confidence in their dealings with their patients, which, together with the tender interest in this particular form of human infirmity, which is likewise transmitted from generation to generation, has really endowed this little community with a singular aptness for this particular vocation, and has developed a practical skill among them which is sometimes consulted with advantage by learned physicians. The whole community-men, women, and children-take an interest in the insane. A family who has no inmate of the kind, feel as if something were wanting to them, and hasten, when newcomers arrive, to supply the deficiency. The père nourricier is proud of the blooming and well-fed look of his boarder; and the family feel humiliated if their inmate look pale and dejected.

nook, and that the children, frightened at the sudden appearance of a stranger, sought refuge round the knees of the maniac, whom they seemed to look to as a natural protector, and who returned their confidence with a look and gesture of tender solicitude.

The mutual attachment that prevails generally among the insane in Gheel and their guardians was shewn on a large scale some few years ago, when several towns of Belgium which had, up to that period, been in the habit of sending their pauper lunatics to Gheel, determined to withdraw them from that place because of their being able to dispose of them elsewhere at a slight reduction of cost. Nourriciers and patients all wept bitterly at parting, and embraced each other most affectionately. Several of the lunatics hid themselves, in order to escape from the threatened separation, and others had to be removed by force. A striking example of how strongly the affectional life can be developed in those who are deprived of the light of reason; while the place that the lunatics hold in the households of Gheel, proves as strikingly that under such a system, these afflicted beings, commonly looked upon as outcasts of society, may even lead a life of useful activity-useful to others, as well as to themselves. For if Gheel is distinguished above all other communes in the Campine for the excellent condition of its corn-fields and grass-fields, its gardens and orchards, this material wellbeing is in a great measure owing to the revenues derived from the care of the insane, and also to the active co-operation of the latter during the course of a thousand years. They help to build the farms, to bring the heath under cultivation, to dig canals and bridges, to plant trees, and to tend cattle, those who are subject to intermitting fits of violence being sought in preference by the farmers as inmates and assistants, because the very violence of the paroxysms proves the vigour of their organism; and, in consequence, they are found to be energetic and industrious workers during their lucid intervals, while, by a happy logical sequence, the labour which enriches the farmer tends at the same time to ameliorate the condition of the labourer.

ten

The more docile and tractable among the insane are Many touching incidents are on record bearing engaged in indoor employments, such as carpentering, witness to the bonds of affection which unite the tailoring, shoe-making, lace-making, &c.; care being poor afflicted ones of Gheel and their kind guardians. taken, as far as possible, to put each person to the Often the nourriciers have been known to main- trade he may have been previously acquainted with; tain their charges gratuitously, even after cure has and in every family without exception, the women, been effected, when they have lost their relatives girls, and infirm old men, who may happen to be its and have been left without support. Others have inmates, take part in the household work without extended their kindness even to the poor relatives of any apparent distinction being made between them the insane who have become members of their family. and the servants or members of the family. AccordAnother tells of a lady of noble appearance, and ing to the terms agreed upon for them, the lunatics evidently highly educated, who, having been found in are to give their services gratuitously; but the pères Brussels perfectly alone and in a state of insanity, so nourriciers, having learned from experience that as to be unable to give any account of herself or her remuneration, if ever so trifling, acts as a powerful antecedents, was placed as a boarder with a farmer of stimulant, are in the habit of allowing their boarders Gheel in easy circumstances, in whose house she was or twenty sous a week, in return for their treated with all the delicate respect due to her sup- help, or, as the case may be, an extra pot of beer, a posed rank and former position, though only the pauper little tobacco, or some other innocent indulgence. allowance was paid for her. During twenty years Some of the men even work on their own account; she dined at a separate table, laid with the utmost but in no case is coercion used to make them neatness and care, while her host and hostess waited work; the force of example and gentle encouragement upon her. The inspector having one day made an alone being relied upon as effectual. Thus, these observation on the subject, he was answered: 'Why, afflicted beings, who, as a general rule, are incaryou see, sir, our little lady is evidently of good family, cerated as dangerous to society, and, if left at large, and we respect her very much. We also love our are avoided by women and children, and timid men, little lady, and wish to keep her long among us. I with unconquerable dread, are in Gheel allowed to know very well that we shall never be paid for what circulate freely in house, garden, street, and field. we do for her; but we have no children, and she is Except in some cases when it is especially forbidden our company. Another medical inspector narrates by the superintending physicians, the harmless lunatic how touched he was, on entering a farmhouse is even permitted to frequent places of public resort, unexpectedly one day, to find that the insane guest where he may read the newspapers, smoke his pipe, was occupying the seat of honour in the chimney-play at cards, or even drink a pot of beer with his

neighbour, for it is not all work and no play at Gheel -the tavern-keepers being merely prohibited, under penalty of a fine, from selling wine or spirits to the insane. Amusement is even specially provided for the insane, music being more particularly favoured, and is another means of drawing the sane and the insane population together, without detriment to the former, and with great benefit to the latter. There exists at Gheel a choral society, instituted by a lunatic violinist. In the concerts given by this society, the music is performed by the most skilful musicians, without any reference to their mental state; and a singing-class for the use of the insane is also kept up.

To sum up, liberty and work are the two fundamental principles of the system followed at Gheel in the treatment of the insane, and with the happy results, that the human dignity of the patient is never wounded, and that his enjoyment of life is left unimpaired as far as his unfortunate condition will allow of it. However, there are of course cases in which measures of restriction must be had recourse to even in this happy colony, and the means then employed are pretty much the same as used in ordinary lunatic asylums. To prevent evasion more especially, a regular system has been organised; but it is seldom called into activity, as attempts at flight are of rare occurrence-on an average, six or eight in a year-and are generally frustrated by the people themselves, without having recourse to the public authorities.

of Gheel amounts to about 9000 or 10,000, and the lunatics, varying in number from about 800 to 1000, constitute about one-twelfth of the population. These latter are either located in the town itself or in the neighbouring villages belonging to the commune, according as the friends of the patient, the authorities concerned, or the medical men residing on the spot in an official capacity, may determine. These physicians are four in number, one acting as superintendent, and the three others as physicians of sections, in which capacity they are bound to visit each patient belonging to their section once a week, and to draw up a quarterly return of the state of all for the central authorities. At Gheel, however, the physician plays but a very secondary part, and acts more as a moral guardian watching over the kind and just treatment of the patients, than as medical adviser. The people of Gheel, as has been said already, have great faith in their own power over the insane, and for a long time their religious feelings revolted against attributing the cures effected in their commune to any but miraculous causes. To the zeal with which the miraculous interposition of the patron saint of the insane was sought, the flags that pave the chapel, alluded to above, which contains the legend of St Dymphne, bear evidence, for the stones are actually hollowed out by the knees of the patients or their representatives who, during the course of centuries, have repaired to this spot to implore the intercession of the saint. While going through the ceremony of the so-called neuvaine, which consists in passing on their knees nine times to and fro under the cenotaph of the saint on nine consecutive days, the patients generally reside in a humble cottage built up against the wall of the church; and as the women who attend upon them here complain of a sad fallingoff in the number of pilgrims, and consequently in their own fees, there is reason to believe that a fallingoff is also taking place in the faith of the population in the miraculous power of St Dymphne. At one time, the canons of the church were privileged to exorcise the demons of insanity, but of late years their vocation seems entirely to have ceased.

For centuries the people of Gheel were probably left uncontrolled to do, in regard to the lunatics intrusted to their care, as they might deem most fit. Local acts from the seventeenth century, still extant, shew, however, that at that period the lunatics were under the guardianship of the local authorities, though few improvements seem to have been introduced into the mode of treatment, except such as would naturally follow from increased wellbeing, and more advanced civilisation among the population in general. The modern history of Gheel may be said to date from 1795, when Belgium was incorporated with France, and divided into departments. At that period, this modest institution attracted the attention of M. de Pontecoulin, prefect of the department of Dyle. Comparing the condition of the insane, crowded together in the dirty, unventilated, fetid hospitals in Brussels, the capital of the department, with the advantages enjoyed by those distributed among the inhabitants of the commune of Gheel, he ordered the former to be transferred to this more healthy refuge. This example was soon followed by various other cities of Brabant, and also of those of Southern Holland, after the reunion of Belgium with that country; and thus, after centuries of obscurity, Gheel at last attained a certain degree of celebrity. In 1825, Dr Guislain, professor of the university of Ghent, one of the first who exerted himself in favour of reform in the treatment of lunatics in Belgium, devoted special attention to Gheel and to the system pursued there; but being a rather onesided admirer of the improvements introduced into France by Pinel, Esquirol, and their disciples, he gave a very unfavourable report of the opposite mode followed at Gheel. The severity of this judgment led to a thorough investigation on the part of the government, which resulted in a series of ordinances and rules, placing the lunatics of Gheel under the special guardianship of the central as well as local authorities, and establishing constant medical super-fits; which sum comprehends everything but clothing. vision, without, however, as we have seen, in any way altering the patriarchal relationship between the insane and their pères nourriciers, which has existed

for ten centuries.

The total number of inhabitants in the commune

The population of the commune of Gheel is purely Catholic; but that liberty of conscience which is guaranteed by law in Belgium, seems to be sincerely respected in this little community, no attempts having ever been made to effect conversions among the insane, who, being often sent thither from a distance, belong to various religions and various nations. All conditions, all ages, all nationalities, all religions, are received here on equal terms, and so also are all classes of mental disease, with exception of such as take the form of suicidal, homicidal, or other monomanias dangerous to society, and the treatment of which would be incompatible with the general system pursued. The rustic simplicity of the population, and their mode of life, may also seem to exclude patients accustomed to the luxurious comforts of a wealthy home; but there are families in Gheel who live in a style very similar to that of most persons in the middle classes on the continent, and in whose houses rich lunatics may be comfortably if not luxuriously accommodated. The terms paid for boarders, requiring nothing more than the ordinary fare and accommodation, are exceedingly moderate. In 1856, the price fixed by the authorities was 237 francs 25 centimes, or about L.9, 10s. a year, for harmless patients; and 266 francs 45 centimes, or about L.10, 138., for such as are mischievous, or are suffering from epileptic

We regret that our space prevents us from entering into some statistical details, more especially regarding the number of cures effected at Gheel, and the general results of the mode of treatment followed there; but for those we would refer such of our readers as

We are sorry always to observe in the records of Byron's life any traces of that portion of his career which was spent among persons of his own class in London. Their society did him a great deal of harm, both as a man and as an author. It was under their influence that he addicted himself to athletic sports, for which nature had altogether unfitted him; and that he adopted and used occasionally the jargon of fashionable persons, who affected to think meanly of those things which are alone estimable in the world. We can easily imagine, however, that in exhibitions of muscular power, he was inferior to Mr Trelawny. He was also inferior to most persons in the capacity for eating and drinking. He cared very little for beef and mutton, and still less for that alcohol under the influence of which he is supposed to have often written. On the contrary, he lived as abstemiously as a hermit, that the fine ducts and channels of the brain might be left open for the passage of those airy spirits which are the mind's ministers, and co-operate in all its creations. We are glad to have Mr Trelawny's testimony to this fact. Apparently, however, Byron found it necessary to assign other than literary reasons for his hermit-like life. To the greater part of his associates, he would have put forward in vain the claims of the intellect, the pleasures of a clear head, and the delights of an unburdened fancy, that lives in the colours of the rainbow, or plays in the plighted clouds. He placed the source of his frugality in his apprehensions of fattening, as Mr Trelawny observes, who, in speaking of the poet, often employs the vocabulary in which farmers discuss the merits of a stalled ox.

But whether it was the fear of fat, of the stings of repletion, of headaches, indigestion, or anything else material, or the reluctance of the intellect to be buried under the Pelion upon Ossa of English dinners, the fact remains indisputable, that Byron ate little and drank less. On the other hand, he had what the world calls bad habits; he sat up late, and lay in bed in the morning; but whoever has lived much in the south may easily conjecture the reason. The nights in those parts of Europe possess an irresistible charm for poetical and thoughtful minds, when all nature is hushed as in a dream; when the stars appear to descend in clusters towards the earth, and when the breath of our great mother in her sleep is inexpressibly sweet and soothing.

justice than Mr Trelawny, or, indeed, than any other writer who has touched on these points. He has, perhaps, been too desirous of elevating his hero at the expense of all who came near him; but he has not done this blindly, or without laying fully before others the reasons which determined his own conduct. Mr Trelawny entertains the same preferences, but without being able to assign the same reason for them. Nature has not gifted him with the faculties necessary for appreciating lofty poetry, while Mr Middleton is himself a poet, and yet devoted to the task of celebrating the poetry of another.

Of course, as a personal acquaintance-for of Shelley or Byron, Mr Trelawny was no more-he can supply descriptions and relate anecdotes which take their colour and character from actual intercourse. Mr Trelawny's book contains many of these, and they entirely constitute whatever charm there is in it. We are familiar with many of the spots he describes, and, therefore, to some extent at least, are able to judge of the felicity of his descriptions. Occasionally, he places a picture before you very successfully, but only of detached portions of a landscape. By going again, and again, over the same ground, he manages to convey some idea of the scenery about the Gulf of Spezzia, of the vicinity of Leghorn, of Pisa, and the Monte Viso, but coarse and material images always prevail, and spoil the general effect and description. The best passage in Mr Middleton's biography of Shelley is that which describes the cremation of his body on the Italian shore. Every idea introduced is poetical and grand. The scene is invested with gloom; the attributes of the coast are brought out distinctly before the eye-the sea, the mountains, the heavens, with a solitary funeral pile, and a few sad and melancholy friends standing reverently near it. Nothing is introduced calculated to disgust, or even to shock the mind. The imagination is hurried back to classical times, and you imagine you behold a little knot of pagan friends reducing the remains of some beloved individual to inodorous ashes, that they might be preserved for ever within the sacred circle of the family. Mr Trelawny converts the scene into a hideous and loathsome exhibition, calculated to inspire the utmost horror. It reminds us strongly of the doings of ghouls, who, in oriental fictions, tear up dead bodies from the grave for odious and unholy purposes. We shall not defile our pages with an extract, but if any one be in love with the nightmare, and would like to people his dreams with frightful figures and prospects, he may read the whole account in Mr Trelawny's book. He must have a strong stomach if it does not make him sick, and a strong mind if he passes a comfortable night immediately after perusing it. We have known persons whom it has haunted for weeks. This we do not mention as a recommendation.

Byron loved to be near the sea, which, in the still, calm hours of night, sends up voices replete with inspiration to the ear. To these voices he delighted to listen. They spoke to him of many things, which he could not venture to discuss with his everyday companions. The mind which is conscious of its power to create, must desire to consult the past, and to throw its glances forward into futurity. At night, upon the margin of the main, it is rapturous to do this in Italy, especially when the moon, in full splen- With regard to the great poet himself, it has always dour, diffuses her white light over the waves, forming appeared to us matter of deep regret that some one an endless vista of glory, through which speculation capable of understanding his mind, and of faithfully appears to penetrate into eternity. Besides, whatever describing his manners, was not with him during the may be said, every man who possesses ideas of his latter portion of his life. He certainly deserved to own, desires and needs to be often by himself. It is be comprehended, but was not. His ultimate driftat such times only that he can explore the extent of ing towards Greece looks, more than any modern his mental wealth, and exercise unimpeded the prolific event, like the work of destiny. He appears all the faculty of invention. It is said that Shelley's friend- while like one of the old heroic race labouring under ship exerted a beneficial influence on Byron's mind. a spell. Individuals, frivolous, mean, and selfish, In a literary point of view, it might. Shelley's who are cleverly described by Mr Trelawny, flutter brain, like a caldron, was always seething with new before him, and draw him by a terrible fascination ideas, which, wherever he went, he threw around him towards the fatal spot. Once in the Hellenic waters, like an atmosphere. He was besides, large-minded, he sails up and down the coast, landing occasionally generous, and free from jealousy. He could therefore on some beautiful island, from the summit of which behold without envy Byron's superior popularity, he beheld-what was not visible to Mr Trelawnywhile he admired frankly the works of his greater and infinitely more successful rival. To this part of Shelley's character Mr Middleton has done more

the Greece of other days, whose soil was trodden by great men, whose atmosphere inspired great thoughts, and whose every nook and crag, and glen,