Page:The Harveian oration 1866.djvu/42

 ought to be, one which substitutes mental for bodily control, and is governed in all its details by the purpose of preventing mental excitement, or of soothing it before it bursts out into violence. He urged this with feeling and persuasive eloquence and gave in proof of it the results of his own experiment at Hanwell. For, from the time that all mechanical restraints were abolished, the occurrence of frantic behaviour among the lunatics became less and less frequent (y).

Thus did the experiments of Charlesworth and Conolly confirm the principles of treatment inaugurated by Daquin and Pinel; and prove that the best guide to the treatment of lunatics is to be found in the dictates of an enlightened and refined benevolence. And so the progress of science, by way of experiment, has led men to rules of practice nearer and nearer to the teachings of Christianity. To my eyes a Pauper Lunatic Asylum, such as may now be seen in our English counties, with its pleasant grounds, its airy and cleanly wards, its many comforts, and wise and kindly superintendence, provided for those whose lot it is to bear the double burthen of poverty