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    INSANITY , PAST MD PRESENT. 385

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    ' « In The Last Number Of This Journal W...

    for Christianity to solve the problem-which heathenism propounded . Ifin a iritual sense " the sins of the fathers are not visited upon

    the , children sp unto the , third and fourth generation , " in a physical sense they are—exemplifying the expression we have before made

    use of : the free-will of the parent becomes the destiny of the child . The violation of the natural law must be atoned for by suffering ;

    and when it is developed in insanity , that malady is but one phase of hysical disease ; forreduced to common sense , and divested of

    superstition p , insanity is as , much a bodily disease as fever , smallpox , or consumption . As Satan had no power over the life of Job ,

    so we hold that mere physical disorder cannot affect the soul . That vital princile is subject to spiritual influences alone , be they

    link holy between or unholy the ; but p immaterial the brain , essence which we and believe the material to be the substance connecting , is

    liable to be affected by those infirmities to which our" physical ization is subject ; consequentlywhatever influences the one ,

    is organ communicated to the other . Let an , undue pressure be applied to this delicate connecting linkand disorder must necessarily ensue ;

    let mental energy preponderate , , and the brain becomes as much disordered as when the physical organs of our frame overpower and

    destroy the union that should exist between it and them . The action of the mind may be so strong as to interfere with the healthy

    action of the body ; grief , anxiety , passion , or despair may cause lassitude and feebleness to pervade our frame , just as much as if

    that frame had been exposed to violent and hurtful exertion ; or againthe unhealthy condition of the bodyresulting from either

    want , or indulfatior inertiondisease , or accidentwill equally act upon gence the , brain gue , and so enfeeble , that organ as to render , it

    incapable of vigorous action , or of transmitting without alloy and ction the mental emotions . The object of education , while

    stimulating orrup the action of the brain , and thereby rendering it more sensitive to the suggestions of the mind , is so to strengthen the

    be physical equal frame and sustained , that the . balanc Learning e of need mental not and necessaril motive y power cause m shall

    adness ; it may do so when tlie laws of health are neglected ; for disturbances of mind are due , not so much to the burthens which

    are assumedbut rather to the disproportion between the load imposed and , the capacity of endurance . A man employed solely in

    manual labor"would be knocked up in no time if compelled to do anything requiring , mental application ; while the student who can

    rise unwearied from his desk after hotirs of close application , would sink exhausted in a little whileif compelled to severe muscular

    exertion . But let very each of these , persons gently and by degrees change his position—the one to exercise his mental , the other his

    physical Ifthen powers the — h and ysical there function will be s be no derange danger d in the there consequences is almost . a

    necessity , that , the p mental ones be also . And as , we glance at the

    causes which lead to the development of insanity , we shall find

    Insanity , Past Md Present. 385

    INSANITY , PAST MD PRESENT . 385

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Feb. 1, 1861, page 385, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01021861/page/25/