he most obvious ones; they
suggest themselves to the dullest minds, and cost nothing but bodily
strength to put them in execution; the gentler methods require reflection,
knowledge, and dexterity. It is these which Dr. Conolly applies with
perfect success. He has taken great pains to make himself acquainted, by
personal observation, with the treatment of the insane in different
hospitals, not only in England, but on the continent. He found that to be
the most efficacious which interferes least with their personal liberty,
and on this principle, the truth of which an experience of several years
has now confirmed, he founded the system of treatment at Hanwell.

We had letters to Dr. Conolly, with the kindness and gentleness of whose
manners we were much struck. He conducted us over the several wards of the
Asylum. We found in it a thousand persons of both sexes, not one of whom
was in seclusion, that is to say confined because it was dangerous to
allow him to go at large; nor were they subjected to any apparent
restraint whatever. Some were engaged in reading, some in exercises and
games of skill; of the females some were occupied in sewing, others at
work in the kitchen or the laundry; melancholic patients were walking
about in silence or sitting gloomily by themselves; idiots were rocking
their bodies backward and forward as they sat, but all were peaceable in
their demeanor, and the greatest quiet prevailed. No chastisement of any
kind is inflicted; the lunatic is always treated as a patient, and never
as an offender. When he becomes so outrageous and violent that his
presence can be endured no longer, he is put into a room with padded walls
and floors where he can do himself no mischief, and where his rage is
allowed to exhale. Even the straight jacket is unknown here.

I said that the demeanor of all the patients with whom the Asylum was
swarming was peaceable. There was one exception. On entering one of the
wards, a girl of an earnest and determined aspect, as soon as she saw Dr.
Conolly began to scream violently, and sprang towards him, thrusting aside
the bystanders by main force. Two of the female attendants came
immediately up and strove to appease her, holding her back without
severity, as a mother would restrain her infant. I saw them struggling
with her for some time; how they finally disposed of her I did not
observe, but her screams had ceased before we left the ward.

Among the patients was one who, we we