The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 07 (of 12): Dresden Edition—DiscussionsIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 07 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Discussions
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
So in ancient Greece it is said that "from the hands of the priest the
cure of the disordered mind first passed into the domain of medicine,
with the philosophers. Pythagoras is said to have employed music for the
cure of mental diseases. The order of the day for his disciples exhibits
a profound knowledge of the relations of body and mind. The early
morning was divided between gentle exercise, conversation and music.
Then came conversation, followed by gymnastic exercise and a temperate
diet. Afterward, a bath and supper with a sparing allowance of wine;
then reading, music and conversation concluded the day."
So "Asclepiades was celebrated for his treatment of mental disorders.
He recommended that bodily restraint should be avoided as much as
possible." It is also stated that "the philosophy and arts of Greece
spread to Rome, and the first special treatise on insanity is that
of Celsus, which distinguishes varieties of insanity and their proper
treatment."
"Over the arts and sciences of Greece and Rome the errors and ignorance
of the Middle Ages gradually crept, until they enveloped them in a cloud
worse than Egyptian darkness. The insane were again consigned to the
miracle-working-ordinances of o o priests or else totally neglected.
Idiots and imbeciles were permitted to go clotheless and homeless. The
frantic and furious were chained in lonesome dungeons and exhibited
for money, like wild beasts. The monomaniacs became, according to
circumstance, the objects of superstitious horror or reverence. They
were regarded as possessed with demons and subjected either to priestly
exorcism, or cruelly destroyed as wizards and witches. This cruel
treatment of the insane continued with little or no alleviation down to
the end of the last century in all the civilized countries of Europe."
Let me quote a description of these Christian asylums.
"Public asylums indeed existed in most of the metropolitan cities of
Europe, but the insane were more generally, if at all troublesome,
confined in jails, where they were chained in the lowest dungeons or
made the butts and menials of the most debased criminals. In public
asylums the inmates were confined in cellars, isolated in cages, chained
to floors or walls. These poor victims were exhibited to the public like
wild beasts. They were often killed by the ignorance and brutality of
their keepers."
I call particular attention to the following paragraph: "Such was the
state of the insane generally throughout Europe at the commencement of
this century. Such it continued to be in England so late as 1815 and
in Ireland as 1817, as revealed by the inquiries of parliamentary
commissions in those years respectively."
Dr. Tyler is entirely welcome to all the comfort these facts can give.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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