Author: Isaac Ray

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-10-25

Total Pages: 22

ISBN-13: 9780265557570

Excerpt from Isolation of Persons in Hospitals for the Insane Hen a man loses his reason, it becomes necessary that the reason of others, in a greater or less degree, shall supply its place. To that extent, the movements of the person thus afflicted are subject to the control Of others, and his property is taken from his management and disposal. Humanity demands this the 'peace and safety of society demand it, and the ultimate good of all parties IS promoted by it. Thus, of necessity, one of the hardest penalties of the criminal law rs Visited upon men who have not only committed no crime, but are themselves the Victims of as sad a calamity as any in the long catalogue of human ills. The manner in which this consequence is determined, however, differs very much in the two cases. In the one, it follows a judicial investigation conducted according to the strictest forms of legal procedure, with all the safeguards and indulgences which, in the progress of humanity, have come to be regarded as unquestionable rights; while in the other, in most instances, it is determined by the arbitrary will of individuals proceeding under none of the or dinary formalities of law, and guided by none of its principles. The Inquiries which this first View of the subject suggests are deeply interesting, because the idea now prevails that the legisla ture should prescribe under what circumstances this interference with the inalienable rights of men, on the ground of insanrty, is to be allowed; to whom this privilege of interference is to be eu trusted; by what safeguards against abuse this trust is to be pro tected; by what solemnities this deprivation of liberty and pro perty is to be accompanied and recorded. Precisely what legisla tion the exigencies of the case require, is one of the much vexed problems in social science. To solve it satisfactorily to all is simply impossible, because much of its difficulty proceeds from the circum stance that well-established facts and incontrovertible reasoning are deprived of their legitimate force by the influence of passion, prejudice and temperament. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.