King's Business - 1919-07

THE KI NG' S BUS I NES S

615

of many cases of insanity, and the Lord H imself had to be appealed to for aid in conquering them . Shakespeare makes one of his characters to ask the ques­ tion, “ Cans’t thou m inister to a mind 'd iseased ?” And no one has ever been rash enough to attem p t the answer, “ Yes.” ■ In general, insanity is a hopeless con­ dition. “Once crazy, always crazy,” is a ru le from which th ere are bu t few com forting exceptions. A few cases of melancholia get well and rem ain so— for a time, a t least. Some p atien ts suf­ fering w ith chronic intoxication psy­ choses are drugged into a semblance, more or less tran sien t, of th e ir form er selves. Occasionally a case of traum a­ tic insanity is cured by operation. But all cases of dem entia precox, paranoia, and manic-depressive insanity, and most cases of general paresis—-which, to­ gether, make ùp the bulk of th e cases in our public in stitu tion s— are hope­ lessly and incurably insane from the very sta rt. Even th e “ quack” refrain s from boasting of cures in th is class of cases. Not a single advance in th e cure of such cases has been made since the days when King Saul became th e vic­ tim of “b rain storm s” of manic-depres­ sive insanity, and Nebuchadnezzar ate grass like the ox. But th e most crushing fact connected w ith th is subject is th a t in san ity is largely on th e increase, especially in cities, th e centres of industry, and of our boasted civilization. Insanity is in­ creasing ju s t in proportion as “ civiliza­ tio n ” advances. Additions are con­ stan tly being made to our g reat public asylums, and are filled to overflowing before th e p laster is dry on th e walls. It has been computed by competent statistician s th a t, if th e present ra té of increase continues, in 250 years there will no t be a single sane person in the whole United S tates. The relation of th is phenomenon to demonology is not for discussion in th is essay, b u t it can be studied w ith profit in th e ligh t of

present day conditions. And while many may no t adm it th a t m ankind is coming increasingly under the power of evil spirits; it is an undeniable fact th a t hum an beings are fast losing the power to govern themselves. W ith civilization tu rn ing out crazy folks among its fin­ ished products, is it n o t tim e th a t we paused to look for an in terp retation of the phenomenon? The avowed aim of th e medical pro­ fession is to prevent death in the young, to do away w ith physical suf­ fering a t all ages, and in the case of old age to postpone death as long as possible. Th;s aim m ust be regarded as the expression of a deep-seated in­ stin ct th a t recognizes life as th e gift of God, and hence a sacred thing. Since life is the g ift of the C reator, and "Since in th e condition in which i t was given, life was “ good,” it follows th a t all ef­ fo rts leading to th e preservation of hu ­ man life are highly commendable; and the result'svof such efforts could no t fail to be beneficial if hum an life in its pres­ e n t sta te were a norm al thing. But hum an life, in th e condition we know it, is so u tte rly corrupted and perverted by sin th a t the prolongation of indivi­ dual existence— especially the existence of those who are diseased— proves, in most cases, anything b u t a blessing, either to th e one whose life has been prolonged, or to others. Indeed, most of those whose existence has been lengthened, th rough medical and surgi­ cal interference, do bu t serve to weaken th e fabric of hum anity as a whole, to impose an additional and heavy burden upon the fabric th u s weakened, and to become themselves th e d istribu ters of diseases. Thus one of th e fearfu l con­ sequences of sin is th a t th e g reatest of blessings is converted into a curse; and from th is may be learned “ th e exceed­ ing sinfulness of sin.” It is also sad to reflect th a t, owing again to th e perverted ch aracter of hu ­ man life in its p resen t state, it would probably have been b etter for many in-

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