3 Yrs in a Mad House, 1851

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Astounding Disclosures! Three Years In A Mad HouseCREATOR: Is aac H. Hunt (author)

DATE: 1851PUBLISHER: I saac H. Hunt

SOURCE: Patricia Deegan Collection

FIGURES: Figure 2 Figure 3

1 A true a ccount of the barbarous, inhuman and cruel treatment of Is aac R. Hunt, in the Maine

Insane Hospital, in the years 1844, '45, '46, and '47, by Drs. Isaac Ray, James Bates, and theirAssistants and Attendant. Also, a correct account of the a busive treatment of a multitude of otherpatients, some of which are tantamount to murder. Also, containing a short account of the bu rningof the Hospital, Dec. 4th, 1850.

2 This little work is most respectfully dedicated to the SOVEREIGN PEOPLE of the United States.

CHAPTER I.

3 For us and ou r tragedy,Here's stooping to your elemeney --We beg your hearing patiently. --Shakspeare.[sic]

4 The title of this little book is destined either to appeal the eye or deeply interest the heart, for all

who sha ll read these page s attentively, a good m oral will come; yea , I fervently hope that muchincalculable good may come o f it, or else wherefore breathe we in a Christian land? With any othermotive than that of benefiting men, and most of all, for the scourging and scathing of a mostiniquitous, villainous system of inhumanity, that would more than match the bloodiest, darkestdays of the Inquisition or the tragedies of the Bastille, I pen, publish, and scatter these lines.

5 Every branch of science, art or mechanism -- every sect, religious a nd po litical, social and moral,

seem to have their organs, oral or literary, through which each peculiar tenet or institution isadvocated, and gua rded against the po werful arms o f wrong, oppression and fallacy, -- but whoever read or heard a disquisition on, or against Mad Houses, Insane Asylums. Such an apostle --such a book, I have never seen or heard of. But you, gentle reader, shall not say the same, forthe author of this is about to startle the world, and 'the rest of mankind,' with a disclosure thatshall make the learned Doctors ofmad men, and rotten rogues tremble, and gladden the hearts ofmany a poor, man fo rsaken, kindred deserted, suffering, perishing being, shut within the walls ofthe innumerable Bastiles [sic] of our land, ycleped Insane Asylums.

6 Start not! think not that a m ad m an raves. I shall utter nought but truth -- truth so strong, and

reason so palpable, that nothing short of sheer innate madness or stupidity of your own, shallclose your eye or ear to the cogent force and ends I ha ve in view.

7 "Truth crushed to ea rth, shall rise again!

The eternal years of God are hers;But error wounded, writhes in pain,

And dies am id her worshipers!"

8 And let me at the start have a fa ir understanding; think no t that this is a catch-penny clap-trap ofthe day, or an imbecile compilation of guess work, fiction or foolery. Far from it. The deeplyseared heart, the tortured mind and body of the author, are too sure and evident proofs of thesincerity of his portraitures, and determination of his purpose to lay open, expose, anatomize,and exhibit, in their hideous deformity and atrocious monstrosities, the doings, the practices ofone Asylum, with a corresponding exhibt [sic] of many -- ay, all others around us.

9 There is hardly any ques tion that will startle, confound, amaze and horrify you, until you read the

end of this work. But I hope the hearts of all may be touched -- the compassion of many, thespirit of inquiry be aroused; and those who have not thought of these things may be set to theirwits, and those that have thought, think the more, and act in the matter, as becomes men of anenlightend [sic] age, an honorable and intelligent community. There shall not be, in this work,aught that will not pay well for a thorough investigation. There shall not be an a llusion, word orline, calculated to o ffend the most fastidious disciplinarian o f moral principle. But I intend to use

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the scalpel of reason freely -- dismember and dissect clearly and keenly each fibre of this horridinquisition and inquisitors -- Insane Asylums and learned Doctors. Though my narratives mayhorrify they shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; and in such guise , shallthis book be fit for any man, woman o r child to read, reflect and ponde r over; peruse itcarfully[sic], and when you arrive a t any one point wherein m adness o r folly "sticks out," drop it,but not until then I beseech you.

CHAPTER II.

10 The author of this little work, was, on the 21st of Septembe r, 1844, take n to the Maine Insane

Hospital, in the city of Augusta, State o f Maine , a wild maniac. The Hospital at that time was underthe supe rintendance of Dr. Isaac Ray, now of the Butler Insane Asylum, of Providence, R.I. In thisinstitution I rema ined ne arly three yea rs, and I sha ll endeavor to give a vivid description of ea chand every circumstance connected with my confineme nt, treatment, torture of body and mind, andthe malp ractice performed on me . These facts will enable the reade r to judge o f the extent of mymadness. It is of no use for me to deny, (for of that fact there is abundant proof,) that when Iwas taken to the Hospital I was a perfectly deranged man, laboring under a strong fe ver of thebrain, or grea t and uncontrollable mental exciteme nt, of which, under humane trea tment, I sho uldhave recovered, and no doubt returned to m y business in full possession of m y mental andphysical faculties. But the moment I entered the Hospital a fear came over me -- a deep state ofmental depression was fo llowed by that of horror and fea r, and of course what little consciousnessI had at the time was put to flight, for I knew not, but dreaded what was to follow. I entered theHospital on Saturday evening; the first assay they made was to ha ve me swallow some P ills. Irefused, but was fo rced to s ubmit, and took them . This ope ration was under the direction andpersona l assistance o f Dr. Ray, and the attendant, Alvin S. Babcock. The nex t day I felt thenecessity of a shower bath, and expressed m y feelings to Dr. Ray. But, in language , you willdoubtless think very cold and vulgar in so learned a gentleman, he thus addressed me: --"We'revery short on't for water, and I can't let you have it; there has'nt been no rain lately, and I can't letyou have it." I then s aid: "Sir, if you will tell me where you get your water, I will go and ge t somemyse lf, as a gallon will be sufficient." He then said that he could not let me have it; to which Ireplied: -- "Sir, I think that I need it, and if you cannot let me have it here, will you pe rmit me togo to my own house, or some other place, where I can have such remedies as my case requires."To this he replied: -- "You can't go; you have been brought here by your friends, and you muststay until you ge t well." I was hereupon plied with medicine, the effect of which was to cause me totravel the gallery for hours and hours, perfectly wild and uncontrolable , as patients often are inalmost any Insane Hospital. But I trust to God that in no other case have those walks beencaused in mad men, as was mine, by horrid draughts of, to me, a nameless medicine. This stateof my mind and physical prostration, through the effe ct of that medicine, was continued fo rseveral days without intermission , until about the close of the nex t week, o r some time in the weekfollowing, when I was given medicine which threw me upon my bed, followed by the most horridchills, that shook me, body and soul and made my very bones rattle, -- my teeth chattered andmy bones rattled like the dry bones o f a ske leton; I gave up all hope of life with such composu reas I could muster; but my hour had not come, fo r at this juncture, Babcock, the attendant, cameand ga ve me a bowl of hot ginge r tea, sa ying in a jocular manner: -- "Die! oh, no, not you --

you'll not die yet -- you're worth a dozen dead men." The tea and the application of a pyramid ofblankets and comforters, warmed the system -- the chills retreated, and I kept my bed for somedays. About the ninth day a fter I went there, I was again subjected to the horrid wild-fire medicine,which was followed by the same terrible and strange s ensa tions and wande rings o ver the gallery. Irefused peremtorily to suffer this treatment; I refused to take the medicine. The attendantinsisted that I should, and ha rsh words followed. I told him the m edicine was de stroying me and Iwould not take it. He then commanded me in a tone of authority, to take the medicine. I did takeit. I took it from his hand and dashe d it out of the window! In a m oment this stalwart, muscularman struck m e a violent blow upon m y head which either knocked me down, or he instantly seizedme and crushed me to the floor. I struggled, when he siezed me by the throat and choked me. Ibegan to have fear that he had my death in view, and would murder me upon the spot. I beggedfor my life, when he harshly exclaimed. "I will learn you not to throw away your medicine when Igive it to you!" I begged for mercy, and promised if my life was spared to take anything he mightgive me. Upon this he released me, and I continued my usual dull routine of the previous da ys.The next morning, Babcock entered my room, as usual, with medicine. From the treatment I hadalready received, of course I dared not refuse to swallow the terrible d raught, though it should

instantly cause death. I took the pills, and som e liquid contained in a m ug. These compoundshad the effect to destroy my bodily health for the residue of my earthly existence. There is apena lty for such ma lpractice, and if I had it in my power to bring Dr. Isaa c Ray and Dr. Horatio S.Smith before the legal tribunals of my country, I should not poss ibly find any difficulty in send ingthem to the State Penitentiary for the full term o f twenty years for ma lpractice, and three yea rsadditional for conspiracy.

11 Once a month the Trustees visited the I nstitution. I took occasion upon the ir first visit, while I was

there, to speak to one of them , with whom I was a cquainted. I reques ted him, with tea rs in myeyes, which I really could not suppress, to allow me to go home. I felt sensible that the treatmentthere, was destined to des troy my me ntal and physical faculties. He replied that he would consultDr. Ray and see if he thought it expedient or proper for me to leave the institution. All I obtainedfor that appea l, was a continuation of the sam e ho rrid draughts, in larger quantities. The interim Ifilled up by drudgery. Babcock would o rder me to ass ist in cleaning floors, scouring knives &c. Thisof course was done to humiliate m e, but I objected s trongly to such palpable cruelty. He would say: "you had be tter do it; you'll be so rry if you don't; you shall not sleep at night if you don't, so do




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it at once." Babcock, in these essays, introduced some strange philosophy or reasoning. Forinstance, he would sa y that they did no t compel any one to work, but if I refused I should notsleep at night! I frequently appealed to Dr. Ray to allow me to go home . I was aware that I couldnot pay my expenses in such an institution, being idle and earning nothing. He always replied,that if I was not able to pay my expenses, the town would pa y it. But I told him that I did not wishthe town to pa y my bills. I did not consider my case one for public charity, for I was both ab le andwilling, if allowed my libe rty, to provide for myself a nd fam ily, and avoid the un-called for stigmaof be ing a charge to comm unity. Again I was plied with medicine, such as few mortals dream of. Atone time, I found the vile compounds had the effect to paralyze my jaws; at another to effect thedrums of my ea rs, appa rently to mak e me deaf. The bones of the jaws would snap and crack,which caused m uch distress and pain when I attempted to ea t or talk. The se s ensa tions werehorrid beyond recital. Then again, I took from Dr. Ray medicine that caused me to weep like a

child -- tears o f anguish that I could no t restrain. Then the reverse would occur; I could not weep -- not a tear would flow -- I felt as s toic and indifferent as a pirate, be lieving that I could standunmoved by any sympa thy, though every, friend cherished or loved were slaughtered be fore myeyes. Some nights I could not sleep; tortures a nd dreams of the most horrid kind agitated me;fiery thoughts and wild fancies hovered over my b rain; thus in this horrible mood would I pray forthe return of day. The next night, medicine would put me in the most deadly stupor -- a sleep ofunconscious he aviness. Nothing could wake me . In the morning I aga in would be subjected to themaniac's draught and the mad man's walk! At length I appealed to Dr. Ray, as a matter of humansympathy, to adm inister some deadly draught to end my woe, or send me home. -- He replied:"Nothing is given you but what is for your good; you sha ll go home when you get well."

12 One Sunday morning I met him, and again appealed to the old subject, liberty or death, and

insisted s tronge r than ever for a conclusion, stating that the practices there were a trocious andinhuman. He then replied : "If you are abused here, when you get well and go home , the law willgive you redress." I then distinctly remembered, that upon a fo rmer occasion, Dr. Ray hadinformed me that no secret transactions of that In stitution were ever revea led ou t of its portals.

This enforced me to say: "Dr. Ray, if you should murder me here, no one would revea l it."Thereupon, Dr. Ray called out in a loud and commanding tone: "Bring in the Saws and Axes!" -- Iwas alarmed. It was Sunday, and no visitors were a llowed in the Hospital. I was in the power of aman whose heart was a dam ant, whose occupation was bloody, and whose intention, I thenbelieved, was my annihilation. I shuddered, was horrified and powerless. I gave myself up as alost man, supposing that I should become a subjectfor the anatomical butchers; employment forthese m iscreants, these fiends, these ghouls. This state of me ntal convulsion was no t long, to besure, for Dr. Ray did retire without butchering m y body, being contented, doubtless, with thescathing and deep torture he had given me. It would be almost a matter of supererogation in meto ask the reade r if he can, unde r any conclusions, impressions or inferences draw the slightestidea of the good that would come of such trea tment, upon a man whose faculties were reallysuffering with nervous affections, body reduced and mind unsettled? Is it unreasonable to ask ifthis very act, which I have so fa intly drawn, is not sufficient to se t a sound man on a wire edge,and start any one mad, furiously mad? This whole statement, I most solemnly declare to be true.If, under such a horrid regime , men are to suffe r in order to regain reason's tottering throne, it isa system , a course of philosophy not yet written in the books o f wise m en; far from any generally

diffused information that humane and disinterested individuals have ever had access to.

CHAPTER III.

13 As I closed the last chapter, so was affairs with me; torture by day and night. About this time myson called on me . I saw him, but did no t see him go away. Strange, wild, fearful fancies rackedmy mind, in regard to him and his fate. I heard a scream and supposed it to be his voice; Isupposed he had been put into the shower box and showered. In my bewildered state of mind, Iwas sure that it was his voice which uttered a terrible scream. I supposed that, a day or two afterthis, they put him into the furnace, and cooked his flesh, and put it upon the table for me to eat.These things gave me great anguish, and I mentioned them to Babcock. He made this atrociousreply: "Well, let the devil k ill his own mea t, then he can't find fault with his butcher." It was thenwinter; snow and cold sleets were upon the earth. I was ordered out into the snowy yard to splitand saw wood , and into the attic to pump water, and a ttend to the various m enial occupationsbes t calculated to worry and annoy me. I refused on se veral occasions , when Babcock carried o rdragged me into the yard or attic, and fo rced me to work as he d irected. It was terrible, but there

was no appeal, it was inhum an, but who could object? They were m y mas ters, and I their easyslave -- their crushed victim.

14 One night an awful noise arose to my ea r. It was the loud cracking and snapp ing so peculiarlydescribed and attributed to the rack of the Inquisition. Instantly, it occurred to me, that they werebreaking my brother upon the wheel, after the manner of the bloody fiends of the Bastile [sic]and Inquisition. I hea rd the crack and crash -- the very dogs howled and ba rked --and thus I waswrought up into a s tate of horror that no pen can describe, no tongue give utterance to. All ofthese delusions, as they termed them, were actually got up in some form or other, for theexpress purpose of working upon my imagination, and make me think they were realities, bythese inhuman monsters, into whose hands I had fallen. After having instilled into my mind thatmy son had been destroyed, they again contrived to make me think that he was still alive, andwas destined for another fate, equally horrid. One day I saw some one pass a box into the middlegallery which was the first floor below me; the bo x was perforated with innumerable ho les, a nd wasas I supposed , for some purpose of torture. It was very apparent to my distracted mind, that itwas to enclose the body of my son. The box was carried into the gallery upon the shoulder of a




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man. Again, I was s et wild. I hea rd a loud, angry voice, say: "Get into the box; come, ge t inquick!" and then followed a stifled scream of horror, and the terrible sound of the ham me r innailing on the lid of the box. Was not the suspense and anguish horrifying and terrible to bear?believing, as I did, that my son was a bout to be or already was a victim to the inquisitors of thisden of crime and inhumanity. Can a man endure such scenes and not become a maniac, howeversound his m ind may have once be en. With these de lusions, for they were all delusions did thewretches, o fficiating in the Hospital, torture m e, as realities, -- and he nce they are more thanentitled to the scourge of justice and the utter condemnation of the people at large. ParsonTappan came one Sabbath evening to preach at the Institution. I saw him, but did not see himleave. And then again, they instilled it into my mind, that they had murdered him, and served uphis flesh as food for me for, by their acts they led me to believe that the Hospital was a RomanCatholic inquisition for the destruction of all Protestants, and hence the fate of Parson Tappan.

The thought shot a thrill of awe to my very soul. I for-swore meat, and ate none fo r nearly threemonths, but the horrid idea haunted me day and night. There were two nights during thesescenes, when the gallery was filled with smoke almost to suffocation, and they induced me tobelieve that they were burning the bodies o f my fam ily connections. At that time I actually thoughtit was rea lly so. I know not what produced the smoke, but have no do ubt but what it was s omeanima l substance, -- such as grease, with, perhaps, som e o ther substances, which was put intothe furnace with the design to induce m e to think that it proceeded from those causes which wereinstilled into my m ind. Because I raised m y window in the night to obtain fresh air, during thesmo ke, they put a screw over the top of the sash, so that I could not raise it but about two inches,and thus it rema ined four or five mon ths, until the weathe r became quite warm, be fore they tookit out. Can any one conceive o f anything more ho rrible or distressing to the be wilderedimagination of a m an than such scenes as these? I fee l no hesitation in saying -- yea, I haveproved, that they did all they could, and left not a stone unturned to keep m e in terror, drive memad, torture and, rack my shattered brain and body! -- There is another case in point, a proof onpiles of proof, that their purpose was as bold as dire, as heartless as cunning, and cruel beyondall recorded atrocities. Parson Judd visited the Hospital and preached to the inmates. I supposed

he had heard my case, knew my fears and thoughts; yes, he selected, of all other subjects ortexts for a sermon, the very one bes t calculated to convince me of the truth of my fears, thedeath and destruction of my son. Here is the text:

15 SECOND SAMUEL 12th Chap., 22d and 23d verses: --"And he said, while the child was ye t alive, I

fasted and wept; for I said, who can tell whether God will be gracious to m e, that the child maylive?"

16 "But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but

he shall not return to me."

17 I took as directly applicable to my worst thoughts, either to goad m e on to fury and insanity, byfalse reports and dire inuendoes, tricks and schemes, or it may be that the Parson was sincere,and a pplied the text to my case in shee r necessity and christian sympathy. Either way led m e stillnea rer to wreck and mise ry.

18 One day my wife and her brother visited m e. I was pe rmitted to se e them in the parlor for a fewminutes, and then they retired. After their departure it was my strong conviction that both of themhad fa llen into the hands of the Inquisitors, and were ground and cut up. In fact this de lusion waskept up very perfectly by a no ise o f the steam used to hea t the water in the a ttic, which cause d abubbling and boiling, as though bodies were being really broken and ground up by machinery forthat purpose. In the midst of this, some miscreant called out the name of my wife, and said shewas gone; all o f which was done to torture, a nnoy, confuse and bewilder me . The whole winter ofmy confinement was m ade up of such issues. My days were full of ho rrors, my nights terrible,beyond a ll human comprehension . I cannot conceive how it was po ssible for me to endure all ofthis, and live any longer. No death could be more terrible than my (then) mode of life, and Ishould have fa llen had not Providence otherwise o rdained it. And now, at the time of this writing,nearly six years have passed away, and I have been out into the world about four years, yet thesescenes are as fresh to my m ind as though they occurred but yesterday. I wish all, who may readthese page s, to distinctly understand that it is a fair stateme nt of facts as they occurred; thatthose o fficers and men did actually intend to instill them into my m ind. -- This is neither theinsane delusion of my bewildered ima gination, or a tale of fiction, but is a stern rea lity -- the

solem n truth -- and directly or indirectly have three o f the hired m en who were a t the Hosp ital atthat time, and who knew it all, admitted it, in most of its essential po ints, to be true. It is thetruth; truth that will sustain me in the solemn ho ur of death, and when I meet those that I accuseof having done it, before that tribunal from whence there will be no appe al; it is the truth, so helpand sustain me, God! Written with my own hand .

CHAPTER IV.

19 The first of April Dr. Bates took charge of the Hospital. The whole course o f medicine was changed.

Morphine was freely given me to allay the excitement produced by the horrid medicine given meby Dr. Ray. Dr. Bates, I must say, treated me very kindly for a while -- the medicine with which Ihad be en plied by Dr. Ray, however, was so incorporated into m y system, that it took time to getit worked out. About three weeks after Dr. Bates took charge, I was by him pe rmitted to visit myfam ily, accompanied by Mr. Hall, the supe rvisor. I remained with them about one hour, and thenreturned to the Hosp ital. Again se parated from my fam ily I was revisited by all, and m ore than all,of those horrid phrenzies . Dr. Smith still being in the I nstitution, I could no t conquor my




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repugnance and dread o f him, from the bad treatment I had received a t his hands. He made upthe prescriptions of the Institution, and I felt fearful of all the preparations he made for me; infact, I never encountered this man without a sensation of dread and terror. There was somethingin his manner, features, and very tread, that caused me to shudder as though I was in thepresence of a rapacious beast of prey.

20 About this time I was tak en very ill. I could not ge t a pa rticle of quiet repose. My mind was

tortured with a thousand wild fancies, and I must say this was a bout the severest o f all myanguish during my incarceration in this modern Inquisition. I am not now prepared to a ssert it aspositive, but I thought and do now think, and I know that Dr. Smith was not the man to hesitateto do a s evil, and even worse -- drug me with med ical preparations to de stroy my mental andphysical faculties -- for during this sickness of se veral wee ks duration, I was rea lly so low and

despairing that I entertained not the s lightest doubt but what I should fall a victim to thesema lpractices a nd inhuman atrocities. However, after all storms comes a calm -- the darkest nightturns out the brightest mo rning. I go t better, walke d about, and even induced Dr. Bates to grantme a parole to walk out about the grounds. This was refreshing, and I enjoyed it much afterhaving bee n shut up in such a prison for so long a period. But still this was no t liberty, so dear tothe heart of every man . No; it was not the libe rty I sighed, begged and wept for -- the libertywhich, by preaching or praying to stones , I might have gained. But my appeals were to hearts oflead, flint, or steel, and produced nothing to alleviate the suffering of my tortured body and mind.Dr. Bates, after much persuasion, finally almost by force, induced me to engage in theamusem ents o f som e o f the other patients, such as pla ying cards, &c., which seemed to worry anddistress my mind instead of relieving it.

21 Sometime in the summer, when the Trustees made their visit to inspect the Hospital, I appealed

to Reuel Williams, as one of the Trustees, to discharge me from the Institution. I revealed tohim, at that time , the pa rticulars of the abuse I had received from Dr. Ray, to a ll of which hereplied -- "You can't make me believe that you have been abused here, Hunt." To this I replied --

"Whether you will believe it or not it is nevertheless true." Thus he closed his ea r and hea rt to myplaintive s tory -- my appeals for relea se. On the first official visit of Dr. Hubbard, as Trustee of theInstitution, Dr. Bates told him, in m y presence, what I had said a bout the atrocious manner inwhich Dr. Ray had a bused me with the dele terious drugs, which had the e ffect to de stroy myphysical and mental faculties. To all of which he turned a dea f ear, whee ling upon his he el, hestarted off with all the inflated pom posity of a King of the Cannibal Islands. Dr. Bates alwaysprofessed friendship and sincerity to me, and it pains me to say that his assertions in regard tomy ultimate recovery from the malpractice o f Dr. Ray, were in toto, base ly false represe ntations tome , in my then bewildered state o f mind. About this period, sa y in the m onth of August, I waspermitted to go to the library of the Institution and sele ct such read ing ma tter as I chose. Iselected romances, as I could not for an entire year from this time read anything else, except thenewspapers of the day. During this entire year I was kept in a perfect state o f exciteme nt andalarm by a variety of aggressions. Pe rsons were in the habit of visiting the Ins titution daily, and Ifrequently would hear them inquire for some one, and I would often on such occasions see myselfpointed out as the person inquired for. This was a very serious annoyance to me -- added toothers it kept me tossing and beating about on the sea of a stormy mind, like a dismantled ship

driven to a nd fro by each adverse wave o r the bla st of the hurricane. Thus the year passe d hea vilyalong -- be ing imprisoned with such objects of humanity, whose very look s, and every act ormotion, would be e nough to drive a sane man mad.

22 I should here mention that about the period I began to read from the library, my brother from the

State of Massachusetts visited me. -- He came expressly to take m e home with him to myrelatives in the old Bay State, my native land. Dr. Bates s aid to m y brother -- "Sir, it is impossiblefor you to see him; I can't permit it. He is not in a fit state to see any of his acquaintances." Saysmy brother -- "Dr. Bates, I have come a long distance, expressly to see my brother, and I cannotreturn without the interview." Thereupon Dr. Bates told him I d id not wish to see any of my friendsor relatives. My brother then desired Dr. Bates to inform me of his presence, and then if I did notwish to see him, he would return without the interview he so much sought for. Mr. Hall, theSupervisor, came to me and asked m e if I wished to see my brother? I then ask ed him if it wasposs ible that my brother was yet alive? having in my delusive moments suppo sed him to bemurdered. He replied -- "There is a man here who says he is your brother, and you can see theperson if you so desire to do." Thereupon he took me to the presence of my brother. I walked out

with him abou t the grounds, but I did no t dare to tell him the ho rrid treatment I had received atthe hands of those hideous monsters, thinking that my brother might also fall a victim to theircruel atrocities before he left the State of Maine! The reasons for Dr. Bates refusing me aninterview with my brother, was a fear that I should unfold the atrocious o perations a nd ho rridsufferings I had endured within the walls of this most iniquitous modern Bastile, or Algerineprison.

23 One Sabbath morning, sometime in the month of July, after twenty-one or two months of my

incarceration, my customary portion of Morphine was not g iven m e, which, whenever om ittedalways crea ted a violen t state of ag itation. That day, at dinner, my appe tite was out of order,hence I did not eat my customary portion of food, and this fact induced me to apply, as usual, tobe let out on the grounds to walk. Hereupon one of the patients told the attendant that I was avery crazy man, a nd they had be tter watch me. I started on m y walk, a nd on returning from theriver obse rved two men standing in the ga rden. One started o ff to me eting, and with the other Iquietly walke d to the house, and he let me in. I then learned that these two me n had beenwatching my movements, lest I s hould make way with myself. That evening, Dr. Bates said to me




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that whenever I went out again I m ust go with the other patients, under keepe rs, alledging that ifI was pe rmitted to go out alone that he should expect to find me hung upon one of his appletree s, or drowned in the river! I replied: "Sir, you can do as you plea se, a s I am in your power, butyour trees will never bear such fruit, nor the river produce such a fish!" But if I went out only withthe menagerie o r caravan of wild animals, as I called it when the patients went out to walk, Ishould never have gone out again alive, for I was determined that I would not again be drivenabout like a wild bea st. After this little incident I be came a close prisoner, and only went out asthe Supervisor and attendant took me out with them. This expe rime nt continued fo r two o r threemonths. After this I was again permitted, on my parole, to walk around the grounds as I hadformerly done.

24 On the first of O ctobe r, 1846, after being imprisoned m ore than two yea rs, I went to work at m y

occupation of boot and shoe making, in the attic of the Institution. I continued my labor up toabout the first of December, as stea dily as my health and the weather, not being allowed fire,permitted. About this time two friends visited me on one Saturday afternoon. We had aconversation upon the general matters of the day, my health, &c. One of them made the remarkto me -- Mr. Hunt, I don't see but you are as rational a s you ever was, and I sha ll tell ourSelectmen that you have been kep t here long enough, and they had better take you away." -- Tothis I replied, you may tell every person you speak with about me, that I am in the fullpossession of all my natural mental faculties. Next day (Sunday) I gave offence to Dr. Bates, andon Monday following a friend, who came e xpress ly to see me , was told by Dr. Bates that, owing tohis having allowed two friends to visit me on Saturday previous, I ha d become s o crazy that he d idnot know what to do with me; and he then said that he would no t permit him, o r any personwhatever who was acquainted with me, to see m e again on any pretence. Now the motive at thebottom o f this was a des ire on the pa rt of Dr. Bates to conceal the fa ct that I was then a saneman, and he was afraid that if I was permitted to see this friend I should reveal to him the fullstory of my wrongs, thus giving the lie to his assertions in regard to the true state of m y mind.Can you, reader, for a single moment realize the fiery torrents I had endured -- was enduring --

under these more than doubly damnable o rdeals? If you think of them as m y plain, sound,unvarnished tale upholds them to you, then must you reason as I do, and arrive at the samedecision, viz: these things are pernicious and infamous, and ought not to be permitted in aChristian land.

25 About the last Wednesday of December, at the annual meeting of the Trustees, while I was

engaged at my occupation in the attic, I was summ oned into the gallery. I would here state that itis the custom, enforced by the regulations of the Institution, for the Trustees to visit it once amonth -- each patient being separately reviewed. The Trustees have in their hands amem orandum of the patients names. They see the patients, and make a check mark againsteach name. They came to my room, and I said to the Cha irman, Mr. Jarvis, of Surry, Sir whatmotive have you in coming here and putting marks against each man's name? The reply was --We wish to know if you have any complaints to make -- if you are well trea ted by the o fficers?" Tothis I replied -- "Sir, if I had any complaints to make you will not hear them!" -- He then answered-- Yes, we will; that is our duty; that is what we come here for." -- "Then, sir," I replied, I havecomplaints to mak e. I have been most shamefully and barbarously abused by Dr. Isaac Ray, and

I am kept here for no earthly purpose but because Dr. Bates is afraid if he discharges me, that Ishall reveal the terrible se crets of this institution to the world!" To this the Trustees respondedthat they had nothing to do with Dr. Ra y, he ha ving left the I nstitution; they wished to know if Iwas well used by the present officers?" "Then, gentlemen," I replied, "knowing that Dr. Ray hasabuse d me in this barbarous, inhuman and cruel manne r, you will permit him to go to RhodeIsland, to take charge of ano ther Institution of this kind, where he may continue his demoniacalpractices upon the poor, ill-starred creatures who will, like me, be thrown upon his mercy? when aword from you, gentlemen, would deprive him of his power so to do. The Trustees again repeatedthat they had nothing to do with Dr. Ra y; their business was with the prese nt officers. I thenreplied -- "Gentlemen, I now have serious charges to prefer against Dr. Bates. He has shut mefrom the world, and refuses to let me see any person or friend with whom I have ever bee nacquainted, for no earthly purpose but because be is a fraid that I will revea l the horrid se crets ofthis Insiitution! [sic] And now I appea l to you to give me m y liberty, for I am in the full posse ssionof all the mental faculties that God ever gave me, and I am as capable of attending to mybusiness as I ever was at any former period of my life. -- They then asked me if I had any othercomplaints to prefe r; are you well provided fo r do you get enough to e at, &c. To this I responded -

- "Oh, yes; we have enough to ea t, such as it is!" They thereupon left me and went be low, and Ireturned to my em ployment in the attic.

26 The next that I heard from them, after this, in regard to my appeal to them to give me my liberty

was, Dr. Harlow, the ass istant physician, and James P. Weeks, the supervisor, said to me -- "Well,Mr. Hunt, what de cision do you think the Trustees have a rrived at, in rega rd to your case ?" Imerely replied I could not tell. They then said to me -- "They have advised Dr. Bates never to allowyou to see any person whatever with whom you have ever been acquainted." I wish to present these s ixmen to the world in their real character. -- That no mistake shall be made I shall quote nothingbut facts in my own case, and therefore I g ive to the public the name s as well as actions o f theseindividuals. Edward S. Jarvis, John Hubbard (now Governor of the State of Ma ine,) Charles Millett,Cornelius Ho lland, Edward Swan, Isa ac Reed -- who, together with Reue l Williams, a formerTrustee, I charge with conspiracy against m y liberty, if not my life and property. If this was not boldand high handed conspiracy, then I do not know what it would tak e to constitute conspiracy against ahuman be ing. Now here I was a t the entire m ercy of these men; at their control and disposition.Men shall I call them -- no, monsters! They, knowing that I was a sane man, a man burdened




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with grief, and physical embarrassment heaped upon me by the cruel indignities, drudgeries andma lpractices, a rts of deception, tortured by medicine a nd mendacity, that were enough to driveany man mad, furious, distracted; yes , they shut their ea rs, closed their eyes and barricaded theirhea rts, sympa thy and human feeling against my plaintive s tory -- a truthful recital of my wrongs,sufferings, deprivations. Stories of wrongs told to savages, would no t have e licited such a cruel,cutting and stoical disregard.

27 Why was this inhuman manifesta tion on the part of these a rbitrary men? Why did these boasted

Republicans -- Democrats -- men standing at the head o f the boa sted ranks , whose watch word issupposed to be liberty or death; who pretend that all men are born free and equal; aid and abe t theinquisitors of my dungeon, more atrocious than any part of the French Bastile in the bloodiestdays of the Revolution or the Algerine prisons, in retaining me there for torture and de ath? I'll tell

you, reader. I was a victim. To be sure it was no t for fear of my safe ty that those m en refused toallow me to depart -- far from it. It was the strong levers of reason, right and justice, my tongueand my pen, the great engines which can hurl tyrants from their rotten thrones , and g ive thefamishing victim Liberty! Liberty!! 0, thou art a jewel, a jewel of inestimable value, scarcely knownto any but him who has been deprived of thee!

28 Through the month of January, 1847, I continued my labor in the attic, in the full possession of all

my mental faculties, and a command over my emotions. During this time I reasoned with myself,calmly, am I a dog? Must I submit, and die here like a dog, or shall I arise and strike a blow forGod and liberty! Yes, I de termined that I would die worthy of be ing a de scendant of a man who,upon the 19th of April, '75, was a minute m an, and me t the British army at Concord Bridge, andassisted in driving them into Boston. Yes, I determined that I would die like a man; thathenceforth my mo tto sho uld be "libe rty or death," surrounded as I was by human devils, in theirown den. Accordingly, on the 3lst day of January, which was the Sabbath, I wrote a letter to Dr.Bates, and that letter I dated Feb. 1,1847, as I designed to present it to him Monday forenoon,when he made h is usual visit to his patients. As he was lea ving the gallery that forenoon I put the

letter into his hand, he obse rving at the time -- "O, this is for me." "Ye s, Dr. Bates, that is foryou;" I replied. Here fo llows the contents of that letter. I alluded to the trea tment I had receivedfrom Dr. Ray; I stated that I then considered myself to be of sane mind, and accountable for myacts; I requested him to take such measures as were in his power to send me away from theHospital during the month of April; and further stated that if he did not se nd me away at theexpiration of that time, I should consider myself justified in reso rting to any me asures whichmight be within my power to obtain my liberty. I said, now, sir, treat me with humanity,Christianity, and mercy, or with cruelty and barbarity, whichever you dee m most ex ped ient. Iclosed my letter by saying -- Sir, I will have my liberty or perish in my efforts to obtain it." Whatimpression my letter made upon Dr. Bates I did not know exactly, but the next morning, as I wasin the gallery when he made his usual morning call on his patients, he came to me and shook m eby the hand a s usua l, cavalierly observing "Well, Mr. Hunt, you are he re yet." To this I replied --"Yes, Dr. Bates, I am here at present." We then parted, and this closed my conversation on thesubject of leaving the I nstitution.

29 After that I used to talk with Mr. Webb, the supervisor. I told him I was sane a man as I ever was,

and that they had no m ore right to kee p me there than they would have to go into the village ofAugusta and take any man there away from his business, and shut him up in the Hospital, andcall him crazy, and keep him there. I told him that if they undertook to keep me after the timethat I had set to go away in order to do so they should take the crime of actual murder upon theirheads, and they might do it in any manner they might choose. They might set a crazy man todash out my brains, or poison my medicine, or confine me in the maniac harness or cells; eitherof which would be m urder -- as close confinement would undoubted ly kill me in a very short time;and that, furthermore, I would give them such a specimen of insanity as they had never had inthat or any o ther Hospital in this country; that I would butcher every officer in the Hospital, and asmany others as I could who should attempt to confine me; that their cage was no t strong e nough,and that they had not men enough there to kee p a sane man who was de termined to be free ordie, as I then had reason to know that if I were to do all that I said I would, I should only becalled a crazy man, and my doom would only be close confinement until death should release me.One day when I was conversing with him about it, he sa id, -- I do n't know about your going -- youare trumping up too strong to get away. I replied that I intended to trump strong, and thatshillalahs should be the trumps or I would die in my efforts to make it so. By my saying that

shillalahs should be the trumps he understood my meaning; fo r, when we were playing cards, ifclubs were the trump I used to say that shillalahs was the trump. I reque sted him, as he hadnever in any manner abused me, not to meddle with me if I should start to go without permission,as under such circumstances I should not know any friends, a nd did no t wish to harm him, andthat I should tak e the life of any one who should attempt to stop me , if it was in my power so todo. I only allude to these things for the purpose of showing the te rrible strait to which I wasdriven; for, with mild and nonresistant means I could never have ob tained my liberty. I had triedthat course fo r more than two yea rs, and all o f no a vail whatever.

30 On o r about the 18th of February I put a package of papers into the hands of Dr. Bates, which

were addressed to the President of the United States, requesting him to forward them as theywere directed. He took them, and said that he would look at them and see if they were such aswere proper to send him. I demanded of him to send them without looking at them, as they weresealed, and told him that he had no right to break them open; that it was none of his businesswhat the purport of them m ight be; that the President was the Chief Magistrate of the nation, andI was a citizen deprived of my liberty without the sanction of any law whatever, human or divine,




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and I demanded my right to have them sent, and let the President be judge whether theircontents were o f such a nature that he ought to take any notice o f them or not. He replied that heshould not send any pape rs away from that institution without knowing their contents. I repliedthat it was none of his business what the purport of them was, and again demanded of him tosend them as they were. He said he should not do it, but offered to let me submit them to D.Bronson, Esq., and if he said they were prope r papers to be sent to the P resident, he would se ndthem. I replied that I would no t give one cent for the council of any lawyer in the State of Ma ine,for they were all leagued or conspired against me, for my destruction. Well, said he, then I shallnot send them.

31 In the le tter which I addressed to the P resident I a ske d if I were any the le ss entitled to the

protection of my country because I had been abuse d by my own neighbo rs, and those who had

falsely professed to be my friends, that their perfidy might be more sure, than I should be were Iincarcerated in a Mex ican or Algerine prison, a French Bastile or the Spanish Inquisition; where, if Iwere thug confined and abused, and could make my situation known to him, he would employ allthe m ilitary and naval force of the country for my release , and to obtain redress for my abuse ,were it necessary so to do .

32 I will ask now the humane and philanthropic citizens of the United States, whether they are in

places of honor and power or private citizens, whether there are any among them professing tohave the souls of brave and patriotic men, who dare and will advocate and espouse my causeagainst those who have so inhumanly maltreated and abuse d me, and a gainst the Government ofthe State which sanctions and upholds such monstrous cruelty. If there a re any such, and they willaddress me to that effect, I will give them the details of the abuse which it is not proper to put inthis little book.

33 After having the before mentioned conversation with Dr. Bates, he said that if I thought I was

unjustly deprived of my liberty I might have a trial before two Justices of the P eace and Quorum,

and they m ight judge whether I was a sane man or not. I replied by saying if I were to appeal tothem I supposed he would go forward and swea r that I was a crazy man. He said of course heshould. I then asked of what use it would be to me when I was already condemned, sentencedand executed. He replied it would be of no use whatever. I then said to him that if my life orliberty were a t stake , upon any accusations whatever, whether it migh t be for the crime of insanity,if that were a crime, or for any other crime which I might commit, I would not put myself upon trialby plead ing guilty or not guilty, or I should be sure to be condemned whether I were guilty orinnocent, for a jury would be packed , and judge and attorney bribed, and I should submit to anysentence they might pass without any efforts to clear myse lf.

34 The next day I asked him if he was willing that I should send the papers to the Hon. Samuel

Hoar, of Concord, Mass., with a letter to him which he, Dr. Bates, might read , and leave it to thedecision of Mr. Hoar whether they were such papers as were p roper to send to the P resident. Heasked me if I were a cquainted with Mr. Hoar. I told him that when I was a bout twenty years old Ihad a little busine ss a t his office, and he be ing an eminent lawyer, a citizen of my native town,and a gentlem an that I had known from my youth, that this was a ll the acquaintance I could claim

with him. Well, replied Dr. Bates, I k now Mr. Hoar and shall not send it to him. I then a ske d him ifhe was willing that I should se nd it to Hon. Thomas H. Benton, for his decision upon it. He repliedthat he knew Mr. Benton, and had a reputation at stake with him and the President, and theywould think him a most egregious fool if he should send papers to them from that institution,without knowing what their contents might be. I told him I though t be was drawing his lines rathertight to deprive me o f every right and chance to obtain my liberty; that the C onstitutions o f theUnited States and the State of Maine say that no person shall be deprived of his liberty andproperty except for crime; and trial by a jury of his peers; and that no cruel o r unusualpunishments should be inflicted upon a condemned criminal; that I had been abused with themost inhuman and barbarons [sic] cruelty, and de prived of my liberty and p roperty without beingaccused of any crime but that of insanity, if that was a crime, a nd had not bee n condemned byany jury, or sentenced by any judge of a ny Court whatever. He a fterwards told me that if I wouldgive him my word of honor that I would so amend them as to strike out his name wherever I hadused it, and if I wished to allude to him, to speak of him as the present Superintendant of thatHospital, then I might send them to the P resident, Tom Benton, Mr. Hoar, or Madame W-e, orwherever I pleased for ought that he cared. I accordingly so amended them in that respect, and

then directed them to Hon. James K. Polk, President of the United States, with the request thathe, Dr. Bates, would forward them according to his engage ment, but I presum e that they werenever sent from Augusta, as Dr. Bates is not the man to keep his word with any one who maystand in his light; and e specially a crazy man, whom he has in his clutches, and is poor andwithout friends.

35 On o r about the 23d of February I gave a letter to Dr. Bates, which I had written to Gov. Anderson,

as an appeal to him for protection from such unjust imprisonment, and cruel treatment, as I hadreceived from the officers of that institution. I asked him if the laws had been framed for thegovernment of that Hospital expressly for my case, and whether the people of the State of Maineknew that it was a tomb from which, if a person once entered, he could never return to the world,unless the officers should choose to send him away? I asked if the people knew that thegovernment of that ins titution was that of a n ab solute m onarchy, with a tyrant at its head ; whereall manner of iniquity was and could be perpetrated with perfect impunity upon its victims. I d idnot know as Dr. Bates would send any of my letters, and I presume that he did no t; but Iintended by writing them to let him know that I know my rights when I had my reason, and by my




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conduct that I dared to assert and maintain them, even there, in that prison house of woe anddespair, friendless and alone as I then was.

36 In my interview with Dr. Bates, in the attic, he told me, for the first time, that one reason why he

could not send me away was that my wife would not consen t to have me leave, be cause she wasafraid of me on account of the ho rrid stories that had be en told he r, and that there were otherpeople who were afraid of me; and that the reason I was no t sent to Mr. White's, at Winthrop, thespring befo re, when I wanted to go there, was because there were peop le in Augus ta who wereafraid that I should get up in the night, and take a horse and come down and burn up the village,and murder some of the inhabitants before I could be secured, as I had used such languageconcerning them. I asked him what business any one had to inform her or others what I migh thave said about them, when I was deprived of reason and had no command over myself, and was

not accountable for my language or my acts; and he himself called me crazy, and had reportedme incurable in his first report. He replied that he did not k now any thing about that, for stories o fthat kind would get out.

37 The truth of the ma tter was that all of the ho rrid represen tations concerning the situation which I

had bee n in, had been told for the purpose of keeping me there, by creating a fea r of me, andthe causes of my madness had been carefully concealed from them. One or two of the Selectmenhave told me, since I came out of the Hospital, that the only reason they did not let me go to Mr.White's the spring previous was, that Dr. Bates told them that it would ne ver do to le t me gothere, alledging as reasons those same things which he told me they used to tell him, and he, Dr.Bates, told me about that time that he would give ten dollars out of his own pocket to get rid ofme, as I caused him more trouble than all the rest of the patients he had in the Hospital. So hereis a falsehood between Dr. Bates and the Selectmen, and I have no doubt but the Selectmen toldthe truth in regard to the ma tter.

38 About the 20th of March, after Dr. Coney had been elected one of the Selectmen of Augusta, I

sent a request for him to visit me, as he had formerly been my intimate friend, and he came andsaw me at work in the attic. I told him that I intended to leave there in the spring; that I hadbeen abused enough, and had suffered enough, and I wished to go by the consent of all, withoutmaking any trouble; that I wanted the Selectmen to take me away, as I was kept there by theirauthority and I was de termined to leave a t every hazard, either dead or alive: that if the o fficersof that inquisition should abuse me any more I would as so on take a knife and cut them intomince meat as I would a knife from my bench to cut a side of leather into suitable dimensions formy work. He left me with the promise that he would do all in his power to have me removed, andwould see me again in a few days. He, according to his prom ise, came aga in the first day of April,and gave m e his word as one o f the Selectmen that I should be removed in a reasonable timethat spring, rega rdless o f any thing Dr. Bates might sa y concerning my sanity or insanity, and athis request I remained until the last day of May, since which time my residence has been in thevillage of Augusta, and it is for the citizens to say whether I have been a sane or insane mansince I le ft the Hospital, which is nearly four years ago, du ring which time I have bee n able toprovide for my own wants.

39 Dr. Cony has since told me that Dr. Bates disputed his authority to remove me , asse rting that Iwas an insane man, and he had no right to take me from his custody. Dr. Cony told him, right orno right, I was a sane man, and he would take the responsibility so to do. Dr. Bates was a fraidthat I should expose his villainy and that the people would believe my assertions, and then hissalary would vanish out of his reach; that then he would no t be ab le to swell and parade upon hisportico, like Nebuchadnezzar upon his palace walls, (as one of the patients used to say of him,)but would have to return home and only be Dr. Bates, chief o f the Norridgewocks. Dr. Coney hastold me that if he had not removed me I should have remained there until death release d mefrom their chains; and of that fact I have no doubt in my mind, and a few weeks o r months wouldhave closed the scene; for I had been prepared for several months with concealed deadlyweapons, which I had determined to use upon Dr.Bates the first oppo rtunity, and to have se t thebuilding on fire from one end to the other, (which I could have easily done,) and then I shouldhave stamped myself with incurable insanity, beyond a doubt, in the minds of all the people.

40 A day or two afte r I left the Hospital I went to the State House , in order to see if I could obtain an

interview with the Hon. Governor and Council. I was not acquainted with Court etiquette, and in

order to obtain m y object I wrote a no te, and put it in the hand of the Secretary of State, ask inghim if he would do me the favor to introduce me to the Hon. Governor and Council, giving as areason for wishing the interview my having been confined in the Insane Hospital. After he hadread the note he put it in his pocket, and told me, with all the sang froid of an honest man, thatthe Governor had not come in yet, and if I wanted to see him had better call at his room. I repliedthat the Governor had come in a s I sa w him enter a few minutes befo re; whereupon be turnedand ask ed one o f his clerks if the Governor had come in yet and he replied, 'no he has not come;'therefore if they told the truth I was e ither a crazy ma n, and d id not know the Governor, or I was aliar. Mr. Joseph H. Smith, was with me, and he knows who told the truth.

41 As I had not succeeded in obtaining a n interview through the Secretary of State, a few days

afterwards I a ddressed a note to Gov. Dana, appea ling directly to him to know whether the Hon.Governor and Council would give m e an interview of a few minutes, giving him the sam e reasonsas a bove fo r asking it, to which I never received any reply. Here is a short extract from Gov.Dana's message , which he had delivered a fe w days be fore, and which led m e to think that myrequest would be granted.




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42 "A few years of such experience must convince even the m ost skeptical, that that government is

bes t adap ted to our wants, whose chief aim and tendency are, to protect with perfect equality eachcitizen in his pe rson, his property, and his individual rights, leaving him free to se lect and pursuehis own avocation, without legislative inducement -- giving to every man and e very interestuniversal protection, but exclusive privileges to none; and 'showering its favors, as Heaven doesits rains, alike o n the high and low, the rich and the poor.'"

43 No man would hesitate for a moment, after reading the above, to say that the Democratic

Governor of the Democratic State of Maine, and the great-grandson of Gen. Putnam, could refusean audience to a poor and friendless man, whether he were sane or insane, if he had not beentold by Dr. Bates, o r others of my friends, that I was a crazy man and did not know what I was

about. Here is ano ther extract from the sam e message , which I give so that all who read this maysee , how it agrees with what I state as facts in rega rd to the Hosp ital.

44 "One of the striking characteristics of the present age, is an active, comprehensive benevolence --a deep feeling of man's common brotherhood, exhibiting, itself in untiring, systematic efforts forthe relief of the unfortunate and a fflicted. Our hospital for the insane is an offspring of this spirit,and should be favorably rega rded by the State. I would cordially recomme nd any regulation orappropriation which ma y be deem ed ne cessary, for its economical, yet efficient adm inistration."

45 Wha t a bene volent brotherhood! For the unfo rtunate and afflicted how kind is the State to build a

human slaughter house, for physicians to torture and murder human beings in! What benevolenthospitality! How does it correspond with the precepts o f him who e ighteen centuries ago wentabout doing good, healing the sick of all their diseases, causing the lame to walk, the deaf tohear, the dumb to speak, and the blind to see, and preaching to the poor without money andwithout price, the Gospel of good news and glad tidings, and even casting ou t devils from thosepossessed of them, or, in other words, restoring maniacs to reason and sending them away,

clothed and in their right mind.46 I had resolved in m y own mind that I would appea l to every branch of the C ivil Government of the

State for redress ; and, a ccordingly, in April, 1848, I se nt a note to the then acting County Attorneyand the Grand Jury, requesting the p rivilege which I had thought every man who had bee ncriminally abused had a right to do, of appearing before them to prefer charges of a criminalnature against some of the former officers of the Insane Hospital, for malpractice, barbarouscruelty, and false imprisonment; stating that I should be able to prove, by incontrovertibletestimony to substantiate my own, one of the m ost ba rbarous a cts of cruelty ever perpetratedupon a human being in this or any other country. I requested them to send the court messengerto inform me at what time to present myself, as I did no t wish to be s taying about the Cou rtHouse. As I did not receive any notice to appear I suppose that some of my Hospital friends toldthem that I was crazy, and did not know whether I was a bused or not. Having failed of ob taining ahea ring at the Executive and Judicial branches o f the Government, on the 22d of May, 1848, Isent the following pe tition and Certificates to the Le gislature by Senator Flint.

47 To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Maine, in Legislatureassembled.

48 The undersigned respectfully represents to your honorable body that he has been unjustly andunlawfully confined in the Maine Insane Hospital for two years, eight months, and ten days, andthat for six months of that time the treatment which he received from Dr. Isaac Ray and hisassistants, was barbarous, inhuman, and cruel; by which his na tural health has been greatlyimpaired, and as it is a State institution he respectfully asks you for an adequate compensationfor the injury which he has sustained in conseque nce of such mal-practice a nd cruel treatme nt, --and as in duty bound will ever pray.

49 Certificate No. 1 -- The undersigned hereby certify that the be arer, Mr. Isa ac H. Hunt, was

discharged from the Insane Hospital at our request, and we be lieve him to be a sane man, andcapable of doing or transacting business for himself.

50 EPH. BALLARD,

JOHN A. PETTINGILL,Selectmen of Augusta.July 5th, 1847.

51 Certificate No. 2 -- To whom it may concern. This may certify that the undersigned, citizens o f

Augusta, and State of Maine, have been personally and intimately acquainted with the bearer,Isaac H. Hunt, for several years previous to his being sent to the Insane Hospital, and we haveseen and conversed with him freely and frequently for the past month, since be has been awayfrom the Hospital, and it is our opinion that he is now a sane man, and is capable of transactingbusiness for himse lf as a t any former period of our acquaintance with him. Augusta, June 29th,1847.

52 (Signed)-- Joseph H. Smith, Samuel Gill, Martin Carroll, Moses Noble, Thom as C . Noble, J. S.

Lamson, Thomas Wa dsworth, E. G. Doe, C. B. Morton, Wm. H. Chisam , J. P Dillingham , W. S.Haskell, Abiel L. Getchell, John F. Childs, Charles Brown, Jame s Saffard, Darius Place, A. R.Nichols, George Darby, Wm. Garrison, J. S. Berry, H. Sewall, John H. Hartford, Alex'r Kincaid,




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Stephen W inslow, Daniel Woodward Jr., James Dea ly, L. M. Leland, W. Lyman C lark.

53 The foregoing P etition and certificates were referred to the Committee o n Claims, of which Hon.Jame s H. Farnum was chairman. I will now state what was said in regard to them by differentindividuals, and what was said by me to the committee. The next morning Dr. Bates presentedhimse lf at the State House , and called upon Mr. Farnum a nd wished to see the pape rs, which wereshown him. Mr. Flint told me that he met him and said, "Well, Doctor, I suppose you have seen bythe papers this morning that we a re look ing after you." "Yes," he replied, "I pe rceive it, and Ithink you are setting a dangerous preceden t; for if our people know that they can come to theLegislature for damages there will be no end to their petitions," and he further said, "perhaps Mr.Hunt is not a sane man." Mr. Flint said that he thought the certificates were very strong testimonyin my favor, and Dr. Bates replied that he did not know as he should be able to dispute or refute

such evidence.54 On Thursday afternoon I went to the State House in order to give my testimony before the

committee, and while in the room waiting for them to assemble, Col. Dumont and one othermember of the committee were waiting for the others. The Col. took up the petition and read it,and sa id to the other person that it was a false represe ntation; that he kne w Dr. Ray well, and heknew that he would no t abuse a man like that; it could not be true. He either did not know that Iwas the petitioner, or he pretended not to know me . After eight or ten of the committee hadassembled they told me to proceed with a statement of what I had to complain of. I told themthat I wanted the privilege o f telling them what I had to say in my own plain and simple manne r,without interruption, and a fter that I would a nswer them as many questions a s they s aw fit to putto me.

55 Col. Dumont told them that he knew something about the case -- that he could make some

statements in regard to it -- that he thought it would no t amount to much, and I was told I mightproceed with what I had to say. I a ccordingly went on to tell them the treatment I had received

from Dr. Ray, and o thers, at the Hospital. I was frequently interrupted, principally by Co l. Dumont,and I reques ted them not to interrupt me; but they were de termined that I s hould answer theirques tions, with the appa rent design o f browbea ting me so that I could not say what I wished to.Col. Dumont seem ed to take the pa rt of an a dvocate for those I was a ccusing of abusing me,rather than an impartial committee-man of the Legislature. What, said he, have those whom he isaccusing of such things been notified to be here to meet these charges? Where are Dr. Ray, andthe others, that they are not here, if charges of this nature are being preferred against them? Thechairman replied that no notice had been given them. -- Well, Col. D. would not consent to go onwith the investigation with-out they were present. He wished me to answer a few questions. Ireplied that my petition had been referred to them, and that they might give me an impartialhea ring or not; that it was in their power to do as they pleased with it. If they did not wish to be arme any further I was ready to go my way, and would not trouble them aga in if that was the irdecision. He said that Mr. Williams was a member of the House from Augusta, and Dr. Hubbard,of his town of Ha llowell, were trustees o f the Hospital, and he wished me to tell him whether theyknew of these charges which I was p referring aga inst Dr. Ray and o thers. I answered his questionwith these three words -- they knew them! We ll, they did know them , for I had told Mr. Williams of

it myself, soon after Dr. Ray left the inquisition, and a ll the satisfaction he gave m e was, "youcan't make m e be lieve that you have been abused!" I replied that whether he would be lieve it ornot, it was true. The way that Dr. Hubbard knew it was -- Dr. Bates told him of it in my presence,soon after he was appointed one of the trustees, therefore they both knew it. I should like to askthe citizens of the State of Ma ine whether it was their duty as trustees o f that institution toinvestigate and ascertain whether such charges are true or false. Well, the committee dismissedme after promising me that I should have a fair and impartial investigation upon my petition.They had e vidently expe cted to hear only a few idle, whimsical stories o f a crazy man, which wouldvanish into mere nothing by one breath of the gallant Col. Dumont, but they learned from methat my grievances were too horrid, and a ll that my petition represented them to be, and weretantamount to and m uch worse than actual murder.

56 The next afternoon Mr. Farnum met me in the street, and told me that he had seen Mr. Williams,

and he had told him what I had stated to the committee, and said that Mr. Williams had said thathe did not know that any one had ever been abused there; that he was only there occasionally,and had no t much oppo rtunity to know whether the patients were abused or not. Mr. Farnum said

that if there were abuses there, he, for one, wished to know it, and seemed to speak in a veryfeeling manne r in respect to it, and made a n appointment for me to go to his room at hisboarding house that evening, to make some preliminary arrangements for the investigation, whichI a ccordingly did. I told him that I was poor and thought the State, unde r the circumstances, oughtto summon my witnesses for me. I told him that I wished Dr. Bates for a witness, and if he wouldagree to come forward and testify to the truth in regard to the s ituation in which he found me , andto the situation which I was in during the time I was under his charge, and to som e conversationthat had passed be tween us, that I would never prefe r any charges a gainst him fa rther than I wasobliged to allude to him to mak e out my case. I had previously told the sam e to one of theattendants o f the Hosp ital, who had told Dr. Bates what I had said a bout it, and he said that theDoctor seemed to think it was very fair in me to make such an offer; but I suppose that uponreflection he knew that he was invulnerable, as he had told me before I left the Hospital that anycharges I could make against him would be of no avail. I suppose that he was somewhat likePotiphar's wife in some respects, not only pure but above suspicion, as no one immoral act couldbe brought aga inst him -- he was well known and estab lished in the comm unity. But with hisprivate character I have nothing to do.




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57 Soon after my petition was presented to the Legislature I received a paper from Mr. Samuel L.

Hovey, a patient at the ho spital, which he sent to me by his private express, with the request that ifI thought it was correct I would fo rward it to the chairman of the committee on the InsaneHospital, and I complied with his reque st, believing and k nowing it to be correct. He reque sted thecommittee to investigate the affairs of the Hospital, in regard to its maladministration by thepresent officers, and requested them to examine the laws for its regulation, passed by theprevious Legislature, and see if they ought to be amended, as they were arbitrary and unjust.

58 The ne xt week a fter this Mr. Furlong, the chairman of the comm ittee on the Hosp ital on the part

of the House , came to see me , and said that he was instructed by the committee to give me aninvitation to meet them one week from that afternoon and explain every thing that I knew about

the m ismanageme nt of the institution, saying that if there was any thing wrong the comm itteewanted to know it. I replied to him that there was much that was wrong, and but a very little thatwas right. I asked him if they had received a paper from Mr. Hovey. He replied that he had, andthat they had had it under consideration that afternoon, and that it was a very well writtendocument. I parted with him with the understanding that I would mee t at the appo inted time,unless notified to the contrary. I accordingly went to the State House at the time agreed upon ,and when I saw the two chairmen of the committees they told me that there would not be anysession of the committee that afternoon, and that it they wanted m e a t any other time they wouldnotify me. I was then sa tisfied that my friend Hovey or myself could not he hea rd. All was crushedunder foot by some unseen power behind the throne.

59 While I was waiting to see Mr. Furlong, Mr. Farnum, the chairman of the comm ittee on claims,

came up and spok e to m e, saying, -- "well, Mr. Hunt, have you ascertained whether you can getany more evidence in regard to your case?" I replied that I had evidence enough that was strongas Holy Writ, to substantiate all of the charges that I should prefer against those that I accused ofabusing me, and if the committee would give me a hearing I was ready to meet them, and if the

comm ittee would not summ on my witnesses for me at the expense of the State, I had a fewdollars, and could summon the principal part of them at my own expense. He then told me thathe had seen Mr. Williams and Dr. Bates, and that they were both against me, and he did not thinkany thing could be done about it. I replied that I expected they would be against me, and wasprepared to meet them and all others, if I could have the privilege of so doing. So there was anend of the investigation that they had promised me -- crushed by the influence and money of Mr.Williams and Dr. Bates. He told me that he went to the Hospital to see Dr. Bates, and related tohim what I had stated to the comm ittee , and that Dr. Bates said he did not think Dr. Ray wouldabuse any one: that his reputation stood very high in the community, and he did not think he wassuch a man, and took do wn the records of the Hosp ital and showed h im what me dicine was givento me by Dr. Ray, and there was none of a deleterious nature.

60 The first time that I m et Dr. Bates after this, he sa id: -- "I understand that you a re mad with me,

Mr. Hunt." "Well," I replied, "suppose I am, you have not got me shut up under your power, and Idon't think you will have me very soon." "Ah," says he, "I understand that, but I am told that youthink that I had s ome influence against you in regard to your petition." I then told him what Mr.

Farnum had said to me , all of which he acknowledged to be correct, but said that the interview didnot take place until after the comm ittee had m ade up their repo rt, which was m ade up to theafternoon that I went be fore them, and sa id he d id not even know Mr. Farnum until he introducedhimse lf. I told Dr. Bates that he knew Dr. Ray would not make a record upon the Hosp ital bookswhich would be p roof enough against him to send him to the State P rison for twenty years, and Ishould a scertain in the course of twelve months whether the citizens o f the State of Maine and theUnited States would suffer a human being to be abused with impunity, as I had been at thatHospital. He then took up his boots and left me.

61 Dr. Bates knows that when he took charge o f the Hosp ital, he found m e a wild and uncontrollable

maniac, no more a n accountable being to God, or man, o r myself, than an infant child, with themost horrid profanity in every sentence which I uttered, with my head filled, with what he said werethe greates t delusions ; he k nows that it was no t in my power to refrain from speak ing of them ,and that they had been instilled into my mind after I went to the Hospital, as I never had one ofthem befo re, and so firmly did I believe them, that I would tell him that what was truth was not adelusion , and he knows that he, on one or two occasions did try to mak e me think they were true.

He knows that my whole system had been comple tely saturated with the de leterious drugs, whichDr. Ray had given me, and he knows that for two years he gave me large portions of morphine, oropium, to counteract the influence of the o ther; and he k nows that when he did not give it to meregularly, every day, that I was a wild maniac, a perfect mad man, in the stronges t sense of theterm; as he used to tell me, that I could not sleep a t night, or keep quiet by day; that I would dono work, or read, or play at any of the games, o f cards o r draughts, and that he had to force m e,almost, to do so. T his is the truth, and the truth will bear its weight.

62 Some two or three weeks after my petition had been crushed I met Mr. Furlong, and he told me

that when it was called up in the House Mr. Williams said that I had no cause to comp lain of anyabusive treatme nt at the Hospital -- that I was under a great state o f ex citeme nt when I wascarried there, and d id not know whether I was a bused or not, and besides that I was a crazy mannow, and, of course, no notice should be taken of any complaints that I had to make, and he saidas to Mr. Hovey, he was a raving maniac. So here we were bo th chalked out of the pale of civilizedsociety by one swee p of the Representative o f Augusta -- the founder of the Inquisition, and thedonor of $10,000 to estab lish it to torture a human being in, who had never knowingly or




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des ignedly injured o r abused him o r any other human be ing whatever, in person, property orreputation. Yes, he had seen me when I was suffering it all, and then he got up in his seat andmade such a stateme nt as that. We ll it was worthy of such a public officer as Reue l Williams.

63 As to Mr. Hovey's being a raving maniac it is false, and Mr. Williams, as a Trustee of that

Institution, kne w it to be so , for if I had had the power to do so, I would go to the Hosp ital whenMr. Hovey would be in his highest m ood or on his "highes t Horse," as Dr. Bates calls it, and takehim away from there, and in twenty-four hours we would travel through the le ngth and breadth o fthe United States, a nd no person who did not know us, would ever mistrust that he was a ravingmaniac, or; that I had ever been reported as incurably insane; so there was no man in theLegislature who da red to, or would call for, and demand an investigation of the a ffairs of thatHospital, against the asse rtions of Re uel Williams. This testimony would, and did, in the eyes of

the Leg islature, outweigh a ll of those whose names were upon my certificates, in regard to mysanity. -- Well, he and Dr. Bates, bo th knew if they suffered an investigation of its affa irs toproceed, that Mr. Hovey and myself, would prove, and substantiate every charge which we shouldprefer against them , by the tes timony of sane men and women, which they could not impea ch orrepute; by tes timony which would be sufficient to hang them, were that the pena lty for their ma l-adm inistration, mal-practice, hypocrisy, deception a nd hum bugge ry upon the public in regard tothat institution, so we were both trampled under their fee t.

64 "Man's inhumanity to man,

Makes countless millions mourn."

CHAPTER V.

65 THE INVESTIGATION.

66 Since leaving the Hospital, I have frequently been asked, "what kind of treatment do the patientsreceive? a re they properly cared fo r when sick? were you fed properly? had you eno ugh to e at?&c." To these several inquiries I had always replied: they have e nough to e at, such as it is; for infact, the provisions bought for the Hospital were ample and good enough, but more or lessvillainously barbecued in the kitchen, while undergoing the process called cook ing.

67 One winter, since leaving the Hospital, Dr. Bates delivered a lecture on insanity, before the

Lyceum of Augusta. I attended. The theories advanced by the learned Doctor were beautiful,sublime! to all whose good fortune enabled them to be happily ignorant of Dr. Bates' practicalparts of administration! Among other cases of suffering deduced by persons not having it in theirpower to avail themselves of the great benefits of such an Institution, was the case of a poormaniac who was shut up in a cage at home -- who, contriving by some means to set his cage onfire, was literally roasted alive. Whe refore, argued this learned Theban, had that poor victim beensent to our care in the blessed Institution yclept Maine Insane Hospital, he would have beenproperly and safe ly cared for. But, alas! Dr. Bates d id not inform his aud itors or the number ofpersons -- unhappy wretches -- who had bee n burnt even within the walls o f this preciousInstitution! He did not inform them that Capt. Shaw, of Winthrop had been burnt in one of the out

buildings of the Hosp ital, and would carry the frightful scars of his burns to his grave. He d id notsee fit to tell them that Mr. Eastman, of Charleston, was so roasted and burned in this same out-building, called the Lodge; that when he was taken from the room, the burnt flesh of his bodycleaved to the stone floor.

68 Last summer, 1850, at the session of the Legislature, I again petitioned that body for redress in

my own behalf, for the abuse I had suffered. My petition was the same as that presented in 1848,but I added o n this occasion a nother petition, for the full and impa rtial investigation of the a ffairsof the Maine Insane Hospital, from its earliest career, down to the present time, requesting themto give the committee power, to send for persons a nd pape rs, to insure a fair and thoroughinvestigation of bo th cases, so that where the great error or guilt was fo und, the he avy and m ightysword of Justice might fa ll with quick and unerring certainty. These petitions were p resented, andreferred to the comm ittee on the Insane Hospital, and nine more membe rs, mak ing nineteen inall, were added to that comm ittee , for the purpose of carrying clearly out this investigation.

69 I here present to the public, the material points elicited upon this investigation, and freely request

the partial reader to judge, whether any abuses have been proved, or not.70 SIMON S. BARTLETT sworn. I commenced at hospital in August, 1845. -- Mr. Hunt was there. I was

not much acquainted with him at that time. I was an a ttenda nt. Hunt was allowed to go outunattended. Some part of the time he was allowed to go out, and worked at his trade, say eightmonths. He worked for me and did well -- he had his tools -- Dangerous men not allowed to havetools. I see no difference between the time he worked and since as to sanity. Since he has beenout he has attended to business as a sane man: conducted as a sane man e ight months beforehe le ft the hosp ital. I do not know that Mr. Hunt ever miss tated any thing. Eastman was in thelodge. I had charge of the lodge , the attendant having gone home. I took his place. Attendantwas Gilman. As I passed into the lodge Eastman did not speak when I spoke to the patients. Iwent to the ventilator and spoke to him -- he answered faintly. I opened the door and went in andspok e to him -- did not unde rstand his a nswer -- the room was too hot -- he laid with hisshoulde rs on the floor. I got help and took him up. The sk in was off his shoulders and hips. AfterI took him up I regulated the fire in the furnace. While I was gone he laid on hay or straw. As webrought him out I noticed he was burnt -- that was our conclusion. Dr. Harlow dressed his wounds




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on shoulder and hips. There was b lood, straw, and dirt where he had rubbed in his room. Thelodge was heated by coal in a furnace, and a stone floor was over the fire. The room was ho tterthan it should be. Don't know whose fault it was. Fire always hottest when wind from north-west --wind north-west that night. It was a pretty cold night in winter. Eastman did not live but a shorttime after he was taken from the lodge. Skin was off. Burns do not commonly bleed. I cleaned thelodge next day -- no flesh on the floor. For days before he was not quiet for half an hour. Do notrecollect see ing any blisters -- thought the rubbing caused the injury. It was not a fit place to put aman in. No be tter place provided.

71 There was a man, don't know his nam e, with a stiff leg. I saw him on his bed -- ask ed h im how he

was. He said "well." He died next da y. When he was in my gallery he walked round. Whe n hecame he was not so bad. Think he had a disease of the body which reduced him. I have neglected

to give medicine when Dr. Bates had ordered it. There was one case where Dr. Bates prescribedmedicine, and said the patient could not live but a short time. I did not give them medicine butpursued a showering trea tment, and the man got well and went hom e. Two years ago, or so, I s etout to leave the hospital, on account of food. The food was not what it should be. Called Mr.Turner. He was satisfied it was not right, and rectified it. Fault of cook. Understood Dr. Batesinterfered, and since has been good. Matron's fault. Attendants food not so good in quality as theofficers.

72 Some time in Augus t, 1848, Stewart died in the lodge . Do not know circumstances. Died at nigh t. I

was sick at the time . Was told Stewart was dead . Went out and he lped b ring him in. I left him at 5P.M., as usua l, with care of himself. We ll, except insanity. Died ne xt night after adm itted. Do no tknow cause of death or disease. Patients sometimes put in bed straps. -- Never knew a person todie strapped down. I have been in hospital five years. Libby was partially under my care. I d id notknow that he was injured. He could not have bee n injured seriously without my knowing it. He d idnot complain to my knowledge.

73 Boardman has bee n thrown down more or les s for three years. I have thrown him down and put onwristers. This in se lf defence. Never knew it except in such cases. John Roge rs there two yea rsago. Task s not imposed on patients in doors or out. I have said a g reat many things I do not seefit to say here. I did no t use water from a lead cistern. Patients did. For the five yea rs I knew ofno unjustifiable violence used. I have gene rally had assistants with me. I have worst class m alepatients. This day Wee ks a nd I m easured the old lodge . Two furnaces s ituated in basement oflodge. One furnace heated two rooms. Hard coal used. Three and half feet from fire to floorabove. Floor from five to e ight inches thick. Fire under partition wall. A man 's head would no tcome nearer than two feet from the wall where the fire was. I have been vexed and out of humor,and complained , but under oath I would no t say any thing was not right.

74 JOHN C. PERLEY called and sworn. I was in the Hospital fourteen months. I left a week or two a fter

Dr. Bates came, in 1845. I have faint recollection of Mr. Hunt. I was in the lower gallery -- Mr. Huntin upper gallery. Do not know about Hunt's medicine, or his being fo rced to tak e medicine. I livein Vassalbo ro'. Did no t tell Percival that Hunt was a bused . Never said I would no t stay to seepatients abused. Never knew any patients abused by attendants.

75 JAMES P. WEEKS called a nd sworn. I have been in hospital nea rly seven years. I was acquaintedwith Hunt. Never was told, ex cept by him, that dele terious me dicine was given him. Huntcomplained while there. Do not know of having been showered as a punishment. In course of ayear he improved. -- Was considered an insane man when he left. I considered him so. Do nowon his treatment at hospital, and other things. Dr. Bates did not change medicine to myknowledge. Hunt said he did. Do not know of his friends being refused the privilege of seeing him.Hunt worked on his be nch when he chose to. Food prepared by the m atron. Same fo r all thepatients. Patients never showered for punishment. Forced to take medicine when so ordered byDr. Never knew patients to die strappe d down. Don't know of Eastman

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