considered by his lodger as a kindly companion
to be looked up to for imitation (an instinct
which the deficient share with children),
industry, voluntary and hearty, follows, as it is
likely to do.

Each well-behaved lodger is allowed by his
host the trifling sum of half a franc a week
to spend on such little luxuries as beer and
tobacco. Many work at some trade in spare
hours on their own account.

But liberty and labour are not considered
sufficient for these poor colonists. Their tastes
are encouraged and cultivated. M. Duval tells
us of a choral society founded by a mad violinist,
nicknamed the Grand Colbert. His portrait
adorns the room in which the society meets to
practise, previous to taking part in patriotic or
religious fêtes. The church dedicated to Saint
Dymphna, which in the twelfth century
succeeded to the rude chapel in which the seventh
century saint worshipped, is ever open to her
poor devotees. They attend regular services
there, besides wandering in at will, when wishing
for solitude and quiet.

Singing lessons are provided for the patients
at Gheel. Any special gift or taste developes
itself in this kindly atmosphere, where instead
of living a life of isolation, these poor
creatures bask in the sunshine of sympathy.

If a Gheel child be frightened, to whom does
it run for protection but to the poor lunatic
lodger, who will tenderly and proudly shelter
the little one whom he instinctively feels to be
even inferior to himself. As the child gets
older he insensibly contracts the tact he
recognises in the dealings of his elders with the
lunatic; and one of the most singular features
of the place is the absence of that inhuman
and yet almost universal tendency on the part
of the uneducated sane to tease the insane.
Of course this is chiefly due to the fact that
such patients are the rule, not, as elsewhere, the
exception. But it would be unjust to the
Gheelites not to allow with Dr. Neuschler, that,
if not the pure philanthropists some
enthusiasts would represent them to be, they do
generally appear to be guided by most
commendable feelings of kindness towards their
commensals, to whom, moreover, they attach
themselves greatly in many instances. Often
inferior to their lodgers in position and culture,
the nourriciers frequently retain the feelings of
respect which superiority commands, and
malgré vagaries and eccentricities, notre petit
monsieur and notre petite dame are treated
with the deference implied by those titles. An
anecdote given by Monsieur Michel Chevalier,
shows what an affectionate confidence the
parents place in their lodgers. A woman holding
her baby was alone in the room with her
commensal when he was attacked by a fit of
maniacal fury. Feeling that she and the child
were at his mercy, she calculated on the lunatic's
affection for the infant, and, placing it in his
arms, retired. The rush of feeling induced in
the maniac by this courageous manœuvre,
subdued the paroxysm; overwhelmed by the sense
of responsibility and by his affection for his pet,
the lunatic caressed and fondled the child till
the mother returned in a few minutes to find
all calm and peaceful. The same instinct doubtless
leads the colonists to attach themselves to
the animals entrusted to their care, whom they
are never found to ill treat, but whom, on the
contrary, they tend with the greatest kindness.
Their hosts have the good sense to see how
much it is to their own interest, to cultivate
these amiable propensities of the lunatic
shepherds. One lodger displayed a wonderful talent
for catching and taming birds. He would watch
his captives by the hour, till they learnt to
recognise in him an affectionate guardian, and
would hop about his room and feed from his
hand without fear. Later they were allowed
to fly in the house, and sun themselves at the
door, while their master mounted guard, that
the cat should not endanger his pets. Teaching
his birds to sing, solaced many a dull hour, and
soothed the disturbed spirit of the demented
bird-trainer.

Dr. Neuschler found one well educated
patient busily occupied as secretary to a
committee, that had been formed to enlist the
interest of the inhabitants of Gheel in an
agricultural exhibition at Turnhout. He fulfilled
his duties, which involved a good deal of walking
and talking, in a most satisfactory manner,
and received thanks from all quarters.

Dr. Bulkens mentions a case of an unfortunate
lad who had been driven out of his originally
timid mind by his father's severity. Henri
so revived, and his obscured intellect so
developed in his happy home at Gheel, that he constituted
himself a very efficient steward and
gardener in his host's establishment. The
unnatural parent's reappearance and conduct,
however, terrified and depressed the poor boy in
such a manner that the nourricier took upon
himself to warn the father to leave his son in
his more paternal care, and he thenceforth
adopted the youth as an enfant chéri of the
house. Henri is now a non-commissioned
officer in the Belgian army. He spends his
furlough annually at his Gheel home, where his
arrival is hailed by all the family as a veritable
fête.

The entente cordiale which commonly exists
between a family and the inmate, occasionally
reverses the order of things strangely. Take
the case of a poor German weaver, who lost his
reason in consequence of anxiety on the score
of poverty. He was boarded with an artisan
at Gheel, who devoted himself to calming and
restoring the troubled mind of his guest.
Before this work was accomplished, however,
the artisan died, leaving his widow and four
children almost destitute. The German weaver
observed with feelings of the deepest sympathy
the sorrow of those by whom he was surrounded.
He seemed at once to realise the position of
affairs. Calmly and seriously he accepted the
responsibility which he considered was imposed
on him by gratitude. He employed his returning
health of body and mind in working for the