ly evaded the subject by leaving it to Peter A. Jay

,
Esq. then a member of the legislature, a gentleman
of talents and weight of character. Mr. Jay went to
Albany, hut after a while wrote to Mr. Eddy to come
to his assistance. The appeal was made in such
strong terms, that he could not resist it, and he set
out for Albany, and with the exertions of Mr. Jay,
an act was passed, giving ten thousand dollars a year
for the support of the insane, and for erecting new
buildings. This act was limited by the act for
the better support of the hospital, which granted
twelve thousand five hundred dollars for fifty years.
Probably many members had forgotten when the act
would expire, and those who did remember the
fact, did not choose to say any thing about it. View-
ed in any light, it was a liberal donation for a noble
purpose. Nearly eighty acres of land were pur-
chased at Bloomingdale, and a fine building erected
for the accommodation of the insane. The success
of his exertions, and those of his coadjutors, gave
Mr. Eddy the liveliest pleasure, which he took no
pains to disguise. He always felt himself an in-
structor of those whose minds were sickly, and he
believed that, though it was difficult, yet it was not
impossible to
Minister to a mind diseased;
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;
Raze out the written troubles of the brain;
And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff,
That weighs upon the heart.
The study of mental derangement is one of deep
interest to the philanthropist. To mark insanity in
all its various forms, to go back to the cause of its
existence, whether moral, physical, or accidental,
requires acuteness and constant observation. The
wise and the kind feel assured that they carry with
them many cures and a thousand anodynes for mise-
ry. Those who devote a life to doing good, in cu-
ring or soothing the maladies of the mind, improve