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SOCIETY OUT OF BOUNDS.

BY DUDLEY COSTELLO.

SOME years ago, being then but newly married, I chanced one day to meet an acquaintance whom I had not seen since my submission to the pleasant yoke of matrimony.

My friend had heard of the event; and after the first few words of congratulation, he said: "Well, you must bring her to see us. I have a beautiful place at B- -, magnificent house and grounds, enormous gardens, hayfields, everything that makes the country delightful, only eight miles from town, omnibus passes the lodge gate; do run down, now,say the first fine Sunday!"

The offer was so cordially made, and the prospect of a summer's day in the country so attractive, that I at once assented, and thereupon my friend and I shook hands and parted;-he to wait for the first fine Sunday, I to prepare my wife for the way in which it was to be disposed of.

It may be thought that no great preparation was necessary for so simple an affair as an expedition to a place almost within an hour's drive of home, but there is something to explain. My friend was a medical man: not in the ordinary sense of the term, that is to say, not a mere mixer of com pounds and setter of dislocated limbs, but a practitioner of skill, qualified alike in surgery and medicine, in both of which branches he had achieved some eminence, but who, from some cause not known to me, had suddenly abandoned general practice and taken up a particular line: that particular line was insanity;-in fact, my friend was at the head of a private establishment which, though not long founded, was already large,-a consequence, no doubt, of his well-deserved reputation. He said nothing about this, for he knew I was aware of his position, but confined himself to the praise of his rural abode. I, however, was bound to be more explicit, a visit to a lunatic asylum being somewhat out of the ordinary routine of social amenities.

I will not stop to inquire whether my wife's reply to my proposition might not have been influenced by a slight degree of curiosity; but, be that as it may, she answered cheerfully that wherever I liked to go she was always happy to accompany me, and the visit was agreed to on her part as promptly as it had been on mine, and when the fine Sunday arrived we set off to fulfil our engagement.

Not caring to put ourselves to the expense of a private conveyance, we made up our minds to take the convenient omnibus, walked three miles to the point of departure, and left London at noon. The day was hot, the omnibus full, and the journey rather tedious, but we were reconciled to these disagrements by the pleasure in store. There was a slight drawback on that pleasure in the announcement, when we arrived at B- that on account of its being Sunday the fares were doubled, so that in point of economy we had not gained much by travelling in popular fashion; but as this could not now be helped we made the best of it, paid the unexpected charge, and leaving the omnibus to pursue its course along the dusty high road, turned down the shady green lane that led to W- House, and soon came in sight of "the lodge." It was scarcely worth my friend's while to have spoken of this outwork, because it was untenanted: an inscription

VOL. II.

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on the gate, however, did duty for a lodge-keeper, and we entered the grounds which, basking beneath the rays of a July sun, did not belie its rural reputation. The new-made hay smelt deliciously, the trees wore their greenest livery, and the thrushes and blackbirds poured forth their sweetest song.

"Upon my word," I exclaimed, "this is a nice place! If ever I should happen to go" my wife looked up anxiously in my face,-"I mean," I continued, correcting myself, "if ever we are able to afford it we certainly will live in the country."

"I was afraid," said my wife, with the tears just starting, "that you were going to say something very different."

"Foolish!" I returned; but to whom the epithet applied I leave unsaid. We paused for a moment where the path, winding through a shrubbery, shut out the view, and when we moved on again my wife's rosy smile satisfied me that she thought no more of my hasty exclamation.

We now came within sight of W- House. It was a very large, handsome edifice, and must have been erected for a person of good fortune. Such, indeed, was the case. A nobleman first, a nabob next, and then an army contractor, had successively occupied it; all three had outlived their means, and after the last possessor came an interval of twenty years, during which W. House, in spite of the most alluring advertisements, was always "to be let or sold." The locality might be "one of the most esteemed in the neighbourhood of the metropolis;" the house might be "planed in the most perfect manner," and possess "every accommodation for a gentleman's family;" it might "stand in its park-like domain ;" be "approached by a carriage drive, with an ornamental lodge at the entrance;" be surrounded with gardens and pleasure grounds;" be everything, in short, which an auctioneer could say to set it off, but still it remained unlet and unsold, till the advertisement caught the eye of Dr. F., who obtained a lease on favourable terms, and introduced a set of inmates only a little more positively mad than the nobleman, the nabob, and the army contrac tor, who had each ruined himself, in turn, by wasteful and ridiculous expenditure.

I was directing my wife's attention to a fine magnolia, which covered nearly half the building, when from beneath the shade of a lofty elm, where he had been standing, in the expectation of our arrival, Dr. F. came to greet us. Mrs. F., he said, had been employed rather longer than usual with domestic cares-we guessed the hospitable meaning of this intimation and was not quite ready to receive us; would we take a turn in the gardens before we went in? Of course, yes; and in the direction he proposed we accompanied our host. Near the garden gate a tall, welldressed, gentleman-like man was loitering. He took off his hat at our approach, and Dr. F., saluting him by name, asked him to join us. The invitation seemed to give him great pleasure; he smiled, and bowed, held out a tremulous hand to the Doctor, threw open the gate with alacrity, waited till we had all passed, and then followed, attaching himself to my wife, with whom he directly entered into conversation. His discourse was of flowers and plants; and he spoke with the nervous eagerness which some display who are much attached to any special study.

"Is your friend a botanist?" I inquired of Dr. F., as we took the way a few paces in advance.

"My friend," he replied, smiling, "is one of my patients. Don't be alarmed! He is a very harmless one. His was only a case of delirium tremens-bad enough, it is true, when first he came here, for then he could talk of nothing but assassination, which was his constant apprehension; or, if he changed the subject, it was to count up marvellous sums of

money, which he believed to be his due, and feared to be deprived of. He is nearly well now, all except a little excitability of manner when on a favourite theme. He has lived in the country, with gardens of his own, and I soon found that to let him pass his time in mine was the most useful indulgence I could permit. A fortnight ago, instead of gathering flowers, his hands were always full of papers covered with the most intricate accounts, the meaning of which, however, was quite clear to him. This is a general feature of the delirium, but in his instance it is some reflection of the first cause of his malady: he came unexpectedly into a large property, and took to drinking while attempting to inaster the details of his succession."-"Do you think his cure will be permanent ?"-"He is a man of sense, and knows now the danger he was in. It rests with himself to be moderate in all his appetites."

We continued our walk amidst glowing flowers and ripening fruit,-the last a great temptation to some one whom I will not name, who was only allowed a single strawberry, lest she should spoil her dinner or too much anticipate dessert. The gardens were very large, and we made a wide circuit, leaving them on the side opposite to where we entered. We crossed a small field, my wife's botanical ally employing himself actively in picking mushrooms for her, and came at last to a high wall, beyond which was heard the confusion of many voices, some louder tones predominating occasionally over the rest. At a door in an angle of the wall Dr. F. took out a small pass-key, and noiselessly turning the lock, we saw about twenty persons assembled in a large enclosure which had formerly been a stable yard: the offices were there still, and formed one side of the square, which was separated from the pleasure-grounds by a strong palisade. Here were the poorer patients actually under treatment for insanity, whose cases were adapted to such occupation or arrangements as they themselves were most inclined to seek. Some were collected in a group listening to the words of a self-elected preacher, who, mounted on a wheelbarrow, earnestly assured his auditors that the Millennium was at hand, laying the scene in the well-known gardens at K- on the other side of the river. One man, drest in a cocked hat, and with his left arm doubled up in his coatsleeve as if he had lost it, hovered restlessly on the skirts of the crowd, bowing and scraping to those who turned their heads, and dealing out scraps of French. Another in a costume eked out with feathers found in the yard, or abstracted from his bed, walked hastily up and down, reading out loud from a book as if he were learning a part. A third was seated in a corner, intent upon a patchwork cushion which he was making of shreds of cloth of divers colours. A fourth, with folded arms and one foot advanced, seemed to be meditating deeply. There was great variety of attitude, but no variety of expression, the unstable mind manifesting itself in every lip and eye.

We crossed the yard unnoticed by the greater part of the patients, whose occupations were too important, in their opinion, to admit of being interrupted. He with the folded arms, believing himself Napoleon, cast his eyes sternly upon us for a moment, and then gazing intently upon the ground, seemed occupied with some vast imperial plan; the preacher continued to expatiate on the prospects of the Millennium; the bedizened student hurried, muttering, to and fro; the soi-disant Frenchman jabbered incoherently; but the artist on patchwork looked up from his task and spoke to my wife.

"He was the king of England," he said; "had been deposed several hundred years ago; some thought he had been murdered in the Tower, but that," he whispered, "was a false report, circulated by his enemies. The truth was, he was in daily expectation of re-ascending the throne as

soon as the Queen was free to marry again. In that way, rival claims would be reconciled, there would be no more civil wars, no more whigs and tories, no more radicals. As soon as he had finished the cushion he was at work upon, all these things would come to pass. It was a wedding present to Queen Victoria, and in return he was to receive the crown and sceptre, and the heads of Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington, and the Lord Chancellor, these three being his principal enemies." He then nodded, as much as to say he was perfectly satisfied with this arrangement, and hoped we were so too. At the door which led into the house, we were overtaken by the plumed scholar, who, taking two sparrows' feathers from his sleeve, offered them to my wife, apologising for his rudeness in not doing so before; he earnestly hoped she was not offended.

Dr. F. now conducted us over the interior of the building. The greater part of the rooms were tenantless, their occupants being in the yard below. These belonged to the poorer class, but though the furniture was of an ordinary kind, everything was very neat and clean. But a few, set apart from the rest, the apartments of the wealthier patients, contained books, drawings, music, and all the appliances to which they were accustomed. In the drawing room of one handsome suite, overlooking the lawn, a tempting dessert was set out, which was glanced at by one of us with much satisfaction, as it seemed to promise an indemnity for previous abstinence; the dining room, as we presumed, adjoined. In this particular, however, we made a mistake, Dr. F. explaining that it was below. Thither we were soon summoned by our hostess, a lady whose countenance denoted much intelligence, and whose manners were very conciliatory. Under her guidance we descended, and, with appetites in excellent order, entered the salle à manger.

A surprise awaited us here which went far to take away that appetiteon the part of my wife, at least, if not on mine,-for, with the exception of four places, the seats at the table were full. Macbeth's astonishment at finding a guest in the murdered Banquo could scarcely have been greater than ours when we saw that we were to dine with the patients. Mrs. F. quickly noticed my wife's distress, and smilingly re-assured her. "They are all so gentle," she said, "you would never know that anything was the matter." Still, these individuals were each armed with a knife and fork, and who could tell, suggested apprehension, whether sanity might not slumber when such weapons were at hand. With the best grace, however, that she could muster, my wife took her place on the left of Dr. F., and I, though most unwilling to be separated from her by the whole length of the table, occupied the seat of honour next to our agreeable hostess. We mustered about sixteen altogether. All our companions were of the male sex, an apology being made by Mrs. F. for the absence of a lady not well enough that day to join the party. Again-my wife told me afterwards,— again the thought recurred: twelve strong maniacs, with sharp knives! It was rather trying to her nerves. If any doubt had arisen in my mind as to the use which my immediate neighbours would make of their knives and forks, it was very speedily dispelled when I saw how stedfastly they addressed themselves to the viands which were set before them. Had they been eating for a wager they could not have gone to work in a more deter mined style. They refreshed themselves also with copious draughts, but of water only, so that there was no fear of the promptings of intoxication. Once, indeed, I fancied I detected a wistful glance in" Delirium Tremens," as my wife, who sat next to him, drank a glass of sherry with Dr. F., but if he entertained the desire to do the same the wish soon passed away, and he, too, swallowed his allotted water without grimace. One thing at this dinner was noticeable: a number of respectably-dressed people around,

and all the externals of society; yet nobody conversed, except Dr.and Mrs. F. and ourselves, and occasionally "Delirium Tremens." There was evidently a cause for this restraint, and looking round I discovered it in the presence of the servants who waited, in whom I recognised the keepers. Their eyes, no matter how they might be occupied in shifting dishes or changing plates, were never off the lunatics; and I observed that, under one pretence or other, some of them always remained in the room.

It was not fated, however, that the dinner should pass over altogether without something to vary its monotony. When it had proceeded more than half way, a servant approaching Mrs. F. said, in a low voice, but loud enough for me to overhear, that Mrs. Graham wished to come in. This was the lady whose absence had been neglected. Mrs. F. replied that she knew she was not "well enough" to appear, observing aside to me, that the truth was she had been "rather refractory." The servant withdrew, but could not have carried his message to any great distance, as a loud voice was distinctly audible outside the dining-room door insisting on admission. Perhaps the keeper did not like to use force at that moment; perhaps the lady was too much for him! At all events, the door suddenly flew open, and in Mrs. Graham bounced. She was dressed in the height of finery, with a cap all lace and flowers, and long streaming cherry-coloured ribbons, and her features wore the same hue.

"When there's company here, ma'am," she said, addressing Mrs. F., "I insist on joining. I have all my life been accustomed to the best society, I have been presented at Court, I was always considered an ornament to the circle I moved in, and-I will have my dinner! If you don't give me some-this is my place, next to the strange gentleman-I'll break every plate and glass on the table. Dout you think, sir," she continued, turning to me, "that such conduct is excessively ill-bred! But I'll smash everything here, I'm determined!"

Whether Mrs. Graham would have carried her threat into execution if not interfered with, I am unable to say,-but as soon as she had spoken, Dr. F. looked at her with a peculiar expression, which she, who saw him, quickly understood, and as quickly walked to the door and disappeared. "We seldom have occasion," said Mrs. F., "to inflict any severer punishment than solitude during meals. This poor lady's dinner will be sent to her presently in another place."

No comment was made upon this episode by any one present; in fact, while Mrs. Graham remained in the room, not one of the lunatics ever raised his eyes. After that, the dinner soon came to an end, and we rose, -our dessert being served in an adjoining apartment; not the one, however, into which we had been shown upstairs; that was exclusively occupied by a very fastidious gentlewoman, whose friends paid a large sum for her special entertainment, her mania being horticultural.

But we had not entirely parted company with Mrs. Graham. While Dr. F. and I were taking our wine, Mrs. F. and my wife returned to the garden. Crossing the hall, they saw Mrs. Graham standing at a window. She beckoned to my wife to go and speak to her. Mrs. F. said there would be no harm in doing so; it might tend, indeed, to quiet her. Alone, then, my wife accosted Mrs. Graham, or rather was accosted by her.

"You must have been very much shocked, ma'am," said the latter, "at what you witnessed to-day. To think of excluding a person of my fashion and family connection! Why, ma'am, I am related to half the nobility of the kingdom. My husband has spared no expense in sending me here. Ten guineas a week, at the very lowest. You know, perhaps, what makes him so lavish! Not that the money can be said to be his, for he hadn't a penny when I married him. I was an heiress, ma'am, of the great house of

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