On the education of the imbecile / by Dora Greenwell.

  • Dora Greenwell
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the education of the imbecile / by Dora Greenwell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/54 (page 12)
    I inalienable freedom. If Man is robbed in any degree of his birthright, if the motive impelling, governing principles of reason, volition and affection, are unable to make their energies felt within him, he is indeed bereaved. He is one who may perish with cold and hunger, although he is the Father’s son, and heir unto a kingdom, while the furred, finned, and feathered tribes of earth, sea, and air, know how to provide themselves with homes and sustenance. The question which we are now considering, that of the educability of the imbecile, is not one of mere philanthropy. So far it has been chiefly considered in that light, and has engaged the attention of but a few persons, and they among the number of so-called enthusiasts. But if the principles laid down in the books and reports before us are true, and the facts to which they bear witness can be well established, it is a question which connects itself most closely with almost every other social one. It is an inquiry which bears, and that in no indirect way, not only upon educa¬ tion in general, but upon legislation, upon morals, upon the general relations of human beings with each other, and even upon the nature of moral accountability with God. ‘ The question as to whether or not the idiot can be im¬ proved,’ says one who is well qualified to speak upon the subject,* ‘is a question which touches upon the loftiest outlooks of psychology, the most important problems of education; and the light our researches shed is as valu¬ able to the philosopher as it is to the physician.’ The books and papers which now lie before us are not * M. Delasiauve, Medecin de l’Hospice de Bicetre. I