A letter to Henry Cline, on imperfect developments of the faculties, mental and moral, as well as constitutional and organic, and on the treatment of impediments of speech.

  • Thelwall, John, 1764-1834.
Date:
1810
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to Henry Cline, on imperfect developments of the faculties, mental and moral, as well as constitutional and organic, and on the treatment of impediments of speech. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The demands of Nature are, with, them, the only incitements to motion; and a few idiots, it is said, exercise no functions but those which relate to re- pletion and evacuation. Beings of this description have no right to the name of moral agents: they ‘are perfect strangers to right and wrong, to ho- nour and disgrace; and as for their notions of beauty, they cannot distinguish by the eye, things that are straight from those that are crooked. “ Their pleasures are of a nature which forbids. me to follow the Doctor in English; who con- cludes his horrible description by remarking, that a genume Alpine idiot possesses a spark of life, barely sufficient to prevent the putrefaction of his body. | “Idiots of the second description have their senses and powers of motion in somewhat greater perfection than those of the first class; most of them can sound the vowels but not the consonants ; which circumstance principally distinguishes them from absolute idiots. The moral character of the latter is actually worse than that of the former; for they are not only ignorant of the social virtues, but would be intolerable in society, on account of their