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The Prisoners' Hidden Life, or Insane Asylums Unveiled: As Demonstrated by the Report of the Investigating Committee of the Legislature of Illinois, Together With Mrs. Packard's Coadjutors' Testimo...
Excerpt from The Prisoners' Hidden Life, or Insane Asylums Unveiled: As Demonstrated by the Report of the Investigating Committee of the Legislature of Illinois, Together With Mrs. Packard's Coadjutors' Testimony
To you, my first-born son, Theophilus Packard, Jr., born March 17, 1842; and you, my second child, Isaac Ware Packard, born June 24, 1844; and you, my third child, Samuel Ware Packard, born November 29, 1847; and you, my only daughter, Elizabeth Ware Packard, born May 10, 1850; and you, my fifth child, George Hastings Packard, born July 18, 1853; and you, my sixth child, Arthur Dwight Packard, born December 18, 1858; - I dedicate this Book, or a record of your mothers persecuted life of that life - of which you are the sun, moon and stars. Yes, it is for you, my jewels, I have lived - it is for you I have suffered the agonies of Gethsemane's Garden - it is for you I have hung on this cross of crucifixion; and been entombed three years in a living cemetery; and oh! it is for your sakes I hope to rise again, to find my maternal joys immortalized.
Children dear, when all the world forsook me and fled, you stood firm for right, firm for truth, firm for duty; you, and you alone, were true to the mother who bore you, for you knew she was true to man, and true to God. Yes, your tender, loving hearts have writhed in secret agony over your mother's sorrows - but you have been denied the boon of human sympathy for yourselves; and, what is harder still, you have not been allowed to bestow it upon your persecuted mother, even, while her lacerated heart was panting to receive it from you.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
To you, my first-born son, Theophilus Packard, Jr., born March 17, 1842; and you, my second child, Isaac Ware Packard, born June 24, 1844; and you, my third child, Samuel Ware Packard, born November 29, 1847; and you, my only daughter, Elizabeth Ware Packard, born May 10, 1850; and you, my fifth child, George Hastings Packard, born July 18, 1853; and you, my sixth child, Arthur Dwight Packard, born December 18, 1858; - I dedicate this Book, or a record of your mothers persecuted life of that life - of which you are the sun, moon and stars. Yes, it is for you, my jewels, I have lived - it is for you I have suffered the agonies of Gethsemane's Garden - it is for you I have hung on this cross of crucifixion; and been entombed three years in a living cemetery; and oh! it is for your sakes I hope to rise again, to find my maternal joys immortalized.
Children dear, when all the world forsook me and fled, you stood firm for right, firm for truth, firm for duty; you, and you alone, were true to the mother who bore you, for you knew she was true to man, and true to God. Yes, your tender, loving hearts have writhed in secret agony over your mother's sorrows - but you have been denied the boon of human sympathy for yourselves; and, what is harder still, you have not been allowed to bestow it upon your persecuted mother, even, while her lacerated heart was panting to receive it from you.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
496 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1868
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About the author
Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard
50 books22 followersAKA E.P.W. Packard was an advocate for the rights of women and people accused of insanity.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 3, 2015
This is an incredible book. A first hand account of a part of American and women's history that has almost been lost in time. Mrs. Elizabeth Packard documents her abduction and sentence of three years in an Insane Asylum with incredible clarity and presence of mind.
This account speaks of a time when married women were non-entities in the eyes of the law, their identity belonging solely to their husbands. As such, in the state of Illinois it was legal for a woman to be committed to an Insane Asylum by her husband even if she was not insane.
Mrs. Packard displays an incredible faith in her God and was a highly articulate, intelligent, well balanced woman who strove to serve her God in a way that she determined to be the right way rather than what her church and her husband deemed to be the right way. For this reason her husband, at the urging of his church, had his wife committed and denied of her children and her personal effects.
Mrs. Packard then set about her arduous journey of fighting for her rights to her own mind, freedoms and religion and she advocated to get these rights for women.
My parting thought on reading this fantastic book was "Thank you Elizabeth Packard for what you were forced to go through and for changing our world because of it!"
This account speaks of a time when married women were non-entities in the eyes of the law, their identity belonging solely to their husbands. As such, in the state of Illinois it was legal for a woman to be committed to an Insane Asylum by her husband even if she was not insane.
Mrs. Packard displays an incredible faith in her God and was a highly articulate, intelligent, well balanced woman who strove to serve her God in a way that she determined to be the right way rather than what her church and her husband deemed to be the right way. For this reason her husband, at the urging of his church, had his wife committed and denied of her children and her personal effects.
Mrs. Packard then set about her arduous journey of fighting for her rights to her own mind, freedoms and religion and she advocated to get these rights for women.
My parting thought on reading this fantastic book was "Thank you Elizabeth Packard for what you were forced to go through and for changing our world because of it!"
December 3, 2013
One of the original "indie" authors. Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard is not a perfect heroine, but I admire her nonetheless.
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August 11, 2021really worth reading but i wish i'd had a more readable version, it's just a crappy scan of a 1800s book :(
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews