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Excerpt from A Mind That Found Itself: An Autobiography
A story so strange as to challenge belief must needs be presented in a way especially calculated to inspire confidence. Thanks to Professor William James of Harvard University, I am able to cut off incredulity at its source by quoting his opinion. That which has already enlisted the support of one of the most eminent psychologists in America is entitled at least to a respectful hearing from laymen.
95 Irving St., Cambridge, Mass.
July 1, 1906.
Dear Mr. Beers:
Having at last got round to your MS., I have read it with very great interest and admiration for both its style and its temper. I hope you will finish it and publish it. It is the best written out case that I have seen; and you no doubt have put your finger on the weak spots of our treatment of the insane, and suggested the right line of remedy. I have long thought that if I were a millionaire, with money to leave for public purposes, I should endow Insanity exclusively.
You were doubtless a pretty intolerable character when the maniacal condition came on and you were bossing the universe. Not only ordinary tact, but a genius for diplomacy, must have been needed for avoiding rows with you; but you certainly were wrongly treated nevertheless; and the spiteful Assistant M.D. at - deserves to have his name published. Your report is full of instructiveness for doctors and attendants alike.
The most striking thing in it to my mind is the sudden conversion of you from a delusional subject to a maniacal one - how the whole delusional system disintegrated the moment one pin was drawn out by your proving your brother to be genuine. I never heard of so rapid a change in a mental system.
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