<P> He then learns that this staff has replaced the system of soothing with a much stricter system, which Maillard says is based on the work of a "Doctor Tarr" and a "Professor Fether". The narrator says he is not familiar with their work, to the astonishment of the others . It is finally explained why the previous system was abandoned: one "singular" incident, Maillard says, occurred when the patients, granted a large amount of liberty around the house, overthrew their doctors and nurses, usurped their positions, and locked them up as lunatics . These lunatics were led by a man who claimed to have invented a better method of treating mental illness, and who allowed no visitors except for "a very stupid - looking young gentleman of whom he had no reason to be afraid". The narrator asks how the hospital staff rebelled and returned things to order . Just then, loud noises are heard and the hospital staff breaks from their confines . It is revealed that the dinner guests are, in fact, the patients, who have just recently taken over . As part of their uprising, the inmates treated the staff to tarring and feathering . The keepers now put the real patients, including Monsieur Maillard (who had once been the superintendent before going mad himself), back in their cells, while the narrator admits that he has yet to find any of the works of Dr. "Tarr" and Professor "Fether". </P> <P> Monsieur Maillard's system avoids all punishments and does not confine its patients . They are granted a great deal of freedom and are not forced to wear hospital gowns, but instead are "permitted to roam about the house and grounds in the ordinary apparel of persons in right mind". The doctors have "humored" their patients by never contradicting their fantasies or hallucinations . For example, if a man thinks he is a chicken, doctors treat him as a chicken, giving him corn to eat . The system is apparently very popular . Monsieur Maillard says that all the "Maisons de Santé" in France have adopted it . The narrator remarks that after the patient revolt is crushed, the soothing system is reinstated at the asylum he has visited, though modified in certain ways that are intended to reform it . </P> <P> "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" was held by editors for several months before being published in Graham's Magazine for November 1845 . </P> <P> At the time this story was written, the care of the insane was a significant political issue in the United States . People were calling for asylum reform because the mentally ill were being treated as prisoners, while increased acquittals due to the insanity defense were criticized for allowing criminals to avoid punishment . </P>

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