The Litchfield County post., 1828-07-10

thoughts which were born as it were with in him.
 "NOw comes spirit of universal con- tentment with himself and all the world. He thinks no more of misery: it is dissolv- ed in the bliss of the moment. This is the acme of the ft--the ecstacy is now perfect. As the sensorium is in tol- erable order: it is only shaken, but the capability of thinking with accuracy still remains. About this time, the drunkard. pours out the secrets of his soul. His qualities good or bad, cone forth without reserve; and now if at any time the hu- man heart may be seen into. In short time he is seized with most inordinate propensity to talk nonsense, though he is perfectly conscious of doing so. He also commits many foolish things, knowing them to be foolish. The power of voli tion, that faculty which keeps the will sub- ordinate to the judgment seems to be- to- tally weakened. The most delightful time seems to be that immediately before Ibecoming very talkative. When this takes place the pan becomes ridiculous, and his mirth though more .boisterous is not so exquisite. At first the intoxication partakes of sentiment, but, laterly 1t be- comes merely animal.
 After this the scene thickens. The drunkards imagination gets disordered with the most grotesque conceptions. Instead of mpderating his drink he pours it down more rapidly than ever: glass follows glass with reckless energy. His head becomcs perfectly giddy. The candles burn blue, or green, or.yellow: and where there are perhaps but three on the table he sees a dozen. According to his temperament, he is amorous, or musical, Or quarelsome. Many possess a most extraordinary wit 1; and a great flow of spirits is a general at tendant. In the latter stage the speech is thick, and the use of the tongue in grea, great measure lost. His mouth is half O. pen, and idiotic in the expression; while his eyes are glazed, wavering and watery. He is apt to fancy that he has offended some one of the company and is ridicu- lously profns6 with his apologies"
 q !" Frequently he mistakes one person for another, and imagines some of those before him are individuals who are really absent, or even dead. The muscular powers are all along much affected !; this indeed happens before any great change takes place in the mind, and goes on pro- gressiyely increasing. He can no longer walk with steadiness, but totters from side to side. The limbs become powerless, & inadequate to sustain his weight. He is, however not always sensible of any def- ciency in this respect; and while exciting mirth by his eccentric motions, imagines that he walks with the most perfect steadi. ness. In attempting to run he conceives he passes over the ground with astonishing rapidity. The last stage of drunkenness is total insensibility. The man tumbles perhaps beneath the table. and is carried away in a state of stupor to his couch.-. In this condition he is said to be dead dyunk. @ayss q.
 When the drunkard is put to bed, Jet us suppose that his faculties are not totally ab- sorded in apoplectic stupor; let us sup pose that he still possesses consciousness & feeling, though these are both disordered {; then begins sthe tug of war; then comes the misery which is doomed to succeed his raptures. No sooner is his head laid upon the pillow than it is seized with the stran- gest throbing. His heart beats quick and hard against the ribs. A noise like the distant fall of a cascade, or rising of riv- CT is heard in his ears sough-sough- sough, goes the sound. His senses now become more drowned and supplied. A dim recollection of his carousals, like a shadowy and indistinct dream, passes be- fore the mind. He still hears, as in echo, the cries and laughter of his companions. Wild fantastic fancies accumulate thickly around the brain. His giddiness is greater than ever he feels as if in ship tossed upon heaving sea. At last he drops in- sensibly into profound slumber.
 "In the morning he awakes in high fever.-The whole body is parched the palms of the hands in particular, are like leather. His head is often violently painful. He feels excessive thirst while the tongue is white, dry, and stiff. The whole inside of the mouth is likewise hot and constricted, and the throat often sore. Then look at his eyes, how sickly dull & languid: The fire which first lighted them up in the evening before, is all gone. A stupor like that of the las, stage of drunk enness, still clings about them, and they are disagreeably affected by the light