The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1836-09-21

lblighting as It goes-and said to my heart,
all may yet be still within me, and the mind
as lifeless as the body it dwelt in; and yet
these feelings partook of life in all their
strength aud vigor.-There was the piH to
move, to speak, to see. to live,-and yet all
was torpid aud inactive, ms though il had
never lived.-Was it that The nerves, from
some depressing cause, had ceased to trans
nit the influence of the brain? had these
winged messengers of the mind refused
their office land then / called to mind
the almost miraculous efficacy Of The will
exerted under circumstances of great ext
gency, aud with a concentratinn Of power,
that some men are only capable of. | had
heard of the Indian father who sucked his
child az his own bosom, when he had laid
its mother in the grave; yet was it not the
will had wrought this miracle ] myself
had seen the paralytc limb awake to life
and motion, by the powerful application OF
the mind stimulating the nervous channels
Of communication, aud awakening the dor
mant powers Of vitality to their exercise. i
knew of one whose heart beat fast or slow
as he did wish it. Yes thought !, in a
transport, the will TO live, is the power TO
live and only when this faculty has yield
ed with bodily strength, need death be the
conqueror over US. The thought of reanl-
nation was extntic but dare not dwell
upon 1.-THE moments passed rapidly on,
and even now the last preparations were
about TO be made, ere they committed my
body to the grave And how was the eff
fort to be made 2 If the will did indeed
possess the power trusted in, how was 1t TO
be appledl ! had often wished to speak
or move during illness, yet was unable to
do either. ! then remembered that IN those
cases where the will had worked its won
ders, the powers of the mind had entirely
centered themselves in the one heart-filling
desire to accomplish IA cerrain object-as
the athlete in the games strains every mus
Gle to lift some ponderous weight. And
ihus, knew, that if the heart could be so
subjected to the principle of yoltiou, as
that, yielding to its impulse, 1t would
again transmit the blood along ITS accus-
toned channels, and that then the lungs
should be brought to act upon the blood,
by the same agency, the other functions Of
the body would more readily be restored,
/ by the sympathy with these great ones.
/ Besides, | trusted, that so long as the pow
ers of the mind existed in the vlgor i felt
( them in, that much of what might be called
latent vitality, existed in the body then
set myself to think upon those nerves
which preside over the action of the heart
their origin, their course, their dstrlbu-
tion, their relation, their sympaibles. !
traced them as they arose in the brain, and
tracked them till they were lost IN millions
of tender threads upon the muscles of the
heart. thought, too, upon the lungs as
they lay haccid and collapsed within my
chcst-the life blood stagnant in their ves-
sells, and tried to possess my mind with the
relation of these two parts, to the utter ex-
cusion of every other. l endeavored then
then to transmit along the nerves, the i'm
pulse of that faculty my whole hope rested
on; alas, it was in vain-I tried TO beave
my chest and breathe, but could not-my
heart sank within me-and all my former
terrors came thckening around me, more
dreadful by far, as the stir and hustle III the
room indicated they were about to close the
coffin. At this moment, my dear friend
b entered the room-he had come
many miles to see me once more, and they
made way for him TO approach me as lay.
lie placed his warm hand upon my breust,
and oh the throb it sent through my heart.
Again, bu, almost unconsciously to myself,
the impulse rushed along my nerves-a
bursting sensation seized my chest-a ting
ling ran through my frame-a crashing,
iarrine seusntion, as if the tense nervous
cords were vibrating to some sudden and
severe shock, took hold on me aud ther
c,or nlsIy ~
brought the blood from my mouth and eyes,
my heart sweled ut FIRST slowly, then faster
and tl,e valves revcrherotcd, clank !-cank
responsive to the stroke, at the same time
the chest expanded, the musles strained
like the cordage of ship in a heavy sea,
and | breathed once more. While thus
the faint impulse tn returning life was Civ
Ell, the dread thought flashed on me that it
might not he real, and that to my own i'm
agination alone, were referable the phenom-
cna | exper enced. At the very instant the
gloomy doubt crossed my mind, it was dis
PEELED, for heard n cry of horror through
the room, and The words-IIe is alive-he
still lives-irom "A number of voices around
me. The noise and confusion increased
| heard them say, carry out b before
he sees him agan-he has tainted D-
rectons, and exciamations of wonder and
dread, followed one upon another. and
can but call to mind the lifting me from the
coffin, and the feeling of returning warmth
experienced, as was placed befon fire,
AMI supported by the arms of my friends.
IL will only add, that after some weeks
of painful debility, was again restored to
L II Il Il