Southern marksman. [volume] (Clinton, Miss.) 1838-1839, 1839-01-01
MISCELLANEOUS.
MENTAL DELUSIONS DURING
SICKNESS.


sUpon my honor, sir, my father dess not
get more than forty per csat.!
This conscientious and genteel speech
haunted me not very long since, daring q
painful and dangerous illness. 1t came
certainly very NAL dpropos; bot having
come, would not depart, like an imp OF
evil, as it was-for some oae has Observed.
or if not, some one might have observed,
that words once embodied In sense sr sen
tence have a living existence, the good or
bad spirits taking conception in tao mind
and birth from tho mouth, never to return
again, but invisible agents n the world,
that do world of mischief in it, and often
standing in court of justice against their
parents in the Aesh--such an imp of eva, /
assert, was that sentence to me, for having
taken possession OF the best room il the
house of my brains, it kicked it's heels
there and called about it Justify, and lnnur
merable were the train of hought-iLnPs
that came at its call.
Upon my honor, sir, my tathor Goes
not get more than forty per cent
Who gave it existeaces TWAS the son
of an undertaken, my dear Eusebius. The
occasion this:-I was present when the
said genteel youth presented tho bill for
a funeral, a few weeks after my acquaiI-
lance had buried his father. ! am sure
the old gentleman never would have slept
with his fathers, could he have read over
the items of the last journey, and would
have again died over the sum~total. The
bill was indeed startling. 1t was upon a
slight remonstrance that this nicely Dress
ed, mincing son of his father, in about tho
nineteenth year Of his age, and full prom
Use of his trade Of hatAbands and scaris,
laid his hand upon the left side of his waist
coat, and unhesitatingIy swore like any
peer of Parliament
upon my honor, sir, my father does not
get above forty per cent?!
Years have passed away since heard
this sentence, nor have thought of it in
the interim; but that it should just then,
above all times, when l lay in feverish
state, and when it appeared by no means
improbable that an inquest of forty per
cent might be called to upon my body,
was a remarkable proof of iendish exis-
tence of words that, like vultures, come to
the wreck. From that day know an I'M
dertaker by instinct, and abhor him, as
dogs in China fly from butcher. Long
days and nights did lie upon the head Of
it continually. At one time he brought
me a list of friends and relatives to attend
my funeral, most of whom | thoroughly
dislike; at another time he laid out the
scarfs, hat-bands and gloves upon my bed,
and changed my curtains into black cloaks.
At another time he presented me with
book of patterns of nicelyxdrawn collins,
and coffin ornaments, tin lacquered cheru.
bins, with wings, cloud, and trumpet
Then stepped out of the room, and came
in again with stone-cutter, and his book
of monuments and tablets-and then |
racked my brain for inscriptions, and he
suggested many so abominable, that | was
quite angry. Then the discussions upon
the relative merits of stone and marble,
the cost of cutting per letter; the clergy
mans fee, the clerks, the sexton's-if all
were to have silk hat-bands? the charges
forpumping the grave dry. But the worst
was when felt that tcGs in my coffin,
and yet knew all that was going on in the
room about me, just the same as if had
been purposely gifted with the faculties of
mesmerim-only [ was conscious of sense
of suffocation. Under this new magne>
tism sap them carry me out of the room,
the ever polite son of an undertaken point
ing the way. / felt the shock as they
knocked against tie bureau, of which, bv
the by, | told them to take care, in which
had may treasures-alas! thought T.
farewell! never to see them again. livery
distinctly saw near relative, to whom
had left, for me and for him too, hand-
some legacy, smile with more hilarity than
was becoming the peculiar situation, and
/ believe he iawardly ihought he should
rummage my bureau. would call to
them TO stop wished TO alter my will
but no utterance came to my wishes.
This them says ], zig being dead in |
law