The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1848-12-07


brother otliccr, named Thresher. They n
'asi, were coming 10 me! yes--,he loci
was turncd-and the two came boislcrous
" into the room
Nav. then, Harrvr exclaimed ms cous
in, 'up with YOU! UIlo! pretending to bt
aslccp-wnn't do!
Trim his mus,achc!' exclaimed Thrc
shcr
'They shook TIC. OF course gave q,
signs Of waking. They pulled my hair;
was immosable. They ran pins into me
J should have WINGED il ] ..oud, but | WI.
fixed in imrnohility. They began n,
length TO suspect that something WINS wrong
with me. Bu, was warm. Could lie
shammin.? After many Intellectual at.
,cmpts 10 rouse me. they sent iur The arm,
surgeon. lie came. examined me, and, IL
my horror, heard him say
'h'syery extraordinary. I'm afraid he i
no more
Then should be buried alive! Com
ccive my feelings ut such thought; con-
ceivc my struggles To tell them was no,
dcad-ihat heard oil TINT they were say
ing-thc.c struggles being Intellectual, be-
cause | could no. move muscle!
'All soris Of remedies were applied, bu,
] remaincd MS inscnsiblc M before. A see
ond surgeon was called in, who though,
TINT had. possibly. only ~ attack 81 par.
a'.fis. bad hopes ngnin!
'Vainly should cndcavor to convey to
you nny idea of The moral aud physical tor
turc TO which was subjected. The sur
gcon thought il necessary To stimulate M.
nerves, and restore them 10 sensibiliy; but
their sensibilty was irigh,fuil, acute! md
The pnin suffered in the attempts to re-
store ms sensation of pnin was indescriba.
bile. And then to hear them consulting .
One proposing mustard bath; another
saying. 'Ob. that will not be half strong
enough! and !, unable even by wncing ~
express that their remedies were not onv
alrcndy too violent, but absolutely applied
TO an imaginary evil. Il was the nerves o.
muscular action which needed stimulating
But they could not know il.
For two whole days-ihcv seemed years
did ! remain IN this iuscusible-sensible
state. desparcd Of being rescued.
knew not how my medical men were TO dis.
cover their mistake mud my malady: md
the fear Of being given over aad buried
alive still haunted me.
A still more ghastly though, pursued mr.
! began TO ask myself, is this dca,h!' An
! really alive? Do the ,,cnd hear and feel?
J then thought Of the imperishnble M.
tnre Of my sonl. II. Of course, pcrvndcs i,
self through nll bodily decay. Il il impris
oned in the body as long ms the body hold.
together? and shall il he liberated onIy on
the falling away Of these ncshy walls thai
encompass me? Am Ia be buried. srnsi
bic Of all that is going on around mc? And
this soul which survives, how long is il 1.
remain on enrsh? IL the grave its purgn.
tory?
Such were the nature Of the thoughts
which hnrassed me. Neither sleep MOI
cessation Of my fcars had |. The weary
hours slowly rolled on; but to me thcy
brought no reposc; one incessant rush o
horrible idcns iormcn,cd me. at those times
whom was not suffering ngoncs from the
attempts to restore my sensibity.
Suddenly ! opened my eyes.
NV rapture was 30 great, that, fearing
i might be some illusion, md anxious mol
to dispci it, ] continued for some moments
to look steadily, md with intense pleasure
al the furniture Of the bed, and the bottles
IN The mantle piece. then moved ms
hand. II oheyed INC. although fecbly.
moved my head. opened my lips.
spoke!
''rhe establishment Of the nurse, the ne
,onishment Of every one, except the sur.
seon, who with professional cooncss took
my recovery quite as M expected occur.
renee. was unboundcd. And the surgeon
nlso deigned to be surprised when repeat.
ed TO him certain things had heard him
say TO his colleague concerning my state!
j recovered. NV illness interested the
'facnlts' much: because il WINS To them n
novel case. But, rs usual. they pretended
10 see no mystery in it. They explained
il, by snyi ing that the nerves Of motion had
been pnralyzed, and the nerves OF sensation
had been untouched. Yet that is surely
no explanation. Il is simply q technical
expression Of the fnct. But men always
fancy when they have named any thing
they hive explained it. Like friend Of
mine, who, on his child askinc hin, how i,
was TINT crystal, which was heavier than
wood could be seen through. while wood
could never be seen through? exclaimed
somewhat patronizinglv. 'why, nv don,
hoy, you can see through crystal because
il is transparent substnncc.' or this sor,
seems the explanation Of my cnse.'
Captain Hurst finished his story with an
anccdote, like an accomplished narrntor
who is unwilling to lenve painful effect
on the minds of his audience.
| We laiiuhed NJ his anacd1Aa and Ahe