The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-06-15

1
reached the lordly dwelling of noble
man who resided near the spot, though
he was not one of the clcrgyman's par
ishioners. But much given to the stud,
of physical science, he visited the par
sonage to request permission to see th,
sleeper, and thus learned the varied sor
row that had fallen on its gentle inmates
With equal delicacy and generosity, he
proffered as a loan the means of paying
the harsh creditors, assuring the pool
wife that if her husband should ever a
wake, lie would give him the means o.
rcpaying the pccuniary obligation. The
offer was thankfully accepted, and the
debt was dicharged. For the following
two days, Lord E. was a regular Wis
itor at the parsonage
Sunday morning again dawncd-once
more the sunlight fell on the sleeper's
pillow, and the bells called men to pray.
Beside the couch were seated the miser
able wife and her noble friend. The faint
regular breathing of the trance-chained
man deepencd, and to her anxious eai
the difference was perceptiblc, though
Lord E. shook his head as she told
him of it. She bent eagerly over the
pillow there was slight futter of the
cyelids she held her breath, and clasp
cd her hands in agony ofexpectation and
dawning hope. The hand, so long mo-
tionless, stirred the eyes opened she
could not speak for ovcrpowering joy.
The sleeper raised his head, slightly smil.
cd on her, and observed 81 thought 1
had slept longer-the bell has not yet
ceased ringing~
lie was unconscious that whole week
had elapsed since its tones had soothed
him to rest. The wife tainted, and was
conveyed from the chamber. The doc
tor was summoned; he found his patient
weak, but not otherwise ill. A still
more extraordinary mental cure had
been effected by the genius of Sleep he
had totally forgotten his threatened diff
icultics, and from that hour recovered
rapidly. Lord E conferred liv-
ing of some value on him; and when he
was strong enough to bear the disclosure,
his wife informed him of the loan so no.
bly, bestowed on them, and the suffering
from which he had been so marvellously
preserved. The lesson was not lost. The
new rector henceforward strove to unite
prudence with enefosity and a career
of worldly prosperity. as well as the
far greater blessing of an implicit
and cheerful faith in Providence, attcn.
ded the renewed life of the sleeper a.
wakened.
In both these instances, the sleep or
trance was drcamlcss and unconscious.
But there is one remarkable case on rec
ord, in which the body only of the sleep
er was subject to this deathlike thral-
dom Of slumbcr, the mind remaining A.
wake and the account given by the in-
dividual who endured this interval OF
life in death, is very singular and inter
estng. She was attendant on a German
princess and, after being confined to her
bed for length of time, with nervous
disorder, to appearance died. She was
laid in coffin, and the day fixed for her
intcrmcnt arrived. In accordance with
the custom of the place, funeral songs
and hymns were sung outside
the door of the chamber in which
the fair corpse lay. Within they were
preparing to nail on the lid Of the coffin
when a slight moisture was observed on
on the brow of the dead. The supposed
corpse was Immediately removed to diff
ferent couch, and every means used to re
store suspended vitality She recovered
and gave the following singular account
Of her sensations
"She was perfectly conscious of al
that passed around her; she distinctly
heard her friends speaking and lament
ing her death she felt them clothe he
in the garments of the grave, and plac'
her in the coffin. This knowledge pro
duced mental anxiety she could mo-
describe. She tried to speak or cry, bu
vainly-she had no power of utterance; i
was equally impossible for her to rails
her hand or open her eyes, as she vainl.
endeavored to do. She felt as if sh'
were imprisoned in dead body. Blu
when she heard them talk Of mailing tn
the lid on her, and the mournful musi
Of the funeral hymns reached her eal
the anguish of her mind attained it
height, and agony, mastering that awfu
spell Of funnatural slumber, produced th
moisture on her brow, which saved he
from being entombed alive"
One more little anecdoto of som
what similar kind, which was related
us on the authority of Hastings fshe
man, and we will close our paper. 1t o
CURED during the cholera. The people
England have an especial horror of thi
terrible scourge, and nothing will indaC
them to believe that the infection is
the air, and not in the person affected |
, the complaint; consequently it was dl
, 6cult, in some places, to pursuadc the
to perform the last Offices for the dea
and they carried the interment of Il
I victims of the pestilence with unseen
f precipitation. A poor scafaring ma
who had been absent from his natl
!. land, returning home at the time it w
i raging, found that his wife had be-
=. dead about three days, and that her CT
8 fin had been placed In room with tho
' Of others, who lodging in the same dw'
ling, had also perished of the diseai
$ Greatly afflicted, the sailor insi sted
q seeing his dead wife. The neighbc
:. would have dissuaded him, but
d affection and grief disdained all fc
y and he rushed into the chamber of deal
4 There, forcing open the lid of the coa
Il and bending over the beloved corp
/ the rude mariner shod tears, which (
n. fast upon the pallid face, when sudder
is a sound, something like sigh, was en-
ted from the white lips, and the next
Giant tba exhausted and deathlike sle