Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1856-04-24

IL ouSp0OtCO, oiCpe dUUut tLlS I'LL
l. from weakness, it was but to awake
If again to more fearful consciousness
t Of my dreadful situation. Frcs
y but vain efforts to make myse
y heard we're reiterated as far as m
: strength would allow. found wit
q great difficulty / could turn on m
side, and then on my belly. / trie
: by lifting my back and by a violen
, strain, to burst open the coffin lid
f but the screws resisted my utmos
| strength. I could not, besides
| draw up my knees sufficiently higl
f to afford tenth part of the purchas,
Il should otherwise have made t.
bear uponit. Ihad no help but to re
turn again to the position of The
dead,.nd reluctantly gain littIeagoni
zing repose from my exertions.
was conscious how weak my efforts
had made me. yet / resolved to re
peat them.
| Whilst thls at rest If inactive
torture could ba denominated rest
! i wept like child when | thought
of the sunshine and blue skies and
fresh air which / should never more
enjoy-how living beings thronged
the streets, and thousands round me
were joyous or busy, while | was
doomed to perish in tortures. Why
was my fate differently marked out
to that Of others? / had no mon
strous crimes to repent Of Hun
dreds of criminal men were in full
revelry of life. | fancied I heard
the toll of a bell. Breathless, I
listened. 1t was clock striking the
hour. The sound was new life to
me.
81 am not inhumsd, at least!"
such were my thoughts. "Inter-
ment will take place my coffin will
be moved shall easily make my
self heard them
Men may fancy how they would
find themselves under similar circum.
stances and on the like trying occa.
sions; but it is seldom a correct
Judgment can be previously formed
on such matters. It was only at
intervals that | was so fearfully
maddened by my dreadful situation
as to lose the power OF rational
reflection, or so overcome as to be
debarred the faculty of memory.
Stretched in position where my
chsnges consisted only Of turn on
my side upon hard boards, the sore
ness of my limbs was excruciatingly
painful. When /! drew my feet up a
few inches, my knees pressed the
cover, so that the slight shift of
position brought no relief. My i'm
patience Of the restraint in which |
was kept began at length 10 drive
me we'll nigh to madness. was
fevcred. My temples burned and
throbbed; my tongus became dry,
light flashed across my eyes, and my
brain whirled round.
am certain that my existence was
preserved solely by the diminished
strength and subsequent ieebleness
which from rendering ma insensible
to the increasing exacerbation of my
brains heat, allowed nature to re-
! sume her wonted temperature. But
alas, this was only that | might re-
/ yiye to encounter once more IRENE.
diable horror. Who could depict
the frenzy, the unspeakable anguish
of my situation? | thought my eyes
would start from my head. Burning
tears flowed down my cheeks. My
( heart was swollen almost to bursting
l became restless in feeling without
finding space for fancied relief in a
new changeof position. In my mental
anguish, at times, however, forgot
mymotiouless bodily saffsrings, my
rack OF immovable agony.
How many hours | lay in this
state Of active and passive torture,
cannot tell. My thirst, however,
soon became intolerable. My
mouth seemed full of hot ashes. ]
{ heard again the hollow sound of a
clock bell, of no small magnitude,
,liudging from its deep intonation.
i No Granny which ! had hitherto OBJ
/ served in my prison let in light =
though IwelI knew there must be
some fissure for fresh air, for the con.
tinuance Of lifsso fak How else
4 had / Iexistedf
n - IL. q. - f.z., 4 =. -