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

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flashed upon me in all its fearful ell
!, ergy, / never can forget the thrill
!, horror that struck through me.
', was as if bullet had penetrated m
, heart, and all the blood in my bod
. han gushed through the wound
Never can hell be more terrible tha
the sensations of that moment.
, / lay motionless for a time, petri
fled with terror. Then clamm,
dampnessburst forth from every part !
my body. My horrible doom seemed
inevitable; and SO strong at length
became this impression, so bereft o
hope appeared my situation, that
ultimately recovered from it only tt
plunge in the depth of calm, reso
lutte despair. AS not the faintest
ray Of hope could penetrate the
darkness around my soul, resigna,
ton to my fate followed. began
to think Of death coolly, and to cal.
culate how long | might survive
before famine closed the hour of my
existence. l prayed that I nigh.
have fortitude to die without repin-
ing. Calmly as I ther felt, | tried
if | could remeGber how long man
could exist without food. Thus the
the tranquility Of my despair made
ma comparatively easy, if contrasted
with the situation in which | felt
myself afterwards, when hope began
to glimmer upon me. My days
must be numbered-I must die at
last--I was only perishing a little
sooner than l otherwise must have
done. Even from this thought
| derived consolation; and | now
think life might have closed calmy
upon me, il the pangs of hunger
had been at all bearable, and l have
been told that they are much more
so than is commonly believed.
If my memory serves me COR
rectly, this calm. state of mind did
not last long. Reason soon began
to whisper to me that if / had been
buried, and the earth closed round
my coffin; I should not be able to
respire, which l could now do with
ease. / did not, Of course, dream
of the vault in which | was placed,
but considered at first | had been
buried in earth. The freedom of
respiration gave me the idea that
after all | was not carried forth for
interment, but that ! was about to
be borne.to the grave, that there |
shonld suffocate inevitably.
Such is the Inconsistency of the
human mind, that /, who had just
now resigned myself to die by FAM
inc, imagined this momentary mode
of death hundred times more for
midable. The idea that | was not
yet inferred increased my anxiety
to be heard from without. | called
aloud, and struck the sides and the
lid of the coffin to no purpose, till |
vas hoarse aud fatigued, but all in
vain. a Silly silence reigned around
me amid the unbroken darkness. /
was now stepped in fearful agony. ]
shrieked with horror. / plunged
my nails into my thighs and wound
ed them. The coffin was soaked
in my blood; and, by tearing the
/ wooden sides Of my prison with the
same maniacal feeling, I lacerated
my fingers, and wore the nails tc
the quick, and soon become motion
] less from exhaustion. When | was
myself once more,rI called aloud my
/ wife's name, prayed, and | fear ]
blasphemed, for knew not what
said; and thus continued until my
strength again left me, and nature
once. more sought replenishment II
temporary iusensibility.
+ At this time I had vision Of 8
mcst indefinable character, if it was
one, and not a glance, as ! am In
). duced to think it was, between the
the portals Of death into the world
of spirits. 1t was all shapeless anc
formIess. Images of men and wo'
men often numberless-in a sort o
shady outline came before ane a
{ tronnd me. They seemed as If llmbles'
from decay. Their featureless heads
moved upon trunks hideously vital--ir
ffigure-Hke bodies, which ! have seen
drawn forth from buried dwellings
each being rather q hideos's, mis-
'Ishapeu mass than human fesem
= - H.