Litchfield enquirer., 1857-01-29
Frvm the Londan Times, Bec. 4 The Suicide of Hugh Miller.


 Frvm the Londan Times, Dc. g "A gas
 The Suicide of Hugh Miller.
 A post nlortein examination of the body of Hugh Miller, was made at his hotise in .Porsp- bvllo, oa Friday, by Prof. Miller and other medical gentlemen. The following is the col- rluslen, to which they have come
 The cause Of death was found to be pis.. shot throayh the left side of .lfe cb~ .., aud this, VIC are satisfied, was indicted ,y Lis own hand From the diseased u;p. arauce found in the brain, taken in cohnec, .on with the his- tory vf-thes case, we hay: no doubt that the act Vss. suede, uu1er the impulse of insanity.
 Tie Following few lines tv his wife, founl wr.tfczrura foiio sheetiying .en the table -be- side h;s corpse, glses aIanltul evidence of th. awful intel,s,ty ot the aisaase asx ..-.s.s-.s
 DsARlr LYDIA: My brain burns. must have walked; and 6 fearful dream arises upon me. cannot bcar the horrible thought. God and rather of tHe Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me- Dearest Lydia. dear children, farewell. My brain turns as tue recollection grows My dear, dear wife. farewell. HUGH MILLER
 For some months past" states IHe Wst- ness of Saturday his overtask,d int .,iect had sirea evidence of disorder. He became the prey of false or exaggerated alarms.. He fal- cied.-if, indeed, 1t was fancy-that occasoI- ally, ani forbrief interv Us, h t,cal ties qu te failed him, that mil bro town. Ic was cfyaged at ths tim. VI tn q req ise on tle "Tcstimonies of the Rocks," on wach he w.s ,,utting out all his strength, working at his top most pitch of insanity. That volume will i'll few weeks Le i'll the halds of many of cur readers, and, while they peruse it with the sad 6euetl impression that the intellect and genius of the author pours d out their latest treasures in the compassion, they will search through is in vain for the slightest evidence of fecbleness or drcaying power. Rather let us GDticIl ste the gen ral verdict that will be prorca ed upon it as One of the ablest ot all his Writings But he wrought at it too eagerly. Hours after midnight the light was seen to glimmer through the window of that room which, within the same eventfuI week, was to witness the close of the volume and the close of the writer's fife. This ovcrworkiag of his brain began to ell on his mental health. He had always been somewhat moodily apprehensive of being sttaeKec by footpads. and had carried loaded firearms about his person. Latterly, having occasion sometimes to return to Portobello from Edinburg at unreasonable hours, he had furnished himself with revolver But now, to all his old fears as to attacks upon his person, there was added. an exciting, an overlnaster- ing impression that Iris house, and especially that museum, the fruit of so much care, which vas contained in Q separate outer building, were exposed to the assault of burglars He read all the recent stories of household robbe- rics. He believed Ahst oae night late'y an ac. tual attempt to break in upon his museum had been omadc Visions of ticketofleave men prowlii,g about his premises hauntcd him by day and by night. The revolver which lay nightly near him was not enough a broad. batcd dagger was kept beside it. while behind him, at his bed-head, claymore stood ready st hand. X week or 20 ago, a new and more aeyravetcl feature of. cerebral disorder show. ed itself in sudden and singular sensstions n in his head They came on only aft r i,lttr- vals. They did not last long, but were ,- tenscly violent. The terr le idea that his brain was deeply and hor~lessly di eased, that his mind was oh the verge of rrin, took hold of him and stood out before his. eye in all that appalling magnitude in winch sl'ch au inagiua- ton as his alone could picture it.'''4
 Upto Monday last it appears he had spo. ken to no one of these mental paroxi ms. On Monday he called on Dr. B;lfour in Porto b.o. .ss" On my asking" says Dr. Balfour, in a communication to the Witness what was the matter with him, he replied My brain is giving way. l can ,ot put two thoughts to- gcther to-day have had dreadful night of it. cannot face another such. was im- . prcSsrti with the idea that my museum was at- tackled by robbers, sand that had got up rut Oh my clothes, and gone out with load'd .pistol to shoot them. Immediately after that l became unconsc o,is How long that coz tinued c,nnot say but when aw:ke in the morning, was trembling all over, and quite confused in my brain. So thoroughly convinced was that must have Teen out through the night, that l examined my srou- scrs, to see if they were wet or covered wit:: mud, but could find none."
 Tie next day consultation was held be- tween Dr Baltour aud Professor Miller, tho result of which the latter thus communicates:
 We examined his chest, unl found that unusually well hut soon We discovered that It was head symptoms winch made him uneasy lie acknowledged having been night after night up till very late in the nsorniag, we,k,ng hard aud continuously ut his new book, wh.ct," !" with much satisfuctlon, he said, II have hnist- ed this day" He was sensible that his head had suffered in consequence, as evidenced ln two wuys--first, occasionally he felt as if very fine poinard had been, sud leuy through and through his brain. T,e pain was intense. and moalentarly followed by confusion ani ] ciddiness, and the sense of being very drunk, " unable to stand or walk He thought that pcriod of inconsistencies must have followed this-a kind of swoon, but he had never fallen Second, what annoyed him most, howeSe'' was a kind of nightmare, which for sem nights past had rendered sleep more miserable. It was no dream, he said he saw no distinct vision md could remember nothing of whai had passed, accurately. It was 0 sense Q vague and yet intense horror, wlth soh''o ;,, tha ni0Ht Win0. 0tiC