The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1858-09-01

I i
was standing under the vine, swaying
and fro, with a long stick in his hant
l heard him say, Let me come in
[ bowed, and beckoned him to enter.-
He made no movement to do SO.
I thought it strange, but thinkir
that perhaps he knew 1 had compan
and that he was diffident, I opened ii
door, andinvited him to come in. 4
made no Feply. 1 repeated my invit
ton. Still no reply. 1 told him /
could come into my room, and see n,
body but myself. And even yet no r,
ply. l became annoyed and irritatec
There he was. moving backward an
forward with his stick, and not one wor
did he say. told my little son, VIII
had come to the door, that J. acte
| strangely. why father he replied
there is 40 one there I remem bere
then my adventure in the kitchen, an,
felt alarmed and uneasy; but determine,
to satisfy myself as to the reality of tn
thing, l walked rapidly towards m,
friend, with an exclamation of impatienc
at lis hesitation. He stood his groun,
until I had approached within about fiv,
feet of him, when he stepped behind th,
trellis work, up which he went immedi
ately, feet foremost, and disappeared
over my head.
My heart sank within me. The tun
real mockery' of these appearances fore
ed itself upon me overwhelmingly. Pale
alarmed, and trembling, I re-entered
the house. My wife was frightened,
but succeeded in concealing her fears
from me, and strove to reassure me-
My physician was consulted. He told
me that he had expected just this result,
for he had scarcely ever, witnessed such
state of nervous irritability and ex-
eitement as was manifested during my
illness, and especially while the febrile
symptoms were thoroughly developed
He prescribed remedies, consoled me in
the best of bis ability, and with all the
kindness of his generous nature, and left
me for the night. Oh, what nj ght was
thatl Its Infinite horrors are indescrib-
able, though every one of them all is in
delibly doguerreotyped upon my memo
ry. / will mention but few of the phe-
of that period of MY illness
70 mention all would Fill volume, too
plethor;c to tempt perusal on the part of
the most patient reader
Soon after my physician left, and
while ! was sitting in my chair in the
corner of the room, little colored boy
came directly through door, and, grim
ming at me familiarly, disappeared thro'
, pannel. Then swarm of beautiful
OF. cared English rabbits = creatures
hat | have admired-sprang across the
-oom. Some magnificent butterflies,
ylaring in hues of gold and emerald.
lew all about and one more beautiful
han the rest, lit upon my nose. Bats,
wis, aud birds of glorious plumage,
lew about the room in great profusiou
The floor became covered with familiar
md iuhuman creatures, of all shapes,
olors, and dimensions None were re.
,ulsive, none monstrous, but all were
emarkably active. They amazed me
erribly, for 1 knew they were unreal,
ven while l ma le constant efforts to
void them.
There occurred another queer change
this grand phantasaagoria.' Chanc.
ng looking towards d window, was
Jared 20 see a human face pressed
lose against each pane of glass in the
arge double sash. / recognized the
ountepance of but one of my visitors,
nd that was the barber before alluded
o. His soppery physiognony, fiat nose,
nd ghastly, meaningless, horrible grip,
arnished with teeth of spotless white
ess, formed the center. piece in the |
7ind W. He muttered necessarily, in a
uperDatural tone, words that | could |
OF hear clearly enough to understand. |
he moment l advanced near the win
ow, these specters disappeared. If 1
At close to the window, they did not re-
ppear. Retiring beyond a certain TO-
US, they all returned, and with COM
,endable alacrity. At first l could |
ispe' them all with wave of my hand,
ven at the farther side of the ROOM
'ut soon lost this power. This pecu-
ar phase continued ouly that evening, |
kept Oh the first afternoon and night |
hat passed in the asylum.
That evening, also, 1 was moved to |
ome solemn merriment by the appari-
ion of full score of persons whom l
ecog lied sitting in the branches of a
berry tree near one of the windows of
~ room, dressed in superior clothing.
hey all gazed intently at me, and, as I
at alone to a warm stove, I thought
hey were taking a most comfortlcss |
iring. S7-- - -
That night inaugurated the fnal and |
lore clearly defined phase of acsusl in
anity. i became unmanageable by or
mary means of persuasion or reasoning. |
ly room was filled with spectres and |
nimals, aud I was in constent conver
alton with the former, and fear of the
theirs. / got asleep and floated on the |
asst sea of phantasms, mockeries, and
TRANCE visions. Some day | may write
ut for this work history of that
trange and dreadful night. l remem-
er everything that saw and heard, or |
houghtI saw and heard. But there is
OF room within the space cf this paper |
o do so; and having now given the rea-
er an outline and idea of the character |
nd phenomena of my case, shall, in
racing it to its close, present its most
rominent and curious feature. ann
Under the direction of friends, inclu-
ing noble-hearted brother, a Journey
las planned, and l was to play the part
f pilot. To their great Satisfaction, l
fered to, accompany them to the asy-
um at Utica, introduce them. to the
upsrintendent, and partake of dinner
here. Of course they fell in readily
nth the plan, for, unknown to me, it
Exactly coincided with theirs.
Full of this idea, set out from home.
1t the railway station I met aud cou=
.~s..5l ~r;tL .o1-n. of zeal ond ,inraa1