Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-09-02
HANGING.
How IL Feels TO be HaDged-Experi-
eHce Of Man who was Executed and
ResuseItated by Electricity.

have undergone the extreme penal
ty of the law, but to have been re-
suscitated by electricity. He thus
relates his feelings on the interest
ing occasion of his execution:
"The final prayer was said, the
usual thanks rendered and greetings
given; the cord was adjusted on my
neck, 1 was placed on the trap,
looked for the last time upon fa~
miliar objects, the cap was adjusted
over my face, l felt an increased
heat around my heart, a fullness of
the throat, a slight weakness of the
muscles of my limbs, then an ins
voluntary shrinking of the nerves
and catching Of the breath as /
felt myself falling, then a fierce
fiery pain shot through my whole
frame, my head seemed burstin g,
and my consciousness was gone.
How long l remained unconscious
l do not know, but when sensibility
returned it was entirely mental.
The shock of my fall had evidently
paralyzed the nervous sensibiIities
and destroyed the physical capaci-
ty of sense, but my mental powers
were soon resumed in a wonderful
manner, for my earliest remem-
brance of anything was the combi-
nation of all the colors of the prism
glowing radiantly before my eyes.
Of course l did not see them with
my eyes, but l seemed to see them
thus, as if they glowed, and waved,
and blended in new combinations,
and danced and laughed with
brilliancy far exceeding the rains
bows painting or the prism's pow
er.
This gorgeous scene began to
fade away, and my next transition
was into sea of light; not the light
of the sun, orsuch a light as is made
by any chemical combination, but
light of dazzling, glowing, glorious
whiteness and purity, of which my
own mind seemed to be a part. |
now began to observe my own con-
dition; 1 knew that my body was
grown cold and rigid, the only per-
ceptible warmth beng in my heart,
and wondered how long it would
be before that too would become
cold like the balance, and l should
certainly die. l even specuIated
upon the severity of the pain |
should have to endure when that
spot did grow cold-but l never
knew. While 1 thus took note of
the physical condition, my mind
with grandly increased power was
fully occupied. Before me, in review,
and then gathered around me, we've
all the transactions-of good or
evil-of life; there was nothing for
gotten-nothing absent, | saw them
all, knew and recognized them all;
even minute and insignificant cir
cumstances, which at the time had
made no impression on me, we're
row there, and l became fully aware
of the fact that this sentient
being which had animated my body,
would not die, but would live on
and On eternally, and eternally sur
rounded by, and in companionship,
with all the transactions of physi-
cal life. Everlasting life was as
conclusively shown to me as if the
spirit of Him who had been dead a
thousand years had spoken to the
fact. But how was [ to exist
Where should 1 exist? 1 knew /
was not part of my body; in fact
l desired to entirely sever the con-
nection with it, and impatiently
waited until the warm spot of my
heart should grow cold. Had l
been at liberty 20 accept or reject
an offer to return to vitality, l
should have rejected it. In vain l
scanned the light around me for
revelation of my future condition.
In vain l applied all the brilliant
powers ofmy purified mind to pierce
the future, even to comprehend the |
present. l recalled my early in
structions, and sought for yawning
gulf and crystal gates; but on the
one hand [ found no devouring
fiends, and on the other 1 saw no |
cleaning chariots; 1 hear neither
songs Of joy nor wailings of woe,
nor found no other being than my |
own. L existed in my own former
life, and, so far as l could discover,
would continue to exist there for-
ever. This was not desirable, but
from it l saw no way TO escape.
l have no idea of the time passed
in this condition, but it must have
been all the time required by medi-
cal judgment to deprive me of life,
for in the midst of my speculations
l became aware of the removal and
handling of my body. l remember
l thought they were about to bury
me, and as l was not dead l wished
to protest against it. l loathed the
idea of being incarcerated in the
grave with my body, or having any
further companionship with it. 1
did not know what was to be done,
but 1 felt myself in motion for a
time, then the motion ceased; then
there was quick, sharp, rending
pain, fearful struggle ofmy whole
physical powers, a writhing, an
anguish far worse than the anguish
of death, and sense slowly returned
to me; once more my heart, which
had never grown cold, throbbed, my
vital functions were partially re-es-
tablished, and again 1 became bur
dened with the cares, anxieties and
SORROWS of life. To me it has been
oDe long sorrow; and, without joy
or hope, l await the time when /
shall once more gather around me
the radiance of life everlasting.
My resuscitation was the result
of an application of electricity and
the skill Of surgeon. For a few
days, until l had partially recovered
my strength, l was concealed, and
then fed the country"
TRICHINE sPIRALIs.
Some of the journals are disturbed at
the declaration of Professor Agassiz, at
the recent meeting of the American Ass
ISOLATION for the Advancement of
Science, at Salem, that he chopped the
appetite of the community would not be
disturbed by scientific discussinn az