Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1874-05-30
STRANGE BUT TRUE.

Among the terrible phenomena connect
ed with the vice of intcmpcrance the one
most to be dreaded is that least spoken of by
temperance advocates; allude to the delu-
sion the unhappy victim of this vice is very
frequently under-that he is haunted by
phantom, whose mission it is to prevent his
return to the paths of Sobriety And this
omission on the part of the temperance
advocates is the more remarkable as the
delusion is very common among Eabitual
drunkards. In fnct there is scarcely ply
sician ola lunatic asylum in England who
has not had one or more cases Of the kind
under his notice.
This delu-ion has also Il feature of interest
about it distinct from its psychological phe-
nomena. 1t frequently So much resembles
the medieval tales Of individuals who had
sold themselves to the tiend, and afterwards
repenting of their bargain had endcavored
Intellectually to break it, that one is almost
tempted to believe that dipsomani,, imagined
by our forefatherS to be dcmoniaca posses
sion, was a very common mistake in the
middle ages.
Admitting this to be the case, it would be
singular study to trace out kow many
poor wrctches have suffered ut the stake for
imaginary crimes connected with sorccry,
which after all were merely the effects Of
habitual drunkenness bringing on this pecul-
lar phase of insanity.
The particular phenomenon | alude to as
common in the middle ages As well as in the
present day is that the victim Of drunkenness
imagines that a phantom appears to him
whenever he attempts to rccedc from his
bargain with the evil one, or, according to
our modern ideas. to return to the paths of
sobriety, and, pertinaciously following him,
drives the unhappy wretch to continue his
habit till it forces him into the grave So
close did the affinity between the medieval
tales and the present drunkards phantom
appear to me that determined to make n
collection of the latter cases in order at some
convenient season to bring them under the
notice of the public so as to add one more
effort, and perhaps as fruitless as the many
that have already been made, to stem the
increasing misery occasioned By the vice of
drunkenness. Circumstances, however, oc-
CURED which obliged me to delay the publ
cation of the whole collection One among
the number, which may be taken as sam
pie of the rest, now bring under the notice
of the reader
Some thirty years since there resided at
X-,a fourishing city in the north of
Italy, an English gentleman whom will
designate by the name Of Smith, admitting
that for obvious reasons it is an assumed one.
At the time of my making his acquaintance
he was between twenty-five and thirty years
of age, of middle height, and although not
decidedly handsome had very intelligent
cast of countenance. He was well educated,
had naturally courteous manners, and was
generous and charitable.
With all Smiths good qualities he had
one besetting fault, which went far to neu-
tralize his many virtues; or, to tell the strict
truth, he was a confirmed drunkard. He
had acquired the habit in England, and in
Italy, where he was under little suIjection
to his family, it increased in intensity.
One of the results of this failing was that
it shut him out from the better class of
Italian society. by whom intemperanee is
justly considered rs filthy and degrading
vice; while many of the worst portion of
the Italian young men in the city collected
round him. tempted by his great libcraity
and unbounded hospitality to ignore his
faults, or, rather, they encouraged him in
them, they profting to great extent by his
failing 1t is only justice to Smith, how
ever, to state that his senses were not entire
ly deadened to the degrading course of life
he was leading. Naturally gentlemanly and
high-spirited, he felt keenly the tacit refu-
sal of the better class Of Italians to associate
with him. So keenly. indeed, did he feel
this aversion that he made several attempts
to break himself of his habit, and at last so
far succeeded that he would frequently keep
sober for fortnight or three weeks together.