The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-10-11
De auincey's Confessions. j.,

oNNJ
No picture of the pleasures or the pains o
opium-eating has ever been so wildly drawn n
that of De Quincy in his '. Confessions of nj
Opium Eater" His "reminiscences are rarely
f%elicitous in style-indeed, nothing which he ha.
written has so much OF his elegant inspiration
They miss no touch, stroke or shade of color
essential to a complete realization of the subject
But little of his exquisite description can be
given here. OF what we may call the moral
effect of opium, he says
Wine robs a man of his self possession opium
invigorates it. Wine u~nsettles and
clouds the judgment. Opium gives
simply a temper to the moral feeling, a vital
warmth. which Is approved by the judgment,
and which would probably always accompany a
bodily constitution of prImeyal or ante diluvisn
health.
Men shake hands, swear eternal friendship and
shed tears, no mortal knows why and the SEN
sual creature is clearly uppermost. But the ex-
pansion of the benigner feelings incident to opium
is no febrile access, but a healthy restoration to
that state which the mind would naturally re-
cover upon the removal of any deepseated irrita-
ton of pain that had disturbed and quarreled
with the impulses of a heart originally Just and
Proceeding a little further We take at random
a few passages which illustrate the increase aud
dimlnution OF the habit:
The late Duke of-used to say, Next Fri
day, by the blessing OF Heaven, l purpose to be
drunk - and in like manner l used 20 fix before
hand how often within a given time, and when, |
would commit a debauch of opium. This was
seldom more than once in three weeks, for at that
time | could not have ventured to call every day,
as l did afterward, for "a glass of laudanum
negus, warm and without sugar" No; as |
have said, [ seldom drank laudanum at that time
more than once in three weeks-this was usually
on a Tuesday or a Saturday night-my reason for
which was this In those days Grassini sang ct
the opera, and her voice was delightful to me
ho-an1 II kbof II bod auar haar1 o- -.
what may be the state of the opera house now,
having never been within its walls for seven or
eight years but at that time it was by much
the most pleasant place Of public resort in Lon
don for passing an evening. Five shillings
admitted one to the gallery. which was subject
to far less annoyance than the pit of the theaters.
The orchestra was distinguished by it's sweet and
grandeur from all English orchestras,
the composition of which, L confess, is not accep-
table to my ear, from the predominance of the
instruments and the absolute tyranny
of the violin. The choruses were divine to hear,
and when Grassini appeared in some interlude,
as she often did, and poured forth her passionate
soul as " A~ndromache, - at the tomb of Hector.
etc., l question whether any Turk, Of all that
ever entered the paradise of opium-eaters, can
have had half the pleasure L had. y
For it seemed to me as if when first l stood at
a distance and alooT from the uproar of life, as if
the tumult, the fever and the strife were suspen- (
led, a respite granted from the secret burdens of
the heart, a sabbath of repose, q resting from
human labors. /
Oh, just, subtle and mighty opium that to
the hearts of poor and rich alike, for the wounds
that will never heal, and for 81 the pangs that
.empt the spirit to rebel, - bringest an assuaglng
palm eloquent opium that with thy potent
stealest away the purposes of wrath,
md to the guilty man for one night givest back
he hopes of his youth and hands washed pure
blood, and to the proud man a brief obliv-
on for.
Wrongs undress'd and insults unavenged :"
That summonest to the chancery of dreams, for
he triumphs of suffering innocence. false wit
lesses, and confoundest perjury, and dost reverse
he sentences of unrighteous judges-thou build
st upon the bosom of darkness, out of the fam
astic imagery of the brain, cities and temples
'eyond the art of Phidias and Praxiteles-beyond
he splendor of Babylon and Hekatompylos, and
from the anarchy of dreaming sleep - eallest
nto sunny light the faces of long-buried beauties
nd the blessed household countenances cleansed
rom the IS dishonors of the grave" Thou only
west these gifts to man, and thou hast the keys
f Paradise. OH just subtle and mighty opium!
My studies have now been long interrupted. /
annot read to myself with any pleasure, hardly
18th a moments endurance.
For nearly two years l believe that l read no
but one, and | owe it to the author, in dis
barge OF a great debt of gratitude, to mention
hat that was. The sublimer and more passion
te poets [ still read, as | have said, by snatches
occasionally. = = =. y = Mathematics
II instance, intellectual philosophy, etc., were
Il become insupportable to me; L shrunk from
lem with a sense OF powerless and infantine
ebleness that gave me an anguish the greater
ON remembering the time when L grappled 4
it'll them to my own hourly delight.
Hitherto the human face had fixed often in nv
reams, but not despoticaliy nor with any special
over of tOrmenting. But now that which I
ave called the tyranny Of the human face began I
unfnld itself PerhanE some mart of INV Lon
IN life might be answerable for this. But that
it may, now It was that upon the rocking =
aters of the ocean the human face began to :
)pear the sea appeared paved with innumera-
e faces upturned to the h~eavens-faces inplor-
z, w~rathful, despairing, surged upward by
by myriads, by generations, by CEN \
ries my agitation was infinite, my mind tossed
I'd surged with the ocean.
l was stared at, hooted at, grinned at, chat Z
red at by monkeys, by parroquets, by cocka- I
os. l ran into pagodas, and was fixed for CEN
ries at the summit or In secret rooms | was
e idol, | was the priest, | was worshipped, | was 4
crifced. l fled from the wrath of Drama ID
rough all the forest OF Asia; Vishnu hated me;
laid wait for ne. | came suddenly upon
is and Osiris [ had done a deed, they said, \
the ibis and the crocodile trembled at. l
rs buried for a thousand years in stone collins,
It'll mummIes and spbinxes, in narrow chambers
the heart of eternal pyramids. l was kissed 4
tn cancerous kisses by crocodiles, and laid con- Il
lnded with all unutterable shiny things
longst reeds and Nilotic mud.
| protest that so awful was the transition from -
e damned crocodile and the other unutterable 4
'nsters and abortions of my dreams to the sight
innocent human natures and of infancy that,
the mighty and sudden revulsion of mind, |
'pt, and could not iorbear it, as l kissed their 4
,es. -
LONDON, September 26.-An Ali Kheyl correspon-
ut reports that General Baker has reconnoitered as