The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-10-14

without my wifs's assistanOs-s4s y
wonderfully good at dsciphennc bad
writing-I managed to read the 4 glow
ing words:
II have long held . theory th5e any
disease, and even the effects Of p@sons.
could be produced in himself u any
strong-minded man fully acquainted
with the symptoms, and who chose to
bring to bear all the infuencfb OF .
powerful will. l resolved to try this
experiment. and I began over three
months ago to simulate the syhptoms
caused by morphia.
ITO make sure that my counterfeit
was good. determined to carryout the
deception SO as to Impress my friend
j. who had himself feigned insanity
so successfully as to deceive the med
ical officers and attendants in an in
sane asylum. This has been q most
onerous. and in fact hear,rending,
task; for l have been obliged. In order
to be consistent. TO assume all the false
hood. the fraud and the degradation
which morphia produces in its slaves.
But / have carried my experiment
beyond my power Of control, and to
such an extreme degree that am now
dying as though poisoned by morphia,
when have not used the drug In any
form. | have done this by the exercise
of my knowledge. imagination and will.
II feel that I cannot live, and write
this account to you who have studied
the mind and nervous system In their
normal and abnormal relations; feel
ing assured that, influential as you
know the principle of suggestion to be,
this will give you a new idea of its
awful and irresistible power. | have
acted a tremendous lie, and l am fifty
punished. There Is limit to the ef-
forts of those who would advance sci
ence, and that limit is truth.
"The daily record of my perceptions,
reasonings, emotions and volitional i'm
pulses, with their alterations, you will
find in a package which will reach you
by mail tomorrow. My last thoughts
on earth are devoted to the inquiry:
Which is the more to be deprecated:
the formation Of habit by iDdulging
in vicious appetite, or. by perverted
imagination and will, to create oil the
morbid phenomena Of that habit, and
finally to die from the condition thus in
| duced?
II pruy you to beg j to forgive
me for the distress my experiment has
caused him. He has been so forbear-
ing with me that I reproach myself
most grievously for the pain and dis
gust have made him suffer. have
endeavored to make some reparation
by giving him the whole Of my estate,
You will find the will in the package,
duly executed.
"When you read these lines I shall
have perished through misguided
i zeal, but with the full conviction that
wicked thoughts and impulses, II yield
ed to, may become an abiding principle
in ones mental organization. How
necessary. therefore, to keep the
thoughts pure and good. not only that
an evil nature may be avoided, but that
a noble one may be produced. Ell"
HE was insane!" exclaimed Mary,
wnen she h.i, with many expressions
Of astonishment and horror. finished
reading the paper. mo one but lu-
natic could have acted in this way.
Don't you think he was mad, Frank? ?''
II don't know" replied. perhaps
he was, and perhaps he tells half
truth. Suggestion is powerful factor
with all of us. ! can possibly form an
opinion when l have read his diary.
At present l am inclined to think that
he was victim to the use OF the drug.
and his story is pure falsehood, one of
the vagaries of diseased BRAIN
| Youths Comma niOn