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oy 0 0 BY GOUED 8 ELWELL,
s'ols Office 80 middle, near Corner of Breage Sty
( vewel a * One
TERMS: $150 PERYEAR
Dollar for Eight Months, in advance
TWO! SONNETS.
F ntarkosra BROWSING, ~
TO MY, 17 HUSBAX
I never gave a lock of hair away
Toa man, dearest, except this to thee, ’
“Take it’? My day of youth went yesterday ;
My hair no longer bounds to my foots’s glee,
Nor plant I it from rose or myrtle tree,
As girls do, any more. It only may
Now shade on two pale cheeka, the mark oftears,
Taught drooping from the head that han, :
Through sorrow’s trick..; I thought me “anera shears
‘Would take this first ; but Love is justi hy
‘Take it thou,—finding pure from all those yea ae
The Ades my? mother lett here when she died. °
a Se Mop
Each creature holds an insular point in space
Yet what man stirs a finger, breathes a soun
But all the multitudinons beings round
In all the countless worlds, with time and place, \.,
For their condition, down to the central base lel
Thrill, haply in vibration ‘and rebound,
Life answering life across the vast profound, |
In full antiphony, by a common grace!!! 8/2 i
I think, this sudden joyaunce which flames weet
‘A child's mouth sleeping, unawares may run,
From some soul newly loosened from, earth's s tombe,
I think, ‘this passfonate sigh, which, half begun,
I stifle back, may reach and stir the’ plumes oO
Of God's calm angel standing in the sun.)
THRILLING NARRATIVE,
vv, BURIED ALIVE,
FROM TUE DIARY_OF, C; HODGSON, ESQ. DE-
CEASED, FORMERLY OF BRISTOL, ENG.
The following. story, from, 2 Enropean, magazine,
will be the ‘more interesting to. our readers, as it is
said to be a trae account, and unadulterated with a
particle of fiction. It, should serve as a fearful
warning io those who hasten to “bury ‘their dead
out of theie sight”,
Thad been subject to ‘epileptic f fits from my yéuth
upward, which, thoagh they did not deprive me of
imation in the ‘sight o of those about me, complete-
ly annihilated my own! consciousness. I used to
be attacked tall times and s seasons, but most com-
monty about thé fall of the moon. I generally had
yarni eculiar hature when these attacks
were ‘coming on, that it would be difficult to de-
scribe, It was a sensation that,to be known must be
Pi ced.” My excellent wife Martha, (I mean
my first wife, who has becn'dead ‘now, for the best
part of forty’ years,) uséd to say that she always ob
served an ‘unusual paleness over my ‘complexion,
Ls
m
be one moment out of her sight, from the instant
she had a suspicion of my approaching malady.
This benevolent caution‘on her part, was a great
means of enabling” hér to! subdue “the’ tidlence bf
the fit. when, it chme, for which purpose her experi-
ence had pointed ont to her’several useful applica+
tions... I married, agai after her decease, because I
was oppressed beyond bearing my loneliness, which
none, but, persons, in.such. a situation—I mean &
widower’ 's—can tell, My second wife, whom I have
also, buried, ;was not so, penetrating in the faculty
, She..was a woman of an admira-
ble thrift, .and ta her ‘economy it was, that, under
God, I owe my; preservation in the terrible event I
am about to detail... Had I. been buried in Iead, it
would have been all over with me., »«
Onur family burying place in ' Bristol is in ——
Church, where there is a general vault, in which all
Persons who can fee the officials high enough may
be placed until their friends forget. them—which,
for that matter, ja trading towns, is not a very long
time ; but this is only granted provided they are
buried, in lead. I. suppose they aro turned out of
their metal coffins ‘in the end, as they are in Lon-
don and other places, that the old lead may bay a
carousal for the, charch wardens and sexton, and
make room for hew tenants to’ be served in the
Same manner. :Bat to my story—-to my excellent
wife I owe my preservation. { besta ems ion
Willing to save as intich: money as_ possible at
my faneral,, she had my body, with all the usual
and préper grief httendant on the ‘ceremony, put
into a stout fir coffin, the weight of which was in-
\,,| departed wife’s regard for me.
creased by a a couple of old hundred weights, placed
one at my hend, | ‘the other at my, feet. | », Thus the
thing passed off well, and money ‘was saved to my
heirs." "I hereby cast no reflections ypon my dear
T'was convinced, as
L told her, that her motive was good; and well did
it turn out for me that she was so thrifty and_con-
siderate. She was a trae Bristol woman, and, as
the good citizens there are, pretty keen and close:
fingered ; but it is error on the right side.
She was
called Susannah, the daughter of an opulent and
ancient councilman, and I got my freedom of the
city by marrying her. ' She was plain in her person,
;, {as all Bristol women formerly were—but I wander
again from my st ory.
| had made a most ‘excellent ‘dinner—of this I
have a perfect: recollection. « Of more than this I
¢an recollect, nothing until coming out of my fit,
as I suppose—for I quickly. imagined, feeling the
usual sensations, that I was recovering from one of,
them, , I say that on coming to myself I was. sur-
prised to feel; pinioned ‘and in. utter darkness. ‘I
had no space to stir if I would, ias I soon. found,
while struggling to loose a sheet or some such thing
in which I was scantily enveloped. My hand would
not reach my head ‘when I attempted to do so,' by
,| reason of my elbow. touching the bottom, and my
hand the top ‘of the; enclosure round me.) It was
the,attempting to do this, and finding myself nak-
ed, except with the aforesaid ‘covering, that struck
me I had been entombed alive. , The thought rush- |‘
ed suddenly upon ime.°. My: first’ sensations were
those of simple surprise. I was like a child arons:
ed out of a deep sleep, and not ‘snfficlenly, awake
:, | to. recognize its attendants,
‘When. the truth flashed upon me in allits fearful
energy, I never can. forget the thrill of horror that
struck through me. | It,was as if a bullet had pene
trated my heart and all the blood in my body had
gushed through the wound...’ Never, never can hell
be more. terrible than the “sensations of that mo-
ment. «I lay: motionless for a time, petrified with
terror.,; Then a clammy dampness burst forth from
every part of my body, .My doom seemed inevita-
ble; and so strong ‘at length, became this, impress-
ion, so bereft of hope appeared my situation, that I
ultimately recovered from it only to plunge in the
depth of a calm, resolute despair.: As not the faint-
est ray of hope could penetrate the darkness around
mf soul, resignation to my fate followed.) |.
5 began to think of death coolly, and to caleulate
how, long I might survive before famine closed the
hour of my ixistence. ; I prayed that I might have
fortitude to die without repining.” Calmly as I then
felt, I tried to remember how long man could exist
without food. ;, Thus the tranquility of, my despair |’
made me comparatively easy, if contrasted with the
situation, in which \I felt myself afterward, when
hope began to glimmer upon me.,, My days must
in the end be numbered—I must die at last—I-was
only. perishing a, little sooner than I otherwise
must have done,; Even from this thought I derived
consolation ; and I now think life might have clos-
ed: calmly .apon: me, if the pangs. of hunger had
been atall bearable; and I have been told they are
much more s0 than is commonly believed.
my memory, serves, me correctly, this “calm
state of mind did not, last long. Reason soon be-
gan to whisper to me that if I had, been buried, and
the earth closed. around my coffin, I should not be
able to respire, which I could now do with ease. , I
did not, of course, dream of the vault in which I
was placed, but, considered at first Thad been bu-
ried in earth. The freedom of respiration gave
me the idea. that after all I was not carried forth
for interment, but that I was about to be borne to
the grave, and that there I should be suffocated in-
evitably. Such is the inconsistency of the human
mind, that I, who had just now resigned myself to
die by famine, , imagined this momentary mode of
death a hundred times more formidable. . The idea
that I was not yet buried increased my anxiety to
be heard from without, , I called aloud and struck
the sides and lid of the coffin ta no purpose, till I
was hoarse and fatigued, but all in vain.» A stilly
silence reigned around me amid the unbroken dark-
oss. <I.was now. steeped in fearful. agony... I
shricked with horror, and plonged my nails into my
sides and ..wounded them..; The coftin was soaked
in my blood; and by; tearing the wooden sides of
my prison with the same manaical feeling, I lacer-
a“ PORTLAND, SATURDAY, AUGUST 30,1851
"deed my fingers and wore the pails to the quick, and
soon became motionless from exhaustion, When,
I was myself once more, I called aloud my wife's
name,. I. prayed, and, I fear I blasphemed, for T
knew not what :I said; and I thus continued until
my strength left me, and nature once more sought
replenishment in temporary insensibility., .) ,..)
At, this time I had a vision of a most smdefina-
ble character, if it was one, and not a glance, as I
am induced to think it was. between the portals of
death into the world of spirits, , It was all shape,
less and formless. Images; of men and, women,
often® numberless, in a sort, of shadowy outline;
came before and around me.,;.They seemed as-if,
limbless from decay, ‘Their feature-less heads moy-
ed upon trunks hideously yital,in figure like bodies
that I have seen drawn forth from.barning dwell-;
ings, each being rather a hideous misshapen mass,
than human resemblance.; Thick darkness and si-
lence succeeded, the darkness and silence of a too
‘horrible reality, | If, as, I suspected, 'I slept about
this time from weakness, it was but to awaken
‘Again to a more fearful Consciousness of my dread
ful situation. ‘
| Fresh but ‘vain efforts to make anyon boned were.
‘how reiterated as far as my strength would allow.
I found with | great difficulty: I could turn on my!
side, and then over on my belly. I tried by lifting:
my’ back and by a violent strain, to burst ‘open the’
coffin lid,but the screws resisted my titmost strength.’
‘Lcould not, beside, draw up my. knees ‘sufficiently
high to afford a tenth part of the purchase I should
otherwise have made to bear upon it.» 'I had no
help but to turn again to the position of the dead;
and reluctantly gain a little: agonizing repose from
my exertions. I was conscious how weak my ef-
forts had made me, yet I resolved to repeat them.
While thus at rest,—if inactive torture could be de-
nominated rest—I wept like a child when Ithought
of the sunshine and blue skies and fresh air which
[should never more enjoy,—how living” beings,
thronged the streets,’and thousands round. me were
‘Joyous or busy, while I was doomed to “perish in,
tortures. Why was my fate differently marked out
to that of others 7, Thad no monstrous ‘crimes to,
repent of." “Tundteds of criminal men were in the
full revelry of life.” I fancied I heard ‘the toll of a
bell. Breathless I listened. ‘It was ‘a clock strik-
ing the hour. "Phe: sound was’ new life to me. : I!
am not inhumed at least, but perhaps am unwatch-
ed. Such were my thoughts. Interment “will take
place. My coffin will be moved.’ I shall easily!
nake myself heard then. This was balm to me.’ I
shouted anew, struck my prison boards with all the’
power left me, and ceased only: when exertiot was”
‘no longer possible. t ~
+ Men may fancy iow they would find themselves
| under similar circumstances, and on the like trying’
occasions, but it is seldom a correct judgment ean
be previously formed on such matters. It was only
at intervals that.I was so fearfully maddened by
my dreadful situation, -as to lose the power of ra-
tional reflection, or 80. overcome as to be debarred.
the faculty of memory. : aa
Stretched iu a position where my changes e con-
sisted only of a turn on my side upon hard boards
‘the soreness of my limbs was excruciatingly pains
ful, When I drew my feet up’ a few inches, my
knees pressed the cover, so that the slight shift of
position brought no relicf. », My impatience of the
restraint in which I was kept, began at length to
drive me well nigh into ‘madness... I was fevered.
My temples burned and throbbed, my tongue be-’
eame dry, light flashed across my: eyes,” and my
brain whirled round... Iam suré that my existence
‘was preserved solely by the diminished strength
and subsequent feebleness which I experienced,and
which; from its rendering me insénsible to the' in+
creasmg exacerbation of my brain’s heat, allowed
nature to resume her wonted temperature. “But.
‘alas! this was only that I might revive to encoun-
ter, once more irremidable horror: Who could
depict the frenzy, the unspeakable “angaish of my
sityaticn? I thought my eyes would start from my
head.. Burning tears flowed from my cheeks.:! My’
heart was swollen almost to ‘bursting, I became
restldss in feeling, without finding’ space for‘ al fan.
eied relief in a ‘new ‘change: of position.” In my
‘mental anguish, at times however, I forgot my mo-
tionless bodily suffering, my’ rack of immovable
agony.
Topp te
» NUMBER. 20.0 «
How many hours I lay in this state of active and’!
passive torture, I cannot tell. My thirst, however
soon became intolerable.’ My mouth: seemed full y
of hot ashes. I heard again the hollow sound of a!)
clock bell, of no small magnitude judging from, its
deep intonation.;. No cranny which, I had hitherto
observed in my prison let in light—though : I well [
knew there must be some fissure for fresh ainfor the
continuance of life se far: Tow else had I existed?
Tt was night, perhaps, when I first came: to myself),
in my prison of |six! dark boards.”. "I groped in st
vain over every part of their wooden surface which
I could reach, I could find no chink, could see no. 1
ray. Again I heard the hollow knell, which tended |i
to inerease my} fearful agony... O, whet were my
feelings 1) 0") 1 ’
For a long time after this, “Lay steeped: in ny. t
sufferings—or at least, for a long time,gs. it secmed
tome. My head. was bruised all, over—my limbs: ,
were excessively sore—the skin rubbed off in many
places with my straggling—my eyes. ; aching with ,;
pain. J songht relief by turning on my right side—
Thad never before turned but on my Jeft—when 1)
felt’ under me a hard substance which I had not.”
ol eeates before.” T grasped it with some difficulty,
and soon found it was a knot from the coffin plank
wie had been forced inwards in all probability af
x Iwas placed there. I saw also a dim light thro,”
a a hole, about as large as half ‘crown piece, , just bet
low where miy ‘chin came. 'T put my hand to it and
found it covered with cloth, which LT easily imagined ©
was the lining of my coffin. I soon contrived to force
my finger through’ this cloth, though not. without a
considerable difficulty, Faint enough was the light
it revealed, but it wasa noonday, sun of } joy to me_ :
By an uneasy strain of my neck I could see oblique- |
ly through the opening, but everything was, con;
fused in my brain.’ My sight, was dlondy, heavy
and thick,’ ‘I at first could only perceive there was *
‘ight bat could distinguish no object." My senses
however, seemed to sharpen as new hopes arose.’ I!
closed my eyes for a minate together, ‘and then op- ||
ened them to restore their almost worn out | power 7"
of vi Atlength Tconld distinguish that im-'*
mediately opposite to me there was a small window
crossed by massive “iron bars,-throngh which thé -
light I saw streamed in upon me like joy in the soul °!
of misery. I now cried with delight. I thought Iwas
among men again, for the’ ‘ pitchy darkness around:
at
ot
‘Even the fearful question. how I should
get free from my durance before famine destroyed ”
me, was a long time absent trom my mind, and did*
nat recur until I could look'through the! “fissure no"
longer, from the giddiness cansed t by a t00, earnest
a
?
ob
fixedness of gaze.
Lsoon ¢oncluded, from the massy stones on vcacht
side of the opening, and the strength of the bars,that'>
Iwas ina ‘church vault; and this was 'confirmed:
when I came to distinguish the ends of two or three’)
coffins which partly interposed between me and the “!
light, I watched the window until the light began:
grow dim,with feelings no language can Aceeribe!
and no tongue.ca ca 1
gloom of bight’ ‘approached, my hart
n to beat fainter, aud my former agonies returned
with ten-fold weight, notwithstanding which, «I im-;
agined I mast have slept some. ) Iwas “sensible oft
a noise like the grating of a heavy, door upon, its “4
hinges when, I, revived , or. awoke—I cannot, say,.
which; and I) saw ‘the light of a, candle, stream...
across the fissure i in my coffin, I cried out, SFor, .;
thé love of your soul, release mel, Tam sbarled :
alive !”
The light vanished ina inoment. “Fear seemed”
to have palsicd the hand that’ held it, for I’ heard a
rough voice desiring the holder of it to return.
“If there be any one here he is soldered up. Tom,»
hand me the light. ‘The dead never speak. Jim,.,””
the snatcher, is not to be scared by rotten flesh.”
Again I ‘called as lond a as I could—MI am buried!
alive! Save’ me 11) 08
Ren the axe,” cried themndaused hody-sniteh-
“The ¥oice comes from this box." The under. f
takers made too great haste I [ suppose.” oes
In a few minutes was sittin, ig upright in my eoftin. .”
“flere, after detailing his reception at home, and ”
the surprise of his friends, Mr. Hodgson says, he
had public thanks for his deliverance returned in’!
his parish church, and that ever afterwards he cher-
»
a
ished a strong regard fot resurrection men, whos >t
never asked a guinea of him in vain.]
|
i
