Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Remarkable Instances Of The Effect Of Fear.
him . He remained immoveable as a statue wherever he was plated , and was wholly passive with respect to all that was done to him or about him . During all the time that he was in custody , he neither ate , nor drank , nor slept , nor had any evacuation . Some ' of his com- , rades were sent to see him ; after that he was visited by some officers of his corps and by some priestsbut he still continued in the same
; state , without discovering the least signs of sensibility . Promises , intreaties , and threatenings , were equally ineffectual . The physicians who were consulted upon his case were of opinion , that he was in a state of hopeless idiocy . It was at first suspected that those ap- ' pearances were feigned ; but these suspicions necessarily gave way , when it Was known that he received no sustenance , and that the
involuntary functions of nature were in a great measure suspended . After some time they knocked off his fetters , and left him at liberty to go whither he would . He received his liberty with the same insensibility that he had shewed upon other occasions : he remained . fixed and immoveable ; his eyes turned wildly here and there without taking cognizance of any object , and the muscles of his face were fallen and
fixed like those of a dead body . Being left to himself , he passed ' twenty days in this condition , without eating , drinking , or any evacuation , and died on the twentieth day . He had been sometimes heard to fetch deep sighs ; and once he rushed with great violence on a soldier who bad a mug of liquor in his hand , forced the mug from him , drank the liquor with great eagerness , and let the mug drop - to the ground .
To turn from tha -serious to the ludicrous effects of fear , the following instance of the latter sort , quoted from a French author by Mr . Andrews in his volume of anecdotes , shews upon what sli ght occasions this passion may be sometimes excited in a very hi gh de-! gree , even in persons the most unlikely to entertain such a guest . 'Charles Gustavus ( the successor of Christiana of Sweden ) was besieging Praguewhen a boor of a most extraordinary visage desired
, admittance to his tent ; and , being allowed entrance , offered , byway of amusing the king , to devour a whole hog of one hundred weight in his presence . The old general Konigsmarc , who stood by the king ' s side , and who , soldier as he was , had not got rid of the prejudices of his . childhood , hinted to his royal master , that the peasant ought to be burnt as a sorcerer . 'Sir' said the fellowirritated at
, , the remark , 'if your majesty will but make that old gentleman take off his sword and his spurs , I will eat him immediately , before I begin the hog . ' General Konigsmarc ( who had , at the head of a body of Swedes , performed wonders against the Austrians , and who was looked upon as one of the bravest men of the age ) could not stand this proposal , especial !} ' as it was accompanied by a most hideous and
preternatural expansion of the frighful peasant ' s jaws . Without uttering a word , the veteran suddenly turned round , run out of the tent , and thought not himself safe till he had arrived at his quarters ; where he remained above twenty-four hours locked up securely , before he had . got rid of therpanic which had so severely affecte'd 'him , '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Remarkable Instances Of The Effect Of Fear.
him . He remained immoveable as a statue wherever he was plated , and was wholly passive with respect to all that was done to him or about him . During all the time that he was in custody , he neither ate , nor drank , nor slept , nor had any evacuation . Some ' of his com- , rades were sent to see him ; after that he was visited by some officers of his corps and by some priestsbut he still continued in the same
; state , without discovering the least signs of sensibility . Promises , intreaties , and threatenings , were equally ineffectual . The physicians who were consulted upon his case were of opinion , that he was in a state of hopeless idiocy . It was at first suspected that those ap- ' pearances were feigned ; but these suspicions necessarily gave way , when it Was known that he received no sustenance , and that the
involuntary functions of nature were in a great measure suspended . After some time they knocked off his fetters , and left him at liberty to go whither he would . He received his liberty with the same insensibility that he had shewed upon other occasions : he remained . fixed and immoveable ; his eyes turned wildly here and there without taking cognizance of any object , and the muscles of his face were fallen and
fixed like those of a dead body . Being left to himself , he passed ' twenty days in this condition , without eating , drinking , or any evacuation , and died on the twentieth day . He had been sometimes heard to fetch deep sighs ; and once he rushed with great violence on a soldier who bad a mug of liquor in his hand , forced the mug from him , drank the liquor with great eagerness , and let the mug drop - to the ground .
To turn from tha -serious to the ludicrous effects of fear , the following instance of the latter sort , quoted from a French author by Mr . Andrews in his volume of anecdotes , shews upon what sli ght occasions this passion may be sometimes excited in a very hi gh de-! gree , even in persons the most unlikely to entertain such a guest . 'Charles Gustavus ( the successor of Christiana of Sweden ) was besieging Praguewhen a boor of a most extraordinary visage desired
, admittance to his tent ; and , being allowed entrance , offered , byway of amusing the king , to devour a whole hog of one hundred weight in his presence . The old general Konigsmarc , who stood by the king ' s side , and who , soldier as he was , had not got rid of the prejudices of his . childhood , hinted to his royal master , that the peasant ought to be burnt as a sorcerer . 'Sir' said the fellowirritated at
, , the remark , 'if your majesty will but make that old gentleman take off his sword and his spurs , I will eat him immediately , before I begin the hog . ' General Konigsmarc ( who had , at the head of a body of Swedes , performed wonders against the Austrians , and who was looked upon as one of the bravest men of the age ) could not stand this proposal , especial !} ' as it was accompanied by a most hideous and
preternatural expansion of the frighful peasant ' s jaws . Without uttering a word , the veteran suddenly turned round , run out of the tent , and thought not himself safe till he had arrived at his quarters ; where he remained above twenty-four hours locked up securely , before he had . got rid of therpanic which had so severely affecte'd 'him , '