two walls, so close that he could not heave an arm; sometimes on a burial-ground; sometimes on the court before the hospital he attended. All the arguments of his friends availed nothing to prove to him that he was really in his own room. When they pointed out to him his own books, close beside which he lay, or the prints that hung opposite, he took it for a trick. Sometimes he did not recognise them for his own; and sometimes he conceived they had been removed to his present place of abode.

It was observed that the sound of a horn transported him in imagination to a public place for music and dancing; the neighing of a horse in the street, to a stable; the bad odour of his own exhalations, to a burying-ground.

He was under a delusion that he was hated and deserted by the whole world, that all his friends had forsaken, and his patients renounced him. The foundation of fact on which this superstructure of despondency was raised, arose from his missing three of his most intimate friends, who were absent or incapable of attending upon him. With this must be considered a natural mistrust he entertained towards mankind, which his friends told him they had observed when he was in health. The number of unpleasant things he experienced from those about him, such as their refusal to let him quit his bed, forcing him to take medicines, applying blisters, must have added force to his morbid impressions.

"My other fancies were," he observes, 'probably those most common in every form of delirium. The flowers on my curtains and tester, I took for men in continual movement. They all went towards the wall; and as there were none but my acquaintance, I often joined them. We found ourselves in large illuminated subterraneous chambers, where I learned such family secrets,

as every man in the world above keeps close locked up in the recesses of his bosom. Once, I really called my wife to my bedside, and told her a shocking transaction, involving two of our friends, which I had learned in these subterraneous assemblies. I related the story with so much consistency, and gave it such an air of probability, as to make her take it for a real fact, which I must have known before my illness."

A patient, who had passed through a painful attack of insanity, was requested by the medical gentleman who had charge of the case, to put in writing an account of the sensations he experienced at the commencement of his illness. I should premise, that the patient imagined that among his friends and relations there existed a grand conspiracy against his life. He was also under the delusion, that poison had been administered to him in his tea, and that he had escaped death only by drinking a small portion of the liquid. He thus describes the fancies he entertained in reference to a person under whose supervision he was temporarily placed. He says, the attendant sometimes affected to smile at me with pity for my unhappy state of mind. Then he would lean back on the couch, close his eyes; open them a little, so that the eye could barely be seen through the lashes, and so as to prevent his being observed, as he thought. At those times, he would cast the most infernal looks at me, and afterwards round the room, for some weapon or other to finish what he had begun: the latter I could see not only from his looks, and the hardness his muscles used to assume, but also from the posture he would put himself into, ready to jump, if he discovered what would answer his purpose."

"From July, 1847, to November of the same year," says the Rev. Mr. Walford, when describing his attack of insanity, "I was highly nervous, and experienced a

considerable loss of strength and flesh. I spoke sometimes so sharply to those around me, as to startle them, and make them fear me. About this time (the beginning of the attack), I felt great anxiety for the eternal salvation of my employer. His brother was lying ill, and I begged that I might visit him, but my offer was refused. I therefore prayed earnestly for his recovery, and had the satisfaction of hearing next day that he was better. Strong hope, mingled with fear, now took possession of me. When at prayer, something would pull at my back, blow in my face, as if in derision, and, hovering round my mouth, try to snatch the words from my lips. At night, when in bed, I felt something press upon my chest, and awoke in great trepidation in the middle of the night, when I sometimes heard music at a distance. These impressions terrified me so much, that I dreaded to lie down. Then again, I was afraid of forfeiting God's confidence by committing some undefined sin that I could not resist. Therefore, I felt a strong inclination to leave the house of my benefactor, which desire was increased by my imagining that the persons in it would fall into apostasy. Hence I had recourse to prayer with all my heart, and all my power; and while praying, I nearly fainted. It next occurred to me, that my employer had become rich by unjust gains, and that he and his wife would be trodden down in the streets, and trampled to death. One evening, while at prayer, I saw a circle descend slowly on my head, and afterwards told my wife that I was the anointed of the Lord, but she did not appear to understand my meaning. Felt that I was very ignorant of the Scriptures, but expected every day that the power of God would instruct me, and that I should be commanded to leave the house on a sudden: so I put all things in order for my departure. On the 9th of March I left; but I was greatly agitated, and wept fre

quently, being unable to restrain my feelings. About tilla period, I began to we dijete, like gnats, foating before my eyes, and thought they were wicked spirits watching me, however, I felt satisfied that I was anointed in a very high degree, and that my mission from the Holy Spirit was to walk incessantly about, and convert the people I met with. As I passed near to them, I believed the Holy Spirit transferred itself from me to them; so I selected the most crowded thoroughfares in the metropolis for the work of conversion, and extended my walks daily, sometimes even into the adjoining counties; and I thought the people often turned round, and looked at me as I passed, with great satisfaction, as if conscious of the blessing I had conferred on them. To see the crowds I had converted, greatly encouraged me in my labours; and now, delighted with my office, I had special revelations. One night, while in bed, I saw the glory of the moon. It was like a horizontal pillar across the moon, which increased in size and radiance as it approached my bedroom window. I now believed that I was to be a prince, and the high-prince, of our Saviour. Upon the approach of the morning, I felt a burning flame around me, and conceived that it was the glory of God sanctifying me for the work I had to perform. My sensations frequently alarmed me. More than once I was afraid I should go mad, and then I alternately laughed and wept. One day I heard my feet speaking to me, telling me that I should be a king, and reign at Jerusalem; and I also heard other voices, telling me that I was Dan, the son of Jacob, and should have large possessions at Jerusalem. Thus, having left my home, I wandered over miles of ground, imagining that I was forbidden to sit down or stand still; and, after having walked the whole night, one morning I arrived in SionJane, and was, by one of the cottagers, conducted to the

house, where I expected to find food and rest. The proprietor, I supposed, was a high churchman; and I expected all the inhabitants would come while I was asleep, and look at me, in order that they might be converted. During the first few weeks of my residence there, many strange fancies came across my brain; with my new companions, and the medical gentlemen, I conversed freely, and gradually became quite conscious that I had been under delusions, which have happily passed away, and my mental health is now, I am grateful to believe, quite restored."