give vent to thoughts, that were awful and appalling to listen to.
It appeared to me that he regarded his present afflicted state as the
dreadful retribution of some real or imaginary crime; for, in addition
to the unceasing depression which seized him, his fears of death were
incessant, and great beyond measure* Sometimes, the thought that there
was no future state would shoot across his mind, and a species of
reckless gaiety would follow; but in a moment after, the strong and full
conviction of his self-deception would visit him--and then his agony was
frightful to witness. In the sad alternation of these states of hope and
fear, in which the former was, if possible, more affecting to witness,
weeks rolled on. One night when recovering from a nervous attack, which,
by its duration and severity seemed to threaten more fatally than usual,
he called me to him, and desired me to bring, from a concealed drawer in
his trunk, a small ebony box clasped with silver. I did so. He took it
with trembling hands, and placed it beside him on the pillow, while,
with a voice scarcely audible from agitation, he whispered:--

"Leave me, Carl--leave me to myself! There is in this box what may
meet no other eye than mine. And oh! would to Heaven that its bright
lightnings had struck and blighted me, rather than I should ever have
looked upon it."

The energy with which these words were spoken seemed to weary and
overcome him, and he was barely able to say:--

"Leave me now, my friend. But stay: ere you go, promise me--swear to me,
as you hope--ay, as you hope your death-bed may be not like mine--swear,
when all is at rest within this torn and afflicted heart, that you will,
with your own hands, place this box within my coffin,--swear to place
it there unopened: better far you had not enjoyed the blessed gift
of sight, than look upon what it contains. I grow weaker,--promise me
this."

"I do," I replied hurriedly. "I promise."

"Swear it," he said; while the large drops of sweat stood upon his brow,
and his bloodshot eyes glared upon me like a maniac.

"I swear," said I, anxious to relieve the terrific convulsion which his
eagerness brought on; "I swear." And as he lay back slowly upon the bed,
I left the room.

When again, after a considerable time, I entered the chamber, he had
turned his face towards the wall--his head buried between both his
hands; while sobs, which he appeared struggling to control, burst from
him at interva