indications of water
in the chest; there was a constant shortness and difficulty of
breathing; the cough, till now rare, became more frequent and
troublesome; the contraction of the thoracic cavity rendered the
action of the heart more painful, to that beside an uniform stricture
across the breast, he sometimes described a dreadful sensation like
twisting of the organs in the thorax. He suspected the existence of
water there, and was inclined to consider it as his primary disease,
but was easily convinced of the contrary. At one time he had a
suspicion of a complaint of the heart, and, although he had never
heard of a disease of that organ, slightly intimated it to one of his
friends, and mentioned a sensation he had experienced in the chest,
which he compared to a fluid driven through an orifice too narrow for
it to pass freely. In this month, beside the dropsical affections and
increase of cough, he had occasional painful enlargements of the
liver, frequent starting up from sleep, a slight degree of dizziness,
a great disposition for reveries, and sometimes extraordinary
illusions, one of which was, that he was two individuals, each of whom
was dying of a different disease. This idea often occurred, and gave
him much uneasiness. He was also afflicted with long continued
frightful dreams, and sometimes a slight delirium.

After the use of much medicine, on the 6th of November, the effused
fluids began to be absorbed, and passed out through the urinary organs
with such rapidity, that on the 12th the dropsical enlargements had
nearly disappeared. The pulse was much reduced, in hardness and
frequency, by the medicine, and, as it fell, he became more easy. On
the 10th the state legislature convened, and the call of business
roused, like magic, the vigor of his mind; and the symptoms of his
disease almost disappeared. During this session he made little
complaint, dictated many important communications, and attended to all
the duties of his office, without neglecting the most minute. As soon
as the legislature adjourned, he declared, that his work was finished,
and that he had no desire to remain longer in this world. He entreated
that no farther means should be used to prolong his existence, and
immediately yielded himself to the grasp of disease, which appeared
waiting with impatience to inflict its agonies.

From this moment the distressing difficulty of breathing had very
slight remissions. The consequent disposition t