Case CLXXVIII

"The quartermaster to a regiment of African chasseurs stopped at an inn where the walls of the eating-room were decorated with hangings representing the most glorious feats of arms accomplished by our young army on the African territory. The officer gazed admiringly on the representation of battles in which he had fought; and from the flashing of his eye, his haughty bearing, and general agitation, it was easy to perceive how powerfully old recollections were revived; and he left the apartment, casting furious glances on the soldiers of the modern Jugurtha.

"In the middle of the night, the innkeeper hears a dreadful uproar in the eating-room. He hastens down - to see what? the quartermaster, in the costume of the hero of La Mancha - that is to say, in his shirt - who, under an attack of hallucination, had arisen from his bed, and, with a billet of wood in his hand, was striking right and left at the Arabs on the hangings. He cleaves, crushes, and mutilates a great number of Bedouins, of both sexes. In his rage for extermination, he spares neither tables, chairs, nor mirrors. There is no saying how far this horrible carnage would have proceeded, had not an agent of the police arrived, who explained to the soldier that the real Arabs were in Africa, while these were in France, and - on paper; and that it was unnecessary to carry his enthusiasm so far as to fight them in effigy.

"The quartermaster returned to bed, cursing the copper-colored deceivers, and, conqueror as he was, had nevertheless to defray the expenses of the war."*

Hallucinations and illusions are one of the most characteristic symptoms of the action of intoxicating drinks; and whenever this is the case, and they become the motives of an action accomplished during drunkenness, they should be taken into consideration as an excuse or extenuation. These sensuous errors at times occasion deplorable catastrophes. If the observation of Freidreich be true,† drunken hallucinations are chiefly noticed in weak subjects, of an irritable and atrabilious temperament, and would be less common in the robust; but they would gradually increase with all drunkards.

* Univers et Union Catholique, 1st November, 1843. † Freidreich, Gericht. Psychologic, p. 790.

Case CLXXIX

The individual whose case we now state, was very gentle in disposition, and an excellent workman when he had not been drinking; when sober, his energy in labor paid off the debts he had contracted during his drunken fits; but when the fit was on him, he remained sometimes for fifteen days or three weeks in a state of stupefaction and prostration.

"On the night of my crime," said he, "I felt so great anguish that I trembled from head to foot. It seemed to me as if a voice within me said: ' You must now beat your child to death.' As so atrocious an idea had never entered my mind, I sprang out of bed, raised my clasped hands to heaven, and said to myself, as I walked up and down the room: ' Great God! Lord Jesus! I must kill my child!' No voice either within or without replied, and I returned to bed. I then caressed the sleeping child, and said, in a low tone: 'Sleep, my beloved child, sleep!' I had scarcely lain three or four minutes, when the anguish and trembling returned, and something unknown repeated, but more imperatively than before: 'Knock your child on the head instantly !' I felt resistance to be impossible. I rose in my shirt, and sought for a hatchet under the bed where my two little girls slept. Having found it, and grasped the handle, I returned to the bed where my son slept. It was five in the morning, and broad daylight, and I melted into tears at the sight of my beloved son, whom an authoritative voice commanded me to kill. I could not recall my senses. I raised the hatchet, and with the thick end struck him three or four blows on the head. I do not know on what part, for my senses were gone. I only know that the blows followed in quick succession, that he struggled, did not speak, but groaned heavily, probably because the first blow had mortally wounded him.

"The sight of his blood brought me somewhat to myself; I took the hatchet back to its place, and woke my eldest daughter, saying: 'Charlotte, get up; call your mother; I have killed my Charles with the hatchet.' She replied: 'What do you say, my father? 'Yes, yes, call your mother; I have indeed killed my little Charles with the hatchet.' My daughter began to lament, and ran to fetch her mother, whilst my other daughter, who had also awakened, began to weep. For myself, I had attempted to put on my pantaloons, but I sobbed and trembled so violently, that I could not fasten them; and when my wife came, I was still attempting to dress myself. My wife rushed to the bed, and took the child in her arms, walking backwards and forwards with him; but he soon ceased to show any signs of life. I cannot conceive how I could commit so atrocious a crime; I had such anguish, such agitation, such a disturbance in my head, and felt something so irresistible within me, that I was forced to do it. I was fasting - I was not ill; and I cannot explain how I was struck with so great a misfortune. I implore mercy, that I may not die on the scaffold, although I acknowledge that I deserve it."

The correctness of this narration was fully confirmed on inquiry. In an examination which took place some time afterwards, he stated as follows: -

"On two former occasions, I had felt this horrible desire to kill my son. The first was six weeks before Easter, in this year. I was employed during the winter in my room making a net; my son, as usual, was playing around me; he got on my back, and took me around the neck. My wife, thinking that he disturbed me, called to him; but I loved him so much that I put up with his fun, and took him on my knees to play with him. Even at this moment, I heard an inward voice, saying to me: ' Do what you will, this boy must perish; you must knock him on the head.' I was seized with such anguish that my heart fainted within me; and in order to get rid of so horrible a thought, I hastily placed the child on the ground, left the room, and went to the mill, where I remained until night, when my evil thoughts were dispelled.

"The second attack occurred one morning, a few days before Easter. My son was lying by my side; my wife was busy in the house. The little boy asked me for some bread; I gave him some cake, which pleased him exceedingly, and which he ate with avidity. At this moment, when I was looking on the child with the warmest affection, I thought I heard a voice within whisper to me: 'You must kill your son!' I shuddered; I felt a kind of oppression, which made my breast heave, and, full of terror, I sprang from my bed and ran out of the house. I recited my prayers, bussed myself in the stable, and in various other ways, and endeavored to drive away the terrible idea that possessed me. Finally, I succeeded in mastering myself, recovered in some degree my tranquillity, and played again with my child.

"But my sadness and anguish continued until near midnight. I was not tipsy on either occasion, nor had I been for several weeks previously, neither had I drank on the third paroxysm, which cost the life of my child."*

Since the Thirty Years' War, a belief has existed in Germany amongst the inhabitants of a certain portion of country on the borders of the Elbe, that, from time to time, spirits are seen at midnight. Mounted on horseback, dressed in blue uniforms, turned up with red, they spread themselves between two villages. Not only do they inspire with the greatest terror those who have stayed over-late in the fields, but they are said sometimes to even wound them. The people maintain that they are the ghosts of Swedish knights, who, at the time of the war, remained in the country, and the tradition is so accredited that no reasoning can destroy the belief.