I endeavoured to talk him into temper, and to reason him into a kind of scheme for our government in the affair, and sometimes he would be well, and talk with some courage about it; but the weight of it lay too heavy upon his thoughts, and, in short, it went so far that he made attempts upon himself, and in one of them had actually strangled himself and had not his mother come into the room in the very moment, he had died; but with the help of a Negro servant she cut him down and recovered him. Things were now come to a lamentable height in the family.
Je m'efforçais de le rappeler à ses esprits par ma conversation en lui exposant une sorte de dessein pour notre conduite, et parfois il se trouvait bien, et me répondait avec assez de courage; mais le malheur pesait trop lourdement sur ses pensées, et il alla jusqu'à attenter par deux fois à sa propre vie; la seconde, il fut sur le point d'étrangler, et si sa mère n'était pas entrée dans la chambre à l'instant même, il fût mort; mais avec l'aide d'un serviteur nègre, elle coupa la corde et le rappela à la vie.