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MUSIC'S FASCINATION.

Stradella was, for several years, composer to the opera at Venice, where his reputation as a musician was deservedly high, for he was not only an excellent composer, but a very fine singer and performer on the harp, with which he frequently used to accompany his songs on the stage.

A young lady, named Hortensia, although of a noble family of Venice, lived at this time in a disreputable way with a Venetian nobleman. She was exquisitely beautiful, and perfectly accomplished. Stradella, the most eminent professor in Venice, was her instructor in music. It was scarcely possible for such a man to have such a pupil without feeling some sensations different from those of a master, and she soon began to look on Stradella more as her lover than her instructor. Convinced that if they continued at Venice, the jealousy of the nobleman who was the former object of her affections must soon be excited, and well knowing the deadly spirit of revenge which such a discovery would infallibly generate, they resolved to leave the city privately. The plan was no sooner formed than executed. They left Venice by night, and travelled, without stopping, till they arrived at Rome. Here the vigilance of the Venetian soon discovered them, and he took the usual Italian method to revenge himself, by hiring two assassins, who were instructed to murder both Stradella and Hortensia ; and in order to protect them from punishment, they were furnished with letters to the Venetian Ambassador at Rome. On their arrival there, they learned that an oratorio of Stradella's was, on the following day, to be performed in the church of St. John Lateran; they resolved, accordingly, to attend it, and to dispatch their victims on leaving the church. They had not been long seated before they began, in common with the rest of the audience, to admire the sublime composition then per forming, with the excellence and grandeur of which they were so struck, that, seized with remorse at the deed they were about to perpetrate, they reflected with horror on the thought of assassinating a man who could impart to his hearers such exquisite pleasure. They looked on Stradella as little short of a divinity, and instead of murdering, were almost prepared to adore him. When the oratorio was finished, as Stradella and Hortensia were leaving the church, they were accosted by the assassins, who, after thanking Stradella for the pleasure and delight they had just received from his music, disclosed to him the dreadful purpose on which they had been sent, and declared to him that, instead of taking away either his life or that of his mistress, they would employ every method for their preservation. They related all that had passed between themselves and the Venetian, and earnestly intreated that Stradella, and his fair companion, would leave Rome immediately, promising that they would deceive their employer by informing him that the objects of his vengeance had left Rome on the morning previous to their arrival. The loss of their reward, which was to have been very great, they considered as amply compensated by the exquisite pleasure and gratification they had just received. Stradella and Hortensia, after expressing their gratitude to the preservers of their lives, determined on immediately quitting Rome, and seeking for safety at Turin. Their intended murderers returned to Venice, and informed their employers that the objects of his vengeance had left Rome for Turin, where the laws against assassins were so severe, that they had not dared to follow them; the house of the ambassador being the only place that could afford protection; advising him, at the same time, to give up the hope of their assassination, which they refused to undertake for any addition to their reward.

This disappointment served but to " whet the blunted purpose" of the savage Venetian; he contrived to engage in his interest the father of Hortensia, who, with a mind still more diabolical and vindictive, united in the plot to be the murderer of his own daughter.

In order to effect this savage purpose, he himself, accompanied by two other ruffians, went to Turin, having been previously furnished with letters by the Venetian from the French Ambassador at Venice, to the Marquis of Villars, then French Ambassador at Turin, which requested his protection for the bearers, who were stated to be merchants.

On the arrival of Stradella and Hortensia at Turin, they put themselves under the protection of the Duchess of Savoy, then regent there, who, as soon as she had been informed of their story, placed the lady in a convent, as the most secure asylum from the designs of her persecutors, and appointed Stradella her first musician. Here they lived for some time in the enjoyment of prosperity and happiness, and, favoured with the patronage and protection of the duchess regent, they almost forgot the malice and cruelty of their persecutors. This fancied dream of security, was not however of long duration, for as Stradella was one evening walking on the ramparts of the city, he was attacked by the father of his mistress and the two ruffians, who each wounded him with their poniards in the breast, and immediately fled to the house of the French Ambassador for protection. This atrocious act having been perpetrated in the sight of many spectators, occasioned great indignation in the city, and having soon come to the knowledge of the regent, she gave instant orders for the gates of the city to be shut, and the most diligent search to be made for the assassins. They were soon discovered to have taken refuge at the house of the Marquis of Villars, who insisted on his privilege, and refused to deliver them up; he wrote, however, to the French Ambassador at Venice, to know further particulars respecting the persons who had attempted to murder a man so much beloved and admired as Stradella. He was answered by the ambassador, that the men were unknown to him any further than that they had been very strongly recommended to him by the Venetian nobleman. In the mean while Stradella, who happily had received no dangerous wound, recovered, and the Marquis of Villars suffered the ruffians to escape.

Another appointment served only still more to enrage the Venetian, who employed spies to watch every motion of these unhappy lovers, and to give him intelligence when a more certain and more fatal blow might be struck. A year after the attack on Stradella, the duchess regent gave her sanction to his union with Hortensia, and they were accordingly married at Turin. Soon after their nuptials had taken place they travelled as far as Genoa, intending, after short stay there, to return to Turin. But the Venetian, having intelligence of their departure, again dispatched after them two assassins, accompanied by Hortensia's father, who reached Genoa the morning after Stradella and his wife had arrived, and where they lodged, entered a chamber where they were sitting, and in an instant stabbed them both to the heart. The assassins, having accomplished their purpose, escaped to a vessel which they had provided, and which they immediately set sail, and were never afterwards heard of.

GRATITUDE OF AN ELEPHANT.

The following curious fact is given on the authority of Buffon:-A soldier at Pondicherry, who was accustomed, whenever he received the portion that

came to his share, to carry a certain quantity of it to an elephant, having one day drunk rather too freely, and finding himself pursued by the guards, who were going to take him to prison, took refuge under the elephant's body, and fell asleep. In vain did the guard try to force him from this asylum: the elephant protected him with his trunk. The next morning, the soldier recovering from his drunken fit, shuddered with horror to find himself stretched under the belly of this huge animal. The elephant, which, without doubt, perceived the embarrassment of the poor fellow, caressed him with his trunk, in order to dissipate his fears, and make him understand that he might now depart in safety.

COMPACTS OF FRIENDSHIP FOR LIFE OR DEATH.

Sueno, King of Sweden, and Hacho, King of Denmark, after having fought against each other a number of unavailing battles, shed streams of blood, and exhausted the treasures of both nations, those two princes abjured their reciprocal animosity, and vowed to each other eternal friendship: the chief condition was, that whenever the one should be informed of the other's death, he should kill himself. While the Swedish monarch lived happily in his court, enjoying the sweets of a peaceful life after the fatigues of his martial exploits, intelligence was suddenly brought to him that the Danish king had cease to live: without examining into the truth of the report, Sueno assembled his courtiers, gave them a great feast, and at the conclusion threw himself into a butt of mead and drowned himself. Hacho, as may be supposed, did not without pain hear of his friend's death; but although he might have demurred respecting the motives to the suicide, which ought to have been more maturely weighed, the Dane considered only the obligation imposed upon him by the laws of honour, to observe his promise and not survive his friend; he therefore, in like manner, assembled his court, entertained them with a grand banquet, and hanged himself in their presence.

REMARKABLE ACCOUNT OF A SPECTRAL INTRIGUE.

In the year 1697, Francis Michel, a blacksmith of Salon, being then about thirty-five years of age, went one evening to the chapel of St. Anne, a little way without the town. While he was alone there, addressing his private devotions to the saint, a spectre, as he affirmed, appeared to him, who ordered him to take a journey to Paris, to say something to the king of very great importance, and only to be communicated by him personally to his majesty. The first time he paid no further attention to this appearance, than talking to the people of the town of having seen it; but at the same thing occurring three evenings successively, and the last time the spectre uttering the most terrible menaces against him if he did not obey his orders, he began to think more seriously about it, and consider what was to be done. The whole neighbourhood rang with nothing but this wonderful story; and at length Michel, having consulted with some of his neighbours, determined on going to Aix to impart the matter to Monsieur Lebret, then Intendant of the Province. The Intendant treated him as a visionary; but Michel replied, "I am far, Sir, from being what you suppose; the whole town of Salon

would testify for me, if you would take the trouble of inquiry, that I have always been a perfectly sober-minded man, attending diligently to my business, nor given in any degree to fanaticism. It was not till after having been accosted three times in the same way, that I have thought fit to trouble you on the subject; I cannot be mistaken in what I have seen, and can assure you that it is a matter of great importance on which I am charged to speak to the king. I only beg, therefore, that you will write to the court, and obtain permission for me to execute the orders I have received.

Monsieur Lebret thought that there must be something extraordinary in this matter. He saw that the man had no appearance of being insane, or a religious enthusiast; and that he himself firmly believed in having seen the spectre, and received the order to make some communication to his majesty. Since, moreover, he said he was strictly charged not reveal it to any person, it seemed at least worth while to write to the court for instructions how to proceed, that the mystery, whatever it was, might be thoroughly investigated. He accordingly promised Michel to write and obtain him the permission he desired, on which the latter returned peaceably to Salon to wait the event.

Monsieur Lebrat lost no time in acquitting himself of his promise, and received for answer a commission to authorize Michel to repair to Paris without delay. Michel no sooner received the commission than he hastened to Aix, to make his acknowledgements to the Intendant; when, having received his instructions from him, he set out on his journey. He was followed to a considerable distance from the town by a vast concourse of people, who were all eager to see the man who had seen a spectre, and who were also not a little anxious for the developement of a circumstance which appeared so extraordinary. All the way he went he was followed by like crowds, for the rumour of the affair spread from town to town like a contagion, and an universal eagerness pervaded all ranks and degrees, to get a sight of one who now appeared something above the ordinary level of mortals.

His arrival at Paris occasioned no less sensation, and every one was anxious for the event of this moral phenomenon. Michel was in a few days sent for to Versailles, where he actually was admitted to a secret conference of an hour with the king, Louis the Fourteenth. When he had quitted his presence, some of the courtiers remarked to his majesty, that he had just seen a very extraordinary madman. "He is not so mad as you think him," replied the king, with some eagerness. This only increased the public curiosity, and rendered people more than ever anxious to see him. He was presented to Madame de Maintenon, and received considerable presents from her, from the king, and many great people about the court. His picture was taken at the king's desire by one of the best painters in Paris, and an engraving made from it, of which several thousands were sold, and it was dispersed all over the kingdom. At length he returned to his native town, the people all the way crowding to see him, even more than in his journey to Paris; and on his arrival, there was no end of the visits made him, and the questions put to him by the people even from a great distance round. After this had continued for some time, he grew so weary with being made the universal object of public curiosity, that he quitted the town without notifying his intention to any one, and calling himself by another name, went to live at Lancon, in hopes of enjoying, under an assumed character, that peace and quiet which he found must not now be expected under his own. Here in effect he remained unknown

many years, when the affair being pretty well gone by, he ventured to confess who he was. He did not return to Salon, but remained at Lancon, and died

there at the age of sixty-five.

Endless were the conjectures to which this extraordinary affair gave rise ; but the real truth was not known till many years after, when a priest, who had been a principal agent in the imposture, made a full confession of it. He was himself of Salon, but used to go sometimes to Capentras, where he had connexions, and here he became acquainted with Madame de Rus, who had some property in that neighbourhood, an intimate friend of Madame de Maintenon's, and a woman of great intrigue. It was always a favourite object of Madame de Maintenon, to get the king to declare his marriage with her, and this scheme was projected as the means of accomplishing it. The priest was confessor to Michel; and being won over by Madame de Rus, under the promise of a very great reward, if the scheme should succeed, he fixed upon him as the person upon whom to practise the deceit; because, not being a fanatic, he would be the more likely to obtain credit when he asserted that he had seen a vision. Michel having been guilty of some trifling fault which he confessed to the priest, the latter ordered him as a penance to go alone every evening for a certain time to the chapel, just as the dusk came on, and there address such prayers as he directed to the saint. Here he concealed a man dressed in a white sheet, which hung over his face so that it could not be seen, and who was well instructed in the part he was to act. The pretended spectre ordered Michel to go to the king, and strictly enjoin him, under pain of the severest displeasure of heaven, to declare his marriage with Madame de Maintenon; at the same time giving him a ring, which he said had belonged to the late queen, and which the king would immediately know as such; that it had been miraculously transported from Paris, in order to be delivered to him as a testimony of the truth of his mission, but he must on no account mention the having received it, to any one but the king himself.

The imposture, however, did not succeed with the king, who, though inclining towards dotage, had too much of the native vigour of mind left, not to see through it at once. He chose, notwithstanding, to keep the discovery to himself, probably because the disclosing it would have led to his making in some sort the avowal which he wished to avoid, or else to his asserting a palpable falsehood in disclaiming the marriage. It does not appear whether Michel himself ever knew of the trick that had been passed upon him.

PRATING AT VENICE.

A Genoese sculptor was sent for to Venice, to perform a most curious piece of workmanship in the church belonging to the Jesuits, and as he was of great eminence it was customary to go and see him at work. Two French travellers, among others, hearing of his performance, went to see him, and after admiring the beauties of the piece he was about, they insensibly led him into a conversation about the Venetian form of government. The Frenchmen launched out into bitter invectives against the Senate and the Republic, and very liberally bestowed the title of "Pantaloons" upon the Senators.

The poor Genoese defended the Venetians, but to no purpose, for as they were two to one they soon silenced him. The next morning the Council of State sent for the Genoese, who was brought before the Senate, shuddering with fear. He had no idea of his crime, nor was any thing farther from his thoughts than the conversation he had had with the two Frenchmen. From

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