Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

ramparts to oppose the enemy. The Spartans, less terrified than astonished, to find such enemies to combat; and sensible, that it would be equally dishonorable to vanquish, or to be vanquished by them; instantly raised the siege. By this happy audacity, Telesilla delivered her country from a formidable enemy; and the citizens, in gratitude, erected a statue to her memory.

JUST JUDGMENT OF GOD UPON PERSECUTORS.

An old author, relating the various punishments which men, notorious for their misdeeds, endured before death, gives the following dreadful relation :About the year 1530, in the department of Provence, in France, there was a cruel wretch of a monk, of a devil's disposition, called John de Roma, who obtained a commission to examine those that were suspected to be Waldois, or Lutherans. He ceased not to afflict them with all kinds of cruelty which his hellish mind could in any way think of or devise. Amongst many most horrible and grievous torments there was one that seemed to be a masterpiece of cruelty, which he, with the greatest delight, commonly put in practice upon those poor people who happened to fall into his hands. He filled boots with boiling grease, and put them upon their legs, tying them backwards on a form, with their legs hanging down over a stone fire, and so he examined them. Thus did this monster of iniquity torment many good men, and afterwards put them to death. Francis, king of France, being informed of his wicked and cruel proceedings, sent letters to the parliament of Provence, that he should be apprehended and proceeded against according to law; but this wretch, having privately received notice thereof, fled to Avignon, where he thought to enjoy the spoils of which he had, like a notorious thief, bereft the poor Christians. But shortly after he, who had so shamefully spoiled others, was deprived himself of all by those of his own house, and shortly after he fell sick of a most horrible disease, which was strange and unknown to any physician. So extreme were the pains with which he was vexed and tormented in his body, that not any physic could give him ease for one moment: neither could any person stop near him, so great was the stench that issued from his body, therefore he was carried to an hospital, there to be kept; but the stench so increased, that no one could be found hardy enough to approach him. Neither was he himself able to abide the horrid scent, his body not only being full of ulcers and sores, but it was also swarming with vermin, and so rotten, that the flesh fell away from the bones by pieces.

While he was in these torments and anguish, he screamed out many times and cried, "Oh! who will deliver me? who will kill me, and put an end to the intolerable pains which I now suffer for the evils and oppressions to those innocent men!" He cried many times for somebody to put an end to his existence, but had not the power to do it himself. In these dreadful torments and fearful despair this horrid blasphemer and cruel homicide most miserably ended his unhappy days, cursing life, as a spectacle to all persecutors receiving the reward of his cruelties by the just judgment of God. When he was dead, there was no person that could or would come near to bury him; but a young novice, newly come to his order, instead of a more honourable sepulchre, caught hold of his offensive carcase with a hook, and drew him into a hole close by, which had been prepared for him.

EFFECTS OF FEAR.

I once read a most horrible story of some French travellers, who attempted to explore the vaults of the Egyptian pyramids, which revives some of those terrifying obstructions we sometimes meet with in disturbed dreams. These persons had already traversed an extensive labyrinth of chambers and passages; they were on their return, and had arrived at the most difficult part of it,a very long and winding passage, forming a communication between two chambers: its opening was narrow and low;-the ruggedness of the floor, sides, and roof, rendered their progress slow and laborious, and these difficulties increased rapidly as they advanced. The torch with which they had entered became useless, from the impossibility of holding it upright, as the passage diminished its height. Both its height and width at length, however, became so much contracted that the party was compelled to crawl on their bellies. Their wandering in these interminable passages (for such, in their fatigue of body and mind, they deemed them) seemed to be endless. Their alarm was already great, and their patience exhausted, when the headmost of the party cried out, that he could discern the light at the end of the passage, at a considerable distance a-head, but that he could not advance any farther, and that, in his efforts to press on, in hopes to surmount the obstacle without complaining, he had squeezed himself so far into the reduced opening, that he had now no longer sufficient strength even to recede! The situation of the party may be easily imagined; their terror was beyond direction or advice; while their leader, whether from terror or the natural effect of his situation, swelled so that, if it were before difficult, it was now impossible for him to stir from the spot he thus miserably occupied. One of the party, at this dreadful and critical moment, proposed, in the intense selfishness to which the feeling of vital danger reduces all, as the only means of escape from this horrible confinement, this living grave, to cut in pieces the wretched being who formed the obstruction, and clear it by dragging the dismembered carcase piece-meal past them! He heard this dreadful proposal, and contracting himself with agony at the idea of his death, was reduced by a strong muscular spasm to his usual dimensions, and was dragged out, affording room for the party to squeeze themselves past over his prostrate body. The unhappy creature was suffocated in the effort, and was left behind a corpse!

ACCOUNT OF A WILD MAN.

In the year 1774, a savage, or wild man, was discovered by the shepherds, who fed their flocks in the neighbourhood of the forest of Yuary. This man, who inhabited the rocks that lay near the forests, was very tall, covered with hair, like a bear, and nimble as the Hisars. His greatest amusement was to see the sheep running, and to scatter them; and he testified his pleasure at this sight by loud fits of laughter, but never attempted to hurt those innocent animals. When the shepherds let loose their dogs after him, he fled with the swiftness of an arrow, and never allowed the dogs to come too near him. One morning he came to the cottage of some workmen, and one of them endeavouring to get near him, and catch him by the leg, he laughed heartily, and then made his escape. He seemed to be about thirty years of age. As the forest in question is very extensive, and has a communication with vast woods that belong to the Spanish territory, it is natural to suppose, that this solitary creature had been lost in his infancy and had subsisted on herbs.

[merged small][graphic]

NEAR the castle of Gazuolo, in Lombardy, on the bank of the Oglio, in the year 1620, there dwelt a young maid named Julia, daughter of a poor labouring man, who, with his wife and family, inhabited a little thatched cottage. Julia was brought up to labour in the fields, or to assist her mother in spinning and domestic employments at home; but notwithstanding this rude and laborious way of life, nature had bestowed upon her all the elegance of form and grace of demeanour that distinguish the most cultivated ranks in society. Her face, shaded by her little hat, received from the sun the high tinge of health, without the delicacy of a fair complexion. Her hands, though never idle, were soft and white. She expressed herself with a natural politeness that surprised from a peasant; and all her actions bespoke her superior to the state in which fortune had placed her. On holidays she led the dance on the green with her rural companions, with a sprightly ease and gracefulness that fixed the eyes of all beholders; and happy was the youth who could obtain her hand as a partner. It chanced that the chamberlain of the Bishop of Mantua, the lord of the castle, was present at one of these festival balls, and was so struck with the figure of Julia, that he became entirely captivated with her charms. He offered himself for her partner, and took her out again and again, scarcely being able to resign her hand for a single dance. Presently he began to talk of love to her, which discourse she received with modest humility, saying that such fine speeches were not fit for the daughter of a poor peasant. He took every occasion to repeat his addresses, and made her abundance of flattering offers and impassioned declarations, but all in vain. The maid, perceiving his dishonest intentions, would not listen to him, but earnestly desired him to cease his importunities. The young man, more and more inflamed with desire,

VOL. II.

78

employed an old procuress to carry her some presents, and endeavour to mollify her heart. Julia threw the presents into the street, and threatened to inform the Bishop of the old woman's conduct, if ever she should return. The chamberlain, reduced to despair, but still resolving at all hazards to gratify his ardent passion, made a confidant of a footman of the Bishop's, and laid a plot to obtain with his assistance by force, what he could not gain by consent. It was the end of May, and the corn was high. Julia often went by herself to the field, and it was determined to way-lay her at a distance from home. The chamberlain first approached her alone, and seeing her alarmed, began in a gentle tone to repeat his suit. She prayed him not to molest her, and with hasty steps turned homewards. He took her by the hand, under the pretence of conducting her; and as soon as they had got into the path through the corn-field, he threw his arms round her neck, and offered to kiss her. She, struggling to escape and calling for help, was stopped by the footman who had lain concealed, and thrown down on the ground. They put a gag into her mouth to prevent her from calling out; and in that situation, while the footman held her hands, the chamberlain brutally forced her. The tears and moans of the poor victim were so far from exciting his pity, that he repeated his abuse. He then raised her, and took the gag from her mouth, and with the most amorous expressions and promises endeavoured to pacify her. She made no other reply than to beg he would let her go home. He renewed his intreaties and soothing speeches, but she all the while wept inconsolably. At length, to put an end to his importunity, she said, "Youth, you have had your will of me, and have satisfied your dishonest desires; let me go, I beg of you; be contented with the cruel injury you have already done me." The lover, upon this, suffered her to depart. After bitterly weeping some time longer, she put her hair and clothes in order, wiped her eyes, and went home.

When she came to her father's house, she found no one there but a little sister, about ten years of age. She went to a small trunk in which she kept her little finery, and stripping off the clothes she wore, dressed herself entirely in her cleanest and best apparel. She put on a white jacket and petticoat, a worked handkerchief round her neck, white silk stockings, and red shoes. She dressed her hair in the most elegant manner, and put on an amber necklace. All her other things she gave to her little sister. Thus decorated as if she was going to a dance, she went out leading her little sister by the hand, and called at the house of an aged woman, her friend, who lay in bed sick and infirm. To this good woman she told every thing that had happened to her, concluding the sad story with saying, 'That after she had thus lost her honor, which was the only thing for which she wished to live, she could not think of enduring life-that never should any one point her out, and say, there is the girl that has become a wanton, and dishonored her family-that no friend of hers should be reproached with the tale that she had consented to her ravisher's will, but that she would give a manifest proof, that although her body had been violated by force, her mind was unstained. She begged her to inform her parents of the whole transaction, and bidding her a last farewell, she went forth towards the river. The little girl followed weeping, though she knew not why. As soon as Julia arrived at the bank, she threw herself headlong into the depth of the stream. Her sister's piercing shrieks drew together a number of people, but too late. Resolved upon death, she had instantly sunk to the bottom, and never rose

more.

The body was found after a long search, and was brought home amid

the tears and lamentations of all the women, and even the men of the surrounding country. The chamberlain and footman, hearing of the catastrophe, made their escape. The Bishop, desirous of showing every honor to her remains, as she could not be buried in consecrated ground, had a sepulchre of bronze made for her near the place, on which a marble pillar was raised, inscribed with the fatal story.-This hallowed memorial still exists on the banks of the river, and is often visited by the peasantry, who relate with unaffected sorrow the melancholy tale.

AFFECTING MURDER IN THE ISLAND OF GUERNSEY.

The following story, on which the Tragedy of "Julia" was founded, was related by the clergyman of the place where the facts happened.

About the year 1726, John Andrew Gordier, a gentleman of French extraction, and of considerable fortune, in the island of Jersey, was upon the point of marrying the daughter of a wealthy merchant of Guernsey: but, on a sudden, he was lost to his friends and relations, as well as to the lady who was to have been his bride; and, notwithstanding the most diligent inquiry in both islands, with every possible search that could be made, not the least intelligence could be obtained, either of his death or his retreat.

It happened, however, that, after a time, when all discourse concerning him had subsided, his body was accidentally found in Guernsey, by some boys, in traversing the beach, with two wounds on the back, and one on the head, thrust into the cavity of a rock, whose mouth was so small, that it must have been with considerable difficulty, that the body could be made to enter it.

This discovery, with those evident proofs of murder, alarmed the two families; the former inquiries were in vain renewed; not the least light, either to countenance suspicion, or to ground conjecture, could be gathered, to trace out the murderer; and all that could be done, was, to pay the last duties to the remains of the unfortunate youth, by solemnizing his funeral with all the marks of unaffected sorrow.

The mother of the young gentleman remained inconsolable; and the lady, to whom he was to have been wedded, pined in secret for the loss of the only man in the world whom she could love. She was, indeed, courted by a young merchant; but though she was, in a manner, constrained by her parents to admit his addresses, she was inwardly resolved never to give him her hand.

The mother of Gordier, who never ceased to ruminate on the catastrophe which had befallen her son, was not a little solicitous for the welfare of the young lady, whom she looked upon as her daughter-in-law, and whom she regarded with the greater tenderness, as she heard how severely she was affected by the sudden disappearance of her intended husband.

Some years afterwards, being told that the young lady's life was in danger, she resolved to cross the sea that divides the islands, in order to afford her every consolation in her power, by condoling with her, sharing her griefs, and thereby endeavouring to alleviate the sorrows of her heart. As attendants in her voyage, Mrs. Gordier took with her a beloved brother and an only surviving son. When they arrived, they were advised by the apothecary, who attended the young lady, not to surprise her by an unlooked-for visit, till she was prepared by degrees to receive it; but, notwithstanding all the care that could be taken, the sight of the mother brought to her mind the full remembrance of the son, and the shock was too great for her weak spirits to

« ПредишнаНапред »