the queen ngitated th ough grief and fear made a sign to her daughter who profiting by the confusion glided into the neighbouring apaitment opened one of the entrances of the stove extracted the letter and but ned it then returned to the chambei with a look of confi dence which composed her mother


what do jou wont asked the child


i wish to know if you heard anything last night


no i was asleep


f it seems you are very fond of sleeping


yes because when i sleep i dream


and what do you dream about


that i see my father whom u mur dered so said srnterre quickly you heard nothing


nothing


these whelps exclaimed the municipal furiously have an understanding with the old wolf nevertheless there hjs been a con spiracy


n


the queen smiled


i r


the austrian is bullying us cried the municipal


since it is so let us execute in ns utmost rigour the decree of the commune getmp capel


what are you poing to do


vexclaimed the queen forgetting herself


do you not see that my son is sick of the fever


will vou kill him your son said the municipal s a source of continual alarm touhe council of the temple he is the aim of every conspirator


i hey flatter themselves they willcarry y u all away together well let them try tison callitison


tison was a kind of journey men charged with the heavy duties of the household ofthe prison he came


he was about forty years of age of a sallow complexion having a rough savage looking countenacei with his blackirizzledhair hanging over his eyebrows


tison asked snnterre who cable here yesterday to bring provisions to the prisoners ison mentioned a name


and who brought their linen v my daughter


i


your daughter is then a washerwoman certainly


and you have given her the prisoners custom


why not


she may as well earn it as another


it is not the tyrant s money now but the nation s since the nation paysfor all vi you were told to examine the linenatten tively


well as a proof that i acquitted myself of my duty there was yesterday a hankerchief on which two knots were made which teamed before the council who ordered my wife to wthemi to reform hem


and to lturn them to m adame capet without saying a word on mention bemg


made of the two knots the queen started her pupils dilated and


madame elizabeth


and she exchanged glances tison said santerre


your daughter is a citizen whose patnoiism no one suspects enrrxtnpeurdaughtshullvei vvlayuellmesadtisonweht ened


what


i shalj not see my daughfer except when i go out


ubugmer you shall not go out


tison turned his haggard eye around him in vacancy then suddenly exclaimed l tt


out anv more i ah is it so


wei i wish to leave altogether i ve m my resignation i m no traitor or aristo


at not that i should be detained in prison i tell you i must go out citizen said santerre obey the order of the commune and be silent or evil may come from it


hell you so


remain here and watch whatpasses


there ts an eye upon you


i warn dab mtimi ajw who supposed herselfforgotten reassured herself by degrees and replaced her son jn bed


t he obeyed without a word


santerresnw nace had made him as tractable as a larrib


tisons wife came


come hither citizen said santerre we will retire to the antichamber whilst you search the prisoners


i say wife they will not allow our daugh ter to come any more to the temple


how not allow her to come here


then we shall see her nomore


tison bowed down hishead


what is it you mean


we shall make a report to the council of the temple and it shall decide


in the mean time in the meantime said the woman i wish to see my daughter


silence said santerreknitting his blow


do wife what the citizen general says


do it wife dont you hear he says we shall see her and tison regarded santerre with an humble smile


very good said the woman get you gone i am ready to search them


the men retired


my dear madame tison said the queen belive me truly


i believe nothing citizen cpet snid the horrible womangrinding her teeth


ifit be not that you are the cause of all the misfortunes of the people only let me find something sus picious on you and you shall see


four men remained at the door ready to assist by main force if the queen resisted


she began with the queen and found upon her a handkerchief having three knots which seemed to be unfortunately an answer pre pared to that of w hieb tison had spoken also a pencil a scapulary and some sealingwax ah


i knew it well


if i had ontyin formed the municipal guard that the austrian corresponded


the other day i found a drop of wax on the socket of the candlestick


oh madam said the queen in a suppli cating manner only show the scapulary


eli well indeed said the woman


pity for you


have they any for trie


they have taken away my daughter


i madame elizaheth had nothing upon her


the woman tison recalled the municipals who entpred with santerre at their head


she handed them the articles found on the queen which passed from hand to band causing an infinite number of conjectures


above all the handkerchief with three knots exercised the ima gination of these persecutors of the royal family now said santerre we shall read you the order of the convention


j what order aslted the queen


the decree which ordains a separation from your son


it is then true that such a thing exs s


yes the convention has more respect for the health of an infant confided to its care than to leave it under the charge of a mothei so depraved is you


the queens eyes sparkled fire why not at least bring forward some ac cusation tigers as you are


that is not very difficult said a muni cipal and he pronounced one of those infamous accusations such as that with which sueto nius charges agrippa


oh i exclaimed the queen starting up pale and majestic m her indignation i ap peal to every mothers heart


come come said the municipal all thit is very good but we have been here already two hours and cannot lose the whole day


get up capet and follow mel never never


cried the queen throwing herself between the municipals and the young louis and preparing to resist their approach to the bed hue a tigress defending her young


i shall never permit you to remove my child


oh gentleman said madame elizabeth joining her hands with a lively air of appeal gentlemen h ive pity on two mothers spoult tlie said santerre give us the namesavow the projects


o i youl accomplices


explain the meaning of the knots in the hand kerchief found amongst youl linen as well is those in the one found on your person


in that case they will leave you your son a look from mmiamt elizibeth seemed to supplicate the queen to make their terrible sa crifice


she however proudly wiped awry a tear thst glistened like a diamond on her eyelash


i adieu my sun said she never forget your father who is on high or jom mother who a ill shortlj njmn lum keueat every night and morning the pi ayer winch


i have taught you adieu my son


she gave him a last kiss and arose cold and impassible sajiwi gentlemeni know nothing as you think proper t m he queen m truth to have home this must have possessed more resolution than a woman ind above all than a menhirs heart was capable of


jshefellbick exhausted into a chair whilst they removed tile child whose tears flowed fast and who extended his arms but witheut uttinngacry the door closen behind the municipal who bore away the royal child ind the three females were left alone


i hen passed a moment in the silence of des piir mteriupted only by sobs


the queen spoke fiist mj daughter i the letter i burned it mother as you told me


without reading it t yes


adieu then the last glimmering of our highest hope imimured mdame


elizabeth right sister light the cup of our suf fering is full


then turning towards her daughter but you at least marte saw the hand writing


i li yes mother fpr an instant


t the queen arose examined the door to dis cover if the were watched then pulling a pin from btr hair she approached the wall and produced from a chink a small piece of paper folded in the form of a note


showing it to the madame royale she said itecal your recollections of the past before replying to me


daughter was the hand writing the same as this


yes yes mother exclaimed the princess i recognise ti i god be praised i ejaculated the queen falling on her knees


if he could have w ritten since the morning he is safe


thanks thanks


such a noble friend well deserved such a miracle at your hands of whom do you speak mother asked madame


who is this friend


tell me his name that i may remember him in my prayers


yes daughter you are right never forget him


it is the name of a gentleman full of honor and bravery


he is not devoted through ambition lor be has only revealed himself in the days of our misfortune


he has never seen the queen of france or rather the queen of france has never seen him still be has devoted his life to her safety


perhaps it may happen that he will he recompensed as all virtue is now rewarded by a tembl death


butif he dies


oh on high in the heavens i will thank him


he is called


the queen glanced un easily around her and sank her voice in


a whisper


he is called the chevalier of the bed house


prayfor him


i to be i continued


american notes for general circulation


by charles dickens chapter iii boston


in all the public establishments of ame rica the utmost courtesy prevails


most of our departments are susceptible of con siderable improvement in this respect but the customhouse above all others would do well to take example from the united states and render itself somewhat less odious and offensive to foreigners


the servile rapacity of the french officials is sufficiently contemptible but there is a surly boorish incivility about our men alike disgusting to all persons who fall into their hands and discreditable to the nation that keeps such illconditioned curs snarling about its gates


when i landed in america i could not help being strongly impressed with the contrast their custom house presented and the attention polite ness and good humour with which its officers discharged their duty


as we did not land at boston in con sequence of some detention at the wharf until after dark i received my first im pressions of the city in walking down to the custom house on the morning after our arrival which was sunday


i am afraid to say by the way how many offers of pews and seats in church for that morn mg were made to us by formal note of invitation before we had halt finished our first dinner in america but if i may be allowed to make a moderate guess with out going into nice calculations i should say that at least as many sittings were proffered us as would have accommodated a score or two of grown up families


the number of creeds and forms of religion to which the pleasure of our company was requested was in very fair proportion


not being able in the absence of any change of clothes to go to church that day we were compelled to decline these kindnesses one and all and i was re luctantly obliged to forego the delight of hearing dr channing who happened to preach that morning for the first time in a very long interval


i mention the name of this distinguished and accomplished man with whom i soon afterwards had the pleasure of becoming personally ac quainted that i may have the gratification of recording my humble tribute of admi miration and respect for his high abilities and character and for the bold philan thropy with which he has ever opposed himself to that most hideous blot and foul disgraceslavery


to return to boston


when i got into the streets upon this sunday morning the air was so clear the houses were so bright and gay the signboards were painted in such gaudy colours the gilded letters were so very golden the bricks were so very red the stone was so very white the blinds and area railings were so very green the nobs and plates upon the street doors so marvellously bright and twinkling and all so slight and unsubstantial in appearancethat every thoroughfare in the city looked exactly like a scene in a pantomime


it really happens in the business streets that a tradesman if i may venture to call anybody a tradesman where every body is a mer chant resides above his store so that many occupations are often carried on in one house and the whole front is covered with boards and inscriptions


as i walked along i kept glancing up at these boards confidently expecting to see n few of them change into something and i never turned a corner suddenly without looking out for the clown and pantaloon who i had no doubt were hiding in a doorway or behind some pillar close at hand


as to harlequin and columbine i discovered immediately that they lodged they are always looking after lodgings in a pantomime at a very small clockmakers one story high near the hotel which in addition to various symbols and devices almost covering the whole front had a great dial hanging outto be jumped through of course


the suburbs are if possible even more unsubstantial looking than the city


the white wooden houses so white that it makes one wink to look at them with their green jalousie blinds are so sprinkled and dropped about in all directions with out seeming to have any root at all in the ground and the small churches and chapels are so prim and bright and highly varnished that i almost believed the whole affair could be taken up piecemeal like a childs toy and crammed into a little box


the city is a beautiful one and cannot fail i should imagine to impress all strangers very favourably


the private dwelling houses are for the most part large and elegant the shops extremely good and the public buildings handsome


the statehouse is built upon the summit of a hill which rises gradually at first and afterwards by a steep ascent almost from the waters edge


in front is a green enclosure called the common


the site is beautiful and from the top there is a charming panoramic view of the whole town and neighbourhood


in addition to a variety of commodious offices it con tains two handsome chambers in one the house of representatives of the state hold their meetings in the other the senate


such proceedings as i saw here were conducted with perfect gravity and decorum and were certainly calculated to inspire attention and respect


there is no doubt that much of the intellectual refinements and superiority of boston is referable to the quiet influence of the university of cambridge which is within three or four miles of the city


the resident professors at that university are gentlemen of learning and varied at tainments and are without one excep tion that i can call to mind men who would shed a grace upon and do honour to any society in the civilized world


many of the resident gentry in boston and its neighbourhood and i think i am not mistaken in adding a large majority of those who are attached to the liberal professions there have been educated at this same school


whatever the defects of american universities may be they dis seminate no prejudices rear no bigots dig up the buried ashes of no old super stitions never interpose between the people and then improvement exclude no man because of his religious opinions above all in their whole course of study and instruction recognise a world and a broad one too lying beyond the college walls


it was a source of inexpressible pleasure to me to observe the almost unperceptible but not less certain effect wrought by this institution among the small community of boston and to note at every turn the humanising tastes and desires it has engendered the affectionate friendship to which it has given rise the amount of vanity and prejudice it has dispelled


the golden calf they worship at boston is a pigmy compared with the giant effigies set up in other parts of that vast counting house which lies beyond the atlantic and the almighty dollar sinks into something comparatively insignificant amidst a whole pantheon of better gods


above all i sincerely believe that the public institutions and charities of this capital of massachusetts are as nearly per fect as the most considerate wisdom benevolence and humanity can make them i never in my life was more affected by the contemplation of happiness under circumstances of privation and bereave ment than in my visits to these establish ments


it is a great and pleasant feature of all such institutions in america that they are either supported by the state or assisted by the state or in the event of their not needing its helping hand that they act in concert with it and are emphatically the peoples


i cannot but think with a view to the principle and its tendency to elevate or depress the character of the industrious classes that a public charity is immeasurably better than a private foundation no matter how munificently the latter may be endowed


in our own country where it has not until within these latter days been a very popu lar fashion with governments to display any extraordinary regard for the great mass of the people or to recognise their existence as improveable creatures private charities unexampled in the history of the earth have arisen to do an incalcu lable amount of good among the destitute and afflicted


but the government of the country having neither act nor part in them is not in the receipt of any portion of the gratitude they inspire and offering very little shelter or relief beyond that which is to be found in the workhouse and the jail has come not unnaturally to be looked upon by the poor rather as a stern master quick to correct and punish than a kind protector merciful and vigilant in the hour of need


the maxim that out of evil cometh good is strongly illustrated by these establish ments at home as the records of the prerogative office in doctors commons can abundantly prove


some immensely rich old gentleman or lady surrounded by needy relatives makes upon a low average a will aweek


the old gentleman or lady never very remarkable in the best of times for good temper is full of aches and pains from head to foot full of fancies and ca prices full of spleen distrust suspicion and dislike


to cancel old wills and invent new ones is at last the sole bu siness of such a testator a existence and relations and friends some of whom have been bred up distinctly to inherit a large share of the property and have been from their cradles specially disqualified from devoting themselves to any useful pursuit on that account are so often and so unexpectedly and summarily cut off and reinstated and cut again that the whole family down to the remotest cousin is kept in a perpetual fever


at length it becomes plain that the old lady or gentle man has not long to live and the plainer this becomes the more clearly the old lady or gentleman perceives that every body is in a conspiracy against their poor old dying relative wherefore the old lady or gentleman makes another last will positively the last this timeconceals the same in a china teapot and expires next day


then it turns out that the whole of the real and personal estate is divided between half a dozen charities and that the dead and gone testator has in pure spite helped to do a great deal of good at the cost of an immense amount of evil passion and misery


the perkins institution and massachu setts asylum for the blind at boston is superintended by a body of trustees who make an annual report to the corporation


the indigent blind of that state are admitted gratuitously


those from the adjoining state of connecticut or from the states of maine vermont r new hampshire are admitted by a warrant from the state to which they respectively belong or failing that must find security among their friends for the payment of about twenty pounds english for their first years board and in struction and ten for the second


after the first year say the trustees an account current will he opened with each pupil he will be charged with the actual cost of his board which will not exceed two dollars per week a trifle more than eight shillings english and he will be credited with the amount paid for him by the state r by his friends also with his earnings over and above the cost of the stock which he uses so that all his earn ings over one dollar per week will be his own


by the third year it will be known whether his earnings will more than pay the actual cost of his board if they should he will have it at his option to re main and receive his earnings or not


those who prove unable to earn their own livelihood will not be retained as it is not desirable to convert the establishment into an alms house or to retain any but work ing bees in the hive


those who by physical or menial imbecility are disquali fied for work are thereby disqualified from being members of an industrious commu nity and they can be better provided for in establishments fitted for the infirm


i went to see this place one very fine winter morning an italian sky above and the air so clear and bright on every side that even my eyes which are none of the best could follow the minute lines and scraps of tracery in distant buildings


like most other public institutions in america of the same class it stands a mile r two without the town in a cheerful healthy spot and is an airy spacious handsome edifice


it is built upon a height commanding the harbour


when i paused for a moment at the door and marked how fresh and free the whole scene waswhat sparkling bubbles glanced upon the waves and welled up every mo ment to the surface as though the world below like that above were radiant with the bright day and gushing over in its fulness of light when i gazed from sail to sail away upon a ship at sea a tiny speck of shining white the only cloud upon the still deep distant blueand turning saw a blind boy with his sightless face addressed that way as though he too had some sense within him of the glori ous distance i felt a kind of sorrow that the place should be so very light and a stranger wish that for his sake it were darker


it was but momentary of course and a mere fancy but i felt it keenly for all that


the children were at their daily tasks m different rooms except a few who were al ready dismissed and were at play


here as in many institutions no uniform is worn and i was very glad of it for two reasons


firstly because i am sure that nothing but senseless custom and want of thought would reconcile us to the liveries and badges we are so fond of at home


secondly because the absence of these things presents each child to the visitor in his or her own proper character with its individuality unimpaired not lost in a dull ugly monotonous repetition of the same unmeaning garb which is really an important consideration


the wisdom of encouraging a little harmless pride in per sonal appearance even among the blind or the whimsical absurdity of considering charity and leather breeches inseparable companions as we do requires no com ment


good order cleanliness and comfort pervaded every corner of the building


the various classes who were gathered round their teachers answered the ques tions put to them with readiness and in telligence and in a spirit of cheerful con test for precedence which pleased me very much


those who were at play were gleesome and noisy as other children


more spiritual and affectionate friendship appeared to exist among them than would be found among other young persons suf fering under no deprivation but this i expected and was prepared to find


it is a part of the great scheme of heavens merciful consideration for the afflicted


in a portion of the building set apart for that purpose are workshops for blind persons whose education is finished mid who have acquired a trade but who can not pursue it in an ordinary manufactory because of their deprivation


several peo pie were at work here making brushes mattresses and so forth and the cheerful ness industry and good order discernible in every other part of the building ex tended to this department also


on the ringing of a bell the pupils all repaired without any guide or leader to a spacious musichall where they took their seats in an orchestra erected for that pur pose and listened with manifest delight to a voluntary on the organ played by one of themselves


at its conclusion the per former a boy of nineteen or twenty gave place to a girl and to her accompaniment they all sang a hymn and afterwards a sort of chorus


it was very sad to look upon and hear them happy though their condi tion unquestionably was and i saw that one blind girl who being for the time de prived of the use of her limbs by illness sat close beside me with her face towards them wept silently the while she listened


it is strange to watch the face of the blind and see how free they are from all concealment of what is passing in their thoughts observing which a man with eyes may blush to contemplate the mask he wears


allowing for one shade of anxious expression which is never absent from their countenances and the like of which we may readily detect in our own faces if we try to feel our way in the dark every idea as it rises within them is ex pressed with the lightenings speed and natures truth


if the company at a rout or drawingroom at court could only for one time be as unconscious of the eyes upon them as blind men and women are what secrets would come out and what a worker of hypocrisy this sight the loss of which we so much pity would appear to be


the thought occurred to me as i sat down in another room before a girl blind deaf and dumb destitute of smell and nearly so of taste before a fair young creature with every human faculty and hope and power of goodness and affection inclosed within her delicate frame and but one outward sensethe sense of touch


there she was before me built up as it were in a marble cell impervious to any ray of light or particle of sound with her poor white hand peeping through a chink in the wall beckoning to some good man for help that an immortal soul might be awakened


long before i looked upon her the help had come


her face was radiant with in telligence and pleasure


her hair braided by her own hands was bound about a head whose intellectual capacity and develop ment were beautifully expressed in its graceful outline and its broad open brow her dress arranged by herself was a pat tern of neatness and simplicity the work she had knitted lay beside her her wri tingbook was on the desk she leaned upon


from the mournful ruin of such bereave ment there had slowly risen up this gentle tender guileless grateful hearted being


like other inmates of that house she had a green ribbon bound round her eye lids


a doll she had dressed lay near upon the ground i took it up and saw that she had made a green fillet such as she wore herself and fastened it about its mimic eyes


she was seated in a little enclosure made by school desks and forms writing her daily journal


but soon finishing this pursuit she engaged in an animated com munication with a teacher who sat beside her


this was a favourite mistress with the poor pupil


if she could see the face of her fair instructress she would not love her less i am sure


i have extracted a few disjointed frag ments of her history from an account written by that one man who has made her what she is


it is a very beautiful and touching narrative and i wish i could pre sent it entire


her name is laura bridgman


she was born in hanover new hampshire on the twentyfirst of december


she is described as having been a very sprightly and pretty infant with bright blue eyes


she was however so puny and feeble until she was a year and a half old that her parents hardly hoped to rear her


she was subject to severe fits which seemed to rack her frame almost beyond her power of endurance and life was held by the feeblest tenure but when a year and a half old she seemed to rally the dangerous symptoms subsided and at twenty months old she was perfectly well


then her mental powers hitherto stinted in their growth rapidly developed themselves and during the four months of health which she enjoyed she appears making due allowance for a fond mothers account to have displayed a considerable degree of intelligence


but suddenly she sickened again her disease raged with great violence during five weeks when her eyes and ears were inflamed suppurated and their contents were discharged


but though sight and hearing were gone for ever the poor childs sufferings were not ended


the fever raged during seven weeks for five months she was kept in bed in a darkened room it was a year before she could walk unsupported and two years before she could sit up all day


it was now observed that her sense of smell was al most entirely destroyed and conse qently that her taste was much blunted


it was not until four years of age that the poor childs bodily health seemed re stored and she was able to enter upon her apprenticeship of life and the world


but what a situation was hers


the darkness and the silence of the tomb were around her no mothers smile called forth her answering smile no fathers voice taught her to imitate his sounds they brothers and sisters were but forms of matter which resisted her touch but which differed not from the furniture of the house save in warmth and in the power of locomotion and not even in these respects from the dog and the cat


but the immortal spirit which had been implanted within her could not die nor be maimed or mutilated and though most of its avenues of communication with the world were cut off it began to manifest itself through the others


as soon as she could walk she began to explore the room and then the house she became familiar with the form density weight and heat of every article she could lay her hands upon


she followed her mother and felt her hands and arms as she was occupied about the house and her disposition to imitate led her to repeat everything herself


she even learned to sew a little and to knit


the reader will scarcely need to be told however that the opportunities of com municating with her were very very limited and that the moral effects of her wretched state soon began to appear


those who cannot be enlightened by reason can only be controlled by force and this coupled with her great privations must soon have reduced her to a worse condition than that of the beasts that perish but for timely and unhopedfor aid


at this time i was so fortunate as to hear of the child and immediately hasten ed to hanover to see her


i found her with a wellformed figure a strongly marked nervoussanguine temperament a large and beautifully shaped head and the whole system in healthy action


the parents were easily induced to consent to her coming to boston and on the th of october they brought her to the institution


for a while she was much bewildered and after waiting about two weeks until she became acquainted with her new lo cality and somewhat familiar with the inmates the attempt was made to give her knowledge of arbitrary signs by which she could interchange thoughts with others


there was one of two ways to be adopted either to go on to build up a language of signs on the basis of the na tural language which she had already commenced herself or to teach her the purely arbitrary language in common use that is to give her a sign for every individu al thing or to give her a knowledge of let ters by combination of which she might ex press her idea of the existence and the mode and condition of existence of any thing


the former would have been easy but very ineffectual the latter seemed very difficult but if accomplished very effectual


i determined therefore to try the latter


the first experiments were made by taking articles in common use such as knives forks spoons keys c and pasting upon them labels with their names printed in raised letters


these she felt very carefully and soon of course distinguished that the crooked lines spoon differed as much from the crooked lines key as the spoon differed from the key in form


then small detached labels with the same words printed upon them were put into her hands and she soon observed that they were similar to the ones pasted on the articles she showed her perception of this similarity by laying the label hey upon the key and the label spoon upon the spoon


she was encouraged here by the natural sign of approbation patting on the head


the same process was then repeated with all the articles which she could handle and she very easily learned to paste the proper labels upon them


it was evident however that the only intellectual exercise was that of imitation and memory she recollected that the label look was placed upon a book and she repeated the process first from imitation next from memory with only the motive of love of approbation but apparently without the intellectual percep tion of any relation between the things


after a while instead of labels the individual letters were given to her on detached bits of paper they were arranged side by side so as to spell book key c then they were mixed up in a heap and a sign was made to her to arrange them herself so as to express the words book key c and she did so


hitherto the process had been me chanical and the success about as great as teaching a very knowing dog a variety of tricks


the poor child had sat in mute amazement and patiently imitated every thing her teacher did but now the truth began to flash upon her her intellect began to work she perceived that here was a way by which she could herself make up a sign of anything that was in her own mind and show it to another mind and at once her countenance lighted up with a human expression it was no longer a dog or parrot it was an im mortal spirit eagerly seizing upon a new link of union with other spirits


i could almost fix upon the moment when this truth dawned upon her mind and spread its light to her countenance i saw that the great obstacle was overcome and that henceforward nothing but patient and per severing but plain and straightforward efforts were to he used


the result thus far is quickly related and easily conceived but not so was the process for many weeks of apparently unprofitable labour were passed before it was effected


when it was said above that a sign was made it was intended to say that the action was performed by her teacher she feeling his hands and then imitating the motion


the next step was to procure a set of metal types with the different letters of the alphabet cast upon their ends also a board in which were square holes into which holes she could set the types so that the letters on their ends could alone be felt above the surface


then on any article being handed to her for instance a pencil or a watch she would select the component letters and arrange them on her board and read them with apparent pleasure


she was exercised for several weeks in this way until her vocabulary became extensive and then the important step was taken of teaching her how to represent the different letters by the position of her fingers instead of the cumbrous apparatus of the board and types


she accomplished this speedily and easily for her intellect had begun to work in aid of her teacher and her progress was rapid


this was the period about three months after she had commenced that the first report of her case was made in which it is stated that she has just learned the manual alphabet as used by the deaf mutes and it is a subject of delight and wonder to see how rapidly correctly and eagerly she goes on with her labours


her teacher gives her a new object for in stance a pencil first lets her examine it and get an idea of its use then teaches her how to spell it by making the signs for the letters with her own fingers the child grasps her hand and feels her fingers as the different letters are formed she turns her head a little on one side like a person listening closely her lips are apart she seems scarcely to breath and her countenance at first anxious gra dually changes to a smile as she compre hends the lesson


she then holds up her tiny fingers and spells the word in the manual alphabet next she takes her types and arranges her letters and last to make sure that she is right she takes the whole of the types composing the word and places them upon or in contact with the pencil or whatever the object may be


the whole of the succeeding year was parsed in gratifying her eager inquiries for the names of every object which she could possibly handle in exercising her in the use of the manual alphabet in extending in every possible way her knowledge of the physical relations of things and in proper care of her health


at the end of the year a report of her case was made from which the following is an extract


it has been ascertained beyond the possibility of doubt that she cannot see a ray of light cannot hear the least sound and never exercises her sense of smell if she have any


thus her mind dwells in darkness and stillness as profound as that of a closed tomb at midnight


of beauti ful sights and sweet sounds and pleasant odours she has no conception neverthe less she seems as happy and playful as a bird or a lamb and the employment of her intellectual faculties or the acquire ment of a new idea gives her a vivid plea sure which is plainly marked in her ex pressive features


she never seems to re pine but has all the buoyancy and gaiety of childhood


she is fond of fun and frolic and when playing with the rest of the children her shrill laugh sounds loudest of the group


when left alone she seems very happy if she have her knitting or sewing and will busy herself for hours if she have no occupation she evidently amuses herself by imaginary dialogues or by re calling past impressions she counts with her fingers or spells out names which she has recently learned in the manual alpha bet of the deaf mutes


in this lonely selfcommunion she seems to reason re flect and argue if she spell a word wrong with the fingers of her right hand she instantly strikes it with her left as her teacher does in sign of disapproba tion if right then she puts herself upon the head and looks pleased


she some times purposely spells a word wrong with the left hand looks roguish for a moment and laughs and then with the right strikes the left as if to correct it


during the year she has attained great dexterity in the use of the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes and she spells out the words and sentences which she knows so fast and so deftly that only those accustomed to this language can follow with the eye the rapid motions of her fingers


but wonderful as is the rapidity with which she writes her thoughts upon the air still more so is the ease and accuracy with which she rends the words thus written by another grasping their hands in hers and follow ing every movement of their fingers as letter after letter conveys their meaning to her mind


it is in this way that she con verses with her blind playmates and no thing can more forcibly show the power of mind in forcing matters to its purpose than a meeting between them


for if great talent and skill are necessary for two pantomimes to paint their thoughts and feelings by the movements of the body and the expression of the countenance how much greater the difficulty when darkness shrouds both and the one can hear no sound


when laura is walking through a passage way with her hands spread before her she knows instantly every one she meets and passes them with a sign of re cognition but if it be a girl of her own age and especially if it be one of her favourites there is instantly a bright smile of recognition and a twining of arms a grasping of hands and a swift telegraphing upon the tiny fingers whose rapid evolu tions convey the thoughts and feelings from the outposts of one mind to those of the other


there are questions and an swer exchanges of joy or sorrow there are kissings and partings just as between little children with all their senses


during this year and six months after she had left home her mother came to visit her and the scene of their meet ing was an interesting one


the mother stood some time gazing with overflowing eyes upon her unfortunate child who all unconscious of her presence was playing about the room


presently laura ran against her and at once began feeling her hands examining her dress and trying to find out if she knew her but not succeeding in this she turned away as from a stranger and the poor woman could not conceal the pang she felt at finding that her beloved child did not know her


she then gave laura a string of beads which she used to wear at home which were recognised by the child at once who with much joy put them around her neck and sought me eagerly to say she understood the string was from her home


the mother now tried to caress her but poor laura repelled her preferring to be with her acquaintances


another article from home was now given her and she began to look much in terested she examined the stranger much closer and gave me to understand that she came from hanover she even endured her caresses but would leave her with in difference at the slightest signal


the distress of the mother was now painful to behold for although she had feared that she should not be recognised the painful reality of being treated with cold indiffer ence by a darling child was too much for womans nature to bear


after awhile on the mother taking hold of her again a vague idea seemed to flit across lauras mind that this could not be a stranger she therefore felt her hand very eagerly while her countenance assumed an expression of intense interest she became very pale and then suddenly red hope seemed struggling with doubt and anxiety and never were contending emotions more strongly painted upon the human face at this moment of painful uncertainty the mother drew her close to her side and kissed her fondly when at once the truth flashed upon the child and all mistrust and anxiety disappeared from her face as with an expression of exceed ing joy she eagerly nestled to the bosom of her parent and yielded herself to her fond embraces


after this the beads were all un heeded the playthings which were offered to her were utterly disregarded her play mates for whom but a moment before she gladly left the stranger now vainly strove to pull her from her mother and though she yielded her usual instantaneous obedience to my signal to follow me it was evidently with painful reluctance


she clung close to me as if bewildered and fearful and when after a moment i took her to her mother she sprang to her arms and clung to her with eager joy


the subsequent parting between them showed alike the affection the intelligence and the resolution of the child


laura accompanied her mother to the door clinging close to her all the way until they arrived at the threshold where she paused and felt around to ascertain who was near her


perceiving the matron of whom she is very fond she grasped her with one hand holding on convulsively to her mother with the other and thus she stood for a moment then she dropped her mothers hand put her handkerchief to her eyes and turned round clung sobbing to the matron while her mother departed with emotions as deep as those of her child


it has been remarked in former re ports that she can distinguish different degrees of intellect in others and that she soon regarded almost with contempt a new comer when after a few days she discovered her weakness of mind


this unamiable part of her character has been more strongly developed during the past year


she chooses for her friends and com panions those children who are intelli gent and can talk best with her and she evidently dislikes to be with those who are deficient in intellect unless indeed she can make them serve her purposes which she is evidently inclined to do


she takes advantage of them and makes them wait upon her in a manner that she knows she could not exact of others and in various ways she shows her saxon blood


she is fond of having other children noticed and caressed by the teachers and those whom she respects but this must not be carried too far or she becomes jealous


she wants to have her share which if not the lions is the greater part and if she does not get it she says my mother will love me


her tendency to imitation is so strong that it leads her to actions which must be entirely incomprehensible to her and which can give her no other pleasure than the gratification of an internal faculty


she has been known to sit for half an hour holding a book before her sightless eyes and moving her lips as she has observed seeingpeople do when reading


she one day pretended that her doll was sick and went through all the motions of tending it and giving it medicine she then put it carefully to bed and placed a bottle of hot water to its feet laughing all the time most heartily


when i came home she insisted upon my going to see it and feel its pulse and when i told her to put a blister on its back she seemed to enjoy it amazingly and almost screamed with delight


her social feelings and her affections are very strong and when she is sitting at work or at her studies by the side of one of her little friends she will break off from her task every few moments to hug and kiss them with art earnestness and warmth that is touching to behold


when left alone she occupies and apparently amuses herself and seems quite contented and so strong seems to be the natural tendency of thought to put on the garb of language that she often soliloquized in the finger language slow and tedious as it is


but it is only when alone that she is quiet for if she becomes sensible of the presence of any one near her she is restless until she can sit close beside them hold their hand and converse with them by signs


in her intellectual character it is pleasing to observe an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a quick perception of the relation of things


in her moral character it is beautiful to behold her continual glad ness her keen enjoyment of existence her expansive love her unhesitating con fidence her sympathy with sufferings her conscientiousness truthfulness and hope fulness


such are the few fragments from the simple but most interesting and instruc tive history o laura bridgman


the name of her great benefactor and friend who unites it is doctor howe


there are not many persons i hope and believe who after reading these passages can ever hear that name with indifference


a further account has been published by dr howe since the report from which i have just quoted


it describes her rapid mental growth and improvement during twelve months more and brings her little history down to the end of last year


it is very remarkable that as we dream in words and carry on imaginary conversations in which we speak both for ourselves and for the shadows who appear to us in those visions of the night so she having no words uses her finger alphabet in her sleep


and it has been ascertained that when her slumber is broken and is much disturbed by dreams she expresses her thoughts in an irregular and confused manner on her fingers just as we should murmur and mutter them indistinctly in the like circumstances


i turned over the leaves of her diary and found it written in a fair legible square hand and expressed in terms which were quite intelligible without any explanation


on my saying that i should like lo see her write again the teacher who sat beside her bade her in their language sign her name upon a slip of paper twice or thrice


in doing so i observed that she kept her left hand always touching and following up her right in which of course she held the pen


no line was indicated by any contrivance but she wrote straight and freely


she had until now been quite uncon scious of the presence of visitors but having her hand placed in that of the gen tleman who accompanied me she imme diately expressed his name upon her teachers palm


indeed her sense of touch is now so exquisite that having been ac quainted with a person once she can recog nise him or her after almost any interval


this gentleman had been in her company i believe but very seldom and certainly had not seen her for many months


my hand she rejected at once as she does that of any man who is a stranger to her


but she retailed my wifes with evident plea sure kissed her and examined her dress with a girls curiosity and interest


she was merry and cheerful and showed much innocent playfulness in her inter course with her teacher


her delight on recognising a favorite playfellow and com panionherself a blind girlwho silently and with an equal enjoyment of the coming surprise look a seat beside her was beautiful to witness


it elicited from her at first as other slight circumstances did twice or thrice during my visit an uncouth noise which was rather painful to hear


but on her teacher touching her lips she immediately desisted and em braced her laughingly and affectionately


i had previously been into another chamber where a number of blind boys were swinging and climbing and engaged in various sports


they all clamoured as we entered to the assistantmaster who accompanied us look at me mr hart


please mr hart look at me


evincing i thought even in this an anx iety peculiar to their condition that their little feats of agility should be seen


among them was a small laughing fellow who stood aloof entertaining himself with a gymnastic exercise for bringing the arms and chest into play which he enjoyed mightily especially when in thrusting out his right arm he brought it into con tact with another boy


like laura bridgman this young child was deaf and dumb and blind


dr howes account of this pupils first instruction is so very striking and so in timately connected with laura herself that i cannot refrain from a short extract


i may premise that the poor boys name is oliver caswell that he is thirteen years of age and that he was in full pos session of all his faculties until three years and four months old


he was then at tacked by scarlet fever in four weeks be came deaf in a few weeks more blind in six months dumb


he showed his anxious sense of this last deprivation by often feeling the lips of other persons when they were talking and then putting his hand upon his own as if to assure himself that he had them in the right position


his thirst for knowledge says dr howe proclaimed itself as soon as he entered the house by his eager examina tion of every thing he could feel or smell in his new location


for instance tread ing upon the register of a furnace he instantly stooped down and began to feel it and soon discovered the way in which the upper plate moved upon the lower one but this was not enough for him so lying down upon his face he applied his tongue first to one then to the other and seemed to discover that they were of different kinds of metal


his signs were expressive and the strictly natural language laughing crying sighing kissing embracing c was perfect


some of the analogical signs which guided by his faculty of imitation he had contrived were comprehensible such as the waving motion of his hand for the motion of a boat the circular one for a wheel c the first object was to break up the use of these signs and to substitute for them the use of purely arbitrary ones


profiting by the experience i had gained in other cases i omitted several steps of the process before employed and commenced at once with the finger lan guage


taking therefore several articles having short names such as key cup mug c and with laura for an auxili ary i sat down and taking his hand placed it upon one of them and then with my own made the letters key


he felt my hands eagerly with both of his and on my repeating the process he evidently tried to imitate the motions of my fingers


in a few minutes he contrived to feel the motions of my fingers with one hand and holding out the other he tried to imitate them laughing most heartily when he succeeded


laura was by in terested even to agitation and the two presented a singular sight her face flushed and anxious and her fingers twining in among ours so closely as to follow every motion but so lightly as not to embarrass them


while oliver stood attentive his head a little aside his face turned up his left hand grasping mine and his right held out at every motion of my fingers his countenance betokened keen attention there was an expression of anxiety as he tried to imitate the motions then a smile came stealing out as he thought he could do so and spread into a joyous laugh the moment he suc ceeded and felt me pat his head and laura clap him heartily upon the back and jump up and down in her joy


he learned more than half a dozen letters in half an hour and seemed de lighted with his success at least in gaining approbation


his attention then began to flag and i commenced playing with him


it was evident that in all this he had merely been imitating the motions of my fingers and placing his hand upon the key cup c part of the process without any perception of the relation between the sign and the object


when he was tired with play i took him back to the table and he was quite ready to begin again his process of imita tion


he soon learned to make the letters for hey pen pin and by having the object repeatedly placed in his hand he at least perceived the relation i wished to establish between them


this was evident because when i made the letters pin or pen or cups he would select the article


the perception of this relation was not accompanied by that radiant flash of intelligence and the glow of joy which marked the delightful moment when laura first perceived it


i then placed all the articles upon the table and going away a little distance with the children placed olivers fingers in the position to spell key on which laura went and brought the article the little fellow seemed to be much amused by this and looked very attentive and smiling


i then caused him to make the letters bread and in an in stant laura went and brought him a piece he smelled at it put it to his lips cocked up his head with a most knowing look seemed to reflect a moment and then laughed outright as much as to say aha


i understand how something may be made out of this


it was now clear that he had the ca pacity and inclination to learn that he was a proper subject for instruction and needed only persevering attention


i therefore put him in the hands of an in telligent teacher nothing doubting of his rapid progress


well may this gentleman call that a delightful moment in which some distant promise of her present state first gleamed upon the darkened mind of laura bridg man


throughout his life the recollection of that moment will be to him a source of pure unfading happiness nor will it shine least brightly on the evening of his days of noble usefulness


the affection that exists between these twothe master and the pupilis as far removed from all ordinary care and regard as the circumstances in which it has had its growth are apart from the common occurrences of life


he is occupied now in devising means of imparting to her higher knowledge and of conveying to her some adequate idea of the great creator of that universe in which dark and silent and scentless though it be to her she has such a deep delight and glad enjoyment


ye who have eyes and see not and have ears and hear not ye who are the hypo crites of sad countenances and disfigure your faces that ye may seem unto men to fast learn healthy cheerfulness and mild contentment from the deaf and dumb and blind


selfelected saints with gloomy brows this sightless earless voiceless child may teach you lessons you will do well to follow


let that poor hand of hers lie gently on your hearts for there may be something in his healing touch akin to that of the great master whose precepts you misconstrue whose lessons you pervert of whose charity and sym pathy with all the world not one among you in his daily practice knows as much as many of the worst among those fallen sinners to whom you are liberal in nothing but the preachment of perdition


as i rose to quit the room a pretty little child of one of the attendants came running in to greet its father


for the moment a child with eyes among the sightless crowd impressed me almost as painfully as the blind boy in the porch had done two hours ago


ah


how much brighter and more deeply blue glowing and rich though it had been be fore was the scene without contrasting with the darkness of so many youthful lives within


chapter v it was adark gusty night whon a man carefully wrapt in a cloak and tollowed at a short distance by his armed lacquey took his way to the house of aaron the jew on the quai des orfevres


arrived at the door the stranger looked warily about him ore he knocked


after a brief pause a voice from within inquired the business of the visitor


i would speak with the jew aaron was the answer


he hears you now said the jew but tomorrow sir tomorrow said tho gold smith and he was heard to retrace his teps when a louder more peremptory knocking brought him back to the door


speak what name


asked the jew


again the stranger looked fearfully about him then bending his head in a low deep voice answered belle ville the chevalier belleville


at the words a massive doorchain rang upon tho floor three holts were undrawn and the door slowly turning upon the hinge bellevillo saw


tho sharp meagre face of tho jew who shading a lump with his hand cast up his black searching eyes full in the features of his visitor


chevalier bcllnvillc you come at a late hour but you are welcome


saying this tho jew led the way down a long passage und turned into a little room at its extremity


aaron placing tho lamp upon the table rubbed his hands and smiled with mixed complacency and cunning upon his visitor


well chevalier weill have looked for you these three days said the jew


indeed answered belleville and ho seemed to swell with hatred and contempt of tho lovito who conscious of these feelings on the part of his visitor met them with the very mockery of servility


what cared aaron for the loathing of a profitable customer


he rubbed his hands and bowed and paid back with usury the scorn and hatred of the christian gamester


and you expected me v asked bellovillo


in truth most noblo sir i ha


and aaron paused


and took the lamp from the table ha


an old man


my head is going


what now v asked belleville laying his hand upon the jew who was hastening from the apartment


what now


the jew looked appealingly at belleville and tapping his own forehead with his thin horny fingers he sighed mill repeated an old man my head is going


then drawing himself closer to belleville he lialfwhibporcd confidentially i have forgotten the third bolt


with


this communication tho jew with now activity glided from the room leaving belleville in darkness instinctively the chevulior laid his hand upon his sword


did the jew moan him foul play


no no ho would gain more thought belleville and tho thought reassured him by


holding his peace


had the jew closed the door


jielville stretched out his arm that be might follow him


the door was fast


he scorned as in a trap lie groped round the walls and touching a piece of tapestry


felt that it drew aside


it covered another door


he opened k and moving an inner curtain stood astonishud at tho things before him


he stood in a small chamber lighted by four tapers and in the midbt a coffin


a wlato garment was hung over it and in the coffin were scattered two or three handfuus of dry dusty earth un a panel in the wall in lettors of gold were written theso words


daron etra


let hit tout be in the bundle of life hh the rest o the juit


amen


the truth at once revcalod itself to belloville


the coffin had been propared by order of tho goldsmith and m the chamber tho old muckthrilt tho seeming wretched joulless man was wont to familiarise iub thoughta with the angel of death to retire there from tho traffic of tho world to meditate


upon tho oomlng of otcrnity


ho who seemed to have uo heart no thought save for


the lucre pfthis world considered his coffin every night bofurcliq slept and in anticipation laid himself within his grave


for a moment the mind of belleville quailed beneath the superiority of tho jew


he no longer thought of him as the subservient slinking smiling dealer but as a man with faculties chastened elevated by un awful discipline


and yet yet ho clings to wealth


again thought belvillo and looking at the coffin the epitaph or what ever it was intended for in the wall the earth and shroud the things appoared to him only as part of a grim farce a musk a mockory


with this now feeling the chevalier stepped from the room closed the door and drew the curtain as tho tread of aaron was again heard in tho passage


your pardon your pardon noblo sir i had quite forgotton my head


my head that i should have left you in darkness said aaron and placing the lamp upon the table and slowly rubbing his palms he intimated by his smile that ho awaited the commands of his visitor


but whoreforo bolt the door v asked bolville sternly not deigning to attend to the invitation of tho goldsmith


tho door said aaron with a look of atlucted ig noranco


belleville doggedly repeated the question


alack


and so i did cried the jew


your pardon gontle sir i imploro your pardon


habit sir habit forgive me nothing more


belloville eyeing tho jew askance sought to gather from his impenetrable faco an inkling of the mystery which despite of all tho chevaliers efforts to despise oppressed confounded him


i i have bethought


me of business that admits not of delay will be with you in tho morning aaron said belleville and folding his cloak about him ho prepared to depart


at your own good time chevalier said tho jew readily taking tho lamp to light his visitor to the door


again belleville paused und struck by the alacrity of tho goldsmith and aguin despising his own fears as he almost unconsciously measured himself ugainst the slight puny frame of the jew he took the trader by the hand and with a gay kind face said but no good auron now i think ont tis better that youth though enriched with most surpassing beauty wait awhile than that groy hairs be disturbed for a thriftless erruud


we will talk now und with tho words belloville threw his cloak aside and boated himself beside the grateful jew


and now good aaron said belleville with a most con oiliuting smile you must pardon the hard cruel words that at our first meeting i cust upon you


hard words


i have forgotten every thing most noble sir said auron every thing save thut you sent for me to treat for certain goods why should i an old and dying man cherish the memory of wrongs true true auron


but how few like yourself let their passions their resentments die beforo them


how fow seo their vices eoflined oro they full themselves


tho eye of aaron was set like tho eye of a snake upon the faco of bellevillo who albeit ho felt it on his cheek avoided the gazo of tho goldsmith anil was proceeding in his themo of praise when the jew apparently relieved of his first suspicion bogged to bo spared all further eulogy and at the samo tune prayed to know the com mands of his most noble visitor


pimp presses worthy sir biiroly you came hitlior for a wiser purpose than to ilattor your poor servant said auron


n


t was not my errand aaron said bellovillo but i owed you somo recompense for my lato churlishness


i did not remoinbor it your business sir again gently pressed the goldsmith


i


briefly then you know qno eugeno da loire


asked bollovillo a worthy gentleman i have had doaliugb with him answered the


jow t


aud he is botrotkod to claire do mcrival


f


a beautiful maiden a ladyof most rare


sweetness


peace i cried belleville contemptuously


i havo men the damsel


now toll me where can i find her boy lover eugeno do loire


at the door answered the unmoved jew as a loud knocking rplairaed the arrival of a new visitor


in stantly belleville leaped from his seat and for a moment like a tiger about to spring crouobed at the jew who with innocentlywondering face begged to know bis wor ships pleasure


this cunning will not serve you jew


eugene do loire here


what brings him to this house


answer me and quickly aaron or there is a certain coffin in a near chamber you understand me that may be filled speedily with other goods than gold or spices speak


what brings him here


i think most noue sir replied the smiling jew i think he comes touching a nertain diamond bracelet


you hear his haste added the goldsmith as the house rang with a second knocking


so villain


cried belleville you have entrapped me


he stays i doubt not with a dozen officers


you have whistled the hounds and


what mean ye worthy sir


he seeks mo for another jewel ho would replace the bracelet lost had ordered mo to supply it tonight comes with five thousand crowns to require it at my hands


and where where is the jewel asked belleville


have you most punctual trader provided it


i knew most noble chevalier i might depend upon your coming though in sooth i looked for the visit somewhat earlier


now you havo it with you


the price well settle afterwards come t will be a rare trick to sell the youth tho same bracelet a second time


how hell praise the cunning of the workman


now chevalier give me the treasure cried the jew miscreant oxalaimed belleville and ho grasped the jew by tho throat


as he held him the knocking at the door was renewed and louder and louder the summons sounded through the house making belleville deaf to the groans and gaspings of the struggling jew and fixing the fingers of the assassin with mortal gripe in the neok of his victim


every knock added to bellevilles sense of danger nerved him anew to inoxorablo revenge


the wretched puny goldsmith writhed like a snake crushed in the iron hand of a cyclops


tho knooking ceasod tho jew no longer struggled


whos there


cried belleville as he heard tho door of the room opon for in the deathstruggle the lamp thrown from the table had been extinguished


eh


that fell heavier than an autumn leaf was the answer as the corpse of the jew tumbled in a heap upon the floor and the cold measured passionless tone of the unseen speaker seemed to freese tho marrow of the assassin


again gasped belleville and he shud dered at tho hollo


wnebs of his own voice was appalled at the beating of bis own heart


do grey hairs drop so heavily


questioned tho stranger mockingly


speak


who are you exclaimed belle ville


man or fiend i fear you not


hal ha


his heart beats like tho bell of notre dame oriod the voice but not with fear


the tiger that laps blood growb bold


belleville drawing his sword plunged it madly towards tho speaker the weapon stuok in the panel of the door and at the same time a low derisive whistlo sounded through tho apartment


better fortune tho next throw said the voioo and iramodiatoly belleville hoard a low sound of shaking dice


the sweat pourod down his face his voiue died in his throat he staggered and fell upon a chair and as lj dice continued to sound his brain grew stunned with what seemed to him infernal music


he sat tonguetied in the darkness and still the things that slew the widows son sounded


to bellevilles imagination there was an audible chuckle as of the fiends in the quick rattling of the dice


sixes again


cried the unseen dicer


now monsieur laval at the name belleville sprang in horror to his feeta recollection of the inner chamber flashed upon him


in a moment he had torn aside the curtain and dashed open the door


the tapers burning by the coffin threw a dim sickly light into tho room rovealing to the amazed belle ville the body of his victim now a tenant for the grave


rupert reeled heartsick against the wall he wus alone wilb the dead


he could have faced the fiend him self but the solitude the silence appalled him


the knocking again commenced at the outer door though it announced a host of enemies in that horrid moment re lieved him for it again connected him with human sym pathies again mado him a part of human life


he wsb gasping in a circle drawn by demons when the hand of man plucked him thence


so executioner and sexton too


cried the marquis de la jonquille who had opened the door and stood with laughing face his eyes wandering from the dead to the types of death


jonquille


what jugglings this exclaimed belleville juggling


echoed the marquis and ho pointed to the body of iho jew my best of friends this is tho end of juggling though i must bay it tho only end for at tho very gates of tho churchyard the mountebank sets up his soaffold t is but when he is thus his trade is really done


you wore here but now cried belleville deny it not


here hero with dice


fie chevalier tie


dice


and in such solemn com pany


and do la jonquille bowed reverently to the dead


surely surely i know the relics of my betters ay betters for the carcass ol your dead beggar may be the cast garment of an angel


cease this jargon cease


right tis dull and heavy and begets black blood in us


surnly it is the smell of mortality that breeds these megrims turning a fine and lively gentlomati for such i dare call mysolf to a sad sardonic proser


theres nothing like the malaria of the grave to dreed a tedious moralist


i have done


pretty work i faith


cried or rather crowed the marquis who with crossed arms and rising airily upon his toes looked down upon the murdered jew


brave work


belleville harassed mocked by his thoughts tortured by his fears gazed yt gazed in vain at his vivacious comrade armed in iiivulneniulu selfpossession no look no movement cacapocl him that should servo to reveal more than he cared to confess


imploringly yet hope lossly bellovillo for the last time appealed to him


and this is no trick de la jonqulllo tell me i implore you dear dear marquis


ha


criod the newlyrestored friend and grace fully approaching belleville he pressed him in his arms exclaiming excellent chevalier


you wore not here


cried bolleville breaking from his embrace


dear belleville you have studied hard of late and the overworked brain falls into waking dreams t was my own case once at college


you havo pondered too much on the combinations of play and did the lark herself blng in heaven youd think it was the dicebox rattling upon earth


you need reurention tbo dii traction


ol uw pleasures perhaps a littlo bloodletting though and hero tho marquis glanced at tho dead though that may aotno unsought


and how how came you here


was it you who knocked


cried the chevalier


that you shall know at present there are graver things to think of answered the marquis humph


poor old man


yes and do la jonquille tapped his snuffbox and fed either nostril as he considered the blackened face of the murdored aaron plain enough apoplexy poor man apoplexy


belleville shrunk within himself at the mocking voice of his companion who still proceeded


i thought t would come to this he was ever so full and fat with gold


ay apoplexy


jonquille whats to be done cried belleville pas sionately


the good religious man answered the marquis as he stepped into the inner chamber and taking a taper surveyed the various apartments of the house of death for so it might be called hath shown a pious provident nature


hero are all things fitting his changed condition


so and de la jonquille took a handful of earth from inside the coffin and let it run from between his fingers back again jerusalem soil and of the finest


we lose time suid belleville answer whats to be done


jerusalem earth cried de la jonquille his fingers still playing with the dust


to think now belleville that our dead friend there that ho whose ovory pulse seemed to beat for crowns that ho who would suck mens hearts for gold that he who would lie and fawn and cringe i cravo his pardon to speak such hard truths in his dead presence that he who seemed to have fallen as far from man as man fell from paradise should carry in his breast fond yearning thoughts for the glories of departed days that foul begrimed with the filth of paris he should dream of tho waters of jordan that scorned insulted laughed at spit upon ho should see his dearest hopes blossom and bear immortal fruit in this dry dust of his old jerusalem


jonquille


exclaimed the chevalier of what avails this strange wild preaching v this much did it suit either you or me to profit by it to look on no man bo he tho lowest basest but as one who it may bo carries within him somo portion of that mystery of mysteries which sheds upon bis solitary thoughts ennobling light effulgence wonderful that makes him a beggar clad in rugs sometimes the humble hopeful guest of angels


what means this talk


ist


jonquille or is it it was my other self that spoke just now said de la jonquille assuming his usual manner ull men are double though tho world sees but ono man in one nay the man himself shall often walk fourscore years and more about this dreaming world and die ignorant to the last of his twinbrother


my rhapsody is done belleville cried tho marquis i have not prated at this paco this many a day should not huvo ventured now but thut i know the prattle will be pardoned as twill be forgotten


now to business my bravo choralicr


come lift here the body


belloville shrank and bhuddercd at the words


not for the wealth of paris suid he could i touch it


pshaw


your fingers have touched tho living jew he hath not been dead so long that you should ho thus squeamish said jonquille


come ill help you lift this worn out thing to bod and jonquille taking tho body by the shoulders awaited the assistance of the reluctant belleville


come man or if you corn to bear the legs perhaps youll put your hands to his neck


belleville cast a fierce look at the laughing jonquille whose head bant over tho face of the corpse was in its heartless mirth in horrid contrast with the it is perhaps unnecessary to state that earth from jerusalem has been known to be obtained at great cost by jaws to place in thoir coffins


livid features beneath it


handsome


ns he was the marquis in his illtiiuod laughter looked little better than a gout stooping above its loathsome prey


belle ville again urged jonquillo belleville nerving himself for tlio task averting his head from the accusing face of his victim laid his trembling hands upon the body when a loud knocking was heard at the door


belloville started up with an exclamation of horror


well then said do la jonquille unmoved by tho sound it seems i must do this handiwork myself and the marquis carried the body as it had been the body of an infant into tho inner room


florence de rohan


a fragment from thehistory of napoleon


chapter i of the many dark events in connexion with napoleons wondei ful career there is hone on which the historian has so often bee called to ponder as that of the death of the duke denghien


the death of the duke denghien was as undeserved as it wa sudden and violent the most subtle ingenuity has been continual


baffled in the endeavour toprovide for this act a solution that ma not conflict with the most boundless admiration for the hero


tin common judgment of mankind which seldom for any length o time can err has finally referred the most efficient cause of this deed to napoleons fear that the duke might ultimately thwar his imperial projects


the connexion that the life of the dulci had with napoleons fortunes napoleon himself best could tell


we will trace in outline the historical position of the event before bringing into view and into as orderly arrangement as possible its concurrent incidents and circumstances


we can do no more these incidents these circumstances can by no possibility be blent they possess neither unity nor fitness


the unchecked develop ment of a wicked and powerful heart like the flowing of a heated volcano can make only waste and desolation all thal is good it isolates


yet is its work not wholly uninteresting affection love devotion lifted high above its jiower resembling in this the scat tered stars of verdure on the pale steeps of etna bloom on us with an almost unearthly beautythe preachers of mortal constancy and of spiritual immortality


alas


as ave gaze the stems are scorched the flowers fall their fragrance ascends theaven and their dust is scattered


the time of the mournful tragedy which constituts this frag ment was when france by the success of her arms was executing plans unprecedented in their character


the magnitude together with the atrociousness of the deed may be estimated by the fact that though europe at the period of its occurrence had become inured to scenes of blood and could hear without emotion of armies being swept away in fewer days than had been required to collect and equip them yet limited almost personally as it was it sent a thrill of horror through all the veins of european society and effected a revulsion bf feeling that has no parallel in the moral annals of mankind


in this issue it was that napoleons character shone out boldly and confessedly as the enemy of mankind


the steelwritten de claration that no innocence no rank no sanctity could render life inviolable dismayed even the most active promoters of the revo lution who till now had imagined that the french nation had re covered at last the longlost right of freedom and that the system of government framed according to their wishes was surely tending to secure their happiness


the tale of sorrow now to he opened but cannot therefore want a backgrounda background the sombre hue of which is only illuminated by the startled enthusiasm of those who could ofter to napoleon the highest worship that man can give his fellow those with whomand it is no rarecreed


one murder makes a villain millions n hero


just within the boundary line of austriawhose populous and fertile provinces had excited at once the envy and jealousy of na poleonand h a sloping plain hemmed hr by wooded plantations and dotted by a few straguling cottages he ami his great army halted immediately


after engagement iiivbiie of the most brilliant battles that histiryhas recorded briikatt butinglorious


aus tria had presented a noble though useless opposition


the french armyinspired by an almost supernatural j excitement and aided scene in tus market by localcircumstances had fully evinced its own superiority


tiere was an advantage of another kind on which napoleon had well and safely calculated


thedominions of the house of austria being unconnectedly situated a long time was necessary for the march of austrian levies from one extremity of the empire to


another


these battalions too being composed of a variety of nations differing in manner and opposed in interest it was fre quently as difficult a matter to unite as to collect them


the re sources of france on the contrary were immediately at hand its soldiers were united in onecompact body so closely concentrated as to admit of no embarrassment


as it was the genius of napo leon was adjudged to have won the day j id froin all the clamour and confusion common to a noisy and recklessarmy there arose from this place pf encampment clear anddistinct those ascriptions j of praise on which napoleon was wont tst scf higha value j it was evening as the division sent in pursuit of straggling par


j ties of the enemy drew itself up above the vase of the broad hilh as twilight deepened the battlefield close by faded gradually from every eye till the lighted campfires brought portions into view tenfold more horrible by the heavy crimson mist that hung around the flames now made fantastic bj sudden and furious gusts of wind


the officers of the army elated by a success that pro mised a speedy advancement in their respective ranks had relaxed a good deal of their usual disciplinethe extreme severity of which was perhaps the only expressed cause of discontent on the part of napoleons soldierssoldiers who followed him with a halfin spired devotion ready at any moment to sacrifice life if they might enhance his fame


as though fierce passion in all its varieties had been cum


pletety expended themerry flow of mirth was to be heard in every division of the camp


the men assembled in little bauds drank j heartily to the health of their comrades


as night wore on the best and idlest ules were told the most wonderful feats we e alluded to each recital being occasionally heightened by a few fictitious touches whilst all the meritorious deeds of the dead whu


alas


could never contradict them werecredited to their own indi vidual selves


it was no time for those gentle thoughts which no deeds of blood eau ever effectually eradicate from the human heart and which however pressed down will yet always bloom again giving to the oppressed a respite and to the tyrant a season for re pentance


now and then a few ofthe loquacious and excited


multitude would look sad and grave rather perhaps from the un defined apprehension of retribution than from the workings of re morse


each one needed restscarce one but felt too excitedto wish repose


one regiment after another however dropped down exhausted yet not to sleep for from wherethey lay were heard wideawake expressionsthe language of men wholly wrought


upon by their inflamed senses


the officers of the army took good care to ensconce themselves in the private dwellings witichiiap pened to be situated at convenient distances on the slope


ti best one of these was of course reserved for their commander


we have little to do with the external aspect of the frem commanders headquarters


it was simply a pile of stone of j describable shape or form but bearing marks of age in the i that clung about it


its inhabitants had fled the previous nigl and probably were not so much as thought of in this summa action of possession


the light in the second story flashed dov on two sentinels engaged inthe mechanical operation of pacing and fro as guardians of the hallowed precincts


the interior that apartment only made noticeable by the presence of its transie guest exhibited an extreme paucity of furniturefurniture hov yer a memento of better and richer times


a high mantelpiece rudely carved extended over a fire mai up of every burnable material that could be laid hold of


tl flames of this fire employed themselves in multiplying the shadov of three antique chairs while on an oaken table a lamp burn with a quiet and contented air despite the gambols of the shadov on the floor and on the walls


close by sat napoleon dictating series of despatches to his private secretary a task that was r sooner got through than the secretary was dismissed


napoleoi now rising up threw off the greater part of his military dress an commenced pacing up and down that large chamber with a restle and unsatisfied air a mood to be remarked in a man who placidity the most alarming incidents could hardly ruffle


at ir tervals his hand passed rapidly over his brow his lips were cou pressed his countenance lost its meaning and his eyes their an marion


it was at this time that one of his marshals entered the aparl ment and referred to the advantages sure to recur from the la conflict


his companion with that ready command of thougl that he possessed in so wonderful a degree entered warmly int topics asdi verse from his former meditations as possible


his re marks went to show how long he had resolved the conquest austria in his mind and with how clear a foresight he ha formed his plans of policy respecting it


it was thus an hon passed away and the visit terminated with mutual expressions c satisfaction


on the comparison of opinions both had satisfie themselves that though the territories of austria were disadvan tageously situated in respect to foreign trade its robust and hard population would enable france to levy numerous armies on


wine


they might depend for conquest whenever the enthusiasm tha characterised the french nation


should by any accident subside


hitherto france had exhibited the unpromising spectacle of nation divided into a number of discordant factions its militar force in a disorganized state without an army capable of looking the enemy in the face and without any general in whom the natioi could place confidence


the armies of the confederates at thi same time were numerous and well disciplined flushed by expec


tation and encouraged by the most probable appearance of success a condition met by defeat and disaster


as a statesman napoleoi had reason to feel proud for not only did he perceive the mos successful method of subjugating man kind but knew himself abli to prepossess their minds in favour of any yoke he chose to impose he had adopted a matchless system of proselytism and one mos easy to carry out


the minds of all classes in france had beer put in a state of delusion from visionary theories or become cpr rupted by the expectation of advancing their private interests in the bustle of innovation and amidst the vicissitudes of political confusion


austria had always been able to present a formidable front affording an apparently insurmountable obstacle to the ex tension of french dominion and power in that quarter


napoleon remembered this and rejoiced and as he pondered in that empty room he inwardly determined to assume a more dictatorial tone he could not forbear from picturing his next return to franceto that people whose interests had now become identified with his own


it was no dream but again a shadow fell over the beaming pathway


his step became less rapid and at intervals he gave utterance to sentences abrupt impassioned but almost meaning less


a calm and quiet gravity succeeded and seating himself upon a chair he fixed his eyes on the fire which an attendant who had just entered the apartment was piling up


in a short while and probably without intention he bent over the outspread map that lay on the table at his side but strangely enough a roll of parchment rolled down upon it the sight did not please napoleon and


again he relapsed into his former listless mood


that parch


ment was the undespatched order for the immediate execution of the duke denghien and lay here awaiting his signature


god alone knows the unbidden thoughts that pressed round napoleon during that inward conflict of conscience with the darkest passions


a moment more aud smiles of mockery were traced on his stern features as if at his own imagined weakness


napoleon was for getful that his hesitation sprung from the very humanity of the nature that he wore vindicating itself despoiled and dimmed in glory ab it was this must not be he exclaimed at length time flies and


why do i hesitate


let this man be weighed against the millions that have perished and what is his worth


in an in stant more the scroll was opened but ere the pen could touch the document a loud challenge of the guards without arrested his at tention


a friend was the reply


at that late hour thc rejoinder was perfectly audible to napoleon who glad of interruption rose from his chair and walked towards the window lt was a night as beautiful with moon and stars as ever blessed the earth


his quick sight detected a lady together with two attendants


the appearance of the three strangers he could not but regard as some


what curious the circumstance at least was sufficiently sur prising to raise many a head from its uneasy pillow and lix many a roving eye that tain would have caught a glimpse of the in trudersi napoleon at a loss to understand the object of the visit stood motionless until an aidedecamp opened the door of the chamber to request permission on behalf of the visitant for an in terview


napoleon directed the immediate admission of the applicant


in a few moments a lady arrayed in deep mourning was ushered in


her dress was evidently assumed for disguise and the ob servant general discovered at a glance what indeed no disguise could conceal that she was of rank and station


the first sensa tion of the stranger on finding herself in the presence of napo leon and his wt appeared to be that of shrinking delicacy but quickly recovering her accustomed air of quiet dignity she took an offered seat near the fire


after a most embarrassing pause napoleon abruptly broke thc silence


to what madam am i indebted for the honor of this visit


general bonaparte was the reply in avoice sweetly clear i wish to speak to you in private for a few moments


we will retire said dupont with courtesy


to be concluded in our next


botanical exhibition


the summer


exhibition ot the australasianbotanic and horticultural society will be held by permission of his excellency the governor general in the bota nical gardens on tuesday th instant


chapter lii


in which the tables alte tuttkkd comilktely upside down


old mahtins cherished projects so long hidden in his own breast so frequently in danger of abrupt disclosure through the bursting forth of the indignation he had hoarded up during his residence with mr pecksniff were retarded but not beyond a few hours by the occurrences just now related


stunned as he had been at first by the intelligence conveyed to him through tom pinch and john westlock of the sup posed manner of his brothers death over whelmed as he was by the subsequent nar ratives of chuffey and nadgett and the forging of that chain of circumstances ending in the death of jonas of which catastrophe he was immediately informed scattered as his purposes and hopes were for the moment by the crowding ia of all these incidents between him and his end still their very intensity and die tumult of their assemblage nerved him to the rapid aod unyielding execution of his scheme


in every single circumstance whether it were cruel cowardly or false lie saw the flower ing of the same pregnant seed


selfj grasping eager narrowranging over reaching self with its jong train of sus picions lusts deceits and all their growing consequences was the root of the vile tree


mr pecksnilf had so presented his cha racter before the old mans eyes that he the good the tolerant enduring pecksniff had become the incarnation of all selfish ness and treachery and the more odious tlie shapes iu which nil those vices ranged themselves before him now the sterner consolation he had in his design of setting mr pecksniff right and mr pecksniffs victims too


to ibis work lie brought not only the energy and determination natural to his character which as the reader may have observed in the beginning of his or her ac quaintance with this gentleman was re markable for the strong development of those qualities hut all the forced and unnaturally nurtured energy consequent upon their long suppression


and these two tides of resolution setting into oue and sweeping on became so strong and vigo rous that to prevent tliemselves from being carried away before it heaven knows where was as much as john wostloek and mark tapley together though they were tolerably energetic too could manage to effect


he had sent for john westlock imme diately on his arrival and john under the conduct of tom pinch luid waited ou him


having a lively recollection of mr tapley he hail caused that gentlemans attendance to be secured through johns means with out delay and thus as we have seen they hail all repaired together to the city


but his grandson be had refused to see uutil to morrow when mr tapley was instructed to summon him to tbe temple at ten oclock in the forenoon


tom he would not allow to be employed in anything lest he should be wrongfully suspected but he was a prty to


their proceedings and was with them until late at night until after they knew of tbe death of jonas when he went home to tell all these wonders to little ruth and to ircparrlier for accompanying him to tbu temple iu the morning ngrecably to mr chuzzlowit s particular injunction


it was characteristic of old martin and his looking on to something which he had distinctly before him that he communicated to them nothing of his intentions beyond such hints of reprisal on mr pecksniff as they gathered from the game be had played in that gentlemans house and the bright ening of his cycb whenever his name was mentioned


even to jobu westlock in whom he was evidently disposed to place great confidence which may indeed be said of every one of them lie gave no explana tion whatever


he merely requested him to return in the morning and with this for their utmost satisfaction they left him when the night was far advanced alone


the events of such a day might hare worn out the body and spirit of a much younger man than he but lie sat in deep and painful meditation until tbe morning was bright nor did he even then seek any prolonged repose but merely slumbered in his clinir until seven oclock when mr tapley had appointed to come to him by his desire and came as fresh aud clean and cheerful as the morning itself


to be continued


lights and shadows of emigrant life


chapter ii


the house taken in melbourne and what it is like the family disembark first impressions of aus tralia the future


without any other disagreeable effects from the im mersion than the remembrance of the very narrow escape they had from drowning mr hayes and his son were able to prepare for the disembarkation on the fol lowing day and the whole family therefore set about collecting all the little odds and ends that are to be found in the generality of the berths of australian immigrants and which are so necessary for comfort during the long period they are pent up in their cir cumscribed domicile


the alarming circumstances of the previous night had in a measure put all thoughts of her future home out of the head of poor mrs hayes but no sooner had the daylight and after a comfortable nights rest in security and safety reassured her mind than she began to question her husband as to the result of the search for a house about which he went in quest


well osborne said she and what sort of a place have you got for us


i hope it is a nice one and that there is a nice little garden for i do love flowers


i have got a shelter at all events said hayes of a fair weather character but whether it will keep out wind and rain if they come with the violence it seems is not unusual in this climate remains to be proved


a shelter and not fit to keep out a storm


ex claimed the wife in surprise surely you are joking osborne to talk in that way


and surely where land is so plentiful there will be a good piece of ground for a garden


then you were never further mistaken in your life my dear for though this is a british colony and the whole country cost nothing at all yet it seems that what betwixt the squatters and this eternal fixed and sufficient price for land and the gold diggings toge ther a location in melbourne costs a greater amount of money now than a similar bit of ground would do in a firstrate english city or town


and as for gardens the soil appears fit enough for the purpose but they have all to be made yet for i have seen none of them


poor mrs hayes was fairly bewildered


she knew not what to think all her dreams of trailing vines richly loaded fruit trees and flowers were dissipated in a moment


she found she had indeed come to a land to which a kind providence had been bountiful she could not breathe the sweet and balmy air as it floated across the bay in the morning she could not witness the gorgeous setting of the sun as he sank beneath the western mountains without instinctively knowing that such a land even viewed from a distance must be capable of realising all the fondest visions she had ever dreamed of and that some false policy in the govern ment or some fault in the people must be the cause of so much mismanagement that a new comer should have any difficulty in getting a house with ground for a garden attached to it


but what sort of a house is it osborne exclaimed the now impatient mrs hayes who with that curiosity so peculiar to her sex felt fairly on the figets to know is is a habitable place


oh yes said hayes with the most provoking coolness it is habitable enough but such as it is we have no alternative but to put up with it for there is nothing else to be got and it was a favor to get it


but that is not telling me what kind of a house it is


how many rooms are there in it and is the kitchen convenient


the domestic comforts of a house of even humble pretensions in the old country were running in the mind of mrs hayes when she put so many questions to her husband


great therefore was her dismay when he at last told her the truth that the domicile she must for a time at least put up with was inferior to an ordinary stable in england being in fact a slab hut through the chinks of which the wind found an easy ingress


in this hut of two apartments the whole family must live and do as they best could and what amazed the good lady more than any thing else was the fact that for such a miserable apology for domestic comfort they had to pay as much money as would suffice in the old country to secure an elegant man sion with all the conveniences that modern skill and science could supply


seeing there was no alternative and that fretting would do no good and observing that her husband seemed cheerful under every disappointment mrs hayes set herself vigorously to work to get ready to disembark


it was arranged that they should go up to melbourne in the steamer and mr hayes after seeing them lodged somewhere should return to superintend the landing of the luggage as it would be some time before the greater part of it could be got at accordingly the whole family got into a steamboat with many more of their fellowpassengers and the day being fine they began to enjoy the change especially as they ap proached the mouth of the river


low swampy land covered with teatree scrub lay on either side pre senting not a very inviting picture of fertility nor were the scenes that met them as they got nearer to the wharf of a more cheering character for the skin washing and the boilingdown establishments sent forth anything but agreeable odours and the high flown ideas of many a new comer of ambrosial sweets from tropical flowers were speedily dispelled by the effluvia arising from an accumulation of animal matter rapidly decomposing under the rays of a burning sun


at the wharf all the same confusion existed that mr hayes had witnessed the day before


several ves sels had arrived during the night from the neigh boring colonies bringing shoals of eager and excited gold diggers most of whom were armed to the teeth with double barrelled guns and re volvers while their rough looking appearance with beards and moustaches made them look more like brigands than civilised beings


through a perfect crowd of these and piles of chests boxes and chattels of all descriptions our little party had to wend their way while the heat and the dust and the noise ren dered this a work of no inconsiderable difficulty