Weekly Messenger, Volume 3, Number 145, Vevay, Switzerland County, 22 August 1834 — Page 1

V

THIS NEW SERIES ISO. lo. PRINTER'S RETREAT, IXDIAXA, FRIDAV, AUGUST 22, 1S3 i. VOL. 131, XO.

to

TBTfTi Vrwfc SStSii

THE TKOLK. Concluded.) CHAPTER XIII. ' Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus ihe native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of though!.-" Hamlet. Three tinges the bravo peasants had delivered the vallic-s of the Inn and the Lisack from the columns of French and Bavarians which had invaded them; three, times trust

ing that their bloody work was done, they had dispersed to their mountain homes; for a fourth time they assembled in force upon the mountains above Inspruck, which city was again in the possession of the Bavarians, towards the end of October. In this their favorite position, where they had gained two brilliant victories, they w ere again gathered around their noble llofer; but the rocks of Mount Isel w ere never again to echo their shouts of triumph. The night preceding their last contest was dark, windy, and wet; they lay about their smoky files chill and dispirited: a settled melancholy sat heavy on their hearts. One told how his patron saint had been seen to shed tears; another, how as he made a forced march to join them, and was journeying after sunset, he had distinctly seen the image of our Lord on the cross bow down its head in sorrow. They had no provisions to cheer and

comfort their hearts, but a scanty stock of

biscuit: they had very little ammunition; they whispered to themselves and to each other "God is against us: we arc punished for our sins: we shall pass under the yoke of Bavaria."

CH.U'TFK XIV.

" Let nt the people le too swift to pub'e.

As one who reckons on

Or ere the cr( he nse.

! I'liuUs in field

Fw I have seen

a deluging torrent of heavy rain. Every body on the ground was drenched with it; an J ' when the dawn broke with an ominous sky of' w indy red, it found every one stiff and chill. I

Nothing but a confidence of victory does, under such circumstances, warm and animate a host about to engage. This confidence the patriots no longer fell: it was transferred to the camp of their enemies. The French and Bavarians advanced to attack with a very fierce resolution. Largo clouds of skirmishers, supported by their reserve columns, pres- . . . . i r.

st d lorward to one vniu ige-grounu alter an

ther, with an ardor that would not be denied. The opposition, thrt was not swept away by their tire, yielded to their bavonets, and knoll

after knoll was crowned with Bavarian or French tirailleurs; but every one of these was an altar of libertv, where a few self-de

voted victims might be found men who des- head; and it was but the meaner multitude

paired of resistance, and would not survive (of fugitives, a portion of which now occupied defeat. But for the brave men about him, for the night the chamber at the Crowt. The w ho, considering him fts the palladium of I creator part of these were w ithout arris, and

their land, forced him back from one post oflnone of them were of note sufficient to have peril after another, llofer had fallen upon this any thing to fear from the enemy leyond last field. The Tyrolcsc, however, on the ;what tliev had already suffered. Then-plea

sant country, which had been studded with white farms and sheltered homesteads, was a

The thorn frown rudely r.il the winter long, And after be:ir ihr? rose upon i?s t n j ; And hark, that all her way :icros lb"! f a Kan straight and speedy, p'iish at ihe last, E'en in the haven's mouth' D.xNrr., Carry's Truribla. The Tyrolcsc held their ground throughout the day, and in tiie night ensuing retired, and dispersed to their homes. The guest chamber at the Golden Crown was again filled with guests the following evening; but there was no feast no song; a sad silence, a settled melancholy, possessed them all. llofer was already away "or the

mountains; a price had been set upon his

perceived tiiat one o! tlicui w as a w oinan, and loo ened by the sudden agitation, Albert had

' i i . : . . . : i

c e; H an.; i.t picsliili aC

I iniuppoi table

r

a woman of a very sirikirnr nppcaranc

threw back her damp hair from cith

ol her commanding' eves, and wnin;' the

locks, bending her head from side to ;id she did so. She wore a Milan frock, of I

ad

V. i i

t,

de (rowst.-rs of t!

nine

tt 1 r t a .

whole, no longer lougtu according 10 tneir wont: they turned about in large bands from a position, while the enemy was ascending it; and ran, with hopeless eyes and haggard looks, to some other in their rear. Was it, indeed, Albert that fled first among the fugitives, as they passed the bridge over Eisack, and scrambled through the thick brushwood up the steep rocks on the southern side of it ? It was.

She saw him, the pale and wr"lu '0'

ary hear -,,u SICP

hanna, as, with a we;

-,i

herself passed the brid- n compnny w,in the last brave vy-V U,at WaS manfuI,y d's puting c- J ,nc" of ground as they retired. sm,, "vTicw not how she came among them. It

Had been a scene of confusion and bewilder

ment from the very hour when, in the night, the wild and piercing cry of Albert burst upon her startled car; and, but for the protec

tion and Guidance of an elderly peasant now

The band compi? the picquet had made j with her, she would have lost her way, and

been left a defenceless prey to the cruel and brutal soldiery, always to be found in all armies, and who are the first to turn aside from the onward path for the work of plunder and of insult. She had but just passed the bridge,

and been told by her protector that she was

Such were their presages: and the battle was lost before it was fought. Some fifty yards in front of a wooded knoll which overlooked a deep and gloomy n ;1,c' that separated the advanced posts - iue J' rolese from those of the enr-v Albert stood sentinel.

- c.-- fire beneath the trees on the side of

the knoll, which, Ay 's faint pale gleams occasionally made the huge pile of rock behind it distich visible, although at other momont,it was shrouded in darkness; not a star oT.nmered through the black scud above,

,hich the mountain w ind drove ildly along, safe, and miirht rest after her exhaustion, when

and it raved and wailed among the trees and! the bridge was fired by the order of Hofer, rocks fearful to hear. Albert, no longer as the only means of securing a retreat for his

brave, usicnca as inougn u spowe ins aoorrvfjispinted and discomfited followers.

and Ins brain became giddy with tremendous apprehensions. As the wind blew loud and

gusty across the ravine, every now and then

desert and a desolation. You could find only blackened walls to mark the site of lliose detached and beautiful cottages, which had made Tyrol the delight of the traveller. Villages in ruins. Whole families n-ere homo, less; and many had n- 'onger lathers, or sons, or hrn-i-s. T' war, which had lasted only

-ven short months, during the latter part of

which period the devoted and heroic inhabitants had been abandoned by Austria to their

helpless, hopeless fate, was now at an end;

cljth, and hug'.- w

that hung as lull in front as the petticoat of a female habit; she was hooted h!.e a man; and over the black silk kerchief round her neck there fella broad white collar, which the w ind and rain had sotnew hat disarranged. Her companion was in a nondescript green military dress, which, according to his passports, might identity him with any army; he had a good martial figure, and a tearless but a dissipated look. As thus they stood, Albert turned, and w ith an expression of alarm on his features that convulsed and distorted thcrn, immediately recognized Lorcnza Cantonati. There was a fierce and terrible exaltation

in her cruel glance: " Here, Collini ; here!" she called to her fellow traveller, as she sprung

like a tigress upon her prey. "This is he of

whom 1 told you; this is the murderer of the brave Ncgrclti. Make sine of him I will have life lor life I will have justice on his head."'

The man seized Albert with roughness,

and, presenting a pistol to his head, bade him put down h'i3 rifle. Stupor and guilt made ihe eomring him an easy business: and the

companion who had been sitting with him through the evening, saw him so mute and

passive, that he could scarce doubt the truth of the accusation; especially when he remembered to have seen him foremost among the

ViC appioacux-.i

I , 1 1 lo H'lli

Xv. i Thai dr.

. .. . i,v! ;. j, til l t.- -i (.. 1 1.. i i. ..... i

dee ; l;earl of pco.-.luham.-i, and which threaten, d

!i;a: destruction ri i, r nie, cr ine iiewiio. i. t. ...... i 1 1, ,. ,..tV (I -.

Mil. kit. .' i. i wi.iii;, ,1.1- I 1 r. 1 1 ,: .1 llitj ivi'.i.t as lv an angds hand. He i- iiir.neent7 siie cried; innocent of flood;"' nnd tears cl'gru-

d dun ii her pa

bri-ht !i.;htnii:

t I

e ks, as

':,. 1 I.e.-

titmie slrt.un

HMju.rj ui iin,.ii 1 1 .,: i nil .e. . i in

that.kli-il eyes lo IJc.vt a. "It is the ana of Jehovah, niv eLMte-.i."' said the poor pastor C i.riii ian ; l"'-r he It v.a-, w ho, in tin: garb of a j " o.f, had n.d;e:i for

Alnert. o iT.rinoi a u:,t u.:.t tne perturbed and unhaj py spirit. uLidi hid Ie!t ti.is fair, deceitful frame, xx;:s a .-.i;;.;ter of evil, and ;i false accuser' 'She was guilty," said her r-urvi;ng companion, though 1 knew- it not liil now ih;(t she spoke ofpoion; for it was of stabbing Xcgrctti that to me she had accused this unfortunate youth' He spoke with, trembling, like, one scarce feeling steady or safe upon the edge of a precipice, whence a companion has just been cast down headlong, arid dahed to atoms. It was a fearsome sight, tl.o body ofhal vile en'ha:. tress, when they approached to remove: il: the eyes were op'.-i', and had tiic same dilatation, the fame :!a?sy appearance, as when I i-t she spoke. As they lifted it, there was no LfitTiiess gathering the

joints inio inc rigiuiiy .i mo corpse ; out r.etK

and arms and hmbs Were :.c.ib!.j and s'.ippb;, and fell about lisiom, a children at the ir pi , in a hot summer's noon, will indolently saCer them to do for sportive net's. The nuns i !i

loo-cly dangling as they bore away the bud, and when they placed them upon it, one again

one walked behind hoh

fugitives at the bridge, and thought upon his

and Tyrol lay down beneath her conqueror's ! terror at the lightning: moreover, he was inv

loot, with the barren, but proud consolation, mediately engaged by another call on his at-

that the brave and the good in every !and ad- tention, for the poor Johanna leaned nrainst;''! and swung against the bea rer; anc! liu

mired and pitied her, and mourned over the the wall in pale and speechless agony. limbs bent loose at the knee, as though they

melancholy termination of her elorious slrur- Collini had pinioned the unhappy vouth were carrying one in a swoon to bed; ami

gle a struggle, not indeed for liberty, but for i like a criminal, and laid htm on the floor in a

corner of the chamber. And now, for the first time, Albert found voice to cry "I am inno

cent of this charge; guilty of a million sins, but innocent of this one. It is false, all false!

the woman seeks my lite. " And will have it," said Lorenza; "but

can wait till to-morrow and just now want

Such of Hofer's people as still retained a

(calm and collected courage took post among

something very like it, a government that had

long pleased and cordially attached the people. But of such consolation there was nothing to be read in the blank and dejected countenances of the unhappy men, who sat

supping up their poor broth, and breaking their tasteless bread, that night in the inn at Sterzingen. Among them, but yet somewhat apart, seated at the far end of a settle, near

the corner of one of the tables, was Albert Steiner; and there sat by him an elderlydooking peasant, who wore his hat pressed

down over his eyes, and had the dress of Italian Tyrol. This was the same person who had protected Johanna during the battle, and led her safe over the bridge, and had after-

l r firo i wards guarded her all the way lo Sterzingen. guiar nre , . .. f .

n the head,

though it might be hurt, or the throat injured

by want of care and fjiiict motion, and l-ei'.g kept steady in its position. To all the bi;iit was shocking: but none may tell, none may imagine, what it was to Albert, who had fek those arms enfolded about him, whose eyes had been looked into by these staring eye-

my supper; and beg to have it,good people,! halls, that now glared upon him wanting spe-

. , V . - r ' ii u i iiev sai leiieiaier in Micutt. iui niucit was

There was a u.Pon.l,Vr r re"ctl wiamry .aayancing too ft, and ?OG miserabie to speak, and the

stranger seemed as little inclined for conversation as himself.

When, at the usual hour, the household and

it brought with it the hoarse challenge of i ,OLh! ;u,u pouieu a neavy cnm. conirv r iK r-,ir.,"'c Ti,or ,c r, upon the French infantry advancin;

V J 11 J 4 l rxMn xr horr.

something in the sound resolved and fierce, I ",u -:. uue i. '-' i "- as though they panted for the daylight and jthc d wu,ld round the corner of a rock on the work of slaughter. ;he. f:.ce a precp.ee directly exposed to

There can be no situation conceived more! j a ,t ,kt, ah nA.e gnests,as is the custom throughout Tyrol,

full of horror than that of a being convicted ; Priced, instantly fell. Section after section, performed their evening devotions together, in his own conscience of guilt, knowing the as madc Qttc t wcrc ghot dead. .assembling on their knees before he great wanes of sin, and fancying Inmselt hunted by j J r jcrucihxin the corner of the hall, these two

his evil spirit to the awful brink of that great j In this difficulty, the general ordered up kneeled side by side; and afterwards, when gulf,into which he must immediately be cast some cavalry from the rear. So soon as Ho- , the weary peasants dropped away, by two's unnardoncd and w ithont the hope of" mcrcv. for had seen them in motion, he had set fire to and three's, to the chambe rs or lofts where

The shade of Ncrctti stood before him, lno hridge. It was of w ood, the beams and they were to pass the night, these two still coniurcd up by his diseased fancv ; full of pbnks of fir, and very old and dry : it was soon sat on together, thoughtful and silent, friendliness "u looked; smiled, a, th'i man was fle?. It was a moment of that kind,; The evening had been rainy, and the vveawont to do in life; took his hand, shook it; NV,! h ,loes metimes m war place an indi- ther became worse and more wild every minand then a change came over the o.ounte- vidual in the great arena of glory a conspi- te; the slating torrents rushed against the nance; it "linned ghastlv, hurried Albert cuous object to cither host, when, lar a-head casement, as though they would beat it in;

a black, 01 ,!,s cmuion ai.u g.in.uu mu km io, a joung and , every now and then, a flash of w hile and . nf th, llavarian ofiiccr gallopped round the point, sheeted liVrhtnm blazed noon the black rdass.

1 1 .1. j 1 1 . .: . . . . : ;- s - 1 - o

t lianlom was terriflically rapid. Albert w ould ?Pre over me oeau o es, .. u, charging i llh a bright and blinding splendor.

liavc d in- to the mountain base; it ie!ded hodily to ttic bridge, dashed amid the flames. ; Albert turned paler than a corpse at one of

as soon as you have recovered your senses,"

she added, turning to Dame lvauflman and Johanna. But neither of them wcrc in a condition to think of such matters ; and the room was fast filling with such persons from the kitchen and the sleeping-rooms as the rumor

or the noise brought together. All eyes rest

ed upon Albert, as they do upon the murderer, with a silent wonder or a whispcrred horror. The man who has committed murder seems so dark a defier of his God, that the grossest sinners stand comforted in his presence by a kind of pharisaical comparison. They lift their eyes boldly up, and thank Heaven they are not as he. "1 knew," said one grey-headed old villain in the group,"! knew

that the boy was a dicer, and a wencher, and drank a little at Itoveredo; but I never tho't there was any harm in him; I never thought he was such a cold-blooded young scoundrel.

culation. A life of penitence and prayer, and

blank celibacy, he then and there did in h'u spirit resolve and vow most strictly lo observe, until the grave should open and receive him. Nor could Johanna cither wonder at the resolve, or seek lo change if. By the advice of the good pastor, she toon left sterzingen for Inspruck, and became, not long after her residence there, a sister of charity in the Hospital of Mercy in that city. The priest, w ho had with such cruelly persecuted Christian, was only heard of in Tyrol once again: since which hour his name has been widely execrated both there and in the world: for then it was that he sold the secret of Hofer's retreat, and that simple and confiding hero was dragged forih to the merciless tribunal, which decreed his death, and scaled his glory. Christian Mcilcr chanced to be in Bolzen.

when, on a dreary winter's day, cold as the

clown a mountain side, as it seemed to

cr.'d. lonelv lake lie low. 1 li; p.-xeo

AVhat were you thinking of, you young ras- frozen snow, llofer, his wife, his daughter,

nm; but the com- an(1 his son, a mere boy, wc

-crummcc

All eves w re on him: the hoots of his white these vivid flashes, and started un from his

I"1 ..v 7 .1,1. .1 I 1 . ' . "

lau.rhtcr shook the solitude. He saw no more slrucK rong upon me southern rock: scat, and went to the fire-place, which was, hut he heard them laugh, Foienza and Ne- thc post is won. Joy; but, with the crash- by its situation, screened from the window.

grctti; and his wild shriek ol tear w as stiueo by overwhelming waves that rolled over his thivcrir.g form, as burning and hot as the lava of .Etna. The band around the fire in the wooded knell started at the appalling sound of his shriek; some of them snatched lighted brands from the fire to scare the fiends of darkness, and went in haste to the spot. They found

Albert on the ground, pale, speechless, hair on end, and big perspiraton on his forehead. ' He has been attacked on his post," said one; "he has seen a vision," said another; " he is bewitched," cried some; " he is a cow

ard," said one blunt old peasant; nay, cried a female who ioined the group in haste

and trouble, "he is unwell--very ill titter

for a sick bed than a battle-field but he

would come." There .vas a pale and beau-

tiful earnestness in the manner ol Johanna, to which all gave way; and he was lifted ip,

and borne back by some of his comraoes, and

laid beneath a tree; and Johanna, and some

nihrr women who were there attending on

- c, i- 1 1 1.:- 1 c 11

ng raue.s, u,e .n u ..u.-..0. .en, You have no reason to fear," said his combctween the dreadlu precipices; and ol nion: 4i this is shcet lightm ;ind fcct sound came up (rem the rocky torrent save , hn,.ml it is ;l very rough night abroad, I- of the rum-fall, as the burning bridge K,, ,ho u j sce wc noluu?tc ol' olhcr b.v.ke against the rude s ones beneath, and cd (haiUlcse planks under our feet, wc may the red beams hissed in the cngulplung wa.jlknk QqA jbp t'h(. shcUer.?,

iers I " I am not afraid of the lightning," said Al-

There was a momentary paue of awful bcrt, "only 1 feel very cold; but 1 have heard wonder not a shot was fired. The foremost of men being blasted by a flash of it; I won-

of the squadron, without the pullmgof a rein, der you go so close to the w indow."

gave back; men and horses aghast aflnght-1 "Why, I hear travellers arriving, he reed then turned and fled. 'plied: "'tis a late hour, and hitter weather.

And now a loud shout of exultation burst I1"!1 8ood ,u ,'or lhc.m,lo get housed ; for it from the Tyrolese, that rung through the val- t,s onetof n,hls ,n "lllcU lhc luit i- i,.i r.Zm r.u u road is not easily found again. '

around. But Hofer trave no crv of friumnh.l As he 5Pokc' Dnme Ka"mnan :Uul JoInn:i

" .rs

He plucked his beard, and looked grave.

cal?" he cried, going up to him

panion, who had been silting with Albert be

fore the arrival of his accusers, placed Johanna on a seat, and then stepped forward, and interfered, saying, "Let him alone, friends: he has enough, poor soul, to think of now at all events. God is the avenger of blood; his is the finger that pointcth out the guilty. Med

dle not in this matter if he be a sheddcr of

his brother's blood, it has cried from the ground to One that heareth always. Leave

him in those Almighty and All-merciful hands, and while he suffers God's punishment, let him hear no reproaches, but those of his own conscience." The black eyes of Lorcnza Cantonati dilalatcd, as w ith a sudden terror, and assumed a

fearful glassy appearance; her gaze was fixed.

yet it seemed to be directed on no particdlar

object. " ho prates ol conscience?" she cried. "This is some roguish priest: there is no such place as heaven; there is no such place as hell; all words, and bugbears, and old wive's tales. Negre.tti proved to me that there was no God; and Ncgretti was a wise and cunning man, and knew the world well

and I w as by when the poison w orked, and heard him curse God and die' There w as a dead silence in the crowded chamber while the fiendish and frantic wo

man thus wildly spoke her blasphemy; and,

as she closed, she walked across to the win

dow, and, gasping apparently for air, threw

him

stra.

ire lnoxlme

of fear and com-

w 1

passion. For an hour or more, just ; rr-.nce. there was a fall of tin

clouds, which had been

nd thicker, above the current of the scud, collected close, descended lower, and burst i:i

(tor this occtirwin.'l; and the

gathering thicker

came into the hall, conducting two travellers, of an appearance above the common. They

One, too, there was, high and safe upon the threw ulf (heir dripping cloaks, and shook rock, and two there were seated on a stone , their hats as they laid them on the table, and

. uA 1 ..... 1 ,VA ... 1 . . , . . . i . . 1 ,n ..1 k . . i. . . : 1 : 1 u 1 . 1.. 1 . 1 . . ii.,. i , 1 . ... 1

1U.-H1 11. c i-miut, nun j"im.'i iicm int.- ci uli 1 men nuiiicu wiiu ciieciuii c.tgei UC.-3 iu me open one 01 me casements. 1 he ram was shout, although from feelings widely differ- fire, from whence Albert stood back. His less violent, but the lightning had increased.

was blue and forked, and burst from the rifted clouds incessantly. Or.e bright and arrowy ray ; hol down, just after tin- casement was opened, and a ball of living tire seemed lo have alighted on the opposite roof, and to roll swiftly on towards the window; so, at least, they said afterwards, when tiny wcrc collected enough to come near, and touch the body of Lorenza, w here she lay, stricken b the lightning dead. But for a long time after the shock all kneeled or lay low in terror; and, his bo:ida

re marched in

prisoners, amid the shouts of the French soldiery and the tears of his countrymen. Th aspect cf the patriot ws unmoved, the spirit in his eye untamed, and he looked serene, and even cheerful. Amid the few admitted here into his prison was the pastor, llofer, who now knew by whom he had been betrayed, instantly recognized Christian, and, remembering the circumstances at Sterzingen, requested his forgiveness for haing left

him in the power of a counsellor so cruel uul worthless m he had since proved. The pastor answcied him only by his tears; and being left ntaue wilh him for an hour, he had the privilege of mingling pnncrs with Ilcder, and pr eparing hi.Tj for that crown of martyr

dom, wmch, s the undaunted champion of

iioeuy, he was now so soon about to wear. With the parting blessing of this prince of peasants, Chiistsin returned mournfully to his cure. Through a student of Verona, a native of Inspruck, who had for a shoil time previous to his treachery been in the service of the faithless prit.-t, as a secretary, Christian learned that ihe latter, which had been converted into so foul an engine against him, was only a private memoir addressed to a bosom fnend by the Bavarian, and merely put undercover to him that it might be in sate

custody till an opportunity rnii'til offer of furwarding it with security la its destination. For six , ears the pastor lived on at S!ei?,in-

cut; for in the brave oliicer who met this companion united with the Dame and Johan

Midden, gloriou, but melancholy death, both na in welcoming them to the timely shelter;

'tending 'n i,,.-i :in,l Johanna had recognized the vouth- and Ihov xvrro inn olarl in he safe ninler ;i

ihoirhuniMiS-nccouredhim, as they mig..t, j,;u .-,., who nyv ui(h Dame 'roof to care much about bad fare and bad

haling his bands and temples, and regarding

Kauffmnn's grandchild, and who had been accommodation. They rubbed their hands, subsequently disabled in the arm in the affair and spread them to the globing fire; they at iSierzingen Moss. There was a father of,frilled together a joyous fragment of a duet Ft lix Herman's in Munich fo hear that news; from some comic opera about lire and si:pnnd a girl, accounted the fairest and the mo- t per, and then turned about to examine the

lively of any in the pleasant and romantic chamber. Albert was at the farther end of

neighborhood of the old city of Fasoau, that the room speaking to Johanna, with his back hcuid i!, and never smiled aain. to them at this moment. Ilia companion now

k, U!-pected o! In re:

gen, oeiovf.i oy tns in u

by his ecclesiastical superiors, but never again openly mo!e-ted; and at length, being seized with a consumptive cough, l.e slowly and gently declined . I lis r) ci vcre closed by poor Johanna, w!n had come from In i. I- ...

pruck in nuiso mm, while Albert r'.

was kneeling grateluUy and foot of his living bed.

penitent at

A young biujer mo-t re-pei tatdy cenne, ( ed, and who has rv ently acted as cashirr ot 1 new Bank at C.i dner, Maine, ha committed forgeries to a l.ug.. amount w i'niti a shoit lime pi-t, auJ absconded.