i 17
= a
CR
ee —————
| BELLEFONTE PATRIOT.
sently discerned, by the light of the moon, the
gleam of a coat of mail: He immediately made
ap to the spot, where he found, laid along al
the root of an aged oak, whose branches hung
darkling over the torrent; a knight wounded
and bleeding ; his armour was of burnished
steel, by his side there lay a falchion, and, a sa-
ble shield embossed stubs of gold, and, dipping
his casque into the stream, was endeavoring 10
allay his thirst, but, through weakness from loss
of blood, with difficulty got it to his mouth
Being questioned as to his misfortune, he shook
his head,and, unable to speak, pointed with his
hand down the glen ; at the same moment the
shrieks, which had formerly alarmed Montmo-
rency and his attendants, were repeated, appar-
ently at no great distance; and now every
mark of horror was depicted on the pale and
ghastly features of the dying knight ; his black
hair, dashed with gore, stood erect, and stretch-
ing forth his hands towards the sound, he seem-
ed struggling for speech, bis agony became ex-
cessive, and, groaning, he drepped dead upon
the earth,
The suddenness of this shocking event, the to-
tal ignorance of its cause,the uncouth scenery
around; and the dismal wailings of distress,
which still poured upon the ear with aggravat-
&d strength, left room for the imagination to un-
fold its most hideous ideas ; yet Montmorency,
though astonished, lost not his fortitude and re-
solution, but determined, following the direction
of the sound, to search for the place whence
these terrible screams seemed to issue, and re-
commending bis men to unsheath their swords
and maintain a strict guard, cautiously followed
the windings of the glen, until, abruptly turniog
the corper of an out jutting crag, they perceiv-
ed two corses mangled in a frightful manner, and
a glimmering of light appearing through some
trees that hung depending from a steep: and
dangerous pact of the rock.— Approaching a lit-
“Eloquence the soul, song charms the sense,”
,}
EELLEFONTE, Juyg, 1824.
ee Co |
For the Patriot,
Pegs 11 cr
I'wilight,
That hour when day and darkness join,
Like Pluto meeting Proserpine,
And sweethest sounds in citron shade,
‘The soul-o’erflowing serenade,
And pallid stars in clusters meet,
And the clouds (like false hearts) lost their
heat,
And time a moment stays his flight,
That's twilight.
The lover seeks the leafy bower,
And bats are wheeling round the tower,
And cawing rooks so prone to roam,
Like noisy neighbors travel home,
And fountains through the foliage flash,
Like gleams through a dark eyelash,
And the eldrick owl pursues her flight
y In the twilight.
Then hearts expand and flowers close,
And the bee bids farewell to the rose,
And fancy mounts her shadowy throne,
And poets love to be alone,
(Far from the minds of vulgar birth,
Which chain the Spirits down to earth,)
By lapsing brook or wooded height,
With thee, twilight.
The heart by faithless vows betray’d,
~ Steals out beneath some pitying shade,
subterranean river, bursting, with tremendous in the evening and alone, Oacowiing opp lie
noise, into its womb, occasioned such a mis} he ¢ haunted house, I made a halt and was
from the rising spray, as entirely to conceal the(querying with myself whether 1 should so lar
dreary gulf beneath. Shuddering on the edge|countenance the folly of tbe current reports, as
of this accursed pit stood the miserable warrior ; to spend time in visiting the place: when to my
his eyes'were starting from their sockets, and, utter astonishment my ears were saluted by a
as he looked into the dark abyss, his senses| most agonizing groan ! 1 hesitated not to dis-
blasted by the view, seemed ready to forsake{mount, and drew near the house. As I ap-
him. Meantime the banditti, having unbound) proached, the groans were repeated with in-.
one of the attendants, prepared to throw him in ;icreasing vehemence, and I could perceive that
he resisted with astonishing strength, shricking|they were uttered by more than one.
aloud for help, and, just as he had reached theldark and desolate !| From one corner of the
slippery margin, every fibre of his body racked room proceeded sounds, the most agonizing and
with agonizing terror, he flung himse { with fu-ldoleful! They seemed the last groans and sti-
ry backwards on the ground; fierce and wild fled sobs of men under the operation of strang-
convulsions seized his frame, which being fol-|ling. My heart sunk within me—and I was en
lowed by a state of exbausiion, he was in this the point of retreating, in terror, from the guil-
condition, unable any longer to resist, hurled in-[ty place ; but pride restrained me. 1 Lave
to the dreadful chasm ; his armour striking up-|promised, thought I, to prove the fallacy of
on the rock, there burst a sudden effulgence,/these horrid tales, and come what may, I will
and the repetition of the stroke was beard forjmake the atten'pt. I summoned all my resolu-
mzny minutes as he descended down its rugged tion, and entered the door. The groans of dis-
side. tress were redoubled, and my feet were rivited
No words can describe the horrible emotions! to the ground. Scarce knowing what T did, I
which, on the sight of this shocking spectacle, raised my arms in the murky air, and exclaimed
tortured the devoted wretches. The soul of aloud—% In the name of the Holy Trinity, I ad-
Montmorency sank within him, and, as they un-'jure you to spreak !” Scarce had I pronounced
bound his Jast fellow sufferer, bis eyes shot forth) these words when the most terific din assailed
a gleam of vengeful light, and he ground his my efrs—the house trembled—and 1 wa s pros=-
teeth iri silent and unutterable anguish. The trated at the door by a more than mortal force!
inhuman monsters now laid hold of the unhappy, —It was some minutes before I recovered the
man; he gave no opposition, and, though des-| use of my reason or the power of moving ; but
pair sat upon his features, not a shriek, not a as soon as my limbs would peiform their office
groan escaped him, but no sooner had he reach- 1 rose and precipitated myself from the doer,
ed the brink, then making a sudden effort, heiwhen lo ! 1 met in my way three Hogs ! yoked
liberated an arm, and grasping one of the vil- and ringed as the law directs, grunting their diss
lians.round the waist, sprang headlong with him pleasure at the disturber of their quict repose.’
into the interminable gulf. All was silent—but| ee! (D } EBE———
at length a dreadful plunge was heard and the| Zhe Integrity of a Christian and
sullen deep howled fearfully over its pray. ; ity of an Infidel.
The three remaining banditti stood aghast ; they Compian, a French merchant, having embark
durst not unbind Montmorency, but resolved, as/ed in Egypt, in the prosecution of his business,
De Generog=
‘Wraps a thin cloak across to screen
‘What noon-tide’s taunting eye had seen ;
Inall its griefs, remorse, and want,
Thou art, as “twere, the confidant,
For sighs and tears betray its plight
To thee, Twilight.
tle nearer, the shrieks seemed evidently to pro-]
ceed from that quarter, upon which tying their,
horses to the branches of an oak, they ascended
slowly and without any noise towards the light ;
but what was their amazement, when, by the
pale glimpses of the moon, where the eye could
penetrate through the intervening foliage, in the
vast and yawning cavern, dimly lighted by a
lamp suspended from its roof, they beheld haif a
dczen gigantic figures in ponderous iron ar-
mour ; they vizors were up, and the lamp faint-
ly gleaming on their features, displayed an un-
releating sternness capable of the most ruthless
deeds. One, who had the aspect and garb of
their leader, and who, waving his scimetar,
seemed menacing the rest, held on his arm a
massy shield of immense circumference, and
which being streaked with recent blood, pre-
sented to the eye an object truly terrific. At
the back part of the cave, and fixed to a brazen
ring, stood a female figure, and, as far as the
obscurity of the light gave opportunity to judge,
of a beautiful and elegant form. From her the!
shrieks proceeded ; she was dressed in white,
and struggling violently and in a conclusive)
manner, appeared to have been driven almost to,
madness from the conscious horror of her situa-
When he who saw once better days,
From scorn and pity shrinking strays,
Like his own spectre from his shed,
To seek perchance a little bread;
Thou turns’t no proud nor prying eye,
On the poor wand’rers misery,
But veils the blush of pride from sight,
Gentle Twilight. |
To ev’ry heart thy calmness speaks,
Or his that bounds or his that breaks,
If blest thy pensive silentness,
Gives breathing time to muse on bliss,
1f not thy fading moments say,
That life must wane like thee away,
Both break upon the edge of night,
Life & Twilight,
C. A.
Teae®d te
MONTMORENCY.
the tree to which he was tied grew pear thejbad the misfortune to be caprured by a pirate of
mouth of the pit, to cut 1t down, and, by that Tripoli, and sold to a rich individual. Though
means; he would fall along with it into the treated with great gentleness, the prospect of
chasm. Mootmorency, who, after the example hopeless separation from his family and wvela-
of his attendant, had concealed the hope of re-/tives plunged bim into deep melancholy. His
venging himself now saw all possibility of af- master having in vain endeavored to comfort
fecting that design taken away, and as the axe him, at length allowed b'm to revisit his native
entered the trunk, his anguish became so ex. country, and setile his affairs, on a promise that
cessive that he fainted. The villians, observ-be would return within a ligited period: Com-
ing this, determined, from a malicious prudence, pian passed a few months in the bosom of his
to forbear, as at present he was incapable of feel- family, and, like another Regulus, fulfiled his
ing the terrors of his situation. They there- engagement with the generous barbarian. Oa
fore withdrew, and left him to recover at his his arrival at Tripoli, he found the latter overs
leisure. whelmed in grief on account of the dangerous
Not many minutes had passed away, when, illness of a beloved wife. ¢ Christian,’ said he,
life and sensation returning, the hapless Mont. |* you return niost opportunely : you sce my suf-
morency awoke to the remembrance of his fate. ferings. Pray to your God that he would take
« Have mercy |” he exclaimed, the briny sweat|pity ot my wife and on myself; for the prayers
trinkling dowo his pallid features; ¢« Ob Christ, of the righteous avail much,’ Compian instant=
1” then looking around him, he ly fell on his knees, blending his supplications
have mercy! ; y
started at the abyss beneath, and shrinking from with those of the Moslem ; and the fair patient
was soon restored to health,
its ghastly brink, pressed close against the tree.
In a little time, however, he recovered his per;
fect recollection, and perceiving that the Banditti
had left him, became more composed. His
hands, which were bound behind him, he endeay-
oured to disentangle, and, to his inexpressible
ence.
Gladly would I retain you under my roof, pa
ter in marriage ; but the law of the prophet for=
All was
Her gratefut bus=
band would have no unhappy person in his press
« Cease, said he, sto lament your fate.
my days in your society, and give you my daugh-&
The sullen tolling of the curfew was heard
over the heath,and not a beam of light issued
from the dreary villages; the murmuring Cot-
ter had extinguished his enlivening embers, and
sunk in gloomy sadness to repose, when Henry
de Montmorency and his two attendants rushed
from the castle of A——y.
The night was wild and stormy, and the
wind howled in a fearful manner.—The moon
+ flashed, as the clouds passed from before her,
on the silver armour of Montmorency,. whose
Jarge and sable plume of feathers streamed]
threatening in the blast. They hurried rapidly’
on, and arriving at the edge of a declivity, de-
ition. Two of the banditti were high in dispute, £ °° "1 0cen the cord, and by a little more
bids the union. Accept then, the only worthy
present that I can give, nor thank me till I have
merited your gratitude. Receive your freedom,
and take your passage in the vessel which I have
loaded. The cargo is your own; for I would
not restore you empty handed to your friends,
Go in peace; and may Heaven protect and bless
you !’
joy, after many painful efforts, he succeeded so
B famed Oh ng 24 Shots seimgsiars perseverance, effect his liberty.—He then sought
c tr th fo £ thei nc he around for a place to escape through, but with-
pecting that, in the fury of their passion, they o,¢ gyccess ; at length, as he was passing on
would cut each other to pieces, waited the event, yo her side of the chasm, he observed a-part
but as the wuthority of their captain soon check- of its craggy side, as he thought, illuminated
ed the tumult, he rushed in with his followers, ,,q advancing a little nearer, he found that
and, hurling his lance, « Villians,” he exclaim- proceeded from the moon’s rays shinin
ed, « receive the reward of cruelty.” The lance through a large clcft of ‘the rock wd
: : ;
bounded innocuous from the shisid of the lead. ,, , very considerable depth below the surface.
er, who turned quickly upon Montmorency, a 5 gleam of hope now broke in upon his des
severe engagement ensued ; they smote with pair, and gathering up the ropes which had
prodigious strength, and the valley resounded po. coq or himself and his associates, he tied
ctr CD (DT
The Rebuke,.— An English parson was boasts
ing in a large company of the success he had in
reforming his parishioners, on whom his labors,
he said, had produced a wonderful change for
the better. Being asked in what respect, he res
plied, that when he first came among them, they
: to the clangor of their steel.—Their falcbions, +o 3 fastening 0
scended into a deep glen, the dreadful and sav-i\ able to sustain the shock, shivered foto © gether, an ening one end to the
age appearance of which was sufficient to strike’
terror into the stoutest beart. It was narrow,
and the rocks on each side, rising to a prodi-|
gious height, hung bellying over their heads ;
furiously along the bottom of the valley, turbu-
Jent and dashing against huge fragments of the
rock, ran a dark and swoln torrent, and further
up the glen, down a precipice of near ninety
feet, and roaring with tremendous strength, fell,
at a single stroke, an awful and immense cas-
cade. From the clefts and chasms of the crag,
abrupt and stern, the venerable oak threw his,
broad breath of shade and bending his gigantic.
arms athwart the stream, shed, driven by the
wind, a multitude ot leaves, while from the
summits of the rock was heard the clamor of
the falling fragments that, bounding from its
rugged side; leapt with resistless fury on the
vale beneath.
Montmorency and his attendants, intrepid as
they were, felt the inquietude of apprehension ;
they stood for some time in silent astonishment,
but their ideas of the danger, from the conflict
of the elements being at length alarming, they
determined to proceed, when all instantly be-
came dark, whilst the rushing of the storm, the
roaring of the cascade, the shivering of the
branches of the trees, and the dashing of the
rock, assailed at once their sense of hearing.
"The moon, however, again darting from a cloud,
"they rode forward, and following the course of,
the torrent, had advanced a considerable way,
when the piercing sbrieks of a person in dis-
tress arrested their speed; they stopped, and
listening attentively, heard shrill, melancholy
cries repeatedly, at intervals, up the glen, which
becoming more distant, grew faint and died
away, Montmorency, ever ready to relieve the
oppressed,
followers prepare,
their progress was impeded by the harrowing and having treated bis associates
. : iY
armour, which, manner. ¢ Look,”
and stopendeus clash of falling
reverberating from the various cavities around, like smile, Ne
and from every direction your journey.
seemed here and there,
to be echoed with double violence, as if an hun- the
armour had in succession fallen over the
drops upon his forehead.
streaming in between the branches,
dred men in
down in different parts of the valley.—Mont-
maorency, having recovered from the consterna-
tion into which this singular
thousand pieces, when Mobtmorency, instant]
| P y Yt
{the moment when these monsters of barbarity
couched his lance, and bidding his ed Montmorency, i
was hasting on ; but again gin of the abyss, tied him to the trunk of a tree, the house had been guilty of robbing and mur
noise had thrown light, sufficient to disclose a
elevating with both hands, his shield, dashed 1t
with resistless force against the head of his an-
tagonist ; lifeless he dropped down upon the
ground, and the crash of his armour bellowing
through the hollow rock.
spot. Horrible as was the experiment, he hes
for, when contrasted with his late fears, the
‘and the apprehension that the villians might re
In the mean time, his attendants, altheugh turn before his purpose was secure, accelerated
they had exerted themselves with great brave- and gave vigour to his efforts, Soon was he
ry, and had already dispatched one of the vil- suspended in the gloomy abyss, and neither the
vians, were by force of numbers overpowered, roaring ofthe river, nor the dashing of the spray.
and being bound together, the remainder of the intimidated his daring spirit, but having reached
banditti rushed in upen Montmorency just as he the cleft, he crawled within it, then, loosing tbe
had stretched their commander on the earth, cord from off his body, he proceeded onwards,
and obliged him also, notwithstanding the most and, at last, with rapture no description can
vigorous efforts of valour, to surrender. The paint, discerned the appearance of the glen be
lady who, during the rencounter, had fainted neath him. He knelt down, and returned
away, waked again to fresh scenes of misery at thanks to heaven for his escape }
et () C—
were conducting the unfortunate Montmorency THE HAUNTED HOUSE.
and his companions to a dreadful grave. They' ¢ In the neighborhood where I formerly resi-
were led by a long and intricate. passage, amid ded,’ said my friend, ¢ stood a lonely house, a lit-
an immense assemblage of rocks, which, rising tle retired from the public road, on the borders
between seventy and eighty feet perpendicular, of a wood. Its last occupants were people o
bounded on all sides a circular plain, into which suspicious characters, who had suddenly aban.
no opening was apparent but that through doned it, and removed to the ¢ land of promise’
which they came.—The moon shone bright, and beyond the mountains. For two years it had
they beheld, in the middle of this plain, a hide- stood desolate—its door unhinged and wiadows
ous chasm ; it seemed pear a hundred feet in battered in. At length a report arose that the
diameter, and on its brink grew several trees, house was haunted. Strange noises were heard
whose branches, almost meeting in the centre, by the nightly traveller, and unearthly forms
dropped on its infernal mouth a gloom of settled were seen 2bout it mn the dusk of evening.
horror! « Prepare for death,” said ove of the From the number of witnesses who testified te
banditti, ¢ for into this chasm shall ye be throws; the facts, the report gained general belief, and
it 1s ot unfathomable depth, and that ye may not whoever was unlucky enough to be obliged tc
be ignorant of the place ye are so soon to visit, pass the place of terror in the evening, would
we shall gratify your curiosity with a view of involuntarily quicken his pace, and invoke the
it.” So saying, two of them seized the wretch- protection of some guardian angel.—The sup-
and dragging him to the mar- position was that the family who last occupied
in the same dering some unknown traveller, whose bouve:
cried a bandit, with a fiend were concealed in the cellar, and whose spirii
« Jook and anticipate the pleasures of was calling for revenge. But no one had the
Dismay avd pale affright shook temerity to investigate. I had always treatec
cold limbs of Montmorency, and as he leant these tales of terror with contempt, and in the
illimitable void, the dew sat in big plenitude of my courage declared that I woulc
The moon’s rays embrace the first convenient opporturity 10 ex.
shed a dim{plore this fancied haunt of troubled spirits. 1
considerable part offwas vot long till my boasted courage was put to
0 DL chnao cen 1) . IR RRT haa G
body of a tree, and the other to his waist, he de-
ermined to descend as far as the illuminated
itated not a moment in putting it into execution,
mere hazard of an accident weighed as nothing,
" i! 3
were a set of unmannerly clowns, who paid hin
no more deference than they did to any other 3
spoke to him, but bawled out as roughly and fas
miliarly as though he were their equal whete«
as now they never addressed him but with cap
in band, and with a submissive voice made him
their best bow when they were at ten yards
distance, and stvled him ¢ your reverence’ at ev.
ery word. A Quaker,who bad heard the w hole
patiently, made answer, ¢ and so, iriend, the up«
shot of this reformation, of which thou hast so
much carnal glory, is, that thou hast taught thy
people to worship thysell’
a. m SES -
Effects of fear.
In the time of the American Revolutionary
war, while the army was encamped at West
Point, a party of soldiers discovercd an euglcs
nest, balf way down the precipice, adjacent to
the fort. To get the nest a soldier was lek
down by a rope fastened round his middle.
Vhen be had descended near to the pest the
eagle came upon him with hidcous screams
aiming at bis head : he had no means of ces
fending himself but by taking out his knife,
with which he kept ber off by striking at her,
In one of the passes made at her, he bad the
misfortune to strike the rope, and cut one of
the strands entirely off ; the other strand began
to be untwisted, while his companions drew:
him up as soon as possible : in this situation he
expected the rope every moment to part, when
he must have fallen from the tremendous height
among the rocks ; but he was drawn vp to the
top of the rock, when the remaining strand of
the rope was pearly reduced to a wisp of tw
In the course of 24 hours, the hair of his head,
from a cecal black, was turned as white as thes
whitest wool. He was 25 years of age.
1D m—
On the late Dr. Johnson’s return fiom a town
in Scotland, a lady at whose house he called,
had got ready what is, in England, a Aerch poich,
for dinner. After the doctor had tasted it, sive
took an epportunity of asking bim if it was
good ? ¢ Very good for hogs,” answered the
ED
did not so much as pull off their hats when they «
doctor.—¢ Then, pray.” repfi¢d the lady, * kt ms
%
25
»
ys
i
ty, 4
A