Erie observer. (Erie, Pa.) 1830-1853, July 07, 1849, Image 1

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    8. I'. SLOAN, Editor.
VOLUME 20.
,seltftl()l,ttrts . •
. .
THE DREAM. •
•
DV RODERT JOSsEeflf.
Last night I dreamed of one; who long
Has had my fondest thought, by day,
Whose artless !Mile, and gentle song
Have often chased Wee care array'. .
,Amidst a gay and thoughtless crosid
sat unnoticed and apart.
Whilst idle cords and tough er loud
Fell cold and heavy on my heart.
I felt abandoned rind alone,
A painful %eight oppceeil l by cord,
And, round ben drooping wings. was thrown
The dark and es l ones crintrul:
I longed for death. whales er Change
Ifs gloomy any,ters might iii rig,
For there tsar nought, in human range, •
To Windt lay blighted heart might cling.
When, au dilenly, before nisi bight
A fair and heavenly volt& stood,
A form of purity arid
The blended, beautiful lind good.•
I knew the form, I knew the lace,
The putenve dirk eyes limn lug there,
The brow and lips of hreatlin grace,
The waving curls of raven hair.
But 0, how' sail the look she Ore,
And yet pow rweet that look to me,
IVhieli had the noble poster to sate,
And set my fettered spirit fieti.
She saw arol s - milb•d, and tholigh 1 dreamed,
I a as entranced, o'er-ina,trlreil q rite,
So palpable arid trite it -Denied,
:.•'() trill of ...ad and ins eel delight.
I sprang to clasp her In my arms;
Alas: the heavenly A ibiOn
But glut's trig
Suit as an Angel'. is limper
Br patent, trust, lute on and Ilrr ,
Heed noLlhe prompting, of despair,
Secure a flume in Hear,
Will Merl and lur e and bleSq you there,
„ftltit 31siq't
A Barrister's Exp
Tiro NI9TIACR AND
Dinner had been over atmut
afternoon—the only day on which for
able to enjoy a dinner—•ind I win
glace of wino, when a carriago droio
door, a loud rat-tat follow4d, and toy
to ltl2. Veal
"1 have e,illed," 8(1/d the (1 r.t , )t- a
"to ahli you to acoolop toy Int, to Mou
rocolved o homed tp)t., from Mi
tan that hor mthor, aftera vorr brie'
'inking, and refloating my [men
ul a legal gontleurin, inuuoil ti i .'
9lrg. Aru t Iae!" Letelaimod, ii
od. 'Why, it is scareo,ly 1110r0 lion
I met hor at tho 11.1clqrd:, in brillml
" Even so. Bat ‘ . .;fl you aceoinp
know wll 0 find any ono elso for
timo proses
'•lt is as attorney, prol.tbly, rather
that 13 recdod, but usilor tits circus-I,d
j ag ter as well as I do, I cannot liesit.ta."
We were soon bowling along at a rapid pace, and in
little mere than on hour reached the dying lady's resi
dence, situated in the county of F.,sex, and distant about
ten miles from London. Ve entered together; and D...
Curteis, leaving me in the library, proceeded at once to
the sick chamber. About ten minutes -afterwards, the
house-keeper, a tall. foreign•looking and rather hand
some wi man, came into the room, and announced that
the duct r wished to sue me. She was deadly pale, and.
I obsery d, trembled like an aspen. I motioned her to
precede no; and she, with unsteady steps, immediately
led the ay, So great was her agitation, that twice, in
ascondi g tho stairs, Pho only saved herself prom falling
by graining the bannister rail. The presage I drew
from thiexhibition of such overpowering emotion, by a
person whom I know to have been long, not only in tho
service, but in the confidence of Mrs. Armitage. was
FOOll confirmed by Doctor Curter, whom we met coin
ing out of the chamber of the expiring patient.
"Stop this way." said ho, addressing me. and leading
to an adjoining apartment. "We do not require your
attendance, Mrs. Bourdon," said he, as SOOII. as tee
reached it, to the house-keeper, who had swiftly followed
us. and now stood staring with eager eyes in the doctor's
face, as if life and death hung on his lips. "Have the
goodness to leave us," he added tartly. perceiiling she
did not stir, but continued her fearful, scrutinizing gldnco
She started at his altered tone, flushed crimson, then
paled to a chalky whiteness, and muttering, „left the
apartment.
"The danger of her mistress has bewildered her," I
remarked.
"Perhaps so," remarked Dr. Curteis. "Be that ns it
may, Mrs. Armitage is beyond all human help. In
another hour she will be, as we say, no more."
"1 feared no. But what is tho nature of her disor-
dor?"
"A rapid wasting away, as I am infori4d. The ap
pearences presented aro thoso of a person expiring 'of
atrophy, or trout extreme emaciation."
**lndeed! and so sudden, toot"
"Yes. lam glad you aro conic. although though
your professional services will not, as it seems. be re•.
quired—a neighboring attorney having performed the
neccessary duty—sotnothin g, I believe, relative to the
will of the dying lady. . We will speak further together
by and by. In the meantime," continued Dr. Cutlets,
u ith a perceptible tremor in his voice,"it will do neither
of us any harm to witness the closing scene of the life of
Itawdon, whom you end I, twenty years ago,
a orshipped as one of the gentlest and most beautiful of
brings with which the Creator'ever graced his universe
- It will be a peaceful parting. Come."
Jit4t as, with noiseless footsteps, wo entered tho silent
death-cliamber, the last rays of the setting sunswere fall
ing upon the figure of Ellen Armitage—who knelt in
speechless ago . ny by the bed-side of her expiring parent
—and faintly lighting up the pule, emaciated, sunken
features of the so lately brilliant, courted Mrs. Armitage.
But fur the ineffaceable splendor of her deep-blue eyes,
I should scarcely have recogdized her, Standing in the
shadow, as thrown by the heavy bed-drapery, we gazed
and listened unperceived.
"Ellen," murmured the dying Indy. "come nearer to
ate. his groWing dark, and I cannot seo you plainly.
Now, then, road to me, beginning at the.yerse you fin- 1
jelled with as good Dr. Curteis entered. Aye," she foist.:
ly whispered, "it l thus, Ellen, thy 'teni clasped within
-mine, and with the words of the holy book sounding from
thy dear lips, that I would pass away?"
Ellen, interrupted only by her blinding tears, making
sad stops, complied. Twilight stole on, and throw its
shadow over the solemn scene, deepening its holiness
of sorrow. Night came with all her train; and the silver
radiance kissed ado ethereal beauty the pare face of the
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wee ping girl, still pursuing h i :
hes i tate d to disturb, by the Bi
pose of a death-bed over.whi ,
only potent ministers, shed 101 l
At length, Dr, Curteis adv
and taking the daughter's ha
"Had you not bettor retire, i l l
few moments?" unde
l
her knees, throw herself in at
co rpse. from which the spititl
eifitance was summoned, a
Trent the chamber.
Curteis promised shortly to jo n me. Noiselessly enter
ing the room, I come sudden y upon the house-keeper
and a tall young man, standitY7,, with their backs towards
me, in the recesses of one of the windows,' and partly
shrouded by the heavy cloth surtrati. They were evi
dently in earnest conference, }end several words, the sig
nificance of which did not at the moment strike rne,
hug.
carriage was in waiting to re-c
We bad journeyed several in
a word was 'Taken by either o
apparently inure painfully-pre
lie was, howevvr, the first
emaciated corps have jtp:t left
beautiful girl for %%hose ewiles
deuce.
Ell
hour ono Smithy pitied to shoOt each other!" 4
year.; 1 irld htseri hied with einotron„und hie fuee
on.itiri.ly sipping a
rilndl}• up to the
•riond Ciartoiit.
we slioolc
It Place . . I barn
Armitage.
is raiiidlli•
as well as tliA
aback'
fortnight ago that
t lwalth and
ay 117 I don't
. 11,3 moment, and
than a b irri,ter.
anl know •
I descended, full of emotio
reached my ears before they erceived my approach.—
The instant thoy did so, they uThed hastily. round, and
eyed mo with aim exßression o flurried alarm, which at
the time surprised Inc nut a little. "All is over, Mrs.
Bourdon:" said I, finding she id not speak: "and your
presence is probably needed by Miss Armitage." A
flash of intelligence, as I epok , passed between Om pair;
but whether indicate of grief o joy, so momentary was
.the glance, that I shaald have eon puzzled to determine.
The house-keeper immediatel • left the room, keeping
her oyes, its she passed, fixed pon rno with the same
nervon,, apprehensive look which had before irritated
Dr. Curteis. The young man followed more slowly
(
lie n•as a tall and rather ham /101110 youth, apparently
bout one or two-and-twenty_ years of ago. Ilia hai r
was black as jet, and his d irk eyes were of singular bril
liancy; but die expression. I thtiught, was hardly ti re-
fined or highly intellectual or
Mrs. Bowdon, whose son inde •
king. Ile bowed but c
as be closed the door, and I ti
enjoyment. of my own reflectioi
indistinct as they were, we're a
My reverie was at leug
tranco of the doctor, with the
lis marble
"Mrs. Itawdou," I remark
(laugh ter ,"
"Yes; her very image. Do
he, speaking with rapid energy
don—Mrs. Armitage,. I woul ,
treacherously dealt with:"
I started with amazement:
but embodied and gave colour
shadowy suspicious.
"Gond heavens! How? Il
Unless I urn greatly
by an adept in the tule of such
"Alla. Bourdon?"
"No; by her son. At least I I
way. Sho is probably cogiiiian
order that you should undeis
witieli my conjectures are prin
enter into a short explanation. 1
of Spanish extraction, and wli
much higher position than she di
Alrs. Armitage from the perim6
now about sixteen years ago. 11
a tall, good-looking fellow man,
seen."
"lie was with his mother iu
after leaving you." .
"AI)! Well, hem! This bpyf, in his mother's opin
':ion—but that perhaps is soinewh i at oxcusable—exhibited
Featly indications of having been born a 'genius.' Mrs.
I Armitage, who nail been first stuck by the beauty of
the child, gradually acquired th i t same notion; and the
I result was, that he was little by i little invested—with at
least her tacit approval—which the privileges supposed
to be the lawful inheritance of bell gifted spirits: naMe
ly. the right to be as idle as lie pleased—geniuses, you
I
know, Call, acocording to the pm ular notion. attain any
Iconceivable amount of kpowleiireier Fallum at a bound
—aiid to czalt himself in the •tilts of his own conceit
above the useful and honorable pur.uits suited to the
'station in which Providence luid cast his lot. The fruit
of such training soon shotvell itself. Young Bourdon
grow up a conceited and essentially-ignoraut puppy, ca ,
I
pablo of nothing but had verses, dad thoroughly impres
ed with but one important fact, t l •liieli was, that he, Al
fred Bourdon, was the most gifte and the most ill-uSed
of all Gail's creatures. The gen us, in any intelligible
sense of the term, he has in trot tno pretunsioes. lie
is endowed, however, with a kii d of reflective talent, '
which is often mistaken by fools f r creative power The
morbid fancies and melancholy scorn of Byron, fur in
stance, such gentry reflect back front their foggy imagi
nations in ex.rgereted and diator oil feebleness of Whi-
ruing versicles, and 'so on with of tor lights celestial or
infernal. This, however, by the I way. - The only rd•••
tional pursuit he ever followed, cintl that ..nly by fits and
starts, and to gratify his faculty of' 'wonder,' I fancy, was
chemistry. A s mall laboratory wis fitted up for him in
the little summer-house you may have observed at the
further corner of the I two. This study of if study
such desultory snatches at science maybe called, led hi in
in his ex:111'1'1116ot) of vegetable 'bodies, to a smattering
• acquaintance with botany, a science of which Ellen AN,
mirage is an enthusiastic student. They were foolishly
' permitted to botanist together; and the result was, that
Alfred Bourdon, acting upon the principle that genius—
whether sh tern or real—levels all merely mundane (Ifs
' tinctions, had the impudence to Anil) to the hand of
Miss Armitage. Ills ptssion sincere or simulated, has
never been, I have reason to know, in the slightest do
,
1 groe reciprocated by its object, but so blind ip vanity,
`that when, about six weeks ago, an ectaireisseineist took
1_ place, nnethe fellow's dream was omewhat rudely die
.,
sipated. the untoward rejection of his preposterous suit
was, there is every ,reason to belie e, attributed by both
mother and son to the reptignan a of Mrs. Armitage
alone; and to this idiotic halitic s intion she has, I fear
fallen a sacrifice. Judging from t iro
emaciated appear.
mice of the body, and other phenomena communicated
to me by her ordinary medical attendant—a blundering
ignoramus, who ought to have call d in assistance I? ig
before—she has been poisoned with iodine, which ed -
ministered in certain qualities, tvoild produce precisely
the same symptoms. Happily the eis no mode of do
' stroying human life which so sure! leads to the detec
tion of the murdered as the use o such agents; and of
this truth the post mortion examination of the bed).
which takes place to-morrow mornik, will, if I am not
grossly mistaken, supply another vi
l id illustration. . .
Legal assistance will no doubt boe ecessary. and I am
sure that I do not err in expecting that you will aid me
in bringing to justice the murderer of Mary Rawdonl"
A pressure of bis hand was his i:inly answer. "I shall
call for you at ten o'clock," said ho, as he put me down
at my own door. I bevied, and the =Tillie drove_ riff'.
er sad and sacred task. Wo
ightast movement, the re
ch belief and hope, those
1 . lit and calm!
need gently toward tho bed
nd, said. in a low voice,
y doer young lady. fora
hood him, and rising from
ocptacy of grief upon the
had just passed away. As
h the sobbing girl was borne
, to the liqrary, where Dr
o His icsemblanco to
d he wns, was very stn
ourteously, n 9 to an equal,
's left to the undisturbed
s, which, ill-defined and
y thing but pleasant com
b in terrupted by the en
announcement that the
owes - 1.13 to town
es on our return before
us.' My companion was
ccupied than myself.—
to break ailenco. —Thu
ittle resembles the gay
nil and I were once dis
lio doctor's voice trent-
I perceived. wav pale
d, "lives again in her
you know," continuod
"I suspect Mary Raw
say—has Lien foully,
d yet the announcement
1 , my own ill-defined and
whom?" -
In, she has been poisoned
estructivo agonts.".
y suspicions point that
at of the crime. But iu
l tand the .grounds upon
net pally founded, I must
Bourdon, a woman
io formerly occupied a
toes now, has lived with
,of her husband's death,
'lre. Bourdon hos a son,
!)), whom you may have
Iho library as I entered
SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 7, 1849.
"Well!" said I, ail Dr. Curteis and the em
inent aurgeon, entered the library at Mount Placo the
following' morning after a long absence.
"As I anticipated." replied the doctor with a choking
voice: •'she has been poisoned!"
I started to my feet. "And the murderer?"
"Our suspicions still point to young Bourdon; but the
poi-sans of both mother and son have been secured."
"Apart?"
"Yes; and I have despatched a servant to request the
presence of a neighbor—a county magistrate. I ex
pect him momently."
After a brief consultation. we all throe directed our
ateps to the'summer-house which contained young Bour
don's laboratory. In the room itself nothing of iMper
tance was discove'rod; but hien encl Med recess, which
we broke open, we found a curiously-fashionedglass
bottle half full of iodine. '
"This is it!" said Mr.--; "and in a powdered Stale
too—just ready for mixing with brandy or any other
avaibbla dissolvent."'• The howler had somewhat the
appearance .of fine black-leiid. Nothing further of any
consequence hying observed, we returned to the house,
where the'magistrato had already arrived.
Alfred Bourdon was first nrought in; and he having
been duly cautioned that ho was not obliged to answer
any question, and that what he did sly would botaken
down, and, if necessary, used against him, I proposed
the following question:—
"Have you toe key of yourlabrutory?"
"No; the door is always open."
"Well then, of any door or cupboard in the room?"
At ihis question his face flushed purple: ho stammer
ed. ...There is no" and abruptly paused:
"Do I understand you to sny there is no cupboard or
place of concealment in the room?"
"No; here is tho key."
"Iles any ono had access to the cupboard or recess of
which this is the key, except yourself?"
The young 1111111 shooklis if smitten with ague; his
lips chattered, but no articulate sound escaped thorn.
"You need not answer the question," said tho magis
trate, "unless you choose to do so, I again warn you that
all you will, if necessary, be used against you."
"No onc," ho at length gasped, masteringihis hesitation
by a strong exertion of the will—"no ono inn have had
access to the place but myself. 1 havo noeor parted
with tip koy."
MrsJ Bourdon was now calledin. After interchang
ing a Blanco of intense agony, and, as it seemed to Inc.
of affectionate intelligenco with her son, she calmly an
swered tho qnostions put to her. They ore unimportant,
except the lash and that acted upon Iter like a, galvanic
shock. It was this- 7 -" Did you ever struggle with your
eon on tho landing lending to tho bed room of rho de
ceased for the possession of the bottle?" and I held .up
that which we had found in the recess.
A slight scream escaped her lips; and then she stood
rigid, erect, motionless, glaring alternately at me and at
the fatal bottle with eyes that seemed starting from their
sockets. I glanced towards the son; ho was also affect
ed in a terrible manner. His knees solute-Inch other,
and clammy perspiration burst forth and settled upon
his pallid forehead.
"Again i caution you," reiterated the magistrate,
"that you are not bound to answer any of these ques
tions.' -5
Tho woman's I:pa moved. "No—never!" she almost
inaudibly gasped, and fell sonsoles4 on tho floor.
As soon ns she was removed, Jane Withers was called.
She deposed that three -. days previously, as she Wtll3, just
before dusk, arranging some linen inn room a few yards
d i::-tatit from the bedroom of her Idle mistress, she was
surprised nt hearing a noise outside the door, ns of per
sons struggling and speaking in low hut earnest tones.
She draw aside a coiner of the muslin curtain in the
window which too', ed upon the passage or corridor, and
there saw Mrs. Bourdon striving to wrest !omethitig from
her son's hand. She heard Mrs. Bourdon say, "You
shell not do it, or you shall not have it"—she could not
be sure which. A noise of some sort seemed to alarm
Omit/ they ceased struggling, and listened attentively
for it few seconds; then Alfred Bourdon stole off on tip
toe, leaving the object in dispute, which witness could
not see distinctly, in his mother's hand. Mrs. Bourdon
continued to-listen, and presently Mimi Armitage, open
•ing tto door of her mother's chamber, called her by
name. Sif) iMinsdiately placed what was in her
hand on the marble top of a side-table standing in the
corridor, and hastened to Miss Armitage. Witness left
die room, she had boon in a few minutes afterwards, and
curious to know what Mrs. Bourdon and her son were
struggling for, went to the table to look at it. It was an
oddlv•sbaped glass bottle, containing a good deal of a
blackish-gray powder, which, as she held it up to the
light, looked like black lead! .
"Would you be able to swear to the bottle if you saw
it?".
"Certainly I should."
"By what mark or token?"
"The name Of Vahiy or Vttlpy was cast into it—that is,
the name was in the glass itself." '
"Is thii it?"
"It is: 1 swear most positively." '
A letter was also read which • had been taken from
Bou"lt•n's pocket. It was much creased, and was proved
to be the handwriting of Mrs. Armitage. It consisted of
a severe rebuke at the young man's presumption in
seeking to address himself to her daughte - r, which iuse
lent ingrattinde, the writer said _sho never, whilst she
lived, either'forget or forgive. This last sentence was
strongly underlined in a•dilFerent ink from that used
by the writer of the letterl.
The surgeon deposed to the cause of death. It had
been brought on by action of iodine. which, administer-,
ed in certain quantities, produced symptoms as of rapid
atrophy, such as had appeared in hire. Armitage. " The
glass bottle found in tho recess contained inodino in a
pulverised state.
.1 deposed that, on entering the library on the previotis
evening, I overheard young Mr. Bourdon, addressing his
mothCr, say. "Now that it is done past recall. I will not
shrink from any consequences, be they What they ina, •'
This was the' imlistance of the evidence adduced; and
the magistrate at once committed Alfred Bourdon to
Chelnisfurd jnil to take his trial at the next assize for
"wilful murder." A coroner's inquisition a few thiysaf
ter returned a verdict of "wilful murder" against him
on the same evidence.
About an hour after his committal. and just previous
to the arrival of the vehicle which was to convey him to
the county prison. Alfred Bourbon reqnented an inter
view with me. I very reluctantly consented; but steel
ed as I was against him, I could notavoid feeling dread
fullyshocked at the change which so brief nn interval
had wrought upon him. It had .done the work of years.
Despair—black, utter despair—was written in every lin
eament of his expressive countenance.
"I have requested to sae you," said the unhappy cul
prit. "rather than Dr. Curtios, because he, 1 know, is
bitterly prejudiced against me. But you will netrefuss.
I think, the solemn requeet of a dying man—for a dying
man; I feel myself to be—however long or short tho in
terval which stands between me and the scaffold. It is
not with a childish hope that any assertion of mine can
avail before the tribunal of the.lavv against the evidence
adduced this day, that I, with all the solemnity befitting
a' man whose days are numbered, declare to you thilt I am
w 136111 indecent df the Oriole laid to my charge. I bade
frONWARD...-E1
no such expectation; I scok only that you, in..pity of my
youth and untimely fate, should convey to hot. whom I
have madly piesurned to worship this mossago: "Alfred
Bourdon was mad, but not blood-guilty; and of the crime
laid to his chage ho is innocent as an unborn child."
"The pure and holy passion: youg man," said /, 601110. q,
whntstartled by his impressive manner, "however pro
sumptuous, as fir as social considerations are concerned,
it might be, by which you ufKiet to be inspired, is ut tar
ty inconsistont with the cruel, disastorly crime of which
such &tinnily; evidence' has an hour since bcon given."
"Say no more sir," interrupted Bourdon, sinking back
in his seat, and burying his Inca in his hailds: "It wore
a bootless errand; sho could not, in the Coco of that evi
dence, believe my unsupported assertion! It were as
well perhaps she did not. And yet, sir, is hard to be
trampled into a fellon's grave,• loaded with, the melodic.
tions of those whom you would coin your heart to serve
and bless! Alt, sir," Imo continued, whilst tears of ago
ny streamed through his firmly closed fingers. "you can
not conceive the unkable bitterness of the pang which
tenth the heart of hint who feels that ho is not only des -
pised, but loathed. hated, execrated, by her whom his
soul idolises! Mine was no. boyish, transient passion; it
has grown with my gr'owth,"und strengthened with my
strength. My life has been but one long stream of her.
Ali.that mysoul had drunk in of beauty in the visible
earth and heavens.—the light of setting suns—the radi
ance of the silver stars—the breath of summer flowers.
together with all which wo imagine of celestial purity
and grace. seemed to me in her incarnated, concentra
ted, and coml»ned!" The violence of his emotions
choked his utterance: and deeply and painfully affected,
I haste ned front his presence.
Time sped as over onwards, surety silently; and jus
(ice with her feet of lo id, but hands of iron, closed gra
dually upon her quarry. Alfred Bourdon was arraigned
before a jury of his countrymen, to answer finally to the
accusation of wilful murder preferred against him.
The evidence, as given before, the committing magis
tiate, and the coroner's inquisition was repeated with
sotto addition of passionato expressions used by the pri
soner indicative of a desire to be avenged on the deceas
ed. The cross-examination by the counsel for the de
fence was able, but failed to shako the case for the pro
secution. flis own admission, that no ono but himself
had access to the recess whore the poison was found,
told fatally against hint. When called upon to address
the jury, he delivered' himself . of a speech rather than a
diifence: of en
, oratoqaJ effusion, instead of a vigorous,
and if possible, damaging commenters upon the evidence
arrayed against him. It was a labored, and in part elo
quent, exposition of the necessary fallibility of bunion
judgment, illustrated by numerous examples of orroueous
verdicts. Ills perorations I jotted down at tho time:—
'Thus my lord and gentlemen of the jury, is it abun
dantly manifest, nut only by these examples, but by the
te;,titnony which every man bears in his own breast;
that God could not hitvo willed, could not have com
manded, his creatures to perform a pretended duty.
which he vouchsafed them no power to perform righte
ously. Oh, be sure that if he intended, if he had com
manded you to pronounce irreversible decrees upon your
fellow-man, quenching that life which is the highest
gift, ho would have endowed you with gifts to perform
that duty rightly! Iles Ito done so? Ask not alone the
pages dripping with innocent blood which I have quoted,
but your own hearts: Aro you according to tile promise
of the serpent -tempter, 'gods, knowing good from evil,'
of such clear omniscien4, that you can hurl an unpre
pared soul Mine the tribunal of its Maker, in the full
assurance that you' have rightly loosed the silver cord
which ho had measured, have justly broken tho golden,
bowl which he hail fashioned! Oh, my lord," he con
cluded, his dark eyes flashing with excitement, "it is
possible that the first announcement of my innocence of
this crime, to Which you will give credence, may be pro
claimed, from time ow fill tribunal of him who alone can-
not errrldow if he, whose eye is even now upon'us, should
then.prooluitn, 'l, too, sat in judgment on the day when
you presumed to doom your fellow-worm: and I now
that the murderer was not in the dock but on the bench!'
Oh, my lord, think well of what you do—pause ere you
incur such fearful hazard; for be assured, that for all
these things God will also bring you to judgment!"
He ceased, and sank hack exhausted. His fervid de
claration produced a considerable impression upon his
auditory; bolt soon disapperred before the calm im
pressive charge Xif the judge, who reassured the titartled
lury, by reminding them that their duty was to honestly
tixecuto • the law. not to dispute about its justice. For
himself, he said. sustained by a pure conscience, he was
quite willing to incur the hazard hinted nt by the prison
er. After a careful and luminous summing; up, the ju
ry, with very slight deliberation, returned a verdict of
"Guilty."
As tho words passed the lips of the foreman of the jury.
a piercing shriek rang through the court. It proceeded
from a tall figure in black, who, with clo L soly draw❑
veil, had sat motionless during tho trial, just before the
dock. It was the planner's mother. .Tho next instant
she rose, and tnrowink back her veil, wildly exclaimed,
"lie is innocent—innocent. I tell ye! I ulonei—"
"Motheit mot her! for the love of Heaven be silent!"
shouted the prisoner with frantic Vehemence, and sti etch-
Mg himself over the front of Irbo dock, as if to grasp and
restrain her.
"Innocent, I tell you!" continued the woman. "I
I alone am the guilty person! It was 1 alone that perpe
trated the deed! He know it not, suspected it not, till it
was too Into. Here," sho added, drawing a sheet of
paper from her bosom—"hero is my confesion, with
each circumstance detailed!"
As she waved it over her head, it was snatched by her
son, and, swift as lightning, torn to shreds, "She is
mad! Hoed her not—heliovo her not! Ho at the same
time shouted nt the top of his powerful voice "She is dis-
tracted—rnad!" Now. my lord, yeti!. eentencel Cume!"
The tumult and exciteMent in the court no language
which I can employ would convey any adequate impres-
sion of. As soon as calm was partially restored. Mrs.
Bourdon was taken into custody; the prisoner was re
moved, and the court adjourned, of course, without pas
sing sentence. ....
It was even as his mother said! Subsequent invest:-
gation, aided by her confessions, omply proved that the
fearful crime was conceived and perpetrated by her
1. -,
alone, in the kantic hope of securing for her idolised
son the hand and fel:time of Miss Armitage. She had
often been present with him in his laboratory, and had
thus became acquainted with the uses to which certain`
agents could bo put. She had purioioed the key of the
recess, and ho, too late to prevent the perpetration of the
crime, had by mere accident discovered the abstraction
of tie poison. His subsequent declarations hatl,been
made for the purpose of saving his mother's life by the
sacrifice of his own!
The wretched woman was not reserved to fall before
the justice of her country. The hand of God smote her
ere the scaffold was prepared for her; she was emittea
witli i frenzy, and died raving in the Metropolitan Lunatic
Asyuru. Alfred' Bourdon. after a lengthened imprison
men .was liberated: Ho culled on me. by appointment.
a fev days. previous to leaving this country forever; and
I plated
ed in hie hands a small pocket Bible, on the fly
' loaf Of which was written one word ',sElleniu His dim
eye lighted up with something of its old fire as it glanced
at the characters; he then closed the book. placed it iu
his bosom, and waving me a mutts farewell-1 saw he
claret not trust hirniolf to 808 k—hastily departeryl
,
eve r dew him tudrii.
nuNaanv. -
ITS SITUATION, RESOURCES AND POPULA
The geographical extent of Hungary, including the
ancient dependencies of Transylvania and Croatia, and
that collection of different tribes organized under a pe
culiar system as a military frontier between her dentin
ions and Turkey, more than equals that of Anstria with
,all her remaining provinces of Bohemia, Gallicia, Ty
rol, Lombardy and Venice. Tho traveler who approach
es Vienna from the North sees at one gianco from the
sloping heights which conduct him to the Danube, the
imperial city at his feet, the spires of Hungarian Pres
burg on the horizon, and the outposts of the Carpathian
range far away to the northeast. From the river March
—the Austrian frontier north of the Danube—a day's
forced march would take 'any army to the walls of Vien
na. The boundary line extends nearly two Cracow on
the north, following the course of the Carpathians as
they curve eastward like a grand natural arch resisting
the pressure of Russia. Sena of the Danube it runs to
the southwest in an irregular line, closely approach the
great highway from Vienna to Trieste, and striking the
Adriata at the head of the Gulf of Fiume. The Dan
ube, sweeping to the east fur about seventy miles after
leaving Presburg, turtle abruptly to the mouth at Waitzen,
(the scene of a late glorious Hungarian victory,) and
parting the rival cities of Pesti) and Ofen, passes through
the heart of the kingdom. At the fortress of Peterwar
'Min—which is to the Danube what Elirenbreitritein is
to the Rhino—it again resumes its easterly course, stri
king the Turkish frontier at Belgrade; and akirting Tran
sylvania till within a hundred miles of the Black Sea.
The central region of Hungary, stretching out from
tho Carpathians to the Dauubo in vast steppes which are
drained by the Theirs and its myriad tributaries,
surpassed in soil and climate by any other pat o
repo. It yields, ill great abundance, all tho pr.
of thu temperate 2000, with others common to
and Southern France, The harve , it'in grain are
dant and certain. The plains are protected (to:
cold winds of the north by a monntan-Ous range
feet in height while the hot blasts ot' the south aro
pared before they reach the Danuba, in the &fit
the Balkun and the immeasurable forests of Servia
Hung try t h us prolocos within hor bord•trs, even
the impel feet , ystem of ngrictilture which her peasants
have practised for three hundred years, all that is nbces
eery to her own sustenance. The valleys of tho Car
pathians support numberless flecks of sheep, goats, and
cattle; the central table land; watered by six hundred
streams, brine forth, with little labor. wheat, rye, msze,
barley and all kinds of vegetables; the worm hills bor
dering the Danube yield annually twenty-five million
gallons ..of wine, among them the .tenoWbed 'Pokey,
while the marshes in some of the southern districts are
successfully used in the cultivation of rico. The climate,
more mill and "exuablo than that of Geimnny, is the
healthiest in Eu pc, ono proof of which is stow' in
the study frames at d strong, physical energies of the
inhabitants. whose n ode of life also tends materiall) to
preserve the stamina of the race.
The mineral small of Hungary. as trot very imper
fectly explored. protni es to develop inexhaustable 're
f sources of industry am profit. 'rho Carpathian distiiet,
inhabited by thal branch of the Sclavonie race known as
the Slowaks, and some Germans . who are connected
with the mineral opperation, is rich i n the precious as
well as the ruder and mare necessary metals. Gold is
ns nhundant iri some localities as in the mines ofl(he
Urn% whence Russia draws her fabulous wealth; veins
of silver and copper of unusual richness era frequently
met with and the wandering lapidary picks up in the
untraveled recesses of the mountains the emerald, the
jacinth and the radiant opal. Mines of rock salt, sot
pher and saltpetre on the one hand and caliper, iron and
zinc on the other. need but labor, enterprise and proper
encouragement from Government rank among the rest
profitable in Europe, and vast beds of coal, which might
Isupply the itdisforested Orient, still lie untouched. It
is no marvel that Austria should have endeavored to bring
such a country under the yoke her grasping monopoly of
trade and oppressive interpretest to take up the quarrel,
with a far-reaching hope for a lion's share.
The kingdom of Hungary, with Transylvania and
Croatai, covers about 150.000 square milk,and supports
a population reckoned at about 14.000,000. The coun
try is less densely populated than Atistriat_ in feet, por
tions of it still retain the original forests, in which the
deer, bear and wild boar are hunted by noblemen. But,
deducting froM the remaining population of Austria the
Polish and Italian provinces which are disaffected, and
on whose support she cannot rely.•it will be seen that in
numerical strength Hungary fella little short of being her
equal. The difference of rack and the conquent hos
tility of blood between different portions of the Hunga
rian people are, however, influences which prevent the
country at present front dieplaying its full power. Nyheth
er the more imminent danger which threat it..a ill efface
for the time jealousies and unite all fraternally in a com
mon struggle, is a question whose favorable solution is
earnestly to be desired.
The Magyars constitute the original Hungurian stock,
whose Chiefs founded the kingdom a thousand years
ago. and in whose hands the governing power has al
ways remnin ,, d. They sprung from the same Mongo
lian origin as the Turks, their near neighbors U:those Tan
gunge strongly resembles their own. They received the
name of L'ngri from the Sclavonic tribes, whom, in the
tenth ientury the dispossessed of the fertile plains of the
Danube. This title was taken up by the Germans, and
under it they became famous as a nation. The Mug.
yars,.who number about 4.800,000 . 50i115, still inhabit the
generous soil which attracted them from the East. and
one of their cities, Debreezin, is now the temporary Cap
ital of Hungary.
The Selavonic tribes hold all the mountainous dis,
trict and estimated collectively at 4,500,000, divided be
tween Croatia on the the South. embracing the sea port
of Flume, the Slowake among the Carpathions, and the
Szeklers. Bulgarians, Servians, and other small groups
on tte. Military Frontier. The Germans, 1.Q.50,000 in
all, i habit the ricah, wooded and hilly province of Tran
sylvania,,East of the Carpathians, whither they emeg,ri
grated in the twelfth centnay, and where the still pre
serve the language and customs of the Rhine, surround
ed on all sides by the Magyar and Selavonic races. No
country in the world holds within an unintefrupted boun
dary and under a single civil system, so many contrasts
of language and blood.
The same causes which have operated to prevent the
advance of the Hringaricins in all the modern arts, have
also contributed to preserve, in spite of prosecution and
intrigue the ancient balance of sects, in a religions view.
The Magyars embraced christianity soon after their sel
-1 clement in t h e D a ; t obe, and for centuries kept the tide
of Turkish invasion from flowing upon Western Europe.
At the time of the Reformation the greater poritou of
them wont over t, the Protestants, in connection with
the Germans of Transylvania and some of the Selemon
lc tribes. The population now stands: 'Protestants five
and a half millions; Catholics nearly five millions, and
members of the Greek Church about two millions The .
unjust prosecution of the Protestants by the power at Vi
enna is among ilia, wrongs which Hungary - is now so vat
liantly avengiug. N, Y. Tribune. .
MY A schoolmaster In Vermont, lately recommended
to lola littpits a Veryfirie etiltan of Ceritse to the he.:d•
8150 A lirilArt, in Advanco.
A NOBLE ACT,
Lieutenant Beall, U. S. Navy, is alroadywell known
in the country, having particularly distinguished himself
on several different occasion.; as a bearer' of important
dispatches to and front California, through the heart of
Mexico, during the .War, and across tffe prairies and
Rocky Mountains, forcing his way, with equal spirit.
through civilized and savage enemies. As a gallant na
val officer and intrepid travaller, with the courage to face
and the energy to overcome every difficulty and peril, we
can well believe he has no supperior, Lutt.ve have recen
tly hoard an anecdote told of him. being the account of*
circumstance which happened on the last journeyto
Cal
ifornia, hem which he has only so lately returned, which
while it illustrates the dangers of the road, proves that
there is another quality in hini higher than mere resolu
tion and bravery; a humane and generous disposition.
which gives to those virtues the character of heroism .
"It was, we beleive, is the G.la country, that Lieut.
Beall having encamped his party and placed it in safety
went out bunting. He sent out alone on a favorite saddle
mare, which was generally kept up or spared for such
occasions. About six miles from the camp he had the
good fortune to kill a deer; and ho was on the ground
dressing the carcass, when, upon looking np, ho sudden
ly beheld a troop of mounted Apsrliei, who hadCliscov
ed him, and wore dashing furiously towards him. They
had doubtless heard the report cr seen the smoke of his
rifle, and so were on hint before ho was aware: but he
knew very well that to be overtaken by them, a single
white man among those nuked hilk which they called
their own, was certain death: and, accordingly, lasing
his quarry and tnonuting in hot haste, lie relied upon the
mettle of his mare, which he put to her full speed, to car
ry hint back In safety to the camp. Away darted the
young Lieutenant, and ou rushed the savages„ thuilider
ing and pelting, in the certain assurauce of their pray.—
But confident as Choy were, the fugitive was quite as well
satisfied of his ability to escape; although their horses
Were fresher than the mare, nut it was pretty certain they
wore gaining slightly upon her, and would give her a so
: two contest before reaching the camp.
IN nut
Eu
rlucts
Italy
l lmil.
the
1 ,000
"Thus asuired of Iris sol'ot;,, but not rtiaxitig his speed.
Licuten-int Beril lind recovered half his distance from the
camp, when, dashing over the crest of a hill, he was hoc
rdied at the sight of one of his own men, on foot, climb
ing the hill, and in fact following in his trail to assist
him in the bunt. The sight of the lieutenant [flying
down the hill at such a furious rate, was' doubtless
enough; perhaps the poor fellow could hear the nr:hoops
of the Indians ascending the hill from the opposite side;
at all events. he understood his fate, anti spreading his
arms before the horse's fiend, he cried .ut, with the ac
cents of despair, "Oh, Mr. Be:il, save me! I tun a hus
band and the father of eix helpless children:" Never
was prayer more quickly heard, or more heroically an
swered.
ME
Efl
rtdee
.•The Lieutenant, though ridsug for his own life. im
mediately stopped his snare, dismounted, and giving her
to tbe mon, said, `You shall be saved, Ride back to the
'damp. and send them out to give my body odecent buri
al!' And so they parted—the footman to escape, the
officer, os ho suppoied, le be slain—for the hill woe ut
terly bare, without a single hiding place, end he thought
cf nothing but selling his life as dearly as pos. -Ale. For
this purpose he drew his revolver, and slain, down ou
the ground, waited for the savages, who, in , moment,
came rushing over the brow of the hill, and ts.nt, to tho
unspeakable amazement of Liout.Beall, slashed past him
down the descent like madmen, not a son!, in fact see
ing him. They saw, in reality, nothing but the horse
and the horseman they bud been pursuing for three
miles; they knew nothing of a horseman; and perhaps
the sitting figure of the Lieutenant dppeared, to eyes on
ly bent on one attractive object. as n stone or huge cac
tus, such as abound on those sterile
...At all events, Lieutenant Beall, by what to himself
seemed almost a direct Providential interposition in his
behalf, Tainained wholly undiscovered; and in a moment
more the Apaches were nut of sight, still pursuing the
horse and rider to the comp. The latter barely succeed
ed in escaping with his life, the Indians having over
hauled him so closely just as ho reached the camp, as
to be able to inflict one or two slight wounds upon him
with bullets, or perhaps with avows. As for Liouteu,
lint Beall, lie was not slow to take advantago of Is;.s good
fortune; and selecting a round ; alscut course,' ho suc
ceeded in reaching the comp just about ['Aline that the
poor fellow he had bayed, and the other members of the
party, wore about sallying out to obey his last request,
and give Isis body decent burial.
••Upon such an act as this it were sußrflons to corn •
Mina. It is an act, however,: which deserves to live in
men's recollections, like the story of a great battle and
victorv."
A TALL .71TOSQUITO.—"10 you aretgoing to the East
(finales me darlint, M Ilarooney!" said an old Irk
crone to the young wife of a soldier about to' embark for
Madras. "five been in them parts meself, and well do I
remember the torments I went through;night and day.
with the mosqutoes. They have longlickers, banging
down from their head, and they' lldraw the hko out of
ye before ye An soy peas." This terrifjing, aFcount liv
ed in the memory of the young woman; the I.essels: made
Madras roads, the decks were soon crowded; all hands
at the sight of hind, Mrs. Harooney with diem; but lice
joy was of short duration; for, on shore she perceiveq an
elephant, Horror-stricken at the sight and in breathless
agitation, she approached the' mate, exclaiMitig, with up -
lifted hands, "Holy mother, is that a mosquitto?"
Dounts. CsurtoN.—The late Rowland Jul understood
human nature, Weil. His chapel having been infested
with pickpockets ho took oevision to remind the congre
gation that there wits an all-seing Providence, to whom
all hearts aro open, and froM whom no secrets era hid✓-
"hut lest," he added, "there may he any present who are
insensible to such retleetimrs, I b-g, lea so to state that
there are also two Bow-street officers on the look-opt.
CaDow, Jr., in ono of his recent sermons, advises hie
hearers as follows:
"Never run to catch-a falling star in your 'hat, or at
tempt to reseal a king upon his throne, whom hie subjects
hare tumbled to the bottom: it wero useless. Never
givo a boys shilling to hold your shadow while you
climb a treo to look into the middle of noxt Week; it is
money thrown away.
GaLus - r—VEny.—A cotenmorary lets off the follow
ing: "Wornan—the morning star of infancy, the day
star of manhood, the evening star of age. Bless such
stars! May we bask in their influence until we aro shy"
high."
Er Epigram on a woman with rod hair who wroto
poetry:
Unfortunate woman! how sod is your lot.
Your ringlets ate red—hut your poems arc not
tr "Alt, Mr. Simpkins, we have not chairs enough
for our company." said a gay' wife to hor frugal hus
band. "Plenty of chairs but tuo much company," ro
plicd Mr. S.
A BesmEss PAsiaa.►Pif.—You have no business to
have any business with other people's business: but mind
your own business, and that is business enough for you.
Docis3LA modern writer says that the dog has boon
the rornhanion of matt for more than five thousand years.
and has learned btit one of his ekes: and that is to wtirry
h's spooks when in distress.
NUMBER 8.