1 have mvoiu uyou the Altar of CJod, eternal hostility to every lbnu of Tyranny over tne Mini! of aiau." I'uouus Jclibn.011.
MINTED AND PUBLISHED BY II. WEBB.
Volume 51.
BX,CQB1SBURGU COIiUBIBIA COUNTY, PA. SATURDAY, JTOVEMBBR 9, 1839.
Number 38.
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j From Friendships Offering for 183!).
THE MERCHANTS DAUGHTER
AND THE JUDGE.
BV THE AUTHOR OE 4 TlIK RCrOIUIER.
It was the land of poetry and song the
land peopled with the memories of the past
the land ccr which the shadows of a long
renown rested more glowingly than
present glory. It was beautiful Italy ; the
air like a sweet odour, was to tne sense as
10ft thouchts are to the mind, or tender
feelings to the heart, breathing serenity and
reaee. The sweet air swept balmly over
the worn brow of an invalid, giving to the
palled hue of his countenance the first faint
dawning of returning health.
The eye of the invalid was fixed on the
dark characters of a book in cumbrous bin
ding and massive clasps, which the Rox
burgh Cittb would now consider an invalu
able black-letter ; and so absorbed was he
in its persual that he heard not the ap
prnaching steps of visitors until the sound
of their greetings roused him from his me
diations. 4The saints have you in their keeping
said his elder visitor, a man whose brow
bore traces of age, though time had dealt
leniently-wiih him.
The dear Madonna bless you !' ejacula
ted his other visitor, a young girl w.ith the
large flashing eye, the pure oval face, and
the classic contour of Italy.
The invalid bowed his head to each of
theso salutations.
4And now,' said the merchant, for such
was the elder visitor, 'that your wounds
are healing and your strength returning
may we not inquire of your kin and coun
try?'
' A slight flash passed over the pale face
f the sick man ; he was silent for a mo
mcnt as if communing with himself, ami
then replied, I nm of England, and a sol-
(liei, albeit of the lowest rank.'
. 'Of England !' hastcly responded the
merchant, ;'of England.' of heretic Englaw
ho crossed himself devoutly, and started
back as if afraid of contamination.
1 mav not denv home and country,' re
plied the soldier, mild, but firmly.
Hut 1 shall incur the church's censure
for lrhoring thee I' exclaimed the merchant
fhouknowest not what pains and pennltie
niav be mine for doing thee this service !'
' 'Then let mc forth,' replied the soldier ;
n-ou have been to me the good Samaritan
and I would' not requite you with evil : let
me go on my way, and may the blessinsg
Heaven bo upon you m tho hour of your
own need!'
Nav. nav. I say not so. Thou hast
tint yet strength for tho travel, and besides.
England was onnp the brightest jewil in our
lioly father's crown, and he might recon
cile herself again; but I fear she will not,
fpr your master Henry is a violent, hot
blooded, man and hath torn away the king
dom from appstolic care. Know you not
that your land is under inlerdect, and I, as
a true h? of tho holy, mother church,
ought not now to ,be changing words with
then !'
'Even io,' repliedjhe soildier; but there
aro many that think the King's grace hardly '
dealt by.
'The sheppard knoweth best how to keep
this fold,' replied the merchant, hastly
'but you are that king's soldier, you take
his pay, you eat his bread, and doubtless
ought to hope the best for him, and even so
do I. I would that he might repent and
ln'mble himself, and then our holy father
would again receive him into the fold : but,-
now I bethink me, thou wert reading, What
were thy studies ?'
The brow of tho soldier clouded, he hes
itated a moment, but then gathering up his
resolution replied, in the Jin of the battle
this iooK was my breast plate, in tho hour
of sickness my best balm,' he laid the open
volume before the merchant.
Holy saint! exclaimed tho merchant
crossing himself, and drawing back as he
beheld the volume which his church has
closed against the l.iyman. 'Thou then art
among the hcrcticks who bring down
curse upon my land! in ay, thy sojourn
nere may uring uown maledictions upon
mc and mine, upon my house and home !
But thou shalt forth ! I will not harbor theel
I will deliver thee over to the church, tha
she may chasten thee ! Away from him
my child 1 away from him !'
The soldier sat Sad and solitary, watch'
ing the dying light of the sun, as he had
passed majestically on to shine in other
lends. One ray rested on the thoughtful
broWof the lonely man as he sought brae'
ing up his courage to meet the perilou
luturc. as uc tnus muscu a sou voice
broke upon his reverse.
'You aro thinking of your far off home.'
said the Italian girl, 'how I wish that all I
love had but one home it is a grief to have
so many homes !'
Theie is such a home,' replied the sol
dier.
4 Ah!' replied Amelia 'but they say
that heretics enmc not there ! Promise
me that you will not bs a heretic any longer.
The soldier smiled and sighed.'
'"Sou guess why I am here to night,' re.
sumed the Italian girl. I know it by that
smile and sigh. You think that I am come
to tell you to seek your own land and home
and, 'therefore your smile, and just breathe
one little sigh because you leave this bright
sun and ine.'
'Am I then to leave you, perhaps to be
delivered over to the power of your impla
cable church.'
Amelia crossed herself. 'No, no, go to
your own country and be happy. Here is
noney my father could not deny mc when I
begged it of him with kisses and tears.
Go and be happy and forget us.
'Never 1' exclaimed tho soldier, earnestly
'never land you, my kind and gentle
nurse, my good angle you who have
brought hope to my pillow, and beguiled
the sad houis of sickness in a foreign laud
words are but poor things to thank thee
with.'
'I shall see you no more !' said the
young Italian, 'and what shall make me
happy when you aro gone j Who will tell
mo the talc of flood and field ? I have been
happy while you were here, and yet we
met very sadly. My heart stood still
when we first found you covered with
blood, on our way back to Milanarter the
battle. You lu d crept under the hedge, as
wo thouhgt to dye. Rut I took courage to
lay my hand upon your heart; and never
has a morning passed, but I have gathered
the sweetest flower to freshen your sick
pillow ; anu wiiiic you were insensible in
that terrible fever I used to steal into your
chamber and kneel at your bed foot, and
pray for tho Madonna's care. And when
you revived you smiled at my flower, and
and when you had voico to speak you
thanked me-'
Amelia's voice was lost in soils; and
what wonder if one from man's 3tcrner na
ture mingled with them ?
Tho morrow came, Tlio Italian girl
gathered a last flower, and gave it in tearful
silence to the soldier. Uc kissed tho frag
rant gift and then, with a momentary bold
ness, the fair hand that gave it, than depar
ted. The young girl watched his footsteps
till they wero lost in sound, and then aban
doned herself to weeping.
'Thou art sad, dear daughter,' said a
venerable father to his child, as they tra-
erscd that once countryfied expunsr
through which wc now jostle our way from
the City of Westminister 'ThotT Irlsad
dear daughter.
'Nay, my father,' replied the maiden4!
would not be so but it io hard always to
wear a cheerful countenance when '
' The heart is sad, thou wouldst say,'
4 Nay I mean it not.'
' 1 have scarcely seen thee smile bince
wo entered tins nngianu i may not say
this heretic England.'
Hush ! dear faiher hush ! tho winds
may whisper it, see you not that we aro
surrounded by a multitude'
4 They are running madly to soma revel
Let us leave their path, then,' said the
girl it suits not our fallen tortuncs, or our
disordered faith, to seem to mingle in this
stream of folly. Doubtless the kinr has
some new pageantry.'
'Well if it be so,' replied the father, 'hap
py the gewgaw and the show might brin
the truant smile to thy lip, and tho lost his
tro to thino eye. Thou -art too young to
be thus mondly sad. See how anxious,
how eager, how happy seem this multitude
not one care worn brow! thou mayest
catch their chcefulncss. We will go with
tho stream.
The girl offered no further resistance.
They were strangers in the land poor al-
mst pennylcss. They had come from
their own country to reclaim a debt which
onoof the nobles of the court had incurred
in more prosudroda davtv.uheti the mer
chant was rich in silver and gold and mer-chnndize.
The vast thong poured on swelling until
it became a mighty tide the bells pealed out
tho cannon bellowed, human voices aug
mented the din. The Thames was lined
on either side; every building on its margin
crowded, and its surface peopled. Every
sort of aquatic vessel covered its bosom
so that the flowing river seemed rather
some broad road teaming for life. Galley
after galley, glittering with the gold and the
purple, came on laden with the wealth, and
the pride, and the beauty of the land, and
presently the acclamation of a thousand
voices rent the skies. 'The King !' the
r ctiw11 Intirllv iVinvn ltlf Atn
of the mob.
It wa3 enough; the unhappy merchant
was immediately consigned over to the sec
ular.
Oh ! sad were those prison hours 1 the girl
told her beads the father prayed to all the
saints and then came the vain consolation
by which each endeavored to cheat the olh- j
cr. They thought ol their own sunny lanu,
its balmy air, its living beauty, and that
thought was home.
November came with all its bloom the j
month that should have been the grave of
the ycai, coming as it docs with shroud and
ccronloth, foggy, dark and dreary; the fath
er's brow numbered more wrinkles, the once
black hair was more nearly bleached, the
features more attenuated.
And the daughter ah ! youth is the trans
parent lamp of hope but in her the light
was dim.
In fear and trembling the unhappy for
eigners waited tho day of doom. Tho mer
chant's offence was one little likely to meet
with no mercy. Henry ".-as jealous of his
titleand head of the church. He had drawn
up n code of articles of belief, which his
subjects we;e desired to subscribe to, & he
had instituted a court of which he had made
Lord Cromwell vicar-gcneral, for the e.v
press trial of those whose orthodoxy in the
king s creed was called into question
Ncithor could the unhappy merchant hope
to find favor with his judge, for it was known
that Cromwell was storongly attached to
the growing reformation, and from the acts
of severity with which he had lately visi
ted some of the adherents of the Romish
creed, in his new character of vicar-general
it was scarcely probable that he would show
mercy to one attached, by lineage, and love
to papal liome. blranjrers as they were
unknowing and unknown, what had th
n;t to fear, nndavhat was left to hope ?
King ! long ive the King!' He came
Henry the 8th came, in all that regal digni
ty; and gordeous splendor, in which he so
much delighted.
And then began the pageant, contrived to
throw odium an Rome, and to dograde the
protensio'ns of the Pope. Two galleys,
one hearing the arms of England, the other
marked by tho pnpalinsignia, advanced to
wards each other and the fictitious contest
commenced.
Borne on by tho crowd, our merchant and
his daughter had been forced into a conspi
cuous situation. The peculiar dress, the
braided hair, the beauty and the foreign as
pect of the girl had marked her out to the
rude gallantry of the crowd; so that to a
limited sphere, the faiher and daughter were
themselves objects interest and curiosity.
The two vessels joined, and the mimic
contest was begun. Of course the English
colors triumphed over the papal. Upon to
this point tho merchant bore his pangs in
silence; but when the English gallery had
assumed the virtory, then came the trial of
patience. Effigies of the cardinals wero
hurled into the slieam amidst the shouts
and derisions of tho mob. At each plunge
groanb issued from his tortured breast. It
was in vain that Amelia clung to his arm,
and implored him, by every tear to restrain
himself. His religious zeal overcame his
prudenco; and when at las), tho figure of
the Pope dressed in his poiificial robes, waa
hurled into tho tide, the loud exclamation of
agony and horror burst from his lips. 4 0
monstrous impiety of an accursed and sac
The morni;. ' of trial came. The fogs
ol that dismal mouth spread (ike a veil o
ver earth. There was no beauty in th
landscape no light in the heavens, and no
hope in the heart.
The judges took their places : a crowd o
wretched delinquents came to recieve their
doom. We suppose it to be a refinement
of modern days, that men are not punished
for their crimes, but only to deter olhet
from committing them. The court of Hen
ry's seemed to think otherwise, there was
allelic array of human passions in the judges
as well as in the judged. On one hand re
creant fear abjured his creed; on another
heroism braved all contingencies courting
the pile ar.d slake, with even passionate dc
sireand the pile .vo stake were given with
iitem and unremitting cruelty.
At length there stood at the bar an aged
man and a beautiful girl, the long white hai
of the one fell Iousely over the shoulders
and left unshaded a faecO wrinkled as much
by care as by age; the dark locks of theoth
were braided over a countenance clouced by
sorrow, and wet with tears.
The mockery of trial went on. It was
easy to prove what even the criminal did
not attempt to gainsay. The aged merchant
avowed his fidelity to the Pope as a true
son of the church, denied ths supremacy of
Henry over any part of the fold, and thus
scaled his own doom.
There was an awful stillness throughout
the court stillness the precusor of doom
broken only by the sobs of tho weeping
girl.'as she clung to hei father's arm. How
beit the expected sentence was interrupted;
there came a sudden rush, fresh attendants
thronged the court. ' Room for Lord Crom
well ! Room for Lord Cromwell !'
And tho vicar-general came in his pomp
and his state, with all the insignia of office,
to assume his place of premiiicncc at that
tribunal. Notes of the proceedings were
laid before Lord Cromwell. He was told
of the intended sentence and he mado a ges
ture of approbation. A gleam of hopo had
dawned upon tho mind cf the Italian girl
a3 Lord Cromwell entered. Sho watchrd
his countenance as he read; it was stern,
indicative of calm determination, but there
were lines in it that spoke more of mista
ken duty than inmate cruelty. Yet, when
the vicar-general gave his token of assent,
the steel entered Amelia's soul, and a sob,
the verient accent of dispair, rang through
the court, and where it met with a human
heart pierced through all tho cruelty and
oppression which armed it, and struck upon
some of the natural feelings that divide men
from monsters. That sound struck upon
Lord Cromwell's car, his cyo sought tho
place whence it proceeded; it rested on A
melia and her father. A strange emotion pas
sed over the face of the stern judge a per
fect stillness followed.
Lord Cromwell broke silence. He glan
ced over the notes that had been handed te
him, speaking in a low voice apparently to
himself ' from Itally a merchant Milan
ruined by the wars ay, those in Milan
were owing to Clement's ambition, and
Charles' knavery the loss of substanco to
England to reclaim an old iudebtment.'
Lord Cromwell's eye raisnd once moro
upon the merchant and his daughter.
Ye are of Italy from Milan; is that
your birth-place?
' We are of Tuscans,' replied the mer
chant, ' of Lucca; and oh ! noble Lord, it
there is any mercy in this show it now to
this unhappy girl.'
4 To bolh, or to neither,' exclaimed the?
girl; wc will live or we will die together.
The vicar-general made answer to ncitn-
i . r l:
er. tie rose aorupuy ai a sign irum uuu
tho proper officer declared the court adjour
ned the sufferers were hurried back to their
cslb some went whither they would
others, whither they would not; but all dis
persed.
A faint and solitary light glanced from a
chink cf the prison walls it came from
the narrow cell of the Italian merchant and
his daughter.
The girl slept ay slept. Sleep does
not always leave the wretched, to light on
lids unsullied with a tear. Reader hast thou
known intense misery, and canst thou not
remember, how thou hast fell and wept,
and agonized, until the very excitement of
the misery wore out thy bod's power of en
durance, and slept like a toper, a lethargy,
bound thee in its chains. Into such a sleep
had Amelia fallen; she was lying on that
prison floor her face palo as if ready for the
grave, the lrge tears yet resting on her
cheeks, and over her sat tho merchant lean
ing, asking himself whether, treasure that
she was, and had even been to him, he could
wish that sleep to be the sleep of death.
The clanking of the key caught the mer
chant's ear; a gentle step entered the pris
on. Tho father's first thought was the
child, he made a motion to enjoin silence
it was obeyed his vister advanced with
a silent tread; the merchant looked upon
him with wonder. Surely no and yet
could it be ? that his judge Lord Crom
well, the vicar-general stood before him,
and stood not with threatening in his eye
not denunciations on his lip, but took bis
stand an the other side of Amelia, gazing
on her with an eye in which tenderness and
compassion were conspicuous.
Amazement bound up the faculties of thn
merchant. He seemed to himself as one
that dreameth.
4 Awake gentle girl, Awake, said Lord
Cromwell, as he stooped over Amelia.
4 Let me hear thy voice onrc moro as it
sounded in mine car in other days.'
The gontlo accent fell too lightly "to
break tho spell of heavy slumber, and tho
merchant, whoso fears, feelings, and con
fusion formed a perfect chaos, stooping
over his child suddenly awoke her with the
cry of Amelia ! Amelia ! awake and bchd
our judge I'
4 Nay, nay, not thus roughly,' said Lord
Cromwell, but tho sound has already re
called Amelia to tho sense of wretcU.hisss.
She half raised herself from hei incumbent
posture into a kneeling one, shadowing her
dazzled eyes with her hand, her streaming
hair falling in wild disorder over her shoul
ders, and thus resting at tho feet of her
judge.
Look on me, Amelia,' said Lord Crom-
31
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