The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-03-04 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

PRACTICAL EXORCISM.—About ten days ago all the
population of Brunn, in the Austrian States, were thrown
into commotion by the appearance of the Devil in pre-
persona", surrounded by gendarmes with drawn
swords. His Satanic Majesty was, as he is always repre-
sented, perfectly black, with two enormous horns, goat's
ears, a body covered with hair, horse's legs, and cloven
feet ; but he seemed decidedly out of spirits, and it ap-
peared that he was undergoing the indignity of being
conveyed to durance vile. The old men and women of
the place fell on their knees, and prayed to all the saints
to protect them against the terrible Prince of Darkness:;
but the young men had the impiety to laugh and scoff at
him. On inquiry the following facts were stated :—A few
days before, as a peasant woman named Hint was lying
in bed after having been delivered of a child, the devil
suddenly leaped through a window, clanking a chain, and
demanded that she should either give him the child to be
carried to the regions below, or make over to him a sum
of 100 florins in new silver, which he knew she had col-
lected. The poor woman, greatly terrified, at once pro-
duced the money, and the devil pocketed it ; after which
he went away. The next day the woman told the parish
priest of the visit she had received, and added that she
had collected the 100 florins penny by penny to pay for
religious services on her accouchement. " Did you tell
any one that vou had the money ? " asked the priest.
" Only the midwife," said she. " Well, tell the midwife
that the devil was mistaken in supposing that you bad
only 100 florins, for that you have 50 florins more; and
say that you are glad he did not compel you to give them
up. The devil will perhaps pay you another visit after
that, but I will be there to exorcise him." The woman
told the midwife what the priest had said. The next
night the devil reappeared and demanded the 50 florins;
but at the same moment the priest rushed forth, seized
him by the neck, and charged him with being a thief.
The devil, it turned out, was the husband of the midwife.
He was fastened in a room, and the next morning was
taken to prison.—Galignani.
JEALOUSY AND CRIME.—A most extraordinary cir-
cumstance occurred at the theatre at Oran, in Algeria,
on Sunday, tile 3d instant. During the performance of
the second act of the " Vie de Cafe," the report of a
fire-arm was heard in a box on the highest tier, and at
the same moment frightful screams were uttered by a
young woman who was seen to fall to the ground. The
audience shouted " Murder, murder !" and frightful con-
fusion arose. Some persons hastened to the box, but
they found the door fastened ; and, whilst they were at-
tempting to break it open, a man, wearing the uniform of
the Chasseurs d'Afrique, put his leg over the front of the
box as if to throw himself into the pit. He would have
succeeded in the design if a soldier of the 11th regiment
had not, at the risk of his life, clambered from the gal-
lery and seized him. The officer struggled violently, and
succeeded in getting the greater portion of his person
over the box, in doing which part of his clothes were torn
from his back. At last the soldier only held him by the
foot, and by a violent effort the unfortunate man broke
from his grasp and fell heavily into the orchestra. The
audience shrieked with dismay, and some persons
hastened to remove the man to the stage. He had still a
pistol in his hand, and he cried, " For the love of God,
for pay's sake, do not take that pistol from me. I belong
to an honourable family, and let me save it from dis-
honour." As he was not much injured he was ordered
to the police-office, but, after proceeding some distance,
he broke away from the gendarmes and got clear off.
He attempted more than once to drown himself, but not
succeeding went to the lodgings of a brother officer at
Oran, wrote a long letter to his family, and shot himself
through the heart. The young woman whom he at-
tempted to kill was only slightly wounded by the ball of
the pistol ; but was a good deal injured by his having
beaten her after she fell with the pummel •f his sword.
Nevertheless her state excited no serious disquietude.
She is an actress, had lately belonged to the theatre of
Mostaganem, and bad been mistress of the officer, but
had excited his furious jealousy by abandoning him for
another. On the evening in question she had gone to
the theatre with a female servant and a little child. The
officer had gone up to her box, had sent away the servant
and child, and, after reproaching her with her conduct,
endeavoured to murder her in the manner described.—
Galignani's Messenger.
A QUEER STORY.—We read in the Gazette de Tribu-
naux ;—"A. few days ago some loud cries for help at-
tracted the attention of the public force to the apart-
ments of a Madame de C—, where they found two
persons covered with blood, and struggling with each
other, who were forthwith taken before the commissary of
police. Here it came out that a few months ago Lord
11—, an Englishman, espied two ladies in a box at tile
Gaits, where Paillasse was represented. One of the
ladies was somewhat advanced in age, the other young
and handsome, dressed with elegant simplicity, and ex-
tremely modest demeanour. Lord H—, suddenly feel-
ing a great interest for them, followed them after the
play, discovered their address, and the next morning
learnt from their porter's wife that the elderly lady was
Madame de C—, widow of a colonel, and the young
lady was the daughter Ernestine ; that their connexions
were highly respectable, that they seldom went out, and
enjoyed no other amusement than the play now and then.
By rewarding the porter's wife for her trouble, Lord H—
was subsequently informed very regularly of the day on
which they were to go to the play, and always managed
to be in their way or near their box. He soon found an
opportunity of conversing with them, and was afterwards
admitted to their house as a friend. He was soon told
by the old lady that Ernestine had been educated at the
Maison de St. Denis, and that, as her fortune was but
small, she lived with her mother until she should obtain
an inheritance, which would, at no distant period, give
' her the means of forming an alliance worthy of her birth.
The Englishman, from that time, began to pay his court
regularly to the young lady, and made both her and her
mother several costly presents, which were accepted,
though not without difficulty. After some time Lord
ll—, having popped the question,' was accepted, and
immediately made splendid preparations for his marriage.
He had just ordered marriage presents for his bride to
the amount of 25,000 f., when, desirous of having the
opinion of Ernestine on certain silks, he called upon her
sooner than usual, and was struck with astonishment on
overhearing a conversation between the mother, the
daughter, and a gentleman, from which it appeared that
the latter and Ernestine had had familiar intercourse
together, and that a child had been the fruit of it. The
Englishman, linable to contain himself, rushed upon his
rival, and commenced the furious contest which ended in
the arrest of both."

IRELAND.
_.__

There is a bill in the House of Commons, containing
320 clauses, for the improvement of towns in Ireland.
Of six insolvent debtors, discharged by Mr. Commis-
sioner Curran, in Dundalk, five were respectable farmers.
The guardians at Kilrush have rejected the memorial to
parliament against the removal of the Lord Lieutenancy
from Ireland.
-ssel rrived in

On Tuesday no fewer than 18 foreign vessels arm,.
Queenstown, all corn laden, mostly wheat and maize,
Monday 11 vessels, all laden with foreign wheat !
The Rev. Edward Nangle was inducted into the living
of Achill by the Rev. W. B. Stoney, on Thursday, vacant
by the appointment of the Rev. C. H. Seymour to Tuam
parish.
The repeal rent for the week was £2 ids. The " star"
of O'Conneliism is completely obscured. The vote on
Mr. Disraeli's motion extinguished the last shred of po-
pularity which once attached to the family name.

The well-known correspondent of the Times, " S. G.
Osborne," writing on Irish emigration, says ;—" A young
man, who only left the employ of a friend of my own, a
most benevolent English settler in Connemara, last spring,
has already sent through the said employer's hands £l6
for his aged parents. Several who left in the summer
have sent £4 or £5 each. Two young men who left Ire-
land last September, and sailed to New Orleans, and
thence five hundred miles up the Mississipi, have each
already sent £4 for their relations at home. I have had a
good deal to do with the emigration of English peasantry,
and have seen a good deal of their correspondence with
their friends and relations in this country ; but, although
their letters are full of evidence of their great success and
thriving condition, I have never yet found them sending
money home to their relatives, either to assist them here
or to aid them to come out. The instances I have quoted
above of Irish good feeling might be multiplied to an ex-
tent I could hardly expect your readers to believe. There
surely is good stuff in the character of these people, if it
was turned by judgment to a good purpose."