Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1822-09-21

bank In front Of the house. There hi
/ lay with his iivid face, and blood.sho
protruded eyes, till, in few minutes
he raised himself up, and fixed them
upon his wife, wEo, soon recovering
from fainting fit, came shrieking from
the mire in which she had fallen down
Poor people = said the sailor. with a
gasping voice, you have suffered 9.
nough for your crime, Fear nothing
the worst ID now past: and rather would
sail the seas twenty years longer, than
add another pang TO that old mans
heart. Let US be kind to the old man.
But it seemed as if a raven had
croaked the direful secret all over the
remotest places among the hills for,
in an hour,paople came flocking in from
all quarters, and it was seen, that con.
cealment or escape was no longer pos
sible, and that father and son were des i
tined to die together felon's DEATH"
| Here the pastors voice ceased; and
| had hoard enough to understand the
long deep sigh that had came moan.
ing from that bowed-down figure be.
side the solitary well. "That was the
last work done by the father and son,
and finished the day before the fatal
discovery of their guilt. 1t had proba.
bly, bcen engaged III as sort of amuse.
mont to beguile their unhappy minds of
ever-anxious thoughts, or perhaps as a
solitary occupation, at which they could
unburthen their guilt to one another un-
disturbed Here, no doubt, in the 81.
lence and solitude, they often felt re-
morse, perha ps penitence. They chis-
elled out their names on that slab, as
You perceive; and hither, as duly as the
morning and evening shadows, comes
the ghost whom we beheld, and, after
a prayer for the souls Of them SO ten
derby beloved in their innocence. and
doubtless even more tenderly beloved
10 their guilt and in their graves, she
carries to her lonely hut the water that
helps to preserve her hopeless life, from
the well dug by dearest hands, now
mouldered away, both flesh and bone
into the DUST"
After moments silence the old man
continued-for he saw that longed to
hear the details OF that dreadful catas
trophe, and his own soul seemed like
wise DESTROYS Of renewing its grief
''The prisoners were condemned. Hope
there was none. 1t was known, from
the moment Of the verdict-guilty,-
that they would be executed. Petitions
were, indeed, signed by many, many
thousands; but it was all in vain,-and
the father and the son had to prepare
themselves for death.
about week after condemnation |
visited them in their cell God forbid
l should say that they were resigned
Human nature could not resign itself to
such doom and found the old man
pacing up and down the stone-foor, in
his clanking chains, with hurried steps,
and countepaDce of unspeakable hor-
ror. The son was lying on his face up
on his bed Of straw, and had not lifted
up his head, as the massy bolts we're
withdrawn. and the door creaked sui
lenly on it's hinges. The father fixed
his eyes upon me for some time. as If l
had beeu stranger intruding upon his
misery; and, as soon as he knew me,
shut them with deep groan, & point
ed to his son. II have murdered Will
liam--l have brought my only son to
the scaffold, and am doomed to heil!''
| gently called on the youth by name,
but he was insensible-he was ly-
Ing in fit. 81 fear he will awake
ont of that ft," cried the old man
with a broken voice. "They have
come upon him every day since our con-
demnation, and sometimes during the
| night. 1t 10 not fear for himself that
brings them on--for my boy, though
guilty. is brave-but he continues look
ing on my face for hours, till at last he
seems to lose all sense, and falls down
in strong commissions. often upon the
stone floor, till he is all covered with
blood" The old man then went up to
his son, knelt down, and putting aside
the thick clustering hair from his fore.
head, continued kissing him for some
| minutes with deep sobs, but eyes dry as
! dust.
"But Why should recall to my re-
membrapce, or describe to you, every
hour of anguish that witnessed in that
cellp For several weeks it was all ago.
ny and de.pair-.he Bible lay unheed-
ed before their chastity eyes aud tor
them there was no consolation.
The old mans soul was filled but with
I.LoJ Joludo1 hio