Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-11-10

the fashion Of the village maidens "
would often stay Tor hours; sometimes .h she
Gu III silence; sometimes a low bu, ;rd; saz'
murmur might be heard, and those Saislnct
around, looking at her with mingled s!ooa
and love, thought that they could of,s @'Ale'@
celve the names'of her father and her ~. per-
such a state Of mind could not lons os,Ae''
! ne weak frame Of the holy maid was nusn
10 pear me incessant working of mcmorv WI.
Flmaginauon. AS the leaves Of the succsss t0
autumntel to the ground, and the fatal snn;"nng
sary approached, her body seemed TO bec0s
yet more feeble, and the gloomy and ,o.':S
images to seize more strongly on her mind
She was again carried 10 her restless coneh
few weeks passed away and she was M 49,
The tradition Of the village, still firmly har %f'
ed, tells us that her soul was horne to ~
by a band of angels, and after the eartb,y wv"
ment was deserted by its immortal snir;I, vi" H
still watched over it, and bore i, to the amty
where it rests beneath her own picture n J'" ,,'l
holy mother. Her name does not a,no..
the catalogue Of our holy saints, but the win. -
gers still honor her as such, and MANY q r.;a
en- may be seen early in the morning or ,vr..
the evening star is just gliltering over tina, b;o%
western mountain, kneeling alone before hS,
little shrine, and pouring forth her innocrr,
prayers, for the intercession Of that Dure a.!
sanity spirit.
The fate of the parrcidc is inscribed on II.
rock which you have seen. He did not rs,r'r
for many months TO the castle Of his murdcro5
father. He had scarcely entered its walls when
tradition says, that one Of the spcctres Of ,hs
forest took up It's abode within it, and filled .,
very hall and chamber with its loud bewallnp.
or its terrific threats. 1t was in vain that Tho
frightened domestics adopted every holy form
Of exorcism, il was in vain that their ferociop,
lord scoffed and threatened by turns. They fed
one after another from the vengeance Of heaven
and they we're only replaced by r%ufians, whom
he induced by money to leave the haun,s Of
their former crimes. At length, on an autum.
nal evening, that on which his crime had been
committed, a storm, whose violence had never
been eqnalled even by the tempests Of this wild
country, blew down some Of the Hottest battle.
n,ents of the castle, and a thunderbolt was seen
10 strike The main building in which was the
great hall. On the following morning, The
dead body Of the count was found on the spot
where his father had fallen by his hand. The
castle was speedily deserted; The main branch
Of the family was extinct, and in the long years
of unceasing warfare which followed, it was
not claimed by the collateral branches, so thatit
fell rapidly to decay. The surrounding villagers,
however, did not hesitate to assert, thatit was, as
it is still said to be, the chosen haunt OF wild spi.
rits, which inhabit the neighboring mountains,
and that in the great hall, through the open roof
Of which the moon shines unclouded, they still
hold at midnight their unearthly councils
They say TOO, that in later times when peace &
freedom had become tenants of these valleys, an
attempt was made to rebuild The ruined but gi.
gantic pile. The attempt was in vain. The
spirits Of the mountain determined 10 hold The
halls which had been made theirs by unheard
Of crime, and in the night the work OF the
day was dashed to the ground. The eHor:
was abandoned. The old towers were suffered
without farther molestation, to sink into decay
and our forefathers inscribed on the living
rock for memorial to their offspring, the judg
ment and the vengeance Of offended heaven.