The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1828-11-19
Dos Mrour1 AND HIS MorHrR. We

DoN MIGUEL AND HIS MOTHER. We
have this week had the honor of long
conversation with gentleman of high rank,
just returned from Lisbon, who has given
US an interesting but gloomy picture of the
state of degradation to which the country
is reduced, through the infatuated bigotry
of the usurper, his mother, and the priests.
With the following instances before US, we
cease to be surprised at the result, and we
think our readers will coincide with us,
when they have read the anecdotes which
we annex: Some few months ago, when
q number of students were condemned to
death for the murder of priest, application
was made to the Queen Mother on behalf
of three of them, in proof of whose inno-
cence it was offered to be adduced that
they were not near the scene of assassina-
ton, her reply was-"If they are innocent
shnli have the pleasure of sending three An
gels to Heaven--let them be executedr' The
same holy lady commands the attendance
of number of nuns, brought from one of
the converts in Lisbon, who were constantly
offering up prayers for her, and relieve each
other by turns, so that there is not minute,
day or night, in which she is not prayed
for A short time since the priests found,
or pretended to have found an image, dug
up from the earth, and proclaimed 1t to be
the effigy of an eminent Saint; it was ac-
cordingly set up in one of the churches,
where crowds of devotees assembled to
offer their alterations. To his sain,ess was
also referred the decision Of the disputed
point, who was the legitimate monarch of
Portugal! The officiating priest put the
question in an audible voice, is Don Pc
dro the lawful sovereign of these realms Z"
The saint shook his head as negative
indication. ais Don Miguel the sovereign!'
The image nodded assent. This was re-
peated on various occasions to increased
congregations, and was considered as an
astonishing miracle. At one time, in the
presence of our informant, the first inquiry
had been replied to as usual; to the second
no answer was returned, upon which the
priest several times repeated the question,
and at length assumed great vehemence of
manner, when boy popped his head from
behind the curtain, and exclaimed, 1T is
not my fault, sir, the string IS broken I"
Plymouth Eng.) Gazette.
SwINDLrNa. A family of gypsies, con-
sisting of man, his wife, and seven chill
dren, lately fixed their tent at Bradshaw,
near Turton. The woman was in the hab-
it of calling at the house of a simple farmer
there, named Morris, to purchase milk, and
frequently threw out hints that she could
anravel the mystic web of futurity. On one
occasion, to the farmers very great aston
ishment, she told him the exact sum of
money that he had in his pocket, and on his
lnquiring how she became possessed of the
knowledge, told him that she knew much
more important things than that. At length,
finding that she had worked up the poor
fellows credulity to as high a pitch as
she needed, she opened her grand secret
upon him, and told him, that she knew
there was a vast sum Of money con-
cealed somewhere about the premises
which had been hidden by one of the for
mer tenants; but that to enable her to find it
it was necessary for her to perform charm
for which purpose he was to muster all the
money he could, and Ohio would warran
! him an ample increase to it. Dazzled By
the prospect of his good fortune, the exten
of which he hardly knew how to contem
plate, he raised the sum of G4O, in notes
and sovereigns, which the woman carefully
folded up in paper, in tine presence of the
man, and repeating lot of unintelligibie
jargon, deposited the parcel in box, which
she locked, and put the key in her poke.
The box was carefully placed in his bed
room, and he made the woman a solemn
promise that he would not open the box fol
certain number of days, and in the NEAR
time he was not to communicate to any liy.
ing soul what had been done. The woman
came the next morning, and astonished the
poor fellow not a little, by accusing him o.
having mentioned the circumstance 10 his
wife. Conscious that he had so far broker
his word, he confessed that he had told her
but thought there was no harm in apprizine
her of his good fortune. The woman ex
acted new promise to keep the affair
secret, or the charm would le entjrel,
broken, and he waited with Impotence 70,
the expiration of the limited time, which
would have been this day, but he Learned
on Friday last, that the gypsies had remov
ed their encampment, and had left the coun
try. Whether their departure induced hin
70 think that the charm was not WORKING
well, or that the desire to become acquaint
ed with the extent ofhis good fortune, prov
ed too powerful for his patience, we do no
know, but he broke open the box, and in
stantly unfolding the mysterious parcel
found nothing in it but few pieces of oil,
lead. AS may be surmised, the gypsie,
have not since been heard of.
Manchester Eng } Herald.
Cases of Longevity are not only much
more common, but also more extraordinar,
IN respect to a greater duration in Russi;
than in any other part of Europe THUS
from the report of the Holy Synod, publish
ed IN 1927, it appears that there were living
IN 1875, among those who protested the
GRECO Russian religion, throughout the EN-
pre-, not fewer than 648 males who were
lou and more years old-among whom s: