The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1839-02-16

, prisoner of war in that town. He is said to hay
employed more than seven years in the executio
of this wretched task, passing every day from tie
Ito twelve hours in his solitary occupation. Th
work is rude, but is said to be exact. | comics
that this spot excited my interest," for it spoke elc
{ quently of the desolate misery of man. This poo
hermit had served the better part of his life j
the armies of France; he had been SCARED
MANNED and imprisoned, for years. He ha
hoped, perhaps, TO pass the remainder of his day
in his own beloved country, in ease and happi
ness, in the bosom of his family, descending ful
of honor to the grave. He returned; but alas
what picture does this vain employment an
hideous solitude not exhibit of ruined hopes, O
disappointed affections, of bereavement of ute
nakedness and desolaton of heart! What coult
man, or woman, or lisping childhood, or thu
sweet face of nature, have been to him. who, from
no afecaton of misanthropy, but from the mer
impulse of the heart, could thus withdraw him
self from the EARTH to live buried in the frghtfl
gloom of these unvisited vaults, amid death, ant
solitude, and eternal night! What conscious
ness was here, of the emptiness of life, of the van
ty of its ambition, of its labors and cares Wha
was the surly cynicsm of Diogenes to this
What think ye of the poetical philosophy of the
wisest of men-is there such lesson in the prov
erbs of the Jewish monarch? Which was blessed
with the 'fortem animalna, ct naortiS terrore car
entem,' the poor hermit of the catacombs, or the
king of kings?
Turning in another direction, we passed a place
where the earth had fallen in, and the broken
rocks lay one upon another, as if the accident
had occurred but few days before On a
closer inspection, this appeared evidently not the
case. Inquired with surprise why this breach
had not been repaired but the guide could give
no explanation of the reasons which had caused
it to be left in so insecure condition. Here and
there observed occasional marks of recent work
but | confess it did not strike me that much la
Dor had been expended in any part of the vaults
through which we passed, or that there was any
danger attending visit to them, sufficient to JUS
tfy the exclusion of the public. | concluded
it was in the vast quarries beyond the limits
of the burial place, that the danger was to be
found ; and that there perhaps workmen were en-
ployed in rebuilding and Strengthening the
foundations of the city. There was no telnpta-
ton to visit those dark passages in which we
should have had to scramble over blocks of loose
stone, exposed perhaps to atmospheres of the most
fatal gases and | never ascerained the truth of
my conjecture
We still wandered on among avenues lined
with bones, built up with the same monotonous
regularity We perceived that our course led,
with rapid inclination, deeper into the earth.
We had not proceeded very far before we found
ourselves at the top of flight of broad steps; de-
scendng these, we discovered, at the extremity
of long passage, spring of the purest water,
collected in basin followed out of rock We
held our tapers over its surface, smooth as glass,
and counted the pebbles that covered its bottom.
Not breath of air had ever rufled its placid sur
ace eternal darkness rested upon its waters,
save when the glim,nering lights OF some wander
ars like ourselves were mrrored in its bosom.-l
The guide informed us that numbers of little gol-
len backed fish had been left in its waters but
hey never long survived. The last time he had
been here, there were still two or three remain
ng, of half dozen left not very long before
But they were no longer to be seen; after some
minutes, we discovered the body of one, proba-
bly, the last to die, floating on the surface. No liv
ng thing could long breathe such an atmos-
)here of darkness and death. It's SUNLESS wa
ers reminded me of the fabulous rivers of the in
ernal world and almost persuaded myself, as
stopped over its brink, that one draught would
lave stepped my sense in pleasing oblivion of
hat world, Perhaps the poor prisoner of Ma
ION had tasted its Lethean powers.
Our visit lasted several hours, during which
We heard nothing of the upper earth, save the
OCCASIONAL rumbling of some heavy-laden wag-
on, as it passed directly over our heads, We
eurned along the route we had entered, and
we're not sorry to feel again the reviving cold
ess of the open air, and to find ourselves once
1ore upon the earth sensation not complete
Y realized until we had locked the last door upou
ne catacombs, and were beyond the enclosures of
his region of the d.-Knickerbocher
Duties of the Farmer.
Be content with your occupation Fix it deep