Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-09-22

he sank TO rise no more.
To rise no more Be not too sure of
that, tigers ! and, above all, you two mis-
creants who have undertaken this horrid deed
for hire. For you there is no redemption !
The others have been acting under the same
horrid perversion of judgment which infu- !
enccs the members Of the holy brotherhood
of the lnquisition /; but for you there is no
palliation. Woe TO you in this world and
in the next! The deed was shrouded in
darkness, but il was not permitted TO remain
so. The three criminals wended their way
back /; but the deed was scarcely complete
when the storm which had so long threaten
ed. now burst forth in all its fury. Long
did they struggle against the violence of the
winds and waves, every moment in danger
of being overwhelmed-iheir efforts weaken
ed by their tcrrors at the idea of being sent
10 give account of their wickedness. All
night did they buffet with the storm. As
morning dawned il began to clear away, and
they reached the shore in safety, but not be-
fore the surrounding country was a stir, and
hundreds were witness of their ARRIVAL
This ultimately led to the detection. Were
not this dreadful deed recorded in the pro-
c~cedings of a court of Justice, posterity
might be excused for doubling the possibili-
ty Of an act so atrOcious from motives so
apparently inadequate. That a mother
could SO far overcome all the instincts of ma
ture, as to sanction the assassination of her
son merely to acquiescc in the stern decree of
her husband-but with her own hands to
manufacture the instruments of destruction,
and this uuder the prctcxt of promoting the
comfort and happiness of the unsuspecting
victim; this seems so rerugnant to the feel
ings and experience of mankind, that any
less testimony would not suffice 10 produce
conviction. Yet there is a circumstance
more extraordinary, if possible, than even
this and that is, that instead of inspiring
horror among the people of the district, the
deed had their entire appreciation.
The part Of the lake selected for this deed
Of horror was one which seemed to offer the
most perfect security against detection the
great depth Of the water, the lead and iron
which were secured to the person of the vic.
tim, and the texture and material of which
his clothes were composed, seemed to afford
an assurance that the body would remain a,
the bottom till long after decomposition
should be complete, and all probability eff re.
cognltion impossible-the process would be
aided by tho fishes which abound there,
) There was only one point at which the lake
was accessible, and this was several miles
/, rom the spot where the murder had taken
place-memorable from having been the
f scene of the destruction of the army o.
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. thus.
band of Margaret of York, sister to Edward
Nv of England) which was entirely defeated
by the Swiss at the battle of Morat, and
driven into The lake. A Tree, planted a few
days afterwards in the centre of the village te
commemorate the event, is now one of the
remarkable objects of the district. saw i
still growing luxuriant after a lapse of fouI
hundred years, ofgreat magnitude, and likely
to live half a dozen centuries more.
The hurricane, which had gone so neal
I TO destroy the murdcrers, had produced Sc
violent a disturbance on the lake as to throw
the body on shore at this place; it wa.
!, soon recognized, and a rigid search wa
instituted for the assassins. The Loaded
pockets SO securely fastened, and the dread
J ful chasm in his skull, put out of the questio,
the first suggestion of the possibility of sui
: cIde-the boatmen and the victims brother
who had been seen landing the morning afteI
the storm, we're arrested and interrogated-
> The explanation they had given of the pur'
D port Of their midnight voyage was found Il
g be false-they confessed their guilt thu
whole was discovered, and the officers O
$ justice proceeded to arrest father, mother
p and sisters; all were committed to prison t.
e take their trial for this most unnatural ant
inconceivable crime.
/ On the trial, the father undertook his owl
. defence, and in an eloquent and impassionet
: Grafton boldly claimed for himself the patri
Z archal right of life and death repudia,et
every form Of government which had existed
IN his country for two thousand years; ant
declared that the original rights of his rae
e to govern themselves in their own way
though long in obeyance, had never beef
: abandoned. That he knew he must submit
G to punishment, but his conscience acqui,te'
/ him of guilt /; and were the same circum
stances 10 come over again, he should act il
G the same manner that he had inflicted OF
his son such a punishment as the crime de
served; and that it had only been inflicted
secretly because his own race was for tn
present in coercion, subjected to a govern
ment which they, therefore, outwardly obey
> ed, but under a permanent protest that ha'
: il been practicable he would have preferre
q that the deed should have been done openly
y in the presence Of his clan, but that thi
d would have betrayed the crime, and con
summated the disgrace Of his family an
!. that he gloried in the self-command whic
enabled him to subject his feelings as a faith
er to his duties as a patriarch-but his fam
lily being now irretrievably disgraced, b
= was, therefore, quite indifferen. to his fate.
He was condemned to twenty years soil
. tary confinement, which, at his age, wa
confinement for life. His wife and family t
periods varying from eight to twelve, accor
ding to the degree in which they were sup
!" posed to be under the influence of the faith
y err. and, / think, the boatmen were subjects
TO the same punishment as was the chief.
The most extraordinary part Of the stor
remains to be told : criminals in that coun
try. as in many others, before they are final
ly incarcerated to undergo the penalty Of tn
law in a long imprisOnment, are exposed