Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1846-08-29

T HE N s W AR

sure find.
THE N u s. W AR.
THE following interesting passages aro
arc derived from u work called Historical
Pictures Of the Middle Agos."1
"The traveller, however briefhis ~soiourn
ot Basic, cannot fail to remark the solid
battlements which crown the opposite
shore ofthe Rhine, and the mass of build
ings within, surtnounted by a dilapidated
church Of extremely brautiful architecture {
should his curiosity tempt him to eli oss the
fine old bridge which spans the wide and
rapid Rhine, and then turn up n dark mar.
row street to the left, he will find ut he ex.
tremity the Wondering, but most extern.
siye remains of a religious house, now in
part converted into u hospital for invalid
soldiers. Mullioned windows, from which
hang files Of shirts and stockings Gothic
doorways, half blocks b by the bricks,
md turf, and fagots I: fragments Of stone, of
exquisite workmanship, on which the skill
lul sculptor bad lavishcd long days Of pain.
(ul labor, proflsely scattered over the well
trodden dirty court.yards, tell u lesson of
fallen grandeur, and present b picture Of
bygone splendor not 10 be mistaken. Rga.
dor, that desolate dwelling wns once the
home ofthe noblost Indies of Europe The
silent aisles Of that church, converted into
stables and granaries, yet enclose the dust
of princes, mobiles, prelates, addresses, aud
titled damsels, whose well authenticated
gentle blood could alone procure them tho
honor Of reposing within lis hallowed PIE.
cincts. A society Of Dominican nuns
were the possessors ofthls once sacred cd.
i~fcc-here for many centuries their sttpo.
rior reigned in sovereign power, indepen-
dent OF all control but that Of the supreme
head Of the Romish Church. What a les.
kon on the mutability of |lile--on the eyane.
scent nature of earthly pomp and worldly
grandenr-~may be learned from these
crumbling ruins OF all the noble Indies
who lived and died within their holy cnolo.
sure, not n name, not a trace exists in this
their seat of empire" .s..t.t..
1t Is the monastery of Klingenthal TO
which our attention il directed and the
ruins so we'll described furnish occasion for
the historical sketch of "Tbe Nuns' War"
this religious house was founded in l273,
by the Baron Of Clingen, under the auspi.
ces Of the Emperor Rodolph and its pro.
perry was greatly augmented by the be.
quests of mobiles in the surrounding proyin.
ces, and still more by the money and lands
derived from the high born ladies' who az.
sumed the veil IN this aristocratic comtni-
nifty. For some generations the holy re-
eluses went on rs well as other comtntIni.
ties. Mathis and mass, vespcrs and eye-
ming .song, were chanted without inlerrup.
ton ; and some portion, no donbt, of the
opportunities arising from their ample rev.
enues went to the reliefofthe poor who ap.
pcared at the convent gate. But about
the year h30, the monotony of their exis-
was ~agreeably broken by a quarrel
with the prior aud brotherhood ola Domin.
lean establishment in the same city. The
Of that establishment had alwa "a
exercised the right of protecting and ofvis-
ting the sister c~ommunity--a right not I'M
accompanied by substantial advantages.
at the period in q1estion-whether the
'istorial functions were more rigidly excr.
Used, or "the sisters of KIingenihal," con.
iding in their noble connexions, had be.
too proud for such ii surveillance
stand@as made against the authority of
he grey-bearded fathers. When these
at this peticoat rebellion, the
,ates of the convent were shut against
hem and they had the additional NORTH.
alton of seeing their Jurisdiction transfer
ed to the Bishop Of Constance, who open
Y espoused the cause Of the nuns. This
vent proved that the holy ladies were not
spirit. They had vowed to be
own mistresses, and they were so to
heir hearts content ; for as to the au-
Of the distant bishop, it was lust I
one at all. But even had he been near at ,
and and vigilant, he would scarcely have {
cen equal TO the quelling of such high |
pirits. "Curse these nuns p cried n !
,sty old visitor 1.-THE Abbot Of Wettingen,)
hose anathema, however did not apply to a
le sisters Of Klingenthal-"Curse these I
uns dare not even mention the char. /
es which are brought against them =
Why are they not sober and chaste
hey bave chosen me for their guide be. :
they know that | am a simple. credu. :
JUS man, and easily deceived !" For some
ears, however, after the conquest over the 1
dominican friars, the sisters in question e
outwardly decorous /; and that they {
also internally strict may be assumed Il
ON a tragedy which happened in I466. :,
Ayoung nun, tired Of her lot, and seeing I
hope of escape save in a coUP-DE-mAry, Il
t fire to the convent, expecting, amid the il
infusion of the scene, to slip unperceived e
way. But, though she had the pleasure v
seeing the dormitories, and one at least d
the cloisters, in a hlaze, attended with v
great a hubbub as could well be desired y
le was at once suspected by the p~rioress, 7
I'd safely guarded in the church until the :,
70 was extinguished. Her guilt soon ap. c
sared, and her doom was a vaulted cell d
ground. with broad .p1 a