The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-09-10

old man, behind the altar, working with fndefati-
gable patience upon wooden picture.
From the day when bis carved picture was fin
ished he remained silently and patiently in lis cell,
awaiting his end which came upon the third day,
delivering him from all earthly pain and sUFToV.
And now only could the monks breathe more freely,
for the silent lunatic-foE such they believed him
to be, when they saw him so often, and without a
murmur, seeming with sghtless eyes to stare upon,
vacancy-lhat silent lunatic now lay deep beneath
the sod and with him, the fearful secret Of their
guilt was buried. Nor did they spare masses for
bis SOUL to procure for the poor artist whom thev
had robbed Of all the good and beauNlul IN life,
happiness in death and heavenly rest, a. thew in
their mental blindness thought their masses could
do The wooden confessional, however, was never
opened, and thus nobody discovered the last work
Of the blind artist
Meanw bile, the abbot had easily succeeded in
exciting the jealousy and envy Of other m0nasteries
for The beautiful painting that adorned the altar Of
his many foreign artists and high and noble gentle
came from far and near, to look upon this rars
work Of art and all regretted the early death Of the
I grsal master.
1t happened that one day traveller visited the
| monastery, who could scarcely leave the altar or
! stop gazing, SO great was his admiration of the
| the painting. Nothing escaped his attention or
notice, and thus it CHANGED that he observed
beautifully carved upon the panel Of the door
of an old wooden confessional. The door and the
whole confessional chair were so dusteOvered that
it was evident they had not been used for many
years by the monks.
" Besides the greatest painter, you seem to have
had one of the greatest carvers at work here" he
said, in tone of astOnishmrnt, to the monk who
accompanied him. The rose was in reality a
masterpiece in its way. His companion, however,
assured him that there no carved or sculpture
work anywhere in the church, and that the ross
must have come there by some unaccOuntabls
accident,
This reply excited the strangers curiosity still
more, and he opened the door of the confessional,
to see whether he could find any more carved work
by the same master hand that had executed the
At first the door would not open, for the old
hinges had rusted, but at last they yield, sending
cracking and OminOus sound through the stiffness
of the chapel. The stranger entered the chair,
and stepped upon hard substance, which raftled
over the flags Raising it, be observed that il was
knife, which bore old botehes of blood upon its
| blade. The monk was greatly frightened, for he
| at once recognised the knife as having been one Of
the two which had been used in the torture of the
| unfortunate artist How could that knife have
come TO this place! Was it through miracle, in
| order to bring now, after many years had
| elapsed, that black deed TO light, and its perpetra-
| tors to iustieel
The length of time had lOosened the panels from
the framework of the confessional and as it seemed
to the stranger that he could, even in the dusk,
discover carving Of merit there, he raised the
panel, took il out, and brought it to the light.
And now terror and fear belel the monk, who
had already been Mortified At the sight of the knife,
and he rushed from the chapel exclaiming:
:" This is George SuFlin, arisen from the grave TO
accuse his murdereu!"
The stranger now perceived that in his hand he
held the picture of a who had been deprived
Of both eyes, drops Of blood seemed TO fall upon
the cheeks from the sighlless sockets. His facs
wore the expression of intense misery, and seemed
to implore mercy Of two monks who were standing
before him one Of these still held knife in his
hand, whilst the other Whose face expressed a
iiendsh tiumph) was breaking bis pallet and
| brushes
J, There could not be moments dOnbt Of the i'm
! port and meaning of this picture nor was the
TnasteThand which had painted the altaP-piece, ID
be mistaken in the grouping and formation Of these
. carved figures. The stranger needed not the add
4 tional evidence Of the EXPLANATIONS of the fright
Q ened monk, to understand tie connexion Of tn
: whole terrible mystery.
e Hastily he left the monastery, and took tn
' carved picture with him. But he soon retuFnet
4 with long train, and the officers of Justice WHOM
he had sought, soon forced confession of thei
g fearful and wicked deed from the monks. Thesi
were punished with the utmost rgor of Justice anC
in memory of their wickedness, the wonderfully
carved PANEL inserted in the door of the YES
f try, where it may seen to this day