Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1851-07-19
a Miser's Pate.

In the year 1862, an extraordinary instanc,
OF avarice occurred in France A n!ser of tn,
name OF foscue, who had amassed cnorlnou:
Wea' tn by the most sordid parsmony, and the
most dlscredItab,e extortiou, was requested b,
the government to advance 8 sum of money
as loan. The mlser, to whom a fair interest
was not lnducement sufficiently strong to en-
able HIM to part with his treasured gold, de.
ciared his Incapacity to meet this demand; he
| pleaded severe losses and the utmost poverty
! Fearing, however, that some OF his neigh
bors, among whom he was very unpopular,
would report his immense wealth to the 60
vernment, he applied his ingenuity to discoy-
er some etfecluaI way of hiding his gold,
should they attempt to institute search to
ascertain the truth or talsehood of his plea.
With care and secresy he dug deep cave
in his cellar; to this receptacle for his treasure
he descended by ladder, and to the trapdoor
he attached Il spring lock, SO that, Oh shutting,
it would fasten itself. By aud by the mser
Disappeared; inquiries We're made, and the
house was searched the woods were expIo-
red, and the pond was dragged; but no Foscue
could they tind; and the gossips began to con-
ciude that the miser had fled with the gold to
some part where, by living incognito he would
be free from the demand Of the government.
Some time passed on, the house in which he
had lived was sold, and the workmen were bu-
silly employed in its repair. In the progress of
their work, they met with the door OF the Sc
cret cave, with the key in the lock outside
They threw back the door and descended with
a light. The first object upon which the lamp
was reflected was the ghast!y body Of Foscue,
the miser, and scattered around him were the
heavy bags of gold and ponderous chests of
untold treasure; candlestick lay beside him
on the floor. The worshpper of Mammon
had gone to his cave to pay his devoirs to the
alden god and became sacrifice to his devo-
miserat must have been the sensations of this
tinn whenp npan-what the horrors of his stua-
him and tte heard the trap~door close after
him him within his seing lock eifectually mprison
have @ been the strn tmine! How bitter must
How each bag must hi, 1hat a'ariclous soul
sure, and each piece of gesgorsea It's 1rea-
ina gination around him as a'a'e oanceu III
hated, when the gnawing pangs gon: now
came slowly upon him, must have tar'a.lolI
yellow vision; his very heart must have 'la1
sick at that which he once SO dearly lovt1a
Gold in bags gold in chests; gold piled in
heaps; gold for pillow; gold strewed the
ground for him to lie upon! Whilst the ta-
per lasted, turn where he would his eyes, moth
ing met them but his gold. But when the last
flicker died away, and the miser was left in
darkness to dwell upon his coming death, and
his many sins, how awful must have been the
agonies Of conscience! How surely, amidst
the gloom of that sepulcbre of gold, must the
poor whom he had oppressed, and the unfor-
tunate whom he had ruined bJ Ahis avarice,
have risen up to reproach him; and when the
mind became fevered by the last deadly strug-
giles, how the faces of haggard poverty, of hate
and loathing for the mser, must in one loud
discordant chorus, have cried for vengeance
and retribution upon his guilty soul!