Semi-weekly Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1851-1852, 1851-04-04

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| tainers ar.
1t will easily be imas lined, then, that Mira,
bo.u who was gifted with brilliant natural
ouuli,ies, cultivated and polished by education
"a man, moreover, who had seen much oil the
world, and had been engaged in several strange
and perous adventures-occuPiedt the most
CONSPICUOUS post in this society, many OF the
component members whereof seemed to have
bare iy reached the first degrees in the scale OF
civilization. His vigorous frame; hisenomous
head, augmented in bulk by n Lofty irIzzled
co;6urc his huge face, indented with scars.
and fnrrowed with seems from the effect OF
smallpox iaiudiciously treated in his childhood;
his piercing eyes, the reflection of the tumultu.
Gus passions at war within him; his mouth,
whose expression indicated in turn irony, dis
dain, indignation, and benevolence; his dress,
always carefully attended to, but in an exag-
gerated style, giving him somewhat the air OF
| charlatan, decked out with embroidery, large
| fril. and ruffles; in short, this extraordinary
loohing individual astonished the country.tolks
even before he opened his mouth. But when
his sonorous voice was heard, and his lmaSlna-
ton, heated by some interesting subject oil con-
versation, impaired high degree OF energy to
his eloquence, some of the worthy rustic hear
ers felt as though they were in the presence OF
a saint, others ir that of a devil; and accord
ing to their several impressions, they were
tempted either to fall down at his feet, or to ex.
ercise him by making the sign of the cross, aud
uttering prayer ..,,.
Seated in large antique armchair, with his
feet stretched out on the floor, Mirabeau often
contemplated, with smile playing on his lips,
these men who seemed to belong to the priml-
tive ages SO simple, frank, and at the same
time clownish, were they in their Manners
He listened to their conversation, which gene.
rally turned upon the chase the exploits OF their
dogs or the excellence of their horses, of whose
breed aud qualifications they were very proud.
Mirabeau entered freely into their notions; took
an interest in the success OF their sporting pro.
iects; talked, too, about crops; chestnuts, oi
which h large quantities are produced in the Ii
mousin; live and dead stock; ameliorations in
husbandry, and so forth; and he quite won the
hearts of the company by his familiarity with
the topics in which they felt the most interest,
and by his good nature.
This n,onotonous life was, however frequent
" we srsome to Mirabeau and in order to vary it
and for the sake of exercise after being occupied
for several hours in writing, he was in the habit
of taking fowling piece, c;ordng to the Gus
tom of the country, aud putting a book into his
game-bag, he would frequently make long ex-
cursions on foot in every direction. He admi.
red the nobe forests of chestnut-trces which
abound in the Linousin; the vast meadows,
where numerous herds of cattle of a superior
breed are reared; and the running streams by
which that p cturesque county is lntersectrd.
He generally returned to the chateau long at.
ter sunset, saying that night scenery was Pc.
culiarly attractive IT, him.
1t was during and after supper tl.at those
conversations took place for which Mirabeau
supplied tie principal and the most interesting
maie .iuls He possessed the knack of pro-
vokiug objections to what he might advance, in
order to combat them, as he did with great
force OF logic and in energetic language; and
thus he gave himself lessons in argument car
ing little about his auditory, his sole aim being
to exercise his mental ingenuity and to cult
vate eloquence. Above all, he was fond Of
discussing religious m; tiers with the cure Of
the parish Without displaying much latitudi.
nariansm, he disputed several points Of doc
trine and certain pretensions of the church so
acutely, that the pastor could say but little in
reply. This astonished the Limousin gentry,
who, up to that time had listened to nothing
but the drowsy discourscs Of their cures, or the
sermons OF some obscure mendicant friars, and
who placed implicit faith in the dogmas Of the
church The faith OF few was shaken, but
the greater number of his hearers were very
much tempted to look upon the visitor as an
eu.issary of Satan sent to the chateau to destroy
them. The cure, however, did not despair of
eventually converting Mirabeau.
At this period several robberies had-taken
place at no great distance from the chateau:
four or five farmers had been stopped shortly
after nightfal on their return from the market
towns, and robbed of their purses. Not one OF
these persons had offered any resistance, for
each preferred 70 make sacrifice rather than
run the risk ola struggle in a country full of
ravnes, and covered with n rank vegetation very
favorable to the exploits of brigands, who
might resist the one detached from the band to
demand the travellers money or his life.-
These outrages ceased for short time, but
they soon recommended, and the ROBBERS re.
mained undiscovered.
One evening, about an hour after sunset,
II r.