Litchfield enquirer., 1851-05-15

like one VINO nau pccn u'SSSss..
nm. He was equally insensible to tn
cnIls Of hunger and Of thirst, though tn
fh;ra dav was now commencing since
even drop Of water had passed his lips
He remained on the ground, sometimes
sitting, sometimes lying; at intervals
sleeping heavily and when not Sleep
ing, silently brooding over what was to
come, or talking aloud, in disordered
speech Of his wrongs, of his friends, OF
his home, and Of those he loved, with a
confused mingling of all.
Tn this pitiabIe condition, the sixth and
last morning dawned upon Vjyenzio, il
dawn it might be called-the dim, OBJ
scure light which family struggled thro'
she ONE solitary window Of his dungeon,
He could hardly be said to notice the
melancholy token. And yet he did mo-
lice Il: for, as he raised bis eyes, and
saw the portentous sign, there was a
slight, CONCLUSIVE distortion of his coun>
tenance. But what did attract his no.
tiee, and at the sight of which his agita.
lion was excessive, was the change his
iron bed had undergone. It was p bed
no longer. tt stood before him the visi-
bic semblance of funeral couch or bier.
When he beheld this, he started from the
ground and ip raising himself, Sudden
" struck his head against the roof, which
was now so low that he could no longer
stand upright. Goods will be done |"
was all he said, as he cronched his body
and placed bis hand upon the bier; for
such it was. The iron hedsteaad had been
SO contriysd BY the mechanical art Of
Ludoyicp Sforsa, that, as ths advancing
walls came in contact with lie bead and
feet, . pressure Was produced ppon CON
cesIed springs, which, when made to
play, set in motiiop 2 simple, though ye>
~ ingeniously contrived machinery, that
effected the transformation. The object
was, Of course, 10 highten in the closing
scene Of this horrible dra1a, all The feel
jngs Of despair and anguish WHICH the
proceeding ones had aroused. For the
same reason, the last window was so
made as to admit only sbadowy kind OF
gloon, rsther than light, that the wretch
ed captive might be surrounded, as it
were, with every seeming preparation for
approaching death.
Vivenzio seated himself on his bier. and
then he knelt and prayed feryently; and
sometimes tears would gush from him. The
air seemed thick. and he lreaihed with diff
icuIty or il might be that he fantied it
was &c. from the hot and narrow limits of
Ills dungeon, which were now SO diminish>
ed that he could neither stand up nor sit
down at his full length. But his wasted
spirits and oppressed mind no longer strug>
gled within him. He was paass hope, and
fear shook him no more. Happy it thus
revenge had struck its final blow; for he
would have fallen beneath it almost uncon>
scious Of pang. But such letliargy Of
The soul, after euch ap Excitement Of its
1iercest passions, bad entered into the; 'Iia.
bolicsl calculatiopa Of TolR; ard the fell
prti6cer Of his designs had imagined 2 con-
tracing device.
The tolling Of an enormous bell struck
upon the ear Of VivenziO! lie started. It
beat but once. The sound was SO close and
stunning, that it seemed to shatter his very
brain, while it echoed through the rocky
passages like reverberating peals of thun-
der. This was followed by sudden crash
of the roof and walls. as If they were about
10 fall upon and close areund him at once.
Wiyenzio screamed and instinctively spread
forth his nrms as though he had a giants
strength to hold them back. They had mo-
we'd nearer TO- him, and were now motion
less. ywensio looked up, apa saw tho roof
almost touched his head. even as he sat
covering beneath it i; and he felt that fur
iher contraction Of but a few inches only
must commence the friglltful operation,
Reused as he had been, he now gasped for |
breath. His body shook violently. He was !
bent nearly double. His hands rested up> |
on either wall, md his feet were drawn up |
under him to prevent the pressure in front. |
Thus he remained for more than an hour, |
when that deaEening bell beat again, and |
again there came the crash Of horrid death.
But the concussion was now so great that it |
struck him down. As he lay gathered up
10 lessened bulk, the bell beat loud and fire. |
anent-erash succeeded Grassland on, and |
in, and on came the mysterious engine Of |
1eaih, till Vivenzio's smoihered groans were
heard no more He was horribly crush |
pd by the ponderous roof and collapsinr |
sides-and the fattening bier was his IRoS
ssaoyn. - va s-''
-ArchifectRys.-Ap amateur architect |
called on Derby. the bookseller, a few |
days since. and gravely inquired FOR Haw.
jhorne's new work on " Houses with Sew.
en- fSohlae,, a 60. 4 ~.