Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1853-12-03

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Shakespeare, and he replied, with fierce ges-
| ture:
He is right and have no honor to be
jealous OF. Gentlemen, / understand the pur-
| pose OF all this You persuade yourselves that
| an outrage which did not end in the actual loss
| OF my life and property, is not worth public
and difficult investigation you wish to soothe
me into forgetfulness and forgiveness, and /
thank you for the attempt. You know not
what blessing it would be 10 forget, and
| have sought for it in many ways, but these
men haunt me still, and / must accuse them.
Remember, gentlemen, did not say how much
Of my life and property they spared, nor how
| little"
| We could make no answer to speech which,
| with all its obscure incoherence, was solemn.
Almost convinced that his visitor was insane
my uncle soothed him with an assurance that
he would expedite the progress Of justice, and
| had began to offer him a chamber under his
roof till morning, when another stranger, with
three attendants, claimed admission They
were brought into the room where we still sat
| with the accuser, who started from his place at
their entrance, and held up the formidable baton
have mentioned once before. Sir Frederick
| Cornwall, as l choose to call our new visitor,
presented himself with very engaging polite.
ness, and entreated pardon for his relatives in
trusion. accompanied him into another
apartment, and heard his expressions of regret
at the national insanity which seemed to have
taken entire hold of his nephew's mind.
To my question whether Colonel c. had ever
been in Naples he replied that he had only re-
turned from thence few days.
But" he added, "his valet assures me no
part of this strange romance, which he persists
in repeating, ever had existence, if we except
| the delirious fever he himself confesses.'
A request that the unhappy young man
might be delivered into his custody followed
| this speech, which did not appear to me quite
satisfactory. He perceived it, and produced
several letters dated from Naples, and distinctly
giving the Neapolitan physicians opinion Of
his distemper. One, written by the captain Of
the vessel in which Colonel G. had sailed home,
detailed many touching instances of incurable
detection, and limited at an attempted suicide.
| This letter enclosed another from the unfortu-
nate young officer himself, relating the trans
action in the Bay Of Naples, exactly as he had
described it to us, but with many expressions
Of the keenest and most desperate resentment.
Though these expressions were mingled with
others which seemed to imply grateful conf.
dence in his uncles affection, / thought myself
at liberty to doubt it, and ventured to inquire
why the valet had not accompanied his unfor-
tunate master to England Sir Frederick
showed me an Italian letter, containing so nat
ural and so clear statement of the mans rea-
sons for remaining in his native country, that
no objection could be made But my good
uncle, who well deserved the name of Justice,
positively detained the colonel as his guest till
the strictest inquiries had been pursued. No
thing resulted that could throw doubt on Sir
Frederick, or justify us in Withholding the col
onel's person, which he surrendered himself,
with an air of tranquility almost amounting to
happiness.
| remember in my boyhood certain piece of
mathematical magic in an old encyclopedia,
representing almost innumerable circles most
intricately interviewer, but all combining in one.
! have since found it a very accurate represen-
tation OF the manner in which the selfish plans
OF individuals are rendered parts of one wide
and perfect system of equal Justice. A few
years passed after this incident, and all remem-
brance of it had begun to disappear, when nv
professional duties brought me on the western
circuit, to town where / received an anony-
nous letter, enclosing large banknote to re-
tain me as counsel in the cause of very Young
French boy charged with private robbery The
note deposited in my uncle's hands, to remain
untouched, as clue to future discovery but
the account circulated in the town concerning
this young offender was sufficient to interest
me. He was accused of stealing the purse and
pocket-book of an unfortunate gentleman who
occupied small mansion not far from the
castle appropriated to French prisoners of war.
Louis, as this boy called himself, had been
found bruised and senseless under the mansion
wall, from which he appeared to have fallen in
an attempt to escape from the garden, where
the owner had seen him lurking, probablya after
robbing the lunatic, who resided there of the
found him Al
was gold seal and diamond ring, both bearing
the initials Of Colonel Cornwall, and recognised
by many persons as his property, though his
reputed insanity rendered his evidence mad
missible. questioned the boy with all the Sc.
verify and adroitness in my power, but could
extort no confession from him regarding his
business at that mansion, or the means by
which the money fell into his hands, He did
not deny that he had seen Colonel Cornwall:
he admitted the seal and ring might have been
once his property, but could give no account of
the gold.
My earnest application procured mapis
trates order for my admission into Colonel C.'s
presence alone. The keeper warned me of his
concealed ferceness and malignity, and left us
together with evident reluctance. He knew
me instantly, and burst into tears. love hui.
man nature, and honor it too much to dwell on
the frightful picture he gave me of his suffer.
ings. The clearness, the moderation, and the
method of his detail, convinced me they
were .undeserved; and my representations
gained such attention from a discerning magis.
trate, supported by the votes of three physi-
clans, that he obtained admission into court as
a capable witness. His narrative was simple
and convincing Louis, he said, had conveyed
three letters to him from an unknown person,
offering him money and jewels to bride the
keeper employed by his interesting relative.
This mysterious friend also promised to pro-
duce such evidence as would effectually silence
those who impeached his intellects. But he
solemnly protested that he could not conjecture
from whence these offers came, nor by what
means Louis had obtained the seal and ring,
which ne did not remember ever to have seen
before. confess my surprise at this assertion.
but it was useful to theprisoner. Asth charge
of felony was completely falsifed, the court did
not deem it a duty to inquire further; the young
Frenchman was released and, after tedious
struggle with the forms Of another court, our
e 4 ~