The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-02-25
4 DE't OF HORRORS.

'kirwan. in a recent volume of travels in
EHroir. gives 'he following account of fear
!ul chamber in ,hc castle Of The Nukc of Bs
d'n Baden. in t,crmaiiv
'Wc made a morning call a. tlc new ra>tIr
oi tie Dukc. which >lrmountS the lii. and
were shown through all its apartments. IS if
for our accommodation lie lad ir>. retire.!
f'om his breakfast room .tla, We m. Vt see tlr
tal'!c at which a .i-ning prince >upprl cof-
fee. We have seen the hrraI.'.>-ronm and
table of many in America more richly fur
n>hcd. The uI'I.cr apartments wore an air
of poverty. after having seen those AZ Yer
>aillc> the Uuirnal. and Turin. Bat The nm
dcrHronnd apartments possess a fearful inter-
est. With lighted torches we went down in
to the cellar of the palace: thence by sp
raj inclined plane. we went down. down. ur-
til. bv a door formed Of oNc HUGE tiaa. ana
fitted TO It's place with rcmarkahl" cxaotr,.cs
we cmicrc'! a small, oval room, rorhar~ fey,
feet in diameter. anI hcwn ont of.Lc sol; J
rock. The door was shut behind rs. and VIC
We're buried alive under this moun.ain' \
ray FLIGHT came from above. and we coul,l
look up rs tirouGh narrow chimney \
stone was removed beneath orr rcct. and we
could look down perhaps two or three Mun-
drcd feet, and could see little rlirlmcr Of
lirht upon da>iinr current Of watcr. who's,
murmurnc> came M to us tromh cn"l.h An
all around the room were seats cUt ont Of III,
rock And what WAS the history of this aw
full room
'ItS history. as civrn Us by our ruilc. an,
within its walls. is briefly as fellows In ~,
DAYS of teudal clcmcncv and inpui>iroria
pictv. those suspected Of political or religion
hcrcSv were Sul,lrnlv seized and confined il
some Of the adjacent cells The little room
above described was the room of iulrmcn
and ihc Judges were let down hv machincr'
through the opening above The accuse,
were then introduced. and that heavy st;7n
door was shut And there. shut out fror
every cvr save that of God and their ,.l,cs
they were tried and condemned. lfnot ruil
". the accused were hated or feared, whic'
made condemnation worse than guilt Whc,
condemned. they were commanded to kiss a.
. image of the'Nirrin in the apartment; in tn
movement they touch springs which causc
; her to embrace them and in the embrace (
pierce them through with darccrs Then
trap was sprung beneath their feet, which lt
their bodies fall upon wheel armed wit
knives, which was kept in constant revolu
ton by stream Of water: by those knivc
they were cut in pieces. and the mutiia:c
fragments fell into The stream below.
And there we were receiving this awf
narrative in the very apartment whc~c thcS
atrocities were committed in the name Of
Justice and Religion. with the tunnel he
meath us through which the bodies of thei
victims were let down for mutilaton. so as t
be beyond the reach cf rccocnizance For
moment our blood ran cod, and we were fill
: ell with horror. Oh. if those stone seat:
and those walls of solid rock could speak
if the iniunctions of perpetual sccrcSy wcr
removed by Him who uphcavcd the noun
tain. what an awful narrative they would civ
there pcrpetrated ii the name of &C! an
Religion
, The stone door swung open. and we Groi
ed our way throug ialrynth of chamber
, and passages. dark as midnight, into the ope
al. We d. '..,:"ed :i>.cr. AMI a ;cc.ln