Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1854-01-18
The Oval Chamber.

"Kirwan," IN recent volume of Trav-
els In Europe, gives the following account
of q fearful chamber in the castle of the
Duke of Baden Baden in Germany:
We made morning call at the new cas-
tie of the Duke, which surmounts the bill,
and were shown through all its apartments.
As if for our accommodation, he had just
retired from his breakfast room, that we
might see the table at which reigning
Prince slipped coffee. We have seen the
breakfast-room and table of many in Amer
ica more richly furnished The upper a
partments wore quite an air of poverty, at
ter having seen those of Versailles, the
Quirlnal. and Turn. But the underground
apartments possess fearful interest,"
With lighted torches we went down into
the cellar of the palace thence by spiral
inclined plane, we went down, until, by
door formed Of one huge flag, and fitted to
its place with remarkable exactness, we
entered small, oval room, perhaps ten fee
in diameter, and hewn out of solid rock
The door was shut behind us, and we were
buried alive under the mountain A ray
of light came from above, anG we coulc
look up, as through a narrow chimney:
stone was removed beneath our feet, ano
we could look down perhaps two or three
hundred feet, and could see little gllmmel
of light upon a dashing current of water
whose murmurings came up to US from be-
meath. And all around the room were seats
cut out of the rock. And what was the OBJ
iect and history of this awful room! 1T
history, as given US by our guide, and with
in its walls, is briefly as follows:
In the days Of feudal clemency and IN
qulsitoral plety, those suspected of polltl
cal or religious heresy, were suddenly selz
ed and confined in some of the adjacen
cells. The little room above described wa
the room ofjudgement, and the judges were
let down by machinery through the open
inc above. The accused were then intro
duced, and that heavy stone door was shut
And there, shut out from every eye, save
that of God and their Judges they were trle'
and condemned. Ifnot guilty, the accused
were hated or feared, which made condem
nation more certain than guilt. When con
demned they were commanded to KISS al
image of the Virgin in the apartment; II
the movement they touched the spring
which caused her to embrace them, aud II
the embrace to pierce them through wit
daggers. Then trap was sprung beneat
their feet, which let their bodies fall upoI
wheel armed with knives, which was KEEP
in constant revolution by stream OF water
by those knives they were cut in pieces an
the mutilated fragments tell into the stream
below !
And there we were receiving this awiu
narrative in the very apartment where thes
atrocities were committed in the name Q
Justice and religion, with the tunnel be
meath US through which the bodies OF thel
victims were let down for mutllation, so
to be beyond the reach of recognlzance !
For a moment our blood run cold, and W
were filled with horror. Oh! ii those ston
seots and -thoso--,s'tto VII ID -'0eh'' ','"i
isfeiSki speakG anu ," ;~janctons of perpetual Sc
cresy were removed by Him who upheave
the mountain, what an awful narrative the.
would give of the scenes of treachery, ha
tired and blood there perpetrated in the nam
of God and religion.