The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1854-03-09
4 Den Ct U9rr0rs.

4 Den Of uerrors.
"Kirwan," in recent volume of TRAY
els in Europe, gives the following account
of fearful chamber in the castle of the
Duke Of Baden Baden, in Germany
we made a morning call at the new
castle of the Duke, which surmounts the
hill, and were shown through all its a
partments As if for our aecommoda-
ton, he had just retired from his break
fast room, th at we might see the table at
which a reigning Prince slipped coffee
We have seen the breafast room and ta-
Bile of many in America more richly fur
nisbed. The apartments were quite an
air of poverty, after having seen those at
Versailles, the Quirinal, and Turin. But
the underground apartments possess a
fearful interest. With lighted torches We
went down into the cellar of the palace;
thence by spiral inclined plane, We went
down, down, until, by door formed of
one huge flag, and fitted to its place with
remarkable exactness, we entered small
oval room, perhaps ten feet IN diameter,
and hewn out of the solid rock. The
door was shut behind Us, and we were
buried alive under the mountain! y
raw of light came from above, and We
could look up as through a narrow CHM
ney; a stone was removed beneath our
feet, and We could look down perhaps two
or three hundred feet, and could see
little glimmer of light upon dashinG
current, whose murmerings came TO us
from beneath. And all around the room
were seats cut out of the rock. And
what was the object and history Of this
awful room!
Its history, as given US by our guide,
and within its walls, is briefly as follows:
In the days of feudal clemeney, and in
quisitorial piety, those suspected of polit-
ical or religious heresy, were suddenly
seized, and confined in some of the ada
cent cells. The little room, above de-
scribed, was the room of judgment,
and the judges were let down by machine
ry through the opening above. The ac-
cused were then introduced, and that
heavy stone door was shut. And there,
shut out from every eye, save that Of God,
and their judges, they were tried, and
condemned. If not guilty, the accused
were hated or feared, which made con-
demnation worse than guilt. When con-
demned, they were commanded to kiss
the image of the Virgin, in the apartment;
in the movement, they touched springs,
which caused her to embrace them, and
in the embrace, to pierce them through
with daggers. Then trap was sprung
beneath their feet, which let their bodies
fall upon wheel, armed with knives,
which was kept in constant revolution, by
stream Of water; by those knives, they
were cut in pieces, and the mutilated frag-
ments fell into the stream belowl
And there we were receiving this aw-
full narrative in the very apartment where
these atrocities were committed in the
name of Justice and Religion, with the
tunnel beneath us, through which the bod
les of their victims were let down for mu-
tilation, SO as to be beyond the reach of
recognizance! For moment our blood
run cold, aud we were filed with horror.
! Oh! if those stone seats, and those walls
of solid rock could speak-if the injunc-
tions of perpetual seeresy were removed
by Him who upheaved the mountain,
what an awful narrative they would give
: of the scenes of treachery, hatred, and
blood there perpetrated in the name Of
God and Religion!
The stone door swung open, and we
grouped our way through labyryintt
of chambers and passages, dark as mid
= night, into the open air. We all breatheC
easier, and feeling of fear gave way tc
: one of security. We were soon after oil
the railway for Frankfort on the Maine
deeply affected by the beauty and wicked
ness of Baden Baden, thankful that it
days of penal tyranny were at an end