Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-07-10

THE LAST STROKE OF FORTUNE.

Cologne, which showed to the street a frontage Of
five small windows. 1t was the house in which the
first painter Of the Flemish school, the immortal
Rubens, was born, A. d. 1917. Sixty years later
than this date the ground floor was occupied 10y
two old people, n shoemaker and his wife. The
upper story, which was usually let to dodgers; was
empty at the time we write Of. Two, however, oc'
cupied the garrett. The evening was cold and wet
md the shoemaker and his wife were sitting to-
gether 10 the room below.
"You had betteS go up stairs again" said the
man to his wife, and see how the poor lady is
The old gentleman went out early, and has not
been in since. Has she not taken anything -
at is only half an hour since l was up stairs,
and he had not come in. | took her ONE broth
IN Mt noon, but she hardly touched it, and | was
up again at three she was asleep then, and at
five she said she should not want anything more"
"Poor lady This time Of the year, md neither
fire nor warm clothes; and not even a decent
bed to lie on and yet am sure she is some
body or other. Have you noticed the respect
with which the old gentleman treats her 7"
"Jf she wants for anything, il is her own fault.
That ring she wears on her finger would get her
the best Of every thing"
Then came a knock at the door, and the woman
admitted the old man they had just spoken of,
whose grizzled beard fell down upon his tarnish'
ed velvet coat. The hostess sadly wanted to have
a little gossip with him, but he passed by, and
bidding them a short coed night" CROPPED his
way up u steep u CTOOhbu StilE hot oh th
tering the chamber above, a feeble voice inquired
the cause of his long absence.
81 could not help it," he said, II had been
copying o manuscript aud as l was on my way here
a servant met me, who was to fetch me to raise
the horoscope of two ladies who were passing
through they were ladies who | have known be-
fore. 1 thought / could get a little money to pay
for some simples which will be Of service to you"
II am cold"
at is fever cold. / will make you something
which you must take directly"
The fame of a small tin lamp suficed to heat
some water, and the patient, having taken what
the old man had provided, was diligently covered
up by him with all the clothes and articles Of dress
he could find. He stood by her motionless till he
perceived that she was fast asleep, and indeed
long after he then retired into q small closet, and
sought repose on the hard floor.
The next morning the lady was so much better
that her attendant proposed she should endeavor
to leave the house for q moment OF two, and he sue
ceeded in getting her forth as far the Place st.
Cecilia. 1t was seldom that she left the house, for
notwithstanding the meanness OF her dress, there
was that about her carriage which rendered it diff
cult to avoid unpleasant observation.
"Do you see that person yonder ?' she said sud-
denly. "lf | am not much mistaken il is certain
ly the Duke of Guise."
The strangers attention had also been attracted
and he had now approached them.
"Pdrbleu !" said he, why that is Mascali--
What are you married ?"
"He does not know me,' sighed the lady. 81
must indeed be altered"
Mascali had, however, whispered q single word
In the Dukes ear, and he started as if struck by
a thunderbolt but instantly recovering himself,
he hastily uncovered, and bowed nearly to the
ground.
81 beg your forgiveness" he said, "but my eyes
are grown so weak, and could so little expect to
have the honor OF meeting your"
"For the love of Goo" interrupted the lady has
tily," "name me not here. A title would too
strangely contrast with my present circumstances
Have you been long in Cologne ?"
"Three days. | am on my way from Italy. l
took refuge there when our common enemy drove
me forth, and confscated all my earthly goods. !
am going to Brussels"
"And what are your advices from France ? Is
the helm still in the bands Of that wretched cal
tiff ?"
"He is in The zenith Of his power"
"See, my lord duke, your fortunes and my own
are much alike. You, the son of a man, who, had
he not too much despised danger, might well have
set the crown on his own head, and |, once the
Queen of the mightiest nation in the universe, and
now both of US alike. But adieu," she said sud
denly drawing herself up. "the sight of you, my
lord duke, has refreshed me much, and l
pray that fortune once more may smile upon your
steps"
Permit me to attend your majesty to-"
II enSnJ COlOr tlDReu inc Iduy ; lealuTes, de
she answered, with q gently commanding tone
'Leave us, my lord duke, it is our pleasure"
Guise bowed low. and taking the lady's hand, he
pressed it revereutly to his lips. Atthe corner of
the street he met some, one to whom he pointed out
the old lady, and then fastened away.
The next morning a knock at the door announ-
ced a person inquiring for Monsieur Mascali she
had a small packet for him, and also a billet. In
side this was distinctly written
"Two hundred louis d'ors constitute the whole
Of my present fortune: one hundred | send for
your use.
"GUISE."
And the packet contained a hundred lous d'ors.
The sum thus obtained suficed to supply the
wants of the pair two long years. But the last
louis had been changed, and the lady and her com
panion were still without friendly succOr. The
shoemaker and his wife had undertaken, a jour.
ney to AK la Chapelle, to take up some small leg
acy. 1t was the 18th February, l642. A low
sound of moaoing might have been heard issuing
from the garrett a withered female form, more
like a skeleton than a thing of flesh and blood
was lying on a wretched bed OF straw, in the ago.
MES of death. The means grew more and more
indistinct a slight rafting in the throat was at
length The only audible sound. and this also ceas-
ed. An hour later an old man, dressed in rags
and tatters, entered the chamber. One only word
had escaped his lips as he tumbled up the falling
staircase-'Nothing nothing !" lie drew near
the bed listlessly, but in a moment he sliced an
aim Of the corpse with an almost convulsive mo-.
ton, and, letting it suddenly fall, he cried
"Dead, dead, OF hunger, cold and starvation p
And this lady was Mary of Medicis, wife of
Henry ~, Queen Regent of France, mother Of
Louis Kill, of Isabella, Queen of Spain, of Hem
%rietta, Queen of England, of Christiana. Duchess
Of Savoy, of Castor, Duke of Orleans-dead of
hunger, cold and misery; and yet Louis XIII, the
cowardly tool of Richelieu, his mothers murder.
or, is still called "the just"
ScoTLAND's INDUsTRY.-The Baron Duphin, the
French Minister of Agriculture and Commerce,
Of the observation-disclosures in theIndustry of Ma.
tions. In explaining results and differences; be
makes the followirp remarks