The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-11-01
The Death Of the Mother OF Nero.

u.
The Collowino tronsl.tion of his " Annals"
will olive some notion of his nneonaIl.d
condensation f thought. and his nov er
of vigorous narrative in the Gewest v ord,
Nsro unw heo;ns In Shun .il nr;v,t.
Interviews with his mother; whenever
she Withdrew 10 her gardens Of her villa
vt Tu>culum. or the nrighhorhuod Of An
linn, he would commend her for seeking
retirement. At last, feeling her existence
tTpavv burden on him wherever she
might he. he resolved to put her to death,
tie only mnttrr Of drIiberation with him
b. ing whether he would get nd of her bv
poison, hy the dagger or some other vic.
lent u>AE,. ~ r.. =: .x:f-- r.
lake her "ff bv poison. But, if poison
>.0Rtt.[-- -, -, n,r "A, tms EM,perur's s
table, il cunll not be imputed 10 accident,
for BritanniruS had already persisted
by the same means; to tamper with the
at,vU,lS>(tS IS AN.i,.Nina appeared haz.
alduuS. for her rxpriirnre in crime had
made her Nigilant against trrachery, and
She had fortified herself against puiSonS
hy the habit Of taking antid0tes. IL the
lagger was employed. nobody could sug-
grSt how the murder could he concealed :;
and Nero feared that, whoever was Sc
lectrd to commit 30 great crime he
might refuse TO obey the Emperor's com.
mandS.
Anicetus, a freedman offered the re.
sources of his invention. He was the
commander of the fleet Mt Misenum. and
had been engaged in the educution of
Nero aud he and Au,ippina hated each
other. He tod N,l0 thatny,S Ssel might
he so constructed. that mart of il could
be detached when In. vessel WAS aflnnt
and Arrippina thrown into the water be.
lore she vas aware of il. that nothing
rave 50 many chanc, of accident as the
sea: and if Agrinlina should perish in
the wreck who could be so unreasonable
as tn impute TO crime what was the fuult
Of the winds and the waves When Az
ripriua was dead. the Emperor cou d
build "A t,mple and er, CT altars TO her
memory, and max. other demonstrations
nf ti.ial affection. The devils. was ap.
proved, and it was favored by the timr,
for Agrippna was in the habit Of attend
ing the festival Of the QuinuuatruS at
Bnn. To that place Nero lured his
mother, often declaring "that Sous ought
to bear with the angry passions of their
parents, and trv to paciiv them" in or.
der that he might give rise to report. Of
reconciliation. and that Agrippinn
might believe il. for women are easily
disposed To cre!i: ANYTHING that plea>eS
them. On her arrival he went To meet
her on the shore, for she came from An
ilum he took her by the hnu,, en-.
hrncrd her. and conducted her 20 Bau,i.
Thn; was the nnlne of Il vile, which was
situated brtw,e en- the lrolnontnry Mis-.
rnum and TIE lake Of Baie, and washed
hv the waves uf the sea, which there
loiws n Kind uf bay.
Aunn. the rest of the vessels one
more highly unnmentrti than the others
was living there. ~ if this was also de ..
>I.nrd to do honor To- his mother. for she
had been accustomed To sail in trirrine
and have body Of ruwerS belonging to
the fleet. She was also invited to ban
ouct, that advantage might be a..en nG
tne Ii.ht to c,nr,a al the crime. 1t is
well asrrrlainrl that some one BETRAYED
the treachvro,iS design cf Nero; and Az
riu,ina being informed Of It, and doubt
ful whether 10 rive credit to it or not,
was carried to Baim in n litter. The
blanIi>hments of her son removed her
fears. She was kindly received, aud had
place ior her at the table assigned To
Der above Nero. SometitnrS adopting
the ordinary familiarity Of youth, aud
tlcn a>>ulnlnga more serious air, a. il
his purpose Was to mingle business and
pleasure, Nero prolonged the entertain
meit hv varied cunverSati"n; ami WHEN
AgiipI.ina rose to go away, he accom-
panl,d her to the sea shore, keeping his
eve steadily fixed upon her. and pressing
her Ia his hu>uln, either to ill. up the
nIcasure ol his simu!aiinn, or NAV he that
the la>; siII,t ot "A mother who WAS going
to her dcat!i absorbed all the thoughts of
hi> mlnd, brutal though he was.
The gods hni given starlight night,
and Tranquil sea, a. if to furnish evil
lcuce Of the crime. The ship had not
advanced far, with two Of the intimate
fIirndS If Aylippina who accompanied
her, CrrprrcInS Gallus, who was standing
not lar from the helm, and Acerronia,
who was living Mt the feet f her miStl eS>,
and i", fully speaking of the change ia
Ncru'S tcrupcr and his reconciliation With
his mother, when on signal being
given, the roof OF the place, which wa>
loaded with lead, tunblrd down. and
Crcpcrcius was Immediately crushed to
death. Ac,ippinn and Acerrouia were
protected by the sides Of the chamber,
which happened to be strong enough to
resist the weight nor did the vessel fall
in riercS, for most Of the men on board
were in state of alarm and those who
were unarouainted with the design and
they were the create" part-impedrd ,he
movement Of those who were privy to it.
The ,owc'S advised that the vessel should
hr thrown ON one side and TINS sunk
But lthrr cnnll the roxers come tn an
agreement abort such measure Mt that
moment. and the rest by resisting it al
lowed Agrippina and her attendant to