The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-08-28
NO 1l0

kinsmsn the Emperor; aud with ber was
closely leagued the Count Of Mslcar.
hereditary Admiral of Casiilo and Prime
Minister.
In very short time The KiDE's malady
took new form, That he was too weak
to lift his food o his misahapen mouth,
that at thirty he had the bald
head and wrinkled face 0f man Of sew
enty, that his complexion was turninR
from yellow 10 green, that ne frequently
fell down in flts and remained long in
sensible--these were no longer The worst
symptoms Of his malady. he had A..
ways been afraid of ghosts and demons
and II had long been ng.ssfszsp fnAf three
friars should Wsich every night by his
restless bed asa guard against hobgoh.
Inns. Bnt now he was firmly convinced
that he was bewitched, that he was pos
sessed, that there was a devil within him.
that there were devils all around him.
He was exercised according 20 the forms
of his church bat lhis ceremony,
instead of quieting him, scared him out
Of almost all the littlo reason that nature
had given him. In his misery and des-
pair he was induced 20 resort TO irregular
modes Of relief His oonfessor brought
TO court impostors who pretended that
they could interrogatc the powers Of
darkness The devil was called up,
sworn and examined. This strange de-
ponent made oath, as in the presence Of
God, that his Catholic majesty was I'M
der a spell, which had been laid on him
many years before, for the purpose OF
preventing the continuation Of the royal
line. A drug had been compounded out
OF the brains aud kidneys of human
cup of chocolate. This potion had dried
up all the sources OF life; and the best
remedy to which the patient could now
resort would be 20 swallow a bowl Of
conseoratod oil every morning before
breakfast Unhappily, tho authors Of
this story fell into contradictions which
they could excuse only by throwing the
blame on Satan, who, they eaid, was an
unwilling witness, and a liar from the
beginning. In the midst Of their c0niur-
ing the lnquisition came down upon them.
II must be admitted that, IL thc holy Of
fec had reserved all It's terr0rs for such
cases, il would not now have been re-
memborcd as the most hateful judicature
that was ever known among civilized
men. Tho subaltern impOstors were
thrown into dungeons. But the chief
| criminal continued to bo master Of the
king and Of the kingdom, Meanwhile,
in the distcmpered mind Of CHARLES, one
mania succeeded another A longing 10
pry into those mysteries OF the grave
from which human beings avert their
! thoughts, had long been hereditary in hia
house Juana, from whom the mental
constitution OF her posterity seems 10
have derived a morbid taiEt, had sat,
/ year after year, by tho bed On which lay
| the ghasily remains Of her husband,
appareled in the rich embroidery and
| while living. Her GOn Charles found
an eccentric pleasure in celebrating
his own obsequies, in putting on
his shroud, placing himself in the
coffin, covering himself with che pail
and lying 40 one dead till the requiem
had been sung and the mourners had de-
parted, leaving him alone in the tomb
| Philip the Second found a similar pleas
ure 10 gazing on The huge chest Of bronze
| in which his remains were TO be laid, aud
especially on the skull, which, encircled
/ with the crown Of Spain, grinned At him
| from the cover Philip the Fourth, too,
hanLered after burials aud burial places,
gratiled his curiosity by gazing on the
remains Of hisgreat grandfather, the En-
! peror, and sometimes stretched himself
out at full length like a corpse, in the
niche which he had seleoted for himself
| in the royal cemetery. To that cemetery
| his son was now attracted by strange
fascination. Europe could show no more
magnificent place Of sepulture. A stair
case incrusted with Jasper led down from
the stately church Of the ERcnrial into an
oetag0n situated just beneath tho high
altar The yault, impervious 10 the sun,
was rich with gold and precious marbles,
| which reflected the blaze from a huge
chandelier Of silver. On the right and
on the left reposed, each in q massey sar-
cophagus, the departed kings and queens
| Of Spain Ia this mausOleum the king
descended with long train Of courtiers,
| and ordered the collins 10 be unolosed.
His mother had been embalmed with such
cOnsummate skill that she appeared as
she had appeared on her death bed. The
body Of his grandfather, too, seemed en-
tire, but crumbied into dust al the FIRST
touch. From Charles neither of the re-
| mains Of his mother nor those Of his
grandfather could draw any sign Of SEN
sibility But, when the gentle and grace
ful Louisa Of Orleans, the miserable man's 3
first wife, she who had lighted up his
dark existence with one short and pale
CLEAN Of happiness, presented herself,
after the lapse OF ten years, 70 his eyes,
bis sullen apathy gave way. "She Is in
heaven" he cried, "and / shall soon be
there with her. and, with all the speed
Of which his limbs were capable, be tot-
tered back 70 the upper air