Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1867-10-03
The Starg.Teller.
THE MOORISH DOCTORS PARCHMENT.
TRANSLATED FRoMTHE FRENCH OF soUvEsrRE

TRANSLATED FHOm FhENCh Of oOUSLSIhE%
Some traveller says, speaking of the Spanish po
sados, that they are ''kind of shelter where Ger
tain men, called 'tavern-keepers, furnish you fo1
the night smoke and vermin. ~ Another has ad
ded that sin the land of Cid, there were no land
lords who fed the dodgers, but dodgers who fed the
landlords" And 9 cotemporaneous writer pub
fishes that strangers who go through the eastern
provinces of the Iberian peninsula ought to carr,
their beds, if they do not like to sleep in sheets
sowed to the woolen mattresses, and only changed
every spring. Whatever exaggeratien there may
have been in these observations it is certainly true
that the inns now are far superior to those of two
centuries ago. At that epoch they were, indeed,
but q kind of caravansaries, frequented by mule
teers, who found there straw bed for themselves
and their mules The most comfortable had only
(besides the stable and the common eating-roomY
a garret divided into many compartments, called
chambers by courtesy, which were reached by
ladder Now, it was into one of these chambers
that Don Jose de Tuey d 'Alcantra, admitted Doc,
tor at Salamanca, hidagon his quality as Asturlan,
but possessing the world only the clothes he had
on, twenty reals and passable opinion of his own
merit, was shown. Although he was little over
thirty, he had already tried many occupations,
without finding in any the opulence which, In his
opinion, would have suited him as well as any 9th
er, and now returned to Leon in the hope OF being
EMPLOYED by the Count Don Alonzo Mendos who
possessed magnificent estate, between Toro and
Tamora, which had been already visited by the
Doctor. Unfortunately, at his first questions to
the inn n-keeeper, he was informed of the Counts
DEATH and he was stil depressed with the surprise
and disappointment of this news at the moment
our tale begins 'Don Alonzo dead p repeated he,
stupe6ed 'And buried, added the inn-keeper-
s'magnifcently buried Las became man Of his
rank" els the chateau occupied by his heirsF'
s'The sole heir was the Counts nephew, and ne
has given orders to Peter Carallos, notary OF Ar
gelis to offer the estate for sale, and it ought to
be delivered to the new proprietor tomorrow, if
mistake not" Jose thought that he would also
need, apparently, agents to manage his new estate,
and he could, perhaps, get the place; consequent
w. after moment reflection, he declared his In
tention of remaining at the inn until after the trans
fer. The inn-keeper approved, and, assuring him
he could nowhere find better lodging or better cook
ing he confirmed his assertion by bidding him re-
mark all the conveniences of the chamber assigned
him. This was, indeed, so much the better ven
tilated, as three of the four panes in the window
were broken, and as it was placed in the root, ne
could enjoy an unlimited view Of the sky. As to
the furniture, it consisted only Of a wooden bed,
garnished with straw mattress, rickety stool and
shaking table, but the spaces between the beams
of the roof formed, as the inn-keeper observed,
numerous compartments, which supplied the place
of wardrobes and closets Most of these recesses,
were, indeed, filed with soiled trumpery, earthen
vases, glass vials and with what surprised Don
Jose especially, books and papers. The inn-keep-
er confessed that all these had been left by an old
Doctor who had lived in this room many months,
occupied with studying distling plants and VIII
ting. But, suspicion having arisen that ne was OF
Moorish origin, and the kings last DEGREES order
ing expressly the expulsion of all the descendants
of this race he had been obliged to 60 suddenly,
and abandon all his baggage that is to say, his
vials, papers and books. Left alone, Don Jose
could not refrain from thinking of all the long train
of misfortunes and accidents which had followed
him through life thus far. 81 have tried every
thing in vain, said he; "chance has always dis,
appointed my hopes, and made me the slave Of
circumstances. Oh ! how happy are those who
can always follow their fancy control circumstances
and remain king Of their lives, instead Of submit
ting to everybody on all occasions. As these re-
Elections threw him into state Of gloomy sadness,
he sought to distract it by opening Of the books
left by the Moorish Doctor; it was an expose Of
the Natural System, written in Latin. Jose look
ed over some pages, then chose another volume,
which treated of the occult sciences, and, at ast
third, relative to the great work. The choice Of
these books clearly indicated that the old Moor
was an achemist, perhaps necromancer for al
this epoch, it was not rare to find man, especially
in Spain, who had studied the art of controlling the
invisible powers Rendered curious by his FRS
researches, Don Jose turned from the books to the
manuscripts. He looked over many, which seem
ed to contain only general directions relative to the
transmutation of metals but at length he found
shut up in leaden box roll of parchment the
first lines of which struck him; they were recipe:
of magic, to accomplish certain wonders, such al
making oneself invisible, transformations at will
and passing instantly throug immense space. Al
last he found paragraph entitled thus: sTht
way to make our will become the sovereign law
and accomplish itself Instantly The young Doc
tor gave bound JOY. 'By the holy cross
cried he, eff the means succeeded, should ash
nothing better! To make our will the sovereign
law Is not that the last degree Of human felici
ty? Let us see only if this end can be attained
without compromising ones SOUL He read tn
pes1pe indicated in the MS, and found nothing
contrary to the faith. To acquire the promised
gift it was sufficient to pronounce before sleeping
a certain prayer, and to drink from little flask
hidden in the bottom of the leaden box. Jos
sought this flask, opened it, and found it contain
ed few drops of black and odorous liquid. H'
hesitated moment, not from doubt as to the po
tency of the formula and philter, for his opinion
were those of his age, but to be certain he hat
made no mistake. He re-read them, the ahead.
deciphered lines of the roll, and, besides post
script, which he had not observed before. Thl
P S. only contained these words: "Our impotence
is proyidential barrier, opposed to our folly b!
God" Good God! the old Doctor loved, hk
others Of his race, to sing the common places
morality, with everything; but now, l have on!
to do with his sentences, and prefer trying nj
recipe" With these words, he raised the flask t
his lips, and pronounced the long formula which
was ordered; he had scarcely finished, when hi!
eyes closed and he slept.
Don Jose did not know how long his sleep had las