The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-01-14
II CORSIC.iN CUSTOM.

Tho Corsican vendetta is the
theme Of an interesting article in
the Paris Zes,sgSz There ere two
sorts of yendessa-tho direct (as
the son avonging his father or the
brother his brother or sistor), and
tho indirect or transvcrsal, where
the fcud is kept up by distant
re!" tivcs. SO long as thero ro~
mains one member Of the two con-
tc ding families the field is opened
to reprisal. Ono writer estimates
that in thirty years 10000 mon
were sac ilicod to this barbarous
custom; another places the raur-
ders between 1859 and l715 at
100000. A report to the council
general " 1852 stated that since
1921 neR y five thousand assssina-
tons had occurred i'll that island,
and the situasaon was so serious
that Prince Bonsparte was the orly
perso-, in the island allowed by law
to carry gun. Toward tho cnd
of tho second empire tho prohibi>.
ton was removed, and the vendetta
broke out again with renewed force
and barbarity, the murderers being
absolved and even encouraged by
public opinion. If tho man who
falls leaves an orphan in the cradle
his wife or sister will keep for
twenty years his blood stained
clothing to nerve tho orphans arm.
The most crushing reproach that
can be afforded to u Corsican is to
have failed in his obligation. In
the middle ages any one who backed
out was fined, and if he remained
contumacious for week, banished.
In 1881 the person guilty of
rin1bcccare had his tongue slit.
Sometimes the quarrel extended to
villages. From 1915 to 1913 tho
Roca-Seras and Ortolis of the
village of Sarsene had their houses
loop-holed like fortrosscs, and at
times their inhabitants would have
to stand n seige for months, when
the man who ventured to tho wins
dow or opened the door was likely
to be potted from tho promises
opposite. Not long ago u priest,
who never vontured out save with
his gun on his shoulder and ac-
companied by his armed sexton, was
shot dead at mass by his enemy,
WHO was hidden in the confessional.
The eminent Paoli studied during
tho last century in a darkened
room, where the window shutters
wore lined with cork. He was
besicged in a convent in 1856 by
his enemies, and would have been
killed had not the mother of anoth>
er foe sent her son, Thomas Cam
noni, to his rescue, sacrificing her
hatred to her patriotism. In 1894,
Andrea Romanetti shot dead during
the carnival festivities the son of
Marrianna Pozzo dc Borgo. The
mothor dressed herself in male
attire, and, with o posse Of friends,
hunted the murderer SO closely
that he offered to surrender if
allowed to confess himself. She
took him to the priest, knelt and
prayed with him during his shrift,
then tied him to q tree, and drew up
her platoon, with thoir guns aimed
at him, and suddenly relcnting, un-
bound and pardoned him. The
action lives in Corsican tradition,
less because OF it's generosity than
for it's singularity There aro
PavOluuti, sort of peace making
magistrates, whose province it is to
arrange such fouds, and their de-,
cisions once pronounced arc usually
obeyed; but meeting for purposes
of reconciliation as frequently
widcns and intensifcs the quarrel
The number Of mon in family
gives it an Importance greater than
tho amount of wealth. Recently q
young man declined to marry a
rich girl, preferring to we'd poorer
ono who had seventeen muskots in
tho family" -. G., seventeen male
relatives, who would be bound to
defend the now member of the
household in an emergency.
ENJOY L1FE.-What q truly beau-
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