The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-12-29
THE AVENGER.
A THRILLING TALE.
BY THOMAS DE QUINCEY.

our quiet city and university In the
north eastern quarter of Germany were
cOnvulsed during the year 1916, has IN
itself, and considered merely as Ollnd
movement of human tiger passion rang
ing unclaimed amOngstmen, something
too memorable To be forgotten or lelI
without its own separate record; but
the moral lesson, impressed by these
events. is vet more memorable, and de-
serves the deep attention of coming
generations in their struggle after hu-
man improvement, not merely IN It's
own limited field of interest directly
awakened, but in all analogous fields of
interest; as in fact already, and more
than once. in connection with these
yerv events. this lesson has obtained
the effectual attention of Christian
kings and Princes assembled III Con-
gTess. No tragedy, indeed, amongst all
the sad ones by which the charities OF
the human heart or of the hreSlde nave
been outraged, can better merit a sepa-
rate chapter in the private history OF
German manners or social life than
this unparalleled case. And, on the
other hand, no one can put In better
claim to he the historian than myself.
was at the time, and still am, Pro-
fesSOT in that city and university Whlch
had the melancholy distinction of being
its theatre. | knew familarly all the
parties who were concerned i'll it
either as sufferers or as agents. | was
present from first to last, and watched
the whole course of the mysterious
storm which fell upon our devoted
city in a strength like that of West
Indian hurricane, and which did serl-
Ously threaten at Onetlme TO depOpulate
our university, through the dark suspi-
al, u ff.h .Aff LODI Itg nnmhnTG
and the natural reaction of generous
indignation in rppelling them-whiist
the city in It's more stationary and ma
tive classes would very soon have man
ifested their awful sense of things, of
the hideOuS insecurity for life, and of
the unfathOmable dangers which had
undermined their heaTthS below their
very feet. by sacrificing, whenever cir
cumstances allowed them, their houses
and beautiful gardens i'll exchange for
days mcUrsed by panic, and nights tln-
polluted by blood. Nothing, | can take
upon myself to assert, was left undOne
of all that human foresight could sug-
gest or human ingenuity could accom-
plish. But observe the melancholy re-
suit: the more certain did these ar
rangements strike people as remedies
for the evil. so much the more etfectu
ally did they aid the terror, but above
all the aWe-the sense of mystery,
when ten cases of total determination,
applied to separate households, had Oc-
Cured. in every one of which these pre-
aids had failed to yield the
slightest assistance. The horror, the
perfect frenzy of fear, which seized
upon the town after that experience,
battles all attempt at description. Had
these various cOutrivances failed mere
ly in some human and Ineligible way,
as by bringing the aid too tardily-
still in such cases, though the danger
would no less have been evidently
nobody would have felt any
further mystery than what, from the
very first, rested upon the persons and
the motives of the murdererS. But, as
it was, when in ten separate cases of
exteTminating carnage, the astOunded
police after an examination the most
searching, pursued from day to day, and
almost eXhausting the patience by the
of the Investigation, had
finally pronounced that no attempt APP
paTently had been made TO benefit by
any of the signals precOncerted, that no
fOOtstep apparently had moved in that
directiOn-then. and after that result
blind misery of fear fell upon the pop
so much the worse than any
anguish Of a beleaguered city that is
awaiting the stOrming fury of victO-
riOus enemy, by how much the shadOwy
the unceTtaiE-the infinite, is at all
times more potent il mastering the
mind than a danger that is known
measurable - Dalpable and human.
The very police, instead of Offering pro-
lection or encouragement, were seized
with terror for themselves. And the
general feeling, as it was described to
me by a grave citizen whom / met in
a morning walk (fOr the Overmastering
sense of a pEblic calamity broke down
every barrier of reserve, and all men
talked freely to all men in the streets,
as they would have done during the
of an earthquake), was, even
amongst the bOldest, like that which
takes possession of the mind
in dreams-when one feels One's-self
sleeping alone, utterly divided from all
call or hearing of friends, doors open
that should be shut, or unlocked that
should be tTipiy secured, the very walls
gone, barriers swallowed up by un-
known abysses, nothing around one
but rail curtains, and world of illim-
liable night, whisperings at distance,
going on between dark
ness and darkness, like one deep calling
to another, and the dreamer's own
heart the centre from which the whole
of this unimaginable chaos Ta-
dates, by means of which the priva-
tiOns of silence and darkness become
powers the most positive and awful.
Agencies of fear, as of any other pas
sion. and above all, of passion felt in
communion with thousands, and in
which the heart beats in conscious
sympathy with an entire city, through
all its regions of high and low, young
and old, strong and weak; such agen-
cies avail to raise and tTansfigure the
natures of men; mean minds become
elevated; dull men become eloquent;
and when matters came to this crisis,
the public feeling, as made known by
voice, gesture, manner, or words, was
such that no stranger could represent
1t to his fancy. In that respect, there
fore, | had an advantage, being upon
the spot through the whole course of
the affair, for giving a faithful narra-
tive; as | had still more eminently, from
the sort of central station which | Occu-
pied, with respect to all the movements
of the case. | may add, that | had an
other advantage, not possessed, or not
in the same degree, by any other inhab-
liant of the town. / was personally ac-
quainted with every family of the
slightest account, belonging to the resi-
dent population; whether amongst the
old local gentry, or the new settlers
whom the late wars had driven to take
refuge within our walls. 1t was in
Spntnmhnr 1919 that rnpaiVnd a IpttaT