Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1886-03-19

grace were the work of his enemies and no
the consequence Of any crime. The thirt
protested that crying injustice had beei
done him by his being sent there without an.
trial. The fourth said that the lord Of hl
village had become enamored of his wife, ant
had caused him to be sent there out of th,
way. The fifth declared that he came frou
the hamlet Of Somma, and that he had beer
implicated in a robbery there, in which b,
really had had no part at ALL and that all hi,
neighbors would bear witness to bis honesty
The sixth, who had observed that all thes,
excuses and Qualifications did not seem tC
| please the duke took different tone.
Your Excellency," he said, 81 come from
! Naples "and, though the town is a large one
l do not believe that il contains a greater
scoundrel than myself. They have been mer
cifu to me in only sending me to the galleys
Tue viceroy looked at the man keenly fol
some moments, and then, turning to those in
attendance upon him, said
LIT this scoundrel be released from his
chains he will corrupt all those honest men. II
Then he presented him with some money
to provide himself with clothing, aud be-
sought him to try to live better life in the
future.
Two days afterwards another prisoner was
to be liberated, and the duke again proceeded
to the galleys to select one. Information as
to what had happened on the previous occa.
sion had reached the slaves IN the galley
which the duke boarded and they believed
that the best way of getting their liberty was
to blacken themselves as much as possible,
seeing that that course had succeeded 30 well
before. or all the three hundred in the gal.
ley, there was not one who did not confess
that he was soled with the vilest crimes and
had richly deserved wheel or gallows.
This is strange, said the duke, Ito see
so many people with souls 80 black Their
punishment is the health of the state, which
they would infect by their bad example.
What crimes would they not commit if they
were at liberty / shall order them all to be
more vigorously guarded, which he did.
freeing only a monk, because he ingeniously
said that the chains Of the galley were less
oppressive than those of the monastery. His
punishment was the penalty of double apos.
tasy Of which he had been guilty.
WELL" said the duke, return to your
monastery, since there you undergo a severer
punishment"
A rich old merchant, seventy years Of age,
named Morelli, boasted that be had gained
the whole of his fortune without leaving Ma
pies. He had never been away from 1t, he
said, for five aud forty years. and he vowed
he would never 60 beyond sight of its walls.
The Duke Of Ossone heard of the old mans
speeches, and sent to him one Of his officers,
forbidding him, on the part Of the king, to
leave the kingdom, on pain of forfeitinR a
fine Of a thousand crowns. Morelli received
the prohibition with mockery, and jested
over it with his friends. To leave the king
dom WAS the last thing in the world he should
think Of doing. Had he not said that moth.
ing could induce him TO travel out of sight of
his beloved Naples Soon however, he be-
gan to feel a curiosity as TO what could have
prompted this command of the kings, and
he began to torment himself by ell sorts of
vague guesses and reflections, till the matter
took such hold of his thoughts that il threw
him into a nervous aud miserable condition,
and even prevented him from sleeping. At
last, to deliver himself from a state Of inuuie.
tude which he could no longer bear, and TO
satisfy his longing to do that which had been
forbidden him, be sent thousand crowns to
the viceroy and passed over the NeapoltAn
border into the Papal states He staid there
only one night, and then returned to Naples
The viceroy, upon hearing of his return, dis
tributed half of the thousand crowns among
Neapolitan hospitals aud returned the rest to
Morelli, saying that this would suffice TO teach
the public how fools we're punished
About the same time there was in Naples
another rich merchant named Ferronelli not
ed Tor his avarice. This man had had the
misfortune to lose an embroidered purse con-
tanning fifty gold ducats and fifty Spanish
pistoles, together with ring worth thous-
and crowns. This loss WAS a cause of great
grief to Ferrouelli, and he sent crer through
Naples proclaiming that any one finding the
purse and restoring it and its contents to the
owner should be rewarded with the fifty pis-
toles. poor widow found il and brought it
to Ferronelh As soon as he saw il and its
rich contents, he felt tempted to cozen the
old woman out of the greater part of the
promised reward. The temptation was too
strong for the avRricious man TO resist, and
while be was counting over the pistoles he
de1terously pushed out of sight thirty of
them, and said to the widow
II promised the fifty pistoles that were in
side the purse to the finder, but l see you
have already taken thirty of them. Here are
the other twenty"
The woman protested that she had not tax.
en- a single coin but it was in vain Fer
ronelli insisted that she had already appropri-
ated thirty Of the pistoles, and must, there
fore, now be contented with the balance of
twenty. The old woman was obliged to yield,
and went away with what she could GET
which was indeed large sum for her.
Talking matters over, however, with her
friends afterwards, she was advised to lay the
affsir before the viceroy, and to beseech his
interference The merchant WAS summoned
before the viceroy, and gave his account of
The duke, when be had heard Ferronelli's
story, said
1T is not at all likely that the old wom-
an should have abstracted any part of the
money in the purse, as, if she had been dis
honestly inclined, she might have kept the
whole. This purse cannot, therefore, be
yours for yours, you say, contained fifty
pistoles, and this one does not. In my opin-
ion, you ought to be punished for appropriat-
ing what does not belong to you"
My lord" urged Ferronelli, 81 recognize
the purse perfectly know the embroidery.
Besides, there are my ring and my fifty due
ats in it, l beseech your EKcellency not to
allow me to be deprived of what is rightfully
mine"
You must be deceivng yourself" replied
the viceroy. "Does not the mint turn out
all ducats alike, and is it not possible that
the jewellers should have made more than
one ring like yours, and that there should be
more than one purse embroidered in the
same fashion as yours The essential point
is that your purse contained fifty pstoles,
while this one does not"
Then, addressing himself to the widow, he
said go, my good woman; take the
purse you are Ialrly entitled 10 IL.
One example more Of this viceroy's method
Of dispensing justice, and we will conclude.
There was in Naples a young Spanish ex-
| quisite, one Bertrand Solus. One day, while
he was lounging about in one of the buster
parts of the city, a porter, carrying a bundle
of wood on his shoulder, tried to make his
way through the crowd. Solus WAS directly
in his path, and the porter called out to him
several times, Make way, please" without
producing any effect. He then attempted to
pass him as best he could but, unfortunate.
| ly, the wood came in contact with the young
mans velvet dress and gave it an ugly rent.
Highly indignant, be laid an information
against the porter, and asked that he might
be punished The viceroy-having inquired
| privately into the circumstances before going
into court-told the porter be was to pretend
to be dumb, and was to reply by signs only
to anything that might be said to him. When
the viceroy took his seat on the bench, Solus
laid his complaint before him, and asked foI
| judgment against the porter. The viceroy
turned TO the porter and asked him what he
bad to say in reply to the charge. The por
ter only shook his head and made signs with
| his hands.
"What judgment do you want me to give
against dumb man p asked the viceroy Of
Solus
"Oh, your Excellency, the man is an i'm,
poster. beseeoh you not to believe thai
he is dumb. Before he ran against me / dis
tinotly heard him cry out, Make way"