XV. TH SECTION I. 53. THE PRISONER'S FLOWER. `HE Count,1 who is in prison for a political cause, and is not allowed books or paper to beguile his solitude, has found one little green plant growing up between the paving-stōnes of the prison-yard in which he is allowed to walk. He watches it from day to day, marks the opening of the leaves and buds, and soon loves it as a friend. In dread lest the jailer, who seems a rough man, should crush it with his foot, he resolves to ask him to be careful of it; and this is the conversation they have on the subject: 2. "As to your ġil'lyflower"—"Is it a gillyflower ?" asked the Count. "Upon my word," said the jailer, "I know nothing about it, Sir Count; all flowers are gillyflowers to me. But as you mention the subject, I must tell you, you are rather late in recommending it to my mercy. I should have trodden upon it long ǎgō, without any ill-will to you or to it, had I not remarked the tender interèst you take in it, the little beauty!"-"Oh, my interest," said the Count, "is nothing out of the common." 3. "Oh! it's all very well; I know all about it," replied the jailer, trying to wink with a knowing look; "a man must have occupation-he must take to something—and poor prisoners have not much choice. You see, Sir Count, we have amongst our inmates men who doubtlèss were formerly important people; men who had brains-for it is not small-fry that they bring here: well, now, they occupy and ămuse themselves at věry little cost, I assure you. One cătches flies-there's no harm in that; another carves figures on his deal-table, without remembering that I am responsible for the fûrniture of the place." 4. The Count would have spoken, but he went on. breed canaries and goldfinches, others little white mice. For my part, I respect their tastes to such a point, that I am happy 1 Count, a nobleman on the continent of Europe, equal in rank to an English earl. "Some 2 Gil'ly flow'er, a flowering plant, called also purple gillyflower, cultivated for ornament. 1 to gratify them. I had a beautiful large Angōrå1 cat with long white fûr. He would leap and gambol in the prettiest way in the world, and when he rolled himself up to go to sleep, you would have said it was a sleeping muff. My wife made a great pet of him, so did I. Well, I gave him away, for the birds and mice might have tempted him, and all the cats in the world are not worth a poor prisoner's mouse." 5. “That waş věry kind of you, Mr. Jailer," replied the Count, feeling uneasy that he should be thought capable of caring for such trifles; "but this plant is for me mōre than an ămusemènt."-"Never mind, if it only recalls the green boughs under which your mother nûrsed you in your infancy, it may overshadow hälf the court. Beside, my orders say nothing about it, so I shall be blind on that side. If it should grow to a tree, and be capable of assisting you in scaling the wall, that would be quite another thing. But we have time enough to think of that; have we not?" added he with a loud läugh. you tried to escape from the fortress!" 6. 66 "Oh, if What would you do?"-"What would I do! I would stop you, though you might kill me; or I would have you fired at by the sentinel, with as little pity as if you were a rabbit! That is the order. But touch a leaf of your gillyflower! no, no; or put my foot on it, never! I always thought that man a perfect rascal, unworthy to be a jailer, who wickedly crushed the spider of a poor prisoner; that was a wicked action-it was / a crime !" 7. The Count was touched and surprised. "My dear jailer,” said he, "I thank you for your kindnèss. Yes, I confess it, this plant is to me a source of much in'teresting study." 8. "Well, then, Sir Count, if your plant has done you such good service," said the jailer, preparing to leave the cell, "you ought to be more grateful, and water it sometimes; for if I had not taken câre, when bringing you your allowance of water, to moisten it from time to time, the poor little flower would have died of thirst." 9. "One moment, my good friend," cried the Count, mōre Angora (an gō'ra), a town of Asiatic Turkey, situated in the midst of a rich and elevated plain. The Angora cats are much larger than ours, with beards like the lynx. They are common in Paris. and more struck at discovering so much natural delicacy under so rough an outside; "what, have you been so thoughtful of my pleasures, and yet you never said a word about it? Pray, accept this little present, in remembrance of my gratitude; and he held out his silver drinking-eup. 10. The jailer took the cup in his hand, looking at it with a sort of curiosity. "Plants only want water, Sir Count," he said; "and one can treat them to a drink without ruining one's self. If this one amuses you, if it does you good in any way, that is quite enough ;" and he went and put back the cup in its place. 66 11. The Count advanced towards the jailer, and held out his hand. "Oh no, no," said the latter, moving back respectfully as he spoke; "hands are only given to equals or to friends." 12. “Well, then, be my friend."- No, no, that can not be, sir. One must look ahead, so as to do always to-morrow as well as to-day one's duty conscientiously. If you were my friend, and you attempted to escape, should I then have the courage to call out to the sentinel, Fire ?' No; I am only your keeper, your jailer, and your humble servant." II. BONIFACE.1 54. THE DIVINE PRISONER. ETWEEN two flag-stones bâre and cold, B From prison earth, from prison mold, A tender plant sprang up to sight, 2. Beside the bastion's 2 lowering wall Joseph Xavier Boniface, better known by his assumed name of Saintine, a French author and dramatist, was born in Paris, July 10, 1797. His dramatic works,romances, and other writings are very numerous and popular. His prize story of Picciola, from which the above was selected, has passed through more than twenty editions, and been translated into many languages. 2 Băs'tion, a part of the main inclosure of a fortress which projects toward the exterior. ATM 3. O my sweet Master! Thou dost dwell Though years roll on, though men forget, 4. Th' unthinking crowd will påss Thee by, 5. Fain would my heart like that poor seed, 6. My Jesus! from this very hour As living, dying, at Thy feet. III. 55. GENEROUS REVENGE. the period when the Republic of Gen'ōå1 was divided between the factions of the nobles and the people, Uberto, a man of low origin, but of an elevated mind and superior talents, and enriched by commerce, having raised himself to be head of the popular party, maintained for a considerable time a democratic 3 form of government. 2. The nobles at length, uniting all their efforts, succeeded in subverting this state of things, and regained their former supremacy.5 They used their victory with considerable rigor ; and in particular, having imprisoned Uberto, proceeded against him as a traitor, and thought they displayed sufficient lenity 6 1 Gěn'o a, a famous fortified seaport city of Northern Italy. 2 Făc'tion, a party united in opposition to the prince, government, or state; any party acting solely for their own private ends, and for the destruction of the common good. 3 Děm'o crǎt'ic, pertaining to a government by the whole people. 4 Sub vert'ing, overturning. 5 Su prěm'a cy, higher authority or power; the state of being supreme. 6 Len' i ty, gentleness of treatment; mercy. in påssing upon him a sentence of perpetual banishment, and the confiscation of all his property. 3. Adorno, who was then possessed of the first mågʻistracy— a man haughty in temper, and proud of ancient nobility, though otherwise not void of generous sentiments-in pro-. nouncing the sentence on Uberto, aggravated 2 its severity, by the insolent terms in which he conveyed it. "You," said he, -"you, the son of a base mechanic, who have dared to trample upon the nobles of Gen'oȧ-you, by their clemency, are only doomed to shrink again into the nothing whence you sprung." 4. Uberto received his condemnation with respectful submission to the court; yět, stung by the manner in which it was expressed, he could not forbear saying to Adorno, that perhaps he might hereafter find cause to repent the language he had used to a man capable of sentiments as elevated as his own. He then made his obeisance, and retired; and, after taking leave of his friends, embarked in a vessel bound for Naples, and quitted his native country without a tear. 5. He collected some debts due to him in the Neapolitan dominions, and with the wreck of his fortune went to settle on one of the islands in the Archipěl'ago, belonging to the state of Venice. Here his in'dustry and capacity in mer'cantile pursuits raised him in a course of years to greater wealth than he had possessed in his most prosperous days at Genoa; and his reputation for honor and generosity equaled his fortune. 6. Among other places which he frequently visited as a merchant, was the city of Tunis, at that time in friendship with the Venetians, though hostile to most of the other Italian 5 states, and especially to Genoa. As Uberto was on a visit to one of the first men of that place at his country-house, he saw a young Christian slave at work in irons, whose appearance excited his attention. 6 1 Con'fis ca'tion, the act of appropriating private property, as a penalty, to the public use. 2 Ag′ gra vāt' ed, made worse; heightened. 3 In'so lent, overbeâring; rude. 1 Clěm'en cy, mildness; kindness; indulgence. ́s Italian (i tǎl'yan). 6 Christian (krist'yan), a faithful member of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, the Son of God; also, in a wide sense, the natives of any country in which that Church is protected by government, or is adhered to by a majority of the people. |