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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1867, by J. W. Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia.
Vol. I.
THE FATE OF CONSTANCE.
BOST of the readers of the
Weekly are too young
to have read the poem
of “ Marmion,” by Sir
Walter Scott. It is
e finest in our language,
afford you much pleasure
u are old enough to ap
Lord Marmion,
the hero of the
poem, was an Eng
lish chieftian, who
was killed at the
battle of Flodden
Field, in the year
1513—a most disas
trous battle, in
which the flower of
the Scottish nobil
ity were slain. Sev
eral years before his
death he had per
suaded Constance,
a beautiful nun, to
break her vows and
escape from her
convent with him.
I must tell you that
a convent is a building occupied by men
or women who have separated them
selves from the world, and taken a vow
to devote themselves to the service of
God. The women who take these vows
are called nuns, and the men are known
as monks. There is nothing in Holy
Scripture which authorizes this exclusive
life, and there are many good people who
not only doubt its propriety, but think
that the inmates of these convents com
mit a great sin in thus shrinking from the
duties and responsibilities of every day
life.
Constance, dressed as a page, followed
Lord Marmion for a long time in his cam
MACON, GfA., APRIL 18, 1868.
paigns, but at length he fell in love with
the Lady Clare, a beautiful and wealthy
young lady, and not only abandoned poor
Constance, but basely surrendered her to
the priests, by whom she was tried for
the crime of breaking her vows, and con
demned to be walled up in a dungeon —
that is, to be placed in a niche or cavity
in a dungeon, and the opening to be wall
ed up and she left to perish. This cruel
sentence was carried out on an island off
the Scottish coast, known as Holy Isle,
where the convent of St. Hilda stood.
The picture represents the trial of Con
stance, which took place in a deep, sub
terranean dungeon of the convent. Ihe
bald-headed old man, seated at the table,
represents the Abbot of St. Cutlibert; the
closely-veiled figure the Abbess of St.
Hilda, and the other female figure is the
prioress of Tynemouth. These were all
heads of convents, met together for the
trial of this poor girl. The other figures
arc monks of the order of St. Benedict.
The niche in which Constance was en
tombed is at the extreme left, in which is
a scanty meal of roots, bread and watei.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
ELLEN HUNTER:
A STORY OF TH E WA R .
DEDICATED TO THE CHILDREN OF TIIE SOUTH BY ONE
WHO HAS BEEN AN EYE-WITNESS TO TnEIII
SORROWS AND THEIR SUFFERINGS.
BY BYRD LYTTLE, OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER XIY.
BAD NEWS AND A SURPRISE.
she was near him.
Mr. Saunders also came to stay with
them, so that Ellen found she had very
little time for out-door duties, now that
she had two patients in the house.
George was the only one who required
constant attention, but she had to super
intend the meals for both, and see that
they were served at the proper time.
She missed going to see her friend, Col.
Williams, for she always enjoyed a talk
with him.
In a short time, Mr. Saunders recover
ed sufficiently to sit with George, and that
was a great help to Ellen. She often
went into the room and found them both
No. 42
tEORGE was
removed to
Whis li om e
with much
gj less suffer
ing than he antici
pated. He seemed
very much touched
at the joy the fami
ly exhibited in hav
ing him with them
once more. Hi s
mother, with her
pale, anxious face,
was scarcely ever
away from his side,
and seemed to for
get all about her
own sickness when