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ftcuoteft to literature, Science, anft Art, tl)e oono of temperance, Ohh JTUorosljip, ittasonrn, ani> (General intelligence.
lIJ'ME I.
Ifli 9 & 8 f iT
R THE deacon for me.
it >ther ’ said Dencon ■’ young son,-
’ \ most precocious wight;]
, i „ ,i rp!l m ; and a f unny dream.
Was the dream I dreamed last night.
Wfi n son, what was the funny dream,
That has put yo‘"such glee? • .
‘ Ito truess from your laughing phiz,
I should say that you dreamed of me,
„.„„ T dreamed— you will think it strauge,
still it is true I’m sure ;
t Jreamed that the King of the country below
I Walked into your grocery store!
Tim devil’ yes, f" Ilor ’ t>,B ,levil! and y ou
Wer e drawing a glass of gin
For Ambrose Jones—who drowns his wits,
Vnd broke his babe’s arm in one of his fits,
The ugly °ld imp of sin.
I dreamed that the devil walked boldly in,
■ And swung his long tail on a chair,
\ D f] asked if you were not a deacon, he did :
And [without looking] you said that you were.
The devil he laughed and he switched his long tail,
And he grinned ns he nodded to see :
Savs he with a wink, [and the sparks flew like hail]
” That ’ ere is tlie Deacon for me!
--. ww-rar-a. ■ —■ mmmmmmmmm ■ %
From Ulackwootl’a Magazine.
THE ISLAND OF SARDINIA.
BY JOHN WARRE TYNDALE.
To return, however. We will not dismiss the
ect of the Giudici without the mention of two
E ons whose romantic histories are intimately
iocted with Sardinian affairs. The celebra-
Enzio, illegitimate son of the Emperor Fed
k 11., amfthe Giudicessa Eleonora. More
ti a century elnpsed between these two extra
mary characters ; the benefits conferred on
dinia by the latter may be said to still live in
e of the excellent laws which she established.
I Et izie.not a Sarde by birth, by his marriage
Ltl, Adelasia, a widow, Giudicessa of Torres,
RdGallura, and a part of Cagliari, came into
■session of those provinces, and soon, by treaty
Id force of arms, became powerful over the
Role Island. The favorite son of Federick 11.,
Ra nritter of course, he obtained the enmity of
RegorvlX., who had, by this marriage,, been
Rletl in his schemes upon Sardinia, through a
tirriage he contemplated between Adelasia and
eof his own relatives. Enzio bore an illustri
npart in the warfare of those times, between
R Pope and the Emperor; and such was his
Rcess that, after his celebrated engagement of
Rfleets near Leghorn, and the capture of the
■dates who had been summoned from the Ern-
Rreto the Pope—to prevent whose arrival this
Rnament was undertaken —Pope Gregory died
Hhis hundredth year, his disease having been
■neatly aggravated by this disastrous event. Ihe
Rnrrel was, however, continued by his successor,
IWnocent IV., and the fortune of events turned
Rainstthe Emperor. Enzio was taken prisoner
wk an unsuccessful battle near Modena, by the
lolognese, and was, though handsomely treated,
I Stained captive twenty years, during which all
Re members of his family quitted this life. He
ffcnsoled the hours of his captivity by music and
poetry, in which he excelled, so as to have ob
tained eminence as a poet amongst the poets of
■aly; hut he enjoyed a still sweeter solace. When
|e had been led in triumph as prisoner into Bo
kgna, in his twenty-fifth year, so early had he
■htinguished himself as a warrior, the beauty of
is person, and the elegance of his deportment,
■wakened in allihe tenderest sympathies. An ac-
Rmplished lady of Bologna, Lucia Viadagola,
| besides the pity and admiration which all felt, en
■nained for him the most ardent passion ; an in-
ensued, and the passion was as mutual as
R as ardent. From this connection, as it is said,
R° se the founder of the family of Bentivoglio,
■n were, in atter years, the avengers of his suf-
R ln ? 3 *and lords over the proud republic. He
■d likewise obtained the devoted attachment of
R? ul Pietro Asinelli; through this faithful friend
an was laid down for his escape, which was
■r? near . y successful. Fie was carried out in a
I* V, n whlc ‘ h some excellent wine for the king
lli 1 • . been brought. His friends Asin-
W-r.- ™ ncno de Gonfalioneri were waiting
leanflf i J • 63 f ° r escape, when a lock of
L U , ail > P r °truding from the barrel, was
hid V o re( ’ e i U ! her soldier, or, as some say, a
Harm Fan • mad vv °man, for accounts vary.
| s I Was given, and the prisoner resecured in
t JJ QG consi nement. Gonfalioneri was ar
lut wm i executed ; his friend Asinelli escaped,
Ivj, • uanishpd for life. Enzio died in this cap
op>lri *[ e 474 h year of his age, 15th March,
kT uanniversary of his father the Erape-
u’ and the hints’ day of his beloved
‘ e fise r u Was buried magnificently at the ex
edon • re public. It might have been recor
ds m j lna dlat b e possessed every virtue, had not
j l ‘Kt to his wife left a stain on his name. —
His early and ill-assorted marriage may offer some
excuse for one who showed himself so amiable
on all other occasions. He bad won and gov
erned Sardinia, and “ conquered a great part of
Italy, at an age when the vast majority of youths,
even under the most favorable circumstances, are
but beginning to aspire to glory and active life ;
while, equally fitted for the duties of a peaceful !
statesman, he was, at the same early age, intrusted
with a highly important charge, and o*pposed to
the most subtle politicians.”
***#####
“ The first occasion on which her courage and
political sagacity were tried, was on the murder
of her brother Ugone, add his daughter Benedetta,
when the insurgents sought to destroy the whole
reigning family, and to form themselves into a
republic. Perceiving the danger which threatened
the lives and rights of her sons, and undismayed
by the pusillanimous conduct of her husband,who
fled for succor to the court of Aragon, she promptly
took the command in the state, and placing her
self in arms, at the head of such troops as re
mained faithful, speedily and entirely discomfitted
the rebels. She lost no time in taking possession
of the territories and castles belonging to the Giu
dici of Arborea, causing all people to do homage,
aqd swear fealty to the young prince, her son ;
and wrote to obtain assistance from the King of
Aragon, m restoring order in her Giudicato.—
Brancaleone, encouraged by his wife’s intrepidity
and success, asked permission from the King of
Aragon to return to Sardinia with the promised
auxiliaries; but the king alarmed at the high
spirit of the Giudicessa, prevented his departure,
and kept him in stricter confinement, under pre
tence of conferring greater honors on him. He
was, however at last allowed “to depart, under cer
tain heavy conditions, one of them being the sur
render of Federic bis son, as a hostage for the
performance of a treaty then commenced. Oft
his arrival at Cagliari in 1384, with the Arago
nese army, he repeatedly besought his wife to
submit to the king, in pursuance of the treaties.
It wets in vain. Despising alike the pusillani
mous recommendation of her husband, and the
threats of the Aragonese general, she for two
years kept up a courageous and successful war
fare against the latter, till having, by her exertions,
acquired an advantageous position, she com
menced a treaty with her enemy respecting the
sovereignty in dispute, and for the deliverance
of her husband, who, during the whole of the
time was kept in close confinement at Cagliari.”
Finally, these terms of peace, so honourable to
her, were signed by Don Juan L, who succeeded
bis brother Peiro, who died in 1387.
“ The peace was but ill kept, for Brancaleone,
when at liberty, and once more under the influ
ence of his high-minded wife, regained his cour
age, and 1390, renewing the war more fiercely
than ever, he continued it for many years, with
out the Kings of Aragon ever reducing Eleonora
to submission, or obtaining possession of her do
minions. She formed alliance with Genoa, and,
with the aid of their fleet, took such vigorous
measures that nearly the whole of Logodaro was
in a short time subdued ; while Brancaleone, in
spired by her examole, reconquered. Sasari, the
castle of Osilo, and besieged the royal fortresses
of* Alghero and Chivia.”
After this, Don Martino, who succeeded his
brother Don Juan 1., of Aragon, made peace,
which secured the prosperity and honour of Ar
borea during the life of Eleonora. But this ex
traordinary woman, not only in a remarkable de
gree exhibited the talents of a great general, and
the genius of a consummate politician, but, for
that age a wonderful forethought, sagacity, and
humanity, in the fabrication ol a code of laws for
her people. As Deborah judged Israel, and the
people came to her for judgment, so might it he
said of Eleonora.
“ The Carts di Cogu, so called from its being
the code ol laws in her own dominions, had been
commenced by her father Mariano IV., but being
compiled, finished, and promulgated by Eleonora,
to her is chiefly due the merit of the undertaking,
and the worthy title of enlightened legislatrix.—
It was first published on 11th April, 1395, and
by its provisions the forms of legal proceedings
and of criminal law are established, the civil a.nd
customary laws defined, those for the protection
of agriculture enjoined, the rights and duties of
every subject explained, and punishments for of
fences regulated ; and in these last provisions,
when compared with the cruelty of the jurispru
dence of that age, we are struck with the human
ity of the Carta de Logu, and its superiority to
the other institutions of that period. 1 lie fra
ming of a body of laws so far in advance of those
of other countries, where greater civilization ex
isted, must ever be the highest ornament in tle
diadem of the Giudicessa. Its merits were so
o-enerally felt, that, though intended only lor the
use of the dominions subject to her own sceptre,
it was some years after her death adopted through-
SAVANNAH, GA., THURSDAY, AUGUST m, 1840.
out the island, at a parliament held under Don
Alfonzo V., in 1421. This great princess died of
the plague in 1403 or 1404, regretted by all her
subjects.” # # # * *
The Sardinian “ fuoruseifi ” are not the Ital
ian banditti. The term includes, with the robber,
those who escape from the arm of the law, and
the avengers of injuries. These take to the moun
tains. The common robbers are few, and their
attacks on travellers are for necessary subsis
tence, and more commonly for gunpowder with
which they may obtain it. Those who escape
from the consequences of crime for vengeance —
Vendetta —are many ; but these, as we related,
have their humane code, we might almost say
their romantic—for the presence of a woman is a
perfect security. It is their law that no atrocity,
no Vendetta, is allowable when a woman is in
the company. A foe travelling with wife or child
is.safe. A melancholy instance of a breech of
this law is thus given :
“A brigand was conducting his wife* on horse
back through the mountains when he suddenly
met his adversary, who, regardless of the conven
tional and living flag of ’truce, attacked and slew
him, together with his pregnant wife. The rela
tions'and friends of the deceased were not the only
enraged parties ; a general feeling of indignation
and vengeance was kindled throughout the whole
province. Every bandit felt it to be a breach of
their laws of honor; and even the mnrderers
partisans not only denounced the act, hut ‘ re
fused him the kiss of peace.’ The mangled corpses
were conveyed home, and the friends of the de
ceased having sworn, on the body of the unfortu
nate Teodora, a perpetual Vendetta against the
family of the assassin, a system of revenge and
bloodshed was framed and carried out to such an
extent, that hundreds of victims, perfectly inno
cent of even indirect participation in this single
act of dishonour, fell in all parts of Gallura.”
Another characteristic story is told. A party of
six females were sojourning at a church, perform
ing a “Novena.” Some banditti, knowing this,
descended from their mountains to visit them, and
proposed the hospitality of the mountains. The
women assented, and accompanied the banditti,
who treated them with respect, and they closed
their evenings with songs and dancing. The ban
ditti kept watch the whole night guarding their
fair guests ; one of the bandits had been the rejec
ted lover of one of the party, whose husband and
other friends, hearingof this departure to the moun
tains, in fear and for vengeance, collected in force
to rescue the women. The bandits, in their de
scent, to conduct back their guests, met the other
party ascending. The presence of women pro
hibited Vendetta; a truce was therefore demanded,
when the bridegroom and the rejected lover met,
with feelings of past injuries, and fears of more
recent on one side. Each had his gun cocked ;
they felt them, and gazed at each other. Their
lives were at instant peril, when the bride rushed
into the arms of her husband, seized his gun, and
discharged it; then, placing herself in front to pro
tect him, she led him up to the bandit and de
manded from him his gun. He yielded it, and
she discharged it also. The rest of the party
pressed on, an explanation was given of the na
ture of the visit, and both parties joined in a feast,
and mutual explanations of former differences
were given and received, their Vendetta termina
ted, and a general and lasting reconciliation took
place. Such quarrels are, however, sometimes
settled otherwise than by Vendetta. The “ Paci ”
are reconciliations through means of the priest.—
The parties meet in the open air near some chapel,
and such settlements are perpetual. But another
mode is preferred by “ Ragionatori ” or umpires ;
hut appeals may be made from them to a greater
number, whose decision is final. An interesting
anecdote showing their power is thus told ;
“ It was the case of a youngs shepherd who had
been too ardent in his advances to a young maiden.
On the youth demurring to the decision as too se
vere, the Ragionatori, indignant at his presump
tion, arose from under the shady wild olive, and
saving to the surprised spectators, ‘we have spo
ken, and done justice,’ saluted them and turned
towards their homes. But one of his nearest rela
tions who was leaning against the knotted trunk of
an oak, with his bearded chin resting on the back
of his hand on the muzzle of his gun, raised his
head and with a fierce look extended his right hand
to the Ragionatori, ‘Stop friends! ’ he exclaimed,
< the thing m ust he finished at this moment.” Then
turning to his nephew, with a determined counte
nance. and placing his righthand upon his chest,
he said to him, ‘Come instantly!—either obey
the verdict of the Ragionatori-, or ’ The of
fender, at this deadly threat, no longer hesitated,
hut approached the offended party and sued for
pardon. The uncle, thus satisfied, advanced and
demanded for him the hand of the maiden ; the
betrothal took place, and things being thus happily
terminated, they betook themselves to prepare the
feast.
Hospitality is the common virtue of the Sardes.
“ In most houses admitting of an extra room, one
is set apart for theguests— thehospitale cvbiculum of
the Romans—ready and open to all strangers.”—
It would be the highest offence to oiler the smallest
gratuity to the host, however humble, though a
trifle may be given to a servant. “La mia caso e
piccola, ma il euore egrande,”, (my house is small
but my heart is large,) was the apology on one oc
casion of his Cavallante, on his arrival in Tempio,
where, owing to the presence of the King, not a
bed was to be had, and the Cavallante earnestly
entreated the use of his hospitality, which, indeed,
seemed in the proof to bear no proportion to his
means of exercising it. Even the family bed was
emptied of four children and a wife’s sister, in
spiteof all remonstrance, for his accommodation.
Where hospitality is a custom stronger than law,
inns offer few luxuries—the traveller is supposed
tobring, not only bis own provisions, but his own
furniture. Our traveller arriving at Ozieri, a town
with more than eight thousand inhabitants, “mine
host ” was astonished at the unreasonable demand
of a bed. Finding how things were, Mr. Tyndale
stood in the court-yard, contemplating the alterna
tive of presenting some of his letters to parties in
the town,when he was attracted to a window on the
other side of the court, from whence t his invitation
issued : “ Sir, it is impossible for you to go to the
Osteria ; there is no accommodation fit for you. —
Apparently you are a stranger, and if you have no
friends here, pray accept what little we can do for
you.” He ascended the stairs to thank his hostess,
who sent for her husband, holding a high govern
ment appointment in the town, who received hand
entertained him as if they had been his intimate
friends. On another occasion in search of the
Perdas Lungas stones, antiquarian curiosities, he
met a stranger, who, though going to Nuovo in a
great hurry, and anxious to return for the Festa, on
finding he was a foreigner, insisted on accompany
ing him, as he was acquainted with the way —
“one of the many instances,” says. Mr. Tyndale,
“of Sarde civility and kindness.” And such hos
pitable kindness he invariably received, whether
in towns or among the poorest in the mountain
villages, or more lonely places. It has been cyni
cally observed, that hospitality is the virtue of un
civilized nations. However selfishly gratifying
the exercise of it may have been to that wealthy
Scotch laird, who said that his nearest neighbor, as
a gentleman, was the King of Denmark, among
such a people as the Sardes, it surely may be an
indication of natural kindness, and, in some de
gree, of honesty, for our civilised roguery is a sore
destroyer of open-housed hospitality.
A royal return for hospitable care is, however,
not to be altogether rejected. When the King of
Sardinia visited the island, a shepherd of the little
island of Talovara, the ancient Hermea, near the
port of Terranova, of simple manners and notions,
sent his majesty some sheep and wild goats,
judgingthat the Royal larder might not be over
richly stored. His majesty properly, in turn, re
quested to know if he could grant him anything.
The shepherd consulted his family upon their real
and imaginary wants, and finally decided against
luxuries, but “would not mind if the king gave
him a pound of gunpowder.” “On the royal mes
senger, therefore, suggesting that he should ask
something else, the dilemma was greater than ever;
but, after strolling about, and torturing his imagi
nation for several minutes, he suddenly broke, out
—-“Oh, tell the King of Terra-firma that 1 should
like to be theking of Tavolara; and that if any
people come to live in the island, that they must
obey me, as the people obey him in Terra-firma.”
What compromise his majesty made between the
regal crown and the pound of gunpowder, we are
not told. Though we would by no means vouch
for this shepherd’s story, which is nevertheless
very probable, we can vouch for one not very dis
similar.
Nor very long since, a small farmer in a little
village in Somersetshire, who prided himself on
his cheeses, in a fit of unwonted generosity —for
he was a penurious man —sent to her majesty
Queen Victoria a prime cheese. A person given
to practical jokes knowing this, bought an eighteen
penny gilt chain, and sent it in a letter, purport
ing it to be from her majesty, appointing him
her “ well beloved” mayor of the village, in the
document exalted into a corporate town, but
whereof he, the said mayor, formed the sole body
and whole authority. The ignorant poor man
swallowed the bait, and called the village together,
gave an ox to be roasted whole, and walked at
the head of the invited procession, wearing his
chain of office; and for several weeks exhibited
the insigniaof royal favor, the chain and royal au
tograph, at church and at markets. Itis a doubt it
he be yet uudeceived, and lowered from his imag
inary brief authority. We know not what our
fanner would say to the use to which the Sardes
apply their cheeses, or what may be expected from
a free trade with them in this article ; but we learn
DUMBER 25