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CHESS COLUMN
PROBLEM X.
(From De la Bourdon n;ii«. page 58.)
POSITION'.
While. Bluei.
Rook f 1 Queen h 3
King g 1 Pawn li 4
Bishop b 2 Pawn b 6
Pawn c 4 Pawn g 6
Knight g 4 Pawn a 7
Pawn b 5 Bishop b 7
Queen e 5 Rook d 7
Pawn g 5 King h 7
Rook f 8
Whites to play and mate in five moves.
Solution of above given in our next.
SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF CHESS.
From the Book of the first American Chess Congress.
(Continued from F. and F., p. 221.)
The second great period of chess history begins
at about the sixth century after Christ, and ter-,
minates with the close of the fifteenth. It may
be properly styled the age of the shatranj or
mediaeval game. There is reason to believe that
long before this era the use of the dice had been
discarded, but now the game changed from a
contest between four persons to a battle between
two. The alteration was simple. The board
and powers of the*men remained as before. The
bishops and the rooks changed places, and two
of the allied forces were united upon one side of
the board, and the other two upon the opposite
side. Two of the four kings were transformed
into viziers or counsellors who stood, as was
natural, next the kings. These counsellors
moved one square diagonally. These improve
ments in the fundamental laws of the game were
important, and paved the way for those later
alterations which gave its present form to chess.
The game about this time, or during the reign
of Chosroes, was introduced into Persia, whence
it soon afterwards spread, byway of imperial
Byzantium, into Europe. Portugal and Spain,
however, if we may judge by the etymology of
their chess nomenclature, received the game
from the Saracens. This shatranj form of chess
continued to form one of the favorite amuse
ments of monarchs and subjects, of knights and
priests, in Asia, Africa, and Europe, for nearly
one thousand years.
In the Eastern World, numberless writers
treated of its excellence m works full of the fan
tastic imagery and glowing with the gorgeous
verbiage of the Orient. Tho names of Ali Sha
tranji, Adali, Suli, Damiri, Sokeiker, Abul-Ab
bas, Ibn-Sherf-Moliammed, and a hundred oth
ers, have come down to us as those of distin
guished players and writers. Even the immor
tal Firdausi devotes a long episode, in his Per
sian epic, to chess, and the great Rliazes, of the
most famous of Arabian physicians, compiled a
work upon the game; and numerous treatises
have found their way into the libraries of the
West, whose authors are entirely unknown. So
far did the people of Persia and Arabia carry
their love for the sport, that they ascribed to it
virtues almost miraculous. It was made to em
brace all sciences. It was gravely said to teach
religion and law, philosophy and astronomy,
political economy and military strategy, and to
be an efficacious remedy for diseases both of the
mind and the body. “ Chess,” exclaims an en
thusiastic Persian, “ Chess is the nourishment
of the mind, the solace of the spirit, the polisher
of intelligence, the bright sun of understanding.
By its practice all tho faults which form the ail
ments of the soul are converted into their cor
responding virtues.” Great players bestowed
their names upon openings of their own inven
tion and died with their ambition gratified.
Celebrated poets were proud to leave on record,
side by side with the memorials of their inspira
tion as minstrels, the story of their skill in this
mental sport. Courts seem to have boen espe
cially favorable to the cultivation of chess. Ha
rum Rashid is supposed to have played it; and
his son, the Caliph Mutasim Billah, composed
the earliest chess problems on record. Tamer
lane, not content with the complicated manoeu
vres of the forces upon a board of the common
size, invented a monstrous kind of chess which
required a field of no less than one hundred and
twelve squares. Problems, and end-games,
many of which are still preserved, attest the ex
traordinary skill of the Asiatic masters: and
the high point to which they brought tho cul
ture of the art is shown by the minute grada
tions of rank which were established among
players. Several of them delighted in conduct
ing games without sight of the board, and rules
were laid down by which this rare accomplish
ment might be learned. Indeed the first per
formance of this difficult feat in Europe was by
a Saracenic player, named Buzecca, and took
place in Florence in the year 1266. In the
West, the annals of chess, during this period,
are no less interesting. It seems to have been
known in Constantinople at least as early as the
eighth century, and was generally diffused
throughout Europe before the end of the elev
enth. The monk, Jacobus de Cessolis, drew
lessons of wisdom from its tactics in that cele
brated morality, which was afterwards transla
ted, both in prose and verse, into every Euro
pean tongue, and which, in the English version
of William Caxton, was the first book that is
sued from tho English press. Conrad von Am
menhusen and Ingold of Germany, Nicholas de
Saint Nicholai and Jaques le Grand of France,
Innocent and Lydgate of England, Alfonso the
Wise of Spain, and a multitude of anonymous
writers, whose manuscripts are scattered through
the great bibliothecal collections of the Old
World, composed moral allegories and practical
disquisitions upon chess. Most of the early nov
elists exhibit convincing evidence of the wide
popularity which it had already attained. From
Boccacio, the charming story-teller of Italy,
down to tho most turgid compiler of prosaic tales
of chivalry and love, what may be caUed the
light literature of the middle ages is crowded
with allusions to chess. The romancers com
mitted a thousand anachronisms, and violated
the whole history of the gamo, in order to bring
the knightly sport into their pages. Wo owe to
them, and to the chroniclers, whoso veracity was
sometimes scarcely greater, those pretty fables
concerning tho origin of the game, to which I
have before alluded, and at which we have so
often wondered and laughed. Outside of prose,
the minstrels introduced it into their roundelays,
and sang its delights in the bowers of maidens
and the halls of nobles. Chess scenes and chess
incidents are cunningly woven into the verso of
Chaucer and his English successors, into the
tales of the trouveres of Normandy and the trou
badours of Languedoc, and into the lays of the
Southern singers. Hebrew bards composed
chess poems in tho tongue of Isaiah. Tho lan
guage of ancient Rome was employed to set forth
the virtues of an art which the ancient Romans
never knew. Tho Ymringar, or body guards of
the Byzantine emperors, returning to their
northern homes, brought the entertaining amuse
ment to Scandinavia, and introduced it into the
flourishing republic of Iceland, whose berserkers
loved its practice, and whose skalds sang its
glories in Eddaic stanzas. Charlemagne, Alex-
XB£ 80VXKSES FIELD 4ED SXXXBXBX.
ius the First, William the Conqueror, Richard of
the Lion Heart, and most of the rulers of men in
this period, whiled away their leisure hours with
the shatranj. A set of chessmen, carved by
skillful hands, was thought no unworthy present
from one emperor to another. • Kings gave gol
den sets to monasteries. Popes, bishops, and
holy men, some of whom were afterwards can
onized. gave by their acts the sanction of the
Church to the practice of the game.
The chess library of Prof. George Allen, of the
University of Pennsylvania, is said to be une
qualled in size and importance in this country,
if not. indeed, in Europe. It numbers over six
hundred volumes, a large proportion of which
are rare and costly works—many of them long
since out of print—such as the treatises of Costa,
published in 1478; Damiano, 1512; Jacobus
de Cessolis, King Lopez, and other eminent wri
ters on the game. It is a fact known only to
antiquarians that the first English book printed
in England was a work on Chess, published by
Caxton. in London, in the year 1492.
- ——
FUN, FACT, AND PHILOSOPHY.
(Carefully prepared for the Southern Field and Fireside)
•‘What’s a whiskey bringing?” inquired a
large dealer in the article. “ Bringing men to
the gallows, and women and children to want,”
was the reply.
Duelling came into general practice in set
tling points of honor in 1815. It is prohibited by
law in the United States Army and Navy.
He who says that there is no such thing as
an honest man, yon may be sure is himself a
knave.
At a representation of Mozart's “Don Giovan
ni,” a young coxcomb hummed so loud certain
airs of the opera as to annoy all his neighbors.
An amateur, who sat beside him, unable to bear
it any longer, said aloud, “ What a fool!”—“Do
you mean me?” said the troublesome fellow to
him. “ No, sir, I complain of Mario, who pre
vents my hearing you.”
The Choctaw nation numbers about 18,000,
They have diminished since they left Alabama.
They still hold their lands in common.
When some one told Plato that he had been
calumniated, “ Never mind,” replied the philos
opher, “those who know me won’t believe in
it, and those who don’t know me, ’ti3 no matter
what they believe.”
How should a husband speak to a scolding
wife ? My dear, I love you still.
According to a late census taken in Georgia,
by the State authorities, its population is about
1,050,000. In 1850 it had 905,000. Increase in
nine years, about 150,000.
Get your enemies to read your works in order
to mend them; for your friend is so much like
your second self, that he will judge too like
yourself.
The first Lord Littleton was very absent in
company, and when he fell into a river by the
oversetting of a boat at Hagly, it was said of him
that “he had sunk twice before he recollected
that he could swim.”
Three thousand inebriates have applied for
admission into the New York State Inebriate
Asylum. Among the number are thirty clergy
men.
A Yankee escorting a British officer around
to view the objects of attraction in the vicinity of
Boston, brought him to Bunker's hill.
“ This is the place where Warren fell.” said
tli6 YfinkcG
“Ahl” said John Bull, “did it hurt him
much ?”
“Hurtlnm! He was killed, sir.”
“Ah? was he?” said John, “that was not
surprising considering the distance he fell.’
Sir Walter Raleigh, who was the first discov
erer of the value of the potato as a food for man,
one day ordered a lot of dry weeds to be collect
ed and burnt. Among these was a lot of dry
potatoes. After the bonfire, these potatoes were
picked up thoroughly roasted. Sir Walter tast
ed and pronounced tkpm delicious. By this ac
cident was discovered a species of food which
has saved millions as the human race from star
vation.
La Rochefoucald says: “Rare is true love,
true friendship is still rarer.” And Chesterfield:
“ Real friendship is a slow grower; and never
thrives, unless engrafted upon a stock of known
and reciprocal merit.”
.« Yes,” said a kind mother, of one of our city
churches, helping her little sou learn his Sunday
school lesson, “ Cain was a fugitive and vaga
bond on the earth; he was so bad that he thought
every man would slay him. AVliere could wick
ed Cain go to?” “Why, mother,” replied
thoughtful Johnny, “ Cain could have gone to
Baltimore."
The first Iron made in the United States from
mineral caal was melted in 1837. Now we
make nearly 500,000 tons of mineral coal iron per
annum. It is to the extension of the use of our
anthracite and bituminous coals for iron making
that we must look for an increase of its produc
tion.
There is nothing so elevating to a woman as
the love of a truly great and noble man. The wor
ship she pays him, whether it be that of friend
ship or of love, exalts her mind and fills her soul
with a holy joy; there is nothing so crushing to
the spirit, as to be the slave of a churl. — [Mrs.
Crowe.
“Have you dined?” said a lounger to his
friend.
“ I have upon my honor,” lie replied.
“ Then,” rejoined the first, “ if you have dined
upon yout honor, I fear that you have made but
a scanty meal.
The question of allowing Methodist clergymen
to remain more than two consecutive years in
charge of the same church, is creating consider
able stir in that denomination; and the Ohio Con
ference has past a vote roquestidg the General
Conference to amend the rule to that effect.
The study of literature nourishes youth, en
tertains old age, adorns prosperity, solaces ad
versity ; it is delightful at home, unobstrusive
abroad, deserts not bp day or by night, in jour
neying nor in retirement.
For many years Moses, a negro, was a servant
at tho University of Alabama, and waited on
the students very faithfully. He was, however,
a great hypocrite, and was on that account com
monly called “ Preach ” among the boys. One
day he was passing a crowd of students, when
one of them, out of mischief; called to him and
said:
“Isay, Preach, what are you going to do
when the devil gets you ?”
“ lUh? on the student))" was the ready reply.
My experience makes me an enemy alike to
premature marriage and distant engagements.
The first adds to our individual cares the respon
sibility for the beloved and helpless pledges of
ur affections, and the last are liable to the most
uel disappoint mints. —[&V ll'd/v Scott.
Quin had a gardener who was very slow.
“ Thomas," said lie, “ did you ever see a snail ?”
“Certainly.” “Then,” rejoined the wit, “you
must have met him, for you could never over
take him."
PERSONAL.
Paul Mokhuy, the distinguished Chess
player, passed through Memphis on Tuesday last,
on his way to New Orleans.
—lt is stated that Madame Jenny Lind Gol
d contemplates returning to the practice
of her profession as a public singer.
— John Neal, the author of “ Charcoal Sketch
es,” who for nearly a quarter of a century had
laid aside his pen, has returned to it with, it is
said, all his old vigor and originality; and a new
volume by him, entitled “True Womanhood,” is
announced by Tieknor A Fields, of Boston.
—Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, resides
there in a very humble but neat house. He was
originally a shoemaker himself and is still con
cerned in the manufacturing of shoes. His fath
er is still alive, and makes his living by going
from house to house and sawing wood!
—Chief Justice M’Cauley, who died sudden
denly at Toronto, Canada, last week wasat one
time an officer of the British army, and served
his country with honor during the war of 1812,
between Great Britain and this country. He
was present at the battle of Sackett's Harbor,
and at the subsequent sanguinary conflicts on
the Niagara frontier.
— Asa A. Gore, Esq., of Preston, Conn., died
in that town on the Ist inst., at tho age of eight
ty-one years and five months. He was the last
survivor of the Wyoming massacre, having been
carried away, when a child, in his mother's arms.
His father and all his relations but his mother
were killed.
— Lord Brougham’s mind and body, says an
exchange, seem to bid equal defiance to the tor
pid advances of great age. He is verging on
eighty, and yet his physical and mental vigor
show no symptoms of decay. The last three or
four years have brought about quite a change in
his autumnal amusements. Formerly he left
England, soon after Parliament broke up, for
France. When we first heard of his appearing
at the Institute at Paris, under the aegis of Ara
go, and then hobnobbing with the occupant of
the Tuileries, whether Louis Philippe or Louis
Napoleon; and, finally, he was announced as
departing for a country seat he had at Cannes,
in the south of France. He was there when
poor Rachel died, and it is known he was very
attentive and kind to her in her fatal illness.—
Since then he seems to have renounced France
and the French, and to have dedicated his learn
ed leisure to the edification of provincial audi
ences, which yield him a splendid return of
journalistic renown.
—Born at Watertown, Massachusetts, in the
year 1821, Harriet Hosmf.r is the only surviv
ing daughter of a physician, who, having lost
wife and child by consumption, and fearing a
like fate for the survivor, gave her horse, dog,
gun’and boat, and insisted on an out-door life as
fudispensable to health A fearless horsewoman,
a good shot, an adept in rowing, swimming, div
ing and skating, Harriet Hosmer is a signal in
stance of what judicious physical training will
effect in conquering even hereditary taint of con
stitution. Willingly as the active, energetic
child acquiesced in her father's wishes, she con
trived, at the same time to gratify and develop
her own peculiar tastes: and many a time and
oft. when the worthy doctor may have flattered
himself that his darling was in active exercise,
she might have been found in a certain clay pit,
not very far fromfthe paternal residence, making
early attempts at modeling horses, dogs, sheep,
men and women, or anything that attracted her
attention. Both here and subsequently at Le
nox, she made good use of her time by studying
natural history, and of her gun by securing spe
cimens for herself of the wild creatures of the
woods, feathered aud furred; dissecting some,
and with her own hands preparing and stuffing
others. The walls of the room devoted to her
special use in “ the old house at home,” are cov
ered with birds, bats, butterflies and beetles,
snakes and toads, while sundry bottles of spir
its contain subjects carefully dissected and pre
pared by herself.
— Rosalie Boniieur, as she is called in her
acte denaissance, was born in Bordeaux on the
sixteenth of March, 1822. Her father, Oscar
Raymond Bonheur, was a painter of merit, who
had in youth taken the highest honors at the ex
hibitions of his native town. He devoted part
of his time to giving drawing lessons in fami
lies for the support of his aged parents. An at
tachment sprung up between him and one of his
pupils—Sophie Marques, a lovely and accom
plished girl. Her family opposed their union on
account of the artist’s poverty; and after tho
marriage the young people were thrown entirely
on their own resources. Rosalio was the eldest
of their four children. Her father was com
pelled to give up his dreams of fame and the
higher labors of his art, and for eight years
maintained his family by teaching drawing.—
In person she is small, and rather under the
middle height, with a finely-formed head, and
broad, rather than high, forehead; small, well
defined regular features, and good teeth; hazel
eyes, very clear and bright; dark-brown hair,
slightly wavy, parted on one side and cut short
in the neck; a compact, shapely figure, hands
small and delicate, and extremely pretty little
feet. She dresses very plainly, the only colors
worn by her being black, brown and gray.
—
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.
Milan, Oct., 24, 1859.
Mr. Editor: —The highest boast of these
Care Mori is, that they are “men of Gari
baldi.” And here let me add, that for the first
time in my life, 1 have found a man who is
almost worshipped by a whole people, high and
low, rich and poor, (most of the priests included,)
to their honor be it said. There are no half way
terms. “He is our idol, sir,” is the universal
remark, and every word that falls from his lips
is published and repeated throughout Italy. The
modesty, simplicity, and self-abnegation of this
admirable soldier, are only excelled by his
knowledge of men, and his way of handling
them. It seems to me that his excursion in the
Yaltelline, and his marches, ending in the battle
of San Fermo, must, in all future time, be quoted
among the most consummate examples of parti
zan warfare. It was this expedition that result
ed in the occupation of the Stelvio pass, by which
one of the Austrian lines of operation was penna
! nently cut in half. The principal engagement
j here was that of “ Sponda Lunga,” where the
Austrians were in position, on the Italian side.
This point was attacked and carried by 7,000 or
8,000 men in front and on either flank, at the
same moment You would wonder how men
could scramble down the steeps to get within
striking distance of the Austrian flanks. At
San Fermo, on Lake Como, which position I
have also seen, Garibaldi, with between 3,000
and 4,000 men, beat General Urban, at the head
of 14,000 men. In this position, this heroic
captain was in rear of the centre of an
Austrian army of 250,000 men, and threatening
their chief line of operations along the Adige, by
Trent and Roveredo. The Italians, too. must
share with him in the credit of these exploits.
Steeped in that apathy and indifference that fol
low ages of oppression, with nothing but the
memories of the great past to keep up the senti
; ment of nationality, they sprang to arms at the
first trumpet call, and vindicated their claim to
: be a free people. Colonel Medeci, a direct de
: scendant of the great Florentine family, com
manded the Italians at “ Sponda Lunga.” His
I brother was killed in this engagement, several
yards in advance of a column of attack, which
|. he was leading.
Taking leave of our hospitable friends with
expressions of sincere regard, we set out for
Bormio, far down the mountain, nearly at the
head of the famed valley known as the Yal
tellina. A lady of our party carried away a
souvenir of our visit—a present from the Lieu
teuant, Feraresi. It was a cane, made from the
top of a young Alpine pine, from which portions
of the bark had been ingeniously cut away, so
as to make quite ornamental Arabesque decora
tion, with the inscription: “Memoeia dello Stel
vio,” dato, &c., Ac. A lady’s pocket handker
chief was the only thing available to return to
the gallant Lieutenant, who pressed it to his
heart with true Italian fervor. Descending rap
idly with a young soldier, detailed to carry our
slight luggage, we soon passed the position of
Sponda Lunga, threading many a wild and ro
mantic defile. It was pleasant to observe how
much more abundantly, under tbe influence of a
softer air, Nature had draped the rooks with
lichens and various shrubs, than on tho northern
side. The road, too, was better kept up, and
the galleries anil bridges, blown into the air by
the retiring Austrians, were beiDg rapidly re
placed.
Arriving at Bormio at about night-fall, wo
found pleasant lodgings at tho inn della Posta.
In spite of the dirty floors common to Italian
country inns, you feel at once that you have
stepped into a higher civilization than you have
left behind. The very engravings on tho walls
are from classical subjects, the wash-stands are
tripods, and the beds richly draped with cur
tains falling from the mouth of a gilded eagle or
metallic rod. In the roasted chestnuts and Par
mesan cheese served to you with tho dessert,
you are reminded that the same food is offered
to his friend by one of the interlocutors in one
of Yirgil’s Eclogues. Garibaldi—personally—
went no further up this valley than Bormio. I
had the happiness of sleeping on the bed which
he had occupied. It was quite seven feet long
by six feet wide, and it was delightful, after
being punished in the Procrustean beds of Ger
many, to roll over and over, and endeavor in
vain, by stretching out, to touch the head and
footboard at the same moment.
We took places here in the diligence for Son
drio. The jolly daughter of the landlady of the
inn, seeing I wag without a cane, presented me
with one, made by the Cacciatori soldiers —
similar to that above described. Our road lay
in a rich valley, bordered by lofty mountains,
producing maize, millet, honey, grapes, mulber
ries, Ac., and on the slopes noble chestnut trees,
which are very valuable. The wine crop in this
valley is a complete failure this year, owing
to the recurrence of the grape disease. The
churches hereabouts are numerous to an incred
ible degree. One of the finest, if not the most
so, is known as the “Sanctuary of the Madonna
of Firano.” It is not in, but near the town of
that name. As our “slow coach” stopped there
more than three hours, we walked on, after ta
kiug a quiet dinner, with some “ vino spumante
d’Asti" —(foaming Asti wine.) We soon came
up to this church, and as I found no one capable
of answering my questions, I went to the priest's
house for information about it. The whole fabric
is immensely elegant and rich. I will recite a
piece of history for those persons who pretend
that the age of miracles ceasod with the first
centuries of our era. I translate from a pam
phlet handed to me by tho good priest, whose
faith seemed to be so sincere that I had not the
heart to intimate any doubts. The work is en
titled: “An Historical Narration of the Appear
ance of the Most Holy V? rgin in Firano, and of
the Sanctuary erected there, <tc., by G. B. Crotti.
Milan — Francesco Vallardi, 1858” 1 The author
quotas the words of the parish curate, Cabassi,
who wrote, in the year 1590—an authority which
to him appears to have been ample.
“In the year 1504, when Valtellina was gov
erned by the most serene (?) Dukes of Milan,on St.
Michael’s day, 29th September, happened the
circumstance which caused this temple to be
erected to the worship of Divine Majesty, to the
honor of the Most Holy Virgin, and of the An
gelic Choir. In this place, where is now the
church of the Madonna of Firano, was the ap
parition as follows:
“On that same day, Ac., Ac., a certain man of
holy life and religious habits, Mario by name, of
the noble family of the Ilomodei, arose and de
parted from his paternal house, which stood not
more than a stone’s throw from the spot where
the church Ac. Ac. now is, before the sun had
scattered his friendly rays upon the earth, and
even before the dawn appeared on the top ‘of
the rocky mountains, in order to visit one of his
vineyards. Hardly had he left his house, when
the tops of tho mountains were illuminated by
an unaccustomed light. While he thought by
himself—not without some sea this
came, he felt himself raised to a prodigious
height from the earth, and transported to a little
garden, that lay in a deserted and uncultivated
spot. And when he was set down upon the
ground, a little Yirgin presented herself before
his eyes, who appeared to bo about 14 years
old, dressed in purest white, from whom he saw
that the light that caused the overhanging
! ing mountains to shino so, came. This “ Virgi
! nella," who was accompanied by a celestial mul
! titude, called the good Mario by name, like that
: angel who appeared to the ancient patriarch
; Abraham, saying to him, Abraham 1 Abraham 1
| The good Mario answered to the first call
| 1 Well!' 1 Well shall it be to you,' he was an
swered. 1 Go,’ added the little Virgin ‘to Firano,
and tell that people that on this spot must be
built a temple for the worship and religion of
the true and eternal God, dedicated to Him in
honor of my holy name.’ To which he, having
knelt down on the earth, answered: ‘Oh 1 Most
Glorious Virgin 1 how will they ever believe
that it is you who sends me?’
“Itis no wonder that the good Mario said
such words, since such were the words of tho
j just Zaccaria, to whom appeared the angel
I Gabriel, when he said to him, ‘ and how shall I
lielieve this?’ To whom the Virgin said: * Tell
them that if they refuse to obey my order, the
plague that is now among their herds, shall be
turned upon their own persons; (there wss, in
those days, a very great mortality among the
leasts in Firano,) and as a proof of what I have
just told you, your brother Benedetto, whom
you left so ill that his life was despaired of, you
will find cured, and free from every infirmity
which, when she had said she disappeared, leav
ing so great fragrance of her odors as any mor
tal ever smelt”
I have purposely adhered rather closely to the
quaint simplicity of the author, who goes on to
say that these facts are clearly testified by a
painting, made nine years after the apparition,
which may be now seen on the internal wall,
left hand, of the privileged altar. At first, a
provisory altar was erected on this spot, and
then, after the performance of certain miracles,
the funds flowed in, and the present sanctuary
arose. Begun in March, 1 505, it was consecrated
in May, 1528—having been 24 years in build
ing. I now turn back to that chapter which
treats of the most remarkable miracles. Do not
be startled. It has the caption:
“ Resurrections that took place through the Ma
donna of Firano." “On the 26th of March 1505,
happened, among other miraculous signs, one
truly worthy of admiratiou, and of being held in
eternal memory, since, among all supernatural
works, that of raising the dead does not hold
the last place. There was brought there on the
above said day, a son of Christen Peterfeit, a
German, of the diocese of Brixen. This child
was bom dead four days before, (morto da quat
trogiorni nelP uscir (lal ventre materno) and be
fore he was regenerated to Christ by holy baptism.
For which reason his father, hearing of some of
the miracles which the goodness of God wrought
in that place, did not hesitate to have his child
brought there, holding the firm hope, like that
Sunamite who came near the prophet Eliseothat
his son would return to life, either to live many
days, or at least until, with the water of bap
tism and the grace of the Holy Spirit, he was
made worthy to enter into the possession of
eternal life. Which, when he had done and
placed him upon the altar already erected pro
visorily, ho shedding tears and sighs hot with a
perfect devotion, profound humility, and fervent
hope, and with the constant prayer of all the
bystanders, and great faith of seeing a public
miracle, the dead child did not remain there
more than one night, when the perfect faith of the
father, the devotion of the bystanders, and the
intercession of the most blessed Virgin had the
desired effect. Since on the following morn
ing, about the dawn ot day, the flesh began to
grow warm through the returning spirit, so that
distinct signs of the resurrection of this already
dead child were visible, by the opening of its
eyes, by its weeping, breathing, as well as by
the motion perceptible in all parts of its body.
It was then baptized by the Reverend Priest,
Modesto di Clavena, in presence of many other
priosts and laity. And that done, it gave up Its
soul to the Creator on that same day, not with
out the greatest joy and admiration of all pres
ent, and particularly of the father, who, sur
rounded on one side by natural grief for the
death of his son, and on the other by the great
est joy for the grace received, did not know
whether he ought to break forth in tears of grief,
or of joy and praises."
The second miracle of liko nature which was
performed by the intercession of the Virgin, was
on the child of one Giovanni Rodio, who lived eight
miles from -irmsbruck. This event occurred on
the same morning while the priests were saying
the offices for the first child—now dead. This
second had been dead eight days, and buried
four days, and being placed on the altar, began
to open its eyes, move, cry, &c., when they came
to the words, “ remrrexit sicut dixit." It receiv
ed baptism, and lived that day and night, and
the succeeding day and night. On the 11th
July of the same year, the child of Christen Mil
itold, of Innsbruck, was restored to life, received
baptism and died. Three other cases follow of
children restored to life long enough to receive
baptism. On the 20th April, 1511, a son of the
same Mario to whom the Virgin had appeared,
was restored to life, having been drowned at
the age of three years. This person lived to the
age of 67 years, and liccame a priest well known
in Firano.
I have imitated the example of the author in
giving these striking miracles, as all minor ones
follow almost as a matter of course. After remark
ing how in that day infinite care was taken to
distinguish true miracles from “shadows, fantasms
and illusions,” —and after quoting the ordinance
of the Council of Trent—“ nulla admittenda esse
nova mirwula, nisi eddem recognosce ate et appro
hanle Kpiscopo" —which ordinance, he says, was
more carefully observed in the time of Cabassi
than iij Inter times, the author goes on to forti
fy yet further the belief of his readers, by re
ferring to monumental and other inscriptions and
records of that century —all going to prove the
truth of what is above related.
Yours, respectfully,
J. L. L.
—■***■
HARPER'S FERRY INSURRECTION.
WASnutOTON, Dec. 15.—This morning, in the
Senate, the following names were announced as
members of the Committee of Inquiry, under
Senator Mason’s resolution, relative to the Har
per’s Ferry Insurrection: Messrs. Mason, of Va.;
Davis, of Miss.; Collamer, ofVt.; Fitch, of Ind.;
and Doolittle, of Wisconsin. Mr. Mason’s reso
lution was passed in the Senate yesterday after
noon unanimously. It is as follows :
Resolved, That a committee-be appointed to
inquire into the facts attending the late invasion
and seizure of the armory and arsenal of the
United States at Harper’s Ferry, in Virginia, by
a band of armed men, and report whether the
same was attended by armed resistance to the
authorities and public force of the United States,
and by the murder of any of the citizens of Vir
ginia, or of any troops sent there to protect the
public property: whether such invasion and
seizure was made under color of any organiza
tion intended to subvert the government of any
of the States of the Union; what was the char
acter and extent of such organization, and wheth
er any citizens of the United States not present
were implicated therein, or accessory thereto, by
contributions of money, arms, munitions or oth
erwise ; wliat was the character and extent of
the military equipment in the hands or under
the control of said armed band, and inhere, and
how’, and when the same was obtained and trans
ported to the place so invaded; that said com
mittee report whether any or what legislation
may, in their opinion, bo necessary on the part
of the United States for the future preservation
of the peace of the country, or for the safety of
the public property: and that said committee
have power to send for persons and papers.
—The Legislature of Virginia on Wednesday
adopted a joint resolution to the effect that it was
not necessary or proper that the legislature
should interfere in the case of tho murderers
Cook, Coppie and others, now under sentence at
Charlestown, on account of the late insurrection.
237