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Article THE DOOMED ONE AND THE EXECUTIONER. Page 1 of 9 →
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The Doomed One And The Executioner.
THE DOOMED ONE AND THE EXECUTIONER .
IT is about five-and-thirty years since , that a murderer was condemned to suffer death by the sword , at a town in western Normandy j and on the morning of the execution , two senior pupils of the Jesuit seminary went , by permission of their superiors , to witness a spectacle of so rare occurrence in that province . The cordial intimacy existing between these youths had long been a problem both to their teachers and schoolfellows : so widely different were they in and
appearance character , and so harshly did the ferocity and cunning of one contrast with the pure and gentle habits of the other , that they were known as the wolf and the lamb . The older of them , named Bartholdy , was a native of Strasbourg ; tall and robust in person , but high-shouldered , stooping , and in dress and gait slovenly and clownish . His yellow visage was deeply furrowed by the small-pox , and his remarkabllarge and staring
y eyes , which were of a pale dull blue , indicated an obtuseness bordering upon imbecility . This appearance was , however , belied by his habitual cunning , and by the dexterity with which he often contrived to exculpate himself under suspicious circumstances . It was rumoured in the seminary that this youth had been sent to a school so remote from Strasbourg in consequence of some highly culpable irregularities ; and these reports were in some degree justified by occasional instances of wolfish
ferocity and deliberate duplicity , for which he was severely but vainly punished . FJorian , the friend of Bartholdy , although nearly of the same age , was shorter by the head -. his figure was slender and elegant—his
countenance highly prepossessing and ingenuous . Although not regularly handsome , there was in his form and features that harmonious configuration which is termed beauty of character ; and which , when accompanied by the correspondent moral graces of gentleness and refinement , often lays a more enduring hold of the affections than beauty of a more perfect order . He had few friends , because his reserved habits made him fastidious , but his gentle and unassuming deportment
endeared him to the few who had penetration enough to discern his real merits , and so far had recommended him to all , that the existence of an enemy was impossible . Hoping that the trying spectacle of a public execution would have a salutary effect on the feelings of Bartholdy , the reverend fathers had permitted him and his friend to be present on the awful occasion . Florian who , at the urgent and oftrepeated solicitations of his companion , had applied for the permission ,
followed his steps with reluctance and a heart beating with terror . So widely opposite , both in physical and moral attributes , were the two youths , and yet so cordial appeared their attachment , that the presiding Jesuits could only solve this psychological enigma b y conjecturing that Bartholdy , whose fierce temper and great bodily strength made him shunned and detested , found in the gentleness of the unspoiled Florian a relief which long habit bad made essential to him . His
specious reasoning rarely failed to convince his confiding friend that he was unjustly accused , and on several occasions he was screened from well-merited punishment by the favourite testimony of one whose veracity was above all suspicion . The rush of the excited multitude , and the deep rolling of the drum , VOL . VII . 3 M
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Doomed One And The Executioner.
THE DOOMED ONE AND THE EXECUTIONER .
IT is about five-and-thirty years since , that a murderer was condemned to suffer death by the sword , at a town in western Normandy j and on the morning of the execution , two senior pupils of the Jesuit seminary went , by permission of their superiors , to witness a spectacle of so rare occurrence in that province . The cordial intimacy existing between these youths had long been a problem both to their teachers and schoolfellows : so widely different were they in and
appearance character , and so harshly did the ferocity and cunning of one contrast with the pure and gentle habits of the other , that they were known as the wolf and the lamb . The older of them , named Bartholdy , was a native of Strasbourg ; tall and robust in person , but high-shouldered , stooping , and in dress and gait slovenly and clownish . His yellow visage was deeply furrowed by the small-pox , and his remarkabllarge and staring
y eyes , which were of a pale dull blue , indicated an obtuseness bordering upon imbecility . This appearance was , however , belied by his habitual cunning , and by the dexterity with which he often contrived to exculpate himself under suspicious circumstances . It was rumoured in the seminary that this youth had been sent to a school so remote from Strasbourg in consequence of some highly culpable irregularities ; and these reports were in some degree justified by occasional instances of wolfish
ferocity and deliberate duplicity , for which he was severely but vainly punished . FJorian , the friend of Bartholdy , although nearly of the same age , was shorter by the head -. his figure was slender and elegant—his
countenance highly prepossessing and ingenuous . Although not regularly handsome , there was in his form and features that harmonious configuration which is termed beauty of character ; and which , when accompanied by the correspondent moral graces of gentleness and refinement , often lays a more enduring hold of the affections than beauty of a more perfect order . He had few friends , because his reserved habits made him fastidious , but his gentle and unassuming deportment
endeared him to the few who had penetration enough to discern his real merits , and so far had recommended him to all , that the existence of an enemy was impossible . Hoping that the trying spectacle of a public execution would have a salutary effect on the feelings of Bartholdy , the reverend fathers had permitted him and his friend to be present on the awful occasion . Florian who , at the urgent and oftrepeated solicitations of his companion , had applied for the permission ,
followed his steps with reluctance and a heart beating with terror . So widely opposite , both in physical and moral attributes , were the two youths , and yet so cordial appeared their attachment , that the presiding Jesuits could only solve this psychological enigma b y conjecturing that Bartholdy , whose fierce temper and great bodily strength made him shunned and detested , found in the gentleness of the unspoiled Florian a relief which long habit bad made essential to him . His
specious reasoning rarely failed to convince his confiding friend that he was unjustly accused , and on several occasions he was screened from well-merited punishment by the favourite testimony of one whose veracity was above all suspicion . The rush of the excited multitude , and the deep rolling of the drum , VOL . VII . 3 M