He Received Sentence To Be Broke Alive Upon The
Wheel; But Was Pardoned By The Interposition Of The Governor Of
The County, And Carries On His Business As Usual In The Face Of
The Whole Community.
A furious abbe, being refused orders by the
bishop, on account of his irregular life, took an opportunity to
stab the prelate with a knife, one Sunday, as he walked out of
the cathedral.
The good bishop desired he might be permitted to
escape; but it was thought proper to punish, with the utmost
severity, such an atrocious attempt. He was accordingly
apprehended, and, though the wound was not mortal, condemned to
be broke. When this dreadful sentence was executed, he cried out,
that it was hard he should undergo such torments, for having
wounded a worthless priest, by whom he had been injured, while
such-a-one (naming the burgher mentioned above) lived in ease and
security, after having brutally murdered a poor man, and a
helpless woman big with child, who had not given him the least
provocation.
The inhabitants of Boulogne may be divided into three classes;
the noblesse or gentry, the burghers, and the canaille. I don't
mention the clergy, and the people belonging to the law, because
I shall occasionally trouble you with my thoughts upon the
religion and ecclesiastics of this country; and as for the
lawyers, exclusive of their profession, they may be considered as
belonging to one or other of these divisions. The noblesse are
vain, proud, poor, and slothful.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 106 of 535
Words from 28539 to 28792
of 143308
