SHOOTING THE DEVIL.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 87, 30 December 1864, Page 3

SHOOTING THE DEVIL.

At Pisa I .heard -.a. /very f .droll story of; the way in which priestly malice was onoe j foiled under the old Regime itself. 1- . seems that there was a, young student who sixor seven years ago found himself dying in the town.' • The~priests of course came to him and. proffered -the tions " o'freligion, i.e., confession and~ olio santo. The student,>howe,ver, was a terrible infidel, ,and 'positively ;j declined all such comforts. G-reat inaignation and, urgent remonstrances on the part of>fcis/ ghostly advisers were all unavailing. " Ho* died impenitent, " un'anrieaied.V Before dying, however, he .. called a dear,frietfd. "another young student who had -nursed him as a"brpther, and shared his infidelity : ' — " I entreat you," lie said, "not to' lose sight of my .body till- it is in the Ctfmpo Santo. lam sure thesef priests will play some desperate trick" with it, lest., itr'be thought a man may safely die without' the : sacraments. Promise -me you will not let it out of your sight." The/friend consented, 1 and remained with s^C constancy beside the corps. The priests remonstrated and bullied — all in vain. The body was removed. He still followed it, and' the last night prepared quietly to sit up beside it, taking with' him, par precaution, a revolver concealed in his breast. Midnight , 'came, and with/ it awful and sudden noises and mysterious light's. Finally, from .the gloom of the church emerged a terrific figure — horns, hoofs, .tail, .and ,all complete,- glowing .with phosphoric lights — that 'quo creature who combines" the distinguishing features of a ruminant and the habits of the Felis Leo. "Hola!" shouted the student, "Do not go near that cofßn 1 ! " The Prince of Darkness heeded not such paltry remonstrance, and visibly approached to seize the [ corpse. "Another step, and I shoot j you," said the student. The devil took the' ■ step ; the student " fired ; and the fiend, with a <howl of perfectly human agony, fell dead on the floor., - Then burst into the place a "band of. priests, who had been watching the transaction, and had hoped to ■ see the body of the 1 - infidel student brought off yictori'dusly by their accomplice— of course himself an ecclesiastic of the lower -grade. '- "What' was to be done ? It would, neyer answer to bring to trial the young delinquent, and be obliged to - produce' in-' Court the corpus delicti — the venerable Padre got up as a devil. Tuscans are, fond of jokes, and this joke would be too good ever to be forgotten.*, s Sp the body of the. infidel student was decently buried, after all, and the body of the' Padre' Diavolo was put quite .quietly into f consecrated .ground (we trust' despoiled of the horns and tail), and the'G-rand-Duke himself came down privately to Pisa to decide .what could best be done with the man who had shot the devil. Of course, 'in Eome or Naples it would haye been all plain sailing. No Pope or King would have found the least difficulty' in making an' end of such a case in the most effectual manner. " Tuscany's Prince, however, was a f man of other counsels, and the young student was , allowed privately to perform that judicious step which our -American friends denomi- i nate to " skeddadle.' r From thenceforth it is a common saying, " There is no devil in Pisa. He was shot here 'some time ago. — Italics, by Francis Power Cobb.