ll never forget, he sprang up in
the boat, and then, calling out something in English which I could not
understand, he seized his comrade by the throat and shook him violently.

"The convict--himself a strong man, yet in the prime of life--seemed
nothing in the grasp of the other, who held him at arm's length, as
though he were a child; and then, letting go his hold, clasping him
round the waist with both arms, he jumped into the sea.

"They were seen in mortal conflict for a second or two as they sank in
the clear water, but they never rose to the surface; the weight of the
massive fetters and their own struggles soon finished their sufferings!"

Such was the terrible story which now broke in upon the gay current of
our festivity, and threw a gloom over a scene of brilliant pleasure.
Of course various surmises as to the motive of this fearful act were
uttered, but they all tended to the conclusion that it proceeded from
insanity, which occasionally displays amongst its wonderful phenomena
all the premeditation and circumspection of accomplished guilt.

There is that of solemnity about an event of this nature that even
frivolity itself stands rebuked by, and so, now, instead of resuming the
occupations of pleasure, many took their leave suddenly; and of those
who still remained, but one topic engrossed the conversation,--that of
madness as an element in all great cases of guilt.

Of course, as in all similar discussions, the superiority lay with those
who, with more readiness of expression, also possessed greater resources
in anecdote and illustration; and of these the greater number were
disposed to believe that all great criminality is allied with deranged
intellect. The Marchesa, however, took the opposite side, and insisted
that the passion which prompted to the most terrible and appalling acts
was perfectly consistent with right reason and sound judgment.

"It is too rash in us," said she, "to assume a mere blind impulse in
cases even where recognized insanity exists. Were we to know the secrets
of the human heart, we might, perhaps, see a long-cherished purpose in
acts which appear to be dictated by momentary passion. These impulses
may be excessive, ill-directed, and ill-judging; but still they may have
their origin in some train of thought where generous feelings and noble
aspirations mingle. Witness those heroic--for they are, after all,
heroic--assassinations of the student Sandt and Charlotte Corday. What