Sources for the History of Western Civilization, Volume 1: From Antiquity to the Mid-Eighteenth Century by Michael Burger

Author:Michael Burger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Toronto Press

22.2 To the Lord Bishop Lupus9 [472]

I render you the observance always due to the incomparable eminence of your apostolic life, still always due, however regularly paid. But I have a further object, to commend to your notice a long-standing trouble of the bearers of this letter, in whose case I have recently become interested. They have journeyed a great distance into Auvergne at this unfavorable season, and the journey has been undertaken in vain. A female relative of theirs was carried off during a raid of the “Vargi,”10 as the local bandits are called. They received trustworthy information, and following an old but reliable clue, discovered that some years ago she had been brought here before being removed elsewhere. As a matter of fact, the unfortunate woman had been sold in open market before their arrival, and is now actually under the roof and the control of my man of affairs. A certain Prudens, rumored to be now resident in Troyes, had attested the contract for the vendors, whose names are unknown to us; his signature is to be seen on the deed of purchase as that of a suitable witness of the transaction. By the fortunate fact of your presence, you will be able, if you think fit, to see the parties confronted, and use your personal influence to investigate the whole course of the outrage. I gather from what the bearers say that the offense is aggravated by the death of a man upon the road as a sequel to the abduction. But as the aggrieved parties who wish to bring this scandalous affair to light are anxious for the remedy of your judgment and for your neighborly aid, it seems to me that it would no less become your character than your position to bring about an equitable arrangement, thus affording the one side some comfort in affliction, and saving the other from an impending danger. Such a qualified decision would be most beneficial to all concerned; it would diminish the misery of one party and the guilt of the other, while it would give both of them a greater feeling of security. Otherwise, in regions and times like these of ours, the last state of the dispute may well prove no better than the beginning. Deign to keep me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.