The Ottawa Free Trader

HEROISM OF A MENIAL SERVANT.

Catharine Vessent, the daughter of a French peasant, exhibited at the age of seventeen, and in the humble capacity of a menial, a proof of intrepid persevering sympathy which ranks her with the noblest of her sex.

A common sewer of considerable depth having been opened at Noyon for the purpose of repair, four men passing by late in the evening, unfortunately fell in, no precaution having been made to prevent so probable an accident. It was almost midnight before their situation was known : and besides the difficulty of procuring assistance at that unseasonable hour, every one present was intimidated from exposing herself to a similar danger by attempting to rescue those unfortunate wretches, who appeared already in a state of suffocation from the mephitic vapor.

Fearless or ignorant of danger, and irresistibly impelled by the cries of their wives and children, who surrounded the spot, Catharine Vessent, a servant of the town, insisted on being lowered without delay into the noxious opening, and fastening a cord, which she had furnished previous to her descent, round two of their bodies, assisted by those above, she restored them to life and to their families: but in descending a second time her breath began to fail, and after effectually securing a cord to the body of a third man, she had sufficient presence of mind, although in a fainting condition, to fix the rope firmly to her own hair, which hung in long and luxuriant curls round a full but well formed neck. Her neighbors, who felt no inclination to imitate her heroism, had willingly contributed such assistance as they could afford compatible with safety, and in pulling up as they thought a third man's body, were equally concerned and surprised to see the almost lifeless body of Catharine suspended by her hair, and swinging on the same cord. Fresh air, with eau-de-vie, soon restored this excellent girl; and I know not whether most to admire her generous fortitude in a third time exploring the pestilential cavern, which had almost proved fatal to her, or to execrate the dastardly meanness and selfish cowardice of the bystanders for not sharing the glorious danger. In consequence of her delay produced by her indisposition, the fourth man was drawn up a lifeless and irrecoverable corpse

Such conduct did not pass unnoticed: a procession of the corporation, and a solemn Te Deum were celebrated on the occasion; Catharine received the public thanks of the Duke of Orleans, the Bishop of Noyon, the town magistrates, and the emblematic medal, with considerable pecuniary contributions, and a civic crown : to these were added the congratulations of her own heart, that inestimable reward of a benevolent mind.