The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-10-01

!, oHence with some mIder punishment than IL
if punishment of death.
l have said the words" she answered, a.
L Dressing herself only to me sand no pow,
under heaven shall make me unsay then
Many man has been broken alive on the wbe
i for offences which were innocence itself con
i pared with the offence which this periure
traitor has committed against me. ! hav
trusted him as might have trusted a brother
ne has UNANIMOUSLY betrayed that trust and
: exercise my royal rights over the life of ira
D Tor; Say no more to me. tell you again b
: is doomed to die"
q With these words the Queen Quilted tn
gaaery, and left me alone with Monaldeschi an
tne three executioners who were waiting to xii
3 him. W
Il The unhappy man dropped on his knees a
my feet, and implored me to follow the Queen
ana make one more effort to obtain his pardon
Before could answer word, the three mel
, surroupded him, held the points of their sword
70 nis SIDES, without, however, actually touch
ing him, and angrily recommending him t.
; make bis confession to me, without wasting an,
! more time. | entreated them, with the tear,
} In my eyes, to wait as long as they could, so a.
70 give the Queen time to reflect, and perhaps
TO falter In her deadly intentions towards the
marquis. L succeeded in producing such an
impression on the chief of the three men, that
he 1eft US, to obtain an interview with the
queen, and to ascertain if there was any
change in her purpose. After short absence
he came back, shaking his head
There is no hope for you," he said ad
dressing Monaldeschi. snake your peace
with Heaven. Prepare yourself to die ~
Go to the Queen! " cried the Marquis,
kneeling before me with clasped hands. dGo
to the Queen yourself; make one more effort
to save mel o, my father, my father, run one
more risk-venture one last entreaty-before
you leave me to die !"
I will you wait till come back ?" / said to
the three men.
| We will watt" they answered, and lowered
their sword.points to the ground.
| found the Queen alone in her room, with.
out the slightest appearance of agitation in
her face or her manner. Nothing that could
say had the slightest effect on her. l adiured
her, by all that religion holds most sacred, to
remember that the noblest privilege of any SOW
ereign is the privilege Of granting mercy:
that the first of Christian duties is the duty of
forgiving. She heard me unmoved. Seeing
that entreaties were thrown away, ventured,
at my own proper hazard, on reminding her
that she was not living now in her own king
dom of Sweden, but that she was the guest of
the King of France, and lodged in one of his
own palaces; and boldly asked her, if she had
calculated the possible consequences of authori-
ziHg the killing of one of her attendants in.
side the walls of Fontainebleau, without any
preliminary form of trial, or any official Motif.
cation OF the offence he had committed. She
answered me coldly, that it was enough that
she knew the objectionable nature of the offence
OF which Monaldeschi had been guilty; that
she stood In q. perfectly independent position
towards the King of Frances that she was alb
soute mistress of her own actions, at all times
and IN all places; and that she was accounta
bic to nobody under Heaven for her copduct
towards her subjects and servants, over whose
lives and liberties she possessed sovereign
rights, which no consideration whatever should
induce her to resign.
fearful IS was of irritating her, still ven.
'uieo on relteratlng my circumstances. She
het. AS 5ue u}riIhsseI- ,.rcy n; s~s.. l.
slight change pass over her face and it &C.
CURED to me that she might not have been in
disposed at that moment to grant some respite,
if she could have done so without appearing to
fslter in her resolution, and without running
the risk of letting Monaldeschi escape her.
Before passed the door, 1 attempted to take
advantage of the disposition to relent which l
fsncied L had perceived in her but she angr-
ly reiterated the gesture of dismissal before
| had spoken half dozen words; and, with
heavy heart yielded to necessity, and left
her.
On returning to the gallery, / found the
three men standing around the Marquis, with
their swordpoints on the floor, exactly as l
had left them.
Is he to live or to die ?" they asked when l
came in.
There was no need for me to answer in
words; my face answered the question. The
Marquis grosned heavily but said nothing. /
sat myself down on a stool, and beckoned to
him to come to me, and begged him, as well as
my terror and wretchedness would let me, to
think of repentance, and to prepare for anoth-
er world. He began his confession kneelng at
my feet, with his head on my knees. After
continuing it for some time, he suddenly
started to his feet with scream of terror.
contrived to quiet him, and to fix his thoughts
again on heavenly things. He completed his
confession, speaking sometimes in Latin, some
times in French, sometimes in Italian, accord
ing as he could best explain himself in the agi
tation and misery which now possessed him.
| Just as he had concluded, the Queens chap
lain entered the gallery. Without waiting to
receive absolution, the unhappy Marquis rush
ed away from me to the chaplain, and, still
clinging desperately to the hope of life, he be-
sought him to intercede with the Queen. The
1.-Two talked together in low tones, holding each
other by the hand. When their conference was
over, the chaplain left the gallery again, taking
with him the chief of the three executioners
who were appointed to carry out the Queens
deadly purpose. After a short absence, this
man returned, without the chaplain. "Get
your absolution," he said, briefly, to the Mar
quis, "and make up your mind to die"
| Saying these words, he seized Monaldeschi,
pressed him back against the wall at the end of
the gallery, just under the picture of Saint Ger
main and before l could interfere, or even
turn aside from the sight, aimed at the Mar
I, quis's right side with his sword. Monaldeschi
caught the blade with his hand, cutting three
of his fingers in the act. At the same mo.
ment, the point touched his side, and glanced
off. Upon this, the man who had struck at
him exclaimed, "He has armor under his
clothes and, at the same moment, stabbed
Monaldeschi in the face. AS he received the
wound, he turned round towards me, and cried
out, loudly, Ny father My fatherlH
I advanced towards him Immediately, and
as did 80, the man who had wounded him re-
tired little, and signed to his two companions
to withdraw also. The Marquis, with one knee
On the ground, asked pardon of God, and said
certain last words in my ear. Immediately
gave him absolution, telling him that he must
atone for his sins by suffering death, and thai
he must pardon those who were about to Kill
him. Having heard my words, he threw him
! self forward on the floor, and, as he fell one O
the three executioners, who had not assailed
him as yet, struck at his head, and wounded
him on the surface of the skull.
The Marquis sank on his face, then raised
himself little, and signed to the men to xii
him outright, by striking him on the neck
The same man who had last wounded hin
obeyed, by cutting two or three times at hi
, neck, without, however, doing him any grea