Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-10-21

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death.
After endeavoring TO ingratiate himself
with the Roman lady, in various ways,
Monaldeschi found that the surest means Of
winning her favor lay in satisfying her
malicious curiosity on the subject of the
private life and the secret frailties of Queen
Christina. He was not a man who was
troubled by any scrupulous feelings Of hon.
or, when the interests of his own intrigues
happened to be concerned and he shame
lessly took advantage of the position that
he held towards Christina to commit
breaches of confidence of the most inexeu-
SADLY ungratefuf and the most meanly IN
famous kind. He gave to the Roman lady
the series of the Queens letters to himself,
which contained secrets that she had re-
vealed to him in the fullest confidence of
his worthiness to be trusted; more than
this, he wrote letters of his W to the new
object of his addresses, in which he ridl leu
led the Queens fondness for him, and sar-
castically described her smallest personal
defects with a heartless effrontery whichthe
most patient and long suffering of women
would have found impossible to forgive.
While he was thus privately betraying the
confidence that had been reposed in him,
he was publicly affecting the most unalter-
able attachment and the most sincere re-
spect for the Queen.
For some time, this disgraceful deception
proceeded successfully. But the hour Of
the discovery was appointed, and the in
strument of effecting it was a certain Car
dinal who was DESTROYS of supplanting Mo
naldeschi in the Queens favor. The priest
contriVed to get possession of the whole
correspondence which had been privately
placed in the hands of the Roman lady,
including, besides Christmas letters, the
letters which Monaldeschi had written in
ridicule of his royal mistress. The whole
coll Lection of documents was enclosed by the
Cardinal in one packet, and was presented
by him, at a private audience, to the
Queen.
1t is at this critical point of the story
that the testimony of the eyewitness whom
we propose to quote, begins. Father LIE Bel
was present at the fearful execution of the
, Queens vengeance on Monaldeschi, and
was furnished with copies of the whole cor
r respondence which had been distracted
f from the possession of the Roman lady
| Having been trusted with the secret, he is
wisely and honorably silent throughout his
: narrative on the subject of Monaldeschis
r offence. Such particulars of the Italians
b~aseness and in gratitude as have been pre-
sented here, have been gathered from the
T somewhat contradictory reports which were
r current at the time, and which have been
}, preserved by the old French collectors Of
l. historical anecdotes. Such further details
of the extraordinary punishment of Monal.
20 deschis offence as are now to follow may
t. begin in the words of Father LIE Bel, him
- self. The reader will understand hat his
c. narrative begins Immediately after Chris
C. tina's discovery ofthe perfdy of her favorite
e. The 9th of November, 1857, writes Faith
O er lie Bel, at a quarter past nine in tn,
&c morning, Queen Christina of Sweden, bein,
at that time lodged in the royal palace c
y Fontainebleau, sent one of her men-servant
le to my convent to obtain an interview wit
me. The messenger, on being admitted t
ed my presence, inquired if l was the superio
is of the convent and when I replied in the al
on firmative, informed me that l was expecte,
to present myself Immediately before tn
Queen of Sweden.
81 Fearful o fkeeping her Majesty waiting,
JIG followed the man at once to the palace, will
er out waiting to take any of my brethren froI
", the convent with me. After d little delay i
ed the antechamber, l was shown into tn
is- Queens room. She was alone and l saw
by the expression of her face, as | respec
: fully begged to be favored with her con
mqnds, that something was wrong. She hes
Gu tated for a moment then told me, rattle
he sharply, to follow her to a place where ST
he might speak with me certainty of not bein
for overheard. She led me into the Galerie d
in Cerfs, and, turning round on me suddenl
:, asked If we had ever met before. informt
-. her Majesty that | had once had the honor
~ presenting my respects to her, that she ha
csc received me graciously, and that there tt
er, interview had ended. She nodded her hea
Igh and looked about her a little, then said, vel
abruptly, that | wore a dress referring
The my convent ~costume) which encouraged h,
- to put perfect faith in my honor; and she d
sired me to promise beforehand that | won
III keep the secret with which she was about
ar entrust me, as strictly as if | had heard it
my the confessional. l answered, respectful
ms, that it was part of my sacred profession
be be trusted with secrets that had never
trayed the private affairs of any one, and tn
l could answer for myself as worthy to
'"o honored by the confidence of a Queen.
Upon this, her Majesty handed me a pac
the ct Of papers, sealed in three places, but ha
ty- ing no superscription of any sort. She
mo dered me to keep it under lock and key, al
the to be prepared to give it her back again
fore any persons in whose presence she mis-
~ see fit to ask me for it. She further charg
me to remember the day, the hour, and
out place, in which she had given me the pack
and with that last piece of advice, she c
was missed me. | left her alone in the gale
ne, walking slowly away from me, with her hi
,ar dropping on her bosom, and her mind,
! e we'll as l could presume to Judge, perturt
by anxious thoughts
On Saturday, the 10th of November at
i1ee o'clock in the afternoon, | was sent for tr
MS Fontainebleau again. took the packet
Out of nv private cabinet, feeling that L might
e of asked for it, and then followed the mess
It so ger as before. This time he led me at o
fan to the Galerie des Cerfs. The moment l
yeep tered it, he shut the door behind me y
Ia NJ such extraordinary haste and violence,
90 l felt a little startled. As soon as l reco'
ed myself, | saw her Majesty standing IN
sne middle Of the gallery, talking to one OF
was gentlemen of her Court, who was gener
On as known by the name OF The Marquis,
aped whom soon ascertained to be the Mare
chief Monaldeschi, Grand Equerrry of the Qu
aried VI Sweden' approached her Majesty
is at %AIthouob Gather Lo Rel discraatlv abs
lady, from mentioning the fact it seems clear from
ttroc context that he was permitted to read, and
ne did read the papers contained in the packe