, 1869-03-28
LUOHEZIA BORaIA.

- The original authorities upon
which thr conflicting aceounta, Of LucteziA
BoFftA have been founded By lAter writers
nay be 5ouahly enumerated shus:-The
poems of Gioytano Pontano and GiAcomo San.
nazAr1o. contemporary s2tiEists aud rhyme
sters xt'ached to the house OF Arragon, and
therefore hostile to the house OF BoEgla, are
fun Of rinEirg allusicns to dcr crimes, Of
hinted tales OF murder, treaeherF, and Incest.
slightly poste,ior historian attaebed to ihe 9
house Of Medici, and therefore also hostile
to the house Of Borgia. whose claims to We
racIty, Us disciple OF MachiAyel who wrote
with less pomt and more rhetoric than his
master, are not above suspicion. They are
further countenaLeed By BurchArd, the Ger.
man master Of tho CEREMONIES 1t The Court
Ct fIucrezie's = father. AlexanderVL; who In his
D!hrIm tells stories against her, not indeed
Of murder or incest. but OF ahameless license
and debaucherJ. The date Of all this tesu-
mony Is that Of her residence In Rome before
her fourth and final marriage, and Is only
counterbal&uced By that OF few foreign an.
baseadoss, such as Polo Caoello from Venice
and Canaie FROM Fesrara, who are likely to
baye Feen only the show and surface OF her
Life, and who speak Of her in Terms Of respect
aud praise. 60 much for the witnesses 10 her
lie before fhe len Kome. The Witnesses to
her subsequent LIFE At FerEara, a the wife Of
Afocso d'Este, heir to the dnkedom md
afterwards Duke, are first and foremost The
11lustlious Ariosfo, and after him I crowd Of
men OF letters, court poets aud others, In
elnding such names Is piero Bembo, the Two
srozzi, Teba1deu, Tfisaino, and the renowned
printer, Aldo Aa1uz1o; all OF whom with
one voice represent her a. the patrnnesa Of
arts and letter., the mirror OF conduct, JUS
uce and enlightenment, toe model OF ali
p9iAeely vfrtueh- Their accounts are bo1e
cut by those Of the Felrarese chronicles,
such as zanbotto md Giraldi; while the
only hints OF evil aEalnst TIL. p-rt OF her c.
reer proceed IRON later writer's, who By the
light Of her previous history have read In
her letters 70 her AdorInx fonneteess the
evidence Of other iaEors th1n those
eoats1 aalsa apoa princess s5e nay I'm, Y honor %s
have career dlyidtd Mto two thoroughly
i]l-dttme halves. This woman Is represented
BY mass Of etimcuy, against which there ls
nothIE 10 ret of but the Impressions Of 4 few
outsiders IN the one case, and the suspicious
OF censorious postetity In the other, N IL
centions, revrukeiul. and detested during
bali htr life, as Eirtuous, mercitua, and be
loved during The other half To reconcile 90
much infamy and 60 much renoHn Il q task
that may well attract 4 historian. Victor
Hugo, as poet, wss perfectly justified IN
eeziIg on particular side Of the character,
In letting plAy upon this the light Of hn 20.
etlc dlyin a,ion until It Atood clear before lis
mind. IN tnVcntlnG ntustlona to illustrate It,
and m us1IE this character and these situA-
tions to work out and bring into the light =
eer.sm ~ arfistae ~ motive. Hero is the nri,stic
'uexis BorgiAt Take the most hideous, the
most rtpnlsive, The most complete OF mor.,
deiormlt'es, put. Il :vherc II /, comes
out IN the stftmxrst. light, IN the heart
] Of woman. with all tnoso conditlons Of
= t'aSs4e-. tAlt3 S1l zs}A K1cA:AsA~ Hl.cA