The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1874-03-26
BEATRICE CENCH.
The story of vVeIIKnown Face.

IN the picture gallery OF the Berberina
Palace, at Rome, hangs the portrait of a
young Roman girl, painted by Guido. II
Is a beautiful but melancholy face, whose
south look of sweet sorrowful eyes" and
touch of prison paleneSs," reproduced
in cromo, are so frequently seen in par
Tor and shop-windows. For of all the IA
nous paintings in Rome none is better
known or more copied than this. 1t de-
rlves peculiar interest from me history of
4 her whose features it is said to represent
francesca Cenci, the head of one of
| the oldest and wealthiest families of
/ Rome, was man of violent temper, and
| In his household, intolerably cruel. Two
of his sons were assassinated at his insti-
CATION. At length, unable longer to en-
dure his cruelties and tyranny, his fami-
y appealed 10 the Pope, Clement VIII,
for protection, the petition was miscarried,
and remained, of course, unanswered.
On the night Of the 10Th of September,
1898, Francesca was murdered. He was
found with an enormous nail driven into
each Of his eyes-a mode of assassination
which indicated that at least two persons
were engaged in the work. One of them
was finally captured, and upon examina-
ton, charged the wife, son, and the
daughter, Beatrice, with having promp-
ted the deed. They had, he testified,
put the victim TO sleep by administering
a narcotic draught, and then had intro
duced himself and his accomplice into
Francesco's chamber. They were arrest
ed and imprisoned in the Castle of St.
Angelo, where they were from time to
time, as was the practice during the mid
die ages, subjected to the fortunes of the
rack to force them to confess the crime.
As was frequently the case with the ac-
cused, whether guilty or not, preferring
death TO this lingering agony, the mother
and brother made confession. But for
nearly a yearBeatrice continued firm in her
declarations of innocence At last a new
method of torture was devised, to infict
which would make it necessary to cut off |
her hair, which is described as being 'the |
most silken, the longest, and the most mar
velous in color ever seen" At this she |
turned pale. ''Touch not my head, she
cried Let me die without mutlation."
And to save her tresses she, too,
yielded,
Her beauty, the beliefin her innocence,
the courage she had shown, had won the |
SyilDdIuN anu COLI DaSSlUn OI the WnOl6 !
Roman populace, and the Pope was be-
sieged with petitions to grant her pardon.
This he was nearly persuaded to do, when
at the trial her cause was most eloquenly /
pleaded by the counsel appointed for the
defense, and it was shown how probably
a man so generally disliked and dreaded
as francesca should have had enemies
outside his own HOUSEHOLD to plot against
his life Other murders of similar char
acter occurring about this time, induced
the Pope to refuse pardon, and it is
thought that his decision was influenced
by the considerations that in the event of
their condemnation the property of the
prisoners would come into the possession
Of the church They were, therefore,
publicly executed on the piazza of the
bridge of St Angelo, September the 9th,
1899 All the windows roofs and balco-
MES in the vicinity We're filed with people
to witness the scene, so great was the in
terest felt for the beautiful young hero
he.
The portrait by Guido is said to have
been painted Just before her execution,
md during her confinement in prison
Her story has furnished food for many a
romance and has often been represented
upon the stage. She Is still generally
supposed to have been innocent of con
lection with the crime, and for every one
this passage Of history, the pic
ure has strange fascination.