The Red Cloud chief., 1876-11-16
An Italian Tradition.
A Curious Tale OF LeghOTn-A Statue ana
It's Meaning A Work Of Art and the
Terrible Ordeal of It's Author.

It's Neaning-A Work Of Art and the
Terrible Ordeal of It's Author.
Some twenty Years ago Mac" a
writer for the ChTOnicie. visited Livor-
no, or Leghorn, us English-speaking
people call it. a beautiful city III the
northwest corner of Italy, visited by
travellers on the Continent from every
quarter of the globe. While there. and
soJOurnlng temporarily with an old res
ident. an E~nglishman by the name of
Davis, a jolly, rubicund hotel keeper.
We learned that there was Il tradition
respecting the monument in the square
just below his hotel, and near the quay.
h monument, aS near Us can be re-
membered. has a pedestal and shaft
similar to the Battle Monument in Bal
tlmore, at the intersection of Fayette
and Calvert streets, except that sur
mounting the shaft is a l~ifc-siIe statue
OF a Prince, son of the then reigning
Duke of Tuscany; while at the base, Oh
each corner. IN a sitting position. sits a
huge black figure in heavy chains. One
of the figures represents the father. the
| other three SONS. The father is repre-
scented a having his back broken. All
OF the figures represent giant men. The
tradition ran as follows: During the
reign of the Princes father a noted
black pirate and his three Sons, who
rendeZvoused on one of the islands
adjacent to the coast of Italy. had com
mitted depredations upon small ham
lets on the coast, and levied tribute
upon the inhabitants thereof. Their
tremendous strength and size overawed
the people, so that they had no difficulty
in securing rich booty and retiring un-
molested. Expeditions had been fitted
out time and again to capture these out
laws, but in vain. for when an ordinary
force was sent against them it would
come back defeated, and when an over
whelming force was sent the outlaws
could not be found.
At length. when patience was ex-
hausted, the Prince. the o of the grand
Duke. raised a force to ferret them out
and either capture or DESTROY them.
They had not been out of port MANY
days when they discovered the four
outlaws in a boat rowing toward the
main land, and Immediately gave chase,
and were fortunate enough To capture
them. but not until the father had bro
ken his back by strenuous eXertions at
the oar to escape. Full of e%Xultation,
and amid the universal applause of the
pOpulace the Prince ran into the quay
at Leghorn and landed his prisoners,
which was no sOOner done than he was
arrested for violating the laws of the
Duchy of Tuscany respecting Quaran-
tine, the penalty for which was death.
His trial shortly enSued. and he was
condemned. with a recommendation to
mercy; but no pleas could sway the
judgment of his father. who declared
that the laws of the realm should apply
to princes as we'll as to laZzaroni, and
there seemed to be no hope. Finally. a
plan was agreed upon, which was in
substance rs follows: If the young
Prince could execute in bronze 4 s~tatIes,
representing in size and every other
respect the four outlaws. and submit
them to the inspection of the populace
for a certain number of days, and no
defect could be pointed out between the
representatives and the original. then
the Prince was TO receive a pardon:
otherwise he must suffer the penalty of
the violated law.
Long and faithfully did the young
Prince apply himself TO create the fac
SMILES of the originals that would defy
~unfavorable criticism. and upon a GER
tain day his statues were exposed in
the public square for the test.
Day after day the people crowded
around the statues, and as each day
passed none were found who failed TO
pronounce the figures as exact counter