The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1876-03-05

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father. Renzo, Lucy, Agnes, passed faPloiy
over his mind, and he thought, Great Coo
what will these unfortunate people do when
am no longer heref3 bnt raising his eyes TO
heaven. he placed his hope and confidence
there. He CROSSED his hands on his breast, and
bowed his head in token of obedienee; ne
then went to his cell, took his basket, his sian
and his breviary, and after having bid farewell
to his brethren, and obtained the benediction
of his superior, took, with his companion, the
route prescribed.
ever determined on the accomplishment OF his
infamous enterprise, had resolved to seek the
assistance of powerful man. We cannot give
his name, nor even hazard q conjecture with
inasmuch as we And notices of this parsonage
In several histories of the time. The identity
of the facts does not leave doubt of the iden-
tity of the man but there is evidently an e1-
francesca Rivola, in his life of the Cardinal
FEDERICO Borromeo, speaking of him, says,
He was a lord as powerful from his wealth as
illustrious from his birth, !" and nothing further:
him, as a man, this man, person. this person.
az will relate" says he, 1.-THE case of man
who, belonging to the most powerful family In
the city, chose the country for his residence,
and there assuring himself of impunity bv the
force of crime, he set at naught the law ana
the magistrates, the king and the mobiles
Placed on the extreme confines OF the state,
he led an independent life he offered an asy-
ium to the outlaw; he was outlawed himself,
and then absolved from the sentence winch
had led" We will hereafter quote from
this author other passages, which will confirm
the history we are about to relate.
To do that which was forbidden by the laws,
to be the arbiter, the supreme judge In the
affairs of others, without other interest than q
thirst for power; to be feared by all, even by
those W no were the objects of fear to all men !;
these had ever been the controlling principles
which actuated the conduct of this man. From
his youth he had been filed with impatient
envy at the power and authority OF others ;
superior to the greater number in riches and
retinue, and to all perhaps in birth and anda-
city, he constrained them to renounce all COM
petition with him; he took some into his
friendship, but was far from admitting any
eq uality between himself and them his proud
and disdainful spirit could only be content
with those who were willing to acknowledge
their inferiority, and to yield to him on all &C.
selves in any difficulty, they did not fail to
solicit the aid of 80 powerful an auxiliary, and
refusal from him would have been the de-
struction of his reputation and of the high
himself and others, he had performed such
deeds that not all his own power and that of
his family could prevent his banishment and
outlawry, and he was obliged to leave the
State. believe that it is to this circumsta nce
Ripam omit alludes: "He was obliged to leave
The country, but his audacity was unsubdued.
He went through the city on horseback, fol-
lowed by pack of hounds, and with the sound
palace, he sent an abusive message to the gov
ernor by one of the guards"
In his absence he did not desist from his evil
practices; he maintained correspondence
with his friends, who were united to him,
says Ripamonti, sin a secret league of atrocious
Deeds"
1t appears that he even contracted new
habits, of which the same historian speakt
with mysterious brevity. Foreign princes hac
recourse to him for important murders, ant
| they even sent him reinforcements of soldier
to act under his orders"
| At last, whether the proclamation of hi
| outlawry was withdrawn from some powerful
intercession, or that the audacity of the maj
outweghed all authority, he resolved to return
home-not exactly to Milan, but to q castl
on the frontier of the Bergamascan territory
which then belonged to the Venetian State
"This house," says Ripamonti, was a focus O
sauguinary mandates. The household wa
composed of such as had been guilty of grea
crimes; the cooks, and the solutions even, wer
not free from the stain of murder Beside
this notable household, he had men resemblin
them stationed in different places of the tw
States on the confines of which he lived.
All, however tyrannical themselves, had bee
obliged to choose between the friendship G
enmity of this tyrauncal man, and it Jared j
with those who dared resist him. 1t was i
} vain to hope to preserve neutrality OF indeper
dence his orders to do such or such thins
or to refrain, were arbitrary, and resstanc
was useless. Recourse was had to him on a
occasions, aud by all sorts of people, good 8
well as bad, Tor tue arrangements OF Luelr I'll
, culties so that he occasionally became tn
protector of the oppressed, who could not hav
obtained redress in any other way, public c
private. He was almost always the ministe
of wickednees, revenge and caprice but th
various ways in which he had employed hi
power impressed upon all minds great ide
of his capability to devise and perform his ac'
in defiance of every obstruction, whether Law
full or unlawful. The fame of ordinary tyrant
was confined to their own districts, and ever
district had its tyTant; but the fame of thi
extraordinary man was spread throughout tb
Mianese; his life the subject of populs
tales, and his rame carried with it somethin
, powerful and mysterious. Every tyrant VIZ
suspected of alliance with him, every assassi
of acting under his orders at every extraord
nary crime, of the author of which they wei
8 ignorant, the name of this man was uttere
e whom, thanks to the circumspection of our hi
{ toraus, we are obliged to call the Unknow
e The distance between his castle and that
{ Don Roderick was not more than six mile
e The latter had long felt the necessity of kee
), ing on good terms with such neighbor, al
e had proffered his services aud entitled himse
e to the same sort of friendship with the res
d he was however, careful to conceal the natu
e and strictness of the union between thel
Don Roderick liked to play the tyrant, but n
r openly tyranny was with him means, n