Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1878-11-28
"A Convent Scandal.

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A rather curious trial terminated Last night
atEthe correctional tribunal OF Rome. The
prosecutor was Prince Paolo Borgnese, who
had brought an action for libel against The
editor and responsible agent Of the Radical
journal, La Capttald: Itsappears thatsfors
some time past one Of the doctors who assist
the sick OF the hospital of Santo Spirito had
been rather too attentive to one of the Sis
tiers Of Charity, young and pretty French
GIL One fine morning the ,yohng nun had
disappeared. As the Sisters Of Charity who
assist the sick. in the hospital of Santo
spirito are not allowed to. leave the place
without special permission Of the local
managers, people wondered how. the young
girl could have made her escape. The
Sister of Charity had fled with
Borghese, a young and handsome man, who,
though clerical, has been appointed to the
provincial council of Rome to 'superintend
the direction Of the hospital. lost no time in
informing Signpr Balls, the .qpester, or head
of the police, of the disappearance' of the
num-. The necessary inquiries were at once.
made, and the police discovered, the new
abode of the nun. DR.. De Pedis, tho as
'sistant at the hospital, though married man
himself, had seduced the young Sister of
Charity, and had induced her to escape. AS
it was impossible for her to. leave the CON.
vent in her costume, DR.. De Pedis contrived
to procure an elegant, worldly costume, in
which the nun only looked the better. Pre-
tending to be some lady who had come to
Santo Spirito to have tooth taken out, and
leaving the hospital IN the company of the
doctor, the young lady soon disappeared in
closed carriage, and was conveyed to
private I. lodgings. : The r. Capttnle,
in reporting: the scandal, affirmed that
the young nun had been carried off by
Prince Borghese's orders, and that. DR.. De
Pedis had only acted in accordance with
orders received from his Chef. Prince Borg
hese lost no time in bringing an action for
libel against the Capitale, and the trial
ended last night with the Condemnation of
the editor of the journal to 500 lire of fine,
six months imprisonment, and the insertion
of the sentence in the columns of the Capt.
tale. As it was expected that the nun and
the new Don Giovanni, the enterprising
doctor, would appear in court, the hall was,
of course, densely crowded. But no doctor
and no nun made their appearance. Prince
Paolo Borghese, who was first questioned by
the president, said that he only heard of the
case two days after it had taken place, and
had lost no time in informing the authorities
of the matter. He had scarcel " ever
seen the young Sister of Charity,
and could hardly believe that such
man as DR.. De Pedis, whom he
had known since, childhood, would have
committed such thing. He learned from
the questor that the young lady had been
dining at restaurants away in the country.
<bn1.,. A~>4
having seduoed the poor girl. The commend
atore placidi, one of the members of the
board, was instructed by the prince to visit
the young girl, who appeared much grieved
for what she had done, and requested that
she might be shut in some convent. Accord
ing to her own desire, this unfortunate nun
was carried to the Lauretane. Her parents
in France have been informed of the whole
case, and an answer is expected from them.
Prince Borghese has proved himself inno-
cent, and may be satisfied with the fair
dealing of the judge. He is not the first
Roman prince belonging to the clerical party
who has applied to Italian courts for justice
and has obtained it, But public opinion is
now, and justly too, furious against the doc
tor. Several Journals ask whether it would
not be right to punish man who SO ruins
the moral character of good girl. Young
girls may be induced by romantic freaks to
enter a monastic order. That same pas
sion for romantic adventure which has led
them to enter an order that places them in
continuous contact with suffering humanity
may even lead them to amorous adventures.
But it is frightful to think that poor girls
should thus be exposed to seduction. The
young nun, weeping and sobbing, confessed
to the commentators placidi that she would
never have left the hospital had she not been
assured by the doctor, whom she loved pas
sionately, that he was unmarried, and that
he would place her in a house where she
might live comfortably and respectfully un-
I'll her family in France had approved of
their marriage.