Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1879-05-20

confess What can he do more?
} his own mind lie begins to believe tn
she is, after all, innocent, and that b
family, for themselves, have simply a
cepted guilt and death as preferable
further torture He cannot go furthe
even he. She is inanaovable. He stop
lets her down, and reports his failure
the Pope. Courage and endurance ha'
won the day, even in Roman tortur
and with young girl as the victim
Pope Clement VIII. sat in the Vat
can. He read the report, and was n
satisfied. Ia fact. Clement VIII. W.
bent on having the blood Of the who
Cenci family. Nothing short of thi
He sent new orders. "Put the girl B,
atrlce to other and severer tortures.
Moscati could not do this, and so a ne,
oeast OF ajudge was found, one Ante
Dy name. to execute the hor1pr. 9Th
beauty and the eloquence of the victir
had softened the heart of Moscati, pei
haps," thought the Pope; there is on
whom pity never moved"
Anteo and Beatrice! A gulf impassa
hie yawns between two such natures
beast and fair and tender girl.
Beatrice is led before AnteO. III
gives her to understand that with hin
there is no trif1ing; it is confession, O
torture to which death only were hea
venlv. He was as good as his word
In few minutes he had poor Beatric
writhing in agony. She hung befor
him, by the wrists, between the foo
and ceiling. "Will you confess ?" b.
growled at her. "NeverW She is sud
denly dropped the full length of tn,
rope without touching the floor, ant
again dropped, and again jerked up
Still innocent. A man of iron wouic
die under the pain she is enduring
Heavy weights are attached to her feet
and she is again pulled aloft, and swung
backwards and forwards. She is whip:
ped on the naked feet. In vain! Cold
water, in stream, piercing, madden.
ing, is poured down her bare back, and
still in vain. Beatrice will not confess.
Very well. There is still a method,
concludes the beast. Anteo will put her
on the wheel that killed Mario. But
first he will try something else. He
will bring her mother and brothers be-
fore her; possibly their tears and pray
ers may affect her.
They are conducted into the awful
room. What spectacle! There, hang
ing before them, with weights at her
feet, and in the most dreadful agony, is
their daughter and sister Beatrice. The
sight was one of horror.
Beatrice Beatrice" cried the ago
nized mother, Twill you die in the tor
ture, and be damned? The deed is done,
and we must be punished, and only by
accepting justice meekly at the hands
of men can we hope for peace in etsrni-
ty? ?"
Till this moment the girls soul had
been steeled to suffer the pains of the
damned rather than confess and bring
the name of the murderer and parricide
upon the noble house of Cenci. But
now she cried from the midst of her ag
ony to her mother and brothers: "Are
you ready then to bring such shame up
on our house, and to suffer an ignomin-
ious death 1t is an awful mistake, but,
If you will it, so let it be. Let me down
then, will confess" she called to the
prosecuting judge. "All that is true, l
will admit. What is not, shall deny"
The judge let her down to the floor
and commenced a series Of questions,
but she interrupted, crying Enough,
because my fate has so WILLIE
it, l will, without further iudirectness,
tell you all. My father terrorized me,
long and frightfully, until I could no
longer bear it, He wished to rob me of
my honor. He treated me worse than
: slave, and swore that, during his life
time, 1 Should never marry. 1 sought
every means to free myself from my
desperate situation. l sent, with the
of Lucrezia, my stepmother,
for she knew it all and suffered also,
1nrr1 inv To fH0 A n -
Then we concluded he must die, and
had him killed by two men at the castle
Of Patrella, where we were stopping"
This, reader, is the confession of the
unfortunate Beatrice Cenci. How many
Of those who look at Guido's picture in
'he Barberini palace, and call to mind
'he life of this poor girl, this fair maid
'f Rome, will not say that she was in a
measure justified? Did not Virginius
'lay his own child rather than see her
iishOnored? And may not child,
'airer than Virginia, slay her destroyer,
even though that destroyer be her faith
er? 1t seems there was no other help
or Beatrice. Death, or dishonor a
worse than death. Was
here choice?
Following, of course, upon this con-
'ession came the execution of Beatrice
md Lucrezia.
)N THE WAY TO THE GALLOws-THE
FINAL ACT.
It was seven in the morning when
,wo low cars stopped in front of the
prison, where their two brothers, Gia-
como and Bernardo, were at sacrament
The whole population of the city was in
he streets. The boy, who, like his
brother, was chained, was on the point
'f kissing the crucifix when he was in
iormed that the Pope had spared his life.
His chains were knocked off, but he was
put on one of the low ears to witness the
tragedy about to commence. Giacomo,
wearing a black mantle and hat, was
to the other car. The process
zion now started for the prison at Savella.
In the meantime Giacomo's mantle was
removed, and his naked back exposed,
while the torturer, with red-hot tongs,
the car and commenced pinch
ng away the flesh. On each side of the
,ar walked number of holy monks, re.
citing psalms and praying.
The procession reached Savella prison,
and now the two women were brought
out, bound, and hidden to march behind
she car on which poor Giacomo was suf-
fering the most awful torment. Beatrice
had calmed herself, and, indeed, moved
ali beholders by the self-possession with
which she at last approached her fate.
Lucrezia wept and groaned the entire
way to the scaffold.
A small room had been built near to
the bridge, into which the party entered
on reaching the scaffold. The day was
intensely hot, and every space in sight
Of the bridge was filed with masses of
people. Bernardo was at once taken up
to be seated on the scaffold, but was no
sooner in sight of the multitude of faces
than he swooned. He was restored,
however, by some of the brotherhood in
and one of the executioners
descended to the little room to fetch Lu
crezia.
At the foot of the scaffold she knelt
and kissed the crucifix. all the time
weeping and sobbing. By order of the
executioner she slipped her shoes off at
the foot of the steps, and was then
helped on to the scaffold. AS she reached
the top, and neared the axe, the execu-
Toner threw off the silk wrapper she
had worn, thus exposing the upper part
Of her body. This caused her to cast her
eyes a moment down in shame, but on
beholding the fatal axe she raised her
avpS and cried HNTv God boya ruoroy