Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-04-28
The Cardinals Corpse.

10Y an ai'ip!iI> -'p- ' ICi-'"-N ~ iN'iON
Ing inc!,l,nt '-Wh"u Cardinal Spai':lio
died there Wa 4 piUu, but warm dispute
a, - where h. should be buried. His
famii,. w}.r We're all Princes dci spa
,,r!li, demanded that he should lie i'll a
splendid msu>eeum which had bean
erected for lnrmber- OF their house on u
plot Of con,,rratpd ground within the
gardens ri their palace at NllianuJva'
near Naples. The chapter Of : Ju>tlnlo.
whose Archbishop the Cardinal WAS,
claimed. on The contrary. that he should
b.. inferred in the choir of their Carhr-
dra: hut In" Rrnr'}rtinc meuk> of Vii
ltMUuva ~rt up q much more drcidrd
claim. on the strength OF ii torn piece "f
paper Oh which the Cardinal had at >omr
time or other >rrawlrd in pencil a wish
That he NIGH sleep in 4 certain cool nook
of the Monastery hurial-ground. The
relatives upinci that this wa, Il mere
aesthetic wiSl-tlie fugialc thought Of a
moments rrIerie, and public opinion
was against them. 1t is said that the
torn pir,',' of paper ought 10 prevail.
The trtl,h is that Cardinal Spadclio had
been very good man. and the people
wanted 10 -" him buried in Il way suited
to the idc, they hal formed of his char
arter. II va, laid that for some time
before his death he had led an a>cetical
life. though he WAS very rich. and the
monks cuniectured that he might posi-
b!v work miracles if hr was laid in their
ground. The Brncdictines found it eX-
pedirnt 10 proclaim that they had won
the special favor of heaven; and they
caused door to be opened in the wall
OF their burying ground. in order that
! the faithful of both sexes might b. al
mittcd to view the tomb onre aweck and
deposit offerings on it. Cures of paraly-
sis. necrosis and internal complaints not
easily lissrniblt' TO the diagnosis "f
physicians. now became frequent in the
district. and ii was thought kind thing
by local practitioners that the Cardinal
should never trench Oh their ground by
healing inlirmities within their compass.
1 The story then goes OH To relate hsw
two brothers named Forconio. with three
kindred spirits named Ribaldi, Sacrip-
| anti and Coquino. planned Il robbery of
! the grave Rbaldi and Sacrlpanti re-
manned in the chapel. The two For
conioS and Coquino having arrived in the
vault they commenced to examine the
coffin. Ii was an imposing structure.
/ more than three feet high, so that the
| deceased could easily have sat up in it
had he been moved to do 50. 1t was
covered with black velvet and sur
mounted by n crown of ornamental
homework. richly gilt. The thieves
/ had brought implements for forcing open
the coffin. and they supposed that the
outer she'll must contain two or three in
ner ones; but when they had forced the
lid they were great surprised and, i'll
deed. startled, by seeing the embalmrd
cardinal lying quietly asleep TO all APP
pcaranccs between the satin Innings and
with his head rrpo>ing OH Il white satin
pillow. The sight gave them turn.
The Cardinal WAS attired III his scarlet
robes and laced alb: he had IN arch
episcopal inter Of gold cloth on his
head and his hands. covered with red
glove, embroidered with pearls. held a
crozicr. He looked very august. There
was Il majestic calm about him which
gave Coquino twinTe in the region of
his stomach. and made the two Forco-
MOS feel rs il IL procession of cold rain
drops were Sliding down their backs.
The three rogues stared hard at the Car
.hnal, then rccni!cd aud looked nervous
~ at one another. They said not Il word,
but the elder Forconio. unable to bear
the look of that solemn face, drew uD
the Cardinals cape over il. and SO con
cealcd it from view. Then he made Il
sign to his arrUrlpiiCrs. and, after SUMO
trouble. they lifted out the sleeper and
laid him respectfully enough on Il white
sheet. which they rolled around him. In
another minute they had carried him up
stairs into the chapel. whence they
quickly bore him away to an ox-cart
waiting outside the burial ground.
Presto shouted Forconio. harshly. to
the pair Of oxen, and with Il tug at THEN
collars the two animals moved on. But
they moved without the cart. To the
horror of the Indicators the oxen went
pl0dding through the rain while the cart
stood moiionless. The traces had been
unlocked. Forconio, who was limpins
on in front with one hand on the yoke
did not notice what had happened; but
four indescribable, agcnized yells caused
him to turn ronnd. and the whole earth
seemed to give 4 big heave under hi.
feet when he saw a tall figure draped il
white standing up in the cart. 'Madr,
dc Do" faltered the ruflian, in voice
which squcaked through his CONSTRUCTED
throat. His first impulse was to fly, but
his senses had no command over hi,
limbs and he stumbled. Raising himself
from the muddy soil on one knee h,
looked round The Cardinal, crozier il
hand, was marching straight toward
him.
There was a heavy series Of spiaShe
in the mud and some wild gasps. For
COMO accomplicr' rushed by him. ma,
with terror: but the cripple, less nimbl'
of foot and more heavy Of conscience
went on stumbling from puddle TO pud
die, flame in both his eyes and his hear
humping out frantic sobs. Down he Wen
again; but this time when he rose Their,
was hand upon his shoulder. He coult
not bear it; one look round, one glanc,
into that awful, majestic face. aud tn,
criminal literally howled as he tore him
self away, charging through the rain ant
dark as fast as he could 90. till his head
long course took him to the ridge of tn,
marble quarry, where he slipped ant
trmbled, all breathlcSs, soaked and DIES
pairing. into space. His body was pickle,
!. up on the following day stone dead. Th,
Cardinal had followed the culprit, and
having witnessed his execution. utterct
n little moan of compassion. and walSet
back whence he had come. One neel
scarcely say that this terrifying affair hav
ing got br,lited about through the con
duet of the other four rascals, who fo,mt
it prudent to decamp from the country
the public veneration for Cardinal Spa
dello's tomb rose to a paroxysm. Tn
Benedictine monks. like prudentpcrsons
| said nothing TO damp the general zeal
: though they had their quiet. pious chuck,
over. tho miracle among themselves. Ant
aparticular frair named Antonio laughed
more piously than any of tho others. TO
it was he who hal taken the place OF tn
; dead Cardinal, and assumed u COSTUME
like his just for one performance. How
, the monks had got wind of the contem
, templated burglary remains mystery .
tho confessional. Perhaps il was Dor
, coniu's wife who whispered tho matter
for she had found her husband moros,
and tiresome; and within year of hi