The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-29
THE WOMEN OF ITALY.
Order Of the Holy Annuncia-
ton, or Kings Cousins.
R'sToRl BEAUTIFUL At 10.

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RIsToRl BEAUTIFUL At 10.
Conspicuous Literary Ladies and What
They Have Accomplished--Gosd
Queen Margaret.
RoNE. March 17.-fSpecial Correspond
cnce. IA '.cousin Of the king" would be
expected TO dress in silk attire and s'iller
Ia TO spare" to wear diamonds, and
pearls and rubies, and to live in palace
in the winter or turreted castle in the
summer. Some of these ladies. wives of
the cavaliers Of the Order of the ''Holy
Annunciation." who are called the
"cotlsins Of the king do live SO, enjoying
every luxury that wealth can bestow.
But others wrap their poverty about them
ike mantle, and far away from the
pleasures Of the court and Of cities, refuse
all temptations that would draw them
from their retirement.
One Of these is Clementina Zoppis LAMA,
widow Of Giovanni LAMA, who for many
years was deputy in the Italian parliament
and minister Of state or prime minister.
All Italy was recently ringing with her
name because she refused to be helped by
the king in her extreme poverty. '.Liv-
ing. he would not have permitted il, she
said, sand dead, it would displease him. !"
No answer more simple or nobler could
have been given-an answer to wcll-meant
Kindness worthy of q Spartan mother or
OF Cornelia, daughter of the Scipios. /
remember when LAMA died some years
ago in the modest Hotel Hassler, in the
Via Bocca di Leone, back of the Corso.
that his income was reporo(d to be 500.
Since then this sum has diminished and
the brave widow of noble patriot finds
herself in need. She lives in town called
Casalc in Piedmont, where, after the death
Of LAMA, monument was erected in a
public square to his memory. The Duke
Of Aosta, representing the king. presided
at the Inauguration of the monument and
afterwards spent half an hour with the
Signora Lama, while the troops and the
great people who accompanied him waited
outside. She was the guardian angel for
many years of man who sacrificed every
thing for Italy, and it is a source of regret
to all Italians that her principles will not
allow her to accept aid from King Hum
bert.
Another cousin of the king" is Elena
Carroll, who was Countess Elena Sizzo.
She now weeps over the graves Of her
husband, Benedetto, and his brothers at
Groppelio. near Pavia. Many months ago,
at the royal palace of Capo di Monte ut
Naples, her heart was wrung by the death
of Carroll. She cried: sBenedetto. Bene-
detto. take me with you," in the first
agony of grief, and then laid some of the
white roses of Capo di Monte, which he
loved, in his hands. Her journey on
special train with the body of the patriot
and statesman from Naples to the family
seat at Groppello was like triumphal
progress. If her pride could have consoled
her grief the honors that were showered
upon her should have comforted her.
At every station the chief people of the
town waited to receive the train and salute
the new-made widow. Tears were shed
abundantly for one whom many had loved
and the funeral car was filled with lowers.
Elena Carroll laid her beloved dead in the
same tomb where four brothers who had
died for Italy reposed together with their
mother, Adelaide Carroll.
The grief of this patriotic mother was
celebrated in her day by Elizabeth
Browning. and her name is dear to all
Italian patriots.
And yet the honors awarded to her were
no greater than those given to Donna
E.ena, whom ! mentioned above. The
parliament, the senate, the king sent her
messages of coincidence expressed in terms
of the highest praises. She is the last to
bear the name of Carroll. The other
brothers died young and unmarried and
Benedetto had no child. She is left with q
modest income, large part of the Carroll
property having been spent for Italy. She
Is beautiful woman, sweet and noble in
her bearing; truth and constancy beaming
from her dark eye. She is tall, and before
her widowhood had a beautiful high color
Since then | have not seen her. Neither
would she accept q farthing from the king,
who owed his life in 1873 to Cairolis hero
ism in receiving the thrust from the knife
of the assassin Passanante, and would
gladly give her an annuity.
Laura Minghetti is the widow of another
cavalier Of the s.Annunziata, q charming.
graceful woman, possessed of that high in
tellectual culture which distinguishes the
ladies of the Italian aristocracy. She was
an Acton of the south of Italy and married
for the first time the prince of Camporeale.
But she was quite willing to resign her
title of princess to become plain Signora
Minghetti. the wife of one of the most dis
tinguished statesmen of Italy.
Marco Minghetti was friend of Cavour
and minister like LAMA in the famous cab
met which removed the capital of Italy
from Florence to Rome in iS7o Before
his death, Donna Laura was sometimes
seen driving about Rome with Minghetti
in great basket carriage. But she often
walked unpretentiously and unnoticed,
going where she would, like other ladies
who were not cousins of the king" A
Russian lady with q crown upon her card
and Won before her name once told rue that
she talked long at an auction with per-
son who interested her so much that she
at las. asked with whom she had the
pleasure of speaking. The answer sur
prised her for il was-Laara Minghetti,
Sisnora Minghetti was one OF the members
of the Society for the Moral and Literary
Instruction of Women. founded in 1873
chiefly through the efforts OF Domenico
Berii.
sThe present vice president of this So
ciety is Adelaide Observation-Disclosures the
Marchesa Caprancia del Grille. The repu-
tation of Ristori as great actress-the
rival of Rachel-is worldwide, and her
autobiography, Record Artistici," is rec
ognized as one Of the most charming
books of its kind. The style is clear and
simple and the story of her own life is
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