The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-04

al once mdOe UP lis HllHu tHdt u Woihoii
who was so good-looking could not
have been anything but good, and the
fact that she was tried by regularly
constituted tribunal. and that abundant
evidence was produced to prove tnat
| she was the leading conspirator in the
murder Of her father. counted for moth
ing in the presence of the worlds deter
mination to believe her martyr Bea-
| trice had the misfortune to live IN an
age when assassination was generally
regarded as a venial offense, when
murder was trihe SO long as the muir
derer could remain undetected and safe
| from the vengeance of the victims
| friends. 1t was even Jest. during
I'her short lifetime. everybody knew that
..succession powders" to rid young
wife of an old husband, or bring an
| heir quickly into his inheritance. could
| be bought almost openly In Rome; that
| I'm the crowded quarters by the river
men could be hired for a few soidl 10
do any murder. Assassination was a
| nightly occurrence In Rome ana every
other large city In Italy and the as
sassins were rarely brought to Justice
Nor would Beatrice have suffered death
| had II not been for the fact that while
| the pope was considering the question
of clemency. the Princess OF santa
CrOce was murdered by her son. ana II
was determined that Beatrice and her
| associates should be made an example
She was no better than the age In
which she lived, In fact, she seems to
| have been somewhat worse. and un-
doubtedly suffered justly the punish
ment due to her bldeous crime.
THE PRISONER OF CHILLON.
Not to devote too much time to the
| ladies'. however, ii is well enough to re-
| member that several men have been
made the pets of the world who did not
| in the least deserve any consideration
at its hands. One Of the most notable
cases of this kind is the prisoner of
Chillon." imrnortalized by Byron. By
| ron was a poet. not a historian, and
might be expected to be carried away
by his sympathes, and. indeed, when
we find historians so grossly misled no
surprise can be felt at the same thing
happening in the case of a young man
of fine poetic genius and OvertlOwing
with sympathy for any case of suffer-
ing, real or otherwise. In this instance
the peculiar castle furnished the theme,
the cell beneath supplied the inspira-
tiOn. and the prisoner was the creature
of the poets imagina ton. Chillon had
many prisoners probably better deserv-
Ing of the worlds sympathy than Fran
co.'s de Downward. to whom Byron re-
ferred. Instead of being the old, feeble
man described in the poem he was a
gay, rollicking young blood perpetual
ly in hot water on account of his am
Orous propensites and fondness for
other peoples property. He opposed
the Duke Bishop of Savoy, Charles ILL.,.
not so much from political motives as
on general principles, being always
ready to oppose anybody just for the
fun of the thing. His invasiOns of Sa
voy were rather plundering raids than
military expeditions, and. according to
one historian, he was finally caught by
the wrathful bishop while returning
from one of these thievish iaunts. his
followers being so laden with stolen
goods that they were taken at a disad-
vantage and could neither run away
nor fight. OF course, the bishop locked
him up; the wonder is he did not do
worse to him. and in Jail he stayed for
six years. He was not confined in the
dungeon at all. but in an airy. comfort
able room above. with neatly barred
windows. from which he could look out
over the lake. He did not take his cap
tivity much to heart. but spent his time
in composing indecent poems. some of
which, scribbled on the walls of his
room, are still to be seen.
MAZEPPA.
Byron had another character, quite
as worthy of a prison cell at Bonni-
ward, but who by the magic of verse has
been transformed into a popular hero.
Mazeppa was the same kind of person
as Bonnivard, and took his famous. but
reluctant, ride as the result of discov-
cred intrigue with the wife of another
Polish nobleman. There was consider
able personal risk In the matter. but
nobody of his time seems to have re-
garded him as specially worthy of SYM
pathy, and when mentioned at all 1t
was usually In terms that indicated the
public conviction that he got about
what he deserved. His ride proved his
fortune. for it brought him with the
Cossacks, among whom he subsequent
ly acquired great influence. His ad-
venture with the horse did not improve
his morals in the least, for several
times after Peter the Great had made
him prince of the Ukraine he was in
vOlved in difficulty with outraged hus-
bands on account of being too much of
q LothariO to please even q COssack,
and more than once his life was In dan
ger. He betrayed the confidence Of
every one who trusted him, even that
of his royal master, whose fortunes he
deserted to take the side of Charles XII
of Sweden. At the battle of Pultowa
he was taken. and Peter determined
served him for a special hanging, to
which the whole army was invited. and
at which ByrOn's hero was to be the OBJ
ject of chief Importance. So little. how
ever. did he appreciate the interest felt
in his behalf, that q day or two before
this grand event was to come Off. he
bribed the jailor and ran away, riding
as fast as he did on the wild horse, un-
til he got into Turkey. There he was
safe. and having more regard for his
worthless carcass than for poetic jus
tice. he stayed at Bender and under the
protection of the sultan. until his death
in 1909. at the age of Ca The ride at
tracted the poetic fancy of Byron. and
the character of the man had nothing
to do with the matter at all.
LOUIS XVI. AND CHARLES T..
A world of sympathy has been vast
ed on two kings who had the misfOr-
tune to lose their heads. The rOyalist
elements i'm both France and England
managed. at an early day. to get the
public ear and to present these two rul-
ers as fit objects for public sympathy.
AS a. matter of fact each met the fate
that he intended to deal out to his
adversaries. There is not the slight
est doubt that had Charles !, been vic
tOriOus in the civil war he would have
chopped off the heads of every one
of the military leaders who opposed
him and finished the job by decimat-
ing or exterminating the parliament
Nobody know this fact better than the
popular leaders. They found Charles
utterly untrustworthy, and discovered
that while he was negotiating with
them for an amicable adjustment of the
affairs of the realm he was also nego-
tiatipp in France for money and men To
reopen the war. 1t was his life or
theirs. and asa measure of self f-defense
they were compelled to act as they did.
Louis XVI. was as faithless as Charles,
and otherwise q despicable character.
If he had possessed one kingly attrib-
ute he would never have been brought
fn nrisnf1 and after he was there the