The San Francisco call., 1897-06-06
"DONNA LIMA y
The Blight of Ita1ys Greatest Statesman-A Prime
Minister'S Wife Who Belongs to
the Malta.

of character and picturesqueneSs OF
language. OF course no mention was
made of the deseried wife at Malta,
whose existence had been kept q pro-
found secret by Crispi, who. however,
in course of time deserted Rosalie in turn
for the sake of Donna Lima, now his wife.
Suddenly in 1877 while holding TIE post
OF Minister OF the Interior in the Depretis
Cabinet, Crispi startled even his most in.
innate friends by contracting civil mar.
riage with Donna Lima, and on being taxed
with bigamy, explained that his first wife
had just died ut Malta, and that his union
with Nine. Rosalle, having been con-
tracted during the lifetime of the former.
was necessarily bigamous and therefore
invalid; consequently there was no legal
obstacle to prevent him from marrying
Donna Lima. Tolerant as are the Italians
In such matters, this was more than they
could swallow, and amid demonstrations
OF universal approval Crispi was deprived
OF his portfolio, the same penalty being
meted out to the Minister of Justice, who
mad granted him a dispensation from the
oands OF ordinary preliminary legal for
malltles, such as banns, etc., with the OBJ
lect OF averting public attention from the
marriage
Instead of endeavoring to propitiate tho
court, society and the people at large into
forgetting all these antecedents, Madame
Crlspl No. set to work to carry things
with high hand, expecting apparently to
win Oy means of arrogance ana self-asser.
tlon the position which under ordinary
clrcum stances would have been due to her
as the wife of the leading statesman of
| the kingdom. She forced herself upon
the Queen in the manner above described.
forced herself too upon that portion of
patrlcian society which had espoused the
cause of the QuirinaI, actually com peIIing
her husband, who was completely en-
thralled by her, to dismiss from the Office
of Mayor of Rome the immensely wealthy
Duke of Torlonia, merely because the
Duchess had declined to accept the ad.
vances Of Madame Crispi in the drawing
room of the English EN- bassadress. In
deed, she finally lost her head TO such an
extent that on one occasion at the per-
formance in Rome of French play, which
was attended by Queen Marguerite, n ho
was i'm mensely amused, laughed heartily
and who expressed her approval in the
most public manner. Madame Crispi left
her box in the middle of the piece, loudly
W.
the strength of which ahe induced her
husband on the following day to prohibit
its further repre- sentation on the stage.
Queen Marguerite is the best-natured
woman in the world. But her indigna-
ton at the impertinence of Nine Crispi
| in thus endeavoring to give her a public
| lesson in propriety was more than she
could stand, and few days later another
Cabinet crisis ensued. The climax, how
ever, was reached when King Humbert
was compelled by Crispi to confer upon
him the Order of the Annunciation. the
members of which become ipso facto cou.
sins of the sovereign, this prerogative ex-,
tending to their wives, who follow imme-
diateiy the princesses of the blood on all
| official occasions. Nine. Crispi thus be-
came officially the cousin of Queen Mar
guerite, entitled to remain seated in the
royal presence and 10 be publicly saluted
with a kiss from the lips of her Majesty.
ii IS on the strength of this that Nine.
Crispi has dropped the prefix of "Signora"
and assumed that of Donna" coupled
with her Christian name, Donna being as q
rule reserved for the wives and daughters.
of the old patrician princes of Rome The
people of the Eternal City have humor<d
Crispis wife in this particular. They
concede TO her the title which she has
usurped. But in the words of the old;
French proverb it is the "tone that
makes the song" and the peculiar inflec.
tion of the voice of the Romans when they.
speak of Donna Lima" is more eloquent
than could be the most violent epithets Of
the execration with which she is regarded.
Ex-ATTAcHE.