The San Francisco call., 1898-02-20
PLACED UNDER
 THE POPE'S BAN
Outcome of a Story Started by Countess That the Real Leo XIII Is a Prisoner i'm the Vatican and a Bogus Pope Reigns i'm His Place,

It was in vain that the Bishop of Chartres, in whose diocese the convent was situated, declined to give his sane tion to the establishment or to recog- nlZe 1t in any way, and finally the scan dai became so severe that he referred the matter to Rome.
 The Countess and her nuns paid as little attention to the orders received from the Eternal City as to those given by the Bishop, and the outcome of the whole affair was that the convent was placed under the ban of the church, and the Countess solemnly eXcommuni- cated by Leo XIII in person.
 The Countess, in no way disconcerted by this, at once declared that the bull of eXcommunication and of ecclesias- i tical interdiction was invalid, and In order to convince people thereof she in- vented an astonishing story to the ef- feet that the real Pope was a captive in the dungeons of the Vatican, and that the decree of communication had no value owing to it's being signed and issued by a bogus pontiff. Strange to relate, this inconceivable l story obtained wide credence in and around Loigny, and when shortly aft erward, at the request of the Bishop of i Chartres, the convent was closed by the police, the Countess determined to
 
 tain means of livelihood. So with the i help of some confederates-one of whom was suspended priest, another a white-haired ex-secretary of the 1 Duke Torlonia and the third a Hondu- ! ras diplomat, who styled himself Duke ! of Bustella, but who turned out to be 1 an ex-convict-she started propa- | ganda with the savowed object of rais- 1 ing sufficient money both in Italy and l T |. ID<,. 1@, l dungeon.
 The Countess evidently possesses some mesmerc powers, for she ire quently silenced all hesitations and | doubts on the part of her dupeS by | throwing weak-minded nuns into frances and sleeps in which they de- | clared they saw the Holy Father on a bed of straw in the subterranean dun geons of the Vatican, access to which could be reached through the cata- combs.
 Enormous sums of money were ob- | tained by the Countess in this fashion, and finally the attention of the police was directed to the matter with the re- 1 suit that two years ago both she and l her confederates were arrested and sentenced, each of them, to two years penal servitude, which she completed about six months ago.
 The Diana Vaughan fraud, with which this has features of resemblance, was one of the most cruel and blasphe- nous ever perpetrated. Its real author was a Frenchman named Leo Taxil, a | Bohemian of literature. He had the assistance of a wretched woman, who appeared before the public as Diana | Vaughan.
 Taxil made the religious public of l Europe the victims of his fraud. He took advantage of a widespread belief l in the existence of a sect or sects of devil worshipers. That such perverts have existed is certain, and that they do exist is probable. They are blas- phemous and demented creatures who worship Satan as the ruler of the uni verse, and perform in his honor hideous | travestieS of religious services Their l practices have lent themselves to gross exaggeration by sensational writers
 Taxil published a series of fictitious revelations of the doings of'these crea- 1 lures. He reached a climax when he produced Diana Vaughan, who con-