The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1900-01-05

ton would have been certain had not Bor-
gia and Ascanio joined hands and the Milan
csc voted for Roderigo."
II did not think Sforza would have been
so self-sacrihcing. said De Briconnet.
There were compensations, Jacques"
lie Cerc went on. -Four mule-loads of gold
were given to Ascanio, he was made vice
chancellor of the church. and given Bor-
gias own palace, the Cesarini, where his
eminence dimes to-day. Immediately after
the elections were made ] was at the rota
exchanging a few words with your uncle,
the cardinal of St. Malo, and he told me
that as soon as the result was known, Ne
dici turned to Cardinal Cibo. and said: we
are in the jaws of the wolf! Heaven grant
that he may not devour us!' As for Bor-
gia he could do nothing but walk about.
calling out: 1 am pope. 'pontiff. vicar of
Christi"
81 do not suppose it can last long," said
De Briconnet.
Heaven knows. He is close upon II
and grows younger every day. He is
Is strong as he was thirty years ago. And
there are few men who can sit a horse
as he can, even now.
That is true remarked, and gave the
story of my meeting with the Borgia on
the day of my arrival in Rome.
Shortly after this our dinner, where
speech had been so free, broke up, and, find
ing out the hour at which the cardinal
would require my attendance, l took my
book on falconry, and repaired to the gar
den, intending to pass the afternoon in it's
perusal. | made for the Lemon walk, and
found companion in Bran. who was wan
dering there in disconsolate manner, evil
IDENTIFY missing his master. l sat myself
down on a sheltered seat, Bran stretching
out his length at my feet, his muzzle rest
ing between his paws, and SO we remained
in quiet, the dog absolutely motionless, and
engaged in my book.
In this manner passed my time until my
lackey called me, in order to be ready to
accompany the cardinal to the vatican.
After dressing. descended the stairs and,
mounting Castor, placed myself at the head
of my men, and joined De Briconnet at the
grand entrance of the palace. The captain
of 80 swords out, it being a reception
night Of some Importance, and with great
courtesy allowed me to place Jacopo and
my six men in front of his troop, drawing
his own horse alongside of mine, and dis
cussing, with much cunning, of falconry, in
which he was more than an adept.
We had to wait some little time for the
cardinal, but at length he came, accom-
panied as usual by Bayard, and with him
all the gentlemen of his suite, including
St. ArnIande. On reaching the foot of the
stairs, D. Amboise inquired somewhat sharp
ly for me; but changed his tone to one of
pleasant greeting when he saw l was in
waiting.
est. Dennis!' he exclaimed, II thought
you were not coming after ALL
We had but few yards to ride, and our
passage along the Via Alessandrina to the
I'ortone Bronse took but few minutes
AS we rode up there, we kept the obelisk
in the center of the Piazza di S. Pietro to
our left, and saw before us the wallis of the
new cathedral of St. Peter, then about
four or five feet high, the ruins of the old
church still standing around it. At the
time l speak of, nothing had been done
for about SO years towards advancing the
work, begun by Nicholas ", and the great
design, afterwards altered and put into ex-
ecution by Giuliano della Revere, when he
became pope as Julius H., was then in
skeleton form, looking more like the re-
mains of some sacred shrine than the be-
ginning of new work, the so years of
neglect having the effect of making the new
work almost as ruinous as the old church
founded by Constantine.
Although, as ! have mentioned, there
were to be great doings at the vatican that
evening, there was no crowd assembled in
the Piazza of St. Peter. 1t was full of
soldiers, but the people of Rome, who
might have been expected to be there in
numbers, to see the procession of mobiles
and their followers, were conspicuous by
their absence. Men-at-arms there were
in store, jostling crowd of the commons,
for terror was on Rome, and men kept as
far as possible from the Borgo. The piazza
was, however. brilliantly lit up, and the
bodyguards of the various notables We're
strictly confined to the places assigned to
them, order being maintained by about
thousand men of the Spanish guards of the
pope, under the immediate command of Dc
Leyva. The light from the lamps was re-
Elected back by the glittering arms of the
men, and the various ensigns of the great
houses were distinctly visible. The single
column of Colonna rose side by side with
the eagle and griffin of Borghese, the six
lilies of Farnese trembled in the wind, near
Colleoni's two-headed lion, and little in
the background was drawn up solid-look.
standard of the Borgia; these were Cesare's
own lambs, as he called them, veterans of
| many hard-fought field.
At the entrance steps we halted, and
were met by two chamberlains, who, with
their stats of office in their hands, ushered
| us to the bronze gates, by which We were
to enter the vatican. We passed through
| amidst Il blare of trumpets, each side of
the passage being lined with pikemen,
| standing stiff and motionless as statues.
Our way led to the Tore Borgia, the por-
| ton of the vatican occupied by Alexander,
and the distant strains of music caught our
ears as we went on, and shortly entered
The nohla recentiofa rooms which were