Tombstone epitaph., 1915-06-27

|
 most fascinating Of companions. at
 other moments his frown struck like
 death.
 "I advanced trembling, and kneIt
 respectfully before his holiness, who
 was surrounded by a gorgeous suite
 As soon as he had received my forma
 homage. and had inquired after the
 health of the French president, the
 pope dismissed everybody except Sal
 vatierra lie then commanded me to
 rise. and addressed me:
 "1 have sent for your Excellency,'
 he said. not in your capacity as Am bassador of France, but in that of a | son of the Church. I have been in- formed that you were an acquaintance of certain man called Count Guliel
 mo Vescaro. and l have believed 1t
 possible that you may be uneasy iu
 your mind with regard to his fate. Am l right in this?'
 "l bowed. and darted a look at Sal.
 vatierra. But his Eminence remained | without any sign of consciousness.
 The Holy Father proceeded:
 "I have, therefore, determined to
 give you certain information which.
 as loyal Catholic. you will know how
 been told that the man Vescaro was
 formerly an officer in my service? T bowed once more.
 Do you know how he came to
 quit my service, and to be in receipt
 of pension from the king of Sardin. ia. who styles himself king of Italy? I do not, your Holiness.
 Tt is that which I desire to tell you. You are familiar with the cir.
 cumstances under which the king ob- ! tained possession of the city of Rome,
 which has belonged to the Holy See for l,500 years. The moment the gar. rison of your brave countrymen was
 withdrawn in consequence of the mis, 1 fortunes of the year 1870 the brigands employed by Victor Emmanuel
 marched against my territories. In the exercise of my rights as a sov. ereign, 1 resolved to resist them, and ! ordered my troops to defend the gates or Rome. Vescaro was that one of my officers in whom l placed the greatest confidence, and assigned to him the most important post, the Porta del Popolo. Under him was a lieutenant, by name Andrea Chigi. a cadet of one of the most illustrious Roman families.
 These two officers. with their men were on duty when the advance guard of the enemy appeared in front Of the gate. Chigi demanded the word to fire. Vescaro refused to give it. and al once proposed to hoist the white flag in token of surrender Enraged at this cowardice. Chigi turned to the men to invite them to fire, when Yes. caro, drawing his sword, ran the brave young man through the heart. The next moment the white flag was Rome without a shot having been fired, and the dominions of the Holy See were reduced to this palace
 Directly afterwards it was dis. covered that Vescaro's conduct was premeditated. He had accepted bribe from the Sardinian government to betray my capital into their hands.
 There was solemn silence for few moments, Then the pope spoke again:
 We have lost Rome. but within these walls the pope is still soy ereign. Immediately after the events , l have referred to- I constituted l tribunal to judge Vescaro. and he was | summoned to take his trial He re | fused to come. and from the nature | of his offense I could not require the usurping government to hand him over to me. The process was therefore ad. Journed, till such time as Vescaro should place himself within the juris- diction of the court.
 '" This occurred the other day. He entered my territory of his own ac. cord, and was duly arrested, certain precautions being taken to avoid pro voking scandal, and to give the Sar. dinian government no excuse to inter. fere. Vescaro was at once brought to trial, an advocate was assigned to him, such of the witnesses as are still living were produced. and he was pro guilty of treason. murder, and desertion on the field The crime was a secular one, and the sentence va. executed. after Vescaro had made full confession and admitted the jus tice of his doom
 "1s there anything in these pro ceedings which you can complain ot as irregular"
 Nothing. your Holiness
 His manner all at once changed. He addressed Cardinal Salvatierra:
 Cardinal. we have had enough of punishments; now let us speak of re ; wards. What does a man deserve , who, when he finds himself in pos. session of the most dreadful proofs i against prince of the Church, instead of bruiting his suspicious abroad. goes to the man he is obliged to suspect, and cand:d!y confesses everything?
 "'Your Holiness, he deserves to be honored by the Church.
 That is my opinion, said the good pope with kind smile. Give our SOD '. what We have designed for him.
 'I looked round, bewildered. The advanced towards me and. n his Holiness's name. invested me with the Order of the Cross Keys" Copyright. in U. S. and Great Britain.) .
 Unsatisfed Curiosity.