The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1918-01-31

occasions. No other monarch whom
have ever met was capable of such
extremes of dignity and urbanity
When it pleased him he could be the
most fascinating of companions, at
other moments his frown struck like
death
Il advanced trembling and knelt
respectfully before his holiness, who
was surrounded by gorgeous suite.
AS soon as he had received my formal
homage, and had inquired after the
health of the French president, the
pope dismissed everybody except Sal
vatierra He then commanded me to
rise, and addressed me:
~ have sent for your Excellency,'
he said, not in your capacity as Am
bassador of France but in that of
son of the Church. | have been in
formed that you were an acquaintance
of a certain man called Count Guliel
mo Vescaro and / have believed it
| possible that you may be uneasy IN
your mind with regard to his fate
Am l right in this?'
L DoWeu, anu udIleu d loOh DIT iodl
vatierra. But his Eminence remained
without any sign of consciousness.
The Holy Father proceeded
81 have, therefore, determined to
give you certain information which,
| as loyal Catholic, you will know how
to respect To begin with, have you
been told that the man Vescaro was
formerly an officer in my service?'
81 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?'
81 do not, your Holiness
ct is that which | desire to tell
you. You are familiar with the cir
cumstances under which the king OBJ
tanned possession of the city of Rome,
which has belonged to the Holy See
for 1900 years. The moment the gar
rison of your brave countrymen was
withdrawn in consequence of the mis-
fortunes of the year 1870 the brigands
employed by Victor Emmanuel
marched against my territories. In
the exercise of my rights as SOW
ereign, | resolved to resist them, and
l ordered my troops to defend the
gates of Rome. Vescaro was tha
one Of my officers in whom l placed
the greatest confidence, and | assigned
to him the most important post, thu
Porta del Popolo Under him was
lieutenant, by name Andrea Chigi,
cadet of one of the most illustriou
Roman families.
THESE two officers, with their meT
were on duty when the advance guar
, of the enemy appeared in front of tn
gate Chigi demanded the word t
fire. Vescaro refused to give 1t, an
at once proposed to hoist the whit
flag in token of surrender Enrage
at this cowardice, Chigi turned to tn
men to invite them to fire, when Yes
caro-. drawing his sword, ran the Draw
young man through the heart. Th
next moment the white flag wa
hoisted, the Sandman troops entered
Rome without shot having been fired
and the dominions of the Holy Set
Directly afterwards it was dis
covered that Vescaros conduct was
premeditated He had accepted 8
bride from the Sandman government
to betray my capital into their hands
There was solemn silence for few
moments Then the pope spoke again:
I'VE have lost Rome, but within
these walls the pope is still a SOW
ereign. Immediately after the events
have referred to, | constituted a
tribunal to Judge Vescaro, and he was
summoned to take his trial He re-
fused to come, and from the nature
of his offense | could not require the
usurping government to hand him over
to me. The process was therefore ad
journed, till such time as Vescare
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 we're produced, and he was pro
nounced guilty of treason, murder, and
desertion on the field. The crime was
a secular one, and the sentence was
executed, after Vescaro had made a
full confession and admitted the jus
tice of his DOOM
"Ts there anything in these pro
ceedings which you can complain OF
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
against prince of the Church instead
of bruiting his suspicious abroad, goes
to the man he is obliged to suspect
and candidly confesses everything?
"'Your Holiness, ne 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.
II looked round, bewildered. The
cardinal advanced towards me and
E11