Pietro felt the blow keenly, but being unable to find any remedy for it, he cloaked his anger with the show of being displeased at not having been present, and this displeasure would cease in him with the joy of the nuptial feast, which should be in their house. He assigned to his daughter as dowry twenty-six bonds, with future succession to the remainder. On the very same day, after talking of the advantages which would result to both houses from the union of their interests, they decided upon the removal of the Comparini to Arezzo, which followed in a few days, and with it the absolute administration of the property by Guido.

When they had reached Arezzo the Comparini were received by the mother and relatives of Franceschini with all that show of love which is customary on such occasions. But very soon, from constant association, disturbances arose, and thence they passed to hostilities. The mother of Guido, a proud, avaricious woman, who governed the household despotically, took to stinting it even in the necessary food. This moved the Comparini to complaints, to which the Franceschini first responded with insults and then with threats. This was a thing Violante could not tolerate, for, being a woman, she had her own share of natural arrogance. So she began tormenting Pietro, cursing the day when he had decided to move to Arezzo, laying the blame on him for all that of which she had been the cause. And Pietro, who was one of those men who let themselves be overcome by a couple of crocodile tears of their wives, instead of reproving her for the undertaking (although she had concluded the marriage against his wish and without his knowledge), entreated her affectionately to bear with patience the abuses, which would possibly cease when the Franceschini saw them defended by their daughter.

At that time [November 30, 1693] passed from this life to Heaven Cardinal Lauria, a churchman of merit beyond all praise. Then Abate Paolo was elected Secretary in Rome of the Religious Order of Malta. At this the haughtiness of the Franceschini increased so much that they considered it grand good fortune for the Comparini to be considered their friends, not to say their relatives. Violante being no longer able to live under the proud command of another woman, since she had been in the habit of domineering, as her husband had been subject to her wishes, so tormented him that she induced him to take up his residence in Rome again. For this purpose the Franceschini gave them a sum of money sufficient for the journey and for the most necessary furniture in the home.

Scarcely had they reached Rome when, to the surprise of everybody, it was reported that Pietro had dispatched a judicial warning, in which he set forth that Francesca Pompilia was not really his own daughter and that therefore he was not obliged to pay the dowry. He brought the attestation of Violante his wife, who had declared that to check her husband's creditors in the matter of the trust fund and to enjoy the income of the bonds she had feigned to be pregnant and, that her husband might not discover the trick, she agreed with him that when she became pregnant they should abstain from association until after the birth of their child. And so, on the very day of this pretence, they took separate bedrooms; still further, by well-arranged clothes, she feigned the swelling of the womb, and by suitable drugs made pretence of nausea until her time was come. She then took advantage of a day when Pietro was occupied in his lawsuits, to bring forth the pretended birth, which was well carried out by the sagacity of a midwife in the secret, who provided whatever was necessary. And that the house servant might not detect the trick, they sent him to the apothecary to secure certain medicines. At the same time the midwife went to get a little creature whom she had received the day before from a neighbour, who was already in the secret. When she had returned to the house she summoned a familiar friend of the Comparini from a window. Matters were so well arranged that when the woman arrived, there was nothing more to do than to make her believe what was not really so. And to trick more surely the thought of this neighbour, they feigned that when Violante wished to pass from the bed to a chair, she fainted into the arms of the woman by reason of her pains, since the midwife could not run up in time.

This unexpected act of Pietro, which became known in Rome immediately, was heard with less wonder than scorn. The just anger of the Franceschini would have undertaken due vengeance if it had not been mitigated by the hope that, since Pompilia was not the true and legitimate daughter of Pietro and Violante, the marriage would be annulled and Guido's wounded reputation would be healed. But when he had taken counsel with several authorities and found they were of different opinions, he was unwilling to risk so doubtful an affair, in the promotion of which they would necessarily confess and presuppose that she was not the daughter of the Comparini, and by this confession they would be prejudiced in their claims to the dowry. They opposed the judicial notice, and obtained for Pompilia the continuance of her quasi-relation as daughter, together with a decree for the transfer of the dowry bonds. But Pietro appealed to the Signature of Justice so trickily that the Franceschini had the expense of the transfer, but not the enjoyment of the income, since they obtained from it not even a two months' payment.

The unfortunate Pompilia was the victim of the hatred of these two houses; for she was left alone in Arezzo at the will of her husband, her mother-in-law, and her relatives, who were mortally offended at her parents, and she was hourly threatened with death. In so deplorable a state the courage even of a more mature woman would have failed, not to speak of that of a girl only sixteen years old. For she was innocent of the wiles of her mother and of the duplicity of her father and by her own good qualities she was worthy of tenderness rather than cruelty. The unhappy one suffered as best she could these tyrannies which were ever increasing, but despairing of all hope of peace, she often had recourse to the Governor of the City, that he might interpose his authority with the Franceschini. As this was of no avail, she threw herself at the feet of the Bishop, who had Guido come into his presence and who tried to reconcile him. But Guido's anger increased all the more because of this public recourse, and he threatened Pompilia with certain death if she should ever try it again.

When the poor child saw every way to peace closed against her she appealed to Canon Conti, a relative of the Franceschini, who was very well informed of her wretchedness because he visited the house, and she begged him to save her life, which was in continual peril. He was moved to pity, for he knew that she had no other remedy than flight. As he could not personally assist in this, lest he would have to bear the hatred of the entire family connection, he suggested to her that the very person for such an enterprise was the Canon Caponsacchi, his intimate friend and somewhat related to him by blood, whose courage was no less ready to meet danger than to overcome it.

Pompilia accepted the counsel of Conti, who lost no time in opening the affair with Caponsacchi. He at first showed some unwillingness, as he hesitated to carry away a wife from her husband, even with the sole purpose of conducting her to her own parents. But when he had been fully informed of the insufferable abuses of Guido and his relatives his pity prevailed over all other considerations and he accepted the undertaking. Pompilia, who was eager for this, tried to win him by letters and amorous verses, yet always keeping herself true to her marriage vows, as one may read in her letters. In some of these she praises the modesty of Caponsacchi, in others she reproves him for having sent some octaves which were slightly reprehensible, and she urged him to keep unstained that nobility of which he boasted. On the day appointed for flight, with the assistance of Canon Conti, the two took their places in a carriage and travelled as fast as they could, without resting save when it was necessary to change horses. They arrived the second morning at dawn at Castelnuovo, and, in spite of the fact that the host had assigned them a bed for repose, Pompilia seated herself in a chair and Caponsacchi went down to the stable to urge on the driver.

When Guido awoke after the flight of Pompilia and perceived that she was not in bed, he arose in a fury, and, seeing the jewel-box open and minus the jewels and money, which it had contained, he surmised what had happened to him. Accordingly, on a good horse, he sped along the Roman road and overtook the fugitives at the abovesaid inn of Castelnuovo an hour after their arrival. When Pompilia saw him, with that courage which desperation may arouse even in the weakest spirits, she seized Caponsacchi's sword which lay upon the table, unsheathed it, and thrust at his life, calling him betrayer and tyrant. Guido, fearing lest her spirit no less than the valour of Caponsacchi might bring his death rather than revenge, turned his horse and rushed to the authorities. He had the fugitives arrested and conveyed to the New Prisons, where he entered charge of flight and adultery against them.

The Abate Paolo who, as has been said, was the Secretary of the Religious Order of Malta in Rome, made noisy recourse for his honour to the Pope, and he put a petition before Monsignor Pallavicino, the Governor, demanding that he declare Caponsacchi the seducer of his sister-in-law, and both of them guilty of adultery, and that his brother for that reason was entitled to gain the entire dowry. Legal proceedings were instituted against them according to the most rigorous forms of law, but no proof of guilt was found against Caponsacchi and Pompilia except the love-letters written at the time of the arranging of the flight, the undertaking of the flight itself, and the deposition of the driver. For the latter declared that he had sometimes seen, when he had turned back during the journey, that they were joined face to face, that is cheek to cheek, a matter which did not make full proof of fault, since the rough roads and the headlong speed of the journey jostling them about might have been the cause of it. Wherefore the Court deemed it prudent and just to sentence Caponsacchi to three years' relegation in Civita Vecchia for his rashness in running away with a wife from her husband, even though the motive was pity. While the case of the Franceschini against Pompilia was on trial, Pompilia was transported with their consent, as their prisoner, into the Monastery of the Scalette on the Lungara, with the obligation that Guido, her husband, should provide her food. There, after a little while, it was discovered that she was pregnant, and as it no longer comported with the reverence of that place that she should remain there, with the consent of Abate Paolo, who had power of attorney for his brother, Monsignor the Governor ordered that she should pass into the home of the Comparini, her parents, under security of 300 scudi to keep it as a secure prison; and he declared that Guido's obligation for her food should cease the very day she left the monastery.

This cause, in which the Franceschini were not obliged to have hand for mere honour's sake, was seen to have its chief motive in selfishness. Therefore there was not a company where the conduct of one or the other party was not censured. For this reason the Religious Order of Malta gave secret intimation to Abate Paolo that he should resign his office. At the loss of this honourable post, rein was given to the evil tongues of his adversaries. This put Abate Paolo in such straits that, ashamed to meet his dearest friends, he decided to leave Rome and to pass to a clime where information of the dishonour that so afflicted him would never come.

When Guido was informed of the departure of his brother and of the obligation resting on him of repairing the honour of his house, he thought that to go into voluntary exile, as his brother had done, would only prove the baseness of his own mind. For he had been justly charged with this, since at the time he had overtaken his wife with her abductor he had failed in that very place to take the vengeance which was demanded at his hands.

In due time Pompilia had given birth to a son, who was sent out of the house by the Comparini to nurse. Thereupon every one believed, and especially Violante, that the ties of blood would move Guido to a reconciliation with his wife. For in spite of their declaration that Pompilia was not their daughter, the minds of the Comparini might still be disposed to some reconciliation. But Guido's thought was quite different, for he was continually stirred, even in the absence of Abate Paolo, to plot the removal from this world of the entire memory of his dishonour by the death of Pompilia, Pietro, and Violante, and possibly of still others.

Guido had in his employ, in the country, a daring and wicked labourer [Alessandro Baldeschi] to whom he often exaggerated the shame which his wife and the Comparini had brought upon his house. To him Guido revealed that with his assistance he wished to purge with their blood the stain to his honour. The cut-throat straightway accepted and declared that, if there were need of other company, he had three or four friends for whom he would vouch. Guido replied that he should take three bold and trusty ones to make sure against any possible resistance, and should use all care to secure them at the lowest possible price.

When all had been agreed upon, and arms suitable for the affair had been prepared, Guido, with his four companions in disguise, secretly took the road to Rome. Reaching the home of the Comparini at eight o'clock in the evening, one of them knocked at the door, and when Pietro responded, the murderer told him that he had a letter to give him which had been sent from Civita Vecchia by Caponsacchi. When the women heard this they told Pietro to have him come back again next morning, urging him not to open the door. But he was curious about the news from Caponsacchi, and when the murderer replied that he could not come back in the morning, as he was obliged to leave that night, he opened the fatal door and thereby admitted his own death and that of Violante and Pompilia.

Guido in a transport of rage leaped in with two companions, leaving the others on guard. They first dealt the poor old man many blows, and deprived him of life before he could lift his voice. Scarcely had the unfortunate women seen this when, transfixed with like wounds, they suffered the same fate. Upon the unfortunate Pompilia fell the blows of her husband, accompanied with countless insults, and after he had trampled her several times under foot and wounded her anew, not trusting his own fury, he told his companions to see if she were really dead. One of them lifted her by the hair and let her fall again, and assured Guido that she was no longer alive.

When this barbarous murder had been concluded and the money agreed upon had been paid to the cut-throats, Guido wished to leave them, but they would not allow him to desert them for fear that one might kill another, as frequently happens for hiding such misdeeds. Or else the murderers, while united with their leader, had agreed to kill Guido as they thought he might have a large sum of money. Hence they did not consent to his leaving them and they took the road toward Arezzo together, which they agreed to make on foot, as they could not secure posthorses.

From these repeated wounds Pietro and Violante were quite dead, but not Pompilia, though her wounds were more numerous. For because of her innocence she was especially helped by the divine mercy, and she knew so well how to feign death that she deceived the murderers. When she saw that they were gone, with her dying breath she mustered sufficient strength of voice to make the neighbours hear her cries for help.

They found her in the last extremities, and eagerly ministered first to her soul and then to her body. Her wounds were so numerous and of such a nature that although they did not immediately kill her, they made her death certain. This occurred a few days later, to the sorrow of all those who assisted her and who had knowledge of this pitiable case. The fortitude with which she suffered the pains of her treatment caused as much wonder as her resignation to the Divine Will caused love. She not only did not blame the cruelty of her husband, but with fervent prayers she besought God to pardon him. The compassion of her assistants both for her soul and for her body I attest by the following sworn statement concerning not only her innocence, but the happy passage of her pure soul to heaven. [Then follow the affidavits of Fra Celestino and others given in The Book].

Divine justice, which would not suffer so atrocious a deed to go unpunished, caused the criminals to be overtaken by the authorities at the break of dawn at an inn a few miles from Rome. For when they had eaten a little, they went to sleep by the fire, fatigued by the journey and overcome with drowsiness. The police rushed violently in upon them and, pointing carbines at their breasts, assailed and bound them at once. They were straightway taken to the New Prisons, and the Governor apprised the Pope of this barbarous murder and of the arrest of the guilty. He gave commands that, without delay and with all rigour, trial should be brought, this being a case which, by reason of the consequences which might arise from it, should be examined into with very special attention.

Far less torment than would seem to be necessary had to be applied to get the confession of the murderers and of Guido, who more than the rest had stood by his denial. But at the sight of torment he had not the heart to resist longer and confessed fully, saying indeed that the crime had had no other motive than the reparation of his honour which had been so publicly offended. This was a matter which any common man would have undertaken, not to speak of himself, who was a gentleman; and if on his first examination he denied the truth of this, he had done so lest he might injure his companions, who had aided him in a deed worthy of all sympathy, because he had honour as his sole end.

With the confession of Guido and its ratification by the rest, the process was finished, and they were sentenced, the cut-throats to the gallows and Guido to mannaia, a means of death conceded rather out of respect for his being in clerical orders than for any other reason. The Advocate and Procurator of the Poor had written so ably in their defence on the point of honour that there is no memory of more learned arguments. But the features of the crime were so many (and all of them punishable with death) that they were overcome no less by their nature than by their number. Among such features was the bearing of arms prohibited under capital penalty, the death of Pietro and Violante who were not accomplices in the flight of Pompilia, the murder while a lawsuit was pending, and in their own home, which place the authorities had with the consent of Guido assigned to Pompilia as a secure prison. The many other weighty charges which displayed the great learning of the defenders were the just cause of the death of the accused. Yet with the usual hope of all those who make confession of capital crime, Guido flattered himself that he could save his life by reason of his honour. At the unexpected announcement he did not give up to such a frenzy as frequently follows in those who experience so terrible a disaster, but, as if stupefied, after a few minutes he heaved a deep sigh, accompanied by a few tears, which by their extraordinary size showed dying symptoms. He said: "I well feared a heavy sentence, but not that of death. My crime is great, but love of honour has never suffered me to perceive what it was until now that sentence has been passed, which I hold in such reverence that I wish to appeal only to God, to whom alone I turn for the only mercy. Without His will I should never have reached this awful pass, which may be a comfort to me and not a source of bitterness, that I may gain by entire resignation to His will the merit of His pardon." And then he threw himself into the arms of the compassionate Frati and showed such signs of true contrition that their prayers were accompanied by tears rather than by exhortations.

His four accomplices did not submit themselves with the same readiness, for as they were of lower birth so were they less swayed by reason, which would render them impressible to the punishment they had merited. The oldest [Baldeschi] and youngest [Agostinelli] were the most obstinate, the one from having a heart hardened by so many years of evil life, and the other being all too sensitive to so harsh a punishment for a single crime, in the very flower of his youth, without ever having spilled a drop of blood, and with the sole fault of having been induced to stand as guard at a door through which Guido had had to pass, to purge himself of the stains to his honour by the blood of his foes. As the hour of execution drew nearer, the stubbornness of these wretches so increased that the Frati despaired of their repentance. At last the Divine Mercy, which works miracles when we least expect it, entered their hearts and gloriously demonstrated His omnipotence. They finally trusted in God, and the memory of those faults which had made them obstinate, and which were now illuminated by the Divine Grace that disposed them to penitence, fitted them for pardon. When these souls had been secured for God after such a hard contest, the execution passed from the New Prisons at Tor di Nonna to the scaffold raised in the Piazza del Popolo in view of the gate and of the Corso. In the midst was the block on a lofty scaffold, larger than usual and with steps made with particular care; on the two sides the gallows were placed at equal distances. In spite of the vastness of the Piazza, not a single foot was left which had not been occupied by stands, which were covered with tapestry and other ornaments forming a theatre for festal celebrations rather than for a solemn tragedy.

His four companions preceded Guido, each of them in a separate cart, assisted by the devotion of the accustomed Frati [The Brotherhood of Death], and followed by a countless concourse of people praying for a blessed departure, which in view of their contrite resignation seemed not at all doubtful and even a certain hope. Rarely did Guido Franceschini turn his eyes from the crucifix, except when nature, overwearied by the steadfastness of his gaze, made him turn away his head but not his heart, which had been wholly given to his Creator so that none was left for himself.

When he had reached the Piazza di Pasquino, and the cart had stopped before the church of Agonizzanti, where on days of public execution it is customary to offer the Sacrament to the delinquents condemned to death and therewith to bless them, Guido knelt and began to recite, in a voice quite audible to bystanders, certain verses of the Miserere, and among them this, "Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities." He accompanied this with such signs of sorrow and penitence that the people by their tears showed no less grief than the one condemned.

With equal devotion his companions received the same blessing, but the behaviour of the youngest [Agostinelli] was remarkable beyond belief, who beside himself with his love of Heaven and of God, by his expressions which exceeded his own capacity, confounded the wisdom of his pious assistants.

Thence by the most densely populated streets they continued the journey to the Piazza del Popolo, where they all died, Guido last, with those acts of contrition which their preparation had shown. As the youngest had displayed most blessed signs during life, so it pleased God that he met his death likewise, for at the moment the executioner did his work, he clasped between his breast and his hands the image of that crucifix whereby they had become certain of Divine Pardon. This assured the people of his salvation as his untimely death had aroused their pity.

Rome has never seen an execution with a greater concourse of people, nor does it remember a case on which there was such general talk as on this. Some defended the Comparini, because they had suffered abuse, others the Franceschini as it was a matter of honour. But, on looking at the matter dispassionately, they were adjudged to be equally guilty, except that Pompilia, who was entirely ignorant of the truth, was without blame; for she had consented to the marriage at the command of her mother without the knowledge of her father, and had fled from her husband for fear of death with which he had often unjustly threatened her.

From trickery arose the union of these two houses, from the Franceschini in frauds regarding property they did not possess, from the Comparini by the pretended birth, or by this very pretence if the birth were real. The trick arose from greed of gain in Pietro to secure the trust moneys for himself, and in the Franceschini to minister to their own ease; so all was done contrary to laws both human and divine. Hence a bad beginning was followed with a wretched ending, as has been told above.

NOTES AND COMMENT

1. Title-page (p. 1). The manuscript title-page of the Book is closely paraphrased by Browning, R.B. 1. 122-31, the word "position" being used as the equivalent of Italian posizione.

2. The Index (p. 3) (Italian, indice) is a manuscript table of contents, evidently supplied by the original collector.

3. A Transcript of the sentence against Pompilia (pp. 5-7) in the Criminal Courts of Arezzo, dated February 15, 1697 (for 1698). Parallel with the Process of Flight (see Note 18) in Rome, the Franceschini family evidently instituted criminal proceedings in Arezzo against the fugitive Pompilia, charging her with theft and adultery. Signor Guillichini and the driver Borsi were included in the action as accessory to the crime. The Franceschini were able to secure the condemnation here which was not obtainable in Rome. Under security of this sentence, granted in December 1697, Guido could safely go on with the assassination of his wife, so far as Tuscan law was concerned. The transcript in the Book is dated February 15, while the murder trial was at a crisis, and was probably sent to Rome by Signor Cencini to assist Guido in his peril. It is noteworthy that Guido did not include Caponsacchi in his accusation in Arezzo.

4. Romana Homicidiorum. The frequently repeated designation of the case—Romana causa homicidiorum—Roman trial for murders.

5. Hyacinthus de Archangelis (Italian, Giacinto Arcangeli), Procurator Pauperum, was Guido's chief defender, not an attorney employed privately by the defendant, but an official States' attorney for the defence. The Roman court procedure in all cases assumed the right and obligation of the State to conduct both sides of a criminal case.

6. Desiderius Spretus, Advocatus Pauperum, was the co-defender of the accused. Humphrey's Urbs et Orbis, p. 428, makes plain the respective functions of the two attorneys: "The advocate is a man skilled in civil and canon law, who defends causes in writing or by word of mouth, on the point of law, setting before the judges that which is true in law, or best founded in law, or the principles of law which ought to be applied in a particular case. His is the scientific part of the cause, and he speaks only to the point of law. Matters of fact are to be established by the procurators, and it is upon these established facts that the advocate develops his judicial conclusions."

7. Joannes Baptista Bottinius, Fisci et Cam. Apost. Advoc. (Advocate of the Fisc, or Treasury, and of the Reverend Apostolic Chamber), the chief prosecutor of the criminals, with functions equivalent to those of the prosecuting or States Attorney in the Common Law. Browning continually used the clipt form, Fisc.

8. Franciscus de Gambis, Procurator Fisci, was the coadjutor in the prosecution, opening the case in Pamphlet 5, but thereafter playing little part in the case.

9. Antonius Lamparellus, Procurator Charitatis, the attorney who, in Pamphlet 17, defended the memory of the dead Pompilia for her heir and against both the Franceschini family and the Nunnery of Convertites (see Note 10), both of whom were accusing her memory to gain her estate. This trial in the criminal court of the Governor, took place between the death of Guido, February 22, and May 17, 1698. The decision "for absolution" was made definitive by the decree of court, September 9, 1698 (Pamphlet 18).

10. The Nunnery of the Convertites. Within a month after the death of Pompilia the Nunnery of Sta. Maria Maddalena delle Convertite al Corso (founded 1520 pro mulieribus ab inhonesta vita ad honestam se convertentibus) laid claim to the whole of Pompilia's property on the ground of their privilege of receiving the property of women of evil life who died in Rome.

11. Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord Governor. All the arguments and the summaries of evidence in the murder case are addressed to the Governor of Rome, but the Vice-Governor, Judge Venturini, seems to have presided in his stead.

12. The title and imprint on the right half of the final page of each of these official pamphlets was evidently for convenience in filing the documents when folded into bundles. The imprint Typis Rev. Cam. Apost. (Type of the Reverend Apostolic Chamber), is the official imprint of the Papal press.

13. The Deposition of Angelica (pp. 49-53). Angelica, a domestic in the Franceschini home during January 1697, while the Comparini were living in Arezzo with their son-in-law, was probably carried back to Rome by the Comparini on their return to Rome that she might serve as a witness to the poverty and parsimony of Guido. She makes her affidavit at Rome, June 24, 1694, evidently for use in the suit brought by Comparini to recover the dowry paid with Pompilia. How far it is true and how far it is the prejudiced and bitter word of a resentful servant who had been kicked out of doors, we cannot say. But its publication through court procedure must have been bitterly humiliating to the Franceschini. What was worse, the Comparini probably used this as a part of the slanderous stories they took pains to print and circulate in Rome (p. 181).

14. Diverse Attestations (p. 53). These attestations, made June 17, 1697, nearly seven weeks after the arrest of Pompilia at Castelnuovo, were evidently secured by her lawyers for her defence in the Process of Flight (Note 18).

15. The letters of Signori Romani and Albergotti are undated, but were probably written soon after the departure of the Comparini from Arezzo in 1694.

16. Pompilia's Letter to Abate Paolo (pp. 56-7). The much discussed letter of Pompilia to Abate Paolo, dated June 14, 1694, full of calumniation of her parents, who had left Arezzo only three months before, could not have been written by the fourteen-year-old girl voluntarily. Guido must have composed it as a counter attack on the Comparini, who were bringing suit against him at Rome, and were loading him with shame.

17. The Attestations of Fra Celestino and Others (pp. 57-60), dated January 10, only four days after the death of Pompilia, was given at the instance of Pompilia's executor, Tighetti. It is a most important piece of evidence, and is cited repeatedly during the trial. Its genuineness and sincerity are beyond question, and Browning gained from it most of his faith in the innocence and saintly patience of Pompilia.

18. Process of Flight. After the arrest of Pompilia and Caponsacchi at Castelnuovo they were taken to Rome and lodged in prison. They were soon brought to trial on the criminal charge of adulterous elopement. The case seems to have been in the same court which tried Guido for murder eight months later, and probably continued in a desultory fashion all summer. In this case both of the accused made the deposition later included in the Book. In this trial also, Guido tried to introduce the testimony of the harlot-servant, Maria Margherita, and the love-letters. The case was never decided so far as Pompilia was concerned.

19. The Deposition of Pompilia (pp. 90-5), dated May 13, 1697, two weeks after her arrest at Castelnuovo, giving the causes of her flight from her husband's home, was made by Pompilia for her own defence in the Process of Flight. The marginal comments, adverse to her, are, of course, the prejudiced comments of Guido's lawyers.

20. The Deposition of Caponsacchi (pp. 95-8), made about the same time and under the same circumstances for the Process of Flight, was reintroduced as evidence in the murder case, but there is no reason to think that Caponsacchi was brought into the latter case in any other way.

21. The Love-Letters (pp. 99-106). These letters are one of the most elaborately discussed pieces of evidence in the Book. Guido claimed to have found them at the inn of Castelnuovo after the arrest of the fugitives, and he offered them in court during the Process of Flight, as a proof of adultery in his wife, but they were thrown out by the court. Their conventional fine-letter-writing, their studied innuendo and finesse, were quite beyond the capacity of an illiterate girl like Pompilia. They were probably composed by Guido, and if so, they prove that he was basely scheming to drive his wife into dishonourable flight that he might disgrace her and cast her off. The eighteenth letter was specifically denied by Caponsacchi in his cross-examination.

22. The Sentence of Relegation (p. 106) for three years in Civita Vecchia was decreed against Caponsacchi at the close of the Process of Flight in September, 1697. It is commensurate with priestly indiscretion rather than with crime.

23. The Account of Fact (Pamphlet 10). This anonymous Italian pamphlet is not at all a part of the official record of the murder case. It has no imprint and is in entirely different face of type, and must have been printed privately for circulation outside the courts. While much less technical and formal than the arguments of the lawyers, and much more studious of popular effects, it slips back repeatedly into the thought and the language of Arcangeli, the defender of Guido. It probably suggested Half-Rome in The Ring and the Book.

24. The Response (Pamphlet 15) is a highly rhetorical, but effective, retort to the anonymous writer. It was written during the later stage of the murder trial, and was probably the work of Signor Bottini. It likewise is without imprint and signature, but may have been broadly scattered throughout Rome.

25. "To keep to this home of Pietro ... as a prison," Domus pro Carcere (p. 159). For a month after the sentence against Caponsacchi, Pompilia was kept prisoner in the refuge called the Scalette—a provision for her safekeeping, not a punishment. On October 12, she was permitted to give bond to keep the home of her foster parents, the Comparini, as a prison, Domus pro carcere, sentence against her being suspended.

26. The Scalette. The Conservatorio di S. Croce della Penitenza alla Lungara was an institution for penitent women, founded 1615, and popularly called Scalette, because of the two adjoining stairways. Browning confuses this institution with the Convertites (Note 10).

27. Baptismal Record of Pompilia (p. 159). This note, taken from the parish record of San Lorenzo, in Lucina, enables Browning to make the exact statement of Pompilia's age and her full name, as given in the opening lines of her monologue.

28. Pompilia's Letter (p. 160) to her foster parents, written from prison at Castelnuovo only two days after her arrest, is her plea to them for assistance. It was probably cited as evidence in the Process of Flight.

29. The Will of Pietro Comparini (pp. 160-1), evidently drawn up after he had learned Pompilia was not his own daughter, and before her return to Rome, aimed to prevent her being disinherited for that reason. Its personal tone is good, and it is almost the only first-hand evidence of the character of Pietro to be found in the Book.

30. Power of Attorney (p. 162). Under date of October 7, 1694, Guido grants full power of attorney to Abate Paolo, who was representing him in the lawsuits in Rome and in other matters of business.

31. Arcangeli's Manuscript Letter (pp. 235-6). On February 22, 1698, only a few hours after the execution of Guido, Signor Arcangeli, his legal defender, announces the end of the case to Signor Cencini, the Florentine lawyer who collected the Book, and who seems to have been professionally related to the Franceschini family, as he had sent certain "proofs" to assist the cause of Guido, probably including the report of the criminal condemnation of Pompilia in the Tuscan courts. (See Note 3). This letter is reproduced by Browning, R. B. XII. 239-98.

32. The Other Letters (pp. 237-8), written on the same day and to Signor Cencini, give a few additional details. The writers seem to have been professionally associated with the Franceschini family.

33. Francesca Pompilia, foster daughter of the Comparini, b. July 17, 1680; was married to Guido Franceschini, December 1693; fled from her husband's home in Arezzo, April 29, 1697; arrested at Castelnuovo, May 1; wrote to her foster parents from her prison at Castelnuovo, May 3; made deposition in Rome concerning her flight, May 13; was on trial for flight and adultery during the summer of 1697; was placed in the convent of the Scalette, September 1697; removed to the home of the Comparini as prison, October 12, 1697; gave birth to a son, Gaetano, December 18, 1697; was assassinated January 2, 1698; died January 6.

34. Giuseppe Maria Caponsacchi, b. May 26, 1673, was invested Canon of the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve, November 26, 1693, and resigned "of his own accord," May 15, 1702. He is referred to in the Book as a man of courage, and his words as he faced Guido at Castelnuovo are significant: "I am a man, and have done what I have that I might save your wife from death." His affidavit is convincingly straightforward, in spite of certain discrepancies with Pompilia's statements, and there is evident moral indignation in his replies under cross-examination. His participation in the dangerous flight in mere amorous intrigue seems unbelievably foolish, and could hardly have been carried through save on the motive he assigns, courageous "Christian compassion." In September 1697 he went to Civita Vecchia under sentence of three years' relegation.

35. Canon Conti, called the "mediator in the flight," was brother of Count Aldobrandini, who had married Guido's sister, and Conti is accordingly spoken of as a "relative and frequenter of the Franceschini home." He had been invested Canon of the Pieve, August 14, 1692. He must have been fully informed of Pompilia's sufferings, and to him she turned at last for help. Deeming it improper for himself to afford her relief, he urged his friend Caponsacchi to accompany her. No criminal procedure was instituted against him in Arezzo when Pompilia and Guillichini were accused. He died January 1698, and the Second Anonymous Pamphleteer hints that this was due to foul play.

36. Guido Franceschini, b. January 24, 1658, the youngest son of an impoverished, second-rate, noble family of Arezzo, had sought his fortunes in Rome, where he became secretary of Cardinal Nerli. He dropped out of this service in middle life, with hardly a dollar in his pocket, and planned to recoup his fortunes by marriage with Pompilia, the heiress of the well-to-do Comparini. After the marriage in December 1693, the Comparini accompanied him back to Arezzo. He seems to have been unattractive and saturnine, and later on proved himself both crafty and brutal.

37. Abate Paolo Franceschini, b. October 28, 1650, the older, shrewder, and more able brother of Guido, was more successful in seeking his fortunes in the official world of Rome. He became secretary of the powerful Cardinal Lauria, and on the death of the latter, November 30, 1693, obtained the lucrative office of Secretary of the Order of St. John of Malta. He assisted Guido in effecting the marriage with Pompilia, and was his active agent in Rome during the lawsuits which followed. In 1697 he lost his secretaryship because of the ignominy which had come upon him in Guido's shameful troubles, and left Rome, possibly, as he is accused by the Second Anonymous Pamphleteer, to assist in planning the murder of the Comparini.

38. Honoris Causa. As the fact of the murders by Guido and his cut-throats was subject to no dispute, the whole law case turns on the question whether these murders had been for the sake of honour, the ever repeated plea of the unwritten law for the right of the husband to slay a wife sinning against her wifehood. The lawyer's devote themselves to ascertaining the limitations and privileges of this plea.

39. Incontinenti, Ex Intervallo. There is much argument on the justification for honour's sake in murder done immediately after the insult, or after an interval of time has elapsed. In the latter case, the murder becomes premeditated, and is not justifiable on the ground of excusable heat of passion at an insult.

40. The Aggravating Circumstances. The prosecution makes much of the attendant criminal circumstances which surrounded the main crime of murder. These are first, the assembling of a band of armed men, constituting the crime of rebellion; second, the murder of a prisoner while under the care of the courts, Pompilia being technically a prisoner detained in the Process of Flight; third, the assault upon opponents in a pending lawsuit, the Comparini then being at law with Guido; fourth, the violent breaking into a private home; fifth, the commission of crime under cover of disguise; sixth, the use of certain types of barbarous weapon, the very possession of which was a capital offence. The first three of these were laesa majestas, criminal insult to the majesty of the law.

41. San Lorenzo in Lucina. This church in the heart of Rome just off the Corso, and not very far from the home of the Comparini at the corner of Via Vittoria, and Strada Paolina, was evidently the parish church of the Comparini, as both the birth and death of Pompilia are entered in its register.

42. Castelnuovo. A village of but a few houses, fifteen miles north of Rome. The inn and posthouse where Pompilia and Caponsacchi were overtaken by Guido thus became one of the most important scenes in the tragedy.

43. Torture of the Vigil. Guido and his companions were tortured thus, to get fuller testimony from them. This torture consisted originally in merely keeping the victim awake until he told his crime. Later on his confession was accelerated by auxiliary devices for intensifying the suffering of the subject.

44. Browning has taken the peroration used in the first lawyer's monologue, R. B. VIII. 1637-1736, directly from the peroration of Arcangeli in Pamphlet 8, p. 130.

45. The description of the execution as given in R. B. XII. 113 et seq., is taken from the additional Italian pamphlet, pp. 265-6.

46. In like manner R. B. VIII. 587-683, is closely drawn from the Book, pp. 153-4, with an interpolation in lines 640-57 from page 226. More than fifty of such word to word borrowings from the Book are made in this monologue.

Minute of the Definite Order of Events in the Case

July 17, 1680. Pompilia born. (Note 27).

December (?) 1693. Pompilia married to Guido Franceschini.

December 1693. The Comparini accompany the bride to Arezzo.

Four months residence together in Arezzo.

Domestic broils in Arezzo, January and February, 1694.

March 1694. The Comparini return to Rome.

April or May 1694. Violante reveals base parentage of Pompilia.

June 14, 1694. Pompilia's letter to Abate Paolo. (Note 16).

June 24, 1694. Affidavit of Angelica. (Note 13).

Summer of 1694. Pietro Comparini prosecutes suit to recover dowry.

August 2, 1694. Letter of the Governor to Abate Paolo.

September 15, 1694. Letter of the Bishop of Arezzo to Abate Paolo.

March 1697. Pompilia seeks aid of Confessor Romano.

April, 1697. Seeks aid of Guillichini, Conti, and Caponsacchi.

April 29 (1 a.m.). Pompilia flees.

April 30 (in the evening). Fugitives arrive at Castelnuovo.

May 1 (early in the morning). Guido overtakes fugitives and has them arrested.

May 3. Pompilia writes from the prison of Castelnuovo.

May 13. Pompilia makes her deposition. (Note 19).

May 21. Pompilia is further cross-examined.

June 17, 1697. Certain persons in Arezzo make affidavit in Pompilia's behalf. (Note 14).

Summer of 1697. The Process of Flight. (Note 18).

September 24, 1697. Caponsacchi sentenced to relegation. (Note 22).

October 12. Pompilia permitted to return home under bond. (Note 25).

Fall of 1697. Pompilia institutes suit for divorce.

Fall of 1697. The Franceschini push a criminal suit against Pompilia in the criminal courts of Arezzo. (Note 3).

Fall of 1697. Abate Paolo loses his secretaryship of the Order of St. John.

December 18, 1697. Pompilia gives birth to a son.

December 24, 1697. Guido and his cut-throats arrive in Rome.

January 2, 1698. Guido murders his wife and the Comparini.

January 3. Guido and his associates arrested and imprisoned.

January 6. Pompilia dies.

January 19. Fra Celestino makes affidavit. (Note 17).

January 1698. The murder trial begins.

January 1698. Conti dies in Arezzo.

January 1698. Sta. Maria Maddalena delle Convertite institutes suit to gain Pompilia's estate. (Note 10).

End of January. The torture of the Vigil. (Note 43).

February 1698. The second stage of the murder trial.

February 9. Certificate of the baptismal record of Pompilia obtained. (Note 27).

February 15. Certificate of the Tuscan criminal prosecution of Pompilia obtained. (Note 3).

February 18. Guido declared guilty, but a stay of sentence granted.

February 21. Execution set for following day. The Pope overrules delay.

February 22, 1698. The murderers are executed.

Spring of 1698. The Franceschini bring suit to recover Pompilia's property.

May 17. The criminal court decides in favour of Pompilia's executor.

September 1-9, 1698. Final decree of court, utterly clearing Pompilia's reputation.

Browning uses all the above chronology with scrupulous accuracy, save when, for good artistic reasons, he changes the flight from April 29 to the 23rd, St. George's day.

Minute of the Personal Names found in the Book and Pamphlet
and used by Browning in His Poem