Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/196

188 CEMETERY CENCI of the tombs and monuments are of beautiful design, those of Pope Alexander V., Francesco Abborgato, and Sigismondo Malvezzi being es- pecially remarkable. The campo santo of Genoa is about two miles from the city, upon the slope of a hill in the valley of the Bisagno. It is quadrilateral, and upon the sides are terraces, beneath which are excavated the vaults. In the centre is a circular chapel, with a dome supported by 16 Doric columns on each side, of dark Corsican marble. The cemetery con- tains works by some of the best sculptors of Genoa. It was commenced in 1838, after de- signs of Resasco, a Genoese architect. There is a curious cemetery near Naples. It is a parallelogram 300 ft. in length, on three sides of which is a lofty wall, and on the fourth an arcade. It contains 366 deep pits, some of which are under the arcade and others in the open space in the centre. Every morning a pit is opened, and in it are deposited all the dead bodies which are brought during the day. At evening a funeral service is performed over the entire number. Of other campi santi the most interesting are at Ferrara, Brescia, Parma, and Verona; and among the more recent and extensive is that of Milan. A campo santo after the plan of that of Pisa has been projected in Berlin, to serve as a royal burying place and to adjoin a new cathedral. Cornelius designed for this some of his most celebrated frescoes, but the building remains unfinished. One of the acts of the constituent assembly of France in 1791 was to prohibit interments within the limits of cities, and to require the establish- ment of cemeteries outside of those limits. In 1804 four were authorized, one of which, Pere Lachaise (now within the enceinte), has be- come the best known. It was laid out upon the estate called Mont Louis, which was pre- sented by Louis XIV. to his confessor Pere de Lachaise. It contains the tombs of many illus- trious persons, among which are those of Abe- lard and H61oise, La Fontaine, Moliere, Beau- marchais, Delille, Talma, Bellini, Weber, La- place, Cuvier, Casimir Perier, Arago, Benjamin Constant, Borne, Royer-Collard, Marshal Ney, the painter David, Sieyes, Barras, Frederic Soulie, Balzac, and many others. Its highest elevation commands the city on one side and the surrounding country on the other. Its hills and valleys are covered with every variety of column, obelisk, pyramid, funeral vase, and sculptured flowers and garlands. In England the French example has not been followed, and burials are allowed within the limits of cities, sometimes even within churches. In Russia the cemeteries are at a distance from the cities and villages, and planted with piiies. In the United States great attention is paid to the em- bellishment of cemeteries. Many of them are spacious, laid out with taste, and planted with trees. The most noted and beautiful are Mount Auburn near Boston, Greenwood in Brooklyn, and Laurel Hill near Philadelphia. The principal cemeteries in this country will be described in connection with the cities near which they are situated. CENCI, Beatrice, a beautiful Roman girl, born about 1583, executed in September, 1599. She was the daughter of Francesco Cenci, who in- herited great wealth from his father, the treas- urer or minister of finance of Pius V. Fran- cesco was a man of bad character and dissolute habits, but was able through his large for- tune to escape the punishment of his crimes. Of the children by his first wife two were mur- dered. Beatrice was the eldest of the three who survived. His second wife, Lucrezia Pe- troni, and Beatrice were taken by Francesco to Petrella, a desolate castle among the Sabine hills near the Neapolitan frontier. There Bea- trice and her stepmother were subjected to every species of ignominy and insult. It was said that Beatrice was forced by her father to submit to incestuous intercourse. She vainly appealed to Pope Clement VIII. for protection, and then she and her mother resolved to rid themselves of their persecutor. Monsignore Guerra, who afterward became Beatrice's lover, united with them, and they employed two as- sassins to waylay and kill Francesco as he was returning to Petrella. But the attempt failed. Beatrice and her mother afterward, on Sept. 9, 1598, drugged Francesco, and Beatrice intro- duced assassins into his room, and he was kill- ed while asleep. One of the murderers made a confession, and Beatrice, her stepmother, and her two brothers were charged with the instigation of the crime and subjected to tor- ture. Lucrezia and the elder brother, Giacomo, admitted their guilt ; but Beatrice, thqugh but a girl of 16, long persisted in maintaining her innocence. The Cenci family were connected with the most illustrious houses of Rome, and strong intercessions were made on behalf of the accused. The great advocate Farinacci was heard in their defence. He urged in ex- tenuation of their course the vices and crimes of the murdered man. He succeeded in ob- taining the acquittal of the younger brother, Bernardo, his guilt not having been proved; but while the fate of the others remained un- decided, the princess of Santa Croce was mur- dered by her son, and the pope resolved to make an example of Beatrice, Lucrezia, and Giacomo. They were all executed, Beatrice displaying the most heroic courage to the end. In her last will she directed that her property should be appropriated for furnishing dowries to young girls. Her remains were interred at Montorio in the church of San Pietro. The vast estates of the family, including the cele- brated villa Borghese, were confiscated and bestowed upon members of the Aldobrandini and Borghese families, relatives of Pope Clem- ent VIII. and the future Paul V. The youth and beauty of Beatrice were so great that her execution sent a thrill of horror through Rome. The people would not believe that she had been guilty, and charged the government with having condemned her in order to obtain