he Roman
nobility children capable of killing their parents, and among Roman
lawyers men capable of speaking in their defence? This is a thing we
should never have believed, nor even for a moment supposed it possible!"

All were silent upon this terrible rebuke, except Farinacci, who, nerving
himself with a strong sense of duty, replied respectfully but firmly--

"Most Holy Father, we are not here to defend criminals, but to save the
innocent; for if we succeeded in proving that any of the accused acted in
self-defence, I hope that they will be exonerated in the eyes of your
Holiness; for just as the law provides for cases in which the father may
legally kill the child, so this holds good in the converse. We will
therefore continue our pleadings on receiving leave from your Holiness to
do so."

Clement VIII then showed himself as patient as he had previously been
hasty, and heard the argument of Farinacci, who pleaded that Francesco
Cenci had lost all the rights of a father from, the day that he violated
his daughter. In support of his contention he wished to put in the
memorial sent by Beatrice to His Holiness, petitioning him, as her sister
had done, to remove her from the paternal roof and place her in a
convent. Unfortunately, this petition had disappeared, and
notwithstanding the minutest search among the papal documents, no trace
of it could be found.

The pope had all the pleadings collected, and dismissed the advocates,
who then retired, excepting d'Altieri, who knelt before him, saying--

"Most Holy Father, I humbly ask pardon for appearing before you in this
case, but I had no choice in the matter, being the advocate of the poor."

The pope kindly raised him, saying:

"Go; we are not surprised at your conduct, but at that of others, who
protect and defend criminals."

As the pope took a great interest in this case, he sat up all night over
it, studying it with Cardinal di San Marcello, a man of much acumen and
great experience in criminal cases. Then, having summed it up, he sent a
draft of his opinion to the advocates, who read it with great
satisfaction, and entertained hopes that the lives of the convicted
persons would be spared; for the evidence all went to prove that even if
the children had taken their father's life, all the provocation came from
him, and that Beatrice in particular had been dragged into the part she
had taken in this crime by the tyranny, wickedness, and brutality of her