CARDINAL ANTONELLI'S RICHES.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2554, 14 March 1877, Page 3

CARDINAL ANTONELLI'S RICHES.

The correspondent of the Sydney Morning Plerald, writing from Rome on this subject, says :—

Never, perhaps, has gossip been so busy with any subject ns tliatof Cardinal Antonelli's pecuniary belongings—how much he died possessed of. and to whom he had bequeathed it. It was well known in Rome that he had left great wealth, but no especial interest would have boen aroused regarding; it had not some of those English Roman Catholics, whose extra zeal is a continued source of embarrassment to the Vatican, brought the matter especially before the public, thinking, with little wisdom, to prevent rer/ marks.jwhich would perhaps never other-, '.wise have been called forth; they published letters in the London papers to the effect that the Cardinal never had morethan a very small patrimony and his cardinal's income of £-00 a year. That he left" 50 millions of francs, as some assert, is, no doubt, a great exaggeration ; but that ho did leave millions isequally as certain. Another 12 months, however, must pass before public curiosity can receive any satisfaction, for his will, which was published at the beginning r>f this month, is so worded that it gives no - information as to the amount. " All my possessions"—the will says—" furniture, gold, silver, precious objects, titles, and' effects whatsoever, the credits, and the little money that may be found in my posi session at the time of my death, . . . I assign to my brothers, Filippo, Gregorio, Luigi, and Angelo," &c.; but there is nothing to tell bow much wealth the two little words, " the credits," include. They do not say much, could scarcely say less, and yet it is known they cover immense deposits in the banks of England, France, and Vienna. Until the schedule, or, as it is called here, the inventory of' the deceased's property has been completed and various formalities fulfilled, for' which altogether a year's time is allowed by law, the heira cannot be called upon toname the amount and pay the legacy and succession duties. It was said that- he had bequeathed his valuable collection of rare marbles to the Vatican Museum, but he has left it to his nephew Agosteus, together with a palace he possessed on the side of the Quirinal Hill. All his landed property he has left to his nephew Paolo, son of his' brother Luigi. To those of his servants who had been with him for-25 years he has left them full wages for the period of their natural lives, to those who had been with him 15 years two-thirds of their wages, and one-third to all those who have served him a lesser time Cardinal Antonelli was as fully entitled to make money by legitimate means, and to any amount, as any other men. Beyond, "as I have explained, being an ecclesiastic in name, he was layman to all intents and purposes, and as such in one of the letters I have spoken, of, a wellknown Catholic describes him. But, nevertheless, gossip, and malicious gossip, has been busy for, years as to how he made his money, and these tounges he answers in his will, as follows :—" Before proceeding to dispose of my private, fortune, I declare that I do not posses any other capital beyond that which came from the" heritage of my excellent father, or which I have been able to acquire through the means left me by him. I protest, therefore, against all the calumnies which on that or on any other account whatsoever have been in so mnny ways circulated through the world, before God who is to' judge me, and before Him I forgive from my heart all those who have tried to do me evil."