Series 1 > Miscellany of the Scottish History Society (Second volume)

DUCHESS OF ALBANY
455
In Christi Nomine Amen, etc.
After the reading by me, the notary, of the will of her Grace, Charlotte,
defunct Duchess of Albany, his Eminence the Lord Cardinal D. Andrea
Gioannetti, worth} archbishop of this city, presented to me, the under¬
signed notary, half a sheet of paper signed by him and by the Rev. FF.
Giuseppe Terzi and D. Ignazio Agostino Scandellari as witnesses to the
said sheet, assuring me that this was an ulterior disposition of her last
will, in the form of a codicil consigned to him by the said duchess, and
the said document was received by me, the notary, and bears the follow¬
ing tenor, viz. :—17 November 1789, at the Ave Maria.
‘ The third waiting-woman, Carolina Bidusi by name, two pieces of velvet
and one of linen, and the same annual pension as the other two, being
very sorry for having forgotten her, and recommending her to Y. R. H.
A little clock to Mr. d’Azincourt. A small present to Monsignor Erskine,
and one to the Cavaliere di Bernis.’ So it is. D. A. Cardinal Gioannetti,
Archbishop. I, Fra Giuseppe Terzi, parish priest of St. Blaise, was
present as witness to the above written codicil. I, D. Ignazio Agos0
Scandellari, C. R. of St. Paul, was present as witness to the above-written
codicil. After this, the question being put by me, the notary, to the Rev.
Father Maestro Giuseppe Terzi, parish priest of St. Blaise, whether it was
within his knowledge that the said late duchess had made a codicil or
schedule, he made answer upon his oath, laying his hand upon his heart,
‘more sacerdotali,’ before me, the said notary, etc., as follows: Yes,
gentlemen, the said duchess this night, an hour before her death, being
very ill but of sound mind, said that she had forgotten in her will to
mention the third waiting-woman, named Carolina Bidusi, Monsieur
d’Azincourt, Monsignor Charles Erskine, and the Cavaliere de Bernis,
and therefore she requested the Lord Cardinal Archbishop to take down
her intentions in writing, as a letter, to be afterwards delivered to the
notary ; and I was present when the said duchess, with her own lips, said
that after her death there should be given to the said Carolina two pieces
of velvet and one of linen, and the same annual pension as to the others ;
a clock to Monsieur d’Azincourt, and a small present to Monsignor
Erskine and the Cavaliere de Bernis. And the said document was
signed by me, under the signature of his Eminence, and is the same as
that now shown me by the notary, and I recognise it as such. After
this the said Father Maestro Terzi was dismissed by me, the notary, in
presence of the witnesses undersigned, and I interrogated the Rev.
Father Ignazio Agostino Scandellari, if it was within his knowledge that
the late Duchess of Albany had, besides her will, made another codicil,
or other additional disposition, and having taken the oath administered
by me, the notary, laying his hand upon his heart, ‘more sacerdotali,’he
replied as follows : I am aware that this night at the twenty-fourth hour,
the duchess having come to her last hour, but being sound of mind and
perfectly conscious, requested his Eminence, the Lord Cardinal Arch¬
bishop, to take down the following dispositions—To the third waiting-
woman, Carolina Bidusi, two pieces of velvet, and one of linen, and the