On the whole Sixtus V was a benefactor to his country; he restored peace and tranquillity to the papal states and the people enjoyed a prosperity hitherto unknown. The severe measures taken were against wrong doers, the outlaws who committed crimes, the brigands in open warfare with the government, the members of great families at variance with one another who set law and order at defiance. At the same time while protecting the city, he beautified it and endowed it with many new works. He built bridges, constructed roads, founded the Vatican library and was a liberal patron of the arts. A notable instance of his charitable action was his gift of three thousand crowns to the funds collected for the redemption of Christian slaves captured by the Algerian pirates. He did much in a very brief space of time, for he reigned only five years and died suddenly with a strong suspicion that he had been poisoned. CHAPTER VI THE STORY OF THE CENCI Francesco Cenci succeeds to the wealth amassed by his father, the papal treasurer--A man of vicious habits and ignoble passion--Hated by his family and his servants--Maltreats his daughters--Beatrice, the youngest, is courted by Guido Guerra--Francesco carries his family to a remote castle where he imprisons Beatrice in a dungeon--A plot is formed to kill him by the children, Guerra, and two of his servants--The deed is perpetrated--One of the servants confesses--Guerra absconds and the four Cenci are arrested--Horrible tortures inflicted to extort confession--Firmness of Beatrice--All are convicted--Pope Clement VIII is inclined to mercy--Another case of matricide forces him to make an example--Scaffold erected upon the bridge of St. Angelo--Terrible scenes at the execution--The Guido portrait of Beatrice--Descriptions by Charles Dickens and Nathaniel Hawthorne--Additions to St. Angelo--Executions of the day. The tragic romance of the Cenci is closely connected with the history of the castle of St. Angelo. Some of the principal performers in this terrible drama were long lodged there; they were subjected to cruel tortures within its gloomy walls, and expiated their crimes upon the bridge of St. Angelo close at hand.