Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated her throne in 1654, and, after having spent some time first in Brussels and later in Rome, where she embraced the Roman Catholic faith, in 1656 took up her residence in France. Here she discovered that her grand equerry and favourite, Monaldeschi, was betraying her personal secrets. She therefore on the 10th November sentenced him to death, and caused the execution to be carried out on the spot by soldiers of her bodyguard, under the command of Count Lentinelli, the captain of the guard.
The following appeared in the papers dated St Petersburg, August 11th, 1907:
"A telegram from Sochi, in the Caucasus, states that last night the steamer _Tchernomor_, while on a trip from Tchubgia to Tuapse on the Black Sea, was plundered on the high seas by robbers, who forced the passengers to deliver up their money and valuables. One passenger was wounded by a revolver shot. The robbers, who numbered 15, took possession of the ship's safe and forced the captain to stop the ship and to land them. They further ordered him not to stop at Tuapse, but to proceed direct to Sochi, threatening him with murder if he disobeyed.
"A later telegram from Sochi states that the passengers were robbed of 10,000 roubles (£1,000), and that 1,700 roubles (£170) were stolen from the ship's safe."
On Nov. 8th, 1861, during the American Civil War, the Federal cruiser _San Jacinto_ stopped the British mail steam _Trent_ on her voyage from Havana to the British port of Nassau in the Bahamas, forcibly took off Messrs. Mason and Slidell, political agents sent by the Confederate States to Great Britain and France, together with their secretaries, and then allowed the vessel to continue her voyage.
In 1885 James Smith, an English subject, commits a murder in London, but succeeds in escaping. In 1886 he appears in Rome under the name of Edward Fox, and commits a murder there also. He is tried in Rome and condemned to penal servitude for life. In 1906, after having served 20 years and exhibited exemplary conduct, his sentence is remitted by the King of Italy. His real identity having been established during the trial, on his release the question of the possibility of his extradition for the previous murder is discussed in the English press.