Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-04-28


kind words. But woe betide those
whose hot Protestant prejudices ac-
4 company them into the Pontifical
presence-chamber! 81 perceive we
have some new additions here to
the Vatican gallery of statues, " was
the remark made by Plus TX. as on
one occasion he passed by some la
dies whose cOnsciences forbade them
to kneel where their curiosity ought
never to have taken them and pun
gent indeed is the Pope's wit when
ever he feels called upon to use it in
reproof. Soon after he had issued
cOndemnationS of the excess in fe-
male attire, some Italian ladies APP
peared at an audience with their
heads dressed remarkably high.
''Santita, lie SignOrine Guerrieri"
| (A2lgtice Warriors), said monsignore.
Il had already recognized them by
their helmets" replied his Holiness.
To foreigners he speaks in fluent
| French. He calls them all his chill
dren, even the members of those
Churches which, at the Reforma-
/ ton, separated themselves from the
Roman Communion. "They di-
/ NOiCSu lilcillStANSS, nc says, lTOlll
| the successor of st. Peter, but their
children are none the less his"
When the audience is composed en-
tirely of Italians, his manner be-
comes more familiar and chatty.
a lady came away enchanted at Pho
Mono having told her she was more
like her daughters sister than her
mother. "E queIId," asked the
Pope, indicating remarkably small
woman, sc cdSSd de Stdtttrd o de eta"
Us she short of years or Of inches) =?
After the Pope has passed up one
side and down the other of the two
lines in which the strangers are
ranged, he goes as nearly as possible
to the middle, and delivers a brief
eXhOrtatiOn. His audience is a
mixed one, and he uses words which
may be profitable to all and hurtful
to the feelings Of none. On the very
last occasion he reminded them how
rapidly their days were passing,
while eternity remained immutable.
With the audiences the mornings
work is ended, and the Pope passes
along the LOggia to one of the small
rooms adjoining the great hall of
the library, and there holds what he
calls his "circle," to join which he
has generally invited some one or
other of the more distinguished ec-
clesiaSticS or laymen who were re-
ceived at the special audiences. A
chair is placed for the Pope on the
middle line of the floor towards the
end, the cardinals present sit on
each side of him, while all Others
are ranged at the long reading
desks rising behind each other in
two rows. There the conversation
becomes more or less general. The
topics of the day-the unhappy con-
ditiOn of the times, and the iniqui-
ties of modern Governments, the
Italian and German in particular
are discussed, and the Pope informed
of the minor events of the hour.
Baron Visconti will give his Holi-
ness an account of the last arch9o-
logical discovery; the COmmenda-
tore ROssi will describe the newest
results of his explorations in the
catacOmbs or MOnsignOr Nardi set
forth the articles of some bill against
the Church or clergy just laid before
the Italian Parliament. Not unfre-
quently the conversation leads to
the Pope recounting incidents of
his early life, as when, not long
ago, the presence of the bishops who
had come over with a pilgrimage
from South America elected from
him description, first, of the tenn
pestuOus voyage he made to Chill in
1923, when, embarking at Leghorn
on the 5th of October, on board the
good ship Heloise, he accompanied
the Papal Legate MOnsignOre Muzi;
and then the hardships they en-
dured on terra fJmG, where they
were almost reduced to live on aims.
Or again, when, soon after the bat
tie of Sedan, he told of the political
outbreak in 1927, when he was Arch
bishop of Spoleto, and how one of
the revolutiOnists going to him for
shelter, he took him in and aided
him to escape. The name of the
revOlutiOnist was Louis Napoleon,
and that was the only occasion when
the two men, one to become Pope of
Rome and the other Emperor of the |
French, ever met.
Plus TX. is italian to the core,
and witty, as in fact are all his clever
fellOW-cOuntrymen, even when |
trenching upon the sacred. Many |
of his Witticisms are historical, as |
when, on being asked by Il devOut |
lady, who was tearfully lamenting |
the misfOrtunes of the Church, if he |
did not fear for the "Bark of Peter"
he replied that he was under no APP |
prehensiOn on account of the Bark, !
but he felt some doubts as to what |
might be the fate of the crew. |
When Cardinal AntOnelli told him |
on one occasion that he had been re-
commended to try the Bagni baths
for his gOut, the Pope, jestingly al
luding to the well-known false re-
ports of AntOnelIi's brigand origin,
said he thought his eminence would |
do well to act upon the advice, for |
he had heard it said the 6dgni (Which |
in Italian also signifies "the hulks'') |
had more than once been found eff |
ficacious for members Of his family. |
Sometimes his Holiness has got |
what he has given, as in the case of |
q yearly visit, some years since, to |
an asylum for the aged. According
to custom the Pope recited the Lords |
IdyC1 tlAIA NICH IC CStlllC W blIC |
petition, "Et ne nos iJ1dtcds IN te1atd-
tiOneln," q notably ugly old woman,
who saw his eyes fixed upon her,
Immediately took up the response,
"iSed G6eFd nos q nlOE-0cchiO," there
is vulgar tradition the Pope pos
SeSSe5.
At few minutes before two the
Pope rises, gives his benedictiOn,
and those present having kissed his |
hand he goes to dinner. The dining
room adjOins thestudy and bedroom,
and in small size and plain furni-
ture is in keeping with them. The
Pope always dimes alone, Monsig-
more Cenni, private chaplain, or
some other prelate being in atten-
dance, standing by the table, and |
twice q week the Commentators |
Filippini, the SegTet0riO segTetO.
Having taken his seat-in this room |
his chair has a small canopy over it
Plus *. reads a few prayers 81
lently, and then, punctually at two,
is served, the menu consisting Of |
soup and three dishes, of which he |
seldom partakes of more than two,
drinking a little JOhannisberg cabi- |
net or Cyprus of the Commandery. |
But these good wines have been
prescribed for him; until recently
he never took anything but Vino |
del paese. Fried things he never
eats. When the cloth has been re-