Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1881-11-10
the SCHOLAR POPE.
eidsnts In Pope Leo's Early School
Days.


Days.
Geneva Continental Times.
Leo XIII. is crowned scholar
From n child he took kindly to his
books. and the Jesuits turned him into
one OF the first Latinists Of the age.
The one result was pretty certain TO
follow from the other. as the key to
the educational success Of the Jesuits
Is TO be found in their principle Of FIRST
ascertaining n pupils aptitude5, and
then cultivating them 10 the best Of
their power. Joachim Pecci's youth
was a series Of academical triumphs,
each OF which signalized the addition
OF a fresh province Of learning TO his
intellectual dominiOns. Classics were
arst inserted, then mathematics. next
physics, and afterward moral philOso-
ply. at which he gave instruction ut
the age Of 10. Perhaps he might have
remained a scholar and nothing more,
but In the third decade Of his life he
fell under the inhuence-One would
rather say rose 90 the iniuence-Of the
famous Cardinal Odescalchi, a man
who. I'm another age, might have re-
played the part Of the famous Ignatius
Loyola. Odescalchi It was who re-
nounced the purple to enter the order
OF Jesus. and gave innumerable other
proofs Of Christian humility and devo-
ton 20 his Masters cause. Among the
services he rendered TO the church of
Rome not the least was the conversion
Of Pecci. as one may call IL in the true
sense Of the word. He turned his
mind 10 serious though not austere
view of religion. and had the happi-
ness Of admitting him to holy orders.
Pecci was then %, and already a lay
prelate in the household Of Gregory
XVI
Like every pope since the reforma-
ton, Leo XIII. Is thoroughly good
man. Still. II one may venture to
compare his moral standard with that
Of his immediate predecessor, one
would be inclined to state the differ
ence between them as consisting in the
fact that Leo has more of the wisdom
Of the serpent, while Plus had more of
the innocence Of the dove. Plus kept
n childlike heart and faith TO the last,
and the bishop of Perugia, who knew
the world and showed il, rose but
slowly in his sovereiPn's confidence.
He received the red hat in 1853.
but was not appointed camerlengo till
twenty-fOur years later. The days of
Plus were already numbered, and he
must have known that IN thus singing
out Pecci for distinction he was al
most designating him as a desirable
successor. The courtly and accom-
plished cardinal had mt length won his
way to the pontiff's cordial esteem
Plus, too, may have suspected that he
had set too little store by the wisdom
Of this world, and that, humanity speak
ing. no small share OF IL would be nee
essary 10 the man who was next to
steer the bark of st. Peter through the
troubled waters.
Leo XIII. has now reigned more
than three years. and the broad lines
Of his policy are sufficiently defined.
His attitude toward the governments
Of Europe Is the wisest, If IL be not the
emily one, he could have adopted. He
stands on the defensive and bides his
time. Two points in the purely spirit
ual policy of Leo XIII. deserve notice.
The second Of the popes officially Iecog-
nized as infallible, he has not, any
more than the FIRST, made the slightest
use Of the extraordinary powers de-
clared by the last general council of
the holy see. He has defined no dis
puted doctrine. In truth, the council
which proclaimed the pope infallible
when speaking Of ex.cathedra has nee
essarily made the pope very cautious
or giving expression TO cathedra ut
terances. Absolute power has often
been remarked TO exercise a SOLDERING
influence upon its pOssessOr. Even so.
authority TO decide most solemn ques-
tions without appeal is one which a
man who is ut once an Italian and a
priest, scholar, "a diplomatist, will not
be likely to abuse. This is the mega
tive result of Leo's reign; the posi-
tive Is the new impulse he has given
to the study Of the works of st. Thorn
as Aquinas. When one remembers
that the angelic doctor was the favor
tie of Maurice-unquestionably the
largestminded Of Protestant theolO-
gians-one can not help deriving bet
ter hope for the future Of the univer-
sal church from this circumstance.
And, whatever opinion we may have of
the school-men. 1t is surely an excellent
sign of the times when the chief pastor
OF Chrisendom seeks TO combat unbe-
lief, not, as of old, not with the tempo
raj sword. but simply by a study of
what he holds to be the soundest phi
losophy. The present generation may
or may not accept the conclusions OF
St Thomas; it will certainly gain by
studying, If only with view to refute,
him.