The Columbus journal., 1883-05-09
Pope Leo XIII.

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Leo XIII. gives audiences to. Cardinal
Jacobini, Secretary of State. and for
merly NunciO at Vienna, whose political
learning is rare even in those of his
official position. His place is then taken
by the Cardinal Secretary of Ecclesiast-
ical Affairs, and by the congregation of
Cardinals, each of whom has its fixed
! day. These several counsels generally
occupy the whole morning. until one
hour after midday. The Pope's dinner:
A potage, one dish of meat and some
| cheese; few minutes suffice for its con-
| sumption. While he takes the air in the
afternoon-generally in his carriage-he
usually reads the Bishops reports, all of
which come direct into his own hands.
the dispatches from the nunciatures, and
especially any news from Belgium. That
little kingdEn, which has broken its
diplomatic relations with the HOLY See,
is particularly near his heart. For it is
there that he himself was Nuncio from
1843 to 1916, and there that he studied at
close quarters great politician. Leopold
l. Toward four o'clock the Pope gives
his private and public audiences, and the
evening hours are devoted to the recep-
ton of Bishops. This long day over,
Leo XIII. regains the solitude Of his own
closet. Then at last he is able to begin
work.
Tall. thin, spare. with his pale and
deeply-lined face, the Pope usually has
delicate health. of which he takes small
care. His austerity is extreme. The
spiritual sovereign Of POO. .OOO. 600 Catho-
lies does not spend 100 francs month
for his table. The energy of strongly
developed nervous system alone enables
him to resist the fatigue OF his labor and
of his vast responsibilities. At times
those about him perceive a moment Of
exhaustion and collapse; but little hap
piness. a piece of good news. or pleas
ant telegram, restores the life of his worn
frame. Suddenly we'll again. he takes
Up once more his heavy burden. and be-
takes himself to that work of reconcilia-
ton and peace-making to which he has
devoted himself.
He is always grave or rather solemn;
always the Pope. The Italians call his
manners and surroundings ceremonious.
/, Gravity is inherent in his nature. as
those aver who have known him from
his earliest youth. He never abandons
himself. laughs rarely. He might be
thought stern did he not temper his
severity by the patient attention with
which he listens-without Interruption
to all who speak to him. His audiences
are far less frequent than were those of
Plus Ix., but for that very reason they
take more time. He has not the bril-
liant side SO noticeable in his prede-
cessor. the genial ease, the fine good
humor which endured, notwithstanding
the surprising vicissitudes of the last
pOntificate; nor the frank. bold and
genial speech full of witty and happy
words, thrown off in that sOnOrous
voice which Plus IN. retained to his old
age. Leo XIII. is as slow of speech Us
the Archbishop of Paris. But if neither
the Pope nor the Cardinal has received
the orators gift. each has been endowed
with the authors Perhaps this simi-
larity explains the special sympathy and
esteem which the Pope entertains to-
toward Mgr. Guibert.
The pastorals in which the Arch
bishop of Purugia Chis was Cardinal
Pecci' Office before his election as POpe)
was wont to demonstrate the harmony
of faith and reason, of religion and
civilization. ''growing like the flower
and fruit from the root of Christianity"
were much noticed by Italian publicists.
The prelate loved to treat the questions
of the day and modern society. The
illustrious Bonghi said of him, that his
was lone of the most finally balanced
and vigorous of characters" that he was
a man who had realized the ideal of
Cardinal such as St. Bernard conceived
it." Since the Eighteenth century, since
the time of Benedict XVI. and Clement
XVI, Rome has not seen Pope of SO
cultivated a mind, so accomplished in
Latin and Tuscan verse, SO familiar at
letters. At the present time, the two
qualities which Leo XIII. most prizes,
and aims most constantly at securing in
his own writings, are simplicity and
moderation. His letters. his encyclicals.
are all submitted to the sacred college.
Nothing is more admirable than the
manner in which he elicits opinions and
weighs objections. He has been known
to completely rewrite, after grave de-
bates, encyclicals which he had already
completed. As he suffers from sleep
lessness: it is generally in the night
hours that he composes his most i'm
pOrtant work.
1t is by this active life, the monotOny
of which would frighten many states
men, that the Holy Father is able to man.
age directly, in all their immensely of
detail, the affairs of the church. Those
affairs have multiplied greatly since the
first third of the century. More than
100 hschnnr;oo hov banu fnnnIaH in
America. Plus TX. wrote little; he in
spired the writing of others. Leo XIII.
has his own hand in all, sees all with his
own eyes and directs all. Moderation.
which, with austerity, is the dominant
note in the sovereign pontitf's conduct,
and which he has made into law for
himself, has borne its fruits. At the
time of his accession the diplomatic corps
accredited to the Vatican was reduced
to about two ambassadors of
France and Austria. At present he re-
ceives the ENJOYS or the ambassadors of
all the powers, save only Belgium and
Italy. With regard to those two coun-
tries there are no signs of any possible
understanding; but the re-establishment
of diplomatic relations between the Holy
See and almost all States guarantees for
the present the existence of the Pope at
Rome and his spiritual independence.
Nevertheless. we must not suppose that
the present moderation denotes change
or. q backward movement from the doc
trines of the late pontifcate. recall to
mind the recent significant saying of a
dignitary of the Roman curia: "All that
had to be said has been said. The church
never changes" Figaro. in Catholic
ReUieW.
Something Queer AbOut Ants.
Sir John Lubbock has made out that |
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nest nv any SION or password thOuUh he |