The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-05-24
Pona Leo XIII.

After his mass, which he says early,
Leo XIII. gives audience to Cardinal
Jacobini. Secretary of State, and for
merly Nuncio at Vienna, whose political
learning is rare, even in those of his po-
sition. His place is then taken by the
Cardinal Secretary of Ecclesiastical At
fairs, and by the congregation of Cardi-
nails, each of which has its fixed day.
The several councils usually occupy the
whole morning, until one hour after
midday. The Pope's dinner consists of
pottage, one dish of meat. and some
cheese. A few minutes suffice for its
consumption. While he takes the air
in the generally in his car
! riage-he usually reads the Bishops re-
ports, all of which come direct into his
own hands, the dispatches from the
nunclatures, and especially any news
from Belgium. For twas there that he
himself was Nuncio from 1843 to 1876,
and there he studied atclose quarters, d
great politician, Leopold 1. Toward
O'Clock the Pope gives his private and
public audiences, and the evening hours
are devoted to the reception 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 200,000,000 Cath
olics does not spend 100 francs a month
for his table. The energy of a strongly
developed nervous system alone enables
him to resist the fatigue of his labor and
vast responsibilities. At times those
about him perceive q moment of ex-
haustion 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 betakes himself to that work of re-
conciliation and peace-making to which
he has devoted so much of his time.
He is always grave, or, rather, SOL
emn; always the Pope. The Italians
call his manner and surrounding cere-
monious. Gravity is inherent in his ma
ture, as those aver who have known him
from his earliest youth. He never aban-
dons 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 audi
ences are far less frequent than were
those of Plus TX, but for that very rea-
son they take up more time. He has
not the brilliant side 80 noticeable in his
predecessor, the genial ease, the fine
good humor which endured, nothwith-
standing the surprising yicissitudes of
the last Pontificate, nor the frank, bold
and genial speech, full of witty and
happy words, thrown off in that sono-
rous voice which Plus TX. retained in
his extreme old age. Leo XIII. is as
| slow of speech as the Archbishop of
| Paris. But if neither the Pope nor the
| Cardinal has received the orators gift,
| each has been endowed with the au-
| thor's.
The pastorals in which the Archbishop
of Perugia (this was Cardinal Pecci's OF
| flee before his election as Pope) was
| wont to demonstrate the harmony of
faith and reason. of religion and civiliza-
| ton, t'growing like the flower and fruit
| from the root of Christianity, were
much noticed by Italian publicists. The
priest loves to treat the question of the
| day and of modern society The great
| Bonghi said of him that his was zone of
the most finely balanced and vigorous
| of characters" that he was "a man who
had realized the idea of Cardinal such
as St. Bernard conceived it." Since the
eighteenth century, since the time of
Benedict XIV. and Clement XIV,
Rome has not seen Pope of SO culti-
waited a mind. so accomplished in Latin
and Tuscan verse, so familiar at once
with classic and contemporary letters.
His letters, his encyclicals, all are SUBJ
mitted to the sacred college. Nothing
is more admirable than the manner in
which he elicits opinions and weighs OBJ
| jections. He has been known to COM
| pletely rewrite, after grave debates. en-
| cyclicals which he had already COM
pleted. AS he suffers from sleeplessness,
it is generally in the night hours when
he composes his most immortal work.