New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1886-01-20
Told by His Friend, the Late Able
Rumeli.

Told by His Friend, the Late Able
RumeH.
| Edward Kings Letter in Boston Journal.
! Among the bright books published a
few years ago was one containing IN
teresting "reminiscences OF the late
Plus TX by a certain Able RumelI,
who was kind Of a confidential clerk
and companion of the great pope.
This Able Rumeii died recently, and
| both the Italian and the Austrian
papers, for he was we'll known in Rome
and Vienna, are filed with anecdotes
! of his curious career. Hewas educated
at the college of Volterra with Count
Mastai Ferretti, the gay and genial
soldier student, who afterward be-
came Plus TX. When these youths
had finished their studies they vowed
themselves to military career, and
that they would begin in the Papal
navy, which at that time had two
war-ships, the Holy Trinity and Saints
Peter and Paul. But beingso diminu-
tive the navy scarcely gave scope to
the abilities OF two men whose tai
ents were of first order; and SO Mastai
Ferretti pursued his ecclesiastical ca
reer, and became successively bishop of
Spoleto, archbishop OF Imola and
then cardinal Able Rumeli gave up
all hope of attaining distinguished
honors, and went to live near Imola,
in such profound seclusion that he
soon was called the hermit; but he
remained an intimate friend of his old
college companion and was made fami
liar with all his projects. Gifted witha
veritable second sight, he one day pre-
dicted NJ FerrettIs election to the
papal dignity.
One of the stories which the Able
Rumei was most fond of relating con-
corning the pope, related to the time
when Plus TX was still archbishop OF
Imola, and had received from Pope
Gregory XVI an order to examine
into the case of a young girl, who said
that she had the gift OF miracles and
divine mission. This girl had ip-
stalled herself in a little wood near
Imola, was said to live without food
and claimed to receive visits from tie
Virgin, and claimed to heal all NAL
aides by the laying on ofhands. The pill
grims came by thousands from the
neighboring provinces to sec this great
wonder and for time the girl was at
the summit of glory. But one day the
future pope, accompanied by his faith
cloaks and dusty shoes, dropped in
upon the mystical young lady and
| began to question her. She was meek
enough until the archbishop OF Imola,
ordered her to take off his shoes and
those OF his companion. and to pre-
pare water to wash their feet. The
young mystic rose up full of anger,
and answered very tartly, 81 am the
servant of God, ard not OF man.
Then said the archbishop, "get out
of this country at once. You are on
! " an impostor. The first of Chris
tian virtues, that of humility, is en-
tirely lacking IN your composition"
He had the girl imprisoned, and then
expelled from the province.
Another bright story which the able
told of Plus TX was of the time when
the pope was q simple priest. He told
this tale very often to visitors at the
| Vatican, and always told it with much
simple eloquence and pathos. One
morning when he was in the confes-
sional, a femenine figure yelled from
head to foot, kneeled against thegrat-
ing, and said: Father, | have come
not to confess q past sin, but to de-
mand absoiution for great crime
that | am going to commit, that |
must commit" "What is it?'' said
the future pope. IL am about to be-
| frofhnv. 7 ~
shame. have resolved to kill my
child and to kill myself afterward;
but | must have your absolution, for
at the terrible moment should have
no confessor near me-" The young
! priest was greatly frightened because
the woman talked with the courage of
despair, and he scarcely knew
what to say. For some moments
he sat thinking; suddenly there
flashed through his brain some
thing a famous physician once said to.
him about infanticide. ~ cannot alb
solve you in advance" he answered,
"but swear to me in this holy place.
that you will not kill your child until
you have nursed it for few hours.
Then come back and perhaps God will
help YOU She made this promise
and departed. 1t seems the physician
had told the priest that there was not
a case known in the annals OF crime
in which a woman had put to death
child after she had begun to nurse
it; and, said the pope, when he told
the story, sometimes with tears run
ming down his face, the poor woman
came back to the confessional a few
weeks afterward and told him that
she had not dared to kill her child be-
cause it was SO beautiful and she
loved it SO much, but her own life, she
said, was in danger because her par
ents would kill her if they knew OF her
fault: Whereupon the young priest
, buckled up his robe and went and ar
ranged the affair with the parents.