The Irish standard., 1891-03-14
POPE LEO The THIRTEENTH.
The Pope, the Oldest Sovereign in
Europe, Celebrates His 8lst
Birthday.
A PROTESTANT WRITER'S VIEWS

A PROTESTANT WRITER'S VIEWS
How the Youthful Student Of Oarpinet
Rose to the Chair Of St.
, Peter.
Helen Zimmern, q Protestant writer
| IN letter from Rome to the New Yori
Sun, pays the following tribute to tht
Pope, anent his birthday which occurred
; Monday: Leo XIII, is the Oldest sove
reign in Europe. Born on March 2
1916, On March 2, of this year he will
consequently, enter his SD year. This
Emperor William, who alone was his
elder among rulers, has preceded him
to the grave. Giovacchie Joachim,
Peccj, which was the Pope's name before
he was raised to the chair of ST. Peter
belonged to noble, but not wealthy
family Of Carpineto R1mano, small
town situated among the Alban Hills, of
the railroad that leads from Rome to
Naples. The little borough, for it il
naught else, has nothing to show a
stranger save q handful OF small ,tum bic
down, smoke~blackened houses. No
architectural beauty or archaeological in-
terest attracts the visitor to this spot,
although the place is picturesquely
beautiful enough in site, and it's soil il
fertile, producing corn, chestnuts and
olives in generous abundance. Goats,
too, and swine and poultry thrive in it's
products. The Carpinetani say their
greatest fellow-townsman, the Holy
Father, is a ciocciaro; i. e., one Of those
peasants whose costumes are so familiar
on canvas and On the shoulders of the
models that haunt the streets of italian
towns, men who speak queer sort OF
unintelligible patois, and wear the san
dal shoes which flap and clatter on the
ground with the sound Cho~ ~Cha-Cho-
On, when they received their natae,
Nor is Pope LEO fhe first occupant OF
the chair OF st. Peter who comes from
among these hills. The great innocent
Ill, Gregory TX Alexander Nv. and
Boniface VIII were all cioeciari. Car
dinal Antonelli; too, was olocciaro. 1t
would seem as though this were speei.
cially Papal soil.
How strong is the feeling which Leo
XIII. ever retained for mis- family is
shown in letter from him, after this
first lines written after his election,
which is preserved IN gold frame in
the house Of his fathers. It hangs on
| the wall over the bed, where he was in
the habit Of sleeping during his visits to
his native town. The letter, written
with visibly trembling hand, runs as
follows.
Dear Brothers: I write to tell you
that the Holy College of Cardinals has
this morning raised my unworthiness to
the chair of st. Peter. This is the first
letter which L write as Pope. 1t is in~
tended for all my family for whom I
pray to heaven FOR all happiness, and to
whom [ send in we my apostolic bene-
! diction. Pray much for me to the Lord
LEO XIII.
! None are now left of the immediate
family of His Holiness, which consisted
of four brothers and two sisters. The
last to die was his brother, Cardinal
Giuseppe Pecci. Jesuit. whose death
about two years ago was a source Of
deep grief to the Pope, and on that oc-
casion, as on so many others when
qrleved or distressed, Leo had recourse
to his pen, and wrote series of sonnets
to commemorate his fraternal friend. A
nephew and niece of the Pope, both
married, are still living at CArpineto,
rightlp proud Of their Papal uncle.
Joachim Pecci showed an inclination
for study in kerry early life. There is q
large chestnut tree in Carpineto, under
which he spent many hours in reading.
From boyhooi the supernatural attract
6u ulD HUlO4SIIs LA VA0 y 00A AOAO uO 0n-
tered the Jesuit's College at Viterbo, be-
ing then but years old. Here he re-
mained for six years. At Ia he entered
the Jesuits' College in Rome. At that
time Leo. XII. was Pope. The young
Joachim often saw him, and the person
ality Of the Holy Father made so strong
an impression on him when he himself
assumed the tiara he called himself by
the same name.
Young Pecci was . member Of the
Academy Of Noble Ecclesiassics and fre.
quented diligently the Collegium Ro-
manum, the principal training school
for Jesuit professors At 20 he fell i'll,
partly from overwork. He thought him
self dying, and wrote an eulogy on his
prospects Of early death, which ended
with words which may thus freely trans
lated: s.35 Il.
Trembling anguish shall not conquer