The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-21
POPE LEO AT HOME.
How He Looks and Works in lis
Eighty-f1rst Year.
From the ReUielo Of Reuietos.

man on the threshold of extreme old age.
But when he speaks and becomes anima ted
this impression Immediately vanishes and
one feels that there is still beneath this
fragile envelope powerful life and that
the blade is infinitely superior to the
sheath that covers il. His voice, es-
pecielly when he speaks in public,
he's retained its ring-slightly nasal, by the
way-and his eyes have lost none Of their
fire. Oh, the eyes Of Leo XIII! When
one has once seen them they can-never be
forgotten. One would think they were
two carbuncles or two black diamonds, so
brilliant are they. They give an extraor-
binary vivacity to his expression, and
there is something inexpressiblY piercing
in their regard. One of the most striking
things, when one meets the holy father for
the first time, is the convulsive trembling
of his hands. This is not result of age, as
is generally supposed. but the consequence
OF typhoid fever, from which he suffered at
Perugia some twenty-five years ago. So
great Is this trembling that Leo XIII. can
no longer write. When he has to sign a
document he is obliged to hold the wrist of
his right hand with his left hand in order to
be able to trace letters that would otherwise
be unreadable, and even then each stroke is
an infnity of tiny, light zigzags.
'The leanDesS of Leo XIII. is phenome-
nal-a leanness nourished by twenty years
OF fasting and privation, and which gives
him an almost incorporeal aspect. One
would say it was shadow that passed
On Jan. l, 1888, l assisted at that never to
be forgotten ceremony, when Leo XIII.
said before the elite of every land mass
TO celebrate his sscerdotal jubilee. Almost
$4,000 persons were crowded beneath the
roof Of st. Peters. Suddenly the
pontif appeared high above the
heads of the crowd, like the Christ in
the TRANSPORTATION of Raphael He
looked like q white phantom gliding silently
in the air and ready to melt into nothing in
che brilliant throng that surrounded him.
Le) XIII. belongs to the race of nervous
men. Ia spite of the apparent delcacY and
Iragility Of Louis XIII. he is gifted with
an extraordinary resisting force, which the
most robust of men do not possess. The
holy father has seen four secretaries of
state die at his side. One day most of the
ecclesiastical dignitaries around him were
Ill. 1t is only we young men who are not
broken down. exclaimed the pope gayly.
The truth is, that since Leo Kill has lived
IN the vatican he has never suffered from
anything more serious than a passing cold.
Longevity is hereditary in the Pecci fam
lily. NJ. Coccareli, the pope's doctor, said
short time ago: 1.-THE constitution of the
pope is SO solid that he could very we'll live
another ten years il he does not catch any
malignant disease. 1t would seem that the
pope's lease of life will not be violently
BROKEN, but that he will die out like lamp
which runs short of oil.
THE following account Of the visit of the
German emperor to the pope reads almost
like modern version of the eleventh CEN
fury story Of King Horny of Germany's
humiliation by the then head Of the church
at Canossa: Plus *. with his 1ovial nature
and perfect bon homie, gave way in his Ian
guage ana manners to Gue familiarity and
sans gene which is not unknown in the
Roman character. Leo XIII. is very differ
ent. He has seldom been seen to laugh
This reserve, which is 50 natural in him,
increases the dignity Of the tiara. 1t gives
him an illuminating aspect. The young
Herman emperor knows something about
this. When he visited the vatican in Octo-
Der, 1888, be was SO Disconnected on visiting
the pope's apartment that he first dropped
the valuable tabatiers that he proposed to
present to the pope, and then he let fall his
helmet that he held in his left hand. He
could scarcely stammer out several inco-
herent words. An eye witness assures me
that he trembled like leaf, and l know
ambassadors OF long standing who cannot
even now conceal their emotion when they
step into the private room Of tho pope, 30
majestically does he carry the solemn dig
nifty with which he is invested.
"As rule Leo Kill gets up at o'clock,
and often at a still earlier hour. At Z he
celebrates mass in his private chapel and
listens to q second one-daction de -graces.
At o'clock he partakes of light repast,
consisting of coffee and milk and few
biscotti, of which his holiness is particularly
fond. He then sets to work to examine
documents, to study questions Of policy, to
draw up letters of encycIiques, etc., at II
o'clock he gives his attention to general
buaInacc and raOafvaq valv
secretary of state,s the ambassadors, the
secretaries OF various congregations, who,
like the ambassadors attached t. the holy
see, have each their special day of reception.
Leo XIII. insists on having q clear state
ment made to him of all matters that need
his personal attention. No detail IS too
small for him to go into; he eadeavors to
go to the bottom of everything. Twice q
week during the winter months, between
IL and l o'clock. the public audiences take
place. Fifty or sixty persons are
grouped in a room, and knesl when
the holy father enterE. He then
passes before each of them, questions them
separately and gives his blessing. English
and American Protestants are often in great
number at these collective audiences. Leo
XIII. makes no distinction between Chris
tIans of different confessions With an ex-
Quisite tact he welcomes the Professionals
with the same fatherly and affectionate
kindness as if they recognized his authority
IN religion. l have seen them moved to
tears by the kindness shown by the holy
father
AT II o'clock the pope takes a light
broth, which sufiices till dinner time. This,
according to the old Roman custom, is at
o'clock in the afternoon. The repest is very
simple. 1t consists invariably Of boiled
meat, q roast dish. seasonatle vegetables,
and fruit for dessert. Everything like
luxury is banished from the table, which
cannot cost more than 5 francs day. The
doctors have ordered him to take Bordeaux
wine, and the archbishop of that city never
Tails to address him barrels OF the choicest
brand. Traditional etiquette requires that
at Rome the pope shall eat alone, aud it 10
only when he is outside the Eternal City
that he can have guests around his table.
Until 1870 Plus TX. went every summer TO
castle Gandolfo, and there he was always
surrounded by distinguished guests.
IF the weather is favorable, Leo XIII.
takes walk in the vatican gardens AID
PARK. In the summer he sometimes lunches
In tins little wooden summer house that has
been built at the bottom OF the garden He
likes to talk to the gardeners and follows
their work with closest attention. He in
terests himself also in the number of
oranges that the garden produces and the
disposal that is made of them. BY the way,
This production amounts to 100000 each
season.
:, Every day, at about or 9 o'clock in
tne evening. according to the season, the
pope recites the rosary with Mgr. Angel,
us private secretary, and one of the priests
u the household. In all religious exercises
Leo ALI. bears serious, dlgniied and I'M