The record-union., 1893-01-24

great jubilee when falls within 1t Is the
celebration of Pope Leo XIII. of the
1iftieth anniversary of his conservation
as Archbishop, on January 9th. The
triumphant ''jubilate'' that reyerberates
through the great dome of st.
Peters on that day will be re-echoed by
250,O00,0O0 Of people, in China, in Japan,
in Africa, Australia, throughout Europe
and the two Americas. Nor will the re-
joicing be confined to those over whom
the Pope is spiritual father, for the man
who by his wisdom and moderation has
swayed the councils of Emperors and
statesmen attracts the attention and de-
serves the admiration OF the civilized
world.
In Olden times, when the sound of the
trumpet Vast proclaimed to the Israelites
the advent Of the jubilee, 1t was the GUS
tom to set free the slaves, for even in
those days freedom was a shiDboleth. In
the nineteenth century the jubilee pro-
claims not the freeing of saves-cIviliza-
ton has done or is doing that-but
greater and more important freedom, the
freedom OF souls. Great crimes are re-
United; all sinners are called to the way
OF repentance. Who is the man whose
jubilee is TO be celebrated in so unique a
way? lie is old, infrm; he reigns neither
over principalities nor Kingdoms; he has
neither fleets nor squadrons at his COM
mand; he is practically prisoner III the
palace of his predecessors-and yet he is
one OF the great powers of tAe. world.
ANCESTRY AND BIRTH.
In the spring of 1910, when Napoleon
was on the eve of his marriage with
Marie Louise, when the Narcissus was
taking the winds OF March with beauty
as they blew across the Nolschian mount
aims, the little town of Carpineto, situated
like an eagles nest high in cleft OF the
Alonti Lepini, was the scene of an event
seemingly unilnportant. There, in a
large stOne-hoored chamber on the sec
ond story of the Pecci palace leading into
the private chapel where he and his
brother were atterward to say mass, was
born Joachim Vincent Pecci, the present
Pope Leo XIII. The Pecci were of noble
. Sienese stock. Before the reign of Cosimo
de Medici, when Sienna had become in
volVed in a quarrel with the rival city of
Florence, a branch of the family had
migrated to Carpineto, where in the
OF their mountain solitude they could for
get the din of camps and the clash of
arms. Many of them had risen to note
among the learned professions; one had
become a famous lawyer, another
Bishop, still another Commissary-Gen-
eral of the Popes. Joachlm's father,
Count Luigi Pecci, had embraced a mill
tary career or had been forced into it by
Napoleon; his mother, daughter Of a
neighbOring noble house, brought to her
husband dover not only of wealth and
land, but of kindness, sweetness and no.
bility, qualities which she impressed upon
all her children.
A friend of Father Faber used to saw
of him that hewould certainly turn out
well because he was 1.-THE child of his
mothers prayers" The prediction might
as readily have been ventured of Joachim
Pecci for his mothers influence followed
him through life. She was, as all good
women are, the soul of her household.
revered by her husband, loved by her
children, admired by her equals and
blessed by the poor for miles around.
The venerable Cardinal Pecci, who died
few years ago, could not speak of his
mother without emotion. "She was al
ways working for the poor" he said on
one occasion. I'm seasons of great dis
tress she had daily supplies of bread
baked for them. Our peasants are yerv
fond of polenta or rich nourishing soup,
and she directed in person and watched
the servants while preparing and cook
ing huge caldrons of this species OF pot
tage. This as well as the bread was
dealt out under her superintendent to
all who needed it. And she took special
care that the sick poor who could not
leave their homes should have their sup
ply sent to them, and that the bashful
distress known should receive assistance
III such delicate way as to prevent their
being abased thereby in their own ewes.
She was the soul of every good work of
piety and benevolence that was set afoot
in the town. But all this active outside
charity never made her neglect her home
duties. She lavished on us all a mothers
most devoted tenderness
\ fttlng mother for a future Cardinal
and Pope. In this atmosphere of the
beauty of holiness the childhood of
joachim Pecci was passed, and it is there
fore not surprising that devotion to the
memory OF his mother is still, as it has
always been, one of the most touching
traits of his character.
From the nights around Carpineto the
Countess and her husband heard the
echoes of the Napoleonic wars; the din of
arms resounded from the Straits of Glib
raltar to the shores of the Baltic as the
hitherto victorious armies of the French
were driven back in disastrous rout from
the gates OF Madrid, Moscow and Leipsic
A few months OF peace, while the Little
Corporal was eating his heart out in the
enforced quiet of Elba, were followed by
that whlrIWind Of flame and blood
Waterloo-Waterloo and then St. Helena
Plus VII, at length set free, returned
to Rome, and one OF the first cares of the
gentle and much tried Pontiff was TO re-
store the order of the Jesuits. To their
college at Niterbo, Joachim Pecci, usually
known as Vincent. with his brother
Joseph, was sent, and here he remained
SIX years laying the foundations of his
after brilliant attainments. His love for
the ancient language of his native Iatium
and for the classic literature of the An
GUSTAV age soon became apparent. and
from his twelfth year he wrote Latin
prose ana verse with facility and ele-
gance. The schoolbOy of Niterbo' - saws
one writer, has become the teacher of
the Christian world, and scholars of all
nations have learned to praise the classic
taste and exquisite finish of the produc-
uons OF his pen both in prose and verse;
ON the death OF his mother, in 1924, a
death that tllled him with sadness. and in
speaking OF which to this day his deli
cate features are overspread with a special
light, the boy was sent 10 Rome, where
he lived for time with his uncle in the
palace OF the Marquis Mutt. Thence he
proceeded to the Roman College, passing
in due course into the Academy of Noble
Ecclesiastics, that nursery of nuncios
and school of cardinals The students
at the Academy may be said to live under
the eye OF the Pope, and Gregory XVI.
was as quick to discover the talent of
Pecci as Plus IA. was few years later to
discover that of the illustrious Manninu
He was always to the front in his studies
and won the highest honors, even that of
defending certain selected theses against
all objections in public manner before
the elite of Roman society and in the
presence of the papal court.
While yet in minor orders he had been
attached to the papal household as do
nlestic prelate, and when the Asiatic
cholera broke over Italy and Cardinal
Saa was appointed to superintend all the
cholera hospitals in the city, young Pecci
was of the greatest assistance to him by
his indeiaugable zeal and his fearlessness