St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-20
ers, and receiving the applause and love
of the new world of men.
Leo, the PontifI' of His Age.

Leo, the POntfff of His Age.
Noble Leo, this thy historic titfe-the
pontiff of his age; this thy heaven born
mission, to put the ship of state well
abreast the pillows, and to keep her,
despite the storms. in the post of duty
and honor-nDon the highest wave of
all advancing waters.
1t is an age Of progress; the word is
sacred to its ears and sweetest to its
heart. Leo blesses progress. He writes
in the encyclical: ''tmmortale Del; all
that is true must come from God; what
ever of truth is reached by research the
church recognizes as the tracing of the
divine mind. As there is nothing of
truth in natures realm which can take
away faith i'll divinely taught doctrines,
whatever aids in extending the frontiers
of science, the church gladly adopts.
She is not opposed that new
discoveries be made, that new
improvements be sought for the
comfort and honor of human life:
rather, repelling inertia and iudolence,
she strongly desires that the genius OF
man bring forth from labor and culture
rich fruits; she offers encouragement to
all kinds of arts and of enterprises; di-
recting by her efforts all those things to
honest and salutary purposes, she shall
strive lest in the exercise of intelligence
and industry men turn away from heav-
emily things" 1t is an age thirSting for
knowledge. At the waving of Leo's
hand, schools and universities spring
up i'll all quarters of the globe; men of
talent are sought out to fill chairs; en-
cOuragement is given to widest re
searches; the hidden treasures of the
Vatican library are opened to scholars
of all lands and of all religious beliefs.
With intellectual light would Leo fill
earth's ambient air, and amid it show
the glory of the church. 1t is the age
of human rights. Never did slavery
have meted out to itself such scathing
rebnke as came to it from Leo's pen in
his letter on the African missions. He
has labored to awaken Europe in forci-
Die protest
Against the Slave Trade
in Africa: he has rejoiced when. in triD-
tute to him, Brazil emancipated her last
slaves. 1t is an age of liberty, civil and
political. Leo is the pontiff of liberty.
"Decorous liberty, worthy of man." he
has written, "the church most highly
approves. and never ceases her laborS
to guard it for peoples firmly and in
tact. The church has been the mother
and the guardian Of all civil things that
inure to the common welfare; that re-
press the license of princes who lily
provide for the good OF the people; that
prevent national power from encrOach-
ing lnopportunely upon municipal and
domestic rights" Liberty! No pontitf
in the church. no philosopher OF pub
licist in or out of it, ever maintained the
rights OF peoples to civil and political
Iil,art1, T an hoe 6nna N hic
nificent encyclicalS to the French ma
ton. The welfare of the people, he
proclaimS, Is the supreme law, what
ever the pacts of centuries between the
nation and royal families, and the peo-
pie having chosen for themselves
the freest form of government.
in which every man is all elector-
a government of the people, by the
people, and for the people-Leo orders it
to be acknowledged and obeyed. and for
bins princes or prelates to look aSkance
at it under cover of piety or church
predictions for forms of government
other than the republic. 1t is an age of
democracy-an age III which mans
value is his manhood, and the rights of
manhood are required for all men.
This, indeed, is above all others the
distinctive mark OF the age. The peO-s
pie, the great masses and not the classes,
the multitude, on which Christ had
pity, are to be considered; the human
race no longer lives for the few; the
few, whoever they be. live for the race;
the people take their destinieS into their
hands and reign. Democracy is invad-
ing the whole earth; the strongest walls
crumbe before it; despotisms invihcible
to stoutest armies yield to it obedience.
And yet, rulers and thinkers are slow to
see and acknowledge its powers. Leo
sees; aye, Leo bleSSeS. The encyclicals
to the French nation breathe the
Freshest Spirit OF Democracy;
the encycllcal on labor puts upon its
front the sacred JUNCTION Of e0nsecra-
ton. The people, the sons of toll. the
heWerS of wood and drawers of water,
the masses-toWard these is Leo drawn.
eff [ choose the name by which |
wish to be known In story" he said
mans pontlff." The rights of man are
proclaimed by him as never before
save by His Master. Man is the child Of
God, and must be treated in accordance
with his dignity. He works, but not as
beast of burthen; he must receive i'll
return a Sufficiency to enable him to
live in accordance with his high-born
nature, his inalienable rights, and his
immortal deStinieS. State and church
have for prime duty TO guard the rights
of the poorest and the weakest, and the
poorest and the weakest have the right
to clamor aud work for what is due to
them. Democracy. however, is not
anarchy, nor communism. Leo defends
the rights of society, those of the en-
ployer as we'll as those of the employe,
and his justice to the latter is strength
ened by his justice TO the former. and
his justice to both is strengthened by
his justice to the whole social fabric.
He is the friend and upholder of democ-
racy, because he leads it over the path
ways of order, outside of which it dies,
and makes room for the reign Of might
and seldshness.
Leo does not merely teach; he acts.
The whole power of his pontifcate, the
power of the church which responds to
his touch. is cast in the direction of the
magnificent ideas which make up his
encyclicals. They who esteem the as
pirati0ns of the age and desire their ad-
vance perceive what immense gain
comes when Leo leads and millions fol-
low his standard. The new epoch will
owe him all inestimable debt of graft
tude. He will be largely its creator and
its savior. for his lessons, tempered
with the wisdom of truth and the pru-
dence of the most skilled leadership,
will have guarded the movements from
alterations and excuses. What glorieS
he secures to the church, which, put be-
fore the world i'll its true5t and best
features, draws to herself minds and
hearts He is the great householder. who
bringeth forth out of his treasure new
things and old This is the duty of all
househoders of the church; but the
bringing forth of the old is easy and
many do but this; Leo brings out the
old and the new. God bless Leo.
Opposition to Leo.
He has met with stout opposition
within the church. The kings and po-
tentates fear him; prelates and theolo-.
gians murmur; pions souls pray for his !
conversion Its whispered that he is
misinformed; that he is hasty in his
conclusions, imprudent in his utter
ances. The Catholics are numerous 4
who are more Catholic than Leo, more 1
papaI than the pope. Tie hope is eX-
pressed that an intransigent may sue
ceed him who will change at once the !