The record-union., 1893-01-24

/ Verted, but you are so winning theolo-
glan that shall ask the Pope to give you
a Cardinals hat" All" said the Nuncio
"nut that would be poor substitute for
since you mention it-an impression on
your heart" Il have no heaTt,n said the
King sadly. ''Then on your head" said
the Nuncio-and so they parted
w men Mgr. Pecci reached Rome, after
visiting Paris and Marseilles, the Pope
was dead.
ARCHBISHOP OF PERUGIA.
The intentions OF the pontiff who was
1 gone were, however, known and regarded
oy the pontitf who ruled in his place. the
GENIAL fIus IN. 1t was st. Anne's day
| 1916, when Archbishop Pecci 'entered
Perugia to take possession OF his See, a
day chosen in honor Of his mother, whose
least day it had been. Perugia, the queen
OF the hill country, the names Of whose
saints are forever welded to the names Of
its cities-Assisi, Cortona, Niterbo, Fro
HgnO-towns guarded by the nights or
set secure upon the hillsides with the
sunshine pouring into their steep streets,
IS even now city of the past. Along the
soltudes OF this hill country, st. Francis
walked meditating on his Lady Pow
erty,'; here were the very birds that he
| taught and il was over these uplands that
he saw the sun rise and set ''our brother
LORD sum-" upon peaceful and pure
minded people.
\ b, the deep blue sky of Italy, it need
not be seen TO be loved. Those Umbrian
| tWIllghts, delicate and cool as dawns; the
trees-slender trees such as Pietro Peru
| gino dreW-standing out against the lucid
! bIue, the horizons sharp yet soft with air
and distance-the whole atmosphere Of
those purple shadowed mountains and
| Ylne-cIad plains teens with associations
OF the art and the glory of the past. "As
late as IS99, says one writer, those
streets had no gas, no carriages or carts
came and went by the dim Oil lamps, and
the pavement on soft Summer nights
knew only the footsteps OF strollers and
| the sound of their ceaselesS Italian voices.
ana II Perugia was so much a city of the
past on the eve OF the taking OF Rome, it
must have been most remotely old and
/ most intensely Italian in 1916, when the
civil governor Went back as Archbishop"
Inc entry was made amid the huzzas of
the people, for Mgr. Peccis wise and
| faithful administration was remembered
with gratitude, and those happy anticipa-
tons were not disappointed. Among the
records Of his rule are the building of
| thlrty-slX churches and the restoration of
many others, the institution Of the Acad-
emy OF st. Thomas Aquinas for priests, q
seminary for the clergy, a convent for the
LADIES OF the Sacred Heart, the organiza-
ton OF the Society Of St. Vincent de Paul.
for the relief OF the poor ian order already
Wldespread), Of st. Joachim, for the as
slstance OF aged and needy priests, and
the establishment Of institutions for the
care OF magdalens and foundlings.
Ills zeal for education was unbounded:
he not only founded schools but he kept
a constant watch over them to see that
they were all conducted properly. The
seminary was close by the Episcopal
Palace, and the new Archbishop gave up
a wing OF his house for it's further en-
largement. He visited it at all hours
going in quietly and without any notice
seating himself and listening to the reci-
tatlonS and lectures. One of the professors
relates that one day falling 10 be in his
place at the appointed hour in the school
OF Bellies Lettre5, and Fastening to repair
the delay, with the trepidation of a man
who knew that the most likely thing in
the world was to meet the Cardinal in the
corridor of the college, watchful over the
silence and order to be kept there, what
was his astonishment when opening the
| door OF his classroom to see the Cardinal
seated in his chair and translating for the
beneilt OF the rapt scholars passage from
Clcero's PRO Milone." The professor re-
celved no reproof, save a gentle smile,
but doubtless he was never tardy again.
HIS PASTORAL LETTERS.
Among the duties of an Archbishop is
that of writing at certain times pastoral
letters to his flock, warming them of dan
gers, encouraging them in good works.
Archbishop PeccPS pastorals were not
only masterpieces OF elOquence, but thev
showed the character of the man, firm
and unmoved as an antique statue in the
| presence of danger, yet bursting forth
into a tongue of living flame when called
upon to protest against outrage and
wrong. His pastorals were indeed ad-
dressed not so much to the people of
! Umbria as to the Christian world. In one
| of them be says: "Why should the
church be jealous of the wonderful prop-
ress of our age in observation and dis
covery? Bacon, so eminent in science,
has said, a little knowledge leads away
| from God, but much knowlege leads back
! to Cod This golden saying is ALWAYS
| true; and If the church fears the ruin that
may be wrought by the vain ones who
think they understand because they have
a smattering she has entire trust in those
who apply seriously and profoundly to
/ the study OF nature; for she knows that
at the end Of their search thev will find
God, who in all his works reveals himself
with all his attributes OF power, wisdom
and goodness"
/ The one on ''Modern Civilization and
the Church, is an energetic protest
against the abuse of a noble word
/ when men," he says, turn into n
mockery the Word of God, it is the die
/ tates of civilization they are obeyinp.
I Civilization commands them to curtail
4 che number of churches aud priests and
to multiply the houses of sir. 1t is civ
ilizatiOn' that requires the establishment
OF class OF theaters in which m0destv
and good taste are alike unknown, In
the name OF civilization the usurer
crusheS his victim with shameless ex-
actions. and the dishonest trader heaDs
up his ill-g0tten gain; a filthy press CON
teammates the mind of its readers, and art
prostitutes its power TO promote universal
corruption" The words recall that noble
/ speech of Montalembert in the French
| Chamber in 1919: "GO Ou have dethroned
some kings but more surely still YOU
have dethroned freedom. The kings
have reascended their thrones but liberty
has not reascended her throne, the throne
which she had in our hearts. Oh, know
well that you write her name everv-
where, III all the Jaws, on all the walls
upon all the cornices pointing to the
roof but in hearts her name is eflaced.
Yes, the beautiful, the proud, the holy
the pure and noble liberty. whom we 50
loved, so cherished and SO served, this
liberty is not dead, but the is languid,
| taintlng, crushed, suffocated."
Tell them to have no fear Of science. ;"
wrote Leo Nil. TO the students of Lon
vain, ''for God is the author of all sci
/ ence.'
Archbishop Pecci's pastorate fell upon
| troubled times, covering, as it did, the
whole OF the national movement in itaIv
ISIS, 1889, lS70-and Perugia was the
center of the ferment. In the presence OF
the prosecutors Of this clergy and the per-
verters Of his flock Archbishop Pecci was
no longer the humble and gentle-voiced
priest buta daunuess warrior, champion
ing the rights of the church. He wrote
two powerful letters Of protest and re-
proof to King Victor Emmanuel against
the forcing OF civil marriage upon Umbria
after the Italian State had taken posses