The Irish standard., 1893-09-02
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER

pulously clean. The ablegate's voice j
low and mild, and his smile is of th
rsadiest. Rarely does countenance AM
physique suggest the purely intellectual
SO thoroughly as Satolli's, and there i
an utter absence Of that suggestion o
subtlety and dissimulation popularly as
sociated with the Italian character.
| Z. Personal magnetism in the best sens,
Of that much abused term is the Mon
signore's chief characteristic and all The
men and women, Protestant, Catholic
Hebrew, or what not, who have met hin
iii this country like the man for his un
assumed geniality and courtesy.
! Communications with the Vatican are
made regularly and with strict formalit,
lin the Latin language, supertluous te
say. Satolli being delegate apostolic may
address the Pope direct on official bus
mess and, standing in place of the pontif
with the same authority as the pontif
himself spoke, is not controlled by the
Vatican in the same sense that Mgr
! Sbaretti is. The latter sends official re-
ports to the Vatican monthly or oftener
as occasion requires. The stationery il
engraved with the title of the apostolic
delegation. "F. Satolli," the prelate
usually signs himself. Letters to his
Holiness, however, are signed 81 Francis.
Gus Arch. Lep." AS rule, correspond
ence is sent by mail, but occasionally q
clergyman going to Rome is charged with
the delivery of letter or document
Official business is transacted with the
papal secretary of State. Sometimes the
apostolic delegation, however, has reason
to communicate with the propaganda
fde.
The ablegate takes lessons in English
pronunciation whenever opportunity
offers He listens to the talk of those
about him and asks the meaning of words
that are unfamiliar. As stated he reads
our language readily. Shakespeare, Mil
ton, and Longfellow he knows in the
original. ......<.
Whittier's poems he also admires and
reads. The monsignore is naturally very
difident in the use of English converse
| tionally and when he travels someone
usually acts as interpreter for his benefit.
He can write English, however, remark
ably we'll. It is his intention to deliver
series of sermons in English next
autumn. So far he has employed our
language in the pulpit on two or three
occasions only. His method is to write
out his discourse, go over it carefully
and then ask Bishop Keane to look over
the manuscript. The bishop sometimes
reco amends the change of word here
and there. After that Sato'li memories
his sermon and repeats it in his room,
striving to catch both accent and pro-
nunciation. When he finally delivers a
homily from the pulpit it is difficult to
believe that he IS not q master of our
tongue. Satolli, however, does not be-
lieve in studied discourses. His ambi-
tion is to deliver extemporaneous Eng
lish sermons. His first effort in this line
was at Philadelphia some weeks ago and
he did very we'll. His voice is resonant
and carrying" and his manner earnest
and impressive. He possesses the further
merit Of making his sermons brief.
Satolli's recreations are simple enough.
He has taste for literature, and his
leisure precious little he has!-is de-
voted to perusal of Dante, whose
"Commedia' he profoundly appreciates.
The "Purgatorio" of that masterpiece he
must know by heart, so often has he
read it. He is not so fond of Tasso and
with the amatory poets of his native
land he has little or no acquan ance.
The one delight OF his life is, perhaps,
Thomistic study. He never wearies of
conversing upon that topic. and to him
is due no doubt the revival of the phil
oeophy based upon that shoreless ocean
of literature TO which the "angelic doc
tor" has given rise.
It seems not generally known that Sa-
tolli is connected with some of the no.
bleet houses in Italy, and that he has rel
atives who are powerful in the financial
world of Humbert's kingdom. The alb
legate's salary has been stated to be
$4,000 year, but his living expenses are
far less than that sum. When the able
gate travels extensively, as, for instance,
on his late trip to the West, he occupies
private car with his suite and pays for
it out of bis own pocket On other occa-
sions he travels like one of the great Re-
public.
American institutions Satolli warmly
admires, and it can be authoritatively
stated here that there is not and never
was any intention of making him a
nuncio' to this country. Our history is
already familiar to him, for he has made
it his study since he came among us.
And for the people of the United States
he has not failed to express warm re-.
gard and esteem. While firm believer