The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-03-11

edifices of Rome. He has mingled with
sixty thousand men and women who at
times assemble in the sacred confines of
Saint Peters, and he has been honored
with the friendship Of the Pope himself
in his audiences at the Vatican and in
his lecture gave a number of incidents
by him personally witnessed.
Among the most interesting things Mr..
Crawford said the immediate predecessor
Of Pope Leo XIII was Plus the TX Plus
was greatly beloved by his people. He
transformed Rome from a mediavel
stronghold to capital city and was a
man of many virtues, but politically weak.
His first political act was to proclaim
a general amnesty to ali political prison
ers.
One Of the chief advisers Of Plus was
Cardinal AntonelH. The cardinal was NOT
a priest, and was a man of shrewd and
unprincipled action. Mr.. Crawford told Of
his death as follows:
Il was one of the few who saw the car
dinaI dead. I went early in the morning
to the Vatican, and asked permission to
pay my respects. There was much hubbub
and hurry, and everyone knew that great
changes were imminent. The body of the
dead man was separated by only q thin
door from all this confusion. 1t was
small apartment where he lay. His body
was on small iron bed, with one candle
burning at the foot and one at the head.
In this dim light I could see the withered
wizened, brown remains Of the man who
the day before had been the terror Of
Europe"
Mr.. Crawford described Pope Leo as re-
sembling both his father and his mother.
His large head with high square forehead,
his heavy determined jaw and his bOny
face and figure are those Of his father;
while from his mother he inherits his dark
piercing eyes and his long thin lips which
curved almost into a smile and yet are
very firm. His complexion is colorless. 1t
is LUMINOSITY pale. When he comes to-
ward you in the dim corridors of the Vati-
can light seems to radiate from him. Al
though much pomp is occasionally dis
played, yet life in the Vatican. and espec-
tally that of the Pontiff, is extremely sim
pie and his habits are very frugal. He, at
the age Of % transacts a tremendous
amount Of work, writes all his encyclicals
and letters with his own hand and directs
household.
As a tribute to the heroic qualities of
the Pope, Mr.. Crawford said:
1T is often said nowadays that the pail
Of uniformity weighs down humanity and
that no great individualities flash forth
like columns Of fire. Leo stepped in where
history demanded something besides the
long phrases Of small men. The pendulum
of time swung to its full stroke, and to
touch it was glory or death. When the
pendulum is stin, little men gather around
it and speculate about the next swing
There is curious resemblance between
Pope Leo, Gladstone and Lincoln. They
all were tall bony men, with large, irregu-
lar hands and strong jaws. They were all
given TO study. and tinged with melan-
Choly It might be said that Nature had
taken some of the same stuff and had
moulded it into three branches. material,
Intellectual and spiritual. Lincoln is the
material, struggling with the terrible adj
versities of the time. Gladstone represents
the intellectual, bending his ponderous
mind to the solution of the great problems
OF the day. Pope Leo is the spiritual, de-
voting his life to Christian duties"
Inc rope. SalQ the speaker, II tl4S IT.
cefver and distributor and receiver Of vast
sums Of money. He invests the money Of
the church in bonds of his own country.
He makes the price of the Italian bonds
what it is. Bankers of Europe appreciate
this fact and they circulate rumors that
the Pope is sick or dead with the hope of
depreciating the value of Italian bonds.
In spea king of the assent of the Vatican
in matters Of politics, Mr.. Crawford made
the following declaration which called
forth hearty applause:
There is an ide~ that Catholics are I'M
der religious dictatorship and must vote
in this country according to the command
of the Pope No such state of affairs eN-
lists. Leo would be the first to demand
that votes be cast according TO the die
tates of ones conscience. and not accord
ing to the dictates of any one man"
After the lecture many Of the literary
people of the city were introduced to the
novelist. who seemed pleased at his re-
ception. Among those who occupied boxes
last night were Bishop Hennesey, Father
Conway. Father Charles and Mr.. and Mrs.
Oak Davidson and Mr.. and Mrs. c. II.
Davidson