Morris tribune., 1903-07-25

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LEO XIII
such a wonderful impression as did the
aged Leo. He possessed q marvellous
| individuality, which was heightened by
his remarkable vigor and tenacity in
pld age. At ninety, when he gave Ben
iamin Constant a sitting for his por-
trait, the French painter was aston
ished at the brilliancy Of his intellect
Yet with serene poise and strength he
passed on for three years more to his
| Jubilee, retaining for more than quar-
ter of a century that papal power
which, it was supposed, was conferred
for only a short time upon a feeble old
man in 1878. He proved one of the
strongest in physical endurance as we'll
hs in mental qualities that had ever
been elevated to the rapal throne.
AS the head of the Catholic church
| the achievements of Leo XIII. are
| memorable. Even those not in the Ro-
man communion freely admitted his
greatness. while to the devout Catholic
he was the personifcation of goodness.
He was both statesman and priest, and
his views, like his ambitions, We're of
the widest. His services as papal nun
clio at Brussels gave him that stamp of
the diplomat which never left him. In
close touch with the affairs of many
nations, his extraordinary memory, his
fresh and earnest interest in the on-go-
ings of the world, made his contribu-
tions to passing history of peculiar sig
nifcance and value.
In America the late pope seemed to
take an especially vivid interest, which
was evinced in wise counsels to his
people in this country on many occa-
sions. To the republican form of gov
ernment he showed himself a good
friend upon more than one occasion
In his encyclicals on socialism is seen
how his sympathy for the struggling
and aspiring masses was balanced by
his fine sense Of the necessary order
and stability Of society. His refined in
tellect, his simplicity Of life, his unaf-
fected piety, all exalted to eminence by
his extraordinary career. made him an
Inspiring parsonage even to those who
did not recognize him as a spiritual
ruler and teacher, and Protestants as
well as Catholics mourn his death.
The story Of the pope is an exceeding
ly simple and pretty one. He has been
Though the pontiff, as it is called, Of
the most ancient ecclesiasticism in west
ern European excellent citizen of our
later world. He has been a good mag
istrate, superior pastor, gentleman
and, it may be added, prince. He was
a prince in nature before he was either
cardinal or pope.
From the time he was elected pope the
city Of Rome has been in the occuDa-
ton Of the king of Italy and has indeed
been the political capital Of Italy, the
laws Of that kingdom paying no atten-
tion to the previous laws and formali-
But the influence of the pope as spirit
of education and of light has extended
to the most remote portions of the
world.
Above all other popes, and somewhat
beyond his own record in earlier life,
Leo XIII. has been liberal politician
He has hailed the future rather than
deplored the loss of the past. He has
been one Of the captains in the move
ment for universal education and has
Striven to make education and morals
confide in each other. Not a single
scandal from Rome in his papacy has
been conveyed to the world He has
shown a friendly disposition to the
world and could himself take place in
almost any learned faculty or congress
hold his own in general knowledge
With scientists, belles-lettres men and
doctors.
Elected pope in February, 1873, he
was then almost sixty-eight years of |
age, and he had been for thirty-two
years the archbishop of one quiet city, |
Perugia, which once belonged to the |
papal states, but stood high among the |
old Italian republics or feudalities for
its painters and men of gifts. This re- !
gion, generally called Umbria, pro |
duced the highest triumphs of art in |
Raphael. In Perugia and it's province |
the archbishop was as distinctly the
foremost citizen or subject as the late
Phillips Brooks undoubtedly was in
Boston or Henry Ward Beecher in
Brooklyn.
He was born at a mountain town in
the Apennines, not far from Rome,
called Carpineti, on March 2, 1910. To !