The Indianapolis journal., 1903-08-30

himself be seen. Less than two wrecks ago
be was of climbing mountains; now he j.
prisoner for iife Certainly these are con-
trasts. But IL is safe to say that hc VIII ac-
cept what comes. just as. IL he had remained
all mis- life a village priest he would have
accepted that-and thanked God.
That. as L read the man. is the basis OF
his character-simple. unquestioning piety.
He was elected Pope for a reason which has
not always primarily Influenced the actions
OF conclaves-for the plain, old-fashioned
reason that he was good man. The very
simplicity OF his nature is In salient con-
trast 10 the infinitely subtle and many
sided personality OF his predecessor. We
hear much discussion as TO whether the
policy of Leo XIII will be continued or not.
one thing Is certain. There is very strik-
Ing change in the personality of the Pope.
III Will show in small things as well as in
great We shall have no more OF those
charming Latin verses ranging In subject
matter from Horace to the hygiene OF gas
tronomy-poems 10 the Madonna. and poems
on the new electric lights in the Vatican.
And we shall have no more politics in the
grand manner. Papa SartO-as the Romans
Will presently be calling him-is not po-
itical Pope One need only look at his face
TO see that. Leo XIII had a politicians face.
Even In the closing years Of his venerable
age. when l used to see him borne into St
Peter :, white, frail, unearthly. seeming
rather a spectral visitant from another
world, his face was still the face OF the
master diplomatist who brought Bismarck
TO Can0SSa, and whom the Iron Chancellor
Cardinal Rampolla has politicians face
par excellence. He goes through the motions
of piety with edifying correctness, and by
this do not at all mean to call his sincerity
IN question. But his expression and manner
are predominantly worldly. remember once
observing him as he knelt before the sacra-
ment in st. Peters. A lady standing beside
me whispered, Isn't that a saints faceg'
She saw what certainly was invisible TO me.
Now Pope Plus has not a saints face but
the face OF a kind, sensible man and ener-
getic worker
He is a man of scholarly tastes and a low
er OF the arts. His fondness for music and
his patronage of Don Lorenzo Perosi have
been much spoken of since his accession.
tentions he came near wrecking Perosfs
career. After two initial successes.
the boy compensation he was little more
came to Rome fortified with the recommen-
dation of the cardinal patriarch. He was at
once taken up and inordinately advertised
by the church. His fame was trumpeted to
the four quarters OF the earth, as If a new
Palestrina had suddenly appeared. The nat
ural result was an output OF terribly anna
teurish music, evidently composed i'm haste
and carelessly, which brought down a storm
OF adverse criticism all over Europe. How
ever, Perosf is young enough 20 outlive the
results of his premature celebrity. He has
undeniable genius, and am convinced that
he VIII presently do work OF serious value.
And there is every reason 10 hope that the
musical tastes of the new pontiff win con-
the slough OF despond into which il has
fallen of late years. Any one familiar with
the great functions of the church in Rome
especially Holy Week and Easter, must
agree that the music is scandalously made
quate to the place and the occasion.