The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1903-07-23
THE LATE POPE LEO XIII.
Sketch of the Life of the De.
ceased Pontiff.
EPoCHs IN AN HoNoRED CAREER

His Great Ability Shown All Through His
Life-As Head of the Church He Did .
Great Work-His Career In Detaii-His
DAILY Lie
Theexceeding ability of the late pope, the
genius which enabled him to transform a
friendless church into q church having
friends everywhere, lay in several great
qualities of mind He had patience which
nothing could tire. He could wait months
or years, as need be. until his time came
He had no delusions. Joachim Pecci saw
things rs they were. not as he would have
liked to have them He had no animosi
ties He believed ap enemy an enemy only
until he could max, him friend. and he
was always ready to welcome friend He
recognized talent at once and never sooner
than in those opposed TO him. Agood idea
was good idea to him, no matter who pro
posed it, and he never committed the mis-
take of undertaking. the forces against
him He had that genius which can tell
what is possible and what impossible. As
easily rs he coGld weigh others, so easily
could be weigh himself He knew his own
limitations
He was a great man among the great
men of his day. He played a part amid
some of the most tremendous dramas of
history and be played it successfully
With no force of arms he made men who
ordered armies to obey him; out of enemies
he created friends: church which he found
the prey Of all he left strong in the circle of
her defenders. Leo XIII will 60 down in
history as one of the greatest among the
long line Of great men who have filled the
papal chair
Personally the late pontiff was tall and
slender, and his hair was snow white His
face lad the kindliest of expressions and
his smile was ready when anything amusing
was said. His keen wit was tempered by
charitable wish not TO wound the feelings
of others His manner was high bred and
finished, and he possessed "A most charming
courtesy, which placed all who saw him at
their ease. He loved to chat on literary
topics, and TO the last found pleasure in
reading the great authors of antiquity. His
experience of life was so vast that his re
marks were full of quiet wisdom He
impressed every one who met him His
personal habits were simple TO a degree, for
he lived the life OF an ascetic His industry
and power for work were extraordinary,
and the labor he daily went through while
pope was enough to exhaust much younger
and stronger man
Chronology and Early Life.
Joachim Vincent Raphael Iodovico Pecci,
.afterward Pope Leo XIII, was born March
2, 1910, at Carpineto. He was sent to the
Jesuit college at Viterbo in 1918, where he
remained till 1925, when ne entered the
Collegio Romano, just restored by Pope Leo
XII In 1928 he took first prize in physics
and chemistry. In 1880 he was matriculated
as divinity student at the Gregorian uni
versity In 1892 he won the degree doctor of
theology and entered the College of Nobl.
Ecclesiastics, where those who design to
serve the pontifical government diplomat
ically or administrs lively are trained In
1881 he was made sabdeacon, then deacon,
then priest. In 1885 he was made delegate
or governor of the province of Benevento.
In ls4l he was appointed governor of Spole-
to In lS43 he was made apostolic nuncio,
or papal ambassador, to Belgium and tit
ular archbishop of Damietta In 1S45 he
was made bishop of Perugia, where he ar
rived in 1916 In 1853 he was made cardi
nal In 1877 he was appointed camerlingo
In 1878 he vas chosen pope to succeed Plus
TX, deceased.
Joachim Vincent Raphael Lodovico Pecci
was the son of Count Domenico Lodovico
Pecci of Carpineto and Anna Prospect Buzz
The family to which be belonged came
originally from Siena Its chiefs having
taken sides with the Medici in the long
struggle between Siena and Florence found
it necessary to emigrate to the states of the
church They settled in Carpineto. rugged
mountain town nestled down between two
great crags. Count Lodovico Pecci's wife
was the daughter of a noble Volscian fam
lily living in the ancient city of Cora, the
modern Corr She brought with her a
dover which notably increased the fortune
of the family but she brought far more
when she came herself She was woman
of extraordinary ability and strength of
character Joachim, or, as his mother al
ways c<.lled him. Vincent. was the fourth
son
That Joachim Pecci should, under the
training of such u woman as the Countess
Anna, turn his attention to the church was
only natural She belonged to the Third
Order of ST. Francis. aa association founded
TO bring men and women closer to the
church From his earliest years the boy had
been accustomed to seeing the brown habit
and sandaled feet of the brothers and to
listening TO the story of the life of St Fran
els o. Assist, as told by his mother. These
IL.
year, his mother died in Rome and he fol-
lowed all that remained of her to her grave
in the Observantine Church of the Forty
Martyrs
In 1925 when at the Collegio Romano he
gained the first prize in physics and chem
istry at the end of the college year, he was
chosen to defend in public against all OBJ
jectors theses chosen from the subject mat
ter of the three years course. In getting
ready he SO overworked himself that his
physicians absolutely forbade the trial, but
the university granted him certificate at
testing his complete preparation for the test
While he was q student in the College Of
Noble Ecclesiastics, Cardinal Sala took the
warmest fancy to the young scholar and
gave him much advice of the greatest value.
Cardinal Paca also admired Joachim Pecci
and recommended him strongly to Gregory
XVI, who appoilte. him one Of his domes-
tic prelates and som afterward the refer
endary to the court Of Segnatura- He now
had his foot on the first round of that lad
der he afterward climbed so steadily.
Cardinal Sala saw to it that Joachim
Pecci was attached to the Congregation OF
the Propaganda, and Cardinal Lambruschi-
nj, who was the pope's secretary OF state,
had him appointed official to many impor-
tant bodies He also placed him under the
immediate charge of the learned prelates
(soon to be cardinals) Trezza and Bfunelli
The superiors Of this young man realized
the character of the material before them,
and they shaped the weapon with exceed
ing cara