The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-07-24
THOUSANDS VIEW REMAINS
LYING IN STATE OF POPE TO BE CURTAILED.

Funeral May Occur To-day Instead of
 saturday-wiIi of the Dead Pontifr
 Opened by the CardinsIs-Leaves All His Property to His Successor for the Use Of she church--Isntrancso ( of Italian Troops Into st. Peter,s.
 Rome, July 2S.--F'rom sunrise until
 sunset to-day thousands passed before
 the body of Leo VIII. lying in state in
 the Basilica of St. Peters. It was
 originally intended that this opportun-
 ity to publicly view the remains should
 extend through three days, but tonight the Associated Press correspondent
 learns that the time is likely to be cur
 tailed and that the funeral may occur
 Friday instead of Saturday night ow-3
 ing to the evidences that decompo position is setting in, This is due to to-day's
 severe heat, from which no embalming,
 however perfect, could completely pro- teet the body.
 The will of the dead pope was opened at to-day's meeting of the congregation of cardinals. It consists of thirty-six
 pages, in the handwriting of Leo XIII. and leaves all the property of which he died possessed to his successor for the
 use of the church. To each member Of his samily he leaves a present to be chosen from the valuable objects in his apartment. Similar presents are be- queathed to his physicians. The total amount of the property which he left is not yet known. The prevailing impression of those who to-day passed before the iron gates of the chapel of the Sacrament to view the remains was one of intense pity, combined with a certain sense of hor- TOT. The body was tilted up on the |catafalque in order that all might see the terribly shrunken face. An ordi- nary skull in frame of gold lying in the midst of mass of red robes could scarcely have been more typical of death.
 Except at sunrise, when the crush threatened panic, all those who wish led it had an opportunity of entering St. Peter's. During the day many of those who passed in stopped before the catafalque to say a hurried prayer. Hundreds of women. and even some of the men. carried children in their arms. An important political factor was in troduced into the ceremony by the en- trance into St. Peters of Italian sol diers, who remained there throughout the day to preserve order. Their pres- ence there in such a capacity, lnpre- cedented in the history of modern Italy, 1 Is important as an indication of better
 relations between the government and the vatican, as it was by the consent, 1 if not by the desire, of the vatican au- | thorities that they to-day employed the troops of the Quirinal in papal terri tory. Another feature which is causing comment along the same lines is the fact that Cardinal Oreglia in receiving a group of the. city fathers of Rome, | who represent the clerical party charg- ed them to thank also their liberal coll | leagues for the manifestations of sym pathy which they showed during the illness of the pope. The cardinal, con- tsnuing his conversation, indicated es@ peciaI satisfaction over similar msni- festati6ns coming from several consti- tuted bodies of the kingdom of Italy, such as communal councils and provin- cial deputations including that of
 Rome, yehich is presided over by Prince Fel:ce BorShese.
 | Tt Is an unexpected tribute.' ex- claimed the cardinal, which no one would have imagined twenty-five years ago.
 l In this connection additional interest 1 attaches to to-day's meeting of the
 congregation of. cardinals, which ap- pointed Monsignor Plfferi as confessor of tie conclave. a committee to under take the arrangements of the conclave and selected other officials, such as the physicians, who will attend them dur l ing their seclusion. K
 The most important matter before the meeting, however, was proposi- ton presented by Cardinal Oreglia to send note to the diplomatic body ac- credited to the Holy See for the pur-
 pose of representing to the powers the
 condition of the papacy since the loss l of it's temporal power and the transfer of the capital3of the Italian government to Rome From what leaks out, it ap- pears that the proposition provoked considerable discussion and that Car dinals Steinhuber, Mathieu and Wives v Tuto favored the dispatch of a most energetic note concerning the question
 of reclaining the papal rights. Car I dinals Agliardi and Seraffno Vannutel- Ii, on the contrary, advocated milder wording of this document which, they
 contended, should maintain the histori- cal pretensions of the Holy See, but in Temperate language. The majority of the congregation decided to pursue a middle course and entrusted Cardinal
 Merry Del Val with the duty of draw ] ing up the document for submission to another meeting of the congregation.
 The note, when approved, will be pre-
 scented to the diplomatic body signed by Cardinals Oreglia. Macchi and Net
 to. deans of the three orders into which | the sacred college is divided. ... After the will of Leo VIII. had been l opened it was the intention Of the car- dinals to maintain the strictes secrecy
 concerning it's contents, but it is learn-
 ed that the thirty-six sheets were in
 the handwriting of the late pope, ex-
 cept some additions evidently made in his later years, when the pope found considerable difficulty in writing owing l to the trembling of his hand, which | was so pronounced before his death