Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-07-20
THE PoPE's LAST MOVEMENTS
His Holiness Was Conscious Almost
to tho Last.

/
His Holiness Was Conscious Almost
to tho Last.
Rome, July 20.-The pope's mind
during his last hours reverted cbntin-
ually to the last events which impressed
him most before his illness began. AT
one moment he was feeling about with
his hands and moving his head from
side to side. trying to lift himself
while he murmured: What crowds,
what devotion" My dear people," Then
falling back inertly he sighed and
said: "Oh. the weight of these robes
Can hold out until the end?" This
was followed by scraps of latin verses
and prayers and then came an inter-
val of silence which was broken by
another movement of energy in which
the pope cried: The consistory lis over
They cam reproach me no longer, How
many faces of all kinds. How many
foreigners. The church is triumphing. .
And so on over and over again. A
wonderful thing about Pope Leo was
that every thing his mind became
clear he seemed to grasp the fact that
ii might be the last and he made the
highest use OF ii. When. during an
lying or his bed, perfectly noiionless,
while around him knelt the cardinals
and other members of the pap0l court
praying, and not knowing whether the
pope was not already dead, without any
preliminary restlessness the pontiff
opened his eyes, which fell on Cardinal
Oreglia, who was at his side, and he
said solemnly: ITO your emine,ce who
Will so soon seize the reins of supreme
power. l confide the church In those
difficult times Then Mgr. Bisleti,
master of chamber asked for the pope's
benediction for the court, Which the
pontiff granted, adding: BE this my
last greeting" Then the pon'iff gave
his hand to kiss TO the cardinals pres
ent, who, We're Oreglia. RompolIa, Sera-
fino, Nannuteelli, Dolla, Eolloe, and
Wives Tuto. DR.. Lapponi profiting
by the pope's animation to administer
restoratives. whereupon the patient
sank back as suddenly as he had re-
vived.
stop had been put to the frequent
visits made to the sick chamber, altho
now the presence of callers would not
harm the pope. While he was con-
scious these visits exhausted him, but
1t was his wish that visitors be ad-
mitted and the attending doctors
thought 1t better not to cross him.
The pontiff lay on the bed the pill
lows of which are not whittier than his
face. which has strange aspect, owing
TO his not having been shaved for so
long. His. hands were folded over the
rosary which he had used for fifty
years. The famous arm chair, which
his holiness will never enter again.
stood invitingly near, with his stick be-
side 1t. While Contra, his valet, prays
and weeps before the huge ivory cruci-
fix, Dr. Lapponi sat by the bedside,
ready for an emergency. The doctor
from time to time arose noiselessly to
administer nourishment, of which, this
morning the pontiff has taken some
Indeed, DR.. Lapponi succeeded in hav-
ing him swallow several teaspoonful
of coffee, milk and brandy mixed. The
silence of the sick room was occasional
ly broken by a hacking cough, due to
the gathering of philegm in Pope Leo's
throat. These coughing spells had the
effect of arousing the pontiff, causing
him to open his eyes and revive slight
ly. While the doctors We're examining
their patient this morning. believeing
him to be in stupor, his holiness sud-
denly fixed his eyes. even then bright,
and by no means lifeless, on them, say
ii~: This time doctors, you will not
win n your brave fight with death"
"It is Jour holiness who is brave" re-
pliea DR. Lapponi, but before the re-
mark was uttered the pope was again
unable To ur derstand what was said.
His late Holiness was born in Car
pineto in the dioces .. anasni' ,s,n IN ,ilr
papal states, on Marclf = lslo' being
chrstened under the name'-Pf 'oachim
Vincent. The Society of Jes9ls' whleh
it was afterwards the first call.e ol ms
TO restore TO It's anci1iii' po-
sition in the councils of the clluic', .
was entrusted with his educ!ta ION,
young Pecci being sent at the age y,
years TO the Jesuit college at Vibei, W,
where he remained until his 14th yelai.
At this time his mother lied and >ie
shortly afterwards procee6ea to Ronl.
TO continue his studies in aha Jesuitae
college in that city. When he was
years old he secured the first prize for
;hemistry and physics. His aptitude
or natural science, however, In no
way interfered with his taste for liter
,trre and classical studies, and even In
hose early days he was remarkable for
ne elegance and purity of his Latin,