New-York tribune., 1903-07-21
POPE TWENTY-FIV YEARS.
Leo's Policy Characterized by Con-
serUatism and Cancellation
Personal History and Traits.


OF the future Pope was Domenque Ludovico
Pecci, who had been a colonel in Napoleon's
srmy. and his mother was Anna Prospect
Buzzi.; said to have been descended OF Rienz.
The family had its origin in Sienna. and, settling
the lordship of Procena, in the suburbs Of
the city, in the thirteenth century, soon came
20 have great influence. When Martin took
refuge in Sienna he and his court were lavish
iy entertained by the brothers Pecci, who fur
ther loaned MIN the sum of $1,000 gold forms.
The branch Of the family from which Leo
sprang was established in 1900 by Pasca Pecci
3n carpineto, picturesque but dirty and pow
erty stricken town OF about five thousand in
hsbitants. lying the tanks Of Mount Capreo.
LudovIco Pecci, the father of Vincenzo as the
future Pope was called at home. was a good
churchman. but remarkable In other way.
Ills mother was woman Of great force OF char
Hcter. and was a model mother, AS in the
case of most men who have become eminent,
number Of wonderful stories are told about the
childhood of the Pope, but they may be dis
missed as apocTyphal When he was about
year old his mother told in letter how full Of
life he was, and especially Of his passionate love
for horses. He so different, she said, from
his elder brother, Giovanni Baptista, who did
s,othing but make little affairs Yet it was the
lively lover OF horses who became Pope. while
the maker of affairs went into secular life In
1915 the brigands became very troublesome
around Carpineto and for that and other rea-
sons Vincenzo and his brother Giuseppe, who
afterward became a cardinal we're sent to the
College of ST Ignatius, in Viterbo, and soon
Nincenzo wrote the following letter to his
mother:
Dear Mother: J anXiously waiting for the
riographv Of ST Francis Of Assist, so permit
me 10 remind you TO send #, for / am most de-
sirous 10 read it. Toward the end or last month
we took a ride 10 Villeggiatur. We are now
honor Please give my love TO dear papa, my
teacher and all the servants. and beseech your
blessing and in all affection remain your I loTIhs
son, NlNCENZO fEOOl'
Though both were religious, the boys did not
st first think Of entering the priesthood. but they
came finally 10 see that it was their vocation.
In 1922 they were placed in the Collegio Ro-
rnano and two years later VincenZo made his
mother happy by coming home on vacation
wearing the clerical three cornered hat. 1t was
her last great JOY, for she died about two months
later After her death Vincenzo decided to use
the name Gioacchino. or Joachim in English, in
stead Of that by which he had been called He
now began TO be talked about as rising and
brilliant young scholar. He especially pro-
fcient in Latin. and could already write very
creditabie Latin verse. He was graduated in
1892 with the title doctor OF theology. and en-
fered the Academia del NobiH Ecclesiastical
where he distinguished himself by a thesis on
Appeals to the Pope" and received diploma
OF doctor of theology from the University of
Sapienza honoris causa. Still. the young stu
dent was not a recluse. He kept in touch with
The affairs Of the world, and was fond Of going
10 a certain quiet coffee house to read the papers.
An old man, Father" Selvagni, still living in
Carpneto, thus recalls his prowess as hunter
in those days:
I wanted him to stay here and hunt with me,
hut he would not and what he is Shut up
in a palace day and night! Do you see this gun?
Sir Nino helped me buy it, What hunts we had
together, We were UP bright and early scour-
sng the forest. Sir Nino was more fearless than
]. He climbed TO the very top of Melaina and
the Fageta. How often we watched the sunset
from these peaks as 1t gded our feet with its
parting beams To-day Nino is the head of the
world. He is called pompously Leo XIII He
has no other peak before him than that of st.
Peters which fills the palace prison with shad-
ows long before dark. ! pity him.
Such Gioacchino Peccl when about
twenty-three years Old; religious indeed, but
with sane and healthy views Of life. The family
had been for some years in straitened circum-
stances, and, in fact, his mother had raised
silkworms in order to give the children an edu-
cation. But in spite of poverty, the Peccis
were recognized by every one as gentle folk. and
this recognition doubtless had effect on the
mind Of the young man. Though deeming it his
duty no Jess than his pleasure TO study and
tics, religion. education and social life Gioac-
chine Pecci instnctvely looked upon himself as
a being apart from it all. All his beliefs and
opinions must TO him through the Church.
There were and could be no unsettled questions
in any department of life. Unlike the fresh
graduate of Yale Harvard or Princeton, young
Pecei faced no problem except that of bringing
hack rebellious children to the fold of the true
Church. and recognized no right of science to
extend the area Of knowledge unless It first
sought its commission from the Church. Much.
therefore, OF the worlds activity and so-called
progress must have seemed unlawful and un-
holy 10 the brilliant young doctor Of theology.
who had AZ this time finally decided not to de-
vote himself 10 the regular pastoral work of
the priesthood. but 10 enter the diplomatic ser
vice Of the Church. which in those days of tenn
poral Papal sovereignty offered many rich prizes
10 those who showed special aptitude. In the
Academia del Nobili Ecclesiastical he made
many influential acquaintances, one Of his fell
low students being the Duke sisto Riario sforza.
afterward Cardinal Archbishop of Naples and
when he left it in 1887 he was at once appointed
Apostolic Prothonotary and assistant TO Cardi-
nal Sala. the chief OF the PontihcaI Department
OF the Interior. At the same time he was in
vested with the rank and dignity of a mon
signor.
few months later an epidemic OF cholera
broke out IN Rome, and the hospitals were
under the supervision of the department TO
which he belonged, he had opportunity to do
much for the comfort Of the victims. On De-
cenber %, 1887, he was ordained to the priest
hood, and On December 81 he said his first mass
in the Jesuit chapel Of St. stanislaus Kotska, on
the Via venu settembre.
A STERN EXECUTIVE