Evening star., 1903-07-20
TRIBUTE ETRoM IRELAND.
of st. Paul Eulogizes the
Dead Pontiff.


ST. PAUL. Mimi. July 2O.-Upon receipt
Of the news Oftfhe dpath of Pope Leo
Archbishop Ireland paid the following trib-
ute to the dead prelate:
In Leo a truly great and good man
passes from earth. The extraordinary. the
unparalleled interest with which the world
this last fortnight kept vigil around the
Vatican. where the Old hero battled dra-
matically with grim death. Is the magnifi-
cent tribute to Leo. which nothing could
ever have evoked save unusual grandeur of
soul and unusual feats, the offspring OF
that grandeur.
In the death Of Leo humanity realizes
that an orb of light. such as is seldom seen
to dominate In the high skies of Its moral
and intellectual armament. has fallen.
making mighty void which soon again may
not be filed Great and good truly
was. fashioned so by nature and by grace
divine. What MIND! Ioftiest 1T in
vision reaching out to vastest horizons.
soaring upward to highest regions OF
thought and truth
TO have sat at his knee and heard him
tell or the sights he saw, of the dreams
he dreamt. of purposnys of planuings be
gotten or his signs and dreams, was to be
MADE TO forget for a moment earth's com
mon limitations and to behold human life
and destiny as prophets behold 1t.
Great and Good.
Greatness includes goodness. or at least
without goodness greatness Is no boom to
humanity.
Leo was good man; he shone in every
virtue: his life was unsullied He was
deeply fmbued with the spirit of faith. He
lived and worked purely for God and for
men. Most high minded d:SintereStedneSS
of purpose. most absolute ordering of self
to the duties of his exalted office charac-
terized all his thought and acts Made
he was to win the hearts Of men. He was
simple and loving as a child in his intimate
relations with people who came into his
presence; considerate and tactful, sweet Of
temper and kindliest of word.
He met kings and peasants men of high
est social rank and OF lowest-all bowed
before his graciOuSneSS and whispered TO
him words of affection and devotion.
"A great man requires besides his ma
tive greatness. greatness In setting. great
ness in opportunities. All this was given
in superabundance to Leo. There is no
other post of honor and duty SO elevated. SO
sublime the Roman Dontihcate.
Into that pontiticate Leo entered; In 1t he
reigned only two of his predecessors
reigned-a quarter of ccntury-leavlnS
posterity to say, as he closes the last pages
of his record. that in him the Catholic
Church has had one of the most wondrous
of her wondrOus sovereigns and humanity
one of it's noblest thinkers and highest eX-
emplars of fidelity to God-given duty.
Ills services TO the OuuICu
"Leos services were. OF course. primarily
to the church. Leo made the church known
to the modern world as she wished to be
made known. AS she has not before been
known. BY dint of wise words and acts he
tore to shreds the thick wells Of prejudice
and misunderstanding. which as the Sc
quence of strifes and controversies of CEN
turtles had been hiding its features from the
eyes Of millions of the nOn-Catholic world.
He brought close to the church the new
age Of humanity. and put beyond all doubt
ing the fact that the most cherished aspira-
tions Of the age not only received counte-
nance from the church but had grown out
of Its spirit and teachings. Liberty. civil
and political. individual rights. education,
the progress of science and discovery. the
material comfort of the masseS-all this
Leo. in the name Of the church. blessed
and advocated. "
Today the Catholic Church Is universally
admitted to be in the van of humanity
forward march, and for this Leo Is TO be
thanked
Said he to a bishop from America one
day: ooh. America, 1t is the future.
Leo's clear vision Of things far away IN
time as well as in space had enuearcd
America to him. AS na other statesman III
Europe Leo understood America-i.s posi-
bilitieS and the meaning of its institutions.