The Irish standard., 1906-05-19

race: harsh black hair. prominent
cheek bones aud noses thin lips and
copper tint of the skin: but above all the
deep sunkcn eyes. glowing like GOALS
ut fire. Among the crowd of Indians
singularly ugly. was IL young girl
astonishingly beautiful. with eyes east
|" the ground. Suddenly she looked
up and met the gaze of the abbe; in
stantly there came into her blazing
eyes ;n expression Of intense hatred,
transforming her in a moment into the
terociouS savage. How many centuries
OF Christianity. the abbe asks. will DE
necessary to tame these terrible
natures? Thousands and thousands
Of years of the wild life of the forest
have permeated every fibre of their
bodies With inerldicable s;lvugery
Later in the day. in company with the
local priest. he visited the homes of
some of the Indians. They We're
politely received. nevertheless the abbe
was i'll at case. The blazing eyes of
his hosts inspired u sense of fear. Yet
had he been one Of that fearless band
of missionaries who went among their
wild torbcars in the sixteenth, seven
teenth and eighteenth centuries he
would probably have imperilled his life
in the cause with the same Indifference
us did they: but times are changed
and with them the eager pursuit of re-
isious martyrdom. "Autre temps.
autreS mOeurS."
II is impossible to follow the ibbe
throughout his varied if somewhat
hurried itinerary. 1t will suffice to
bring him to his chief objective. Il visit
to Theodore Roosevelt The question
that worried him was how to approach
such II personage, the representative
OF one of the most advanced nations
of the world. the leader of IL chosen"
people. He found ii ridiculouslv SIM
pie. Upon request for an interview
the answer came fixing it for 10 O'Clock
before the specified hour the theologian
With Il friend was ut the White House.
No policeman was on duty. no sentry
at the entrance. no uniformed aides
ilr the veStibule. Two or three news
paper men. as many clerks without
Insignia of office, composed all of the
pa ri ~,
cisely Mr.. Roosevelt himself opened
the door to admit the visitors To his
private office. The president greeted
them most cordially. apulogizing for
his Indifferent French. The conver-
s;ttion was conducted in English. to
the qualification OF the abbe. who is
the President should converse in his
native tongue, for then he could see
him au naturel not preoccupied with
rules of grammar and searching for
words. He WAS now in the presence
of the apostle "f the strenuous life"
He was seated near Mr.. Roosevelt. in
IL
preston of his countenance. the move
mentS of his body, the varied inilcr-
tions of his mellow and vibrating voice.
He discovered that II magnetic current
flowed from the President. At his side
one was "Comnc sous Faction dun
tluide moral" \ question of aura"
4
been asserted in regard to the person.
ality of MIR. Roosevelt. that he was n
dynamo and words came from him in
a series of explosions. The visitors
were impressed with his wonderful
energy. his expressive blue eyes and
what might be called his charm The
priests companion told the President
that it was the intention of his friend
to publish impressions Of his visit To
the United States. to give t" his com
patriots object lessons of the energy
and tolerance Of the Americans. The
President approved of this. Then
he nbbe touched upon the subject of
tllc t'lDl'u5 IN lne IiIleu SNt;tle.: DI SC
many eXpatriated French women of
the religious orders. Mr.. Roosevelt
warmly commended it. saying in sub
stance: "rhcy cannot send us too
many. never shall we have too many
immigrants of that kind" This great
ly pleased tn" theologi:tn. who notes
that the President with his absorbing
duties has no time to write, he must
con1iie himself to talk. giving IN in
ciSivc speeches lessons Of courage and
virtue: avoiding enpt! phraSeology
month. each being so important thai!
they would excite attention even if de-
iivered by II simple citizen. The able
did not think he was too effusive when
he told Mr.. Roosevelt that France was
greatly interested in his character and
opinions. The President responded by
expressing personal sympathy with
France. There was direct reason for
this. some of his relatives by mar
riage being of French extraction. in
| deed he had Il trace Of Gaelic blood in
his veins The abbe's friend congratu-
lated the President that II person
searching for him with Il revolver had
fli lad f.f int IH;,