Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 92, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1903 — PALACE OF THE POPES IN ROME. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PALACE OF THE POPES IN ROME.

■II over the world. These messages poured iuto the Vatican at the rate of 500 n day. Iu the death of the venerable pontiff the world lias lost a grand and moat attractive character. He was great not ouly as the spiritual head of 250,000,000 subjects, but great in the realms of diplomacy and statecraft, and above all in his broad love for mankiud. The purity and simplicity of his life, his efforts on behalf of social and religious improvement and his great, abiding faith in humanity made him worthy of the title of (ItMt a, ?• The condition in which he found the church, shorn of its temporal power at home and at variance with different governments nbroad; the embarrassments under which he labored and the obstacles he had to overcome, measured beside Its progress since he assumed sovereignty, in 1878, prove him to have been one of tjhe great masters of politics and dinlo-

pleted in tlge Roman University, winning high honors in his classes. In 1857 he was ordained priest and Was assigned. to the governorship of Benevento. The people there were heavily oppressed by the officials and nobles and brigandage, encouraged by some of the higher classes, flourished with impunity. To redress these grievances the young priest immediately addressed himself. From the peasants themselves he learned the story of their. wrongs, and he promptly brought the uobles and officials to ta.-fc. The success of the young cleric in ridding Benevento of brigands earned him promotion to the more important post at Perugia, and here also he was uniformly Successful. When he left Perugia there was not a single criminal in the entire population. In 1843 Father Pecci was made titular nrchbishop of ‘ Damietta and after his consecration jv-aa sent as nuncio, on a

labor matters witj) a cleameap, a good judgment and a justice that won for him much commendation and praise. One of the great events in his reign was the celebration of bis sacredo>tal jubilee in 1887. It afforded a striking proof of the large place the papacy holds in the world. From all parts of the globe, even from Chino, Japan, Persia and Morocco, deputations pressed to the Vatican, bearing gifts to the distinguished pontiff. One of the most acceptable of these gifts was a copy of tjbe constitution of the United States presented by President Cleveland. Pope Leo was always of delicate appearance, and when he was elected in 1878 few thought that he would live many months. He waa of a nervous temperament and yeara of fasting and privation gave him a leanness of figure that was phenomenal. But his capacity for work waa remarkable and four recretariea of state died by hiaj|de.

General View of the Vatican. For M ore than Twenty Years Pope Leo XIII. Had Not Stepped Outside Its Walls.