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Show (By Salvatore Corfesi.) ' Can a man Ik- called successful if he is convinced con-vinced to the contrary? Is Pius X a successful man when he himself says he has made a muddle of life? 1 think the answer must be in the affirmative, affirm-ative, although the present pontiff will not allow the word "success"' to be used in connection with his name. 'I a successful man!"'' he exclaimed; "how mistaken you are! T am the servant of my Lord, a humble follower in His footsteps., so do not, use such foolishness in connection with me. Pio means pious and that's what I aspire to be." Giuseppe Sarto began life as the son of a peas: ant. and with every prospect of himself remaining in the class into which he was born, as. in fact, his brother and sisters have done. To be a peasant sixty-eight years ago in Italy did not mean what it means today; for. as the country "progresses, her lower classes progress also, and it most certainly did not mean what it does to be a workman in the Fnited States. The bonds of class were much stronger and more difficult to break; the ideal of a peasant of the better class was to keep a decent roof over the heads of his family, and this the father of ihe present pontiff, Giovanni IJattista Sarto, accomplished. accom-plished. . - -HIS MOTHER COULD ILL AFFORD HIS BAPTISMAL BAP-TISMAL ROBES. Giuseppe's birth was the occasion of great fetes in the family, as peasants as well as princes like to have the quiver full of sons, and he was not only the first boy, but the first child. There washiothing remarkable about him as a baby. He was large, lusty and strong, but cried like other infants, and was no more intelligent. It was said in the village of Iviesi that his baptism was the cause of the first domestic breeze in the Sarto family. The little Beppi (Giuseppe) had no dress sufficiently good, in the eyes of his mammal for that ceremony, so she ran into debt to get one, poor thing! only three lire, just sixty cents and it was a long time btjf'cre her hard working husband, whose earnings averaged aver-aged ten cents 'a day. could pay off that sum. Bop-pi. Bop-pi. however, laughed and crowed when he felt the water and oil. not minding at all his unpaid-for plumes. ! '" Education, in the eyes of Giovanni Battist.i Sarto, was a desirable thing, but after the necessities necessi-ties of life had been looked to so the schooling of "his children was fitful one of the daughter even to this day cannot write until Giuseppe really showed a liking or his books when he was sent regularly -to the school. The first ten years of Pius X's life were full of joy and heard work". "That is the age which knows the true joys of iving," he said one day, when speaking" of this period-of his life "understood, "un-derstood, alas! too late. As a small boy I was a monarch a barefoot one, to be sure owning, the hills, the trees and the brooks, and I asked for nothing noth-ing else." ' Of this time the pontiff has a distinct recollec-. tion. He was full of boyish fun and high spirits, and disliked the work of the fields, so he played truant tru-ant whenever possible. His father was not a man to be trifled with, so that. these absences from duty were apt to be rewarded with a strap or with any other handy object.' On these occasions he tpok his punishment like a man, but it had no appreciable effect, as the next day he would be absent again. At length his father lost patience and sent him to the parish priest, who began to teach him in a desultory way and then counseled school. To have a real first hand idea of the way in which Giuseppe Sarto, from being a poor peasant boy. succeeded in becoming the supreme authority in the Roman Catholic church, I went personally to Kiesi. accompanied by a Venetian photographer, with the intention of not leaving one corner of the village untouched by our camera to immortalize it throughout, the Anglo- Saxon world.. However, when we arrived, and for. two days we remained there, it was pouring in torrents as it can do only in Italy after several months of drouth. When, 1 from he diligence which had taken us from the towered, picturesque small city of Castle-Franco we descended at the "Two Swords," the inn conducted by the Pope's sister and her husband, we soon had all the prominent personages of the village gathered around us. their astonishment and their surprise being great when they heard that I had come all the way from Koine which to them seemed 'almost at j. the other end of the world to write an article and j take photographs to be published in Success." THEY ARE SORRY THAT THEY CANNOT READ ENGLISH. 'Tn what language will it appear ?" they asked. 'Tn English." "What a pity!" "Why?" . "Because we will not be able to read it." "But," judiciously remarked Signora ' Parolin, the Pope's sister, "we will be able to sec the photographs photo-graphs in print." From that. moment it was a, competition com-petition among all, the villagers from rhe syndic (the mayor), Signor Andreassa, Jo the high priest to recount all the possible anecdotes about their "illustrious" citizen and to show the "sights" which, according to them, are worthy to be sent to posterity. poster-ity. Unfortunately, the unceasing rain partially spoiled the pictorial part of our work, but did not prevent, however, the Pope's sister from -.riving us a very warm reception on our return from the first expedition. "I have prepared you with my own. hands," she said, "what we consider our traditional dish, birds and polenta. In return you must tell me all about Boppi. Yu have seen him diow is his gout? Do tell me."' I recounted all I know about the new pontiff, his way of living, the persons who surroum: him, and the beauties of the Vatican, while the audience was increasing all the time. The Pone's sister, her hus-band, hus-band, Parolin, and their children, although 1'sten-ing, 1'sten-ing, were changing the dishes, removi i.j: the plates, and' opening some of their best wine to cdebrate. the occasion. It took me a good while to bring back the conversation con-versation from what the Pope is now doing to .what 'they remembered about him. However, at length I succeeded and they all rivaled each other in trying to say the most. One of the Pope's boyhood companions, a tine specimen of a son of the soil, said to we, "Jlis Holiness Holi-ness in those days, when wc began to go to school, was a little devil. I never saw such daring and in genuity. He was adored by aJl 'he boys -iivl loved by their elders for his bright ways and ready tongue. I never knew him to do a bad or cruel "dn'ng. but mischief was in the air he brealhed. His poor old grandfather, who adored him, was his i-hief target. The old man smoked a great pip.', and wore a coat with long tails and pockets, in which he kept his pipe ami a big bandana handkerchief. Heppi's chief entertainment was putting things in ihoso pockets. His grandfather was old and had begun to lose his memory, so the joke was always fresh and successful. success-ful. We would all form a ring round his chair at the door and ask for a story, which he could not tejl without his pipe, so back would go his hsnd to his pocket, to be withdrawn iii i hurry. " "Lads, there is something in mv pocket!' ""Of course, your pipo!' " 'Xo, not my pipe: it is alp.---'.' " "Try again and hold on nard' and thus encouraged encour-aged he would dive into the pockof again ind brinu-out brinu-out a handful of worms, which ho would throw at us in revenge, or black be.'iles, which stuck l i his hands. The old man. who was still active, would make a dash-for Bepni. who. barefooted and fleet, would rush up the main stive t, shouting, 'blue murder,' mur-der,' and keeping just levon 1 (he clutch of his grandfather, whose coat-tails wore (lying, .while we boys formed an escort, and the neighbors rushed to their doors to shout encouragement to' one or the other. When caught. as hi somelimes was the boy was brought by the ar to his mother, who would cuff him, and then his grandfather, sorry for his punishment, would give lr'm licori.v ( the greatest treat to us boys) when her hack was turned. I have seen this enacted over and over again. The death of his grandfather was the Pope's first grief. It seemed to sober him and lie too,- m ve seriously to his book. At this time the faivilv, although not ne. of the poorest of the village, was often in straits, and the boys would go to bed suppcrloss that their sisters might eatand I think it was then that the determination to be something -ibore a poor peasant peas-ant first entered the mind of ihe loy." HE WOULD WILLINGLY TAKE THE PUNISH- MENT WHICH HIS PLAYMATES DESERVED. In those days he used to drav gowing pictuies of what he would do in the future, b-tt his imagination imagina-tion never took him so far as the chair of St. Pct; r, the Church, at that time at least, not being in his programme. His character was then forming and the qualities which later led lochia sttcci'sa began to fdiow themselves. His ..displayed brilliance in organization, or-ganization, and an iron determination in matters of real moment,, disguising under a manner of obliging softness and yielding in matters of little importance. "I can remember once," said my informant, infor-mant, "a scene which showed his loyalty. You know how certain things stand out in the memory above others of much more importance; but this, after all, had significance. One day several naughty boys, myself my-self among them, got. a poor unfortunate eat and dog and tied their tails together and let them go. When they had almost killed themselves fighting and pulling, Beppi appeared on the scene, but, the priest and his father coming around the corner at that moment, mo-ment, we boys scattered and the poor fellow was left to bear the blame of an act he would have scorned to commit. He got a good caning from his father, but be never told that the fault was not his. That made us his slaves." At school Giuseppe Sarto took all the prizes, and kept his place as leader among his schoolfellows. His teachers predicted great things for him in the future, but to this his family would have paid little attention, as they wished him at home to help fill the. family exchequer, had not Cardinal Monico, who was also a native of Kiesi, had him placed in the seminary of Padua, where he wasx ordained a priest in 1858, at the age of 23. I cannot find in any records rec-ords or through talking with his family that he showed any particular leaning for the priestly call-" ing, but for once destiny was kind, and put a round peg in a round hole, and he at once began to show his special qualities t.f organization and command, sympathy and charity. His flock at Salzano, where he was parish priest, obeyed him implicitly, while he on his side often went without his dinner that others might not go hungry, and presented his God as one of love, not fear. However, to the boys, especially es-pecially those who sang in the choir, he administered adminis-tered cuffs pretty often, until one mother;:prefient at such a scene, indignantly recommended him to. go and have children of his own and then sec how he liked to have others box their ears. FREQUENTLY THEY DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY THE FOOD THEY NEEDED. ' His sister lived with him. and was often in despair de-spair because there was nothing in the house with which to buy food. One day she had procured a j fine piece of beef and had promptly put it in a pot to make a soup. Xear the dinner hour she came rushing to her brother, crying: "The meat is stolen!" "Perhaps it was the cat." "The cat! A cat cannot carry off the pot too!" Thereupon he added insult to injury by saying: "ily dear sister, T fear you do not attend very well to the kitchen. It was I who took. them to give to a poor man who said his wife was ill in bed and needed broth." "Well. at. least I suppose she could not eat the pot!" said the other indignantly. ,"Xow. what are you going to have for dinner, I should like to know; I am sure you have not a cent in your pocket." Beppi indulgently turned out his empty pockets, and then said : "Xever mind, never mind, sister; God will pro- , vide for us!" Besides the care of his parish, whose joys and sorrows were all his own, he helped his family, his mother having been left a widow with six daughters and only two-sons, who of course were in sad straits. I"or this he gave up his horse and trap, arid went on foot among the scattered people of his parish, and even pawned his parochial ring, which, once gone, he could not get tha money together to redeem for two years. " On becoming Bishop of Mantua, in. 1881, a change was noted in his attitude. Before, he had not taken one side or the other in political questions, ques-tions, and had , if anything, been accounted liberal, but after his elevation to the bishopric he began- to show signs of reaction and seventy; both towards 1 the Italian party, and the more liberal clergy, until after events proved unfounded. Then came his ele-vation ele-vation to the purple and appointment as Patriarch of Venice, where his talents had full scope. . In the Venetian region, where his influence was directly felt, as patriarch he succeeded in gathering together all the clericals, forming of them a powerful power-ful force, from the social as well as from the economic eco-nomic and political point of view. He made them a party antagonistic to Socialism, and allying them with the Moderates nnd Conservatives. succeeded in defeating the Liberals in the municipal elections in Venice, as well as in the smaller Venetian towns and villages, who in their turn, had, for reasons of defense de-fense and assimilation, allied themselves with the j popular parties, viz., the Kadicals, Republicans an.d ! Socialists. He succeeded in disciplining the Koman Catholic forces in town and country in such a way that, notwithstanding the mm expedit. they became I a terrible weapon even in purely political elections, j The greatest advantage derived by the rural popu-. i lation from his work was the village banks, which, ! as a representative of his Church, he monopolized, ! and thus succeeded in freeing the peasants from the I (dutches of the usurers. These banks number about or ihousand. each having its operations limited to ' the .habitants of the village where it is, and dis-i dis-i posing of a capital of from $1,500 to $2,000. and lending sums of not more than $40 for periods of not over six months, often lent free o'r at nominal rates of interest. Their success seemed to lie in their nimblcness and perfect organization. As a rule the loans were punctually repaid. The organization organ-ization and management of this work, both political and economic was an excellent, one for one who, as Pope, must know and understand the finances of the Holy See, even if he docse not personally conduct con-duct them. HE LIKES THE DINNER THAT HIS SISTERS COOK. Giuseppe Sarto's private life, as he. has advanced step by step, has always been of the simplest. In the course of time his brother and three of his sisters j married, so that he had the other three girls live I with him. and wished much to have his mother, but i she could never make up her mind to leave her native na-tive village and the house in which all her married life had been passed. "Here," she said, "I lead ray own life and can go on in the habits of one of 75, but at the patriarchate at Venice I should have to become a fine lady, for which I am not suited." Her daughters, however who were net suited either-steered either-steered clear of this pitfall by avoiding all overtures over-tures from those above them in station, keeping entirely en-tirely to themselves and having but one object in life, that of making Beppi happy, which they thoroughly thor-oughly accomplished. Xot a day passed that he did not invite some one to his simple dinner, usually by one of his sisters, his graceful cordiality and benevolence be-nevolence setting all at ease, and making his one of the most sought after tables in Venice. His in-transigeance in-transigeance gradually wore off until he paid, not long ago. a visit to King Victor Emmanuel III, when he was in Venice, and was present to bless the laying of the corner stone of the new Campanile of St. Mark's, although the Italian minister of public pub-lic works was there. So his life ran on. with visits, few and far between, be-tween, to Kome. Leo XIII receiving him with special spe-cial benevolence; otherwise the visits were a duty, not a pleasure, he always declaring that he was suffocated suf-focated at the Vatican with the gorgeousness and ceremonial, and that he would not be able io live .there. "They want air and sunshine," he said, one day "and freedom." he added thoughtfully. Then came the conclave. HE BOLDLY INFRINGES ESTABLISHED PAPAL PA-PAL ETIQUETTE. His whole career may be said to have been an unconscious preparation for the pontificate, from its religious and administrative side, and even its political side, from an internal point of view, but of internal affairs with regard to the papacy hp was in total ignorance when he started on the fateful journey which was to end in that palace which he always" left behind with such pleasure. Xow the world may be said to be waiting for him to declare himself; As yet he has only issued documents of a strictly religious nature, and the delay in the electing elect-ing of his secretary of state came from his perception percep-tion that he was ignorant of certain matters. He is even yet hard at work making-himself conversant conver-sant with the intricate threads of Vatican politics and the serious questions affecting the Church, and slowly evolving his policy in the quiet ol the garden gar-den of the Apostolic Palace and of his private library. li-brary. Xothing is said, but those who wish may read the signs of the times in little things. His Holiness, when receiving the workmen of the district dis-trict about St. Peter's insisted on as little ceremony cere-mony as possible, would have no canopy over the throne, and wished each person present to kiss his hand, but in this last was overruled by those about him. He has infringed upon papal, etiquette of some hundreds of years' standing by establishipg a dining room and having his sisters and others eat with him, and in that he walks and drives without with-out a military escort, and does numberless other things requiring courage and firmness. The world, especiallv of Kome, expects some decisive act before be-fore long, and a totally new policy. Has it judged the man right ? Success. 4. : . |