Show POPE LEO his wonderful makeup of hind mind ani and V body prof mazzoil nl the physician an and surgeon of rome who Is attending pope I 1 leo XIII recently bad had a long talk with the pontiff on the subject of life and death the pope popi started the conversation by saying that tha he loved life 1 I do not want to be understood a as loving ute for the sake of living continued linued the pope yet I 1 love it with i a strong feeling of love nothing that happens could lessen my love of existence continuing leo said pointing at his wasted form 1 I am arr above physical considerations ol 01 of course but mentally am as lively as W ever and I 1 will be ready to battle in this intellectual arena as long as w these bones hold out my love of lit life I 1 la Is really a love of spiritual conquest I 1 these words were spoken while prof mazzoni was conducting his medical examination at its conclusion he informed his holiness that ee lie had never seen a person at the brink of his ninetieth year whose organization was sc so little impaired and who was physically BO 90 fit to be the head of an in immense community the pope ef smiled filled when the servants servant had bad finished dressing him he dismissed dismiss ei them with a kindly motion of t the h hand and looking I 1 kJ azzoni strafes str algEt into the eye said and how many years do you give me doctor 1 I have no right to pass definite Judg answered mazzoni Mazzo nl bu but can say this tour holiness ha has abundant health for a man of your age and your spirits are eo so frash eo so imbued wh with youthful vigor that I 1 d do not hesitate to say that you may safely reach your hundredth year or may even live a longer time tor for the inna enio ene of a hale striving working mind min on the shell that walks the earth ii Is most beneficial bemel lelal and decisive 1 I have long thought that said the pope POPO and I 1 idank G every day that tha he lie beeps keeps my head bead so cac clear ar my mind s eo tree free of disturbances you know doctor I 1 have always been a cheerful man mai ah I 1 wish I 1 could make all my chit dren the entire christian world nay all the peoples of the earth believe li in this beautiful maxim of cheerfulness I 1 it I 1 live a thousand years I 1 could coult never thank god sufficiently atly tor for lit his unmerited favor the endowment with a blithe and contented temperament As I 1 look back upon my life I 1 see its different epochs as it reflected in a clear mirror ot of course the glory of atall it all Is gods but I 1 take a little credit myself too and am proud that I 1 feel as young as I 1 do the pope then bald said that although he valued medicine most highly he be had little use for doctors whereupon mazzoni made answer your holiness may rest assured we physicians can do little or nothing for you we stand aghast before the pleasing phenomenon of young old age buoyed up tip by work and unshaken by serious cares well said the pope thoughtfully when quite a young student I 1 read Huf elands celebrated work the art of prolonging life then just published and I 1 agreed with the german professor that the mere prolongation of life would be quite a useless undertaking and that above all ono one must have something to live for it one has something to live tor for then one must try to put off yie vie growing old as long as possible and that Is what I 1 have done again I 1 have always kept my stomach under strict control mans digestive organs usually begin to degenerate after his fiftieth year and the more one has abused his stomach the quicker the more painful the degeneration well my dle thas been the same as student chaplain bishop diplomat governor archbishop cardinal and pope I 1 have never eaten more than was necessary to build up and sustain my constitution most people have no idea how little man needs tb 6 keep from starving the pope next explained his dally daily wants in the way of food for breakfast served immediately after mass this latter is celebrated in loos private house chapel the last and largest of the suite of five rooms inhabited by him tor for breakfast he has a cup of coffee and two or three rolls which he slowly munches while going over his correspondence and seeing his privy secretaries who give him an epitome of the news professor mazzoni assured the pope that his questions were not prompted by idle curiosity 1 I ask tor for sciences sake he said and beg that your holiness be pleased to tell me whether you youtaka take a long rest after dinner as is customary with old people 9 oh yes answered leo 1 I steal half an hour every afternoon from my duties for a nap because it refreshes me wonderfully then I 1 return to my desk to work until after sundown when the lights are on my real sea son for recreation ton begins then I 1 receive members of my family and personal friends and we have many a good chat at I 1 retire to tell my beads then supper a glass of warm milk a slice of bread and roast meat and a little cheese sometimes when that is over I 1 seek my desk again and work till midnight or longer longen professor mazzoil says he never saw such subjugation of matter to spirit as in the case of the pope outward ly he looks a broken down old gen aleman but the ideas that sway him the love of duty and performance thai that Is second nature keep his blood traveling through his veins and keeps his whole being alive it if ho he such a joyful man his breathing apparatus would in all probability be out of order his heart would not act with such surprising regularity as it does As it is with these two organs going every bit of food he takes becomes fuel for the living fire and und the change of matter in his body is never interfered with hia his brain Is the clearest there is absolutely sol no sign cells medicinally speaking leo Is a wonder he ile told me everything that concerns humanity concerns me he ile takes the greatest and most intelligent interest in every nations life politics science literature art philanthropy all interest him he be stands in the center of all useful movements that however would hot suffice to keep him in health it if he been always a most moderate liver it his whole life been regulated by the most minute system and order A couple of fried tried eggs served on a little table resplendent with beautiful linen crystal and plate Is a whole banquet to him as it should be to every old man and how well he employs his houra of recreation in the consciousness of his he might summon to him people who simply report things as they have happened not so leo he ile la Is after opinions and he will not see a man twice who slavishly endorses indorses indor ses sei the pontiffs ideas against bis his own judgment leo delights in disputes be he loves to hear the truth even it its opposed to his its own notions then his eyes sparkle ep arkle he smiles and encourages the speaker in every way possible ifft true recreation because ita its mental leo I 1 takes a human interest in bis his fellow men and it seems to me that he sets humanity above doe doctrine 1 1 I told hla his hallil holiness ess that I 1 mill ant say how long he might live my private opinion Is this some morning the good plo will find him dead at his desk his little writing glove in hla his benevolent hand a smile upon his alm ilm alp and maybe he be will be found dead with his hands folded in prayer at all events it will bo be a pain painless losas death a beautiful one the pope will not die like one of us he will slowly go out like a it lamp having consumed its last drop of oil chi chicago cago chronicle |