Poems, charades, inscriptions of Pope Leo XIII, including the revised compositions of his early life in chronological order

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tho college semions os 1821, impatrod not a litile the robust healthnourishod in the bracing air os his native Volscian hilla. . . . Henever uterWard enjoyed the physical vigor os his early boyhood. ''

III. The noxi eight distichs may be considered tander one paragraph. M When, in 1825, the Roman College solemnly inaugurated iis munes of ecclesiastical and secular teaching. itis halis Were at oncesilled by sourteen hundred studenta. Among these vas Vincent

Ρ ei. . . . More remarhable still Was his succisa in Latin verse.

. . . The Pereon eliosen On both occasiong to expose the doctrines

of Revelation and to deieci and rosule ali possibie objections WasPe i. ' Astor his murae in tho university, he studiod laW and diplomacy at the Academy os Nobis Ecclesiasti . Cardinat Sala, Who is roserred in With such great affection in the Poem a Venerable man Who had Men associaled With Cardinal Capram in thodisastrous legation to Paris in 1808, and whose Mul had been triod liks that os Pius VII himself, by the fix terribie years ibat sol-lowed. ' ΗΟ had conceived a Warm attachment sor Pisci. In their intermurae the young and inexperienced churchinan learned, oin one Who had Mon thrice purified in the furnaco, many lemons hich Were goon to M os pricolem service to himself in governingmen and dealing With govertamenta. Reilly). But hore the limitations os space give Narning that the remaining lines of the poem may not bo illustraled even in tho ουkotchy Way os

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The incident quoted may serve as a pari os the abundant commentary on the lines os the mena:

Dulcis Parthenope, Beneventum dein tenet, Reque Ut lege Hirpinos imPerloque re S.

The fimi public post assignia to Monsignor Pecci by Grego

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ory res ed to move or in interiore in any Way. Ηe had delibe ately and with open eyes chosen his mun and was determined totrusi him . . . Consequently the Dolegato mas test Mith a Doe handio Work out the problem in his oWn Way.' A Dumber os stori , more or lem to the Ρoint, are told to illustrato the energy and theimpartiality With Which he carriod out his operations against thebrigand8, Who Mem to have terrorized the Ρopulation and to have secured for the elves frienda in high places. A certain noble, on hoso movementa invidious Walch had boen hepi, camo one day totho Delegato in a sit os injured innocenco, threatoning to go in Rometo bring his complainis bosore a highor tribunal: Have you gi ven the matter enough thought 3 ' hed the Delogate quietiy. Corta inly,' Anid the Marquis. I don't agroe Nith you,' replied Monsignor. In these mattere

All os the a ve illustratos pretiily the rather dry statement os the

justi sy quotation in this connection, is lold by Branelli himself in

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pher remarksj in the austere prelate, the man os letters and t te, and the enthusiastic lover os .hatever adoras humanity.

Branelli is the author os tho Vita Letteraria di Leone XIII. 40 pp.), Which serves as a presaco to the latest edition os the O-mina et Inaeriptiones Udino, 18933.

Tho hymn has Men very highly praised by severat competenteriti . Tahing as iis subjeci a Patron os Perugin a martyred Blahop of the early ages os Christianity, it appealed mitti specialsoreo to the interest and admiration os Cardinat Pecci's diocese. Perhaps ita greatest admirer Was Bishop Rotelli, to Whom one of the longer poems in this collection p. 52) is dedicat . From his appreciative criticism Written in 18813 We leam that he considore thothres poems in honor os St. Herculanus and St. Constantius misi santi vescovi e martiri perugini V ὶ three magnificent poems, trulyWorthy os the dignity of the Pope. ' ΗΟ read and r read them, analyged them, elaborated them into prose, subjected them to a hundred Marching tests V and sound them so untouched by the severest criticism M to lead him in the conclusion that their author Was veramente ian innografo sommo. They remit the widen age os

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IMO X., and will brook comparison, ho thinlis, With but tWo hymnaos that age, those is Sannamaro in honor os St. Gaudiosus and St.

Nagarius. He quotes sor special comment the stan :Furens Getharum ah algidis Deveetus oris Toti a Turres Perusi et moenia Hoste obsidebat barbaro,

comparing the admirabie portraiture pennellemiato a mera ig-lia j os Totita Ni in that os Horculanus, Damed in these rapid and energetic iambire :

Ue quotes With approbation the penultimate stanin:

Laetare Etrusca civitas Tanta refulgens glorin: Attolle centum gestiens Caput decorum turribus lIn a brios but admirably writton estimate os the POPe's mus , Father Valle, S. J., sponds not a litile effori in analyzing the three poema. We give in suli his triniment os this hymn: Hymnus A.

Herculani est natura historicus, vehemen8, mira Varietate ContextuS,

sive cum ob oculos ponit furores crudelissimi Totilae obsidentis Perusiam, terroremque popularium ab imminenti urbis excidio; sive cum Herculanum describit animo impavidum, et ruentes in arma cives, quos ad patriae tutelam Herculani vox excitaveriti Hinc diversi animorum motus; quorum alii anxia quadem trepidatione lectorem comprimunt, alii erigunt spe optatissimi exitus. qui egregiam civium audaciam et constantiam secundet. Nisi quod tristi eventu subit hinc Ρerusiae casus, quam non hostium virtus prostravit sed dolus, hinc Herculani caedes, qui pro salute suorum barbari regia acinaci praecidendam cervicem obtulit. At vero ab hoc lugubri ac miserando rerum adspectu raptim ut lyricorum mos est) animum Oxtollit Vates. oculosque in Herculanum intendit iam sempiterni aevi beatitate potitum; quos inde ad Perusiam declinat, caelitus beati novensilis patrocinium illi gratulatur. hortaturque ne ab invictae fidei documentis, quae Herculanus praebuit, degeneret.

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Bishop Rotelli commenta on the murili staneta as solioWs: 'ema rigeaeue i monti il Subasio e lo lontane montagne di Leonema ali' oriente di Perugia, gli apponini di Gubbio a tramontana sono coPerii di neve ; avesia Montes pruinis alateant: il sole stesso vimescientificamente discritto Delia sua posiaione zodiacale; Solis eminea frigido-Irrorat imbre aquari r mi quale due elegantissimi versi ii Poeta evidentemente ha voluto render latino l'ardito concello

doli' Alighiori, la dove dico:

They are indeω elegantissimi versi, ' Whether borro od DomDante or Os universia appropriation:

Solisque crines frinclo Irrorat imbre AquRrius.

In translating them, We have borroWed the equalty elegant phrase Utho bright-hairod sun ) os Colline Ode to Meming. This hymn dissem Dom tho solio ing one on the fame theme fas est as Dom that on St. Herculanus), in that it is not historical in iis triniment. It is a song of triumph, an Io triumphe. Father Vallethinks it inould bo rightly callod sacri epinicii exemplar absolutissimum. ' And he continuos: U Simplex porro est huius hymni processus ; sestiva laetitiae pompaeque descriptio, quam in honorem caelestis Patroni incolae deeunt; florens denique imaginum species; atque hae ut eminentia ex umbris in pictura) pulcrius renident ex tristi hyomis tempestate, quae graphice exprimitur hac strophe :--δ rigrarit, asperis . . . Huius hymni lectione animus dulci quodem pietatis castaeque voluptatis sensu persunditur; quem Sensum Auctor vereiculis ipsis adeo feliciter assavit, ut quantum prioribus hymnis per maiestatem carminis grandia exaequat, tantum hoc altero modestioribus stinumentis per liendis se natum tendat. '

The second poem in honor os the Mint condenses into a se Sapphic stangas the detatis os his sufferings and mariyrdom. Thesequence os the shori narrative Would eastly lead ono in inser thathis trial Was undergone at one placo and time. The bries introduction in Prose, hoWever, indicates the variety both in time and in place. The 8th and 10th stangas offer great dissiculty in interpret

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to Nn lies distant a ut throo miles Dom Foligno. Some here be- tWeen the tWo places he was martyred. Here one os the soldierasaid: Ne isto magus quom trahimus suis nos artibus interficiat interimatur . . . Illico vibrato gladio abstulerunt caput eius; corpore

vero dimisso in tramite qui dicitur Fulginoato V op. est. , p. 9303. Anothor Vita has this: Venorunt itaque in trivio Fulgineato, non

longe a civitate ipsa . . . et decollaverunt eum, et dereliquerunt

corpus eius in ipso loco ' p. 9283. A mot-noto rema rhs: U Describit hunc locum Ludovicus Iacobillius do S. Fulginatibus pag. 34b; tradi tque agrum vicinum vocari etiamnum la Contrada di S. Constanχο). Tho third Uuci has: Cum igitur ad trivium quoddam Fulgineatum quod Vocant, non procul ab ipsa urbe Fulginea positum, n tu Pervenissent . . . strictis gladiis in hominis iugulum invadunt p. 935). All os those accounts seem in imply not aprison bul a highWay. But the stangas oster nnother disti cui ty. What is the mean ing os luee pallenti ' Is it the t Nilight os the dying, or os tho b inning day Brunelli, ono os the fimi translatore, does not specisy:

The quela Ombra notiurna '' Mould serve sither hypothesis, and can Marce M accounted a rendering os luee pallenti. But ali the Lives spoah os Levianus as having beon Warned in fleep by an anges. Tho tWilight is theresoro that of the da ning day. Bishop telli, in his estimate os the poem, underetands the wan light ostho prison liseis : la pallida e incerta luce dei carcere net quale enimii cominioso Leviano-Luce passienti vigilana ad umbram.

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Pari os tho Bishopys estimate may bo quoted Nith interest: P Lalingua h purissima: Io stilo h vibrato; espressivo l' epiteto, incisiva

Hinc sidus O tu snibus Umbriae Affulge amicum i Fulginium, plaIn vota te patrem vocantem Umue suum, honus O tueret Intaminata et sacra ab avia noe Tu nostra Plemen8 Pectora rubor Quae nulla Vis insanientis Temporis, ingldiaeve frangRnt.

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illustraled both by the morat contained in inch os these hymns, and by the worda os Leo XIII. When establishing a Pious Association inhonor os the Holy Family. The spectui devotion is meant to meeta Apeciat need : Every one is aWare, ' mys the Holy Father in his Apostolic Leitor, that the prosperity and happinem os public and private lise dependa most largely on the homo. For the deepor thor is os virtve strihe tuto that soli, and the more aleri Parenis are, by Word and deed, to insom the fouis os the young With the precepis os religion, the more plenti sui are the fruits resulting to thegood os society in generat. It is os the highest importance, there- fore, not merely that domestic society should bo constituted holily, but as weli that it should bo govemed by holy rules; and that a religious spirit and a Christian life should be diligently and constantly nourishod in it. Τheresore it Was that the mercisul God, whon He had decreta to perseet the work os Redemption Which tho ages had so long aWaited, go ordered the Kork that ita fidit begin- ninga inould exhibit an august modet os a Fataly divinely constitutod, in Whicli nil men might see an exemplar of every Viriue and holinem. Such a Family Kns that at Nagareth, in Whicli the Sun ofJustice, ore IIo fhould shine With suli radiance on ali the nations, Was fini hidden; and this Family comprised Christ, the Lord God, togother With His Virgin Mother, and her most holy s use Joseph,

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And this is biit a pootical version os his own Words in tho Leiter: Qui nobilis nati sunt, discent a Familia regii sanguinis quomodo et in edita sortuna se temperent, et in amicta retineant dignitatem: qui dites noscent ab ea quantum sint virtutibus posthabendae divitiae. ' Τhe nobie aro remindod of the royal blood os that lowlyΗο ehold; and the wealthy, that virtve is to be presereed in riches. Thus this devotion to the Ηoly Family includes in iis scope the -- tremest stationa os lise- verty and loKlino , wealth and nobility. These lemons are sorely needed in our times; and the hymns, lihetho Feast Whose ossice they serve to adorn, While they aro indoed exquisite in their Christian thought md classic phrase, Pomem eVen Rhigher value as prayera thren RS POems.

Whilo many a Pope has been literalty a Pontifex Maximus, the long line os the Papacy has splendidly preserved thΘ architec-