The Commoner.
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 4,
the presidential candidate Is, but it
docs matter what liq alands for. It
dooB not mutter much from what sec
tion ho comes, but it does matter in
wUt direction ho is going to lead the
TKirtv
This is not a sham battle in which
wo are about to ongago. It is in
. tensely real, and terribly earnest.
Wo need candidates whoso recoids
aro such as to insplro courage in
democrats such as appeal to the con
fidence) of republicans. Lovo, a great
philosopher has declared, is not stu
pla, and those who lovo democratic
principles will certainly not Ijo &o
Btupld as to select a candidate whose
past is indcfonsiblo, whoso present
position is inscrutable, or whose fu
ture conduct can be a matter of con
jecture. And how shall our committee con
duct the campaign? Not by the pur
chase of votes, or by the corruption
of citizenship, but by an open and
honorable appeal to the hearts and
minds of the American people. Let
the republican party bo challenged to
meet tho moral issue presented this
is democratic, this is patriotic. Let
this be done, and "unless reason and
love of country have tied wo shall
light without being ashamed. If we
lose it will be but a temporary defeat
and will bring no disgrace with it.
If wo win, tho victory will mean
much for our country and for the
world.
Rome The Catholic C.pitJ
(Copyright, 1904, by New York
Journal.)
Tho dominant feature of Itomo is
the religious feature, and it is fitting
that it should bo so, for horo tho soil
was stained with the blood of those
who first barkened to the voice of the
Nazarono hero a cruol Nero lighted
his gardens with human torches, little
thinking that tho religion of those
whom ho burned would In timo il
lumine tho earth.
Tho fact that tho city is tho capi
tal of tho Catholic world is apparent
overywhero. All interest is centered
In tho Vatican and St. Peter's. The
civil government of Italy extondr to
tho nation's borders, but tho papal
authority of Homo reaches to the ie
motest corners of the earth. I was
anxious to see the man upon whom
such vast responsibility rests and
whoso words so profoundly influonco
millions of tho human race. Lord
Denbigh, of England, had given me
a lottor of introduction to Cardinal
Merry del Val, tho papal secretary of
stato, and armed with this I visited
tho Vatican. Oardinel del Val is an
exceedingly interesting man. Ho was
born of Spanish parents, but ono of
liis grand-parents was English and ho
is connected by ties of blood with
several families of the English nobil
ity. Ho was educated in England, and
speaks that language fluently and
without an accent, ns ho does French,
German, Italian and Spanish. His
linguistic accomplishments are al
most as groat as those of the famous
Cardinal Mozzofantl. Cardinal del
Val Is an unusually young man to oc
cur y such an important post ho Is
not yet forty. Ho impresses one as a
man of rare ability and ho possesses
extraordinary volatility and a diplo
' matic training that will mako him
eminently useful to His Holiness. The
papal socrotary of state Is a tall
slender, distinguished-looking man'
His Intellectual faco is thin and oval-'
his oyos are large, dark and "brilliant
showing hia Spanish birth. He re
ceived us in his private apartments
in tho Vatican. They are among the
most interesting of tho 1,200 rooms in
that great building and were onco oc
cupied by that famous pope who was
a Borgia. Tho ceilings and walls
down to the floor aro painted magnif
icently, tho decoration having been
done by the hand of a master artist
of Borgia's roign. For centuries tho
?i 1 TY 0CC"Pied by Cardinal del
7 hadn,S00n nnrt of the Vatican 11
maSL 1 h bea"tlful wa re once
Si? tiby,Voat of rud0 whitewash,
but the paintings were discovered not
long ago and tho pictures restored
onco more to view. ea
Before visiting the Vatican I called
of LMA0nSlg,nor Keedy, the rector
of tho American College. Mgr Ken
nedy is a learned and an oxceWng?y
Indigastlon Gund
In ono trcok with Drake's Fnim mi.
postal card request for frSo i?nmI7lnoVSend
Formula Company, Chicago? 0ttl t0 Drako
agreeable American and tinder his ef
ficient management the number of
students in the college has been dou
bled within a few years. He enabled
mc to meet Pope Pius' Maestro di
Camera. By tho good offices of Car
dinal del Val, and tho Maestro di Ca
mera it was arranged that I should
have a private audience with the
Holy Father tho following day, Mgr.
Kennedy acting as interpreter.
JTope Pius received us in his pri
vate audience room adjoining the pub
lic audience chamber, where distin
guished Catholics from all over the
world were collected and ready to be
presented and receive the papal
blessingj The private audience room
is a rather small apartment, simply,
but beautifully furnished and deco
rated. A throne bearing the papal
crown occupied one side of tho room.
His Holiness greeted us very cour
teously and cordially. He wore a long
white cassock, with a girdle at the
waist; the fisherman's ring was on his
finger and ho wore a small, closely
fitting skull-cap of white. ? I had an
opportunity to study his face. It is
a round, strong face, full of kindliness
and benevolence, but there are not
acking indications that its possessor
has a purpose and will of his own'.l
.The face is ruddy and the nose rather
long it is straight and not arched.
His eyes are large, blue and friendly.
The scant hair visible below the
slaill-cap is white, in stature the
Holy Father is about five feet nine or
ten inches and his figure is sturdy, but
not too heavy. His step is light and
S
r2!fn&Olln08ft has aIrcady saed a
reputation as a democratic pontiff
and enjoys a large and growing non
ulirity with the people. He is an
oTVt'hl0"611 n sSnda SesSinato
on, of tho many court yards of the
Vatican and preaches to tho crowds
that gather quite informally hIs
gestures aro said to be graceful and
pressed in clear and emphaUc hT
fhaatgPiusTxr?s1S ,a tfKoZ
foimer of doctr no hnr - as a re
will populaZ bo church T0
with a view to increaX the Sm'
ness and zeal of the masse? in 1
application of religious tX ? n tho
day life. -ufeIO"s truth to every-
I assured His Holiness tw t
Predated tho opporfiy
his to g vo Imnetncj n . as
forces of the world 1 he moral
"t un J,orld and he ronlied
will iZ SS "0rtts la ?t direcUon
Son" w. merlt oommenda-
3saS3S
so renowned a scholar and diplomat
as was his predecessor, nor is he so
skilled in statecraft, but he is a virile,
energetic, practical religious teacher,
charitable, abounding in good works
and full of brotherly love. I am en
couraged to believe that he will play
an important part in the world-wide
conflict between man and mammon,.
The world has made and is malcing
great progress in education and in
industry. The percentage of illiteracy
is everywhere steadily decreasing.
The standards of art and taste aro
rifcing and the forces of naturo are
being harnessed to do the work of
man. Steam, madly escaping from its
prison walls, turns myrid wheels and
dn?gs our commerce over land and
sea, while electricity, more fleet of
foot than Mercury, has become the
message-bearer of millions. Even tho
waves of the air are now obedient to
the command of man and intelligence
is flashed across the ocean without
the aid of wires. With this dominion
over nature man has been able to ad
vance his physical well-being as well
as to enlarge his mental horizon, but
mts luu murai ueveiopment 01 tne
people kept pace with material pros
perity? The growing antagonism be
tween capital and labor,the lack of
sympathy often manifest between
those of the same race and oven of
the same religion when enjoying in
comes quite unequal these things
would seem to indicate that tho heart
has lagged behind the head and the
prrse. The restoration of tho equili
brium and the infusing of a feeling of
brotherhood that will establish justice
and good will must be the aim of
those who are sincerely interested in
the progress of the race. This is
pre-eminently the work of our relig
ious teachers, although it is a work in
which tho laity as well as the clercy
must take part.
After meeting Pius X.,'late the be
loved patriarch of Venice, I feei as
suied that he is peculiarly fitted to
lead his portion of the Christian
church in this great endeavor.
The Vatican which serves as the
home and executive offices of the su
preme pontiff of the Catholic church
is an enormous building, or rather
collection of buildings for it bears
evidence of additions and annexes.
One might be easily lost in its maze
of corridors. The ceilings of the
chief apartments are high and like
he walls of the spacious rooms and
halls are covered with frescoes of
priceless value. The Vatican adjoins
St. Peter s cathedral or basilica as it
s called a description of whose
beetles would fill a volume. The
basilica is so harmoniously propor
tioned that one does not apprec ate
its vastness from a distance, but once
within its walls it is easy to credit
the statement that fifty thousand per
sons can be crowded into it. in a
crypt just beneath the great dnm It
mvr,n7? f bout whieh
myriad lamps are kept constant
u-nine- Near tho tomb isTcrudte
suspended under a canopy supnorted
by four spiral columns that Xe re
plicas ; of a column elsewhere in
Part W ta. Said ha'vben
part of Solomon's temple. Not far
from the crucifix is the famous bron7A
statue of St. Peter, made from a na
gaii statue of Jupiter. It is mounted
upon a pedestal about five feet high
and the large toe of the right loot
which projects over the pedestal, has
been worn smooth by the lips of de
vout visitors to the basilica.
To me the most remarkable of tho
splendors of the cathedral were tho
Mosaic pictures of which there aro
many of heroic size.v- These Mosaics
depict Bible scenes and chaiacter3
and are done with such marvellous
skill that 'a little way off one can
hardly doubt that they are the prod
uct of the brush of,some great master.
The colors, tints and shades are so
perfect that it is difficult to believe
that the. pictures are formed by the
piecing together" of tiny bits of col
ored marbles and other stones. The
Vatican maintains, a staff of artists in
Mosaic some of whose work may be
purchased by ' the public. 1 was
shown the masterpiece of Michael
Angelo in the. cathedral of St. Peter
in Vinculo a statue .of Moses, seated.
In the right knee there is a slight
crack visible and it is the tradition
that when the great sculptor had fin
ished his work he struck the knee
with his mallet in a burst of en
thusiasm and exclaimed, "Now,
speak." St. Paul's cathedral, which
stands outside the ancient wall of the
city, is of modern construction and is
therefore less interesting to the visi
tor than the great basilica of St.
Peter's.
Next to the Vatican and the cathe
drals in interest are the ruins of an
cient Rome. In England and France
I had seen buildings" many centuries
old; in Rome one walks at the foot of
walls that for two thousand years
have defied the ravages nf time Tim
best preserved and most stupendous
pf the relics of "The Eternal City" is
the Colloseum. It is built upon a
scale that gives some idea of the
largeness of Roman conceptions and
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