THE BOYHOOD OF THE POPE.

Waikato Argus, Volume VII, Issue 464, 22 July 1899, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BOYHOOD OF THE POPE.

It seems more than difficult to realise that the frail Pontiff, who is now taking his last few feeble steps down the " hill of life," and whom a breath might almost blow away, was at one timo one of the most stout-limbed and daring hunters in Italy, whom a proud father already figured as a great general. The contrast between then and now cannot be better illustrated than in the wordi of a champion of those days, now known as " Father Selvagni," the aged priest of Carpineto. Referring to the friend of his boyhood, he says : •• What hunts wo had together ! We wero up bright and early, scouring the forest; but ' St Nino ' was ever more fearless than I. rlc climbed to the very top of Melaina and the Fageta, jumping chasms and scaling precipes none other dared attempt. To-day Nino is the head of the wortf, and is called pompously Leo. XIII. He has no other peak before him than that of St. Peter, which fills the palace-prison with shadows long beforo dark. I pity him.'

It was just midway between Trafalgar and Waterloo that " Nino " first opened his eyes on the hills of Carpineto, the eighth child of Ludovice Pecci, a colonel in the Italian army. It was through his mothor, however, that he derived his strength and character and brain; and she in turn was a truo daughter r of Cola di Rienzi, the " great Tribune," whose dream it was to give a new birth to the Roman Republic. His mother always regarded Nino as a special gift from Heaven ; and even when he was in his cradle she used to prophesy that one day he would sit on the " Throne of St. Peter." Her letters aro full of the wonders of the new child, who was named after her hero, Vincenzo Ferrer; and when his ago was measured by months eho wrote :

•• My little Vincenzo walks alone already and goes everywhere. He is passionately fond of horses. Although he is so small that you can hardly see him, ho jumps up and rides all the furniture without waiting for help from anyone. You may well imagine that this child is not the cause of much melancholy. Titisa (an older brother) does nothing but make altars ; the Church has a great attraction for him." And yet, how strango it is, Titta was the only ono of the family of nine children to marry ; and Nino, who had all the early inetincts of a soldier, was to become Pope. An interesting story is told of these very early days. Ono day a peasant woman brought a basket of cheeses to the Pecci home, and the little Nino, stooping in curiosity to look at the cheesos, fell into the basket.

• What do you want, brother' the peasant asked, laughingly. ' I am not a brother !' the child answered, witli a pout. < What, then?—a cardinal ?" 'No,' answered the child's mother, taking him up proudly in her arms, *he is my little Pope.' And so it was to bo moro than 60 years later. As a boy Nino was the ringleader in everything that was mischievous or risky, and if there was a bully to cow or a daring feat to be done, it was always ' Nino Pecci' who was in demand. Aud yet, through all these boyish pranks, tho boy's great future might have been seen by a discerning eye. At school his beautiful face earned for him the nickname of " the little angel " and "mother of piety," and if thero was an act of kindness to bo done, he was always the first to think of and to do it. Ono day on his return home, he found a peasant boy lying hurt by the roadside. He had been knocked down by a oart, and feared that his log was broken, Nino ran to a neighbouring spring, filled his cap with water, gave the boy some to drink, and with the rest bathed his log. Whon ho was sufficiently recovered he raised the boy, aud half-supporting, half-carrying him, started on the long journey home. At this point Nino's tutor overtook him and gave him a lecture on his imprudence. «' What will your parents say," the teacher asked, " when you take this dirty rangamuffin home ?" " They will say that I havo dono right," Nino proudly answered. "Is it so unusual, then, to help a hurt child ? Wouldn't overyonn do as I am trying to do ?" At college Nino was noted equally for. bis brilliant scholarship and his skill in all athletio sports ; and when, at tho ago of 22, ho eclipsed all his fellows in the examination for the doctor's degree, this special noto was ontercd on tho college register: "Ho is destiuod for higher things."