THE POPE'S RECOVERY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 20, 18 May 1899, Page 28

THE POPE'S RECOVERY.

WHAT THE LAACIJT SAYS.

AN INTERESTING AND APPRECIATIVE ARTICLE.

• Plain living and high thinking,' says the Lancet, have scored again, and the nonagenarian Pontiff, after an illness followed by an operation which within 24 hours brought 10,000 telegrams of inquiry to the Vatican, has been allowed to leave his bed and, seated in his armchair by the now historic window, to look out on that world from which he has been excluded for more than 21 years. His case in all its incidents and surroundings is a memorable one. Other pontiffs indeed have shown marvellous vitality, though out of the total of 263 only 1(> have seen their eighty-first year. His immediate predecessor, Pius IX., lived until he was 1)0 years of age, and alone of all the Popes ■ surpassed the years of Peter ' (25) on the papal throne. Clement XI. died in his ninety-third year ; Paul IV . elected at Sit years of age, lived four years afterwards ; and (iregory IX. died all but a centenarian. But none of these Popes, except Pio ISono for a few year- 1 , was a ' prisoner,' confined to a 'palace and a pardon. asLeoXllf li w b< e-i since February, 1878. They could all lea\<> tli-> Vnuciii lor the Q'lirinal, and both these palaa-s during the dog-days for (\-i-mc! Gindolfo, that superb villa <.\erhanging the VMj.m Luke. \\c ''-ip^h 2000 feet above sea level. Change of air and change of •■eerie were open to them. But Leo XIII has never .stirred beyond that Mods Valicanus which retains the insalubrious character given it by Martial. None of them, moreover, in their mnetieta y^ar had to undergo the enncleation of an inflamed cystoid tumour of a quarter of a century's standing, and all this amid the cares of a spiritual empire infinitely greater in number and complexity than the busiest of them ever knew. Of course, in the present case the 'personal equation ' counts for much. Leo XIII. comes of the ancient stock of the Peccis, mountaineers of the Latin and Neapolitan frontier. From his youth up an indefatigable scholar, he relieved the seclusion of the study with open-air exercise, and durirg the many years he was Archbishop of Perugia indulged in Held sports mainly with his gun. Then, again, he was happily gifted with the nu nt <rqua ot his favourite poet, conducing to that even flow of the circulation which is marked by ' the pulse of longevity.' Over and above this constitutional characteristic he I has always had

THE ' WILL TO LIVE,'

which, in the physical sphere is the counterpart of what the greatest American psychologists had in the religious life called the ' will to believe.' This effort of volition, conscious or unconscious, is quite compatible, as in Leo's case, with ab-olute courage in face of death. Indeed, before and after the operation, the Pontiff's cheerfulness almost arose to gaiety, expressing itself in pleasant sallies, doubly pleasant for his consultants to hear. It may or may not be truly stated that he congratulated himself, as a hopeful element to the prognosis, on his ' having youth on his side.' But he certainly spoke and acted as if he had — as if, indeed, he fully shared Protestor Mazzoni's belief that after the operation he had at least aa many years in store as would suffice to falsify the words whispered into his ear on coronation . +Von vidcbis annox Prtrl [Thou shalt not see the years of Peter]. His example adds another to the many instances of patriarchal years attained by hard-working men, professional and other, in whom ' mind and woul according well.' with a physique unbroken by excess and braced by manly exercise, have resulted in that ' old age ' immortalised by Wordsworth as ' beautiful and free.' That poet himself and hia official successor, Lord Tennyson, the Duke of Wellington, and the Emperor William 1., are typical examples of that serene ' sunset of life,' which, succeeding its ' fitful fever,' shed so rich an after glow on their decline.

INTERNATIONAL TUG-OF-WAR IN MELBOURNE.

A WIN FOR IRELAND

One of the most interesting events of St. Vincent's Hospital Fair, opened in Melbourne the week after Easter, was on international tug-of-war. At the start a check was given to the movement, as the representatives of England, Scotland. Australia, America, Sweden. Denmark, and Germany would not pull against tho^e of Ireland unless the limit of weight was reduced to an average of 1!!} stone prr man, The Iri^h representatives protected in vain against this limitation, as being destructive of the national feature of the contest, and sooner than surrender the matter ot unlimited weight, challenged any eleven men of the oppos-ing teams to meet the Irish ten. As an alternative, the Irish team would meet a mixed team of the bt-<t men of all nations Both proposals were rejected, and as there wab every evidence of the whole movement falling through, the t- rms referred to were reluctantly accepted by the Irish delegate,, principally for the sake of the charity interested. The nsult of accepting the terms of the other teams was that gome of the best Irish r< presentatives had to be left out, so that the aggregate weight of the team should not exceed i:i"> stone. The following were selected as the Irish team and substitutes :—: — John and James Broderick, Clonlee. Galway : John Casey, Clogheen, Tipperary ; Timothy Crotty, O'Brien's Bridge, Clare ; Patrick Flannery, Clonlara, Clare ; Patrick Kennedy, Newport, Tipperary ; Terence Murphy, Cahir. Tipperary : Malachi Noon, Montagh, Galway : John Noonan, Ballyneey. Limerick ; Patrick Nugent, Ballinacurra, Water ford : John Long. Ballymartin. Limerick ; Michael O'Farrell, Hazelfield, Limerick ; Thomas Herliby, Killarney, Kerry.

The first pull took place on Monday, April 1 7, in the arena of the Exhibition Building. The Australians and Americans were pitted against each other, when after a tug lasting about half a minute the cornet ilks pulled their opponents over the line. The English and Iri--h teams t'aen faced each other. As there were only four pounds weight between the aggregate ot the contending teams, the backers of each were banguine of success. A great burst of applause filled the arena as the Irish boys, after a few seconds shifted their opponents a couple of feet, and in less than half a minute the Englishmen were pulled the limit distance — 6ft. On Tuesday evening the Australians defeated the representatives of Denmark in 11 seconds. Then England and India tried conclusions, when victory rested with the Western people. The English and Americans next met in friendly rivalry. At first the Yankees had the best of the pull, having taken their opponents two-thirds of thf> distance necessary for victory, but John Bull put his foot down and not another in^h would he move despite the more than pressing entreaty of hi* American cousins, the result of t v ie contest being a

draw. On April 19 the third of the series took place, when Ireland defeated Denmark in 28 seconds, and the Australians pulled the Englishmen over the six-foot limit in a minute and a quartet. The next contest was between Ireland and Australia, both teams having two wins to their credit. The pull took place in the presence of about l.">, 000 spectators, and speculation was very rile as to the result. At the signal the Australians pulled all they knew and gained three inches in a few seconds. Here it remained for a couple of minutes, when the Irish threw a little vigour into their work, and the centre mark went to their side of the line, six inches at a pull. In a short time the six-foot limit was reached, and then as the Irish were declared conquerors, a mighty shout went up from ten thousand throats. On the following night the Irishmen and Americans competed, but the contest was not interesting as the latter team quickly succumbed to the prowess of their opponents. This closed the tug-of-war, Ireland having secured four wins was declared conqueror.

Mark Twain -was good enough to give a reading for the benefit of the Convalescent Home for Consumptives, ac Vienna recently. The genial American introduced himself by a little speech in German. He was quite ashamed, he said, not to be able to hold forth at any length in that language, but he had not yet completed the collection of words of sixteen syllables which he felt was necessary to give his German fluency, elegance, and distinction. But he was improving very much. He had got so far, indeed, that he spoke English with a German accent. He had worked hard to collect forty-five nice long words, not one of them with less than sixty letters, and he had one of ninety-eight. Now, if he thought that w hen he was dead such a word would be engraved upon his tombstone, he should be sure of resting quiet and contented under that stone for all time.

Residents in Christchurch and district, who are about to purchase pianos or organs, will do well to call at the Musical Exchange, 159 to 161 Manchester street, and inspect the large and varied stock of these instruments on exhibition by Mr. R. Francis. Cash buyers will be accorded very liberal treatment, whilst those who prefer to purchase on the time payment system can have very easy terms. — **„

Ernie Wall (of Sterling fame) holder of the half-mile (flying) and ten mile New Zealand records, intends to keep in form with a view to knocking some more holes in the existing records. Wall has shown much improvement in his riding since he took up hia residence in Christchurch, and there is no reason why he should not gain the coveted honours. — *%

Messrs. McCormick and Pugh, of the Art Depot, 109 Colombo street, Christchurch, have a well-selected and superior stock of pictures and picture frames. Their prices are very moderate, whiist all work turned out by them is guaranteed to be of the best. — ,* m