as had a wonderful training of experience and
circumstances. At the early age of twenty-two he was a member of the
papal embassy commissioned to the jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. He
was also appointed a member of the embassy from the Vatican to attend
the funeral of Emperor William I; and at the jubilee of Francis Joseph,
Emperor of Austria, Cardinal (then Bishop) Merry del Val was the sole
and accredited representative of the Holy See, as he was also at the
coronation of King Edward. The Spanish Cardinal is the special trusted
counsellor of the royal family of Spain.

In Rome, Cardinal Merry del Val is an impressive figure. He is always
attended by his _gentiluomo_, who is gorgeously arrayed in knee
breeches, military hat and sword. This gentleman in waiting walks behind
him on a promenade, sits in his carriage and stands near him in all
religious ceremonies. His equipage is well known in the Eternal City,--a
stately black carriage drawn by two massive black horses with luxurious
flowing manes.

It is freely prophesied in Rome that the Cardinal secretary is destined
to yet exchange the mantelletta scarlet for the zucchetta white, when
Pius X shall have gone the way of all his predecessors in the papal
chair. He is the Cardinal especially favored by Austria and Spain.
Although the conflict with France was at first ascribed to Cardinal
Merry del Val, he has of late been completely exonerated from blame,
even by the French prelates and clergy.

Cardinal Merry del Val represents the most advanced and progressive
thought of the day. He is an enthusiastic admirer of Marconi and the
marvels of wireless telegraphy; he is an advocate of telephonic service,
electric motors, electric lights, and of phonographs and typewriters for
the Vatican service. He is a great linguist, speaking English, French,
and German as well as Spanish, which is his native tongue, and Italian,
which has become second nature. He is a good Greek scholar and a
profound Latin scholar, and he speaks the ancient Latin with the fluency
and the force of the modern languages. He is, indeed, a remarkable
twentieth-century personality and one who has apparently a very
interesting life yet to come in his future.

At the Villa Pamphilia Doria, built by a former Prince Doria, the
largest villa in the Roman environs and the finest now remaining, the
Cardinal enjoys his game of golf, of which he is very fond. The Doria
family rendered the villa magnificent in