Word: merrye
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No peasant was Merry del Val, but scion of an ancient Spanish family, grandee by birth and inclination, rich, sophisticated. He was the son of Don Rafael Marquis Merry del Val, secretary to the Spanish ambassador at London. His mother, the granddaughter of Brodie McGee Willcocks, onetime M. P., had...
Under Pope Leo XIII Merry del Val was Master of the Robes and Privy Chamberlain, and one of the youngest members of the papal household. He had ample exercise for his patrician tastes. He liked horses, liked dancing; he was an excellent shot. In ecclesiastical matters however he was not...
It was expected, of course, that the appointment would be only temporary. On the contrary, three months later the Pope made Merry del Val a Cardinal and gave him the full secretary title. Thereafter for eleven years Merry del Val at the Vatican counselled, conferred, carried out the policies of...
Strangely ill-mated as the two seemed-the simple, ascetic Pope and the flashing knightly young Cardinal-they soon became united by the strongest bonds: dependence and admiration on the part of Pius, affection on the part of Merry del Val.
In 1914, when Pius died, Merry del Val seemed by all odds the likeliest candidate for St. Peter's throne. But a new force had arisen in the Catholic hierarchy, Giacomo della Chiesa, Archbishop of Bologna. Cardinal della Chiesa had delivered a striking address on the outbreak of the...