Mr. Santley has been recently made a Knight of St.
Gregory by Leo the Thirteenth. Why not have
beatified him at once, on account of his being so Santley ?
He was in excellent voice when he sang in Spohr's great
Oratorio, which, by the way, is a subject that does not
lend itself to any Spohr-tive remarks.
Sir Charles Santley (28 February 1834 – 22 September 1922) was an English-born opera and oratorio star with a bravura technique who became the most eminent English baritone and male concert singer of the Victorian era. His has been called 'the longest, most distinguished and most versatile vocal career which history records.'
Pope Leo XIII (2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903), born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, reigned from 20 February 1878 to his death in 1903. He was the oldest pope (reigning until the age of 93), and had the third longest pontificate, behind that of Pius IX (his immediate predecessor) and John Paul II. He is the most recent pontiff to date to take the pontifical name of "Leo" upon being elected to the pontificate.
The Order of St. Gregory the Great is one of the five Orders of Knighthood of the Holy See. This special honour is bestowed upon Roman Catholic men and women (and sometimes in rare cases to non-Catholics) in recognition of their personal service to the Holy See and to the Roman Catholic Church, through their unusual labours, their support of the Holy See, and their excellent examples set forth in their communities and their countries.
