The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1873-09-02 00:00:00

A PILGRIMAGE TO L• SALICTTE.

The French aorreepoodent of the Tiara mode to that
Journal he mmeaat of. Oat he bee paid, with a bead
of pilgrims, to La Sakai*. Arrived at the summit of
the plates., be says :—•
Then le no need is reek the =Wads There it le before all
opuxzezzognUker cher
om zh, wheeeltdwl square towers
the .
nsriee
tle-
Mel In the flomenerue rityla new perceived Ur lofty arches,
the bold maraca, the sculptured capitols, which, lthe triple
architectural alley, lead towards the altar at the other and and
the rare of the chthceL All around miner altars form.. It
wen sacred Manna, whom terodano Is the high niter ; and
from the minor altar., r from the principal one, rises • foun-
tain of light, which is err irregular& Clouds of locare,
which Me rthentely towards the roof of the temple, the
mysterious recitative of the offienting mirrors, and the con-
tused and moving murmur of prayere which the pilgrim. rood
up to heaven make • *deep nod Warr hoof...dna upon the
memator at hi, fird entrance. Numerous tannery hum
error the Waren war, gently mord by the breath of
prayer, and therm beaming through the proud glue windows
throws over his touching picture the warmer and inort
glowing coiours. Bare and tree • woman, pale with fatigue,
want 61 sleep, or emotion, Is fe.lly overpowered by Invertible
aleep, filled with nor dream.; a child overcome by travel,
slumben on the knee. of Ita mother, whose heavy head ham
rileeMly over the child'. lam Along the want in the penumbra
of the rare women kneel in the cookrionth, • hence lame
the confused murmur of the anner amusing herert and of the
prior who 'boohoo At the extremity of the /rectory, on
the right, lo the Sacristy. a priest la inscribing thc mama which
the piety of the living causes to be raid for the souls of the
departed Another is bleating the objecta of piety which a
crowd of faithful are preseating to him. On the Apposite side
the pilgrims cm contemplate the mamnificent monstrance
adorned with diamond., the silver-gilt, shier, Lod gold ortie,
thee, splendid reruns which have been accumulated hare In
a few yean by the geocrous fervour of • devotion which I. now
spread through the whole world. Right and left of the church
are two huge doorways, one leading to the convent of the
nuns, where the refectories and dormiltortee of the women are
enure ; the other to the convent of the tether., where the
men find board and lodging. The prior of three mere and a
bed In U. for men and 4.. for women per dans. The refectories
are comprod of • reran of roomy halo on the groundAmr,
with metal pillar. down the middle; • long narrow tabie rune
all round, wraw-hottomed chairs, metal fork. and moons,
earthenwre pints, and measles gleame complete the arranges
moots. The tedrocens. •Ilich open on the vorndon, and can
accoamodate as many a 600 pilgrim., men and eromen,coatain
a plain deal bedstead, • straw-bottomed chair, a mall prated
weeder table, • water jug, end • erring Mein. But the
Dumber of roomer generally ineafficient, and the pilgrim. who
arrive by night wart till daybreak in the cond. re, In the
church, or on the damp grass of the mountain. Other bed-
rooms have been built, but they A. not yet finished, end the
wind, min and mid enter by the panelem window.. Opposite
the portico of the church erode the site of the alleged swar-
th:Nl. and farther away, beyond the ranee, on a hillcck, the
cemetery. which already contains forty or fifty tour, Strange
to my. there tombs contain mortal remains which have been
brought there from the four ends of the earth. SOON devoted
to the miracle of La BWotte ropes that their bodies may re-
pose on the hill of the miracle.
When thole who formed our pilgrimage had reached the
summit of the mounter.. an rum was rained in the open air,
to allow the Balton of Grenoble to my a mar which all might
hear. When the altar was finished. • norni proration we.
organised. seen from the church, nothing could be more
grantul than the picture which (Monied Welt to oar eyes,
The Bishop of Grenoble, in full episcopal pomp, glistened in
the runehine, aaristod by four deacons, while the choir bop,
ewinging comers, surrounded him with • blueish her.
Thorned. of pilgrim, with the mint varied retainer, read-
ing. kneeling. or reclining on the gram, devoutly followed the
erred ceremony. Over all this motley crowd we. car, the
✓edow of the banners, lengthened by the rays of a gloriosa
MIL Soddenly, while I wee opposite the lingetkilptil altar, the
Denim ward, the singing wse hushed. • sonorous voles,
whose slightest miliaria scold be heard at the extreme polo t
where I stood, broke forth and preached. "Who are we?
When an we 1 hnsmenower It eras oa this theme that
the voice of the preacher, eibintlng end loud, awoke the
echoes of mantra and glee. It weed to me that I
was listening to the rola it Peter the Hermit, preaching to
the Franke at the foot of the Puy de Dome. The mam sew
to no end. . . . . .

Hy morning mik, the =mote. oh, cud the betimes of the
hour, bad peen me on of than appetite. which nothing ono
repel I took by norm one of the Moon round th• tale of
th• refectory. When I left it other fasalalted benp rushed
forward in their tuns. Ons of thorn stopped a*, " Whau have
you eaten!. he inked. "1 Moine you not to sak me," I
" You would oblige ens to recall It to mind." I now
rotlebt the hill of the Cron, whence tin ens Menne into •
maenad alka, of glens, forged and mountain, whose over-
powering beauty captivates the Lost lodlllenel All at one
I sotind • groat commotion at my feet. The bah pealed
forth. I rue at oats towards the church. Th. paths withi
lend up from Corn w 00... smnalag and as black as
App.& tbenend pilgrim., gaging loud hymns, were advan-
cing towards cc. with a Iron. beery tread. We could dr
Uilate the picturesque ocattune of th• torment women. Ily
their wide-winged cape, their Munn blue Nat West., their
bend blue mann and their bodies; at mos man sod
graceful, we recognimd them as Inhabitants of the Savoy
mountains. Suppornd by two Domingcm. their illebop, •
mak and sickly old loan, presided them It was the bebop
of St. Jean do loaned by one thousand pilgrims,
nob carrying a green. red, or blue umbrella, each with •
circular loaf on his or her arm, sad a mane cloth knam
mob on hit or ion beck. Tiny hid been ma:thing four
days sad four nights. They bed token the promotion of
moulding themosin• with horns to call thetasens. together.
Norwelthemdloy this precauttoes 1110 of them bed goes way
in epp ape., nowneve, and 26 boon wen Int an seeking
them • they arrived at length' their clothes were int ea
pousuP with dust, Utak 1b..,0 !een. proofs of tha rough...,
of the way and the hardpan ad the Mmes. MOO of them bed
▪ t • Inn In their pockets. They had etortad with • gourd
Stied with wine and water, a large Mauls: loaf, sod some
Meow Tlew was to Int them for a wick, fact family eat
in e ring round aen can' into which wine kw the whole wa•
poand and sach one In turn ote•ped his Weak bread la the
emu Thai waa the Pat ds nosteme. Straw was thrown into
the unlniabed dormitory, end 600 of the waken women,
diddles. and old men went to row with ono windows.
" You .es," I heard oos of then my to his wile, ' I told you
that when you mos got nee you would oo longer feel tired"
An hour Wel they crowded into the thane to hear th• Bodop
of Onnobio When the preacher cried, Long Ore Catholic
/once r urn thooend velem on th• Innis toble-lood wind
" Long live Francs r. When he make of Nets and Nancy,
which bed mot tamers node drepwation, the cry of " Long
Ilv. ALece ! long lire Lorrain!' resounded all over the hid
',on be.. to oneenit. The Savoyard.' were not among those
wk. wird the nest loud, end I wei end to me got the fatigue
their Journey had in no degree vinl•We4.l their runes.
A torchlight procession claret the day. All the bannn hod
arrived No deocriptioo can give MI ldra of the Wool pr,-
ducal on th• Meek looks of On mountain by that train of
light, those Woodard. Amen vainly in the °temerity 'I to.
nigh., than pawing &bedews uttering the stentorian note. of
pious hymn
When the fountain gurgle. up, m inextricable MSS of men,
wrmene, end chink n ere pushing, crushing, repulsing, and
Wog emend. Lack one is armed with • bouJe„. which be or
cit. trim to fill, generally without succeed Those in th•
dna lank he. I, and, nuking the ego of the on., drink with
avidity from the mune lent °then mole their ryes, n 0,,,
mouth, or forehead, according to the part they suffer from.
AU around the palinp the crowd premse, panting, Wombed,
ardent Some gravoly draw • loiterfrom their pockets and
throw it at the feet of tin tw • drot stuns. Thom Cr.
inters to the Virgin which they have brought Om Mends
who could not come themselves Others keep turning •
peon of money round and round in their horny hand. ; they
advance tiler hand, thee draw it back, and bnally, with it
rapine return, throw the money at the feet of the statues,
and immediately, by a Inwile mon:omit, stretch out their
Mod again to take heck th• falling ono ; then, Inns a ink-
ingu eye on the abandoned MOOG), they go away, as if
regretfully, and march on their leases from cram to on., from
the bms to the nunmit, murmured ardent promo Finally,
I lave seen others—sem with my owa eyou—mip &pp
reverence and dared hat, with their ino• Inds apse, gen
hating faittend gnu roomy_ bade to their eaves, pea Ik...,ppm um railings twenty Miami Ulna slowly up end doled
to net them the Oconee nand . . JUla thee
a hand wee Iries4 my shoulder. I tamed round. It wee
of th• prints with whom I had Wangled He looked
SatraOrad. "What touchlog faith!. mid hi" Whet. sight r
I looked st blot, so If to read his tory oaul.
sunned oill=y radiant and connoted I bun-led away
without enswerior him. On the other side of tin ravine, a
flyrian priest, who espronive hood and land bimk, deep
eye. I had already adahood, wag looking at whet woo going
forward. I stool bWore him, but be we. so obwrbed that it.
did not mins me. His eye. and features wore a otrangely
painful as Who knows," I asked mymif wird ill
gang on rrltriLlll 101 l 1101W11 hit doubt!. Audi
adorned peolvely towards the church.

At the bill .17 meetiog of tie Great Western
Raltwl, e'loPaul. • dirldsnd was deelsred at the rate
of frl per o•nt. per swum ; atid it was decided to issue
I satilion nod hidl it ordhaary stock, at .ClO premium.
From the tabulated reselt of the experiments with
th• 35-ton naval gum, it is shown this at s range of
more this's three miles a shell weighing onstisird of
too fee be 'awls to piers, the sidee of some utthe
Ileavied bet dada, whit* a hew years ago were thought
to be well preletted by *Oh er else ladies 01 it es.