The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-26
800 Tee TRAPPIsr MONKS.
Had Of the Order IN Kentucky
- Member OF the nlustrious Bourbon

Family.
-, the L 5asisciIIs Courisr-JotsrRal.
-,srs Is. perhaps. no life which the aver
.,a-soa is so utterly unable to compre-
- az that o. the Trappist monks. which
. SD in well-1igh perpetual silence amid
=. most rigorous physical and mental aus
..-ities. A profession OF public humility
t7 .- =. understood, bet the priest or layman
can " -, ts On the robe and cowl Of the Trap
vi" w. gb-otherhood effaces himself and all
Els--,tsdre Of himself. He may pass half
huNy.',-.,- In a stall next door to a brother
oes--ssss name he does not know beyond that
49, i written up above the entrance into
WIZ l..--oV aud bare vault IN which he
Y - whose nationality, even, be never
Seep s.is What his history may be, what
sl-1-PTerrions he may have outside the walls
oo1to5v but the abbot may know, unless,
DoUo nv niece, during long years of immure-
vi hints OF suggestions may be obtained
and linked together
LL.r,onlv supposed. A Trapplst monk
GU. -,of sneak 70 another, or to anybody,
la 10, me abbot, without permission. He
~ s,aak to the abbot upon any matter
lIll-y,arning his daily work or religious duty,
Cum needleSsly. A needless word sub
~ ~ him to penances, TO remorse, and
!go.sI disauiet The VOW, of course. is
la5,,1rary. and there is nothing but the
e 'c.seience and the earnestness of the monk
" soforce its redemption. So well is it
y y. 81 however, in its best meaning, that
go are not three members at Gethsemane,
y! " SSoIson county who know the name of the
1D-os;dent Of the United States or the gov
Is If Kentucky. The severity of the
et SRI ;s so great that few American-born
~. .oanks are to be found in the establish
rents.
..onls IRE French, German and Irish They
a.t INIT one meal a day, consisting of soup,
S.a5e of vegetables and bread boiled N wa
tar and little rice. In summer this meal
= carved at II 80 a. M, at other seasons at
S.2Ip. N. In Lent 1t Is taken at Sop. M,
md consists of bread and water alone. The
,1onks take from thirteen to twenty ounces
Of food per day each, yet they do manual
Iobor IN the fields and workshops, and it is
noticeable that all of them walk with a
ightAnd springy step, and even those well
along in years are more vigorous and active
tban men Of their years in ordinary
condition. One can best realize the
severity of the food regimen when it is re-
Numbered that, winter and summer, the
monks rise at O'Clock in the morning and
retire at Z and o'clock in the evening.
Father Edward, the new abbot of Geth-
semane. himself gentleman of rare edu-
cation, courtly polish and much kindness
of heart, says that only those upborne by
the deepest religious devotion, with the one
idea Of prayer to relieve the world of It's
burden Of sim, can ever endure the life.
Gentlemen who have suffered disappoint~
rnents and are seeking seclusion--a living
blrlal--have tried it in vain. The heroism
Of the life is never seen, it cannot be made
q spectacle, as humility sometimes is, and.
therefore. only the mind that lives upon
the true religious exaltation car endure it,
the stories that sift Through to the out
side word, with more or less romantic
detail. CONCERNING the individual monks of
La Trappe are many. There is one told of
& brother at Gethsemane. which is old, but
full of dramatic suggestion. He was sol
der Of Napoleon, so it was said, and, after
the emper0rs first abdication, took the
cowl Of the Brown Brothers" and ulti-
mately came to Gethsemsne. Forty years
he lived in silence, hearing nothing of the
worlds history, but with one item of
curiosity left uauueuched. When he came
to die, and was lifted from his hard couch
ond laid upon the harder floor, strewed
with straw where all followers of the
order must meet extremes, the abbot, as is
customary, told him he was at liberty to
ask any question he desired.
What became of the emperor n the old
man asked promptly, and then, for the first
time, learned Napoleun's late. long years
after that restless clay had become dust.
Father Peter, the kind and gentle old
guestmaster at Gethsemane, smiled at the
story and did not deny it, He said there
was a soldier of Nap leon who had died
there, who, at some engagement. TO prevent
the landing OF sea forces, and swan out
with knife in his teeth and cut the cables
OF the boats, which were carried out by the
tide, and the landing prevented. So, per-
haps, the whole story is true.
10 the outside world here is an unre-
strained desire 60 know who the monks were
N the world. The present abbot, Father
Edward, was Count Edward de Bourbon of
the illus,rious French family. 1t is said be
Is cousin Of the ill-starred Louis XVI, or
It may be of Louis XVIII Certainly his
elegant and courtly bearing, the grace and
beauty Of his manners, the noble cast of his
eountenance and tee indeinable charm of
his presence indicate that loftiness of cour-
age and purpose which are popularity
ascribed to royalty, if they do not
9th actually accompany it. A Bel
gan baron died there In seclusion
at The age of 80. Brother Joseph. for many
Years tna guest master p ecedlng Father
Peter, the present kind and hospitable host,
was famous French tenor of many years
ago. lie died in 1886, and is buried in what
@e mess call their play ground" the
Title deSetery marked with huge, black
soSSas. Despite the austerity of the life,
le mozss live to good old ages. There are
20" wv at Get1semane who have been in
ne ord.S over fifty years and are near 80
year Oh, They all look forward to death
: the glorious day when, 50 to speak, the
Nn OIL happy eternity will rise upon them
~ Inc ornaments at GethsemaDe are Few.
.ue "a-S are mostly bare, except Of framed
Eecep@ A:osning silence, meditation and
rr-lillCy: But there is one painting by Van
Dyek which might well be the object of
V1ch artistic pilgrimage. 1t is MARY of
Egypt, Catholic saint of the early
;GIstlan era. The picture is about 24x36
Tues and was present to the abbey from
~ 4'ope 1t is splendid work, illustrating
c power of expression of the human
T.auySShance, especially of the eye, for which
n. M Dyct was SO celebrated, not alone as a
p psi-v OF religious works, but as portrait
s s1I'er, ut. Mary, who was Magalene,
w. spent torty-eight years in medita-
WITH viii n Inc desert of Egypt, is presented
srs- l eu open book before her, but with her
n u4eo and concentra ed in meditation.
Nh N ~ tne symbol of mortality. IS beside
r,o. 'o0S, and in the background is the
M suggests the treatment of Titan.
paatlng Is authenticated, and must
fo~.s. great value, as Van Dycks are much
otbs. -'i ana there are few in America. An
Sell large picture of the stoning of ST.
PnSosa Is not identified, but may be
treat ols II excellence Of of art and style of
csnro .ao l may be trusted. 1t is large