The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1891-11-06
MONKS WHO CARRY RIFLES.
The New Order OF chiv.,ry o,r,,,,.,

'he Ne" order of ChivsIry Organized
by Cardinal LnvIgcrte.
Cardinal lavigcrie has founded the
order of the Warrior of Monks of the Sa-
nara. Instead Of meekly bowing their
heads TO receive the martyrs crown they
will fight for their lives. They will seek
to attract sympathy and good will by de-
veloping the productiveness of the oascs.
ana by the creation Of new ones. where
they will form stations for the relief Of
the sick, for the offer of hospitality to all
comerS, aud for the refuge and protection
OF fugitive slaves.
Their aim will be to afford practical
demonstration Of the benefits and advnn.
taSes of civilization, to preach by cx-
ample the elements thereof, and to thus
prepare the ground for conversion TO
Christianity. The headquarters of the
order are Mt Biskra, on the Algerian bor-
ders OF the Great Sahara Desert. and were
solennly consecrated by Cardinal Lavi-
gerie.
Two days after pronouncing their VOWS.
which. instead of being taken for life, are
limite, to term Of five years. renewable
at will, five of the Warrior Monks started
out for Wargla, an important oasis about
300 miles to the south of Biskra. IL il
there that the first of the armed stations
projected by Cardinal Lavigerie is 10 be
established. II is entirely surrounded
by sand, green island in an ocean of
fire. The second station will be at the
oasis Of Mes Jonah, near the Morocco
frontier, which is traversed by all the
great slave caravans coming from the
south, and which has acquired a pecul-
iarly evil name, owing to the fact of its
being the place where lads are mutilated
to render them fit for service as guard
ians of the various harems throughout
the Mohammedan world.
More than 80 per cent perish from loss
Of blood, which is stanched in the most
primitive manner, /. e., by burying them
for the space of four and twenty hours
up to their necks in the burning hot sand
leaving only their heads exposed to the
torturng bites of the insects and to the
scorching rays of the sun. 1t is here
where the military training of the War.
rior Monks will he brought into full play.
For the slave dealers are sure to make a
hard fight to prevent the establishment
within the narrow limits of the oasis of
fortified station, where every slave who
Is able to effect his or her escape from
their cruel hands is certain to find a
refuge and protection.
The slave dealers, however, extend
their activity even to the very doors OF
Biskra, which, rs stated above, is built
on an oasis, and one # the most dramatic
features of the ceremony of the conse.
Grafton of the monks was when Cardinal
Lavigerie led to the altar Il little brown
girl barely years old, who had sue.
ceedcd in concealing herself, and in
effecting ber escape from a slave caravan
passing through the desert few miles to
the south of Biskra.
A sudden movement of the child caused
her to drop something that she WAS
holding concealed beneath the folds of her
djebba. The venerable prelate bent down
and raised it from the ground. 1t was
small, dusky hand-the hand of the little
girl who stood beside him, and which N
sheer wanton cruelty had been cut oil
by her captors. Holding it aloft, and
pointing toward the great Sahara, while
with his own hand he raised the childs
arm, 80 that all present could see the
mangled stump, the Cardinal exclaimed,
in tones which seemed to ring forth as I.
clarion:
II would to God that all Europe could
see this little hand! May it serve to
iirect your line of march. En- avant for
God, for France, and for humanity
+. Cunliffe Owen, in Harpers Weekly.