The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-03-29


 pass the once lovely island of "St'
 Elena" Formerly there was fine old
 convent on this islet. Now all is in
 ruins, and the graves of some of the noblest families Of Venice have been
 ruthlessly desecrated. A carriage fac tory and smoky iron foundry now GOV
 CT the island, and the place is black foul blot upon the blue waters of the Lagoon. Once it was the greatest or
 nament of the city. In 1211 the re-
 mains of St. Helena were buried here,
 they were brought from the east and
 with great pomp deposited in a beauti- ful tomb. Tradition asserts that the
 Empress Helena was an English wo-
 man, born at Colchester in England,
 therefore this island became place of
 pilgrimage for the English who repaired
 here in large numbers to visit the tomb
 of that remarkable woman, the mother
 of the great Constantine. This little is
 land was offered to an English gentle man not many. years since for the small amount of G4000. I most sincerely wish
 the offer had been accepted, To the left of St. Helena and ten minutes dis
 tant is the island of St. Lazzaro, upon
 which is built the Armenian convent.
 An Armenian priest in 1717 received from the republic waste and barren island in the Lagoon; it had been a sort
 of refuge for lepers, but is now become the most beautiful and delightful island in the neighborhood of Venice.
 Beautiful buildings, fine church and a monastry were erected, and the whole place became the center of refinement and education.
 The Armenian priests were, and are to this day, the loyal subjects of the sultan of Turkey, thus occupying an anomulous position in Venetian terri tory. They decided to place their in stitutlon in the west and educate priests with the grand advantages of European piety and learning, and thus send them as missionaries to the Armenians in the east, or in other words the idea was to introduce the results of western rel8 ious education in to the eastern Turk ish possessions; it was lofty inspira
 tion and has been attended with emin ent success. The establishment is fam ous throughout the east and distin- guished scholars have received their training within it's gray walls. Very many books have been printed here in the Armenian language, for they have a famous printing establishment and send forth books in more than thirty languages. The pleasant cloisters are situated right on the sea, and are plant ed with beautiful trees which were brought from the east. Vines and flow CTS are seen on every side; what g. de-
 light it is to sit in the comfortable seats in the shade and feel the sunset breeze waited in from the Adriatic, while the view out upon the Lagoon is one of in comparable Ioveliness. The, monks led us through their gardens, showed us their artesian we'll, their cows, and stores of homemade cheese and yegeta- bles grown in their little garden, and cellars of wine of their own make The great watch dog chained to post bark ed loudly. the cows lowed the cocks sounded their clarion notes, birds sang sweetly and the water as it bubbled from the artesian well sounded like a Till, and the place seemed the most delightful spot imaginable. tt| was. like a little farm hid away among the granite boulders of New England. The monks who make their homes here are vegetarians and live independently of Venice, they raise the necessaries of life and seem satisfied and contented. Their grapevines are of mammoth size and abundant. We were interested to see men in bare feet rreading grapes and running off the wine in large sup ply.
 The library is a place of deep interest, very many very valuable | books, some of these are very old and beautiful. One old Bible was hand | written in Hebrew in the year 800, and | the illuminated missals are a wonder | to behold. Lord Byron spent six months | In this monastry, in the study of the ! language, the aged priest who | led us about showed the autograph of | Lord Byron which is preserved in a | glass frame, The refectory was par | ttcularly simple, and I smiled as I saw their humble breakfast laid on the | coarse board-simply small glass of wine and a very small loaf of bread heir cells were dismal, The smiles on heir pleasant faces and their simple ,ontented manner of life, win the love )I dll WHO NlSEL uueIU. IHOuSn III the world they seem not to be of it. Some If these priests live to a great age, up n the nineties, while a few have more han rounded out their century.
 The Armenians own another estab- in the city, and have consider tble possessions on the main land. Few who visit Venice know of this Ar nenian convent, and we heard of it A visit, however, to this ,lace should by no means be missed As we entered our gondola and pulled lowly away from the convent steps md beheld the kindly beaming face of he aged priest fade away in the dis ance we really felt as if we were leav- ng a friend behind us He was a love y old man, a scholar of refined educa ion, a man of polished presence; he ad studied in the east, at Paris and in london, and yet so sweet and innocent,
 holy man, unsullied by contact with he outside world; we had known him ut a few moments, but we felt as if we ad known him all our lives. I hope to rect that man again in the flesh but if l hat is not permitted, God grant I may t least see him in the world to come
 After leaving the convent we directed UT gondolal towards the shores of the istoric Lido" This is the outermost f II the ig11O6g 2 sOr,t 0f bt1Tvrto ,a15 ,,,o