Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-25
CordialS That Make Big Fortunes for
Religious Orders.
PROCEEDS ARE SPENT IN CHARITY
But There is One That Has Made
a Monastery Famous.
RECIPES OF GREAT VALUE

clples or 81. Bruno. the Carthusian monks
| or white friars. have given their name and
trade mark Of Chartreuse. Although there
are nfty-two Carthusian monasteries In ex-
| lstence, this trade mark is the exclusive
property of the mother house or Grande
Chartreuse In Dauphiny, where the cordial
| is made.
This was originally simple elixir. whose
ingredients were prescribed by Bronault. a
physician OF the seventeenth century, who
recommended it as a specific in certain af-
fections of the heart, liver and stomach.
Bronaults formula was original for he
was the first to use distilled spirits as a me-
dunn for extracting the essential oils of
peppermint, cinnamon and cloves which
sun form some of the ingredients of tho
World-renowned beverage They are by no
means the only ingredients, for forty kinds
| or plants and herbs are used in compound
| ing it,
Although the total amount of solid matter
dissolved in a hectoliter of the cordial does
not cost more than eight francs the MANY
elements of which It is composed and the
special manipulation necessary to blend
them properly makes imitation for private
use impossible.
Three Varieties.
The reputation of their cordial was linn
tied but growing when the French revolu-
ton drove out the monks who made it and
| confiscated their monastery After the
downfall of the first empire, when the Car
thusians were allowed to reoccupy their
premises at an annual rent Of one franc
which they still pay, young brother Of
the order who had been put in possession
of the secrets of the compromising of their
liqucur by an aged member of the commune
lily. revived the manufacture of the white
Chartreuse, the only kind which up to that
time had been made. and. later invented
| the yellow and green brands He was Dom
GARNER, and all the bottles Of the Char
treuse corrials still bear his name on their
labels. To have charge Of such secular avo-
cations as experimenting the manufacture
of the liqueur for sale seemed to this pious
monk almost a proclamation OF his holy call
ing as member of a monastic community
hound by the most rigorous vows. Finally
in his old age. his superiors permitted him
TO retire to another house Of his own order
and there end his DAYS in the strict practice
of the rules Of st. Bruno.
Humility of m Inventor.
An eyewitness tells how one day when
visiting Carthusian monastery and talk
ing with its prior, a tall. erect old man.
whose white beard flowed down over the
white robe of his order. approached and
made the sign of asking permission to
speak. This being granted. he requested
to be allowed to get n pair Of scissors to
cut painful broken fingernail. The prior
answered CURLY: at isn't worth while"
and after the old monk had left the room
turned to his visitor and said: You are
doubtless surprised Mt nv apparent harsh
ness. but know that my brother in Christ
who has Just gone out is at heart grateful
TO me for irflicting a modification of the
flesh unon him In the presence Of third
person" The monk thus treated was none
other than Dom GARNER. whose skillful
management of the manufacture of the
cordial has nut enormous sums into the
treasury of its Carthusian owners.
The Carthusians themselves gain nothing
thereby and keen none Of the money thus
rnnd After all costs taxes and
have been paid the 2,GOo.o00 bottles Of their
annual product nav net profit of about
3Oa0000 francs. This sum Is ali dsbursed
in works of mercy. in rebuilding and re-
pairing churches, and in multiplicity Of
charitable gifts scattered throughout Dau-
rhiny and the rest of France. The distri-
button of this profit is a cause of no small
anxiety to the abbot of the Grande Char
treuse.
Method of Manufacture.
The technical and commercial manage
ment of its product is iutrusted to one men,
Der of the order and twelve lay brother
assistants. All the manual labor is done by
ordinary hired workmen. The father direc-
tor is one of three brethren of the order
to whom the secret of the recipe for max
ing the cordial is confided The ingredients
composing it are now known, and the
actual recipe itself is of little practical
value. The value of the compound de-
ponds, as all distillers well know, upon the
the quality and freshness of the spices
and simples employed, the latter being
gathered in the mountains in the neighbor-
hood of the mandatory. They are brought
in daily. and the gatherers Of them well
know where the finest and freshest herbs,
plants and blossoms grow, whether on
craggy hillsides or like certain ferns by
the watersde. or yet in clear cold springs
or deep, cool wells
The unanimity with which clerics and
laymen have welcomed this cordial has in
duced many rivals to contest for the favor
of the public under the trade name of some
other religious communities such as the
Trappists. the Feuillants the Visitants the
Cordeliers and others Most of them have
become bankrupt or gone out of the bust
ness: only one is so successful to merit
place in this record. Its inventor A lie
Grand, a wine merchant of Fecamp, in
Normandy, was skillful and we'll thought
of in his own walk in life. but there was
nothing of the "Benedictine" about him,
for he was married and the father of
twenty-five children in 1863. The necessity
of caring for his numerous family COM
PEELED him to cast about for some means of
increasing his merely local trade. Being an
enterprising man, he did not hesitate TO
launch his new enterprise by advertising
on vast scale. to the amount of 10000
francs, bis entire fortune.
The first fruits of this venture were small:
the sale of only IS 900 bottles in 1864 Sue
cessive years, however, brought constant
increase Of output, which in 1889. amounted
this has nearly doubled, and now the an
nual sales exceed 1.110O00 bottles.
Made a Monastery Famous.
Whether the secret formula purporting to
have been written on the f1y-leaf of a
manuscript of 1901 by Benedictine monk
was, or was not, accidentally and very
luckily found by Mr.. LIE Grand, thus max
ing his fortune is of very little consequence
to the world q. large. Whether or no there
really ever was a manuscript in the library
of the Benedictines of Fecamp which, in
1870, was sent to the care Of government
Office In company with documents from
other religious houses, and whether the
original recipe for the present Benedictine
cordial came from pious a source mat
tiers very little to the drinkers of the liquor
Mr.. LIE Grand was compelled to fight for
his right to use the term Benedictine. The
Roman Catholic clergy once protested Wig
orously against allowing a compounder of
cordials TO continue the use, for industrial
purposes. of the name of an abbey. Car
dinal Bonnechose went so far as to ask the
Emperor Napoleon III to intervene and put
an end to so scandalous a state of things
Mr.. LIE Grand was q very religious man,
and IL the Chartreuse Is a monastery which