The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-03-08

purchased. I shudder to think of the slaughter of those hillsides covered with dead and dying, crimsoned With l the blood of our countrymen. And yet more pain does it bring me to thing or 1 the homes across the seas, of the many hearts and homes amid English mead ows, on Irish hillsides and by Scottlsh lakes that are desolate, stricken With sorrow for the loss of their loved ones. God pity and sustain them. He alone can give them consolation, can neal their bleeding hearts, And here, too, thousands are mourning over loVed ones lost and homes made desolate by a war whose ravages have but begun. Even before a shot was fired, more than thirty thousand refugees had lied rom the Transvaal, and the northern parts of Natal, and of these the rich ma their purses, quickly grew lighter; the well -to-do are fast becoming poor, While the poor are already destitute. One dares not look into the future or specu- late on what it will reveal But God is our hope and our refuge, ana we trust that this sanguinary struggle Will soon be over and suffering humanity freed from the dread incubus of war, which of necessity scourges, aff1lcts, ana desolates in ways innumerable. Here we can scarcely think or speak of any thing but war; the very air seems inn pregnated with everything suggestive of it and it's course, progress, and fortune as it is to every one vital question, affecting their dearest interest, their homes and hearts. And every day | jy, nd so that our minds are filled with thoughts of the dead and dying, the weeping living and the universal woe that clouds the land. But as you wish particularly to know of our personal experiences I must tell you that eye witnesses among the last band or re1u- gees sent out of Newcastle by the Boers, | have told us that besides footing our convent, the enemy's legions destroyed | it in all things sacred and what could be utilized and then vented all thelr rage on our chapel, breaking cruciilXes, | statuee and all church ornaments, de- stroying pictures and then trampllns them under foot. The chapel itself they used as would animals and having torn
 up the beautiful vestments then applied them to similar uses. Truly an abom- | ination in the Holy Place. The vandals of old might well blush at the conduct of the Boers, who so wantonly ana shamelessly deaecrate our chapel, the House of the Lord; but let us hope, for
 the sake of Christianity, that they
 knew not what they did
 l Tn our chapel were many costly ana
 beautiful articles for divine worship gifts from friends in many parts or Europe--and now all are destroyed.
 Nothing remains but ruin, dissertation,
 and desoaton! It Is hard, very hard,
 to think of this eacrilege; but God will
 take care of His own glory, and in His
 own good time bring good out of evil.
 'Thus you see that war has robbed
 us of our all, and that we may not have
 even a sheltering roof, to which we
 could not return, as the Boers use our
 conyent-just built at the cost of
 thousands-for magazine At pest
 we shall have but an empty ruined
 home, so we shall have to begin our
 work again at the beginning, having not even the barest necessaries for convent
 school or chapel; and, therefore, we
 shall be glad of the smallest help, our
 English friends can give us And we
 feel sure that they will generously come
 to our aid as soon as they learn of our utter poverty. For hardships and prl-
 vations present and to come we seek
 not for sympathy, as all In the land
 suffer, and we who took the Cross for
 our portion should not, and, thank God,
 do not complain, but try to forget our
 Iawn trials in order to comfort others.
 Besides sewing for the soldiers we also
 visit the wounded, and 1t Is touching to
 see the eagerness with which they greet ] the visit of a nun and the trusting con-
 fidence with which they speak of them
 selves. of home and friends. Poor fel- lows! it is pathetic to see their fortitude
 amid sufferings most acute, and the
 genrous efforts they make to make light
 of their wounds, and even laugh them j away, if may use the expression But
 another time I shall tell you more or
 my hospital visits. How many moth-
 CT would be glad of the privilege to sit and talk with her wounded boy. Just
 now all eyes are turned on Ladysmith
 and hoping that it may be speciality re-
 lieved. but the work is a colossal one
 because of the all but impregnable po-
 sition of the enemy Yet an early vlc-
 tory I hope shall be ours. And this
 I hope will be the joyous prelude to
 inc restoration of peace and it's at
 endant blessings of happiness, pro-
 gress and prosperity throughout the
 land. "-