The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-01-17

waShlngS do when l had not done
washing for SO long"
Dr. Pierce's Pellets cure biliousness,
spect to your bones, to walk most of the
way. A tartana is springless, two
wheeled cart, resembling our emigrant
wagons, from a distance, by reason of
the rounding canvas cover-but with
several important differences, these be-
ing merely an open framework Of rough
poles nailed together, with no bottom
but of knotted ropes. You crawl into
it from behind, through the circular
hole in the canvas, and catch what
glimpses you can of the scenery through
this opening in the rear. The propelling
power is mule, perhaps two or three
of them hitched tandem: and never
were seen such headstrong beasts since
Balaam's day as the hardy, mountain
bred mules of Montbanch, At first
ours refused to move at all. till after
long suasion on the part of the driver
in the way of shrieks and yells and
cudgelling with clubs and pelting with
stones; and when at last he did conclude
to start, it was with the unexpected
velocity of a ball from lannon's mouth
and tremendous lurch that nearly end
ed our earthly career. Head high in the
air, he galloped on. regardless of rocks
and gullies and sloughs of mud, pitch
ing us from end to end of the tartana
with our feet helplessly twisted through
the open ropes beneath. When hu-
man nature could endure no more,
we begged to be let out, which could
only be accomplished by heading the
mules straight into boulder, and we
gladly paid the exorbitant price de-
manded, for the privilege of trudging
behind on foot.
Never have l seen such melancholy
place as the old convent of Poblet,
which has stood since the year l149, in
a lonely hollow of the hills. surrounded
by venerable olive trees. whose trunks
are gnarled and twisted into fantastic
shapes. This is the story of it's founda-
ton: In the time of the Moors, a holy
hermit named Poblet retired to this
secluded spot to pray: but an emir, out
hunting, discovered him and had him
cast into prison. Angels came down
from heaven, broke his chains and let
him forth; but he was speedily rear
ractl6 flor bic
had been three times accomplished, the
Moors repented and granted him all the
territory of Hardeta, in which the con-
vent is situated. There he died, in a
grass hut in the lonely gorge. When
the Christians reconquered the coun-
try, in 114o, the body of Poblet was re-
vealed by miraculous lights, in eonse-
quence of which Ramon Berenguer ".
caused the great monastery to be built
on the spot, and the holy bones inferred
within. 1t became the Escorial of Ara
gon-the burial-place of the Aragonese
kings and afterwards of the Dukes of
Cardona. Every succeeding monarch
increased its wealth, regarding it not
only in the light of sacred religious
place. AS the long lines of royal tombs
rose thicker ON either side Of the choir,
the living kings came hither, too, over
mountain and moor, for penitence and
prayer, and lived for time the austere
conventual. life. Thus, though no sover.
eign ever actually assumed the cowl at
Poblet, several left orders that thei1
etfigy should be twice represented on
their monuments in royal robes
and again in the monastic habit Five
hundred monks of St. Bernard occupied,
J but did not fill, the magnificent build
J ings. Their domain became almost
boundleSs, their power absolute, their
wealth beyond computing; their library
the most famous in Spain-so large it
was said a set of wagons, employed
night and day whole year, could not
cart away all it's books. AS Poblet
became the Spanish Westminster for
kings and queens, other distinguished
personages naturally desired to mingle
their dust with that Of royalty. Dukes
and grandees of the first class were filed
away, like moldy documents, in inches
around the principal cloister, where
their tombs, less injured than anything
else, form most curious epitome of
the history of Spanish sepulchral deco
ration. Marquises and counts, less
honored in death than in life, had a Gem
etery assigned to them in the strip of
ground surrounding the apse. Famous
warriors were buried in the nave and
ante-chapel. The bishops of Lerida and
Taragona, deserving their own cathe-
dral, had each their appointed portion
of the transept; while the abbots of