The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-08-18

Wy YER the thought Of FL Desierto
= conjures n vision Of lofty forest
~ isles and mysterious depths
Ia where old Enchantmcnt plies
her shuttle OF lost days and
dreams" Whore monks Of old wan.
Tered in peaceful meditation today the
Wild deer hrOusrs and the providers
ot dim forests glide The barefooted
Carmclitcs are gone. and the gray
convent on the mountain, with It's no.
bic dumes. and towers and cloIsters,
md arched corridors Is silent and
pathetic, with that peculiar pathos
that brnods over solitude where man
has once ruled
Nature has been busy here, as is her
wont, recovering the conquest Of man,
but those monks OF old built so nobly
that their work still rcssts cnaccmcut
and sees TO dominate the wilderness.
Beauty envelopes like garment the
grass grown Cloistcrs and cruwhing
walls and domes of faded color; and
the breeze that rustlcs tho tall heavy.
headed grass and cliugiuE vines seems
to bring down the river Of Time,
from that island Of long ago, odor of
incense. tones Of long silent bells,
prisons and chants
SHrh IS FL ncsicrlo today: and one
cannot do better than to cuotc. as
others have. the old chronIclcr Thomas
Gage, an English Dominican monk
who was Struggled into Mexico He
wrote about goo years ago 1T is the
pleasantest place" he says, "of any
about Mexico: called by some In Sole.
daI and by other FL Desierto. the soil.
tary or desert place or wilderness.
in wilderness would be better than
to live in n city.
This hath been device Of poor
Fryers, named discalced or barefooted
CarmeItes, who to make show of
their hypocritical and apparent godli
ness, and WHILST they would be
thought to live like Ercmites. retired
from the world, they may draw the
world TO them; they have built there
a stately cloister, which being upon n
hill and among rocks makes It to be
more admired.
About the Cloistcr they have fash.
Toned out many holes and caves In
under and among the rocks, like Ere
mite lodgings. VIII a room to lie In,
an oratory to pray in, with pictures
and Imar 3, and rare devices for
modification rs discipllncs OF wyar
Ids Of iron, haircloth Erdles with
sharp wyar points to Rirdlc about
their bare flesh. and many such TOYS.
which hang about their oratorlcs ro
make people admire their mortified
and holy lives.
IAN these Eremtcal holes and
caves (Which are ten In numbor) are
within the bounds and compass Of the
coister and among orchards and gar
dens Of fruit and flowers, which may
take up two miles in compass; and
here among the rocks are many
springs Of water. which, with the
shade Of plantins and other trees. are
most cool and Pheasant to the Ere.
mites; they have also the sweet smell
of rose and jazmin, which Is y little
flower. but the sweetest OF all others
there is not any flower to be found
that Is rare and exquisite in that coun.
try which is not In that wilderness to
delight the senses Of these mortified
Eremites"
Racial bias and rivalry of order
though not sanity attributes, might
find entrance and be harbOrcd IN.
awares in the soul Of even a good
monk. And since We remember that
Father Gage WAS English and DominI.
can. may we not Justly soften his
caustlc presentation of his "Ercmites"
while we thank him for his chronicle?
To see FL Deslerto as we saw It,
you must first get lost On the smooth
white road up over the rolling hills
from the desolate little pucbla of
Santa Fe our horses loped briskly in
the early morning This old white rib.
bon of road Is an automobile thor.
oughfare, In these twentieth.century
days, from the City OF Mexico over
the mountains to the Valley of Toluca,
where nestles the city that Is the cap.
ital of the state of Mexico. But on
this fair day no notwithstanding de.
vices of people came to strike the
discordaDt note. We met only the de.
scendants of many generations OF
those who had walked that way. Men.
harefooted or shod In that peculiar
sandal called guarache, wearing grace.
fully their gay serapes or red blan.
kets, and the picturesque broad.
brimmed. high-peaked sombreros,
walked beside their burros that were
packed with towering loads OF coarse
pottery or baskets. Women, also