Chapter XLVII: Part II (5)

The French have never shown much anxiety for emigration; but the arrivals of emigrants from that country have increased during late years, and were slightly larger last year than in 1875. In France the burdens which are felt in Germany are also a cause of suffering, if not of complaint; and emigration from France, if the proper means for stimulating and directing it were employed, might reach large proportions. In Holland causes like those to which we have alluded as potent in Great Britain exist. The emigration from Russia has hitherto been of a peculiar character; it has consisted mainly of the Mennonites, whose anti-war principles impelled them to escape from the military service exacted from all Russian subjects, and from which only the temporary and partial concessions of the czar exempted some of them. The mission now undertaken by Russia is of a character which will compel her ruler, ere he has finished his task, to press every one of his subjects into the military service, directly or indirectly. The desire for emigration from Russia may be expected to increase, although some time will probably elapse before large results can be hoped for from it. The emigration from Austria has thus far been small. The total arrivals of emigrants from that country at the port of New York during the last 30 years have been only 21,677, of whom 1,210 came last year and 1,088 in 1875. But Austria is a country especially fit to emigrate from, and the incentives which are powerful in Germany will ere long be felt in Austria also. From Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, and Poland emigration of the better class may with reason be anticipated; and even from Italy, which has sent us 42,769 emigrants since 1847, considerable accessions may be expected.[115]

Footnote 115:

During the year ended December 31, 1876, 157,440 immigrants arrived in
the United States, of whom 102,960 were males and 54,480 females.
Their ages were: under fifteen years, 26,608; fifteen and under forty,
111,764; forty years and upward, 19,068. The countries of last
permanent residence or citizenship of the immigrants were: England,
21,051; Ireland, 16,506; Scotland, 4,383; Wales, 294; Isle of Man, 8;
Guernsey, 1; Germany, 31,323; Austria, 6,047; Hungary, 475; Sweden,
5,204; Norway, 6,031; Denmark, 1,624; Netherlands, 709; Belgium, 454;
Switzerland, 1,572; France, 6,723; Italy, 2,980; Malta, 2; Greece, 24;
Spain, 597; Portugal, 816; Gibraltar, 16; Russia, 6,787; Poland, 854;
Finland, 22; Turkey, 59; Arabia, 13; India, 22; Burmah, 9; China,
16,879; Asiatic Russia, 83; Japan, 6; Asia, not specified, 14; Egypt,
3; Liberia, 14; Algeria, 9; Africa, not specified, 17; Quebec, 15,545;
Nova Scotia, 3,200; New Brunswick, 1,494; Prince Edward Island, 437;
Newfoundland, 58; British Columbia, 484; Mexico, 532; Central America,
14; U. S. of Colombia, 20; Venezuela, 37; Guiana, 3; Brazil, 28;
Argentine Republic, 6; Chili, 20; Peru, 11; South America, 10; Cuba,
880; Porto Rico, 17; Jamaica, 23; Bahamas, 559; Barbados, 32; other
West India Islands, 43; Curaçoa, 14; Azores, etc., 960; Bermudas, 29;
Iceland, 30; Mauritius, 3; Sandwich Islands, 20; Australasia, 1,261;
East Indies, 16; and born at sea, 23.

During the month ended April 30, 1877, there arrived at the port of
New York 7,353 immigrants, of whom 4,553 were males and 2,800 females.

The countries or islands of last permanent residence or citizenship of
the immigrants were as follows:

England, 1,500; Scotland, 191; Wales, 46; Ireland, 1,364; Germany,
2,184; Austria, 286; Sweden, 415; Norway, 67; Denmark, 171; France,
241; Switzerland, 183; Spain, 58; Italy, 350; Holland, 60; Belgium,
26; Russia, 35; Poland, 34; Hungary, 37; Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia,
and Newfoundland, 25; Cuba, 19; Sicily, 18; India, 14; Mexico, 8; U.
S. of Colombia, 4; Venezuela, Bermuda, and born at sea, 3 each;
Greece, China, and Peru, 2 each; Turkey and Iceland, 1 each.

We have before us a collection of documents relating to colonization in the West and Northwest. One of them describes the admirable plan of the Coadjutor-Bishop of St. Paul for Catholic colonization in Minnesota. In a powerful letter addressed, on the 16th of September last, to the President of the Board of Colonization of the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, the bishop dwells upon the evils which have followed the settlement of our Irish emigrants in the large cities—evils which we have no wish to belittle; but he also confesses that the misfortunes of those who went into the rural districts were equally deplorable. He remarks:

“Those who—exceptions to the rule—did move forward into the country,
in search of homes on the land, suffered in many instances from the
absence of proper and systematic direction no less than their
companions in cities. They lost their faith. They strayed away from
church and priest, from Catholic associations, and in certain States
to-day there are whole districts where you hear the purest of Celtic
names, and where, nevertheless, not one man proclaims himself a
Catholic or smiles at the mention of the old land.”

And then, after a charming picture of a certain little Irish Catholic colony in the West, of which he says that, beginning in poverty and hardship twenty years ago,

“To-day those families are prosperous—rich; their children are as
innocent and as true as if they had always breathed the atmosphere
of the most Catholic of lands; the number of families has doubled,
through mere natural increase; their district of country is for ever
secured to the church,”

Bishop Ireland goes on to say that the results of his own colonization labors in Minnesota may be thus described:

“We began last February. Our first step was to secure the control of
117,000 acres of land, situated in Swift County, belonging to the
St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. There was at the time in the county
about as much more vacant government land open for settlement under
the pre-emption and homestead acts. The price of the railroad land
was fixed, so that during the time it was to remain under our
control the company could not advance its figures. We at once placed
a priest in the colony, whose duty it was to direct and advise the
immigrant as well as to minister to his spiritual wants. An office
was opened in St. Paul, where the immigrant would be received on his
arrival from the East, and where all letters of inquiry would be
answered. Two weeks after publication of our plans had been made in
the Catholic press, immigrants commenced to arrive, and up to the
date at which I am writing over eight hundred entries have been made
by our people on government land, and about 60,000 acres of railroad
land have been occupied. We permit no speculation, so that each
quarter section generally represents a family, persons, as a rule,
being allowed to take more land only when they have grown sons, who
soon will themselves need a home.”

He then gives a letter from the register of the Land Office, showing that the number of land entries made in Swift County from January 1 to June 1, 1876, was 1,317, and saying that over 800 of these were made by “your people.” The register adds:

“In this connection allow me to bear testimony to the intelligence,
integrity, and good order always manifested by your colonists in all
their business relations with this office. I can now call to mind no
instance in which one under the influence of liquor has been in this
office. Cases of profanity are extremely rare; in no instance have
we had trouble or contention with any one. They are model colonists.
I know this opinion to be shared by all who come in contact with
them.”

The bishop adds:

“We have already in the colony two churches; one more will be built
in spring. Two promising towns have sprung up—De Graff and Randall.
In De Graff there are some forty houses, stores or residences, a
large brick-yard, a grist-mill; a grain elevator and a convent
school are to be put up during the winter. The settlers, whom I had
the pleasure of visiting a month ago, are full of hope and delighted
with their prospects. Last spring Swift County was a wild,
untenanted prairie; to-day on every side new houses and
freshly-broken ground meet the eye. Our expenses in organizing and
directing the colony were large; still, we were able to meet them by
direct revenue from the colony itself. Each settler paid a small
entrance fee, and we sold town lots. We have also reserved from sale
some choice sections of land, which can at any time, if there is
need, be disposed of at a high advance over the original price; so
that we are safe against all losses in our enterprise. As soon as a
settlement is formed the land advances at once in value; one farm
bought in Swift County last spring at two dollars per acre has been
sold since at nine dollars per acre, and a settlement that embraces
three or four hundred families always affords room for a valuable
town-site. The two excellences which I deem our Minnesota plan
possesses are the following: We had control of the land; this is
necessary to ward off speculation and preserve the land for our own
colonists. No sooner would twenty families be settled in a district
than the surrounding land would be bought up by speculators or
strangers, if you had not complete control over it in some manner.
Next, we began the colony with a priest on the spot; the presence of
a priest does more than any other agency to attract immigrants and
to encourage them in their difficulties. We have been so well
satisfied with our work in Swift County that our programme for next
year includes the opening of two new colonies.”

Our space does not permit us to summarize even the accounts of the other Catholic colonization movements which have come under our notice. These movements are serious and important, and those engaged in them should take every possible precaution to prevent them from falling into the hands of careless, incompetent, or dishonest persons. The work, it appears, will have two chief departments—the home and foreign agencies. The former will undertake and supervise the task of selecting and securing proper localities for colonies, and of procuring as settlers families and individuals already resident here, but whose interests would be promoted by their translation to these new homes; the foreign agencies would be employed in diffusing the necessary information among the classes in Europe who would be most likely to emigrate, and who would be the most desirable emigrants, and in inducing them to join new colonies already established or to form others of their own. The _Catholic Advocate_, of Louisville, Ky., in some well-considered remarks on the subject, says:

“Now, it is our opinion that a great impetus could be given to this
good work if the directors of the colonization project could so
manage as to awaken the Irish people at home to the value of the
movement; if they could have their plans placed in all their
development before that class in Ireland from which emigration
recruits its numbers. This could be best and most efficiently done
by inducing the formation of corresponding organizations in the old
country. There are very many thousands of people in Ireland, with
farming-stock worth two and three and four hundred pounds sterling,
holding their lands by an insecure tenure and at a rack-rent, who
would come out to this country to-morrow, with all their valuables
converted into gold, if they knew or understood the advantages of
the colonization scheme. As it is now, they only hear about it. It
comes to them by newspapers, as a kind of far-off echo. It is not
brought forcibly to their notice. Its benefits are not urged upon
them personally. There is no persuasion about it, and it is as a
dead interest to the great majority of the people, who, if they only
knew and understood it thoroughly, would grasp at it. The British
government was very earnest in its efforts to colonize Australia and
New Zealand some years ago, and the advantages it had to offer were
far and far away from those offered by the Catholic colonization
movement amongst us. But how did the British government act? It sent
agents amongst the Irish and English and Scotch, prepared with maps
and pamphlets and lectures, to impress the value of their project
upon the people at home and put it immediately before their eyes.
What was the consequence? Numbers of emigrants came forward, and of
a class which had the means to colonize, and they settled in
Brisbane, Queensland, and New Zealand, where they are to-day
prosperous and promising. We do not say that paid agents should be
sent to Ireland for the purpose we indicate, but it would be very
easy to communicate with influential persons there to put before
them the value of forming organizations in connection with Bishop
Ireland’s scheme, with the St. Louis scheme, and any others that may
be started. What is required is emigrants with some capital, and
this is the way to get them.”

Bishop Ireland, in the letter from which we have already quoted, sets forth at some length what such a body as the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union could do in this work. It could constantly agitate the subject of colonization, and it could establish a national bureau of information, which would collect information, publish pamphlets, secure the co-operation of bishops and priests, and open colonies of their own. But the “crowning stone in the work of colonization,” in the bishop’s opinion, would be “the formation of joint-stock colonization societies.” He says:

“By no other means can the poor among our people—those most in need
of homes—be colonized. However successful our Minnesota plan may
seem to have been, it does not reach the poor. We have received
hundreds of letters from most deserving persons, to whom we were
obliged to answer that we had no place for them in our colony. How
many there are who have simply means to bring them West, but who can
neither pay for land nor maintain themselves while waiting for the
first crop! A joint-stock company would give them land on long time,
at reasonable rates of interest, and would also advance them small
sums to assist them in opening their farms. The plan might be
somewhat as follows: The executive power of the company should be in
the hands of most reliable business men. Stockholders would be
promised that their money would be paid back in five years, with
interest at six per cent. per annum, and, in order that men of all
classes might take part in the work, shares would be put at low
figures. The inducement to take shares is that good is done to our
fellow-countrymen without any loss to ourselves. The company
purchases a tract of land; cash in hand, the land would cost but
little. Immigrants, in purchasing it from the company, would give
back a mortgage, promising to pay the full price in four or five
years, with interest at eight per cent. per annum. An industrious
settler could not fail to meet such obligations. If he failed to do
so, the land reverts to the company, worth much more than it was
when first purchased. The company derives its expenses from the two
per cent., which it charges the settlers over what it pays its
shareholders; but to protect itself the better it could sell the
land at a slightly increased figure, especially a few choice pieces;
it could also lay out for its profit a town-site, and sell the lots.

“There should be colonies in every State where cheap lands are to be
found. The movement should be made general, our entire Irish
Catholic people entering into it: one class coming forward with
advice and money, the other profiting, for their own good and that
of their religion, of the assistance offered to them. What is to be
done must be done quickly. The time is fast passing when cheap lands
can be had in America. Already the tide of immigration—bearing,
alas! but a small number of our people—has crossed the Missouri,
leaving in its wake but inconsiderable portions of unoccupied land,
and reaching even now the limits of the arable lands of the
continent. Patriotism and religious zeal are two great incentives to
action for Irish Catholics. Colonization is a work upon which both
can be most easily brought to bear.”

Already one such joint-stock company has been formed—on the 10th of April last—in St. Paul, in which the bishop and the coadjutor-bishop of that see have taken shares.

It will henceforth be the duty of the church in America to see that no Catholic family landing on our shores and seeking a new home in our Western States and Territories shall be permitted to stray beyond her control, but shall be conducted to localities where her priests are already prepared to receive them, and where their fellow-citizens will be bound to them by the ties of faith. Catholics in this land are already about as one in six. We receive accessions every day from the ranks of the Protestant sects; few, if any, of our own number fall away from us; the emigration of the future, to a great extent, will be in our hands. Thus will the church in America—where to-day, to use his own words, our Holy Father “is more truly Pope than in any other land”—grow in strength and beauty, and thus will she be prepared, when the hour comes, to save the republic for which her sons, from the hour of her birth until now, have shed their blood, and given their toil and their prayers, in unstinted measure.

A THRUSH’S SONG.

Underneath a leafy cover,
Green with morning-wealth of June,
Wanting still, like gift of lover
Craving even greater boon,
Deeper chords of light to perfect summer’s fulness, love’s high
noon;

Just apart from all the glitter
Of a busy crystal world
Where, amid quick human twitter,
Pond’rous engine huge arms hurled,
Leaping shuttle wrought bright fancies, girded wheels obedient
whirled;

Just a little from the glimmer,
From the footfalls’ tuneless tread—
With the distance ever dimmer—
Rose, so calm o’ershadowèd,
Sound of lusty drum and hautboy, with clear flute voice interlaid,

Notes exultant loud outpouring
Chant of nations, lightly bound
With frail melody, up soaring
O’er the people gathered round,
Resting from the glare a little, from the wearing sight and sound.

Ears of loyal Briton tingling
Hark’ning there, “God save the Queen”;
Erin’s children’s tears commingling
At “The Wearing of the Green,”
Thinking of a loveless bondage, truer trust that might have been.

Sounds of wrathful people seeming
Storming through the “Marseillaise,”
Stirred a land, nigh dead in dreaming,
Through Hortense’s song of praise,
Through its wailing sadness tolling bells of old chivalric days.

Through sad France’s slumber breaking
Germany’s triumphant hymn,
Armed peoples, eager waking,
Watching Rhine-lights growing dim,
Hearing clear a weary nation struggling sore with spectres grim.

In the nations’ anthems swelling
Ever twanged some chord of wrong:
Broken notes in anguish welling
Even in our starlit song—
Shadowy notes from swamp and prairie mingling with the suffering
throng.

Stilled at last the music’s clamor,
Drum and hautboy laid to rest,
Softly through the silence’ glamour
Stole the light wind of the west,
Gently parted the green branches, tenderly each leaf caressed.

And a sudden thrill of sweetness,
Mellow, careless, glad, and clear,
Love’s noon-song in its completeness,
Poured in peaceful nature’s ear
From a thrush’s throat of silver—happy song without one tear—

Fell like precious, heav’n-dropped token
'Mid the elements of strife,
'Mid the melodies, grief-broken,
Blare of trumpet, shriek of fife—
Only with undarkened blessing was the thrush’s singing rife.

Where the ways were broad and ordered
England’s Indian blossoms flamed;
Here, where guarding thickets bordered,
Bloom of May June’s sunshine claimed,
Lifting, 'mid the throngs of people, glance, half-fearing,
half-ashamed;

Trembling at the cymbals’ crashing
Through the ancient solitude,
Till the thrush’s sweetness flashing,
With its wild-wood joy imbued,
Seemed a covenant from heaven, arc of promise, rainbow-hued.

In the upper silence singing,
Hidden minstrel, unafraid,
In the sunlit branches, swinging,
By the west wind, whispering, swayed,
All the lower tumult silenced in the clear, blue depths o’erhead;

Whence the peace of heav’n, descending,
Filled the bird’s song, true and clear,
Lightsome duty sweetness lending,
Joy o’erbrimming in its cheer,
Freedom on his pinions resting, sunshine soft, and heaven near.

Careless strength and free heart blending
In each note’s melodious mirth,
Calm within a pure soul bending
Praising for its heavenly birth,
For its gift of soaring pinions, lightening so the bonds of earth.

With that clear and sudden sweetness
Sober fancies swept along,
And its wild-wood, perfect meetness
Seemed our country’s truer song—
Sunshine soft, and heaven near it, and no undertone of wrong.

So, methought, her clear voice, ringing,
Should in strength of freedom rise,
With the sweetness of its singing
Every evil exorcise;
Blessing for her children winning through her nearness to the skies.

PHILADELPHIA, June, 1876.

THE CONGREGATION OF CLUNY.
TRANSLATED FROM SCHOEPPNER’S “CHARACTER-BILDER DER GESCHICHTE DES
MITTELALTERS.”

At the close of the ninth century the great wealth of the Benedictine Order in France had produced a relaxation of discipline and a departure from regular observance in many of its monasteries which brought it into a state of decadence. One principal source of this degeneracy lay in the want of all organic union binding together the distinct monasteries, each one of which was exclusively subject to its own abbot. It is true that in earlier times the bishops exercised a certain jurisdiction over them; but this was seriously impeded by the fact that the abbot was frequently equal to the bishop in power and in external consideration. The pope was too distant; disorder could strike deep root before any information would reach him, and even then he was ordinarily able to employ only indirect methods of remedying the evil. This seems to have been felt by all those who, from the tenth century onwards, endeavored, by various additional statutes, explanations, and stricter applications of the Rule of St. Benedict, to bring back those who were subject to it to a more conscientious fulfilment of the obligations of their religious profession. At the time when the Carlovingian dynasty, represented in the person of Charles the Simple, was verging toward extinction, William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Auvergne, in concert with his duchess, Ingeburga, formed the plan of founding a new monastery. He took counsel respecting the carrying out of his design with Hugh, Abbot of St. Martin’s at Autun.

In company with the duke and duchess Hugh made an exploration of their domains in search of a suitable location, and selected a meadow on the banks of the little river Grosne, near an agreeable cascade, where a chapel in honor of the Blessed Virgin and St. Peter had been already erected. The duke objected that this was his favorite hunting-ground, and that the noise and tumult of deer-chasing would frequently disturb the quiet of the monastery. “Well, then,” replied the abbot, “drive away the hounds and bring in the monks; you well know which of the two will bring you the most favor with God.” The duke cheerfully assented to this proposition, and took measures for the erection of a monastery in honor of the apostles SS. Peter and Paul upon this territory, of which he had but recently acquired the possession.

At the recommendation of Hugh, Berno was invited from a neighboring monastery to become the first abbot. He was succeeded by Odo, the son of a Frankish knight, who had been brought up at the court of Duke William, had afterwards devoted himself to the religious state, and was at the time of his election in the maturity of his manhood. Odo saw that in many monasteries the end of the religious vocation had been entirely forgotten, and, in order that he might restore the primitive discipline of St. Benedict, he determined to reform the monastic state in accordance with its original spirit and intention, and to induce the monasteries in his own vicinity to adopt his reformation. He was a man well fitted to undertake such a task, by his personal austerity, his self-devotion to the good of others, and his extraordinary charity, which was so great that he was ready at any time to bestow all he had upon the poor, without any thought of reserving on one day what might be necessary for the next. The influence of his personal character, and the effect of his active efforts during a prolonged life, were so great that a number of monasteries became affiliated to the one over which he immediately presided. He is, therefore, properly speaking, the founder of the Cluniac Order.

His meek and humble successor, Aymard, won for himself by his amiable virtues the confidence of all the brethren of the order, and the favor of the great and powerful, who were profuse in conferring upon it liberal gifts, charters of protection and privilege. His successors in office, Majolus, Odilo, and Hugh I., were all equally eminent by their able administration, their great influence in all the most important ecclesiastical and political movements of their time, and their high favor with emperors, kings, and princes. Emperors, kings, popes, and bishops maintained intimate relations with the abbots of Cluny, and all the great and powerful nobles of the country sought their advice in matters of importance. Three Sovereign Pontiffs were taken from Cluny to fill the chair of St. Peter. When the son of a king was obliged to become a fugitive, he sought for a refuge at Cluny, and princes who were weary of life and disturbed by remorse of conscience came there to do penance among the brethren. The rulers of foreign countries were lavish of their donations to the order, the popes were equally munificent in conferring marks of their high favor, and bishops were eager for the affiliation of the most important monasteries in their dioceses with Cluny. The immense revenues which flowed into its coffers from all countries in the world became at last proverbial.

The internal discipline and external splendor of Cluny were maintained in an undisturbed permanence and stability for a period of two centuries. At the end of that time both were grievously shattered by the disastrous administration of the unworthy Abbot Pons, a man of worldly levity in character and manners, haughty and ambitious in his disposition, whose whole course of official conduct was such as to threaten the complete downfall of the order. After a length of time he was formally impeached and tried at the tribunal of Rome, by which he was deposed from his office as abbot. Disregarding this sentence, he seized anew on the possession of the monastery of Cluny by force of arms, but was soon after overpowered and cast into a prison, where he was carried off by a sudden attack of fever.

After a short period of only three months, during which the abbatial chair was occupied by Hugh II., Peter the Venerable was placed over the Cluniac Order, which he ruled for thirty-nine years, precisely during the period of St. Bernard, who was his intimate friend, and whom he survived about three years. His activity, prudence, and universal reputation, the intellectual power, deep learning, and exalted virtue which merited for him the appellation of Venerable by which he is designated in history, sufficed not only to heal Cluny from the wounds inflicted on it by the Abbot Pons, but to raise the whole order to its highest summit of importance, and to make the monastery which was its centre flourish in a state of unexampled spiritual and temporal prosperity. If we consider the many journeys which this great abbot undertook on affairs of the utmost importance connected with the public interests of the day, it would seem that he was exclusively a statesman; his vast correspondence seems sufficient to have employed the time of one whose whole attention was given to counselling all sorts of persons seeking his advice by letters; his theological works are like the productions of one actively occupied in study; the strictness with which he observed and enforced upon his subjects in the cloister the monastic rule indicates a contemplative ascetic; his administration of the temporalities of his monastery presents him in the light of an able financier and man of business. The world was filled with his fame, and his order attained the highest zenith of its glory during his administration, which ended at his death, during the Christmas-tide of the year 1156.

All the special rules of the Cluniac Order were based upon the Rule of St. Benedict. The ecclesiastical chant and the service of the choir employed much more time and attention, according to the customs of Cluny, than in other Benedictine monasteries. As far as possible, uniformity was enforced in the different houses after the model of the mother-house. Besides the special prayers which each one said according to his own devotion, one hundred and thirty-eight psalms were prescribed to be recited daily, which was usually done while engaged in performing the various tasks; and even in the great heats of summer, on the days when talking was permitted, there was only time for a recreation of half an hour. Every negligence or mistake in the choir-service received instantly a reproof. This was regarded as a spiritual military service, in which no individual caprice or negligence could be tolerated. Special care was exacted on the greater festivals of the church, and their high importance was recognized by the greater length of the choral song, the reading of longer lessons, and a more fervent devotion. During High Mass no Low Masses were allowed to be said, so that no one could in that way consult his own convenience and escape from the public and solemn celebration. The moment of the departure of one of the brethren from this world was treated as a specially solemn occasion. As soon as he had received Extreme Unction a wooden cross was put under his head in place of a pillow. All who could possibly attend were obliged to assist at the last agony of the dying man, and, although at other times running through the corridors was strictly forbidden, it was specially ordered whenever the passing-bell announced that one of the brethren was about to depart this life. Special revenues were devoted to all charitable purposes, and their conscientious expenditure strictly enjoined. There was a particular endowment for eighteen poor men who were perpetually supported by the mother-house. Six brothers were appointed for the service of the poor, one of whom waited on them, another acted as porter of their hospital, two others furnished the wood out of the forest for their fires, and two had charge of ovens for baking bread, to be given away in alms to the poor. Everything remaining on the tables of the refectory after the meals was taken by the almoner for distribution among the poor. A cover was laid for each one of the most distinguished benefactors at every meal, even though they were living at a great distance or had been long dead, and all their portions were taken for the poor. Twelve loaves, each weighing three pounds, were prepared each day for widows, orphans, feeble and aged persons. On Holy Thursday the ceremony of foot-washing was performed for as many poor men as there were brothers in the community, all of whom were afterwards served at dinner. On certain special occasions, and on all the festivals when the table of the brethren was better served than usual, more abundant alms were distributed. The almoner was bound to make a weekly visitation of the houses in the village near the monastery, that he might find out every poor person who was sick, and furnish him with food, wine, and medicines. The number of poor persons who regularly received aid was estimated at seventeen thousand. The Abbot Odilo sold the ornaments of the church and a crown presented by the German emperor Henry II. in order to relieve the wants of the people during a famine. The subordinate monasteries were required to imitate in this generous alms-giving the example of Cluny, and a similar observance of hospitality was also exacted. Precise rules were laid down for the reception of visitors of different ranks and conditions, who were continually arriving at the monastery on foot or on horseback. If they were ecclesiastics, they were not only invited to partake of the hospitality of the monastery, but also to participate in its religious exercises. Every one who travelled on foot received a certain amount of bread and wine on his arrival and at his departure. If the poverty of the house did not permit anything more than a temporary shelter and a friendly reception, this, at least, was to be cheerfully given to every one. The prior was not to consider what was within his means, but to go beyond them in providing for the wants of strangers. Frequently, when they had consumed all the provisions of the larder, the monks had to endure hunger until new supplies, which often came unexpectedly, were furnished by royal and noble benefactors.

The life of the monastic brethren was austere. Besides the regular and very long choir-service, which no one was dispensed from attending, the fasts were frequent. The flesh of quadrupeds was never allowed, and on the ferial days and the entire period from Septuagesima to Easter, not even fat could be used in preparing the food. The principal article of their daily diet was beans, with an occasional allowance of eggs and cheese, and more rarely of fish. After night prayers no one could taste food or drink anything without special necessity and permission. The violation of these rules and of the law of strict poverty was considered as a grievous transgression, exposing the offender to excommunication and privation of Christian burial.

Obedience, the pivot of all the virtues of an ecclesiastic, was regarded as having a higher and more extended obligation for religious. Its disregard was esteemed worthy of the severest punishment, and the incorrigible were subject to expulsion. Priors and other officials were twice admonished, and afterwards deposed without any hope of restitution. The observance of a strict rule of silence was regarded as a specially efficacious help to the acquisition of perfect spiritual virtues, and, in the opinion of the Abbot Odo, monastic life was utterly worthless without it. Absolute silence was invariably observed during meal-times, and during all times of the day throughout Lent and several other penitential seasons. The Cluniac monks became so expert in the use of the sign-language through their disuse of speech that they might have dispensed with talking altogether without the least inconvenience. The most perfect silence and stillness, undisturbed even by hasty and noisy walking through the cloisters, reigned throughout the monastery.

Every fault must be expiated by penance, or at least an acknowledgment before the abbot. Those who were late must remain standing or prostrate until a sign was given to them to repair to their places. The tardy at table received also a penance. Public offences received public penances, in order that every one might have sensible evidence that the community was vigilant in observing the behavior of each individual member. Smaller offences were punished by solitary confinement, making a station at the church-door, or exclusion from the common exercises. Those which were more serious were punished by flagellation, and, if the offence had been public, the penance was administered at the door of the church while the people were assembling for Mass, and the cause of it announced to them by an official of the monastery. For the gravest faults the culprit was put in irons or imprisoned in a dark, underground dungeon. St. Hugh’s maxim was that a monastery is not dishonored by the faults of its members, but by their impunity. Several brothers were appointed to make the rounds of the monastery at intervals, and to declare in chapter every disorder which they observed, whereupon due penance was inflicted on the delinquents. This duty devolved on the prior for the first hour of the night, and at intervals during its progress, with a special charge of watching that all the doors were properly closed and fastened.

Such a special care was observed in regard to cleanliness that the most particular housekeeper could not be more thorough or exact in a well-regulated private family than were these monks of Cluny in their domestic arrangements. This care for cleanliness showed a deep psychological insight into the close connection between this exterior virtue and interior purity, which is often endangered and damaged by a slovenly disregard of outward propriety. Articles of clothing and all the bed and table furniture were regularly changed according to an invariable rule. Careful supervision was observed towards the novices in respect to their personal neatness in such minute particulars as washing, combing their hair, etc., and conveniences for these purposes were provided in abundance for all, that they might easily make use of them when they came in from work to go to the choir or the refectory.

The clothing was very plain, in contrast to the worldly elegance and vanity in dress which prevailed in many other religious communities, but all the different articles of dress were provided in abundance, with two complete outfits for each one. The winter clothing was made to suit the season and the climate, warm and comfortable; for the men who made the regulations of Cluny were not so narrow-minded as to adhere scrupulously to purely exterior customs which were suitable to Italy but utterly unfit for the ruder climate of the North.

The sick were cared for with the most tender solicitude, six brothers were deputed to the service of the infirmary, and the best ass in the stables was set apart to haul wood for the fire. The infirmarian was always provided with spices and wholesome herbs to make the food of the sick more appetizing and wholesome. Meat was provided for them every day, and even on fasting-days. A certain part of the presents made to the monastery was assigned to the purchase of comforts and delicacies for the sick and weakly. They were dispensed from the rule of silence, and only required to refrain from abusing the privilege of talking. The abbot and grand-prior were required to make frequent visits to the sick, and the cellarer was bound to see each one, in company with the infirmarian, every day, and inquire what kind of food he wished for and in what way it should be prepared. As soon as one was released from the infirmary he came to the chapter, and, standing up, said to the prior: “I have been in the infirmary and have not kept the rules of the order according to our obligation.” The prior answered: “May God pardon you!” whereupon the convalescent brother went to the place of the penitents and recited the seven penitential psalms or seven _Pater Nosters_.

As for the interior legislation and administration of the order, a general chapter was held at Cluny once a year, where all the abbots, priors, and deans of the entire congregation were bound to appear under pain of deposition, those only who lived in distant countries being exempted from attendance oftener than once every two years. Every question which related to the rules was submitted to this chapter, and to the votes of all the brethren of the monastery of Cluny. Each one was obliged to make known in the chapter, without any regard to personal considerations, whatever he had noticed in any of the houses or in any individual member of the order which was worthy of censure, and was protected from any unpleasant consequences which might possibly ensue afterwards to himself from his disclosures. All priors whose administration or personal conduct was censurable were deposed by the chapter; and, finally, they made an examination of all the novices of the congregation.

As soon as the chapter was dissolved the supreme power reverted to the abbot of Cluny. He appointed all the priors and confirmed all the abbots-elect, being strictly forbidden to receive any presents or perquisites in connection with any such official act. He could make such regulations as he saw fit in all the houses; all his sentences upon individual delinquents which were in conformity with the canons were binding; and in the interval between the capitular assemblies he could depose from all offices without appeal. He was bound to share as much as possible in the common life of the other monks, to be with them in the common dormitory and at the common table, and to use the same food, the only mark of distinction being that he was served with wine of a better quality and with two loaves at dinner.

Next in rank and authority came the grand-prior, appointed by the abbot with the counsel of the elders of the monastery and the assent of the chapter. Under the abbot’s supreme direction he presided over all the spiritual and temporal offices of the monastery, with a special oversight of those brothers who were charged with out-door employments on the cloistral domains. Every year, after the vintage, he made an inspection of all the farm-lands, examined the stores laid up in the barns and cellars, and directed the division of the fruits of the harvest for the use of those who resided in the outlying farm-houses, and for the general use within the monastery.

The interior order of the house was under the oversight of the prior of the community, who had several assistants, and in case of absence a deputy. The rule prescribed that no account should be taken of birth or other personal considerations of human respect in the choice of prelates and officers, but only of moral virtue, experience, and prudence. No abbot or prior, not even the abbot-general of the congregation, was allowed to travel without some of the brethren in his company, as witnesses of his conduct and associates in fulfilling the devotions prescribed by the rule.

We can form some estimate of the extent of the monastic buildings of Cluny from the circumstance related in history, that in the year 1245 Pope Innocent IV., with twelve cardinals and his entire suite; also two patriarchs, three archbishops, eleven bishops, with their respective suites; farther, the king of France, with his mother, wife, brother, and sister, and the whole of their retinue; the emperor of Constantinople, the crown-princes of Aragon and Castile, several dukes and counts, and a crowd of knights, ecclesiastics, and monks, were accommodated within the precincts of the monastery without encroaching on any part of it which was ordinarily occupied by the community or incommoding any of the brethren.

The fine arts were made to contribute to that which is their highest end—the service of religion—in the Cluniac Order more than in any other contemporary institute. They were all employed in harmony and unity with each other to enhance the splendor of the divine service. The candles and lamps by which the church was lighted were placed in costly hoops beset with precious stones. Instead of candelabra, trees artistically wrought in bronze stood near the altar, having the lighted candles prescribed for the solemn ceremonies blazing among their branches. Paintings covered the walls; the windows were richly ornamental and filled with colored glass. Costly tapestry and hangings, beautifully-carved stalls, a decorated pavement, chimes of bells of unusual size, reliquaries of gold whose beauty of workmanship even surpassed their costliness, chalices, ciboriums, and monstrances of gold, sparkling with jewels, vestments heavy and stiff with cloth of gold, and all else that was magnificent in sacred art and decoration, made the church of Cluny a theme of praise and admiration throughout all France. It was probably at the date of its erection the largest in the world, and rested upon sixty-eight columns, each eight and one half feet in diameter. Thirty-two of these pillars supported the vast dome, and the whole edifice, which was built in the peculiar form of an archiepiscopal cross, was regarded as one of the most splendid monuments of the Roman style of architecture in France. Sculpture, carving, and painting rivalled each other in the decoration of this magnificent church, and there still remained at the beginning of the present century a representation of the Eternal Father on a gold ground in the vaulting of the apse, ten feet in height, which retained all its original brilliancy of color. The choir-stalls, which were of a comparatively late period, were two hundred and twenty-five in number at the time of the suppression—showing how numerous the community had become—and the towers were filled with a great many bells, the largest of which were melted down to cast cannon during the religious wars. At present but little remains of this grand structure in a state of ruin. During the French Revolution the whole was sold for building material for the sum of twenty thousand dollars, and thus rude force destroyed this grand work of the spirit of Christianity.

The cultivation of science was fostered in the Cluniac Order with much greater care and zeal than in some of the other monastic bodies. Its founders were more solicitous for the promotion of intellectual labor than for material industry. The Abbot Peter wrote: “In virtue of a special privilege, the abbots of Cluny from ancient times promoted literary occupations with zeal and energy. It is not the desire of winning a high reputation which stimulates them to write books, but the feeling that it would be shameful to neglect the imitation of their predecessors, the holy Fathers of the church, and thus to prove themselves degenerate sons.” Under such superiors the brethren were not deterred by any ill-grounded scruple from applying themselves to the study of the heathen classics, and in fact considered this study as a valuable auxiliary to the investigation of the Sacred Scriptures. The works of the great ecclesiastical writers were fully appreciated and diligently perused, and the valuable manuscripts collected in the library of Cluny were not considered as a mere assortment of curiosities for the sake of show, but as useful implements for the cultivation of science, and in a generous spirit of liberality were freely lent to other monasteries for the sake of making copies or recensions. The books used for the church service were written out in a beautiful, ornamental text, richly adorned with initial letters executed in the most elaborate style of art; and those who were engaged in this kind of work, if it would not admit of interruption, were excused from choir for the time being. The ability and industry of the Cluniac monks in collecting manuscripts and preserving precious monuments of ancient history have been recognized even in later times, and abundant documents of that zeal for the promotion of science which was not damped by the earnestness with which religious discipline was enforced have come down to our own day.

The confraternity of Cluny, which had speedily risen to a high consideration throughout France, attained to a higher and more solidly-established reputation during the period extending through nearly forty years of the administration of Peter the Venerable. The renovation of the Benedictine Order in its original spirit which had been effected by the Cluniac reform became renowned in other countries as well as in France, and awoke the desire of attempting to accomplish the same happy results elsewhere by the use of similar methods. Every founder of a new monastery in France desired to introduce the rule and submit to the supremacy of Cluny. Kings, princes, and bishops urged upon the already existing monastic communities, especially when they had fallen into disorder, incorporation with the Cluniac congregation. During the rule of Peter the Venerable it was increased by the addition of three hundred and fourteen monasteries, collegiate foundations, and churches, and at its most flourishing period it embraced within its limits more than two thousand distinct houses. At the time of the Crusades it extended itself even beyond the sea. Cluniac houses were founded in the valley of Josaphat and on Mt. Tabor, and in the time of Abbot Peter a monastery in a suburb of Constantinople was united to the mother-house, over which he presided.

Men of all conditions who desired to do penance for their sins, to seek a refuge from the dangers of the world, or to find spiritual direction and come under a holy influence for their own sanctification, sought to make reparation and deserve the grace of God by rich gifts to Cluny, to consecrate themselves to God in some house of the order by the religious vows, or to secure for themselves by becoming affiliated to it a share in the sacrifices and prayers perpetually offered within its sacred enclosures. It is related that Count Guy of Macon, who had been a bitter persecutor of the order, one day presented himself at the gates of Cluny in company with his son, several grandsons, thirty knights, and the wives of each one of the noble group respectively, all of whom demanded permission to take the vows of religion. Under the sixth abbot, Hugh I., three thousand monks were present at one general chapter. The crowd of applicants for admission became so great that Hugh VI. was once compelled to issue an edict forbidding the reception of any new candidates during a term of three years. Under Peter the Venerable the number of monks resident at Cluny increased from two hundred to four hundred and sixty, some of whom, however, led a solitary life as hermits in the neighboring forests.

The popes were lavish in their grants of privileges to Cluny and the monasteries connected with it. Alexander II. decreed that no bishop or prelate should have the right of excommunication in respect to the Cluniac congregation. Urban II. allowed the use of episcopal insignia to the abbot, and Calixtus II. conceded to him the special privileges of a cardinal. The brethren of the order were even permitted to have the celebration of Mass continued for their own benefit during an interdict.

There is nothing which shows more clearly the high esteem in which Cluny was held than the decree of Pope Innocent IV. in the third session of the Council of Lyons: that accredited copies of all the official documents relating to the diplomatic intercourse of emperors, kings, and other princes with the Roman Church should be deposited in its archives. This important and precious collection was still in existence at the outbreak of the Revolution.

The history of Cluny has a very great importance in connection with the general history of the mediæval period, but especially with the great ecclesiastical reformation of Gregory VII., which was prepared by the interior working of the order within the church. For many prudential reasons the fact that the great ecclesiastical movement of the eleventh century had its source in the monastery of Cluny was kept out of sight as much as possible; but it is proved by abundant evidence, and Gregory VII. himself, who was its prior when St. Leo IX. persuaded him to return with him to Rome in 1049, speaks of the peculiar and intimate relations between Cluny and the Holy See.

THE BRIDES OF CHRIST.

VII.
ST. AGATHA.

“She hath no breasts—is cruelly maimed withal:
What shall we do for her, when spoken for,
Our little sister? Sheathe her, if a door,
In boards of cedar; if she be a wall,
Build up a house of silver,[116] and instal
Her worship”—so the monks. O bleeding core
Of maidenhood, thy Spouse and King shall pour
Balm in thy wounds, the lilies’ growth recall!

When Etna belched forth Phlegethon, and rolled
Its molten flanks upon Catania,
The saint’s veil they did reverently unfold
And wave it in the face of fire—Behold!
Piled black against the convent’s wall to-day,
That Red Sea curdled by Saint Agatha!

Footnote 116:

Song of Solomon viii. 8, 9.

VIII.
ST. LUCIA.

“What’s this? Two human eyes upon a dish?
Wretch! what dost mean?” “Lucia sends thee these;
She greets thee: 'Be no longer ill at ease;
They are thine! When mine, a spirit devilish,
With them, with pink bloom and pale limbs, did fish
For men’s souls.’” Quick! to her—ere horror freeze.
Her wan lips smiled beneath the bandages:
“Thou hast languished for mine eyes—have, then, thy wish!”

She raised the fillet—the youth dropped as dead.
“Look up!” a sweet voice spake, “and praise the Lord!”
He obeyed trembling—O illumined head!
Low with an altered spirit he adored.
Thenceforth an angel’s eyes, her own instead,
Lighted her to her martyrdom’s reward.

IX.
ST. URSULA.

A bower of woven palms! In white arrayed,
Marshalled beneath that verdant canopy
By fair-haired Ursula of Brittany,
Eleven thousand martyrs, each a maid!
For England’s heir, Etherius, had obeyed
His bride’s will, honoring her virginity.
To Rome on pilgrimage, by river and sea,
They sailed, and prettily the bold mariner played.

Saint, dear to tender years! thou and thy doves
Fell pierced with many arrows, and the Rhine
With blood of innocents ran red as wine—
Still teach that to the pure Death’s kiss is Love’s!
Still teach it, though thy mortuary shrine
May moulder, while the stream to ocean moves!

THE UNKNOWN EROS.[117]

Footnote 117:

_The Unknown Eros, and Other Odes._ London: George Bell & Sons. 1877.