THE MONKS OF ST. BERNARD-THE HOSPICE IN THE SNOW.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 96, 27 February 1875, Page 9

THE MONKS OF ST. BERNARD-THE HOSPICE IN THE SNOW.

We take the following interesting description of the famous Alpine Hospice of St. Bernard from a sketch in the ' Boston Commercial Bulletin/ -written by Mr. "Wm. A. Hovey refectory, which is in the second storey. SereTere^eTh^s a common conßent ' to * c ItalianTafd^ff^"™/^*- ?« mß u,,i im eriau«, Swiss, found that he was well known at the Hospice, that he monnlYli crrm^ 1^ 0^' J 1 a tow of Ration of the Hospice. The contains the sleeping rooms, or dormitories, and the refectorY of mmmm collection of Alpme mmeiuls. Then there are the SqSs Near where the Hospice now stands, in the old San d«v S was a temple where Jupiter was worsHpped ; and iUs S aid S paganism had a considerable foothold he?e dow^ £ theUmel\ antiquities in the museum are mostly relics oE!ii c _, THE MOSGtTE. them above ground in a building Bet Za™. fov thi T,Lrno y™ P without anything approaching »* tMu»1 8 , thelatotamTaU, that were then do2«IS'«W™TS ■ m that show haa thei U»torie S . all of wfileS^giJSft b^tha and large honest-looking eyeT im^nse paws, shaggy There has been a great deal of »Detrv and a j i *

ffi g iJ L?° m^i ?° «™ ? a ? ch weatlier without them. They are, like SS -ii a ff d 'M Or / of arom P> and I*™ no more pleasing sighl* durmg my visit to the famous place, than a genuine romp, in which two of these dogs and a manly little English hoy of ei£ht or nine years took part. The three chased each other, the boy pulling thU one hy the ears, the other by the tail, and finally they all went rolline down a slope together, the dogs carrying on a low, good-natured crowf the boy laughing, and some twenty spectators, including the father of the youthful performer, looking on and enjoying the fun. In the evening, after supper and before service in tlie chapel, which took place about eight, I got hold of one of the older monk» and "interviewed," as the modern phrase has it. And the result of the interview was that I learned a number of interesting 'facts, some of which I here append. At one time when the pass waf much mow frequented than now for the purpose of commercial communication the Hospice was one of the wealthiest ecclesiastical establishments ia .Europe. It had lands in many cantons of Switzerland, in Italy, in H ranee, and even m England. Its revenues were immense, and it was constantly receiving valuable grants from the several reienine monarchs who seemed to take pleasure in bestowing favors on so excellent a charity. In those days hospitality was freely dispensed to all comers, rich and poor, of high or low degree, and the thought of compensation never once occurred to either guest or host But times changed. The revenues of the monastry were greatly curtaried-the Reformation came. Church lands in many placfs wcm forfeited, and in some of the Swiss cantons the monks lost fruitful sources of revenue. Princes and potentates were iess anxious to contribute, and Sardinia even made the brethren pay tax on a nearly barren waste which they used as a pasture, and which lay in p»rt beyond the Swiss line. With revenues thus cut down, and with the advent of a cimous horde, not of poor wayfarers, but of traveller* with well-filled purses, who had no need of charity, travellers who unlike those who had gone that way before them, were not content with a hard pallet and dry crust, but wanted, eveu when nearly ten thousand feet above the sea, good living and good beds, and were more than willing to pay for them, the resources of the brethren were severely tasked. TO So an expedient was devised. In the chapel there was put a box and m this i box there was a little hole, and through thi hole every" traveller, if he chose, dropped something towards the support of the establishment. No one was asked to give, and those who could not afford it were given to understand that they were as welcome as those that gave most generously The result was what might be expected. Tourists, as a rule leave more, by far than they would pay for very much better accom modation at a hotel, and it is seldom that a traveller on pleasure intent accepts the hospitality of the place gratuitously. And itfc well that it is so ; for, besides many poor travellers, especially in the late fall and early spring, who must be provided for without comnen. sation, the monks have themselves, their servants and their doea to teed, and what is quite as costly, to keep warm during tlie Ion? and severe winter, and it is but right if these self-sacrificing men, without personal reward of any kind, are willing to devote their lives to thia good work, that they should be generously supported out of the bounty of those who have an abundance.