Bernardo the Blessed [pp. 283-291]

.Bernardo the Blessed.
couragers and conservers of art. Our orders
were the propagators of all civilization, and
now we are chased from our convents as
worthless good-for-nothings! We who remain here as government servants-we work
without ceasing, and have to surrender everything to the government, who pays us one
franc a day for our labor."
One franc!"
"Yes; but we would have begged to remain
for nothing sooner than quit the old place
and see it pass into the hands of strangers."
"But you have your living gratis, have
you not?"
"Nothing, nothing; we buy everything
but the wood, and there is so much of that
that for shame they could not charge it on
us."
Poor little man! His pent-up feelings
should have vent, and I listened in silence,
feeling a sort of sympathy for him, but none
for his order in general.
Before dinner our host joined us, and remained with us during the meal, though he
tasted nothing, having dined at noon. He
dressed our salad with his own hands, and
helped to wait on us; for, to speak the truth,
the service is but poor, and there is little
evidence of the splendor and luxury generally attributed to religious houses; at all
events, if it ever existed at Montoliveto, it has
disappeared. After dinner we walked about
and paid a visit to the silk-worms, which are
cultivated extensively here; and as the government has no claim on them, they must
make a considerable augmentation to the
one franc a day. WVe saw them go through all
the phases of their brief existence; some
were creeping out of a roll of yellow floss,
and others were laying their eggs. One insect is capable of laying five hundred eggs,
after which, its object in life being accomplished, it dies. One ounce of eggs will
produce one hundred and eighty pounds of
silk. It is a pity that the Italians are not
enterprising enough to establish a silk manufactory here, instead of sending all the raw
material to France.
I have left myself little space to speak of
the deep-wooded vales, home of the nightingale and a thousand sweet-voiced birds; or
of the seven tiny chapels scattered throughout the grounds, erected by Olizvetani of as
many different nationalities. The prettiest
is the most recently built, and stands over
the grotto occupied by Bernardo when he
first settled at Montoliveto. The walls are of
colored marbles, and there is a very handsome altar-piece representing the Madonna
and saints. An opening under the altar
leads by a few steps to the grotto, where a
sculptured image of the saint-life size, in
Carrara marble-is seen reclining in an attitude of deep meditation. One recognizes
at once the fine outline of that perfectly
Tuscan head which meets the eye in every
chapel, passage, and corridor, and is even
frescoed over the gateway. The air of Montoliveto is redolent of Bernardo the Blessed,
and one's mind becomes filled with thoughts
of him and his times while wandering about
the charming spot which his genius created
out of a desert the strength and beauty of
whose character left an impress which ages
have hardly yet erased; and one cannot
help speculating as to how the presence of
a few such monks now would affect the destinies of the church.
G. S. Godkin.
1883.]
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