right, but slowly she emerged from her bath and was
shaken up in Sin,—The interesting account, in a recent SpeetaNr, of a visit to the wind, shivering like a half-drown'd bird. All breathed hard the Grande Chartreuse has recalled to my mind an incident long after the escape. After such a warning it was considered advis- past, which made an impression on me that I can never forget. I able to exchange the big jib for the little storm one,—which was had the singular good fortune, more especially for a Protestant
done, and eased the boat very considerably. and a woman, of meeting and couversing with a monk of La Well, it is useless to go on with further details of our entry into Trappe, then out on a mission from his convent, and 1 could not Sligachan. So determined did the wind seem to oppose our but speculate ou the " inner life " of one living under such abuor- passage and give us a ducking, that once or twice we actually mal conditions, who, nevertheless, appeared to me to be actuated thought of turning tail and running back to Portree. But we by much the same feelings and motives as ordinary mortals.
thoroughly Christian gentlemen were my host and his guests that I felt not the slightest embarrassment. As the place of honour, I was seated next the monk, who conversed most agreeably, with a sort of quiet cheerfulness, sometimes directing his conver- sation to me, sometimes to the company generally. His language was the most choice and beautiful I ever heard in common discourse, and he was evidently a man of great culti- vation and refinement. He was finely formed, in the prime of life, and apparently in perfect health of body and mind ; with a noble bead, and a countenance full of intelligence and feeling. He had been a Professor at Bordeaux, and was remark- able for eloquence and ability. What induced him to become a Trappist was not known to the cure, who always addressed him with profound respect as "mon piire," which sounded rather odd from a man twice his age. He had often been sent out by the superior of his convent on the affairs of the community, as one of its ablest members ; and on the present occasion he was return- ing from Paris, where he had been to solicit funds for rebuilding their church after a fire. While in the world, he was not required to keep up the ascetic habits of the order.
He told me that he had known many of my nation at Bordeaux, and that it was pleasant to him to hear his own language spoken with an English accent. He related with much grace several anecdotes of the treatment which his community had met with during the Revolution, and something having been said of the abundance of game in a place named, he mentioned having been formerly a keen sportsman. "Do you not sometimes long for a shot now ?" asked one of the young vicaires. " I did for some time after I entered the convent," he replied, " but that has long been a thing of the past with me." When asked which he pre- ferred, his life at La Trappe or in the world,—" La Trappe, a thousand times," was his answer. A day in the world, he said, was as long as a month at La Trappe, and he longed to get back to his quiet life. I ventured to ask if he did not find the mono- tony irksome? By no means, was the reply ; prayer and medi- tation filled many hours happily, and they had no time to be dull. They were constantly employed, and when not engaged in devo- tion, he had such continual hard labour in the garden and fields that when he laid down his head (on the bare ground) at night he was asleep directly.
The case of this monk may have been exceptional, and his contentment throws but a faint light upon the ordinary state of monastic inner life, in which such mental resources as his must be rare. The high estimation in which he was held, both within and beyond the convent, may also have tended to excite self-complacent feelings. At the request of our host, " mon piire " related how he had been suddenly called upon to preach before a distinguished audience at Paris ; he would fain have been excused, saying he feared that without preparation he should not do justice to the cause. " Nay, say rather that you are afraid of not doing justice to your own reputation," was the reply. Before he entered the pulpit, they gave him a cup of strong coffee, and the effect was marvellous ; his tongue was loosed, and thoughts and words flowed without difficulty. The audiente were more than satisfied, and he evidently enjoyed his success. He was certainly not dead to social feeling, though he bad been for years immured in his convent. There was no gloom or formalism about him, and no visible appearance of asceticism, but he was evidently possessed with fervid religious feeling. He asked permission of the cure to present me with a pamphlet entitled "La Trappe Mieux Connu," which contains an account of the monastery, one of the two convents which Napoleon allowed to remain, saying that there were some minds which needed a retreat where they could live alone. This reverend Pere would have said, live with God. He was regarded with extraordinary reverence by all the guests, who were the working clergy in the small town and neighbouring villages, useful men in their generation, but they evidently con- sidered his " vocation " as far superior to their own. In his case there seemed to be no penitence for past crime, no special disgust with the world,—but the real love of a contemplative life, coupled with that view of religion which makes a merit of renouncing every indulgence in this world by way of preparation for a better. How far the satisfaction which he derived from monastic life was for his truest spiritual advantage is a problem that must remain
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