Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, May 27, 1894, Page 18

PAGES, By EMILE ZOLA. « COPYRIGHT ~ BYJAMES GORDON BENNETTs 1894+ RESUME OF LOURDES. Triof Synopsis of the Portion of Zola's Great Story Which Has Been Printe Chapter I.—The opening scene of. “Lourdes” 1s n n,‘uuuulv-«l third-class ca f the ‘“‘white train, which carrion the Yery silkc pligrims rom Paris to Lourdes. It is at sunrise of a hot August promising to make t Jour uncomfortabie, that the tin are propped \p on the bench mattrosses, The car looks Iike a With Sisters of the Assumption in ment acting an nurses. The wind closed and the air Iy very foul grims Is Marle de Guors Young woman who_ for a cofnlike father and th red cromy tehed on | ward, ompart= partment micaculous grotto; ) Lourdes to ated his- or in_the use of his dying of face Mme. M besedch t band i Virgin to merly a p b has lost a Govatte, with h pud, Sister Hyn- einthe tells stories of the miraculous cures ef- fected by Lourdes, and fs Interrupted by what all belleve fo be the dying struggles of an un- known pussenor Chapter 11-The Abbe Plerre reverde and roviews his own life. He was the son of a chemist who lived at Neuilly, and who was Killed by an explosion in 1t Plorre's mother, thinking the chemist's death to be a punishrment his selentific arches, dedi- eated the boy to the priesthood. Living next them were M. de Guersunt, a visionary archi- tect, and his family Little Marlo de Guersaint and’ Pierre played together and finally fell in love with each other as they grew up. Then Marte fell oft a horse and received an injury which baffled all “the doctors and resulted In nearly total paralysis. ‘A she could never ba his wife, Pierre continued his studios and be- eame a priest. Meanwhile, after reading hls father's books. he had come to doubt some of the teachings of the church. Marle became very ro- liglous, and finally Pierre consented to accom- pany her on the pligrim urdes. Chapter I1L—The suffering In the train fs in- tense when it . A doctor fs found to g man, who {s supposed to The doctor proves to be an old frivnd Hyacinthe, whom she nursed when e was a poor student, The man 18 beyond his aid, and a priest with the holy ofls is sent for, Chapter 1V, Coutenu, a young the story of the mi Alsensed foot_ by Lourdes. pilgrims, Cha g consumption, frightfully s falls_into n for as the train starts Sophie Kots in She tells s cure nceorded to her ply Alpping it in the water faith of the cingg_cured. hbe reads aloud a book giv- Dernadette, 1 Who saw. the vision in the grotto. It Februa 1858, that Ternadette, i shepherdess, out’ to gather wood It was then she dent, strolled Into The early of the girl was also givon, showing the dency of her mind toward religlous sub The Abbe also gives Iis version of the based on the extensive researc he has ma Second Dy, rives In Lourdes, fiicted detailed. Chapter IL-"The procession to the grotty formed after o brief rest in the great hospital. Dbright, cloudiess August morning reflects the uoyant anticpations of the afflieted, wio mani- fest almost superhuman strength on' the march, Father Fourcarde exhorts the suffering to pray with ardor suiciont to reach heaven. Chapter IIL—The abbe meets his old friend, Dr. Chassaigne. The crowd forces the abbe to the pools, where the men are bathed. The hand- Ting of the Invalils (s such a revolting task that {t makes the abbe faint. The dead man ls brought In and immersed. No miracle oceurs. On koing out the abbe finds that Marle has been bathed and no cure effected. apter IV.—-Dr. Chassafgne accompanies the abbe (o the Tureau of Certificates, where i com- mittee of physicians from all over France exam- e the pligrims who claim to be cured and keep records of all the cos's. Dr. Bonamy is In charge and shows an earnest desire to have every case earefully investignted. He explains the method of conducting the bureau. Sometimes, he sald, a thousand cases 2 examined in a morning. The visiting physicians asked very fow questions and showed no desire (o Interferc. Sophie Cou- teau, the girl whose foot was cured, Is brought dn and triumphantly exhibited. Eliza Rouquet, swhose face was made | By a lupus, comes i3 and that the lupus is steadily’ drying p, after ted applications of the water. Ven to Flerre’s eyes the sore does seem to be healing. La Grivotte, who had ben in the last stages Of consumption, comes rusiing in, shout- fne, “I_am cured! A t chang: has cer. tainly come of 1o0ks well and spirited, "The doctars Some find but_slight b e i thevs a1 ~nd she never had consumption. ncomfortable in the rudely con: at Plerre pushes his way out ¥ ten- to is a office and Joins Marle. CHAPTER V. After leaving M. Guersaint In his room at the Hotel des Apparitions at about 11 o'clock that evening Plerre thought that before go- ing to bed himself he would look in at the Hospital of Our Lady of Sorrows. He had left Marfe in such a desperate state, dumb In her angry rage, that he had a feeling of great uneasiness concerning her. And the moment that he had asked for Mme. de Jonqulere at the door of St. Honorine's ward he was still more troubled. for he heard bad news. The directress informed him that the young girl had not yet opened her lips, would answer no one, even refusing to eat. She was most anxious to have Plerre come in. The women's wards were, indeed, for- bidden to any man's entrance at night, but a priest was not a man. “She only cares for yow. She will only listen to you. I bescech you to go and sit beside her bed and wait until Abbe Judaine comes at about 1 in the morning to adminis- ter the communlon to the very fll, those who cannot move and must eat In the morn- ing. Perhaps you can help her. So Plerre followed Mme. de Jonquiere, who made a place for him beside Marle's bed. “I bring you some one whom dear child. Now, you will be _reasonable, will you not But recognizing Plerre the sick girl only gazed at him with an air of exasperated suffering, with a dark and rebellious look. “Would you like him to read to you one of those lovely fales such as he read to us in the railway carrlage? Of course, it will not amuse you, because you have not heart enough Just now, but perhaps it may. I leave him with you. I am sure that very soon you will be better.” But all in vain. Pierre talked to her in a low volce, saying all he could imagine that was caressing and kind, begging her not to allow herself to fall thus into despair. If the Holy Virgin had uot cured her the very first day It was because she was reserving that eure for some marvelous miracle. But she only turned away her head and did not ap- pear to hear him, her mouth set and her an- gry eyes looked only into space. So he ceased talking and looked about him in the ward. It was an awful sight. Never had he experienced such a nausea of pity and terror. Dinner was long since over; however, trays carried from the kitchen were still on many of the beds, and throughout the entire night gome of the invallds were eating, while others moaned restlessly, begging to be turned over or to be placed on the night stool. As night advanced a sort of de- Mrium seemed to influence them all, for few roally slept at all; some were undressed be- twoen the sheets. but the greater number were simply stretched outside, being so hard to undress that they could not oven change their linen during the five days ot the pilgrimage. And in the dim lght the encumbrances in the ward appeared to have groatly increased, the fifteen beds arranged along the wall with the seven mattresses that filled the middle aisle, and still cthers that had been added, with all the heaps of nameloss rags mixed with the luggage, old baskets, boxes and valises, soarcely room to step. Two smoky lamps hardly lighted this encampment of morl- bunds, and the smell was something fearful, although the two windows were wide open, but only the close alr of an August night eould come tn. This sort of living hell was jod-by welrd shadows, the cries of those sing nightmares and the nocturnal agonies of 50 wauch suffering. pressntly recognized Raymoude, who, having fnished her task, had come in e kiss her mother before going to bed up in of the garrets that were roserved for sisters. Mmo. de Jonquiere, in her pride of the functions of directress of the Ward, would not close her eyos for the next thees nights. True she had an armchair o rest in, but she eould not sit down for you love, alk to him and thero was | an finstant without being disturbed. She had a valiant second In Mme. Desagncaus, who worked with such zeal that Sister Hya- | cinthe had just said to her, laughingly, “Why do-you not become a nun?" and she had answered with a surprised alr, “Why, I cannot; I am married and I adoro my husband.” Mme. Volmar had not even ap- peared. They said that Mme. de Jon- quiere had sent her off to bed, as she was complaining of such an awful headache, which simply made Mme. Desagneaux wild, for she said, and justly, too, that one should not come to take care of {ll people if one were not perfectly well and able-bodied one's sell. Yet she was beginning to feel as though her legs and arms were break- ing, without being willing to give in, run- ning at the slightest call, always ready to give a helping hand. She who in her own apartment n Parls would ring for a servant rather than move a candlestick was now handing pots and bowles, emptying basins and supporting ill people in her arms while Mme. de Jonquiere turned their pillows over. When 11 o'clock struck she was quite over- come. Having been imprudent enough to sit down for a moment in the armchair, she fell aslecp, fast asleep, just as she was, her graceful head fallen cn her shoulder, com- pletely enveloped by her lovely blonde hair. No_noise, neither servant nor groans, could waken her now. Mme. de Jonquiere came back to the young priest and sald softly: “I think I will send for M. Ferraud, you know, the house physician who has accom- panied us; he might give this poor girl some- thing to calm her. But he Is busy just now down stairs with Brother Isidore, In the family ward. Then, you know, we are not supposed to nurse people here. We merely place our beloved invalids in the hands of the Holy Virgin, Sister Hyacinthe, who had decided to spend the night with the directress, now ap- oroached. 1 have ward, from the family to fetch some Just come up where T promised oranges to M. Sabathler, and I saw M. Ferraud, who has succeeded in reviving Brother sidore. - Shall I go down and find him 7" But Pierre was opposed to this. “No, no; Marfe will soon be more reasonable. I am going to read her some comforting words by and by, and she will rest.” Marie still remained obstinately speechless. One of the two lamps was near her, hanging against the wall, and Pierre could see her thin face clearly, as motionless as a stone. Beyond, in the next bed, he could see the head of Elise Rouquet, with her horrible visage turned up, its fearful sore still seem- ing to become less inflamed. To the left Mme. Vetu was lying, feeble, incurable, who could not take: a single breath, shaken as she was by a continuous rattle, He spoke some kindly words to her, for which she thanked him by a sign. Then, gathering together all her strength, she said finally, in a low tone: “I am happy to hear there were several cures today." In fact, stretched on a mattress at the foot of the bed, La Grivotte was constantly sit- ting up in an extraordinary fever of activity In order to repeat to every newcomer her phrase: “I am cured; I am cured.” And she would tell how she had eaten tha half of a chicken, she who had not eaten for months. Then, too, for nearly two hours she Joined the torchlight precession on foot. In- deed, if the Holy Virgin had only given a ball she would surely have danced till day- light: “I am cared; oh, quite, quite cured Mme. Vetu was able to say with a child- ish serenity, a perfect and smiling self-ab- negation: “The Holy Virgin 1s right to cure such as she, because she is poor. It gives her much more pleasura than it I were cured; because I have my little watch maker's business, and [ can wait. Each one in turn, each one in ur They all showed this charity, this incredi- ble happiness when others were healed. They were rarely jealous, but yielded to a sort of epidemic of happiness, a contagious hope of being cured whenever the Holy Vir- gln wished it. They must not annoy her, or be too impatient; for she surely had her own reasons, and knew why one came b:fore an- other. Thus the most seriously Il were praying for their neighbors in this fraternity of suffering and of hope. No on2 was ever hopeless, each miracle was an assurance of another to follow. Their faith was irre- sistible. They told about a girl, a farm hand, a paraiytic, who walked several steps at the grotto with a most extraordinary force of will; then after returning to the hospital she was anxious to go once more to the grotto, but half way she had reeled, breathless, livid, and brought back in a litter she had died, cured, it was said, by her neighbors in the ward. Oue after another the Holy Virgin forgot not one of her be- loved daughters, unless it was her plan to grant at once to her elect @ place in para- dise. As Plerre was leaning over Marie to offer once more to read, she suddenly burst into tears. She leaned her head on her friend's shoulder, and in the vague shadows of that fearful ward she poured forth all her re- bellious thoughts. As it sometimes hap- pens,” there had come to her a complete loss of faith, a sudden lack of courage, the wild rage of a suftering creature who could wait no longer. She nearly approached a feel- ing of sacrilese. “No, no! She is wicked, she is unjust not to have healed me at once. I was so sure she woull hear me today, I had prayed 50 hard! Now this first day is finished I shall never be cured. It was Saturday, and 1 felt certain she would cure me on Saturday. I do not wish to speak, keep me from talk- ing, for my heart {3 full and I shall say too much.™* He strained her head to him in a broth- erly way and tried to still her rebellious ery. “Marie, bo silent, I beg you. No one must hear you—you so plous! Do you wish to_scandalize all these poor souls?" But she could not stop, notwithstanding her effort. “I shall choke: I must say it. T no longer love her, I no longer believe in her. All they tell here is a lie. There is nothing; she does not even exist, since she does not hear, though one weeps and speaks to her. If you knew all I said to her! I want to 8O ‘away this instant. Take me, carry me off at once in your arms that I may die in | the streets and the passers-by may at least take pity on my sufferings.” Completely overcome, she fell back, stammering like a littlo child: Nobody loves rie. Even my ‘athor was not there. And you, my s frif nd, you (ae had abandoued me. Whea | saw that some ono else was taking me to tha poul L felt myself suddenly all in a shiv Yes, that same shiver of doubt that I often felt in Paris, Oh, it is certain [ “ave doubled, That is why I am not curad. I prayed badly. I am not holy enough. She had already ceas»d blasplieming and was finding excuses for heaven. But her ex- pression still remalned troublod in this »trig- gle with a superlor power, 52 groatly loved and supplicated, yet tha' had not obeycd Ler, When at times in the hospital thess {vrns of rage came on, and there ensued a fret of rebellion among the sick unes, with misery and sobs, and even 0achs, the slsters ur lcs- pital helpers would «draw tne urtaing, rather | outraged, and, merc; having depasted, they waiied until she returned. ‘The Al Lecame peacetul once mare, dying away with time in th> great, lamentaole siiance. “Be calw, be calm, I conjure you," re- peated Pierre very softly to Marle, &s he saw that another crisls was upon her, that of self sacrifice and the fear of belug unworthy. Sister Hyacinthe once more approached and said: “You will not be able to recelve the com- munion presently, my dear child, if you keep on in such a state. Come, since we permit the abbe to read, why will you not allow him to do so She made a motion as though to say she was willing, and Plerre made haste to take out of the valise at the foot of the bed the on her O Io— little blue covered book, in which the story of Bernadette was told so innocently. But, as on the preceding night, when the train was roll'ng along, he did not follow the text of the little sketeh, but improvised, bringing back to his mind facts, and told them in a way that charmed the simple souls that lis- tenzd—yet the reasoning and analytical powers In him could not forbid the establish- ment of a faith that rendered quite pract'cal this legend of a human be.ng whose continual predigy was to help In the healing of the sick. From all the neighboring beds the women soon began to sit up. They wished to hear the continuation of the story, for | their anxious awaitng for the celebration of the communion was keeping nearly all of them awake. So Plerre, in the pale light of the lamp hanging from the wall near him, raised his voics slightly, so that all in the ward could hear: ) “From the very first miracles the perse- cution began. Bernadette, treated as a liar and a mad woman, was threat:ned with being put in prison. Abbe Peyramale, viear of Lourdes, and M. Laurence, bishop of Sartes, as weil as the remainder of the olergy, kept away, awaiting with the ut- most prudence, while th eivil authoritles, the chief magistrate, the imperial sollcitor, the mayor, the police commisaioners, gav thomselves up with deplorable seal to work- Ing agalnst religion.” As he went on Plerre saw the true story before him with its invincible force. He went back somewhat and took up the story of Bernadette at the time of the first ap- parition, when she was g0 candid, so charm- ing in her lgnorance and her faith in her suffering. She was again the seeress, the saint, whose face, dur.ng the crisis of ec- stacy, too on a look of superhuman beauty; her forehead shone, her features seemed to glow, her eyes to become brighter, while her half open mouth burned with love. Then the majesty of her entire person, her noble signs of the cro:s, made very slowly from one end of the horizon to the other. Every one in the neighboring valleys, the villages, the towns were talking only _about Berna- dette. Although the Holy Virgin was no longer named she was acknowledged, and they sald: “It is she, it is the Holy Vir- gin. The first market day there was such a crowd that Lourdes was crowded All wished to see the blessed child, the elect of the queen of angels, who became so beautiful when heaven opened before her | the | cent ternal pity for her, the kind of fervor one has for a saintly fhidnd, a simple soul, strict, yet eharming in #he endurance for the sake of her faith, could*not hide his emotion, but his eyes filled and his voice trembled. There came an Interruptfdh, for Marfe, who until now had remained rigid as before, with the same hard look of “Yebellion, unclasped her hands arjl made a’ motion of vague pity. “Oh,” “she murmured, “poor little thing, all alone before thode judges, and so inno- #0 proud, Imiyovable fn her truth.” From every side’the same suffering sympa- thy was shown. The misery of the ward in its nocturnal distreds, its heaps of dismal cots, Its phantasmal boming and going of the nuns and hospita] purses, half dead with fatigue, seemed ¢ be lighted by a ray of divine charity. \ak {t not the eternal illu- sion of happiness, eyen with her tears and her unconscious prévarications? Poor, poor, Bernaflette! Each one felt a personal {ndigna- tion for the persecutions she had endured in order to defend her faith. Plerro went on to tell about all the child had been forced to suffer. After the agent's questioning she had been obliged to appear before the tribunal. The entire judicial court demanded that she make a retraction. But the stubbornness of her bellef was stronger than any reasoning of the united authorities. Two doctors, sent by the prefect to make a particular examination of the ill girl, came to the same honest conclusion as had all other physicians—namely, the existence of | nervous troubles, of which asthma was a cer- tain- sign, that might under certain circum- stances develop visions; and had they not feared the exasperated public, they would have had her placed in the hospital at Barhes. A bishop knelt at her feet. Ladies came desirous of buying her favor with welght of gold. Crowds of the faithful over- whelming her with visits, She had taken refuge with the Sisters of Nevers, who were in charge of the town hospital; and while with them she took her first communion, having, with great difficulty, learned to rea and write. As the Holy Virgin had selecte her for the happiness of others, and had not vouchsafed to cure her of her own chronic ills, it was wisely decided to take her to the waters at Carterets, near by, which, how- ever, did her no good. From the moment she returned to Lourdes the torment of the inquiries, the adoration of the populace, all recommenced, and so greatly aggravated more and more her horror of the world. To her it was a sealed book to enjoy life as a happy maiden, dreaming of a husband, the young mother kissing the cheeks of her big babies. She had seen the Virgin, sh» was the elect and a martyr. The Virgin, 50 said the faithful, had not confided to her three secrets unless to sustain her by the triple armor against the future persecu- tions she must endure. For a long time the clergy had taken no part in this, feeling uneasy and doubtful. The vicar of Lourdes, Abbe Peyramale, was THE ABBE READS TO THE INVALIDS. delighted eyes. Every morning the crowds increased on the banks of the Gave, and thousands of people established themselves, pushing and jamming, so as to lose none of the sceme. As soon as Bernadette ap- peared a fervent murmur was heard: “There is the saint, the saint, the saint.”” They rushed to kiss her garments. It was the Messiah, the eternal Mes:iah, for whom the people waited, the need for whom is ever increasing throughout all generations. The same incidents always recurred—the a rough man, of infinite goodness, of admira- able and straightforward energy, when he thought himself right. The first time he re- ceived a visit from Bernadette he was al- most as severe as the police agent had been with this child from Bartres, who had never been to the catechising; he refused to believe her story, telling her with some irony that she had better ask the lady to cause the sweet briar at her feet to bloom, | which the lady did not do elsewhere; and if apparition of the Virgin to a shepherd, a | voice that exhorted the world to penitence, | a spring jutting forth—miracles that as- tonished and delighted the assembled crowds, that became larger and larger. Ah, those first miracles at Lourdes, those springlike blossoms of consolation and hope to those hearts devoured by poverty and ill- ness! The healed eye of old Bourriette, the child Bouhohorts, who was restored by the icy water; the deaf who heard, the lame who walked, and so many others—Blaise Maumus, Bernade Soubles, Auguste Bordes, Blaisette Soupenne, Benoite Cazeaux—saved from the most awful suffering all became topics of unending conversations, that increased the illusion of those who suffered either mental or physical maladies. On Thursday, the 4th of March, the last of the fifteen visits re- quested by the Virgin, there were twenty thousand people in front of the grotto—the inhabitants of the whole mountain side had come down. This immense crowd found there what they hungered for, the divine aliment, the feast of the marvelous, yet sufficiently improbable to satisfy a belief in a superior power that deigned to occupy itself with poor mankind, that interposed in a strange way with lamentable affairs of this world in order to re-establish a degree of justness and of goodness. It was the cry of diyine charity making itself heard, the in- visible and strong hand that was at last outstretched to heal the oternal wounds of humanity. Ah, this dream that each suc- ceeding generation would realize, with what indestructible energy it developed among the disinherited as soon as a favorable ground was found prepared by circumstances! No for centuries had the concatenation of events rendered it possible to reunite, as at Lourdes, the mystical altar with ity own religion. For a new religion was about to be founded, and at once there arose persecu- tions, for religion prospers only in the midst of tortures and rebellions. As in other days at Jerusalem,when the miracles of our Savior were noised abroad, the civil authorities came forih to present them. Likewise now did the attorney general, the justice of the peace, the mayor, and above all the pre- fect of Tarbes. The latter was simply a sin- cere, practical Catholic, absolutely honorable, but ‘with a rigid notion of administrative power, a determined upholder of order, an avowed antagonist of fanaticism, from which all previous riots and religous perversions have arisen. There was then at Lourdes, naturally under his orders, a police agent, a very clever and subtle man and most inteili- gent, who saw rightly in this matter of the apparitions a chance to demonstrate his gifts of wisdom. So the battle began, and it was this very agent who had Bernardeite brought to his office on the first Sunday in Lent, after the first visions, to question her concerning them. In vain did he show inter- est, or upon being irritated did threatening avail. The young girl invarlably gave the same answers. The story she told, with its long drawn out detalls, was irrevocably fixed in her childish brain. To this poor, suffer- ing creature, hysterical by turns, the tale was no lie, but an inconsclent idea, a radical lack of will that prevented her from forget- ting the original hallucination. She did not know, could not, did not wish to know. Ah! The poor, dear chiid, so gentle, S0 amiable, incapable of a wicked thought, from hence- forward lost to ordinary life, erucified by her fixed idea, that could only have been completely obliterated by taking her quite away to another, broader existence in some land of brightness and human love. But she was the elect. She had seen the Virgin. She would suffer for it all her life and die for it. Plerre, who had learned to know the char- acter of Bernadette so well that he felt a fra- later he did take the child under his charge, as a shepherd who guards his flock, it was only when the persecutions had begun, and they talked of putting in prison this miser- able child, with her clear eyes, and who in her modest manner adhered to the same tale. Why should he have continued to deny the miracle after having as a prudent vicar merely doubted its veracity, not wish- ing to mix his religion with an idle ad- venture? Saintly literature is fill:d with prodigies, whose dogma s based upon mystery, If they were followed there was nothing in the eyes of a prizst to contradict the fact that the Virgin had charged this pious child with a message to him in teliing her to build a church, to which the faithful should come in processions. Thus it was that he began to love and to def:nd Bernadette for her own merit, still holding himself aloof, waiting for the de- cision of his bishop. That bishop, Mgr. Laurence, seemed locked up by threefold doors in this palace at Tarbes, for he remainzd absolutely silent, as if there was nothing going on at Lourdes of any Interest. He gave strict orders to his clergy, and not a priest had yet been seon among the enormous crowds that passed whole days before the grotto. He made known to the prefect by means of adminis- trative circulars that he was waiting for religious authority to act in accord with the civil decislons. He really did not b:lieve in the apparitions at the grotto, which he regarded only as the hallucinations of an invalild child. Yet the incldent that was revolutionizing the country was of sufficient importance to make him study it carefully day by day, and the fact that he was unin- terested in it for so long a time proves how littlo he did belleve in the pretendsd miracle, for he had but the single wish not to com- promise the church in a matter that might turn out badly. Mgr. Laurence was a very plous man, of caleulating intelligence, who managed the affairs of his diocese with great good sense. At the time the impatient and ardent peorsons nicknamed him Saint Thomas, for the persistence of his doubt, that lasted until Wie had his hand forced by facts. He turned a deaf ear, resolved to ede only when religion no longer had any- thing to lose. The persecutions became more pronounced. The Department of Religion at Paris was in- formed and demhnded that all disorders should cease, and the prefoct placed the ap- proaches to the grotto under military sur- veillance. The faithful had already, in the zeal and gratitude of those who had been cured, pliced ornaments and vases of flow- ers. In these were thrown pleces of mone and presents were given to the Holy Virgin. It was a most rudimentary organization— some stonecutters had hewn out a sort of basin into which the miraculous water ran; others had removed the largest stones and thus made a kind of pathway up the hill, After deciding not to arrest Bernadette, the prefect came to the grave determination that in order to stop the crowds from asiembling around the grotto it would be necessary to bulld a strong fence. Some untoward events had happened; children pretended they had seen the devil, some of them being capable of simulation, the rest really overcome by norvous attacks, in the contagion of affec- tion of the nerves that prevailed. But what a business It was to break up the grott The police agent could only find a girl to- ward nightfall who would lot him have a cart, and two hours later upon falling the girl broke one rib. Likewise a man who lent an axe had his foot crushed by au fall- ing stone the following day. The agent ocould only carry off on his cart the pots of flowe! a few (apers that were burning, the pence and silver hearts dragging behind in the dust. Fists were clenched and ho was treated ws & thief and & murderes. Then [ the posts of the fence were placed In posi- tion, the boards firmly nailed and the deed done that shut up the mystery, barred out the unknown, put the miracle in prison, The civil authorities innocontly imagined it was all over, that these few planks would stop these poor people, famishing with fllu- slons and hopes. From the moment it was proscribed, for- bidden by law as a misdemeanor, the new religion burued In every heart with an in- extingulshable flame. ‘The faithful came In stili greater numbers, kneeling at a distanc sobbing In the very face of thelr forbidden paradise. And above all, the invallds—the poor Invalids to whom a tarbarous law had forbidden a cure—they approached, notwith- standing the prohibitions, getting through holes, climbing over obstacles, in their solo and ardent desire to steal some of the water. What! Here was a remarkable water that caused the blind to see, the cripple to wulk, that instantly alleviated all flls, and there were men cruel enough to put this water under lock and key, so that it might no longer cure this miserable world. Ob, it was. monstrous! A cry of execration arose from the lips of these people, the poor out- casts who had as much need for the mar- velous in this life as for bread to eat. Ac- cording to the ordinance, official reports had to bo made of the delinquents, and thus might have been seen before the tribunal a lamentable file of old women, crippled men, guilty of having drunk at the fountain of life. They stuttered, besought, did not even un- derstand when they were fined. Outside the crowd scolded, and a furious feeling of un- pophlarity arose for those hard judges on human misery, against those pitiless mas- ters who, after taking away all riches, would not even leave the poor the dream of over yonder: the belief that a superior power was looking after them in a materlal way, by making them peaceful in thelr minds and healthy in their bodies. A whole company of these wretches and invalids walted on the mayor; they knelt in the court yard and conjured him with sobs to open the grotto again, and what they sald was so piteous that everybody wept. One mother held up her half dead child; would he be allowed to die thus in her arms when there was a spring that had saved the children of other mothers? A blind man showed his sightless eyes; a pale, scrofulous boy uncovered the sores on his legs; a paralytic woman at- tempted lo join her sadly twisted hands. Were they to be allowed to perish. Was their last divine chance of living to be re- fused because the science of man had given them up? The distress of those who be- lieved was almost as great; those who thought that a glimpse of heaven had been opened in the night of their mournful exist- ence and who were indignant because this chimerical joy had been taken from them, this supreme comfort to their social and human sufferings, the thought that the Holy Virgin had come down to bring them the infinite pleasure of her Intervention. The mayor was unable to glve any promises, and the crowd had gone away weeping, ready to rebel, as though they were under some great injustice, an imbecile cruelty toward the young and feeble, for whom the sky would revenge itself. The struggle continued for several months. It certainly was a strange thing that these sensible men, the minister, the prefect, the police agent, all animated with the very best intention, still continued to fight this grow- ing crowd of desperate persons, who were determined to have the door open of their dream, the escaped mystery of future happi- ness, where they might console themselves for their present misery. Those in author- ity required order, due deference to a wise religion, a triumph of reason; whereas the need for happiness carried the people away in an exalted desire to be healed in this world and in the other. Oh, to suffer no more, to conquer the inequality'of well being, to walk no more save under the protec- tion of a just and good mother, to die only to wake ‘in heaven! It was conclusively this universal and burning desire of the mul- titude, the holy mania of universal joy, that swept away the rigid and morose conception of well regulated society, in which epidemic cries of religious hallucinations are con- demned as derogatory to good order and healthy minds. By this time the whole ward of St. Honorine was aroused. Pierre was obliged to stop his reading for a few moments on account of the Indignant exclamations against the police agent, whom they likened to Herod or to Satan himself. La Grivotte sat up on her mattress, murmuring, “Ah, what ‘monsters; and the Holy Virgin has cured me.” Mme. Vetu, once more filled with hope, rallied from the certainty sfhie felt that she must die, to express great anger at the idea that had Bernadette been carried away by the prefect the grotto would never have existed: “Then there would have been no pilgrim- ages. We should not be here, nor would hundreds have been cured every year." She gasped again for breath, and Sister Hyacinthe was obliged to put her in a sitting posture. Mme. de Jonquiere im- proved the opportunity of this interruption to hand a basin to a young woman suffer- ing from some disease of the marrow. Two more women, who could not stay in bed on account of the intolerable heat, were pacing up and down with noiseless footfalls, and at the end of the ward from the gloom came a painful sound of suffocation that had not ceased during the entire time Pierre had been reading. Elsle Rouquet alone, flat on her back, was sleeping peacefully, with her awful sore, that was slowly drying, in full view. It was a quarter past 12 and Abbe Judaine might now appear at any moment to ad- minister the communion. Grace had again entered Marie's heart, and she was now con- vinced that if the Holy Virgin had refused to heal her the fault lay in her own doubt when she had gone Into the pool. She re- pented of her rebellion as of a crime. Would she ever be forgiven? Her pale face was hidden amid her slender blonde hair, her eyes filled with tears, and she gazed at Pierre with a remorseful sadness. “Oh, how wicked 1 have been, my friend; it was by hearing about the wicked acts of pride committed by those judges that I recognized my own ‘fault. One must be- lieve: there is no happiness, my friend, except In faith and in love."” Plerre wished to end his tale at this point, but with one accord all demanded the atinuation. They wished to go In tri- umph to the protto. As the fence completely hid the fountain, people were obliged to come secretly at night to pray or take away a bottle of the stolen water. Tho fear of a rlot increased, and it was reported that whole villages from the mountains were coming down to deliver God. It was an unrising of the masses, such an irresistible impulse from those hungering for the miracle, that all order and decency would be set aside like so much straw. Mgr. Laurence, in his bishopric at Sartes, was the first to surrender. All his prudence, all his doubts were overcome by this popular move- ment. He had been able to keep aloof for five months, to prevent his clergy from fol- lowing the faithful to the grotto, and pro- tected his ehurch from this mad’ vortex of superstition. But why struggle any longer? He appreclated the misery of the suffering creatures under his charge, and he deter- mined to grant them the Idolatrous faith that they craved. As a precaution, however, he simply made an ordinance that called for a commission of inquiry, so the acceptance of the miracle was merely a matter of time, If Mgr. Laurence was, indeed, a man of sensible culture, of cold reasoning that is represented, nothing:- can well portray his agony of mind the morning of the day on which he signed the ordinance. He must have knelt in his oratory and prayed to God that' He would guide his actions. He did not belleve in visions, for his idea of divine manifestations was far higher, far more in- tellectual. Was It not more pitiful and mer- ciful to silence his own scruples, the noble aspirations of his bellef, and feed with this bread of falsehood the hunger of poor hu- manity, who wish thus to live happily: “Oh, my God, forglve me, it 1 ask Thee to come from Thy eternal power, to condescend to this childish game of miracles. I injure Thee by thus abasing Thy glory In such a piteous manner, where there is only illness and lack of reason. But, oh, my God, thoy suffer so greatly, they hunger so much for the marvelous, for these fairy tales to dis- tract their pains in liviog. May the fidea of Thy divinity be so joined with the won- ders that they be comforted.” And thus the weeping bishop had sacrificed his God to his lively charity as a shepherd for his lamenta- ble human flock. After this the emperor, the master, came over to Lourdes. He was at Blarritz, where he recelved dally accounts regarding the mat- ter of these apparitions, which were noticed by all the Parisian press, for the persecu- tions would have been incomplete had not the ink of free thinking journallsts been mixed in its discussion. While his ministe his prefect, his police agent were fighting for order and submission the emperor kept bLis own counsel In the soclusion of his awakened thoughts and sald nothing. Bishops visted him, great persons, the ladfes of his court waylald him and took him aside. Stll he sald nothing. A flerce strugglo was going on fn his mind. On ono side the credulous, or simply the chirmerical leaders of the myatery: on the other the ncredulous, the men of his government, Who dofled this trouble of the fmagination, yet he sald noth- in his uncertain way, he story was that he had acceded to the empress’ supplications. No doubt she had_intervened, but there =ds also a re awakening of his old dream of humanitarian- fsm In the emperor's heart, a return of his anclent pity for the outcast, Like the bishop, ho did not wish to close the door of the illv slon to those wretches by malntaining the unpopular order of the prefect, by which the despairing Invallds were forbidden to drink lifo at the sacred font. So he sent a dis patch, a brief command to remove the fence and to make the grotto free Then sounded hosannas and cries of tri umph. The new law was read at Lourdes amid the rolling of drums and the blare of trumpets. The police agent himself had to be present when the wall was taken down He was afterward removed from office, as woll as the perfect. From every direction people poured in, and what a cry of divine Jjoy mounted upward. God had conquered. God! Alas, no; but human misery, the bread of ‘wonders, the needs of a con- demned man, who places his hope of salva- tion in the hands of an invisible, yet al- mighty power that he knows to be stronger than nature, more capable to break her in exorable laws. And what still further had conquered was the sovereign pity of the leaders of the flock, the bishop and the emperor mercifully giving to the big sick children the fetich that consoled some and sometimes even cured others, About the middle of November the Episco- pal commission came to Lourdes and pro- cecded in the inquiry with which it was charged. Bernadette was again questioned, and a number of miracles were investi- gated. In order to make the evidence abso- lute, thirty cures were established without doubt. And M. Laurence declared that he was convinced. He showed, however, a lasting discretion, for it was not until three years later that he formally declar:d by his mandate that the Holy Virgin had actually appeared at the Grotto of Massabielle, and that subsequently a number of miracles had been performed. He bought from the town of Lourdes, in the name of the diocese, the Grotto itself, with all the land that im- mediately surrounded it. Work was begun, modest at first, but becoming more and more important as money flowed in_from every quarter of Christendom. The Grotto was beautificd and enclosed by a grating. The Gave was turned back into a new channel, to allow large paths, grass plots, roads and promenades. Finaily the Basilica, the church demanded by the Holy Virgin herself, was commenced at the top of tho very rock. From the first stroke of the pickaxe the vicar of Lourdes, Abb Peyramale, assumed the direction of every- thing with an excessive zeal, for the struggl had converted him Into one of the most ardent, the most sincere workers. In his rather rough, yet paternal way, he gave him- self up to the adoration of Bernadette, and made the child’s mission his very own, glving himsel? soul and body to the carry- ing out of the commands he had received from heaven, through the mouth of this in- nocent girl. He wore himself out in his supreme efforts to have it all of the very best, the most beautiful, worthy of the Queen of Angels, who had condesc:nded to visit that corner in the mountains, The first religious ceremony did not take place until six vears after the apparitions, A marble statue of the Virgin was erected with great pomp in the grotto on the actual spot where she had stood. On that day, in brilliant sunshine and the rmnging of bells, Lourdes was decorated with flags. Five years later, in 1869, the first mass was said in the crfpt of the Basilica, whose steeple was not yet finished. Glfts were made with- out ceasing, a golden river flowed toward the grotto, a whole town grew on the soil. It was the foundling of a new religion. The desire to be cured acted as a cure; the thirst for the miracle created a miracle. A God of pity and of hope sprung from the sufferings of man, from that need of comfort and consolation that in all ages has created a wondrous paradise over yonder, where the Almighty renders justice and ' distributes eternal happiness. Thus it was that the invalids in Saint Honorine's ward saw, In the victory of the grotto, but their own hopes of health realized. All along the row of beds there was but one feeling of joy, as Pierre, with his heart aching for all those poor faces turned toward him, hungering for assurance repeated: “God hath conquered and the miracles have not ceased until this day, and the most humble persons are those who are most often helped.” He put down the little book. Abbe Judaine entered and was about to begin to give the communion. But Marle, overcome by her feverish faint, lcaned toward him, her hands like burning coals, “My dear triend, grant me the great favor of listening to the confession of my fault, and grant me absolution. I have blasphemed, and am in a state of mortal sin. If you do not come to my aid I may not receive the sacred Host, and I so greatly need to be comforted and reassured.” The young priest made a motion to refuse. Ho had never been willing to confess this friend, the only woman he had ever loved or desired, in her healthy and happy youthful days. But she insisted. “I beseech you; it will help the miracle of my cure.” He consented and heard the confession of her fault, of her impious rebellion against the Virgin, who had refaained deaf to her supplication; then he gave her absolution in the sacramental words. Abbe Judaine had already placed the cibor- ium on a little tabl> between two lighted ndlos, that looked like two stars in the dimly lighted ward. It had been decided to open wide one of the windows on the court yard, for the smell of those suffering people”and the heaps of rags had become insufferable; but no air came in from the narrrow black court yard that seemed like a pit. Pierre had offered to assist, so he re- cited the “Confiteor.”” Then the almoner, clad in his alb, after responding with the sereateur and the Indulgentiam, elevated he ciborium and said: “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”” Each woman, racked by paln, who was anxiously awalt- ing the communion as a dying man expects lifa from a new draught that is slow In coming, repeated this act of humility three times with closed lips: “Lord, 1 am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter. Say but the word and my soul shall be healed.” Abbe Judaine commenced at the beds of the worst ill, followed by Pierre, while Mme, de Jonquiere and Sister Hyacinthe came behind, each with a candle in her hand. The nun showed which of the Invalids desired to re- elve, and the priest, leaning over them, placed the Host on their tongues rather by tesswork, murmuring the Latin words. Nearly all’ were ready, with eyes wide open and shining, In the midst of the disorder of the hasty getting to order of the ward Two persons, however, had to be awaken from a sound sleep. Many who were groan- ing unconsclously continued to groan after having received the Holy Bucharist. At the end of the ward the rattling of the woman who could not be seen was still heard. Nothing there was more sad than the little procession, lighted by its two yel low spats of candlelight in the dim obscurity. But the face of Marle was like a divine apparition In its ecstacy. La Grivotte, who hungered for the bread of life, had not been allowed to communicate, a8 sho was to re- celve at the Rosary In the morning—and Mme. Vetu, quite silent, had taken the Host on her black tongue with a hiccough. In the pale light of the candles Marie was 5o lovely in the midst of her blonde hair and large eyes, her features transfigured by faith, that all 1ooked at and admired her. She took her communion as in a dream, with heaven visi- ble before her eyes, with her poor young body reduced by such physical suffering. For an instant she held Pierre's hand: ““Oh, my friend, she will cure me, she has Just said so. Go and rest. I am going to sleep such a happy sleep. As he was leaving with Abbe Judaine, Plerre saw little Mme. Desagneaux still sleeping In her armchair. Nothing could wake her. Mme. de Jongulere, alded by Sis- ter Hyacinthe, was going about, turning the slck ones, washing them, rubbing them. But the ward was quiet, since Hernadette, with her charm, had passed through. The tiny shadow of the seeress was now flltting be- tween the beds, triumpbant, having finished her work, bringing a sense of heaven to each desperate and outcast soul on earth, and while they all tried to sleep they fancied they could ses her leaning over them—she who had also been so (ll—kissing them amid her smiles. (To be Continued Next Sunday.) | | Was written by Generals, Admirals, Captains, and Other Actual Particl pants in the battles of the Rebellion, No other (alleged) **War Book™ was 80 written, THE CENTURY WAR Was written by Unionists and Cone federates alike. Out of a partial list of (72) officers who contributed import= ant papers, 26 officers were Confedera ates, No other (alleged) **War Book"" was 50 written. \ CENTURY 0 D Treats of the events on either side, which led up to the war; and also of the ‘‘Reconstruction” period. No other (alleged) **War Book Is absolute h(s}ory, complete, author- itative, final—¢history written by its makers."” Which no other (alleged “‘War Book"' Is. Is the “only and original War Boo!" —with three or four imitations lral'f- ing along behind—'way behind. You can get an imitation “War Book' if you want to waste your money. Is beautifully printed as only the Cene tury people know how to print; l“ beautifully illustrated as only the Century people i lustrate. By the way, waste a dime on an imitation “War Book” and compare. Has heretofore been $22 to $a8 per set of 4 volumes, while this paper is offering the present altogether admire able edition almost free—as followse FOR CITY READERS-Dring 4 ‘“Century War Hook' Ceupons of different dates, togeth «r with 10 cents in eoin, for each part as & to The Bee office. OUT OF TOWN READERS—Mall \tury War Dook’ Coupons of different dates, with 10 cents I coin to Century Wi ook Dept, The Bee. ke particular to (1) give your full name and address; (2) lncloss the necessary coupons and 1) cents In ordering ‘“The Century War Look™ do nol inelude any other business letter o delay will “ensue. in your I(I‘Vm U, 8. Jowrnal of Medicine.) Prof. W, Il Pecke,whomakes a speclalty of Epilepay, has without doubt treated and cured more cases than any llying Physician ; his succees Isnstonishing. We haveheard of cases of 20 years' stand g cured by him, o publishes s valuablo work on this discase whieh he sends with a largo bottle of his absolute cure, froo to ‘any sufferer who may send their 1.0, and Expressade dress, Wo advise anyone wishing & cure t address, Prof. W, H. PEEKE, ¥ D..4 Codar 5t., Now Yotk ot A P <o v s - e e l >