Personal narrative of an excursion to the hospice of the Great St. Bernard / By R. Hibbert Taylor.

  • Taylor, R. Hibbert.
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Personal narrative of an excursion to the hospice of the Great St. Bernard / By R. Hibbert Taylor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    prived of the pleasures of social intercourse. Scarcely a day elapses, even in the depth of winter, in which many individuals of the lower classes, chiefly workmen, or pedlars and smugglers, do not pass the Hospice on their way from the Swiss valleys into Italy; and in summer the visitors are very nu¬ merous, and of all ranks, especially during late years, when the facilities of travelling are so much increased, and the disposition of mankind to run to and fro upon the earth, appears to have been proportionably augmented. What a busy and bustling scene the Hospice must have presented in May, 1800, when the modern Hannibal crossed the pass with his armed bands, to pour them in hostile irruption upon the smiling plains of Lombardy. How must these dreary solitudes have been startled from their silent repose by the echoing march of such a vast array ! The army of reserve under Napoleon, amounting to 30,000 men, crossed the Great St. Bernard between the 15th and 21st of May, on their way to the field of Marengo. They halted in de¬ tachments at the Hospice, where the monks had spread a table in the wilder¬ ness, and supplied each soldier with a glass of wine and provisions for three days,—substantial gifts, which their great leader subsequently repaid with more of fair speeches than good deeds. But it is time to cut short our musings, and adjourn to the salle a manger, where supper was prepared at half-past six o’clock. There were nine or ten monks present and three visitors, besides ourselves, but none of them were ladies. The Prior presided at the head of the table and said grace in Latin, after which we proceeded to dinner. It being Friday, and consequently a fast according to the Romish Church, no animal food was produced, but we did not lack in abundance and variety of comestibles, the cooking of which plainly showed that the science of gastronomy was not wholly unknown even in the cuisine of the Great St. Bernard. We had soup, and fish dressed in different ways, vegetables, and eggs, with divers specimens of the pudding genus, and last, though not least, most excellent wine of Italian growth. The monks were very attentive to their visitors during the repast, helping us to wine and whatever we seemed to require. My friend, who had been much overcome by the fatigue of the journey, became faint during dinner, and was obliged to leave the table. Two of the brethren accompanied him to his bedroom, and were most obliging, as he afterwards informed me, in minister¬ ing to his necessities. There was no lack of conversation during supper, and as we all spoke French, it was carried on in that language. The monks, though illiterate¬ looking men, we found to be by no means ignorant, and on some subjects certain of them displayed an inquisitiveness and intelligence which their ap¬ pearance did not betoken. The opportunities which they enjoy of intercourse with well-informed travellers must be various and frequent during their short summer, and its consequences were apparent in the propriety of their in¬ quiries, and the interest which they seemed to take in the affairs of the world at large. They possess a tolerable library, and are supplied with the periodical works of some academic institutions. Several of the brethren have also been distinguished for their zeal in the cultiyation of the natural sciences, but to this we shall revert again. The number of monks usually resident at the Hospice is from 12 to 14, and none of those wo saw appeared to be above the age of forty. Most of them,