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CHARLES    DE    FOUCAULD 


NIHIL  OBSTAT : 

C.    SCHDT,    S.T.D., 

Censor  Deputatvs. 

IMPRIMATUR : 

Edm.  Can.   Scrmont, 

Vicarius  Gemralis. 

Westmonastf.rii, 

Die  i6  Aprilis,  1923. 


CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

HERMIT   AND   EXPLORER 

BY 

REN|E     BAZIN 


TRANSLATED    BY    PETER   KEELAN 


New  York,  Cincinnati,  Chicago 

BENZIGER    BROTHERS 

PRINTERS    TO   THE       I  PUBLISHERS    OF 

HOLY    APOSTOLIC    SEE  |    BENZIGER'S    MAGAZINE 

1.9  2  3 


B 
P 


Made  and  printed  in  Great  Britain 


CONTENTS 


FAGB 

GLOSSARY  -  -  -  -  -  -        vii 


I.    HIS   YOUTH                ..----  1 

II.    THE    PRELIMINARIES    OF    THE   JOURNEY      -                 -                 -  l6 

1.  THE   DISGUISE   AND    THE    FIRST    STEPS  -  "I? 

2.  THE   STORY   OF    .AIARDOCHEE    ABI    SERVUR                    -  23 
III.    THE    EXPLORER      -                 -                 -                 -                 '                 "35 

IV.    HIS    CONVERSION                     -                 -                 •                 -                 -  61 

V.    THE   TRAPPIST        -                 -                 -                 -                 -                 -  77 

VI.    NAZARETH    AND   JERUSALEM             -                 -                 -                 -  IIO 

VII.    CHARLES    DE   FOUCAULD   A    PRIEST — THE   DESERT    ROAD  -  1 36 

VIII.    BENI-ABBES               -                  -                 -                 -                 -                 -  IS© 

IX.    TRAINING   TOURS                    -                 -                 -                 -                 -  211 

X.    THE    SETTLEMENT    IN    HOGGAR        ....  23I 

XI.    POETRY    AND    PROVERBS     -                 -                 -                 .                 .  273 

XII.    TAMANRASSET         --.--.  280 

APPENDIX                  -..-...  25^ 


GLOSSARY 


Abd  Ennebi,  servant  of  the  Prophet. 

Abdjesu^  servant  of  Jesus. 

Ahal,  social  g-athering  among-  the  Tuaregs. 

Aman,  armistice. 

Amenokal,  a  noble  elected  chief  over  a  confederation  of  tribes. 

Amrar,  a  subordinate  chief  under  an  Amenokal. 

Anaia,  the  pledged  perpetual  protection  of  a  man  or  tribe. 

Baraquer,  to  kneel  down  (of  camels). 

Belras,  Turkish  slippers. 

Ben,  son. 

Berdis,  reeds  or  rushes. 

Bled,  country,  but  especially  used  of  the  back-country  or  hinter- 
land, the  Saharan  desert. 

Borj,   blockhouse  or  fortified  post. 

Burnous,  an  Arab  cloak. 

Cai'd,  judge  of  a  town  or  village  :   see  Khalifa. 

Casbah,  chapel  or  citadel. 

Chambi,  Chambaa,  warlike  plundering  tribes  like  the  Cossacks. 

Cheggar,  cloth  or  linen. 

Debiha,  the  act  of  putting  oneself  under  anaia. 

Diss,  a  reed  or  rush  like  an  alfa. 

Douar,  a  village  of  tents,  arranged  in  streets. 

Ethel,  an  atlee — a  kind  of  tree. 

Fellagas,  outlawed  native  factions  hostile  to  the  friendly 
natives  under  French  protection. 

Gaila,  midday  heat,  time  of  siesta. 

Gandourah,  an  Oriental  sleeveless  shirt-like  garment. 

Guettaf,  a  whitish  saltwort. 

Gum,  band  or  troop ;  escort  of  Arab  chiefs ;  also  French  com- 
manders in  Africa. 

Hajj,  a  Musulman  who  has  made  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca. 

Harka,  an  expeditionary  column. 

Harratins,  a  crossbreed  of  Arabs  and  negroes,  between  slaves 
and  freemen,  who  work  as  labourers,  without  political 
status. 

Hartani,  singular  of  Harratin. 

Imrad,  equality,  also  a  clan. 

Imzad,  violin,  with  only  one  string. 

Jelabia,  a  cowl  or  hood. 

Jerjir,  a  flower,  the  stems  of  which  are  blown  away  by  the 
winds  of  the  desert. 

Kafer,  infidel. 

Khalifa,  Arab  chief  :  the  order  is  as  follows  :  Caid,  Khalifa, 
Cadi,  Adel,  Bachadel. 

Khaua,  brotherhood  or  confraternity. 


viii  GLOSSARY 

Khefis,   a  very  composite  food  liked  by   Father  de  Foucauld 

(see  p.  382). 
Khenif,  a  black  burnous  with  a  yellow  moon. 
Khoja,  a  Mohammedan  schoolmaster  or  teacher. 
KsAR,  settled  village,  not  movable  like  a  douar. 
KsuR,  same  as  above. 
LiTHAM,   a  blue   bandage  fastening  the   veils   of  the   Multimin 

and  other  Tuaregs  in  place. 
Makhzen,  an  administrative  district,  or  a  troop  recruited  from 

such  a  district. 
Marabout,  a  Mohammedan  name  for  a  holy  man  or  saint. 
Mehari,  a  racing  camel  or  express  camel. 
Mellah,  a  quarter  set  apart,  as  the  Jewish  quarter  of  a  town. 
MoKHAZENi,  a  territorial  coming  from  a  makhzen. 
Multimin,   veiled  men   of  the  time  of  the  Crusades,   probably 

ancestors  of  the  Tuaregs. 
Nouader,  locks  (of  hair). 
Rahla,  a  pack-saddle  for  camels. 
Razzia,  a  raid. 

Rezzu,  an  expedition,  or  band  of  a  tribal  faction. 
RuMis,    "  Romans,"   a  general   name  applied   by    Moslems   to 

European  Christians. 
Sbaot,  Feast  of  Weeks,  corresponding  with  Pentecost. 
Shehada,  the  Musulman  form  of  prayer. 
Sherif,  a  noble,  a  title  of  honour,  a  local  governor. 
Shott,  a  shallow  saline  lake. 
SiDi,  an  African  title  of  respect  given  by  Musulmans  to  one  in 

authority. 
SisiT,  a  long  garment. 

Tamahak  or  Tamachek,  the  spoken  Tuareg  language. 
Tebbel,  a  war-drum. 
Thalebs,  religious  teachers  of  Islam. 
Tholba,  same  as  Thalebs. 
TiFiNAR,  the  written  Tuareg  language. 
Wady,  river  or  dry  watercourse. 
Zaptie,  a  Turkish  policeman. 

Zauia,  house  of  an  Arab  chief  and  his  dependents. 
Zeriba,  an  improvised  stockade,  usually  of  thorn-bushes. 
Zettet,  a  protector  who  gives  anaia. 


CHARLES    DE   FOUCAULD 


CHAPTER  I 
His  Youth 

CHARLES  EUGENE  DE  FOUCAULD,  whose  his- 
tory I  shall  try  to  relate,  was  born  at  Strasbourg  on 
September  15,  185^8- 

He  was  not  of  Alsatian  origin.  His  father,  Francois 
Edouard,  Viscount  de  Foucauld  de  Pontbriand,  Deputy- 
Inspector  of  Forests,  belonged  to  an  ancient  and  noble  family 
of  Perigord,  which  gave  saints  to  the  Church  and  very  good 
servants  to  France,  and  of  which  it  is  important  that  I 
should  here  say  something,  because  the  merit  of  ancestors, 
even  unknown,  even  forgotten,  continues  to  live  in  our 
blood  and  urges  us  to  imitation. 

According  to  the  genealogist  Chabault,  the  name  of 
Foucauld  has  been  known  since  970,  an  epoch  in  which 
Hugues  de  Foucauld,  having  given  a  part  of  his  wealth  to 
the  Abbeys  of  Chancelade  and  of  Saint-Pierre  d'Uzerches, 
retired  from  the  world,  and,  in  order  to  prepare  better  for 
death,  entered  the  monastery.  One  Bertrand  de  Foucauld, 
who  set  out  for  the  Crusade  with  St.  Louis,  fell  in  the  battle 
of  Mansurah  defending  his  King  against  the  Musulmans. 
Another,  Gabriel,  was  delegated  by  Francois  H  to  espouse 
Mary  Stuart  by  proxy. 

Jean,  chamberlain  to  the  Dauphin,  assisted,  near  Jeanne 
d'Arc,  at  the  coronation  of  Rheims.  In  several  letters 
Henry  IV  called  Jean  III  de  Foucauld  "  his  good  and  very 
trusty  friend."  In  order  to  express  still  better  his  friend- 
ship for  him  he  named  him  Governor  of  the  Comt6  of 
Perigord  and  Vicomte  of  Limoges  :  "I  can  assure  you, 
Monsieur  de  Lardimalie,"  he  wrote  to  him,  "  I  esteem  you 
and  your  virtue,  and  I  am  as  satisfied  with  you  as  you  could 
desire  " — a  fine  testimonial,  which  was  worth  a  government 
and  would  last  longer. 

Numerous  other  Foucaulds,  in  the  course  of  time,  were 
killed  at  the  head  of  their  company  or  their  regiment,  in 
France,  Italy,  Spain,  or  Germany,  always  in  the  service 
of  France.      But  one  of  its  greatest  glories  came  to  this 


2  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

family  from  Armand  de  Foucauld  de  Pontbriand/  Canon 
of  Meaux,^  Vicar-General  to  his  cousin  Jean-Marie  du 
Lau,  Prince  Archbishop  of  Aries.  He  was  a  man  whose 
charity  was  very  great,  who  distributed  to  the  poor  the  larger 
part  of  his  income,  and  "  frequented  only  his  church  and 
the  hospitals."^  Now  this  income  was  considerable — not 
that  he  had  inherited  it,  he  a  son  of  a  younger  son  and  fifth 
of  eleven  children ;  but  two  years  before  the  Revolution  he 
had  been  endowed  by  the  King  with  the  usufruct  of  the 
Abbey  of  Solignac  in  Limoges. 

In  1790  the  Archbishop  of  Aries  addressed  to  his  clergy 
the  celebrated  Exposition  des  principes  de  la  Constitution 
civile  du  clerge,  a  document  in  which  he  denounced  the 
attempt  at  schism  decided  by  the  men  of  the  Revolution. 
It  was  signed  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  bishops  of 
France,  defenders  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Faith.  The  Chapter  of  Aries  replied  by  an  address  of 
the  soundest  doctrine,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  found, 
among  those  of  the  other  canons,  the  signature  of  Armand  de 
Foucauld.  Having  become  suspected  through  their  attach- 
ment to  the  Church,  the  refractory  priests  were  soon  con- 
demned to  transportation  by  the  decret  of  May  26,  1792. 
Armand  de  Foucauld  then  set  out  from  Aries  for  Paris  to 
join  Mgr.  du  Lau,  who  said:  "They  want  to  inoculate 
the  Church  with  schism  and  heresy;  we  can  only  die." 
This  was  giving  himself  up  to  death.  On  August  1 1  he  was 
arrested  with  his  bishop,  and  led  into  the  confiscated  church 
of  the  Carmelites,  in  which  numerous  priests  were  already 
shut  up.  Many  of  these  confessors  of  the  Faith  were  about 
to  become  martyrs.  They  knew  it.  They  were  all  prepar- 
ing for  it,  trembling  and  staunch,  depending  on  the  grace 
of  God  for  the  courage  of  which  none  are  sure. 

On  September  2  the  prisoners  received  the  order  to  walk 
in  the  garden  of  the  Carmelites ;  even  the  sick  and  infirm 
must  go  out.  They  understood  that  they  were  going  to 
the  torture.  M.  de  Foucauld  and  the  other  Vicar-General 
of  Aries,  gathering  round  their  Archbishop,  directed  their 
steps  towards  an  oratory,  at  the  bottom  of  the  garden, 
dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  The  windows  of  the  con- 
vent were  full  of  red  caps,  brandishing  their  arms  and  insult- 
ing the  penned-up  victims.  "  Let  us  thank  God,  gentle- 
men," said  the  prelate,  "  that  He  calls  us  to  seal  with  our 

'  His  mother  was  Marie  Sibylla  de  Lau. 
-  Where  he  was  ordained  priest  in  1774. 

^  Armand  de  Foucauld  de  Pontbriand,  1751-1792  (H.  Oudin,  Paris, 
1902). 


HIS  YOUTH  3 

blood  the  faith  which  we  profess."  He  was  the  first  to  be 
struck  down  by  sabres  and  pikes.  A  moment  after,  M.  de 
Foucauld  fell  near  the  body  of  his  cousin.  He  was  forty- 
one.  To  the  old  nobility  another  of  the  highest  was  added. 
In  his  race  little  Charles  found  by  the  score  fine  examples 
to  follow. 

He  did  not,  as  will  be  seen,  at  first  follow  them,  but  he 
was  brought  back  to  them ;  and  none,  since  then,  among 
the  soldiers,  the  sailors,  or  priests  of  his  house,  could  be 
named  who  had  surpassed  this  Charles  de  Foucauld  in  self- 
sacrifice,  austerity,  bravery,  and  pity. 

He  was  pious  during  the  days  of  his  childhood.     Many 
are  the  same  in  France,    where  there  are  so   many  pre- 
destined mothers.     Madame  de  Foucauld  had  two  children, 
Charles  and  Mary.^     She  had  barely  the  time  to  teach  them 
to  join  their  hands  and  say  their  prayers ;  she  hardly  saw 
the  first  dawn  of  the  passionate  soul  of  her  son  Charles, 
over  which  she  would  have  wept,  if  death  had  not  prema- 
turely carried  off  that  Monica  from  this  Augustine.     In 
order  to  train  her  children  in  piety,  but  quite  as  much  to 
obey  a  divine  attraction  and  habit,  she  used  to  visit  various 
churches  in  turn,  loving  them  all  on  account  of  Him  who 
inhabits  them  all.     In  the  same  way,  at  home,  with  her 
children  she  used  to  decorate  the  crib  at  Christmastide,  a 
statue  of  the   Virgin   in   the   month   of   May.     She   gave 
Charles  a  little  altar  which  was  placed  on  a  chest  of  drawers, 
before  which  he  used  to  kneel  morning  and  evening,  a  relic 
of  his  first  years,  of  presage  still  obscure,  which  he  men- 
tions later  on  :  "I  kept  it  as  long  as  I  had  a  room  to  myself 
in  my  family,  and  it  outlived  my  faith."     When  they  went 
for  a  walk  on  the  sloping  woods  of  Saverne  or  spent  the 
holidays  together,  she  recommended  her  children  to  gather 
bunches  of  flowers  and  to  place  them  at  the  foot  of  the 
calvaries  at  the  cross-roads,  betraying  a  French  mother's 
tender  love,  more  educationist  in  acts  than  in  words,  the 
memory  of  which  is  never  effaced. 

Madame  de  Foucauld  died  on  March  13,  1864,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-four ;  her  husband  on  August  9  of  the  same 
year.  The  orphans  were  then  confided  to  their  maternal 
grandfather,  M.  Charles-Gabriel  de  Morlet,  a  retired  colonel 
of  Engineers,  who  was  nearly  seventy  years  of  age.^  Men 
do  not  often  have  that  passionate  application  to  the  duties 
of  primary  education,    nor  that  gift  of  divination  which 

^  A  first  child  named  Charles  had  not  lived. 

2  His  first  wife  was  Mile.  La  Quiante,  and  his  second  Mile,  de 
Labouche  ;  the  latter  had  no  cliildren. 


4  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

teaches  mothers  and  prompts  them  to  take  alarm  at  the  faults 
of  their  children  and  to  correct  them.  Affectionate,  passion- 
ately fond  of  play,  with  a  great  gift  for  drawing,  quick- 
witted, a  pretty  child  and  with  a  bold  expression,  Charles 
pleased  the  old  soldier.  He  was  spoiled;  M.  de  Morlet 
could  not  resist  the  tears  of  this  little  Charles  :  "  When  he 
cries,"  he  used  to  say,  "  he  reminds  me  of  my  daughter." 
Even  Charles's  fits  of  anger  met  with  a  secret  indulgence, 
and  were  passed  over  as  a  sign  of  character.  He  was 
violent.  The  most  innocent  mockery  put  him  into  a  rage. 
He  had  once  cut  out  and  modelled  a  fort  in  a  heap  of  sand, 
an  elaborate  construction  of  moats  and  towers,  of  bridges 
and  approaches.  One  of  his  relations,  thinking  to  please 
him,  took  it  into  his  head  to  put  lighted  candles  on  the  sum- 
mit, and  potatoes  for  cannon-balls  in  the  moats.  Charles 
thought  that  they  were  making  fun  of  him  and  flew  into  a 
violent  fury.  He  trampled  on  his  work  till  no  trace  of  it 
remained;  then,  in  revenge,  after  dark  he  threw  the  very 
sandy  potatoes  into  every  bed  in  the  house. 

We  know  by  his  letters  that  he  made  his  first  communion 
with  fervour.  He  was  sent  to  the  episcopal  school  of 
Saint-Arbogast,  under  the  management  of  the  priests  of  the 
Diocese  of  Strasbourg,  then  to  the  Lycee,^  The  war  came 
on,  and  the  grandfather  and  the  two  children  were  driven 
from  Alsace  and  took  refuge  in  Berne. 

In  1872  M.  de  Morlet,  not  being  able  to  go  back  to  Stras- 
bourg, went  to  live  in  Nancy.  It  was  in  the  Lycee  of  this 
town  that  Charles  commenced  to  lose  the  habit  of  regular 
ordered  work,  and  soon  lost  the  Faith. 

When  one  goes  through  all  the  correspondence  of  Charles 
de  Foucauld,  one  understands  the  bitterness  of  his  memories 
of  his  years  of  study  at  Nancy.  These  years  were  the 
beginning  of  a  life  of  frailty,  the  period  which  in  penance 
he  goes  over  again  and  again  till  the  end,  to  efface  the 
faults  of  mind  and  body. 

^  One  of  the  former  professors  of  the  Lycee  de  Strasbourg  has  been 
good  enough  to  write  to  me  on  this  subject  :  "  I  had  Charles  de 
Foucauld  as  pupil,  1868-1869,  in  my  sixth  form.  He  was  an  intelligent 
and  studious  child,  but  was  far  from  giving  any  indication  of  the 
passionate  and  quick-witted  nature  that  he  was  to  manifest  later  on. 
Besides,  his  delicate  health  did  not  allow  him  to  attend  the  classes 
regularly  enough  to  get  always  into  the  first  places.  I  find,  however, 
to  his  credit,  that  he  was  fourth  and  third  for  Latin  translation,  in  a  class 
of  fifty-five  pupils.  He  was  under  the  care  of  his  grandfather,  M.  de 
Morlet,  an  old  gentleman  with  distinguished  manners  and  language,  who 
occupied  himself  with  archaeology  and  was  passionately  fond  of  the 
classics." 


HIS  YOUTH  5 

1  ought,  indeed,  to  quote  here  some  of  his  confessions 
after  he  had  returned  to  God  and  judged  his  past. 

He  wrote  to  a  friend  :  "  If  I  worked  Httle  at  Nancy,  it 
is  because  I  was  allowed  to  mix  with  my  studies  a  quantity 
of  reading  which  gave  me  the  taste  for  study,  but  did  me  the 
harm  of  which  you  know." 

He  again  wrote  to  him  that  it  was  during  his  course  of 
rhetoric  that  he  lost  all  faith,  "and  that  is  not  the  only 
evil." 

The  year  of  philosophy  was  worse  :  "If  you  knew  how 
all  the  objections  which  tormented  me,  and  which  lead 
young  men  astray,  are  luminously  and  simply  solved  by  a 
good  Christian  philosophy  !  It  meant  a  real  revolution 
when  I  saw  that.  .  .  .  But  children  are  thrown  on  the 
world  without  giving  them  the  arms  that  are  indispensable 
to  combat  the  enemies  they  find  in  and  outside  them- 
selves, lying  in  wait  for  them  in  hosts  on  the  threshold 
of  youth.  The  Christian  philosophers  have  long  since 
and  very  clearly  solved  so  many  questions  that  each 
young  man  puts  feverishly  to  himself,  without  even  sus- 
pecting that  an  answer,  luminous  and  clear,  lies  close  at 
hand." 

Still  later  on,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother-in-law,  he  earnestly 
begs  that  his  nephews  be  brought  up  by  Christian  masters  : 
"  I  had  no  bad  master;  all,  on  the  contrary,  were  full  of 
reverence ;  but  even  those  are  harmful,  because  they  are 
neutral,  and  youth  needs  to  be  educated  not  by  neutrals  but 
by  men  of  faith  and  sanctity,  learned  in  religion,  knowing 
how  to  give  reasons  for  their  beliefs  and  inspiring  young 
men  with  a  firm  confidence  in  the  truth  of  their  Faith.   .   .   . 

"Let  my  experience,  I  pray  you,  do  for  the  family."^ 

This  collegian  left  the  Lyc6e  a  bachelor  (B.A.),  like 
others,  inquisitive  about  everything  and  determined  to 
enjoy  himself;  and  sad  M.  de  Morlet  wanted  his  grandson 
to  enter  the  Ecole  Polytechnique.  But  Charles  chose  to 
lead  an  easy  life.  He  declared,  with  that  frankness  which 
(was  one  of  the  unchangeable  features  of  his  moral  life,  that 
he  would  prefer  to  go  to  the  Ecole  de  Saint-Cyr,  because 
the  competition  demanded  less  work ;  and  he  set  out  for 
Paris. 

From  memory  he  depicts  himself  as  he  was  when  he  was 
attending  the  preparatory  classes  of  the  Ecole  de  Saint- 
Genevieve. 

"At  seventeen  I  was  beginning  my  second  year  at  the 
Rue  des  Postes.  I  believe  I  had  never  been  in  such  a  lament- 
^  Letter  of  March  5,  1901. 


6  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

able  state  of  mind.  In  a  way  I  have  done  more  harm  at 
other  times,  but  then  there  was  some  good  mingled  with 
the  evil.  At  seventeen  I  was  all  egotism,  vanity,  impiety, 
with  every  desire  for  evil ;  I  was,  as  it  were,  mad.  As  for 
my  laziness,  at  the  Rue  des  Postes  it  was  such  that  they 
would  not  keep  me  there,  and  I  have  told  you  that  in  spice 
of  the  form  used  so  as  not  to  grieve  my  grandfather,  I 
considered  my  departure  a  dismissal,  a  dismissal  of  which 
idleness  was  not  the  sole  cause.  ...  I  was  so  free,  so 
young  !  What  I  wish  above  all  to  say  is  that,  for  me 
and  for  many  others,  the  age  of  X  .  .  .  was  the  worst 
period.  ...  At  seventeen  I  had  made  my  poor  grand- 
father suffer  so  much,  refusing  work  to  such  an  extent  that 
in  the  month  of  February,  I  had  not,  I  believe,  yet  cut  the 
pages  of  Euclid  which  I  ought  to  have  studied  every  day 
since  November;  writing  to  him  nearly  every  other  day, 
sometimes  letters  forty  pages  long,  to  ask  him  to  bring  me 
back  to  Nancy,  and  all  else  that  you  can  suppose  such 
folly  must  suggest.   .    .   .^ 

"Of  faith,  not  a  trace  remained  in  my  soul."^  Else- 
where he  says  and  repeats  that  for  thirteen  years  he  did 
not  believe  in  God. 

The  confession,  though  not  developed,  is  clear.  It  ap- 
pears to  me  that  it  calls  for  an  observation,  and  sets  a 
problem. 

No  doubt  faith  in  the  Church  and  her  morality  had  been 
cast  aside.  Had  it  disappeared?  That  is  another  question. 
I  rather  think  it  was  kept  far  in  the  distant  background, 
invisible,  like  a  land  that  a  navigator  has  abandoned  and 
means  never  to  revisit,  but  the  existence  of  which  he  knows  ; 
a  land  which  he  still  loves,  and,  if  not  the  days  that  he  spent 
there,  at  least  several  of  the  inhabitants  who  live  there  and 
belong  to  his  quondam  home.  As  long  as  one  loves  a 
Christian,  one  still  has  a  little  love  for  Christ  who  formed 
him.  General  hatred  alone  is  a  sign  of  atheism.  This 
young  man  read  everything  with  the  superb  imprudence  of 
his  age,  and  saturated  his  mind  with  objections  against  a  doc- 
trine which  he  did  not  know  well,  but  in  him  two  sentiments 
which  might  call  the  past  to  life  survived — respect  for  the 
priest  and  most  tender  attachment  to  the  family.  Nay, 
more,  he  had  a  taste  for  reading,  giving  strong  grounds  for 
hoping  he  might  return  to  the  Faith,  and,  further,  he  knew 
how  to  read.  The  true  name  for  his  idleness  was  fantasy, 
imprudence,  and  sensual  curiosity.     But  his  ardent  mind, 

^  Letters  to  aifriend,  April  17,  1892,  and  November  8,  1893. 
2  Letter  to  a  friend,  February  24,  1893. 


HIS  YOUTH  7 

capable  of  reflection,  would  not  look  upon  life  without 
understanding  its  lessons,  would  not  read  what  pleased 
without  paying  attention  to  that  which  condemned  him, 
save  to  reject  the  conclusion.  Foucauld  was  an  intellectual 
given  up  to  the  senses,  but  capable  of  dominating  them,  if 
some  great  event,  hidden  in  the  heart^ — the  grace  of  God — 
showed  him  his  error. 

I  have  just  said  that  he  much  esteemed  his  religious 
masters.  They  first  warned  him,  and  then  threatened  him 
with  dismissal,  and  soon  even  requested  him  to  leave  the 
school  of  the  Rue  des  Postes.^  Here  is  what  he  says  of  them  : 
"  You  know  what  I  think  of  the  boarding-school ;  good  for 
many,  it  was  detestable  to  me.  Liberty  at  the  same  age 
might  perhaps  have  been  worse,  and,  in  any  case,  I  must 
say  that  I  brought  away  with  me  from  this  boarding-school 
such  deep  esteem  for  the  Jesuits  that,  even  when  I  least 
respected  our  holy  religion,  I  always  very  highly  respected 
the  Fathers,  and  that  is  no  small  blessing."^ 

When  the  hour  of  return  came,  Charles  de  Foucauld  had 
no  fear  of  priests.  Remembering  the  good  Fathers  he 
knew,  he  went  to  one  of  them  with  confidence. 

The  affections  of  his  childhood  helped  him  still  more 
powerfully.  Those  who  loved,  petted,  and  even  spoiled 
him,  he  continued  to  cherish,  and,  as  he  came  to  under- 
stand better  what  they  had  done  for  him,  to  admire.  In 
them,  he  came  to  see,  not  only  his  mother,  sister,  grand- 
father, aunts,  and  cousins,  but  the  united  members  of  a 
very  Christian  family,  very  devoted  to  their  brother,  son, 
nephew,  cousin  Charles,  exercising  a  great  silent  pity 
towards  him,  and  not  abandoning  him  ;  for  to  that  pity 
he  was  the  child  of  silent  prayer,  the  wordless  prayer 
that  proceeds  from  the  depths  of  the  soul  at  night,  when 
they  are  all  together  still  on  their  knees,  and  about  to 
rise. 

I  have  also  said  that  a  question  presents  itself.  This  is 
it.  This  child  of  a  bold  race  was  endowed  with  a  strong 
will.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  sequel.  How  could  he  thus 
give  himself  up  to  idleness,  and  afterwards  live  a  loose  life 
for  many  years?  One  could  understand  violent  passions, 
storms,  occasional  adventures,  but  this  insipid  common- 
place life  with  no  relief?  What  was  his  will  doing  then, 
and  where  was  it  hiding  ?  It  was  on  the  watch  that  nothing 
should  disturb  a  life  of  pleasure.     It  is  not  a  faculty  which 

1  As  Charles  was  poorly,  his  status  was  changed  from  a  boarder's  to 
a  day-boy's. 

2  To  a  friend,  Easter  Monday,  1890. 


8  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

remains  unemployed.  It  is  at  the  service  of  that  high 
centre  of  the  mind  which  chooses  one's  abode  and  friends, 
one's  habits  and  occupations.  And  if  the  misled,  per- 
verted mind,  detached  from  all  restraining  morals,  per- 
ceives its  weal  in  the  disorder  of  the  imagination  and  the 
satisfaction  of  the  body,  it  is  wonderfully  quick  in  walling 
up  the  windows  even  in  the  garrets  through  which  we  might 
see  any  sky;  in  driving  away  intruding  recollections;  in 
protecting  our  inner  selves  from  any  words  and  examples 
involving  a  reproach. 

Charles  de  Foucauld  sat  for  the  competitive  examination 
of  the  Military  School  in  1876.  He  just  scraped  through, 
and  was  then  on  the  point  of  being  rejected  for  premature 
corpulency  at  the  medical  examination.  Colonel  de  Morlet 
was  sad  that  his  grandson  was  one  of  the  last  to  be  admitted. 
"On  the  contrary,"  replied  Charles,  "  it  is  very  jolly;  I 
shall  have  a  chance  of  many  a  rise  in  rank."  He  did  not 
rise  at  all,  and  came  out  as  he  had  gone  in.  General 
Laperrine  wrote,  in  an  account  which  he  called  Stages  in 
the  Conversion  of  a  Hussar,^  these  lines,  full  both  of  mean- 
ing and  reserve  :  "  Very  clever  indeed  would  be  the  man 
who  could  have  foreseen  in  the  gluttonous  and  sceptical 
young  fellow  of  Saint-Cyr  the  ascetic  and  apostle  of  to-day. 
A  scholar  and  artist,  he  employed  the  leisure  which  the 
military  exercises  left  him  to  stroll  about,  pencil  in  hand, 
or  to  plunge  into  the  reading  of  the  Latin  and  Greek 
authors.  As  to  his  theories  and  lectures,  he  did  not 
look  at  them,  trusting  to  his  lucky  star  not  to  be 
plucked.^' 

He  told  the  truth ;  the  portraits  of  the  pupil  of  Saint-Cyr 
are  a  proof  of  that.  Above  a  too  thick  bust  and  neck  the 
photographs  of  this  period  represent  a  round  puffy  face 
without  distinction,  which  has  nothing  fine  but  the 
straight  broad  forehead,  and  the  scarcely  curved  line  of  the 
eyebrows.  Deep  set  in  their  orbits,  the  brilliant  and  for- 
bidding eyes  appeared  smaller  on  account  of  the  fat  which 
surrounded  them.  As  to  the  almost  formless  and  indolent 
lips,  they  were  such  as  taste,  talk  but  little,  and  do  not 
command.  Flesh  predominated.  How  is  this  face  here- 
after to  become,  with  the  tense  energy  of  all  the  features,  the 
splendour  of  the  eyes  and  the  celestial  charity  of  its  smile, 
almost  like  that  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  ?  It  is  the  miracle 
of  the  soul,  which  models  the  body  and  sets  its  stamp 
upon  it. 

From  Saint-Cyr,  Foucauld  passed,  in  1878,  to  the 
^  Revue  dc  cavalerie,  October,  1913. 


HIS  YOUTH  9 

Cavalry  School  of  Saumur.^  He  shared  the  room  of  a  com- 
rade with  whom  he  had  contracted  a  friendship  at  Saint- 
Cyr,  Antoine  de  Vallombrosa,  afterwards  Marquis  de 
Mor^s,  destined  to  display  a  dazzling  and  brief  career,  and 
who  was  also  to  perish  assassinated  in  the  desert.  This 
room  "became  celebrated  on  account  of  the  excellent 
dinners  and  long  card  parties  which  w^re  held  there,  to 
keep  company  with  the  one  under  punishment,  for  it  was 
very  rare  that  one  of  the  two  occupants  was  not  under 
arrest."-  The  contrast  was  very  great  between  Vallom- 
brosa, always  on  the  go,  a  fine  horseman,  a  sportsman, 
and  Foucauld  the  stay-at-home,  apathetic,  and  dreamer. 
However,  for  common  or  different  reasons  they  were  both 
in  favour  with  the  officer  students  :  Foucauld,  for  instance, 
as  much  as  his  comrade,  was  liked  for  his  generosity,  his 
quick-witted  intelligence  and  frankness.  His  pranks  and 
whims  were  laughed  at.  He  dressed  with  extreme  ele- 
gance, only  smoked  cigars  of  a  certain  brand,  never  took 
the  change  of  a  louis  from  a  waiter  or  jarvey,  played 
for  high  stakes,  and  spent  so  foolishly,  that  his  uncle, 
M.  Moitessier,  was  soon  obliged,  to  the  great  fury  of 
Charles,  to  provide  him  with  a  legal  guardian.  One  sur- 
mises that  others  besides  innkeepers,  bootmakers,  tailors, 
and  croupiers,  were  sharp  enough  to  make  holes  in  the  for- 
tune of  this  young  nobleman.  The  life  he  led  at  Pont-a- 
Mousson,  on  leaving  the  Cavalry  School,  was  no  more 
staid.  It  is  even  said  that  he  was  obliged  to  leave  several 
lodgings  because  the  other  tenants  complained  of  the  racket 
he  made  and  the  disagreeable  company  which  he  brought 
in,  and  he  finished  by  having  some  difficulty  in  finding  a 
lodging  in  that  little  town.  Fortunately,  in  1880,  the 
Fourth  Hussars,  of  which  he  was  a  lieutenant,  were  sent  to 
Algeria. 

It  was  a  day  of  decision  :  the  passion  for  Africa — in  a 
word,  the  colonial  passion — was  to  take  possession  of  the 
young  officer,  and  grow  till  it  gave  a  fresh  direction  to  a 
badly  begun  life. 

The  Fourth  Hussars,  afterwards  the  Fourth  Chasseurs 
d'Afrique,  garrisoned  Bone  and  Setif.  Pronounce  the 
word  Setif  before  one  of  those  who  know  the  legend,  if  not 
the  history  of  Father  de  Foucauld,  you  will  almost  surely 
hear  one  or  two  anecdotes  of  which  the  famous  lieutenant 
was  the  principal  personage.  They  are  amusing;  are  they 
true?     I  doubt  it.     In  my  presence  many  of  the  tellers  of 

^  From  October,  1878,  to  November,  1879, 
2  General  Laperrine,  op.  cii. 


lo  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

these  regimental  tales  would  change  the  hero's  name.  He 
was  no  longer  Charles  de  Foucaiild,  but  one  of  his  com- 
rades;  and  the  dates  changed.  I  prefer  to  keep  to  well- 
established  facts.  Here  they  are.  The  lieutenant  had 
hardly  landed  than  he  set  out  for  the  manoeuvres.  A  few 
weeks  passed;  he  came  back  to  Setif  and  settled  down. 
Soon  remonstrances  were  made  to  him,  friendly  at  first, 
then  stiifer ;  he  was  reproached  with  giving  scandal  by 
living  with  a  young  woman  who  had  come  from  France  at 
the  same  time  as  he  and  was  making  a  parade  of  the  liaison. 
He  took  his  colonel's  counsels,  and  afterwards  his  orders, 
very  badly.  His  retorts  and  absolute  refusal  as  lieutenant 
to  obey  his  superior  officer  injured  discipline.  The  issue 
was  a  foregone  conclusion — he  must  break  with  his  mis- 
tress or  leave  the  regiment.  What  will  Foucauld  do?  He 
will  not  give  in.  I  do  not  believe  it  can  be  said  in  this  case 
that  passion  swayed  him  ;  no,  it  was  the  will,  terrible  and 
still  without  a  master,  which  refused  to  bend.  He  left  his 
comrades,  half  broke  his  career,  got  the  Minister  to  put  him 
on  temporary  leave,  and  returned  to  Evian. 

He  was  there,  far  from  his  relations,  useless,  when  in  the 
spring  of  1881  the  news  reached  him  of  the  insurrection  of 
Bu-Amama,  in  South  Oranais.  The  Fourth  Chasseurs 
were  going  to  begin  the  campaign,  his  comrades  were  going 
to  fight.  When  the  blood  of  France  cries  aloud,  nothing 
can  silence  it.  Lieutenant  de  Foucauld  wrote  at  once  to  the 
Minister  of  War.  The  letter  urged  that  he  could  not  bear 
the  thought  that  his  comrades  would  be  at  the  post  of 
honour  and  danger,  whereas  he  would  not,  and  that,  in 
order  to  rejoin  his  regiment,  he  accepted  any  and  every  con- 
dition that  would  be  imposed  on  him. 

His  request  was  granted.  Foucauld  set  out  again  for 
Algeria.  An  unexpected  event  had  aroused  him.  The 
thought  of  sacrifice  had  come  home  to  his  soul.  It  begets 
all  sorts  of  nobility.  Charles  de  Foucauld  was  no  more  a 
believer  than  he  had  been  of  late,  but  the  force  which  makes 
Christians  asserted  itself  in  him.  Since  he  had  offered 
himself  for  France,  he  had  drawn  nearer  to  God,  who 
sees  his  Son  in  man's  self-sacrifice,  and  is  moved  at  the 
sight. 

A  native  marabout,  Bu-Amama,  of  the  Ulad-Sidi- 
Sheikh-Gharaba,  was  stirring  up  the  tribes,  and  preaching 
a  holy  war  in  South  Oranais.  The  campaign  against  the 
fanatic  brought  out  the  first  indications  of  the  final  per- 
sonality of  Charles  de  Foucauld.  General  Laperrine,  who 
was  with   the   expedition   and  could  judge   his   comrade, 


HIS  YOUTH  II 

writes  in  the  Stapes  de  la  conversion  d'un  hussard  as 
follows  : 

"In  the  midst  of  the  dangers  and  privations  of  the  ex- 
peditionary columns,  this  literary  viveur  showed  himself 
to  be  a  soldier  and  a  leader,  gaily  enduring  the  hardest 
trials,  constantly  exposing  himself  to  danger,  devoting  all 
his  time  to  his  men.  He  was  the  admiration  of  the  old 
Mexicans  of  the  regiment,  who  were  connoisseurs. 

"Of  the  Foucauld  of  Saumur  and  Pont-a-Mousson 
nothing  was  left  except  a  tiny  pet  edition  of  Aristophanes 
which  was  always  with  him,  and  just  a  touch  of  snobbery 
which  made  him  give  up  smoking  from  the  day  that  he 
could  no  longer  procure  cigars  of  his  favourite  brand." 

One  of  the  old  soldiers  who  had  chased  Bu-Amama  told 
me  that  one  day,  after  a  long  march,  when  Lieutenant  de 
Foucauld  saw  his  men,  exhausted  by  the  heat,  rush  to  a 
well,  he  went  back  quickly  and  bought  a  bottle  of  rum  from 
the  canteen-woman,  and  returned  saying,  "  How  glad  I  am 
to  have  my  bottle  to  give  you  !"  And  the  soldiers  mixed  a 
little  of  the  rum  with  the  brackish  water.  "  He  made  the 
men  love  him,"  added  the  narrator,  "but  he,  too,  loved 
the  privates !  Many  years  after  our  fights  with  Bu- 
Amama,  I  saw  my  old  commander,  and  he  said  to  me  these 
very  words  :  '  The  African  army  is  still  better  than  the 
European  ;  half  of  the  men  in  my  company  would  have 
made  excellent  monks.'  Perhaps  he  exaggerated  a  little; 
but  that  proves  the  friendship  which  he  still  felt  for  us.^ 

"  The  Arabs  made  a  deep  impression  upon  him.  When 
the  insurrection  was  over,  he  asked  for  leave  in  order  to  go 
on  a  journey  in  the  South  and  study  them.  As  he  could 
not  get  this  leave,  he  sent  in  his  resignation,  and  went  and 
settled  down  in  Algiers  to  prepare  for  his  great  journey  in 
Morocco."^ 

He  was  twenty-four.  If  the  unknown  bulked  largely  in 
the  future  of  this  very  young  ex-officer,  one  thing  was  from 
that  time  certain  :  he  was  born  to  inhabit  the  East.  He  had 
in  him  that  vocation  which  is  not  born,  as  some  fancy,  of 
the  love  of  light,  but  rather  of  the  love  of  habitual  silence, 
of  space,  of  the  unforeseen  and  the  primitive  in  life,  and  of 
the  mystery  one  suspects  of  being  concealed  in  the  very 
reserved. 

When  this  vocation  speaks  and  issues  orders  within  a 

^  It  was  in  that  expedition  that  Lieutenant  de  Foucauld  got  to  know 
the  Officer- Interpreter  Motyhnski,  whom  he  was  to  meet  again  later  on 
in  the  Tuareg  country. 

^  General  Laperrine,  Les  etapes  de  la  conversion  d'un  hussard. 


12  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

man,  he  can  do  nothing  but  follow  it.  He  fights  against 
it,  and  cannot  get  over  it.  Ask  the  veterans  of  the  Sahara 
who  have  tried  service  in  France,  and  find  that  the  best  gar- 
rison is  not  worth  the  desert,  and  that  no  colonel  at  the 
head  of  his  regiment  experiences  the  sensation  of  free 
power,  or  the  slight  thrill  of  loneliness  and  possible  adven- 
ture which  keeps  the  little  lieutenant  on  the  alert  and  in 
fidgety  joy.  He,  too,  is  a  company  commander  with  his 
twenty-five  meharistes  marching  in  Indian  file  under  the 
stars,  making  the  sand  of  the  dunes  give  way  under  the 
feet  of  the  camels,  following  a  wandering  and  often  uncer- 
tain trail,  in  search  of  a  well  or  of  some  plundering  band. 
Ask  those  who  have  imprudently  retired  to  the  seaside  in 
Brittany  or  on  the  shores  of  Nice;  above  all,  those,  too  old 
for  a  wandering  life,  hence  feeling  too  deeply  uprooted  in 
their  native  land,  whose  homes  are  hidden  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Algiers  or  Oran,  in  a  villa  under  the  pines,  where 
they  still  hear  the  noise  of  the  wind  which  comes  from  the 
South,  and  receive  the  visits  of  their  young  successors,  the 
happy  ones  who  knock  at  the  door,  saying,  "  Good-morn- 
ing, Captain,  I'm  back  from  the  bled.'' 

After  handing  in  his  resignation,  Charles  de  Foucauld 
followed  the  first  call  of  his  vocation,  which  the  manoeuvres 
around  Setif,  the  tales  of  the  old  Africans,  the  discovery 
of  a  new  people,  lastly  the  war  against  the  fanatic,  had 
settled.  He  would  not  leave  Africa  without  having  studied 
it,  he  would  be  a  man  of  action.  What  then  would  he  do? 
One  of  the  most  difficult  things  there  is  :  he  would  under- 
take to  explore  Morocco,  a  closed  country,  mistrustful  of 
the  foreigner,  cruel  in  its  vengeance,  but  so  near  our  coasts, 
that  one  was  sure,  in  travelling  over  it,  to  help  the  France 
of  to-morrow.  He  went  to  Algiers.  Seized  by  the  thirst 
for  knowledge  which  he  had  so  far  slaked  at  haphazard, 
he  shut  himself  up  in  libraries,  took  lessons  in  Arabic,  and 
got  into  contact  with  men  who  could  prepare  him  for  the 
daring  enterprise. 

One  of  these,  the  most  useful  perhaps,  one  of  the  best 
known  figures  in  old  Algiers,  was  called  Oscar  MacCarthy. 
He  was  quite  a  little  man,  "  as  brown  as  a  white  man  could 
be,  as  lean  as  a  man  in  health  could  be,"^  who  wore  his 
hair  close  cropped  and  a  long  beard,  and  whom  the  Arabs 
sometimes  called  "the  big-headed  man,"  or  "the  gun 
man."  He  got  this  second  nickname  from  the  custom  he 
had  while  travelling  of  suspending  over  his  shoulder  a  big 

^  Kug^ne  Fromentin,  in  Un  ^te  dans  le  Sahel,  often  speaks  of  his 
friend  Louis  Vandell,  who  is  none  but  this  MacCarthy. 


HIS  YOUTH  13 

barometer  shut  up  in  a  leather  case.  MacCarthy  had  once 
planned  crossing  the  Sahara  and  reaching  Timbuctoo.  He 
never  set  out,  but  the  biscuit  prepared  for  that  expedition 
still  existed  twenty  years  after,  and  MacCarthy  used  always 
to  speak  of  starting  soon.^ 

He  had  visited  the  least  important  villages,  stayed  in  the 
douars  of  all  the  tribes,  collected  thousands  of  notes  which 
he  confided  to  friends  here  and  there ;  he  had  read  all  that 
had  been  written  by  travellers,  historians,  and  archaeolo- 
gists about  the  things  and  people  of  Africa,  and  remem- 
bered it  all.  "  The  land  of  Africa  was  his  mind's  posses- 
sion."2 

In  his  frail  body  lived  an  intrepid  and  learned  soul.  A 
sure  guide,  with  methods  of  exploration  always  very  much 
his  own,  his  advice  to  the  young  officer  who  put  himself 
into  his  hands  is  easily  conjectured.  To  be  safe  every- 
where, he  had  become  insensible  to  heat  or  cold,  travelled 
without  escort  or  baggage,  his  pockets  stuffed  with  note- 
books and  manuscript  cards,  heedless  of  all  the  conveni- 
ences of  material  life,  protected  by  his  destitution  itself, 
according  to  the  Oriental  proverb  which  says:  "A 
thousand  horsemen  could  not  strip  a  naked  man." 

Oscar  MacCarthy  was  the  keeper  of  the  library  of 
Mustapha  Pasha's  palace  in  the  Rue  de  I'Etat  Major. 
"  Both  the  old  scholar  and  the  young  officer  used  to  spend 
long  hours,  leaning  on  the  balustrade  of  the  Moorish  court- 
yard, bent  over  ancient  maps  and  dusty  folios,  turning  over 
the  pages  of  old  geographers,  whom  Foucauld  was  to 
leave  far  behind  him.'"^ 

Most  important  for  the  success  of  a  journey  in  Morocco 
was  the  choice  of  the  disguise.  It  was  impossible  to  go 
through  this  hostile  country  without  concealing  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  Christian.  Only  the  representatives  of  Euro- 
pean Powers  could  do  it,  if  they  kept  to  the  "  Ambassadors' 
road,"  which  ran  from  the  coast  to  Fez  or  to  Marrakesh, 
and  did  not  wander  from  the  traditional  track  where  they 
are  constantly  spied  upon,  and  obliged  to  know  no  more 
of  Morocco  than  the  functionaries  and  intimates  of  the 
Sultan,  always  haunted  by  the  fear  of  conquest,  are  willing 
to  show  them.  With  only  two  costumes  could  anyone  pass 
among  the  tribes  and  be  received  in  villages  where  no  Euro- 
pean had  ever  put  his  foot,  and  converse  with  the 
Moroccans  :  the  costume  of  the  Arab,  and  that  of  the  Jew, 

*  Un  saint  frangais,  le  Pere  de  Foucauld,  by  Augustin  Bernard,  Paris, 
Plon,  1917. 
^  Fromentin,  Joe.  cii.  3  Augustin  Bernard,  op.  cit. 


14  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

a  dealer  who  is  tolerated  and  watched.  But  what  a  know- 
ledge must  he  possess  of  Musulman  or  Jewish  ways,  so  as 
not  to  betray  himself  ! 

MacCarthy  advised,  and  Charles  de  Foucauld  accepted, 
the  second  solution.     He  has  told  us  why  : 

"  There  are  only  two  religions  in  Morocco.  It  is  neces- 
sary, at  no  matter  what  cost,  to  be  of  one  of  them.  Would 
I  be  a  Musulman  or  a  Jew  ?  Should  I  put  on  the  turban  or 
the  black  cap  ?  Ren^  Caillie,  Rohlfs,  and  Lenz  had  all 
chosen  the  turban.  I,  on  the  contrary,  decided  for  the  cap. 
What,  above  all,  induced  me  to  do  so  was  the  thought  of 
the  difficulties  which  these  travellers  had  met  with  in  their 
costumes — the  obligation  of  leading  the  same  life  as  their 
co-religionists,  the  continual  presence  of  real  Musulmans 
around  them.  The  very  suspicion  and  watchfulness  of 
which  they  found  themselves  often  the  object,  were  a  great 
obstacle  to  their  work.  I  was  afraid  of  a  disguise  which, 
far  from  favouring  my  investigations,  might  put  many 
hindrances  in  the  way ;  I  cast  my  eyes  on  the  Jewish  cos- 
tume. It  seemed  to  me  that  its  lowliness  would  help  me 
to  pass  more  unnoticed  and  give  me  more  liberty.  I  was 
not  mistaken.  During  all  my  journey  I  kept  this  disguise, 
and  had  only  reason  to  congratulate  myself.  If  I  some- 
times incurred  a  little  ill-treatment,  I  was  indemnified  for 
it,  always  finding  facilities  for  work  :  during  the  stops,  it 
was  easy  for  me  to  make  my  astronomical  observations  in 
the  shade  of  the  mellahs,  and  to  spend  whole  nights  in 
writing  and  finishing  my  notes.  On  the  march  no  one 
paid  attention  or  deigned  to  speak  to  the  poor  Jew  who  was 
just  then  consulting  compass,  watch,  barometer,  one  after 
the  other,  and  taking  the  bearings  of  the  road  we  were 
following :  besides,  in  every  place  I  obtained  from  my 
cousins,  as  the  Jews  of  Morocco  call  each  other  among 
themselves,  sincere  and  full  particulars  of  the  region  in 
which  I  found  myself.  Lastly,  I  excited  little  suspicion. 
My  bad  accent  might  cause  some,  but  one  knows  that  there 
are  Jews  of  all  countries.  My  disguise  was  further  com- 
pleted by  the  presence  of  a  real  Jew  at  my  side.  His  first 
business  everywhere  was  to  swear  that  I  was  a  Rabbi,  then 
so  to  put  himself  forward  in  all  dealings  with  the  natives  as 
to  leave  me  as  much  as  possible  in  the  shade;  lastly,  he 
always  had  to  find  me  lodgings  by  myself  in  which  I  could 
conveniently  take  my  observations,  and,  if  that  could  not 
be  done,  he  had  to  forge  the  most  fantastic  stories  to  explain 
the  exhibition  of  my  instruments."^ 

^  Recouuaissinicc  an  Maroc,  Preface. 


HIS  YOUTH  15 

This  decision  to  travel  disguised  as  a  Jew  forced  the 
explorer  to  learn  Hebrew  at  the  same  time  as  Arabic,  and 
also  to  study  Jewish  customs. 

It  was  again  MacCarthy  who,  at  the  library  of  Algiers, 
introduced  to  Charles  de  Foucauld  the  Rabbi  Mardochee, 
his  future  guide. 


CHAPTER  II 
The  Preliminaries  of  the  Journey 

THE  account  of  his  exploration  in  Morocco,  published  by 
the  Vicomte  de  Foucauld,  begins  at  Tangier  on  June  20, 
1883.  Now,  the  traveller  had  left  Algiers  on  June  10,  and, 
according  to  his  plans,  he  was  not  to  penetrate  into  the 
forbidden  empire  by  the  north,  but  to  seek  his  route  by  the 
Rif,  crossing  the  frontier  of  Algiers  and  Morocco.  What 
reasons  prevented  him  ?  What  happened  between  June  10 
and  20?  We  should  not  have  known  very  much  about  it, 
unless,  luckily,  on  returning  to  his  family  in  Paris,  the 
explorer  had  written  for  the  benefit  of  one  of  his  nephews, 
in  a  fair  hand  on  fine  sheets  of  vellum  bound  up  with 
the  printed  pages,  three  important  fragments,  the  first 
of  which  relates  precisely  the  preparations  for  the  journey 
and  the  incidents  of  the  start.  I  shall  publish  first  this  sort 
of  unedited  preface  of  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc.  Like- 
wise 1  shall  cite  at  length  the  story  of  the  guide  Mardoch6e, 
not  so  much  because  it  is  amusing,  dramatic,  a  little  ex- 
travagant, like  so  many  Oriental  stories,  but  because  it 
shows  admirably  to  what  sort  of  a  man  Charles  de  Foucauld 
had  confided  himself.  In  short,  when  in  rapidly  and 
boldly  analyzing  the  book,  I  come  to  where  the  author 
relates  his  stay  at  Ab-el-Jad,  I  shall  publish  the  third  frag- 
ment, at  the  head  of  which  he  wrote  these  lines  : 

"  I  had  to  do  with  several  members  of  the  family  of  Sidi 
ben  Daud.  I  suppressed  this  in  my  work,  because  if  the 
knowledge  of  it  had  reached  the  Sultan  that  would  have 
created  dangers  for  my  friends  of  Abu-el-Jad.  I  am  going 
to  tell  you  about  it,  my  dear  nephew." 

To-day  the  public  may  be  told  of  these  interviews,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  young  French  officer,  cleverly  ques- 
tioned and  feeling  himself  found  out,  confessed  to  being  a 
Christian,  and  confided  in  the  honour  of  his  host.  Time 
has  flown.  What  might  have  been  a  cause  of  annoyances 
— even  death  might  have  been  one  of  them — under  the  reign 
of  the  former  Sultans  has  assumed  its  true  character  of  rare 
generosity  and  chivalry.  The  treaty  of  1912  makes  the 
printing  of  it  possible. 

16 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY    17 


I.  The  Disguise  and  the  First  Steps 

"On  June  10,  1883,  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  enter 
an  old  house  in  the  Jewish  quarter  of  Algiers  :  it  is  the 
home  of  Rabbi  Mardoch^e.  My  companion  lives  there  in 
a  single  room  with  his  wife  and  four  children;  he  expects 
me  :  I  am  to  get  out  of  my  European  clothes  and  put  on  a 
Jewish  costume  :  a  long  shirt  with  flowing  sleeves,  linen 
trousers  reaching  to  the  knees,  a  Turkish  waistcoat  of  dark 
cloth,  a  white  robe  with  short  sleeves  and  hood  {jelahia)^ 
white  stockings,  open  shoes,  a  red  cap,  and  a  black  silk 
turban  are  prepared  for  me.  This  makes  up  a  Jewish  cos- 
tume half  Algerian,  half  Syrian,  which  suits  the  various 
roles  I  may  have  to  play. 

"I  dress  up;  and  Mardochee,  his  wife,  children,  and 
myself,  go  out  and  down  the  steps  of  the  little  narrow 
streets  that  lead  to  the  harbour,  where  the  Oran  station  is. 
We  shall  start  for  Oran  in  the  morning  by  the  7  o'clock 
train.  To  be  in  keeping  with  my  costume,  I  asked  for  two 
tickets,  in  bad  French ;  Mardochee  bade  farewell  to  his 
family,  and  behold  both  of  us  seated  in  a  third-class  car- 
riage. The  weather  is  splendid,  the  carriage  full  of  Arab 
workmen  ;  we  set  out  surrounded  by  gaiety  and  flooded  with 
sunshine. 

"  I  am  called  Rabbi  Joseph  Aliman.  I  was  born  in  Mus- 
covy, whence  recent  persecutions  have  driven  me.  I  fled  first 
to  Jerusalem.  After  piously  spending  some  time  there  I  have 
reached  the  North  of  Africa,  and  now  I  am  travelling  at 
random,  poor  but  trusting  in  God.  Mutual  esteem  binds 
me  to  Mardochee  Abi  Servur — like  me,  a  learned  Rabbi 
who  has  spent  long  years  in  Jerusalem.  Mardochee  wears 
a  costume  similar  to  mine,  that  gives  us  a  family  appear- 
ance. He  declares,  too,  that  I  am  like  him,  and  if  neces- 
sary he  will  pass  me  off  as  his  son.  We  have  little  lug- 
gage— a  sack  and  two  boxes.  The  boxes  hold  :  the  first 
one  a  medicine  chest,  which  will  enable  me  in  case  of  need 
to  call  myself  a  doctor ;  the  other  a  sextant,  compasses, 
barometers,  thermometers,  paper,  and  cards.  The  sack 
contains  a  change  of  costume  and  a  blanket  for  each  of  us, 
cooking  utensils,  and  provisions.  As  money,  I  brought 
3,000  francs,  partly  in  gold  and  partly  coral.  It  was  in 
this  equipment  that  we  dragged  along  towards  Oran.  I 
am  going  to  Oran  because  I  wish  to  enter  Morocco  by  land ; 
my  project  is  to  go  from  Tlemcen  to  Tetuan  by  crossing 
the  region  of  the  Rif,  which  makes  all  the  coast-line  between 


i8  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

the  Algerian  frontier  and  Tetuan.     From  Oran,  I  shall  go 
to  Tlemcen  ;  there,  I  shall  find  out  how  to  travel  in  the  Rif." 

"  We  arrived  at  Oran  at  6  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The 
station  is  outside  the  town.  Going  halves  with  two  Jews 
who  were  in  the  train,  we  took  a  cab  which  brought  us  to 
an  hotel  frequented  by  Israelites.  We  hired  a  room  at  two 
francs  a  day,  and  drawing  on  our  provisions  we  took  our 
first  evening  meal  tete-a-tete.  A  strange  house,  the  hotel 
in  which  we  are  !  I  was  surprised  for  a  moment  on  hear- 
ing myself  addressed  in  the  second  person  singular  by  the 
servant.     In  Algeria  the  Jews  are  all  addressed  thus." 

''June  II. — This  day  is  the  first  of  the  feast  of  Sbaot 
(Pentecost),  on  which  the  gift  of  the  faith  to  Moses  on  Mt. 
Sinai  is  celebrated ;  the  Jews  are  forbidden  to  travel  to-day 
or  to-morrow.  I  remain  in  my  room  ;  Mardoch6e  went  to 
the  synagogue  and  came  back  at  night  with  his  co-re- 
ligionists. They  began  to  chat.  I  learn  that  my  com- 
panion applies  himself  to  seeking  the  philosopher's  stone, 
the  other  Jew  is  a  fellow-alchemist.  For  a  long  time  I  see 
them  argue,  feebly  lit  by  a  candle,  their  shadows  making 
enormous  silhouettes  on  the  walls.  I  fall  asleep  on  my 
straw  mattress,  lulled  by  this  strange  talk." 

"  June  12. — Towards  5  o'clock  in  the  evening,  we  board 
the  diligence,  and  set  out  for  Tlemcen.  In  going  to  the 
coach,  I  hear  a  passer-by  saying  to  his  neighbour,  point- 
ing to  me,  '  Do  you  know  where  we  get  that  from  ?  That's 
what  comes  to  us  straight  from  Jerusalem.'  " 

''June  13. — Reaching  Tlemcen  at  9  in  the  morning,  we 
at  once  set  out  in  quest  of  the  Jews  of  the  Rif.  At  i  o'clock 
we  had  not  found  one  who  could  give  us  any  useful  informa- 
tion. Being  tired,  we  bought  some  bread  and  olives,  and 
we  began  breakfast  seated  on  the  ground  in  a  square. 
Whilst  we  were  thus,  a  band  of  officers  of  the  Chasseurs 
d'Afrique,  coming  out  of  the  club,  passed  at  two  paces 
from  me.  I  know  nearly  all  of  them  ;  they  looked  at  me 
without  suspecting  who  I  was.^  Our  afternoon  was  more 
fortunate  than  the  morning  :  we  discovered  a  certain  num- 
ber of  Jews  of  the  Rif ;  they  were  to  come  and  see  us  at 

^  Captain  Rene  de  Segonzac,  in  an  article  dated  from  Rabat  January  15, 
1917,  confirming  the  account  of  Charles  de  Foucauld,  writes:  "The 
officers  filed  off,  heedless  or  contemptuous  ;  one  of  them,  with  a  sneer, 
remarked  to  his  comrades,  that  that  little  squatting  Jew,  eating  olives, 
looked  like  a  monkc}^.  None  recognized  him "  {L'Afrique  franfais, 
Janvier-Fevrier,  1917). 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY     19 

eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  in  a  hired  room,  where  we 
were  to  meet  and  discuss  the  means  of  crossing  the  Rif. 
No  more  Jewish  hotels  here;  so  we  hire  a  room  in  a  Jewish 
family. 

"At  8  o'clock  all  is  ready  to  receive  our  guests  :  in  a 
room  2  metres  wide  by  5  long,  of  which  the  walls,  floor, 
and  ceiling  are  painted  in  grey,  a  candle,  a  bottle  of  aniseed 
and  a  glass  were  placed  on  a  stool.  One  after  the  other  a 
dozen  Jews,  the  greater  number  with  white  beards,  come 
discreetly  in,  and  here  we  are  all  seated  on  the  ground  in 
a  circle  round  the  candle.  Mardochee  fills  his  glass  of 
aniseed,  raises  it  and  says,  '  To  the  health  of  the  Law  !  to 
the  health  of  Israel  !  to  the  health  of  Jerusalem  !  to  the 
health  of  the  Holy  Land  !  to  the  health  of  the  Sbaot !  to  all 
your  healths,  O  Doctors  !  to  the  health  of  the  Rabbi  Joseph 
(me)!'  He  touches  the  glass  with  his  lips,  and  passes  it 
to  his  neighbour,  who  empties  it  :  then  the  glass  goes  the 
round,  and  each  of  the  Jews,  at  one  draught,  empties  it. 
Mardochee  begins  to  speak.   .   .  . 

"  He  tells  his  tale,  and  winds  up  with  this  wholly  fancy 
incident :  it  is  now  two  years  since  Mardochee  had  a  dis- 
cussion with  his  wife's  brother,  and  the  young  man  left 
Algiers  and  was  seen  no  more.  Since  then,  Mardoch^e's 
wife  cannot  be  consoled.     She  does  nothing  but  weep. 

"  Now,  a  few  days  ago,  she  was  told,  without  being  able 
to  specify  the  town,  that  her  brother  was  in  the  Rif,  carry- 
ing on  the  trade  of  jeweller.  At  once  she  prayed  her  hus- 
band to  go  and  seek  out  the  fugitive,  and  he,  good  man,  in 
order  to  restore  health  and  peace  to  his  wife,  decided  upon 
this  journey ;  he  has  therefore  resolved  to  explore  the  Rif, 
village  bv  village,  if  necessary,  to  find  his  brother-in-law 
again.  That  is  what  brings  him  to-day  to  Tlemcen.  As 
to  this  young  Israelite  who  accompanies  him,  and  whom 
they  hear  him  call  Rabbi  Joseph,  he  is  a  poor  Muscovy 
Rabbi  who  is  going  to  Morocco,  the  land  of  pious  Jews, 
to  collect  alms ;  Mardochee  brought  him  with  him  through 
pure  pity,  and  paid  for  his  journey  as  far  as  Nemours. 
Now  he  begs  these  doctors,  who  all  have  lived  in  the  Rif, 
to  consider  and  let  him  know  if  they  had  not  seen  the  man 
he  is  seeking,  a  fair  and  pale  Jew,  about  twenty-two  years 
of  age,  called  Juda  Safertani.  What  present  will  he  not 
give  to  anyone  who  will  tell  him  where  to  find  him?  The 
company  reflected,  inquired  and  debated,  but  in  vain ;  none 
of  them  knew  Juda  Safertani.  Mardochee  sighs,  and  begs 
them  to  give  him  at  least  some  information  about  the  Rif  : 
Where  to  get  into  it  ?     How  to  travel  there  ?     And  in  what 


20  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

places  are  there  Jews?  Who  are  the  influential  men  of  the 
country  ?  The  conversation  on  the  subject  is  taken  up 
again,  the  glass  goes  round  and  round  and  round.  Voices 
grow  louder,  and  the  discussion  as  to  the  best  means  of 
travelling  through  the  Rif  gets  animated.  When  our 
cousins  retire,  it  is  agreed  that  we  shall  start  the  next  morn- 
ing for  Lalla-Marnia ;  from  there  we  shall  get  to  Nemours ; 
thence  we  shall,  if  it  pleases  God,  enter  the  Rif." 

''June  14. — A  diligence  brings  us  from  Tlemcen  at 
9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  we  stop  at  6  o'clock  in  the 
evening  at  the  village  of  Lalla-Marnia.  We  settle  down 
for  the  night  in  the  synagogue  :  it  is  just  like  all  the  Jewish 
temples  I  saw  in  Morocco  :  a  rectangular  hall,  with  a  sort 
of  desk  in  the  centre,  and,  in  the  wall,  a  cupboard.  The 
desk  serves  to  rest  the  book  of  the  Law  on,  for  the  public 
readings  which  are  given  twice  a  week  :  in  rich  communi- 
ties it  is  on  a  raised  platform  and  under  a  canopy;  in  poor 
villages,  it  consists  of  a  horizontal  piece  of  wood  resting  on 
two  posts.  The  cupboard  contains  one  or  several  copies  of 
the  Law  (SepherTorah),  written  on  parchment  and  rolled  on 
wooden  cylinders  (like  Roman  books,  except  that  it  is  rolled 
on  two  cylinders  instead  of  one) ;  these  double  rolls  are 
about  18  inches  high  and  are  covered  three  or  four  times 
deep  with  the  richest  materials.  Such  is  the  synagogue;  a 
bench  resting  against  the  wall  goes  all  round  and  com- 
pletes it.  We  were  finishing  dinner  when,  one  after 
another,  thirty  or  forty  men  entered  and  sat  down  on  the 
benches  and  chatted  in  a  low  voice.  They  are  the  Israelites 
of  the  place,  who  come  to  say  their  evening  prayer  in  com- 
mon. At  a  signal  all  stand  up,  turn  towards  the  east,  and 
begin  to  pray  in  a  low  or  subdued  voice.  In  perplexity  I 
look  at  them  to  do  as  they  do.  Trying  to  imitate  them,  I 
sway  rhythmically  backward  and  forward  like  a  schoolboy 
saying  his  lesson,  now  dumb,  now  mumbling  through  my 
nose.  At  the  end  of  eight  or  ten  minutes  everyone  makes 
a  great  bow  simultaneously,  and  all  is  over.  The  Jews  are 
just  moving  off  when,  to  my  great  surprise,  Mardoch^e  begs 
them  to  remain  and  listen  to  him.  He  is,  he  says,  a  poor 
Rabbi  living  in  Algiers,  whom  a  misfortune  obliged  to 
leave  his  wife  and  children,  and,  though  old  and  ill,  to 
undertake  the  long  journey  of  the  Rif.  He  is  going  to 
explore  this  province  in  search  of  his  brother-in-law;  he 
tells  the  tale  of  yesterday,  of  the  despair  and  illness  of  his 
wife ;  .  .  .  lastly,  and  here  is  the  crown  of  all  ills  :  he  be- 
lieved the  journey  easier  than  it  is,  and,  though  so  far  from 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY    21 

the  end,  he  already  lacks  money.  .  .  .  Now  he  begins  to 
shed  tears,  and,  in  a  broken  voice,  beseeches  his  brother  of 
Lalla-Marnia  to  have  pity  on  him  and  give  him  some  alms. 
They  drily  tell  him  to  apply  to  the  Consistory  of  Oran.  As 
much  astonished  as  displeased  at  this  comedy,  I  ask  Mar- 
dochee  for  an  explanation  as  soon  as  we  are  alone,  '  It  was 
to  get  used  to  lying,'  he  replies." 

"  June  15. — Left  Lalla-Marnia  by  diligence  at  4  in  the 
morning.  Arrived  at  the  little  harbour  of  Nemours  at  loa.m. 
,We  take  a  room  in  a  Jew's  house  and  begin  collecting 
information  about  the  Rif. 

"  Here  we  change  our  tales,  especially  mine.  Mar- 
doch^e  tells  the  same  yarn  as  at  Tlemcen,  adding  that  the 
people  of  that  town  assured  him  they  knew  his  brother-in- 
law  in  the  Rif.  As  for  me,  I  am  a  great  doctor  and  a 
learned  astrologer ;  I  have  wrought  wonderful  cures ;  I  am 
invincible  with  diseases  of  the  eyes,  curing  the  worst  cases; 
I  have  restored  sight  to  the  born  blind.  This  great  science, 
this  wonderful  success,  has  so  drawn  down  on  me  the  envy 
of  Christian  doctors,  that  they  would  have  done  me  bodily 
harm  if  I  had  stayed  in  my  own  country.  I  was  obliged  to 
flee,  and  I  decided  to  go  and  exercise  my  profession  in 
Morocco,  where,  according  to  Mardochee,  I  hope  to  make 
great  profits.  Such  was  his  tale  on  our  arrival.  I  forbade 
him  to  spread  the  story  in  that  form  ;  he  told  it  the  next 
few  days,  leaving  out  the  env}'  of  the  Christian  doctors  and 
the  danger  caused  by  their  hatred." 

"  June  16  and  17. — In  vain  do  we  try  to  find  a  way  of 
entering  into  the  Rif  :  many  of  the  Jews  whom  we  consulted 
declare  that  one  can  only  enter  by  Nemours  with  the  pro- 
tection of  a  certain  Moroccan  sheikh  who  will  perhaps  come 
here  in  a  fortnight  or  a  month,  perhaps  later;  and  even  this 
means  would  be  uncertain ;  they  add  that  it  is  as  difficult  in 
starting  from  here  to  cross  the  Rif  as  it  is  easy  in  setting 
out  from  Tetuan,  where  men  of  influence  can  give  efficacious 
recommendations.  I  do  not  wish  to  wait  a  fortnight  or 
pionth  at  Nemours ;  much  better  reach  Tetuan  by  sea  and 
begin  my  journey  from  there." 

'^  June  18. — A  steamer  appears  in  the  roadstead.  It  is 
going  to  Tangier  via  Gibraltar.  I  embark  on  it  with  Mar- 
dochee. Being  Jews,  we  take  the  lowest  class  and  cross 
on  deck  in  the  company  of  Israelites  and  Musulmans.  Start 
at  9  a.m.  :  pretty  bad  weather." 


22  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  June  19. — Wake  up  in  the  roadstead  of  Gibraltar.  The 
packet-boat  will  lie  at  anchor  all  day.  I  land  and  visit  the 
town ;  Mardochee  remains  on  board.  A  young  Jew  of 
eighteen  who  knows  Spanish  accompanies  me ;  as  for  me,  I 
know  nothing  but  Arabic.  My  excursion  has  a  practical 
aim.  On  board,  the  water  we  are  given  is  filthy;  took  a 
large  iron  pot  and  brought  it  back  full  of  water.  I  walk 
about  for  five  hours  in  Gibraltar,  pot  in  hand;  I  push  on  to 
a  Spanish  village  under  a  mile  from  the  town.  Cross  the 
frontier  and  note  the  English  and  Spanish  sentinels  mount 
guard  only  60  yards  apart,  the  former  as  well  as  the  latter 
badly  dressed." 

"  June  20. — Left  Gibraltar  at  midday  ;  arrived  at  Tangier 
at  2.45." 

"  On  June  20,  1883,  my  journey  really  began,  lasting  till 
May  23,  1884.  During  this  time  my  made-up  tale  altered 
but  little.  I  was  a  Ral3bi  of  Algiers  going,  as  the  Musul- 
mans  thought,  to  collect  alms,  to  inquire  about  the  condi- 
tions and  wants  of  my  brethren  ;  while  Jews  believed  Mar- 
dochee was  from  Jerusalem  :  for  the  Musulmans  he  was 
asking  for  charity,  for  the  Jews  he  was  fulfilling  the  same 
mission  as  I.  It  was  no  longer  a  question  of  Juda  Safertani 
nor  of  medicine.  The  latter  had  a  double  inconvenience  : 
the  Moroccans,  for  whom  every  Christian  is  a  born  doctor, 
were  disposed  to  suspect  my  race  on  account  of  this  pro- 
fession ;  then  the  box  of  medicine  inspired  covetousness  : 
a  box  suggests  a  treasure,  and  they  said  I  had  two  cases  of 
gold  with  me.  At  Fas,  in  the  course  of  the  month  of 
August,  taught  by  the  experience  of  the  first  days  on  the 
road,  I  distrusted'my  remedies,  and  changed  my  baggage 
and  dress.  The  boxes  were  replaced  by  a  goat-skin  sack ; 
in  my  dress  I  left  out  what  recalled  the  Eastern  Jew— that 
is  to  say,  the  red  cap,  the  black  turban,  the  shoes  and 
stockings,  and  I  adopted  the  black  cap,  the  blue  handker- 
chief, and  black  helras  (Turkish  slippers)  of  the  Moroccan 
Rabbis.  I  let  grow  nuader— locks  of  hair,  placed  on  the 
side  of  the  temples,  which  fall  down  on  to  the  shoulders. 
My  costume  was  henceforth  that  of  all  the  Jews  of  Morocco  ; 
nor  was  it  further  altered  except  that  at  the  beginning  of 
winter  I  added  a  khenif  (black  burnous  with  yellow 
crescents  or  moons).  At  Fas  I  definitely  organized  my 
means  of  transport.  Up  to  then  I  had  hired  mules;  I 
bought  two  that  carried  Mardochee  and  me  with  our  bag- 
gage for  ten  months,  until  our  return  to  the  Algerian 
frontier. 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY    23 

"  In  the  first  days  of  my  journey,  I  had  found  lodgings, 
sometimes  in  hired  rooms  in  Jews'  houses,  sometimes  in 
synagogues.     At  Tangier  and  at  Tetuan,  I  hired  rooms; 
beyond  Fas,  that  never  happened  again.     From  there,  in 
the  desert  I  spent  my  nights  in  the  open  air,  in  inhabited 
places,    under  the    shelter   of    Jewish    or    Musulman    hos- 
pitality.    When  we  halted  in  an  inhabited  place,  a  group 
of  tents  or  village,  if  no  Jews  resided  there,  my  escort  kept 
me  with  them,  and  got  me  hospitality  from  the  family  from 
whom  they  had  asked  it  for  themselves ;  when  there  was  a 
Jewish  community,  the  escort  conducted  me  to  the  syna- 
gogue, where  Mardochee  and  I  unloaded  our  mules  and 
took  up  our  quarters  provisionally,  whilst  waiting  till  the 
Rabbi  and  the  Jews  of  the  place  came  and  offered  us  full 
hospitality,  shelter,  and  food.     The  maintenance  of  travel- 
ling doctors  falls  upon  all  the  families,  a  rota  regulates  the 
order  in  which  they  take  their  turn  :    in  poor  places  the 
Rabbis  keep  the  synagogue  for  putting  them  up,  and  hos- 
pitality has  only  to  do  with  food,  and  the  list  makes  each 
family  give  one  day  or  one  meal,  so  that  one  goes  succes- 
sively to  all  the  inhabitants  ;  in  rich  localities,  the  hospitality 
includes  lodgings  and  lasts  two,  four,  or  eight  days.     The 
rota  obliges  one  to  feed  a  Rabbi,  so  that  at  the  Jews'  houses 
Mardochee  and  I  were  generally  separated  for  meals,  but 
we  were  allowed  to  lodge  together  with  one  of  our  two  hosts. 
In  rare  places,  we  were  received  together  outside  of  the  rota, 
and  for  an  unlimited  time  by  rich  families.     In  some  miser- 
able places,  the  Jews  turned  their  backs  on  us,  and  know- 
ing that  we  were  in  the  synagogue,  they  did  not  come  there, 
and  went  without  saying  their  prayers  in  order  to  dispense 
with  receiving  us.     We  were  obliged  to  return  to  our  escort 
and  ask  a  shelter  from  the  Musulmans.     With  the  Musul- 
mans  as  well  as  the  Jews  hospitality  is  gratuitous  :   I  used 
to  return  thanks  by  a  present  of  sugar  or  tea,  sometimes  of 
coral  or  a  sheep." 

2.  The  Story  of  Mardochee  Abi  Servur. 

'*  Mardochee  Abi  Servur,  son  of  lais  Abi  Servur,  a 
native  of  Mhamid-el-Rozlan,  was  born  in  the  South  of 
Morocco,  in  the  oasis  of  Akka,  towards  1830.  Before  he 
was  fourteen,  he  left  his  country  to  complete  his  theological 
studies.  He  studied  at  Marrakesh,  Mogador,  and  Tan- 
gier, whence  he  embarked  for  Palestine.  After  having 
resided  a  year  or  two  in  the  Holy  Land  and  having  there 
become  an  acting  Rabbi,  he  gained  Algeria,  where  he  spent 


24  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

some  months  at  Philippeville  as  officiating  Rabbi ;  then, 
remembering-  his  native  place,  set  sail  for  Morocco  and  re- 
turned to  Akka.  He  was  not  twenty-five.  Enticed  by  the 
prospect  of  a  rapid  fortune,  he  threw  himself  into  an 
audacious  enterprise ;  he  was  the  first  of  his  race  to  enter 
Timbuctoo.  His  arrival  in  the  Sudan  and  the  beginning  of 
his  stay  there  were  surrounded  with  a  hundred  dangers ;  by 
dint  of  courage  and  cunning  he  maintained  his  position  ;  his 
business  soon  assumed  great  prosperity;  and  with  fortune 
came  security,  credit,  and  even  power. 

"  In  a  short  time,  he  was  the  most  notable  merchant  in 
Timbuctoo.  He  then  had  ten  or  twelve  years  of  prosperity 
and  happiness.  His  business  consisted  in  the  exchange  of 
the  produce  of  Morocco  and  the  Sudan  ;  the  desert  was  crossed 
in  every  direction  by  caravans  bearing  his  merchandise. 
His  fortune  reached  200,000  or  300,000  francs.  His  name 
was  honoured  at  Timbuctoo  and  Mogador,  and  known  to 
all  the  tribes  of  the  Sahara.  Every  year  he  used  to  spend 
two  or  three  months  in  Morocco.  Towards  1865  he  mar- 
ried. He  contemplated  bringing  his  wife  to  the  Sudan 
and  founding  a  colony  of  Israelites  there,  when  his  brilliant 
star  suddenly  became  dim.  In  returning  from  the  vicinity 
of  Mogador,  where  his  marriage  was  celebrated,  he  received 
at  Akka  the  news  that  several  caravans  belonging  to  him 
had  just  been  carried  off  by  plunderers.  A  few  days  after 
some  Musulmans  arriving  from  Timbuctoo  reported  to  him 
that  during  his  absence  one  of  his  brothers,  left  at  the  head 
of  the  firm,  had  died,  and  that  the  leading  man  in  the  town 
had  at  once  confiscated  the  contents  of  the  deceased's 
house  on  the  pretext  of  debts.  Foreseeing  grave  diffi- 
culties, Mardochee  left  his  wife  at  his  father's  in  Akka, 
and  hastened  to  set  out  alone  for  the  Sudan.  All  sorts  of 
troubles  were  lying  in  wait  for  him.  The  chief  refused  to 
give  back  what  he  had  confiscated  and  became  unfriendly ; 
the  pent-up  envy  of  his  competitors  broke  loose  at  the  sight 
of  his  adversity  and  misfortune,  and  displayed  itself  in 
noisy  hostility.  Mardochee  felt  that,  for  the  moment,  his 
residence  in  Timbuctoo  was  impossible;  he  gathered 
together  the  remains  of  his  fortune — 40,000  francs — and 
left  the  Sudan. 

"  Sad  and  discouraged,  he  again  took  the  road  to 
Morocco,  which  he  had  so  often  followed  full  of  joy  and 
hope ;  only  a  Jew,  a  black  slave,  and  a  very  trusty  Arab 
guide,  called  El  Mokhtar,  accompanied  him.  All  four 
were  mounted  with  luggage  on  swift  camels  and  marched 
quickly.     Mardochee  had  converted  all  his  wealth  into  gold- 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY     25 

dust;  two  little  goat-skins  contained  the  treasure;  he  car- 
ried one  of  them,  the  Jew  the  other.  It  is  not  without 
danger  that  so  feeble  a  troop  enters  the  Sahara ;  generally 
it  is  crossed  in  a  numerous  caravan,  but  the  caravans  take 
thirty  days  to  do  the  journey,  and  Mardochee,  mounted  as 
he  was,  hoped  to  do  it  in  twenty-one.  He  had  thus  crossed 
the  desert  often,  and  always  successfully.  The  first 
eighteen  days  on  the  road  were  passed  in  safety ;  the 
travellers  did  not  meet  a  human  being.  El  Mokhtar  led 
them  outside  the  beaten  tracks,  and  stopped  for  water  at 
places  known  to  him  alone.  They  had  just  halted  at  one 
of  them,  which  Mardochee  saw  for  the  first  time.  It  was  a 
little  grass-bordered  marsh,  hidden  at  the  bottom  of  a  circle 
of  sandy  downs.  The  two  Jews  were  there  with  hearts  full 
of  joy  and  thanksgiving,  beginning  to  rest,  for  they  thought 
their  dangers  were  at  an  end  :  three  days  separated  them 
from  Aqqa,  and  they  were  watering  for  the  last  time. 

"  Suddenly  El  Mokhtar,  who  had  set  out  to  go  round  the 
marsh,  came  running  back  looking  verv  disturbed.  He 
had  just  perceived  fresh  traces  of  numerous  camels  on  the 
other  side ;  more  than  twenty  had  quenched  their  thirst  here 
a  few  hours  ago.  Would  they  come  back?  What  direc- 
tion had  they  taken  ?  Their  lives  depended  upon  know- 
ing. El  Mokhtar  jumped  on  to  his  mehari  and  flew  to 
reconnoitre  in  the  direction  of  the  tracks.  Mardochee 
looked  after  him,  and  saw  him  go  into  the  downs,  appear- 
ing or  disappearing  betweefi  the  sand-dunes.  As  for  him, 
he  hastily  takes  his  measures  in  case  of  a  surprise;  for 
safety's  sake  they  had  taken  Musulman  clothes  and  a  small 
stock  of  perfumery  with  them.  In  a  twinkling  the  two 
Jews  undressed,  disguised  themselves  as  Musulmans,  and 
buried  the  gold  dust  at  the  foot  of  a  gum-tree.  '  You  are 
called  Muley  Ali,  and  I  Muley  Ibrahim,'  said  Mardochee 
to  his  companion  ;  '  we  are  two  sheriffs  from  Tafelelt  going 
to  Sahel  to  deal  in  perfumes.'  A  question  arises  :  if  they 
are  plundered,  their  slave  will  tell  from  where  they  come 
and  confess  the  presence  of  the  gold  :  they  must  kill  him, 
but  the  unfortunate  man  is  only  twenty-one  and  since 
his  childhood  has  been  brought  up  in  Mardochee's  house. 
After  some  hesitation,  pity  gains  the  day;  he  is  not  to  be 
killed.  They  begin  to  scrutinize  the  horizon  again,  but  do 
not  see  El  Mokhtar.  Suddenly,  he  appears  on  a  near  ridge, 
arriving  at  full  speed  and,  with  the  skirt  of  his  burnous, 
making  signs  of  despair  to  them.  They  run  to  their 
mounts ;  it  was  too  late.  El  Mokhtar  had  not  advanced  a 
hundred    yards    when    amidst    a    violent    dust    appears    a 


26  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

numerous  troop  of  meharis  in  full  cry  after  the  guide.   Shots 
ring  out.     El  Mokhtar  falls  dead  with  a  bullet  in  his  skull. 
Next  moment  Mardochee  was  surrounded  by  sixty  Arabs, 
Without  saying  a  word  they  cut  open  the  sacks  which  con- 
tain the  goods.     Finding  nothing  of  any  value,  they  seize 
the  two  Jews  and  strip  them ;  Mardochee  scolds  them  in 
vain,    calls  them   miscreants,    and  says   that   his    name   is 
Muley  Ibrahim.     Turban,  burnous,  and  shirt  are  off  in  an 
instant  :  '  Ungodly  fellows  !  will  you  take  away  the  trousers 
of  a  child  of  the  Prophet?'     He  had  hardly  finished  when 
off  came  his  trousers,  too.    The  filched  clothes  are  searched, 
turned  inside  out,  and  thoroughly  examined;  nothing  is 
found.     Furious,  the  plunderers  turn  towards  the  two  men 
who  are  naked  on  the  grass.     '  From  where  do  you  come? 
Who  are  you?'  they  all  ask  at  the  same  time.     'They  are 
not  here  for  nothing  !      They  have  merchandise  !      They 
must  come  from  the  Sudan  !     They  have  gold  !     Where 
is  it  ?     Let  them  confess,  or,  by  God,  they  shall  be  killed  on 
the  spot  !'     They  shout  and  push  and  pull  them  about,  and 
brandish  their  arms.    .   .   .     Now,  by  their  language,  Mar- 
dochee recognized  Arabs  of  the  Sahil,  a  region  not  far  from 
his  native  place.    In  an  instant  he  changed  his  plan  and  says, 
with  a  laugh  :  '  Ha  !  why  did  you  not  say  you  are  Regibats  ? 
I  am  one  of  your  party.     May  God  curse  Muley  Ibrahim 
and  Muley  Ali  !     We  are  called  Mardochee  and  Isaac,  and 
are  Jews  of  Akka  !     You  will  not  injure  poor  Jews,  your 
servants!      Flow  could  we  have  gold?      We  come  from 
Akka,  and  we  are  going  to  your  tribe  itself  to  sell  per- 
fumes :  do  you  not  see  our  stock?' 

"  This  speech  throws  doubt  into  the  minds  of  the 
robbers  :  the  accent  and  faces  of  the  two  men  are  those  of 
Israelites,  the  box  of  perfumery  seems  to  indicate  that  they 
are  telling  the  truth  ;  they  search  the  baggage  a  second  time. 
Mardochee  had  changed  his  plan  because  he  felt  that  if  he 
persisted  in  calling  himself  a  shereef  they  would  take  what 
he  had,  and  kill  him  to  avoid  reprisals;  a  Jew,  they  would 
take  everything  from  him,  but  they  would  perhaps  spare  his 
life,  not  having  to  fear  any  vengeance  from  him.  Nothing 
would  make  him  own  to  having  gold,  which  would  increase 
his  peril.  The  Arabs,  in  fact,  found  nothing,  and  every- 
thing indicated  Mardochee's  sincerity ;  they  were  getting 
ready  to  lead  the  meharis,  slave,  and  baggage  away,  and 
leave  the  two  Jews  to  extricate  themselves  as  best  thev 
could.  Naked,  without  food  or  guide,  they  would  get  back 
to  Akka  or  die  on  the  way,  please  God.  Mardochee  sighed, 
wept,  begged  that  they  would  at  least  leave  him  a  camel 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY    27 

and  goat-skin,  but  was  unfeelingly  spurned.  He  expected 
this  refusal.  His  demand  was  just  a  comedy;  really,  he 
was  pleased;  he  saved  his  life  and  his  gold,  and,  knowing 
the  countr)^  well,  he  would  easily  reach  Akka.  In  less 
than  an  hour,  when  the  Arabs  had  disappeared,  he  would 
set  out.  His  despoilers  are  loading  his  meharis,  and  a  few 
are  already  starting.  Suddenly,  one  of  them,  in  consoli- 
dating the  pack-saddle  of  one  of  the  four  animals,  perceives, 
through  a  tear,  some  bits  of  the  straw  stuffing ;  he  pulls  out 
one:  'Ha!  come  back!  Ha!  come  back!'  he  shouts. 
'  Sudan  straw  !  The  Jew  lies  :  he  comes  from  the  Sudan  !' 
In  less  than  two  minutes  all  the  Arabs  throng  round  Mar- 
dochee  :  '  Gold  !  Gold  !  '  is  the  only  cry  that  is  heard.  '  By 
God  !  I  have  none.  By  our  Lord  Moses,  I  have  none.  O 
gentlemen,  I  have  none,  I  have  none  !'  No  more  stories.  A 
dagger  is  pressed  to  his  throat.  "  Where  is  it?' — '  I  have 
none.'  The  point  is  thrust  in  a  little;  blood  flows.  'I 
have  none!'  he  murmurs,  having  half  fainted.  The  ques- 
tion will  be  renewed  when  he  comes  to ;  while  he  is  recover- 
ing his  senses,  they  go  on  to  the  other  Jew  :  he  sees  the 
blood  flow  without  confessing.  They  leave  him  swooning 
and  run  to  the  slave.  '  Where  do  you  come  from  ?' — 
'From  Timbuctoo.'  'Have  your  masters  any  gold?' 
— '  No.'  In  his  turn  he  feels  the  point  of  the  blade  press 
against  his  throat ;  the  poor  negro  trembles  :  '  I  do  not 
know  whether  they  have  gold  or  not,'  he  groaned ;  '  a  while 
ago  they  dug  at  the  foot  of  that  tree,  look.'  ...  It  was 
useless  for  Mardochee  and  his  companion  to  allow  them- 
selves to  be  wounded  and  their  throats  almost  cut — their 
secret  was  discovered ;  Mardochee  was  ruined  and  would 
probably  be  killed  to  prevent  any  vengeance  after  so  con- 
siderable a  robbery.  For  the  second  time  that  day  safety 
had  given  place  to  the  greatest  danger.  ...  It  did  not 
take  long  to  dig  up  the  treasure.  Who  will  describe  the 
joy  of  the  Arabs  at  the  sight  of  so  much  gold  ?  There  was 
no  longer  any  question  of  starting.  They  killed  a  camel 
and  thought  of  nothing  but  eating  to  celebrate  their  prize. 
The  two  Jews  spent  this  day  and  night  in  the  midst  of  a 
circle  of  Arabs,  witnessing  their  rejoicing  without  knowing 
what  was  to  become  of  them. 

"  The  next  day  the  Arabs  wished  to  divide  the  gold 
between  them.  .  .  .  They  were  sixty  troopers;  not  know- 
ing how  to  make  sixty  equal  parts,  they  ordered  Mardochee 
to  do  the  sharing.  The  little  scales  found  among  his  bag- 
gage were  put  into  his  hands,  and  for  two  days  he  was, 
under  the  eyes  of  his  ravishers,  obliged  to  weigh  out  his 


28  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

own  gold  and  tax  his  wits  in  allotting  sixty  equal  parts  to 
them.  The  unfortunate  man  looked  upon  that  as  a  respite ; 
he  expected  to  be  butchered  as  soon  as  he  had  completed 
his  work.  Besides,  was  he  not  going  to  perish  of  hunger? 
All  food  was  refused  him,  and  since  his  captivity  he  fed  on 
grass. 

"  Most  of  the  robbers  were  Regibats,  some  Ulad  Delim 
accompanied  them.  On  the  second  day  of  the  sharing  Mar- 
doch6e  heard  one  of  the  men  who  surrounded  him  speak 
of  the  Shgarna  tribe  as  being  of  the  party  :  '  Are  there  any 
Shgarnas  among  you?'  Mardoch^e  asked.  'Yes,  we  are 
five  Shgarnas  here,  such  and  such  and  such  a  one.'  .  .  . 
A  few  hours  afterwards,  the  Arabs  having  scattered  to  take 
their  siesta,  Mardochee  went  towards  the  Shgarni  who  had 
spoken  to  him,  and  falling  at  his  feet,  holding  on  to  his 
burnous,  exclaimed  :  '  By  God  and  your  honour  !  God  put 
me  under  your  protection,  do  not  take  it  away  from  me.  I 
have  a  debiha^  on  the  Shgarnas.  I  am  called  Mardochee 
Abi  Servur,  such  a  one  amongst  you  is  my  lord.  By  God 
and  your  honour  !  save  me,  show  that  the  Shgarnas  defend 
their  clients,  and  that  their  protection  is  not  vain.' 

"The  Shgarni  was  a  relation  of  Mardochee's  lord;  he 
replied  that  as  for  the  gold,  he  could  not  get  it  given  back, 
the  more  so  as  it  had  been  taken  before  the  knowledge  of 
the  debiha,  but  he  guaranteed  the  life  of  the  two  Jews;  he 
could  give  no  other  pledge  on  account  of  the  small  number 
of  Shgarnas  present  at  the  rezzu.^  On  the  evening  of  the 
same  day,  when  the  sharing  was  over,  the  Arabs  held 
council;  they  discussed  what  they  would  do.  It  was 
decided  that  they  would  scour  the  desert  in  the  same  region. 
Then  they  spoke  about  Mardochee ;  the  greater  number 
were  for  killing  him  and  his  companion.  The  five  Shgarnas 
opposed  this,  acknowledging  Mardochee  as  a  client  of  their 
tribe.  Hence,  they  declared,  he  was  under  their  protection. 
A  violent  discussion  arose,  the  chief  of  the  rezzu,  a 
Regibi  ,^  wished  for  the  death  of  the  Jews,  and  his  Regibats 
applauded  him  loudly.  The  Shgarnas  were  firm,  and, 
when  it  was  seen  that  they  were  ready  to  fight  rather  than 
abandon  the  suppliants,  they  gave  way  to  them. 

"  Mardochee  led  a  sad  life  during  the  week  which  fol- 
lowed :  the  rezzu  had  resumed  its  incursions ;  50  kilo- 
metres a  day  were  often  covered  at  a  rapid  pace ;  the  two 

^  The  act  by  which  one  places  oneself  under  the  perpetual  protection 
of  a  man  or  a  tribe.     It  is  a  prolonged  ana'ia. 
2  An  expedition,  or  band  of  adherents. 
^  Singular  of  Regibat. 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY    29 

Jews  ran  naked  by  the  sides  of  the  mounts  of  the  Shgarnas, 
from  whom  they  dared  not  get  separated.  They  were  tor- 
mented by  hunger,  for  their  protectors  only  had  what  was 
strictly  necessary,  and  could  give  them  nothing.  Herbs, 
filthy  bones  flung  away  by  the  Musulmans,  and  a  pinch  of 
tea  obtained  through  charity — such  was  the  only  food  of 
Mardoch^e  and  his  companion  during  this  period.  How 
long  would  this  existence  be  prolonged  ?  Mardoch6e,  squat- 
ting near  a  well  at  which  they  camped  on  the  eighth  day, 
asked  himself.  In  vain  he  begged  the  Shgarnas  to  bring 
him  to  Akka ;  they  replied  that  if  they  separated  themselves 
from  the  ressu  the  pact  of  union  would  be  broken,  and  the 
latter  would  pursue  and  attack  them  after  their  departure. 
As  the  objection  was  sound,  Mardochee  did  not  insist. 
Whence,  then,  would  deliverance  come?  Would  it  arrive 
in  time?  All  at  once  a  whirlwind  of  dust  appeared  at  the 
end  of  the  valley;  it  approached  like  a  hurricane.  A  few 
Arabs  jump  up  in  a  scare,  but  not  one  has,  so  far,  seized  his 
arms.  The  cloud  is  upon  them,  and  shows  two  hundred 
horsemen  mounted  on  miharis.  A  man  comes  out  of  it 
and  rides  towards  the  Regibats ;  his  white  camel  lies  down, 
he  places  his  feet,  on  which  he  is  wearing  high  top  boots, 
on  the  animal's  head,  levels  his  rifle  at  the  Regibi  chief. 
'  May  God  curse  the  Regibats  and  Sidi  Hamed  the  Regibi 
their  patron  !  May  God  burn  your  fathers  and  your  ances- 
tors !  You  have  oppressed  our  brothers  and  wish  to  put 
our  clients  to  death ;  at  this  moment  you  are  at  our  mercy. 
Ha,  women!  you  are  only  courageous  against  Jews;  you 
are  about  to  learn  what  a  man's  word  of  honour  means  !' 
It  was  the  Shgarna  chief  who  spoke  thus;  celebrated  in  the 
Sahara  for  his  famous  courage,  he  was  recognized  from  a 
distance  by  his  white  mount,  better  trained  than  the  best 
horse  and  taught  to  obey  his  master's  voice.  The  man  who 
had  taken  Mardochee  under  his  protection  had  sent  a  trusty 
servant  to  warn  him  of  the  danger  which  the  Shgarnas  and 
their  proteges  ran,  and  he  came  to  deliver  his  brothers  out 
of  the  Regibats'  hands. 

**  The  Shgarnas  only  made  use  of  their  advantage  to 
bring  away  their  men  and  the  two  Jews.  Mardochee,  sent 
back  to  Akka  under  a  good  escort,  at  length  regained  his 
home.  As  to  the  ressu,  this  adventure  brought  it  bad  luck. 
They  went  to  attack  a  Berber  band,  and  were  so  vigorously 
received,  that  their  chief  and  the  greater  part  of  the  horse- 
men were  killed  and  but  very  few  returned.  The  Sahara, 
after  twenty    years,    still   remembers   the  disaster  of   this 


30  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

*'  Mardochee  was  back  in  Akka,  which  he  had  never  ex- 
pected to  see  again,  but  he  returned  ruined,  and  a  still 
greater  grief  awaited  him.  During  his  absence,  his  father 
and  mother  had  quitted  this  world.  Their  legacy  ought  to 
have  been  considerable ;  it  was  a  trifle.  Mardochee,  coldly 
received  by  his  brothers,  who  had  undoubtedly  purloined  a 
part  of  the  inheritance,  decided  to  leave  a  country  in  which 
he  had  found  so  much  sadness.  Selling  what  remained  to 
him,  he  went  for  the  last  time  to  his  parents'  grave,  taking 
away  a  little  scrap  of  it — a  relic  which  was  never  to  quit 
him — and  set  out  with  his  wife  for  Mogador. 

"  There  a  new  period  in  Mardochee's  life  began,  a  period 
of  constant  relations  with  Europeans,  which  includes  the 
remainder  of  his  existence.  At  Mogador,  he  was  found 
by  M.  Beaumier,  the  French  Consul,  a  conscientious 
Orientalist  and  zealous  member  of  the  Societe  de  Geo- 
graphic. M.  Beaumier  put  him  into  touch  with  this  society, 
which  brought  him  twice  to  Paris,  and  entrusted  him  with 
missions  in  Southern  Morocco.  In  his  journeys  to  France, 
Mardochee  entered  into  relations  with  the  general  Union  of 
the  Israelites,  and  with  several  scholars  such  as  Dr.  Cosson, 
who,  by  the  help  which  they  gave  him  and  the  paid  mis- 
sions with  which  they  entrusted  him,  helped  him  to  earn  a 
living  for  some  years.  Mardochee  thus  made,  from  1870 
to  1878,  two  or  three  expeditions  in  the  interest  of  the  Society 
de  Geographic,  and  several  collections  of  plants  for  Dr. 
Cosson.  His  work  fell  short  of  what  was  expected,  for 
at  the  end  of  this  time  they  ceased  to  give  him  any.  Mean- 
while M.  Beaumier  died.  His  means  of  subsistence  and 
patron  disappeared  at  the  same  time.  Without  means  of 
existence  at  Mogador,  where  he  was  in  bad  odour  with  his 
co-religionists,  Mardochee,  with  his  wife  and  children,  em- 
barked for  Algeria,  and,  supported  by  the  Societe  de 
Geographic,  asked  the  French  Government  for  a  post  which 
would  enable  him  to  get  a  living.  He  was  appointed  Rabbi 
tutor  at  Oran,  then  at  Algiers. 

"  One  dav  in  February,  1883,  I  was  in  the  library  of  this 
latter  town,  chatting  with  the  keeper,  M.  MacCarthy,  when 
we  saw  a  Jew,  fifty  or  sixty  years  old,  tall,  strong,  but  bent 
and  walking  with  the  hesitation  of  those  who  have  bad 
sight,  come  in.  When  he  was  near,  I  saw  that  his  eyes 
were  red  and  sore ;  he  wore  a  long  black  beard  mixed  with 
white  hairs;  his  face  expressed  rather  simplicity  and  peace 
than  anything  else.  He  was  dressed  in  Syrian  fashion;  a 
crimson  caftan  tightened  at  the  waist  fell  down  to  his  feet; 
over  this  hung  a  blue  cloth  mantle  of  the  same  length  ;  his 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY    31 

head-dress  was  a  red  cap  surrounded  by  a  black  turban ;  in 
his  hand  he  had  a  snufif-box,  out  of  which  he  was  continually 
taking  pinches;  his  clothes,  formerly  rich,  were  old  and 
dirty,  and  his  whole  person  revealed  a  poor  and  negligent 
man.  '  Who  is  that  Jew?'  I  asked.  '  He  is  just  what  you 
want ;  a  man  who  has  spent  all  his  life  in  Morocco,  was  born 
at  Akka,  has  travelled  very  much  and  been  several  times  to 
Timbuctoo,  and  can  give  you  precious  information ;  he  is 
the  Rabbi  Mardochee  mentioned  in  the  bulletins  of  the 
Societe  de  Geographic.'  I  went  to  Mardochee  and  ques- 
tioned him,  judging  that  he  could  furnish  me  with  good 
information.  I  took  his  address  and  went  to  see  him.  A 
Musulman  of  Mascara,  with  whom  I  was  to  set  out  for 
Morocco,  having  in  the  meantime  written  to  me  that  he 
could  not  accompany  me  for  family  reasons,  I  proposed  to 
Mardochee  to  take  him  in  his  place ;  he  consented,  on  con- 
dition that  I  should  put  on  a  Jewish  costume.  I  saw  nothing 
but  advantage  in  such  disguise.  All  that  remained  was  to 
make  my  agreement  with  Mardochee.  With  my  authority, 
M.  MacCarthy  took  the  negotiations  upon  himself,  and, 
after  long  debates,  drew  up  an  agreement  which  Mardochee 
and  I  signed,  and  it  is  now  in  the  library  of  Algiers.  Here 
is  a  summary  of  it  : 

"  '  Mardochee  will  leave  his  wife  and  children  at  Algiers 
during  the  whole  of  my  journey.  He  is  to  accompany  me 
and  second  me  faithfully  in  all  the  places  in  Morocco  to 
which  I  please  to  go.  On  my  side  I  shall  give  him 
270  francs  a  month  ;  600  francs  will  be  handed  to  him  before 
we  start,  the  remainder  on  our  return ;  if  my  absence  lasts 
less  than  six  months,  he  is  nevertheless  to  receive  six 
months'  salary.  The  maintenance  of  Mardochee  during 
the  journey  will  be  at  my  charge.  If  Mardochee  should, 
without  my  permission,  abandon  me  in  the  course  of  the 
journey,  he  will  thereby  lose  his  rights  to  all  remuneration, 
however  long  may  have  been  the  time  spent  with  me,  and 
he  himself  will  owe  me  the  600  francs  he  has  received 
beforehand.' 

"  My  companion's  obligation  to  leave  his  family  at 
Algiers  guaranteed  me  against  all  thought  of  treason  on  his 
part.  The  article  by  which  he  was  to  lose  his  pay,  if  he  left 
me  against  my  will,  assured  me  that  he  would  not  abandon 
me.  These  two  clauses,  inspired  by  M.  MacCarthy  through 
his  knowledge  of  the  Algerian  Jews,  ensured  the  success 
of  my  journey  and  probably  saved  my  life ;  how  often  did 
Mardochee  wish  to  leave  me,  and  how  often  did  the  signed 
conditions  alone  prevent  him. 


S2  CHAJ^LES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"These  agreements  were  signed  in  May,  1883;  a  few 
days  after,  on  June  10,  Mardochee  and  I  set  out  together 
for  Morocco. 

"  I  have  spoken  little  of  Mardochee  in  the  account  of 
my  journey,  I  have  hardly  mentioned  him.  His  part  was, 
however,  great,  for  he  was  entrusted  with  our  relations 
with  the  natives,  and  all  material  cares  fell  upon  him ; 
speeches  to  the  Jews  and  Musulmans,  explanations  on  the 
object  of  the  journey,  organization  of  the  escorts,  the  search 
after  lodgings  and  food — he  undertook  all  that ;  I  inter- 
vened only  to  approve  or  sav  no.  Intelligent,  very  pru- 
dent, and  too  much  so,  infinitely  cunning,  a  fine  and  even 
eloquent  talker,  a  Rabbi  educated  enough  to  inspire  the 
Israelites  with  consideration,  he  rendered  me  great  ser- 
vices ;  I  ought  to  add  that  he  always  showed  himself  vigi- 
lant and  devoted  in  looking  after  my  safety.  If  I  have 
kept  silence  about  his  many  services,  it  is  because  his  ill- 
will  was  a  constant  and  considerable  obstacle  to  the  execu- 
tion of  my  journey.  While  contributing  to  the  success  of 
my  enterprise,  from  the  first  day  to  the  last  he  did  all  he 
could  to  make  it  fail.  In  leaving  Algiers,  Mardochee, 
knowing  only  the  environs  of  Akka  and  the  coast  of 
Morocco,  thought  he  was  setting  out  on  an  easy  and  danger- 
less  journey.  I  had  given  him  details  of  the  places  which 
I  wished  to  visit,  but  as  he  did  not  even  know  the  names 
of  most  of  them,  this  enumeration  awoke  no  idea  in  his 
mind.  Besides,  he  undoubtedly  said  to  himself,  that  once 
in  Morocco,  he  would  do  what  he  liked  with  so  young  a 
companion,  and  change  my  plans  at  his  pleasure.  Now, 
the  journey  was  full  of  perils,  and  he  could  not  change  my 
designs  at  all.  This  was  doubly  unlucky  for  him  ;  the  con- 
ditions of  the  journey  were,  in  fact,  very  different  from 
what  he  had  thought  them.  From  Nemours,  we  had  serious 
disputes,  and  he  spoke  of  returning  to  Algiers ;  the  Rif  was 
the  cause.  At  the  first  word  about  the  dangers  of  this 
region,  he  declared  he  would  not  enter  it;  I  ordered  him 
to  seek  the  means  of  going  into  it,  and  I  sought  them 
myself.  At  Tetuan,  the  same  quarrel  lasted  for  a  fort- 
night; at  Fas,  it  began  again  with  extreme  violence,  and 
there,  so  much  did  Mardochee  dread  the  route  which  led  to 
Abu-el-Jad,  that  he  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  me. 
After  Fas,  the  dispute  did  not  cease;  two  causes  stirred  it 
up  afresh  each  day.  Mardochee  did  not  want  to  follow 
the  route  I  had  fixed,  and  wished  to  travel  slowly;  I,  on 
the  contrary,  was  determined  to  execute  my  original  plan 
exactly,  and  I  held  to  travelling  without  loss  of  time.     On  the 


THE  PRELIMINARIES  OF  THE  JOURNEY    33 

first  point,  after  Fas,  I  never  yielded,  and  my  route  was  fol- 
lowed according  to  my  will.  On  the  second  point,  I  was 
not  so  successful,  and,  in  spite  of  my  reproaches,  our  pro- 
gress was  extremely  slow  until  my  departure  from  Tisint 
for  Mogador.  If  my  journey  was  quicker  towards  the  end, 
it  was  that  I  promised  JMardochee  a  gratuity,  if  we  were  at 
Lalla-Marnia  on  May  25.  Between  these  two  parts  of  my 
journey  I  was  on  the  point  of  breaking  with  Mardochee. 
When  I  went  to  Mogador,  I  left  him  at  Tisint,  and  set  out 
with  a  Musulman,  the  Hajj  Bu  Rhim,  an  excellent  man 
whom  I  can  hardly  praise  enough.  I  travelled  with  him  from 
January  9  to  March  31,  1884.  Once  again  in  Tisint,  I  pro- 
posed to  him  to  replace  Mardochee  and  to  accompany  me 
to  Algeria ;  he  accepted,  and  I  had  already  given  Mar- 
dochee his  testimonial  and  the  sum  necessary  to  get  back 
to  Algiers,  when  an  obstacle  prevented  the  Hajj  Bu  Rhim 
from  starting.  I  took  back  Mardochee,  who  was  only  too 
pleased. 

"  If  I  had  to  complain  of  Mardochee's  disagreeableness, 
it  is  fair  to  say  that  it  was  not  inspired  by  any  desire  to  be 
disobliging  to  me  personally  :  his  fear  of  danger  caused 
his  opposition  to  my  route ;  his  love  of  ease  and  his  interest 
in  prolonging  services  paid  for  by  the  month  kept  his  slow- 
ness alive. 

"  After  my  return  from  Morocco  in  1884,  Mardochee  left 
Algiers  no  more.  Retired  in  his  house,  his  old  passion  for 
alchemy  again  took  hold  of  him.  To  find  gold  !  With 
the  gold  of  his  pav  he  bought  mercury  for  experiments  in 
the  transmutation  of  metals.  And  as  he  hung  all  day  over 
his  crucibles,  the  vapour  of  mercury  did  not  take  long  to 
poison  the  last  of  alchemists." 


If  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc  is  almost  silent  as 
regards  Mardochee,  the  intimate  letters  written  by  the  ex- 
plorer are  not.  I  must  say  they  speak  of  the  Rabbi  with- 
out great  consideration,  and  that  the  notes  go  decrescendo. 
Their  descent  is  curious.  Foucauld  writes  on  June  17, 
4883,  a  few  hours  after  starting  :  "  I  am  very  satisfied  with 
Mardochee.  He  has  but  one  fault ;  it  is  excessive  pru- 
dence." 

On  June  24,  having  already  travelled  a  few  days  in 
Moroccan  coimtry,  he  writes  to  his  sister  :  "I  am  fairly 
pleased  with  Mardochee ;  he  goes  on  all  right,  but  he  has 
to  be  vigorously  shaken.  I  am  obliged  to  give  him  a  pull- 
ing up  nearly  every  day."     July  2  :    "I  am  not  pleased 

3 


34  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

with  Mardoch^e.  He  is  lazy  and  cowardly,  he  is  only 
good  for  cooking."  July  23  :  "  As  for  Mardoch^e,  I  am 
not  satisfied  with  him  ;  you  could  not  find  a  lazier  creature. 
Besides,  he  is  cowardly  beyond  all  expression,  awkward, 
and  knows  nothing  about  travelling."  Lastly,  January  30, 
1884,  he  wrote  :  "  Mardochee  is  a  brute." 

It  is  only  quite  at  the  end  that  a  little  pity,  as  we  have 
just  seen,  brings  back  what  he  has  to  say  towards  indul- 
gence and  excuse.  When  the  journey  is  over,  the  route  be- 
comes more  beautiful,  and  so  does  his  companion. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Explorer 

T  A  RECONNAISSANCE  AU  MAROC  is,  above 
/  ^  all,  a  scientijEic  work,  at  once  geographical,  military, 
and  political.  The  qualities  of  order  and  precision  which 
one  observes  in  each  page  are  quite  astonishing,  and  still 
more  so  if  one  thinks  of  all  the  difficulties,  even  dangers, 
which  the  explorer  ran,  if  he  wished  to  take  notes.  He 
was  surrounded  by  people  who  suspected,  and  sometimes 
divined,  his  being  a  Christian,  and  therefore  always  in 
peril.  In  the  Itineraires  au  Maroc  he  explains  how  he  was 
able  to  beguile  the  watchfulness  of  witnesses  or  to  get  them 
out  of  the  way. 

"The  position  of  an  Israelite  did  not  lack  unpleasant- 
ness ;  to  walk  barefooted  in  the  towns,  and  sometimes  in 
the  gardens,  to  receive  insults  and  stones  was  nothing; 
but  to  live  constantly  with  Moroccan  Jews — people,  apart 
from  rare  exceptions,  despicable  and  repugnant  among  all 
others — was  utterly  intolerable.  They  spoke  openly  to  me 
as  a  brother,  boasting  of  their  crimes,  disclosing  their  base 
feelings.  How  often  I  regretted  my  hypocrisy  !  All  this 
annoyance  and  disgust  were  recompensed  by  the  facility 
for  work  which  my  disguise  gave  me.  As  a  Musulman  it 
would  have  been  necessary  to  live  the  common  life  un- 
ceasingly in  broad  daylight,  unceasingly  in  company; 
never  a  moment  of  solitude;  with  eyes  constantly  fixed 
upon  one  ;  difficult  to  obtain  any  information  ;  more  difficult 
to  write ;  impossible  to  make  use  of  my  instruments.  As  a 
Jew  these  things  did  not  become  easy,  but  were  generally 
possible. 

"  My  instruments  were :  a  compass,  a  watch,  and  a 
pocket  barometer,  to  take  the  bearings  of  the  route ;  a  sex- 
tant, a  chronometer,  and  a  false  horizon,  for  observations 
of  longitudes  and  latitudes;  two  holosteric  barometers, 
some  hygrometers  and  maximum  and  minimum  thermo- 
meters, for  meteorological  observations. 

"My  route  was  mapped  out  with  the  compass  and 
barometer.  On  the  tramp,  I  always  had  a  notebook  2  inches 
square  hidden  in  my  left  hand;  and  a  pencil  less  than  an 
inch  long,  never  out  of  the  other  hand,  recorded  anything 
remarkable  on  the  right  or  left  of  the  road.     I  noted  the 

35 


36  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

changes  of  direction  by  referring  to  the  compass,  the  rise 
and  fall  of  the  ground  by  reading  the  barometer,  the  exact 
time  of  each  observation,  the  stops,  my  rate  of  progress, 
and  so  on.  Thus  I  was  writing  almost  all  the  time  I  was 
on  the  road,  and  all  the  time  in  the  hilly  regions.  Even  in 
the  most  numerous  caravan,  no  one  ever  perceived  it;  I 
took  care  to  walk  in  front  of  or  behind  my  companions,  in 
order  that  the  amplitude  of  my  garments  might  prevent 
them  from  seeing  the  slight  movement  of  my  hands.  The 
contempt  felt  for  the  Jews  favoured  my  isolation.  The 
description  and  survey  of  my  itinerary  thus  filled  a  certain 
number  of  little  notebooks.  As  soon  as  I  reached  a  vil- 
lage where  I  could  have  a  room  to  myself,  I  completed 
them,  and  recopied  them  into  memorandum-books  which 
formed  the  diary  of  my  journey.  I  devoted  my  nights  to 
this  work;  in  the  day  I  always  had  the  Jews  around  me;  to 
write  for  long  before  them  would  have  filled  them  with 
suspicion.     Night  brought  solitude  and  work. 

"To  make  astronomical  observations  was  more  difficult 
than  to  map  out  the  route.  A  sextant  cannot  be  disguised 
like  a  compass.  It  takes  time  to  use  it.  I  took  most  of 
the  elevations  of  the  sun  and  stars  in  the  villages.  In  the 
daytime  I  used  to  watch  for  the  moment  when  nobody  was 
on  the  terrace  of  the  house.  I  carried  my  instruments 
wrapped  in  clothes  which  I  said  I  wanted  to  put  out  to  air. 
Rabbi  Mardoch^e  remained  on  guard  on  the  stairs  and  had 
to  stop  all  who  tried  to  get  at  me  with  interminable  stories. 
I  began  my  observation,  choosing  the  moment  when 
nobody  was  looking  from  the  nearest  terraces;  I  was  often 
obliged  to  break  off;  it  took  me  very  long.  Sometimes  it 
was  impossible  to  be  alone.  What  stories  were  not  invented 
to  explain  setting  up  the  sextant?  Sometimes  it  was  for 
reading  the  future  in  the  sky,  sometimes  for  getting  news 
of  the  absent.  At  Tasa,  it  was  a  preventative  against 
cholera,  in  the  Tadla  it  showed  the  sins  of  the  Jews,  else- 
where it  told  me  the  time  of  the  day,  what  the  weather 
would  be ;  it  warned  me  of  the  dangers  of  the  r6ad  and  I 
don't  know  what  else.  At  night  I  operated  more  easily  :  I 
could  nearly  always  work  in  secret.  Few  observations  were 
made  in  the  country ;  it  was  difficult  to  isolate  oneself  there. 
I  sometimes  succeeded,  pretending  to  pray;  as  if  for  medi- 
tation, I  went  to  some  distance,  covered  from  head  to  foot 
in  a  long  sisit;  the  folds  hid  my  instruments;  a  bush,  a 
rock,  an  undulation  of  the  ground  hid  me  for  a  few 
moments;  I  returned  when  I  had  finished  praying. 

"To  draw  mountain  contours  and  make  topographical 


THE  EXPLORER  37 

sketches,  more  mystery  still  was  necessary.  The  sex- 
tant was  an  enigma  which  revealed  nothing,  French 
writing  kept  its  secret;  any  drawing  would  have  betrayed 
me.  On  the  terraces,  as  in  the  country,  I  only  worked 
alone  with  paper  hidden  and  ready  to  disappear  under  the 
folds  of  my  burnous." 

His  Reconnaissance  is  also  a  diary.  Usually  there  are 
as  many  chapters  as  there  were  days  in  it.  Charles  de 
Foucauld  rarely  dallies  for  descriptions.  He  does  it  in  few 
words,  and  as  an  artist ;  his  simple  landscapes,  his  choice 
of  expression  and  discreet  and  harmonious  elegance  reveal 
a  remarkably  gifted  man,  and  he  might  have  been  counted 
among  the  writers  who  have  given  us  a  picture  of  new 
countries.  But  he  did  not  allow  himself  to  yield  to  such 
inclinations.  He  wrote  with  the  fixed  intention,  not  to  get 
himself  admired,  but  to  help  France,  the  probable  heir  to 
Morocco,  to  prepare  the  way  for  her,  for  the  benefit  of 
comrades  who,  as  he  feels,  will  one  day  have  the  mission 
of  conquering  this  empire,  in  which  he  often  met  chiefs 
secretly  desirous  of  the  coming  of  the  French.  In  a  word, 
he  is  already  the  forerunner.  This  mark  distinguishes  his 
whole  life.  Later  on,  when  he  reappears  in  Africa, 
Foucauld  sets  himself  the  mission  of  "  taming  "  the  Musul- 
mans,  of  bringing  them  nearer  to  us  and  to  the  law  of 
Christ.  All  his  efforts,  all  his  sacrifices  to  the  very  last, 
tend  only  to  that :  they  make  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
possible  for  the  missionaries  who  come  after  him  ;  he  will 
also  be  the  precursor,  the  quartermaster,  the  leader  in 
religion. 

Viscount  de  Foucauld  and  Mardochee  leave  Tangier  on 
June  21,  1883,  at  3  p.m.  They  form  part  of  a  small  caravan  ; 
they  are  mounted  on  mules,  thanks  to  which  the  long 
journey  undertaken  in  Morocco  is  accomplished  quickly 
enough.  They  ride  until  9  in  the  evening,  part  of  the  time 
amidst  splendid  wheatfields.  Next  day  the  caravan  starts 
at  4  a.m.  There  were  then  no  roads  in  Morocco,  but  only 
tracks  of  men  and  beasts.  Each  day  Charles  de  Foucauld 
notes  the  quality  of  the  land,  the  principal  properties  of  the 
trees  which  cover  the  ground  in  places,  the  colour  of  the 
rocks;  he  tells  of  meetings  with  other  travellers,  whether 
many  partridges  and  doves  rose  on  his  way,  if  many  hares 
started.  At  the  outset  of  his  journey  he  is  struck  by  the 
multitude  of  brooks  and  little  rivers  that  he  crosses  or  walks 
by  the  side  of,  the  vigour  of  the  vegetation,  the  beauty  of 
the  tillage,  and  already  he  pities  the  poor  Moroccan  peasant 


38  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

from  whom  the  pillager  on  one  hand,  the  treasury  on  the 
other,  carry  off  the  best  part  of  the  crops. 

Almost  at  once  the  travellers  make  a  loop  to  the  east,  and 
spend  a  few  days  at  Tetuan.  They  set  out  again  from 
there  on  July  2  in  the  direction  of  the  south,  for  Sheshuan. 
One  is  surprised,  in  reading  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc, 
at  the  frequency  of  the  idyllic  tone.  The  freshness  of  the 
gardens,  the  abundance  of  the  crops,  the  mildness  of  the 
air,  are  expressions  which  come  again  and  again  under  the 
pen  of  the  explorer  when  he  describes  certain  regions,  as 
that  of  the  Sheshuan.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  doubtful 
that  he  saw  accurately,  but  also  a  kind  of  natural  sympathy 
puts  him  in  harmony  with  this  landscape,  and  makes  him 
enjoy  its  beauty. 

Reaching  the  mountains  on  July  2,  he  writes  :  "  The 
Jebel  beni  Hasan  now  affords  an  enchanting  view ;  fields 
of  wheat  rising  one  above  another  form  an  amphitheatre 
on  its  slopes,  and,  from  the  rocks  which  crown  it  down  to 
the  bottom  of  the  valley,  cover  it  with  a  carpet  of  gold ; 
among  the  wheatfields  shine  a  multitude  of  villages  sur- 
rounded by  gardens.  Springs  gush  out  on  every  side;  at 
every  step  one  crosses  brooks ;  they  flow  in  cascades 
amongst  ferns,  laurels,  fig-trees,  and  vines,  which  them- 
selves grow  on  the  edges.  Nowhere  have  I  seen  a  more 
smiling  landscape,  nowhere  such  an  air  of  prosperity, 
nowhere  so  generous  a  land,  nor  more  laborious  inhabitants. 
From  here  to  Sheshuan,  the  country  is  just  the  same ; 
the  names  of  the  valleys  change,  but  there  are  the  same 
riches  everywhere;  indeed,  it  increases  as  one  goes  on." 

From  the  beginning  of  the  journey,  ten  days  after  he  left 
Tangier,  the  explorer  is  right  in  the  unknown.  Into  this 
little  village  of  Sheshuan  a  single  Christian  had  entered, 
a  Spaniard,  about  1863;  he  did  not  return.  Charles  de 
Foucauld,  twenty  years  later,  on  July  2,  stopped  on  the 
neighbouring  heights  to  take  a  sketch,  from  which  Viscount 
de  Bondy  was  able  to  produce  the  large  and  accurate  draw- 
ing published  in  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc.  He  even 
went  into  the  Jewish  quarter,  and  on  the  way  met  people 
of  Beni-Zejel,  who  shouted  at  him  :  "  May  God  eternally 
burn  the  father  that  begot  thee,  Jew."  He  spent  the  night 
between  the  2nd  and  the  3rd  in  the  inellah.  He  does  not 
seem  to  have  visited  the  town  itself.  But  he  went  as  far  as 
he  could  go,  and  alone.  Into  this  Morocco  he  enters  in  a 
sorry  garb,  but  with  a  strong  and  magnificent  ambition — on 
the  look-out  for  the  unknown,  above  all.  All  his  prefer- 
ences are  for  the  forbidden  and  wilder  countries.     From  one 


THE  EXPLORER  39 

point  on  the  map  to  another  equally  settled  on,  he  at  any 
rate  tries  to  go  by  a  route  over  which  nobody  has  been. 
Must  he  wait?  He  waits.  Pay  guides  more?  He  pays 
up.  Dangers,  he  never  thinks  about  them.  On  the  word 
of  many  of  his  intimate  friends,  I  believe  that  fear  and  he 
were  strangers. 

The  traveller  who  thus  describes  and  sketches  the  land- 
scape, also  points  out  all  the  characteristics  of  the  habits 
and  customs  that  he  observes.  In  this  excursion,  he  meets 
a  Hajj — that  is  to  say,  a  Musulman  who  has  made  the  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca,  and  he  at  once  notes  that  these  pilgrims, 
who  have  some  idea  of  what  Europeans  are,  in  general  are 
less  fanatic,  more  polished  and  affable  than  their  co-re- 
ligionists. Ten  pages  further  on,  he  analyzes  the  different 
political  position  and  the  similar  misery  of  the  two  parts 
of  Morocco,  the  bled  el  Makhsen  under  the  Sultan,  and  the 
free  or  revolted  country,  the  bled  es  Siba;  everywhere  he 
collects  and  with  an  extreme  care  records  information  which 
may  be  of  service  to  a  geographer,  sociologist,  colonist,  or 
soldier.  Even  had  he  been  quite  free  to  travel  about  in 
Morocco,  one  would  be  astonished  that  he  had  been  able  to 
become  so  completely  acquainted  with  it. 

Sometimes  he  ceases  to  make  notes,  and  judges.  His 
judgments  have  a  contour  as  firm  as  his  topographical 
details  or  his  pen  sketches.  He  has  a  certain  sympathy  for 
the  Moroccans.  I  made  allusion,  for  instance,  to  v/hat  he 
said  about  the  pilgrims  to  Mecca.  But  he  saw  too  closely, 
though  enclosed  in  the  crowd,  what  the  inhabitants  of  the 
towns  and  villages  were  morally  worth  ;  he  cannot  pass  over 
in  silence  the  vices  which  consume  the  Musulman  popula- 
tions. And  it  is  curious  to  read  the  lines  I  have  just  cited, 
when  above  all  one  remembers  that  the  man  who  wrote 
them  was  to  give  a  great  part  of  his  life  to  the  conversion 
of  these  peoples  of  North  Africa,  as  to  whom  he  had  few 
illusions  even  when  quite  young. 

He  says  :  "  Extreme  cupidity  and,  as  companions,  rob- 
bery and  lying  in  all  their  forms  reign  almost  everywhere. 
Brigandage,  armed  attacks  are,  in  general,  considered  as 
honourable  actions.  Morals  are  dissolute.  The  condition 
of  woman,  in  Morocco,  is  what  it  is  in  Algeria.  The 
Moroccans  are  ordinarily  but  little  attached  to  their  wives, 
and  yet  have  a  great  love  for  their  children.  The  finest 
quality  they  show  is  devotion  to  their  friends ;  they  push  it 
to  the  last  limits.  This  noble  feeling  daily  produces  the 
finest  actions.  With  the  exception  of  the  towns  and  some 
isolated  districts,   Morocco  is  very  ignorant.     They  are. 


40  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

nearly  everywhere,  superstitious,  and  accord  an  unbounded 
respect  and  confidence  to  the  local  marabouts,  the  extent  of 
whose  influence  varies.  Even  external  religious  duties  are 
nowhere  regularly  carried  out,  save  in  the  towns  and  dis- 
tricts above  excepted.  There  are  Mosques  in  every  village 
or  important  douar ;  they  are  more  frequented  by  poor 
travellers  who  use  them  as  shelters,  than  by  the 
inhabitants." 

He  is  harder  upon  the  Moroccan  Jews.  On  July  7  he 
was  detained  at  El  Ksar  for  twenty-four  hours  because  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  writes  :  "  If  I  could  only  take  advantage 
of  this  delay  to  write  out  my  notes  !  But  it  is  almost  im- 
possible. In  Morocco,  has  a  Jew  ever  been  seen  writing 
on  the  Sabbath?  It  is  forbidden  just  like  travelling,  light- 
ing a  fire,  selling,  counting  money,  talking  business,  and 
what  not?  And  all  these  precepts  are  observed  with  equal 
care  !  For  the  Jews  of  Morocco,  all  religion  consists  in 
that :  moral  precepts  they  deny.  The  ten  commandments 
are  bygone  tales,  at  most  good  for  children ;  but  as  for  the 
three  daily  prayers  and  lengthy  graces  before  and  after 
meals,  keeping  the  Sabbath  and  feasts,  I  believe  nothing 
in  the  world  would  make  them  miss  them.  Endowed  with 
a  very  lively  faith,  they  scrupulously  fulfil  their  duties 
towards  God,  and  indemnify  themselves  at  the  expense  of 
His  creatures." 

To  visit  Tetuan,  and  above  all  Mt.  Beni-Hasan  and 
Mt.  Sheshuan,  Foucauld  had  left  the  road  from  Tangier 
to  Fez.  He  took  it  up  again,  and,  going  on  a  line  from 
nearly  north  to  south,  he  reached  Fez  on  July  11. 

He  hoped  not  to  remain  long  in  that  well-known  town, 
but  a  man  with  no  time  to  waste  should  not  venture  into 
sunny  lands.  A  man  in  a  hurry,  chooser  of  the  most  dan- 
gerous roads  !  A  man — a  Jew,  it  is  true — who  seems  to 
forget  dates  and  not  to  remember  the  great  Musulman  fast ! 
What  insolence  !  He  was  made  to  feel  it.  F'rom  Fez,  on 
August  14,  he  wrote  this  letter,  addressed  to  his  cousin 
M .  Georges  de  Latouche  : 

"  You  see  I  am  still  at  Fez,  and  you  must  fhink  that  I 
have  hardly  made  a  start ;  it  is  but  too  true.  It  is  because  I 
always  wished  to  go  by  the  least  known  roads,  and  it  is 
sometimes  a  long  job  to  find  the  means  of  travelling  by 
them. 

*' From  Fez,  I  wished  to  go  to  Tadla ;  there  are  two 
roads;  one  by  Rabat,  easy  and  safe;  the  other  very  little 
frequented,  very  difficult,  and  crossing  a  completely  un- 


THE  EXPLORER  41 

explored  country;  naturally  I  had  it  very  much  at  heart 
to  take  the  second.  From  what  I  learn  there  is  nobody 
here  who  can  guide  us  safely  along  it.  We  are  sending 
inquiries  to  Mekinez;  from  there  they  reply  that  there  is  an 
influential  shereef,  who  knows  the  road,  takes  it  sometimes, 
knows  the  tribes  we  shall  come  across,  and  who  can,  in  a 
word,  bring  us  safely  to  Bu  Jaad,  the  capital  of  Tadla. 
(Tadla  is  a  province,  and  not  a  town  as  shown  on  the  maps.) 
We  get  him  to  come  here;  he  consents  to  accompany  us, 
but  declares  he  will  only  start  after  the  fetes  which  finish 
Ramadan.  We  have  been  obliged  to  wait,  and  that  is  why 
we  have  remained  so  long  at  Fez.  The  Ramadan  festival 
will  be  over  the  day  after  to-morrow ;  so  to-morrow  we  set 
out  for  Mekinez,  and  from  there,  immediately,  for  Tadla. 
During  the  three  weeks  that  I  knew  I  should  be  obliged  to 
remain  in  Fez,  so  as  not  to  lose  my  time,  I  went  from  Fez 
to  Tasa  (three  days'  distance).  I  went  there  by  one  road 
and  came  back  by  another.  The  position  of  the  town  was 
known,  but  the  roads  which  converge  to  it  had  not  been 
marked ;  I  mapped  them  as  exactly  as  possible. 

"  I  there  unexpectedly  discovered  a  town  where  all  the 
inhabitants,  Musulmans  and  Jews,  think  but  of  one  thing 
— the  coming  of  the  French  before  long.  These  poor 
devils  are  in  a  country  in  which  the  authority  of  the  Sultan 
is  nil,  and  they  are  a  constant  prey  to  the  violence  and 
robbery  of  the  powerful  Kabyle  tribe  of  the  Riatas ;  so  thev 
do  not  cease  praying  to  Allah  to  send  them  the  French,  in 
order  to  rid  them  of  the  Riatas.  I  remained  a  week  at 
Tasa,  because  I  could  not  find  anyone  with  whom  to  get 
out  of  it  safely.  We  are  at  last  back  from  it,  and  are  going 
to  set  out  for  Tadla. 

"  Up  to  the  present  I  am  not  at  all  satisfied  with  Mar- 
doch^e  :  he  is  inexpressibly  cowardly  and  lazy.  As  in  the 
case  of  Figaro,  it  cannot  be  said  that  these  two  failings 
divide  him  up  between  them  ;  they  reign  within  him  together 
in  the  most  perfect  harmony.  He  is  unspeakably  down- 
hearted into  the  bargain  :  he  spends  his  time  whining,  and 
sometimes  even  sheds  floods  of  tears.  At  first  it  was  only 
ridiculous;  in  the  end  it  gets  very  tiresome.  If  we  are 
riding,  it  is  the  sun  and  the  jolting  of  the  mule ;  when  we 
are  in  town,  there  are  the  fleas  and  bugs.  And  then  there  is 
the  water,  that  is  hot ;  and  next  the  food  is  poor.  All  these 
little  things  may  sometimes  be  hard  to  endure;  but  all  he 
had  to  do  was  not  to  worry  me  in  Algiers  to  travel  with  me. 
I  confess  to  you  that  if  I  had  not  the  accomplishment  of  my 
itinerary  very  much  at  heart,  and  not  to  return  without 


42  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

having  done  anything,  I  should  have  dismissed  him  more 
than  a  month  ago,  and  should  have  returned  to  Algiers  to 
seek  someone  more  active,  enterprising,  and  manly.  But 
I  won't  come  back  at  any  price  without  seeing  what  I  said 
I  would  see;  without  going  where  I  said  I  would  go. 

"  I  think  that  my  journey  will  cost  me  all  that  I  brought 
with  me,  or  little  less ;  up  to  the  present  I  have  spent 
1,500  francs,  and  I  have  not  gone  far;  it  is  true  I  have  to 
the  good  two  mules  worth  250  francs  each.  ...  It  is  the 
travelling  that  is  dear.  If  you  want  to  go  from  one  point 
to  another,  here  is  what  you  must  do ;  you  go  to  some  local 
notability,  who  can  certainly  bring  you  safely  to  the  point 
you  wish  to  reach.  You  say  to  him  :  '  I  want  to  go  to  that 
place :  give  me  your  anaia,  and  be  my  zettet.'  Anaia 
means  protection,  and  the  zeitet  is  the  protector.  He 
replies,  very  willingly,  it  is  so  much.  We  bargain  for  a 
good  hour,  finally  the  price  is  agreed.  The  said  sum  is 
given  to  him  on  condition  that  he  accompanies  you  him- 
self or  gets  one  of  his  relations  or  servants  to  accompany 
you  as  far  as  your  destination.  This  is  the  only  way  to 
travel  among  the  Berber  and  Kabyle  tribes.  Without  this 
precaution,  even  the  people  of  the  place  you  are  leaving 
run  after  you,  to  rob  you  within  a  mile  of  the  town  or  vil- 
lage from  which  you  come. 

"This  zettet  is  the  real  costly  thing  in  our  journey;  it 
costs  more  or  less,  according  to  the  danger  of  the  tribes  one 
has  to  pass  through.  Sometimes  it  is  excessively  dear; 
thus,  in  leaving  Tasa  for  another  point  on  the  Fez  route, 
only  six  hours'  distance  by  road  from  the  town,  I  paid 
sixty  francs  (it  was  a  question  of  crossing  the  territory  of 
the  terrible  Riatas).  You  understand  that  with  such  diffi- 
culties in  communication,  trade  in  Morocco  is  not  brisk; 
although  the  country  is  marvellously  fertile,  the  inhabitants 
are  not  rich  ;  they  cultivate  just  the  necessaries  of  life,  not 
being  able  to  sell  their  surplus.  There  is  no  comparison 
between  this  country  and  Algeria,  which  is  a  desert  com- 
pared to  it.  In  Algeria,  even  in  winter,  there  is  no  water 
anywhere.  Here  at  this  season  there  is  water  everywhere; 
there  are  running  rivers,  brooks,  torrents,  and  springs. 
And  note  that  since  I  set  foot  in  Morocco  I  have  not  seen 
a  drop  of  water  fall.  But  there  are  high  wooded  moun- 
tains, and,  in  the  direction  of  the  south-east,  from  the  ter- 
race of  this  house,  threads  of  snow  can  be  seen  on  the  distant 
tops  of  the  Jebel." 

A  month's  halt !  Charles  de  Foucauld  employs  it  to  make 
two  great  excursions — one  to  Tasa,  as  he  said,  in  the  east, 


THE  EXPLORER  43 

the  other  to  Safra.  The  very  detailed  account  which  he 
gives  of  these  two  excursions  seems  to  me  to  be  the  best 
part  of  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc.  Here,  also,  pic- 
turesque phrases  abound;  for  instance,  this  one  :  "  At  half- 
past  three,  we  reached  a  pass  :  Tasa  appeared,  a  high  cliff 
standing  out  in  relief  from  the  mountain  and  advancing, 
like  a  cape,  into  the  plain.  On  its  summit  the  town 
dominated  by  an  old  minaret:  at  its  feet  vast  gardens." 
Foucauld  reaches  the  gate  of  the  outer  walls,  takes  off  his 
shoes,  and  enters  the  town. 

The  most  miserable  town  in  Morocco  !  The  Riata  tribe 
pillage  it  perpetually.  Always  in  arms,  filling  the  narrow 
streets  and  squares,  if  they  find  any  object  or  beast  of 
burden  which  suits  them,  they  seize  it,  and  there  is  no 
hope  of  justice  against  them.  "  It  is  difficult  to  express  the 
terror  in  which  the  population  live;  so  they  think  only  of 
one  thing — the  coming  of  the  French.  How  many  times 
have  I  heard  the  Musulmans  exclaim  :  '  When  will  the 
French  come  ?  When  will  they  at  last  rid  us  of  the  Riatas  ? 
When  shall  we  live  in  peace,  like  the  people  of  Tlemcen?' 
And  then  they  pray  for  the  hastening  of  that  day ;  they 
have  no  doubt  of  its  arrival ;  in  this  respect  they  share  the 
common  opinion  of  a  great  part  of  Eastern  Morocco,  and 
of  nearly  all  the  upper  class  in  the  Empire.    ..." 

Safra,  on  the  contrary,  is  flourishing,  full  of  well-built 
white  brick  houses  ;  there  the  traveller  walks  about  in  "  end- 
less and  wonderful  gardens  .  .  .  big  bushy  woods  whose 
thick  foliage  spreads  an  impenetrable  shade  and  delightful 
coolness  on  the  ground." 

When  these  excursions  were  over,  the  terrible  road  was 
at  last  open,  and  the  explorer  was  able  to  reach  Mekinez, 
and  from  there  Abu-el-Jad,  where  he  arrived  on  Sep- 
tember 6. 

"Here  was  neither  Sultan  nor  inakhzen:  nothing  but 
Allah  and  Sidi  Ben  Daud."  This  great  personage  has 
hardly  seen  Rabbi  Joseph  Aleman  than  he  gives  evidence 
of  the  most  singular  respect  towards  him.  The  Recon- 
naissance au  Maroc  does  not  make  any  allusion  to  this,  but 
in  the  third  manuscript  note  already  mentioned,  Charles 
Foucauld  tells  at  length  the  exciting  adventure  which  befell 
him  in  the  town  of  Abu-el-Jad  : 

"I  arrive  in  Abu-el-Jad  escorted  by  a  grandson  of  Sidi 
Ben  Daud  :  the  Sid  had  sent  me  this  distinguished  pro- 
tector after  having  received  a  letter  from  a  great  lord  of 
Fas,  his  friend,  Hajj  Tib  Ksous.  To  do  complete  honour 
to  this  recommendation,  he  gave  me  audience  immediately 


44  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

on  my  arrival  in  his  town.  Mardochee  and  I  were  received 
and  questioned  separately ;  we  presented  ourselves  as  two 
Rabbis  from  Jerusalem  who  had  been  settled  in  Algiers  for 
seven  years.  We  had  hardly  come  out  of  the  Sid's  house 
than  we  saw  a  Musulman,  seated  in  the  middle  of  a  group, 
make  us  a  sign  to  approach.  He  who  called  us  was  the 
second  son  of  Sidi  Ben  Daud,  Sidi  Omar.  He  brought 
us  into  his  house,  and  began  to  put  questions  about 
Algeria.  Meanwhile,  the  Sid  sent  for  the  principal  Jews 
of  the  town,  ordered  them  to  receive  us  well,  and  appointed 
one  of  them  to  give  us  hospitality  in  his  name.  These 
two  audiences  and  such  care  for  putting  us  up  were  extra- 
ordinary favours. 

"The  day  after  my  arrival,  I  received  the  visit  of  a  son 
of  Sidi  Omar,  Sidi  El  Hajj  Edris ;  although  a  mulatto,  he 
is  a  very  fine  young  man  of  twenty-five ;  tall,  well-propor- 
tioned, supple  and  graceful  in  movement,  intelligent-look- 
ing, lively  and  gay.  His  title  of  Hajj,  intelligence,  educa- 
tion, and  a  fine  appearance  made  him  one  of  the  most 
highly  esteemed  members  of  Sidi  Ben  Baud's  family. 
He  comes,  he  says,  to  see  that  we  want  for  nothing;  three 
or  four  Musulmans  accompany  him  ;  for  half  an  hour  we 
chat  of  one  thing  and  another,  our  visitors  showing  an 
extreme  affability.  In  taking  leave  of  us  S.  Edris  asks 
whether  we  have  seen  the  Rabbis  of  Abu-el-Jad.  '  Not 
yet.' — 'Whether  they  come  or  do  not  come,  whether  you 
remain  several  days  or  months,  you  are  a  thousand  times 
welcome!'  What  is  the  meaning  of  such  unparalleled 
attentions  to  the  Jews  ? 

"  It  was  not  long  before  I  understood.  Two  things  were 
remarkable  during  the  four  following  days  :  on  the  one 
hand,  the  frequent  visits,  the  excessive  amiability  of  Sid's 
relations,  who  endeavoured  to  give  me  confidence  and  to 
make  me  speak;  on  the  other,  the  open  spying  of  the  Jews 
who  watched  my  least  act,  thrust  their  noses  into  my  note- 
book as  soon  as  I  wanted  to  write,  rushed  on  my  ther- 
mometer, as  soon  as  I  touched  it,  and  were  rude  and 
insufferable.  .  .  .  These  two  lines  of  conduct  were  too 
accentuated  not  to  betray  their  cause.  Something  must  have 
made  Sidi  Ben  Daud,  or  his  son  Sidi  Omar,  suspect  my 
being  a  Christian.  The  marabouts  had  resolved  to  en- 
lighten themselves  by  having  me  spied  upon  by  the  Jews, 
while  making  their  own  examination  of  me;  for  the  last 
four  days  they  were  plainly  following  up  this  investigation. 

On  September  ii,  in  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day  after 
my  arrival,  one  of  Sidi  Edris's  slaves  came  into  my  room, 


THE  EXPLORER  45 

and  told  me  to  follow  him  with  Mardochee  to  his  master's. 
He  showed  us  into  a  house  of  the  aau'ia.  We  expect  fresh 
questions.  No  !  as  soon  as  we  are  seated,  breakfast  is 
brought  in.  Tea,  pastries,  butter,  eggs,  coffee,  almonds, 
grapes,  and  figs  are  placed  on  dazzling  dishes.  S.  Edris 
offers  me  lemonade,  and  makes  excuses  for  having  neither 
knives  nor  forks ;  he  eats  with  us,  which  is  an  unheard-of 
favour,  and,  keeping  up  a  long  conversation,  tells  us  that 
he  knows  Tunis,  Algiers,  Bone,  Bougie,  Philippeville,  and 
Oran,  which  he  visited  in  coming  back  from  Mecca.  At 
the  end  of  two  hours,  we  are  dismissed,  and  a  slave  con- 
ducts us  back  to  our  house. 

"  My  relations  with  S.  Edris  and  his  father  become  more 
intimate  from  day  to  day.  On  the  13th  at  noon,  I  am  called 
with  Mardochee  to  the  house  of  the  former.  Again  a 
breakfast  is  waiting  for  us  :  S.  Edris  shares  it  with  us.  As 
I  speak  to  him  of  my  desire  to  leave  Abu-el-Jad,  he  replies 
that  he  will  escort  me  himself.  He  is  one  of  the  most 
exhalted  personages  of  his  family,  and  puts  himself  out 
only  for  caravans  of  two  or  three  hundred  camels ;  but  for 
my  companion  and  me,  there  is  nothing  that  he  will  not  do. 
i\il  three  of  us  are  to  set  out  alone  in  a  few  days ;  he  wants 
to  make  friends  of  us ;  we  are  to  write  to  him  on  our  return 
to  Algiers,  and  he  will  come  and  see  us  there.  When  the 
meal  was  over,  he  led  me  to  a  window,  and  showed  me  the 
chain  of  the  Middle  Atlas  which  extends  along  the  horizon 
towards  the  south.  He  begins  describing  and  giving  me 
a  host  of  details  about  its  inhabitants.  For  me  the  better 
to  enjoy  this  fine  sight,  he  has  a  chair  and  a  small  telescope 
brought  me. 

"  So  many  favours  cannot  possibly  be  disinterested. 
What  are  S.  Edris  and  his  father  driving  at?  I  do  not 
know ;  however,  they  have  promised  to  escort  me  on  my 
departure  from  Abu-el-Jad ;  so  their  good  intentions  must 
be  cultivated.  The  same  day,  I  send  S.  Edris  twenty 
francs  and  three  or  four  sugar-loaves — a  suitable  present 
for  the  country.  Next  day,  the  14th,  S.  Edris  sends  for  us 
towards  evening  to  dine  with  him  on  his  terrace.  As  we 
are  talking  he  repeats  that  he  would  like  to  go  to  Algiers, 
and  from  there  to  the  Christians'  continent;  would  it  be 
possible?  Nothing  easier,  I  tell  him,  the  French  minister 
at  Tangier  will  enable  him  to  reach  Algiers,  where  I  shall 
be  altogether  at  his  service.  And  could  he  bring  a  Chris- 
tian to  Abu-el-Jad  ?  He  would  be  delighted  to  do  so,  pro- 
vided that  the  Christian  were  disguised  as  a  Musulman,  or 
a  Jew,  and  that  the  Sultan  knew  nothing  about  it.     The 


46  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

affair  would  have  to  be  negotiated  secretly  between  him  and 
the  French  minister.  In  that  case,  added  Mardochee,  the 
French  authorities  would  give  him  the  best  of  receptions, 
for  they  would  be  very  pleased  to  send  a  Frenchman  to 
explore  Abu-el-Jad,  which  no  Christian  has  ever  seen, 
S.  Edris  smilingly  replies  that  Christians  have  visited  it. 
'In  Musulman  costume?' — 'No!  In  Jewish  costume  no 
one  knew  who  they  were;  but  we  recognized  them.' 

"  Next  morning,  a  fresh  visit  to  S.  Edris  :  the  conversa- 
tion became  quite  intimate.  After  what  he  said  to  us  yes- 
terday, would  he  write  a  letter  to  the  French  minister,  and 
enter  into  an  engagement  to  receive  and  protect  any 
Frenchman  in  his  town  ?  Willingly,  he  said,  and  he  was 
ready  to  visit  the  functionary,  to  assure  him  of  his  good- 
will towards  France. 

"  The  same  day,  we  were  called  to  Sidi  Ben  Daud's 
house.  We  were  shown  into  a  beautiful  hall,  in  which 
seven  or  eight  marabouts  of  the  Sid's  family  were  seated 
on  carpets  around  him.  We  were  invited  to  sit  down,  and 
little  negresses  from  eight  to  ten  years  old  brought  us  cups 
of  tea  and  pabners.  When  we  had  enjoyed  looking  at  the 
saint  for  half  an  hour,  we  were  dismissed  with  kind  words, 
and  he  himself  said  to  us  :  '  May  God  aid  you  I'  In  com- 
ing out,  we  were  rejoined  by  S.  Omar,  who  led  us  away  to 
his  house;  it  was  he,  he  said,  who  had  got  us  invited  to 
his  father's,  with  the  thought  that  that  visit  might  interest 
us.  He  questioned  me  on  astronomy.  The  Jews  had  told 
him  I  was  a  great  astronomer.  I  am  said  to  spend  my 
nights  in  looking  at  the  stars.  Thus  the  Jews  spy  upon 
me  for  the  benefit  of  the  Musulmans.  On  the  i6th,  Sidi 
Edris  sends  for  me  early ;  first  of  all  he  puts  into  my  hand 
two  letters  recommending  Mardochee  and  me  to  the  Jews 
of  Kasba  and  to  those  of  Kasba-Beni-Mellal,  signed  bv  the 
Rabbis  of  Abu-el-Jad.  They  were  not  written  willingly; 
vSidi  Edris  makes  the  Rabbis  come  to  his  house  and  orders 
them  to  sign  the  letters  under  his  eyes.  Sidi  Edris  after- 
wards gives  me  a  word  of  recommendation  for  a  friend  of 
his  who  lives  at  Bezzu,  a  place  to  which  I  shall  go  later 
on.  Lastly  he  composes  a  letter  to  the  French  Minister  : 
he  reads  it  to  me  before  closing  it ;  it  is  couched  somewhat 
thus  :  '  To  the  Ambassador  of  the  French  Government.  I 
inform  you  that  two  men  of  your  country  have  come  to  me, 
and  that,  for  love  of  you,  I  have  given  them  the  best  of 
receptions  and  have  taken  them  where  they  wished.  In 
like  manner  I  will  receive  all  those  who  come  in  your  name; 
the  bearers   of  this   letter   will   give   you   more  complete 


THE  EXPLORER  4.7 

information.  If  you  wish  to  see  me,  let  me  know  through 
the  French  Consul  at  Dar-Beida.  I  shall  at  once  proceed 
to  Tangier.'  3idi  Edris  signs  this  document,  folds  it, 
seals  it  with  his  seal,  and  hands  it  over  to  me,  recommend- 
ing secrecy  and  prudence  :  he  is  putting  his  head  into  my 
hands ;  a  great  risk  to  run,  if  the  letter  gets  lost  and  comes 
to  the  eyes  of  the  Sultan. 

"This  business  done,  S.  Edris  told  me  we  should  start 
the  next  day  for  Kasba-Tadla.  Not  only  would  he  be  my 
guide,  but  my  companion  as  far  as  Kasba-Beni-Mellal, 
where  I  should  leave  the  Tadla.  I  was  to  be  as  a  brother 
to  him,  and  he  would  go  to  the  end  of  the  world  to  please 
me,  but  he  could  no  longer  bear  my  living  in  the  town  with 
the  Jews,  who  were  savages.  He  would  have  my  mules 
and  baggage  fetched,  and  henceforth  I  was  to  be  his  guest. 
An  hour  later,  I  was  put  up  in  his  house. 

"  From  this  moment,  my  relations  with  S.  Edris  assumed 
a  new  character  :  up  to  then  his  excessive  attention  had 
made  me  distrustful,  the  gift  of  the  letter  for  the  French 
minister  was  such  a  mark  of  confidence,  that  I  could  no 
longer  doubt  of  his  present  good  intentions  :  besides,  this 
letter  explained  his  advances,  showing  that  the  cause  of 
them  was  his  desire  of  entering  into  relations  with  the  French 
Government.  Sure  of  S.  Edris,  henceforth  I  was  on  the  same 
footing  with  him  as  a  friend.  I  returned  his  confidence  and, 
as  he  had  put  himself  into  my  hands,  I  put  myself  into  his.  I 
told  him  unreservedly  who  I  was,  who  Mardochee  was,  and 
what  I  came  to  do.  This  only  increased  his  fidelity.  He 
was  overwhelmed  with  regret  at  not  knowing  the  truth 
sooner.  From  the  first  day  I  should  have  lodged  in  his 
house;  I  should  have  worked  there,  drawn  and  made  my 
observations  at  my  ease ;  if  I  would  postpone  my  departure, 
he  would  bring  me  to  visit  the  qoubbas  and  mosques,  put 
at  my  disposal  the  library  of  the  zau'ia,  which  is  rich  in 
historical  works,  and  take  me  for  walks  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. .   .    .     What  would  he  not  do? 

"Then  he  offered  me  a  hundred  things,  Musulman  cos- 
tumes, a  slave;  ...  as  the  waiting  of  the  little  negresses 
at  Sidi  Ben  Baud's  seemed  to  me  so  charming,  he  offered 
me  one  of  them.  Upon  my  arrival,  he  said,  my  face  made 
him  suspect  that  I  was  a  Christian,  and  the  Jews  had  con- 
firmed that  opinion.  Let  me  beware  of  the  Jews  !  they 
were  untrustworthy  people,  rascals  to  be  unceasingly  on 
one's  guard  against.  The  day  after  my  arrival  the  local 
Jews  told  him  that  I  was  busy  with  astronomy,  that  I  did 
not  speak  their  language,  did  not  write  as  they  did,  never 


48  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

went  to  the  synagogue;  in  a  word,  that  they  believed  I  was 
a  Christian.  He  told  them  they  were  asses,  and  that  the 
Jews  of  Algiers  and  France  were  different  from  the  Jews  of 
that  country.^ 

"  On  September  17,  Sidi  Edris,  Mardochee,  and  I  quitted 
Abu-el-Jad.  On  the  20th  we  arrived  at  Kasba-Beni- 
Mellal.  On  the  23rd  Sidi  Edris  bade  us  adieu  and  again 
took  the  road  to  his  sau'ia.  I  cannot  express  what  he  was 
to  me  while  we  travelled  together.  As  we  rode,  he  would 
ride  close  beside  me,  and  give  me  explanations  about  all  we 
passed  through,  met,  or  saw.  If  I  wished  to  draw,  he 
stopped.  On  his  own  initiative  he  always  chose  the  most 
interesting  and  not  the  shortest  roads.  If  we  stopped  any- 
where he  took  me  by  the  hand  to  see  anything  curious. 
He  used  to  do  more ;  as  the  house  in  which  he  received  hos- 
pitality tilled  on  his  arrival,  and  a  crowd  came  to  kiss  his 
hand,  this  great  marabout  used  to  hide  a  part  of  my  instru- 
ments in  his  ample  garments,  whilst  I  carried  the  other, 
and  lead  me  to  a  retired  place  to  make  my  observations ;  he 
would  mount  guard  over  me,  to  prevent  me  from  being  sur- 
prised. How  many  excursions  we  made  together  near 
Kasba-Beni-Mellal.  If  I  stopped  to  draw,  he  used  to  sit 
down  beside  me,  and  his  talk  taught  me  a  host  of  things. 
All  I  know  about  the  sau'ia  of  Abu-el-Jad,  Sidi  Ben 
Daud's  family,  the  population  of  the  Tadla,  came  from 
him.  From  him  I  got  nearly  all  the  information  printed 
in  this  volume  from  page  259  to  267,  about  the  Wady- 
Um-er-Rebia  basin.  He  also  dictated  what  one  reads 
from  page  65  to  67,  on  the  campaign  of  the  Sultan  in  the 
Tadla  in  1883  ;  he  had  followed  the  expedition T)f  Marrakesh 
to  Meris-el-Biod  as  Sidi  Ben  Daud's  representative  to 
Muley  el  Hasen.  On  the  subject  of  the  relations  of  his 
family  with  the  Sultan,  he  said  to  me  :   '  We  do  not  fear 

^  I  found,  in  Charles  de  Foucauld's  papers,  this  note  about  the  incident 
here  related  : 

"  Mardochee  never  knew  that  I  had  disclosed  my  Christianity  and 
the  plan  of  my  journey  to  Sidi  Edris  :  an  instinctive  hatred  rather 
than  a  reasoned  prudence  made  him  distrust  every  Musulman,  and  he 
would  have  thought  himself  lost  if  he  had  behcved  me  guilty  of  confid- 
ing in  a  Musulman.  I  revealed  who  I  was  and  what  I  was  doing  to 
four  persons  only  in  Morocco  :  Samuel  Ben  Semhoun,  a  Jew  of  Fas  ; 
the  Haji  Bu  Rhim,  a  Musulman  of  Tisint,  who  was  a  real  friend  to 
me  ;  Sidi  Edris  ;  and  a  Jew  of  Debdu.  To  the  two  Jews,  Mardochee 
and  I  agreed  to  make  our  disclosures  together.  To  the  two  Musulmans 
I  alone  made  it,  and  Mardochee  vi-as  always  ignorant  of  it.  All  four 
religiously  kept  my  secret,  rendered  me  a  thousand  services,  and  it  only 
remains  for  me  to  congratulate  myself  for  having  trusted  them  and  to 
feel  a  lively  gratitude  towards  them." 


THE  EXPLORER  49 

him,  and  he  does  not  fear  us ;  he  can  do  us  no  harm,  and 
we  can  do  him  none.'  Having  asked  him  whether  Muley 
el  Hasen  was  loved  :  '  No,  he  is  grasping  and  avaricious.' 
(this  was,  word  for  word,  what  was  told  me  at  Fas).  Sidi 
Edris  intends  to  come  and  see  me  at  Algiers  and  in  France, 
and  makes  me  promise  to  return  later  on  to  Abu-el-Jad; 
that  if  I  come  back  as  a  Turk,  he  will  put  me  up  in  his 
house,  and  we  shall  spend  pleasant  weeks  there,  and  I  shall 
travel  about  as  much  as  I  wish.  He  entrusts  me  with  the 
letter  he  has  given  me  :  '  If  the  Sultan  had  any  knowledge 
of  it,  he  would  have  my  tongue  cut  out  and  my  hand  cut 
off.'  I  ask  him  if  his  father  S.  Omar  knows  that  he  has 
written  it.  Yes,  it  was  S.  Omar  who  inspired  it,  and  it 
was  he  who  told  his  son  to  behave  to  me  as  he  had  done ; 
but  the  secret  remains  between  S.  Omar  and  S.  Edris  : 
they  had  not  confided  it  to  Sidi  Ben  Daud,  '  because  he  is 
rather  old.'  '  How  rich  this  country  would  be  if  the  French 
were  governing  it !'  my  companion  was  always  saying,  as 
he  gazed  on  the  fertile  plains  which  spread  out  at  our  feet. 
'  If  the  li'rench  come  here,  will  they  make  me  Kaid, ' 
he  once  added. 

"  The  belief  in  a  coming  invasion  by  the  French  was  the 
cause  of  the  reception  I  had  at  Abu-el-Jad.  The  mara- 
bouts received  me  well  because  they  took  me  for  a  spy.  In 
the  greater  part  of  Morocco,  it  is  believed  that  before  long 
France  will  seize  Muley  el  Hasan's  empire,  and  they  are 
preparing  for  this  event,  and  already  the  great  are  seeking 
to  assure  themselves  of  our  favour.  The  favours  with 
which  Sidi  Ben  Baud's  family  loaded  me  and  the  letter 
entrusted  to  me,  are  a  proof  of  the  state  of  mind  of  the 
highest  persons  in  Morocco. 

"  Do  they  dread  this  expected  French  domination  ?  The 
great  lords,  the  traders,  the  groups  oppressed  by  the  Sultan 
or  by  powerful  neighbours  would  accept  it  without  dis- 
pleasure. To  them  it  represents  an  increase  of  riches,  the 
establishment  of  railways  (a  thing  very  much  desired), 
peace,  security  ;  in  a  word,  a  regular  and  protective  govern- 
ment." 

Eleven  years  later,  Charles  de  Foucauld,  who  had  become 
a  priest  travelling  in  the  Sahara,  to  his  great  astonishment 
received  the  following  letter,  signed  by  a  young  marabout, 
who  had  become  chief  of  the  sau'ia: 

"  Casablanca, 

"August  16,  1904. 

"  I  desire  excessively  to  hear  from  you,  for  I  have  no 
good  news  of  you  for  a  long  while,   though  I   am  very 

4 


50  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

interested  in  hearing  of  you.  Lately,  I  asked  the  French 
Consul  here  about  you.  He  told  me  that  you  are  in  Jeru- 
salem in  the  Holy  Land  in  the  honest  service  of  God,  and 
that  you  have  sacrificed  your  time  to  the  Eternal. 

"  I  congratulate  you,  and  I  am  certain  that  the  world  no 
longer  interests  you  :  and  this  is  essential  for  the  present 
and  the  future.  Be  good  enough  to  write  to  the  French 
Ambassador  at  Tangier,  to  tell  him  of  my  work  and 
endeavours  with  you  during  your  stay  here.  This  is  to  get 
the  Ambassador  to  write  to  the  French  Consul  to  let  him 
know  of  my  fidelity  towards  you. 

"Thanking  you  sincerely  in  anticipation,  and  again  con- 
gratulating you  on  the  good  state  to  which  you  have 
attained. 

"  For  ever  your  devoted  servant, 

"  Hajj-Driss-El-Sherkaui. 

"  Abu-el-Jad,  where  I  was  with  you  in  the  Kabil  Tadla 
journey." 

The  letter  was  addressed  "a  I'officier  Foukou,"  and 
handed,  at  Algiers,  to  Commandant  Lacroix,  who  filled  in 
the  address. 

After  leaving  Abu-el-Jad,  Charles  de  Foucauld  was 
escorted  by  one  of  the  grandsons  of  Sidi  Ben  Daud,  and 
that  for  as  long  as  the  travellers  were  in  the  Tadla.  They 
kept  going  to  the  south  and  through  dangerous  regions. 
During  a  stay  at  Tikirt,  he  studied  the  very  different 
political  regimes  of  the  tribes  dwelling  in  the  independent 
countries  to  the  north  of  the  Great  Atlas  range,  or  to  the 
south  of  the  mountains.  In  the  former,  the  government 
was  democratic,  each  section  of  the  tribe  governed  by  an 
assembly  in  which  each  family  was  represented.  In  general 
there  were  no  laws,  and,  when  the  clans  of  the  same  tribe 
were  not  agreed,  each  followed  its  own  will  or  caprice,  and 
the  dispute  was  sometimes  settled  by  shooting.  To  the 
south  of  Mt.  Atlas,  there  was  also  a  kind  of  democratic 
State,  but  the  tribes  were  not  always  isolated,  and  between 
them,  there  were  bonds  of  seigniory  and  vassalage.  All 
these  kinds  of  local  polities  are  explained  in  the  Recon- 
naissance au  Maroc,  with  an  abundance  of  details  and  nice 
distinctions  which  prove  the  cleverness  of  the  inquirer  and 
the  richness  of  his  notebooks. 

A  little  farther  on  he  describes  the  three  mountain-chains 
of  the  Great,  Middle,  and  Lesser  Atlas.  After  these  dry 
pages,  and  when  he  leaves  Tikirt  to  go  to  Tisint,  the  poet 


THE  EXPLORER  51 

reappears,  always  keeping  himself  well  in  hand,  but  taking- 
pleasure  in  painting  in  a  few  lines  these  gardens  of  the 
oasis,  and,  beneath  the  shade  of  the  palm-trees,  the  land 
divided  in  squares,  watered  by  a  thick  tangle  of  canals, 
and  covered  with  maize,  millet,  and  vegetables.  They  are 
spots  of  happiness  between  the  most  wild,  bare,  and  deso- 
late of  landscapes.  He  goes  as  far  as  to  write  :  "A  charm- 
ing spot,  and  made  for  none  but  the  happy." 

In  his  journey  to  the  south,  he  reaches  the  region  of  the 
Saharan  Morocco,  via  Tanzida  and  Tisint.  The  descrip- 
tion which  he  gives  of  the  southern  landscape,  as  seen  from 
the  Tisint  oasis,  is,  I  think,  the  most  finished  picture  that 
he  brought  back  from  his  exploratory  journey  :  "  On  enter- 
ing Tisint,  one  steps  into  a  New  World.  Here,  for  the 
first  time,  the  eye  looks  to  the  south  without  seeing  a  single 
mountain.  The  region  to  the  south  of  Bani  is  one  immense 
plain,  now  white,  now  brown,  with  its  stony  solitudes 
stretching  far  away  out  of  sight;  an  azure  streak  limits  it 
on  the  horizon  and  separates  it  from  the  sky  :  it  is  the  slope 
of  the  left  bank  of  the  Dra.  Be3'ond  commences  the  Ham- 
mada.  This  scorched  plain  has  no  other  vegetation  than 
a  few  stunted  gum-trees,  no  other  relief  than  the  narrow 
chains  of  rocky  and  broken  hills  twisting  about  like  frag- 
ments of  serpents.  Alongside  of  the  dismal  desert  are  the 
oases,  with  their  wonderful  vegetation,  their  forests  of  ever- 
green palm-trees,  their  ksars  full  of  comfort  and  riches. 
Working  in  the  gardens,  stretched  nonchalantly  in  the 
shadow  of  the  walls,  squatting  at  the  house-doors,  chatting 
and  smoking,  are  seen  a  numerous  population  of  black- 
faced  men,  very  dark  harratin.  First  I  am  struck  by 
their  garments;  all  are  dressed  in  indigo  cottons,  Sudan 
materials.  I  am  in  a  new  climate ;  there  is  no  winter.  They 
sow  in  winter,  reap  in  March;  the  air  is  never  cold;  above 
my  head  the  sky  is  ever  blue." 

Charles  de  Foucauld  stops  only  two  days  at  Tisint.  He 
is  the  object  of  the  most  lively  curiosity.  "  All  the  Hajjs, 
familiar  with  the  things  and  peoples  of  distant  countries, 
wished  to  see  me.  Once  more,  I  recognized  the  excellent 
effects  of  the  pilgrimage  (of  Mecca).  From  the  fact  alone 
that  I  came  from  Algeria,  where  they  had  been  received 
well,  all  gave  me  the  best  welcome.  Several,  I  knew  later 
on,  suspected  that  I  was  a  Christian ;  they  did  not  say  a 
word,  understanding  better  perhaps  than  I  the  dangers  into 
which  their  talk  might  throw  me.  One  amongst  them,  the 
Hajj  Bu  Rhim,  eventually  became  my  true  friend,  and 
rendered  me  the  most  signal  services,  saving  me  from  the 


52  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

greatest  perils."  Long  excursions  in  the  south,  to  Tatta, 
to  the  Mader  and  to  Akka,  filled  the  following  month. 

Home  from  these  two  excursions,  Foucauld  thought  of 
regaining  Algeria,  recrossing  the  inhospitable  Rif,  the 
western  approach  of  which  had  been  forbidden  him  at  the 
start.  He  could  not  undertake  such  an  adventure  without 
powerful  protection,  and  once  more  he  turned  southwards 
to  pay  a  visit  to  Sidi  Abd  Allah,  a  person  of  mark,  living 
at  Mrimima.  No  doubt  this  man  would  provide  him  with 
the  necessary  guides. 

But  the  stranger  had  no  sooner  entered  Sidi  Abd  Allah's 
house  than  the  report  spread  that  he  was  a  Christian  and 
laden  with  gold.  Immediately  two  bands  of  robbers  lay  in 
ambush  in  the  mountains,  and  set  about  watching  for  this 
excellent  and  easy  prey.  Foucauld  was  kept  in  sight  by 
the  sons  of  his  host.  In  this  danger,  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
his  friend  the  Hajj  Bu  Rhim,  and  gave  it  to  a  beggar. 

"  At  7  a.m.  next  day  there  is  a  great  stir  in  the  village. 
A  troop  of  twenty-five  foot  soldiers  and  two  troopers  arrive 
suddenly,  and  go  straight  into  the  courtyard.  It  is  the 
Hajj  coming  to  take  me.  He  received  my  note  that  night. 
He  got  up  at  once  and  ran  to  his  brothers  and  relations ; 
each  armed  himself  and  joined  him  with  his  servants;  they 
set  out  on  march,  and  here  they  are." 

Half  an  hour  later  he  was  delivered  and  left  Mrimima. 
But  the  unreasonable  demands  and  successive  robberies  of 
which  he  had  been  the  victim  had  so  reduced  his  resources 
that,  when  he  had  got  back  in  Tisint  and  made  up  his 
accounts,  he  recognized  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
undertake  the  return  journey  without  renewing  his  supply 
of  money.  Mogador,  to  the  north-west  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  was  the  nearest  town,  in  which  there  were  Europeans. 
There  he  must  go.  Foucauld  confided  his  project  to  his 
friend  the  Hajj,  The  latter  agreed  to  accompany  the 
traveller  to  Mogador,  wait  for  him  there,  and  bring  him 
back  to  Tisint.  Mardochee,  on  the  contrary,  was  to  remain 
in  that  village.     They  were  to  join  him  later  on. 

They  had  to  start  at  night  with  the  greatest  secrecy,  so 
as  not  to  be  attacked  and  robbed.  This  departure  from 
Tisint  for  the  Atlantic  coast  took  place  on  January  9,  1884. 

From  Mrimima,  and  just  at  one  of  the  really  perilous 
hours  of  his  journey,  Charles  de  Foucauld  had  written  to 
his  sister  Mary.  It  was  not  the  first  time  he  had  written 
to  her.  How,  by  whom,  was  this  note  brought?  It  was 
written  on  a  little  square  of  paper,  folded  and  refolded,  so 
as  not  to  show  more  surface  than  a  receipt  stamp.     I  do  not 


THE  EXPLORER  53 

know.  Some  caravan  must  have  taken  charge  of  it.  The 
letter  was  received ;  it  was  dated  from  the  sau'ia  of  Sidi  Abd 
Allah  Umbarek,  January  i. 

"  A  Happy  New  Year,  my  good  Mimi;  if  only  I  could 
let  you  know  this  day  that  I  am  well  and  in  no  danger  !  If 
you  knew  how  sad  I  am  at  the  thought  of  your  probably 
not  having  heard  from  me  for  so  long,  and  being  uneasy 
about  my  fate,  so  that  this  day,  which  is  a  holiday  for  so 
many,  is  sadder  for  you  than  other  days  !  At  this  time, 
when  everyone  receives  letters  from  relations  and  friends, 
you  alone  receive  none  from  the  only  very  near  one  you  have 
in  the  world.  1  know  how  sad  you  must  be,  and  how  full 
your  heart  must  be.  But  perhaps  I  am  mistaken  :  God 
grant  it !  Perhaps  some  of  my  letters  have  reached  you.  If 
you  get  this  letter,  my  good  Mimi,  be  of  good  cheer,  don't 
be  anxious.  I  run  no  risk  and  shall  run  none  until  my 
arrival.  The  road  is  long,  but  it  is  not  at  all  dangerous. 
If  the  bad  weather,  which  has  delayed  my  going  for  the 
last  month  and  a  half,  continues,  I  shall  take  three  good 
months  to  get  back.  If  I  find  the  roads  easy,  two  will  be 
enough.  God  grant  that  it  may  be  so,  and  that  I  shall 
soon  be  again  with  you.   .    .  ." 

At  Mogador,  where  he  arrived  on  January  28,  after  hav- 
ing, for  three  and  a  half  hours,  travelled  through  "a  vast 
forest  overshadowing  immense  grazing  fields,"  he  went 
straight  to  the  French  Consulate,  where  he  found  himself 
in  presence  of  a  Jewish  secretary  and  translator,  called 
Zerbib,  who  was  working  in  the  offices. 

"  I  should  like  to  see  the  French  Consul,  to  cash  a  cheque 
on  the  Bank  of  England.  I  am  the  Vicomte  de  Foucauld, 
officer  of  the  French  Cavalry." 

The  other,  eyeing  this  dirty  and  tattered  pedestrian  from 
head  to  foot,  and  knowing  the  dodges  of  such  cadgers  re- 
ceived him  very  badly. 

"  Go  and  sit  outside  with  your  back  to  the  wall  :  you 
can't  see  the  consul  in  that  rig." 

Charles  de  Foucauld  went  and  lay  down  near  the  wall, 
and  remained  there  some  time.  Then  he  came  back  to 
Zerbib  : 

"Give  me  a  little  water,  and  please  show  me  a  spot  to 
undress  and  wash  in." 

While  he  was  stripping  in  a  shed  close  by,  someone 
looked  through  the  keyhole.  It  was  Zerbib.  To  his  great 
astonishment,  he  saw  this  tramp  was  the  bearer  of  a  number 
of  surveying  instruments  hidden  in  the  pockets  or  folds  of 
his  clothes,  deposited  one  after  the  other  on  the  ground. 


54  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  After  all,"  he  said  to  himself,  "I  may  be  mistaken,  and 
he  may  be  telling  the  truth." 

He  goes  at  once  and  informs  his  superior.  The  Vicomte 
de  Foucauld  is  shown  in  to  M.  Moutel,  chancellor  of  the 
Consulate.  The  first  question  he  puts  to  the  latter  is  this  : 
"  Have  you  received  the  letters  for  my  family  which  I 
addressed  here?"  Alas!  of  all  the  letters  that  he  had 
written,  the  last  eight  months,  not  one  had  yet  come  to 
hand.  He  therefore  writes  without  further  delay  to  his 
sister  Marie,  telling  her  first  that  he  has  never  been  a  minute 
ill,  and  has  never  risked  the  least  danger.  This  assertion 
was  not  quite  true.  He  added  that  of  the  6,000  francs 
which  he  had  at  his  disposal  for  the  journey,  4,000  were 
spent,  and  that  he  had  left  in  reserve  2,000  francs,  which 
he  now  comes  for. 

"  In  setting  out,  I  told  you  I  shall  remain  a  year.  At 
the  bottom  of  my  heart,  I  thought  of  remaining  at  most 
six  months.  I  told  you  double  so  that  you  might  not  be 
anxious  in  case  my  absence  was  prolonged;  and  you  see 
the  time  I  gave  you  turns  out  right.  My  journey  has  lasted 
ivery  nearly  a  year.  It  is  now  eight  months  since  I  set  out. 
I  am  going  to  spend  about  a  month  here,  waiting  for  news 
from  you  and  money,  then  I  shall  again  set  out  for  the 
south,  and  return  to  Algeria,  if  it  please  God,  by  the  follow- 
ing route  :  Mezquita,  Dadis,  Todra,  Ferkla,  Ksabi-esh- 
Sheurfa,  the  course  of  the  Wady-Muluya,  Debdu,  Ujda, 
from  where  I  shall  re-enter  French  territory  by  Lalla- 
Marnia ;  all  that  will  take  me  two  months  and  a  half.  As 
soon  as  I  get  back  to  Algeria,  how  happy,  my  dear  Mimi, 
shall  I  be  to  take  the  steamer  and  hasten  to  you  ! 

"  From  the  geographical  point  of  view,  my  journey  goes 
on  very  well  :  my  instruments  are  in  good  condition  ;  none 
of  them  got  out  of  order ;  I  have  visited  new  countries,  and 
bring  back,  I  believe,  some  useful  information.  From  the 
moral  point  of  view,  it  is  very  sad;  always  alone,  never  a 
friend,  never  a  Christian  to  speak  to.  .  .  .  If  you  knew 
how  much  I  am  thinking  of  you,  of  our  happy  days  of  the 
past  with  grandfather,  and  of  those  we  spent  together  with 
my  aunt ;  and  how  all  these  thoughts  absorb  one  when  one 
is  as  isolated  as  I  have  just  been.  It  is,  above  all,  Christ- 
mas and  New  Year's  Dav  which  seemed  to  me  so  sad.  I 
remembered  grandfather  and  the  Christmas-tree,  and  all 
the  good  times  of  our  childhood.  y\nd  on  New  Year's 
Day,  it  is  for  you  I  was  sorry.  .  .  .  And  yet  I  did  not 
know  that  none  of  my  letters  had  reached  you  !  I  sent  you 
some  by  special  messenger,  I  sent  you  some  by  caravans  : 


THE  EXPLORER  55 

each  time  I  found  an  opportunity  to  send  off  a  word,  I  seized 
it  eagerly ;  and  nothiing  got  through.  My  poor  Mimi,  how 
pleased  you  will  be  to  hear  from  me,  and  how  happy  I 
shall  be  to  hear  from  you  !  I  fear  but  one  thing  :  it  is  that 
you  will  beg  me  to  end  my  journey  and  return  immediately. 
I  pray  you  to  be  sensible  :  relatively  I  shall  want  only  a 
very  little  time  to  end  it,  and  then  I  shall  have  made  a  fine 
journey,  and  finished  what  I  meant  to  do.  When  you 
start  with  saying  what  you  are  going  to  do  you  must  not 
come  back  without  having  done  it.  .  .  ."  At  the  end  of 
the  letter,  Charles  de  Foucauld  explains  how  the  money  is 
to  be  sent  to  Tangier,  where  a  banker  will  write  to  one  of 
his  colleagues  in  Mogador,  and  the  traveller  will  be  able  to 
set  out  again. 

Other  letters  to  his  sister  relate,  with  charm  and  vivacity, 
the  life  he  is  leading  at  Mogador;  it  is  not  an  idle  life  or 
simply  repose.  "  I  am  up  to  my  neck  in  my  longitudes," 
he  writes  on  February  8.  "I  work  from  morning  to  night, 
and  a  part  of  the  night.  This  is  a  hundred  times  more 
thrilling  than  the  journey  itself,  for  there  lies  the  result.  If 
it  is  not  good,  then  eight  months  of  toil  and  trouble  have 
been  thrown  away  ;  but  I  hope  it  will  be  presentable.  Here 
I  am  marvellously  placed  for  work.  I  lodge  in  a  boarding 
hotel  arranged  in  European  fashion,  but  kept  by  Spanish 
Jews;  I  have  a  suitable  room,  in  which  I  stay  all  day  long, 
and  in  the  evening  dine  in  it.  I  go  out  only  once  a  day,  to 
lunch  at  the  house  of  the  only  Frenchman  in  Mogador, 
M.  Moutel,  chancellor  of  the  Consulate  (the  consul  is 
absent).  .  .  .  Every  day  I  am  very  pleased  to  find  myself 
once  more,  for  two  or  three  hours,  in  a  French  home.  .  .   ." 

**  February  14. — I  spend  my  time  in  the  most  routine 
manner  in  the  world  :  From  7  o'clock  to  1 1  in  the  morning  I 
work:  from  1 1  to  i  o'clock,  I  go  and  lunch  at  the  Chan- 
cellor's; at  I  I  get  back  to  work;  at  7  o'clock  I  dine  at  my 
hotel.  Then  I  go  back  and  work  till  i  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. As  to  visits,  I  pay  none,  since  there  is  nobody  to 
see ;  I  receive  one  each  day  from  the  negro  who  commands 
the  escort  which  accompanied  me.  Don't  fancy  this  is 
enormous.  At  the  start  it  was  three  men,  and  now  is  no 
more  than  two ;  the  third,  who  was  a  slave  of  the  said  negro, 
was  latterly  sold  by  his  master.  Those  that  remain  are 
patiently,  or  rather  a  little  impatiently,  waiting  for  the 
time  of  my  starting  again.  Every  day  the  chief,  the  negro, 
a  Sheikh  of  Tisint,  comes  to  report  the  condition  of  the 
men  and  mules,  and  what  he  has  done,  and  to  take  his 


56  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

money  for  the  day  :  it  means  a  chat  and  a  lesson  in 
Arabic.  ...  I  am  very  anxious  not  to  be  too  much 
noticed,  so  that  the  Moroccan  Government  may  not  get 
wind  of  my  projects,  and  seek  to  put  obstacles  in  my  way  : 
its  policy  has  long  been  to  prevent  Europeans  by  every 
possible  means  from  travelling  in  the  interior  of  the 
empire.  .   .   ." 

"  March  7,  1884. — Letters  are  very  behindhand,  my  goojd 
Mimi.  Every  minute  I  fancy  I  see  a  mail  arrive;  but 
nothing  comes,  always  nothing.  However,  it  is  thirty-five 
days  to-day  since  my  first  letters  left.  ...  I  am  still  stay- 
ing at  the  same  Jewish  hotel.  .  .  .  The  French  Colony  is 
not  very  numerous  here  :  the  consul,  the  chancellor  and  his 
wife,  a  merchant  and  his  wife,  an  Anglican  missionary, 
nationalized  French,  and  an  Alsatian  doctor.  The  mis- 
sionary is  a  very  agreeable  and  well-bred  man.  He  is  mar- 
ried and  has  almost  always  European  friends  in  his  house. 
At  present  a  very  handsome  young  English  lady  is  there, 
who  speaks  French  perfectly.  I  find  it  very  pleasant  to  go 
from  time  to  time  and  spend  the  evening  in  this  house, 
where  I  hear  the  Lac  and  I'Envoi  de  Fleurs  sung,  which 
reminds  me  of  a  very  happy  time  :  but  it  is  already  far 
away.  ,  .  .  However,  as  soon  as  your  letters  arrive,  I 
shall  be  off  at  a  gallop  towards  the  South." 

In  a  letter  Charles  de  Foucauld  pretends  that  he  cannot 
draw.  If  you  open  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc,  you  will 
find  on  the  title-page  :  With  Four  full-page  and  a  Hundred- 
and-one  other  Illustrations  from  the  Author's  Sketches. 
These  sketches,  a  few  pen-strokes,  but  composed  with  a 
very  sure  feeling  for  landscape,  and  drawn  with  an  evident 
scruple  for  exactitude,  add  singularly  to  the  beauty  of  the 
work,  and  afford  play  to  the  imagination.  Doubtless,  we 
would  like  to  see  the  colour  of  these  rocks,  mountains,  this 
desert  and  those  palm-trees  on  the  bank  of  a  wady,  but, 
however  imperfect  a  simple  line  illustration  may  be,  it  helps 
to  guide  our  eyes,  which  arouse  memory  and  fill  it  with 
light. 

The  money  having  come,  Foucauld  sets  off  again  with 
the  Hajj  Bu  Rhim  from  Mogador  for  Tisint  on  March  14, 
1884,  by  a  different  way  to  that  which  he  had  taken  in  going 
there.  Reaching  the  Wady-vSus  to  the  south  of  Agadir, 
he  follows  the  right  bank  of  the  river  some  way  off  : 

"  I  shall  see  it  all  day  long,  winding  among  tamarisks, 
surrounded  by  cultivation,  with  tall  olive-trees  shading  its 


THE  EXPLORER  57 

course,  and  two  rows  of  villages  arranged  in  a  zig-zag 
along  its  banks.  The  river,  with  its  border  of  fields,  trees, 
and  houses,  forms  a  wide  green  band  unwinding  through 
the  middle  of  the  plain,  about  35  feet  below  the  general 
level.  A  slope  with  an  angle  of  45°  unites  the  hollow  to 
the  surrounding  land.  I  go  to  the  north  of  the  slope,  in 
the  Sus  Plain.  It  is  an  immense  surface,  smooth  as  a 
mirror,  of  red  earth  without  a  stone.  It  spreads  between 
the  Great  and  Lesser  Atlas.  .  .  .  Here  its  width  is 
40  kilometres.  .  .  .  The  valley  of  the  Sus  does  not  vary 
during  the  three  days  that  I  go  up  it;  a  plain  of  marvellous 
fertility,  enclosed  between  two  long  chains,  one  of  which, 
less  lofty  and  with  uniform  ridges,  borders  the  horizon  on 
the  south  by  a  brown  line,  whilst  the  other,  shooting  into 
the  clouds,  raises  above  the  country  the  bluish  flanks  and 
white  tops  of  its  gigantic  masses  perpendicularly.  .    .   ." 

On  March  31,  the  traveller  was  back  in  the  Tisint  region, 
where  Rabbi  Mardochee  was  waiting  for  him. 

He  did  not  immediately  proceed  to  the  North-East.  No 
one  would  agree  to  accompany  him  into  the  country  which 
he  first  sought  to  enter  :  he  was  obliged  to  go  back  by 
Tazendakht. 

We  know  henceforth  what  was  Charles  de  Foucauld's 
manner  of  travelling,  the  endurance  and  courage  he  showed, 
and  how  fine  a  mind  as  scholar  and  poet  he  showed  in 
writing  his  memoranda.  I  have  therefore  only  to  note  a 
few  names,  on  this  return  journey,  so  soon  finished. 

From  Tazendakht,  he  went  to  Mezquita,  then  to  Dadis, 
then  to  Ksabi-esh-Sheurfa.  On  the  way,  he  was  detained 
for  two  days  by  heavy  rains.  On  May  8  he  forded  the 
Muluya,  apparently  the  widest  stream  that  he  crossed,  since 
the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc  notes  here  a  width  of  over 
100  feet  and  a  depth  of  4  feet. 

The  last  stages  brought  him  to  Debdu,  the  first  place 
carrying  on  regular  trade  with  Algeria.  The  traveller  had 
not  a  centime.  Fortunately  he  w^as  only  a  four  days'  ride 
from  Lalla-Marnia.  He  sold  his  mules,  thus  procuring  the 
wherewithal  to  hire  others,  and,  starting  from  Ujda  at 
7  a.m.  on  May  23,  arrived  on  French  territory  at  10,  and 
soon  after  in  Lalla-Marnia,  where  he  left  Mardochee. 

After  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc,  Charles  de  Foucauld 
wrote  a  second  part,  which  he  entitled  "Information," 
with  the  methodical  mind  that  is  so  striking  in  the  actual 
telling  of  his  travels.  In  this  wholly  scientific  part  are 
assembled  the  details  that  the  traveller  was  able  to  observe 


58  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

or  collect  about  the  rivers  and  their  tributaries ;  the  tribes 
and  their  divisions;  the  number  of  guns  and  horses  at  their 
disposal ;  the  routes,  those  which  he  had  followed  and  those 
which  he  was  told  about,  with  notes  of  the  duration  of  the 
stages  :  a  sort  of  guide-book  used,  and  still  in  use,  by  the 
leaders  of  our  troops  operating  in  Morocco.  Towards  the 
end  is  an  appendix  on  the  Jews  of  Morocco,  a  social  and 
statistical  study ;  then  the  list  of  astronomical  observations 
made  in  the  course  of  the  journey,  the  table  of  latitudes 
and  longitudes,  the  meteorological  observations,  and  an 
index  of  the  geographical  names  contained  in  the  volume 
and  the  atlas. 

A  year  after  the  return  of  Charles  de  Foucauld  to 
French  territory,  on  April  24,  1885,  ^^  the  Paris  Soci^te  de 
Geographie  a  report  was  read  by  Duveyrier  on  the  Recon- 
naissance au  Maroc,  of  which  he  had  studied  the  manu- 
script. "In  eleven  months,  from  the  20th  of  June,  1883, 
to  the  23rd  of  May,  1884,  a  single  man,  the  Vicomte  de 
Foucauld,  has  doubled,  at  least,  the  length  of  carefully  sur- 
veyed itineraries  in  Morocco.  He  went  over  again  and  per- 
fected 689  kilometres  of  the  works  of  his  predecessors,  and 
added  2,250  other  kilometres  to  them.  As  to  astronomic 
geography,  he  has  determined  45  longitudes  and  40  lati- 
tudes ;  and  where  we  only  possessed  a  few  dozen  altitudes, 
he  has  brought  back  3,000.  You  must  see  that  we  have  to 
thank  M.  de  Foucauld  for  opening  what  is  indeed  a  new 
era,  and  one  does  not  know  which  is  to  be  most  admired, 
these  fine  and  useful  results,  or  the  self-sacrifice,  courage, 
and  ascetic  abnegation,  thanks  to  which  this  young  French 
officer  has  obtained  them."  Duveyrier  indicates  after- 
wards which  are  the  parts  of  the  journey  that  may  justly 
bear  the  name  of  discoveries;  they  are  numerous  and  im- 
portant. He  proves  that  the  Vicomte  de  Foucauld's  ob- 
servations have  corrected  by  a  full  degree  to  the  west  the 
direction  of  the  course  of  the  Dra,  as  shown  on  the  map  of 
the  German  doctor  Rohlfs.  Lastly,  he  announced,  in 
finishing  his  report,  that  the  Soci6t^  de  Gc^ographie  con- 
ferred the  first  of  its  gold  medals  on  the  young  explorer. 

In  our  curtailed  account  of  it  the  journey  may  appear  to 
be  comparatively  easy.  In  reality,  it  presented  all  sorts  of 
difliculties  and  dangers.  Although,  on  this  last  point, 
Charles  de  Foucauld  has  been  very  sparing  in  details,  and 
has  elsewhere  voluntarily  omitted  many  troublesome  inci- 
dents which  delayed  or  hastened  his  journey,  it  is  easy,  in 
going  through  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc,  to  point  out 
numerous  occasions  where  the  energy,  endurance,  and  skill 


THE  EXPLORER  59 

of  the  French  officer  were  put  to  proof.  For  instance,  on 
October  26,  1883,  the  chief  of  a  caravan  met  on  the  road 
proposes  to  the  escort  to  help  him  to  loot  the  traveller  and 
share  the  booty.  On  April  7,  1884,  Charles  de  Foucauld's 
host  tells  him  that  he  receives  him  willingly  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  a  friend,  but  that  if  he,  Abd  Allah,  or  his 
sons,  had  found  this  Jew  in  the  country,  with  so  feeble  an 
escort,  they  would  undoubtedly  have  robbed  him.  On 
May  12,  the  traveller,  who  was  taking  notes  and  riding  at 
the  head  of  the  caravan,  is  suddenly  shot  at  from  behind, 
thrown  off  his  mount  by  two  of  his  guides,  who  rob  him  of 
his  money  and  all  the  objects  which  appear  to  them  of  any 
value.  vStill  more,  for  a  day  and  a  half  these  robbers 
pressed  the  third  guide  to  let  them  kill  Charles  de  Foucauld, 
who  did  not  miss  a  word  they  said.  It  must  be  added,  to 
the  honour  of  the  Rabbi  Mardochee,  that  he  there  and  then 
went  to  the  help  of  his  companion  ;  but  he  was  quickly 
thrust  aside. 

These  few  incidents,  others  that  I  have  cited,  and  others 
that  may  be  guessed  between  the  lines;  but,  above  all,  his 
tenacity  in  following  up  his  route,  in  spite  of  all  kinds  of 
obstacles;  his  refusal  to  interrupt  his  journey  at  Mogador 
and  return  directly  to  France ;  his  patience  in  presence  of 
insults;  his  fidelity  to  take  daily,  on  march  or  in  repose, 
always  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  notes  and  sketches ;  his  quick- 
ness in  discerning  the  secret  dispositions  of  minds  so 
different  from  his  own  ;  such  strength  of  will  in  moral  soli- 
tude, so  austere  a  diet,  such  unremitting  work — reveal  in 
this  young  man  a  mastery  over  self,  such  as  the  past  hardly 
foretold.  "  He,  himself,  recognized  it  later  on,  and  said  that 
the  eight  months'  campaign  against  Bu  Amama  had 
changed  him  very  much. 

The  great  exploration  of  Morocco  will,  as  we  shall  see, 
change  him  still  more  deeply. 

What  must  be  said  in  finishing  this  chapter  is  that 
Charles  de  Foucauld  will  never  forget  Morocco.  Once,  he 
will  seem  on  the  point  of  returning  there  :  he  will  rejoice  in 
his  heart  at  the  thought  of  going  freely  over  this  country  to 
which  France  has  at  last  come,  and,  along  with  her,  a 
hope  of  improvement,  of  justice  and  friendship  for  the 
people  "  seated  in  the  shadow  of  death."  Soon  the  project 
of  a  mission  that  he  had  neither  inspired  nor  hastened  was 
abandoned,  and  fell  along  with  the  good  political  intentions 
which  have  found  no  man  strong  enough  to  defend  them. 
But  all  his  life,  the  officer,  become  a  priest,  will  remain  "  at 
the  disposal  of  Morocco";  in   1901   he  will  settle  down, 


6o  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

almost  on  the  frontier  of  this  State;  he  will  note  in  his 
memorandum-book,  with  a  happiness  that  may  be  guessed, 
the  visits  he  has  received  from  Moroccans;  in  his  conversa- 
tions, in  his  letters,  above  all  in  his  prayers  in  which  the 
unfortunates  of  so  many  nations  will  find  a  place,  he  will 
not  cease  to  name  Morocco.  He  will  feel  for  the  tribes 
which  he  visited,  for  the  known  and  unknown  of  this  land 
of  his  youth,  renewed  and  increasing  friendship.  For  it  is 
not  only  the  geographer,  the  clear-eyed  artist,  the  French- 
man always  thinking  of  the  call  of  France,  who  will  love  the 
Maghreb  Empire ;  it  will  be  the  priest  moved  by  a  fraternal 
compassion,  and  who  will  write  on  a  December  evening  : 
"  For  some  time  I  have  been  thinking  so  much  about 
Morocco,  of  that  Morocco  where  ten  million  inhabitants 
have  neither  priest  nor  altar ;  where  Christmas  night  will 
pass  without  Mass  and  without  prayers."^ 

^  Foreign  geographers,  and  specially  the  English,  have  appreciated,  in 
a  suitable  manner,  the  exploration  undertaken  by  Vicomte  de  Foucauld 
and  the  account  which  he  has  given  of  it.  I  would  give  many  quota- 
tions. I  reproduce  only  these  lines  written  by  one  of  the  most  competent 
judges,  Mr.  Budgett  Meakin  : 

"  It  is  a  real  satisfaction  to  have  these  magnificent  volumes  in  one's 
hands.  They  relate  the  most  important  and  most  remarkable  journey 
that  a  European  has  for  a  century  or  more  undertaken  to  Morocco.  .  .  . 
No  modern  traveller  has  approached  M.  de  Foucauld,  from  the  double 
point  of  view  of  the  precision  of  the  observations  and  the  preparation 
for  the  journey.  Besides  the  work  accomplished  by  him,  the  attempts 
of  other  travellers  have  been  but  child's  play  "  (extract  from  the  Compte 
rendu  du  Congres  dc  geographic  d'Oran,  April,  1902).  The  Paris  Societe 
de  Geographie  possesses  three  books  of  drawings  by  Vicomte  de 
Foucauld,  lead-pencil  drawings,  done  during  the  journey  in  Morocco. 
These  number  135.  The  day  on  which  the  gold  medal  was  awarded 
to  him  by  this  Society,  the  explorer  was  in  Algiers,  and  the  reporter, 
Duveyrier,  was  travelling  in  Morocco.  The  medal  was  handed  to 
Vicomte  de  Bondy,  Charles  de  Foucauld's  cousin. 


CHAPTER  IV 

His  Conversion 

'^r^HE  first  months,  after  the  return  from  Morocco,  were 
X  almost  entirely  spent  in  Algeria.  Charles  de  Foucauld 
did  not  at  once  begin  to  compile  and  write  the  book  for 
which  he  brought  back  the  materials  :  he  verified  his  notes, 
deciphered  them  if  necessary,  consulted  his  friends — in  a 
word,  prepared  the  work  that  he  was  to  do  a  little  later  in 
Paris.  He  made  a  few  stops  in  France,  some  visiting  tours 
and  looking  people  up,  but  his  "  headquarters,"  his  papers, 
library,  and  habits  continued  to  be  what  they  were  before 
the  great  journey.  At  one  moment,  it  might  even  be 
thought  that  the  explorer  was  going  to  get  married  in 
Algeria.  A  young  girl  had  taken  his  fancy.  She  was  of 
a  good  family,  and  he  came  from  far.  He  wrote  to  Paris, 
where  he  found  little  encouragement.  I  don't  know  whether 
he  was  badly  smitten  and  what  opposition  he  had.  But 
when  he  had  made  another  excursion  to  France,  in  the 
summer  of  1885,  and  lived  some  time  near  Bordeaux,  at 
his  aunt's,  Madame  Moitessier,  in  the  Chateau  du  Tuguet, 
he  gave  up  the  idea.  He  was  called  to  quite  other  destinies  ; 
he  thus  helped  them  forward  without  knowing  it. 

A  higher  will  has  him  in  its  grip.  It  urges  him  on  to 
action,  lashes  him,  and  leads  him  on  towards  a  hidden  goal. 
The  call  of  the  desert  makes  itself  heard  once  more.  From 
the  beginning  of  September,  Charles  has  been  at  Nice,  at  his 
brother-in-law's,  M.  de  Blic,  the  confidant  of  his  thoughts. 
What  are  they?  Do  you  not  guess?  He  is  going  to  set 
out  again  :  naturally,  he  is  going  South.  He  wants  to  visit 
the  oases  and  the  shotts  of  Algeria  and  Tunis.  It  may  be 
only  the  prelude  to  a  greater  journey.  I  know  an  intimate 
friend  of  his  who  believes  that  the  explorer's  secret  intention 
was  to  investigate  the  means  and  find  the  best  starting- 
point  for  crossing  the  Sahara.  Henceforth  who  can  tell? 
Foucauld  hardly  gave  any  intimation  of  his  plans  and  did 
not  talk  about  his  recollections.  On  the  eve  of  undertaking 
this  "  excursion,"  as  he  used  to  say,  in  the  regions  of  the 
shotts,  he  now  and  then  saw  his  sister's  uneasy  looks 
directed  towards  him.  "Fear  nothing,"  he  used  to  reply, 
"  no  harm  will  happen  to  me  :  with  care  one  can  go  any- 
where." 

61 


62  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

On  Seplember  14,  he  embarked  at  Port-Vendres  for 
Algiers.  A  few  weeks  earlier  he  had  written  to  his  friend 
de  Vassal,  who  was  at  El-Golea,  begging  him  to  get  two 
camels  and  two  horses,  and  to  engage  an  Arab  servant  for 
the  expedition. 

The  route  in  all  its  parts  is  not  known  to  us.     We  only 
know   that   Foucauld,    passing   through   the   south   of   the 
province  of  Oran,  visited  Laghuat,  then,  going  still  more 
to  the  south,  the  oasis  of  Ghardaia  and  the  inhospitable 
Mzab,  where  he  was  one  day  to  return  in  the  habit  of  a 
monk,  and  to  win  the  sympathy  of  a  people  hostile  beyond 
all  others  to  Christians  :    then   El-Golea,    Wargla,   where 
Lieutenant   Cauvet  was  officer  in  charge   (at   the  end  of 
November,   1885) ;  Tuggurt :  the  region  of  Jerid,  between 
the  shott  El-Gharsa  and  the  shott  El-Jerid.     An  immense 
journey  through  desolate  countries,  where  one  must  travel 
many    days    and   sleep    many    nights,    before    perceiving, 
paled    by    the    blinding    light,    a    palm-grove's    dash    of 
green.     If  you  try  to  follow  it  on  the  atlas,  you  will  find 
few   names    printed   between    the   above-mentioned.      But 
what  do  they  indicate  ?      Not  villages,   as  in   Europe,  or 
running  rivers,   but  dunes,  stony  expanses,   fossil   rivers, 
dried-up  quagmires  where,  among  the  salt  deposits  of  the 
evaporated  waters,  a  few  tufts  of  reddened  or  grey  grass 
live  with  difficulty ;  a  well ;  the  uncertain  habitat  of  a  wan- 
dering   tribe.      We    know,     moreover,    that    Charles    de 
Foucauld,  in  love  with  solitude,  already  affianced  to  her, 
often  leaves  his  native  servant  and  baggage  behind,  and 
steals  off,  until  he  no  longer  sees  anything  around  him  but 
the  desert.     He  thus  more  than  once  went  two  days  ahead. 
He  used  to  eat  what  he  had  in  his  pockets.     At  night  he  lay 
down  on  the  ground,  and  gazed  for  a  long  time  at  the  stars. 
Perhaps  training  himself  to  do  without  sleep.     Perhaps  the 
religious  crisis  which  I  am  going  to  relate  kept  him  awake, 
questioning,  waiting  for  the  breath  of  God,  which  fills  the 
heart  better  in  darkness  and  silence.     He  loved  scenery, 
and  therefore  the  starry  heavens,  the  grandest  of  all.     In 
the  morning  he  saddled  his  tethered  horse,  joined  his  Arab 
servant,  took  food  enough  for  a  day  or  two,  and  went  off 
again. 

Having  crossed  Southern  Algeria,  from  west  to  east,  he 
must  naturall}^  end  on  the  Tunisian  coast.  The  last  oasis 
he  visited  was,  in  fact,  the  warm  and  hidden  oasis  of  Gabes, 
quite  close  to  the  shore,  where  barley  and  vegetables  grow 
under  the  bushes,  and  the  bushes  beneath  the  shade  of  high 
palms.     From  there  he  embarked  for  France. 


HIS  CONVERSION  63 

Back  in  Nice,  on  January  23,  1886,  after  more  than  four 
months'  absence,  Charles  rested  until  February  19.  At 
that  date  he  left  his  brother-in-law  and  sister,  came  and 
settled  down  in  Paris,  where  he  took  a  small  apartment  at 
No.  50,  Rue  de  Miromesnil.  The  period  which  opens 
belongs  to  work  and  the  family  circle.  The  family,  far 
from  which  he  had  lived  for  a  long  time,  received  him  intel- 
ligently and  delightfully.  There  was  nothing  but  joy  :  no 
sermons  or  reproaches,  and  no  wish  put  forward.  He  was 
feted  and  they  were  proud  of  him ;  he  saw  the  most  select 
and  thoughtful  society  of  Paris.  Men,  whose  ascent  to 
power  had  made  them  famous  without  compromising  them, 
conversed  in  his  presence  of  the  religious  and  political 
affairs  of  France.  They  were  Christians  who  made  no 
mystery  of  their  Faith.  Charles  met  them  every  week. 
Gentle  feminine  influences  were  all  about  him;  he  lived  in 
the  intimacy  of  relations  who  reminded  him  of  his  mother, 
and  from  whorfi  he  received,  without  their  knowing  it,  a 
perpetual  example  of  wit,  grace,  and  wholesome  gaiety  and 
piety.  They  were  the  Countess  Armand  de  Foucauld, 
mother  of  Louis  de  Foucauld,  the  future  military  attache  in 
Berlin  ;  and  Madame  Moitessier  and  her  two  daughters,  the 
Countess  de  Flavigny  and  the  Countess  de  Bondy. 

Ines  de  Foucauld,  Charles's  aunt,  a  person  of  great 
beauty,  painted  twice  by  Ingres,^  had  married  M.  Moi- 
tessier, a  native  of  Mirecourt,  who  had  made  a  considerable 
fortune  as  an  importer  of  tobacco.  She  lived  in  a  fine  man- 
sion, 42,  Rue  d'Anjou,  at  the  corner  of  Boulevard  Males- 
herbes,  where  she  received  a  great  deal  of  company.  Very 
intelligent,  endowed  with  a  will  of  the  Foucaulds,  which 
goes  where  it  wants  to  go ;  very  much  a  woman  of  the 
world ;  marvellously  skilled  in  the  art  of  making  others 
appreciated  and  desired,  of  appearing  interested  in  dis- 
cussions she  did  not  quite  understand,  of  starting  them 
again  if  they  languished,  marking  by  a  word  or  smile  what 
she  did  not  approve,  without  ever  offending— she  had  held 
the  political  salon  of  one  of  the  youngest  ministers  we  have 
had,  Louis  Buffet,  her  husband's  nephew,  who  was  minister 
at  the  age  of  thirty.  Louis  Buffet ;  Aime  Buffet  his  bro- 
ther, an  inspector  of  bridges  and  roads ;  Estancelin,  due  de 
Broglie,  had  remained  the  intimates  of  the  house.  Some 
were  invited  of  right,  and  there  were  others.  Charles  was 
one  of  those  at  all  Madame  Moitessier 's  "  Sunday  at 
homes."      In  addition  to  that,  he  used  to  go  to  the  Rue 

^  These  two  fine  portraits  were  exhibited  in  Paris  among  others 
of  Ingres  in  May,  ig2i.     One  of  them  is  dated  1851,  the  other  1856. 


64  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

d'Anjou  several  times  a  week  to  dine  at  6  o'clock,  of  course 
always  in  evening-dress.  When  he  got  home  to  the  Rue 
de  Miromesnil,  he  undressed,  put  on  a  gandourah,  soft 
leather  slippers,  enfolded  himself  in  a  burnous,  put  a 
cushion  under  his  head,  and  lay  on  a  carpet.  One  of  the 
remarkable  particularities  of  Charles  de  Foucauld's  room 
was  that  no  bed  was  seen  there.  There  was  none.  The 
furniture  was  that  of  a  man  of  taste,  who  had  had  ancestors 
in  the  history  of  France,  and  who  dreams  of  the  East.  On 
the  walls  water-colours  and  pen  sketches  of  landscapes  in 
Morocco  hung  beside  family  portraits  painted  by  Largil- 
liere :  here  and  there  were  suspended  arms  and  stuffs, 
brought  back  from  Algeria.  The  book-case  did  not  con- 
tain a  great  number  of  books,  but  the  greater  number  were 
rare  ones  or  elegant  editions.  Shut  up  all  day,  Charles 
used  to  write,  delete  or  correct,  consult  his  notes  and  put 
together  the  solid  and  magnificent  book  which  was  to  make 
his  name  known  to  all  the  geographers  in  the  world  and 
even  in  other  circles.  If  he  was  puzzled  or  had  to  look  up 
something,  he  left  his  work-table  and  went  to  a  public 
library,  or  to  Duveyrier's.  Duveyrier  was  celebrated  at 
the  age  of  twenty  :  since  then  he  had  lived  in  the  glory  of 
his  past,  incapable  of  renewing  it.  In  i860,  when  young 
men  are  still  but  B.A.'s,  uncertain  of  the  road  to  choose, 
already  a  botanist,  geologist,  versed  in  Oriental  languages, 
thoroughly  civilized,  marvellously  endowed  for  meeting  and 
winning  barbarians,  he  made  the  then  perilous  journey  from 
Laghuat  to  El-Golea.  Imprisoned  by  the  inhabitants  of 
El-Gol6a,  then  delivered,  he  only  made  use  of  his  liberty 
to  plunge  into  the  dread  unknown  of  the  Sahara,  to  visit  the 
South  of  Tunis,  a  part  of  Tripoli  and  the  territory  of  the 
Azjers,  the  most  Oriental,  and  also  the  most  hostile  of  all 
the  Tuareg  tribes.  The  book  he  then  wrote  very  justly 
made  him  famous  ;  but  prostrated  by  illness,  and  hence  con- 
demned to  be  no  more  than  an  adviser  on  the  Sahara, 
Duveyrier  suffered,  not  only  from  being  unable  to  start 
afresh  and  make  new  discoveries  and  increase  his  reputa- 
tion, but  from  seeing  France  lessened  in  187 1,  and  as  it 
were  diffident  of  her  powers.  He  never  lost  his  recollection 
of  the  work  he  had  done,  but  could  not  continue  it.  He 
received  his  rival,  the  explorer  of  Morocco,  affectionately, 
and  began  to  travel  again,  but  in  a  way  he  did  not  like  :  on 
maps,  in  books,  in  his  own  memories,  and  in  those  of 
others. 

Slowly,    the   innumerable   documents   brought  back   by 
Foucauld  turned  into  science  and  life.     Not  without  some 


HIS  CONVERSION  65 

astonishment  can  one  witness  this  transformation  in  the 
habits  of  the  former  lieutenant  of  Pont-a-Mousson  and 
Setif.  Whence  does  it  come?  Principally  from  an  ambi- 
tion that  had  taken  possession  of  him,  and  which  he  served 
with  that  tense  and  restless  will  which  was  the  original  mark 
of  Charles  de  Foticauld,  and,  it  may  be  said,  of  his  race. 

After  the  publication  of  the  book  which  he  wrote  after  the 
excursion  to  the  shotts,  he  had  resolved  to  undertake  other 
great  journeys.  He  did  not  speak  of  his  plans  to  anybody, 
but  his  mind  was  often  busy  with  them.  Another  thought 
haunted  and  disturbed  it. 

I  said  that  Charles  de  Foucauld  had  been  deeply  moved, 
during  his  sojourn  in  Algeria  and  Morocco,  by  the  per- 
petual invocation  of  God  among  those  around  him.     Their 
calls  to  prayer,  the  prostrations  five  times  a  day  towards  the 
East,  the  name  of  Allah  unceasingly  repeated  in  conversa- 
tions or  writings,  all  the  religious  pomp  of  Musulman  life, 
led  him  to  say  to  himself:   "And  here  am  I  without  reli- 
gion!"    For  the  Jews  prayed  also,  and  to  the  same  God 
as  the  Arabs  or  the  Moroccans.     The  vices  which  had  cor- 
rupted the  mind  or  heart  of  these  men  had  not  prevented 
their  meditative  witness  from  feeling  the  grandeur  of  faith. 
Again  in  Algeria,  he  had  even  said  to  a  few  of  his  friends  : 
"I  am  thinking  of  becoming  a  Musulman."     Words  of 
feeling,  which  reason  had  not  ratified.     On  the  first  exam- 
ination, it  appeared  to  him,  as  he  confided  to  one  of  his 
intimate  friends,  that  the  religion  of  Mahomet  could  not  be 
the  true  one,  "  being  too  material."    But  the  uneasiness  re- 
mained.    Blessed  be  it !     For  it  is  a  proof  of  superiority  in 
him  who  experiences  it,  a  great  event  in  the  order  of  grace, 
the   blessed  sign   that   a   soul    is   going  to   find  the  way 
again.     This  young  man,  born  in  Catholicism,  lacked  a 
good  understanding  of  this  magnificent,  divine  and  sound 
religion,    and    any    such    sense    of    its    transcendence    to 
return  to  it  without  hesitation  as  soon  as  the  tyranny  of 
matter  weighed  too  heavily  upon  him.     He  was,  in  truth, 
sad  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  with  an  old  sadness.     Live  a 
life  of  pleasure  as  he  would,  it  had  only  increased.     It  had 
held  him,   as  he  confessed  when  he  wrote:    "silent  and 
overwhelmed  at  so-called  fetes."     Since  then,  it  had  neither 
been  dispelled  by  man's  science,  nor  by  action,  nor  by  suc- 
cess and  fame.     Now  he  had  certainly  submitted  to  the  dis- 
cipline of  work,  and  hence  felt  better  than  in  the  past,  but 
not  disburdened  of  his  faults,   not  what  he  ought  to  be, 
morally  very  far  from  those  dear  ones  whom  he  saw  living 
in  his  own  united  and  happy  family. 

5 


66  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

He  read  a  great  deal.  But  a  great  secret  cowardice  is  in 
us  when  it  is  a  question  of  taking  up  a  rule  of  life  which  we 
know  to  be  strict  and  repressive.  We  seek  approximations 
in  order  not  to  have  to  come  to  the  ideal  of  perfection,  and 
trembling  nature  makes  us  take  counsel  with  men  rather 
than  with  God,  because  we  know  that  God  is  exacting.  It 
was  thus  that  Charles  de  Foucauld,  in  the  intervals  of  writ- 
ing the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc,  used  to  consult  pagan 
philosophers,  and  question  them  upon  duty,  the  soul,  and 
the  life  to  come.  He  thought  their  answers  were  poor. 
jThey  are  necessarily  so.  Unguided  reason  does  not  go  far 
in  the  problem  of  creation  and  destiny.  Charles's  mind 
was  too  clear  to  be  satisfied  with  the  noise  of  words  and  the 
brilliancy  of  images.  He  also  knew  that  the  philosophy  of 
ancient  times  had  purified  nothing,  softened  nothing, 
brought  no  consolation,  and  doubtless  he  would  have  re- 
turned to  the  maxim  of  absolute  scepticism  he  had  learnt  at 
college  :  "  Man  cannot  know  the  truth,"  if  the  sight  of  the 
chosen  little  society  in  which  he  again  found  himself  had 
not  each  day  shaken  the  fragile  authority  of  this  inference. 

The  probity,  delicacy,  and  charity  which  had  become 
habitual  and  in  a  manner  natural,  the  joy  also  of  the  con- 
sciences around  him  which  were  not  hidden  from  him,  but 
which  he  could  read,  constantly  forced  him  to  return  to 
himself.  "Here  are,"  he  said  to  himself,  "men  and 
women,  all  cultivated,  some  of  quite  superior  intelligence, 
and  since  they  entirely  accept  the  Catholic  Faith,  may  it 
not  be  true?  They  have  studied  it,  they  live  it  fully.  And 
what  do  I,  indeed,  know  of  it?  Honestly,  do  I  know 
Catholicism?" 

Mere  anxiety  about  such  things  is  itself  a  prayer,  and 
God  was  hearkening  to  it.  A  few  pages  of  a  Christian  book 
which  he  had  opened  after  so  many  others,  in  a  moment  of 
anguish — I  do  not  know  what  it  was — began  to  enlighten 
this  unbeliever,  v/ho  had  sought  perfect  beauty  and  infinite 
tenderness  wherever  they  were  not. 

Probably  his  aunt,  cousins,  and  sister,  who  came  several 
times  to  see  him  in  Paris,  and  whom  he  loved  tenderly,  had 
some  suspicion  of  the  interior  work  which  was  leading  a 
stray  heart  and  mind  to  the  truth.  They  did  not  hurry  it 
on  by  any  human  means.  They  were  good  and  kind,  they 
followed  the  straight  path,  they  prayed.  It  was  by  chance 
that  one  evening,  at  Madame  Moitessier's,  Charles  met  Abb6 
Huvelin,  who  had  long  been  a  friend  of  many  of  the 
de  Foucaulds.  Being  very  humble,  very  simple,  very  much 
a  man  of  prayer  and  mysticism,  this  old  Normal  scholar 


HIS  CONVERSION  67 

made  a  great  impression  on  the  man  who  was  one  day  to 
resemble  him.     What  did  he  say  that  evening  ? 

It  is  quite  certain  he  did  not  try  to  be  smart.  If  he  had 
wit,  it  was  because  he  could  not  help  having  it.  Friend- 
ships like  that  about  to  spring  up  between  Charles  de 
Foucauld  and  him  have  not  their  origin  in  words,  nor  in 
the  brilliancy  of  talent,  nor  in  the  will  to  conquer.  An 
unbeliever,  who  had  also  lived  badly,  finds  himself  in 
presence  of  another  man,  not  only  believing  and  chaste, 
but  now  a  man  of  prayer,  and  the  essence  of  pity  for  man's 
immense  frailty  and  suffering;  perhaps  even  more,  perhaps 
one  of  the  victims  who  are  said  to  offer  themselves  in  secret 
to  God  for  suffering  to  make  reparation  for  the  evil,  and  to 
alleviate  the  punishment  of  others.^  These  two  men  may 
only  have  exchanged  commonplace  remarks;  may  only 
have  bowed,  then  looked  at  each  other  five  or  six  times  that 
evening.  That  was  enough  :  they  recognized  and  waited 
for  one  another;  in  their  hearts  henceforth  they  called 
this  meeting  a  great  event.  The  one  thought  :  "  You  are 
religion  itself";  the  other:  "Brother,  unhappy  brother, 
I  am  but  a  poor  man,  but  God  is  very  kind.  He  is 
seeking  your  soul's  salvation."  They  never  forgot  one 
another. 

Abb6  Huvelin,  born  in  1838,  was  therefore,  in  1886,  still 
a  young  man,  although  he  hardly  appeared  so ;  the  penitent 
life  which  he  led  from  his  youth,  and  which  had  made  his 
comrades  of  the  Ecole  Normale  smile  or  stirred  them  ;  the 
fatigue  of  being  and  of  having  been  at  the  mercy  of  all 
sorrows  in  quest  of  easing,  of  all  human  restlessness  seek- 
ing a  decision ;  illness  also,  a  sort  of  general  rheumatism 
which  already  affiicted  him,  left  him  little  but  the  youth  of 
a  quick  mind  and  a  very  tender  heart.  His  head  leant  upon 
his  shoulder,  and  his  face  was  full  of  wrinkles  ;  walking  was 
often  a  torture  to  him.  In  Paris,  this  curate  at  Saint 
Augustine's  had  a  tremendous  clientele  of  penitents,  innu- 
merable friends,  and,  what  further  singularly  added  to  the 
complications  of  his  life,  a  reputation  for  sanctity. 

Holiness  is  the  most  powerful  attraction  for  drawing 
souls  together.  His  had  promptly  revealed  itself  in  the 
conferences  which  he  gave  to  young  men,  from  1875,  ^^ 
the  History  of  the  Church.  In  spite  of  his  protestations, 
he  had  seen  women  in  great  numbers,  and  men  whose  youth 

^  One  of  his  maxims  was  this':  "  One  does  good  much  less  by 
what  one  does  or  says,  than  by  what  one  is."  See  L'Enseignement 
catholique  dans  la  France  contemporaine,  by  Mgr.  Baudrillart,  Bloud 
et  Cie.,  1918. 


68  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

was  over,  mix  with  the  piibhc  for  which  his  conferences  in 
the  crypt  were  first  arranged.  He  spoke  also  in  the  parish 
pulpit,  and  they  thronged  to  hear  the  talks  of  one  who  did 
not  make  a  recitation,  did  not  seek  to  astonish,  but  im- 
provised on  a  theme  always  thoroughly  prepared,  pouring 
forth  an  exuberant  wit  in  living  and  natural  language, 
prudent  in  doctrine,  bold  in  what  he  had  to  say,  abundant 
in  reminiscences  of  literature  or  history,  a  man  of  digres- 
sions, parentheses,  exclamations,  and  unexpected  flashes — 
above  all,  a  man  with  a  long  experience  of  the  world  and  of 
mercy.  Hence  he  was  near  each  of  his  hearers  :  hence  he 
was  their  sure  and  wished-for  friend.  His  pity  for  sinners, 
one  may  say  his  tenderness  for  them,  touched  the  most 
indifferent.  They  felt  that  he  wished  them  better  so  that 
they  might  be  happier,  and  that  he  was  always  thinking, 
for  those  who  hardly  reflected  about  it,  of  the  definite  hour 
at  which  they  would  appear  before  God,  when  they  would 
be  judged,  condemned  in  their  unhappiness  without  hope 
of  dying,  for  death  does  not  exist,  even  for  a  moment;  all 
we  have  is  two  lives. 

The  extreme  zeal  of  Abbe  Huvelin,  the  steps  he  took,  the 
visits  he  paid  and  those  he  received,  his  immense  corre- 
spondence—  short,  affectionate,  and  clear  notes  —  the 
increase  of  austerity,  proof  of  which  is  forthcoming  at  cer- 
tain periods,  though  we  cannot  exactly  tell  why  :  all  this  is 
explained  by  his  love  for  souls  in  danger. 

For  yet  another  reason,  and  a  very  powerful  one,  he  was 
a  counsellor  to  whom  people  resorted  at  once  :  he  under- 
stood human  suffering.  He  sympathized  with  it ;  whatever 
it  was,  he  had  already  met  and  heard  and  helped  it.  For 
him  no  aspect  of  it  was  unknown.  Of  it  he  said,  simpli- 
fying a  phrase  of  Bossuet's  and  stripping  off  its  seven- 
teenth-century majesty  :  "  We  get  a  charm  from  sorrow." 
In  the  same  spirit  he  thus  defined  the  Church:  "The 
Church  is  a  widow."  This  saying  to  a  society  woman  is 
also  his  : 

"  Long  ago  I  found  out  how  to  be  happy." 

"How?" 

"  By  abstaining  from  pleasures." 

But  to  give  a  better  understanding  of  how  far  such  words 
go,  I  must  quote  others,  and  shall  do  so  from  one  of  his 
hearers.  At  the  same  time  we  shall  hear  the  orator  speak. 
It  will  be  no  hors-d'oeuvre,  since  we  are  speaking  with  the 
priest  who  is  to  convert  Charles  de  Foucauld  and  turn  him 
into  Father  de  Foucauld.* 

*  I  owe  this  inestimable  passage  to  Vicomte  de  Montmorand. 


HIS  CONVERSION  69 

*'  Jesus  is  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  because  He  is  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  man  is  but  sorrow.  Sorrow  accompanies  us  from 
birth  to  death  ;  it  purifies  and  ennobles  us,  it  gives  us  charm. 
It  is  because  it  is  our  inseparable  companion  that  Jesus 
wished  it  to  be  His. 

"  Great  souls — for  the  honour  of  humanity,  we  must  have 
some  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Christ — have  called  for 
and  desired  sorrow.  They  have  said  the  Fac  me  tecum 
plangere  of  the  Stabat  Mater.  We  have  no  such  ambition  ; 
we  only  ask  to  accept  sorrow  with  compunction  and  resigna- 
tion, when  it  is  offered. 

"  Far  from  us,  above  all,  be  those  little  sorrows,  less  easy 
to  endure  than  the  great  ones,  those  wounds  so  paltry,  so 
peevish,  so  venomous,  wrought  by  the  passions,  and  by 
self-love  !  It  is  the  shame  of  mankind  to  suffer  so  much 
for  so  little. 

^'^  Jesus  in  the  Garden  of  Olives.  He  is  sorrowful  even 
unto  death.  The  apostles  do  not  understand  His  sorrow; 
this  divine  sorrow  is  too  far  beyond  them.  To  understand 
it,  one  must  know  what  sin  is.  They  knew  it  not,  nor  can 
we  know  it. 

"  His  attitude  is  not  a  Greek  attitude.  He  does  not 
dominate  His  sadness,  does  not  say,  as  a  stoic  would  : 
'Sorrow,  thou  art  but  a  word!'  Far  from  it!  Sorrow 
invaded  Him  through  every  pore ;  it  inundated  His  soul ;  it 
rose  like  a  tide  and  submerged  all  the  heights. 

"  He  prays,  but  His  prayer  is  not  the  natural  movement, 
the  happy  breathing  of  His  soul ;  nor  is  it  a  flow  of  beau- 
tiful thoughts;  it  is  a  sob,  a  sob  dying  down  into  an  amen. 
*  So  be  it !'  is  His  whole  prayer.  His  will,  united,  identified 
hitherto  with  that  of  the  Father,  now  for  the  first  time  seems 
something  distinct.  The  load  is  too  heavy  :  '  Thou  canst 
do  all  things  :  take  away  this  chalice  from  Me.' 

"  He  seeks  help  from  the  Apostles  and  finds  them  asleep. 
One  is  alone  in  sadness  when  yearning  for  a  word  from  the 
heart.  Friends  come  only  in  our  hours  of  calm,  or  if  they 
drop  in  during  the  storm,  they  don't  say  what  should  be 
said,  or  they  wound  by  their  want  of  tact  or  silliness.  Such 
were  Job's  friends. 

"At  last  an  angel  comes  to  strengthen  Him:  Angelus 
confortavit  eum.  To  strengthen,  not  to  console  Him. 
Grace  is  essentially  strengthening,  not  consoling.   .   .   ." 

I  cannot  quote  more  at  length  without  going  beyond  my 
purpose.  The  above  quotation  and  what  I  have  said  are 
enough  to  make  us  understand  why  all  human  miseries,  all 
doubts,  and  all  repentance  went  naturally  to  Abb6  Huvelin. 


70  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

He  heard  confessions  at  Saint  Augustine's,  he  received 
many  people  at  home.  What  a  robust  and  agile  mind  must 
this  invalid  and  cripple  have  had,  to  form  one  idea  after 
another  of  all  the  moral  problems  submitted  to  him,  so  as  to 
study  and  solve  them  in  a  moment !  But  he  was  gifted  with 
so  sure  a  judgment  that  he  unravelled  all  the  cases,  and 
with  a  vision  so  penetrating  of  the  intimate  dispositions  of 
the  persons  who  consulted  him,  that  several  attributed  it  to 
a  singular  grace  of  God.  Even  circumstances  are  quoted  in 
which  he  alluded  to  past  and  secret  events  in  the  life  of  his 
penitents.  His  advice  was  clear,  simple,  full  of  good  sense, 
and  he  did  not  change  it.  He  varied  it  according  to  persons. 
He  did  not  treat  bears  as  if  they  were  swallows.  More 
than  once  he  was  heard  to  say  :  "  To  some  one  has  to  say  : 
'  You  must  submit  to  that !'  In  canonical  decisions  there 
is  a  force  with  which  those  who  despise  them  have  to  reckon 
more  fully  than  they  think. ' '  This  great  specialist  in  spiritual 
direction  was  generally  at  home  in  the  afternoon.  People 
of  all  ages  and  classes,  Parisians  and  passing  travellers, 
were  to  be  met  in  his  little  antechamber.  By  turns  they 
entered  the  next  room,  filled  with  books  and  papers,  in 
which  M.  Huvelin  was  sitting  with  a  cat  on  his  knees,  and 
as  resigned  to  the  crowd  as  to  illness.  The  visitors  who 
had  been  introduced  to  him,  even  in  the  distant  past,  were 
sure  to  be  recognized.  He  listened  with  all  his  faculties. 
As  he  was  brief,  he  required  them  to  be  the  same.  His 
ofifiice  was  a  hard  one.  He,  though  naturally  gay,  was  very 
often  seen  to  weep ;  he  suffered  with  all  the  sorrows  brought 
to  him,  with  all  the  sins  acknowledged  to  him,  or  that  he 
divined  in  men's  hearts. 

Such  was  the  priest  eminent  in  holiness — that  is  to  say, 
in  the  science  of  God  and  man — whom  Charles  de  Foucauld 
had  met  late  one  summer's  evening.  They  did  not  imme- 
diately see  each  other  again.  But  in  Charles's  soul  the  tide 
of  grace  was  rising.  One  does  not  know  whence  it  first 
comes.  It  is  promised  to  men  of  good-will,  or  rather  it  is 
already  given  to  them,  and  their  good-will  itself  is  its  work. 
Just  when  it  looked  a  long  way  off,  it  has  already  covered 
the  muddy  background;  it  is  cool;  it  brings  the  birds  with 
it,  and  its  waves,  breaking  one  after  another,  all  say  :  "  You 
must  believe,  be  pure,  be  joyous  with  the  great  joy  of  God, 
and  get  the  light  on  the  living  waters."  This  dim  stirring, 
this  desire  for  illumination,  he  felt  more  and  more  strongly 
within  him.  Between  two  walks  or  at  nightfall,  he  might 
now  be  seen  to  go  into  a  church  ;  he  would  sit  far  from  the 
altar,  understanding  neither  what  had  drawn  him  in,  nor 


HIS  CONVERSION  71 

what  held  him  there ;  and  he  would  say  none  of  his  prayers 
of  former  days,  but  this,  which  went  straight  up  to  heaven  : 
"  My  God,  if  You  exist,  make  me  know  it !" 

One  October  evening,  in  one  of  those  family  talks,  in 
which  the  mind  and  heart  speak  freely  and  without  trying 
to  find  the  way,  when  the  children  were  playing  round  the 
table  before  going  to  bed,  one  of  his  cousins  said  to 
Charles  : 

"  It  appears  that  Abbe  Huvelin  will  not  go  on  with  his 
conferences  again;  I  regret  it  very  much." 

"So  do  1,"  replied  Charles,  "for  I  intended  to  follow 
them." 

The  reply  was  not  noticed.  Some  days  later  he  gravely 
said  to  his  cousin  : 

"You  are  fortunate  to  believe;  I  am  seeking  the  light, 
and  do  not  find  it." 

Between  October  27  and  30,  the  next  day  after  this  con- 
versation, Abbe  Huvelin  saw  a  young  man  enter  his  con- 
fessional without  kneeling  down.  He  simply  bent  forward 
and  said  : 

"  Abb^,  I  have  not  the  faith,  I  have  come  to  ask  you  to 
instruct  me." 

M.  Huvelin  looked  at  him. 

"Kneel  down,  confess  to  God;  you  will  believe." 

"  But  I  did  not  come  for  that." 

"Confess." 

The  man  who  wanted  to  believe  felt  that  pardon  was  for 
him  the  condition  of  light.  He  knelt  down,  and  made  a 
confession  of  all  his  life. 

When  he  saw  the  absolved  penitent  get  up,  the  Abbe 
added  : 

"Are  you  fasting?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Go  to  communion  !" 

And  Charles  de  Foucauld  at  once  approached  the  holy 
table,  and  made  his  "  second  first  communion." 

He  did  not  speak  of  his  conversion.  It  was  by  certain 
acts  that  it  was  gradually  seen  that  the  depths  of  his  soul 
were  changed.  His  life  continued  to  be  laborious;  peace 
had  returned  to  it,  and  was  always  transparently  visible  in 
his  eyes,  smile,  voice  or  words.  His  letters,  which  never 
had  ceased  being  affectionate,  became  grateful.  The  name 
of  God  often  occurs  in  them.  His  life  is  silently  remoulded 
on  the  recovered  ideal.  In  this  renewal  all  is  profound,  dis- 
creet, and  simple. 

For  instance,  Charles  soon  heard  of  the  birth  of  a  nephew, 


72  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

who  became  his  godson  :  he  set  out  for  Dijon,  spent  a  few 
days  with  his  sister  and  brother-in-law,  and  was  no  sooner 
back  in  Paris  than  he  sent  them  the  thanks  of  a  rejuvenated 
heart : 

"Visits  to  you  are  very  pleasant.  They  only  have  one 
fault :  that  one  is  surrounded  with  so  much  kindness  and 
affection  that  one  feels  one's  heart  too  poor  to  give  back 
as  much  as  one  has  received,  and  one  fears  never  to  love 
enough,  never  to  show  enough  appreciation  and  gratitude. 
Living  in  your  home  is  not  only  most  delightful,  but  also 
one  gets  better  from  inhaling  its  atmosphere  of  affection 
and  calm.  1  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  return.  In  leaving 
you,  I  am  thinking  of  nothing  but  the  time  of  my  return.  I 
do  not  believe  much  in  acting  according  to  plans,  but  if  I 
do  not  rely  on  my  foresight,  I  preserve  the  hope  that  some 
unforeseen  thing  will  bring  me  to  you  before  long. 

"  You  know  my  work  and  ideas,  and  my  vague  thoughts 
as  to  the  future  :  we  spoke  of  them  yesterday  :  you  will 
easily  follow  me  from  now  until  we  see  each  other  again. 
In  leaving  you,  it  is  a  very  great  joy  for  me  to  know  all 
the  places  between  which  you  will  divide  your  time.  In 
writing  to  you,  I  am  near  you  in  Dijon  :  the  day  after 
to-morrow,  I  shall  follow  you  to  Echalot ;  I  shall  hunt  with 
you,  I  shall  drag  the  wheelbarrow  with  Maurice ;  I  shall 
admire  M.  de  Blic's  library;  I  shall  warm  myself  en  jamille 
by  the  fireside.  Now  that  I  know  all  your  retreats,  I  am 
going  to  be  very  often  and  pleasantly  with  you." 

The  manuscript  of  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc  was 
finished  at  the  beginning  of  1887,  and,  immediately,  the 
printed  proofs  began  to  come  in  abundance  to  the  rooms  in 
Rue  de  Miromesnil  :  very  laborious  work  for  a  scholar  so 
careful  about  details,  who  wished  his  work  to  be  in  full- 
dress,  as  he  was  himself  at  the  time  of  the  Cavalry  School  : 
a  heavy  expense  for  a  budget  which  the  journey  to  the 
shotts,  ten  excursions  in  France,  and  setting  up  in  Paris, 
had  already  burdened  him.  "My  income  is  enough  for 
these  unusual  expenses,  but  only  just ;  also,  since  my  return 
from  Morocco,  I  have  borrowed  nothing  whatever,  but  I 
have  saved  nothing.  I  desire  to  get  rid  of  my  legal 
guardian,  whom  I  have  had  now  for  seven  years.  With 
this  guardianship  going  on,  I  cannot  think  of  any  other 
journeys,  and  as  my  book  is  coming  out,  it  is  time  to  con- 
sider fresh  expeditions."^ 

At   the  end   of    1887   and  beginning  of    1888,    Vicomte 

^  Letter  to  a  friend,  April  9,  1887.  Tlie  guardian  was  removed  in 
October,  1888. 


HIS  CONVERSION  73 

de  Foucauld's  works,  Itiner aires  au  Maroc,  Reconnaissance 
au  Maroc,  appeared  among  the  booksellers.  Their  success, 
as  I  have  said,  in  the  restricted  circle  of  geographers, 
scholars,  and  colonials,  either  in  France  or  foreign  coun- 
tries, was  very  great.  But,  when  a  great  book  appears,  the 
people  who  speak  of  it  are  of  two  sorts,  and  are  like  the 
moon  with  its  halo  :  some  read  the  famous  pages  and  carry- 
away  with  them  fresh  information  and  ideas ;  others  get 
some  brightness  at  any  rate.  They  run  through  a  few 
pages ;  they  pick  out  some  quotations ;  they  rehearse  the 
title  and  extol  the  author  on  the  strength  of  the  nearest 
newspaper,  review,  or  drawing-room  talker.  This  was  im- 
mediately the  case  with  the  Reconnaissance  au  Maroc. 
The  young  explorer  was  celebrated  on  all  sides  :  his  renown 
spread  :  letters  of  congratulation  poured  in  to  the  Rue  de 
Miromesnil;  friends  climbed  the  stairs,  and  each  recalling 
his  claim  upon  the  memory  of  his  glorious  comrade  called 
out  :  "  Well,  old  man,  there  is  a  success  for  you.  And 
well  deserved,  too !  What  untold  dangers  you  ran  ! 
Where  are  you  going  to  now?  For  you  owe  it  to  us  and 
to  yourself  to  start  on  fresh  explorations  !" 

Our  friend,  as  we  know,  was  not  a  man  to  discuss  his 
plans  in  public.  He  preferred  to  think  over  them  w4th  a 
few  rare  initiates.  Before  setting  out  for  Morocco  he  had 
consulted  MacCarthy,  books  and  atlases.  Now  he  takes 
counsel  of  God,  who  has  determined  to  take  the  explorer 
into  His  service.  Nature  was  not  destroyed  by  de 
Foucauld's  conversion,  but  improved  and  renewed.  Hence- 
forth his  courage,  strength  of  will,  and  extraordinary 
faculty  of  endurance  were  to  be  exercised  for  the  good  of 
souls. 

One  of  the  men  of  our  times,  best  endowed  for  colonial 
adventure  and  the  study  of  unknown  tongues  and  customs, 
was  not  lost  to  science ;  but  its  disciple,  who  was  never  to 
deny  it,  now  perceived  that  the  finest  employment  of  the 
gifts  which  he  had  received  was  called  charity,  consisting 
in  the  total  oblation  of  oneself,  one's  work,  one's  thoughts, 
one's  patience,  and  one's  blood,  if  necessary,  in  order  that 
men  may  at  last  recognize  their  Creator  through  such  self- 
sacrifice.  He  wished  to  prepare  himself  for  this  mission 
by  a  journey  to  the  Holy  Land.  He  would  visit  the  earthly 
home  of  Jesus  Christ :  he  would  go  and  pray  in  the  solitude 
which  had  never  ceased  to  attract  him. 

On  November  2,  1888,  he  went  to  Le  Tuquet,  in  the  Bor- 
deaux country  :  from  there  he  reached  Nancy.  He  said 
farewell  to  the  family.     He  said  that  his  plan  was  to  stay 


74  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

only  a  few  weeks  in  the  Holy  Land.     And  he  embarked  at 
Marseilles. 

In  the  middle  of  December  he  was  in  Jerusalem,  which 
he  found  covered  with  snow  :  he  lingered  to  walk  through 
the  streets,  to  visit  the  churches,  to  go  up  and  come  down 
the  Mount  of  Olives  :  he  spent  Christmas  at  Bethlehem, 
then  made  a  great  excursion  into  Galilee  on  horseback, 
accompanied  by  a  guide  on  a  pack-horse.  In  his  letters 
he  shows  a  lively  devotion  for  Nazareth.  After  leaving  the 
town,  he  returned  to  it.  There  he  meditated  more  feelingly 
than  elsewhere.  And  if  you  wish  to  know  the  main  theme 
of  his  meditation,  I  can  tell  you.  This  white  town  with 
steep  and  winding  streets  on  the  flanks  of  Nebi-Sain, 
touched  the  penitent  heart  of  Charles  de  Foucauld.  It 
inspired  him  with  an  unquenchable  love  for  the  hidden  life, 
and  for  obedience,  the  state  of  voluntary  humility.  It  re- 
echoed to  him  Abbe  Huvelin's  magnificent  saying  :  "  Our 
Lord  took  the  last  place  in  such  a  way  that  nobody  can 
ever  rob  Him  of  it."  I  think  I  may  affirm  that  all  the 
rest  of  de  Foucauld's  life  was  worked  and  modelled  by  the 
recollection  of  Nazareth. 

It  was  clearly  seen  at  the  beginning  of  March,  1889,  as 
soon  as  the  traveller  was  back  in  Paris.  This  is  the  year 
of  resolutions,  or — to  use  the  language  of  spirituality — of 
election.     What  was  he  going  to  do? 

Since  his  conversion  he  read  still  more  than  befofe,  but 
other  books,  and  his  reading  made  him  enter  into  the  world 
of  doctrine,  morals,  and  religious  history.  He  marvelled 
to  see  how  simple  and  how  reasonable  truth  is ;  he  won- 
dered how  he  could  formerly  have  been  so  upset  as  to  doubt 
religion,  as  to  cast  it  away  for  objections  so  long  ago 
answered  and  so  easy  to  clear  up.  He  learned  the  first  of 
the  sciences — that  of  the  conduct  of  life.  On  the  advice  of 
Abh6  Huvelin,  he  went  to  Mass  every  morning,  and  after 
beginning  with  frequent  communion,  it  became  his  daily 
bread. 

We  know  the  care  he  had  given  to  the  preparation  of  his 
main  journey.  He  wished  all  the  more  to  prepare  for  the 
vocation  which  increasingly  attracted  him.  From  the  very 
moment  of  his  conversion,  he  felt  himself  called  to  the  re- 
ligious life.  But  there  are  numerous  Orders.  If  they  are 
all  meant  to  lead  to  heaven,  the  men  who  enrol  themselves 
in  them  are  diff'erent ;  each  has  his  own  temperament,  even 
in  the  service  of  God,  and  ought  to  have  a  road  of  his  own. 
Which  should  he  take  ? 

In  order  to  find  out,  in  that  same  year  Charles  made  no 


HIS  CONVERSION  75 

less  than  four  retreats.  He  approached  in  succession  the 
living  Rule  of  three  great  Orders.  At  Easter  he  was  with 
the  Benedictines  at  Solesmes ;  at  Trinity  he  started  for  the 
Grande-Trappe ;  on  October  20  he  went  up  to  Notre-Dame- 
des-Neiges  and  spent  a  whole  week  in  meditation,  after 
which  he  came  to  no  decision.  At  last,  in  the  second  half 
of  November,  under  the  direction  of  a  Jesuit  at  Clamart, 
having  again  taken  up  the  examination  of  the  first  truths 
and  the  study  of  his  religious  vocation,  the  former  lieutenant 
of  Chasseurs  d'Afrique,  the  explorer  of  yesterday,  wrote  to 
his  sister  : 

"  I  returned  from  Clamart  yesterday,  and  I  have  at  last, 
in  great  security  and  great  peace,  on  the  formal  counsel  of 
the  Father  who  directed  me,  taken  entire  and  without 
reserve  the  resolution  of  which  I  have  been  thinking  for  a 
long  time;  it  is  to  enter  La  Trappe.  It  is  now  a  settled 
thing  :  I  have  been  thinking  of  it  for  a  long  time.  I  have 
been  in  four  monasteries  :  in  the  four  retreats,  I  was  told 
that  God  called  me,  and  that  he  called  me  to  La  Trappe. 
Inwardly  I  feel  drawn  to  the  same  place,  my  director  is  of 
the  same  opinion.  ...  It  is  something  determined,  and 
I  tell  you  of  it  as  such.  I  shall  enter  the  monastery  of 
Notre-Dame-des-Neiges,  where  I  was  some  time  ago.  .  .  . 
When  ?  It  is  not  yet  settled ;  I  have  several  things  to  put 
straight;  I  have,  above  all,  to  go  and  bid  you  farewell.  .  .  . 
But,  indeed,  that  will  not  take  very  long. 

"When  I  start,  I  shall  say  I  am  off  on  some  journey, 
and  not  at  all  that  I  am  entering,  or  thinking  in  the  least  of 
entering,  the  religious  life." 

He  had  obtained  the  consent  of  the  Abbot  of  Notre-Dame- 
des-Neiges.  But  in  his  letter  of  application,  he  had  named 
La  Trappe  at  Akbes,  in  Syria,  and  begged  that  after  some 
months  of  probation  and  novitiate,  he  might  be  sent  to 
that  distant  house,  "  if  that  is,  as  I  think  it  is,  the  holy  will 
of  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

Alone,  the  nearest  relations  were  advised  of  the  great 
decision.  The  days  were  henceforth  counted.  Charles 
started  on  December  11  for  Dijon:  with  his  sister  and 
M.  de  Blic  he  spent  a  week,  the  last  he  could  give  them 
before  his  retirement,  solitude,  and  silence.  Then  he  re- 
turned to  Paris  to  settle  some  business,  notably  the  leav- 
ing of  his  property  to  his  sister. 

He  went  away  poor,  the  world  was  to  see  him  no  more. 
One  of  his  friends  saw  him  on  the  top  of  an  omnibus  and 
was  very  much  astonished.  A  few  days  later  the  letters  of 
invitation  addressed  to  Vicomte  de  Foucauld  remained  with- 


76  CHAIRLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

out  an  answer.     One  of  his  cousins  asked  him  to  come  and 
partake  of  some  Alsatian  venison,  venison  from  Saverne, 
and  Charles,  habitually  punctilious,  gave  no  sign  of  life. 
They  made  inquiries,  and  learnt  that  he  had  left  Paris. 
On  January  14,  1890,  he  sent  his  sister  a  farewell  letter : 

"  Au  revoir,  my  good  Mimi.  I  leave  Paris  to-morrow. 
About  2  p.m.  I  shall  be  at  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges.  Pray 
for  me.  I  shall  pray  for  you  and  yours.  We  do  not  forget 
one  another  in  drawing  nearer  to  God.   ..." 

He  had  said,  at  Dijon,  a  few  weeks  earlier  :  "  Let  us  be 
sad,  but  let  us  thank  God  for  our  sadness." 


CHAPTER   V 
The  Trappist 

TO  understand  the  extraordinary  life  of  Father  de 
Foucauld,  v/e  must  consider  two  spiritual  facts  upon 
which  all  was  built ;  first,  his  passion  for  the  East,  which 
was  far  from  a  mere  love  of  colour  and  picturesqueness — 
it  was  primarily  a  preference  for  solitude  and  silence,  and 
for  such  extreme  simplicity  of  dress,  food,  and  lodging  as 
one  can  adopt  without  singularity;  secondly,  the  energy, 
the  inward  dominance  of  will,  that  strove  for  evangelical 
perfection  with  the  same  ardour,  the  same  tenacity,  the 
same  absence  of  all  fear  as  were  seen  in  the  young  officer 
undertaking  his  journey  to  Morocco. 

The  conversion  was  thorough.  Charles  de  Foucauld 
abandoned  himself  entirely  to  the  divine  will,  to  be  what  it 
desired.  He  already  knew  that  he  had  to  serve  it  in  charity 
and  obscurity.  Step  by  step  he  learnt  the  rest;  he  went 
where  the  most  neglected  souls  on  earth  were  to  call  him, 
and,  hard  on  the  flesh  which  had  ruled  him  in  the  past, 
tried  by  love  to  bring  himself  down  to  the  poverty  of  God 
made  man. 

At  the  time,  all  that  came  after  was  hidden  from  him ;  he 
had  only  one  thing  shining  clear  :  the  resolve  to  obey,  and 
his  passionate  desire  for  the  best.  Likewise,  around  him, 
nobody  suspected  into  what  exceptional  ways  he  was  one 
day  to  be  led.  And  if  we  are  astonished  that  so  experienced 
and  sagacious  a  counsellor  as  Abb6  Huvelin  foresaw 
nothing  of  it,  it  may  be  answered  that  the  best  endowed  of 
us  cannot  disclose  the  future ;  that  just  as  the  world  was 
created  in  six  days,  so  does  God  act  in  transforming  a  soul, 
which  is  also  a  world ;  that  He  exercises  consideration  for 
our  weakness,  and  does  not  at  once  adapt  our  circumstances 
to  certain  dreams  of  perfection,  which  no  doubt  do  not  dis- 
please, and  may  even  come  from  Him,  but  which  He  wishes 
us  to  attain  by  degrees,  when  the  practice  of  patience  has 
made  us  more  prudent  and  stronger. 

I  decided  to  visit  La  Trappe  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges. 
It  is  built  on  the  high  plateaux  of  the  heights  of  the 
Vivarais,  in  a  wild  country,  which  formerly  belonged  to 
Languedoc.^      When  you  reach  the  wind-swept,  heather- 

*  Situated  in  the  commune  of  Saint-Laurent  les  Bains  (Ardeche),  the 
Abbey  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges  has  its  station  and  post-office  at  the 
Bastide-Saint- Laurent  (Lozere). 

77 


78  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

clad  summits  that  surround  the  monastery,  you  see  all 
around  in  the  far  distance  only  peaks  of  about  the  same 
height,  stretching  their  rocky  ridges  and  meagre  verdure 
upwards  into  the  light,  separated  from  one  another  by  the 
violet  shadows  of  the  ravines.  There  are,  one  may  say, 
no  farms  on  the  heights;  or  just  one  or  two,  with  squat 
walls  and  crouching  roofs,  made  to  bear  six  months'  snow 
and  storm.  I  came  from  afar,  by  a  road  which  follows  the 
hill-tops.  The  road  descended  a  little;  the  motor  entered 
an  avenue  bordered  by  two  woods  of  pine  and  beeches, 
then,  suddenly,  coming  out  of  the  shade,  the  wide  spaces 
again  stretched  out  in  the  sun.  Before  me,  half-way  up 
the  slope,  stood  the  monastery  of  white  granite  with  its 
barns,  cellars,  cow-houses,  and  stables ;  a  forest  sown  by 
the  monks  covered  the  slopes  of  the  mountain  opposite, 
and  the  whole  valley  between  the  two  great  woods  was  but 
an  undulating  river  of  ripe  oats  and  wheat. 

The  monastery,  such  as  it  is  to-day,  is  no  longer  the  one 
into  which  Charles  de  Foucauld  was  received.  The  monks' 
cells,  the  chapter-house,  and  the  church  were  destroyed  by 
fire  on  January  27,  1912,  but  these  monks,  the  sowers  of 
forests,  are  also  builders.  On  a  more  elevated  and  much 
more  beautiful  site  than  the  former  one,  3,500  feet  up,  they 
have  built  a  new  and  plain  abbey,  on  sober  lines,  in  which 
the  clock  alone  speaks,  where  Cistercian  peace  and  work 
take  shelter.^ 

When  Charles  de  Foucauld  presented  himself  at  Notre- 
Dame-des-Neiges  to  be  admitted  among  the  novices,  he 
was  questioned.  The  rule  of  St.  Benedict  orders  the 
Superiors  to  examine  the  postulants  carefully,  and  in  ques- 
tioning them  to  test  them,  so  as  to  know  the  character  of 
the  future  Brother  well,  and  the  motives  which  have  brought 
him  to  the  abbey  door.  Dom  Martin,  Abbot  of  this  com- 
munity of  silent  workers,  knew  that  the  man  who  speaks 
willingly  of  himself  thus  declares  himself  inclined  to  self- 
satisfaction  and  boasting.     He  asked  : 

"What  can  you  do?" 

"Not  much." 

"Read?" 

"A  little."^ 

The  Abbot  saw  by  this,  as  well  as  by  many  other  replies 
in  the  same  tone,  that  this  lieutenant  of  Chasseurs  d'Afrique 

^  The  first  inhabitants  of  this  new  house  were  the  soldiers  wounded 
in  the  Great  War  of  1914.  During  this  war  the  Trappists  of  Notre- 
Dame-des-Nciges  had  twenty-two  of  their  members  in  the  first  line  at 
the  front  ;  seven  fell  for  France. 


THE  TRAPPIST  79 

was,  on  the  contrary,  no  great  talker,  and  so  far  very 
modest.  Having  finished  questioning  him,  he  asked  him 
to  sweep  a  little,  so  as  to  see.  He  perceived  at  the  first 
sweep  of  the  broom  that  the  postulant  had  had  no  practice. 
His  education  would  have  to  be  completed. 

It  was  thus  the  Vicomte  Charles  de  Foucauld  entered  the 
novitiate  of  La  Trappe  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges  to  be- 
come Brother  Marie-Alb6ric. 

The  Brothers  of  this  great  Order  afterwards  recollected 
him  as  a  monk  ever  ready  to  help,  very  pious,  almost 
excessive  in  his  austerity,  but  a  man  of  balanced  judgment : 
in  a  word,  they  recollected  a  personality  and  a  saint.  I 
employ  these  terms  as  all  those  who  knew  Father  de 
Foucauld  do ;  these  monks,  soldiers,  and  travellers  knew 
very  well  that  the  Church  alone  has  the  right  to  judge  of 
holiness.  Waiting  for  her  decision,  if  she  one  day  does 
decide,  they  followed  the  custom  of  the  world  and  said  :  "  I 
have  seen  a  saint."  And  how  could  we  express  better  and 
more  briefly  our  admiration  for  a  man  in  whom  we  think  an 
uncommon  virtue  lives  ?  Brother  Marie-Alb^ric  edified  the 
monastery,  above  all,  by  his  humility.  He  was  perfectly 
simple,  and  he  knew  what  to  do,  being  a  man  of  the  best 
society,  whom  virtue  led  to  take  the  lowest  place.  Educa- 
tion is  useful  for  everything,  even  for  getting  oneself  for- 
gotten and  unnoticed,  or  for  trying  to  be  so.  One  of  these 
monks,  a  reaper  of  wheat,  a  driver  of  oxen,  whom  I  ques- 
tioned, gave  me  this  remarkable  reply  : 

"  Sir,  I  talked  to  him  as  I  should  to  a  peasant !"  He 
added  : 

'*  I  saw  him  every  day  :  he  never  refused  to  do  anything 
for  anyone  :  he  was  as  good  as  a  second  Francis  of  Assisi  !" 

The  regimen  of  La  Trappe  tested  more  than  one  solidly 
built  novice.  Brother  Alb^ric  had  a  constitution  of  iron 
and  a  will  of  the  same  metal.  He  declared  many  times  that 
neither  fasting,  nor  vigils,  nor  work  ever  inconvenienced 
him.  The  only  thing  that  was  difficult  for  him  was 
obedience,  and  here  again  we  seize  a  feature  of  his  proud 
impetuous  nature,  made  and  accustomed  to  command, 
which  only  yielded  to  grace. ^ 

I  shall  now  quote  a  certain  number  of  letters  written  from 

^  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  beware  of  believing  legends  which  have 
singularly  exaggerated  the  severities  of  the  Trappist  rule.  Penance, 
with  the  monks,  as  with  all  Christians,  is  but  a  means  of  moral  perfec- 
tion ;  it  would  exceed  its  intent  if  the  body  became  a  weak  and  sickly 
servant  of  the  soul.  A  subjugated  body;  a  soul  consequently  more 
free  :  the  austerity  allowed  does  not  go  beyond  that  point — i.e.,  equili- 
brium.    It  should  also  be  known  that  in  the  course  of  time  there  was 


8o  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Notre-Dame-des-Neiges  by  Brother  Alb^ric,  either  to  his 
sister  or  to  other  members  of  his  family.  They  will  show 
better  than  a  story  the  thoughts  of  the  novice  in  his  solitude 
under  the  rule  of  a  very  capable  monk,  a  worthy  son  of 
St.  Bernard,  Abbot  Martin. 

He  entered  the  novitiate  on  January  i6,  1890,  and  the 
same  day  wrote  in  the  sorrow  of  separation  : 

"  I  must  get  strength  from  my  weakness,  employ  this 
weakness  itself  for  God,  thank  Him  for  this  suffering  and 
offer  it  to  Him.  ...  I  ask  Him  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  to  increase  my  suffering  if  I  can  bear  a  heavier  load, 
so  that  it  may  afford  Him  a  little  more  compensation  and 
do  His  children  a  little  more  good  :  that  He  may  diminish 
it  if  it  is  not  for  His  glory  and  according  to  His  will,  but 
I  am  sure  it  is  the  will  of  Him  who  wept  for  Lazarus.   .   .   ." 

In  the  second  letter  he  says  that  he  will  take  the  Trappist 
habit  on  January  26,  the  feast  of  St.  Alberic  : 

"It  is  probable  that  I  shall  send  in  my  resignation  as  a 
Reserve  officer,  giving  Akbes  as  my  residence,  which  will 
simplify  everything. 

"  I  continue  to  be  in  the  best  of  health.  From  the  first 
day  I  have  led  the  regular  life  .  .  .  and  how  goes  my  soul  ? 
Less  badly  than  I  expected  :  the  good  God  let  me  find  un- 
expected consolation  in  solitude  and  silence.  I  am  con- 
stantly, absolutely  constantly,  with  Him,  and  with  those 
whom  I  love.  This  continual  life  with  all  that  is  dear  to 
me  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  without  filling  the  void,  has 
afforded  me  consolation,  but,  indeed,  God  has  Himself 
upheld  me  during  these  first  days.  .  .  .  Manual  work 
does  not  prevent  meditation  ;  I  am  recommended  to  work 
steadily  so  as  to  be  able  to  meditate. 

"  I  have  not  suffered  at  all  from  cold ;  up  to  the  present  it 
has  not  snowed,  and  it  is  sunny.  No  doubt  hard  moments 
will  come,  but  as  yet  there  are  none;  neither  have  I  suffered 
from  hunger,^  and,  thanks  to  the  variety  of  work  and 
exercises,  I  did  not  feel  hungry  before  sitting  down  to  table. 
This  is  to  "tell  you  that  the  material  side  of  the  life  has  not 
cost  me  the  shadow  of  a  sacrifice. 

some  mitigation  of  the  rigour  which  appeared  quite  simple  to  our 
fathers,  undoubtedly  more  robust  than  we  are.  And  to  quote  only 
the  most  recent  :  in  1892  Pope  Leo  XIII  united  in  a  single  order 
— that  of  the  reformed  Cistercians — the  divers  congregations  of  Trap- 
pists,  and  ordered  that  fasts  were  never  to  be  prolonged  beyond 
midday. 

^  The  chief  meal  at  La  Trappe  \va.s  then  at  half-past  2  in  the  after- 
noon ;  the  time  of  rising  2  in  the  morning,  and  of  going  to  bed  7  in  the 
evening. 


THE  TRAPPIST  8i 

"  Up  to  now  I  have  carried  branches,  made  wreaths  for 
the  perpetual  adoration,  swept  the  church,  and  polished  the 
candlesticks;  nothing  hard,  you  see." 

"  February  6,  1890. — In  this  sad  w^orld,  we  have  a  real 
happiness  which  neither  the  saints  nor  the  angels  have — 
that  of  suffering  with  our  Well-Beloved,  for  our  Well- 
Beloved.  However  hard  this  life  may  be,  however  long 
these  sad  days  may  be,  however  consoling  the  thought  of 
this  good  valley  of  Josaphat  may  be,  let  us  not  be  more 
eager  than  God  wishes  to  quit  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  .  .  . 
'Good  Cross,'  said  St.  Andrew.  Since  our  Master  has 
deigned  to  make  us  feel,  if  not  always  the  sweetness  of  it, 
at  least  its  beauty  and  necessity  for  him  who  desires  to  love 
Him,  let  us  not  wish  to  be  freed  from  it  sooner  than  He 
wishes.  .  .  .  However,  God  knows  that  the  day  when 
this  exile  ends  will  be  welcome,  for  there  is  more  strength 
in  my  words  than  in  my  heart. "^ 

He  read  St.  Bernard,  learnt  the  Psalms  by  heart,  and 
how  to  make  use  of  the  breviary  ;  he  studied  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures for  an  hour  and  read  Abbe  Fouard,  Bossuet,  the 
Imitation,  the  Gospels,  the  Life  of  St.  Gertrude,  and  the 
works  of  St.  Teresa. 

*'  February  18,  iSgo. — About  myself,  I  have  little  to  tell 
you.  No  rumour  from  outside  reaches  us  ;  here  are  solitude 
and  silence  with  God.  The  time  is  divided  between  prayer, 
readings  bringing  one  nearer  to  God,  manual  labour  done 
in  imitation  of  Him  and  in  union  with  Him.  That  fills 
every  day,  except  Sundays  and  feasts,  when  work  ceases. 
I  could  live  long  thus  without  having  to  talk  much  of 
myself.  .  .  .  They  are  very  good  to  me,  with  a  charity 
full  of  tenderness;  a  great  charity  reigns  in  the  convent  :  I 
thus,  and  in  many  other  ways,  receive  examples  which  I 
must  beg  God  to  turn  to  my  advantage." 

"Easter  Monday,  1890. — I  must  not  say  that  I  bore  the 
fast  and  cold  well ;  I  did  not  feel  them  ...  of  the  Lenten 
diet  (a  single  meal  a  day  at  half-past  four^)  I  can  only  say 
one  thing  :  I  found  it  pleasant  and  comfortable,  and  I  did 

^  He  expressed  this  noble  feeling  for  the  Cross  in  another  letter  of 
the  same  period  : 

"  I  desired  to  enter  the  religious  life  to  keep  our  Lord  company  in 
His  sufferings  as  much  as  possible." 

2  Now  the  Trappists  take  their  principal  meal  in  Lent  at  noon,  and 
partake  of  a  collation  in  the  evening. 

6 


82  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

not  feel  hungry  a  single  day.    However,  I  did  not  gorge  too 
much. 

"  As  for  my  soul,  it  is  absolutely  in  the  same  state  as  at 
the  time  of  my  last  letter ;  the  only  difference  is  that  the  good 
God  upholds  me  still  more;  He  sustains  both  my  soul  and 
body;  I  have  nothing  to  bear  :  He  bears  all.  I  should  be 
very  ungrateful  towards  this  loving  Father,  towards  our 
gentle  Lord  Jesus,  if  I  did  not  tell  you  how  He  holds  me  in 
His  hand,  putting  me  in  His  peace,  keeping  trouble  away 
from  me,  driving  it  away,  driving  off  depression  as  soon  as 
it  tries  to  draw  near.  .  .  .  This  state  of  things  is  too  un- 
expected for  me  to  be  able  to  attribute  it  to  any  other  than 
Him.  What  is  this  peace,  this  consolation?  It  is  nothing 
extraordinary ;  it  is  a  union  of  every  moment  in  prayer, 
reading,  worK,  in  all,  with  our  Lord,  with  the  Holy  Virgin, 
with  all  the  Saints  who  surrounded  Him  in  His  life.  .  .  . 
The  offices,  holy  Mass,  prayer  in  which  my  dryness  was  so 
painful  to  me,  are,  in  spite  of  the  innumerable  distractions 
of  which  I  am  guilty,  very  sweet  to  me.  .  .  .  Manual 
labour  is  a  consolation  through  its  likeness  to  our  Lord's, 
and  it  is  a  continual  meditation  (it  ought  to  be,  but  I  am 
very  apt  to  idle)." 

t 

In  this  letter  and  in  some  other  records,  we  have  already 
been  able  to  note  the  minute  care  with  which  Brother  Alberic 
analyzes  the  motions  of  his  mind  and  heart.  No  doubt,  it 
is  more  than  a  first  effort  and  a  novelty ;  it  is  a  habit  he  had 
acquired  in  the  solitudes  during  his  great  journeys,  and 
which  the  religious  life  had  perfected.  He  complains,  like 
all  souls  given  to  spirituality,  of  moments  of  dryness,  and 
declares  that  he  is  unworthy  of  the  consolations  which 
follow. 

"  Whit-Stmday,  1890. — The  origin  of  this  dryness  is 
almost  always  in  the  slackness  with  which  I  resist  tempta- 
tions, especially  temptations  against  obedience  in  spirit :  I 
find  it  hard  to  subject  the  senses — that  will  not  astonish 
you  ;  however  that  is  a  trifle.  I  do  not  accept  gladly  enough 
the  manual  labours  assigned  me,  and  this  shows  a  great 
want  of  love;  if  I  felt  how  they  bring  me  near  to  our  Lord, 
how  happy  should  I  be  in  everything.  ...  '  May  the  will 
of  our  Lord  be  done,  not  mine  ' ;  this  I  say  to  Him  with  my 
whole  heart;  I  tell  Him,  at  least,  that  I  want  to  say  this  to 
Him  with  my  whole  heart,  for  I  fear  I  only  say  it  to  Him 
with  my  lips;  ...  it  is,  however,  true  that  I  solely  desire 
HisAvill." 


THE  TRAPPIST  83 

Yes,  surel3%  he  desired  the  will  of  God,  and  no  doubt  he 
wrote  these  lines  to  prepare  the  family  at  Dijon,  and  also 
in  Paris,  and  those  still  farther  away,  for  the  more  com- 
plete separation  which  had  just  been  decided  upon. 

Why  did  Brother  Alberic  leave  La  Trappe  of  Notre- 
Dame-des-Neiges  ?  I  have  said  that  from  the  beginning 
he  had  asked  to  be  sent  to  the  poorest  and  most  distant 
monastery  in  Asia  Minor;  was  it  his  desire  for  absolute 
solitude  ?  To  be  nothing  but  a  name,  one  of  whom  people 
say,  "  He  is  away  yonder,  we  don't  know  where  "  ?  Was 
it  his  recollection  of  the  horizons  he  had  loved  ?  No  doubt, 
but  the  time  was  past  when  the  East  was  to  him  only  his 
favourite  land  of  travel,  investigation,  and  dreams.  Other 
attractions,  of  an  austere  and  mysterious  kind,  led  him  to 
the  monastery  of  Akbes,  now  that  he  had  determined  to 
bring  under  his  long  dominant  body  and  to  do  penance. 
He  went  to  the  East  to  be  still  poorer  there ;  to  feel  nearer 
to  the  Holy  Land,  where  the  Son  of  God  had  suffered  and 
worked;  he  went  moved  by  a  compassion  for  the  peoples 
sunk  in  error,  a  feeling  which  was  to  carry  him  much  far- 
ther away ;  in  short,  he  went  to  this  new  dwelling  because  it 
was  hard  for  him  to  leave  France.  "  I  shall  not  say  to  you 
that  I  am  not  downcast  at  this  time,"  he  wrote  in  the  month 
of  June;  "  it  will  be  hard  to  watch  the  coast  fading  away." 
Everything  is  prepared  for  the  departure.  A  place  re- 
served, for  Alexandretta,  on  a  vessel  which  sails  from  Mar- 
seilles on  the  27th.  On  the  eve.  Brother  Marie-Alberic  bids 
adieu  to  his  Brothers  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges.  He 
writes  to  his  family  : 

"  I  find  m)'self  on  the  boat  which  will  carry  me  away 
to-morrow ;  it  seems  to  me  that  I  shall  feel  each  wave,  one 
after  the  other,  taking  me  farther  away.  ...  It  appears 
to  me  that  my  only  help  will  be  to  think  of  each  as  one  step 
nearer  to  the  end  of  life.   .   .   . 

"From  Marseilles  to  Alexandretta  I  shall  be  alone;  the 
Brother  who  was  to  leave  with  me  remains.  I  am  satisfied 
with  this  solitude ;  I  shall  be  able  to  think  without  check. 
My  address  is  :  Trappe  de  Notre-Dame-du-Sacre-Coeur,  via 
Alexandretta  (Syria).  I  shall  reach  Alexandretta  on  the 
thirteenth  day  of  the  voyage.  I  set  out  tiext  day  for  Notre- 
Dame-du-Sacre-Coeur,  and  after  two  days'  travel,  get 
there  in  the  evening  of  the  next  day." 

And  when  the  voyage  is  nearly  done,  he  pens  these 
words,  a  real  cry  of  loving  anguish  :  "  To-morrow  I  shall 
be  at  Alexandretta,  and  I  shall  say  good-bye  to  this  sea,  the 
last  link  with  the  country  where  you  all  live." 


84  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

He  landed.  The  journey  to  the  mountains  began  at 
once.  Brother  Marie-Alberic  set  out  from  Alexandretta  in 
the  afternoon  of  July  lo,  with  a  Father  of  Notre-Dame-du 
Sacre-Coeur  who  had  come  the  night  before  to  fetch  him. 
"  Except  for  a  five  hours'  halt  we  rode  all  night  and  the 
next  day,  mounted  on  mules,  escorted  by  three  armed 
Turks  :  on  Friday  at  6  o'clock  we  arrived  at  Notre-Dame- 
du-Sacre-Coeur,  a  mass  of  small  houses  of  boards  and  pis6, 
covered  with  thatch,  a  sort  of  Jules  Verne  establishment,  a 
tangle  of  barns,  cattle  and  little  houses  crowding  quite  close 
to  one  another  for  fear  of  raids  and  robbers ;  it  is  shaded  by 
tall  trees  and  watered  by  a  spring  which  comes  out  of  the 
rock ;  but  the  outside  only  is  in  Jules  Verne  style,  the  inside 
is  better  :  our  Lord  is  within.   .   .  . 

"...  The  house  is  made  up  of  a  score  of  religious  and 
about  fifteen  orphans  from  six  to  twelve  years  of  age,  with- 
out speaking  of  birds  of  passage." 

What  was  this  monastery  of  Notre-Dame-du-Sacre-Coeur, 
a  summary  description  of  which  we  have  just  read?  An 
improvised  abbey,  founded  in  1882  as  a  refuge  in  the  moun- 
tains by  the  Trappists  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges,  in  case 
they  happened  to  have  to  leave  France.  The  domain  is 
called  She'ikhle  (pronounced  Shirley)  and  forms  part  of  the 
province  (vilayet)  of  Adana.  To  get  there,  you  leave 
Alexandretta  by  the  Aleppo  road.  It  ascends  a  little  at 
first,  then  the  ascent  becomes  very  difficult.  Indeed,  you 
must  cross  the  chain  of  the  Amanus.  The  windings 
increase.  On  the  road  cut  out  of  the  rock,  and  without  any 
parapets,  rows  of  pack-camels,  teams,  and  people  riding  or 
walking  descend  or  climb  up.  In  five  hours  you  arrive  at 
the  Bailan  Pass,  a  famous  spot  passed  through  by  all  the 
invaders  of  this  part  of  Asia  :  the  Assyrians,  the  armies  of 
Darius,  of  Alexander,  the  armies  of  the  Romans,  of  the 
Arab  Sultans  and  of  the  Crusaders,  when  seeking  the  plain 
of  Antioch.  The  ruins  of  mediaeval  castles  are  still  used 
as  quarries  by  the  people  of  the  country.  You  come  to  a 
stop  at  Bailan,  the  frontier  between  the  vilayets  of  Aleppo 
and  Adana,  for  the  Turks  have  placed  a  Custom-house 
there.  It  is  here  that  travellers  coming  from  the  interior 
and  intending  to  go  to  the  coast  have  to  give  their  arms 
back  to  the  zapties  (police),  or,  at  least,  as  the  Kurds  and 
Circassians  are  seldom  absent,  thrust  or  hide  their  pistols 
or  daggers  between  the  folds  of  their  girdles.  Beyond  the 
village  the  descent  begins.  The  bridges  over  the  torrents 
are  not  so  safe  as  the  fords.  The  Aleppo  road  is  left  only 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  to  take  to  the  left  a  simple  track 


THE  TRAPPISr  85 

through  the  forests,  moors  or  arable  land,  and  it  hardly 
swerves  away  from  the  lowest  slopes  of  the  Amanus  and 
winds  round  the  spurs  of  the  mountain.  After  a  long 
march,  a  very  jagged  cleft  in  the  mountain  is  reached. 

There  is  the  little  town  of  Akbes  with  the  Lazarist  mis- 
sion. Travellers,  like  Brother  Alberic  and  his  companion, 
who  wish  to  go  on  to  La  Trappe  of  Sheikhle,  then  enter  the 
ravine,  go  up  it  for  two  hours,  and  then  descend  a  little  to 
reach  the  bottom  of  a  high  valley  quite  wonderful  in  its 
formation  and  scenery. 

Imagine  a  circle  of  mountains  surrounding  it,  all  covered 
with  tall  parasol  pines,  under  which  oaks  and  other  trees 
and  shrubs  grow.  It  is  itself  cultivated,  tilled  and  sown 
like  the  country  in  France  or  Italy,  since  there  are  monks 
of  St.  Bernard  in  this  wild  corner  of  Turkey.  Gushing 
springs  water  it  and  form  a  stream  which  has  ended  in 
cutting  through  the  mountain-side  and  falls  in  cascades. 
In  the  distance  through  this  cutting  stretches  away  the 
waving  expanse  towards  Killis  and  Aleppo.  It  is  the  only 
opening  on  the  world.  Outside  the  gap,  there  is  nothing 
but  verdure  and  blue  sky. 

The  monastery  was  built  in  haste.  One  really  cannot 
imagine  a  poorer  one.  A  fence  limits  and  protects  it 
against  prowlers,  but  it  is  made  of  dry  thorn  and  stakes. 
No  church  is  to  be  seen,  with  its  roof  and  spire  dominatfng 
the  other  buildings  as  in  our  Western  abbeys.  The  entrance 
gate  of  the  Sheikhle  Trappe  opens  on  to  a  farmyard.  All 
along  the  right  are  the  mules'  stables  and  the  cowhouses; 
on  the  left,  a  bakery,  kitchen,  forge,  and  a  shed  where  the 
agricultural  implements  are  put  up ;  at  the  farther  end,  the 
chapter-hall,  refectory,  and  the  Prior's  room.  Several 
other  buildings  to  the  left  were  grouped  as  required — 
chapel,  joiners'  shop,  wood-house,  rooms  for  study,  library 
and  linen-room ;  but  stone  having  been  reserved  for  the 
chapel,  the  chapter-hall  and  the  stables,  the  rest  were  built 
with  cob-walls  and  roofed  with  boards  or  thatch.  The 
appearance  had  none  of  the  beautiful  order  that  the  word 
"  monastery  "  conveys  to  us.  To  live  there,  men  had  to  be 
stout  in  limb  and  heart.  For,  not  to  speak  of  always  pos- 
sible incursions  of  bands  of  brigands  tempted  by  the 
granaries,  or  excited  by  fanaticism,  comfort  was  necessarily 
lacking  and  necessaries  habitually.  For  example,  in  sum- 
mer the  monks  slept  in  a  loft  over  the  stables,  the  worn  and 
badly  joined  lath  floor  of  which  let  through  the  noise  and 
odour  of  the  animals.  In  winter  they  had  as  their  dormi- 
tory another  loft,  over  the  chapter-hall  and  refectory,  but 


86  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

they  slept  scarcely  any  better  there  than  in  the  other  one, 
when  the  snow  covered  the  sheet-iron  roof  which  was  very 
near  their  moss-stuffed  mattresses.  The  bed-clothes  did  not 
give  much  protection  from  the  bite  of  the  cold.  In  addition 
to  this,  if  the  domain  sufficed  to  support  those  who  cultivated 
it,  it  did  not  raise  funds  enough  to  build  a  real  abbey.  The 
land  had  been  cleared  eight  years  ago,  and  produced  fine 
crops  of  wheat,  barley,  and  cotton  ;  the  kitchen-garden  fur- 
nished an  abundance  of  vegetables ;  the  well-kept  and 
selected  varieties  of  vines,  at  the  end  of  the  summer, 
promised  a  delicious  white  wine,  but  the  distance  from  the 
markets  rendered  the  sale  almost  useless,  and  carriage  ate 
up  the  profits. 

Such  were  the  place,  scene,  and  material  state  of  life  in 
which  Brother  Alberic  went  on  with  his  Trappist  novitiate. 
His  time  was  no  longer  spent  in  quite  the  same  way. 

"The  manual  labour  here  was  to  gather  cotton,  carry 
away  stones  in  the  fields  and  make  a  heap  of  them  where 
they  are  not  in  the  way,  to  wash  and  saw  wood;  we  never 
know  beforehand  what  work  we  shall  have  to  do.  At  the. 
hour  for  work  a  wooden  slab  is  struck.  The  choir-monks 
assemble  in  a  small  room  where  the  aprons  and  sabots  are, 
and  the  Superior  assigns  each  man  his  work.  Since  I  have 
been  here,  I  have  spent  two,  sometimes  three  days  a  week, 
washing,  the  remainder  in  working  in  the  fields;  there  my 
ordinary  work  is  to  clear  the  soil  of  the  stones  which 
encumber  it  and  to  carry  them  in  baskets  into  heaps.  .  .  . 
When  there  is  particular  work,  crops  to  gather,  I  am  sent 
to  do  it.  I  spent  eight  or  ten  days  in  gathering  potatoes,  two 
or  three  at  the  vintage,  nearly  three  weeks  at  the  cotton  har- 
vest. Besides,  novices  have  the  pleasing  duty  of  sweeping 
the  church  twice  a  week.   .  .   . 

"Our  orphans  are  Catholic  children  of  Akbes,  where 
three  Lazarist  missionaries  have  converted  eight  hundred 
schismatics  in  the  last  twenty  years." 

Who  are  the  neighbours  of  this  monastery  lost  in  the 
mountains  of  Asia  Minor  and  what  may  be  expected  from 
them  ?  Comte  Louis  de  Houcauld  asked  his  cousin. 

"  You  wish  to  know,"  replied  Brother  Marie-Alberic, 
"  whether  I  am  in  contact  with  the  Musulmans  :  not  much. 
It  appears  to  me  that  this  mixture  of  Kurds,  Syrians,  Turks, 
and  Armenians  would  make  a  brave,  laborious,  and  honest 
people  if  they  were  educated,  governed,  and  above  all  con- 
verted. For  the  moment,  they  are  mercilessly  overtaxed, 
profoundly  ignorant,  and  the  Musulman  religion  has  its  sad 
influence  on  morals  :  our  region  is  a  corner  of  brigands.     It 


THE  TRAPPIST  87 

is  for  us  to  make  the  future  of  these  peoples.  The  future, 
the  only  true  future,  is  life  eternal  :  this  life  is  but  the  short 
trial  which  prepares  for  the  next.  The  conversion  of  these 
people  depends  on  God,  on  them,  and  on  us  Christians. 
God  always  gives  grace  abundantly  :  they  are  free  to  receive, 
or  not  to  receive,  the  Faith  :  preaching  in  Musulman  coun- 
tries is  difficult,  but  the  missionaries  of  so  many  centuries 
past  have  overcome  many  other  difficulties.  We  have  to  be 
the  successors  of  the  first  Apostles,  the  first  evangelists. 
The  Word  is  much,  but  example,  love,  and  prayer  are  a 
thousand  times  more.  Let  us  give  them  the  example  of  a 
perfect  life,  of  a  superior  and  divine  life  :  let  us  love  them 
with  that  all-powerful  love  which  makes  itself  beloved ;  let 
us  pray  for  them  with  a  heart  warm  enough  to  draw  down 
on  them  from  God  a  superabundance  of  graces,  and  we  shall 
infallibly  convert  them.  .  .  ."^ 

"  November  10,  1890. — The  principal  difference  from 
Notre-Dame-des-Neiges  is  that  here  I  am  given  the  order 
to  work  with  all  my  strength,  though  meditation  should  lose 
thereby;  that  is  more  conformable  with  poverty,  with  our 
Lord's  example.  But  up  to  the  present  God  has  not  willed 
meditation  to  lose  by  it;  on  the  contrary,  He  gives  me 
during  work  the  faithful  thought  of  Him  and  of  those  I  love, 
which  forms  my  life." 

He  adds  that  he  has  not  taken  advantage  of  any  exception. 
"  It  is  true,"  he  says,  "  that  I  have  asked  for  nothing. "^ 
"Our  mountains  are  entirely  wooded  with  tall  parasol 
pines  under  which  grow  oak-trees,  holm-oaks  and  wild 
olives,  and  amidst  which  great  masses  of  grey,  cavernous 
rocks  rise  up  in  places.  They  swarm  with  partridges  and 
deer;  in  winter,  wolves,  panthers,  bears,  and  wild  boars, 
which  are  very  numerous  in  the  neighbourhood,  venture 
into  them." 

"  April. — Holy  Communion  is  my  great  support,  my  all. 
I  dare  not  ask  for  it  every  day  :  my  unworthiness  is  infinite." 

''Easter  Tuesday,  1890. — We  should  be  joyful,  for  our 
Lord  is  risen ;  our  Well-Beloved,  our  Betrothed,  the  divine 
Spouse  of  our  soul  is  infinitely  happy,  and  His  reign  will 

^  Letter  of  November  28,  1892. 

^  He  said  :  "  To  ask  for  nothing,  unless  in  great  necessity,  is  a  maxim  of 
St.  Teresa  which  I  try  to  put  into  practice,  and  each  time  that  I  do  so  I 
find  myself  the  better  for  it."  ' 


88  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

have  no  end;  .  .  .  this  is  the  true  foundation  of  our  joy.  .  .  . 
However  sad  I  may  be  when  1  kneel  at  the  foot  of  the  aUar, 
and  say  to  our  Lord,  '  Lord,  Thou  art  infinitely  happy  and 
dost  want  for  nothing,'  I  cannot  do  otherwise  than  add: 
'  Then  I  too  am  happy,  and  in  want  of  nothing ;  Thy  happi- 
ness suffices  me.'  .   .    ." 

July  14,  1890. — The  foundation  is  going  on  very  well  : 
there  are  many  novices,  and  some  come  from  France,  others 
from  this  country.  ...  I  hope  that  God  will  bless  this 
monastery,  that  can  do  so  much  good  in  the  midst  of  a 
Musulman  population  among  whom  there  is  a  certain  num- 
ber of  schismatic  Christians. 

"...  Exercises  follow  each  other  at  short  intervals,  and 
one  can  hardly  do  the  same  thing  long;  it  is  this  that 
after,  and  with  the  grace  of  God,  makes  life  here  so  easy 
materially ;  the  great  diversity  of  exercises,  prayer,  read- 
ing, and  work  follow  one  another.  ...  I  am  coming  from 
church ;  I  am  going,  I  think,  to  the  fields ;  and  thus  it  is  all 
day  long.  .  .  .  We  are  now  in  the  season  of  hard  work; 
the  wheat  is  being  threshed ;  for  husbandmen,  for  Trappists, 
it  is  a  big  business. 

*'  November  11,  1890. — Here  God  gives  me  a  novice- 
master  whose  knowledge  and  example  are  admirable;  he  is 
a  retired  Abbot.  A  former  Abbot  of  Notre-Dame-des- 
Neiges,  he  has  come  here  to  finish  his  already  long  re- 
ligious career;  he  is  the  real  founder  of  this  house,  and  does 
an  immense  amount  of  good  in  it."^ 

"January  3,  1891. — To-day,  I  write  to  you  particularly 
to  make  you  a  gift  of  all  my  fiat  in  Paris  contains :  hence- 
forth it  is  yours,  do  what  you  please  with  it,  sell,  give,  order 
what  you  like;  it  is  just  yours.  .  .  .  Except  what  is  left 
as  a  souvenir,  which  Raymond  will  give  back  in  my  name, 
you  will  find  most,  and  even  all  the  things  we  cared  for  as 
coming  from  grandfather  and  our  parents."- 

"...  You  ask  to  hear  about  me.  My  soul  enjoys  a 
profound  peace,  which  has  not  ceased  since  coming  here. 
It  grows  stronger  every  day,  although  I  feel  how  little  it 
comes  from  myself,  how  much  it  is  a  pure  gift  from  God. 
It  is  a  peace  which  increases  faith,  which  calls  for  gratitude. 
Give  thanks  for  me,  so  that  I  may  be  less  ungrateful.   .  .  . 

^  This  monk  was  called  Dom  Polycarpe. 
^  In  a  later  letter  are  these  words  written  to  his  sister  : 
"The  greatest  joy  that  my  little  possessions  have  given  me  will  lie  to 
get  rid  of  them  and  to  have  them  no  longer." 


THE  TRAPPIST  89 

I  feel  more  every  day  that  I  am  where  God  wishes  me  to  be. 
In  a  few  days  it  will  be  a  year  since  I  have  been  atLaTrappe. 
I  am  only  overwhelmed  by  the  infinite  goodness  of  our 
Lord  Jesus,  who  has  thus  called  and  led  and  overwhelmed 
me  with  so  many  graces.  In  a  year  I  shall  make  my  profes- 
sion. My  heart  is  longing  to  be  bound  by  vows,  but  I  am 
already  so  by  all  my  desires. 

"Think  much  of  the  poor,  my  good  Mimi,  during  this 
hard  winter.  If  you  only  knew  how  I  regret  not  having 
done  more  for  them  when  I  was  in  the  world  !  I  know  well 
you  need  not  have  the  same  regrets,  but  I  think  I  am  right 
to  tell  you  this,  for  here  in  La  Trappe,  though  we  don't 
suffer  ourselves,  we  can  imagine  what  they  must  suffer  when 
they  have  not  what  we  have." 

"  July  3,  1881. — You  ask  me  for  news  of  my  convent  and 
of  our  work;  we  are  about  a  score  of  Trappists,  novices 
included.  We  are  installed,  as  you  see  by  the  photographs, 
in  a  pretty  extensive  range  of  huts.  There  are  live-stock; 
oxen,  goats,  horses,  and  asses — all  that  is  required  for  culti- 
vation on  a  big  scale.  In  our  huts  we  board  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  Catholic  orphans,  between  five  and  fifteen  years  of 
age ;  there  are  at  least  ten  or  fifteen  lay-workmen  also  shel- 
tered by  us ;  lastly,  guests  whose  number  varies ;  you  know 
monks  are  essentially  hospitable.  You  will  also  get  a  very 
good  idea  of  our  life  by  reading  Les  Moines  d'Occident  by 
Montalembert.  However,  there  is  a  difference  :  the  monks 
of  whom  he  speaks  studied  more  than  we,  busied  them- 
selves more  than  we  with  certain  work,  such  as  copying  of 
manuscripts.  Our  great  work  is  field  labour;  this  dis- 
tinguishes the  Order  of  St.  Bernard,  to  which  we  belong, 
from  the  old  monks.  Thus,  in  autumn  there  was  the  vin- 
tage and  the  clearing  of  the  fields ;  in  winter,  sawing  wood ; 
in  spring,  working  with  picks  at  the  vine;  in  summer,  har- 
vesting the  hay.  The  harvest  was  finished  the  day  before 
yesterday.  It  is  peasants'  work,  a  toil  infinitely  salutary 
for  the  soul ;  while  employing  the  body,  it  leaves  the  soul 
free  to  pray  and  meditate.  Then  this  work,  harder  than 
you  think  if  you  have  never  done  it,  gives  you  such  com- 
passion for  the  poor,  such  charity  towards  workmen  and 
labourers  !  You  understand  the  cost  of  a  piece  of  bread  so 
well,  when  you  see  for  yourself  how  much  trouble  it  takes 
to  produce  it !  You  feel  so  much  pity  for  all  who  work, 
when  you  share  in  that  work  !   .   .   . 

"  You  wish  me  to  describe  one  of  our  days.     We  get  up 
at  two  in  the  morning,  run  to  church,  where  we  remain  two 


90  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

hours  reciting-  the  Psalms  aloud  in  the  choir;  then,  for  an 
hour  or  an  hour  and  a  half  we  are  free,  we  read  and  pray ; 
and  the  priests  say  Mass.  Towards  half-past  five  we  go 
back  to  the  choir,  we  again  say  some  Psalms ;  it  is  the  first 
canonical  hour;  and  we  assist  at  Mass  in  common.  From 
there  we  go  to  the  chapter  and  say  some  prayers ;  the 
Superior  comments  on  a  passage  of  the  Rule ;  and  if  any 
one  has  committed  a  fault,  he  then  confesses  it  in  public,  and 
is  given  a  penance  (not  generally  very  hard,  far  from  it). 
Another  three-quarters  of  an  hour  free  for  reading  or 
prayer;  again  in  the  choir  we  say  the  little  office  of  Terce; 
then  about  seven,  work  begins ;  the  Superior  assigns  it  to 
each  man  after  Terce.  We  remain  at  work  till  about  eleven 
o'clock ;  we  then  say  Sext,  and  go  to  the  refectory  at  half- 
past  eleven. 

"  After  lunch  (the  monks'  dinner)  we  go  up  to  the  dormi- 
tory, where  we  sleep  till  half-past  one.  The  office  of  None 
is  at  half-past  one.  An  interval  of  three-quarters  of  an  hour 
for  privates  prayers  or  reading.  At  half-past  two  Vespers. 
After  Vespers,  work  till  a  quarter  to  six.  At  six  o'clock 
prayer ;  at  a  quarter  past  six,  supper ;  a  little  free  time ;  at  a 
quarter  past  seven,  reading  for  the  whole  community  in 
chapter;  then  Compline,  singing  of  the  Salve  and  to  bed. 
We  go  to  bed  at  eight. 

"  Have  I  spoken  enough  to  you  about  myself,  dear  Mimi  ? 
I  hope  you  are  satisfied." 

*' October  29,  1891. —  .  .  .  Thanks  for  having  thought 
of  me  on  the  15th  of  September;  on  that  day  I  was  thirty- 
three;  the  years  pass,  may  they  bring  us  nearer  to  God  in 
every  way  !  Let  us  pray  for  each  other,  in  order  to  be 
faithful  to  what  God  desires  from  us  each  in  our  own  lives. 
They  appear  very  different,  but  it  is  only  in  appearance ; 
when  God  makes  the  foundation  of  life  as  it  ought  to  be, 
all  lives  resemble  each  other,  the  rest  is  of  little  importance." 

The  ceremony  of  Brother  Marie-Alberic's  religious  pro- 
fession took  place  on  Candlemas  Day,  February  2,  1892.  It 
was  presided  over  by  Dom  Martin,  Abbot  of  Notre-Dame- 
des-Neiges,  who  was  in  the  East  for  the  regular  visit. 

The  newly  professed  monk  wrote  next  day  :  "  From  yes- 
terday I  belong  entirely  to  our  Lord.  About  seven  o'clock 
I  made  my  vows;  about  eleven  o'clock  a  few  locks  of  my 
hair  were  cut  off  in  the  church,  then  my  head  was  shaved, 
leaving  the  monastic  crown.  And  now  I  no  longer  belong 
to  myself  in  any  way.  ...  I  am  in  a  state  I  have  never 
experienced,  except  just  a  little  on  my  return  from  Jeru- 


THE  TRAPPIST  91 

salem  ...  It  is  a  craving  for  meditation  and  silence,  for 
lying  at  God's  feet  and  looking  at  Him  almost  in  silence. 
One  feels,  and  would  like  to  go  on  indefinitely  feeling,  that 
one  belongs  all  to  God,  and  that  He  is  all  our  own.  The 
'  Is  it,  then,  nothing  to  belong  all  to  God?'  of  St.  Teresa, 
furnishes  the  prayer.   .   .    ."^ 

Around  him,  admiration  increased.  "  Our  Brother  Marie- 
Alberic  appears  like  an  angel  amidst  us,"  said  the  Abbot  of 
Notre-Dame-des-Neiges ;  "he  wants  nothing  but  wings." 
The  Prior  of  the  Sheikhle  Trappe,  Dom  Louis  de  Gon- 
zague,  wrote  the  same  way  to  Madame  de  Blic,  the  day 
after  the  religious  profession  :  "  You  know.  Madam,  what 
a  holy  companion  on  our  journey  to  heaven  we  have  taken 
to  ourselves  to-day  !  His  spiritual  director,  our  venerable 
Father  Dom  Polycarpe,  who  will  soon  have  had  fifty  years 
of  religious  profession  and  has  been  a  Superior  more  than 
thirty  years,  assures  me  that,  in  his  long  life,  he  has  not 
yet  met  with  a  soul  so  entirely  given  to  God.  Allow  me  to 
make  a  little  disclosure  with  regard  to  this  dear  and  holy 
soul.  ...  I  should  naturally  like  to  get  Father  Marie- 
Alberic  to  make  his  theological  studies  here,  so  that  he  may 
some  day  be  promoted  to  the  priesthood.  I  have  not  yet 
spoken  to  him  of  this  intention,  but  I  foresee  very  well  that 
I  shall  have  to  maintain  a  serious  struggle  against  his 
humility,  and  finally,  it  is  a  thing  that,  in  our  Order,  we 
cannot  command  in  virtue  of  obedience.  ...  In  spite 
of  his  marvellous  austerities,  his  health  remains  excel- 
lent. .   .  ."2 

A  little  later  on,  when  back  in  France  after  his  journey  in 
Syria,  Dom  Martin,  giving  to  the  General  Chapter  an 
account  of  the  visit  he  had  paid  to  Akbes,  named  Charles 
de  Foucauld  among  the  monks  who  might  one  day  be 
appointed  Superiors  of  that  foundation. 

Brother  Marie-Alberic  forbore  thinking  of  the  future.  But 
it  is  so  difficult  for  us  to  live  entirely  in  the  present,  that  he 
happened  to  ask  himself:  "What  will  they  do  with  me? 
If  only  they  don't  take  me  away  from  the  common  life  of 
the  Brothers  who  are  wood-choppers,  weeders  of  wheat 
and  grass,  harvesters,  grape-gatherers,  according  to  the 
seasons!"  He  disclosed  his  perplexity  to  Abbe  Huvelin, 
and,  to  meet  the  reply,  prepared  his  defence  against  digni- 
ties and  offices  :  "If  they  speak  to  me  of  studies,  I  shall 
show  that  I  have  a  great  liking  for  being  neck-deep  in 
wheat  and  wood,  and  a  strong  repugnance  for  everything 

^  Letter  of  January  2,  1892. 
2  Letter  of  February  4,  1892. 


92  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

that  would  take  me  away  from  the  lowest  place  which  1 
came  to  find,  from  the  abjection  in  which  I  desire  to  be 
buried  ever  deeper  and  deeper,  following  our  Lord's 
example,  and  then,  after  all,  I  shall  obey.  .  .  .  But  what 
I  tell  you  here  is  a  stroll  in  the  forbidden  garden;  God  is 
with  us  to-day  :  is  not  that  enough  ?" 

He  was  bidden  to  begin  his  theological  studies  a  few 
months  after  his  profession. 

"  August  22,  1892. — This  week  the  Lazarite  Father 
Superior  of  Akbes  comes  back.  ...  It  appears  that,  over 
a  year  ago,  it  was  arranged  that  he  should  teach  me 
theology  :  he  was  professor  of  theology  at  Montpellier  and 
is  very  learned.  He  is  a  Neapolitan  (M.  Destino).  On 
being  told  this,  I  did  not  conceal  my  lack  of  attraction  for 
this  new  vocation.  I  also  pointed  out  my  great  ignorance 
of  monastic  things.  They  replied  that  it  was  settled,  and 
that  I  should  soon  begin  :  so  I  did  not  persist." 

In  fact,  he  became  initiated  in  many  other  employments, 
for,  having  had  a  slight  illness  in  the  course  of  that  year, 
Brother  Marie-Alberic  was  provisionally  exempted  from 
work  in  the  open  air,  and  confided  to  the  linen-Brother,  who 
taught  him  how  to  mend  and  darn. 

"  July  5,  1892. — Why  can't  I  give  you  a  little  of  my  taste 
for  solitude?  I,  indeed,  love  it  more  every  day,  and  think 
there  is  never  enough  of  it. 

"  I  am  always  thinking  of  our  Lord  and  the  Blessed 
Virgin  .  .  .  and  I  live  happy  in  their  dear  society.  When 
I  am  mending  the  little  orphans'  clothes,  I  say  to  myself, 
how  happy  I  am  in  doing  this  work,  so  familiar  in  the 
house  at  Nazareth.  .  .  .  How  unworthy  I  am  of  these 
graces  !  Fancy  me,  for  three  days  last  week  working  at  a 
strange  job  :  the  orphans'  nurse  was  indisposed,  and  I  was 
told  to  take  his  place  by  day.  Just  think  how  strange  it 
was  to  find  myself  all  at  once  in  charge  of  nine  little  Turks 
from  six  to  fifteen  years  old  !  When  I  saw  myself  in  the 
midst  of  this  little  family,  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  those 
who  say  that  one  enters  religion  to  avoid  the  cares  of  life. 
One  has  not  the  same  cares,  but  very  happy  ones  when  God 
wishes  it.  As  for  me,  on  account  of  my  great  weakness, 
He  has  given  me  nothing  but  peace.  .  .  .  These  poor 
little  ones  were  as  good  as  possible." 

"Afay  21,  1893. — The  studies  interest  me.  Holy  Scrip- 
ture above  all — it  is  the  Word  of  our  heavenly  Father.  Dog- 
matic theology,  too ;  it  is  the  study  of  what  we  must  believe 


THE  TRAPPIST  93 

about  the  Holy  Trinity,  our  Lord  and  the  Church  ;  that,  too, 
brings  us  much  nearer  to  God  :  moral  theology  less.  .  .  . 
But  these  studies  .  .  .  have  not  the  same  value  as  the  prac- 
tice of  poverty,  abjection,  mortification,  and  finally  the 
imitation  of  our  Lord  which  manual  labour  provides.  How- 
ever, since  I  do  them  through  obedience,  having  resisted  as 
much  as  I  ought,  this  is  evidently  what  God  desires  of  me 
now." 

Yes,  he  felt  sure  of  not  being  mistaken  in  rejecting  the 
world  and  becoming  a  monk,  but  a  long  road  remained  for 
him  to  travel,  and  sometimes  his  peace  was  disturbed,  and 
a  call  came  from  the  heart  of  God  to  this  man  of  good-will, 
splitting  wood,  patching  breeches,  or  bending  over  a  theo- 
logical treatise,  and  a  voice  said  to  him  :  "  Go  farther  into 
solitude!"  The  temptations  against  obedience  continued 
to  exercise  the  virtue  of  the  still  young  religious ;  the  spirit 
of  mistrust  tried  him,  leading  him  to  think  his  Superiors 
were  surely  making  a  mistake  and  did  not  know  how  to  guide 
everyone,  and  that  it  would  be  very  easy  to  name  a  novice 
whose  real  inclinations  they  had  overlooked.  Brother 
Marie-Alberic  silenced  this  tempting  voice ;  but  the  other 
that  said,  "Go  farther"  he  always  heard.  Very  resolute 
not  to  swerve  from  obedience,  he  waited,  without  knowing 
where  it  wished  to  lead  him,  for  a  certain  sign  of  the  will 
which  was  drawing  him  outside.  It  was  then  that  he  wrote 
to  his  cousin  Comte  Louis  de  Foucauld :  "I  relish  the 
charms  of  solitude  more  and  more,  and  I  am  trying  to  find 
out  how  to  enter  into  a  deeper  and  deeper  solitude."  Three 
lines  of  another  intimate  letter  show  even  more  clearly  this 
extraordinary  attraction,  which  makes  him  wish  for  an 
Order  still  more  strict  than  the  strictest  of  religious  Orders. 
He  told  a  friend,  on  June  27,  1893,  that  the  Trappists  of 
Notre-Dame-des-Neiges  had  received  the  new  constitutions 
of  the  Cistercian  Order:  "It  is  all  very  pious,"  he  said, 
"  very  austere,  very  good  in  every  way ;  however,  be  it  said 
between  you  and  me,  there  is  not  all  the  poverty  I  wish  for, 
nor  the  abjection  I  long  for  :  my  desires  in  that  direction 
are  not  satisfied." 

Here  was  a  sort  of  excess  and  singularity  which  could  not 
fail  to  puzzle  the  most  learned  and  experienced  of  directors. 
For  the  ideal  of  poverty,  humility,  mortification  and 
charity  has  been  attained  by  a  great  number  of  holy  monks 
and  nuns,  in  all  the  recognized  Orders,  under  divers  rules. 
For  centuries  all  religious  life  has  tended  that  way,  even  in 
the  world.  The  obstacles  are  in  ourselves  much  more  than  in 


94  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

the  exterior  circumstances  and  equipment  of  life.  He  was 
deceived  as  to  the  motives  which  were  driving  him  out  of 
La  Trappe  :  he  conceived  a  project  which  he  was  never  to 
accompHsh — that  of  grouping  around  him  "a  few  souls 
with  which  he  could  form  a  beginning  of  a  little  congrega- 
tion," answering  to  the  longings  of  a  mind  which  did  not 
cease  to  be  haunted  by  the  vision  of  Nazareth.  What  would 
be  the  aim  of  this  new  company  ?  What  would  be  its  essen- 
tial rule?  From  this  moment  Brother  Marie-Alberic  sets  it 
forth  thus  :  "  To  lead  the  life  of  our  Lord  as  closely  as  pos- 
sible, living  solely  by  the  work  of  their  hands,  without 
accepting  any  gift,  either  spontaneous  or  asked  for,  and 
following  to  the  letter  all  His  counsels,  possessing  nothing, 
giving  to  all  who  ask,  claiming  nothing,  stinting  them- 
selves as  much  as  possible  .  .  .  adding  to  this  work  much 
prayer;  .  .  .  forming  small  groups  only;  .  .  .  scattered, 
above  all,  through  infidel  and  neglected  lands,  in  which  it 
would  be  so  pleasing  to  increase  the  love  and  service  of 
Jesus  Christ."^ 

Souls  chosen,  like  Charles  de  Foucauld,  for  an  excep- 
tional life,  are  led  through  darkness  less  and  less  dense  to 
light.  Here  the  desire  of  devoting  all  his  forces  to  the 
salvation  of  infidel  lands  appears,  and  his  often  expressed 
thought  of  being  the  most  destitute  and  unknown  of  men 
again  shows  itself.  He  feels  himself  urged  along  by  an 
increasing  interior  force  towards  an  undefined  and  dan- 
gerous future.  For  oh  one  point  he  has  no  illusions : 
perhaps  he  will  be  long  alone.  He  trembles  at  the  thought, 
but  does  not  change  the  desire:  "being  in  a  boat,  I  am 
afraid  of  jumping  into  the  sea."  But  his  shrinking  does 
not  disquiet  him,  and  his  uncertainty  does  not  reach  the 
higher  self  where  peace  rules  untouched.  And  the  explana- 
tion of  the  wonder  was  quite  simple  :  Brother  Marie-Alb^ric 
left  the  decision  of  his  extreme  difficulty  to  the  greatest  of 
all  authorities,  to  the  authority  which  puts  God  before  us 
in  our  Order,  and  self  afterwards  :  obedience.  This  enabled 
him  to  overcome  everything  and  persuade  everyone. 

Look  at  this  Trappist  who  has  pronounced  his  first  vows. 
He  believes  he  is  called  to  leave  the  Order,  not  to  return  to 
secular  life,  which  would  not  be  without  precedent,  but  to 
follow  an  entirely  personal,  and  even  strange,  inspiration, 
which  urges  him  to  disappear  still  more  completely  than  in 
a  Syrian  monastery.  He  has  gained  the  sympathy  and 
aroused  even  the  admiration  of  his  Superiors  and  Brothers  : 
and  he  wants  to  leave  these  friends,  and  theirs  is  the 
^  Letter  of  October  4,  1893. 


THE  TRAPPIST  95 

decision  he  asks  for  I  In  France,  in  Paris,  very  far  away, 
he  had  a  director  who  was  a  curate  at  Saint  Augustine's; 
and  this  prudent  Parisian  with  his  distrust  of  the  excep- 
tional, a  moderate  man  by  temperament  and  experience,  as 
anxious  as  a  mother,  he  had  to  convince  and  bring  to  utter 
this  decision:  "Yes,  my  child,  go  to  that  wonderful  un- 
known that  you  long  for." 

To  put  one's  trust  in  one  who  is  worthy  of  it,  to  speak 
out  freely,  not  to  shirk  owning  up,  to  be  patient  only  after- 
wards, and  if  one  must :  men  have  found  no  better  means 
of  driving  away  the  clouds  which  uncertainty  and  conflict- 
ing reasons  gather  within  them.  It  is  an  honest,  prompt, 
and  military  method.  It  was  Charles  de  Foucauld's.  He 
therefore  began,  about  the  middle  of  September,  to  speak 
of  his  trouble  to  Dom  Polycarpe,  whom  he  had  chosen  as 
his  confessor,  and  asked  him  : 

"  Does  this  come  from  God,  the  devil,  or  my  imagina- 
tion?" 

"Think  no  more  about  it,"  was  substantially  the  prior's 
reply,  "  and  wait  in  peace,  for  the  good  God,  if  it  comes 
from  Him,  will  well  know  how  to  provide  the  occasion." 

He  wrote  at  the  same  time  to  Abb^  Huvelin.  We  have 
not  these  letters,  but,  in  a  sort  of  journal  addressed  to  a 
friend,  he  summarized  them.  They  showed  an  entire  liberty 
of  procedure  and  judgment. 

Then  Abb6  Huvelin,  who  understood  his  patient  very 
well  and  was  very  fond  of  him,  became  uneasy.  Without 
retaining  the  least  hope  of  keeping  this  man,  with  his 
extreme  yearnings,  a  neophyte  in  whom  he  observed  a  sort 
of  agitated  seeking  after  perfection,  at  La  Trappe,  he  tried 
to  retard  the  denouement  of  the  inward  crisis.  The  idea 
that  Charles  de  Foucauld  might  be  called  to  follow  the 
vocation  of  the  Fathers  of  the  desert  by  degrees  entered  his 
mind,  but  before  he  was  persuaded  of  it,  before  saying  so, 
he  had  to  oppose  a  project  which  appeared  to  be  an  adven- 
ture, one  of  those  adventures  into  which  he  knew  the  best 
endowed  souls  may  in  good  faith  throw  themselves  and 
perish.  Here  are  a  few  fragments  of  the  numerous  letters 
that  he  wrote  in  the  months  which  follow  Brother  Marie- 
Alberic's  disclosure.  They  tell  of  the  suffering  brought 
upon  this  tender-hearted  priest  by  the  event  the  shad'ow 
of  which,  like  that  of  a  storm-cloud,  he  already  felt  draw 
near. 

"  January  29,  1894. — Go  on  with  your  theological  studies, 
at  least  up  to  the  diaconate;  cultivate  the  interior  virtues, 


96  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

and  above  all  self-annihilation  ;  as  for  the  exterior  virtues, 
practise  them  in  the  perfection  of  obedience  to  the  rule  and 
to  your  Superiors;  for  the  rest  we  shall  see  later  on.  Be- 
sides, you  are  not  made,  not  at  all  made,  to  lead  others." 

"  July  29,  1895  (to  a  third  party). — Evidently  he  will  not 
stay.  He  will  take  his  idea  more  and  more  for  the  voice 
of  God  speaking.  The  beauty  of  the  end  to  which  he 
believes  himself  called  will  veil  all  the  rest,  and  above  all  the 
unattainable.   .   .   ." 

''July  30,  1895  (to  a  third  party). — How  alarmed  I  am 
about  the  life  which  he  wishes  to  lead,  about  Nazareth 
where  he  wishes  to  go  and  live,  about  the  band  which  he 
wants  to  gather  around  him  !  But  I  do  not  hope  to  keep 
him  at  La  Trappe." 

"  September  30,  1897. — I  fi^d  that  he  wishes  for  too  many 
things,  and  therein  I  fear  some  uneasiness  of  mind,  and 
that  constant  striving  for  the  best  which  upsets  a  soul." 

Thus  thought  the  two  advisers  to  whom  Brother  Marie- 
Alberic  had  appealed.  And  what  was  he  thinking  about 
during  these  months  of  waiting?  This,  which  he  had 
revealed  to  Abbe  Huvelin,  and  probably  to  his  Trappist 
confessor  :  he  wished  to  be  a  choir-monk  no  longer,  to  lead 
outside  of  La  Trappe  what  he  calls  "  the  life  of  Nazareth," 
and,  more  definitely,  to  become  "  a  simple  inmate,  a  simple 
day-labourer  in  some  convent."^  Besides,  he  had  resolved 
to  undertake  nothing,  as  long  as  the  guides,  whose  very 
clear  advice  we  have  just  seen,  would  not  encourage  him 
to  change  his  condition,  rule,  domicile,  and  habit.  "As 
long  as  my  directors  refuse  their  permission,  I  should  think 
I  was  disobeying  God,  whatever  I  did.^ 

"  The  Abbe  (Huvelin)  tells  me  to  find  out  whether  I  could 
not  discover  what  God  expects  of  me,  here,  in  this  life  where 
I  am.  .  .  .  You  know  with  what  respect  and  affection  I 
listen  to  this  word  :  but  everything  calls  me  in  an  opposite 
direction.  .  .  .  Time  or  death,  and  in  any  case  God  will 
arrange  the  rest.  But  I  always  hope  He  will  allow  me  to 
follow  Him  in  the  way  He  points  out  to  me."^ 

We  shall  presently  see  how  these  difficulties  were  un- 
ravelled, how,  without  laying  aside  all  apprehension,  men 
of  entire  sincerity  and  men  of  prayer  were  led  to  change 
their  mind  and  give  an  authorization  that  Charles  de 
Foucauld  waited  for  in  perfect  obedience. 

^  Letter  of  March  19,  1896.  ^  Letter  of  January  3,  1894. 

"  Letter  of  August  30,  1895. 


THE  TRAPPIST  97 

While  these  things  were  taking  place  unknown  to  the 
world,  two  events  attracted  the  attention,  not  of  a  great 
number  of  men,  but  of  some,  to  La  Trappe  of  Akbes.  In 
the  first  place,  at  the  beginning  of  1894  it  ceased  to  be 
attached  to  the  Abbey  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges,  and  was 
placed  under  that  of  Staueli,  which,  having  more  impor- 
tant farms  and  vineyards  in  full  produce,  could  more  easily 
bring  help  to  the  very  poor  Trappe  of  Syria.  The  second 
event  was  the  period  of  massacres  that  the  Sultan  permitted 
or  ordered.  Once  more  Armenia  was  the  victim,  Armenia 
and  all  the  undefined  fringe  of  countries  which  border 
upon  it. 

"  It  is  not  the  Kurds  who  stir,  it  is  the  Armenian  Chris- 
tians, and  the  Turks  take  advantage  of  this  to  commit  ter- 
rible massacres,  and  to  do  as  much  harm  as  they  can,  not 
only  to  the  Armenians,  but  to  all  Christians,  Catholic  or 
others,  who  are  still  so  numerous  in  these  countries.  .  .  . 
Around  us  there  were  horrors,  a  number  of  massacres,  burn- 
ings and  lootings.  Many  of  the  Christians  were  really 
martyrs,  for  they  died  voluntarily,  without  defending  them- 
selves, rather  than  deny  their  Faith.  .  .  .  There  is  fright- 
ful misery  in  this  unfortunate  country.  The  winter  is  very 
hard ;  I  do  not  know  what  these  poor  unfortunates,  all  of 
whose  possessions  have  been  seized  and  their  houses  burned, 
will  do  not  to  die  of  hunger  and  cold.  ...  I  write  to  you 
to  ask  for  alms ;  not  for  us,  God  forbid,  for  I  shall  never  be 
poor  enough,  but  for  the  victims  of  the  persecutions.  In 
the  last  few  months  nearly  140,000  Christians  were  mur- 
dered by  the  Sultan's  orders.  ...  In  the  nearest  town 
from  here,  at  Marache,  the  garrison  killed  4,500  Christians 
in  two  days.  We  at  Akbes,  and  all  the  Christians  within 
two  days  of  us,  ought  to  have  perished.  I  was  not 
worthy.  .  .  .  Pray  for  my  conversion,  and  that  next  time, 
in  spite  of  my  misery,  I  shall  no  longer  be  thrust  back  from 
the  already  half-open  gates  of  heaven. 

"Europeans  are  protected  by  the  Turkish  Government, 
so  that  we  are  in  safety  :  a  guard  was  put  at  our  gate,  so 
that  no  harm  might  be  done  to  us.  It  is  miserable  to  be 
in  such  favour  with  those  who  slaughter  our  brethren  ;  it 
were  better  to  suffer  with  them  than  to  be  protected  by  their 
persecutors.  .  .  .  It  is  shameful  for  Europe;  with  a  word, 
she  could  have  prevented  these  horrors,  and  she  did  not  say 
it.  It  is  true  that  the  world  knew  so  little  about  what  was 
happening  here,  the  Turkish  Government  having  bought 
up  the  press,  having  given  enormous  sums  to  certain  jour- 
nals not  to  publish  any  despatches  which  did  not  come  from 


98  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

itself.  But  the  Governments  know  the  whole  truth  through 
the  ambassadors  and  consuls.  What  punishments  from 
God  are  they  not  preparing  for  themselves  by  such  igno- 
minies !  I  come  to  call  you  to  our  help,  to  aid  us  to  give 
relief,  to  prevent  several  thousand  Christians  who  escaped 
from  the  massacres  and  took  refuge  in  our  mountains  from 
perishing  of  hunger;  they  do  not  dare  to  leave  their  retreat 
for  fear  of  being  massacred,  and  they  have  no  means.  It  is 
our  imperative  duty  to  stint  ourselves  of  everything  for 
them,  but  whatever  we  do  we  cannot  satisfy  such  needs. "^ 

Finally,  to  complete  the  portrait  of  Charles  de  Foucauld 
during  this  period  so  troubled  in  so  many  ways ;  and  since 
our  souls  are  a  mystery  to  ourselves,  since  they  can  be 
happy  and  suffer  at  the  same  time,  since  they  are  a  vast 
domain,  with  the  storm  below,  some  mist  farther  up,  and  a 
clear  sky  over  all ;  I  shall  quote  this  note,  written  by  Brother 
Marie-Alberic  to  M.  de  Blic,  recently  settled  in  Burgundy, 
in  the  castle  of  Barberey  : 

*'  It  is  the  happiness  of  the  country  to  be  able  to  surround 
ourselves  with  all  those  we  love  ...  to  have  always  round 
us  those  we  love,  this  indeed  is  sweet.  .  .  .  Why  did 
I  go  so  far  away,  you  will  say  to  me,  if  I  feel  this  happiness 
so  keenly?  I  have  in  no  wise  sought  joy,  I  have  sought 
to  follow  'by  the  odour  of  His  perfumes,'  Jesus,  who 
has  loved  us  so  much  .  .  .  and  if  I  have  found  my 
delight  in  following  Him,  it  is  without  having  sought  it. 
But  this  delight  does  not  prevent  me  from  feeling  pro- 
foundly the  sorrow  of  being  separated  from  all  those  I 
love."2 

Days  and  months  went  by.  The  time  came  when  the 
fifth  anniversary  of  the  simple  vows  would  be  fulfilled.  At 
this  date,  February  2,  1897,  solemn  vows  had  to  be  taken, 
or  a  dispensation  requested,  and  the  Order  of  St.  Bernard 
must  surely  be  left.  Brother  Marie-Alb^ric's  heart  was 
always  troubled  by  the  same  obsession  : 

"  I  am  very  eager,  indeed,  to  follow  the  life  that  I  have 
been  seeking  for  seven  years  .  .  .  which  I  caught  a  glimpse 
of  and  divined  in  walking  through  the  streets  of  Nazareth, 
where  our  Lord's  feet  had  trodden,  when  He  was  a  poor 
artisan,  lost  in  abjection  and  obscurity."^ 

Then  the  consent  of  Abb^  Huvelin,  hoped  for  but 
unexpected,  arrived  in  the  Sheikhlc^  Trappe. 

*  Letters  of  November  20,  1895  >  Februar}'  21,  1896  ;  June  24,  1896. 
'  Letter  of  June  18,  1894.  '  Letter  of  June  24,  1896. 


THE  TRAPPIST  99 

"  Paris,  June  15,  1896. — My  dear  child,  I  read  and  re- 
read your  letter.  I  have  made  you  wait  long  for  my  answer, 
when  you  were  so  thirsty  !  But  I  thought  that  you  would 
not  lose  your  time  by  studying  theology  and  getting  from 
it  sure  and  broad  ideas,  and  thus  preparing,  in  that  teach- 
ing, your  mind  and  heart  for  a  sure  mysticism,  free  from 
illusions.  .  .   . 

"  I  had  hoped,  my  dear  child,  that  you  would  find  in  La 
Trappe  what  you  were  seeking,  that  you  would  find  enough 
poverty,  humility  and  obedience,  to  be  able  to  follow  our 
Lord  in  His  life  of  Nazareth.  I  thought  you  might  have 
said  on  entering  it :  Hcec  requies  mea  in  scBCuluni  scbcuU! 
I  still  regret  that  it  is  not  so.  There  is  a  too  deep-seated 
urge  towards  another  ideal,  and  through  the  strength  of  this 
impulse  you  get  out  of  your  framework  and  find  yourself 
dislocated.  I  don't  think,  indeed,  that  you  can  get  rid  of 
this  impulse.  Say  so  to  your  Superiors  at  La  Trappe,  at 
Staueli.  Tell  them  your  thought  simply.  Tell  them  also 
of  your  profound  esteem  for  the  life  you  see  around  you, 
and  of  the  invincible  impulse  which,  in  spite  of  all  your 
endeavours,  has  so  long  urged  you  towards  another 
ideal.  .  .  .  Not  that  I  think  you  are  called  higher.  .  .  . 
I  do  not  see  you  higher  up ;  no,  indeed,  I  see  that  you  feel 
yourself  uplifted  in  another  direction.  I  won't  make  you 
wait  any  longer.  Show  my  letter,  speak.  Write  to 
Staueli.^  I  should  have  liked  to  keep  you  in  a  family 
where  you  are  loved,  to  which  you  would  have  been  able  to 
give  so  much  !  I  think,  my  child,  that  you  have  been  well 
directed  and  formed  in  La  Trappe;  but  inevitably,  you  see 
something  else.     Oh  !  how  I  pray  for  you  !   .   .   . 

"  I  have  been  a  priest  twenty-nine  years  to-day  !  How  I 
should  have  liked  to  have  seen  you,  too,  a  priest !" 

No  sooner  had  Brother  Marie-Alberic  ascertained  the  con- 
tents of  this  happy  letter  than  he  submitted  to  his  director 
the  sketch  of  a  rule  for  the  future  community  of  the  Petits 
Fr^res  de  J^sus — a  voluminous  work,  in  which  the  extreme 
austerity  of  the  convert  and  monk  was  given  full  scope. 
He  hoped  for  approbation,  but  the  reply  was  not  in  that 
sense.  In  an  intimate  note,  Abbe  Huvelin  sets  down 
clearly  what  he  had  in  mind:  "I  have  just  received  the 
letter.  It  is  accompanied  by  a  long  rule  of  the  community 
of  the  Petits  Freres  de  J^sus,  which  you  hope  to  found. 
The  rule  is  impossible,  and  it  contains  everything  but  dis- 
cretion.    I  am  broken-hearted."     And,  as  he  is  a  very  firm 

^  A  Trappe  near  Algiers,  no  longer  in  existence. 


loo  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

adviser,  able  to  check  his  penitent  where  required,  with  a 
sure  hand  now  that  he  is  carried  away  by  ardour  to  the  point 
of  judging"  others  by  himself  and  their  strength  by  his  own, 
the  Abbe  repHes  in  no  less  clear  terms  as  follows  : 

"  FoNTAiNEBLEAU,  Sunday,  August  2,  1896. — If  your 
Superiors  ask  you  to  make  another  attempt,  make  it  loyally  ! 
What  would  above  all  frighten  me,  my  dear  child,  is  not 
the  life  of  which  you  are  thinking  for  yourself,  if  you  remain 
isolated  .  .  .  but  it  is  to  see  you  found,  or  think  of  founding 
something.  .  .  .    Your  rule  is  absolutely  impracticable.  .  .  . 

"The  Pope  hesitated  to  give  his  approbation  to  the 
Franciscan  rule ;  he  thought  it  too  severe ;  but  this  rule  !  to 
tell  you  the  truth  it  terrified  me  I  Live  at  the  door  of  a  com- 
munity, in  what  abjection  you  like,  but  draw  up  no  rule,  I 
beg  you  !" 

Hence  no  foundation,  no  company.  Henceforth  Charles 
de  Foucauld  appears  in  the  eyes  of  this  priest,  who  is  a  con- 
noisseur of  souls,  as  a  born  solitary.  A  single  permission 
was  accorded  to  him ;  that  of  trying  to  live,  outside  the 
Trappe,  a  hidden  life,  in  some  corner  of  Syria  or  Palestine. 
Furthermore,  before  taking  up  so  singular  a  part,  he  was  to 
submit  to  the  test  of  obedience  and  the  study  that  his 
Superiors  would  doubtless  require  of  him.  But,  on  the 
main  point  of  his  vocation,  of  his  attraction  to  complete 
solitude,  Abb^  Huvelin  no  longer  hesitated,  and  he  again 
said  :  "  Yes,  my  child,  I  see  the  East  with  your  eyes." 

Therefore  Brother  Marie-Alb6ric  wrote  to  the  Father- 
General  of  the  Trappists  in  Rome,  praying  him  to  obtain 
the  necessary  dispensations  from  the  Pope.  The  reply 
arrived  about  the  end  of  the  month  of  August.  The 
Superior-General  of  the  Order,  before  deciding,  imposed  a 
trial  on  Brother  Marie-Alberic ;  he  ordered  the  latter  first  to 
go  to  La  Trappe  of  Staueli,  where  instructions  would  be  sent. 

The  monk  replied  that  he  submitted  with  all  his  heart  to 
what  might  be  ordered,  and  set  out  by  the  next  steamer. 

"  Algiers,  September  25. — Reached  Marseilles  on  Wed- 
nesday at  5  o'clock  in  the  evening.  I  left  there  again  an 
hour  after,  on  the  Algiers  boat.  Think  of  the  time  I  spent 
in  Algeria,  and  the  life  I  led  there,  of  my  absolute  impiety 
at  that  time,  and  beg  for  me  to  be  forgiven." 

He  went  at  once  to  the  Staueli  Trappe,  and  this  is  what 
he  learnt : 

"  October  12,  1896. — I  want  to  tell  you  immediately  of 
some  news  which  will  give  you  much  joy  :   .  .  .  the  test 


THE  TRAPPIST  loi 

laid  upon  me  is  to  go  and  study  theology  in  Rome  for  about 
two  )^ears. 

"  I  start  in  a  fortnight,  about  the  25th.  It  was  P^re 
Louis  de  Gonzague  who  settled  that  in  his  great  affection 
for  me.  It  is  a  great  blessing  to  make  me  thus  drink  at  the 
purest  fountain  of  religious  teaching,  and  this  favour  is 
rarely  accorded  in  our  Order.  ...  I  shall  be  in  Rome 
with  seven  other  monks  at  the  General's  house,  where  we 
shall  live  under  the  supervision  of  the  most  reverend  Father- 
General  and  council  ;  from  there  we  shall  go  and  attend  the 
lectures  at  the  Roman  College. 

"  You  know  that  my  desires  are  by  no  means  changed, 
they  are  steadier  than  ever  :  but  I  obey  with  simplicity, 
with  extreme  gratitude,  and  with  confidence  that  after  this 
long  trial  the  will  of  God  will  be  manifested  very  clearly  to 
all  of  us  who  have  but  one  sole  desire — to  know  the  will  of 
God  in  order  to  do  it,  whatever  it  may  be,  and  to  throw  our- 
selves into  it  with  our  whole  heart  and  strength." 

His  obedience  and  simplicity  of  heart  shone  forth  in  his 
acceptance  of  the  trial  imposed  on  him.  This  was  all  the 
Father-General  was  in  quest  of,  as  the  event  consequently 
proved.  But  Charles  de  Foucauld  knew  nothing  of  that. 
He  had  asked  to  leave  the  Order,  and  before  according  any 
dispensation,  two  years'  waiting  were  imposed  on  his 
ardent  nature.  He  obeyed,  not  only  without  murmuring, 
but  with  gratitude  :  he  agreed  to  be  kept  under  the  Trappist 
Rule  long  after  the  fifth  anniversary  of  his  vows. 

How  long  did  he  remain  at  Staueli  ?  A  few  weeks. 
And  at  once  he  formed  friendships  :  he  was  immediately 
venerated  by  his  Brethren  :  they  still  recollect  his  passage 
as  one  of  the  more  important  events.  After  over  twenty 
years  one  of  these  witnesses,  questioned  on  the  subject  of 
Father  de  Foucauld,  was  moved  at  the  thought  of  Brother 
Marie-Alb^ric,  and  replied  : 

"  I  was  a  novice  then.  How  he  edified  the  whole  com- 
munity !  In  church,  his  eyes  were  always  fixed  on  the 
Blessed  Sacrament.  He  did  not  believe,  he  saw.  He 
lived  on  nothing,  being  satisfied  with  the  vegetables  he 
found  in  the  soup,  not  touching  the  soup  itself  or  anything 
else;  and  that  only  once  a  day  at  noon.  He  only  slept  two 
hours.  He  used  to  sit  up  till  midnight,  in  a  little  infirmary 
chapel  whence  he  could  see  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  At 
midnight,  he  went  and  took  a  little  rest,  and  at  2  o'clock 
he  was  in  the  choir  with  the  community."^ 

Letter  from  Father  Yves,  February  16,  1917. 


102  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Some  days  passed  :  and  he  was  in  Rome.  He  lived  in 
the  Father-General's  house,  95,  Via  San  Giovanni  in 
Laterano.  There,  he  did  everything  that  he  was  told  to 
do;  he  became  a  student  again  amongst  clergy  younger 
than  he ;  his  strong  will  held  him  under  obedience  and,  in 
truth,  saved  him. 

"  November  ig,  1896. — Old  and  ignorant,  and  unfamiliar 
with  Latin,  I  find  it  very  hard  to  follow  the  lectures.  .  .  . 
I  shall  be  as  great  an  ass  in  theology  as  in  everything  else." 

''^December  7,  1896. — Please  God,  I  shall  most  probably 
spend  three  years  here  :  this  year,  I  am  only  taking  philo- 
sophy. I  take  that  as  a  trial  which  I  am  endeavouring  to 
accomplish  as  well  as  possible,  with  obedience  and  grati- 
tude .  .  .  yet  desiring  another  life  with  increasing 
ardour.   .  .   . 

"  Pardon  me  if  my  replies  are  not  long.  In  conscience, 
I  am  obliged  to  study  hard, — and  with  my  bad  memory,  my 
thirty-eight  years  of  age,  and  but  little  time,  it  is  tough 
work  getting  through,  and  I  must  try  to  benefit  by  the  sacri- 
fices which  my  Superiors  are  making  for  me  through  a  very 
pure  and  disinterested  kindness,  since  they  are  fully 
acquainted  with  my  desires." 

At  Staueli,  Brother  Marie-Alberic  became  intimately 
acquainted  with  Father  Jerome  :  the  letters  which  he  sent 
him  from  Rome  are  invaluable  records.  He  seems  to 
deliver  his  soul  fully  in  them  ;  they  reveal  it  in  his  thoughts 
in  his  regular  prayer,  and  they  also  disclose  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  a  friendship  which  rarely  flourishes  except  in  the 
cloister  or  on  the  mountains  near  it. 

"  Rome,  November  8,  1896. — After  leaving  Algiers, 
which  was  so  sorrowful  for  all,  but  had  the  blessing  of 
affording  us  the  opportunity  of  offering  a  sacrifice  to  God — 
and  that  is  still  the  greatest  blessing,  the  only  true  one  there 
is  in  life,  the  one  which  unites  us  most  to  our  blessed  Saviour 
— when  one  loves,  what  is  sweeter  than  to  give  something 
to  the  beloved;  above  all,  to  give  Him  something  to  which 
we  are  attached,  to  suffer  for  love  of  Him,  to  give  Him  all 
our  heart's  blood?  ...  I  wanted  to  speak  to  you  of  our 
arrival  in  Rome,  but  here  I  am,  still  at  the  departure  from 
Algiers.  ...  It  was  so  sorrowful  for  me  !  But  blessed 
be  God  for  it  and  blessed  be  all  sorrow  I 

"  We  reached  Rome  on  Friday  at  half-past  i  in  the  after- 
noon :  we  did  not  get  out  at  San  Paolo  Station,  which  is 


THE  TRAPPIST  103 

near  St.  Peter's;  it  was  not  very  feasible,  and  we  thanked 
God  for  that ;  if  we  had  got  out  there,  we  should  have  had 
to  take  cab  after  cab,  and  it  would  have  really  grieved  me 
to  enter,  with  so  little  poverty,  the  city  into  which  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul  both  walked  so  poor  and  miserable,  and 
St.  Peter  in  chains.  .  .  .  We  therefore  went  on  foot  from 
the  station  to  the  procurator,  and  stopped  on  our  way  at  two 
churches  where  we  adored  the  Holy  Sacrament  on  our  first 
steps  in  Rome,  in  order  to  ask  Him  that  we  might  live  there 
according  to  His  will.   ..." 

He  says  that  he  frequently  passed  before  the  Colosseum, 
"where  so  many  martyrs  gave  their  blood  for  our  Lord 
Jesus  with  such  joy  and  love  !  How  our  Lord  has  been 
loved  within  these  walls  !  What  flames  of  love  rose  up  to 
heaven!  What  are  we  in  comparison  with  such  souls? 
However,  we  have  hearts  like  theirs,  our  Lord  loves  us  as 
much  as  them,  and  we  can  and  ought  to  love  Him  as  much. 
Oh,  Father,  how  we  ought  to  love  !  How  you  and  I  must 
try  to  love  this  divine  Spouse  of  our  souls  !  If  our  hearts 
are  capable  of  loving  passionately,  and  they  are,  let  us 
drown  ourselves  in  this  love  !  The  Colosseum  is  quite 
close  to  us  :  I  can  see  it  from  my  window ;  it  is  there  that 
St.  Ignatius  joyfully  let  himself  be  crushed  for  our  Lord ! 
How  these  stones  speak  !  What  a  strain  of  love  still  rises 
thence  to  heaven  ! 

"  I  did  my  best  to  commend  you  at  the  same  time  as 
myself  to  St.  Paul,  to  that  Apostle  who  loved  Jesus  so 
much,  who  worked  so  much  for  Him,  who  suffered  so  much 
for  Him.  May  he  draw  you  and  me  after  him,  and  teach 
us  to  love !" 

"  November  29,  1896. — Dearest  Father,  how  right  you 
are  to  speak  to  me  at  length  of  our  Lord  !  If  there  are  two 
persons  on  earth  who  should  speak  only  of  God,  are  they 
not  we  in  whose  friendship  there  is  nothing  terrestrial  ?  Let 
our  conversation  be,  then,  that  of  the  angels,  my  dearest 
Father.  .  .  .  But  whilst  the  angels  have  tongues  of  gold 
and  hearts  of  fire,  we  stammer  and  are  lukewarm  ;  let  us  do 
what  we  can  .  .  .  that  will  be  a  reason  for  helping  each 
other,  for  praying  much  for  one  another,  for  loving  each 
other  all  the  more  because  we  are  weaker,  for  having  to 
sustain  one  another  from  afar,  in  order  to  follow,  like  our 
Lord,  the  sorrowful  way  which  He  has  shown  us  :  "Take 
up  your  cross  and  follow  Me."  I  send  you  a  little  flower 
that  I  gathered  while  praying  for  you  in  the  catacomb  of 


I04  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

St.  Cecilia  on  the  border  of  her  tomb,  on  her  feast;  may 
this  flower  of  martyrs  recall  to  you,  as  to  me,  what  the 
saints  suflferfed,  and  what  we  ought  to  desire  to  suffer.  .  .  . 
This  is  our  advantage  over  the  angels  !  .  .  .  At  least  we 
have  tears,  sorrows,  perhaps — would  to  God  it  were  so — 
blood  to  offer  to  our  Lord,  in  union  with  His  tears  and  sor- 
rows and  blood  ! 

"  Manual  labour  is  necessarily  put  into  the  second  place 
at  present  because  you,  like  myself,  are  in  the  period  of 
infancy ;  we  are  not  yet  old  enough  to  work  with  St.  Joseph  ; 
we  are  still  with  Jesus  the  little  child  on  the  Virgin's  knees, 
learning  to  read.  But  later  on,  humble,  vile,  despised 
manual  labour  will  again  take  its  great  place,  and  then, 
with  Holy  Communion,  the  lives  of  the  saints,  prayer,  the 
humble  work  of  our  hands,  humiliation,  suffering,  and  if  it 
please  God,  at  last,  the  death  of  St.  Cecilia  and  so  many 
others  !  With  that  we  shall  have  the  life  of  our  Lord  and 
well-beloved  Master  Jesus.  .  .  .  Permit  one  who  has  no 
right  to  give  you  the  shadow  of  a  counsel,  one  who  is 
neither  priest  nor  learned  nor  anything  but  a  sinner,  never- 
theless to  give  you  a  hint.  There  is  only  one  thing  that 
authorizes  me  to  do  so — the  fraternal  love  I  have  for  you  in 
our  Lord;  it  is  to  consult  your  director  in  everything,  about 
everything,  even  little  things.  I  tell  you  this  because  I 
was  always  the  better  for  doing  so,  and  the  worse  for  doing 
otherwise;  I  wish  you  to  profit  by  my  experience.  This 
habit  of  asking  what  one  should  do,  even  in  little  things, 
has  a  thousand  good  effects  :  it  gives  peace ;  it  accustoms 
you  to  conquer  yourself ;  it  makes  you  look  upon  the  things 
of  this  earth  as  nothing  :  it  gets  one  to  make  a  host  of  acts 
of  love  :  to  obey  is  to  love ;  it  is  the  purest,  the  most  per- 
fect, the  highest,  the  most  disinterested,  the  most  adoring 
act  of  love ;  it  makes  one,  especially  at  first,  perform  not  a 
few  acts  of  mortification.  ..." 

"  Rome,  December  21,  1896. — I  do  not  want  the  feast  of 
Christmas  to  pass  without  telling  you  that  I  shall  do  my 
best  to  be  united  with  you  at  the  feet  of  our  Lord  Jesus  in 
these  days  of  benediction.  .  .  .  Behold,  then,  our  Lord 
on  the  way  to  Bethlehem  ;  probably  five  days'  journey,  the 
last  of  two  or  three  hours  :  from  Nazareth  to  En-Gannin, 
from  there  to  Sichar,  from  there  to  Bethel,  from  Bethel  to 
Jerusalem,  lastly  from  Jerusalem  to  Bethlehem.  With 
what  love,  what  meditation,  the  Virgin  must  have  made 
this  journey  !  With  what  burning  desire  for  the  salvation 
of  men,  for  whom  the  Son  of  God  had  come  down  unto  her 


THE  TRAP  PI  ST  105 

womb  !  Every  moment  of  this  journey,  our  Lord  saw  not 
only  His  Mother  and  St.  Joseph,  and  the  angels  adoring 
Him  :  He  saw  the  present  and  the  future,  and  every 
moment  in  the  lives  of  all  men;  and  His  Sacred  Heart 
already  felt  that  immense  sorrow  which  was  His  lot  during 
all  His  mortal  life  at  the  sight  of  the  sins,  ingratitude,  and 
damnation  of  so  many  souls.  And  He  felt  also  along  with 
the  deep  consolation  afforded  Him  by  His  Mother's  holi- 
ness a  lesser  but  real  consolation  at  the  sight  of  many  holy 
souls,  of  all  the  souls  who  had  loved  Him  and  would  one 
day  love  Him,  of  all  the  hearts  which  unite  with  that  of  Mary 
to  try  and  throb  only  for  Him.  .  .  .  Shall  we  be  of  these, 
dear  Father?  Shall  we  be  a  consolation  or  a  sorrow  to  our 
Blessed  Saviour?  If  Christmas  is  the  beginning  of  our 
joys,  it  is  the  beginning  of  the  sorrows  of  Jesus.  .  .  . 
Christmas  is  only  eight  days  from  the  Circumcision.  .  .  . 
Bethlehem  is  onl}^  8  kilometres  from  Jerusalem.  When 
one  is  in  Palestine  that  strikes  one  painfully  :  after  hav- 
ing spent  the  Christmas  of  1888  at  Bethlehem,  having  heard 
midnight  Mass  and  received  Holy  Communion  in  the 
grotto;  after  two  or  three  days,  I  returned  to  Jerusalem. 

"  The  sweetness  that  I  had  experienced  in  praying  in 
that  grotto  which  had  resounded  with  the  voices  of  Jesus, 
Mary  and  Joseph,  and  where  I  was  so  near  them,  had  been 
inexpressible.  .  .  .  But,  alas  !  after  an  hour's  walk,  the 
dome  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  Calvary,  and  the  Mount  of 
Olives  rose  up  before  me.  I  was  obliged,  whether  I  wished 
it  or  not,  to  change  my  thoughts  and  find  myself  once  more 
at  the  foot  of  the  Cross." 

The  study  of  theology,  some  walks  in  Rome,  letters  like 
those  which  we  have  just  read  or  shall  read  later  on,  along 
with  prayer,  took  up  the  end  of  1896  and  the  two  first 
months  of  1897.  Still,  however  firmly  he  might  be  anchored 
in  obedience,  he  could  not  fail  to  perceive  the  dates  coming 
closer  on  which  a  change  would  occur,  an  order  be  given 
determining  his  future.  Brother  Marie-Alb^ric  thought  of 
the  2nd  of  February.  And,  shortly  before  that  anniver- 
sary, to  a  friend,  this  time  not  Father  Jerome,  he  set 
forth  the  suppositions  and  the  probabilities  on  which  he 
reckoned  : 

"The  end  of  this  month  and  the  beginning  of  next  are 
critical  for  me ;  on  the  2nd  of  February  five  years  ago  I  took 
my  first  vows.  By  the  terms  of  the  constitution,  on  that 
date  I  am  to  take  my  solemn  vows  or  leave  the  Order.  .  .  . 
To  remain  in  the  Order  two  years  and  a  half  more  without 


io6  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

taking  my  solemn  vows,  a  dispensation  of  the  Holy  See, 
only  granted  for  strong  reasons,  would  be  necessary.  My 
novice  master  does  not  think  that  in  this  case  there 
are  sufficient  motives  to  ask  for  a  dispensation.  It  might 
happen  that  in  a  few  days  from  now  I  may  be  obliged  to 
come  to  a  definite  decision  .  .  .  that  will  depend  upon  the 
most  reverend  Father  General,  who  will  be  here  to-morrow 
or  the  day  after.  .  .  .  The  day  on  which  my  vocation  is 
clearly  known  to  my  Father  General  and  the  novice  master, 
and  that  it  appears  clear  to  them  that  God  does  not  want  me 
at  La  Trappe  (at  least  as  a  Father),  they  will  tell  me,  and 
ask  me  to  retire,  for  they  are  too  conscientious  to  wish  to 
retain  me  a  single  day,  when  they  see  the  will  of  God  is 
otherwise.^ 

He  consented  to  live  thus  for  three  years  !  His  Superiors 
had  no  need  of  so  long  a  trial  to  be  sure  that  so  humble  a 
virtue  could  vanquish  the  dangers  of  a  solitary  life  among 
men.  By  the  perfection  of  his  obedience,  they  recognized 
that  the  call  he  heard  since  the  first  days  of  his  entrance  to 
La  Trappe  was  not  that  of  a  masked  pride. 

The  General  of  the  Order,  who  was  travelling,  reached 
Rome  on  January  i6,  1897.  Immediately,  he  made  it  his 
business  to  get  a  decision  on  the  case  of  Brother  Marie- 
Alberic  by  the  members  of  his  council.  The  latter  suspected 
nothing.  The  General  sent  for  him,  and  told  him  that  the 
moment  had  come  to  inquire  what  were  God's  designs  for 
his  servant  Charles  de  Foucauld ;  and  that,  if  the  Fathers, 
after  prayer,  study,  and  reflection,  recognized  that  the  latter 
had  an  exceptional  vocation,  outside  the  Rule  of  St.  Bene- 
dict and  St.  Bernard,  he  must  follow  it  without  delay  and 
with  his  whole  heart. 

"  I  laid  before  him  in  writing  the  state  of  my  soul ;  then 
he  gathered  his  council,  and  there,  before  God,  having  no 
longer  but  one  thing  in  view.  His  will,  the  Father  General 
and  all  the  members  of  the  council  declared  unanimously 
that  the  good  God  called  me  to  a  particular  life  of  poverty 
and  abjection,  and  that  I  should  enter  it  without  further 
delay.  Consequently,  I  am  to  be  given  a  dispensation,  and 
all  doors  are  open  for  me  to  follow  God's  call  immediately. 
Our  good  Father  General  told  me  that  yesterday.  He  at 
the  same  time  said  that  he  thought  I  ought  to  remain  under 
obedience  as  to  the  matter  of  my  vocation,  but  in  that  and 
in  all,  it  was  best  for  me  to  refer  not  to  him,  but  to  the  Abb^. 
I  wrote  to  him  yesterday  evening.     As  soon  as  I  have  his 

*  Letter  to  a  friend,  January  15,  1N97. 


THE  TRAPPISr  107 

answer,  I  shall  set  out.  You  know  that  I  wish  to  be  a  ser- 
vant in  an  Eastern  convent,  the  Abb6  will  indicate  which, 
and  I  shall  go  there. "^ 

"  My  dear  child,"  M.  Huvelin  replied,  "  I  fear  another 
Trappe  for  you,  where  I  should  prefer  to  see  you  neverthe- 
less. The  same  thought  will  come  to  you  there,  the  same 
comparison  between  the  life  you  see  and  the  life  you  follow 
after.  I  prefer  Capharnaum  or  Nazareth,  or  some  such 
Franciscan  convent ;  not  in  the  convent,  but  only  under  the 
shadow  of  the  convent ;  asking  only  for  spiritual  assistance, 
living  in  poverty  at  the  gate.  Do  not  think  of  banding 
any  souls  around  you,  nor,  above  all,  of  giving  them  a  rule. 
Live  your  life,  then ;  if  any  souls  come,  live  the  same  life 
together,  without  making  any  regulations.  On  this  point 
I  am  quite  clear. 

"  I  admire  the  goodness  and  simplicity  of  the  Father 
General ;  I  admire  the  charity  of  the  good  Fathers,  who  love 
you  and  part  with  you.  I  am  touched  by  their  way  of  treat- 
ing you." 

The  Trappists  paid  him  the  courtesy,  the  exquisite  atten- 
tion, of  offering  him  a  ticket  on  the  boat,  though  he  ceased 
to  be  Brother  Marie-Alberic,  and  of  conveying  him  thus  to 
the  door  of  the  "  Franciscan  Convent." 

"  What  a  favour  God  bestows  on  me  !"  replied  Charles 
de  Foucauld.  "  How  good  He  is  to  have  made  me  come 
so  far,  to  Rome,  to  give  my  vocation  the  very  fullest  and 
most  entire  confirmation  that  is  possible  in  this  world.  I 
thought  I  came  to  Rome  to  study  :  I  came  here  to  be  sent, 
without  asking,  by  the  very  hand  of  our  General,  to  follow 
the  attraction  which  has  been  drawing  me  for  so  long." 

The  news  that  Brother  Marie-Alberic  had  left  La  Trappe 
circulated  quickly  from  the  Convent  of  Rome  to  the  other 
convents  where  he  was  known.  It  made  more  than  one  old 
monk  weep.  One  of  them,  the  former  Prior  of  Notre-Dame 
at  Akbes,  who  had  become  Prior  of  Staueli,  even  wrote  ; 
"  In  leaving  us,  he  has  given  me  the  greatest  pain  that  I 
have  ever  felt  in  my  life."^ 

Charles  de  Foucauld  had  spent  seven  years  in  La  Trappe. 
All  his  life  he  preserved  the  greatest  respect  and  gratitude 
for  the  venerable  Order  he  left ;  later  on  he  was  to  return 

^  Letter  of  January  24,  1897. 

2  Letter  of  Dom  Louis  de  Gonzague  to  M.  de  Blic.  The  same  monk 
had  thus  judged  Brother  Marie-Alberic  in  a  letter  dated  the  month  of 
the  preceding  October  :  '*  For  almost  seven  years  I  have  seen  him 
a  Trappist,  and  faithful  to  all  his  religious  duties,  and  I  was  wont  to 
look  upon  him  as  a  real  saint  ;  it  is  also  the  impression  that  he  has  left 
here  amongst  a  community  of  eight  hundred  after  a  month's  short  stay. 


io8  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

and  ask  the  Trappe  of  Notre-Dames-des-Neiges  to  receive 
him,  for  several  months,  as  guest  and  friend. 

One  of  his  first  cares,  henceforward,  was  to  advise  Father 
Jerome  of  the  great  event  whicli  had  transformed  Brother 
Marie-Alb^ric  into  a  secular,  and  was  to  make  him  change 
habit,  rule,  and  scene. 

"  Rome,  January  24,  1897. — ^  believe  it  is  my  vocation  to 
come  down  ...  all  the  doors  are  open  to  me,  in  order  to 
cease  being  a  choir-monk  and  go  down  to  the  rank  of  ser- 
vant and  menial.  Yesterday  I  received  this  news  from  the 
very  mouth  of  my  good  and  excellent  Father  General,  whose 
goodness  to  me  touches  me  so  deeply  !  .  .  .  But  I  needed 
obedience  before  he  came  to  a  decision  ;  I  had  promised  God 
to  do  all  that  my  most  Reverend  Father  told  me,  after  under- 
taking the  examination  of  my  vocation,  and  also  all  my  con- 
fessor told  me.  So  that  had  I  been  told  :  '  You  are  going 
to  take  your  solemn  vows  in  ten  days,  and  afterwards 
receive  Holy  Orders,  I  should  have  obeyed  with  joy,  being 
certain  that  I  was  doing  the  will  of  God.  .  .  .  And  even 
now  I  am  in  the  hands  of  God  and  obedience.  I  asked 
where  I  must  go  on  leaving  here  in  a  few  days  :  it  will  be 
to  the  East;  but  in  what  house  I  don't  know  at  all.  God 
will  tell  me  by  the  voice  of  my  director.  .  .  .  You  see  I 
need  my  Brother's  prayers.  ...  I  am  bringing  you  down 
too,  my  dearest  Brother,  to  be  the  Brother  of  a  domestic,  a 
servant,  a  menial ;  this  is  not  glorious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world.  .  .  .  But  you  are  dead  to  the  world,  and  nothing 
can  make  you  blush.   .   .   . 

*'  Thanks  for  having  opened  your  heart  to  me  about  your 
desires  for  the  priesthood  :  I  thank  God  with  all  my  soul  for 
inspiring  you  with  that  desire  :  I  do  not  for  a  moment  doubt 
that  it  is  your  vocation,  and,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart, 
I  thank  God  for  it.  .  .  .  There  is  no  vocation  in  the  world 
as  great  as  a  priest's;  and  in  truth,  it  is  not  of  the  world, 
it  is,  even  here,  of  heaven.  .  .  .  The  priest  is  something 
transcendent,  exceeding  all.  .  .  .  What  a  vocation,  my 
dear  Brother,  and  how  much  I  praise  God  for  having  given 
it  to  you.  .  .  .  Once,  I  regretted  not  receiving  it,  regretted 
not  to  be  clothed  in  that  sacred  character ;  it  was  at  the 
height  of  the  Armenian  persecutions.  ...  I  should  have 
wished  to  be  a  priest,  to  know  the  language  of  the  poor 
persecuted  Christians,  and  to  be  able  to  go  from  village  to 
village  to  encourage  them  to  die  for  their  God.  ...  I  was 
not  worthy  of  it.  .  .  .  But  you,  who  knows  what  God 
reserves  for  you  ?  .   .  .     The  future  is  so  unknown  !     God 


THE  TRAPPIST  109 

leads  us  by  such  unexpected  paths  !  .  .  .  If  ever  obedience 
brings  you  to  these  distant  shores  where  so  many  souls  are 
lost  for  want  of  priests,  where  the  harvest  abounds  and 
perishes  for  want  of  workers,  thank  God,  without  measure. 
Wherever  one  can  do  most  good  to  others,  there  one  is  best : 
entire  forgetful ness  of  self,  entire  devotion  to  the  children 
of  our  heavenly  Father,  that  is  our  Lord's  life,  the  life  of  all 
true  Christians,  that  is  above  all  the  priest's  life.  .  .  .  Also, 
if  ever  you  are  called  to  these  'countries  where  the  people 
are  seated  in  the  shadow  of  death,  thank  God  without 
measure,  and  give  yourself  up  body  and  soul  to  make  the 
light  of  Christ  shine  amongst  these  souls  watered  with  His 
blood;  you  can  do  it  in  the  Trappe  with  wonderful  results; 
obedience  will  furnish  you  with  the  means.   ..." 

Charles  de  Foucauld,  in  announcing  his  early  departure 
for  the  East  to  his  brother-in-law,  asked  him  to  keep  it 
secret  : 

'*  The  new  life  that  I  am  going  to  begin  will  be  much 
more  hidden,  much  more  solitary  than  that  which  I  am 
leaving.  I  want  you  alone  to  know  where  I  am  ;  do  not 
therefore  say  that  I  am  in  the  Holy  Land;  say  only  that  I 
am  in  the  East,  leading  a  very  retired  life,  writing  to 
nobody,  and  not  wanting  anyone  to  know  where  I  am." 

Charles  de  Foucauld  left  Rome  in  the  beginning  of 
February,  to  embark  at  Brindisi.  He  was  going  to  lead 
the  life  he  had  longed  for;  it  was  to  be  an  extraordinary 
one,  a  life  adapted  to  him.  Naturally,  he  was  convinced 
that  he  was  going  into  Asia  for  ever,  where  his  bones  would 
rest  later  on  beside  the  dust  of  the  Patriarchs.  He  was 
mistaken ;  other  and  wilder  countries  were  awaiting  him, 
and  other  labours.  Nazareth  and  Jerusalem  were  to  be  for 
him  only  splendid  experiments,  two  steps  of  the  Scala 
Santa  that  he  had  commenced  to  climb. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Nazareth  and  Jerusalem 

♦'  r^LESSED  are  the  poor;  that  is  the  beatitude  I 
j_J  want.  I  have  already  been  offered  a  corner 
where  I  beheve  my  soul  will  be  well.  In  any  case, 
He  who  assigns  each  leaf  its  place  can  put  me  in  mine," 
Charles  de  Foucauld  wrote  to  his  sister,  when  he  was  leav- 
ing Italy  for  the  East.  The  boat  was  one  of  those  calling 
at  Alexandria,  then  at  Jaffa,  before  going  on  to  Constanti- 
nople. The  pilgrim  landed  on  the  shore  which  is  bordered 
by  a  semi-circle  of  square  painted  houses  in  filth  at  the 
bottom,  but  with  very  beautiful  gardens  of  orange-trees  ex- 
tending at  the  back.  He  neither  stayed  in  the  houses  nor 
in  the  shade  of  their  gardens,  and  at  once  set  out  on  foot,  to 
reach  by  stages  the  town  where  he  wanted  to  live  ; 
Nazareth.  Having  passed  through  Ramleh,  Acre,  Bethle- 
hem, Jerusalem,  and  Sichar,  on  March  5,  1897,  and  quite 
unknown,  like  the  poor  who  still  stand  at  the  town  gates, 
he  entered  Nazareth  the  blessed.  A  week  later  the  leaf 
had  found  its  place.  Charles  de  Foucauld  wrote  to  his 
counsin,  Colonel  Louis  de  Foucauld,  who  had  just  been 
appointed  military  attache  at  Berlin  : 

•'I  am  settled  in  Nazareth  henceforth;  there  you  may 
henceforth  write  to  the  following  address :  Charles  de 
Foucauld,  Nazareth,  Holy  Land,  poste  restante.  The  good 
God  has  let  me  find  here,  to  the  fullest  extent,  what  I 
wanted  :  poverty,  solitude,  abjection,  very  humble  work, 
complete  obscurity,  as  perfect  an  imitation  as  possible  of 
the  life  of  our  Lord  Jesus  in  this  same  Nazareth.  Love 
imitates,  love  wants  to  conform  with  its  beloved ;  it  tends  to 
unite  everything,  their  souls  in  the  same  feelings,  all  the 
moments  of  existence  in  a  kind  of  identity  of  life;  that  is 
why  I  am  here.  La  Trappe  made  me  ascend,  made  me  a 
life  of  study,  an  honoured  life.  That  is  why  I  left  it  and 
embraced  here  the  humble  and  hidden  life  of  the  divine 
workman  of  Nazareth. 

"  Keep  my  secrets;  they  are  love-secrets  that  I  entrust  to 
you.  I  am  very  happy;  my  heart  has  what  it  yearned  for 
so  many  years.  Nothing  remains  now  beyond  going  to 
heaven."^ 

^  Letter  to  Comte  Louis  de  Foucauld,  April  12,  1897. 
no 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  iii 

What  had  happened,  and  what  employment  had  he 
found? 

Charles  de  Foucauld  had  at  first  presented  himself  to  the 
Franciscan  Fathers  who  gave  hospitality  to  pilgrims  to  the 
Holy  Land,  and  had  asked  them  to  accept  him  as  a  servant 
to  the  religious.  They  had  no  need  of  his  services.  He 
had  therefore  decided  to  live  in  the  Franciscan  house,  Casa- 
Nova,  for  three  days  as  an  ordinary  guest,  but  after  making 
his  confession  to  one  of  the  religious,  a  chaplain  of  the 
Poor  Clares  of  Nazareth,  he  looked  so  perplexed  that  his 
confessor  said  to  him  :  "  I  shall  speak  of  you  at  St.  Clare's ; 
they  will  perhaps  find  you  a  place."  But  already  the 
traveller  had  been  recognized  by  the  Brother  Guest-master 
of  Casa-Nova,  who  remembered  perfectly  having  seen  him 
some  years  before  in  Nazareth,  in  quite  another  turn-out. 
The  Abbess  was  therefore  warned  that  a  strange  pilgrim 
would  come  to  the  monastery  and  offer  himself  as  servant, 
and  that  this  pilgrim,  vowed  to  penance,  was  named  the 
Vicomte  de  Foucauld.  She  was  a  woman  to  understand 
the  greatness  as  well  as  the  singularity  of  such  a  conjunc- 
ture, and  then  to  contrive  all  for  the  soul's  peace. 

On  the  feast  of  St.  Colette,  at  the  exposition  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  they  saw  a  man  still  young  come  into  the  chapel 
of  the  Poor  Clares,  dressed  in  such  a  way  that  no  one  could 
tell  to  what  nation  he  belonged,  unless  it  were  to  that 
of  the  poor,  which  is  immense  and  of  all  countries.  He 
knelt  down  some  way  off  before  the  altar,  and  remained 
there  without  stirring,  for  one,  two,  three  hours,  so  that 
the  attendant  Sister,  an  Arabian,  was  quite  anxious,  and 
said  to  one  of  her  companions  :  "  I  must  watch  that  man, 
who  does  not  leave  the  chapel.  I  fear  he  may  steal  some- 
thing." The  unknown  one  went  out  after  doing  nothing 
beyond  praying  a  great  deal.  But  three  days  later  he  came 
back  and  asked  to  speak  to  the  Abbess  of  St.  Clare's,  the 
reverend  Mother  St.  Michael. 

To  understand  the  sequel  of  this  story,  you  must  know 
that  Charles  de  Foucauld,  on  disembarking  in  the  Holy 
Land,  had  adopted  a  costume  which  might  have  some  kin- 
ship with  the  clothes  of  certain  Orientals — people  of  so  many 
races  are  met  with  in  the  eastern  crowds — but  which  caused 
astonishment  even  in  that  country.  He  wore  a  long  hooded 
blouse  with  white  and  blue  stripes,  blue  cotton  trousers, 
and  on  his  head  a  very  thick  white  woollen  cap,  around 
which  he  had  rolled  a  strip  of  fabric  in  the  form  of  a  turban. 
He  had  only  sandals  on  his  feet.  A  rosary  of  big  beads 
hung  from  the  leather  girdle  which  tightened  his  tunic.     In 


112  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

adopting  this  dress,  no  doubt  the  solitary  meant  to  expiate 
the  smartness  of  former  days,  and  to  excite  to  some  extent 
the  scorn  of  the  passers-by  and  the  mockery  of  the  children 
in  the  street,  and  to  take  all  this  gladly.  He  knew  the 
saying  of  St.  Ignatius,  used  by  so  many  saints  of  all 
ages :  "I  prefer  to  be  regarded  as  a  nobody  and  a 
madman  for  Christ,  who  was  thus  looked  upon  before 
me."  He  imagined  that  everybody  would  take  him  for 
what  he  was  not — a  poor  beggar,  without  name,  education 
or  style.  But  the  delicacy  of  his  features,  his  accent  and 
involuntary  choice  of  words,  his  easy  gestures  and  pose 
which  just  altered  some  fold  or  line — that  is  to  say,  nearly 
everything  in  the  look  of  his  dress — betrayed  him.  That  is 
what  happened  when  he  was  called  to  the  parlour  to  inter- 
view the  Abbess  of  Nazareth  standing  on  the  other  side  of 
the  enclosure.     She  did  not  see  him,  but  heard  him. 

The  i\bbess  had  no  sooner  questioned  this  visitor  than  she 
understood  that  she  had  not  been  misled.  We  can  fancy 
her  smiling  whilst  the  pilgrim  was  asking  for  work,  any  job 
they  liked  to  give  him,  provided  they  left  him  time  to  pray ; 
a  hut  under  the  shadow  of  the  monastery,  and  the  guaran- 
teed wage  of  just  a  slice  of  bread.  As  she  was  not  only 
acute  but  advanced  in  spirituality,  she  very  clearly  felt  that 
the  man  was  sincere,  and  that  he  must  be  helped  in  the 
exceptional  work  he  was  undertaking. 

"  Very  well,"  she  said.  "  Nearly  all  the  work  within  the 
enclosure  is  done  by  the  Sisters  :  but  we  indeed  want  a 
sacristan,  a  man  who  will  take  our  orders  to  the  post  and  do 
other  little  jobs.  You  will  be  the  man,  and  you  will  get  the 
wages  you  ask  for." 

She  had  thought  of  giving  him  a  gardener's  quarters. 
He  blankly  refused,  and  looking  round  he  saw  a  log-hut 
outside  the  yard  about  a  hundred  yards  off.  It  was  used  as 
a  lumber-room,  and  looked  quite  like  a  sentry-box  covered 
with  tiles.  This  cabin  leant  against  a  wall  and  was  situated 
on  the  border  of  land  belonging  to  the  Poor  Clares. 

'•  That  will  do  for  me,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  stay  there." 

They  gave  him  two  trestles,  two  boards,  a  straw  mattress, 
a  woollen  wrapper  stuffed  with  rags  to  use  as  a  coverlet :  this 
was  all  the  hovel  could  hold.  When  the  mattress  and 
planks  had  to  be  lifted  up,  the  pilgrim  was  too  worn  out  by 
his  journey  to  do  it.  His  swollen  and  sore  feet  gave  way 
under  the  weight ;  and  he  was  obliged  to  drag  his  bed  to 
the  hut. 

Here  he  is  now  a  hermit,  apparently  lost  in  his  often 
longed-for  Nazareth. 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  113 

To  meet  his  wishes,  some  Httle  jobs  were  given  him  in 
the  days  which  followed ;  he  was  asked  to  pick  lentils ;  then 
to  repair  the  enclosure  wall,  which  threatened  falling  in 
several  places,  with  dry  stone ;  then  to  dig  a  few  beds  in  the 
garden.  The  attempts  were  generally  not  very  successful. 
The  Abbess  soon  saw  that  her  guest  was  not  accustomed  to 
such  work.  She  let  him  serve  Mass,  sweep  the  chapel,  pray 
bowed  and  motionless  in  a  corner  as  long  as  he  wanted  to 
do  so ;  and  then  shut  himself  up  in  the  hut,  where  he  gave 
very  few  hours  to  sleep,  and  many  to  meditation,  reading 
and  writing.  She  learned  by  degrees  that  he  was  studying 
theology,  and  composing  several  works,  especially  medita- 
tions on  the  Gospels. 

Being  quite  sure  that  she  had  received  a  holy  man,  she 
gave  him  more  and  more  freedom  to  live  as  he  was  inspired 
to  live,  and  ordered  him  to  be  given  only  the  errands  which 
the  attendants  could  not  do  as  well  as  he.  Lastly,  the  Sisters 
were  discreet  enough  to  let  him  long  remain  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  they  knew  his  real  name  and  something  of  his 
history. 

He  himself  related  his  start  in  life  in  the  East.  To 
Colonel  de  Foucauld  he  revealed  the  place  of  his  hermitage, 
to  Monsieur  and  Madame  de  Blic  he  details  "  his  use  of 
his  time." 

"  Coming  here  without  knowing  any  trade,  without  a  testi- 
monial, with  no  other  papers  than  my  passport,  on  the  sixth 
day  I  found  out  not  only  how  to  gain  my  living,  but  to  gain  it 
in  such  conditions  that  I  have  absolutely  what  I  have  longed 
to  have  for  so  many  years,  and  one  would  say  that  this  place 
was  waiting  for  me;  and,  in  fact,  it  was  waiting  for  me,  for 
nothing  happens  by  chance  and  everything  that  takes  place 
has  been  prepared  by  God  :  I  am  a  domestic,  servant,  and 
menial  of  a  poor  religious  community. 

"  You  ask  me  for  the  details  of  my  life. 

"  I  live  in  a  solitary  little  house,  situated  in  a  close  belong- 
ing to  the  Sisters  whose  happy  servant  I  am.  I  am  there 
quite  alone  on  the  border  of  the  little  town  :  on  one  side  is 
the  Sisters'  enclosure,  on  the  other  the  country,  fields,  and 
hillocks ;  it  is  a  delightful  and  perfectly  solitary  her- 
mitage. ...  I  get  up  when  my  good  angel  wakens  me, 
and  I  pray  till  the  Angelus ;  at  the  Angelus  I  go  to  the 
Franciscan  convent ;  then  I  go  down  into  the  grotto  which 
formed  part  of  the  house  of  the  Holy  Family  ;  I  remain  there 
till  about  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  saying  my  Rosary  and 
hearing  the  Masses  which  are  said  in  that  adorably  holy 
place,  where  God  became  incarnate,  where  the  voices  of 


114  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Jesus,  Mary  and  Joseph  echoed  for  thirty  years.  It  is  sweet 
to  feel  one  is  looking  at  the  walls  of  rock  on  which  the  eyes 
of  Jesus  rested  and  which  His  hands  touched. 

"  At  6  o'clock  I  go  to  the  Sisters,  who  are  so  good  to  me 
that  they  are  really  my  inothers.  In  the  sacristy  and  chapel 
I  prepare  what  is  necessary  for  Mass  and  pray.  ...  At 
7  o'clock  I  serve  Mass.  .  .  .  After  thanksgiving  I  put  the 
sacristy  and  chapel  in  order.  When  sweeping  is  required 
(on  Saturday  only)  I  sweep.  On  Thursday  and  Sunday  I 
go  and  fetch  the  letters  (there  is  no  postman,  everybody  goes 
and  fetches  his  letters);  I  am  the  Sisters'  postman.  .  .  . 
By  the  way,  put  poste  restante  on  the  addresses  no  longer ; 
put  simply  '  Nazareth.'  Then  I  do  what  I  am  told,  now  one 
little  job,  now  another;  very  often  I  draw  little  pictures 
(mere  elementary  drawings),  the  Sisters  want  them  and  get 
me  to  do  them.   .    .   . 

"  If  there  is  a  little  errand,  I  do  it,  but  it  is  very  rare;  in 
general  I  spend  my  whole  day  doing  little  jobs  in  my  little 
room,  near  the  sacristy;  about  5  o'clock  I  prepare  whatever 
is  wanted  for  Benediction,  when  there  is  any,  which  is  very 
often,  thank  God. 

"  From  then  I  remain  in  the  chapel  till  half-past  7  in  the 
evening.  Then  I  return  to  my  hermitage,  where  I  read  till 
9  o'clock.  At  9  o'clock  the  bell  announces  evening  prayers ; 
I  say  them  and  go  to  bed.  I  read  during  my  meals ;  I  take 
them  quite  alone.  I  am  the  only  servant,  which  is  very 
pleasant  for  me;  I  see  nobody  in  the  world  but  my  con- 
fessor every  week  for  confession,  and  the  Sisters  when  they 
have  something  to  say  to  me;  which  is  rare,  for  they  are 
very  silent. 

"Besides  I  spend  half  an  hour  before  11  o'clock,  and 
half  an  hour  at  3  o'clock,  in  the  chapel ;  they  are  the  hours  of 
Sext,  None,  and  Vespers. 

"The  Sisters  supply  me  with  all  the  books  I  want;  they 
are  infinitely  good  to  me. 

"The  more  you  give  to  God,  the  more  He  renders.  I 
thought  I  gave  up  all  in  leaving  the  world  and  entering 
La  Trappe,  I  received  more  than  I  had  given.  .  .  .  Once 
more  I  thought  I  had  given  all  in  leaving  La  Trappe  :  I 
have  been  loaded  and  overloaded  without  measure.  ...  I 
infinitely  enjoy  being  poor,  dressed  as  a  workman,  a  ser- 
vant, in  that  low  condition  which  was  that  of  Jesus  our 
Lord;  and  by  an  overplus  of  exceptional  grace,  to  be  all 
that  in  Nazareth."^ 

^  Letters  to  M.  do  Blic,  April  24  and  November  35,  1897. 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  115 

He  was  no  longer  a  religious,  but  he  always  lived  like 
one.  It  must  also  be  added  that  after  being  dispensed  from 
his  Trappist  vows,  at  Rome  he  had  taken  the  vow  of  per- 
petual chastity  under  his  confessor — a  Trappist  of  Rome ; 
and  also  this — never  to  have  in  his  possession  or  for  his  own 
use  more  than  a  poor  workman  has. 

In  landing,  he  had  brought  no  luggage.  In  the  her- 
mitage only  the  smallest  amount  of  furniture  could  have 
been  listed  :  a  few  pictures,  a  much  cherished  crucifix  inlaid 
with  a  piece  of  the  true  Cross,  then  a  few  books,  given  or 
borrowed.  Perhaps  the  number  of  books  exceeded  that 
which  would  be  found  in  a  workman's  library,  but  it  might 
be  replied  that  they  were  tools. 

As  to  the  table,  it  was  neither  abundant  nor  varied.  The 
hermit  adopted  the  diet  of  the  Poor  Clares.  On  Sundays 
and  feast-days  a  few  almonds  and  dried  figs  were  added. 
But  Charles  de  Foucauld  did  not  eat  any  of  them.  One  day 
one  of  the  lay-sisters  found,  in  one  of  the  chapel  stalls, 
a  box  in  which  he  had  put  away  the  almonds  and  figs  in 
view  of  distributing  them  to  the  children  in  the  street 
or  country  when  he  went  out.  At  first  they  readily  used 
to  mock  the  foreigner  who  walked  with  downcast  eyes  and 
a  big  rosary  at  his  girdle.  Soon  they  ran  after  him, 
begging  the  dainties  which  he  had  for  them  in  his  pocket, 
and  with  their  naked  uplifted  arms  and  dancing  eyes, 
they  surrounded  him  with  brightness.  The  other  poor 
soon  came  to  know  his  charity.  They  came  to  find  him  in 
his  hut,  knocking  at  the  door  behind  which  the  hermit  was 
studying  or  praying.  One  Sunday,  towards  evening,  while 
the  sun  was  still  strong,  but  when  the  first  fresh  breath  of 
night  was  passing  over  the  stifled  earth,  three  ragged  travel- 
lers from  goodness  knows  where,  going  right  on  begging 
for  everything,  stopped  before  the  hermit  and  said  to  him  : 
"  We  have  nothing  left  to  clothe  us.  See,  the  night  will 
be  cold."  He  looked  at  them,  was  moved  with  pity, 
thought  of  St.  Martin,  and  taking  his  knife,  he  cut  in  two 
the  great  woollen  mantle  which  he  wore.  Then,  seizing  the 
spare  tunic  which  was  hanging  on  a  nail,  he  beckoned  to 
the  third  beggar,  the  one  who  had  received  nothing : 
"  Come  along  with  me."  They  both  went  into  the  monas- 
tery yard,  before  the  portress's  lodge. 

"Sister,"  Charles  de  Foucauld  said  to  the  lay-sister,  I 
pray  you  fit  my  garment  to  this  unfortunate  man  ;  a  cut  or 
two  of  the  scissors  and  a  few  stitches  will  do." 

"  But,  Brother  Charles,  it  is  Sunday  to-day  1" 

"  I  will  help  you  ;  I  will  cut  and  then  you  will  sew;  we 


it6  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

may  work  a  little,  because  these  poor  people  are  in  such 
need." 

Every  time  he  was  asked  by  the  rare  passers-by,  or  by 
the  chaplain  or  Sisters,  he  put  himself  out  of  the  way  and 
tried  to  oblige  his  neighbours.  It  was  thus  that  one  day 
he  agreed  to  lie  in  wait.  A  jackal  was  robbing  the  Poor 
Clares'  poultry-yard.  It  used  to  slip  into  the  garden  by  a 
certain  well-known  path  between  two  rocks,  and  carry  off  a 
still  cackling  hen ;  the  next  day  it  would  be  off  with  the  best 
layer,  and  if  there  followed  a  little  respite,  it  was  because 
the  fine  fellow  with  the  long  pointed  ears  had  paid  a  visit 
to  a  neighbour's  hen-roost.  The  country  must  be  rid  of  this 
offensive  and  thieving  brute.  And  who  would  do  it  more 
easily  than  an  ex-cavalry  officer?  A  gun  was  borrowed 
from  a  consular  agent ;  Charles  de  Foucauld  lay  hiding,  at 
a  good  distance  from  the  rock,  and  began  to  wait  for  the 
jackal.  But  no  sooner  was  he  seated  with  the  loaded  gun 
on  his  knees  than  he  began  reciting  the  rosary  according 
to  the  custom  which  he  loved,  and  to  meditate  upon  the 
joyful,  sorrowful,  and  glorious  mysteries.  Time  passed 
delightfully  for  him.  The  eyes  of  the  solitary  wandered 
on  to  the  terraces  of  the  town  which  was  going  to  sleep. 
He  saw  before  him  houses  like  one  another  and  like  our 
Saviour's  former  workman's  home.  He  was  happy  and 
absent-minded.  Mr.  Jackal  asked  for  nothing  more.  He 
came  trotting  along,  stopped  before  showing  himself,  ob- 
served that  the  enemy's  mind  was  elsewhere,  entered  the 
poultry-3^ard,  killed  a  selected  hen  right  off,  and  then  gal- 
loped away  with  it.  When  the  lay-sisters  came  to  question 
Brother  Charles,  and  ask  him  about  the  hunt : 

"  I  have  seen  nothing,"  he  replied. 

This  was  his  first  and  last  lying  in  wait  for  game  in  the 
hills  of  Nazareth. 

These  stories  and  many  others  which  are  told  of  him,  the 
singularity  of  his  costume,  his  politeness,  his  charity,  and 
his  long  daily  prayers  attracted  the  attention  of  all  who 
lived  in  Nazareth  or  spent  any  time  there.  He  came  to  be 
highly  regarded  :  they  tried  to  know  why  he  had  come  to 
the  country  from  so  far;  and  as  the  idea  of  power,  in  the 
popular  imagination,  rarely  goes  without  gold  or  precious 
stones,  he  was  represented  as  a  very  rich  man,  and  this 
gave  him  a  place  apart  among  the  servants  of  the  charitable 
establishments  of  the  town.  For  instance,  at  the,  post-office 
he  met  a  lay-brother  of  a  Salesian  house  at  Nazareth,  and 
was  accosted  by  him. 

"  Excuse  me,"  said  the  brother ;  "they  say  lots  of  things 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  117 

about  you.  I  should  like  to  know  whether  they  are 
true?" 

"What's  the  good?" 

"  It  is  said  that  vou  had  a  good  position  in  France.   .   .  ." 

"What  position?" 

"A  Count's." 

Brother  Charles  smiled,  and  replied  carelessly  : 

"  I  am  an  old  soldier." 

His  letters  during  this  period  of  his  life  are  particularly 
affectionate.  He  writes  only  to  his  relatives.  How  often 
lost  in  silence,  the  door  of  his  hut  open,  gazing  at  the 
Eastern  heavens,  better  jewelled  with  more  numerous  stars 
than  ours,  he  thought  of  his  sister  and  of  his  sister's 
children,  of  the  peaceful  hills  of  Barbirey,  of  his  cousin 
Louis  de  Foucauld,  of  his  cousins  in  Paris  and  Abbe 
Huvelin,  of  that  little  group  of  dear  ones  who  knew  his  place 
of  retreat,  and  wrote  regularly  to  Brother  Charles  of  Jesus, 
Nazareth.  For  he  finally  adopted  that  name,  which  hid  his 
own,  but  disclosed  his  love.  He  was  in  infinite  peace.  Let 
me  make  a  sort  of  psalm  with  the  phrases  of  joy  which  are 
scattered  through  his  letters  : 

"  I  am  in  infinite  peace,  flooded  with  peace  overflowing. 

"  If  you  knew  the  joys  of  the  religious  life,  and  all  the 
jubilation  of  my  soul  ! 

"  How  does  God  repay  even  here  a  hundredfold  in  inward 
grace  what  we  give  unto  Him. 

"  The  more  I  gave  up  all  comforts,  the  more  happiness  I 
have  found  ! 

"  I  praise  God  daily  for  the  life  He  has  ordained  for  me, 
and  I  am  overwhelmed  with  gratitude.  Give  thanks  and 
praise  with  me  !" 

News  comes  from  France,  from  the  scattered  family.  He, 
the  hermit,  has  none  to  give  in  return,  but  he  sings  the 
psalm  that  I  have  just  spoken;  and  he  replies  promptly, 
letting  speak  each  of  his  childhood's  affections,  which  are 
now  as  lively  as  ever  and  always  referred  to  God  by  some 
quotation  betraying  the  practice  of  meditation. 

He  heard  that  one  of  his  nieces  was  going  to  make  her 
first  communion  :  "  How  I  shall  be  with  you  on  that  day  !" 
he  wrote.  "  Look  for  me  quite  close  to  you,  in  church  ;  before 
and  after  and  at  home.    I  shall  be  with  you  everywhere." 

His  sister  was  going  to  leave  Dijon  to  live  in  the  country  : 

"  My  little  Mimi,  don't  be  frightened  of  going  to  Barbirey 
or  of  anything  in  the  world.     Fear  not  to  find  depression 


1 18  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

there  :  believe  the  experience  of  your  old  brother  :  God  is 
the  master  of  our  hearts  as  well  as  our  bodies  :  He  gives  us, 
as  He  wills,  joy  and  sorrow,  as  well  as  health  and  sickness. 
Believe  indeed  that  it  is  folly  to  say  to  yourself  :  '  This  will 
make  me  happy,  that  unhappy  ' ;  for  happiness  or  depres- 
sion do  not  depend  on  this  or  that,  but  on  God,  who  has  a 
host  of  means  of  filling  us  with  joy  or  sorrow." 

His  brother-in-law  informed  him  of  the  birth  of  a  child. 
"  My  dear  friend,"  Brother  Charles  replies,  "how  great 
and  wonderful  is  a  soul  !  Such  a  soul  is  your  child's,  and, 
after  its  time  of  trial  it  will  live  for  ever  in  the  glory, 
radiance,  beatitude,  and  ineffable  perfection  of  the  elect  at 
the  feet  of  God  !  .  .  .  I  am  settled  in  Nazareth.  ...  I 
am  as  happy  as  one  can  be  down  here,  in  my  life  of  a  labour- 
ing son  of  Mary,  endeavouring  to  follow,  as  far  as  my  moral 
poverty  permits,  the  vanishing  and  hidden  life  of  our  well- 
beloved  Jesus,  in  whom  I  love  you  with  my  whole  heart." 

The  envelope  contained  a  second  letter  for  Comte  Louis 
de  Foucauld.  And  Brother  Charles  added,  as  a  post- 
script, this  recommendation  :  "Be  good  enough,  I  beg 
you,  to  forward  this  letter  to  Louis  de  Foucauld.  It  worries 
me  to  make  known  to  the  persons  who  take  my  letters  to  the 
post,  the  names  of  those  to  whom  I  write  :  I  am  solitary, 
silent  and  unknown." 

The  little  child  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken  died  a  few 
months  after  its  birth.  Brother  Charles  consoled  the  father 
and  mother,  as  his  custom  was,  by  setting  heaven's  gates 
ajar.  He  says  how  well  he  understands  the  parents'  sorrow, 
and  then  tells  them  of  their  son's  eternal  happiness  :  "  How 
great  he  is  compared  with  you  and  with  all  of  us  !  how  high 
he  is  over  us !  .  .  .  None  of  your  children  love  you  as 
much  as  he  does,  because  he  drinks  deeply  of  the  torrent  of 
divine  love.  ...  I  have  already  familiarly  invoked  my 
little  nephew-saint.  .  .  .  Pray  to  him  constantly,  dear 
Marie,  and  thank  God  well  for  making  you  the  mother  of  a 
saint.  A  mother  lives  in  her  children  :  you  are  partly  in 
heaven  already  !  More  than  ever  henceforth  you  will  have 
'  your  conversation  in  heaven.'  " 

All  the  correspondence  of  this  period  is  in  words  thus 
"  winged."  I  should  like  to  quote  at  full  length  a  very  fine 
series  of  letters  to  a  Trappist,  on  monastic  obedience.  I 
cannot  interrupt  my  story  too  often.  It  ought  to  picture  a 
life  hastening  on,  and,  above  all,  its  example  must  be  made 
plain. 

I  shall  therefore  only  say  that,  during  his  hermit-life  in 
the  Holy  Land,  the  requests  for  books  and  the  thanks  for 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  119 

books  sent,  are  numerous.  Brother  Charles  asked  his  sister 
to  forward  to  the  East  the  German  translation  of  the  Vulgate 
and  also  a  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  German  (he 
wished  to  lend  them  to  some  German  Protestants  who  were 
then  living-  in  Nazareth);  the  last  edition  of  two  courses  of 
Philosophy  in  Latin  by  Father  de  Mandato  and  Father 
Feretti,  both  Jesuits  :  the  Roman  Ordo  for  the  breviary  and 
the  Mass — "  I  say  the  breviary,"  he  added,  and  in  my  great 
love  of  Rome,  as  I  am  not  bound  to  anything,  I  want  to  say 
it  as  Roman  priests  say  it"; — four  volumes  by  Abbe 
Darras;  a  "good  "  St.  John  Chrysostom ;  a  little  later  on 
he  took  delight  in  a  New  Testament  and  a  prayer-book  in 
Arabic.  Prayer,  study,  and  solitude,  these  were  to  bring 
upon  him  the  grace  of  God. 

He  was  accustomed  from  the  beginning  of  his  conversion 
and  while  wath  the  Trappists  to  go  into  retreats.  He  went 
on  a  twelve  days'  retreat  at  Nazareth,  not  to  speak  of  one  or 
two  shorter  ones.  It  took  place  at  the  beginning  of  Novem- 
ber, 1897.  The  meditations  were  all  written  down;  I  have 
the  text  of  them  before  me.  They  give  some  idea  of  his 
fervour  and  faith  and  power  of  self-analysis.  I  here  give 
one  of  them,  and  reading  it  reminds  one  of  certain  chapters 
of  the  Confessions  of  St.  Augustine:  the  same  ardour  of 
contrition,  the  same  gratitude,  the  same  frankness. 

Myself   and   my    Past   Life  —  God's    Mercy. 
{The  Fourteenth  Meditation  of  the  Retreat.) 

'*  Lord  Jesus,  make  Thou  my  thoughts  and  words.  If 
I  was  weak  in  previous  meditations,  how  much  more  so  in 
this  !  .  .  .  It  is  not  material  that  is  wanting  ...  on  the 
contrary,  it  overwhelms  me !  What  mercies  there  are, 
God,  mercies  of  yesterday,  of  to-day,  of  every  moment  of 
my  life ;  before  my  birth  and  before  time  itself  !  I  am  sub- 
merged in  them,  flooded  by  them ;  they  cover  and  enclose 
me  on  all  sides.  .  .  .  Ah,  my  God,  we  have  all  to  sing  of 
Thy  mercies,  we  who  are  all  of  us  created  for  eternal  glory 
and  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  Thy  blood,  dear 
Lord  Jesus,  who  art  close  to  me  in  this  Tabernacle;  but  if 
all  of  us  owe  it  Thee,  how  much  do  I,  who  have  been  from 
my  infancy  surrounded  by  so  many  graces,  the  son  of  a  holy 
mother,  learning  from  her  to  know  Thee,  to  love  Thee  and 
to  pray  to  Thee  as  soon  as  I  could  understand  a  word  !  Is 
not  my  first  recollection  that  of  the  prayer  she  made  me 
recite  morning  and  evening  :  '  O  God,  bless  papa,  mamma, 
grandpapa,    grandmamma,    Grandmamma   Foucauld,   and 


I20  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

my  little  sister  '  ?  And  that  pious  bringing  up  !  .  .  .  those 
visits  to  churches  .  .  .  those  flowers  placed  beneath  the 
crosses,  the  Christmas  cribs,  the  months  of  Mary;  the  little 
altar  in  my  room,  kept  for  me  as  long  as  I  had  a  room  to 
myself  at  home,  and  which  outlived  my  faith  !  the  cate- 
chisms, the  first  confessions  seen  to  by  a  Christian  grand- 
father .  .  .  the  examples  of  piety  given  in  my  family — 
I  see  myself  going  to  church  with  my  father  (how  long  ago 
that  is),  with  my  grandfather ;  I  see  my  grandmother  and 
my  cousins  going  to  Mass  every  day.  .  .  .  And  that  first 
communion,  after  a  long  and  careful  preparation  sur- 
rounded with  the  graces  and  encouragement  of  a  whole 
Christian  family,  under  the  eyes  of  those  I  loved  most  in  all 
the  world,  so  that  all  was  united  together  in  one  day  to  make 
me  taste  all  the  sweetness  of  it.  .  .  .  And  then  the  Cate- 
chism of  Perseverance  under  the  direction  of  a  good,  pious, 
intelligent,  and  zealous  priest,  my  grandfather  always 
encouraging  me  by  word  and  example  in  the  paths  of  piety  ; 
the  most  pious  and  most  beautiful  souls  of  my  family  load- 
ing me  with  encouragement  and  kindness,  and  Thou,  my 
God,  planting  in  my  heart  an  attachment  for  them  which 
the  storms  that  followed  could  not  uproot,  and  which  Thou 
madest  use  of  later  on  to  save  me  when  I  was  dead  and 
drowned  in  evil.  .  .  .  And  then  when  I  began  to  stray  away 
from  Thee,  in  spite  of  so  many  graces,  with  what  gentleness 
didst  Thou  recall  me  to  Thee  by  the  voice  of  my  grand- 
father, with  what  mercy  didst  Thou  prevent  me  from  falling 
into  extreme  excesses  by  keeping  in  my  heart  my  affection 
for  him  !  But  in  spite  of  all  that,  unfortunately  I  forsook 
Thee  more  and  more,  my  Lord  and  my  Life — and  my  own 
life,  too,  began  to  be  a  death,  or  rather  it  was  a  death  in 
Thine  eyes.  .  .  .  And  in  that  state  of  death  Thou  didst 
still  preserve  me.  .  .  .  Thou  didst  preserve  my  memories 
of  the  past,  my  esteem  of  virtue,  my  friendship — sleeping 
like  fire  under  ashes,  but  always  existing — for  certain  beau- 
tiful and  pious  souls,  my  respect  for  the  Catholic  religion 
and  priests  :  all  faith  had  disappeared,  but  my  respect  and 
esteem  remained  intact.  .  .  .  Thou  gavest  me  other 
graces,  O  God — Thou  didst  preserve  in  me  the  liking  for 
study,  serious  reading,  beautiful  things,  the  dislike  of 
vice  and  ugliness.  ...  I  did  evil,  but  neither  approved 
nor  loved  it.  .  .  .  Thou  madest  me  feel  a  sorrowful  void, 
a  depression  that  I  experienced  then  only ;  ...  it  used  to 
come  upon  me  every  evening,  when  I  was  alone  in  my 
rooms;  ...  it  kept  me  dumb  and  oppressed  during  so- 
called  fetes  :   I  organized  them,  but  when  the  time  came  I 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  121 

spent  them  in  dumbness,  distaste,  and  infinite  boredom.  .  .  . 
Thou  gavest  me  the  vague  uneasiness  of  a  bad  conscience, 
which  was  all  asleep  yet  not  quite  dead.  I  never  felt 
such  depression,  so  ill  at  ease,  such  anxiety  till  then.  O 
God,  it  must  have  been  a  gift  from  Thee ;  .  .  .  how  far  I 
was  from  suspecting  it !  .  .  .  How  good  Thou  art.  .  .  . 
And  by  this  invention  of  Thy  love,  at  the  same  time  as  Thou 
didst  prevent  my  soul  from  drowning  beyond  recovery, 
Thou  didst  take  care  of  my  body  :  for  had  I  then  died,  I 
should  have  been  in  hell.  .  .  .  Riding  accidents,  miracu- 
lously avoided  and  averted  !  The  duels  that  Thou  didst 
prevent !  During  expeditions,  the  perils  that  Thou  didst 
turn  aside  !  The  many  and  great  dangers  of  travelling, 
through  which  Thou  hast  brought  me  as  if  by  a  miracle. 
My  health  unaffected  even  in  the  most  unwholesome  places, 
and  despite  such  great  fatigue  !  .  .  .  O  God,  how  Thy 
hand  was  upon  me,  and  how  little  I  felt  it !  how  good  Thou 
art !  How  didst  Thou  watch  over  me  !  How  didst  Thou 
cover  me  with  Thy  wings  when  I  did  not  even  believe  in 
Thine  existence  !  And  whilst  Thou  wert  thus  guarding  me 
Thou  didst  deem  it  was  now  time  for  me  to  return  to  the 
fold.  .  .  .  Thou  didst  unloose  in  my  despite  all  the  evil 
ties  that  would  have  kept  me  far  from  Thee.  .  .  .  Thou 
didst  even  untie  the  good  bonds  which  would  have  pre- 
vented me  re-entering  into  the  bosom  of  that  family,  in 
which  Thou  desiredst  to  make  me  find  salvation,  and  which 
would  have  hindered  me  from  being  one  day  all  Thine,  .  .  . 
At  the  same  time,  Thou  gavest  me  a  life  of  serious  studies, 
a  hidden  life,  solitary  and  poor.  .  .  .  My  heart  and  mind 
were  far  from  Thee,  but  yet  I  lived  in  a  less  tainted 
atmosphere;  not  in  the  light  nor  in  goodness,  far  from 
it ;  .  .  .  but  the  mire  was  no  longer  so  deep,  nor  the  evil 
so  odious ;  .  .  .  the  place  was  being  cleared  out  little  by 
little;  .  .  .  the  water  of  the  deluge  still  covered  the  earth, 
but  it  was  subsiding  more  and  more,  and  the  rain  was  no 
longer  falling.  .  .  .  Thou  hadst  broken  the  obstacles, 
softened  the  soul,  prepared  the  ground  by  burning  the 
thorns  and  bushes.  ...  By  stress  of  circumstances  didst 
Thou  force  me  to  be  chaste,  and  soon,  at  the  end  of  the 
winter  of  '86,  didst  Thou  bring  me  back  to  my  family  in 
Paris,  and  chastity  became  my  delight  and  my  heart's 
desire.  It  is  Thou,  O  God,  who  didst  that,  Thou  alone; 
unhappily,  I  had  nothing  to  do  in  it.  How  good  hast 
Thou  been  !  From  what  sad  and  guilty  relapses  hast  Thou 
mercifully  saved  me  !  In  all  this,  Thv  hand  alone  wrought 
the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end.     How  good  Thou 


122  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

art !     It  was  necessary  in  order  to  prepare  my  soul  for  the 
truth;  the  devil's  power  is  too  great  over  an  unchaste  soul 
for  the  truth  to  enter  in.   .    .   .     Thou,  O  God,  couldst  not 
enter  a  soul  where  the  demon  of  uncleanness  held  the  mas- 
tery.  .  .   .     Thou  desiredst  to  enter  mine,  O  Good  Shep- 
herd, and  Thou  thyself  didst  drive  out  Thine  enemy,   .   .  . 
and  after  having  driven  him  out  by  force,  in  spite  of  me, 
seeing  my  infirmity  and  how  incapable  I  was  of  myself  to 
keep  my  soul  pure,  Thou  didst  set  a  good  guardian  to  guard 
it,  so  strong  and  so  gentle  that  not  only  did  he  not  leave 
the  least  entrance  for  the  demon  of  impurity,  but  made  me 
feel  the  need  and  the  charm  of  the  delights  of  chastity.  .   .  . 
O  God,  how  shall  I  praise  Thy  mercies  !   .   .   .     And  after 
having  emptied  my  soul  of  its  filth  and  having  entrusted  it 
to  Thine  angels,  Thou  wouldst  return  to  it  anew,  O  God  ! 
For  after  receiving  all  these  graces,  it  yet  knew  Thee  not ! 
Thou  didst  continually  work  in  it  and  on  it.     Thou  didst 
transform    it    with    a    sovereign    power    and    astonishing 
rapidity,   and  it   was  completely   ignorant  of   Thee.    .   .   . 
Then  didst  Thou  inspire  it  with  a  taste  for  virtue,  for  pagan 
virtue ;  Thou   madest  me  seek  it  in  the  books  of  pagan 
philosophers,  and  I  found  there  nothing  but  emptiness  and 
dislike.   .   .   .     Then  didst  Thou  let  me  see  a  few  pages  of 
a  Christian  book,  and  madest  me  feel  their  warmth  and 
beauty.   .   .   .      Thou    madest   me   suspect   that   perhaps    I 
should  there  find,  if  not  the  truth  (I  did  not  think  that  men 
could  know  it),  at  least  the  teachings  of  virtue,  and  Thou 
inspiredst  me  to  seek  lessons  of  an  altogether  pagan  virtue 
in  Christian  books.   .   .   .     Thus  didst  Thou  familiarize  me 
with  the  mysteries  of  religion.    ...      At  the  same  time. 
Thou  didst  knit  more  and  more  closely  the  bonds  which 
united  me  to  finer  souls;  Thou  broughtest  me  back  to  the 
family,  to  which  I  was  passionately  attached  in  my  young 
days,  in  childhood.   .   .   .     For  these  souls  Thou  madest  me 
feel    again    my    old    admiration,    and    them    Thou    didst 
inspire  to  receive  me  as  the  prodigal  son  who  was  not  even 
made  to  feel  that  he  had  ever  abandoned  the  paternal  roof. 
Thou  madest  them  as  kind  to  me  as  I  might  have  expected 
had  I  never  erred.   ...     I  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to  this 
well-beloved  family.     There  I  lived  in  such  an  atmosphere 
of  virtue  that  my  life  recovered  visibly  ;  it  was  spring  restor- 
ing life  to  earth  after  the  winter;   ...  it  is  in  that  gentle 
sun  that  the  desire  for  goodness  grew,  and  the  dislike  of 
evil,   the   impossibility  of  backsliding  into  certain   faults, 
the  striving  after  goodness.   .   .   .     Thou  hadst  driven  evil 
out  of  my  heart ;  my  good  angel  came  back,  and  Thou 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  123 

gavest  me  a  terrestrial  angel  as  well.    ...     At  the  begin- 
ning of  October,   '86,  after  six  months  of  family  life,   I 
admired  and  desired  goodness,  but  Thee  I  knew  not.  .  .  . 
What  devices,  O  God  of  goodness,  didst  Thou  use  to  reveal 
Thyself  to  me  !      What  circuitous  ways  !      What  gentle 
and  strong  outward  means  ?     What  a  series  of  astonishing 
circumstances,  where  all  united  to  urge  me  towards  Thee; 
unexpected  solitude,  emotions,   illnesses  of  beloved  ones, 
ardent  feelings  of  the  heart,  the  return  to  Paris  after  an 
amazing  event.   .   .   .     And  what  interior  graces  !  the  desire 
for  solitude,  meditation,  pious  reading,  the  desire  to  go  into 
Thy  churches,  though  I  did  not  believe  in  Thee,  the  trouble 
of  my  soul,  the  anguish,  the  striving  after  truth,  the  prayer  : 
'  O  God,  if  Thou  dost  exist,  make  me  know  it.'     All  that 
was  Thy  work,  O  God,  Thy  work.  Thine  alone.   ...     A 
fine  soul  was  helping  Thee,  but  by  its  silence,  its  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  and  perfection  :  it  let  itself  be  seen,  it  was 
good  and  exhaled  its  attractive  perfume,  but  it  did  not  act. 
Thou,  O  Jesus  my  Saviour,  Thou  didst  all  within  me  as  well 
as  without.     Thou  drewest  me  to  virtue  by  the  beauty  of  a 
soul  in  which  virtue  appeared  so  beautiful  that  it  ravished 
my  heart  for  ever.   .  .   .     Thou  drewest  me  to  the  truth  by 
the  beauty  of  this  soul.     Thou  then  gavest  me  four  graces  : 
the  first  was  to  inspire  me  with  this  thought :   Since  this 
man   is  so  intelligent,   the  religion  which  he  believes  so 
firmly  could  not  be  the  folly  I  think  it.     The  second  was  to 
inspire  me  with  this  thought :  Since  religion  is  not  a  folly, 
is  the  truth  which  on  the  earth  is  in  no  other  nor  in  any 
philosophical  system  perhaps  there?     The  third  was  to  say 
to  myself  :  '  Let  us  then  examine  this  religion;  let  us  take 
a  professor  of  the  Catholic  religion,  a  learned  priest,  and 
let  us  see  what  it  is,  and  whether  we  must  believe  what  it 
says.'     The  fourth  was  the  incomparable  grace  of  apply- 
ing to  M.  Huvelin  for  my  religious  lessons.     In  making  me 
enter  his  confessional,  between  the  27th  and  30th,  I  think 
that  Thou,  O  God,  gavest  me  every  kind  of  good.     If  there 
is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  being  converted,  there  was 
joy    when    I    entered    that    confessional  !   .    .   .      What    a 
blessed  day,  what  a  day  of  benediction  !   .   .   .     And  since 
that  day,  my  whole  life  has  been  only  a  chain  of  benedic- 
tions !     Thou  didst  put  me  under  the  wings  of  that  saint, 
and  I  remained  there.     Thou  didst  open  the  door  by  his 
hand,    and    there    has    been    only    grace    upon    grace.      I 
asked  for  religious  lessons;  he  made  me  kneel  down  and 
make  my  confession,    and  on  the  spot   sent  me  to  com- 
munion. ...     I  cannot  help  crying  when  I  think  of  it,  I 


124  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

don't  want  to  check  these  tears,  they  are  only  too  fitting,  O 
God  !     What  streams  of  tears  ought  to  flow  from  my  eyes 
at  the  thought  of  so  many  mercies  !     How  good  Thou  hast 
been  !     How  happy  I  am  !      What  have  I  done  for  this  ? 
Since  then,  O  God,  there  has  been  nothing  but  a  chain  of 
ever-increasing  graces— a  rising  tide,  always  rising ;  direc- 
tion, and  such  direction  !  prayer,  holy  reading,  daily  attend- 
ance at  Mass  laid  down  from  the  first  day  of  my  new  life ; 
frequent  communion,  frequent  confessions  every  few  weeks ; 
direction  becoming  more  and  more  intimate  and  frequent, 
enveloping  my  whole  life  and  making  it  a  life  of  obedience 
in  the  smallest  things,  and  obedience  to  such  a  master  ! 
Communion  becoming   almost  daily,   .  .   .  the   desire  for 
the  religious  life  growing,  gaining  strength,   .   .   .  exterior 
events  independent  of  my  will  forcing  me  to  detach  myself 
from  material  things  which  had  a  great  deal  of  charm  for 
me,  and  which  would  have  held  back  my  soul,  would  have 
bound  it  to  the  earth.     Thou  didst  violently  shatter  these 
bonds  as  well  as  many  others.     My  God,  how  good  Thou 
art  to  have  shattered  all  around  me,  to  have  so  reduced  to 
nothing  all  that  would  have  prevented  me  from  being  Thine 
alone!   .   .   .     The  deepening  feeling  of  the  vanity,  the  false- 
ness of  the  worldly  life,  and  of  the  distance  which  exists 
between  the  perfect  evangelical  life  and  that  which  one  leads 
in   the  world.   .   .   .      The  tender  and  increasing   love  of 
Thee,  Lord  Jesus,  the  taste  for  prayer,  the  faith  in  Thy 
word,  the  deep  sense  of  the  duty  of  almsgiving,  the  desire 
to  follow  Thee,  the  words  of  M.  Huvelin's  sermon  :  '  Thou 
hast  so  taken  the  lowest  place  that  no  one  can  snatch  it  from 
Thee  !'  so  inviolably  graven  on  my  soul ;  the  thirst  to  offer 
Thee  the  greatest  sacrifice  I  could  possibly  offer  Thee  by 
leaving  for  ever  a  family  in  which  all  my  happiness  was 
centred  and  by  going  far  away  from  it  to  live  and  to  die  ;  .  .  . 
the  striving  after  a  life  like  Thine,   in  which  I  can  com- 
pletely partake  of  Thy  abjection,  poverty,  humble  labour, 
burial,  Thy  hiddenness,  a  striving  so  clearly  shown  in  a 
last  retreat  at  Clamart.   .   .   .      On  January   15,    1890,   the 
sacrifice  accomplished,  and  that  great  grace  being  given 
me    by    Thy    hand.   ...      La    Trappe,   .  .   .  daily    com- 
munion,   .   .   .  what  I   learned  during  seven  years  of  re- 
ligious life,   .   .   .  the  graces  of   Notre-Dames-des-Neiges, 
the  graces  of  Nolre-Dame-du-Sacre-Coeur,   .   .   .  the  graces 
of  vStaueli,  .  .  .  the  graces  of  Rome,  the  town  of  St.  Peter  and 
the  martyrs,  the  Holy  Father,  the  Basilicas,  the  churches, 
the  thousand   marks  of  the  Apostles  and  Martyrs,   .   .   . 
theology,  philosophy,  readings,  the  exceptional  vocation  to 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  125 

a  life  of  abjection  and  obscurity.      After  three  and  a  half 
years  waiting  the  Very   Reverend   General   told   me,   on 
January  23,   1897,  that  God's  will  is  for  me  to  follow  the 
attraction   which   urges   me  to   leave   the  Trappist  Order 
for  the  life  of  abjection,  humble  toil  and  deep  obscurity,  of 
which    I    have    had   the   vision    for   so    long,    .    .    .      My 
departure  for  the   Holy  Land,   .   .   .  the  pilgrimage,   the 
arrival  in  Nazareth,   .  .  .  the  first  Wednesday  that  I  spent 
there,  O  God,  through  the  intercession  of  St.  Joseph,  Thou 
madest  me  a  menial  at  the  convent  of  St.  Clare.  .   .  .     The 
peace,  the  happiness,  consolations,  graces,  and  marvellous 
felicity    which    I    feel.    .    ;    .      Misericordias    Domini    in 
CBternum  cantabo.   .   .   .      Venite  et  videte,  quoniavi  suavis 
est  Dominus.  ...      O  God,  I  can  only  tremble  at  such 
mercies ;  I  can  only  beg  the  Holy  Virgin  and  all  the  Saints 
and  holy  souls  to  give  thanks  for  me,  for  I  faint  beneath  the 
load  of  graces.   .   .  .     Oh  !  my  Spouse,  what  hast  Thou  not 
done  for  me  !     What  then  wouldst  Thou  have  of  me  that 
Thou  hast  thus  overwhelmed  me  ?     What  dost  Thou  expect 
of  me  to  have  thus  overpowered  me  ?     O  God,  thank  Thy- 
self within  me,  within  me  do  Thou  Thvself  create  gratitude, 
thanks,  fidelity,  and  love ;  I  succumb,   I  swoon,  O  God ; 
transform    my   thoughts   and   words   and   works,    so  that 
everything  may  thank  and  glorify  Thee  in  me.     Amen, 
amen,  amen." 

Thus  the  summer,  autumn,  and  winter  of  1897  were  spent 
in  Nazareth.  About  this  period  the  renown  of  Brother 
Charles  of  Jesus  reached  as  far  as  Jerusalem.  The  Abbess 
of  the  Poor  Clares  of  Nazareth  had  written  to  the  Abbess  of 
Jerusalem  about  the  benevolent  servant,  who  dressed  like  a 
pauper,  spoke  and  wrote  like  a  scholar  and  prayed  like  a 
saint.  Mother  Elizabeth  du  Calvaire  wished  to  see  and  ques- 
tion him.  She  had  founded  two  monasteries  and  was,  indeed, 
a  sort  of  Superioress-General.  They  therefore  hastened  to 
obey  her.  She  was  a  most  prudent  woman,  and,  in  the 
circumstances,  feared  that  the  Nazareth  community  might 
be  the  victim  of  an  adventurer.  She  would  judge  the  case. 
Brother  Charles  was  therefore  sent  by  Mother  St.  Michael, 
who  commissioned  him  to  carry  an  important  letter  to  the 
Poor  Clares  of  Jerusalem.  He  at  once  assented,  and  said 
that  he  was  ready  to  start :  he  had  no  business  to  settle,  no 
luggage  to  prepare.  They  suggested  that  he  should  take 
some  provisions  with  him.  He  refused,  saying  that  he 
knew  the  language  of  the  country,  and  would  beg  his  bread 
in  the  villages. 

He  left  as  he  had  come,  alone  on  foot,  and  passed  through 


126  CHARLES  BE  FOUCAULD 

Galilee  and  Samaria,  thinking  of  the  Master  who  had  made 
this  long  journey  so  many  times  for  him  and  for  us  all. 
Christians  gave  him  the  bread  and  water  he  asked  for ;  they 
put  him  up,  nor  did  the  Turks  refuse  him.  Very  tired,  he 
came  in  sight  of  the  walls  on  June  24,  the  feast  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  but  as  night  was  falling  he  slept  on  the  ground 
in  a  field  near  the  convent. 

Next  day  he  was  received  by  the  Abbess,  whose  distrust 
did  not  last  long  after  he  had  spoken  for  only  five  minutes. 
They  could  not  think  of  letting  the  traveller,  whose  feet 
had  been  made  sore  by  a  bad  pair  of  sandals,  set  out  again 
for  some  time.  There,  too,  he  had  an  empty  hut  outside 
the  enclosure,  and  built  at  some  distance  from  another,  in 
which  lived  a  negro  and  his  wife.  As  guardians  of  the 
Sisters'  little  ground,  Brother  Charles  asked  to  be  allowed 
to  be  the  neighbour  of  these  poor  people,  and  to  stop  in 
the  empty  hut.  He  refused  to  lodge  in  the  chaplain's  rooms, 
which  the  Abbess  placed  at  his  disposal  for  a  few  days. 

To  explain  this  offer,  we  must  say  that  Mother  Elizabeth 
du  Calvaire  knew  by  the  letter  from  Nazareth  whom  she 
was  receiving,  and  that  from  her  first  meeting  with  Brother 
Charles,  he  saw  that  he  was  known,  and  had  spoken  of 
himself  more  fully  than  usual,  telling  what  trials  he  had 
undergone  and  for  what  he  had  come  to  the  East.  He  had 
related  some  incidents  of  his  infancy,  his  conversion,  his 
years  in  La  Trappe,  and  let  it  just  be  seen  that  the  hardest 
sacrifice  for  him  had  been,  and  still  was,  his  separation 
from  an  excellent  and  beloved  and  united  family.  Then 
suddenly  he  ceased  speaking.  The  man  of  silence  re- 
appeared. The  servant  had  taken  leave  of  the  Abbess  and 
begged  permission  to  lodge  outside  the  enclosure,  not  far 
from  the  negro  guardian,  in  the  country  near  the  Holy 
Town. 

In  the  evening  Mother  Elizabeth,  speaking  to  her  daugh- 
ters, said  to  them  :  "  Nazareth  was  not  mistaken  :  he  is 
truly  a  man  of  God ;  we  have  a  saint  in  the  house." 

This  venerable  and  highly  spiritual  woman  was,  as  we 
shall  see,  to  have  a  decisive  influence  in  the  determination 
to  which  Charles  de  Foucauld  came  less  than  two  years 
later,  to  prepare  for  the  priesthood. 

He  was  at  Jerusalem  for  some  weeks  at  least;  he  led  the 
same  life  there  in  the  same  conditions  as  at  Nazareth,  and 
he  wrote  to  his  relations  in  France  :  "  I  have  just  received 
your  letter  at  Jerusalem,  where  I  have  definitely  settled 
down  in  the  Convent  of  the  Poor  Clares.  The  Mother 
Abbess  of  the  Jerusalem  Convent,  who  is  the  foundress  of 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  127 

the  two  monasteries,  asked  me  to  come  here.  I  do  not 
know  why  she  made  me  come,  for  I  am  not  much  good; 
I  beheve  it  is  simply  for  her  to  be  able  to  show  charity 
towards  me  and  to  overwhelm  me  with  kindness.  She  is  a 
saint.  .  .  .  How  beautiful  God  makes  souls,  and  how 
good  He  is  to  let  me  see  them  !  What  treasures  of  moral 
beauty  there  are  in  the  depths  of  these  cloisters,  and  what 
fair  flowers  blossom  there,  for  God  alone  !  .  .  .  I  have  a 
little  house  with  its  back  against  the  great  wall  of  the 
enclosure.  ...  I  live  like  a  hermit,  or  an  independent 
workman,  getting  all  I  ask  for,  and  working  as  and  when 
I  wish  at  very  easy  work  that  they  have  been  so  considerate 
as  to  give  me,  so  that  I  may  say  that  I  gain  my  bread.   .  .   . 

"  My  life  here  is  exactly  the  same  as  at  Nazareth  with 
this  difference,  that  I  am  still  more  solitary — that  is  to  say, 
better.  The  convent  is  over  a  mile  from  Jerusalem  on  the 
Bethania  road,  in  an  admirable  position,  on  the  border  of 
the  Vale  of  Cedron,  opposite  the  Mount  of  Olives.  From 
my  windows  I  see  all  Jerusalem,  Gethsemane,  all  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  Bethania,  and,  in  the  distance,  the  mountains  of 
Moab  and  Edom,  which  rise  up  like  a  dark  wall  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Jordan;  it  is  extremely  beautiful.  .  .  . 
On  the  other  side  of  the  convent  you  can  see  the  hills  of 
Bethlehem  to  the  South  and  those  of  St.  John  the  Baptist 
(his  birthplace  and  the  deserts  in  which  he  lived)  to  the 
West.  .  .  .  The  Cenacle,  the  road  that  Jesus  took  with 
His  Apostles  after  the  wedding-feast  to  go  to  the  Garden 
of  the  Agony,  the  garden  itself,  the  palace  of  the  High 
Priest  to  which  He  was  led  after  having  been  bound, 
Herod's  Palace,  Calvary,  the  cupola  of  the  basilica  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  the  place  of  the  Ascension,  dear  and 
beloved  Bethania,  the  sole  place  in  which  our  Lord  was 
always  well  received,  the  whole  road  which  leads  from 
Jerusalem  to  Bethania  which  our  Lord  followed  so  often, 
Bethphage  the  temple  in  which  Jesus  so  often  taught,  Siloe 
with  the  pool  in  which  the  man  blind  from  birth  bathed  his 
eyes  :  all  this  is  under  our  eyes  and  cries  aloud,  singing 
without  ceasing  of  Jesus.   .   .   . 

"  Why  cannot  you  come  here?  how  you  would  enjoy  it ! 
how  touched  you  would  feel  and  happy  to  know  that  Jesus 
was  speaking  to  your  heart ! 

"  I  never  go  into  the  town,  nobody  comes  to  the  convent ; 
I  have  therefore  a  marvellous  solitude  which  I  profoundly 
enjoy.  .  .  .  God  is  good  !  .  .  .  The  farther  I  go,  the 
more  joy  I  find.  I  must  humble  myself  for  it :  it  shows  I 
am  not  strong  enough  to  endure  crosses,  but  I  must  also  be 


128  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

grateful  to  God,  who,  in  His  tender  care,  is  so  good  as  to 
save  this  poor  shorn  Iamb  from  the  least  wind."^ 

Brother  Charles  rarely  left  his  solitude  except  to  go  to  the 
chapel.  He  used  to  say  :  "  I  have  quite  the  life  of  a  monk, 
except  the  habit." 

He  soon  returned  to  Nazareth,  but  he  really  considered 
himself  as  a  servant  of  both  monasteries,  and  as  Mother 
Elizabeth  du  Calvaire  had  expressed  the  desire  that  he 
would  come  back  and  live  in  Jerusalem,  he  returned  there 
before  the  end  of  the  year.  What  did  it  matter  to  him  to 
be  here  or  there,  as  the  life  was  similar  and  the  soul  in 
safety  ? 

No  one  escapes  entirely  from  his  neighbour's  eye.  How- 
ever hidden  Charles  de  Foucauld  might  be,  he  was  esteemed. 
He  spoke  very  little ;  he  avoided  entering  into  conversa- 
tion with  the  few  people  whom  he  met  on  his  way ;  the 
Abbess,  remaining  in  the  enclosure,  only  spoke  to  him  on 
rare  occasions  and  if  he  wanted  a  permission  of  her ;  never- 
theless, as  at  Nazareth,  a  murmured  opinion  at  the  outset, 
made  up  of  astonishment,  of  hesitating  admiration,  of 
restrained  but  keen  esteem,  was  being  formed  around  this 
mysterious  person.  Like  one  of  the  poor  he  was  seen  going 
daily  to  fetch  his  meals  from  the  monastery  door  and  then 
returning  without  ceasing  to  read  a  book  which  he  invari- 
ably carried;  he  was  seen  taking  Holy  Communion  each 
morning,  serving  Masses,  scrupulously  doing  the  little  jobs 
which  were  given  him,  spending  an  hour  and  a  half  after 
his  midday  dinner  in  the  chapel,  going  back  in  the  even- 
ing, if  there  was  a  service;  they  knew  that  he  slept  on  two 
boards  covered  with  a  mat,  with  a  stone  for  pillow,  as  at 
Nazareth  ;  that  he  slept  barely  more  than  two  hours  a  night ; 
that  he  was  extremely  temperate  and  equally  charitable. 
The  Arabic  or  French  speaking  people  who  had  conversed 
with  him  remembered  his  very  kind  eyes  and  his  brotherly 
ways.  They  also  wondered  at  the  joy  which  they  detected 
in  this  homeless  man,  without  relations,  riches,  and  with- 
out position. 

Several  in  the  country  about  Jerusalem  and  the  town 
called  him  "  the  Poor  Clares'  holy  hermit."  Some  inquired 
if  they  might  consult  him.  The  poor  tried  to  get  in  his 
path  when  he  went  out. 

At  the  French  Consulate,  where  he  sometimes  went  to 
transact  business  for  the  community,  he  was  received  with 
honour,  and  at  once  shown  into  the  drawing-room  in  spite 
of  his  extraordinary  and  unprepossessing  costume. 

^  Letters  of  October  15,  and  November  10,  1898. 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  129 

The  negro  himself  and  his  wife,  neighbours  of  the  hut, 
whom  he  always  called  "brother  or  sister,"  treated  him 
with  a  great  deal  of  consideration.  One  day,  in  order  to 
try  him,  the  Abbess  said  to  the  guardian  :  "Take  this  to 
the  workman."  "  To  the  gentleman,"  quickly  replied  the 
negro. 

A  short  time  after  he  had  settled  in  Jerusalem,  and  at  the 
end  of  a  retreat  he  had  just  made.  Brother  Charles  declared 
that  he  would  henceforth  take  to  the  Trappists'  diet ;  at 
midday,  milk-soup,  figs,  and  some  honey;  in  the  evening, 
a  piece  of  bread  of  the  same  weight  as  a  Poor  Clare's — 180 
grammes.^  During  Advent  of  1898  and  Lent  of  1899,  he 
contented  himself  with  a  piece  of  bread  at  midday  and  in 
the  evening.  Some  nuns  of  the  monasteries  in  the  Holy 
Land  remembered  these  things,  and  have  written  of  them 
to  me.  One  of  them  remarks  by  the  way  :  "  Trappist  he 
remained  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term  ;  in  all  circumstances 
he  used  to  remark,  'As  the  Trappist  Rule  says,'  and  this 
Rule  he  always  carried  about  him." 

Let  it  not  be  imagined,  as  certain  people  in  the  world 
might  perhaps  think,  that  piety  and  regular  meditation  had 
made  of  Charles  de  Foucauld  a  mawkish,  insipid,  and 
formal  man.  The  man  who  lived  the  life  of  which  I  have 
just  spoken  proved  that  he  had  the  gift  of  strength.  Gen- 
erally he  exercised  it  in  subduing  himself;  on  some  occa- 
sions, and  when  it  was  necessary,  he  showed  hardness  to 
others.  One  day  a  troop  of  Italian  beggars  succeeded  in 
getting  into  the  lay-sisters'  yard ;  they  made  a  great  uproar 
because  the  Sisters  rightly  refused  to  give  them  dinner. 
The  poor  girls,  insulted  and  threatened,  did  not  know  what 
to  do,  when  Charles  happened  to  arrive.  Without  reflect- 
ing, without  saying  a  word,  he  threw  himself  on  one  of  the 
worst  fellows,  seized  him  round  the  body  and  put  him 
out;  then  it  was  the  turn  of  a  second  and  a  third.  With 
incredible  and  masterly  skill,  he  succeeded  in  this  little 
police  operation  in  one  minute.     His  eyes  were  blazing. 

Next  moment  Brother  Charles  passed  before  the  lay- 
sisters'  lodge  : 

"  Perhaps  I  have  disedified  you  !"  he  said. 

'*  Oh  no;  you  have  delivered  us.     Thank  you  !" 

When  she  had  seen  him  live  thus  for  several  months, 
and  was  sure  of  his  great  intelligence  and  singular 
virtue,  Mother  Elizabeth  began  to  exhort  him  to  take  Holy 
Orders.  She  showed  him  that  he  would  do  much  more 
good  by  becoming  a  missionary ;  but  he  changed  the  con- 
^  About  six  ounces. 


I30  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

versation,  and  went  back  to  the  hermitage.  As  she  was  a 
woman  of  very  strong  will  and  accustomed  to  guide  souls 
that  do  not  give  in  to  every  argument,  but  only  to  one,  she 
returned  to  the  subject,  and  observed  to  Brother  Charles 
that,  if  he  became  a  priest,  there  would  daily  be  one  more 
Mass  in  the  world,  and  an  infinite  number  of  graces  for 
men ;  that  it  was  then  in  his  power  to  pour  down  a  fresh 
blessing  on  the  earth,  or  to  keep  it  in  heaven.  If  he  had 
received  gifts,  which  he  had  increased  by  study  and  a  long 
spiritual  work,  was  it  to  make  use  of  them  for  himself 
alone?  Brother  Charles,  whom  the  thought  of  honouring 
still  more  the  Blessed  Sacrament  had  moved  to  the  depths 
of  his  soul,  reflected  on  the  words  which  had  been  said  to 
him,  and  then  replied:  "To  be  a  priest  is  to  put  myself 
forward,  and  I  am  made  for  the  hidden  life." 

The  Abbess  decided  to  procure  one  more  holy  priest  for 
the  Church,  and  set  her  daughters  to  pray,  and,  after  some 
time,  the  solitary,  having  seen  her  again,  said  to  her  ; 
"  Write  yourself  to  my  director,"  and  this  was  done. 

Now,  at  this  time  an  evil  dispute  had  arisen  with  the  Poor 
Clares  of  Nazareth,  about  a  piece  of  land  which  belonged 
to  them — the  piece,  I  suppose,  on  which  was  situated 
the  hut  that  Brother  Charles  had  lived  in.  They  wrote, 
begging  the  latter  to  retake  possession  of  this  disputed 
piece  of  their  ground,  to  till  it  a  little,  and  to  undertake  to 
arrange  the  difference,  for  no  one  could  succeed  in  it  as 
well  as  he. 

He  at  once  set  out,  accompanied  by  a  priest  who  was 
going  down  to  preach  a  retreat  there.  The  travellers  went 
from  Jerusalem  to  Jaffa,  where  they  embarked  for  Haifa, 
and,  from  there,  reached  Nazareth  at  the  beginning  of  1899. 

Abbe  Huvelin  had  been  told  of  all  these  things  by  his 
penitent,  who  asked  him  for  counsel.  He  had  long  thought 
that  Charles  de  Foucauld  was  intended  for  the  priesthood, 
and  he  had  let  him  know  it.  In  the  little  hut  at  Nazareth, 
Brother  Charles  had  at  last  formed  the  resolution  of  pre- 
paring himself  for  Holy  Orders.  But  he  could  not  deny 
his  particular  vocation,  studied,  meditated,  and  proved  for 
so  many  years ;  it  was  necessary  to  find  a  solution  to  the 
problem  :  to  live  as  a  priest,  and  also  as  a  hermit.  Where 
could  he  live  thus  ?  and  how  ? 

This  man,  tormented  by  an  overflowing  imagination 
which  was  at  times  chimerical,  always  grandiose  in  the 
choice  of  its  dream,  would  have  quickly  made  his  decision; 
he  would  have  bought  the  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes ;  he 
would  have  set  up  a  hermitage  on  the  summit,  and  there 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  131 

quite  alone — or  perhaps  with  a  few  Little  Brothers  whose 
coming  he  always  hoped  for — he  would  have  guarded  that 
sacred  spot;  he  would  have  adored  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
having  brought  it  among  fierce  populations ;  he  would  have 
received  the  passing  Bedouins  and  the  pilgrims  who 
ascended  in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus  Christ.  A  contemplative, 
unprotected,  austere,  and  charitable  priest,  "  he  would  have 
preached  the  Gospel  in  silence." 

The  book  of  intimate  notes  is  here  very  touching.  One 
finds  in  it  the  purity  of  intention,  the  generosity  of  this 
solitary  who,  in  his  log-hut,  meditating  on  the  near  future, 
was  only  concerned  with  his  own  eflFacement  and  the  glory 
of  God.     Here  is  what  he  writes  : 

"  I  believe  it  my  duty  to  try  and  buy  the  probable  site  of 
the  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes.  Clearly  seeing  that,  either 
on  account  of  obstacles  placed  by  the  Turkish  Government, 
or  on  account  of  their  actual  burdens,  the  Franciscans  can- 
not take  upon  themselves  to  set  up  immediately,  nor  in  a 
fiven  time,  an  altar  with  a  tabernacle  and  a  chaplain,  .  .  . 
cannot  make  any  better  suggestion  to  them  than  to  take 
upon  myself  to  maintain  on  the  top  of  the  mount  an  altar 
and  a  tabernacle  in  which  the  Blessed  Sacrament  will  be 
reserved,  and  a  chaplain  entrusted  to  say  Mass  there  every 
day,  on  condition  that,  whenever  the  Franciscans  wish  to 
take  upon  themselves  the  keeping  up  of  the  altar,  taber- 
nacle, and  chaplain,  the  place  shall  immediately  be  handed 
over  to  them  by  me  or  my  heirs. 

"  I  had  at  first  thought  of  setting  up  a  hermit  chaplain 
there,  in  a  poor  room,  and  to  settle  down  near  him,  to  serve 
him  as  servant  and  sacristan.  But  I  find  that  I  cannot  on 
any  account  impose  these  charges  on  my  family.  Another 
means  must  therefore  be  found.  I  see  only  one  :  it  is  to  be 
myself  the  poor  chaplain  of.  this  poor  sanctuary." 

Brother  Charles,  continuing  his  meditation  upon  this 
subject,  asks  himself  whether  he  will  thus  fill  his  vocation 
better,  which  is  "to  imitate,  in  the  most  possible  and 
perfect  way,  our  Lord  Jesus  in  His  hidden  life."  And 
he  replies  allfirmatively,  comparing  what  he  does  in 
Nazareth  with  what  he  would  do  on  the  Mount  of  the 
Beatitudes. 

"  Faith  in  the  word  of  God  and  of  His  Church  can  be 
practised  equally  well  everywhere,  but  there,  on  the  Mount 
of  the  Beatitudes,  in  destitution,  isolation,  in  the  midst  of 
very  malevolent  Arabs,  I  shall,  so  as  not  to  lose  courage, 
need  a  firm  and  constant  faith  in  these  words  :  Seek  ye  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  all  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.  .  ,  . 


132  CHARLES  DE  FOVCAULD 

Here,  on  the  contrary,  I  lack  nothing,  and  am  safe.  It  is 
there  then  that  my  faith  will  be  best  exercised. 

"There  I  shall  be  able  to  do  infinitely  more  for  my 
neighbour  by  the  sole  offering  up  of  the  holy  sacrifice,  .  .  . 
by  setting  up  a  tabernacle  which  will  invisibly  sanctify  the 
environs  by  the  simple  presence  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  as 
our  Saviour  in  His  mother's  womb  sanctified  the  house  of 
John,  ...  or  else  by  pilgrimages,  ...  or  by  hospitality, 
alms,  and  the  charity  I  shall  strive  to  give  to  all. 

"  Here,  my  condition  is  lower  in  itself;  there,  it  will  be, 
in  my  eyes,  of  an  infinite  height,  for  nothing  in  the  world 
seems  to  me  greater  than  a  priest.  But  where  is  there  a 
closer  imitation  of  our  Lord?  The  priest  more  perfectly 
imitates  our  Lord,  the  Most  High  Priest,  who  offers  Him- 
self up  daily.  I  must  put  humility  where  our  Lord  put 
it,   ...  I  must  practise  it  in  the  priesthood  as  He  did. 

"  Here  I  have  more  distractions  through  my  surround- 
ings. .  .  .  There  I  can  be  much  more  before  the  Holy 
Sacrament,  for  I  shall  be  able  to  keep  at  His  feet  part  of 
the  night.   .   .    . 

"  Although  here  the  abjection  of  my  state  be,  at  first 
sight,  greater,  there  I  shall  be  subject  to  ever  so  many  more 
humiliations.  Here,  in  my  own  eyes,  I  am  above  my 
rank;  .  .  .  there,  an  ignorant  and  incapable  priest,  I  shall 
be  far  beneath  my  ofifice  in  my  own  opinion.  .  .  .  Appear- 
ing in  a  strange  habit,  asking  to  live  a  special  life,  to  set 
up  a  tabernacle  in  a  holy  place,  the  authenticity  of  which  is 
disputable  (though  I  have  no  doubt  about  it),  from  the  first 
I  shall  be  the  butt  of  all  sorts  of  mockeries,  rebuffs,  and  con- 
tradictions. .  .  .  Alone  in  a  desert,  with  an  indispensable 
native  Christian,  in  the  midst  of  a  wild  and  hostile  popu- 
lation, .  .  .  courage  will  find  much  more  field  for  its 
exercise." 

He  ends  his  "election  "  by  giving  a  definition  of  him- 
self. Who  is  it,  he  asks,  who  thus  weighs  the  pros  and 
cons?  "A  sinner,  an  unworthy,  poor,  ignorant  fellow, 
yet  a  soul  of  good-will,  desiring  all  that  God  desires,  and 
that  alone." 

Such  are  the  principal  ends  that  Brother  Charles  pro- 
posed to  himself,  when  he  thought  of  buying  the  Mount  of 
the  Beatitudes.  They  are  those  of  a  great  soul.  In  the 
sequel,  if  he  pursued  them  otherwise  and  in  other  countries, 
one  observes  that  they  never  ceased  to  be  present  in  his 
mind.  In  other  places  he  was  what  he  contemplated  being 
on  the  Mount  where  our  Lord  preached  the  eight  Beatitudes 
of  which  the  world  knew  not. 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  133 

In  June,  igoo,  Brother  Charles,  having  come  to  a 
decision,  set  out  and  reached  Jerusalem.  He  reached  that 
town  on  the  eve  of  the  Feast  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

He  wished  to  see  Mgr.  L.  Piavi,  for  the  authority  to  set 
up  as  a  hermit  priest  on  the  top  of  the  Mount  of  the  Beati- 
tudes could  only  be  given  by  the  Patriarch.  No  doubt  in 
this  interview  he  could  also  get  the  proposed  Rule  which 
he  had  drawn  up  for  himself  and  the  future  "  Little  Brothers 
of  the  Sacred  Heart"  approved.  Abb^  Huvelin  had  only 
reluctantly  accepted  this  idea.  He  knew  he  had  the  care 
of  an  extraordinary  soul  which  "  upset  all  estimates,"  and 
that  is  why  he  dare  not  go  so  far  as  a  formal  veto.  But 
the  terms  which  he  used  involved  a  forcible  warning.  He 
refused  to  decide:  "  My  dear  child,  I  have  no  light  about 
that,  and  only  see  the  objections;  and  I  fear  there  is  self- 
will  beneath  your  self-sacrifice  and  piety." 

The  day  after  his  arrival  in  Jerusalem,  Brother  Charles 
Vv^ent  up  early  to  Calvary  and  heard  a  Mass ;  then  he  directed 
his  steps  to  the  patriarchate.  In  what  a  dress  and  in  how 
pitiable  a  condition  !  He  was  not  a  traveller  who  had  a 
change  of  dress  in  a  bag,  or  possessed  the  wherewithal  to 
buy  a  new  one.  On  the  way  his  sandals  must  have  given 
out  on  the  road ;  he  had  replaced  them  by  mere  bits  of  wood 
strapped  together.  Bands  of  thick  paper  tied  up  with 
string  hid  the  holes  in  his  breeches,  broken  at  both  knees. 
Besides,  the  poor  traveller,  walking  all  day  long  in  the 
height  of  summer,  without  any  precaution,  had  had  a  ter- 
rible sunstroke ;  his  eyelids,  forehead,  and  cheeks  were 
swollen  and  freckled.  When  such  a  ragamuffin  asked  to 
be  received  by  Mgr.  Piavi,  the  staff  of  the  patriarchate 
naturally  offered  some  objections.  It  was  only  after  wait- 
ing a  long  time,  and  on  his  renewed  affirmation  that  he 
wished  to  speak  to  the  Patriarch  himself,  that  Brother 
Charles  was  admitted  to  his  Beatitude. 

Mgr.  Piavi  listened  to  him  ;  then,  imagining  that  he  had 
to  do  with  one  of  the  visionaries  who  are  often  found  in  the 
East  and  elsewhere,  and  not  suspecting  that  before  him  was 
a  man  of  powerful  mind  and  heroic  virtue,  he  replied  :  "  I 
will  think  about  it,  and  now  withdraw  for  a  while." 

He  reflected  indeed  and  made  inquiries ;  he  heard  some- 
thing of  Brother  Charles's  exceptional  life,  and  tried  to  get 
this  queer  petitioner  to  return  to  the  patriarchate.  But  the 
dream  was  over.  Brother  Charles  considered  the  rebuff  a 
sign  of  the  divine  will.  He  therefore  returned  to  Nazareth. 
At  the  same  time,  and  whilst  he  yet  thought  himself  actually 
in  possession  of  the  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes,  he  discovered 


134  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

that  he  had  been  tricked  by  the  seller,  and  that  the  latter — a 
born  German — had  sold  the  land  on  which  the  altar  and 
cabin  were  to  be  raised  without  having  any  rights.  The 
cash  paid  was  lost. 

Brother  Charles  tells  us  in  his  letters  how  he  bore  these 
deceptions  and  humiliations ;  and  in  doing  so  unsuspect- 
ingly sings  his  own  praise. 

"  I  saw  the  Patriarch,  and  I  told  him  what  I  had  to  say 
to  him.  And,  although  he  dismissed  me  quickly  enough, 
I  am  very  pleased.  ...  I  am  in  deep  peace  and  great 
joy:  I  have  but  one  thing  to  fear;  being  unfaithful  to 
grace.  .  .  ."^ 

"  My  desire  for  Holy  Orders  is  stedfast,  but  all  the  rest 
is  in  doubt.  ...  Be  very  certain  of  one  thing,  my  dear; 
it  is  that  the  will  of  God  will  be  done  :  either  by  men,  or 
despite  of  them.  He  will  do  for  us  what  is  best.  Don't  be 
grieved  because  I  shall  not  go  to  France  this  year.  Per- 
haps, without  knowing  it,  I  am  on  the  point  of  going 
there.   .  .  ."^ 

*'  Do  not  let  us  attach  importance  to  the  events  of  this 
life,  nor  to  material  things ;  they  are  but  as  dreams  after  a 
night's  carousal.  .  .  .  What  is  left  us  at  the  hour  of 
death,  save  our  merits  and  our  sins?"' 

Abb^  Huvelin  encouraged  his  penitent  to  prepare  for  the 
priesthood ;  he  thought  that  the  preparation  would  be  short, 
on  account  of  the  philosophy  and  theology  already  learnt, 
and  he  hoped,  as  the  idea  had  struck  Brother  Charles,  it 
would  take  place  at  La  Trappe  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges. 
Since  the  attempt  made  on  Mgr.  Piavi  had  not  succeeded, 
yes,  indubitably  until  the  priesthood,  it  would  be  wise  to 
ask  the  Vivarais  Abbey,  where  the  training  was  perfect,  for 
a  refuge.  Besides,  there  was  no  hurry;  he  himself  pro- 
posed in  good  time  to  take  the  necessary  steps  with  the 
Father  Abbot  and  the  Bishop.  The  poor  curate  of  Saint 
Augustine's  was  very  poorly  indeed,  and,  as  he  said, 
"  enclosed  in  a  network  of  pains."  He  wrote  pretty  fre- 
quent notes,  in  which  abandoned  plans  and  present  ones 
were  passed  in  review  one  after  another.  But  the  slowness 
of  the  mails,  the  impossibility  of  making  themselves  entirely 
understood  at  such  distances,  the  violent  instinctive  need 
which  urges  us  to  seize  upon  the  fringe  of  the  morrow 
before  us,  overcame  Charles  de  Foucauld's  patience.  He 
hastened  things;  he  sent  a  note  to  tell  Abb6  Huvelin,  and 
started  for  France. 

^  Letter  to  a  friend,  June  28,  1900. 

*  Letter  to  Madame  de  Blic,  July  10,  1900.  ^  Ibid.,  July  21,  1900. 


NAZARETH  AND  JERUSALEM  135 

He  left  the  Holy  Land  at  the  beginning  of  August,  igoo, 
taking  with  him  only  a  breviary  and  an  old  basket  contain- 
ing his  food.  He  crossed  the  sea  on  deck,  in  the  fourth 
class,  and  no  doubt  unknown.  He  went  where  he  was 
called  by  a  will  which  only  unfolds  its  secrets  little  by  little, 
but  which  clearly  and  with  suavity  orders  what  is  essential 
for  each  day.  He  felt  sure  that  he  ought,  henceforth,  to 
accept  the  priesthood  from  which  the  thought  of  his  un- 
worthiness  at  first  and  for  long  had  kept  him  away ;  he  was 
sure  that  his  vocation  was  to  bear  the  Host  into  wild  coun- 
tries, among  infidels,  and  to  live  ever  adoring  it  in  silence, 
but  preaching  only  by  the  heroic  charity  which  it  instilled 
into  his  heart.  But  as  he  watched  the  houses  of  Jaffa  and 
the  land  behind  them  fade  away,  he  was  in  the  deepest 
ignorance  as  to  the  country  and  people  to  whom  he  would 
soon  be  sent.  The  time  for  that  revelation  had  not  yet 
come. 

In  Palestine  and  Judea  the  renown  of  Brother  Charles 
remained.  Already  legend  had  taken  possession  of  the 
story  of  the  hermit  of  Nazareth  and  Jerusalem  and  em- 
bellished it  with  its  flowers,  so  often  unprofitable  and  vain. 
It  was  rumoured  in  the  villages  that  Brother  Charles  liked 
to  be  let  down  to  the  bottom  of  dried-up  wells,  and,  being 
quite  sure  of  being  undisturbed  there,  prayed  and  medi- 
tated for  hours.  There  was  no  truth  in  the  story  nor  in 
several  others  like  it,  except  the  veneration  which  had 
inspired  them. 

The  long  years  spent  in  the  East  were  a  time  of  prepara- 
tion for  Charles  de  Foucauld.  They  had  accustomed 
him  to  a  solitary  life,  to  discipline  without  witnesses,  to 
work  without  a  set  programme.  He  had  served  his  appren- 
ticeship, which  would  permit  him  to  support  much  harder 
trials  without  weakness,  with  the  joy  of  the  one  who  obeys 
his  vocation.  But  he  did  not  know  these  things;  he  only 
went  forward  to  meet  them  with  confidence. 


CHAPTER  VII 
Charles  de  Foucauld  a  Priest— The  Desert  Road 

THE  direction  of  a  soul,  two  thousand  five  hundred 
miles  away,  is  no  easy  thing. 

What  was  Abbe  Huvelin  going  to  think  of  this  sudden 
return  to  France?  His  advice  had  not  been  followed;  the 
journey  had  been  undertaken  in  spite  of  a  telegram  saying  : 
"  Remain  at  Nazareth."  He  was  at  first  displeased  and 
troubled,  but  he  had  hardly  seen  his  terrible  penitent  again, 
when  he,  like  the  others,  submitted  to  the  charm,  and  recog- 
nized his  utter  good  faith  and,  what  was  much  more  and 
much  better,  the  mysterious  and  certain  call  which  Charles 
de  Foucauld  had  obeyed. 

At  first,  and  when  he  had  in  hand  Charles  de  Foucauld's 
letter  telling  of  his  coming,  Abb6  Huvelin,  always  quickly 
roused  and  smart  at  repartee,  exclaimed:  "The  ball  is 
shot ;  who  will  stop  it  ?"  Another  letter  came  on  August  i6. 
Brother  Charles  had  landed  at  Marseilles,  and  following  the 
attraction  of  a  former  devotion,  had  run  to  Sainte-Baume, 
so  as  to  pray  to  Mary  Magdalen ;  he  was  now  going  to  take 
one  of  the  first  trains  for  Paris,  and,  if  he  did  not  find 
M.  Huvelin  at  Rue  de  Laborde,  he  would  go  to  Fontaine- 
bleau,  where,  in  fact,  the  Abb6  was  ill  as  usual  and  tor- 
mented with  gout,  M.  Huvelin  then  decided  to  go  back  to 
Paris;  he  received  the  dear,  strangely  dressed  hermit,  who 
looked  very  tired — as  anyone  would  be.  He  scolded  him 
a  little  and  then  listened  to  him.  Not  having  seen  one 
another  for  so  many  years,  they  had  a  thousand  things  to 
say  to  each  other.  Twenty-four  hours  were  not  too  many 
to  tell,  explain,  and  arrange  everything.  On  seeing  his 
penitent  going  away,  Abb6  Huvelin  wrote  these  lines  :  "  He 
dined,  slept  in  the  house,  and  had  breakfast  with  me,  and 
took  the  road  to  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges  and  Rome.  .  .  . 
He  is  a  very  holy  soul.  He  wants  to  be  a  priest.  I  showed 
him  how.  He  had  little,  too  little  money  :  I  gave  him  a 
little.  He  knew  my  mind  very  well.  I  had  told  him  about 
it  in  a  telegram  ;  but  something  stronger  drives  him  on,  and 
one  can  only  admire  and  love  him." 

I  can  imagine  Brother  Charles,  in  his  third-class  car- 
riage,   on    this  journey.      He   is   sitting   near   a  window. 

136 


CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD  A  PRIEST       137 

Already  reassured  and  quieted  by  the  approbation  he  has 
received  and  the  undiminished  affection  of  his  guide,  he  at 
times  stops  praying  to  look  at  the  landscape.  How  this 
fresh  scenery  touches  the  traveller,  how  sweetly  it  speaks  to 
him  of  former  days  !  He  is  going  down  the  valley  of  the 
Rhone;  in  his  sensitive  soul  he  finds  an  image  of  one 
of  our  great  rivers  which  flow,  reflecting  the  countryside, 
green  even  in  summer;  he  beholds  a  picture  of  the 
mountains  in  the  distance,  the  mist  of  which  always  softens 
the  ridges  and  the  line  of  the  heights.  I  see  him  getting 
out  of  the  express,  and  taking  a  slow  train,  accustomed  to 
long  delays,  and  about  to  enter  into  the  valleys  and  slopes 
of  the  Ardeche.  Those  around  him  are  astonished;  they 
wonder  who  is  this  singular  man,  half  monk,  half  lay- 
man, bareheaded  and  untonsured,  dressed  in  a  whitish 
cotton  robe,  with  a  rosary  round  his  waist.  He  looks  like 
a  very  poor  man,  hollow-featured ;  he  goes  along  with  down- 
cast eyes,  without  bothering  about  the  sun,  or  the  laughter, 
or  the  raillery,  or  the  pity,  perhaps,  that  he  excites  in 
passing. 

At  what  station  did  he  stop  to  climb  the  last  slopes  which 
lead  to  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges?  One  can  go  as  far  as 
La  Bastide-Saint-Laurent.  But  he  who  followed  the  coun- 
sels of  poverty  and  mortification  in  the  least  things,  must,  I 
imagine,  have  got  off  the  train  long  before  Saint-Laurent, 
to  make  the  long  climb  while  thinking  of  Calvary,  and  of 
his  approaching  priesthood,  of  the  years  spent  in  La  Trappe, 
and,  now  and  then,  of  the  splendour  of  the  high  plateaux  of 
heather  and  rocks  which,  at  this  hour  of  sunset,  displayed 
for  a  solitary  traveller  and  God  their  treasures  of  colour, 
outline,  and  perfume.  He  was  mistaken  in  thinking  that 
he  was  alone  in  these  great  open  spaces.  Poor  people  like 
him,  but  who  had  always  been  so — wanderers  more  or  less 
steady,  more  or  less  crippled,  young  or  old,  whose  favourite 
trade  is  going  from  one  shake-down  to  another  with  out- 
stretched hand — were  travelling  by  the  same  road  or  moun- 
tain paths.  He,  when  he  came  in,  altogether  done  up  and 
brown  with  dust,  found  more  than  half  a  dozen  of  them  at 
the  abbey  door,  between  the  long  low  fa9ade  and  the  full- 
grown  trees  planted  by  the  old  monks.  The  brother-porter 
was  not  expecting  him.  He  had  not  known  Charles  de 
Foucauld,  a  novice  of  Notre-Dame,  ten  years  earlier. 
When  he  came  out  of  his  lodge,  at  the  hour  provided  for  by 
the  regulations,  to  count  the  guests  that  the  monastery 
would  receive  that  evening  for  the  charity  of  Christ,  if  he 
noticed  in  the  darkness  that  one  of  the  poor  people  was 


138  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

whiter  than  the  others,  it  was  to  smile  at  his  get-up.  He 
had  seen  all  sorts  of  them.  So  he  only  counted  his  boarders 
and  said  : 

"  Come  in,  my  friends ;  you  will  get  some  soup,  and  then 
a  nice  corner  to  sleep  in." 

Brother  Charles,  glad  of  such  an  opportunity  for  follow- 
ing his  Master,  took  good  care  not  to  give  his  name.  Like 
the  others,  he  ate  his  bowl  of  hot  soup,  slept  with  them  in 
the  barn,  and  only  made  himself  known  next  morning  when 
the  convent  bell  rang  for  first  Mass. 

There,  the  incident  is  still  fresh  in  all  memories.  To  the 
old  Brother  who  told  me  of  it  I  remarked  that  the  porter  was 
really  not  very  clear-sighted  to  be  so  mistaken. 

"Ha!"  he  replied,  laughing  heartily,  "Father  de 
Foucauld  looked  so  pitiful  :  he  was  dusty  to  the  shoulders, 
and  around  his  body,  sir,  a  rosary  long  and  big  and  heavy 
enough  for  tethering  a  calf  !" 

The  laugh  was  very  frank,  but  edification  pervaded  it. 

Dom  Martin  welcomed  ex-Brother  Marie-Alb^ric,  and  at 
once  zealously  set  to  work  to  get  the  Bishop  of  Viviers  to 
have  him  amongst  the  clergy  of  the  diocese.  He  succeeded ; 
for  testimonials  sought  from  several  quarters  represented 
Charles  de  Foucauld  as  a  man  of  high  virtue.  Between  the 
Abbot  of  La  Trappe  and  de  Foucauld,  it  was  agreed  that 
after  a  short  stay  in  Rome  he  should  return  to  Notre-Dame- 
des-Neiges,  and  there  prepare  for  the  priesthood.  What 
was  he  going  to  do  in  Rome?  At  the  moment  of  taking 
Holy  Orders  and  of  choosing  his  final  abode,  from  which 
perhaps  he  would  never  return,  he  wanted  to  speak  to  some 
whom  he  had  known  there :  and  I  hardly  doubt  that 
among  the  subjects  about  which  he  proposed  to  talk  to  them, 
the  principal  one  was  that  dear  foundation  of  the  Little 
Brothers  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  his  dream  now  seven  years 
old,  the  hope  in  which  he  took  delight ;  that  the  hermitage 
amongst  the  Musulmans,  the  difficult  and  hard  enterprise 
of  poor  Charles  of  Jesus,  might  not  die  with  him. 

Dom  Martin  let  him  go,  after  making  him  give  up  cos- 
tumes more  or  less  Eastern  while  travelling  in  Europe,  and 
giving  him  one  of  the  black  habits  which  the  La  Trappe 
lay-brothers  wear. 

At  the  beginning  of  September,  Brother  Charles,  having 
made  a  short  stay  in  Milan,  was  in  Rome. 

"  I  am  at  Rome,  in  a  little  nook  that  God  seems  to  have 
prepared  on  purpose;  just  opposite  the  Fathers  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament,  who  have  It  exposed  day  and  night  at  Saint- 
Claude-des-Bourguignons.     These  good  Fathers  whom   I 


CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD  A  PRIEST       139 

asked  for  hospitality  and  who  could  not  give  it  me  for 
want  of  room,  found  me  a  cabin  in  a  very  pious  house, 
where  I  am  as  tranquil  and  solitary  as  possible,  and  can 
enjoy  the  Blessed  Sacrament  with  as  much  facility  as  if 
I  were  in  the  convent  itself. 

"  I  think  that  I  wrote  you  that  it  is  no  longer  a  question 
of  my  living  on  the  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes  :  according  to 
the  Abba's  advice,  after  being  ordained  priest,  I  shall  return 
to  Nazareth,  where  I  shall  continue  to  live  as  a  priest,  but 
in  the  shade. "^ 

Even  in  Rome  he  led  a  hermit's  life,  hardly  going  out  of 
the  church  close  by,  in  which,  day  and  night,  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  was  exposed.  He  studied  theology  there;  he 
usually  read  on  his  knees  the  big  books  that  he  brought  in ; 
from  time  to  time  he  raised  his  eyes  towards  Him  of  whom 
the  books  spoke  to  him  ;  he  prayed  by  way  of  relaxation, 
and  from  the  morning  Angelus  to  the  evening  Angelus, 
the  hours  passed  as  calmly  as  at  Nazareth.  He  would 
have  liked  the  desert :  at  any  rate  he  found  out  and  made 
himself  a  solitude  everywhere.  Two  of  the  professors  he 
wished  to  consult  were  in  Rome.  He  saw  them.  A  third 
religious,  his  friend,  came  back  about  September  20.  Then, 
when  it  was  time  to  leave  the  Holy  City  for  shutting  himself 
up  in  La  Trappe,  Charles  de  Foucauld  impatiently  awaited 
an  answer  from  Abb^  Huvelin  :  permission  to  stop  on  the 
way  back,  to  go  up  to  Barbirey.  For  ten  years  he  had  not 
seen  his  sister,  nor  his  nephews  and  nieces  whom  he  did 
not  know,  nor  the  nook  in  the  hills  of  Burgundy,  where 
he  had  only  been  in  spirit. 

**  I  do  not  yet  know,"  he  writes  to  Madame  de  Blic, 
"whether  it  is  the  will  of  God,  or  whether  He  prefers  me 
to  mortify  myself  by  making  this  sacrifice.  I  shall  do  what 
I  am  told  to  be  most  perfect.  ...  If  I  am  told  to  go  and 
see  you,  what  joy  it  will  be  !  How  happy  shall  I  be  to 
embrace  you,  to  find  myself  in  your  little  nest,  between  you, 
Raymond,  and  your  children  !" 

The  reply  came  :  M.  Huvelin  gave  permission.  Brother 
Charles  left  Rome  and  took  the  road  to  Burgundy.  The 
whole  family  was  overjoyed.  Everyone  knew  that  these 
days  so  long  dreamt  of,  to  be  so  long  remembered,  would 
perhaps  pass  more  quickly  than  the  rest,  and  that  the  sweet- 
ness of  meeting  again  from  the  outset  was  already 
diminished  by  the  nearness  of  the  farewell. 

He  had  to  set  out  quickly  for  the  Vivarais  mountains,  to 

^  Letter  to  a  friend,  September  3,  1900.  He  was  lodging  at  Madame 
Marie  Basetti's,  105,  Via  Pozetto,  on  the  third  floor. 


I40  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD     ' 

cross  the  pine-woods,  to  knock  at  the  Abbey  door,  and  go 
into  retreat. 

The  latter  began  on  September  29,  1900.  From  that  date 
and  for  nearly  a  year  the  eternal  traveller  remained  in  the 
enclosure  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges.  It  was  in  the  monas- 
tery chapel  that,  on  the  feast  of  the  Holy  Rosary,  October  7, 
he  received  the  minor  orders.  The  oldest  Fathers,  the 
oldest  Brothers,  still  speak  of  the  affection  which  they  all 
had  for  Charles  de  Foucauld,  and  of  the  daily  edification 
they  received  from  him.  The  day  after  the  feast  Dom 
Martin  wrote:  "I  cannot  tell  you  how  happy  we  were  to 
possess  our  dear  and  holy  hermit  for  some  time.  He  is 
rather  jaded  just  now,  and  we  do  not  know  how  to  set  about 
taking  care  of  him.  ...  I  had  the  happiness  of  con- 
ferring minor  orders  on  him  on  the  feast  of  the  Holy 
Rosary;  perhaps  it  is  the  greatest  happiness  of  my  life." 

It  had  been  decided  to  abridge,  as  much  as  possible,  any 
delays  in  ordaining  the  candidate,  for  he  had  already  studied 
so  much,  prayed  so  much,  and  so  amply  proved  his  voca- 
tion. On  December  22  he  was  made  subdeacon,  at  Viviers. 
Almost  at  once  he  went  again  into  retreat  for  the  sake  of  the 
diaconate.  His  life  glided  on  in  continual  meditation.  All 
day  long  he  perused  the  Gospel,  the  Bible,  and  the  writings 
of  the  Fathers.  Accustomed  to  soar,  his  soul  was  carried 
away  as  if  on  wings  by  the  sacred  text,  and  far  above  the 
world  blossomed  forth  fully  in  the  divine  light.  We  have 
books  in  which  this  assiduous  annotator  wrote  certain  of  his 
thoughts  and  resolutions.  Promptly  enough,  the  question 
presented  itself  to  him;  "What  shall  I  be?"  and  plans 
were  outlined,  and  the  way  grew  clear. 

Recapitulating  this  period,  he  afterwards  wrote:  "My 
retreats  for  the  diaconate  and  priesthood  made  me  see  that 
the  life  of  Nazareth  which  appeared  to  be  my  vocation  must 
be  led  not  in  my  beloved  Holy  Land,  but  among  souls  most 
in  need  of  the  physician,  sheep  most  in  need  of  a  shepherd. 
The  heavenly  feast  of  which  I  was  about  to  be  a  minister 
must  be  offered  not  to  kinsmen  and  rich  neighbours,  but  to 
the  halt,  the  blind,  and  the  poor — that  is  to  say,  to  souls 
lacking  priests.  In  my  youth  I  travelled  over  Algeria  and 
Morocco.  In  Morocco,  as  large  as  France,  with  ten  million 
inhabitants,  there  was  not  a  single  priest  in  the  interior;^ 
in  the  Sahara,  seven  or  eight  times  as  large  as  France  and 

*  Letter  to  Abbe  Caron,  Vicar-General  of  Versailles,  April  8,  1905. 
To-day  the  French  Franciscans  and  nuns  of  the  same  Order  have 
begun  the  establishment  of  missionary  posts  and  charitable  institutions 
in  Morocco. 


CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD  A  PRIEST       141 

much  more  populous  than  was  formerly  thought,  are  a 
dozen  missionaries  !  No  people  seemed  to  me  more  aban- 
doned than  those." 

Above  the  walls,  blackened  by  the  burning  of  the  former 
chapel,  they  took  pleasure  in  showing  me  the  window  of 
the  cell  which  Brother  Charles  had  chosen  when  preparing 
for  Holy  Orders.  It  could  only  be  reached  by  going  up  to 
the  top  of  the  arches.  But  the  door  opened  out  on  a  gallery 
from  which  you  could  see  the  altar,  and  the  future  priest 
used  to  spend  many  hours  there. 

In  his  cell  under  the  roof  Brother  Charles  used  to  do  his 
cooking,  which  was  very  simple — a  plate  of  haricot  beans  or 
a  boiled  cabbage.  There,  as  at  Nazareth  and  Jerusalem, 
he  had  his  hermitage.  His  only  walk  was  from  the  cell  to 
the  chapel.  As  the  end  of  1900  drew  near,  he  resolved  to 
pray  very  much  for  the  world  which  was  changing  centuries. 
He  spent  the  two  last  nights  of  the  closing  century  and  the 
two  first  of  the  new  one  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  How 
many  others  did  as  much  ? 

It  was  just  when  the  French  Church  was  being  severely 
and  unjustly  treated  by  public  authorities.  He  was  grieved 
by  it,  because  weaker  souls  fall  in  times  of  persecution,  and 
because  it  was  an  offence  to  Jesus,  the  raising  of  whose 
hand  alone  maintains  France.  He  used  to  say:  "But 
Jesus  remains  the  Master;  the  more  He  seems  to  die,  the 
more  He  rises  again  as  God  and  Lord  :  Stat  crux  duni 
volvitur  orbis."  He  also  said  :  "  But  how  unfortunate  are 
the  fortunate  !"  Without  allowing  himself  to  be  dejected, 
he  endeavoured  to  employ  well  every  minute  given  him, 
"little  bits  of  the  examination  which  mortal  life  is."  He 
was  ordained  deacon  on  the  eve  of  Passion  Sunday. 

In  May,  1901,  began  the  thirty  days'  retreat,  which  ended 
his  preparation  for  the  priesthood.  His  ordination  took 
place  at  Viviers  on  June  9.  Charles  de  Foucauld  was 
ordained  by  Mgr.  Mont^ty,  in  the  presence  of  Mgr.  Bonnet. 
The  night  before  the  Father  Abbot  Dom  Martin  said  to 
him  : 

"I  shall  accompany  you;  make  provision  for  us  both." 
The  two  travellers  set  out  a  few  minutes  afterwards.  When 
lunch-time  came,  Charles  de  Foucauld  drew  a  little  parcel 
out  of  his  pocket,  opened  the  envelope,  and  on  the  Abbot's 
robe  put  three  figs  for  each  of  them,  two  walnuts,  and  a 
bottle  of  water. 

Several  of  the  clergy  at  Viviers  were  amused  when  told 
of  this  incident,  and  wondered  :  "  What  is  he  going  to  do 
at  Monseigneur's,  who  has  invited  him  to  lunch  after  the 


142  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

ceremony  ?"     He  did  as  everyone  else,  and  was  not  singular 
in  any  way. 

The  same  evening  the  new  priest  regained  the  Ard^che 
mountains,  so  as  to  say  his  first  Mass,  on  June  lo,  at  Notre- 
Dame-des-Neiges.  His  sister  had  preceded  him.  She 
lodged  outside  the  monastery  in  a  little  house  where  this 
letter  from  her  brother  was  handed  to  her  on  her  arrival : 

"  Best  and  Dearest, 

"  Thanks  for  coming,  your  arrival  touches  me  to  the 
bottom  of  my  heart.  I  shall  get  there  on  the  night  between 
Sunday  and  Monday  about  midnight  or  i  in  the  morning. 
Take  care  not  to  wait  for  me ;  rather  go  to  bed  very  early, 
like  the  Trappists,  at  8  o'clock.  On  my  arrival,  I  shall  go 
straight  to  church  to  worship  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  to 
whom  I  owe  my  first  visit ;  and  I  shall  remain  in  silence  and 
adoration  till  the  day  after  my  first  Mass.  You  cannot 
speak  to  me  before  my  first  Mass,  but  afterwards  we  shall 
make  up  for  it,  my  dear;  the  community  Mass  is  sung  at 
half-past  6,  before  the  most  Blessed  Sacrament  exposed ; 
I  shall  act  as  deacon.  ...  As  soon  as  High  Mass  is 
finished,  I  shall  go  to  the  sacristy  and  put  on  a  chasuble, 
and  shall  reappear  at  the  same  altar  as  where  High  Mass 
was  celebrated,  to  say  my  first  Mass.  I  shall  give  you  Holy 
Communion  there,  through  one  of  the  gratings  of  the  little 
chapel  where  you  will  be.  After  the  thanksgivings  of  my 
first  Mass  (three-quarters  of  an  hour  or  an  hour  after)  I 
shall  go  and  spend  a  good  long  time  with  you.  .  .  .  Wait 
for  me  in  your  room  then  :  take  care  to  have  a  good  break- 
fast after  communion.  Be  assured  that  your  arrival  here  is 
a  real  joy  for  the  whole  community,  which  is  full  of  illusions 
about  me  and  loves  me  a  thousand  times  more  than  I 
deserve,  and  in  particular  good  Father  Abbot,  who  is  going 
to  Viviers  on  purpose  to  accompany  me,  though  he  is  very 
busy.   .   .   . 

"  Welcome,  my  dear,  and  thanks  for  coming.  I  embrace 
you  as  I  love  you  :  with  all  my  heart  in  the  heart  of  Jesus. 

"  *i*    Fr.  Alberic." 

From  consideration,  and  during  his  stay  at  La  Trappe, 
Charles  de  Foucauld  had  retaken  his  former  Trappist  name. 
After  his  ordination  he  continued  to  live  in  his  cell  at  Notre- 
Dame-des-Neiges  until  the  end  of  the  negotiations,  which 
were  to  prepare  for  the  establishment  in  North  Africa. 
They  were  of  two,  kinds  :  they  had  to  obtain  the  permission 
of  the  religious  authorities,  and  those  of  the  General 
Government  and  of  the  military  chiefs. 


CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD  A  PRIEST       143 

The  letters  which  I  am  going  to  quote  are  to  my  mind 
bea.  'ful  for  their  honesty,  clear-sightedness  and  affection, 
when  ihey  speak  of  Charles  de  Foucauld;  and  for  their 
humility  and  ardour,  when  signed  by  him.  It  seems  to  me 
that  any  unbiassed  mind  must  admire  the  priests  of  France, 
whether  in  him  who  offers  himself  for  an  unprecedented 
mission,  or  in  those  who  commend  him.  By  a  mistake  the 
first  letters  were  addressed  to  Mgr.  Bazin ;  it  was  quickly 
seen  that  Mgr.  Gu6rin,  the  Prefect  Apostolic  of  the  Sahara, 
should  have  been  written  to,  as  well  as  Mgr.  Livinhac, 
Superior-General  of  the  White  Fathers. 

M.  I' Abbe  Huvelin  to  Mgr.  Basin. 

"  Martigny-les-Bains, 

"  August  25,  1901. 
"  MONSEIGNEUR, 

"  M.  le  Vicomte  Charles  de  Foucauld,  long  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  African  Army,  then  an  intrepid  and  skilful 
traveller  in  Morocco,  then  a  novice  with  the  Trappist 
Fathers  of  Akbes,  in  Syria,  afterwards  devoted  to  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Poor  Clares  of  Nazareth,  lastly  returned  to  the 
Trappist  monastery  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges,  where  he 
has  just  received  Holy  Orders  and  the  priesthood,  asks  me 
to  commend  him  to  your  Grace. 

"  When  you  see  him,  you  will  judge  that  my  recommen- 
dation is  quite  unnecessary,  for  he  is  himself  his  own  recom- 
mendation. 

"  You  will  find  in  him  heroic  self-sacrifice,  unlimited 
endurance,  a  vocation  to  influence  the  Musulman  world, 
humble  and  patient  zeal,  obedience  in  his  zeal  and  en- 
thusiasm, the  spirit  of  penance  without  any  thought  of 
fault-finding  and  condemnation  for  anyone  else. 

"  I  have  been  his  spiritual  Father  for  fifteen  years.  I 
have  always  followed  him,  I  have  always  found  him,  even 
in  the  midst  of  his  enthusiasm  and  transports,  prudent  and 
knowing  how  to  wait,  taking  refuge  in  prayer  when  action 
was  forbidden  him.  I  admire  and  I  love  him,  as  do  the 
Trappist  Fathers  who  testify  to  you  for  him.  The  Reverend 
Father  Abbot  of  Staueli  had  a  most  real  affection  for  him, 
and  saw  in  him  a  hope  for  his  Order,  even  after  he  had 
left  it. 

"M.  de  Foucauld's  difficulty  was  the  question  of  Holy 
Orders.  In  his  humility  he  long  refused  to  take  them;  he 
required  clear  enlightenment  to  show  him  that  his  way  lay 
in  mission  work  sustained  by  prayer. 


144  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAVLD 

"  It  is  a  simple  portrait  I  am  sending  you,  not  flattering, 
but  true  to  life.  I  am  unknown  to  your  Grace,  but  I  '  ope 
you  will  find  an  appearance  of  truth  in  my  words,  and 
will  see  in  the  priest  who  presents  himself  to  you  a  help  and 
benediction  for  work  in  Africa.   .   .   ," 

Abbe  Huvelin, 

"  Honorary  Canon  of  Paris  ;  Curate  of 
Saint-Augustine's." 

The  Rev.  Father  Martin,  Abbot  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, 
to  Mgr.  Bazin. 

"  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, 

"/illy  15,  1901. 

"  I  send  you  the  enclosed  letter  of  my  dear  and  holy 
friend,  for  the  Bishop  of  the  Sahara. 

*'  I  have  neither  to  judge  nor  to  weigh  pious  plans  : 
Spiritus  Sanctus  posuit  Episcopos  regere  Ecclesiam  Dei, 
and  not  Abbots.  But  what  I  can  affirm  is  that  I  have  inti- 
mately known  M.  Charles  de  Foucauld  for  eleven  years, 
and  that  never  in  my  life  have  I  seen  a  man  realizing  so 
fully  the  ideal  of  holiness.  Never,  except  in  books,  have 
I  seen  such  prodigies  of  penance,  humility,  poverty,  and 
of  the  love  of  God. 

"  I  will  add,  what  is  less  important,  that  this  former  pupil 
of  Saint-Cyr,  a  cavalry  officer,  was  an  explorer  of  the 
highest  rank  in  Morocco,  Algeria  and  Tunis,  that  he 
belongs  to  a  very  noble  family,  and  that  he  is  connected 
with  the  best  families  in  France." 


Charles  de  Foucauld  to  Mgr.  Bazin. 

"  La  Trappe  de  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges. 
"  August  22,  1901. 
'*  MONSEIGNEUR, 

"  I  throw  myself  at  your  Grace's  feet.  .  .  .  The 
remembrance  of  my  companions  who  died  without  the 
Sacrament  and  without  a  priest,  twenty  years  ago,  in  the 
expeditions  in  which  I  took  part,  against  Bu-Amama,  urges 
me  strongly  to  set  out  for  the  Sahara,  as  soon  as  you  have 
accorded  me  the  necessary  faculties,  without  a  single  day's 
delay,  since  a  gain  of  one  day  may  mean  the  salvation  of 
the  soul  of  one  of  our  soldiers.  I  also  look  upon  it  as  a 
duty  of  charity  to  write  to  you  again,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
set  out  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  I    humbly   ask   your   Grace  for  two   things  :    (i)  The 


CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD  A  PRIEST       145 

faculty  of  setting  up  between  Ain  Sefra  and  the  Twat,  in 
one  of  the  French  garrisons  which  has  no  priest,  a  little 
public  oratory,  with  the  Sacrament  reserved  for  the  needs  of 
the  sick,  and  to  reside  and  administer  the  Sacraments  there ; 
(2)  authorization  to  associate  with  me  companions,  priests 
or  laymen,  if  Jesus  sends  them,  and  with  them  to  practise 
adoration  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  exposed. 

"  If  you  deign  to  grant  me  this  twofold  request  I  shall 
reside  there  as  chaplain  of  this  humble  oratory  without  the 
title  of  parish  priest  or  curate  or  chaplain,  and  without  any 
emolument,  living  as  a  monk,  following  the  Rule  of 
St.  Augustine,  either  alone  or  with  Brethren,  in  prayer, 
poverty,  work  and  charity,  without  preaching,  and  not 
going  out  except  to  administer  the  Sacraments,  in  silence 
and  enclosed. 

"  The  object  is  to  give  spiritual  help  to  our  soldiers,  to 
prevent  their  souls  being  lost  for  want  of  the  Last  Sacra- 
ments, and  above  all  to  sanctify  the  infidel  populations  by 
bringing  into  their  midst  Jesus  present  in  the  most  Blessed 
Sacrament,  as  Mary  sanctified  the  house  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  by  bringing  Jesus  into  it. 

"  I  promise  your  Grace  with  all  my  heart  to  endeavour 
with  God's  help,  despite  my  misery,  never  to  be  an  occasion 
of  scandal,  and  never  to  be  a  cause  of  expense  nor  material 
burden  to  your  delegation ;  with  my  whole  heart  I  promise 
you  beforehand  filial  love  and  the  most  faithful  obedience. 

"  I  take  the  liberty  of  adding  that  the  presence  of  your 
unworthy  servant  in  the  Sahara,  although  he  be  very  poor, 
will  probably  save  several  souls  who  will  otherwise  die  with- 
out the  Sacraments,  and  that  it  will  give  your  delegation 
one  more  tabernacle,  and  one  more  holy  sacrifice  daily. 

"  If  your  Grace  wishes  to  speak  to  me,  on  a  word  from 
you,  by  post  or  telegram,  I  shall  immediately  go  to  Algiers. 

"  I  am  with  the  most  profound  respect,  Monseigneur, 

"Charles  de  Foucauld, 

"  An  unworthy  priest." 

M.  VAhbS  Huvelin  to  Mgf.  Livinhac. 

"  Sunday,  September  1, 
"Monseigneur, 

"A  week  ago  I  sent  to  Mgr.  Bazin,  of  the  White 
Fathers,  all  the  information  about  M.  de  Foucauld  for  which 
you  ask  me.     He  asked  me  to  send  it  to  Mgr.  Bazin. 

"  What  I  can  tell  your  Grace  is  good  in  every  way  :  he 
has  much  enthusiasm,  but  wisdom — much  zeal,  but  much 

10 


146  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

obedience — love  of  a  hard  life  with  the  minimum  of  allevia- 
tion^  but  under  direction — his  love  of  mortification  is  a'  need 
resulting  from  his  love  of  God. 

"His  vocation  always  drew  him  to  the  Musulman 
world.  His  sojourn  in  Algeria,  his  journey  in  the  interior 
of  Morocco,  his  years  spent  in  Palestine,  have  prepared 
and  hardened  him  for  this  mission.  I  saw  the  coming  of 
his  vocation.  I  saw  him  grow  wiser  through  it,  more 
humble,  more  simple,  and  obedient.  When  I  bade  him  to 
put  it  aside  as  chimerical,  he  put  it  aside,  but  it  returned 
stronger  and  more  imperious.  In  my  soul  and  conscience, 
I  believe  it  comes  from  God.  Love  of  silence  and  hidden 
action  you  will  find  in  him.  .  .  .  His  difficulties  in 
La  Trappe  all  came  from  his  repugnance  to  receive  Holy 
Orders.     He  dare  not ! 

"Nothing  queer  or  extraordinary,  but  an  irresistibly 
urging  force,  a  hard  instrument  for  tough  work — that  is 
what  your  Grace  will  find  in  M.  de  Foucauld. 

"  How  often  have  all  the  objections  which  occur  to  you 
occurred  to  me  !     I  gave  in  only  after  trial  and  many  tests. 

"  Stedfastness,  a  desire  to  go  to  the  end  in  love  and  in 
the  gift  of  self — to  bear  all  the  consequences — never  dis- 
couragement, never;  a  little  harshness  formerly — but  now 
much  mitigated ! 

"  Let  him  come,  and  then  see  for  yourself.  I  regret  hav- 
ing destroyed  the  admirable  letter  in  which  he  very  humbly 
asked  me  to  give  you  information  about  him.  It  is  in  all 
conscience  that  I  am  sending  you  this,  which  will  complete 
what  I  gave  Mgr.  Bazin  a  week  ago.  Get  him  to  come  at 
his  own  risk  and  peril ;  see  him  at  work  and  judge. 

"  Receive,  Monseigneur,  my  respect,  and  my  profound 
and  religious  devotion,  and  give  me  your  blessing. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  how  touched  and  stirred  I  was  by  your 
letter,  in  which  I  felt  the  Spirit  of  God.  You  will  quickly 
discern  Who  is  leading  my  dear  child. 

"  L'Abbe  Huvelin." 

Dam   Henri,    Prior   of    Notre-Dame   of  Staueli,    to    Mgr. 
Guerin,  Prefect  Apostolic  of  the  Sahara. 

"September  5,  1901. 
"  Father  Duflfourd  spoke  to  me  of  a  business  you  had  to 
discuss  verbally  with  a  former  officer  of  the  province  of 
Oran,  who  desired  to  go  back  to  it.  .  .  .  I  think  it  is  a 
question  of  our  former  Father  Alb^ric  (Charles  de  Foucauld 
— or  rather  Charles  of  Jesus).     I  forward  you  the  last  letter 


CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD  A  PRIEST       147 

I  had  from  him.  If  you  have  the  good-fortune  to  have  him 
as  a  collaborator  I  shall  be  very  happy  both  for  you  and 
for  him.  He  is  the  finest  soul  I  know  :  with  incredible 
generosity  he  advances  with  giant  strides  on  the  path  of 
sacrifice,  and  he  has  an  insatiable  desire  to  devote  himself 
to  the  work  of  redeeming  the  infidels.  He  can  do  every- 
thing, but  perhaps  he  cannot  follow  direction  if  it  is  too 
narrow.  The  Reverend  Dom  Martin  must  have  recom- 
mended him  to  Mgr.  Livinhac  :  all  that  I  can  add  is  that, 
having  lived  intimately  with  him  for  ten  months,  I  was  pro- 
foundly edified  by  his  heroic  virtue.  There  is  in  him  the 
material  of  many  saints.  His  sole  presence  is  a  most 
eloquent  sermon,  and  in  spite  of  the  apparent  singularity  of 
the  mission  to  which  he  believes  himself  called,  you  may 
quite  safely  receive  him  into  your  apostolic  prefecture.  .  .  ." 

The  Bishop  of  Viviers  to  Mgr.  Livinhac. 

"  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, 

"  September  5,  1901. 
"  MONSEIGNEUR, 

"  I  recommend  to  your  benevolence  the  humble  and 
holy  priest  who  comes  to  bring  you  his  co-operation,  and  I 
beg  you  be  good  enough  to  accept  him. 

"  Abb^  de  Foucauld  is  an  old  and  brilliant  officer,  who 
broke  off  his  career  to  give  himself  more  completely  to  God 
in  the  priesthood.  I  had  him  ordained  priest ;  he  is  my  sub- 
ject, and  I  hold  it  a  great  favour  for  my  diocese  to  have 
possessed  for  some  time  a  priest  of  such  merit  and  char- 
acter. If  a  vocation  of  too  long  standing  and  too  urgent 
did  not  call  him  to  devote  himself  to  the  conversion  of  the 
Musulmans,  I  should  be  happy  to  give  him  employment  in 
my  ministry.  .  .  .  Here  he  has  acquired  the  reputation  of 
a  saint,  and  our  priests  beg  the  happiness  of  having  access 
to  him  for  a  few  moments  as  a  great  favour. 

"All  this  will  tell  you,  Monseigneur,  in  what  esteem  I 
hold  the  priest  who  is  going  to  you,  and  how  obliged  I 
should  be  to  you  to  receive  him  with  great  kindness. 

"►J<     J.  M.  Frederic, 

"  Bishop  of  Viviers.'* 

At  the  beginning  of  September,  Charles  de  Foucauld 
bade  farewell  to  the  Fathers  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges. 
The  boxes  in  which  the  Brothers  had  put  the  provisions  and 
all  the  furniture  that  the  hermit  would  take  with  him  were 
already  nailed  down  and  labelled.     What  did  they  contain  ? 


148  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

What  was  wanted  for  the  chapel,  a  small  number  of  books, 
over  50  yards  of  rope  with  a  small  bucket  to  draw  water  from 
the  desert  wells,  some  strong  cloth  to  make  a  tent,  and  some 
sacks  cut  up  for  carpets. 

The  poor  luggage  was  put  in  a  cart.  The  former  Brother 
Marie-Alb^ric  received  a  last  blessing  from  the  Abbot  and 
went  away,  much  affected.  A  few  days  afterguards  he 
crossed  the  sea,  and  landed  in  Africa,  his  Africa.  At 
Maison  Carree  he  was  received  by  Mgr.  Livinhac,  "  the 
Bishop  of  the  Sahara  "  ;  he  was  given  the  necessary  author- 
ization to  set  up  in  the  south  of  Oran,  near  Morocco.  While 
he  was  waiting  for  the  second  authorization,  that  of  the 
Governor  of  Algeria,  to  reach  him — an  old  friend.  Com- 
mandant Lacroix,  one  of  the  best  known  Africains,  had 
taken  the  necessary  steps^ — he  was  invited  to  spend  a  few 
days  at  the  Staueli  Trappe.  There  he  again  found  the 
monks  so  long  devoted  to  him.  New  and  immediately 
intimate  friendships  sprang  up  between  him  and  the  mis- 
sionaries of  Maison  Carr6e.  He  was  full  of  hopes  and 
plans.  *'  At  Beni-Abbes,  I  shall  actually  be  alone  as 
priest,"  he  writes,  "  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the 
nearest  one.^  My  Prefect  Apostolic,  Mgr.  Gu^rin,  allows 
me  to  have  companions  !"  On  his  side,  Mgr.  Gu^rin  said  : 
"  I  have  only  known  Charles  de  Foucauld  since  the  begin- 
ning of  September,  but  it  did  not  take  me  long  to  esteem 
him  as  he  merits  and  to  recognize  his  wonderful  goodness. 
I  regard  as  a  blessing  from  God  the  coming  of  this  holy 
priest  into  the  territory  of  the  prefecture  entrusted  to  me. 
A  real  saint,  like  Charles  of  Jesus,  necessarily  does  good. 
He  cannot  help  radiating  round  him  some  of  the  sweetness 
and  goodness  of  Jesus,  who  is  henceforth  his  whole  life." 

The  favourable  reply  from  the  Governor-General  and 
General  in  Command  of  the  army  corps  came  on  October  14, 
and  the  start  for  Oran,  and  then  the  south,  took  place  next 
day.  The  officers  of  the  posts  ^chelonned  on  the  route 
from  Oran  to  Beni-Abbes  had  learned  that  the  celebrated 
explorer,  their  old  comrade,  now  a  monk,  was  on  his  way, 
he  too  following  the  call  of  the  desert,  but  from  other 
motives.  They  were  waiting  for  him  at  the  stations  of  the 
little  strategic  railway,  at  present  laid  down  for  two  hundred 

^  Head  of  native  affairs  to  the  gouvcruement  general  at  Algiers  ;  one 
of  the  authors  of  that  remarkable  work,  La  p^ndraiion  Saharienne,  by 
Augustin  Bernard  and  Commandant  Lacroix,  M.  Augustin  Bernard, 
who  was  at  that  period  professor  at  the  Ecole  Snp/rieure  dcs  Letires  of 
Algiers,  is  at  present  professor  at  the  Sorbonnc. 

*  The  nearest  points  at  which  a  priest  could  be  found  were :  Ain 
Sefra,  F21-Golca,  Timbuctoo. 


CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD  A  PRIEST       149 

and  fifty  miles  from  Oran,  and  in  1901,  ending  at  Ain 
Sefra;  and  they  came  to  greet  him,  some  bringing  him  pro- 
visions for  the  journey.  At  Ain  Sefra,  the  little  white 
town  at  the  foot  of  the  dunes,  he  might  have  found  an  inn. 
But  General  Cauchemez  took  him  to  the  Arab  Office,  a 
white  castle  among  European  trees,  and  gave  him  a  room, 
in  which  Charles  de  Foucauld  lodged,  we  may  be  sure,  but 
that  the  hermit-explorer  had  slept  on  the  floor  during  the  two 
or  three  days  he  stayed  with  his  friend.  He  expressed  much 
gratitude  to  the  officers  of  all  ranks  who  had  welcomed  him. 
And  so  as  not  to  annoy  them,  after  intending  to  go  on  foot 
to  Beni-Abbes,  he  reluctantly  agreed  to  start  with  Lieu- 
tenant Huot,  who  was  returning  from  leave,  and  conse- 
quently to  undertake  on  horseback — on  a  maghzen  cavalry 
mount — and  with  an  escort,  the  long  route  from  Ain  Sefra 
to  Beni-Abbes. 

They  entered  the  desert  regions. 

About  half-way  are  the  oasis  of  Taghit  and  the  redoubt, 
which  commands  a  dangerous  region  frequently  overrun 
by  marauding  bands.  As  the  French  travellers  and  their 
little  escort  approached  Taghit,  they  saw  a  troop  of  horse- 
men coming.  It  was  Captain  de  Susbielle,  commander  of 
the  post,  at  the  head  of  his  maghzen.  Hearing  that  the  old 
lieutenant  of  the  Chasseurs  d'Afrique  was  coming  soon,  he 
was  there  to  meet  the  man  who  had  given  himself  up  to 
the  poor  of  the  desert  for  ever.  On  his  way  he  said  to  his 
men  :  "  You  are  going  to  see  a  French  marabout ;  he  comes 
through  love  of  you  :  receive  him  with  honour."  Foucauld, 
recognizing  France,  advanced  at  a  gallop  towards  her,  his 
white  robe  flying  in  the  wind.  He  stopped  his  horse  within 
three  yards  of  the  officer,  and  replied  to  M.  de  Susbielle's 
salute.  At  the  same  time,  the  fifteen  troopers,  faithful  to 
native  politeness,  dismounted  and  surrounded  the  mara- 
bout, "who  came  for  Iovq  of  them,"  and  several  together 
bowed  and  kissed  the  hem  of  his  gandourah. 

This  was  the  Sahara's  welcome. 

Brother  Charles  stopped  for  a  few  hours  at  Taghit.  On 
October  24,  before  remounting,  he  celebrated  Mass  before 
the  Frenchmen  of  the  garrison.  "  It  is  the  first  Mass  since 
the  occupation,"  he  said.  "  Probably  no  priest  has  ever 
been  here.  I  am  very  much  affected  at  bringing  down 
Jesus  into  these  places,  where,  in  all  probability.  He  has 
never  been  corporally." 

Four  days  later,  in  the  evening  of  a  hot  day,  the  travellers 
saw  the  first  palm-trees  of  Beni-Abbes. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
Beni-Abbes 

BENI  is  an  oasis  of  seven  to  eight  thousand  palm-trees. 
They  grow  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Saura  in  earth  and 
sand  in  which  are  numerous  fountains,  and  they  form  a 
long  thick  forest  close  up  against  a  cliff  which  rises  high 
above  it.  The  Saura  itself  is  no  other  than  the  Zusfana, 
coming  from  Figig,  which,  at  twenty-five  miles  to  the  north 
of  the  oasis,  mingles  with  a  more  abundant  river,  the  Wady 
Guir,  which  comes  down  from  the  plateaux  of  the  great 
Moroccan  Atlas.  After  the  manner  of  Saharan  rivers,  their 
mingled  waters  burrow  so  as  not  to  be  drunk  up  by  the  sun  ; 
they  cross  the  deserts  through  tunnels ;  they  only  come  to 
light  at  the  entrance  of  the  palm  plantation,  the  border  of 
which  they  follow — the  right  bank  being  almost  without 
verdure — for  over  a  mile,  then  disappear  again,  perhaps,  a 
long  way  off,  mysteriously  to  swell  the  course  of  the  Upper 
Niger. ^ 

Travellers  coming  from  Colomb-B^char  and  following 
the  wide  valley  have  a  long  ride  across  pebbles,  between 
the  dried-up  bed  of  the  Saura  and  the  dunes  which  bound 
the  desert  to  the  left.  When  they  have  got  beyond  the 
Mazzer  palm  grove,  with  their  feet  deep  in  the  sand  they 
have  to  cross  successive  spurs  of  dunes,  which  edge  the 
horizon  in  front  of  them.  It  is  only  from  the  top  of  the 
last  dune  that  they  suddenly  see  between  the  two  cliffs,  close 
to  them,  the  bending  river,  the  first  small  strips  of  water, 
the  first  waving  tops  of  a  large  green  palm  plantation,  a 
high  plateau  on  the  right,  a  high  plateau  on  the  left,  and 
on  the  crest  of  the  latter  the  white  crenellated  walls  of  the 
borj  of  the  Native  Office.  You  emerge  from  aridity  and 
enter  the  region  of  shade,  springs,  cultivation,  and  life. 
The  interval  between  the  cliffs  which  hold  the  oasis  in  their 
arms  is  narrow  at  first,  and  then  opens  out  like  the  bulge  of 
a  ewer ;  it  is  more  than  a  wooded  corridor — it  is  a  little  plain 
they  embrace,  divided  by  the  river,  without  trees  on  the 
right  bank,  covered  on  the  left  bank  with  palms  which 
shelter  apricot,   peach  and   fig  trees  and  Vines.      There, 

^  It  is  probable  that  the  Niger  formerly  had  no  connection  with 
the  sea.  This  immense  river  rose  and  was  lost  in  the  African  Continent. 
Its  waters  filled  the  depression  of  the  desert  in  which  the  Taudeni 
salt-mines  are  worked,  and  there  formed  a  second  Lake  Chad. 

150 


BENI-ABBES  151 

towards  the  centre  of  the  forest,  is  a  fortified  town  into 
which  one  enters  by  a  single  gate,  in  which  the  streets  are 
almost  everywhere  covered  in ;  a  village  peopled  by  free 
men,  who  consider  themselves  as  the  aborigines  of  the  place, 
the  Abbabsa.  Farther  on  towards  the  end  is  a  second  vil- 
lage with  very  high  walls  like  those  of  a  feudal  castle,  and 
it  is  inhabited  by  Arabs  of  the  Rehamna  tribe,  who  graze 
their  camels  and  asses  on  the  poor  pasture-lands  of  the 
region.  Negro  gardeners,  sowers,  and  barley-reapers 
lodge  on  the  borders  of  the  palm  grove,  along  a  ravine 
which  gives  access  to  the  borj  plateau.  And  the  native 
population,  divided  thus  into  three  groups,  numbers  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  souls. 

Brother  Charles  had  chosen  this  place  for  his  apostolate 
because  of  the  wretchedness  to  be  found  there,  which  no 
priest  had  been  able  to  relieve ;  also  on  account  of  the  near- 
ness of  his  much  loved  Morocco,  which  he  hoped  some  day 
to  enter  as  missionary  ;  he  knew  also  that  Beni-Abbes  passed 
for  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  South  Algerian  oases, 
the  most  beautiful  part  of  the  long  avenue  of  palms  which 
begins  at  Figig  and  ends  at  In-Salah.  At  the  time  of  his 
arrival,  there  was  not  the  great  redoubt  which  commands 
the  entry  of  the  palm  groves ;  a  smaller  one,  now  destroyed, 
was  a  little  farther  away  on  the  crest  of  the  cliff,  and  it 
sheltered  the  garrison.^  He  followed  the  track  made  by  the 
feet  of  men  and  beasts.  Hardly  had  he  climbed  the  steep 
slope,  bordered  by  huts,  which  leads  to  the  top  of  the 
plateau,  than  he  was  struck  with  admiration.  To  the  north 
and  east  Beni-Abbes  was  enveloped  to  some  distance  by 
the  rose-coloured  or  golden  sand-waves  of  the  western  Erg, 
the  great  mingled  dunes  sweeping  away,  several  of  which 
rose  from  500  to  more  than  600  feet,  whilst  to  the  west, 
beyond  the  cleft  of  the  ravine  and  palm  groves,  stretched 
the  second  plateau — a  rocky,  rigid  tableland,  without  a 
tree,  apparently  without  end.  The  traveller  found  himself 
at  a  junction  point  between  the  two  Saharan  deserts,  be- 
tween the  sandy  desert  that  covers  the  whole  of  the  south  of 
Oran,  and  the  rocky  Hamada,  which  goes  to  the  frontier  of 
Morocco.  Splendour  of  light,  poverty  of  soil,  purity  and 
silence  of  night,  how  often  will  Brother  Charles  make 
use  of  them  in  his  meditations,  and  unfold  the  eternal  mean- 
ing hidden  in  the  most  humble  or  most  magnificent  land- 
scape ! 

He  immediately  sought  a  place  in  which  to  fix  his  abode, 

^  The  first  troops  of  occupation  comprised  three  companies  of  African 
sharpshooters  and  a  company  of  light  infantry. 


152  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

and,  on  the  plateaux  of  the  left  bank,  not  on  the  edge  but 
over  200  yards  back,  bought  three  little  humps  which  he 
called  mountains,  and  two  untilled  hollows  which  he  called 
valleys,  where  several  wild  palms  grew.  Of  course  the 
price  was  excessive.  Brother  Charles  paid  1,170  francs  for 
these  22  or  24  acres  of  desert.  The  whole  was  shaped  like 
a  bent  pumpkin.  It  was  the  "  tillage  land  "  of  the  future 
"  Fraternity."  Fortunately  there  was  water,  or  at  least 
some  possibility  of  getting  it.  The  property  contained 
several  springs  and  old  wells.  The  wells  were  dug,  the 
springs  cleared.  Brother  Charles,  with  his  lively  imagina- 
tion and  his  mind  a  day,  month,  or  year  ahead  of  the  present 
moment,  was  delighted  with  this  new  residence,  and  was 
half  a  hermit  already  when  he  thought  of  living  there,  and 
he  fancied  that  the  fruit  and  vegetables  of  the  garden  would 
be  abundant,  that  he  would  be  able  to  give  some  away,  and 
that  famine  would  be  thus  avoided  in  years  of  great  drought, 
and  that  he  would  be  the  foster-father,  comforter  and  friend 
of  many  of  the  poor,  particularly  of  French  soldiers  and 
slaves. 

At  first  he  lodged  in  the  building  of  the  Arab  Office. 
In  the  morning  he  set  out,  with  some  willing  sharpshooters 
placed  at  his  disposal,  to  build  the  hermitage.  This  was 
never  anything  but  a  poor  collection  of  earth  huts,  without 
any  artistic  feature,  built  in  a  ravine,  and  quite  fragile  :  if 
they  very  nearly  kept  off  the  sun,  they  would  have  melted 
under  two  days'  rain.  Fortunately,  it  rains  barely  more 
than  once  a  year  in  the  Saura  district,  and  sometimes  it 
may  not  rain  at  all.  Stones  gleaned  on  the  plateau,  but 
chiefly  bricks  of  dried  clay,  were  used  for  building;  a  little 
earth  mixed  with  water  was  the  mortar ;  porous  planks  of 
palms  did  duty  for  beams ;  the  veins  of  large  leaves  and 
reeds  made  the  roofing. 

Naturally  the  chapel  held  a  place  of  favour,  and  was  built 
first.  Brother  Charles  describes  it  lovingly  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend  :  "The  roof  is  horizontal,  of  big  palm  beams  in  the 
rough,  covered  with  mats  of  palm  branches  :  it  is  very 
rustic,  very  poor,  but  harmonious  and  pretty.  To  carry  the 
beams,  there  are  four  upright  palm  stems  in  the  middle;  in 
their  rusticity  they  produce  a  very  good  effect  and  frame 
the  altar  very  well;  from  the  one  which  is  near  the  Gospel 
corner  is  hung  a  petroleum  lamp  which  lights  me  at  night, 
and  throws  a  great  deal  of  light  on  the  altar.  ...  A  tent- 
like canopy  of  heavy  dark  green  canvas,  absolutely  water- 
proof, is  hung  from  the  ceiling  to  protect  the  altar  and  its 
steps  from  the  rain." 


BENI-ABBES  I53 

An  officer  of  the  garrison  drew  four  large  figures  of 
Saints  for  the  chapel.  Still,  the  principal  decorator  was 
the  architect,  Brother  Charles.  He  painted  on  fabric — in 
the  most  modern  manner,  i.e.,  just  a  few  lines  of  the  finest 
accuracy,  which  he  so  often  exemplified  in  illustrating  La 
Reconnaissance  au  Maroc — a  picture  representing  Christ 
"stretching  out  His  arms  to  embrace,  to  press  closer  and 
to  call  all  men  to  Him,  and  to  give  Himself  for  all."  On 
the  Gospel  side  was  a  St.  Joseph,  from  the  Father's  "  fac- 
tory." On  the  walls  of  the  "  nave  "  hung  the  fourteen  pic- 
tures of  the  Stations  of  the  Cross,  drawn  in  black,  blue,  or 
red  ink,  not  on  canvas  or  paper,  but  on  the  boards  of  the 
boxes  which  Brother  Charles  had  cut  and  planed  a  little. 
He  never  ceased  adorning  this  Saharan  chapel,  of  which  he 
says:  "  It  suits  me  perfectly;  it  is  pious,  poor  and  clean, 
and  very  contemplative,"  On  the  Epistle  side,  in  a  niche, 
he  put  an  alarum — the  Fraternity  clock. 

There  he  was  to  spend  many  an  hour  of  the  day  and  night 
in  adoration  or  meditation  :  there  at  first  he  was  to  sleep, 
alone  in  this  isolated  hut.  He  lay  down  at  length,  and 
fully  dressed,  on  the  altar  steps.  He  slept  near  the  taber- 
nacle, like  a  dog  at  his  master's  feet.  Yet  he  thought  him- 
self unworthy  of  such  a  favour.  As  soon  as  the  first  build- 
ings, which  were  to  go  along  with  the  chapel,  were  begun, 
a  non-commissioned  officer  of  the  sharpshooters,  M.  J.,  who 
was  a  friend  of  his,  having  got  up  very  early  to  come  to 
the  hermitage,  found  the  Father  lying  down  under  the 
shelter  of  an  unfinished  wall. 

"  What,"  he  said  to  him,  "  have  you  given  up  sleeping  in 
the  chapel?" 

"Yes." 

"  You  told  me  yesterday  that  you  were  all  right  there  !" 

"  That  is  just  why  I  have  left  it." 

A  little  later.  Father  de  Foucauld  chose  the  chapel  sacristy 
to  sleep  in.  Now,  the  little  room  that  he  called  the  sacristy 
was  not  long  enough  for  a  man  to  lie  down  at  full  length 
on  the  sand  in  it.  The  same  adjutant  of  sharpshooters 
observed  this  to  the  Father,  who  replied,  "  Jesus  did  not  lie 
down  at  full  length  on  the  Cross." 

The  workmen  went  on  working.  Beyond  the  sacristy, 
they  erected  brick  and  dry  mud  huts,  which  were  named 
the  cells  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  these  little 
buildings,  being  perpendicular  to  the  apse  of  the  chapel, 
formed  a  right  angle  with  the  nave.  At  the  back  a  court- 
yard soon  extended,  called  the  "Retreat  Courtyard." 
Brother  Charles  built  a  few  more  huts,  "  the  non-Christian 


154  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

guest-room,"  an  infirmary  to  which  the  sick  of  Beni-Abbes 
and  neighbouring  tents  came  to  be  taken  care  of,  a  lumber- 
house,  and  the  walls  of  a  second  courtyard,  the  "  Almonry 
Yard,"  on  the  Epistle  side.  He  hoped  that  some  day,  per- 
haps soon,  an  unknown  priest,  called  by  the  same  vocation 
which  had  urged  the  former  cavalry  lieutenant  towards  the 
souls  of  the  poor  people  of  the  oasis,  would  come  and  join 
him  at  Beni-Abbes,  and  that  the  hermitage  would  number 
two  companions  while  waiting  for  something  better.  The 
workmen  and  troopers  were  much  younger  than  he,  and 
worked  deftly  and  willingly  for  one  as  poor  as  themselves. 
They  felt  he  was  better  than  they  were,  and  his  goodness 
secretly  touched  them.  He  never  left  them  when  his  Rule 
bound  him  to  manual  labour ;  even  at  noon  and  when  the 
heat  was  extreme,  he  was  seen  going  with  them  over  the 
waste  ground  around  the  hermitage,  and  stooping  down, 
picking  up  and  lifting  stones  which  might  do  for  the 
foundations,  and  generally  the  last  to  join  the  file  and  return 
to  the  workyard.  Sometimes  the  stone  he  was  carrying 
back  on  his  shoulder  was  not  very  big,  and  he  would  make 
excuses.  "My  dear  fellows,  "he  would  say,  laughing, 
"  I  know  very  well  that  I  am  the  fly  on  the  wheel,  but  I 
work  up  to  my  strength." 

Thoughtful  care  of  the  least  details  was  one  of  the  notes 
of  Brother  Charles's  mind.  Must  not  those  who  entered  the 
house  be  brought  to  God,  and  the  walls  tell  something  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  His  teaching?  While  he  was  finishing 
the  building  of  the  hermitage.  Brother  Charles  adorned  the 
completed  rooms  with  "texts"  appropriate  to  their  use. 
He  gave  the  thoughts  which  were  his  strength  and  joy  to 
himself  and  others  for  meditation. 

The  texts  in  the  sacristy  were:  "Follow  Me!"  "If 
any  man  will  come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take 
up  his  cross,  and  follow  Me!"  "Live  to-day  as  if  you 
were  to  die  a  martyr  to-night."  "Be  all  to  all,  with  the 
sole  desire  of  giving  Jesus  to  all." 

Those  in  St.  Paul's  Cell  :  "I  have  come  to  cast  fire  on 
the  earth."  "  I  have  come  to  save  those  who  were  lost." 
"  Whatever  ye  do  for  one  of  these  little  ones  ye  do  for  Me." 
"  Our  Father,  who  is  in  heaven,  willeth  not  that  one  of 
these  little  ones  should  perish."  "Go  ye  into  the  whole 
world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 

Those  in  St.  Peter's  Cell  :  "  Other  sheep  I  have  that  are 
not  of  this  fold;  them  also  I  must  bring  :  there  shall  be  one 
fold  and  one  shepherd."  "That  they  may  be  one,  as  we 
are  one." 


BENI-ABBES  155 

After  the  chapel  and  the  rooms,  an  enclosure  wall  was 
made  around  the  Almonry  Yard;  then  Brother  Charles 
thought  he  ought  to  bound  and  close  the  Fraternity  grounds, 
for  he  had  resolved  to  live  in  seclusion,  and  not  to  go  out 
of  bounds  without  very  grave  reason.  In  the  beginning  he 
was  satisfied  to  mark  the  boundaries  of  his  ground  with 
lines  of  pebbles  about  the  size  of  an  egg.  One  of  the  sol- 
diers who  had  most  to  do  with  him  just  then  told  me  that 
he  sometimes  returned  to  the  camp  after  sunset.  Studious 
to  win  souls  of  good-will,  and  more  polite  and  obliging  to 
the  humble  and  disregarded  than  to  the  great  and  powerful, 
Brother  Charles  used  to  accompany  him.  He  chatted 
amicably;  he  would  speak  of  God  and  the  beauty  of  the 
night.  Around  them  were  absolute  silence  and  the  desert, 
above  an  immense  sky  which  did  not  conceal  a  single  star. 
The  hot  air  rose  from  the  sand,  and  the  former  officer  and 
the  soldier  went  along  on  a  barely  visible  track,  each  thank- 
ing God  for  an  unexpected  friendship,  of  which  He  was  the 
origin  and  end.  And  that  would  last  some  minutes.  Then 
Brother  Charles  bent  down  and  felt  the  ground  with  his 
hand  to  see  whether  he  had  reached  the  boundary.  When 
he  touched  the  row  of  pebbles,  he  used  to  say  :  "  I  cannot 
bring  you  any  further,  here  is  the  enclosure;  good-bye;  we 
shall  soon  meet  again." 

Far,  far  away  from  their  families  and  country,  we  can 
tell  how  touched  the  soldiers  were  by  a  friendship  such  as 
this  !  Their  sensitive  French  hearts  with  an  old-time  polite- 
ness which  survives  many  counter-influences,  made  them 
fear  to  take  any  advantage  of  it.  Can  one  go  and  talk  thus, 
almost  as  a  friend,  with  a  former  officer,  with  a  monk  who 
after  all  has  his  business,  and,  as  they  clearly  felt,  with  a 
highly  educated  man  whom  a  sharpshooter's  conversation 
could  not  always  interest  ?  They  made  excuses  for  not 
returning.;  they  deprived  themselves  of  a  pleasant  hour,  in 
order  not  to  take  it  from  him.  Then  he  wrote  them  letters 
like  this  ; 

"  Dear  Friend, 

"  You  told  me  that  you  are  depressed  at  night  and 
that  your  evenings  are  dull.  .  .  .  Will  you — if  you  are 
allowed  to  leave  the  camp,  which  I  do  not  know — come  and 
spend  the  evenings  regularly  with  me?  We  shall  make 
them  as  long  as  you  like,  chatting  fraternally  of  the  future, 
of  your  children  and  your  plans  ...  of  what  you  and  those 
you  love  more  than  yourself  want  and  hope  for.  .  .  .  You 
will  find  a  brother's  heart,  if  nothing  else. 


156  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  You  would  have  liked  a  short  account  of  St.  Paul.  .  .  . 
I  should  have  liked  to  send  you  it,  but  I  cannot,  I  have 
other  urgent  things  to  write  at  this  moment.  ...  I  could 
tell  you  about  it  by  mixing  my  poor  words  with  passages 
from  his  letters.     I  have  them  and  they  are  wonderful.   .   .   . 

"  The  poor  man  offers  you  what  he  has.  What  he  offers 
you,  above  all,  is  his  very  tender  and  brotherly  affection,  his 
profound  devotion  in  the  Heart  of  Jesus. 

"  Brother  Charles  of  Jesus." 

The  natives,  who  were  inquisitive,  insinuating,  tormented 
with  hunger  and  thirst,  and  therefore  ready  pilferers, 
showed  a  kind  of  respect  for  Brother  Charles's  enclosure 
almost  from  the  outset.  Not  that  they  stood  upon  cere- 
mony as  to  entering  the  grounds  and  coming  to  visit  the 
"marabout,"  but  the  reputation  of  holiness  of  the  latter 
rendered  sacred  to  them  the  things  they  found  on  the  way 
and  in  the  interior  of  the  enclosure.  The  nomad  unloaded 
his  camel  on  the  other  side  of  the  pebble  boundary  ;  the  poor 
Arab  woman,  returning  with  her  daily  load  of  wood,  threw 
her  faggot  down  there ;  the  butcher  put  down  his  bundle  of 
blood-stained  kid-skins;  and,  even  if  he  had  to  be  several 
hours  or  a  whole  night  away,  the  caravaneer  found  his 
goods  untouched,  the  woman  her  load  of  palm  roots,  the 
butcher  his  bale  of  fresh  leather.  Afterwards,  the  row  of 
pebbles  was  replaced  by  a  row  of  stakes,  more  or  less 
twisted,  on  which  were  fixed  two  lines  of  barbed  wire. 
Seven  stout  posts,  with  two  sticks  across  on  top  of  each, 
were  set  at  intervals  as  props  for  the  slight  enclosure  and 
as  standards  for  the  man  of  God. 

The  farming  made  very  slow  progress.  It  is  no  slight 
undertaking  to  hollow  out  a  piece  of  desert  which  has 
perhaps  never  been  dug ;  to  secure  w^ater — that  is  to  say, 
life — for  the  trees  one  plants  and  the  seed  one  sows,  when 
the  temperature,  as  at  Beni-Abbes,  is  always  86°  from 
October  to  June,  and  afterwards  rises  to  122°!  Brother 
Charles,  as  I  said,  began  by  deepening  the  abandoned 
wells  of  his  property ;  he  hollowed  out  irrigating  canals  to 
bring  the  water  of  the  springs  to  the  feet  of  the  palm-trees 
which  grew  at  hazard  and  were  half  covered  with  sand  by 
the  south  wind.  The  work  was  of  a  kind  that  the  poor 
gardener  of  Nazareth  could  not  continue  without  help,  for 
the  most  energetic  will  does  not  suffice — men  learn  it  quickly 
— to  be  everything  to  all  men  and  to  all  things.  After  a  few 
trials.  Father  de  Foucauld  engaged  two  harratins^  who  were 

^  Arabs  and  negro  half-breeds  found  in  all  the  oases,  whose  social 
position  is  intermediate  between  that  of  the  slave  and  the  free  m.m. 


BENI-ABBES  157 

not  lacking  at  Beni-Abbes,  and  he  called  them  gardeners 
for  the  work  he  required  them  to  do.  Perhaps,  after  all, 
they  knew  better  than  the  master  of  the  property  what  care 
to  give  the  palm-trees  and  the  infinite  precautions  which 
must  be  taken  in  hot  countries  to  keep  the  vegetable  seed- 
plot  from  being  at  once  burned  up  by  the  sun,  after  putting 
forth  its  first  leaves.  With  but  little  supervision  these 
blacks  had  to  do  with  so  good  a  master  that  they  remained 
faithful  to  him  a  long  time.  He  only  found  that  they  lost 
many  hours  daily  in  going  from  the  hermitage  to  the  oasis 
ksar  and  back.  He  would  have  liked  to  keep  them  and  feed 
them  at  the  hermitage.  The  blacks  wanted  nothing  better. 
They  were  surely  not  used  to  dainty  cooking,  nor  even  to 
eat  according  to  their  hunger.  But  when  they  had  shared 
in  Father  de  Foucauld's  fare  several  days  following,  they 
declared  they  might  die  but  not  live  on  that  diet,  for  the 
marabout  lunched  on  a  piece  of  barley  broad  soaked  in  a 
decoction  of  a  Saharan  plant  which  bears  the  innocent  name 
of  '*  desert  tea,"  and  in  the  evening  he  dined  on  a  bowl  of 
the  same  tea  to  which  he  added  a  little  condensed  milk.  The 
harratins  went  on  as  outside  gardeners.  By  degrees  their 
labour  improved  the  land,  and  made  a  sensible  distribution 
of  the  water.  In  the  sand  there  were  some  young  palm- 
trees,  the  promise  of  a  few  fig-trees,  and  even  olive-trees 
and  vines.  Some  years  later,  the  name  of  "garden,"  at 
first  given  to  these  attempts  at  cultivation,  began  to  be 
deserved.  But  just  then  the  hermit  quitted  Beni-Abbes, 
and  returned  there  on  rare  occasions  only. 

Sometimes  Brother  Charles  accepted  the  invitations  which 
the  officers,  his  comrades,  frequently  sent  him,  and  came 
out  of  the  enclosure  to  go  and  dine  with  them  at  the  borj. 
He  seldom  did  so  except  to  salute  in  passing  a  Saharan 
chief,  like  Laperrine  or  Lyautey,  or  a  scholar  sent  on  a 
mission  into  this  desolate  country,  but  which  leads  to  all 
others,  and  where,  as  at  an  enormous  cross-road,  all  the 
riches  of  Africa  may  one  day  meet.  On  those  evenings  he 
did  not  take  a  place  of  honour,  but  the  lowest  one,  beside 
the  youngest  officer.  They  tried  to  get  him  to  talk,  and 
did  not  fail  to  question  him  about  Morocco,  which  was  quite 
near,  and  which  he  alone  knew  well.  But  the  fear  of  pride 
made  him  dumb  on  that  subject.  To  all  other  questions  he 
replied,  but  without  carrying  on  the  conversation.  His 
vocation  was  silence,  self-effacement  and  retirement.  He 
only  agreed  to  appear  in  a  circle  of  men  of  the  world  so  as 
not  to  seem  wanting  in  courtesy,  or,  somehow,  in  the  dis- 
cipline of  his  former  profession.      The  story  of  military 


158  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

doings  interested  him  in  the  highest  degree.  Brother 
Charles  kept  watch  over  himself  less  narrowly,  if  he  was 
asked  his  opinion  on  a  police  operation  which  had  just  been 
executed,  or  that  was  contemplated.  If  the  news  came,  for 
instance,  of  some  movement  of  pillagers  carrying  off  flocks 
and  women,  assassinating  and  mutilating  men,  at  once 
reappeared  the  ardent  chief,  the  lover  of  justice  seen  in  the 
pursuit  of  Bu-Amama.  "You  must  catch  them  up,"  he 
said,  "and  set  about  it  vigorously."  Next  moment,  he 
saw  a  mouse  caught  by  a  dog  in  the  dining-room  :  "  Poor 
little  thing,  what  a  pity!"  he  murmured.  He  withdrew 
early;  he  lit  his  lantern,  and  reached  the  hermitage,  going 
through  the  dark  by  himself. 

I  should  not  Be  a  faithful  historian,  did  I  not  also  say 
that,  as  soon  as  the  chapel  was  built.  Brother  Charles  dug 
his  own  grave  in  a  corner  of  the  garden,  and  blessed  it  for 
his  own  burial.  He  did  the  same  afterwards  in  the  various 
parts  of  the  Sahara  in  which  he  stayed  a  little  while. 

Such  were  the  frame  and  outward  trappings  of  this  un- 
precedented life,  ordered  by  a  powerful  will.  The  rest  was 
almost  entirely  hidden  from  men.  Had  they  tried,  they 
could  hardly  have  found  out  the  division  of  the  hours 
between  charitable  duties,  manual  labour,  reading,  and 
the  duties  of  prayer  :  the  Rule  to  which  Father  de  Foucauld 
had  bound  himself.  They  would  miss  the  soul.  Every 
soul  is  more  or  less  of  a  secret  to  others.  The  mystery  is 
greater  when  souls  are  great,  when  they  turn  aside  from  our 
pleasures  and  work,  and  from  our  ordinary  thoughts  which 
are  hardly  anything  but  ourselves;  and  when  they  give 
themselves  to  God  for  Him  to  set  at  the  service  of  His  poor. 
Then  we  see  only  what  they  bring  us,  their  goodness,  their 
fraternal  works,  the  faint  reflection  of  themselves  on  their 
faces  and  in  their  eyes.  But  with  what  efforts  they  keep 
themselves  apart  from  the  common  life,  in  the  constant 
presence  of  Him  whose  smile  and  peace  are  lost  by  a  single 
little  thought ;  what  graces  they  have  had,  what  combats, 
what  delights,  what  dreams  :  all  that,  we  know  not. 

His  rule  of  life  was  unchanged  from  this  period  to  the 
end.  Brother  Charles  has  himself  set  it  forth  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  Prefect  Apostolic  of  the  Sahara.^ 

"...  Get  up  at  four  (when  I  hear  the  alarum,  which  is 

*  This  letter  of  September  30,  1902,  reproduces  the  Rule  almost  as 
it  may  be  read  in  a  former  letter  to  a  friend  (December  13,  1901).  The 
sole  difference  to  be  noted  is  that  the  hour  of  gettin,^  up,  originally 
fixed  at  three,  is  altered  by  an  hour  in  1902.  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  this  was  a  concession  asked  for  by  Ptbre  (nierin. 


BENI-ABBES  159 

not  always  !).     Angelus,   Veni  Creator,  Prime  and  Terce, 
Mass,  Thanksgiving. 

"At  six,  a  few  dates  or  figs  and  the  discipHne;  im- 
mediately afterwards,  an  hour's  adoration  of  the  Most 
Blessed  Sacrament.  Then  manual  labour  (or  its  equivalent : 
correspondence,  copies  of  various  things,  extracts  of  authors 
to  be  kept,  readings  aloud,  or  explanation  of  the  Catechism 
to  anyone),  until  eleven.  At  eleven  Sext  and  None,  short 
mental  prayer,  particular  examen  until  half-past  eleven. 

"  At  half-past  eleven  dinner. 

"  Midday,  Angelus,  and  Veni  Creator  (this  latter  is  sung. 
You  will  laugh  when  you  hear  me  singing  !  Uninten- 
tionally, I  have  certainly  invented  a  new  air.) 

"The  afternoon  is  given  entirely  to  God,  to  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  except  an  hour  devoted  to  necessary  conversa- 
tion, to  various  replies,  to  cooking,  the  sacristy,  etc.,  neces- 
sary housework,  and  to  alms ;  this  hour  is  divided  up 
throughout  the  whole  day. 

"From  noon  to  half-past  twelve,  adoration;  from  half- 
past  twelve  to  half-past  one.  Stations  of  the  Cross,  some 
vocal  prayers,  the  reading  of  a  chapter  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  a  chapter  of  the  Imitation  and  a  few  pages  of 
a  spiritual  author  (St.  Teresa,  St.  John  Chrysostom,  St. 
John  of  the  Cross,  perpetually  follow  one  another). 

' '  From  one  to  two,  written  meditation  on  the  Holy  Gospel . 

"  From  two  to  half-past  two,  moral  or  dogmatic  theology. 

"  From  half-past  two  to  half-past  three,  reserved  for  the 
catechumens. 

"  From  half-past  three  to  half-past  five,  adoration;  after 
Mass  and  the  night,  this  is  the  best  moment  of  the  day; 
work  is  over,  I  say  to  myself,  I  have  only  to  look  to  Jesus 
.  .   .  this  is  an  hour  full  of  sweetness. 

"At  half-past  five.  Vespers. 

"  At  six,  collation.   .   .   . 

"At  seven,  explanation  of  the  Holy  Gospel  to  some 
soldiers,  prayer  and  benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
with  the  holy  ciborium,  followed  by  the  Angelus,  Veni 
Creator.  Then  the  soldiers  leave  after  a  short  conversation 
in  the  open  air.  I  say  the  rosary  (and  I  say  Compline,  if  I 
have  not  been  able  to  say  it  before  the  short  explanation  of 
the  Holy  Gospel),  and  I  go  to  sleep  in  my  turn  about  half- 
past  eight. 

"  At  midnight  I  get  up  (when  I  hear  the  alarum),  and 
sing  the  Veni  Creator,  recite  Matins  and  Lauds  :  this  is 
also  a  very  sweet  moment  :  alone  with  the  Spouse,  in  the 
profound  silence  of  the  Sahara,  under  the  vast  sky,  this 


i6o  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

hour  of  tete-a-tete  is  a  supreme  comfort.     I  go  back  to  bed 
at  one. 

Thus  he  had  six  hours'  sleep,  divided  by  an  hour's 
vigil,  and  prayer  held  the  first  place.  The  work  of  charity 
alone  upset  the  Rule.  This  was  a  most  acute  trial  for 
Brother  Charles,  whose  contemplative  soul  thirsted  for 
meditation.  He  accepted  it,  however.  He  was  one  who 
gave  a  fraternal  welcome  to  the  poorest  and  most  unknown 
and  undeserving  of  neighbours,  who  never  let  it  be  sus- 
pected that  he  was  put  out,  and  was  willing  to  waste  his 
time  for  talking  with  God  upon  unreliable  nomads,  cor- 
rupt slaves,  beggars  and  bores.  Every  minute  somebody 
would  come  and  open  the  door,  and  Brother  Charles  ap- 
peared with  his  beautiful  eyes  full  of  serenity,  his  head 
bent  forward  a  little,  and  his  hand  already  held  out.  He 
wore  a  white  gandourah,  fastened  with  a  girdle  on  which 
there  was  worked  a  heart  surmounted  by  a  cross  in  red 
cloth  ;  he  had  sandals  on  his  feet.  As  to  the  headgear,  it 
was  his  own  invention — it  was  made  of  a  cap  which  he 
had  stripped  of  its  peak  and  covered  with  a  white  pugaree 
to  shield  the  back  of  his  neck.  The  picture  of  the  Cross 
and  the  Sacred  Heart  told  from  a  distance  what  this  white 
man's  Faith  was.  Nobody  could  fail  to  see  it.  That  is 
why,  on  some  desert  post,  many  years  after  the  time  of 
Beni-Abb6s,  when  General  Laperrine  read  an  article  repre- 
senting Charles  de  Foucauld  as  a  priest  who  never  spoke 
of  his  beliefs  or  did  much  preaching  of  the  Faith,  he  seized 
his  pen  and  angrily  scribbled  in  his  notebook  :  "  What  of 
his  conversations?  and  his  dress?"  He  wrote  the  truth  : 
his  habit  was  a  sermon  and,  besides,  Brother  Charles's 
whole  life  proclaimed  the  Gospel.  The  natives  were  never 
mistaken  about  it. 

We  can  now  follow  the  events  which  marked  his  stay  at 
Beni-Abbes,  and,  in  order  to  do  so,  we  shall  only  have  to 
consult  that  most  accurate  and  assiduous  taker  of  notes, 
Father  de  Foucauld  himself,  who  studiously  entered  in 
what  he  called  his  "diary"  the  little  happenings  of  the 
day,  his  accounts,  and  even  the  names  of  his  visitors. 

''October  29,  1901. — Celebrated  Mass  for  the  first  time 
at  Beni-Abbes.     Ex  voto  to  Our  Lady  of  Africa. 

''November  5.  —  Erection  of  the  first  Stations  of  the 
Cross." 

"November  30. — Formal  opening  of  the  Chapel  of  the 
Fraternity  of  the  Sacred  Heart." 


BENI-ABBES  i6i 

"December  25. — First  exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment for  over  ten  hours." 

This  man  had  given  himself  up  to  being  forsaken  so  that 
in  the  far-off  Sahara  Jesus  Christ  at  any  rate  might  not 
be  forsaken.  The  religious  ceremonies  of  the  first  Christ- 
mas at  Beni-Abbes  therefore  delighted  him,  and  he  wrote 
of  them  to  his  friends  in  France  : 

"  We  have  had  the  Blessed  Sacrament  exposed  from 
midnight  to  7  o'clock  in  the  evening.  We  shall  have  it  on 
New  Year's  Day  from  7  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  7  in 
the  evening.  I  was  far  from  hoping  there  would  be  enough 
adorers  for  it  to  be  possible.     Jesus  provided  them. 

"The  good-will,  the  unhoped-for  piety  of  the  poor  sol- 
diers round  me  enable  me  to  give  a  reading  and  explana- 
tion of  the  Holy  Gospel  every  evening  (I  cannot  get  over 
my  surprise  at  their  willingness  to  come  and  listen  to  me); 
Benediction  is  followed  by  a  very  short  evening  prayer.  .  .  . 
This  Benediction  and  Holy  Mass  are  both  a  consolation 
and  an  infinite  joy." 

About  twenty  years  ago  a  handful  of  Algerian  sharp- 
shooters who  formerly  had  been  taught  the  Catechism  and 
had  not  forgotten  it,  assisted  at  the  first  Catholic  offices 
celebrated  in  the  earthen  chapel  of  Beni-Abbes.  They  still 
speak  of  it  readily.  One  of  them  who  I  met  in  Paris  said 
to  me  : 

"  I  was  one  of  the  faithful  of  Father  de  Foucauld.  He 
used  to  say  Mass  when  it  suited  us.  If  you  asked  him 
to  say  it  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  or  at  noon  he  would 
always  say  yes.  And  what  a  Mass  !  If  you  were  never  at 
his  Mass  you  don't  know  what  Mass  is.  When  he  said  the 
Domine  non  sum  dignus  it  was  in  such  a  tone  that  you 
wanted  to  weep  with  him." 

"January  9,  1902. — First  slave  ransomed;  Joseph  of  the 
Sacred  Heart.  .  .  .  This  afternoon  there  was  very  little 
hope  of  freeing  this  child;  his  master  refused  to  sell  him 
at  any  price ;  but  yesterday,  Wednesday,  the  d&y  of  good 
St.  Joseph,  I  had  changed  the  name  of  the  child  to  that 
of  Joseph  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  promised  St.  Joseph  to 
erect  an  altar  to  him  in  the  bay  on  the  Gospel  side,  and 
one  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  the  one  on  the  Epistle  side, 
if  he  obtained  the  liberation  of  the  child  for  me.  To  this 
good  Father  everything  is  easy  :  at  5  in  the  evening,  the 
master  came  to  claim  the  child  for  the  last  time,  and  in  two 


i62  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

minutes  accepted  the  price  I  offered  him.  I  paid  it  on  the 
spot,  and  you  would  have  been  deHghted  at  the  joy  of  poor 
'  Joseph  of  the  Sacred  Heart '  reiterating  that  '  God  was 
his  only  master.'  .  .  .  He  is  a  Musulman,  but  more  in 
name  than  in  fact.  I  hope  that,  naturally  and  of  himself 
(I  shall  avoid  anything  like  pressure — he  will  be  quite  free) 
he  will  go  to  Jesus  and  to  the  Heart  which  willed  him  to  be 
free." 

This  young  man  of  twenty,  very  much  touched  by  Father 
de  Foucauld's  charity  and  seeing  his  life,  soon  felt  that  re- 
ligion was  the  principle  of  such  great  perfection,  and  asked 
of  his  own  accord  to  be  instructed  in  the  Catholic  Faith. 
He  began  at  the  hermitage;  then,  at  the  end  of  a  month, 
finding  an  opportunity  of  getting  out  of  the  country  and 
escaping  from  the  influence  of  the  society  in  which  he 
lived,  he  went  to  Algiers,  where  the  White  Fathers  looked 
after  him.  "He  already  looked  upon  himself  as  a  Chris- 
tian," the  hermit  wrote.  It  was  a  fine  work  of  piety, 
mixed  with  some  imprudence,  for  slaves  were  numerous 
around  Brother  Charles.  Many  must  have  begged  him  to 
set  them  free  like  Joseph.  "  It  breaks  my  heart  to  have  to 
leave  them  with  their  masters,"  he  said.  And  he  gave  way 
more  than  once,  as  often  as  he  had  the  means.  After 
Joseph  he  redeemed  a  youth  of  fifteen  whom  he  called  Paul, 
and  whom  we  shall  meet  with  again  later  on.^ 

No  doubt  he  must  also  have  ransomed  the  little  negro 
aged  four,  who  is  seen  in  several  photographs  seated  on 
the  Father's  knees,  or  standing  beside  him  and  gambolling. 
Anyhow,  we  know  that  he  freed  other  captives. 

To  buy  back  Saharan  slaves,  to  feed  the  hungry,  Father 
Charles  would  not  have  liked  to  ruin  his  friends;  but  he 
shrank  less  from  troubling  them  a  little.  He  collected 
small  sums,  but  often.  His  family  got  used  to  it  and 
lovingly  let  him  do  as  he  pleased ;  the  White  Fathers  from 
time  to  time  silently  settled  any  arrears  of  heroic  charity; 
the  officers  of  the  Beni-Abbes  club,  moved  to  pity  for  the 
slave,  took  their  share  of  the  purchase  money ;  the  safe  of 
the  Arab  Office  remained  closed,  decidedly  distrustful. 
The  liberator  quite  understood  that  wanting  to  ransom 
slaves  ruined  his  credit;  that  political  economy  put  him  in 
the  wrong,  and  that,  perhaps,  strict  reason  was  on  the  same 
side.     He  then  examined  his  conscience. 

"I  could  get  a  small  sum,"  he  wrote,  "by  taking 
stipends  for  Masses.      The  good  Father  Abbot  of  Notre- 

*  Paul  entered  the  Fraternity  about  October  15,  1902.  Fourteen 
years  later  he  was  the  chief  witness  of  Father  Foucauld's  death. 


BENUABBES  163 

Dame-des-Neiges  has  offered  me  some,  and  if  I  have  no 
means  of  hving  and  paying  my  debts,  I  shall  make  use  of 
it;  but  as  long  as  a  glimmer  of  hope  of  my  being  able  to 
do  without  it  exists,  I  shall  do  so  because  I  believe  that 
much  more  perfect :  I  live  on  bread  and  water,  which  costs 
me  seven  francs  a  month.  ...  As  for  clothes,  Staueli 
gave  me  a  coat  and  two  shirts  with  twelve  napkins,  a  rug, 
and  a  cloak ;  these  are  a  gift  of  good  Father  Henry,  or 
rather  a  loan,  because  he  has  only  lent  me  therri,  so  that 
I  may  not  give  them  away ;  a  very  nice  officer  here,  Captain 

d'U- offered  me  so  graciously  a  rug  and  two  small 

knitted  vests  that  I  could  not  refuse ;  you  see  I  am  well  set 
up.  .  .  .  For  myself  I  want  nothing.  To  help  me  to  get 
the  slaves,  travellers,  and  the  poor  together  to  tell  them  of 
Jesus  and  induce  them  to  love  Him,  I  want  a  small  sum  to 

buy  barley  ;  \  asked  C for  thirty  francs  a  month,  for  the 

slaves'    barley,    and    M for    twenty    for    that    of    the 

travellers.  ...  I  confess  I  must  also  pay  for  the  ground 
I  bought,  and  go  to  some  expense  in  planting  some  dates 
which,  in  three  years  will  provide  food  for  me  and  the  poor, 
please  God.  My  only  capital  on  leaving  France  was  what 
it  still  is,  the  word  of  Jesus  :  '  Seek  ye  therefore  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  His  justice,  and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you.'  I  was  quite  at  ease  here  up  to  the  last 
few  days ;  the  purchase  and  freeing  of  Joseph  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  made  me  get  to  the  bottom  of  my  little  purse,  but  our 
heavenly  Father's  is  still  full." 

Again  he  wrote  :  "  I  wish  to  accustom  all  the  inhabitants, 
Christians,  Musulmans,  Jews  and  idolaters,  to  look  upon 
me  as  their  brother,  the  universal  brother.  .  .  .  They 
begin  to  call  the  house  the  Fraternity  (the  Khaua,  in 
Arabic),  and  I  am  delighted." 

This  beautiful  word  suits  our  missionary  and  might 
describe  him  :  he  was  truly  the  universal  brother,  not  in 
words,  but  in  deeds;  he  did  not  scatter  political  formulae, 
or  promises  which  only  add  to  the  weight  of  wretchedness, 
but  he  forgot  himself  for  the  sake  of  his  nearest  neigh- 
bours, he  spent  beyond  his  means  to  feed  them  and  to 
ransom  them  if  ransomed  they  could  be.  His  way  was  the 
silent  way.  Before  living  four  months  in  Beni-Abb^s,  he 
had  already  reckoned  up  all  the  material  and  moral 
wretchedness  there  which  found  no  alleviation.  In  his 
long  meditations  before  the  altar,  or  while  carrying  his 
stone  along  with  the  hermitage  masons,  he  forthwith 
planned  out  a  better  Beni-Abbes,  but  in  his  plan  his  own 
share  of  the  ^ork  and  self-sacrifice  were  to  be  the  greatest. 


i64  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Always  building  the  ideal  he  asked  himself  :  "  What  good 
can  others,  better  than  I,  do  for  these  people,  and  what 
above  all  can  I  do,  who  am  but  a  wretched  good-for- 
nothing?"  In  a  letter  addressed  to  a  friend  in  France, 
thus  does  he  distribute  the  roles.  He  confessed  to  this 
friend  his  great  desire  to  obtain  some  Sisters  of  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul  for  the  oasis  of  Beni-Abbes.  "  I  am  heartbroken 
when  I  see  the  children  of  the  town  idling  at  haphazard 
with  nothing  to  do,  without  teachers  or  religious  education. 
A  place  of  sanctuary  would  do  so  much  good  !  It  is  just 
what  we  want  for  spreading  the  Gospel.  .  .  .  With  God's 
help  a  few  good  sisters  of  Charity  would  soon  give  all  this 
country  to  Jesus."  Then,  putting  all  his  thoughts  on  this 
subject  together,  he  draws  up  a  regular  memorandum  and 
sends  it  to  Pere  Gu^rin,  Prefect  Apostolic  of  the  Sahara. 
In  it  we  see  his  great  heart,  and  the  minutiae  which  never 
leave  him,  even  in  his  dreams.  He  goes  beyond  the 
present,  beyond  the  good  immediately  possible,  and  the 
complaint  of  this  Christian  thrown  among  so  many  infidels 
gains  a  thrilling  greatness  from  the  slenderness  of  the 
means  at  his  disposal  and  the  breadth  of  the  imagined  con- 
quest. From  Beni-Abbes  in  the  Sahara,  he  sends  to  his 
spiritual  head  his  report  for  getting  the  world  forward.  I 
am  obliged  to  condense  these  pages  of  boundless  charity. 

The  first  charity  to  undertake,  according  to  the  hermit, 
would  be  "slave  relief  work."  They  are  miserable  in 
every  way,  treated  in  the  hardest  possible  manner  by  the 
Arabs  and  especially  by  the  marabouts ;  they  have  every 
vice  and  neither  hope  nor  friends.  But  they  would  soon 
consider  the  Christians  who  did  them  good  as  saviours,  and 
perhaps  they  would  be  the  first  Saharans  to  become  Chris- 
tians, as  the  first  Christians  of  Rome  were  largely  made  of 
slaves.  The  second  charity  would  be  meant  to  give  a 
shelter  and  a  meal  to  poor  travellers,  who  sleep  in  the  open 
when  it  is  so  cold  at  night.  Also  Christian  teaching  for 
the  children  must  be  thought  of.  There  is  no  school  in  the 
whole  oasis  except  a  Musulman  one.  A  crowd  of  children 
run  about  all  day  long,  idle  vagabonds  and  quickly  per- 
verted ;  it  would  at  least  be  necessary  to  have  a  shelter 
where  they  could  learn  reading,  writing,  French,  sacred 
history,  and  the  Catechism,  where  they  would  be  given  a 
few  dates  in  the  morning  and  a  little  cooked  barley  at  noon. 
This  would  cost  at  most  "  two  sous  a  day."  No  doubt 
there  would  be  few  Arab  children  in  this  Christian  school, 
but  the  little  Berbers,  children  of  a  mild  race  and  quite 
ready  to  take  to  the  Latin  they  once  knew,  would  all  come 


BENI-ABBES  165 

to  it.  The  Berbers  are  neither  fanatics  nor  scornful.  One 
may  expect  in  the  future  that  "  when  the  Berbers  are  settled 
in  the  Faith,  that  will  prepare  and  induce  the  Arabs  to 
embrace  it." 

The  memoir  continued  to  enumerate  the  necessary 
charitable  organizations  :  a  civil  hospital,  a  military  hos- 
pital, visiting  the  sick  in  their  homes,  the  distribution  of 
remedies  and  alms  at  the  Fraternity  door,  zeal  for  the  souls 
of  the  soldiers,  officers,  Musulmans  of  all  sorts,  Jews,  "of 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  of  the  prefecture,  of  the 
world  and  purgatory."  There  are  fifteen  paragraphs  out- 
lining fifteen  projects. 

Having  thus  described  the  work  to  be  organized,  Brother 
Charles  sets  forth  for  Mgr.  Gu6rin  the  work  he  had  done  : 

"...  I  am  alone  for  this  immense  task.  .   .   . 

"  For  the  slaves,  I  have  a  little  room  in  which  I  gather 
them  and  where  they  always  find  a  lodging,  a  reception, 
daily  bread  and  friendship ;  by  degrees  I  teach  them  to  pray 
to  Jesus.  Since  January  15,  the  day  on  which  their  little 
room  was  finished,  1  have  had  some  every  night  at  the 
Fraternity.     Sometimes  I  see  twenty  slaves  a  day. 

"  The  poor  travellers  also  find  a  humble  shelter  and  a 
poor  meal  at  the  Fraternity,  with  a  good  reception  and  a 
few  words  to  bring  them  to  goodness  and  to  Jesus;  but  the 
place  is  so  small,  the  virtue  of  the  monk  and  his  skill  are 
still  less ;  more  virtue,  intelligence  and  means,  would  allow 
of  much  more  good  being  done.  .  .  .  Sometimes  I  see 
thirty  or  forty  travellers  a  day. 

"  The  infirm  and  aged  here  find  a  shelter  with  a 
roof,  food  and  attention  when  forsaken  .  .  .  but  what 
inadequate  care  and  what  poor  food  !  .  .  .  And  for  want 
of  separate  places,  I  can  only  take  in  those  who  get  on  with 
the  others,  and  women  not  at  all ;  yet  the  women,  even 
more  than  the  men,  need  a  home  for  old  people. 

"For  the  Christian  teaching  of  the  children  I  do  abso- 
lutely nothing;  it  seems  to  me  that  I  can  do  nothing.  I 
sometimes  see  as  many  as  sixty  children  in  a  single  day  at 
the  Fraternity,  and  with  a  heart  full  of  sorrow  have  to 
send  them  away  without  doing  anything  for  them."  And 
the  list  of  replies  continues;  the  military  hospital,  the  civil 
hospital  for  the  natives,  visiting  the  sick  at  their  homes, 
"  are  beyond  my  power  and  vocation;  nuns  are  required." 
So  it  is  with  the  visits  to  the  homes  of  the  poor.  Doubtless 
he  daily  distributes  remedies  to  ten  or  fifteen  people,  but 
he  is  very  cautious,  having  little  confidence  in  his  talents. 
There  is  a  doctor  at  the  Arab  Office,   he  is  very  good, 


i66  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

but  women  and  children  cannot  go  to  him — they  come  to 
the  Fraternity,  and  the  men  themselves  prefer  applying  to 
the  marabout.  What  is  to  be  done?  Nuns  would  do  all 
the  good  that  he  can  only  look  on  at,  estimate  and  plan. 
At  the  hermitage  gate,  in  a  single  day,  taken  at  hazard, 
he  has  counted  seventy-five  poor  people.  He  begins  to 
know  his  people;  but  how  much  help  was  wanted  !  What 
need  there  was  of  intelligent  almoners  for  such  great 
poverty  and  so  many  outstretched  hands  ! 

"  If  I  do  not  ask  you  to  send  any  White  Sisters  out  here, 
it  is  because  I  know  that  you  will  settle  them  wherever  you 
can,  and  never  have  enough  to  put  wherever  they  are 
required.   .   .   . 

"  I  am  still  alone  :  I  am  not  faithful  enough  for  Jesus  to 
give  me  a  companion,  still  less  ...  I  follow  to  the  best 
of  my  abilities  the  little  Rule  you  know.   .   .   ." 

This  report,  like  all  the  correspondence  of  Father  de 
Foucauld,  shows  the  extreme  humility  of  the  man  to  whom 
were  wanting  neither  pretexts  nor  opportunities  for  seem- 
ing proud.  Race,  fortune,  superior  intelligence,  relations, 
the  gift  of  sympathy  were  his,  and  he  could  have  chosen  a 
brittle  branch  on  which  to  perch  and  sing  his  own  praises. 
The  very  sacrifice  he  had  made  in  leaving  the  world  might 
have  done  for  self-adoration,  which  can  entrench  itself 
among  the  ruins,  provided  they  rise  high  enough.  Instead 
of  that,  he  showed  a  most  respectful  tone,  promptness  in 
obedience,  a  liking  for  checking  inclination  almost  to  the 
point  of  indifference,  a  great  esteem  for  others,  a  great  con- 
tempt of  himself,  and  a  great  astonishment  at  being  em- 
ployed in  a  work  that  demands  saints  for  workmen.  Bro- 
ther Charles  never  ceased  blaming  himself  for  the  slow 
progress  of  his  apostleship ;  if  he  were  less  unworthy,  all 
the  Musulmans,  Jews,  and  bad  Christians  would  have 
already  been,  or  have  again  been,  converted.  At  any  rate 
he  would  have  had  help,  instead  of  wearing  himself  out  in 
solitude.  He  declared  that  his  own  conversion  was  evidently 
the  condition  of  his  converting  others.  But  how  far  was 
he  from  it !  He  begged  prayers  from  all  to  whom  he 
wrote.  The  remembrance  of  the  sins  of  his  past  life  was 
rarely  even  alluded  to,  but  it  was  always  present.  "  I  have 
all  I  need  to  do  immense  good,"  he  exclaims,  "  except 
myself." 

Charles  de  Foucauld  was  a  humble  man,  and  I  firmly 
believe  that  his  prime  virtue,  the  principle  of  his  influence 
over  infidels  and  Christians,  lay  in  that.  This  judgment 
may  surprise.      We  readily  imagine  that  humility  breaks 


BENI-ABBES  167 

the  ardour  of  nature,  and  that  such  an  impulse  as  pride  can 
do  no  more.  But  we  do  not  observe  that  humility,  if  it 
destroys  one  energy,  replaces  it  at  once  by  another  which 
is  far  higher.  It  consists  in  knowing  the  limits  of  one's 
powers,  which  is  a  reasonable  thing  to  do,  and  to  expect 
less  of  such  weak  powers  than  of  God's.  Hence  no  enter- 
prise seemed  to  him  impossible,  no  check  held  him  back. 
Humility  has  nothing  to  do  with  timidity.  Let  us  reckon 
up  the  audacity  there  was  in  the  programme  which  Father 
de  Foucauld  had  just  laid  down.  A  poor  priest,  lost  in  an 
oasis  of  the  Sahara,  proposed  to  found  more  institutions 
than  a  monastery  quite  full  of  heroes  of  charity  could  main- 
tain ;  in  his  zeal  he  forgot  no  one ;  he  allowed  himself  to 
be  carried  away  far  beyond  the  palm-trees  of  Beni-Abb6s ; 
he  wished  for  and  aimed  at  the  conversion  of  the  whole  of 
Africa,  of  the  entire  world.  Was  he,  then,  a  madman? 
No  :  a  very  humble  man,  who  knew  the  power  of  God. 

The  reply  which  P6re  Guerin  sent  to  this  long  report  is 
not  textually  known  to  us.  It  certainly  counselled  Brother 
Charles  to  ransom  slaves  only  in  rare  cases,  otherwise  the 
poor  hermit  would  get  himself  intolerably  into  debt. 

"  May,  1903. — Thirty  years  ago  to-day  I  made  my  first 
communion  and  received  my  God  for  the  first  time.  .  .  . 
This  is  the  first  time  that  I  celebrate  the  Holy  Mass  on  that 
day.  .  .  .  What  graces  I  have  received  in  these  thirty 
years  !  How  good  God  has  been  I  How  many  times  I 
have  received  Jesus  with  these  unworthy  lips  !  And  lo, 
here  I  hold  Him  in  my  poor  hands  !  He  puts  Himself  into 
my  hands  !  And  now  I  ofificiate  at  an  oratory ;  night  and 
day,  I  have  the  holy  tabernacle — I  possess  it,  so  to  speak, 
as  mine  alone  I  Now,  every  morning  I  consecrate  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  every  evening  I  give  Benediction  with  it ! 
And  here  at  last  and  above  all  I  have  the  permission  to 
make  a  foundation  !     What  graces  !" 

The  foundation  to  which  he  alludes  is  that  of  the  "  Little 
Brothers  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,"  the  future  religious 
family  which  he  already  contemplated  in  Palestine,  an 
enclosed  family,  destined  to  adore  the  perpetually  exposed 
Holy  Eucharist  day  and  night,  and  to  live  in  a  missionary 
country,  in  poverty  and  work. 

This  congregation  of  missionaries  would  not  therefore 
directly  preach  the  Gospel,  but  would  make  it  known, 
admired,  and  loved  by  the  life  of  prayer,  charity,  and 
poverty  that  the  monks  would  lead  among  Musulmans. 
The  Little  Brothers  of  the  Sacred  Heart  would  be  primarily 


i68  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

adorers,  bringing  their  Master  into  the  midst  of  infidels. 
Brother  Charles  wished  to  establish  them  in  groups 
wherever  possible ;  he  wished,  not  one  oratory  at  Beni- 
Abbes,  but  a  great  number  of  them  to  be  raised,  whence 
the  Blessed  Eucharist  and  Sacred  Heart  should  shine  as 
the  light  of  the  world,  upon  many  infidel  regions,  for  ages. 

A  magnificent  thought,  which  he  never  ceased  to  express 
all  his  life  long  !  When  he  undertook  some  new  journey, 
he  rejoiced,  as  he  did  at  Taghit,  in  consecrating  the  body 
of  Christ  in  places  where  no  priest  had  been  for  two 
thousand  years.  Thinking  of  Rome,  he  exclaimed:  "I 
love  Rome  so  much  !  That  is  where  there  are  most  taber- 
nacles, where  Jesus  is  most  present  corporally.  One  of  my 
aspirations  would  have  been  to  restore  worship  in  the  little 
chapel  Domine  Quo  vadis,  via  Appia."^ 

Here,  at  Beni-Abbes,  if  he  asked  for  help,  for  com- 
panions to  be  sent  him,  it  was  because  he  wanted  first  of  all 
to  multiply  the  Real  Hresence  among  those  who  had  no 
tabernacle  or  Host.  He  constantly  thought  of  the  immense 
peoples  around  him  and  among  whom  the  Saviour  did  not 
dwell.  He  wanted  to  give  Him  to  them.  "  For  men  die 
every  day  and  souls  fall  into  hell,  souls  redeemed  at  so  great 
a  price,  dyed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus,  which  St.  Colette  saw 
falling  into  hell,  as  thick  as  the  snowflakes  in  a  winter 
storm." 

We  shall  soon  see  what  came  of  these  plans  of  founda- 
tions. I  shall  only  note  now  that  Father  de  Foucauld  has 
entered  into  the  life  of  recollection  so  long  desired,  and 
declares  himself  the  happiest  man  in  the  world.  When 
we  compare  his  happiness  with  that  which  some  of  us 
pursue,  we  are  confounded  as  to  ourselves,  and  many 
of  us  have  so  little  elevation  of  soul,  that  we  can  barely 
imagine  the  exultation  of  the  hermit  of  Beni-Abbes.  Did 
he  eat  and  drink  to  sate  hunger  and  thirst,  since  these 
satisfactions  are  called  happiness?  We  know  he  did  not. 
Did  he  keep  any  past  habits  of  luxury  or  self-pleasing? 
Not  the  least.  Did  he  try  to  find  in  the  books  he  brought  into 
the  desert  a  diversion  from  the  monotony  of  his  days,  with 
their  servile  tasks  and  boring  conversations?  With  his 
artistic  temperament  he  doubtless  enjoyed  certain  pages  of 
St.  Chrysostom,  and  in  more  than  one  point  he  was  too 
like  St.  Augustine  not  to  be  moved  by  the  human  beauty 
of  the  City  of  God  or  the  Confessions :  but  his  happiness 
was  far  above  such  pleasures  as  these.     May  it  not  be  that 

^  Letter  to  a  friend,  December  20,  1903. 


BEN  I- ABBES  169 

exceptional  graces  were  granted  him,  and  that  in  com- 
munion or  meditation,  or  in  the  evening,  when  he  could 
go  on  no  longer  through  working  so  hard  and  giving  conso- 
lation to  so  many,  and  grain  and  dates,  and  when  suffering 
from  the  torrid  heat,  some  sudden  nameless  immeasurable 
sweetness  came  down  into  his  heart  and  filled  it  with 
delight?  I  hardly  doubt  it,  although  nowhere,  to  my 
knowledge,  has  this  humble  servant  explicitly  spoken  of 
any  heavenly  favours  bestowed  upon  him.  But  he  spoke 
of  his  joy,  and  extolled  it.  Indeed  it  was  the  purest,  the 
most  detached  from  all  that  is  human  that  anyone  could 
experience.     We  can  know  no  more. 

At  La  Trappe,  at  Nazareth,  he  experienced  periods  of 
interior  trials,  and  something  like  darkness.  "  I  only 
managed  to  get  through  by  entire  obedience  to  the  Abb^, 
even  in  little  things  :  I  clung  to  him  like  a  child  to  its 
mother's  dress.  ...  At  present  I  am  in  great  peace. 
That  will  last  as  long  as  Jesus  wills.  I  have  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  the  love  of  Jesus ;  others  have  the  earth,  I  have 
the  good  God.  .  .  .  When  I  am  sad,  this  is  my  recipe  : 
I  recite  the  Glorious  Mysteries  of  the  Rosary,  and  I  say 
to  myself :  what  does  it  matter  after  all  if  I  am  miserable, 
and  if  I  get  none  of  the  good  I  want?  All  that  does  not 
prevent  my  well-beloved  Jesus — who  wants  it  a  thousand 
times  more  than  T  do — from  being  blessed,  eternally  and 
infinitely  blessed. 

"  Our  Well-Beloved  is  blessed  :  what  do  we  lack?  You 
know  that  to  love  is  to  forget  yourself  for  another  whom 
you  love  a  thousand  times  more  than  yourself,  that  to  love 
is  to  give  up  working  and  wishing  to  be  happy,  and  to 
desire  solely  and  with  all  the  strength  of  your  heart  the 
happiness  of  the  Beloved  :  well,  we  have  what  we  desire. 
Our  beloved  Jesus  is  blessed,  so  we  lack  nothing  !  If  we 
love  Him,  let  us  praise  God  without  end,  for  our  wishes 
are  granted  :  He  is  happy  I"^ 

Brother  Charles  was  self-forgetful  to  a  point  which  some- 
times made  his  friends  anxious.  He  had  fever,  rheumatism, 
and  was  utterly  tired  out.  Some  officers  had  to  write  to 
his  family  about  it.  One  of  Brother  Charles's  relations, 
thinking  that  the  diet  of  bread  and  herb-tea  was  insufficient 
for  a  man  still  young,  asked  the  missionary  to  accept  a 
small  sum  monthly,  on  condition  that  this  money  should 
be  used  to  buy  some  extra  food.  He  replied:  "I  accept 
the  ten  francs,  and  so  that  you  may  know  the  menu,  I  tell 

^  Letter  to  Count  Louis  de  P'oucauld,  September  3,  1902  ;  letters  to  a 
friend,  dated  March  21,  April  4,  September  3,  1902. 


170  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

you  that  I  am  adding  some  dates,  which  are  very  good  and 
nourishing  fruit,  to  my  bread." 

A  short  time  after,  his  director,  Abb6  Huvehn,  counselled 
moderation  as  follows  : 

"  My  dear  friend,  my  dear  child,  bear  with  yourself ! 
Be  humble  and  patient  with  yourself,  less  anxious  to  over- 
come sleep  than  restlessness  and  that  anxious  striving  after 
the  best  which  torments  you.  Be  at  peace,  in  order  to 
receive  God's  graces,  and,  if  you  have  and  keep  your  hatred 
of  yourself,  let  it  be  a  hatred  as  calm  as  deep  water.  .  .  . 
Possess  your  own  soul ;  do  not  cut  yourself  down  too  much  ; 
eat  a  little;  sleep  as  long  as  action  requires." 

Pere  Gu^rin  wrote  to  him  in  the  same  strain,  and  I 
believe  this  was  the  finishing  stroke  for  the  "  desert  tea." 
In  a  letter  of  Brother  Charles  "  cous-cous  "  is  spoken  of  at 
the  midday  meal  :  perhaps  it  was  on  the  great  feasts. 

Brother  Charles's  attack  of  fever  had  stirred  the  little 
military  colony  of  Beni-Abbes.  Immediately  all  flocked 
to  the  Fraternity  :  "  the  doctor  with  his  advice  and  reme- 
dies, all  the  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers,  goats' 
milk,  jam,  coffee,  tea,  and  I  don't  know  what  besides  !" 

And  he  was  astonished  that  they  did  so  much  for  him. 

What  is  to  be  feared  by  such  souls  as  this  holding  the 

'highest  within  them  above  the  world?   Absolutely  nothing. 

In  the  summer  of  1902,  one  of  his  friends  told  him  he  feared 

that  the   Berbers   might  attack   Beni-Abbes,   and   Brother 

Charles  did  not  deny  the  danger,  but  rejoiced  in  it. 

'*  I  thank  you  for  what  you  have  told  me  about  possible 
dangers ;  .  .  .  I  regard  them  with  the  peace  of  God's 
children.  ...  If  you  knew  how  I  desire  to  end  my  poor  and 
miserable  life,  so  badly  begun  and  so  empty,  according  to 
our  Lord's  saying  on  the  night  of  the  Last  Supper : 
'  Greater  love  than  this  no  man  hath,  that  a  man  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  friends!'  I  am  unworthy  of  it,  but  how 
much  I  desire  it  I  Reports  of  war  are  reviving ;  ...  it  is 
very  sweet  to  feel  oneself  always  so  near,  on  the  threshold  of 
eternity ;  it  is  extremely  sweet  and  also  good  for  one's 
soul." 

"/w/y  4. — There  is  nothing  new  in  my  life;  oh  yes,  there 
is  !  I  have  had  the  great  joy  of  being  able  to  buy  and  free 
a  slave;  he  is  staying  with  me  provisionally  as  a  guest, 
and  working  in  the  garden ;  ...  he  appears  to  be  twenty- 
five  years  of  age.  .  .  .  Pray  for  his  conversion  I  Pray 
also  for  that  of  a  good  Musulman  Turco  who  is  most 
devoted  to  me  .  .  .  and  pray  for  mine!" 


BEN  l- ABBES  171 

The  slave  of  whom  Brother  Charles  here  speaks  was  a 
Beraber,  carried  off  in  a  raid  by  the  Doni  Meuia,  who  were 
not  then  very  reliable  friends,  and  a  party  of  them  were 
camping  on  the  Beni- Abbes  plateau.  Moved  by  pity  of 
this  fine  young  captive,  Brother  Charles  said  to  a  French 
non-commissioned  officer  :  "  We  must  buy  him  from  his 
master.  But,  if  they  hear  that  it  is  I  who  wish  to  free  the 
slave,  they  will  ask  a  price  I  cannot  pay.  Go,  then,  as  if 
for  yourself,  to  buy  the  captive  and  keep  me  informed  of 
the  negotiations."  These  lasted  three  days.  We  have 
still  the  notes  he  addressed  to  the  adjutant.     "  Add  another 

douro  or  two,  my  dear  J ,  but  I  can't  give  any  more ; 

indeed,  I  can't." 

Next  day,  a  fresh  letter  :  "  Well,  yes,  go  up  to  400  francs, 
and  don't  hesitate  or  haggle.  .  .  .  Our  brother's  freedom 
is  priceless.  .  .  .  Jesus  might  have  redeemed  us  by  a 
word,  but  willed  to  do  it  with  all  His  blood  to  show  His 
love  by  the  price  He  paid.     Let  us  follow  God's  example." 

At  last  the  master  gave  way.  The  slave  went  to  thank 
the  great  Christian  marabout  who  had  delivered  him.  They 
chatted  for  a  moment,  then  Brother  Charles  said  to  the 
Beraber  : 

"  Now  you  are  free;  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?" 

"  Say  good-bve  to  my  captors." 

"And  then?'"' 

"  I  shall  go  back  to  my  first  master,  who  treated  me 
well.     My  wife  is  still  there." 

"  June  28,  1902. — Saturday  is  the  day  for  giving  out  the 
barley  distribution.  We  must  make  our  Sundays  and 
feast-days  known.  It  is  a  very  inferior  way,  but  just  now 
the  only  practical  method,  I  believe,  of  evangelizing." 

"July  12,  1902. — First  baptism  at  Beni-Abb6s  :  Marie- 
Joseph  Abdjesu  Carita,  a  little  negro  of  three  and  a  half."^ 

"July  21. — Four  soldiers  of  the  garrison  have  died  this 
month  of  extreme  heat.  Not  one  of  them  refused  the 
Sacraments ;  two  died  very  piously  after  a  long  illness.  .  .  ." 

"August  13. — I  am  still  alone — the  only  religious — with 
Abdjesu,  a  negro  of  twenty-five  redeemed  and  liberated 
some  time  ago;  an  artilleryman  who  serves  my  Mass;  some 

^"Abdjesu"  means,  in  Arabic,  "servant  of  Jesus";  as  "  Abd 
Ennebi,"  "servant  of  the  prophet." 


172  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

sharpshooters  who  are  repairing  the  chapel,  the  roof  of 
which  is  getting  weak.  The  Fraternity,  very  silent  at 
night  and  from  lo  to  3  in  the  afternoon,  is  a  beehive  from 
5  to  9  in  the  morning ;  and  from  4  to  8  in  the  evening.  I 
never  stop  talking  and  seeing  people ;  slaves,  poor  people, 
invalids,  soldiers,  travellers,  and  inquirers;  the  latter — 
inquirers — I  have  but  rarely,  but  the  slaves,  invalids,  and 
poor  increase.  ...  I  celebrate  Mass,  except  on  Sundays 
and  great  Festivals — I  say  it,  on  those  days,  when  the  mili- 
tary desire — to  which  nobody  ever  comes  on  weekdays, 
before  daybreak,  so  as  not  to  be  too  much  disturbed  by  the 
noise,  and  to  make  my  thanksgiving  in  some  peace;  but 
however  early  I  may  be,  I  am  always  called  three  or  four 
times  while  making  my  thanksgiving." 

*'  September  12. — What  are  wonderful  here  are  the  sun- 
sets, the  evenings,  and  the  nights.  .  .  .  The  evenings  are 
so  calm,  the  nights  so  serene;  the  great  sky  and  the  vast 
horizons  half  lit  by  the  stars  are  so  peaceful,  and  in  silence 
thrill  the  soul  by  hymning  the  eternal,  the  infinite,  and  the 
beyond,  so  that  one  could  spend  entire  nights  in  such  con- 
templation ;  however,  I  curtail  it  and  return  after  spending 
a  few  moments  before  the  tabernacle,  for  there  is  more  in 
the  humble  tabernacle  :  nothing  is  nothing,  compared  to 
the  Well-Beloved." 

i4.th. — Ransomed  two  slaves  :  a  father  of  a  family  and 
a  young  man  of  fifteen,  whom  Brother  Charles  provision- 
ally named  Paul. 

"  November  5,  1902. — It  has  rained  twice,  so  I  hide  the 
altar  furniture  under  the  altar;  and  the  altar,  as  soon  as 
the  sky  grows  cloudy,  under  a  waterproof  covering — a  little 
tarpaulin.  At  the  Fraternity,  as  at  the  camp  and  in  the 
village,  it  rains  as  much  inside  the  rooms  (and  chapel)  as 
outside.  The  roofs  protect  only  from  the  sun.  That,  far 
from  hindering,  contributes  to  happiness  :  in  making  the 
inclemencies  of  the  weather  felt,  God  reminds  us  that  Jesus 
had  not  a  stone  whereon  to  lay  His  head.  All  that  makes 
us  like  the  Well-Beloved  unites  us  to  Him  and  is  perfect 
happiness.  .  .  .  The  very  sight  of  my  nothingness, 
instead  of  afflicting  me,  helps  me  to  forget  myself  and  to 
think  only  of  Him  who  is  all." 

The  end  of  the  year  came.  The  buildings  and  repairs  of 
the  poor  hermitage  were  finished — waiting  for  the  Brothers 
to  tell  of  their  early  coming  and  thus  bring  the  workmen 
back  to  the  workyard.  Ordinary  and  regular  life  was,  no 
doubt,  beginning.      It  must  be  as  strict  as  possible,  and 


BEN  I- ABBES  173 

Brother  Charles,  thinking  of  this  obhgation  of  his  calling, 
thought  it  better  to  do  without  the  daily  help  of  a  soldier 
who  had  been  his  "housekeeper."  They  told  him  he  was 
overdone,  but  he  maintained  his  decision ;  he  gave  this 
noble  and  witty  reply  ;  "Jesus  had  no  orderly." 

His  only  anxiety  was  for  souls.  Thanks  to  the  two  blacks 
he  had  redeemed,  he  could  have  exposition  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  in  the  not  quite  empty  chapel  when  the  soldiers 
were  kept  in  camp.  And  then,  on  Christmas  Day  and  the 
day  after,  he  had  an  "immense  joy";  some  Moroccans 
came  to  pay  him  a  visit.  With  what  friendship  he  must 
have  received  them,  and  with  what  dreams  beyond  their 
understanding  he  must  have  followed  them  ! 

On  these  same  days,  he  had  surprises  of  another  sort. 
For  many  centuries  Christmas  has  been  a  season  when 
friends  have  been  accustomed  to  exchange  gifts.  Brother 
Charles  saw  a  porter  coming  to  the  hermitage  carrying  a 
light  parcel,  carefully  tied,  that  the  ass-driver  postmen  had 
delivered  at  the  Native  Office. 

"  Where  does  it  come  from?  The  East?  Do  they  still 
remember  me?" 

They  remembered  him  so  well  that  the  nuns  of  a  convent 
in  the  Holy  Land  where  he  had  spent  some  time,  wishing 
to  give  pleasure  to  the  hermit  whom  they  had  known  as 
gardener,  porter,  and  messenger,  sent  him  a  Christmas 
present.  But  what  can  one  give  a  hermit,  when  one  is 
oneself  poor?  First  of  all  relics  for  the  chapel.  There 
were  several  in  the  parcel  :  relics  of  the  Saints,  particles  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  or  of  the  Nativity  cave.  The  donors 
had  added  some  flowers  from  Palestine,  arranged  as  a 
bouquet  and  pasted  on  vellum ;  then,  having  sought  such 
small  things  as  a  Father  of  the  Thebaid  might  want  for  his 
household,  they  had  put  into  one  envelope  a  wooden  spoon, 
a  mousetrap,  and  a  yard  of  white  cloth.  The  man  who 
brought  the  parcel,  seeing  this  remnant  and  also  Father  de 
Foucauld's  poor  threadbare  and  tattered  gandourah  full  of 
holes,  surmised  that  pieces  much  needed  by  his  friend's 
tunic  might  be  cut  out  of  this  fine  white  cloth.  No  sooner 
was  he  back  in  camp  than  he  went  to  the  army  tailor,  and 
told  him  to  go  quickly  to  the  hermitage.  The  tailor  did 
not  loiter  much  on  the  way.  Perhaps  he  wanted  to  wait 
till  the  worst  heat  of  the  afternoon  was  over.  Anyhow,  a 
little  before  sunset  he  was  back  in  camp,  with  discomfited 
expression. 

"Nothing  doing." 

"  What?  won't  he  have  his  gandourah  mended?" 


174  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  Not  quite  that;  but  he  had  no  more  of  the  cloth;  he 
has  given  it  away." 

In  fact,  on  the  still  burning  plateau,  they  could  see  a  little 
negro,  running  round  with  pride  and  showing  himself  to 
his  comrades.  He  had  just  come  from  the  hermitage  clad 
in  a  sack  as  white  as  snow. 

About  the  same  time — perhaps  a  little  sooner — an  officer, 
who  had  to  do  with  sending  supplies  to  the  oasis  posts, 
remarked  on  the  platform  of  Oran  station  a  little  cask 
addressed  to  the  R^v6rend  P^re  de  Foucauld  at  Beni- 
Abbes.  "  Altar  wine,"  he  thought,  "  and  it  cannot  fail  to 
turn  sour;  the  journey  and  the  heat  must  already  have 
damaged  it.  In  what  state  will  it  reach  the  poor  Father?" 
As  soon  as  the  discovery  was  made,  they  hastened  to  put 
the  cask  in  the  shade  in  a  store.  A  man  of  good-will, 
who  knew  what  to  do  for  wine  in  danger,  poured  several 
buckets  of  water  on  the  barrel,  which  was  given  into  the 
charge  of  the  guards  of  the  train  from  Oran  to  Beni-Unif, 
and  sprinkled  two  or  three  times  en  route.  At  Beni-Unif, 
when  the  time  came  to  form  the  convoy  for  revictualling 
Beni-Abbes,  the  cask  was  put  on  the  camel's  back,  and,  as 
everyone  was  a  great  friend  of  Father  de  Foucauld,  never 
was  a  parcel  more  closely  looked  after,  better  covered  with 
wool  while  on  the  way,  or  unloaded  with  more  care  when 
the  caravan  in  the  evening  halted  for  the  night.  At  last 
the  precious  barrel  was  brought  to  the  hermitage. 

"  Here  is  your  altar  wine,  Father." 

"  But  I  have  not  ordered  any." 

"  They  have  sent  you  some;  look  at  the  address." 

Brother  Charles  decided  to  open  the  cask.  It  was  then 
perceived  that  it  was  a  bell,  with  a  clapper  well  wrapped  in 
rags,  which  had  travelled  under  chestnut  staves  and  had 
been  refreshed  with  such  touching  care.  It  was  hung  from 
the  top  of  a  sort  of  small  rectangular  tower — I  should  say 
campanile,  if  the  word  here  did  not  suggest  immoderate 
ambition — at  the  side  of  the  chapel.  And  it  rang,  a  wit- 
ness told  me:  "It  used  to  ring  oftener  than  we  wanted 
sometimes,  not  only  in  the  day,  but  at  night,  at  lo,  at  mid- 
night, at  4  in  the  morning.  The  sound,  through  the  clear 
desert  air,  reached  us  in  the  redoubt,  as  if  we  had  been 
under  the  clapper.  It  was  Brother  Charles  summoning 
himself  to  say  his  Office."^ 

^  At  the  same  time  (end  of  1902),  at  the  other  end  of  the  cHff  of  Bcni- 
Abbes,  the  soldiers  were  building  a  monumental  Arab  Office,  lo  which 
a  redoubt  was  added.  This  is  the  vast  mass  of  buildings  surrounded 
by  ramparts  that  )'Ou  see  to-day  on  your  left  as  you  enter  llie  oasis. 


BENI-ABBES  175 

''January  20,  1903. — Two  harraiins  of  Anfid,  the  fakir 
Barka  ben  Zian,  and  the  fakir  Ombarek,  known  for  their 
honesty,  ask  me  to  instruct  them  in  our  holy  rehgion,  and 
they  seem  sincere." 

"January  21,  1903. — A  child  of  thirteen,  a  native  of 
Twat,  a  slave  for  six  years,  has  been  ransomed,  and 
declares  even  before  his  ransom  that  he  wishes  to  follow 
the  religion  of  Jesus  and  stay  with  me.  Ransomed  to-day 
at  noon,  he  immediately  enters  the  catechumenate  under 
the  name  of  Peter." 

In  March  came  the  visit  of  a  former  comrade,  Henri 
Laperrine.^  He  reached  Beni-Abbes  on  the  6th.  He  is 
chief  in  command  of  the  Saharan  oases — that  is  to  say,  of 
Gurara,  Twat,  and  Tidikelt. 

Henry  Laperrine,  who  here  reappears  by  the  side  of 
Charles  de  Foucauld,  had  been  a  sub-lieutenant  in  the 
Fourth  Chasseurs  d'Afrique.  Of  middle  height,  with  a 
supple  and  muscular  body,  a  pale  and  lean  face,  refined 
features,  short  fan-shaped  light  auburn  beard,  bright  eyes 
— generally  roguish,  at  moments  hard — he  was  already  re- 
garded, at  the  time  of  his  arrival,  on  his  round  as  chief  at 
Beni-Abbes,  as  an  accomplished  type  of  the  colonial 
cavalryman.  He  was  hardly  ever  seen  wearing  the  linen 
helmet  or  dressed  in  Arab  fashion  or  as  a  Tuareg.  He 
allowed  such  fancies — and  others — to  his  subordinates,  in 
their  stopping  places.  Under  the  blazing  sun  he  wore  his 
cloth  cap  cocked  over  his  left  ear,  and  the  regulation 
uniform.  He  would  ride  for  ten  hours,  with  the  ther- 
mometer at  102°,  and  reach  the  halting-place  with  his  collar 
buttoned  up  and  sitting  bolt  upright  in  the  saddle.  Few 
bushrangers  were  such  men  of  the  world  as  he  in  the  desert. 
He  made  up  for  it  by  shunning  towns  and  their  ceremony, 
detested  official  visits,  and  used  to  declare  that  between  sub- 
mitting to  an  hour's  wait  in  the  antechamber  of  a  minister 
and  enduring  a  sandstorm,  he  would  choose  the  storm.  His 
good-humour  was  well  known.     He  liked  lively,  even  light 

'  Born  at  Castelnaudary  on  September  29,  i860,  consequently  two 
years  younger  than  Charles  de  Foucauld.  A  pupil  of  the  ficole  speciale 
Militaire,  October  25,  1878  ;  sub-lieutenant  pupil  at  the  ificole  d'Applica- 
tion  de  Cavalerie,  October  i,  1880  ;  sub-lieutenant  in  the  4th  Regiment 
of  Chasseurs  d'Afrique,  September  10,  1881  ;  lieutenant  in  the  ist  Regi- 
ment of  the  Spahis,  July  29, 1885  ;  of  the  squadron  of  Senegal,  March  22, 
1889;  captain  in  the  2nd  Dragoons,  November  i,  1891  ;  in  the  2nd 
squadron  of  Spahis  Soudanais,  September  13,  1893  ;  in  the  squadron  of 
the  mounted  mehari  Saharan  Spahis,  November  6,  1897  ;  squadron 
comrnander  in  the  7th  Regiment  of  Chasseurs,  October  7  ;  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Saharan  oasis,  July  6,  1901. 


176  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

stories,  preferably  those  which  introduced  the  people  of 
the  bled.  But  he  was  subject  to  sudden  changes.  This 
impressionable,  spirited,  absent-minded  man  had  twenty 
and  often  thirty  times  a  day  reason  for  losing  patience  or 
being  angry.  The  only  thing  he  did  not  forgive  was  deceit. 
You  won  his  confidence  once,  not  twice.  As  for  the  rest, 
he  easily  forgot  the  wrongs  of  others  and  his  own ;  he  pos- 
sessed in  perfection  the  gift  of  sympathy,  which  in  a  man 
of  feeling  becomes  an  art.  All  good  workers,  all  energetic 
servants  of  the  cause — that  is  to  say,  of  France  in  Africa — 
loved  Laperrine.  He  could  be  amiable  without  being 
familiar.  He  had  his  rank  in  his  look,  gesture,  and  soul. 
In  the  desert  he  used  to  make  his  non-commissioned  officers 
sit  round  the  burnous  spread  out  on  the  ground  and  used 
as  a  tablecloth  for  lunch.  His  officers  on  mission  corre- 
sponded, in  private  letters,  with  their  chief,  even  in  service 
matters,  each  giving  news  of  himself  and  telling  stories, 
and  commenting  and  complaining  if  there  were  reason  to 
do  so.  He  replied  in  the  same  way.  His  energy  was  pro- 
digious, his  exactness  equally  so.  Hardly  was  he  off  his 
horse  or  mehari,  after  a  ride  of  thirty  or  forty,  and  some- 
times fifty  miles,  before  having  his  work-table  set  up;  he 
then  drank  a  cup  of  tea,  and  set  about  writing.  The  mes- 
sengers who  joined  him  en  route  could  set  out  again  the 
same  evening  with  his  reply.  During  the  siesta  there  was 
often  only  one  man  who  was  not  asleep — Laperrine.  There, 
in  the  desert,  he  was  in  his  kingdom,  the  whole  of  which 
he  knew,  men  and  things.  One  of  his  disciples  and  friends 
said:  "He  was  fully  himself  only  from  the  moment  he 
placed  his  bare  foot  on  the  supple  neck  of  his  mehari." 
His  authority  over  so  many  of  the  tribes  of  Algeria,  the 
Soudan  and  the  Sahara,  was  obtained  by  the  certainty, 
established  by  a  hundred  proofs  in  the  hearts  of  the  natives, 
that  this  great  chief  was  not  their  enemy.  Laperrine 
wished  neither  to  humiliate  nor  impose  on  them;  he  wished 
to  conciliate  them,  to  get  them  to  enter,  as  proteges,  helpers, 
and  friends,  an  extended  France. 

This  constitutional  liberalism,  which  was  victorious 
and  has  brought  France  a  much  envied  colonial  empire,  he 
expounded  neither  in  a  treatise  of  military  art  nor  in  an 
account  of  his  campaigns.  "  It  is  in  his  correspondence 
as  military  commander  that  an  historian,  enamoured  of  the 
things  of  the  Sahara,  will  go  sooner  or  later  to  find  the 
principles  of  civilizing  the  desert.  If  it  be  true  that  a  man 
writes  as  he  thinks,  there  is  Laperrine  in  his  entirety.  The 
big  books  of  instructions  and  orders  are  in  his  own  firm  and 


BENI-ABBES  i77 

expressive  handwriting;  his  matter  sets  aside  the  accessory 
to  get  to  the  essential.  Even  the  jumbled  spelling — Laper- 
rine,  like  Madame  de  Sevigne,  had  a  disdain  for  academic 
conventions — all  reveals  his  inner  fire.  Everywhere  one 
finds  the  impress  left  on  Laperrine's  mind  by  his  youthful 
years.  He  adapted  himself  to  his  surroundings,  became  a 
nomad  with  the  nomad,  a  counter-raider  with  the  raiders, 
took  from  the  native  all  the  instinctive  experience  he  could 
give,  and  surpassed  him  in  moral  ascendency,  reasoning, 
and  conscience."^ 

The  vocations  of  Laperrine  and  de  Foucauld  were  sisters, 
not  similar  nor  of  the  same  character,  but  both  varieties 
of  the  same  species,  very  French  and  very  Christian.  Their 
friendship,  during  forty  years,  is  explained  by  their 
common  understanding  of  the  civilizing  role  of  France. 
But  I  believe  other  elements  formed  and  maintained  it. 
Foucauld  admired  in  Laperrine  a  loyal  and  ardent  soul, 
capable  of  sacrificing  to  the  ideal  all  his  ease,  repose, 
health,  life  itself  and,  what  is  more  rare,  promotion. 
Laperrine  in  Foucauld  admired  gifts  similar  to  his  own, 
placed  at  the  service  of  a  still  grander  ideal  :  his  personal 
holiness  and  radiation  of  holiness  among  the  natives. 

Colonial  military  life,  which  is  not  that  of  a  girls'  board- 
ing-school, the  remoteness  of  Christian  society,  the  pre- 
occupation of  a  mind  always  on  the  strain  or  brought  back 
to  military  duty,  may  have  turned  Laperrine  away  from 
religious  practice.  But  this  pupil  of  the  Dominicans  of 
Soreze  remained  a  believer  at  heart.  His  two  dearest 
friends  were  priests,  with  whom  he  kept  up  a  most  con- 
stant correspondence — viz.  :  his  brother  Mgr.  Laperrine  of 
Hautpoul,  and  Father  de  Foucauld.  And  if  any  sally  of 
his  can  be  quoted  to  lead  one  to  suppose  that  he  had  no 
faith,  great  care  must  be  taken  not  to  draw  from  so  slight 
a  cause,  so  grave  and  distressing  a  conclusion.  We  ought 
to  accord  quite  another  credit  to  some  positive  facts  which 
shall,  in  their  place,  be  related  in  this  book,  and  to  the 
affirmation  of  one  of  his  intimates,  who  said  to  me  :  "  On 
all  serious  occasions  he  used  to  speak  of  the  things  of 
religion  with  wonderful  respect." 

I  should  give  a  very  incomplete  sketch  of  this  great 
Frenchman  if  I  did  not  further  say  that  he  was  generous. 
His  purse  was  easily  opened.  On  a  journey  he  used  to 
share  his  commander's  provisions  with  the  officers  and  non- 
commissioned officers  whom  he  had  invited ;  he  was  fond  of 

*  "  Notes  sur  le  General  Laperrine"  (Bull,  dc  I'A/Hque  frau^aise,  Mai, 

IQ20). 

12 


178  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

distributing  presents  among  the  tribes,  and  one  cannot 
think,  without  emotion,  that  many  years  after  the  one  I 
am  now  speaking  of,  when  setting  out  for  that  air  journey 
to  Hoggar  which  was  to  be  his  last,  Laperrine  brought  as 
his  luggage  on  board  the  aeroplane  a  little  parcel  of  light 
silks  for  the  Tuareg  women  and  children. 

Such  was  the  visitor  whose  coming  was  a  great  joy  to 
Brother  Charles.  They  must  have  had  a  long  talk,  a  little 
of  the  past,  much  of  the  future  of  their  Africa.  However, 
the  diary  makes  no  mention  of  it.  Neither  the  arrival  of 
this  military  detachment  on  the  Beni- Abbes  plateau,  nor 
the  reception  given  to  this  already  legendary  Commander, 
nor  Laperrine's  words,  nor  the  conversation  of  the  two 
friends,  are  related.  How  little  of  a  romancer  this  Brother 
Charles  was  !  Just  a  simple  note,  very  short,  a  confidential 
intimation  :  "  A  few  days  ago  he  [Laperrine]  had  obtained 
authority  for  undertaking  a  triple  operation  next  spring  : 
ist,  to  go  from  In-Salah  to  Timbuctoo,  and  definitively  and 
militarily  to  join  Tidikelt  to  the  Soudan  by  force,  if  neces- 
sary;  2nd,  to  conquer  the  Hoggar  and  to  push  on  as  far  as 
Agades ;  3rd,  to  gain  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  South  of 
Dra,  occupying  Tabelbalet  and  Tinduf .  But,  after  having 
thus  given  him  authority,  they  have  now  almost  imme- 
diately withdrawn  it." 

And  Laperrine  continued  his  round. 

Days  and  months  went  by  ;  but  de  Foucauld  was  always 
entirely  alone,  I  mean  in  his  apostolate.  No  other  man 
offered  to  share  the  life  of  him  who  had  gone  out  to  be  vox 
clamantis  in  deserto,  like  John  the  Baptist.  The  Baptist  well 
knew  he  would  have  no  companion  :  Brother  Charles  hoped 
to  find  one,  and  surely  in  the  hardest  days,  when  the  body 
droops  with  weariness  and  the  mind  begins  to  ask  cui  bono, 
he  took  refuge  in  the  hope  of  this  help  to  come.  How  often 
is  the  flight  of  time,  the  lack  of  continuance  which  is  one 
of  the  infirmities  of  our  state,  a  consolation  to  us.  But 
poor  Brother  Charles  felt  this  trial  keenly.  Loving  soli- 
tude, he  did  not  suffer  from  it  for  himself,  but  for  his  fellow- 
men.  Working  by  himself  amidst  total  corruption,  total 
ignorance,  in  which  he  never  encountered  even  the  glim- 
mers, the  veiled  regrets,  the  power  of  resurrection  felt  to 
be  latent  in  the  souls  of  the  baptized,  he  had  tried  in  the 
course  of  years  to  induce  a  few  Little  Brothers  or  Sisters  to 
prepare  for  the  future  community.  His  letters  and 
cautiously  distributed  regulations  did  not  seem  to  touch 
any  heart.  Can  any  generous  idea  fail  to  germinate  in 
France?     How  could  such  a  thing  take  place? 


BEN  1- ABBES  179 

The  answers  may  vary.  Persons  ever  so  little  acquainted 
with  ecclesiastical  history  will  doubtless  observe  that  re- 
ligious Orders  are  not  born  in  the  abstract;  that  constitu- 
tions are  not  made  a  priori^  but  at  first  lived,  tried,  and 
proved  by  a  band  of  men  or  women  drawn  together  by  the 
moral  strength  of  their  future  chief.  Others  will  point  out  that 
the  regulations  of  Brother  Charles  overstep  the  mark,  do  too 
much  violence  to  human  weakness,  presuppose  a  vigour  of 
temperament  and  a  power  of  will  rarely  associated.  We  shall 
see  this  opinion  firmly,  even  hardly  expressed  by  the  Prior 
of  a  Trappe,  who  had  not  forgotten  Brother  Marie-Alb^ric, 
considering  him  an  eminently  holy  man,  but  who  believed 
he  was  not  called  to  govern  a  community.  We  have  arrived 
at  that  point  of  Father  de  Foucauld's  "  Life  "  where  it  will 
be  necessary  to  explain  why  he  so  eagerly  desired — as  he 
does  to  the  end — other  priests,  like  himself,  to  become  Little 
Brothers  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  to  break  into  the  Moham- 
medan countries.  He  had  sought  solitude;  he  had  bought 
it  dearly ;  he  held  to  it.  But  the  workman  plunged  into  the 
harvest,  and  seeing  the  immensity  of  the  task,  was  dejected 
at  not  belonging  to  a  band.  He  did  more,  he  accused  him- 
self unceasingly;  in  his  correspondence  and  intimate  notes 
he  declares  that  his  unworthiness  is  the  cause  of  the  isola- 
tion in  which  he  lives. 

"  I  am  still  alone  at  Beni-Abbes,"  he  wrote  to  the 
Marchioness  de  Foucauld.^  "  More  than  ever  I  believe  Beni- 
Abbes  favourable  for  a  community  of  poor  solitaries,  living 
to  adore  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  for  manual  labour; 
it  is  so  solitary  and  so  central,  between  Algeria,  Morocco, 
and  the  Sahara  !  Pray  that  my  infidelities  may  not  in  any 
way  hinder  the  designs  of  the  Sacred  Heart." 

He  was  always  lamenting  such  shortcomings.  We  find 
the  same  thought,  the  same  fervour  of  contrition  and  sup- 
plication, in  his  diary,  at  Easter,  1903. 

"  Not  a  single  postulant,  novice,  or  Sister.  .  .  .  Unless 
the  grain  of  wheat  die,  it  remains  alone.  Lord  Jesus, 
pardon  my  innumerable  infidelities  and  slacknesses  !  Help 
me,  Holy  Virgin,  St.  Magdalen,  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  ! 
Reign  in  me.  Heart  of  Jesus,  that  I  may  at  last  die  to 
myself,  to  the  world,  and  to  all  that  is  not  Thee  and  Thy 
will,  and  bear  fruit  for  Thy  glory. 

"  After  great  misdeeds  the  catechumen  Paul  has  left  me; 
the  catechumen  Peter  has  left  me  :  he  desired  to  return 
to  his  parents,  and  I  have  sent  him  to  them ;  the  cate- 
chumen Joseph  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  sent  to  the  White 
^  Letter  of  November  15,  1903. 


i8o  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Fathers  at  Algiers  in  February  1902,  and  brought  back 
by  them  to  the  Soudan  in  October,  has  left  me,  and  his 
was  a  bad  leaving".  .  .  .  Two  persons  only  remain  with 
me  at  the  Fraternity  :  the  little  Christian  Abdjesu  and  the 
old  blind  catechumen  Marie." 

All  at  once  it  looked  as  if  those  men  of  mortification, 
prayer,  example,  and  charity,  whose  coming  Brother 
Charles  implores,  are  going  to  be  sent  him.  Two  Fathers 
and  two  Brothers  of  La  Trappe  of  Staoueli  have  spoken — 
no  doubt  vaguely  enough — of  imitating  Father  de  Foucauld 
and  putting  themselves  under  his  obedience.  But  look  at 
him  and  see  him  as  he  is  :  he  does  not  seek  to  attract  them  ; 
he  tests  them  from  the  beginning ;  he  writes  to  one  of  them  : 

"  Dear  and  Venerated  Father, 

"  M.  de  la  H tells  me  that  you  and  another 

Father  and  two  Trappist  Brothers  feel  yourselves  urged  to 
share  in  my  poor,  abject,  and  solitary  life  of  the  hidden 
Jesus,  the  life  which  He  put  before  us  for  thirty  years  at 
Nazareth.  .  .  . 

"My  very  dear  Father,  what  all  of  you  have  to  do  is 
simple.  Jesus  never  asks  us  to  do  things  that  are  com- 
plicated, but  He  asks  all  of  us  to  combine  childlike  sim- 
plicity with  great  prudence,  which  consists,  as  St.  Paul 
says,  in  seeking  carefully,  by  sure  means,  what  is  the  will 
of  God,  so  as  to  do  it  without  mistake. 

"It  is  enough  for  you  and  for  each  of  the  other  three 
of  you,  the  Father  and  Brothers,  to  know  God's  will,  and 
then  to  do  it,  cost  what  it  may. 

"  There  is  but  one  infallible  way  of  knowing  the  divine 
will  in  such  a  question;  it  is  by  spiritual  direction  :  open 
your  soul  fully  to  a  conscientious,  learned,  intelligent, 
nie'diiative,  unprejudiced  director;  and  take  his  reply  as  the 
divine  will  of  the  present  moment,  in  virtue  of  the  promise  : 
*  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  Me';  that  is  the  infallible 
means  of  doing  the  will  of  Jesus  in  this  case  and  in  all 
others ;  .  .  .  If  he  says  to  you  :  '  Jesus  calls  you  to  leave 
La  Trappe  and  join  Brother  Charles,'  come,  my  arms  and 
heart  are  open  to  you,  I  shall  receive  you  as  brought  by 
the  hand  of  Jesus.  If  he  says  to  you  :  *  Wait,'  obey  and 
wait.  If  he  says  :  '  vStay  in  La  Trappe,'  obey;  in  this  last 
case,  if,  while  obeying,  you  continue  to  feel  yourself 
interiorly  urged  to  come  and  follow  Jesus  in  His  poverty, 
abjection,  solitude,  and  hidden  life,  again,  tell  him  so  from 
time  to  time,  always  keeping  your  soul  open  to  him. 

"  But  (o  know  if  you  are  called  by  God  to  share  my 


BENI-ABBES  i8i 

humble  kind  of  life,  you  must  know  exactly  what  it  is  :  it 
is  fixed  now  by  constitutions  and  a  Rule  which  I  sub- 
mitted to  my  Prefect  Apostolic  :  the  latter  permitting  me 
to  establish  myself  in  his  prefecture  has  also  permitted  me 
to  gather  round  me  a  certain  number  of  priests  and  lay- 
men according  to  these  constitutions  and  this  Rule.  When 
we  are  numerous  enough,  final  authority  will  be  sought  for 
from  Rome. 

"  Forewarn  them  well  as  to  dura  et  aspera.  Show  them 
this  letter,  the  constitutions  and  the  passing  of  the  pre- 
liminaries of  the  Rule.  .  .  .  Tell  them  frankly  that 
besides  what  is  generally  demanded  of  postulants — -namely, 
the  good-will  to  practise  the  constitutions  and  the  Rule  to 
the  best  of  their  ability — I  ask  for  three  things  as  the  first 
stones  of  this  little  building  :  ist,  readiness  to  have  one's 
head  cut  off;  2nd,  readiness  to  die  of  hunger;  3rd,  to  obey 
me  in  spite  of  my  unworthiness,  until  there  are  a  few  of  us 
and  we  can  have  an  election  (which,  I  hope,  will  replace 
me  by  one  more  worthy  than  I  am,  and  put  me,  as  I  deserve, 
in  the  lowest  place).   .   .   . 

"  My  thought  is  that,  since  we  are  accepted  in  the  apos- 
tolic prefecture  of  the  Sahara,  where  I  have  at  the  present 
time  a  little  land,  enough  to  feed  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  monks,  and  the  beginning  of  a  monastery  capable  of 
being  finished  in  a  few  weeks  at  very  little  cost,  and  where, 
what  is  more,  an  enormous  amount  of  good  can  be  done 
to  the  populations  of  the  Sahara  as  well  as  to  those  of 
Morocco — sheep  more  lost  than  any — the  best  thing  is  for 
both  Brothers  and  Sisters  to  concentrate  and  be  trained 
here,  if  it  is  possible.  .  .   ." 

He  was  never  to  have,  with  one  exception  for  a  very  short 
time,  a  missionary  companion.  Already  the  hope  of  the 
early  establishment  of  some  nuns  at  Beni-Abbes  was  aban- 
doned. Brother  Charles  had  corresponded,  on  this  sub- 
ject, with  Pere  Guerin,  and  in  one  of  his  letters  accepted 
the  reply  given  him  :  "As  for  the  Sisters,  yes,  it  is  very 
just  and  wise,  not  to  send  them  to  me  here,  as  long  as  I  am 
the  only  priest.     You  are  a  thousand  times  right." 

The  reason  of  the  refusal  must  have  been,  I  suppose,  that 
the  Sisters  would  be  compelled  to  take  the  only  priest  there 
was  within  three  hundred  miles,  as  their  spiritual  director. 
Ecclesiastical  law  respects  the  liberty  of  souls,  and  prevents 
this  sort  of  constraint  as  far  as  possible. 

Therefore,  no  Sisters  for  the  refuge,  none  for  the  little 
negroes  or  for  the  girls  who  lived  in  the  oasis.     He  was 


i82  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

with  still  more  reason  obliged  to  put  off  until  later,  till 
much  later,  the  foundation  of  those  Little  Sisters  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  for  whom  he  had  also  thought  out  and 
written  the  sketch  of  a  Rule. 

As  to  the  Little  Brothers  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  reply 
was  also  in  the  negative,  but  Brother  Charles  did  not  know 
it.  Some  months  previously  Mgr.  Gu^rin,  desirous  of 
helping  him  and  sending  him  companions,  had  corre- 
sponded with  the  Father  Abbot  of  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges. 
The  latter  replied  : 

"...  You  exhort  me  to  give  him  a  helper,  a  com- 
panion. For  the  moment  I  cannot,  but  could  I  do  so,  I 
should  still  hesitate.  You  know,  Monseigneur,  I  have  the 
deepest  esteem  for  the  heroic  virtues  of  Father  Alberic,  and 
it  is  well  rooted  by  twelve  years  of  intimate  companionship. 
The  only  thing  at  which  I  am  astonished  is  that  he  does 
not  perform  miracles.  I  have  never  seen,  outside  of  books, 
such  holiness  on  the  earth.  But  I  must  confess  that  I  am 
a  little  doubtful  of  his  prudence  and  discretion.  The 
austerities  he  practises,  and  which  he  thinks  of  demanding 
of  his  companions,  are  such  that  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  neophytes  would  soon  succumb  to  them.  Moreover, 
the  intensity  of  mind  that  he  imposes  on  himself  and  wishes 
to  impose  on  his  disciples,  appears  to  me  so  superhuman 
as  to  make  me  dread  lest  such  excessive  tension  of  mind 
might  drive  his  disciple  mad  before  he  had  been  killed  with 
the  excess  of  austerities. 

"  If  you  think  that  we  may  entrust  anyone  to  him  with- 
out danger  for  his  head  and  for  his  life,  I  shall  blindly 
agree  with  your  decision,  and  shall  set  to  work  to  find  him 
a  companion  as  soon  as  possible." 

Staoueli  said  the  same.  One  of  the  monks  of  that  Abbey 
at  the  beginning  of  1902 — questioned,  no  doubt,  by  Com- 
mandant Lacroix — delivered  himself  with  the  same  frank- 
ness about  the  desired  companions. 

"  Our  holy  frie.nd  is  at  the  height  of  his  desires;  thanks 
to  your  fraternal  support,  all  the  personnel  of  Beni-Abbes 
is  devoted  to  him.  .  .  .  You  can  rely  on  him  as  on  a 
perfect  instrument  of  pacification  and  moralization.  He 
will  do  yonder  on  a  small  scale  what  the  great  cardinal  did 
in  Tunis  for  French  influence.  My  only  regret  is  not  to 
have  anybody  to  send  to  second  him.  His  life  is  so  austere, 
that  those  among  the  Superiors  of  our  Order  who  have  the 
sincerest  affection  for  him  judge  him  more  admirable  than 
imitable,  and  fear  to  throw  into  discouragement  any  dis- 
ciples they  might  be  able  to  procure  him.     He  will  there- 


BENI-ABBES  183 

fore  be  probably  obliged  to  live  alone,  or  by  degrees  recruit, 
on  the  spot,  the  elements  of  his  future  community."^ 

Brother  Charles  never  read  these  letters.  He  continued 
to  wait  and  be  resigned.  He  had  not  to  make  his  sacrifice 
just  once ;  he  made  it  yearly,  perhaps  every  month,  as 
long  as  he  lived,  seeing  clearly  that  nobody  came  to  relieve 
him.  And  how  did  he  take  this  hard  trial?  Perfectly. 
It  is  proved  by  the  lines  which  he  chanced  to  write,  not 
knowing  what  was  thought  of  his  plans  : 

"  As  for  companions,  I  shall,  my  very  dear  Father,  from 
the  bottom  of  my  heart,  be  perfectly  content,  whatever 
may  happen.  If  one  day  I  have  some,  I  shall  be  satisfied 
to  see  in  that  the  accomplishment  of  God's  will  and  His 
name  glorified.  If  I  have  none  ...  I  shall  say  to  myself 
that  He  is  glorified  in  so  many  other  ways,  and  that  His 
beatitude  so  little  needs  our  poor  praises  and  hearts  !  If 
I  could — but  I  cannot — do  otherwise  than  lose  myself 
totally  in  union  with  His  divine  will,  I  should  prefer  for 
myself  total  failure  and  perpetual  solitude  and  defeats  all 
round  :  elegi  abjectus  esse.  There  we  see  the  union  with 
the  abjection  and  the  Cross  of  our  divine  Well-Beloved, 
which  to  me  has  always  seemed  most  desirable  of  all.  I 
do  all  I  can  to  have  companions ;  the  means  of  getting  them 
is,  in  my  eyes,  to  sanctify  myself  in  silence.  If  I  had  some, 
I  should  rejoice  in  many  annoyances  and  crosses  :  having 
none,  I  am  perfectly  joyful." 

Indeed,  nature  cannot  be  more  completely  overcome, 
and  this  soul  is  great  among  the  great.  Men  suspected  it : 
even  during  his  life  they  called  Brother  Charles  a  paladin, 
and  they  spoke  truly.  But  several  added,  a  paladin  who 
mistook  his  century.  A  quip  which  marks  an  era.  The 
war  proved  it;  never  were  so  many  paladins  seen  as  in  the 
twentieth  century,  and  in  each  province  of  France,  and  in 
the  most  humble  families.  And  these  were  thoroughly 
men  of  their  time  1  So  was  Charles  de  Foucauld.  In  other 
circumstances  calling  for  devotion  and  self-sacrifice,  he  was 
one  of  them,  born  before  them.  And,  if  he  had  no  disciples, 
who  could  say  that  they  will  not  come  to  him,  now  that 
death  is  over,  and  the  experiment  has  been  made  ?  For 
heroes  are  not  lacking  :  it  is  the  causes  which  have  need  of 
them  that  they  want  to  know. 

^  Letter  of  January  5,  1902.  It  will  be  remembared  that  Abbe 
Hiivelin,  at  the  time  of  the  hermitages  in  the  Holy  Land,  had  expressed 
himself  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Abbot  of  Notre- Dame-des  Neiges 
and  the  Trappist  of  Staueli. 


i84  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  May  5,  1903.— The  old  catechumen  Marie  is  very  ill. 
The  doctor  is  away.  Fearing  that  she  might  die,  I  bap- 
tized her,  on  her  very  clearly  expressed  desire,  after  having 
made  her  recite,  in  Arabic,  the  Pater,  the  Credo,  the  acts 
of  faith,  hope,  charity  and  contrition,  and  having  got  her, 
once  more,  formally  to  ask  for  baptism." 

This  baptism  of  the  poor  Musulman  negress  was  a  mis- 
sionary's joy.  Brother  Charles  communicates  the  news  to  a 
priest  whom  he  knows  to  be  very  devoted  to  the  Saharan 
work;  it  gives  him  an  opportunity  of  humiliating  himself.^ 

"  I  ask  your  prayers  for  the  poor  old  negress  whose  soul 
is  so  white,  who  would  this  evening  be  in  Paradise  were  she 
to  die  now.  I  had  much  better  ask  them  for  the  old  sinner 
now  writing  to  you. 

"  Indeed,  Monsieur  I'Abbe,  it  is  a  sinner  who  thanks  you. 
One  thing  alone  equals  and  surpasses  the  sins  of  my  youth 
— the  infidelities,  the  cowardice,  the  lukewarmness  of  my 
riper  years,  my  daily  wretchedness  :  it  is  the  graces  and 
the  mercies  with  which  God  overwhelms  and  confounds 
me.  Pray,  I  beg  you,  that  I  may  at  last  be  faithful. 
Pray  that  I  may  love  and  serve.  Pray  that  my  life  may 
be  all  alleluias  and  obedience.  .  .  .  Pray  that  this  little 
atom  that  I  am  may  accomplish,  in  the  midst  of  these  mil- 
lions of  souls  which  have  never  heard  Jesus  spoken  of,  the 
work  for  which  He  sent  me.  Pray  for  Morocco  and  for 
the  Sahara,  which  are  unhappily  a  sealed  tomb.  Pray 
that,  like  the  Angels,  we  may  work  with  all  our  strength 
for  the  salvation  of  men,  rejoicing  with  our  whole  soul  in 
the  happiness  of  God." 

The  hermit  was  going  to  receive  another  visit.  P^re 
Guerin,  who  had  set  out  from  Ghardaia,  and  was  making  a 
"  round  of  inspection  "  of  the  White  Fathers'  stations, 
was  expected  at  Beni-Abbes  from  the  first  weeks  of  the 
year  1903.  Brother  Charles  was  delighted;  Captain  Reg- 
nault,  his  friend,  chief  of  the  Arab  Office,  planned  to 
go  as  far  as  Ksabi  to  meet  the  traveller — a  desert  politeness 
which  recalls  the  time  of  the  stage-coaches,  when  our  fathers 
used  to  go  as  far  as  the  next  posting-station  to  meet  a  friend. 
But  the  journey  was  lengthened  ;  after  Tidikelt,  the  Prefect 
Apostolic  of  the  Soudan  visited  Twat,  Gurara ;  there  he 
stopped,  and  Brother  Charles's  letters  followed  him  as  best 
they  could.  I  will  quote  some  fragments  of  this  correspon- 
dence, because  they  show  even  better  than  others  the  ardent 
soul  of  the  solitary,  all  affection,  prayer,  hope,  and  re- 
pentance. 

^  Letter  of  May  25,  1903,  to  Abbe  Laurain. 


BENI-ABBES  185 

He  wrote  on  February  27  : 

"My  very  dear  and  Reverend  Father, 

"  With  my  whole  heart  I  follow  you,  with  thought  and 
prayer  on  your  journey.  .  .  .  Oh,  yes,  with  my  whole  soul 
I  consent,  in  spite  of  my  ardent  desire  to  see  you,  to  your 
arrival  being  delayed  beyond  anticipation,  if  a  journey  far- 
ther to  the  South  is  to  cause  this  delay  :  Adveniat  regnum 
tuum.  .  .  .  My  beloved  Father,  I  am  poor  to  the  last 
degree,  yet,  seek  ac  I  will,  I  find  no  other  desire  within  me 
than  this:  Adveniat  regnum  tuum!  Sanctificetur  nomen 
tuum!  Do  not  think  that  in  my  kind  of  life  the  hope  of 
enjoying  sooner  the  vision  of  the  Well-Beloved  stands  for 
anything  :  no,  I  wish  for  one  thing  only  :  it  is  to  do  what 
pleases  Him  most.  If  I  love  fasting  and  watching,  it  is 
because  Jesus  loved  them  so  much  :  I  envy  His  nights  of 
prayer  on  the  mountain-tops  :  I  would  like  to  keep  Him 
company  :  night  is  the  time  for  the  tete-a-tete.  .  .  .  Alas  ! 
I  am  so  cold  that  I  dare  not  say  I  love  :  but,  I  want  to  love  ! 
That  is  why  I  love  w^atching.  Unhappily,  less  and  less  am 
I  able  to  watch.  .  .  .  As  to  the  fasting,  in  obedience  to 
your  letter,  I  shall  mitigate  it  with  all  my  might.  I  shall 
eat  better  and  drink  some  milk  :  besides,  in  conformity  with 
Abbe  Huvelin's  order,  I  have  for  several  months  been  tak- 
ing great  care  of  myself,  using  condensed  milk,  and  I  eat 
according  to  my  hunger.  ...  Be  certain  that  your  letter 
and  recommendations  will  have  an  immediate  and  serious 
effect  on  my  sleep  and  food.   .   .   . 

"  Thanks  for  what  you  tell  me  of  my  big  negro  Paul  :  you 
will  judge.  ...  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  reason  to  bring 
him  here;  he  is  not  trustworthy.  ...  I  am  not  surprised 
at  Joseph's  flight  [another  young  ransomed  slave]  :  the. 
most  encouraging  example,  which  I  call  to  mind  at  every 
moment  in  order  to  guide  me,  is  that  of  our  Lord's  behaviour 
towards  Judas  Iscariot.  We  are  surrounded  with  nothing 
but  negroes,  Arabs,  and  revellers.  I  think  also  of  the 
Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  which  show  the  Christians  of 
St.  Paul  in  a  very  sorry  light.  It  was  for  our  hope  that 
those  lines  were  written  :  for,  seeing  what  surrounds  us,  we 
are  terrified.  What  is  impossible  for  us  is  possible  for 
God  :  let  us  pray  to  Him  to  send  His  angel  to  roll  the  stone 
away  from  the  tomb.   ..." 

This  sets  us  thinking  :  is  it  not  a  pity  for  a  man  of  such 
worth  to  condemn  himself  to  live  among  such  people  ?  But 
Brother  Charles  is  right :  it  is  just  these  beautiful  souls  so 


i86  CHARLES  I)E  FOUCAULD 

closely  akin  to  Jesus  Christ  that  are  required  to  draw 
together  and  reconcile  the  most  unfortunate. 

While  Father  Gu^rin  continued  his  journey,  raids 
increased  round  Beni-Abbes.  That  home  of  gossip,  the 
desert,  talked  about  the  exploits  of  the  Berbers,  who  were 
attacking  convoys  and  sometimes  carrying  them  off.  The 
Zusfana  tracks  were  not  very  safe.  More  than  one  sign 
suggested  agitation  amongst  the  tribes ;  the  Governor- 
General  of  Algeria,  M.  Revoil,  had  just  sent  in  his  resigna- 
tion;  the  news  from  France  was  depressing;  religious  per- 
secutions were  spreading;  both  men's  Orders  and  women's 
were  upset;  irreproachable  Frenchmen  were  being  unjustly 
stripped  of  their  property,  deprived  of  the  free  choice  of  a 
vocation,  and  driven  to  leave  their  dear  fatherland ;  it  was 
to  be  feared  that  similar  measures  would  be  taken  against 
the  Algerian  missionaries  and  Sisters.  Charles  de  Foucauld 
went  on  writing  the  journal  of  the  poor  Christians  of  Beni- 
Abbes  for  Father  Guerin. 

The  Father's  arrival  was  at  last  announced  for  the  end 
of  May.  Brother  Charles  rejoiced,  and  asked  God  to  bless 
the  journey.  "  May  He  let  you  long  enjoy  His  little  taber- 
nacle at  Beni-Abbes,  and  long  enjoy  your  adoration 
therein  !  I  dream  of  many  days  and  nights  for  you  here 
before  the  Most  Blessed  Sacrament  exposed.  It  must  be 
long  since  you  enjoyed  hours  of  silence  at  the  feet  of  the 
Sacred  Host." 

On  May  17  another  letter  gave  the  arrangements  made 
and  final  advice.  "  Do  not  let  yourself  be  monopolized  by 
the  others  !  They  will  want  to  receive  you  !  There  are  even 
three  officers,  at  this  moment,  messing  together  at  Beni- 
Abbes.  The  first  two  days  they  will  quarrel  about  your 
visit.  ...  It  goes  without  saying  that  you  and  your  suite — 
mehara  included — will  lodge  at  the  Fraternity.  There  you 
are  at  home.  Captain  Regnault  strongly  insisted  on  putting 
you  up  at  the  borj  of  the  Arab  Office,  where  you  might  be 
more  comfortable,  but  I  told  him  your  place  was  under  the 
roof  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  he  understood.  But 
your  cook  will  not  take  a  holiday.  You  would  have  only 
me,  if  your  cook  did  not  lend  a  hand,  and  I  do  not  wish  to 
kill  you  with  my  cooking. 

"  I  shall  receive  you  as  a  poor  man  receives  his  dearly 
beloved  father — that  is  to  say,  very  poorly ;  but  you  will  do 
whatever  you  like,  you  will  be  the  master  :  if  you  wish,  I 
will  be  your  guest.  I  shall  not  press  you  in  any  way,  you 
will  have  complete  liberty,  you  will  be  at  home. 

"  Abdjesu  and  Marie — who  did  not  die,   I  believe  you 


BENI-ABBES  187 

will  find  her  alive — are  impatiently  awaiting  you.  Ten 
times  a  day,  Abdjesu  asks  me  where  is  the  Pope  now, 
Charles  ?  Do  what  I  will,  he  will  not  give  up  calling  you 
the  Pope. 

"  .  .  .  It  goes  without  saying,  that  on  your  arrival  I 
shall  first  of  all  get  you  to  go  into  the  chapel  to  the  feet  of 
the  Master,  of  the  All." 

Father  Guerin  and  his  companion,  Father  Villard,  re- 
mained five  days  at  Beni-Abbes,  from  May  27  to  the  even- 
ing of  June  I.  We  can  imagine  what  must  have  been  the 
first  meeting,  the  prayers  in  common,  then  the  conversa- 
tions of  these  monks  brought  together  for  a  moment  in  the 
course  of  the  long  journeys  which  were  their  vocation. 
They  can  hardly  have  spoken  of  what  other  travellers  will- 
ingly relate — their  impressions  of  the  route,  of  the  misery 
or  discomfort  of  the  resting-places,  of  the  beauty  of  the 
landscape  :  they  were  taken  up  with  the  subject  that  was, 
is,  and  shall  be,  the  greatest ;  with  souls,  with  the  ignorant 
and  hostile  multitude  which  they  met  in  dry  mud  houses 
and  under  tents,  and  with  the  share  of  eternal  life  which  is 
nevertheless  promised  to  every  one  of  these  poor  people. 

We  know  that  on  May  31,  Whit-Sunday,  Father  Guerin 
celebrated  the  principal  Mass,  and  the  diary  bears  this 
note;  "The  first  time  for  many  centuries,  absolutely  the 
first  time,  perhaps,  three  priests  are  at  Beni-Abbes." 
Presently  we  shall  see  a  few  of  the  observations  that  Father 
Guerin  made  in  reference  to  the  missionary  methods  of 
Father  de  Foucauld.  I  will  first  quote  the  letter  which  the 
latter  wrote  to  his  Superior,  two  days  after  P^re  Guerin  had 
quitted  the  hermitage  plateau  and  descended  the  bank  of 
the  Zusfana  in  the  evenhing,  taking  the  track  which  leads  in 
the  direction  of  Taghit.  He  had  just  heard  that  a  lady 
named  Tavernier,  a  kinswoman  of  Pere  Gu6rin — he  did 
not  know  how  close — had  just  died,  and  to  console  him  he 
sent  him  such  condolences  as  only  one  near  to  God  can 
give  or  receive.  What  a  distance  between  our  formulae, 
our  efforts  to  console  our  neighbour,  our  poor  inventions, 
even  those  into  which  we  have  put  our  whole  heart,  and 
this  sort  of  hymn  of  probation  and  alleluia  of  suffering, 
written  hastily  on  a  small  sheet  of  paper  by  Father  de 
Foucauld  from  his  renewed  solitude  : 

"  Well-beloved  and  much  venerated  Father, 

"  Sorrows  follow  closely  upon  joys.  .  .  .  It  is  in  sorrow 
that  I  write  to  you  to-day,  for  I  know  that  your  sojourn  in 
Taghit  will  not  be  spent  without  sadness.   ...     It  is  by 


i88  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

the  Cross  that  Jesus  wished  to  save  men,  and  by  it  he  con- 
tinues to  save  them;  His  apostles,  who  carry  on  His  Hfe 
here  below,  do  good  in  proportion  to  their  holiness,  but 
only  on  condition  of  suffering  and  according  to  their  suffer- 
ings. ...  In  order  to  be  an  alter  Jesus,  if  %ve  are  no  longer 
to  live,  but  Jesus  live  in  us;  we  must  above  all  things  be 
holy,  before  all  burn  with  love  like  His  Heart ;  we  must  also 
carry  the  cross  and  be  crowned  with  the  crown  of  thorns. 

"  The  trial  which  you  feel  is  a  divine  dew  for  the  Sahara 
mission  :  all  your  sorrows,  all  your  tears  are  souls.  .  .  . 
It  is  by  the  crosses  which  Jesus  sends  us,  much  more  than 
by  mortifications  of  our  own  choice,  that  we  drink  of  the 
chalice  of  the  Spouse  and  shall  be  baptized  with  His  bap- 
tism, for  He  knows  much  better  than  we  how  to  crucify 
us.  .  .  . 

"Well-beloved  Father,  I  do  not  say  to  you:  Be 
resigned ;  I  say  :  Bless  and  thank  God,  lose  yourself  in 
thanksgiving;  Jesus  is  giving  you  souls;  your  suffering  is 
their  salvation.  ...  If  you  could  only  suffer  much  in 
order  to  save  many  !  .  .  .  If  you  could  only  die  of  grief 
to  save  the  greatest  number  possible !  .  .  .  How  good 
Jesus  is  to  share  His  chalice  with  us;  how  good  He  is  to 
mark  the  month  of  His  Heart  by  piercing  yours ;  how  good 
He  is  to  hear  your  prayer  and  make  you  suffer  in  order  to 
make  you  a  saviour  ! 

"  I  don't  know  if  you  feel  as  I  do  :  separated  so  long 
from  souls  so  dear,  when  I  hear  of  the  departure  of  one  of 
them  for  the  fatherland,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  not  a 
separation,  but  the  beginning  of  reunion;  I  can  speak  to 
them  and  they  hear  me ;  pray  to  them,  and  I  hope  they  help 
me;  it  is  the  beginning  of  eternal  union. 

"  I  felt  myself  alone  for  the  first  time  for  many  years, 
on  Monday  evening,  when  you  gradually  disappeared 
in  the  dusk.  I  then  understood  and  felt  that  I  was  a 
hermit.  .  .  .  Then  I  remembered  that  I  had  Jesus,  and  I 
said:  'Jesus,  I  love  You.'  .  .  .  Well-beloved  Father, 
how  much  I  thank  you  for  your  visit,  for  the  good  you  have 
done  me.  ...  I  shall  do  my  best  to  conform  to  all  you 
said  in  order  to  mend,  improve,  and  correct  myself  accord- 
ing to  your  wishes  and  desires. 

"  P.S. — Tell  Abdjesu  that  I  embrace  and  bless  him, 
complexans  eos,  et  iniponens  manus  super  illos.  ...  If  he 
ever  asks  my  name,  tell  him  that  I  am  called  Abdjesu.  Pray 
that  I  may  be  so  I 

"Yesterday,  a  long  visit  from  two  men  of  Tafilelt,  two 


BENI-ABBES  189 

marabouts.  They  heard  you  spoken  of,  and  asked  me 
whether  you  had  gone  to  Tafilelt.  '  No,  he  will  go  another 
time  I' — '  Marhaba  !  Does  he  travel  on  foot?' — '  No,  on  a 
camel.' — This  question  asked  by  marabouts,  made  me 
reflect.  .  .  .  They  went  on  foot,  leading  their  asses.  .  .  . 
We  are  disciples  of  Jesus,  we  want  Jesus  to  live  in  us, 
Christianus  alter  Christus,  and  we  are  always  talking  of 
poverty  .  .  .  they  are  disciples  of  Mahomet.  I  turn  to  the 
example  of  our  brethren  tne  Apostles.  .  .  .  We  are  in 
such  infidel  countries  as  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  were  in.  .  .  . 
If  we  wish  to  do  their  work,  let  us  follow  their  example.  .  .  . 
"  Every  time  I  pray  to  Jesus,  the  same  answer  seems  to 
come  back  :  '  Do  miracles  for  Me,  and  I  will  do  them  for 
thee.'  .  .  ." 

Now  that  the  Vicar-Apostolic  of  the  Sahara  has  left  Beni- 
Abbes,  let  us  again  open  the  diary,  and  we  shall  know 
what  were  the  conversations  of  Fathers  Gu^rin  and  de 
Foucauld. 

"/wwe  I,  1903. — Mgr.  Gu^rin  left  for  Taghit.  Here  are 
some  of  his  remarks  : 

"  ist.  Talk  a  good  deal  to  the  natives,  and  not  of  things 
commonplace,  but  always  bring  the  talk  back  to  God;  if 
we  cannot  preach  Jesus  to  them  because  they  would  cer- 
tainly not  accept  such  teaching,  prepare  them  little  by  little 
to  receive  it,  by  unceasingly  preaching  natural  religion  in 
our  talks.  .  .  .  Speak  much  and  .always  so  as  to  improve 
and  uplift  and  bring  souls  nearer  to  God,  and  prepare  the 
ground  for  the  Gospel. 

"  2nd.  Arrange  benches  and  shelters  in  the  yards,  make 
visitors  sit  down,  and  don't  leave  them  standing.  .  .  . 
When  people  are  sitting  conversation  more  easily  takes  a 
serious  and  intimate  turn. 

"  3rd.  Make  temporal  alms  help  the  soul  by  speaking  of 
God,  and  give  the  spiritual  alms  of  good  instruction  to 
those  to  whom  you  are  giving  material  alms. 

**4th.  The  work  of  evangelists  in  Musulman  countries 
is  not  only  to  take  children  and  try  and  inculcate  Christian 
principles  in  them,  but  also  to  convert  grown  men  as  far  as 
possible.  .  .  .  Children  will  not  be  able  to  make  the 
evangelical  seed  cast  into  their  souls  germinate,  if  they  do 
not  find  the  society  in  which  they  live  somewhat  prepared 
beforehand  and  well  disposed.  Besides,  all  men  are  made 
for  the  light,  for  Jesus;  all  are  His  heritage,  and  not  one, 
if  he  has  good-will,   is  incapable  of  knowing  and  loving 


I90  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Him.  .  .  .  Musulmans  are  then  by  no  means  unfitted  for 
conversion.  .  .  .  Let  us  try  fiard  to  evangelize  men  of 
riper  years,  first  by  conversations  turning  only  to  God  and 
natural  religion  ;  then,  according  to  circumstances,  giving 
to  each  such  truth  as  we  hope  to  get  him  to  accept. 

"5th.  While  evangelizing  the  poor,  do  not  neglect  the 
rich.  Our  Lord  did  not  neglect  them  ;  neither  did  St.  Paul, 
His  imitator.  On  account  of  their  influence  their  reforma- 
tion is  a  blessing  to  the  poor.  Their  sincerity  is  less  doubt- 
ful, there  is  less  reason  to  fear  that  they  are  '  soupers ' 
listening  to  Christian  truths  only  for  material  interests. 

"  6th.   I  build  too  much  :  stop,  don't  go  on  building.  .  .  . 

"7th.  The  Musulmans  of  the  Sahara  receive  their  false 
religion  solely  through  confidence  in  their  ancestors,  in 
their  marabouts,  in  those  who  surround  them,  solely 
through  the  authority  which  these  have  over  them,  and 
without  a  shadow  of  reasoning  or  verification.  .  .  .  We 
ought,  then,  to  try  more  to  gain  their  confidence,  and  to 
acquire  more  authority  than  those  who  surround  them  and 
indoctrinate  them.  For  that,  three  things  are  necessary  : 
1st,  to  be  very  holy;  2nd,  to  show  ourselves  to  the  natives 
a  great  deal ;  and  3rd,  to  speak  a  good  deal  to  them.  Holi- 
ness, which  is  the  main  thing,  will  sooner  or  later  give  us 
the  authority  and  inspire  confidence.  Constantly  seeing 
us  will  bring'  them  round  to  our  cause,  and,  if  we  are  holy, 
that  will  be  preaching  without  words,  and  strengthening 
our  authority. 

"8th.  To  bring  Musulmans  to  God,  must  we  try  to 
make  them  esteem  us  by  excelling  in  things  which  they 
esteem  ;  for  instance,  by  being  audacious,  a  good  horseman, 
a  good  shot,  and  slightly  ostentatious  in  liberality,  etc., 
or  by  practising  the  Gospel  in  its  abjection  and  poverty, 
going  about  on  foot  and  without  luggage,  working  with 
our  hands  as  Jesus  in  Nazareth,  living  poorly,  like  a  petty 
workman  ?  It  is  not  from  the  Chambaa  that  we  ought  to 
learn  to  live,  but  from  Jesus.  .  .  .  We  ought  not  to  take 
lessons  from  them,  but  to  give  them  some.  Jesus  said  to 
us  :  *  Follow  Me.'  St.  Paul  said  to  us  :  '  Be  ye  imitators 
of  me  as  I  also  am  of  Christ.'  .  .  .  Jesus  knew  the  best 
way  of  bringing  souls  to  Himself,  and  St.  Paul  was  His 
incomparable  disciple.  Do  we  hope  to  do  better  than 
they?  Musulmans  do  not  make  a  mistake.  Of  a  priest 
who  is  a  good  horseman,  a  good  shot,  etc.,  they  say  :  '  He 
is  an  excellent  rider,  none  shoot  better  than  he  ' ;  and  may- 
be they  will  add,  '  He  would  be  worthy  of  being  a  Chambi  !' 
They  do  not  say  :   '  He  is  a  saint.'     Let  a  missionary  lead 


BENl-ABBES  191 

the  life  of  St.  Anthony  in  the  desert,  they  will  all  say  :  '  He 
is  a  saint.'  For  natural  reasons  they  will  often  give  their 
friendship  to  the  first,  to  the  Chambi ;  if  they  give  their 
confidence  in  matters  of  the  soul,  they  will  only  give  it  to 
the  second." 

The  question  thus  treated  between  Fathers  Gu^rin  and 
de  Foucauld  is  of  great  importance  :  it  is,  besides,  for 
France  and  other  nations,  the  first  of  colonial  questions.  I 
must  therefore  stop  a  little  and  say,  in  the  first  place,  that 
it  is  but  little  known,  and  that,  generally,  it  is  answered 
off-hand. 

In  drawing  rooms  and  at  meetings,  if  there  is  talk  of  the 
better  administration  of  our  African  possessions,  one  is 
certain  to  hear  this  opinion  expressed:  "  Musulmans  are 
incapable  of  conversion";  or,  as  they  used  to  say  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  :  "  You  can't  asso- 
ciate or  mingle  with  them."  It  became  a  maxim.  Un- 
doubtedly, it  grieves,  it  galls  several  of  those  who  hear  it, 
but  it  finds  few  contradictors  among  them.  Unhappily, 
the  immense  world  which  it  condemns  and  despairs  of  is 
far  from  our  eyes.  We  do  not  see  clearly  enough  the  injus- 
tice we  help  to  commit  by  thus  keeping  silence.  Those 
whose  purely  worldly  interests  nearly  always  direct  such 
efforts  do  not  measure  the  danger  that  the  very  development 
of  our  colonial  power  makes  us  run,  if  we  do  not  know  how 
to  conciliate  men's  minds  and  hearts.  Or  even,  in  spite  of 
many  warnings,  they  imagine— and  it  is  an  infirmity  of 
the  intelligence  called  "practical  "  —  that  mechanical  and 
economic  civilization  has  the  power  of  changing  men  funda- 
mentally, and  of  transforming  into  faithful  friends  nations 
whose  religion  stirs  them  up,  to  despise  and  curse  us,  and 
who  learn,  in  the  tent  or  earth-walled  house,  to  repeat  the 
proverb  :  "  Kiss  the  hand  you  cannot  cut  off." 

Yet  note  how  inhuman  and  uncharitable  is  this  wide- 
spread opinion  !  Several  hundred  millions  of  men  must 
therefore  find  it  impossible  to  know  the  truth  and  rise  to 
true  civilization.  The  Musulman  must  be  perpetually  an 
inferior  being.  There  must  be  on  earth  two  sorts  of  men, 
pagan,  Jewish,  and  Buddhists,  who  can  perceive  the 
transcendent  beauty  of  the  Christian  religion,  be  converted 
and  fraternize  with  Christ's  people,  and  then  the  Musul- 
mans, incapable  of  understanding  or  incapable  of  the  act 
of  will  which  enters  into  all  conversions?  Can  we  grant 
this  ?     Can  so  great  an  insult  be  offered  to  men  ?  x 

Is  it  not  in  the  first  place  offered  to  God  ?     Does  it  not 


192  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

deny  His  power,  His  grace,  His  express  word,  since  He 
ordered  the  Gospel  to  be  preached  to  all  nations  ?  Reason, 
and  revelation,  which  exceeds  and  satisfies  it,  forbid  us  to 
condemn  any  human  race,  any  followers  of  a  false  religion, 
so  cruelly. 

Such  is  the  objection  on  principle.  I  shall  presently 
return  to  that  which  they  claim  to  draw  from  experience. 
What  is  beyond  doubt  is  that  successive  French  govern- 
ments in  the  last  century  and  in  this,  have  acted  as  if  it  were 
certain,  a  priori,  that  Musulmans  cannot  become  Christians. 

Ninety-one  years  ago  France  began  to  conquer  Algeria. 
Since  then  an  immense  territory  has  been  added  to  the  first 
coasts  on  which  French  troops  landed  in  1830.  Since  then, 
also,  many  efforts  have  been  made  to  assimilate  the  natives. 
The  African  empire  has  been  provided  with  roads,  railways, 
tramways,  post  and  telegraph  offices ;  the  French  have 
spread  new  crops  or  new  agricultural  methods,  established 
hospitals  and  dispensaries,  built  schools  where  everything 
is  taught  except  the  Christian  religion.  Are  the  natives 
nearer  to  them  in  mind  than  at  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
quest ?  Readily  making  use  of  several  of  the  advantages 
which  their  civilization  has  brought  them,  have  they 
accepted  it,  and  can  it  be  said  that  they  consider  themselves 
as  the  faithful  subjects  of  France  and  for  ever  ? 

It  is  enough  to  know  slightly  the  history  of  the  last  thirty 
or  forty  years,  not  to  speak  of  the  regions  recently  annexed, 
but  only  of  the  three  old  departments — Algiers,  Oran,  and 
Constantine — to  reply  :  No.  Even  less  is  enough ;  just 
walk  for  an  hour  in  the  midst  of  Musulman  crowds,  and 
read  their  looks.  Doubtless,  during  the  Great  War,  thou- 
sands of  Arabs  or  Berbers,  French  subjects,  came  and 
fought  alongside  of  our  metropolitan  troops,  and  many 
died  for  our  salvation. 

In  that  there  is  a  proof  of  loyalty  which  will  never  be 
forgotten.  But  many  tribes  and  nations,  since  the  world 
has  been  a  world,  have  made  war  to  uphold  causes  which 
were  not  those  of  their  heart,  but  rather  of  their  courage, 
interest,  or  pride.  It  would  be  false,  and  therefore  dan- 
gerous, to  believe  that,  since  1914,  the  Musulman  popula- 
tions of  North  Africa  have  become  assimilated  to  us  or 
simply  come  near  to  us,  and  that  between  them  and  us 
there  are  the  only  durable  bonds  of  understanding,  esteem, 
and  friendship. 

The  fault  of  this  belongs  to  the  men  of  very  different 
origin  and  talents  but  similar  in  their  illusions  or  prejudices, 
who  have  guided  our  African  policy  during  the  last  hun- 


BEN  I.  ABBES  193 

dred  years.  They  have  never  understood  that  our  civiliza- 
tion is  essentially  Christian.  Some  of  them  have  never 
been  able  to  cast  aside  all  religion  for  themselves;  they 
cannot  prevent  all  our  national  history  being  Catholic ;  our 
feeling,  habits,  manners,  and  charity  from  showing  the  stamp 
of  our  Faith.  In  our  present  state,  if  they  fail  to  recognize 
this  truth,  it  appears  evident  to  the  Musulmans,  the  in- 
habitants of  our  colonies,  who  call  all  Frenchmen  Christians. 
In  this  the  Musulmans  are  in  the  right  against  the  very 
short-sighted  politicians.  They  think  that  this  historic  power, 
against  which  theirs  has  in  the  past  clashed  more  than  once, 
has  remained  fundamentally  the  same.  We  are  for  them 
the  Roumis.  Our  State  neutrality,  our  acts  of  persecution 
and  speeches,  even  the  favours  imprudently  accorded  to 
Islamism,  do  not  prevent  them  from  seeing  that  the  voca- 
tion of  France  has  not  changed.  And  besides,  if  ever — 
of  which  there  is  no  appearance — the  French  were  to 
abjure  the  Catholic  Faith,  they  would  gain  nothing  from  the 
African  Musulmans,  and  more  surely  and  irretrievably  earn 
the  contempt  of  such  religious  races. 

This  ignoring  or  negation  of  souls  is  an  error  with  such 
inevitable  consequences  that,  in  seeking  to  conciliate  the 
natives,  we  have  often  worked  against  our  own  interests. 

I  will  give  two  proofs  only  : 

In  the  first  place,  we  made  mistakes  in  organizing  the 
schools.  The  evidence  abounds  :  I  quote  only  one  of  the 
most  recent.  In  its  number  of  December  11,  1920,  a  French 
Review,  La  Renaissance,  published  an  article  on  "  La  Poli- 
tique musulmane,"  by  an  African.  The  author  denounces 
this  sort  of  "  educational  fury  "  which  everywhere  for  the 
children  of  the  primitive  races  in  Algeria  has  set  up 
schools,  the  main  business  of  which  is  to  exalt  "  liberty, 
the  rights  of  citizens,  the  electorate,  and  the  whole  con- 
sidered as  the  supreme  good";  an  ideology  baneful  in 
France,  and  still  more  so  between  the  sea  and  desert.  What 
results  could  we  expect  from  a  teaching  so  inappropriate? 
Exactly  such  as  have  followed.  "  In  a  general  way  ex- 
perience has  shown,  that  the  more  the  natives  had  acquired 
French  culture,  the  more  they  had  a  tendency,  in  secret  or 
openly,  to  hate  us  :  this  manifestly  disappointing  statement 
represents  the  unanimous  opinion  of  those  who  have  im- 
partially watched  the  results." 

Publicists,  witnesses  acquainted  with  the  errors  com- 
mitted, and  foreseeing  the  dangers  ahead,  have  proposed 
this  remedy  :  that  the  education  given  to  the  natives  should 
be  henceforth  quite  elementary.     That  is  not  worthy  of  a 

13 


194  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

nation  such  as  ours.  Besides,  we  do  not  see  how  the  Httle 
Arabs,  remaining  ignorant  or  nearly  so,  would  love  us  so 
much  better  because  they  had  learned  less.  The  evil  com- 
plained of  would  not  be  cured.  It  lies  in  the  very  principle 
of  the  education  given.  Exalting  the  rights  of  the  indi- 
vidual, and  offering  him  as  a  first  truth  the  proud  and  fal- 
lacious notion  of  equality,  no  wonder  it  promotes  still  fur- 
ther the  Arabs'  spirit  of  insubordination.  It  spreads 
amongst  their  sons  scorn  of  their  environment  and  ordinary 
calling,  and  urges  them  to  leave  home  surroundings  for 
what  is  called  "  a  good  place."  It  thus  makes  a  great  num- 
ber of  nondescripts,  who  will  be  the  disillusioned  of  to- 
morrow and  next  day,  the  irreconcilable  enemies  of  the 
French  authorities.^  Lastly,  as  it  furnishes  the  little 
Arabs  with  no  morality  beyond  an  ensemble  of  precepts 
without  obligation  or  sanction,  it  cannot  seriously  correct 
any  fault.  It  leaves  him  provided  with  a  collection  of 
proverbs,  hygienic  recommendations,  fragments  of  elec- 
tion speeches,  in  presence  of  all  the  passions,  all  the  cupidi- 
ties, all  the  temptations  of  revolt  that  he  has  in  his  blood, 
through  his  age,  race,  and  religion ;  and  if  he  succumbs,  as 
almost  necessarily  he  will,  we  have  provided  him  with  the 
means  of  being  socially  more  dangerous  than  his  fathers, 
since  he  will  be  better  educated. 

The  other  error  consists  in  favouring  and  spreading 
Mohammedanism.  That  we  have  deliberately  done  it,  no 
examples  are  needed  to  show;  they  abound,  and  the  Mufti 
of  Algiers  could  reasonably  say  to  a  friend  of  his  :  "Our 
religion  is  the  only  one  recognized  by  the  French  State." 
Now,  the  history  of  fourteen  centuries  and  the  daily  ex- 
perience of  those  who  live  among  Musulman  populations 
tell  us  that  animosity  against  the  Christian  is,  in  fact, 
developed  and  taught  in  the  law  of  the  Koran.  One  of 
the  men  who  is  an  authority  on  these  questions,  the  Dutch- 
man Snouck  Hurgronje,  said  not  long  ago  (1911)  in  one 
of  his  celebrated  lectures  at  the  Academy  of  the  adminis- 
trators of  the  Dutch  Indies  :  "  According  to  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  sacred  laws  [of  the  Musulmans],  it  is  in  violent 
measures  that  the  very  best  means  of  propagating  the  faith 
are  to  be  sought.  This  faith  considers  all  unbelievers  as 
enemies  of  Allah.  A  small  party  of  Mohammedans  actually 
appear,  it  is  true,  as  partisans  of  the  adaptation  of  Islam  to 

1  M.  Jules  Cambon,  then  Governor-General  of  Algeria,  said  in  the 
Senate,  January  8, 1894  :  "  I  have  asked  myself  if,  in  developing  [primary 
instruction]  beyond  measure  in  a  people  which  is  not  yet  fitted  to 
receive  it,  we  are  not  going  to  make  a  lot  of  wasters." 


BENI-ABBES  i95 

modern  conceptions,  but  they  represent  as  little  the  religion 
of  which  they  are  adepts  by  birth,  as  Modernists  do  that  of 
the  Catholic  Church.  On  this  question  no  divergencies  are 
found  between  learned  legists  of  the  different  schools  in 
successive  periods."  We  may  conclude  from  this  that  any 
act  of  public  authority  which  tends  to  develop  the  teaching 
of  the  Koran  is  directed  against  ourselves.  It  is  enough 
not  to  infringe  the  religious  liberty  of  Musulmans,  to  leave 
them  their  worship  and  customs,  to  be  perfectly  just  and 
good  to  them  :  ^  if  we  go  any  farther,  we  are  weak,  and 
even  rather  more  than  weak. 

When  these  truths  of  common  sense  have  been  recognized 
by  those  who  direct  the  Musulman  policy  of  France,  what 
ought  to  be  done  ?  Neither  our  heart  nor  interest  counsel 
us  to  restrict  our  ambition  to  some  inferior  and  precarious 
economic  alliance  with  the  Musulman  peoples  who  live  in 
the  French  possessions.  As  the  Dutchman  quoted  a 
moment  ago  said  finely,  "  Material  annexation  must  be 
followed  by  spiritual  annexation."  Now  that  is  an  aspira- 
tion one  may  make  without  being  a  Catholic.  From  the 
day  on  which  the  Musulman  understands  the  beauty  of 
Catholicism,  he  will  have  understood  France;  and  in  pro- 
portion as  he  admires  Christian  charity,  he  will  love  us. 

Does  this  mean  that  we  should  just  try  what  can  be  done 
to  convert  the  Musulmans  and  make  them  Christians?  The 
prescription  would  be  ambiguous  :  it  would  not  specify 
how  slowly,  gently,  and  fraternally  such  a  conversion,  if 
God  permits  it,  is  to  be  accomplished.  It  is  better  to  say 
this  :  France,  being  responsible  for  a  numerous  colonial 
family,  must  at  last  take  cognizance  of  her  whole  maternal 
mission  ;  and  that  Musulman,  as  well  as  pagan,  subjects  of 
a  great  nation — Catholic  by  its  history,  its  genius,  by  its 
whole  soul,  and  even  by  its  trials — must  be  able  to  know 
Catholicism  and  come  to  it,  if  they  wish. 

At  any  rate,  they  will  know  it,  and  that,  in  the  first  place, 
by  its  charity.  Charity  will  be  its  ambassador.  So  let 
charity  go  to  them ;  let  it  not  be  shackled  and  suspected,  but 

^  The  Palestinian  law  of  the  Crusaders  shows  the  dispositions  inspired 
in  our  fathers  by  this  spirit  of  justice,  and  by  the  respect  of  rehgious 
men  for  the  word  of  rehgious  men,  Thus  the  oath  of  the  Sai-acen, 
taken  on  the  Koran  in  the  commercial  court,  was  as  good^as  the  oath  of 
the  Christian  on  the  Gospels  or  of  the  Jew  or  Samaritan  on  the  Penta- 
teuch. In  case  of  a  dispute  between  a  Saracen  and  a  Frank,  the 
^Saracen  got  his  discharge  by  swearing  on  the  Koran  {Assises  dc  Jeru- 
salem, t.  xi.,  chap.  241  and  60).  This  example  is  all  the  more  significant 
as  in  ordinary  Musulman  law  the  testimony  of  a  Christian  or  a  Jew  is 
not  received  against  a  Musulman. 


196  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

amicably  supported.  In  our  own  possessions,  we  are  in 
the  presence  of  an  immense  population,  compacted  of  errors, 
agelong  furies  and  hatreds,  some  of  which  are  justified. 
The  first  work  to  be  done  is  "to  break  in  the  Musulmans," 
according  to  the  expression  of  Father  de  Foucauld  and  his 
friend  General  Laperrine,  who  so  often  led  "  training 
tours  "  in  the  desert.  In  doing  that  our  officials  and  officers 
can  play  a  magnificent  role.  Through  them  may  the  justice 
of  France — that  is  to  say.  Christian  justice,  the  kindness 
of  France — that  is  to  say,  Christian  kindness,  become 
manifest  to  those  who  thirst  for  something  more  than  water 
from  the  wells.  But  let  charity,  both  adroit  and  mighty, 
for  two  thousand  years  familiar  with  all  human  suffer- 
ing, be  also  free  to  console,  care,  heal,  and  endure,  as 
evil  and  suffering  endure,  by  self-renewal.  Let  it  found  its 
asylums  and  schools,  its  dispensaries  and  hospitals,  its 
orphanages  for  young  boys  and  girls,  its  homes  for  the  old 
who  have  been  left  in  the  lurch  by  all  men.  It  will  take  in 
the  unfortunate  without  testimonials  of  character  and  con- 
duct, without  asking  for  police  records,  nor  concern  itself 
with  the  beliefs  of  its  clients.  It  will  preach  its  God 
silently,  if  it  is  so  splendid  that  they  cannot  help  seeing 
that  its  radiancy  is  divine.  That  will  take  years,  perhaps 
many  years.  It  has  all  the  years  before  it,  and  so  has 
France  :  they  can  wait. 

Surely,  combining  its  efforts  with  those  I  have  already 
spoken  of,  it  will  win  this  grand  triumph  :  that  the  Musul- 
man  peoples,  without  yet  accepting  Christian  doctrine, 
will  at  least  have  the  knowledge,  the  esteem,  and  here  and 
there  the  secret  desire  of  it.  And  if,  later,  Musulmans,  thus 
persuaded  that  there  is  nothing  in  Islam  which  is  as  good 
as  charitable  and  religious  France,  came  to  say:  "  If  the 
disciple  is  thus,  what  must  the  Master  be  ?  Teach  us  the 
law  which  makes  you  so  great  of  heart."  What  a  gain  it 
would  be  to  the  State,  what  a  victory  for  France  in  Northern 
Africa !  It  would  mean  a  regenerated  world,  a  greater 
France,  our  authority  recognized,  our  future  assured,  the 
highest  glory  that  a  civilized  nation  can  desire  and  obtain  : 
creation  in  its  own  likeness  I 

Here  we  come  into  collision  with  the  commonplace 
objection  :  Musulmans,  in  fact,  do  not  get  converted ;  there 
is,  so  to  speak,  no  example  of  it.  This  is  a  less  grave 
error  than  to  pretend  that  they  cannot  be  converted ;  but  it 
is  one. 

All  the  apostolic  life  of  Father  de  Foucauld  was  founded 
on  the  conviction  that  it  is  possible,  by  prayer  and  example, 


BENI-ABBES  197 

and  by  preaching  which  takes  into  account  the  inveterate- 
ness  of  their  errors  and  the  weakness  of  poor  human 
wills  wrestling  with  the  centuries  and  with  a  whole  popu- 
lation, to  lead  Musulmans  gradually  into  the  full  grace 
of  Christ. 

He  shared  the  hope  which  had  sustained  Cardinal 
Lavigerie;  the  hope  of  the  Church  shown  in  that  letter 
of  Pope  Leo  IX,  conferring  on  the  Bishop  of  Carthage, 
at  the  moment  of  the  worst  Arab  persecutions,  the  title 
of  "first  Archbishop  after  the  Roman  Pontiff,  and 
Major  Metropolitan  of  all  Africa,"  and  proclaiming  that 
this  privilege  would  last  till  the  end  of  time,  "whether 
ruined  Carthage  remain  a  desert  or  one  day  revive  in 
glory."^ 

The  difficulty  is  not  so  much  in  persuading  a  Musulman 
of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  as  of  ensuring  the 
perseverance  of  the  convert.  Arabs  who  become  Chris- 
tians can  no  longer  live  where  they  used  to  live.  They  are 
outlawed.  Everything  is  put  in  motion  to  make  them 
abandon  the  Faith ;  even  their  life  is  threatened,  and  the 
fear  of  seeing  them  apostatize — that  is  to  say,  loaded 
with  a  monstrous  crime — is  the  reason  which  often  prevents 
the  request  of  catechumens  from  being  granted,  and  their 
being  baptized.  The  time  of  collective  preparation  for 
receiving  the  Faith  cannot  be  short.  The  public  mind 
must  be  changed  before  achieving  individual  conversions. 
Dwelling  in  centres  of  Musulman  population,  self-sacri- 
fice, charity,  the  school,  and  conversation  on  high  points 
open  to  reason,  ought  to  prepare  the  preaching  of  revealed 
doctrine.  Those  who  have  most  loved  Africa  have  not 
ceased  recommending  this  method.  They  did  not  pretend 
that  the  Musulman  was  unconvertible. 

After  having  made  a  summary  of  Father  Guerin's  coun- 
sels. Father  de  Foucauld  quoted  in  his  diary  passages  from 
the  life  of  St.  Peter  Claver,  who,  in  Cartagena  of  the 
Indies,  devoted  himself  to  the  conversion  of  the  Moors. 
The  book  relates  that  the  Saint  by  his  charity  vanquished 
many  of  these  fierce  and  hostile  souls.  "  As  soon  as 
Father  Claver  heard  of  the  arrival  of  any  fleet  loaded  with 
Moors,  he  at  once  went  to  find  them,  either  on  the  vessels, 
or  in  houses  in  the  town ;  he  tried  by  degrees  to   make 

^  The  text  is  inscribed  in  gilt  capitals  on  the  walls  of  the  new  basilica 
of  Carthage,  as  Louis  Bertrand  reminds  us  in  his  fine  book,  Les  Villes  d'Or, 
in  which  he  is  one  of  the  first  to  urge  with  such  force,  that  "  in 
re-entering  Africa  we  are  only  recovering  a  lost  province  of  Latinity." 
(Paris,  1921. 


198  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

friends  with  them,  interested  himself  in  their  affairs,  asked 
them  if  they  needed  anything.  At  the  same  time,  he  gave 
them  to  understand  that  they  could  make  use  of  him,  and 
that  he  was  ready  to  help  them  in  anything  that  depended 
upon  him.  In  a  word,  he  did  so  well,  by  his  persever- 
ance and  services,  that  he  won  them  insensibly  to  Jesus 
Christ." 

The  history  of  the  Franciscan  missions,  of  the  Trini-, 
tarians  and  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  a  captive  of  Barbary 
pirates,  would  no  doubt  afford  similar  examples.  We  could 
easily  name  Musulmans  converted  by  a  sort  of  miracle  of 
grace,  or  through  meditation  on  Christian  dogmas,  or 
by  the  study  of  mysticism,  or  through  admiration  for 
the  superior  morals  of  Christians.  There  were  conver- 
sions of  entire  Musulman  families  (the  families  of  Emirs 
Chehab  and  Bellama  in  Syria  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century).  There  were  mass  conversions  of  Musulman 
colonies — often  Berbers — in  various  Spanish  provinces, 
the  conversion  of  the  Maragatos  around  Leon  and  Astorga 
in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries ;  of  the  husbandmen  of 
Majorca  in  the  thirteenth  ;  of  those  of  Jaen  in  the  four- 
teenth, thanks  to  the  preaching  and  example  of  St.  Peter 
Paschasius;  and  the  same  in  Italy  and  Crete.  In  our  time, 
an  Orthodox  Russian  Society  devoted  itself  to  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Kazan  Musulmans,  and  succeeded  by  a  method 
which  approaches  that  of  Father  de  Foucauld.  But  have 
we  not,  quite  near  us,  the  spectacle  of  groups  of  Kabyle 
Christians  round  the  stations  of  the  White  Fathers  ?  Be- 
ginnings, no  doubt,  small  Christian  societies  disseminated 
amidst  eleven  often  distant  points  of  this  mountainous 
country,  each  composed  of  thirty,  forty,  or  fifty  families, 
but  the  living  proof  that  it  is  possible  to  bring  Musulmans 
to  Catholicism.  I  visited  in  Upper  Kabylia  one  of  these 
missionary  posts,  that  of  Beni-Mengallet.  I  heard  High 
Mass  amidst  a  congregation  of  eighty  people.  The  men 
and  little  boys  occupied  the  upper,  the  women  and  young 
girls  the  lower  part  of  the  chapel.  I  looked  at  these  young 
Berber  husbandmen,  white-faced,  with  moustaches,  solid, 
grave,  attentive,  and  I  found  them,  except  their  costume, 
very  like  our  French  peasants.  After  Mass,  I  chatted 
with  them,  for  they  know  French,  In  the  eyes  of  most,  I 
read  that  welcome,  that  confidence  prepared  from  afar,  in 
which  one  is  not  deceived.  The  mission  began  about 
thirty  years  ago.  There,  as  elsewhere,  it  has  been  favoured 
but  little  by  the  authorities  which  stand  for  France  in 
Algeria ;  it  has  often  been  thwarted  by  the  general  policy 


BENI-ABBES  199 

of  our  country ;  for  various  reasons  the  governors  did  not 
understand,  or  did  not  appear  to  understand  that  African 
peace  will  be  the  certain  sequel  and  reward  of  the  con- 
version of  A*frica,  and  that  all  other  means,  force  and 
weakness,  repression  and  flattery,  the  abundance  of  riches 
and  inventions,  will  not  bring  closer  to  us  a  nation  which 
looks  upon  us  only  as  pagans,  and  so  calls  us.  It  must 
perceive  the  greatest,  the  most  essential,  the  highest  of  all 
things — religion.  It  is  to  hearts  won  by  holiness  that  it  will 
one  day  be  possible  to  explain  our  teaching. 

We  have  seen  that  St.  Peter  Claver  acted  thus.  The 
founder  of  the  White  Fathers,  Cardinal  Lavigerie,  ex- 
plained his  views  in  known  documents,  dated  Septem- 
ber 24,  1871,  April  3  and  July  6,  1873,  and  December  15, 
1880.  He  had  no  illusions  about  the  duration  of  this  first 
period,  all  of  sacrifice,  in  which  the  best  workmen  would 
perish  and  be  replaced  by  others  who  would  die  in  their 
turn,  without  either  of  them  having  the  joy,  which  comes 
yearly  to  tillers  of  the  land,  of  seeing  the  corn  turn  yellow. 
In  a  retreat  lecture  he  said  to  his  missionaries  :  "  Before 
beginning  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  among  them  (the 
Musulmans)  it  is  necessary  to  prepare  for  conversion  en 
masse.  This  preparation  will  perhaps  last  a  century.  I 
am  a  bishop ;  I  have  a  crosier  and  mitre  :  well,  it  is  no  use 
to  put  my  mitre  on  top  of  my  crosier,  and  lift  my  arm  as 
high  as  possible;  I  shall  disappear  with  you  in  the  founda- 
tions of  the  new  African  Church." 

Let  us  go  back  to  the  Gospel  :  our  Saviour  did  not 
employ  any  other  method.  He  also  addressed  an  obstinate 
race  which  was  far  from  recognizing  the  Messias  in  the 
Man  who  was  going  to  be  and  was  already  the  Man  of 
sorrows.  He  did  not  begin  by  teaching  dogmas.  He  dis- 
closed His  divinity  only  by  degrees ;  having  such  a  splendid 
message  to  transmit,  He  delays  doing  it.  He  fears  to 
scare  and  repel  his  friends  the  Jews.  But  he  begins  with 
preaching  what  can  best  touch,  uplift,  open,  and  attract 
souls :  charity,  humility,  fraternity,  the  forgiving  of 
injuries,  and  disdain  of  riches.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
gathers  up  all  these  features  of  Christ's  first  preaching. 
And  it  is  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  that  Father  de  Foucauld 
repeated  all  his  life  to  the  Musulmans.^ 

If  we  do  not  change  our  present  methods  of  colonization, 
this  very  French  and  reliable  witness  does  not  hesitate  to 

*  See  Le  Dieii  Vivant,  by  Jules  Lebreton,  professor  of  the  history  of 
Christian  origins  at  the  Institut  Catholique  de  Paris,  pp.  76  if.  (Paris  : 
Beauchesne,  1919.) 


200  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

foretell  that  within  fifty  years  we  shall  be  driven  out  of 
North  Africa.  1 

''June  21,  1903. — A  few  days  ago  I  received  from  Com- 
mander Laperrine  d'Hautpoul,  chief  in  command  of  the 
Saharan  oases,  a  letter  containing  the  following  passages  : 
*  At  the  time  of  the  massacre  of  the  Flatters  mission,  a 
Tuareg  woman  of  a  "noble"  family  took  up  a  splendid 
position,  opposing  the  killing  of  the  wounded,  receiving 
and  looking  after  them  in  her  own  house,  shutting  her 
door  against  Attisi,  who,  returning  wounded  from  the 
battle  of  Amguid  against  Dianoux,  wished  to  finish  them 
off  himself,  and  when  they  were  healed  she  had  them  sent 
back  to  Tripoli.  She  is  now  from  forty  to  forty-three 
years  of  age,  regarded  as  having  a  great  deal  of  influence, 
and  is  renowned  for  her  charity.' 

"  Is  not  this  soul,"  continues  Father  de  Foucauld,  "  ready 
for  the  Gospel  ?  Would  there  not  be  grounds  for  writing 
to  tell  her  that  the  charity  she  practises  so  often,  and  with 
which,  twenty  years  ago,  she  received,  took  care  of,' 
defended  and  sent  back  to  their  country  the  wounded  of 
the  French  mission,  is  known  to  us,  and  we  are  filled 
with  joy  and  gratitude  to  God?  ...  '  God  says  :  "  The 
first  commandment  is  to  love  thy  God  with  thy  whole 
heart.  The  second  is  to  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself." 
Wondering  and  returning  thanks  to  God  on  seeing  you 
practise  charity  so  well  towards  men,  we  write  this  letter 
to  tell  you  that  among  Christians  there  are  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  souls,  men  and  women,  renouncing  marriage 
and  terrestrial  riches,  consecrating  their  lives  to  prayer, 
meditating  the  Word  of  God  and  habitually  doing  good, 
and  all  these  monks  and  nuns  on  hearing  of  you  will  bless 
and  praise  God  for  your  virtues,  and  will  pray  to  Him  to 
overwhelm  you  with  graces  in  this  world  and  glory  in 
heaven.  .  .  .  We  write  to  you  also  to  ask  you  very 
earnestly  to  pray  for  us,  certain  that  God,  who  has  put  in 
your  heart  the  will  to  love  Him,  will  listen  to  the  prayers 
you  address  to  Him.  We  beg  of  you  to  pray  for  us  and 
all  men  so  that  we  may  all  love  Him  and  obey  Him  with 
all  our  soul.  To  Him  be  glory,  benediction,  honour  and 
praise,  now  and  for  ever.     Amen.' 

"  I  have  just  sent  a  copy  of  this  draft  of  a  letter  to 
Mgr.  Gu^rin,  asking  him  whether  he  wishes  to  write  him- 
self, or  if  he  desires  me  to  write,  offering — if  intercourse 

^  See  Father  de  Foucauld's  letter  to  me  on  July  16,  1916,  given  in  the 
last  chapter  of  this  book. 


BEN  I- ABBES  201 

is  opened  up  and  if  I  remain  alone — to  go  on  foot  and  pay 
this  lady  a  visit." 

The  man  of  the  world  and  the  Christian,  courtesy  and 
charity,  have  together  dictated  this  letter  to  a  "lady"  of 
the  Tuareg  Red  Cross. 

Brother  Charles  even  had  had  the  idea  of  asking  the 
Pope  to  write  himself  to  this  charitable  nomad.  And  why 
not?     It  was  too  great  a  liberty  to  venture  on. 

Here  we  see  revealed  for  the  first  time  the  still  secret 
resolution  which  the  hermit  formed  of  pentrating  as  far  as 
the  regions  inhabited  by  the  Tuaregs,  and  of  winning  to 
Christian  civilization,  then  to  the  Christian  religion,  this 
nation  of  Berber  race  said  to  be  proud,  intelligent,  and  much 
less  fanatic  than  the  Arabs.  Charles  de  Foucauld  had  cer- 
tainly heard  about  the  Tuaregs  through  Duveyrier  in 
Paris  when  drawing  up  the  notes  of  his  Reconnaissance  au 
Maroc.  He  lived  among  African  officers,  the  people  of 
the  oasis,  the  caravaneers,  hawkers  of  the  stories  and 
legends  of  the  tribes  :  lastly  he  had  recently  conversed  with 
Commander  Laperrine,  who  was  haunted  by  the  military 
and  poetic  dream  of  a  great  Prankish  Kingdom,  of  an 
Africa  renewed  by  French  genius,  and  they  had  spoken  of 
Hoggar  as  much  as  of  Tidikelt  and  Timbuctoo.  Wherever 
the  officer  had  wished  the  civilization  of  France,  in  a  dur- 
able peace,  to  be  established — how  fine  these  conversations 
of  which  nothing  remains  must  have  been — Brother  Charles 
had  promised  himself  to  bring  the  prayer  and  charity  of 
the  missionary  nation.  Laperrine  had  persuaded  him,  as 
the  diary  thus  testifies. 

'^  Feast  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen. — Seeing  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  religious  persecutions,  the  Prefect  Apostolic 
could  send  no  priest  to  the  Tuaregs,  nor  to  Tidikelt,  Twat, 
Gurara,  nor  into  the  Saura  and  Zusfana,  I  wrote  on 
June  24  to  Mgr.  Guerin,  to  ask  his  permission  to  go — until 
he  is  able  to  send  priests — and  settle  among  the  Tyaregs, 
and  as  much  as  possible  in  the  heart  of  the  country ;  I  shall 
pray  there,  study  the  language,  and  translate  the  Holy 
Gospel:  I  shall  get  into  intercourse  with  the  Tuaregs;  I 
shall  live  among  them  without  enclosure.  Every  year  I 
shall  go  up  North  to  confession.^  On  the  way  I  shall 
administer  the  Sacraments  at  all  the  stations,  and  talk  to 
the  natives  of  God.  I  shall  wait  for  M.  Huvelin's 
authorization.  ..."  > 

^  "  Next  October  will  be  two  years  since  my  last  confession  "  (letter 
to  a  friend,  March  16,  1903). 


202  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  June  29. — I  am  writing  to  Commandant  Laperrine, 
communicating  this  project  to  him,  and  asking  his  authori- 
zation to  execute  it." 

'*  July  13. — Received  letter  of  authorization  from  M. 
HuveHn." 

"July  22. — Letter  of  authorization  from  Commandant 
Laperrine." 

"  August  I. — Letter  from  Mgr.  Gu^rin,  asking  for  time 
to  reflect." 

Brother  Charles,  hermit  and  missionary,  depending  on 
Providence,  waits  for  permission  to  set  to  work.  In  the 
reply  of  his  Superiors,  he  will  see  God's  command.  He  is 
deeply  imbued  with  Father  de  Caussade's  doctrine:  "The 
present  moment  is  always  like  an  ambassador,  declaring 
God's  command.  All  our  learning  consists  in  recognizing 
His  command  in  the  present  moment."  Assuredly  the 
ardent  imagination  of  a  Charles  de  Foucauld  dreams, 
demands,  and  prepares  great  plans ;  but  hearkening  to 
every  complaint,  and  also  to  every  bit  of  news  coming 
from  the  world  in  which  he  lives,  he  is  always  ready 
to  respond  and  to  consider  himself  as  under  orders.  The 
summer  of  1903  suddenly  offered  him  the  opportunity 
of  bringing  the  help  of  religion  to  Frenchmen  in  danger 
of  death.  He  was  the  only  priest  in  these  vast  regions; 
our  stations  had  no  chaplains ;  although  the  highest 
virtue  of  obedience  and  sacrifice  was  expected  of  them, 
their  souls  had  been  neglected.  He  did  not  hesitate  a 
minute  :  he  was  off,  and  fulfilled  one  of  the  great  offices 
for  which  he  went  deep  into  the  Sahara.  Here  are  the 
facts : 

The  attacks  on  convoys  or  posts  were  increasing ;  the 
agitation  might  at  any  moment  turn  to  revolt.  The  sub- 
dued tribes  had  just  risen ;  a  serious  defeat  would  have 
meant  their  defection.  Were  not  the  French  military  forces 
scattered  in  small  parties  over  so  vast  a  space,  and  likely 
to  be  surprised,  surrounded  and  forced  to  surrender  in 
detail ;  was  this  not  the  expected  opportunity,  the  signal  for 
all  the  horse  and  foot  of  the  Sahara  to  rise  and  bundle 
us  out  ? 

On  July  16,  at  3  in  the  morning,  a  reszu  of  200  Berabers, 
mounted  on  meharis,  attacked  a  detachment  of  fifty 
Algerian    riflemen    of    the    Adrar    company,    which    lost 


BENI-ABBES  203 

twenty-two  men,  and  under  a  non-commissioned  officer 
beat  a  retreat,  fighting  all  the  way.  The  counter-thrust 
was  prompt.  Nine  days  after,  Captain  Regnault,  chief  of 
the  Arab  Office  of  Beni-Abbes,  set  out  as  soon  as  the 
news  was  received  with  forty-five  men  of  his  makhzen  and 
forty  meharistes  of  the  Timimun  Company ;  took  up  the 
fresh  traces  of  the  rezsu  in  the  Tabelbala  dunes,  to  the 
south-west  of  Beni-Abbes ;  surprised  the  Berabers  near  the 
Bu-Kheila  wells,  killed  thirty  of  their  combatants,  and 
put  the  others  to  flight. 

Soon  much  greater  enterprises  were  going  to  be 
attempted  against  us  and  the  allied  tribes.  This  was 
known.  Information  flowed  in  from  all  parts.  What  was 
not  known  was  which  of  our  posts  of  the  Zusfana  or 
Saura  would  be  first  attacked.  Would  it  be  Beni-Unif? 
Taghit?  Beni-Abbes?  Brother  Charles  was  told  of  these 
rumours  which  were  flying  about  the  desert.  Priest  and 
ex-officer,  he  was  thoroughly  roused  and  demanded  to  serve. 
He  conjectured  and  calculated  that  the  Taghit  post  was 
more  threatened  than  the  others ;  a  company  of  riflemen,  a 
company  of  the  African  battalion  and  three  score  horsemen 
of  the  makhzen  made  up  a  very  feeble  garrison ;  besides, 
the  post  was  dominated  on  several  sides.  There  would  be 
killed  and  wounded ;  there  would  be  danger.  Certainly, 
there  his  duty  lay.  Brother  Charles  wrote  on  August  12 
to  Captain  de  Susbielle,  commander  of  the  Arab  Office 
of  Taghit,  asking  him  :  "  Could  you  send  for  me?  They 
will  not  let  me  set  out  alone,  because  the  roads  are  not 
safe."  He  was  ready  and  expecting  every  moment  to  leave 
Beni-Abbes,  and  by  way  of  precaution,  took  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  out  of  the  tabernacle  of  his  little  church.  All  at 
once  news  broke  down.  For  six  days  no  courier  reached 
Beni-Abbes. 

The  great  storm-cloud  was  on  its  way.  A  harka,  an 
expeditionary  column  composed  of  9,000  men,  women,  and 
children  from  all  the  divisions  of  the  Berabers,  from  all  the 
districts  upon  the  Moorish  district  of  Tafilelt,  were  going  to 
fall  upon  the  Zusfana.  It  was  commanded  by  one  of  our 
most  determined  enemies,  Muley  Mostapha,  Sherif  of 
Matrara.  It  numbered  nearly  6,000  combatants,  of  whom 
500  were  on  meharis ;  most  of  them  were  armed  with  breech- 
loading  guns ;  there  were  600  pack-camels  loaded  with 
stores. 

Captain  de  Susbielle  had  the  village  of  Taghit,  where 
some  subdued  tribes  of  our  proteg<^s  had  taken  refuge,  put 
into  a  state  of  defence.     They  could  only  muster  470  men 


204  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

and  two  small  mountain-guns  against  a  whole  army  of 
enemies.  On  the  morning  of  the  17th  the  column  was 
signalled,  and  Lieutenant  de  Ganay  went  out  first  at  the 
head  of  a  cavalry  detachment  of  makhsen,  to  reconnoitre 
the  enormous  gathering,  which  he  forced  to  deploy.  The 
shells  threw  the  Moroccan  masses  into  disorder,  and  they 
retired  to  the  shelter  of  the  dunes  and  into  the  palm  grove, 
two  miles  from  Taghit.  But  next  day,  the  battle  began 
again.  On  the  i8th,  19th,  and  20th  of  August  furious 
assaults  were  delivered.  Taghit  defended  itself  victori- 
ously ;  its  small  garrison  performed  prodigies,  and — a 
marvel  which  might  give  courage  to  the  least  brave — it  was 
relieved.  Once  more  the  young  Saharan  officers  had  dis- 
played a  decision  which  saved  both  honour  and  life  at 
stake.  On  the  8th  at  dawn  Lieutenant  Pointurier  arrived 
from  El-Morra  with  his  mounted  company  of  the  foreign 
legion  which  had  covered  forty  miles  in  the  night;  on  the 
20th  came  Lieutenant  de  Lachaux,  hastening  up  to  the  gun, 
riding  in  at  a  gallop  under  fire  with  his  forty  troopers  from 
Beni-Abbes  who  had  set  out  from  Igli  on  the  evening  of 
the  previous  day. 

The  harka  was  decimated,  and  raised  camp  on  the 
2ist.  It  had  1,200  men  hors  de  combat.  It  went  back  to 
the  north-west,  carrying  away  the  arms  and  clothes  of  its 
dead,  instead  of  the  expected  plunder.  The  success  of  our 
arms  was  splendid.  "  It  is  the  finest  feat  of  arms  in  Algeria 
for  forty  years!"  says  Brother  Charles,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Marchioness  de  Foucauld. 

He  rejoiced  at  the  victory,  but  regret  tormented  him  at 
not  having  been  there.  Among  the  defenders,  nine  were 
killed,  twenty-one  wounded.  And  he,  the  chaplain  of  the 
Sahara,  could  not  console,  absolve,  and  bless  !  A  less  deli- 
cate and  humble  conscience  would  not  have  been  disturbed. 
Had  he  not  asked  to  set  out,  spoken  to  officers  on  the  spot, 
written  to  those  out  yonder?  No  doubt,  but  he  was  not  at 
ease.  He  ought  to  have  done  without  an  escort.  "  I  must 
draw  lessons  from  the  difficulties  I  have  had  in  doing  my 
duty,"  he  jotted  in  his  journal.  And  at  once  he  made 
resolutions.  Henceforth  he  will  "  accustom  himself  by 
hard  work  to  walking,"  so  as  not  to  need  a  mount;  he 
meant  to  be  the  poorest  of  travellers ;  he  would  go  on  foot, 
without  a  servant,  and,  since  he  must  have  a  guide,  he 
would  make  sure  of  finding  someone,  even  in  hours  of 
danger,  by  showing  redoubled  kindness  to  everybody. 

The  danger  was,  in  fact,  only  averted ;  it  was  not  over. 
The  marabouts  continued  to  preach  the  holy  war,  and  the 


BEN  I- ABBES  205 

revolted  tribes  were  roving  over  the  sandy  and  stony  desert. 
On  vSeptember  2,  twenty  miles  to  the  north  of  Taghit,  and 
at  the  hour  of  the  long  halt — that  is  to  say,  about  9  in  the 
morning — a  half-company  of  the  mounted  squadron  of  the 
2nd  Foreign  Legion,  escorting  a  convoy,  were  suddenly 
attacked  on  a  level  with  El-Mungar  by  a  band  of  several 
hundred  robbers.  These,  Ulad  Jerir,  old  supporters  of 
Bu-Amama,  after  becoming  detached  from  the  harka  vic- 
toriously repulsed  from  Taghit  on  August  20,  had  hidden 
in  the  dunes,  waiting  for  an  opportunity  of  taking  their 
revenge.  They  attacked  the  convoy  on  the  plateau  between 
the  Wady  Zusfana  and  the  great  sands.  The  first  dis- 
charge from  the  bandits  brought  down,  killed  or  wounded, 
the  two  officers  of  the  mounted  company,  all  the  non-com- 
missioned officers  and  a  great  number  of  soldiers.  The 
survivors  banded  together  on  a  projection  of  the  ground 
and,  under  the  overpowering  heat  which  was  increasing 
from  minute  to  minute,  decided  to  fight  to  death.  Two 
spahis,  from  a  quarter  of  a  company  which  completed  the 
escort  were  able  to  cut  a  passage  through  the  enemy  and, 
at  a  gallop,  went  to  give  the  alarm  to  the  Taghit  garrison. 
Half  an  hour  after  being  informed.  Captain  de  Susbielle  left 
the  post,  bringing  all  his  makhsen  and  spahis,  and,  at  top 
speed,  in  the  height  of  the  afternoon,  went  to  relieve  our 
encircled  soldiers. 

He  arrived  on  the  scene  of  battle  at  5  o'clock.  As 
soon  as  they  perceived  the  dust  made  by  the  troopers 
launched  against  them,  the  robbers  disbanded  and  took 
refuge  in  the  dunes.  It  was  time  to  relieve  the  besieged, 
who  were  reduced  to  a  handful  of  men  exhausted  with 
thirst.  They  were  about  thirty,  commanded  by  a  wounded 
soldier,  Quartermaster-Sergeant  Tisserant,  who  had  been 
hit  by  two  bullets.  They  continued  to  fire  on  the  Moors 
scattered  around  them,  hidden  behind  the  smallest  undula- 
tions of  the  ground,  and  thus  protected,  besides  their  own 
lives,  forty-nine  wounded  lying  around  them.  A  detach- 
ment was  sent  to  a  distance  to  bring  water.  Tisserant, 
with  his  head  covered  with  blood,  stood  upright  to  fulfil 
his  duty  as  quartermaster.  He  wen.t  from  one  to  the  other 
of  the  wounded,  made  out  a  list,  picked  up  cartridges  and 
arms  which  had  fallen  on  the  ground,  and  before  leaving 
the  place  of  battle,  in  a  loud  voice  called  the  roll  of  the 
killed.  During  the  night  the  forty-nine  wounded  were 
transported  to  Taghit. 

Three  days  after,  at  7  in  the  morning,  the  news  of  the 
battle  reached   Beni-Abbes.     Brother  Charles  ran   to  the 


2o6  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Native  Office.  He  renewed  his  demand.  This  time  it  was 
granted.  The  chaplain  of  the  Sahara  might  go  to  the 
wounded.  He  was  given  a  burnous  and  spurs ;  one  of  the 
Mokhazenis  lent  him  a  horse.  At  the  last  moment,  someone 
there  tried  to  stop  what  he  thought  was  a  mad  adventure. 

"  How  can  we  allow  the  Father  to  go  without  an  escort? 
He  will  be  killed  on  the  way  !" 

"  I  shall  get  through,"  said  the  Father  quite  simply. 

"Yes,  he  will  get  through;  let  him  go,"  replied  the 
Captain  of  the  Arab  Office,  who  just  then  came  on  the 
scene.  "  He  can't  tell  you  so,  but  he  can  go  right  through 
the  whole  of  the  rebel  country  unarmed;  nobody  will  lift 
a  hand  against  him;  he  is  sacred." 

At  ID  o'clock  Brother  Charles  was  in  the  saddle  and 
started  with  the  courier.  On  the  way  he  met  two  horse- 
men bringing  him  a  letter  from  Captain  de  Susbielle,  ask- 
ing him  to  come  immediately  to  the  wounded.  They 
travelled  all  day  and  night;  they  covered  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible the  seventy-five  miles  between  Beni-Abbes  and 
Taghit,  where  they  arrived  about  9  in  the  morning. 

No  sooner  had  he  dismounted  than  without  the  slightest 
thought  of  the  fatigue  of  such  a  ride  Father  de  Foucauld 
first  said  Mass.     Then  he  asked  to  be  taken  to  the  wounded, 
who  were  assembled   in   two   rooms  of  the  redoubt,   and 
began    his    mission    of    friend    and    priest.      Witnesses 
of  this  apostolate  of  Father  de  Foucauld  with  the  Taghit 
wounded  exist,   and  those  witnesses  have  spoken   to  me. 
During  the  twenty-five  days  that  he  spent  in  the  redoubt, 
Father  de  Foucauld,   to  whom  one  of  the  officers'   rooms 
had  been  given,  did  not  for  a  single  night  sleep  in  the  bed 
that  was  kept  for  him.     All  his  time,  except  the  few  hours 
given  to  sleep — and  those  not  every  night — and  the  time 
for  his  Mass  and  rapid  meals,  the  Father  devoted  to  the 
wounded.     He  chatted  with  each  of  them,  spoke  to  them 
of    their   country    and   families,    and   wrote    their    letters. 
When   he  entered  one  of  the  ambulance  rooms,   all  the 
wounded  called  out  to  him  with  one  voice  :  "  Good-morn- 
ing, Father,"  and  each  wished  to  be  the  first  to  receive  the 
visit  of  the  friend  of  all.     They  recognized  one  who  loved 
the  soldier  and  understood  him.     Certainly,  most  of  these 
legionaries  were  not  accustomed  to  speak  to  a  priest ;  piety 
was  not  their  dominant  characteristic;  but  the  sweetness, 
the  affable  and  sprightly  manner,  the  self-sacrifice  of  this 
priest  who    devoted   every   instant   of   his   time   to   them, 
rapidly  conquered  them  one  after  the  other.     The  presence 


BENI-ABBES  207 

of  this  monk  became  indispensable  to  them.  An  officer  of 
the  post,  whom  I  questioned,  said  to  me:  "It  is  beyond 
doubt  that  his  influence  on  their  morale  had  a  great  deal  to 
do  with  this  singular  fact :  of  these  forty-nine  wounded, 
of  whom  several  were  seriously  injured  and  with  many 
wounds,  only  one  succumbed.  I  remember  a  certain 
legionary,  of  German  origin,  whom  we  considered  a 
not  very  commendable  subject.  At  El-Mungar  he  had 
had  a  bullet  through  his  chest.  Father  de  Foucauld  took 
him  in  hand  as  the  most  seriously  wounded  and  the  least 
sympathetic,  indeed,  quite  the  reverse.  Received  at  first 
more  than  coolly,  with  his  patience  and  sweetness  he 
ended  in  conciliating  this  poor  man  to  such  a  point  that 
the  latter  called  for  him  at  every  moment,  and  related  to 
him  the  intimate  history — not  always  edifying — of  an  old 
African  soldier.  I  believe  I  may  affirm  that  all  the  forty- 
nine  wounded,  each  in  turn,  received  communion  from  the 
hands  of  Father  de  Foucauld." 

Only  once  did  Father  de  Foucauld  leave  them.  It  was 
on  September  18.  That  day,  accompanied  by  some  officers 
and  non-commissioned  officers  and  a  company  of  the 
makhzen,  he  went  to  the  battlefield  of  El-Mungar,  and 
blessed  the  tombs  of  the  two  officers,  and  the  grave  in  which 
the  other  victims  had  been  buried. 

He  took  the  road  to  Beni-Abbes  once  more  on  Septem- 
ber 30. 

In  the  two  following  months  he  again  returned  to  pay 
his  Taghit  convalescents  a  visit.  Then,  towards  the  end 
of  the  year,  he  went  into  retreat.  The  retreats  of  Father  de 
Foucauld,  as  we  have  already  seen,  were  for  him  occasions 
for  the  most  minute  examination  of  conscience,  and  of  the 
most  genuine  resolutions.  This  time  he  wrote  to  his 
director,  Abb^  Huvelin  :  ",The  three  principal  things  for 
which  I  have  to  ask  pardon  of  Jesus,  for  the  year  1903,  are  : 
sensuality,  lack  of  charity  toward  my  neighbour,  luke- 
warmness  to  God."  Now  he  never  ate  according  to  his 
hunger,  he  prayed  night  and  day,  and  refused  none  of 
those  who  importuned  him.  But  to  advance,  the  perfect 
need — humility. 

A  very  grave  question  occupied  his  mind,  and  with- 
out doubt,  in  that  retreat  at  the  end  of  1903,  he  had 
studied  it  in  its  inmost  recesses,  putting,  according  to 
St.  Ignatius'  method,  the  reasons  for  and  against  in  juxta- 
position. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Brother  Charles  had  requested 


2o8  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAVLD 

M.  Huvelin,  Commander  Laperrine  and  Mgr.  Guerin,  each 
having  a  particular  right  to  be  asked,  for  permission  to  go 
on  reconnaissance  into  Twat  and  Tidikelt,  and  to  settle 
eventually  amongst  the  Tuaregs  or  elsewhere,  without 
altogether  abandoning  Beni-Abbes,  to  which  he  would 
return  and  make  visits.  The  hermit  would  have  several 
hostelries  in  the  desert.  The  last  authorization  had  reached 
him  on  August  29.  A  few  days  earlier  he  had  received  a 
letter  from  Commander  Laperrine,  urging  him  to  start, 
and  adding  :  "  I  believe  there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  to  be 
done,  for  if  we  may  not  hope  for  immediate  conversions 
and  to  get  doctrine  accepted,  we  can,  by  example  and 
daily  contact,  put  in  evidence  the  Christian  morale  and 
spread  it." 

The  battles  of  Taghit  and  El-Mungar  did  not  allow 
Brother  Charles  to  carry  out  the  plan.  He  was  obliged  to 
launch  out  on  a  trail  which  was  not  that  of  the  Hoggar 
country.  But  at  the  end  of  the  year,  when  he  came  out  of 
retreat,  the  rebellion  appeared  to  be  quelled,  and  he  asked 
himself  anew  :  "  Where  is  my  duty?"  Contrary  to  what 
we  should  have  expected,  the  idea  of  plunging  deeper  into 
the  desert  did  not  please  him ;  the  conquest  of  souls,  above 
all  the  high  ambition  of  bringing  Jesus  to  new  nations, 
tempted  the  imagination  and  the  great  heart  of  the  apostle, 
but  regret  at  leaving  Beni-Abbes  pulled  him  back.  What 
would  the  natives  and  soldiers  who  loved  him  say  ?  And 
what  would  become  of  the  work  begun  ?  He  wrote  to 
Abbe  Huvelin  : 

"  I  am  in  great  uncertainty  about  the  journey  that  I  had 
planned  to  the  south,  to  the  oases  of  Twat  and  Tidikelt 
which  are  absolutely  without  a  priest,  where  our  soldiers 
never  hear  Mass,  the  Musulmans  never  see  a  minister 
of  Jesus.  .  .  .  You  remember  that  after  receiving  the 
three  authorizations  from  you,  Mgr.  Guerin  and  the  mili- 
tary authorities,  I  was  going  to  set  out  in  September  when 
I  was  called  to  Taghit  for  the  wounded.  .  .  .  Now  that 
peace  seems  re-established,  ought  I  to  carry  out  my  plan  ? 
This  is  a  big  note  of  interrogation  for  me.  I  know  before- 
hand that  Mgr.  Guerin  leaves  me  free;  it  is  from  you, 
therefore,  that  I  ask  for  advice. 

"  If  Mgr.  Guerin  could  and  would  send  another  priest 
there,  I  would  certainly  not  go  :  my  very  clear  duty  would 
be  to  remain  at  Beni-Abbes.  But  I  believe  he  will  send 
nobody  there,  I  even  believe  he  cannot  send  anybody. 

'*  In  those  conditions,  ought  I   not  to  set  out,  found  a 


BENI-ABBES  209 

pied-d-terre,  so  to  say,  in  the  far  South,  which  would 
enable  me  to  go  every  year  and  spend  two,  three,  or  four 
months  there,  and  use  the  journey  to  administer  or  at  least 
offer  the  Sacraments  in  the  garrisons,  and  show  the  Cross 
and  the  Sacred  Heart  to  the  Musulmans,  speaking  a  little 
about  our  holy  religion  to  them  ?  .  .  . 

"Nothing  is,  just  now,  easier  for  me  than  that.  I  am 
invited  and  expected.  Nature  is  excessively  opposed  to 
it.  I  shudder — I  am  ashamed  to  say — at  the  thought  of 
leaving  Beni-Abbes,  the  quiet  at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  and 
at  flinging  myself  into  journeys,  of  which  I  have  now  an 
excessive  horror.  If  I  did  not  believe,  with  all  my  strength, 
that  such  words  as  sweet,  painful,  joy,  sacrifice,  should  be 
crossed  out  of  my  dictionary,  I  should  say  that  I  am  rather 
sorry  to  absent  myself  from  Beni-Abbes. 

'*  Reason,  too,  shows  many  drawbacks  :  leaving  the 
tabernacle  at  Beni-Abbes  empty,  going  away  from  here, 
where  perhaps,  if  not  very  probably,  there  will  be  fights ; 
getting  dissipated  by  journeys  which  are  not  good  for  the 
soul.  Should  I  not  glorify  God  more  by  adoring  Him  as  a 
solitary  ? 

"  Although  reason  and  nature  oppose  it,  I  feel  myself 
extremely,   and  more  and  more  interiorly,   urged  to  this' 
journey. 

"  A  convoy  starts  for  the  South  on  January  10;  ought  I 
to  take  it  ?  Ought  I  to  wait  for  another  ?  Therfe  will 
perhaps  be  none  for  several  months,  and  I  have  reasons 
for  fearing  that  I  shall  then  not  find  the  same  facilities 
as  now. 

'*  Ought  I  not  to  start  at  all  ? 

**  I  feel  quite  clearly  that  I  ought  to  set  out  on  January  10. 

*'  I  beg  you  to  write  me  a  line  on  this  subject.  I  shall 
obey  you. 

"  If  I  get  nothing  from  you  before  January  10,  I  shall 
probably  set  out." 

January  10  passed.  M.  Huvelin's  reply  had  not  come. 
On  the  13th  a  convoy  was  to  set  out  for  the  Twat  and 
Tidikelt.  Brother  Charles,  considering  that  he  had 
a  chance  of  visiting  these  regions,  and  that  "  perhaps 
no  other  priest  would  have  one  for  several  years,"  decided 
to  undertake  the  journey  which  cost  him  so  much.  He 
writes,  on  January  13,  1904:  "This  morning  I  take  the 
reserved  Sacrament  from  the  tabernacle,  and  at  eight  I  start 
from  Adrar,  the  capital  of  Twat."  He  thus  began  a  new 
phase  of  his  career.     He  was  going  towards  the  unknown, 

14 


2IO  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

the  Tuaregs  of  the  Hoggar  who  were  to  have  the  greater 
portion  of  his  friendship  and  apostolate,  and  with  whom  his 
sacrifice  would  one  day  be  consummated.  As  he  wrote  to 
his  Superior,  Father  Guerin  :  "  You  ask  me  whether  I  am 
ready  to  go  anywhere  else  than  Beni-Abbes  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  ?  For  that  I  am  ready  to  go  to  the 
end  of  the  world  and  to  live  till  the  last  judgment."  He 
often  used  to  say  :  "  Dread  is  the  sign  of  duty." 


CHAPTER   IX 
Training  Tours^ 

THEY  set  out  on  the  morning  of  January  13,  1904. 
Brother  Charles  joined  a  big  caravan  escorted  by  fifty 
soldiers,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Yvart  of  the  Second 
Chasseurs  d'Afrique.  They  started,  as  one  of  his  letters 
neatly  phrased  it.  with  the  catechumen  Paul,  "  an  ass 
carrying  the  chapel  and  provisions,  her  foal  carrying 
nothing,  some  new  sandals,  and  two  pairs  of  esparto  shoes." 

His  friend,  Captain  Regnault,  fearing  the  fatigue  of 
such  a  journey  for  him — above  all,  that  of  the  first  stage — 
had  ordered  two  mokhazenis  to  accompany  the  convoy  for  a 
little  while,  and  had  provided  them  with  a  led  horse,  on 
which  Brother  Charles  could  mount  in  case  of  need.  But 
they  soon  came  back,  saying  that  the  marabout  had  per- 
severed in  his  idea,  and  stood  the  tramp  like  a  young  man, 
behind  the  ass  and  her  foal. 

We  have  the  precise  information  of  the  diary  as  to  the 
route  of  the  column.  The  first  considerable  cluster  of 
humans  towards  which  they  directed  their  steps  was  Adrar, 
the  capital  of  Touat.  But,  on  the  way,  Brother  Charles 
notes  in  his  pocket-book  all  the  points  at  which  they  halted 
for  the  night,  the  little  ksours  he  visited,  the  encampments, 
wells,  and  even  the  palms  he  met  with  and  the  distance 
traversed.  Wherever  he  could  he  entered  into  relations 
with  the  natives,  distributed  remedies  and  alms,  and  re- 
gretted not  having  any  vegetable  seeds  to  give  these  poor 
people.  He  chatted  with  them.  He  was  well  received.  The 
soldiers  gave  him  their  confidence.  Mass  wa's  celebrated 
every  morning  in  a  tent.  He  rejoiced  at  the  good  he  was 
able  to  do  in  various  ways  to  his  wandering  parishioners,  to 
Christians  and  others. 

After  eighteen  days  on  the  road  the  convoy,  on 
February  i,  entered  Adrar.  "  I  find,"  writes  Father  de 
Foucauld,  "  Commandant  Laperrine  there  ;  in  his  own  house 
he  gives  me  a  room  which  I  have  transformed  into  a  chapel. 
The  Commandant  informs  me  that,  of  the  six  large  divi- 
sions which  make  up  the  Tuareg  people — Azjers,  near 
Rat;    Kel-Ui    (Ahir) ;    Hoggar    (Jebel    Ahaggar) ;    Ta'itok 

^  Les  Tournees  d'apprivoisemeut — i.e.,  "civilizing  rounds"  for  breaking 
in  the  wild  tribes. 

211 


212  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

(Ahnet) ;  Iforas  (East  Adrar) ;  Illemeden  (on  the  banks  of 
the  Niger) — three  have  this  year  given  their  submission 
into  his  hands;  that  is  to  say,  in  the  last  twelve  months, 
the  Iforas,  Taitok,  and  Hoggar.  The  chief  of  the  latter, 
the  most  important,  the  most  warlike  of  the  six  divisions, 
the  one  that  massacred  Colonel  Flatters  and  has,  up  to  the 
present,  shown  itself  the  greatest  enemy  of  the  Christians, 
is  at  this  very  moment  at  In-Salah,  where  he  has  just 
arrived  with  eighty  Hoggar  notables  to  make  his  submis- 
sion and  present  that  of  his  tribe.  This  news  is  very  im- 
portant, for  it  shows  the  whole  Tuareg  country,  hitherto 
so  closed  against  Christians,  is  open  from  to-day.  Com- 
mandant Laperrine  is  disposed  to  facilitate  with  all  his 
influence  my  entry,  journeys,  and  establishment.  He 
voluntarily  offers  me  to  go  with  him  on  the  very  important 
tour  he  intends  to  take  among  his  new  subjects  of  Ahmet, 
Adrar,  and  Hoggar.  I  believe  he  will  not  accord  these 
facilities  to  any  other  priest  but  me.  I  therefore  accept, 
thanking  God  for  the  good  He  has  given  me  to  do,  and 
begging  Him  to  render  me  faithful.  Perhaps  in  his  next 
tour,  which  will  begin  in  five  or  six  weeks,  Commander 
Laperrine  will  push  on  to  Timbuctoo.  If  he  does  so,  I 
shall  accompany  him,  for  the  more  I  travel,  the  more 
natives  I  shall  see,  the  more  also  I  shall  be  known  to  them, 
and  I  hope  to  obtain  their  friendship  and  confidence.  .  .  . 
The  best  place  to  study  Tuareg  (Tamahak)  is  Akabli, 
where  all  the  inhabitants  speak  it,  and  where  there  are  con- 
stant Tuareg  caravans.^  It  is  therefore  decided  that  I  am 
to  go  there  and  study  Tuareg  as  hard  as  I  can,  until  Com- 
mandant Laperrine  comes  and  takes  me  with  him  on  his 
tour." 

Brother  Charles  then  set  out  for  In-Salah,  whence  he 
went  to  Akabli,  the  place  for  study.  He  went  with  another 
officer.  Lieutenant  Besset,  and  the  diary  again  takes  up 
the  enumeration  of  the  stages,  20,  21,  25,  28,  38  miles  long, 
and  of  the  stopping-points  which  in  this  region  are  described 
five  times  out  of  the  six  days'  journey  as  "  desert."  He 
only  stopped  thirty-six  hours  at  In-Salah,  and  went  on  to 
Tit,  where  he  makes  a  note  of  the  visits  he  paid  to  the 
caid,  the  marabout  Sidi-Ali,  and  settles  down  at  Akabli  on 
February  20.  His  first  care  was  to  see  Sergeant  Brun, 
commanding  the  detachment  of  the  Aulef  Saharans,  the 
sergeant  commanding  the  well-sinkers,  the  caid,  his  calif, 
and  others ;   and  next   day   he   began  to  take   Tamachek 

^  Tamahak,  or  Tamachek,  is  the  spoken  language ;  Tifinar,  the 
written  language. 


TRAINING  TOURS  213 

lessons  from  a  Settaf  man  who  had  travelled  for  a  long 
time  among"  the  Tuaregs. 

The  sojourn  at  Akabli  lasted  a  little  more  than  three 
weeks.  Brother  Charles  was  worried  at  having  to  give  so 
many  alms  in  the  journeys  that  he  was  about  to  undertake 
in  quite  new  and,  just  lately,  hostile  countries,  and  at  having 
to  buy  both  an  express  and  a  pack  camel  in  order  to  accom- 
pany Laperrine.  Where  was  the  money  to  be  found? 
The  best  thing  to  do  was  to  write  to  the  family  and  beg 
for  it;  in  fact,  who  would  be  the  chosen  almoner?  He 
reflected,  made  up  his  mind,  and  jotted  down  the  argu- 
ments which  had  determined  his  choice,  and,  perfectly  cer- 
tain that,  in  six  months  at  most,  the  amount  demanded 
would  have  reached  his  treasury,  the  chief  of  the  Arab 
Office  of  Beni-Abbes,  he  committed  to  his  travelling 
diary  the  extraordinary  permissions  Father  Guerin  had 
given  him  for  the  celebration  of  Mass  on  long  jour- 
neys. Permission  to  celebrate  Mass  an  hour  after  mid- 
night ;  to  employ  any  lights,  if  beeswax  is  lacking ;  to 
celebrate  even  without  lights  in  the  very  remote  regions 
which  do  not  produce  olives  and  where  no  supplies  for 
lamps  are  to  be  found.  These  Latin  prescriptions,  taken 
from  canon  law,  give  a  curious  touch  of  civilization  to  the 
pages  of  a  diary  full  of  barbarous  names. 

The  weeks  in  Akabli  were  weeks  of  work  and  meditation. 
Brother  Charles  was  all  his  life  an  extraordinary  worker. 
He  never  lost  an  hour.  His  notes  contain  nothing  of  the 
picturesque;  he  writes:  "The  populations  of  this  region, 
like  those  of  Morocco,  speak  less  Arabic  than  Berber,  the 
old  language  of  Africa  and  Palestine,  which  the  Car- 
thaginians spoke  and  so  did  St.  Monica,  whose  Berber  and 
not  Greek  name  signifies  '  queen.'  I  learnt  it  formerly, 
and  then  forgot  it;  I  am  tackling  it  again,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  talk  with  everybody."  But  this  great  worker  was  before 
all  a  priest.  His  notebooks  as  well  as  his  letters  were 
always  marked  with  the  sign  of  the  cross.  The  thought  of 
Christ  made  science  of  greater  value,  and  poverty  dearer 
in  his  eyes.  "  Among  other  comforts,  there  is  one  that  I 
have  been  asking  of  Jesus  for  a  long  time ;  it  is,  for  "the 
love  of  Him,  to  be  in  similar  conditions,  as  to  well-being, 
to  those  in  which  I  was  in  Morocco  for  my  pleasure.  Here 
my  establishment  is  just  the  same." 

On  March  14,  Commandant  Laperrine,  faithful  to  the 
rendezvous,  left  Akabli  with  his  companion  and  friend, 
who,  this  time,  rode  on  a  mehari.  He  intended  to  push 
on  as  far  as  Timbuctoo.     He  would  pass  through  In-Sis, 


214  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Ahmet,  Adrar,  Timissao,  In-Uzal,  Mabruk ;  stop  a  few 
days  in  Timbuctoo  and  return  by  Adrar  and  Hoggar.  "  If 
public  opinion  is  ripe  for  it,"  wrote  Father  de  Foucauld, 
"our  idea  is  that,  on  the  return  journey,  I  shall  be  left 
with  the  Hoggars  and  settle  down  there."  Under  his 
orders  Laperrine  had  Lieutenants  Bricogne,  Nieger,  and 
Besset. 

On  the  first  day  they  only  travelled  seven  miles  and  a 
half  and  stopped  in  the  desert.  On  the  evening  of  the 
15th  they  camped  in  the  bed  of  the  Wady  Keraan  in  the 
desert,  after  a  thirty-mile  ride;  on  the  i6th  in  the  desert, 
near  the  Tin-Tenai  wells;  on  the  17th  in  the  desert;  the 
1 8th  in  the  desert,  where  they  bivouac  for  a  day;  on  the 
20th  still  in  the  desert;  on  the  23rd  at  the  Tinagart  wells 
the  Commander  received  the  visit  of  Aziouel,  the  nominated 
successor  of  the  amenokal  of  Tai'tok.  Near  other  wells, 
they  were  visited  by  Taitok  or  Kel  Ahnet  warriors ;  during 
the  great  heat  they  stayed  near  a  nomad  encampment. 
"  A  pacific  paternal  tour  for  training  and  encouragement, 
for  winning  confidence  and  friendship,  a  true  episcopal 
round."  This  is  French  policy,  the  only  one  worthy  of  a 
nation  which  dominates  a  country  solely  to  pacify  it,  a 
strange  race  solely  to  elevate  it,  and  which  has  no  sooner 
ceased  fighting,  punishing,  subjecting,  than  it  lays  aside  all, 
and  even  legitimate,  anger,  and  employs  its  genius  only  to 
make  itself  beloved.  Brother  Charles  had  not  given  up  his 
hope  that  one  day  the  Little  Brothers  of  the  Sacred  Heart — 
no  matter  whether  he  were  dead  or  alive — would  undertake 
to  give  these  poor  people  of  the  desert  the  most  beautiful 
present  that  Erance  can  bring  them,  Jesus  Christ.  On  Good 
Friday  evening,  April  i,  stopping  at  the  Wady  In-Sis, 
two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  wells,  he  thus  meditates  and 
dreams:  "The  In-Sis  well  is  in  the  rock;  and  at  the 
bottom  of  it  there  is  always  a  spring  of  excellent  and  abun- 
dant water.  Every  caravan  can  always  get  water  there. 
We  met  two  caravans  there,  going  from  Gogo  to  Akabli  : 
one  from  Iforas,  the  other  of  Akabli  people  :  each  composed 
of  five  or  six  men,  a  few  camels  and  some  sheep.  When  it 
rains,  the  Wady  In-Sis  is  covered  with  abundant  vege- 
tation. Four  years  ago,  after  the  rains,  500  tents — 
Hoggar,  Ahnet,  and  Iforas — spent  several  weeks  there 
drinking  from  the  well.  It  is  a  place  in  which  a  fraternity 
might  be  founded,  for  it  is  :  rst,  very  desert;  2nd,  a  place 
of  passage  for  travellers ;  3rd,  always  sufficiently  supplied 
with  water  for  them  to  drink;  4th,  sufficiently  provided 
with  earth  for  a  few  small  gardens." 


TRAINING  TOURS  215 

He  had  the  same  desire  a  few  days  later,  on  April  6, 
when  the  column  stopped  at  the  Timissao  well,  the  finest 
they  had  come  across,  a  well  at  which  any  caravan  could 
draw  water  "  not  only  without  drying  it  up  but  without 
the  water  becoming  less  limpid.  It  would  be  a  still  better 
place  to  establish  a  fraternity — yes,  preferable  to  In-Sis, 
for  everything  is  ready,  water,  ground  easy  to  cultivate 
near  the  well,  and  almost  a  place  for  lodging,  since  at  a 
little  distance,  in  the  perpendicular  side  of  a  rock,  there  is 
a  very  large  natural  grotto  covered  with  inscriptions,  and 
surrounded  by  several  lesser  ones  .  .  .  which  would  make 
an  excellent  lodging  for  the  Brothers,  as  long  as  they  were 
not  very  numerous.  .  .  .  Settle  in  the  grotto  with  dates 
and  flour,  begin  a  small  garden,  cover  the  well  with  a 
dome;  always  have  halters  at  the  disposal  of  travellers, 
and  some  dates  or  a  little  flour  for  the  poor." 

In  proportion  as  the  mission  went  deeper  into  this  region, 
it  received  more  numerous  visits  from  native  Tuaregs, 
friendly  tribes,  Iforas,  Taitok,  or  Hoggar.  One  evening, 
one  of  our  most  implacable  enemies,  the  marabout  Abidin, 
who  had  long  fought  against  us,  sent  a  rather  insolent 
peace  message  to  the  Commander ;  he  would  not  come  him- 
self; but  he  sent  his  messenger  to  salute  the  great  chief. 
Laperrine  understood  the  desert,  and  sent  back  word  to 
the  marabout  that  he  would  grant  him  peace,  aman  (safety), 
and  pardon.  The  other  then  promised  a  visit,  which  he 
would  pay  soon  with  the  prince,  the  arnenokal  Musa  ag 
Amastane. 

I  picture  the  Commander  bringing  his  mehari  to  the 
right  of  Brother  Charles's  and  speaking  to  his  friend  about 
the  Hoggar  country,  into  which  the  mission  was  to  enter  in 
a  few  weeks.  For  the  notes  dispersed  through  the  diary, 
and  summarized  hereafter,  were  jotted  down  in  the  note- 
book in  the  evening  after  the  conversations  on  the  ride. 
They  give  us  the  living  words.  And  who  could  be  a  better 
master  or  as  reliable  an  informant  as  Laperrine  ? 

"  Hoggar  is  a  country  of  mountains  and  high  plateaux. 
The  temperature  is  therefore  cooler  than  that  which  we 
sometimes  expect  to  kill  us  here.  In  the  greater  number 
of  deep  hollows,  valleys  and  ravines,  there  are  trees,  above 
all  gum,  and  ethel  trees;  some  of  them  were  splendid. 
Hoggar  extends  in  width  from  Jebel-Udan  to  the  village 
of  Tamanrasset;  in  length,  from  Wady  Igharghar  to 
Abalessa.  It  has  what  might  be  called  four  gates  :  In- 
Amadgel  is  the  northern  gate,  Abalessa  the  western, 
Tazeruk  to  the  east,  Tamanrasset  to  the  south.     The  vil- 


2i6  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULl) 

lage  of  Tit  is  the  centre;  a  village  famous  for  Lieutenant 
Cottenest's  fight  with  the  Hoggars,  which  led  to  the  sub- 
mission of  the  whole  country.  Among  these  shepherds 
you  will  find  some  features  which  recall  our  Middle  Ages; 
a  few  poor  nobles;  the  Dag-Rali,  vassal  tribes  much  re- 
duced by  the  losses  Cottenest  inflicted  on  them  ;  a  relatively 
large  and  wealthy  division  which  is  neither  noble  nor 
vassal,  a  kind  of  nomad  bourgeoisie,  and  the  harratins, 
negroes  of  Twat  or  Tidikelt,  freed  slaves  or  the  descendants 
of  the  freed,  and  these  are  the  only  ones  who  do  a  little  tillage 
of  the  ground.  However,  they  cannot  be  compared  with 
our  former  serfs  attached  to  the  soil  :  they  are  free  to  leave 
the  country;  they  may  be  considered  as  foreign  workmen. 
They  have  no  share  in  public  affairs.  These  are  all  more 
or  less  subject  to  the  a7nenokal,  a  king  without  pomp,  with- 
out personal  retinue,  who,  as  sign  of  his  authority,  has 
only  a  big  drum  placed  before  his  tent,  an  authority  as 
variable  as  that  of  the  first  Capetians,  depending  on  the 
valour  of  the  man  and  the  number  of  his  vassals.  I  shall 
introduce  Musa,  the  present  ayyienokal,  to  you  and  tell 
you  his  story." 

Thus  the  mission  goes  very  peacefully  until  April  i6. 
That  day,  at  the  Timiauin  well  in  the  desert,  Commandant 
Laperrine's  troop,  arriving  towards  evening,  met  a  French 
column  composed  of  twenty-five  Soudan  sharpshooters, 
ten  Kenata  auxiliaries,  and  commanded  by  two  officers. 
This  troop  had  set  out  from  Timbuctoo  when  informed  of 
the  Commander's  march  ;  it  had  passed  through  Aslar,  Suk, 
Attalia,  and  Tessalit ;  it  came  to  make  him  abandon  the 
plan  of  crossing  the  vSahara  to  Timbuctoo.  Strange  as 
such  an  enterprise  may  appear,  yet  the  French  from  the 
Niger  colony  lay  claim  to  prevent  the  French  of  the 
Algerian  colony  from  travelling  in  the  southern  territories, 
in  the  region  which  they  consider  as  a  dependency  of  the 
Timbuctoo  post.  The  limits  had  not  been  fixed  by  the 
higher  authority  of  Algiers  or  Paris.  Therefore,  the 
South  had  resolved  to  defend  its  morsel  of  the  Sahara. 
They  had  got  excited.  In  these  extreme  climates,  jealousies 
become  ferocious,  dissensions  degenerate  into  obsessions, 
the  worst  of  fancies  may  fasten  upon  an  honest  man  and, 
if  he  does  not  react,  dominate  him  entirely.  After  the  first 
salute,  Commandant  Laperrine  saw  that  he  must  show  a 
more  plentiful  discretion.  Fully  master  of  himself,  he 
parleyed  with  his  comrades  from  the  Niger.  He  observed 
that  the  latter  had  not  even  forgiven  the  Iforas  for  having 
submitted  to  France  through  the  intermediary  of  Algeria. 


TRAINING  TOURS  217 

According  to  them,  that  tribe  should  have  asked  for  peace 
from  the  Nigerian  authorities.  The  difference  was  so 
serious  that  calm  discussion  was  impossible.  And  night 
was  coming  on.  Laperrine  broke  off  the  discussion 
and  made  arrangements  to  prevent  any  fighting  between 
the  two  opposing  troops,  and  then  reflected.  He  would 
have  no  violence  or  outburst  at  any  price.  He  would  give 
way  however  hard  the  sacrifice  might  be.  At  daybreak 
the  two  troops  had  already  parted,  and  the  Com.mandant, 
renouncing  the  coveted  glory  of  crossing  the  desert  in 
peace  from  one  side  to  the  other,  retraced  his  steps.  But 
he  had  got  the  Commandant  of  the  Nigerian  force  on  his 
side  to  retire  immediately,  without  molesting  or  disturbing 
the  Iforas  who  had  submitted.  The  question  of  the  zones 
of  influence  would,  later  on,  be  settled  by  the  minister. 
And  this  was  done.^ 

Father  de  Foucauld,  on  this  occasion,  restrained  himself 
with  difficulty.  It  was  not  the  traveller  suddenly  stopped 
and  obliged  to  retrace  his  steps  who  showed  his  vexation  : 
it  v/as  the  ex-officer,  the  colonizer,  the  friend  of  the  Saharan 
nomads,  the  priest,  who  judged  this  wayside  incident  with 
a  severity  of  which  his  pen  shows  no  other  example. 

However,  he  succeeded  in  concealing  his  condemnation. 
He  wished  to  keep  silent,  and  he  did.  The  officers  from 
the  South  misused  their  strength — that  was  his  principal 
grievance — in  going  through  the  camp  of  the  Iforas.  He 
privately  made  a  note  of  it  that  evening  in  his  diary,  and 
ended  thus:  "After  fraternally  shaking  hands  with  them 
on  their  arrival,  to-morrow  I  shall  set  off  without  bidding 
them  adieu.  ...  I  shall  not  utter  a  single  word  of 
reproach  to  them  :  ist,  because  it  would  do  them  no  good; 
2nd,  because  it  might  estrange  them  from  religion;  3rd, 
because  that  might  make  a  row  between  them  and  Com- 
mandant Laperrine's  officers." 

The  latter  gave  up  his  hope,  changed  his  course,  and 
arranged  to  march  first  to  the  East,  as  far  as  Tin-Zauaten, 
by  19°  57'  North  Latitude,  where  he  met  several  Tuareg 
chiefs  and  conferred  with  them.  They  had  crossed  the 
Ahnet ;  they  returned  by  the  Adrar  and  the  Hoggar.  It 
was  a  year  of  drought,  and  after  the  column  had  resumed 
its  road  northwards,  Brother  Charles  noted  that  it  took 
sixtv  hours  to  water  150  camels  and  fill  150  goat-skin 
bottles  at  the  Tinghaor  wells.  Everywhere,  for  several 
weeks,  the  word  "  desert  "  recurs  in  the  diary.     One  day 

^  The  line  of  demarcation  adopted  gives  the  South  Saharan  territories 
to  the  Nigerian  colony,  and  the  rest  to  Algeria. 


2i8  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Brother  Charles  wrote  that  he  could  not  say  Mass  on 
account  of  a  storm  of  wind.  Another  day,  after  a  halt,  he 
celebrated  it  at  noon  !  On  May  17,  the  feast  of  St.  Pascal 
Baylon,  he  prayed  thus  :  "I  put  under  your  protection, 
O  Protector  of  all  Eucharistic  associations  and  families, 
the  sanctuary  and  the  Fraternity  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus,  which  I  should  like  to  found  in  the  heart  of  the 
Tuareg  country.  With  my  whole  soul  I  recommend  the 
conversion  of  the  Tuaregs  to  you.  I  offer  you  my  life  for 
them."  Then  Brother  Charles  set  forth  the  various  points 
of  his  meditation  :  "  If  I  can  stay  in  the  Tuareg  country, 
how  am  I  to  act  ?  Who  am  I  ?  What  ought  I  to  set  myself  to 
do?  Where  shall  I  settle?  What  helpers  shall  I  find?"  and 
then  Brother  Charles  enumerates:  "Jesus,  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  St.  Joseph,  St.  Margaret,  St.  Pascal  Baylon, 
St.  Augustine,  all  the  Saints,  all  the  Angels,  all  the  souls 
in  Purgatory  whom  I  now  supplicate,  all  good  souls  living 
in  this  world  who  help  me  with  their  prayers,  counsels, 
commands,  and  with  all  sorts  of  good."  "  Why  should  I 
settle  in  this  country  ?  How?"  And  he  replied  :"  Silently, 
secretly,  like  Jesus  at  Nazareth ;  obscurely  like  Him ; 
gently,  disarmed  and  mute  before  injustice  like  Him ; 
allowing  myself  to  be  shorn  and  immolated  like  Him,  with- 
out resisting  or  speaking." 

At  every  moment,  in  this  journey  of  discovery,  an  abun- 
dant well,  as  at  Silet;  a  fairly  good  crop  of  w^heat,  as  at 
Abalessa ;  a  group  of  palm  trees,  here  or  there  suggesting 
a  former  palm  grove ;  the  crossing  of  frequented  tracks, 
awakened  in  Brother  Charles  the  idea  of  founding  a  Fra- 
ternity or  mission,  of  rebuilding  a  village,  or  even  of  erect- 
ing a  convent. 

Small  sketches  are  jotted  down  on  the  margin  of  the 
diary,  minute  signs  of  the  sites  of  habitations,  of  the  best 
methods  of  civilizing,  of  the  most  profitable  kind  of  example 
to  give.  Here  a  dispensary  would  be  of  assistance;  there 
an  agricultural  or,  still  better,  a  horticultural  centre.  Here 
two  Brothers  could  do  the  work ;  there  ten  at  least  and  ten 
Sisters  would  be  wanted.  All  along  the  route  Father  de 
Foucauld  placed  subjects  of  an  Order  then  non-existent. 
Inspired  with  charity,  he  imagined  and  then  built.  Like 
the  great  monastic  pioneers,  he  already  saw  a  new  civiliza- 
tion growing  up  amidst  these  wild  countries;  he  was  alone 
and  did  not  despair  :  the  boldness  of  his  purposes  would 
justly  be  called  madness,  if  it  belonged  to  those  whose 
trust  is  only  human. 

They  stopped  for  five  days  in  Abalessa.     On  Whit-vSun- 


TRAINING  TOURS  219 

day,  May  22,  "  with  great  emotion  "  he  celebrated  Mass 
there  in  the  presence  of  Laperrine  and  several  officers. 
There  the  Commandant  was  visited  by  two  notables  of  the 
Kel-Rela,  coming  by  forced  marches  and  bringing  a  letter 
from  Musa  ag  Amastane.  One  of  these  notables,  a  very 
near  relation  of  the  amenokal  and  his  designated  successor 
Soua,  was  the  brother  of  the  young  girl  whom  Musa 
loved  and  could  not  marry. — This  romance  of  the  desert 
was  known  yonder. — In  this  letter,  the  Hoggar  chief  showed 
himself  very  well  disposed  and  declared  that  he  was  a  friend 
of  France,  so  much  so  that  Brother  Charles  asked  himself 
whether  it  was  not  time  for  the  hermit  to  stop  and  found  a 
hermitage  in  the  village  of  Tit,  which  was  reached  on 
May  26,  and  was  the  most  central  of  the  Hoggar.  Laper- 
rine considered  it  safer  not  to  grant  permission  then.  They 
therefore  continued  the  enormous  round  riding  on  camels. 
Each  day  the  diary  mentions  the  presence  of  some  native 
in  a  big  tent.  On  June  7  it  was  a  woman's,  a  Taitoq, 
Tarichat  Ult  Ibdakan,  the  very  woman  who  had  been  so 
courageous  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  of  the  Flatter 
column,  taking  in  and  protecting  our  wounded.  Brother 
Charles  had  formerly  wished  to  pay  her  a  visit ;  he  met  and 
thanked  her.  The  diary,  which  does  not  tell  a  story,  and 
was  not  written  for  curiosity,  recorded  only  this  :  "  She  is 
from  forty  to  fifty  years  of  age,  distinguee,  talking  little,  of 
simple  and  modest  attitude,  very  nice  in  every  way  and 
speaks  Arabic  fairly  well."  However,  a  few  pages  far- 
ther on,  so  as  not  to  be  too  incomplete,  and  without  doubt 
to  remember  better  the  fulfilling  of  the  commission  he 
accepted,  Brother  Charles,  at  the  moment  of  quitting  the 
encampment  where  Tarichat's  tents  were,  added  these 
words:  "She  commissioned  me  to  write  in  her  name  to 
rifleman  Amer,  whom  she  had  saved  and  sent  back  to  his 
own  country.  He  promised  her  her  weight  in  silver,  and 
never  sent  her  anything.  She  has  debts  :  and  50  or  100 
douros  would  give  her  great  pleasure." 

His  mind  was  always  busy  with  what  might  help  his 
Tuareg  brothers,  and  he  took  advantage  of  this  halt  in  the 
desert  to  write  a  very  long  note,  in  which  he  summarized 
the  experience  which  he  had  just  had  in  this  five  months' 
travel,  visits,  conversations  with  the  natives  and  Saharan 
officers,  and  he  entitled  this  note  :  Observations  on  mis- 
sionary journeys  in  the  Sahara.  It  may  be  said  that  every- 
thing is  found  in  it  and  in  proper  order.  What  ought  the 
missionary  to  do  to  keep  his  soul  right?  What  provisions 
should  he  take  with  him,  and  how  choose  his  mehari  and 


220  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

pack-camel  ?  What  place  should  the  missionary  take  in 
the  military  or  civilian  convoy?  Ought  he  to  eat  with  the 
officers?  etc.  I  commence  by  giving  the  replies  to  these 
last  questions  :  "  Let  the  missionaries  be  alone  whenever 
possible,"  says  Father  de  Foucauld.  "  Let  them  eat  alone, 
to  lose  less  time,  and  to  have  more  for  spiritual  exercises 
and  good  works,  in  order  not  to  be  obliged  to  listen  often 
to  bad  talk,  not  to  lose  popular  respect  by  showing  their 
defects,  and  to  be  more  accessible  to  the  poor.  But  when 
the  good  of  souls  requires,  the  Brothers  will  eat  with  the 
officers." 

Other  questions  are  treated  in  this  practical  and  un- 
biassed spirit  which  directs  everything  invariably  to  one 
end — the  good  of  souls.  Father  de  Foucauld  appears  to  be 
writing  the  constitutions  which  were  to  be  followed  by  his 
missionary  successors,  the  civilizers  whom  his  experience 
and  thought  will  bring  forth  from  that  inexhaustible 
treasury  of  mission  work- — France. 

Of  these  observations,  one  may  also  say  that  they  are  a 
kind  of  portrait  of  Father  de  Foucauld  painted  by  himself. 
I  shall  therefore  reproduce  some  of  them. 

In  the  first  place  take  these  lines  on  the  use  of  camels  by 
the  missionary  : 

"  As  on  a  journey,  one  may  have  to  go  very  long  stages, 
and  cross  long  distances  without  water,  the  missionaries 
and  their  servants  must  be  mounted.  That  will  not  prevent 
both  doing  the  greater  part  of  the  stages  on  foot,  in  order 
to  imitate  our  Lord,  by  penitence,  abjection,  poverty,  and 
to  save  their  animals  as  well  as  the  money  belonging  to 
Jesus  and  the  poor." 

And  now,  "what  ought  the  missionary  to  do  for  the 
souls  of  others"  —  of  Christians,  native  soldiers  and 
civilians ;  of  the  inhabitants,  particularly  those  of  the 
Saoura?  The  counsels  are  marvellously  graduated,  and 
I  regret  giving  only  fragments  of  them. 

"  Christians. — Talk  a  good  deal  with  them  ;  be  the  friend 
of  all,  good  and  bad.  .  .  .  Render  them  every  service 
compatible  with  your  state,  with  perfection.   .   .  . 

"Native  Soldiers. — Always  speak  seriously  and  gravely 
to  them  of  heavenly  things,  never  of  temporal ;  be  easy  of 
access  and  very  civil  to  them,  but  not  familiar,  not  talking 
aimlessly,  and  accept  no  presents ;  give  them  helpful  advice 
in  family  matters,  if  they  ask  for  it.  Never  give  them  any 
advice  as  to  temporal  business. 

"  Other  Natives. — You  must  first  gain  their  esteem  by 
an  exemplary  and  holy  life,  then  obtain  their  friendship  by 


TRAINING  TOURS  221 

kindness,  patience,  and  all  sorts  of  little  services  that  you 
can  render  to  all,  small  alms,  remedies,  and  hospitality.  .  .  . 
Try  to  have  as  much  intercourse  as  possible  with  them ; 
.  .  .  but  be  discreet,  reserved,  without  excessive  eagerness, 
so  as  to  draw  them  to  you,  rather  than  go  to  them ;  .  .  . 
don't  enter  their  villages,  tents,  or  houses  unnecessarily, 
unless  you  are  called  there.  .  .  .  Live  as  much  as  pos- 
sible as  they  do;  try  to  be  friendly  with  all,  rich  and  poor; 
but  go,  above  all  and  first  of  all,  to  the  poor  according  to 
the  Gospel  tradition.  In  speaking  to  them,  take  great  care 
not  to  go  too  quickly  into  such  matters  as  are  rather  new 
to  them.  Try  to  make  them  ask  questions,  and  lead  them 
to  be  the  first  to  speak  of  what  you  want  to  talk  about.  .  .  . 
Avoid  theological  discussions  at  present;  more  curiosity 
than  good-will  would  enter  into  it ;  reply  briefly,  without 
admitting  discussion ;  keep  to  natural  theology  and,  except 
for  special  reasons,  don't  set  forth  Christian  dogmas.  In 
most  cases,  now  is  the  time  to  say  :  Cast  not  your  pearls 
before  swine. 

Slaves. — Father  de  Foucauld  ascertained  that  in  general 
the  slaves  were  better  treated  by  the  Tuaregs  than  in  the 
Saoura.  "  Nevertheless,  their  condition  is  worthy  of  pity 
and  their  dignity  as  human  beings  totally  unacknowledged. 
There  is  neither  family  nor  chastity,  nor  probity,  nor  truth, 
nor  goodness,  among  the  greater  part  of  the  slaves.  The 
young  negro  servant-girls  are  all  put  to  immoral  uses  by  the 
Tuaregs  :  it  is  the  same,  more  or  less,  in  all  the  other  parts 
of  the  Sahara.  The  Tuaregs  generally  have  only  one  wife, 
but  when  their  fortune  allows  it  they  also  have  several 
young  negresses  as  concubines.  We  must  therefore  work 
with  all  our  might  to  suppress  slavery  very  quietly,  pro- 
gressively, and  really,  so  as  to  improve  not  only  the  material 
condition,  but  the  minds  of  the  slaves.  The  best  way  seems 
to  be  to  spread  the  method  of  Commandant  M^tois  in 
Tidikelt.  He  permits  all  slaves  to  redeem  themselves  by 
paying  the  master  back  the  amount  they  cost  or  what  they 
are  considered  to  be  worth  ;  and  in  order  that  they  may  be 
able  to  procure  this  sum,  he  gets  those  who  ask  for  it 
enough  work  to  do  to  wipe  out  in  wages  the  ransom  re- 
quired. .  .  .  Freedom  is  obtained  by  degrees,  and  the 
slaves  trained  to  work.  .  .  .  With  the  slaves  thus  liberated 
Commandant  M6tois  then  makes  new  villages,  beside 
freshly  worked  springs.  All  this  is  excellent  and  worthy 
of  imitation.** 

What  means,  then,  are  best  for  starting  the  moral  edu- 
cation of  this  poor  Musulman  people,  and  what  part  will 


222  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

the  Gospel  have  in  our  first  intercourse  with  them  ?  Father 
de  Foucauld's  experience  is  too  full,  his  authority  too  con- 
siderable, not  to  put  on  record  his  observations  intended 
for  those  who  may  continue  or  imitate  his  work. 

"  The  Saura  and  Tuareg. — It  is  somewhat  difficult  to 
have  religious  talks  with  the  people  of  the  Saharan  oases, 
or  of  the  Saura ;  they  tend  to  become  embittered,  and  to 
set  a  gulf  between  us  instead  of  strengthening  the  bonds  of 
charity.  The  best  is  to  keep  to  short  but  reiterated  advice 
on  natural  religion  and  Christian  morals.  .  .  .  Read  them 
from  the  Holy  Gospels  some  of  the  clearest  passages  about 
natural  religion,  but  do  not  put  the  whole  book  into  their 
hands ;  .  .  .  when  they  esteem  us,  we  can  have  long  re- 
ligious talks,  without  fear  of  estrangement,  with  those  whom 
we  know  to  be  serious  and  men  of  good-will.  In  certain 
cases  that  may  be  done  soon ;  when  they  reach  this  point 
we  must  be  ready  to  put  the  Holy  Gospels  before  them. 
It  seems,  therefore,  that  it  would  be  a  very  good  thing  to 
prepare  a  translation  immediately  in  Algerian  Arabic,  to 
read  to  them  or  make  them  read,  and  this  even  the  least 
educated  will  understand. 

"  The  same  order  is  to  be  followed  with  the  Tuaregs.  .  .  . 
Prepare  at  once  a  Tamahak  translation  for  them.  Above 
all,  this  translation  should  be  read  to  them.  .  .  .  There 
is  no  reason  in  trying  to  teach  the  Tuaregs  Arabic,  which 
brings  them  nearer  the  Koran  ;  it  is,  on  the  contrarv,  neces- 
sary that  they  should  be  diverted  from  it.  They  must  be 
taught  Tamahak,  an  excellent  and  very  easy  language, 
and  by  degrees  we  must  provide  it  with  words  indispensable 
for  the  expression  of  religious  ideas  and  Christian  virtues, 
and  improve,  without  changing,  its  system  of  writing.  .  .  . 
Read  them  passages  about  natural  religion  or  morals,  such 
as  the  parables  of  the  prodigal  son,  of  the  good  Samaritan, 
pf  the  last  judgment ;  comparing  it  with  a  shepherd  separ- 
ating the  sheep  from  the  goats,  etc.  It  goes  without  saying 
that,  as  soon  as  conversions  begin  to  take  place,  we  must 
have  a  Tamahak  catechism." 

Commander  Laperrine's  column  was  at  Aseksen  on 
June  12,  when  it  was  rejoined  by  a  detachment  of  the 
Tidikelt  company,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Roussel. 
While  the  Commander  returned  to  In-Salah,  Lieutenant 
Roussel  with  Quartermaster  Duillier,  two  corporals,  and 
seventy-five  native  rn'eharistes  were  ordered  to  continue  the 
"  training  tour."  They  were  to  spend  three  months 
amongst  the  Hoggar  Tuaregs,  to  go  slowly  and  stop  from 
time  to  time.     Brother  Charles  was  much  perplexed,  and 


TRAINING  TOURS  223 

wrote  in  his  notebook:  "Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  I  have 
something  to  ask  You  :  ought  I  to  go  with  him  (Roussel),  if 
I  am  allowed  ?  Or  ought  I  to  visit  Twat,  Gurara,  and  go 
and  spend  some  time  at  Ghardaia  with  Father  Guerin,  and 
return  to  the  Saura,  continuing  to  study  Tamahak  and 
translate  the  Holy  Gospels  which  I  began  to  do  a  few  days 
ago?  What  does  Your  Heart  wish?"  according  to  his 
custom,  Brother  Charles  made  a  parallel  of  the  pros  and 
cons,  and,  after  choosing  what  he  thought  best — that  is  to 
say,  the  most  divinely  useful — noted  in  his  diary  on 
June  14:  "This  morning  1  asked  Laperrine  to  permit  me 
to  stay  with  Roussel,  as  long  as  Roussel  is  out  of  In-Salah. 
He  gladly  gave  me  permission,  and  himself  told  M. 
Roussel,  if  he  sees  Musa,  to  try  to  arrange  with  him  for 
my  actual  and  immediate  settlement  in  Hoggar.  He  is 
leaving  me,  after  having  loaded  me  for  five  months  with  all 
sorts  of  kindnesses  for  which  I  can  never  be  grateful 
enough,  and  telling  me  that  it  is  in  Hoggar  he  hopes  to 
see  me  again." 

Thus  started  a  second  pacific  mission,  and  Father  de 
Foucauld  along  with  it.  On  June  22,  they  cleared  twenty- 
five  miles,  and  the  troop  stopped  for  the  night  between 
Aseksen  and  Tin  Tunin.  For  most  of  these  travellers  the 
route  was  new ;  they  met  unknown  faces ;  the  programme 
was  the  same ;  they  opened  up  intercourse,  lessened  preju- 
dice, and  even  won,  if  they  could,  some  friendship  for  far- 
off  France.  A  magnificent  work,  which  presupposed  in 
our  Saharan  officers,  even  in  the  youngest,  qualities  of 
tact,  diplomatic  patience  and  kindness,  and  also  an  educa- 
tion which  would  not  be  so  easily  found  in  all  armies. 
This  mission  of  Lieutenant  Roussel  was  to  succeed  in 
every  way.  Father  de  Foucauld,  writing  to  a  friend  on 
July  3,  thus  defined  the  character  and  conduct  of  this 
journey  : 

"  We  go  from  spring  to  spring,  to  the  pasturages  most 
frequented  by  nomads,  settling  amidst  them  and  spend- 
ing several  days  there.  With  Holy  Mass,  prayers, 
the  needs  of  one's  body  of  death,  the  frequent  tramping, 
and  the  time  given  to  one's  neighbour,  my  days  are  taken 
up  with  the  study  of  the  language  of  this  country — a  very 
pure  Berber  tongue — and  with  translating  the  Gospels  into 
that  language. 

"The  natives  receive  us  well;  not  sincerely  :  they  yield 
to  necessity.  How  long  will  it  be  before  their  feelings  are 
what  they  pretend  to  be?      Perhaps  they  will   never  be. 


224  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

If  some  day  they  are  so,  it  will  be  when  they  have  become 
Christians.  Will  they  know  how  to  distinguish  soldiers 
from  priests,  to  see  in  us  God's  servants,  ministers  of 
peace  and  charity,  universal  brothers?  I  do  not  know. 
If  I  do  my  duty,  Jesus  will  pour  down  abundant  graces, 
and  they  will  understand." 

However  distrustful,  however  malevolent  these  "sus- 
picious brothers  "  of  the  Hoggar  often  appeared  to  him,  he 
judged  them  "  much  less  separated  from  us  than  the 
Arabs,"  and  the  idea  of  settling  down  in  this  milieu  con- 
tinued to  haunt  his  mind.  However,  he  recognized  that 
the  hour  had  not  yet  come.  He  was  to  return  with  the  mis- 
sion to  the  Saharan  towns  of  the  North. 

At  this  point  I  shall  only  give  short  passages  from  the 
diary  or  letters,  which  may  complete  the  knowledge  we 
already  have  of  this  great  apostolic  soul,  and  I  shall  leave 
to  others,  as  occasion  requires,  the  care  of  noting  the 
thousand  details  of  river-geography,  essays  on  tillage, 
temperature,  habits  and  the  names  of  tribes  and  divisions 
of  tribes,  which  frequently  recalled  the  celebrated  work, 
Reconnaissance  au  Maroc.  The  traveller  of  1904  was  still 
the  careful  scientist  who  would  record  only  the  most  certain 
observations,  the  ardent  geographer,  the  psychologist  who, 
in  the  eyes,  gestures  and  words,  quickly  discovered  the 
secret  thoughts  of  those  who  came  to  him  ;  but  a  singular 
nobility  was  superadded  to  all  that;  a  heart  athirst  for 
justice,  full  of  charity,  ready  to  sacrifice  itself  for  each  of 
his  unknown  and  hostile  brothers,  animated  these  humble 
jottings,  and  interspersed  learned  notes  with  prayers, 
desires,  and  aspirations. 

"  Amra,  July  2. — Feast  of  the  Visitation.  Patronal 
feast  of  all  the  fraternities  of  the  Little  Brothers  and  Little 
Sisters  of  the  Heart  of  Jesus.  Dearest  Mother,  ...  do  to 
all,  by  visiting  with  heavenly  grace  and  by  the  visits  of 
holy  monks  and  nuns  and  holy  souls,  what  you  did  in 
visiting  St.  John  the  Baptist  I  Continue  your  Visitation; 
visit  the  Tuaregs,  Morocco,  the  Sahara,  the  infidels,  and 
all  souls,  .  .  .  unworthy  me ;  visit  me,  beloved  mother ; 
convert  me,  I  ask  you  on  my  knees.  ..." 

"  July  8. — As  our  stay  is  prolonged,  I  have  the  happiness 
of  putting  the  reserved  Host  in  the  tabernacle  for  the  first 
time  in  the  Tuareg  country.  We  have  built  a  chapel  of 
branches,  surmounted  by  a  wooden  cross  :  a  tent  pitched 
underneath  forms  a  dais  over  the  altar  and  protects  it  from 
the  dust.  .   .  .     Sacred    Heart  of   Jesus,    thanks   for   this 


TRAINING  TOURS  225 

first  tabernacle  in  the  Tuareg  country  !  May  it  be  the  pre- 
lude to  many  others  and  foretell  the  salvation  of  many 
souls  !  Shine  from  within  this  tabernacle  on  the  people 
who  surround  You  without  knowing  You  !  Send  saints 
and  numerous  Gospel  workers  wherever  they  are  wanted 
here!" 

"  Wady  Agelil,  in  the  Desert,  July  22. — Feast  of 
St,  Magdalen.  St.  Magdalen,  I  lay  at  your  feet  the  inten- 
tions of  my  soul ;  inspire  me.  Are  there  any  resolutions 
that  please  the  Heart  of  Jesus  which  I  ought  to  make?  In 
what  must  I  correct  myself?     What  must  I  do?" 

On  August  3  they  were  in  the  village  of  Tazeruk,  at  an 
altitude  of  over  6,000  feet.  There  was  then  some  talk  of 
returning.  "These  are  the  probabilities,"  writes  Brother 
Charles  to  a  friend.  "  I  shall  be  back  in  In-Salah  about 
September  20 ;  I  shall  not  stop  there,  but  shall  go  through 
Tidikelt,  Twat,  and  Gurara  quietly,  stopping  at  each 
village — there  are  300  of  them — leaving  at  each  a  few  reme- 
dies, some  words  :  from  there  I  shall  go  to  Ghardaia,  then 
to  Beni-Abbes." 

The  extreme  fatigue  of  so  long  a  journey,  and  in  the 
hardest  season,  impaired  Brother  Charles's  health.  A 
photograph  taken  at  that  period  shows  us  that  he  was 
evidently  exhausted,  his  eyes  sunk  in  their  sockets,  his  face 
thin  and  ploughed  with  deep  wrinkles.  He  would  not 
acknowledge  it.  To  a  friend  of  his  in  France  who  inquired 
for  news  of  him  he  replied  :  "  Yes,  I  need  rest,  but  not  in 
the  sense  you  think;  it  is  not  spiritual  solitude  that  weighs 
upon  me,  it  is  the  lack  of  material  solitude  :  a  few  days' 
silence  at  the  foot  of  the  tabernacle,  that  is  what  I  feel  the 
need  of!" 

The  better  to  assert  his  will  to  accomplish  the  second  part 
of  the  journey  "  as  a  workman  of  the  Holy  Gospel,"  he 
recorded  in  his  diary  how  much  to  give  to  the  poor  vil- 
lagers. "  I  intend  to  give  an  alms  of  seven  francs  in  each 
small  or  average  ksar,  fourteen  in  every  larger  village,  and 
twenty-one  in  every  very  large  one." 

His  forecasts  were  right.  On  September  20  Father  de 
Foucauld  was  at  In-Salah,  where  the  troops  took  up  their 
country  quarters  again  :  he  did  not  stay  there.  Hence- 
forth without  convoy  or  armed  force,  with  a  single  native 
soldier  as  his  guide,  he  continued  his  journey  through 
Inghar,  Aulet,  Adrar.  According  to  promise,  wherever 
there  was  a  tent,  a  group  of  huts  (gurbis)  or  mud  houses, 
he  stopped  to  let  the  wild  people  of  Africa  see  what  the 

15 


226  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

heart  of  a  Christian  Frenchman  is  like.  At  Timimun, 
"  populous,  rich,  accustomed  to  Europeans,  and  a  prospec- 
tively flourishing  mission  centre,"  he  remained  three  days. 
Then,  with  his  guide,  he  resumed  his  solitary  journey, 
sleeping  in  the  open  air,  during  the  whole  week  encoun- 
tering only  one  inhabited  place.  Fort  MacMahon,  where 
there  were  some  Christian  soldiers,  and  some  Musulmans, 
"  and  a  native  chief  who  gave  me  a  good  welcome."  He 
hardly  stopped  at  all  at  El-Golea,  where  three  White  Fathers 
welcomed  him  :  he  was  in  a  hurry  to  reach  the  Ghardaia 
mission  station  again,  and  his  great  friend,  the  Prefect 
Apostolic  of  the  Sahara.  The  latter  was  impatiently  awaiting 
the  traveller,  and  went  to  meet  him.  They  met  at  Metlili, 
a  day's  walk  from  the  residence,  and  conversed  on  the 
way.  When  at  last  the  two  companions  hove  in  sight,  it 
was  hard  to  believe  that  this  poor  lame  ragged  pedestrian, 
who  was  also  leading  his  camel  by  the  head,  was  their  old 
officer  of  the  Chasseurs.  He  looked  like  some  dervish 
beggar.  But  his  eyes  were  full  of  joy,  and  his  smile  be- 
trayed him. 

Ghardaia  was  his  resting-place.  Brother  Charles  lived 
for  six  weeks,  from  November  12  to  the  day  after  Christ- 
mas, 1904,  in  this  small  town,  the  capital  of  Mzab.  "  I  am 
resting  in  silence  and  solitude,  in  the  pleasant  friendship 
of  P^re  Guerin  and  his  missionaries."  There  were  many 
questions  to  settle  with  his  Superior  and  friend.  He  gave 
him  the  whole  of  the  finished  translation  of  the  four  gospels 
in  the  Tuareg  language,  at  which  he  did  not  cease  to  work 
while  on  the  march,  or  even  at  night  in  his  tent.  He  laid 
before  the  missionaries  his  principal  observations  on  the 
new  countries  through  which  he  had  just  passed,  and  gave 
them  advice  on  the  future  evangelization  of  the  people  who 
lived  there  or  passed  through.  And,  after  leaving  "a 
report  of  many  little  things  "  in  this  connexion  in  order 
to  complete  and  recall  his  conversations,  he  made  his  annual 
retreat. 

Among  the  resolutions  he  took  in  those  days  of  self- 
examination,  there  were  two  which  reveal  his  deep  interior 
life.  He  thought  of  his  constant  stream  of  visitors  at 
Beni-Abbes,  of  the  many  journeys  or  doings  which  inter- 
rupted meditation,  and  he  notes:  "Take  care:  ist,  to 
make  a  spiritual  communion  every  time  I  go  into  chapel, 
or  talk  to  anyone,  or  write  to  anyone;  2nd,  in  all  goings 
and  comings,  and  travels,  when  I  am  not  making  any  other 
spiritual  exercise,  recite  some  Aves  for  the  universal  reign 
of  the  Heart  of  Jesus:  also  during  manual  work;  when  I 


TRAINING  TOURS  227 

wake  at  night;  lastly,  whenever  my  mind  is  not  engaged 
in  some  other  duty." 

During  his  stay  at  Ghardaia  he  avoided  appearing  as 
much  as  possible  among  those  houses  and  hovels,  those 
narrow  streets  and  half-covered  little  squares — sol  y  sombra 
— in  which  the  curiosity  of  inhabitants  and  nomads  is 
always  on  the  watch,  and  always  murmuring.  But  a  man 
of  his  holiness  and  renown  could  not  pass  unnoticed. 
Although  the  people  of  the  Mzab  were  of  a  close  disposi- 
tion and  distrustful  of  Europeans,  notables  came  to  solicit 
the  favour  of  a  reception  by  "  him  who  had  sold  this  world 
for  the  other  "  :  the  little  people,  who  dared  not  do  any 
more,  tried  to  see  "the  great  marabout,"  at  work  or  in 
prayer,  at  least  through  the  window.  One  of  those  who 
paid  a  visit  to  Father  de  Foucauld,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant bourgeois  in  the  town,  said  :  "  When  I  went  in,  he 
said  to  me.  The  Lord  be  with  thee!  and  that  moved  my 
heart."  There  were  always  children  on  the  watch  near  his 
house,  and  they  used  to  get  up  on  each  others'  shoulders 
so  as  to  be  able  to  boast  of  having  seen  him. 

On  December  26,  very  much  touched  by  the  reception  of 
his  friends  and  the  people  of  the  Mzab,  he  left  Ghardaia. 
Two  White  Fathers  went  with  him  from  Ghardaia  to 
El-Golea.  He  knew  the  road  and,  always  walking  by  his 
mehari  so  as  not  to  be  distracted  in  his  meditations  and 
prayers,  he  went  on  in  front  like  the  caravan  guides  who 
always  go  on  fifty  yards  ahead.  Not  having  a  watch,  he 
had  asked  one  of  the  Fathers,  while  the  light  lasted,  to  tell 
him  when  a  new  hour  began.  And  every  time  the  hand 
arrived  at  the  top  of  the  dial,  the  timekeeper,  mounted  on 
his  camel,  struck  a  few  blows  on  a  pot  or  tin  can.  The 
noise  was  carried  along  by  the  hot  air,  which  was  other- 
wise soundless.  Then,  far  ahead,  the  perpetual  walker 
never  stopped  but  turned  round  and  made  a  bow  of  thanks. 

They  reached  El-Golea  on  January  i,  1905.  Brother 
Charles  there  found  his  friend  Laperrine  appointed  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel, and  wished  him  a  happy  New  Year.  Two 
days  later  he  set  out  with  him  for  Adrar,  "  where  there  was 
a  chance  of  going  to  Beni-Abbes."  I  see  by  the  diary  that 
between  them  en  route  there  was  often  talk  of  Saharan 
missions.  At  last,  on  January  24,  Father  de  Foucauld 
again  took  possession  of  his  dear  hermitage.  He  did  not 
find  Captain  Regnault,  who  had  been  appointed  to  another 
post  and  was  replaced  by  Captain  Martin.  But  many  other 
friends  welcomed  and  made  much  of  him  !  They  thought 
he  was  lost :  he  came  back.     He  at  once  resumed  his  former 


228  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAVLD 

Rule  :  he  did  not  mislead  anybody  when  he  told  officers, 
soldiers,  native  alms-collectors,  invalids  or  visitors,  that 
he  wished  never  more  to  leave  the  enclosure  nor  the  cabin 
of  sun-roasted  earth,  which  he  had  made  his  grounds  and 
enclosure.  "  I  return,"  he  said,  "  without  meaning  to  go 
away  again  ;  above  all,  with  the  great  desire  that  the  White 
Fathers  in  the  future  may  do  what  I  have  done  this  year, 
with  the  great  desire  of  staying  in  this  dear  Fraternity, 
which  only  lacks  one  thing  :  Brothers  amidst  whom  I  can 
disappear.  .  .  .  Being  alone,  every  moment  I  am  obliged 
to  run  to  the  door,  reply  and  talk.  Terrestrial  troubles  are 
sent  in  order  to  make  us  feel  our  exile,  to  make  us  sigh  after 
the  Fatherland.  .  .  .  Jesus  chooses  for  each  the  kind  of 
suffering  which  He  sees  best  suited  to  sanctify  him,  and 
often  the  cross  He  imposes  is  the  one  that  we  would  have 
refused  had  we  dared,  while  accepting  all  the  rest.  The  one 
He  gives  is  the  one  that  we  least  understand.  .  .  .  He  directs 
us  into  bitter  pastures  which  He  knows  to  be  good  for  us. 
Poor  sheep,  we  are  so  blind  !" 

No  sooner  had  he  arrived  than  he  received  a  telegram 
telling  of  the  death  of  the  mother  of  the  Prefect  Apostolic 
of  the  Sahara  :  He  wrote  at  once  to  Mgr.  Gu^rin  : 

"  Beni-Abbes, 

''January  28,  1905. 

' '  Very  dear  and  venerable  Father, 

"  My  Mass  was  for  that  soul  so  very  dear  to  you, 
much  dearer  to  the  Heart  of  Jesus.  We  love  with  the  poor 
hearts  of  sinners,  He  loves  with  His  divine  Heart.  She  is 
in  good  hands  in  a  good  place,  the  place  where  you  so  much 
desire  to  be,  where  one  day  you  will  be  with  her  and  with 
Him  whom  she  taught  you  to  love.  She  is  at  rest.  Yet 
she  has  no  need  of  rest.  She  has  entered  into  the  abun- 
dance of  peace,  where  there  is  no  longer  either  wind  or 
winter,  because  these  things  have  passed  away.  When 
shall  we  be  there?  .  .  .  For  myself  I  hardly  dare  think  of 
that  resting-place  of  which  I  am  so  unworthy.  Should 
we  dare  have  hope  if  God  did  not  make  it  our  duty  ?  Hope 
is  faith  in  His  Heart.  Our  conversation  will  be  more  and 
more  in  heaven.  There  you  will  find  not  only  the  only 
adored  One,  but  also  your  dear  mother.  Henceforth  for 
her  no  more  distance,  no  more  absence  :  night  and  day  she 
will  hear  you,  watch  over  you,  reply  to  your  questions, 
your  demands,  by  her  prayers :  for  her  the  barrier  is 
passed,  the  wall  broken  down,  the  night  over.  .  .  .  How 
happy   she  is  !   .   .   .      For   the   few  years   which   perhaps 


TRAINING  rOURS  229 

remain  to  you  of  life,  the  separation  is  a  cross — a  cross 
you  accepted  with  all  the  rest,  when  you  told  Jesus  that 
you  loved  Him.  An  apparent  cross,  for  joy  at  the  happi- 
ness of  that  much  loved  soul,  daily  more  intimate  and  con- 
tinual conversation  with  her,  increasing  aspiration  for 
total  union  with  Jesus,  and  growing  weariness  of  the  life 
of  earth,  will  soon  leave  you  only  the  joy  of  feeling  her 
near  Jesus  and  the  desire  of  rejoining  her  there.  .  .  .  Let 
us  kiss  the  cross  that  Jesus  sends.  One  can,  in  this  life, 
only  embrace  Jesus  by  embracing  His  Cross.  And  let  us 
praise  Him  for  the  happiness  of  her  beloved  soul. 

"  I  meant  to  write  you  a  long  letter.  .  .  .  General 
Lyautey's  visit  to  Beni-Abbes  prevented  me  doing  so.  He 
got  here  to-day  and  is  going  off  again  to-morrow  to  Ain- 
Sefra." 

This  beautiful  letter  was  therefore  cut  short  because  there 
was  a  guest  of  mark  at  Beni-Abbes,  and  that  day  courtesy 
had  to  make  devotions  and  silence  give  way,  and  many 
things  that  one  would  have  liked  to  finish  had  to  be  let  go. 

Marshal  Lyautey  remembers  this  meeting  at  Beni-Abbes 
very  well  indeed.  He  spoke  of  it  like  this  :  "  We  dined 
together  with  the  officers,  on  Saturday,  in  the  redoubt. 
After  dinner  a  phonograph  gave  us  some  songs  of  Mont- 
martre.  I  looked  at  Foucauld,  saying  to  myself,  '  He  will 
go  out.*  He  did  not;  he  even  laughed.  The  next  day, 
Sunday,  at  7  o'clock,  the  officers  and  I  heard  Mass  in  the 
hermitage.  A  hovel,  this  hermitage  !  his  chapel,  a  miser- 
able corridor  with  rush-covered  columns.  For  its  altar,  a 
plank  !  For  decoration  it  had  a  calico  panel  with  a  picture 
of  Christ,  and  tin  candlesticks  !  Our  feet  were  in  the  sand. 
Well !  I  have  never  heard  a  Mass  said  as  Father  de 
Foucauld  said  his.  I  believed  myself  in  the  Thebaid.  It 
is  one  of  the  greatest  impressions  of  my  life." 

Father  de  Foucauld  had  again  taken  up  the  sedentary 
life  he  led  a  year  before.  The  bell  again  began  to  be  heard 
at  midnight  on  the  desert  plateau.  The  natives  were  more 
numerous  than  ever  in  begging  the  marabout's  sous,  dates, 
and  barley,  and  in  endlessly  telling  him  of  their  com- 
plicated affairs. 

However,  he  was  no  longer  as  robust  as  before  the  great 
journey  which  he  had  just  finished,  and  he  confesses  it. 

*'  I'm  not  ill,"  he  says.  "  I  celebrate  Holy  Mass;  I  am 
up,  but  I  have  great  headaches  and  some  fever,  and  a  lot  of 
ailments.     I  don't  think  they  are  serious." 

His  strength  returned,  but  he  had  no  help.     It  was  again 


230  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

suggested  that  he  should  go  back  to  the  Hoggar,  and  he 
was  authorized  to  settle  as  the  first  priest  among  the 
Tuaregs,  whose  language  he  was  almost  the  only  one  to 
speak  and  write  well.  He  left  his  first  chosen  residence 
with  its  poor  and  beloved  chapel  and  the  silence  of  hours 
set  apart  to  plunge  still  deeper  into  the  desert  and  recom- 
mence elsewhere  the  now  promising  work  begun  at  Beni- 
Abbes. 

For  a  vocation  is  a  terrible  thing  to  one  who  obeys  it 
resolutely  with  a  virile  will.  While  waiting  he  rejoiced  to 
be  in  the  hermitage  once  more.  He  wrote  to  Commandant 
Lacroix  :  "  You  are  at  the  top  of  the  heights,  I  am  at  the 
bottom  of  the  well ;  my  place  is  the  easier  and  pleasanter. 
I  would  far  rather  be  at  the  Hoggar,  or  in  the  dunes,  than 
at  Algiers.     Oh  !  how  good  is  solitude  !" 


CHAPTER  X 
The  Settlement  in  Hoggar 

THE  invitation  to  return  to  Hoggar  also  came  from 
Commandant  Laperrine.  By  two  letters,  of  April  i 
and  8,  1905,  he  proposed  to  Father  de  Foucauld  to  go  and 
spend  the  summer  at  Hoggar  with  Captain  Dinaux,  chief  of 
annexation  of  In-Salah,  commanding  the  Saharan  company 
of  Tidikelt.  The  latter  was  to  start  at  the  beginning  of 
May,  and  go  over  Ahnet,  and  Adrar  of  the  Iforas  and  Air. 

Brother  Charles  at  first  replied  that  he  could  not  leave  the 
Saoura  before  autumn.  At  that  moment  he  would  decide 
either  to  live  finally  enclosed  at  Beni-Abbes,  or  to  divide 
his  life  as  a  travelling  priest  between  the  Saura,  Gurara, 
Twat,  Tidikelt,  and  the  Tuaregs. 

At  heart  he  was  extremely  troubled.  He  wrote  to  Abbe 
Huvelin,  and  one  gathers  from  his  letter  that  the  hope  of 
at  last  attracting  some  Little  Brother  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
to  the  Fraternity  of  Beni-Abbes,  to  transform  his  personal 
and  precarious  work  into  a  durable  foundation,  went  for  a 
great  deal  in  the  uncertain  reply  given  to  Laperrine. 
Though  so  quick  to  conceive  and  so  ardent  and  firm  in 
execution,  he  was  slow  to  make  up  his  mind,  through  love 
of  perfection.  He  also  hinted  that  such  great  journeys  were 
not  free  from  fatigue.  Nevertheless  he  would  do  what  his 
director  and  Father  Gu6rin  advised. 

On  April  22  he  received  from  Father  Gu^rin,  then  in 
France,  a  telegram  which  expressed  the  opinion  of  the 
Prefect  Apostolic  and  Abbe  Huvelin  :  "  We  should  be 
inclined  to  accept  invitation." 

Brother  Charles  at  once  made  inquiries.  He  learnt  that 
Captain  Dinaux  would  not  leave  Akabli  before  May  15. 
There  was  time  to  get  there.  On  May  3  he  set  out  for  Adrar 
with  Paul.  At  the  two  first  stops,  twenty-two  miles  from 
Beni-Abbes,  at  the  village  of  Tametert  where  he  slept,  then 
forty-four  miles  off  at  Geurzim  where  he  breakfasted  and 
spent  the  hours  of  the  great  heat,  he  was  welcomed.  His 
many  sacrifices  were  not  made  without  some  return,  and 
the  distant  stranger  sometimes  gave  thanks  for  neighbourly 
charity. 

The  words  "  very  well  received  "  occur  again  and  again 
in  the  diary,  coupled  to  the  names  of  the  ksurs  at  which 

231 


232  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

the  traveller  asked  hospitality  for  a  night.  On  June  5  in 
one  of  these  villages  Brother  Charles  met  Aziuel,  the  future 
successor  of  the  amenokal  of  the  Taitok,  "  quite  changed 
since  last  year,  full  of  confidence,  quite  civilized." 

Three  days  later,  near  a  well  in  the  Twat  region  he  at  last 
found  Captain  Dinaux,  who  had  four  French  "  civilians  " 
as  companions,  three  at  least  of  whom  were  very  well 
known:  M.  E.  Gautier,  an  explorer  and  geographer;  M. 
Chudeau,  a  geologist ;  a  writer,  M.  Pierre  Mille ;  and  a  post 
and  telegraph  inspector  on  mission,  M.  Etiennot.  The 
conversations  between  these  men,  so  different  in  tempera- 
ment, studies,  and  in  their  spirit  of  inquiry,  must  have  been 
more  than  once  worthy  of  being  recorded.  Their  words  are 
still  in  the  desert.  The  order  of  the  march  joined  Brother 
Charles  to  M.  Etiennot,  whom  fifteen  men  mounted  on 
meharis  escorted;  but  he  was  often  found  elsewhere  apart, 
according  to  the  precept  he  had  himself  drawn  up,  going 
along  on  foot,  with  his  head  down,  keeping  silence,  the 
better  to  hold  his  soul  in  peace.  "  Poor  dear  Father  de 
Foucauld,"  Pierre  Mille  said  to  me,  "  I  believe  we  all  recog- 
nized his  worth  :  he  was  an  admirable  man  and  a  saint, 
tinged,  perhaps,  with  Orientalism  :  we  loved  him.  We 
used  sometimes  to  smile  at  his  extraordinary  love  of  the 
desert.  With  the  freedom  of  youth  we  used  to  call  him 
between  ourselves  "  The  man  who  can't  stand  tramways." 

War  chief,  scientists,  artists,  and  religious,  each  one  went 
seeking  his  own  good,  and  all  desired,  too,  the  good  of 
France.  They  usually  set  out  under  the  stars,  so  as  to  cover 
more  road  before  the  extreme  heat  stopped  the  doleful  steps 
of  man  and  beast.  Father  de  Foucauld  frequently  said  his 
Mass  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning ;  then  he  would  fold  his 
tent,  to  prevent  delay  and  to  inconvenience  nobody.  When- 
ever possible,  tents  were  pitched  as  soon  as  evening  drew 
near.  On  June  23,  while  the  mounted  men  were  driving 
the  tent-pegs  near  the  In-Uzel  well  under  the  eyes  of  two 
young  Tuaregs  of  about  ten  years  of  age  and  two  slaves  who 
were  grazing  a  flock  of  camels,  a  man  was  signalled  as 
coming,  the  only  one  in  sight.  He  was  quickening  his 
mehari.  He  was  soon  recognized.  He  was  a  courier  sent 
by  Captain  Dinaux  in  search  of  the  new  amenokal  of 
Hoggar.  He  found  the  latter  at  Tin-Zauaten.  He  was 
bringing  a  letter  from  Musa  ag  Amastane  announcing 
the  approaching  arrival  of  the  chief  of  the  Hoggar  Tuaregs. 
In  fact,  two  days  after  Musa  entered  the  camp  and  saluted 
the  French  Commander.  Brother  Charles  thought  well  of 
him.     "  He  is  a  good  fellow,"  he  says,  "  very  intelligent, 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  233 

very  open,  a  very  pious  Musulman,  willing  the  good  as  a 
liberal  Musulman,  but  at  the  same  time  ambitious  and 
loving  money,  pleasure  and  honour,  like  Mahomet,  in  his 
eyes  the  most  perfect  of  men.  He  is  entirely  devoted  to  the 
Bey  of  Attalia,  from  whom  he  says  he  has  received  every- 
thing.^ .  .  .  Upon  the  whole,  Musa  is  a  good  and  pious 
Musulman,  having  the  ideas  and  life,  the  qualities  and  vices 
of  a  logical  Musulman,  and  at  the  same  time  as  broad- 
minded  as  possible.  He  very  much  wants  to  go  to  Algiers 
and  France.  ...  As  agreed  with  him,  my  setting  up  in 
Hoggar  is  decided." 

For  a  fortnight  the  young  chief — he  was  about  thirty-five 
— accompanied  the  Dinaux  mission.  There  was  mutual 
instruction  from  which  all  learnt  something.  Then  the 
column  grew  thinner.  Musa  went  off  as  a  nomad,  I  know 
not  where,  M.  E.  Gautier  and  Pierre  Mille,  escorted  and 
guided  by  three  chiefs  of  the  Tuareg  Ifors,  undertook 
to  cross  the  south  of  the  Sahara,  reached  Gao  and  Tim- 
buctoo,  and  got  back  to  France  after  visiting  Senegal. 
Captain  Dinaux  continued  his  expedition  towards  the  lofty 
Hoggar  plateaux,  and  twenty-eight  days  later  entered  the 
valley  of  Tamanrasset. 

This  name  of  Tamanrasset,  underlined  three  times  on  the 
margin  of  the  diary,  is  followed  by  these  lines  in  which 
Father  de  Foucauld's  emotion  is  plain  :  "  By  the  grace  of 
the  divine  Well-Beloved  Jesus,  it  is  possible  for  me  to 
settle  down  in  Tamanrasset  or  any  other  place  in  Hoggar, 
to  have  a  house  and  garden,  and  to  get  established  there 
for  ever.  ...  I  choose  Tamanrasset,  a  village  of  twenty 
homes,  right  in  the  mountain  in  the  heart  of  Hoggar 
and  of  the  Dag-Rali,  the  principal  tribe,  far  from  all 
important  centres.  I  don't  think  that  there  is  ever  likely 
to  be  a  garrison,  telegraph  station,  or  a  European  here :  it 
will  be  long  before  there  is  any  mission  :  I  choose  this 
abandoned  place,  and  here  I  stick." 

Thus  speaks  charity.  Then  the  colonist  comes  out.  He 
would  like  to  attract  and  settle  in  Hoggar  (the  list  is  curious, 
and  an  economist  would  not  perhaps  have  drawn  it  up  so 
well):  "a  nurseryman;  a  well-sinker;  a  doctor;  a  few 
women  weavers  of  wool,  cotton,  and  camel-hair ;  then  one 
or  two  traders  in  cotton  goods,  hardware,  sugar,  and  salt ; 
but  honest  folks  who  would  get  us  blessed  and  not  cursed." 

The  only  fault  the  hermit  finds  with  Tamanrasset  is  the 
absence  of  any  priest  in  the  neighbourhood,  or  even  within 
a  reasonable  distance.  "  At  an  ordinary  pace,  it  takes  sixty 
^  A  marabout  of  the  family  of  the  Kunta,  residing  in  Attalia. 


234  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

days  to  get  to  Beni-Unif,  the  only  point  at  which  I  can 
conveniently  find  a  priest.  I  do  not  think  the  precept  [of 
confession]  is  binding  in  such  conditions.  In  spite  of  my 
misery,  I  am  tranquil  and  in  great  peace." 

As  at  Beni-Abbes,  so  at  Tamanrasset,  Brother  Charles 
began  building  a  "  house,"  or  rather  a  sort  of  corridor, 
twenty  feet  long  by  six  feet  wide,  to  be  the  chapel  and 
sacristy.  Eor  himself  he  first  had  a  rush  hut  some  way 
off  to  work  and  sleep  in ;  then  he  lengthened  the  corridor, 
and  separated  the  chapel  from  the  library  and  room  with  a 
curtain.  He  celebrated  his  first  Mass  in  Hoggar  on  Septem- 
ber 7,  1905.  He  reckoned  to  stay  there  until  the  autumn  of 
1906,  then  to  set  out  for  Beni-Abbes,  where  he  would  spend 
the  autumn  and  winter,  then  go  back  to  Tamanrasset  at  the 
beginning  of  the  summer  of  1907.  He  would  thus  divide 
himself  between  the  two  hermitages.  He  would  be  a 
wandering  monk  with  two  huts,  the  friend  of  two 
neglected  peoples.  At  least  such  was  the  plan,  God 
willing. 

What  country,  what  people  could  he  see  from  his  cabin 
door?  The  high  plateau  of  Tamanrasset  is  at  an  altitude 
of  about  five  thousand  feet.  The  dry  bed  of  a  fairly  wide 
river  crosses  it,  and  it  is  only  there,  in  a  depression  of  the 
ground,  that  there  were  some  very  primitive  and  poor 
attempts  at  cultivation  when  Charles  de  Foucauld  built  his 
oratory  and  hut  near  the  left  bank.  All  around  was  undu- 
lating stony  ground,  in  which  grew  tufts  of  hard  grass  at 
every  ten  yards ;  guettaf,  whitish  saltworts,  a  yard  high ; 
um  rokba,  of  a  yellowish-green,  not  quite  so  tall;  diss,  a 
kind  of  rush  somewhat  similar  to  alfa  :  in  a  word,  rather 
poor  camel  pasture.  The  faded  tint  of  its  growth  does  not 
rest  the  eyes  and  does  not  give  them  any  pleasure.  The 
beauty  of  the  valley,  its  grandeur,  is  given  by  its  frame  of 
mountains,  for  on  the  north,  within  from  two  to  three  miles 
of  the  hermitage,  the  solid  mass  of  the  Kudiat  rises  up 
dominated  by  the  Ilaman  peak,  ten  thousand  feet  high, 
bare,  heaped-up  and  rocky  mountains,  coloured  by  the  sun, 
above  all  towards  evening,  with  rose  or  fawn,  with  gloomy 
or  dark  purple  tints,  undimmed  by  mist  or  dust :  to  the 
east,  and  closer,  is  the  little  Hageran  chain  :  to  the 
west  the  undulations  through  which  the  In-Salah  track 
penetrates  and  winds  :  on  the  south  the  split  rock  of 
Mt.  Hadrian,  famous  in  Tuareg  legend.^  At  these  great 
heights   the   air   is   of   such    perfect   transparency   as    our 

^  The  legend  relates  that  long  ago  the  giant  Elias  split  the  mountain 
witli  a  blow  of  his  sword. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  235 

eyes  have  never  seen.  Autumn  is  the  fine  season;  the 
days  are  mildly  warm,  the  nights  sparkling  with  stars  :  one 
has  not  to  go  a  long  way  up  to  see  the  Southern  Cross. 
What  a  magic  name  !  The  very  mention  of  this  heavenly 
jewel  gives  plenty  of  food  for  imagination,  and  allows  us  to 
reckon  how  far  infinite  charity  has  led  Father  de  Foucauld 
from  Europe. 

He  is  there  on  the  threshold  of  his  cabin,  dressed  in  his 
white  robe,  which  bears  a  red  heart  and  cross  on  the  breast. 
If  he  looks  again  into  the  plain,  he  will  see  but  a  single 
tree  there,  an  ethel,  a  sort  of  enormous  round  tamarisk, 
which  grew  in  the  bed  of  the  wady.  In  the  shade  of  this 
only  spot  of  verdure  he  suspended  his  barometers  and 
thermometers,  except  the  large  mercury  barometer  over  six 
feet  high,  brought  with  so  much  difficulty  on  camel-back, 
and  now  hung  up  in  the  hermitage.  At  that  period  a  single 
tree  and  no  house,  only  a  few  zeribas,  rush  huts  similar  to 
his  own,  half  hidden  in  the  bed  of  the  Wady  Tamanrasset, 
in  which  lived  some  harratins,  who  grew  a  little  barley, 
carrots,  and  red  Guinea  pepper.  They  were  his  ordinary 
companions.  There  were  others  who  passed  by.  In  the 
expanse,  except  in  the  great  droughts,  Tuareg  shepherds, 
dwellers  in  great  tents,  guarding  troops  of  camels,  asses, 
sheep  and  goats,  were  nearly  always  wandering  about. 
One  morning,  without  any  noise  having  revealed  the  march 
of  a  caravan,  appears  the  ungainly  outline  in  shadow  of  a 
few  extra  camels,  whose  feet  and  bellies  make  windows,  and 
not  far  away  are  three  or  four  hillocks  which  were  not  visible 
the  evening  before,  brown  molehills  made  of  animals'  skins 
under  which  the  nomads  sleep.  These  "  masters  of  the 
desert,"  as  the  Tuaregs  are  often  called,  lead  the  most 
nomadic  life  possible.  They  fill  the  desert  with  their 
name,  but  they  are  not  very  numerous.  Tamanrasset 
ordinarily  only  numbered  about  sixty  inhabitants.  Father 
de  Eoucauld  estimated  the  various  Kel-Ahaggar  tribes  at 
from  eight  to  nine  hundred  families,  whilst  other  groups 
of  tribes  of  the  same  people — the  Iforas,  for  instance — 
amounted  to  at  least  two  thousand  families.  Summer  drives 
them  away  and  compels  them  to  convey  their  cattle  to 
immense  distances,  as  far  as  the  Sudan,  where  they  pay 
very  high  for  pasturage.  They  also  travel  for  commerce.  ' 
Caravans  set  forth  to  sell  sheep  and  goats  in  the  markets  of 
Tidikelt,  and  bring  back  cotton  goods,  dates,  and  millet. 
Other  Tuaregs  carry  on  traffic  with  Rhat  and  Rhadames  : 
others  lead  their  camels  loaded  with  salt  from  the  celebrated 
mines  of  Taudeni  as  far  as  Timbuctoo. 


23b  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

A  wretched  people,  on  the  whole,  often  tormented  with 
hunger  and  thirst.  It  does  not  know  whence  it  comes,  nor 
through  what  event  it  was  obliged  to  retire  into  so  rude  a 
region.  For  a  long  time  the  legend  of  the  European  origin 
of  the  Tuaregs  was  upheld,  on  account  of  the  whiteness  of 
their  skin,  and  the  cross  which  they  carry  as  an  ornament 
on  the  pommels  of  their  saddles  and  on  their  clothes.  It  is 
now  thought  that  they  are  Berbers  thrust  back  by  Arab 
invasions  into  the  depths  of  the  desert,  "simply  Libyans, 
the  last  survivors,"  says  M.  E.  Gautier.  And  Father  de 
Foucauld,  who  studied  them  more  closely  than  anyone,  was 
of  the  same  opinion.  "They  are,"  he  wrote,  "certainly 
Hamites;  their  language  shows  it  clearly.  When  of  pure 
type  they  have  the  physiognomy  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  : 
very  white,  slender,  long-faced,  regular  features,  large  eyes, 
slightly  receding  forehead,  arms  and  legs  rather  long  and 
thin — the  Egyptians  of  the  old  sculptures.  Their  customs 
are  very  different  from  those  of  the  Arabs.  They  are 
Musulmans  with  a  great  deal  of  faith  but  no  practice  or 
education."^  The  Middle  Ages  seem  to  have  known  them  : 
annals  of  the  time  of  the  Crusaders  speak  of  veiled  men,  the 
Multimin.  They  have,  in  fact,  their  faces  veiled  up  to 
the  eyes  by  a  blue  bandage,  the  litham.  Their  pride  is 
immense,  their  coquetry  greater  than  that  of  women.  When 
these  tall  thin  devils,  leaning  on  their  lance,  approach  a 
stranger  they  hold  their  heads  straighter,  they  affect  a 
more  solemn  walk  than  if  they  were  princes  of  former 
times. 

Up  to  the  beginning  of  our  century  war  and  expeditions 
of  vengeance  and  plunder  were  the  most  lucrative  in- 
dustry of  the  Tuareg  tribes  :  the  free  man  does  not  work. 
Emile  Gautier  describes  the  warrior  thus  :  "  The  accoutre- 
ments of  the  Tuareg  warriors  are  well  known  :  the  long  fine 
lance,  all  of  iron,  inlaid  with  brass,  with  fierce  barbs;  the 
great  long  straight  sword,  with  round  point  and  cross-hilt, 
.  .  .  the  antelope-skin  shield,  painted  with  barbarous 
figures.  They  are  dreadfully  'poor,'  far  beyond  our  usual 
conception  of  the  word  :  the  cost  of  a  Winchester  rifle 
and  its  annual  supply  of  cartridges,  doubled  or  tripled  by 
the  carriage  across  a  thousand  miles  of  desert,  is  about  as 

^  Letter  to  Comte  de  Foucauld,  April  3,  1906.  The  Tuaregs  believe 
in  God,  but  do  not  observe  the  Ramadan  fast,  nor  say  the  five  daily 
prayers.  E.  Gautier  said  :  "  Nowhere  in  the  rest  of  the  Berber  world 
does  the  primitive  man  appear  under  so  superficial  and  scaly  a  varnish 
of  Islam."  No  doubt  that  was  one  of  the  reasons  which  decided  Father 
dc  Foucauld  to  settle  in  Hoggar. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  237 

disproportioned  to  the  resources  of  an  average  Tuareg  as, 
for  instance,  the  upkeep  of  a  6o-h.p.  motor-car  to  the  income 
of  a  rural  postman." 

The  fighting  men,  when  they  go  on  an  expedition  and  it 
is  time  for  the  night  halt,  bring  several  shields  together 
and  sleep  thus  under  shelter.  The  family  tent  is  not  quite 
so  primitive.  "  A  big  skin  made  of  an  infinite  number  of 
sheepskins  sewn  together,  fixed  by  cords  to  twelve  stakes, 
a  long  central  pole  which  raises  the  skin,  and  there  your 
Tuareg  family  lodges,"  says  a  traveller  who  recently  visited 
Hoggar.^  "  The  Dag  Rali  that  I  visited  were  rich,  and  had 
tents  of  fine  skins  and  carved  stakes.  To  complete  their 
dwellings,  through  which  the  wind  passes  without  meeting 
any  obstacle,  the  tent  is  surrounded  by  a  sort  of  screen 
formed  of  fibre  mats  which  the  Tuaregs  make  themselves. 
At  night  the  tent  is  closed  by  the  mat;  in  the  day  the  mat 
is  rolled  up.  .  .  .  The  furniture  is  reduced  to  nothing  :  a 
few  coverlets,  kitchen  utensils,  the  rahla  to  mount  the  camel, 
the  woman's  violin  (inizad),  and  arms — that  is  all.  Of 
course,  they  have  no  beds  :  all  sleep  on  the  ground.  .  .  . 
Around  the  tents  negro  and  negress  slaves  attend  to  the 
household  duties.  The  men,  at  least  at  this  season,  do 
nothing,  spend  their  time  in  palaver  or  sword-fencing  with 
great  skin  shields.  The  women  are  busy  with  the  children 
and  cooking,  which  is  really  too  inadequate;  they  play  the 
imsad  and  make  visits  in  the  evening." 

The  nomad  women  not  only  pay  visits  to  one  another. 
Frequently  at  the  end  of  the  afternoon,  before  the  hour  for 
milking  the  animals,  they  go  to  a  gallant  party  which  brings 
together  the  young  girls,  the  young  widows  or  those  cast 
off,  the  young  or  comparatively  young  and  unmarried  men. 
There  is  great  liberty  of  speech.  Sometimes  the  ahdl  is 
held  in  the  shade  of  a  tree,  if  there  is  one,  or  a  rock ;  at  other 
times,  under  the  tent  of  a  woman  living  alone,  or  a  tent 
put  up  on  purpose.  They  sit  beside  one  another.  They 
meet  old  friends,  they  chat,  invent  witticisms,  a  woman 
plays  the  imsad,  a  violin  with  one  string,  the  men  accom- 
panying in  an  undertone  :  the  men  often  recite  poetry  of 
their  own  composition  or  poems  that  have  been  handed 
down  in  the  family  or  tribe  from  generation  to  generation. 
Young  Tuareg  warriors  sometimes  go  from  60  to  120  miles 
to  be  at  an  ahdl  of  a  woman  reputed  for  her  beauty  or  wit. 
A  traditional  etiquette  regulates  everything  in  this  corner 

^  Doctor  Vermale,  Au  Sahara  pendant  la  guerre  europ/ene,  1913-1917 
(written  notes).  Doctor  Vermale  was  killed  by  the  Tuaregs  in  the  battle 
of  Ain-el-Hajaj,  February  13,  1917.     He  was  twenty-nine  years  of  age. 


238  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

of  the  desert  en  fete.  "  Clothes,  behaviour,  and  conversa- 
tion are  all  governed  by  a  graded  worldly  code,  discreet, 
absurd,  and  inflexible.  Flirting  is  naturally  the  great 
occupation."^ 

The  Hoggar  confederation,  like  the  other  Tuareg  con- 
federations, is  commanded  by  an  elected  chief,  the  amenokal 
chosen  among  the  nobles  :^  each  tribe  obeys  an  amrar.  We 
already  know  that  when  Father  de  Foucauld  began  to  build 
his  hermitage  at  Tamanrasset,  the  Hoggar  amenokal  was 
Musa  ag  Amastane.  He  succeeded  two  declared  enemies 
of  the  French  :  Ahitarel,  who  governed  the  confederation 
at  the  time  of  the  massacre  of  the  Flatter  mission ;  then 
Attisi,  who  had  himself  taken  part  in  the  massacre.  More 
clever  and  also  more  intelligent  than  his  predecessors, 
Musa  entered  into  negotiation  with  the  military  chiefs  of 
the  oases  even  before  his  election  as  chief  of  his  nation.  At 
the  beginning  of  1904  he  concluded  a  treaty  of  friendship 
with  the  French  at  In-Salah,  had  himself  recognized  chief 
of  the  Hoggar  Tuaregs,  and — cleverest  of  all  in  the  chief 
of  a  band — obtained  from  France  pardon  for  the  former 
amenokal  Attisi,  who  had  become  unpopular  and  retired 
towards  the  south-east,  to  the  Azjer  Tuaregs. 

Such  was  the  country  in  which  Father  de  Foucauld  pro- 
posed to  live,  such  were  the  Tuaregs  whom  he  was  going 
to  have  as  companions  and  witnesses.  He  could  still 
change  his  mind  and  go  back  north.  That  was  proposed 
to  him.  Captain  Dinaux,  who  had  followed  his  journey 
and  run  over  the  A'ir  region,  again  at  the  end  of  five  weeks 
passed  through  Tamanrasset  on  October  15,  1905.  He 
inquired  about  the  hermit's  plans  :  they  had  not  changed. 
Then  he  bade  him  adieu,  put  in  his  report  this  memorable 
fact  that  a  civilized  man  had  asked  as  a  great  favour  to  be 
left  in  Hoggar,  and  added  :  "  He  will  remain  thus  alone  in 
the  midst  of  the  Tuaregs,  425  miles  from  In-Salah,  and  will 
be  united  to  us  only  by  the  monthly  courier  which  we  are 
going  to  try  to  inaugurate." 

What  faith  and  what  moral  energy  to  support  such  a 
trial  victoriously  I  No  one  of  his  race  and  education.  No 
help  for  body  or  soul !  No  hope  for  years  and  years  of 
altogether  winning  a  people  to  his  Faith  across  such  a 
distance  and  so  many  obstacles  !  He  knew  for  a  certainty 
that  he  would  die  before  getting  the  reward — that  is  to  say, 
before  securing  the  full  conversion  of  a  single  soul  to  the 

^  Emile  Gautier,  La  Conqucte  du  Sahara. 

*  The  Hoggar  noble  tribes  are  the  Kel  Rela  and  the  Taitok  :  both 
have  vassal  tribes. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  239 

law  of  salvation  and  Christian  civilization.  And  yet,  not 
to  doubt,  not  to  hesitate,  to  offer  himself  resolutely  for  a 
task  which  no  human  attraction  recommended,  to  break 
with  all  that  he  loved  on  earth  and  in  the  mind  of  Europe, 
to  obtain  the  difficult,  the  uncertain  distrustful  sympathy  of 
nomad  shepherds,  of  warriors  accustomed  to  robbery,  and 
of  miserable  negroes — that  is  the  life  which  Father  de 
Foucauld  chose.  Most  men,  even  of  the  stoutest  type,  would 
have  succumbed  to  one  or  other  of  these  temptations  :  dis- 
couragement or  corruption.  He  remained  pure  :  he  made 
progress  in  the  art  of  sacrifice,  the  longest  of  all  to  learn 
and  the  one  the  mastery  of  which  is  never  assured ;  he 
rendered  France  the  incomparable  service  of  allowing  a 
glimpse  of  her  to  be  caught,  for  she  was  present  and  recog- 
nizable in  him ;  he  rendered  other  services  to  science ;  he 
prepared  a  whole  people  for  missionaries  to  come ;  he  was 
the  great  solitary  sower  whose  steps  nobody  has  been  able 
to  count.  He  never  counted  them  himself.  I  believe  the 
words  of  one  of  his  near  relations  are  quite  right :  "  Hoggar. 
This  is  the  period  of  his  life  in  which  Charles  showed  all 
he  could  do." 

His  self-surrender  was  apparently  complete  :  yet  it  was 
to  be  much  greater. 

Eaithful  to  his  unchangeable  resolution  to  prepare  for  the 
conversion  of  the  infidels.  Father  de  Foucauld,  as  soon  as 
he  had  taken  possession  of  his  hermitage,  made  his  retreat, 
and  noted  in  his  diary  the  means  he  would  use  for  such  a 
blessing. 

"  Do  my  utmost  for  the  salvation  of  the  infidel  peoples 
of  these  countries  by  the  total  forgetfulness  of  self. 

"  Every  year  make  a  round  of  the  arrhem^  of  Hoggar; 
accept  invitations  to  journeys  in  the  Sahara,  if  they  are 
useful ;  if  possible,  spend  a  few  days  every  year  in  the  tents 
of  the  Hoggars." 

With  the  help  of  Abd  en  Nebi,  a  Tamanrasset  harratin, 
whom  he  paid  twenty  centimes  a  lesson — a  price  which  was 
then  and  there  sufficient — he  at  once  undertook  the  transla- 
tion into  Tuareg  of  extracts  from  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Total  forgetfulness  of  self,  a  life  of  prayer,  charity,  and 
study  :  how  could  a  man  faithful  to  such  an  ideal  be  unsuc- 
cessful in  gaining  the  sympathy  of  these  camel-drivers  and 
savage  traders,  even  of  giving  them  a  glimpse  of  the  moral 
superiority  of  Christians  ?  How  doubt  that  France,  of 
whom  he  was  a  model  son,  would  benefit  by  such  an  exile  ? 
Captain  Dinaux,  the  refined  and  cultivated  officer  who  had 
^  Little  colonies  of  agriculturists  are  thus  described. 


240  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

brought  him  to  Hoggar  and  then  left  him  there,  said  in  his 
report  to  the  Governor-General  of  Algeria  :  "  The  Father's 
reputation  for  holiness,  the  results  he  has  clearly  obtained 
in  curing  the  sick,  will  do  more  for  the  extension  of  our 
influence  and  the  rallying  to  our  ideas,  than  a  permanent 
occupation  of  the  country.  .  .  .  The  manner  in  which  he 
was  received  and  installed  is  a  characteristic  proof  of 
Musa's  good  dispositions."  He  added  these  lines,  which 
do  him  honour,  and  which  should  be  remembered:  "On 
the  same  grounds,  we  should  encourage  the  establishment 
of  the  half-nomadic  White  Sisters  as  much  as  possible  :  the 
position  of  the  Tuareg  woman  would  further  the  improve- 
ment of  their  race  by  contact  with  European  women.  .  .  . 
Their  devotion,  their  kindness,  and  spirit  of  sacrifice  would 
have  the  happiest  influence  on  the  Tuaregs." 

Father  de  Foucauld's  Rule  was  still  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Little  Brothers  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  but  he  was  obliged 
to  make  two  modifications  in  them  :  he  devoted  a  great 
deal  of  time  to  the  study  of  Tamachek,  and  at  first  he  had 
to  leave  the  enclosure,  in  order  "  to  be  in  contact  "  with  his 
changing  neighbours.  "  He  had  to  take  the  first  steps  :" 
the  Tuaregs  would  not  come  of  themselves  when  there  was 
no  material  profit  to  be  hoped  for.  Brother  Charles  would 
therefore  go  into  the  gardens  where  the  harratins  were 
working  :  he  would  go  and  chat  with  the  shepherds  and 
their  slaves  around  the  tents  scattered  in  the  plain.  He 
gave  out  remedies  and  little  presents  of  coloured  pictures, 
and  above  all  needles  that  women  riding  on  donkeys  came 
from  very  far  to  beg  for,  since  the  greater  part  of  the  time 
they  had  to  sew  with  thorns,  to  the  end  of  which  they 
fastened  a  piece  of  thread.  Later  on  he  learnt  to  knit,  so 
as  to  give  them  knitting  lessons  :  he  thought  of  the  great 
material  and  moral  gain  of  establishing  little  workrooms 
managed  by  French  Sisters  in  this  country,  "  where  they 
work  so  little  and  talk  so  much,"  and  where  the  women 
"  die  of  idleness."  If  only  they  could  be  taught  to  weave 
wool  !  When  the  sheep  falls,  unfortunately  its  wool 
along  with  the  camel's  hair  are  carried  off  by  the  wind. 
"  Nobody  makes  anything  of  them  :  a  little  goat's  hair  is 
used  to  make  cords,  the  rest  is  unused."  The  thought  of 
"  his  people"  never  left  this  colonizing  monk. 

He  also  saw  Musa  ag  Amastane,  and  spoke  of  him  in 
his  letters,  and  the  opening  sketch  of  the  amenokal's  face 
helps  us  to  a  much  clearer  idea  of  him. 

'*  I  again  saw  a  lot  of  Tuaregs  whom  I  saw  last  year  :  we 
are  on  very  good  terms.     As  to  the  natives,  I  see  no  other 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  241 

duty  than  that  of  praying  for  them,  and  making  them  like 
me,  and,  should  an  opportunity  offer,  giving  them  good 
advice  very  discreetly.  ...  I  endeavour  to  prepare  the 
way  for  others,  praying  to  Jesus  to  send  them.  It  seems 
to  me  that  at  present  the  most  necessary  things  in  Hoggar 
are  education  and  the  reconstitution  of  the  family ;  their 
ignorance  is  so  profound  as  to  render  them  incapable  of 
distinguishing  the  true  from  the  false,  and  the  looseness  of 
family  life,  the  sequel  to  that  of  morals  and  numerous 
divorces,  leaves  the  children  to  grow  up  as  chance  may 
decide  and  without  education.  .   .  . 

"  The  setting  up  of  French  authority  among  the  Hoggar 
and  the  Taitok  has  made  great  progress  since  last 
year. 

"  As  long  as  France  has  not  a  European  war,  we  seem  to 
be  safe.  If  there  is  a  European  war,  there  would  probably 
be  risings  in  the  whole  South  and  here  as  elsewhere.   .  .   . 

"  Actually  both  are  entirely  subject  and  pay  'France 
tribute  :  the  amrar  of  the  Taitok  and  the  amenokal  of  the 
Hoggar  were  solemnly  invested  with  their  authority  in  the 
name  of  France  by  the  chief  of  the  dependency  of  In-Salah, 
to  whom  they  are  subordinate.  The  Taitok  has  an  amrar 
Gidi  ag  Geraji,  an  intelligent  old  man  but  without  great 
authority,  and  not  a  very  responsible  character.  The 
Hoggar  have  Musa  ag  Amastane  as  amenokal;  he  is  a 
very  intelligent  man,  animated  with  good  intentions,  seek- 
ing solely  the  welfare  of  the  Musulmans  and  Tuaregs ; 
large-minded,  he  devotes  his  life  to  make  peace  reign  among 
the  Tuaregs,  to  protect  the  weak  against  the  violence  of 
the  strong,  and  by  that  acquires,  as  well  as  by  his  liberality, 
piety,  amiability,  and  courage,  a  universal  veneration  from 
In-Salah  to  Timbuctoo;  the  good  he  does,  his  efforts  for 
peace  and  justice,  are  not  restricted  to  Hoggar,  but  ex- 
tend to  the  neighbouring  tribes — Azjers,  Kel-Ui,  Taitok, 
Aulimmiden  :  his  moderation,  his  spirit  of  peace,  and  his 
constancy  in  upholding  the  poor  and  oppressed  against 
injustice,  are  remarkable ;  he  is  open-minded,  wise,  and 
moderate ;  if  God  gives  him  life,  his  influence  will  go  on 
increasing  and  will  last  for  a  long  time.  It  is  very  interest- 
ing to  see  this  mixture  of  great  natural  gifts  and  profound 
ignorance  in  this  man  who,  from  certain  points  of  view,  is 
a  savage,  and,  from  others,  has  a  right  to  esteem  and  con- 
sideration ;  for  his  justice,  his  courage,  and  the  elevation  of 
his  character  have  made  for  him  a  peerless  position  from 
Twat  and  Rhat  as  far  as  the  Niger.  My  relations  with  him 
are  excellent.     I  had  not  seen  him  last  year ;  this  vear  I  have 

16 


242  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

not  left  him  for  four  months  ;  he  is  here  even  now ;  he  has  no 
residence,  and  is  a  nomad  like  all  his  compatriots.  Do  his 
fine  qualities  exclude  ambition,  sensuality,  and  disdain  and 
hatred  in  his  heart  for  non-Musulmans  ?  I  do  not  think  so, 
but  he  seems  to  have  enough  real  piety,  so  that  striving  for 
the  general  good  influences  his  conduct  more  than  private 
interest,  and  he  is  intelligent  enough  to  change  to  good 
whatever  is  false  and  bad  in  his  mind  and  heart. "^ 

This  detailed  analysis  of  Musa  ag  Amastane's  character 
shows  frequent  intercourse  between  him  and  Father  de 
Foucauld.  The  above  letter  alludes  to  it,  but  does  not  give 
any  detailed  account.  What  subjects  were  approached  in 
these  conversations  between  the  European  Christian  and  the 
African  Musulman  ?  The  happy  influence  of  Father  de 
Foucauld,  even  his  moral  authority  over  the  Hoggar  chief, 
is  undeniable.  It  will  be  clearly  seen  later,  when  I  have  to 
speak  of  the  last  moments  and  last  words  of  the  amenokal. 
But  what  sort  of  talks  went  on  with  the  hermit  of  Taman- 
rasset  when  he  paid  or  received  visits  from  the  chief  ?  In 
spite  of  his  personal  fervour,  did  he  confine  himself  to 
vague  counsels  with  distant  or  discreetly  veiled  references 
to  the  law  of  Christ  ?  This  has  been  maintained,  because 
many  require  positive  proofs  in  order  to  believe  in  goodness, 
especially  in  a  certain  courage  in  which  they  are  wanting; 
and  so  far  these  proofs  could  not  be  given.  But  now  we 
have  them. 

After  Father  de  Foucauld's  death  in  his  hermitage  at 
Tamanrasset,  among  many  other  papers  dispersed  and 
thrown  in  the  dust  was  found  a  pocket-book  of  intimate 
notes,  a  sort  of  memento,  which  I  have  under  my  eyes  in 
writing  these  lines.  Several  pages  are  headed  :  Things  to 
say  and  letters  written  to  Musa.  These  things  were  not 
said  or  written  at  the  beginning  of  his  stay  at  Tamanrasset, 
but  they  are  clearness  itself ;  they  reply  to  a  question  still 
more  general  than  the  one  which  has  been  put.  About 
what  did  Father  de  Foucauld  speak  to  the  Tuaregs  and,  in 
a  more  general  way,  to  Musulmans ;  and  up  to  what  point 
did  he  use  that  right  of  counsel  which  he  bought  so  dearly 
and  which  his  strict  duty  forbade  him  to  drop  ?  Here  it  is. 
I  shall  reproduce  the  greater  part  of  the  two  documents,  of 
which  the  first  is  dated  Easter,  1912,  the  second  1914,  but 
which  both  explain  the  whole  of  his  dwelling  at  Taman- 
rasset, and  reveal  the  secret  of  an  action,  always  French, 
but  also  essentially  and  always  religious. 

^  Letter  to  Mgr.  Livinhac,  October  26,  1905. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  243 

"  Tell  Musa: 

"  I.  Surround  yourself  with  worthy  people,  keep  no 
good-for-nothings  about  you. 

*'  2.  Keep  away  all  strange  Arabs  who  only  come  to 
settle  here  in  order  to  eat  up  the  country  and  to  eat  up  you, 
Musa. 

"3.  Encourage  settlers. 

"  4.  Reduce  expenses.  Be  humble.  God  alone  is  great. 
He  who  thinks  himself  great,  or  who  seeks  to  be  great,  does 
not  know  God. 

"5.  First  of  all,  love  God  with  your  whole  heart  and 
above  all  things ;  next,  love  all  men  as  yourself.  From  the 
love  of  your  neighbour  as  yourself  follows  the  triple  law  of 
fraternity,  equality  {imrad),  liberty  (slaves).  '  When  Adam 
delved  and  Eve  span,  where  was  then  the  gentleman  ?* 
Where  was  the  imrad,  where  the  slave  ? 

"6.  If  he  wants  to  know  how  the  prophets  think,  speak, 
and  act,  he  must  come  to  see  me.  I  shall  read  the  Gospels 
to  him. 

"7.  Don't  ask  for,  and  don't  accept  presents.  By  ask- 
ing for  presents  from  his  friends,  he  burdens  them  heavily ; 
by  accepting  presents  from  anyone,  he  becomes  the  slave  of 
the  riff-raff, 

"8.  Pay  all  debts  and  don't  incur  new  ones:  don't 
borrow  of  friends,  because  that  is  unworthy  of  you  and  will 
weigh  heavily  upon  them.  Don't  borrow  of  unknown 
people,  for  that  will  make  3'ou  their  slave.  In  the  holy 
books,  God  often  tells  chiefs  not  to  take  gifts.  If  the  man 
from  whom  they  have  taken  a  gift  asks  them  for  an  unjust 
thing,  they  find  it  hard  to  refuse;  if  he  does  wrong,  they 
find  it  hard  to  punish  him ;  it  is  to  be  feared  that  they  will 
prefer  him  to  others,  who  have  given  nothing,  as  good  or 
better  than  them. 

"  9.  Don't  give  presents  or  hospitality  without  necessity, 
otherwise  you  will  always  be  :  (i)  in  money  difficulties  and 
debts;  (2)  surrounded  by  riff-raff,  for  it  is  they  and  not 
worthy  people  whom  hospitality  attracts;  (3)  to  provide  for 
it  you  will  have  to  get  considerable  presents  given  you  by 
those  of  the  imrad  who  are  most  devoted  to  you,  and  they 
will  end  by  hating  you  on  account  of  your  requests  for 
money,  for  your  waste  and  his  bad  company. 

"  10.  Have  fewer  slaves;  a  band  of  wasteful  good-for- 
nothings  who  make  you  ridiculous  are  no  good  to  you. 

"11.  When  you  are  near  an  officer,  go  frequently  to  see 
him  quite  alone;  many  things  are  better  treated  in  a  tete- 
a-tete;   and   speak   to   him   without    an    interpreter,    quite 


244  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

frankly  as  to  a  real  friend ;  never  tell  the  shade  of  an  un- 
truth. Treat  all  grave  affairs  always  in  a  tete-a-tete  with 
the  officer  without  interpreter. 

"  12.  Never  lie  to  anybody ;  all  untruth  is  hateful  tcGod, 
for  God  is  truth. 

"  13.  Always  furnish  thoroughly  good  men  as  guides, 
because  often  all  the  other  Tuaregs  get  judged  by  them. 

"  14.  Never  praise  a  person  to  his  face;  when  one  loves 
and  esteems  anyone,  that  is  shown  by  confidence  and  acts ; 
there  is  no  use  in  talking  about  it;  to  flatter  is  a  low  thing 
good  enough  for  the  Arabian  thalebs. 

"  15.  Don't  be  slow  and  lazy,  manage  to  husband  your 
time. 

**  16.  Try  hard  to  get  your  people  to  learn  French,  to 
become  naturalized  French,  not  to  become  our  subjects  but 
our  equals,  to  be  everywhere  on  the  same  footing  as  we,  so 
as  to  be  everywhere  free  from  annoyance.  That  will  come 
sooner  or  later ;  those  who  see  what  is  coming  prepare  for  it ; 
thanks  to  that,  and  probably  in  a  short  time,  all  the  military 
and  employes  of  Ahaggar  will  be  natives. 

"  17.  Never  make  a  real  present  to  any  Frenchman;  that 
rather  annoys  than  pleases  those  to  whom  you  give  them  ;  for 
it  is  an  expense  to  you  (which  they  wish  to  spare  you),  and 
also  to  the  receiver  (who  will  always  make  a  present  in 
return) ;  when  a  Frenchman  takes  a  gift,  it  is  only  through 
politeness  and  with  regret.  Never  ask  the  captain  for 
sugar,  tea,  or  anything ;  bring  what  is  necessary,  and  if 
you  lack  anything,  put  up  with  it.  If  you  ask,  you  get 
what  you  want,  but  at  the  same  time  you  obtain  what  you 
don't  wish  for — contempt." 

"Letters  to  Musa: 

"  Love  God  above  all  things,  with  your  whole  heart,  your 
whole  strength,  and  your  whole  mind. 

"  Love  all  men  as  yourself,  for  the  love  of  God. 

"  Do  unto  all  men  what  you  wish  they  would  do  unto 
you. 

"  Do  to  none  what  you  would  not  wish  them  to  do  unto 
you. 

'*  Abase  yourself  inwardly  :  God  alone  is  great;  all  men 
are  little  :  the  man  who  is  puffed  up  is  mad,  for  he  knows 
not  whether  he  is  going  to  heaven  or  hell. 

"  God  sees  all  your  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds;  remem- 
ber and  do  them  all  as  in  His  sight. 

"  Do  each  act  as  you  would  have  it  done  at  the  hour  of 
death . 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  245 

"  The  hour  of  death  is  unknown  :  let  your  soul  be  as  you 
would  have  it  at  the  hour  of  death. 

'*  Each  evening  reflect  on  the  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds 
of  the  day;  ask  pardon  of  God  for  those  that  are  bad  and 
for  all  the  sins  of  your  life,  as  if  you  were  going  to  die  in 
the  night,  and  say  to  God  from  the  bottom  of  your  heart : 

"  '  O  God,  I  love  Thee  with  my  whole  heart,  above  all 
things. 

"  '  O  God,  Thy  will  in  all  things  is  mine. 

"  '  My  God,  all  that  Thou  wiliest  me  to  do,  I  will  do.'  " 

Is  not  that  the  summary  of  all  evangelical  morality,  and 
is  it  necessary  to  remark  that  such  teaching,  commented 
on  by  frequent  conversations,  either  with  Musa,  or  with 
the  Tuaregs  and  harratins  of  Hoggar,  was  excellently 
calculated  to  prepare  the  chief  and  his  people  to  receive 
and  understand  Catholic  dogma?  Is  not  the  poor  Saharan 
who  undertakes  to  examine  his  conscience  and  say  the 
above  prayer  in  the  best  dispositions  for  deserving  and 
desiring  to  know  the  whole  truth?  And  how  near  us  he 
would  be !  And  how  much  better  would  treaties  hold 
with  men  thus  taught ! 

Brother  Charles,  living  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  having 
intercourse  only  with  them,  quickly  judges  the  Tuaregs. 
He  compares  them  to  the  Arabs ;  in  both  cases  there  are 
the  same  ignorance  and  violence.  But  the  ignorance  of 
the  Tuaregs  can  be  more  easily  combated  and  overcome, 
because  they  are  of  a  more  amiable  nature,  and  more 
inquisitive.  Their  greatest  fault  is  pride.  These  nomads 
of  a  Saharan  tribe,  "the  proudest  of  men,"  look  upon  us 
as  savages.  They  esteem  themselves  as  the  most  perfect  of 
mankind,  "the  best  on  earth."  They  even  take  us  for 
know-nothings,  and  no  doubt  this  would  be  a  sign  of  mad- 
ness if  they  had  not  some  slight  excuse — pride  is  con- 
tented with  little  and  sometimes  even  with  nothing — in 
their  manner  of  life,  and  in  their  extreme  remoteness,  and 
in  the  obstacles  of  all  sorts  which  make  their  country  so 
inaccessible.  One  of  the  best-known  officers  of  our  African 
Army,  an  expert  in  all  Saharan  questions,  whom  I  ques- 
tioned in  Algiers  about  the  incredible  contempt  for  us 
which  the  natives  feel  or  affect,  replied:  "They  feel  that 
we  are  at  their  mercy  whenever  we  ask  them  to  act  as 
guides  in  the  desert,  or  advise  us  about  a  police  operation. 
The  natives  think  we  are  their  inferiors  in  their  own  sur- 
roundings, and  that  is  enough.  Our  machinery  makes 
little  impression  upon  them.     A  picture  or  a  legend  seems 


246  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

an  explanation  to  them,  and  satisfies  their  very  superficial 
desire  for  knowledge.  Thus,  to  them  an  aeroplane  is  only 
a  '  tent  that  flies  ' ;  the  wireless,  the  utilization  of  the  wind 
which  we  send  from  one  post  to  another;  the  motor,  an 
iron  box  in  which  we  have  imprisoned  the  genii  of  fire.  It 
is  the  genii  that  make  the  wheels  turn.  And  the  proof  is 
the  drubbing  (the  turning  of  the  crank-handle)  we  give 
them  at  starting,  to  force  them  to  work.  When  once  a 
native  has  heard  these  poor  explanations,  he  considers 
himself  well-informed,  and  as  he  feels  no  need  to  change 
his  customs,  the  camel  caravans  seem  to  him  the  best  means 
of  transporting  dates,  millet,  and  salt,  just  as  do  runners 
for  sending  news;  he  agrees  to  use  our  inventions  but  does 
not  esteem  us  on  account  of  them,  having  been  able  to 
live  at  less  expense,  freely  and  as  he  pleased,  before  they 
were  known." 

That  is  not  the  whole  explanation  of  the  natives'  pride. 
They  were  told,  and  thought  there  were  manv  signs  that 
Europeans,  and  particularly  the  French,  were  unbelievers. 
It  is  another  error,  another  want  of  knowledge,  more 
serious  than  the  first,  but  which  is  explained  by  our  fault, 
and  they  say  :  "  You  have  the  earth,  but  we  have  heaven." 

Father  de  Foucauld,  who  was  familiar  with  the  subject, 
might  then  quite  rightly  conclude  thus  : 

"  Our  civilized  nations — which  have  among  them  many 
savages,  many  who  are  ignorant  of  primary  truths  and  as 
violent  as  the  Tuaregs — are  very  guilty  for  not  spreading 
the  light  and  propagating  the  right,  education  and  laws  of 
peace,  in  these  backward  countries.  How  easy  that  would 
be  !  But  instead  of  that,  they  waste  their  substance  in 
follies,  or  wars,  or  mad  contradictions."^ 

Such  were  the  companions  among  whom  it  may  be  said 
Father  de  Foucauld  lived  in  solitude.  He  had  his  refuge 
in  the  adoration  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  the  celebra- 
tion of  Mass.  But  the  consecration  of  the  Body  of  Christ 
demanded  some  one  to  serve  Mass  along  with  the  priest. 
Now,  a  letter  to  Father  Guerin,  on  April  2,  1906,  let  it  be 
seen  that  the  negro,  the  former  slave  brought  from  Beni- 
Abbes  to  Ahaggar,  would  have  to  go  :  "  Paul  goes  from 
bad  to  worse — morally — the  impossibility  of  saying  Mass 
without  him  alone  makes  me  keep  him.  If  I  were  obliged 
to  part  with  him,  or  if  he,  of  his  own  accord,  leaves  me, 
might  I  say  Holy  Mass,  every  fortnight,  alone,  in  order  to 
renew  the  holy  species?  Might  I  myself  communicate 
daily  as  priests  in  prison  do?  .  .  .  Thanks  be  to  God! 
^  Letter  to  the  Comte  de  Foucauld,  April  3,  1906, 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  247 

I  am  the  happiest  of  men ;  solitude  with  Jesus  is  a  deHcious 
tete-d-tete,  but  I  should  like  good  to  be  done,  to  spread 
and  be  propagated;  nevertheless,  non  mea  voluntas,  sed 
tua  fiat!  .  .  .  My  soul  is  in  great  peace.  I  am  full  of 
miseries,  but  without  any  serious  thing  tormenting  me.  I 
am  happy  and  peaceable  at  the  feet  of  the  Well-Beloved  I" 

The  will  of  God  was  that  trial  should  come  and  the 
courage  of  His  priest  appear  with  more  splendour.  On 
May  17  the  diary  tells  us  that  Paul  left  the  Fraternity  of 
Tamanrasset.  Brother  Charles  gives  no  explanation ;  he 
has  only  a  cry  for  pity  :  "  O  God,  make  me  go  on  cele- 
brating the  holy  Sacrifice  !  Let  me  not  lose  my  soul  ! 
Save  it." 

In  his  letters  he  spoke  of  a  coming  visit  to  Hoggar  :  "  I 
am  expecting  the  visit  of  my  old  and  good  friend, 
Motylinski,  a  former  army  interpreter,  one  of  the  most 
learned  men  in  Algeria,  who  has  asked  to  spend  the 
summer  with  me,  in  order  to  study  Tamachek.  ...  I 
am  preparing  a  grammar,  a  Tamachek-French  and  a 
French-Tamachek  lexicon,  and  a  translation  of  extracts 
from  the  Bible,  making  both  an  abridged  Bible-history  and 
a  collection  of  the  most  useful  passages  for  this  place,  from 
poetic,  sapiential,  and  prophetic  books.  All  that  is  fairly 
forward,  and  may  be  finished  two  or  three  months  from 
now." 

On  Whit-Sunday,  June  3,  1906,  Motylinski  arrived. 
"A  very  good-hearted  man,"  wrote  Father  de  Foucauld, 
"and  he  will  contribute  to  making  the  Tuaregs  our 
friends."  And  Motylinski  agreed  to  serve  Mass.  "The 
good  God  has  sent  him  here  just  in  the  nick  of  time  to 
allow  me  to  continue  to  say  it." 

M.  de  Motylinski 's  stay  in  Hoggar  lasted  three  months, 
during  which  the  linguistic  work  made  great  progress.  At 
the  beginning  of  September  the  two  friends  set  out  for  the 
"  north,"  as  the  extreme  south  Oranais  is  here  called. 
Father  de  Foucauld  wished  to  see  Beni- Abbes  again. 
There  he  received  a  welcome  which,  in  his  modesty,  he  did 
not  expect.  "  I  was  very  satisfied  with  what  I  found  at 
Beni-Abbes  :  the  French,  beyond  all  expression,  and  the 
natives  of  the  Saura  beyond  all  hope,  were  just  perfect  to 
me."  It  was  a  very  rapid  journey  :  Father  de  Foucauld, 
whom  Motylinski  had  left  at  El-Golea — on  the  way  to 
Ghardai'a  and  Biskra — went  farther  north,  spent  a  few  days 
at  Maison  Carree  with  Father  Guerin  and  his  friends  the 
White  Fathers,  and  then  hastily  returned  to  Hoggar. 
"  Hoggar  is  still  so  new,"  he  said,  "  so  little  accustomed  to 


248  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

our  presence,  that  I  think  it  very  desirable  to  be  absent  the 
shortest  time  possible."  And  he  set  out  from  Algiers  on 
December  lo,  with  the  intention  of  spending  a  few  weeks 
at  Beni-Abbes,  then  of  going  full  speed  to  the  South  and 
regaining  Tamanrasset. 

For  a  wonder,  the  hermit  had  a  companion,  not  an  ex- 
ploring amateur  or  scientist,  but  a  companion  who  said  he 
meant  to  follow  him  into  the  desert.  This  was  a  young 
Breton,  a  fisherman's  son,  who  had  spent  three  years  with 
the  White  Fathers,  then  three  years  in  a  Zouaves'  regiment 
in  Africa.  He  was  seeking  his  final  career,  and  believed 
he  had  found  it  when  he  heard  all  about  Father  de 
Foucauld's  mission.  They  therefore  set  out  together. 
After  having  spent  the  whole  evening  and  night  with  the 
natives  in  one  of  the  compartments  of  the  little  train  which 
starts  from  Oran  and  nears  the  Moroccan  frontier  and 
touches  it  at  Beni-Unif,  the  Father  and  Brother  Michael, 
dressed  in  Arab  fashion,  got  off  at  Ain-Sefra  Station,  the 
chief  town  of  the  military  sub-division.  It  is  a  large 
village  built  on  the  left  of  the  railway,  beyond  a  wide 
space  where  the  sand  flies;  bright  houses,  the  Information 
Office  and  club  built  in  Moorish  style ;  the  little  shops 
of  a  southern  station ;  among  the  roofs,  tufts  of  trees  ; 
and  quite  in  the  background  are  seen  the  projecting 
spurs  of  the  great  dunes,  and  a  mountain.  About  fifteen 
officers  had  come  to  the  station  to  wait  for  their  former 
comrade,  among  them  General  Lyautey,  who  offered  him 
hospitality.  "  I  found  him,"  the  Marshal  told  me, 
"  poor  and  neglected,  though  he  used  to  be  so  refined. 
And  that  was  intentional.  Nothing  was  left  of  the  former 
Foucauld.  Yes,  something  :  his  eyes,  which  were  beau- 
tiful, illumined.  The  officers  adored  him.  He  rode  with 
them  barefooted.  I  had  given  him  a  room.  Next  day 
when  he  left  us,  I  just  received  a  telegram  announcing 
that  friends  were  coming.     I  said  to  the  orderly  : 

"  Hurry  up  and  get  the  room  ready  !" 

"  It  will  be  ready  very  quickly,  sir." 

"Why?" 

"The  bed  has  not  been  touched;  not  a  thing  has  been 
moved;  he  slept  on  the  floor." 

It  had  become  a  habit. 

From  Ai'n-Sefra,  the  two  travellers  gained  Colomb- 
Bechar  by  train.  They  stopped,  however,  twenty-four 
hours  at  IBeni-Unif,  and,  at  the  invitation  of  Commander 
Pariel,  who  was  already  popular  and  quite  safe  in  the 
Moroccan  oasis,  visited  Figig,  where  the  Governor-General 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  249 

of  Algeria  had  been  welcomed  with  rifle-shots  three  or  four 
years  earlier.  It  was  but  a  little  thing-,  a  walk  under  the 
palms  and  in  the  ksurs,  a  few  minutes'  conversation  with 
the  natives,  looking  white  in  the  blue  shadow  of  the  wind- 
ing-streets, a  salute,  a  friendly  word,  an  alms.  However, 
certain  people  have  a  mysterious  power  :  they  pass,  and  he 
who  has  only  seen,  touched,  or  heard  them  for  a  moment, 
cannot  forget  them.  After  over  thirteen  years,  in  the 
spring  of  1920  I  found  the  recollection  of  Father  de 
Foucauld's  visit  very  enduring  at  Figig.  One  of  the  sol- 
diers of  the  maghsen,  a  magnificent  trooper  in  his  high- 
coloured  costume,  a  man  with  a  serious  and  mild  face, 
when  I  questioned  him,  replied  : 

"  You  are  speaking  of  the  Christian  marabout?  Yes,  I 
remember  him." 

"  What  did  you  think  of  him?" 

"  What  everybody  thought :  he  was  a  good  man." 

After  Colomb-Bechar,  there  was  no  railway  or  road  to 
Beni-i\bbes,  and  the  companion  began  his  real  appren- 
ticeship in  Saharan  travel.  He  wrote  his  impressions;  he 
formed  his  opinion  of  his  "Superior,"  and  the  pages  he 
wrote  are  one  of  the  most  informing  records  of  Father  de 
Foucauld's  life  on  the  tramp  through  the  desert  or  at 
Beni-Abbes. 

Brother  Michael's  Story. 

"  We  reached  Colomb-Bechar,  the  railway  terminus. 
At  the  station  the  French  officers  of  the  garrison  again 
came  to  seek  my  venerated  Superior,  who  received  hos- 
pitality at  the  house  of  one  of  them,  whilst  I  went  and 
lodged,  as  agreed,  in  a  modest  hotel.  On  our  arrival,  the 
first  care  of  the  Father  was  to  hire  a  servant  who  could  be 
trusted  to  lead  and  take  care  of  the  two  camels  that  carried 
our  luggage  and  provisions  across  the  Sahara.  He  was  a 
big  boy  of  thirty,  a  negro,  a  former  slave  in  Timbuctoo, 
called  Ubargua,  a  drinker  and  stubborn,  vain,  a  liar, 
lazy  and  greedy,  repulsively  dirty  and  without  any  re- 
ligion. Thinking  the  Father  was  very  rich,  he  had  joy- 
fully agreed  to  serve  him  in  the  hope  of  having  abundant 
and  delicate  food,  and  also  very  little  work.  At  the  end 
of  a  few  days  his  disappointment  was  great,  when  he  saw 
that  instead  of  good  cheer  he  had  only  just  enough.  He 
had  also  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  his  place  with  us  as 
soon  as  he  found  another  in  which  he  would  be  better  fed. 

"  The  next  day  we  entered  the  desert,  escorted  by  five 
or  six  African   privates   under  a  sergeant.     The  soldiers 


250  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

were  always  a  few  paces  ahead  of  us,  searching  carefully 
every  bush,  every  bit  of  cover  in  the  land,  to  see  they  did 
not  conceal  any  caravan  robbers.  After  three  days'  march 
without  any  disagreeable  encounter,  we  at  last  reached 
Beni-Abbes,  where  the  Father  had  established  what  he 
called  his  first  hermitage,  and  where  we  were  to  rest  for  a 
few  days.  It  was  a  very  modest  convent,  built  with  earth 
and  wood,  like  all  the  cabins  in  the  country.  The  cells,  to 
the  number  of  seven  or  eight,  intended  for  the  future 
monks,  were  so  low  that  a  man  of  ordinary  stature  touched 
the  roof  on  raising  his  hand  a  little  over  his  head,  so  narrow 
that  in  stretching  out  one's  arms  in  the  form  of  a  cross 
one  could  touch  the  wall  on  the  right  and  left.  No  bed, 
seat,  table,  or  a  prie-dieu  to  kneel  on ;  one  had  to  sleep, 
fully  dressed,  on  a  palm  mat  spread  out  on  the  floor.  The 
sacristy  was  large  enough  and  did  for  the  Father's  library 
and  store,  bedroom  and  study.  The  chapel  was  built  like 
'all  the  rest  with  wood  and  earth  and  surmounted  by  a 
dome;  inside  there  was  no  other  furniture  than  a  very 
simple  altar  and  two  prie-dieu ;  therefore,  during  the  long 
offices  and  the  daily  and  nightly  exercises  of  piety,  one  had 
to  stand,  or  kneel,  or  sit  on  the  mats.  Near  the  sacristy 
there  was  a  fine  room,  completely  empty,  which  the  Father 
intended  to  keep  for  passing  strangers,  for  the  Prefect  Apos- 
tolic, for  officers  and  other  distinguished  people  who  might 
come  to  visit  him.  .  .  .  We  spent  every  Christmas  in  this 
hermitage.  At  midnight  Mass  there  were  a  hundred 
present,  all  officers,  non-commissioned  officers  or  soldiers, 
who  filled  not  only  the  church  but  also  the  sacristy.  I 
remarked  a  single  woman  in  this  numerous  assembly.  She 
was  an  old  mulatto,  very  poor,  quite  blind,  a  beautiful 
soul  enshrined  in  an  ugly  body,  whom  the  Father  had  bap- 
tized three  or  four  months  ago,  and  whom  he  kept  alive  by 
his  alms.  She  spent  all  her  days  in  prayer  and  did  not 
fail  to  go  to  communion  every  time  that  the  holy  Sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass  was  offered  at  Beni-Abbes.  At  the  de- 
parture of  her  benefactor,  she  wept  bitter  tears  and  uttered 
cries  of  grief. 

"  Here  is  the  Rule  we  followed  during  the  ten  days  we 
spent  at  the  hermitage.  As  we  had  no  lamps  to  light  us, 
and  were  obliged  to  economize  the  wax  and  candles  for  the 
long  and  frequent  liturgical  ceremonies;  our  rising  and 
going  to  bed  were  regulated  by  the  sun.  The  Father  loved 
punctuality,  and  himself  fulfilled  the  difficult  office  of  time- 
keeper, assigned  in  most  communities  to  the  youngest  and 
least  worthy.     In  the  morning  he  came  and  wakened  me 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  251 

at  daybreak.  As  we  slept  fully  dressed,  our  toilet  was 
quickly  finished,  and  a  few  minutes  after  getting  up  I  said 
the  Angelus  in  my  cell.  At  the  sound  of  the  bell  I  went 
to  church.  My  Superior  then  recited  a  long  prayer,  half  in 
Latin,  half  in  French,  which  I  answered;  he  exposed  the 
Blessed  Sacrament,  singing  the  Tantum  ergo,  then  cele- 
brated holy  Mass,  which  I  served,  and  during  which  I 
communicated.  We  remained  in  silence  and  adoration  for 
more  than  two  hours.  The  thanksgiving  and  meditation 
over,  the  Father  said  his  breviary  in  a  low  voice,  while  I 
said  some  Paters  and  Aves.  Before  leaving  the  chapel 
the  Father  gave  Benediction  with  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
and  shut  the  holy  ciborium  up  in  the  tabernacle.  About 
9  o'clock  we  went  each  to  our  work  :  my  Superior  shut 
himself  up  in  the  sacristy,  where  his  books  and  manuscripts 
are,  and  wrote  letters,  or  worked  at  his  dictionary  of  the 
Tuareg  language,  always  writing,  for  want  of  a  table,  on  a 
simple  box.  As  for  me,  I  retired  to  my  cell,  the  only  one 
that  had  a  chimney,  and  which  served  at  once  as  workshop, 
kitchen,  and  refectory.  There  I  read  a  pious  book;  then  I 
set  to  work,  either  grinding  wheat  between  two  stones,  as 
the  people  of  the  country  do,  crushing  dates  with  a  pestle 
and  mortar,  baking  thick  flat  cakes  in  the  ashes,  or  cook- 
ing. At  1 1  o'clock  we  had  our  meal,  preceded  by  the  read- 
ing of  a  chapter  of  the  New  Testament  and  particular 
examen.  After  saying  grace,  the  Father  stood  up  and 
read  aloud  two  or  three  passages  from  a  chapter  of  the 
Imitation;  then  we  all  sat  on  our  mats  around  the  saucepan 
placed  on  the  ground,  just  off  the  fire,  the  Father,  our 
negro  servant  and  myself,  and  we  ate  in  the  greatest  silence, 
fishing  food  out  of  the  dish  with  a  spoon,  and  drinking 
water  out  of  the  same  vessel.  The  menu  varied  very  little ; 
it  was  composed  now  of  a  dish  of  rice  cooked  in  water  and, 
very  exceptionally,  with  condensed  milk,  sometimes  mixed 
with  carrots  and  turnips  which  grow  in  the  desert  sand, 
sometimes  with  a  sort  of  marmalade  of  a  fairly  pleasant 
flavour  made  with  wheat-flour,  crushed  dates,  and  water. 
There  were  no  napkins,  table-cloth,  plates,  or  knives  or 
forks  with  which  to  eat  this  slight  collation.  We  stood  up 
at  the  end  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  twenty  minutes,  and 
after  thanksgiving  and  grace,  both  went  to  the  chapel 
chanting  the  Miserere,  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment, and  for  spiritual  reading  in  common.  About  2  o'clock 
we  returned,  each  on  our  own  side,  to  our  usual  occupa- 
tions, the  Father  to  his  studies,  and  I  to  manual  work.  At 
6  in  the  evening  we  had  supper  with  only  one  course,  like 


252  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

the  other  meal.  It  was  taken  in  the  same  way  and 
despatched  with  the  same  rapidity.  About  half-past  6  we 
went  to  church  for  mental  prayer  before  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment exposed,  then  a  long  evening  prayer  followed  by 
Benediction  with  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  We  finished  the 
day  with  the  hymn  Veni  Creator.  Bedtime  was  regularly 
fixed  by  twilight,  but  it  was  always  dark  when  we  went  to 
rest. 

"  We  remained  more  than  a  week  in  the  oasis  of  Beni- 
Abbes,  faithful  observers  of  the  austere  Rule  which  I  have 
just  described.  On  December  27,  1906,  we  continued  our 
journey,  accompanied  by  several  officers,  among  others  the 
paptain  who  commanded  the  garrison,  and  two  native  sol- 
diers. The  officers  accompanied  us  for  a  whole  day.  In 
the  afternoon  a  herd  of  gazelles  passed  before  our  caravan, 
at  a  fair  distance,  and  stopped  to  look  at  us.  One  of  our 
men  on  vieharis  at  once  aimed  at  one  and  brought  it  down. 
It  was  cut  up  and  roasted.  The  supper  was  a  real  feast, 
in  which  all  took  part,  even  my  venerated  Superior. 

"  Next  morning  the  officers  left  us,  after  an  exchange 
of  good  wishes  and  hearty  handshaking,  giving  us  two 
native  soldiers  to  protect  us.  The  Father  at  the  moment 
of  parting  gave  the  keys  of  his  Beni-Abbes  hermitage  to 
the  captain,  saying  to  him  :  '  Watch  well  over  the  house 
of  God;  I  entrust  it  to  you.' 

"  During  the  whole  crossing  of  the  desert,  which  took 
place  in  winter,  the  day  temperature  was  from  59°  to  68°, 
that  of  night  from  four  or  five  degrees  below  freezing-point. 
In  the  morning  we  sometimes  found  frozen  water  in  the 
cruet,  and  the  ground  covered  with  a  thin  coat  of  ice.  From 
time  to  time  a  violent  wind  blew  and  made  thick  clouds  of 
dust,  driving  sand  into  our  eyes  and  small  pebbles  into 
our  faces.  When  we  arrived  in  a  village  at  night,  we 
were  always  offered  hospitality,  and  we  passed  the  night  in 
a  house.  More  often  we  slept  under  the  canopy  of  heaven 
without  any  fire,  in  a  hole  large  enough  to  lodge  a  man's 
body,  which  we  ourselves  hollowed  out  with  our  hands  in 
the  sand,  and  which  served  us  as  a  bed.  Benumbed  with 
cold,  rolled  up  in  our  camp  blankets,  we  turned  and  turned 
again  and  again  on  our  mats  all  night,  to  warm  ourselves 
and  induce  sleep,  but  without  succeeding.  Towards  noon 
we  used  to  halt  for  a  good  hour,  which  enabled  us  to  light 
a  fire  for  cooking  our  dinner;  a  little  before  sunset  at  the 
place  where  we  were  to  camp,  we  had  supper.  The  menu 
of  these  two  meals  was  that  of  the  hermitage,  to  which  a 
cup  of  coffee  was  added.     One  day  the  Father  invited  some 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  253 

officers  to  his  table  as  a  joke.  They  accepted  the  challenge ; 
but  during  the  whole  meal  they  appeared  very  ill  at  ease, 
ate  with  extreme  repugnance,  and  were  soon  satisfied : 
they  had  no  wish,  I  presume,  to  accept  a  second  invitation 
to  such  a  feast. 

*'  In  the  depths  of  silent  nature,  in  this  dead  land,  where 
never  had  human  being  fixed  his  abode,  it  was  easy  for 
us  to  lead  the  life  of  solitude  and  contemplation.  The 
Father  did  not  once  miss  celebrating  the  holy  Mysteries 
on  a  portable  altar  at  sunrise,  generally  in  the  open  air, 
only  three  or  four  times  in  the  tent  we  had  pitched  the 
evening  before,  so  as  not  to  suffer  from  the  gusty 
squalls. 

"  Like  Moses,  I  was  only  to  see  the  promised  land  from 
a  distance.  Already  anything  but  well  at  our  departure 
from  Algiers,  I  felt  seriously  ill  a  little  more  than  two 
months  after  our  departure  from  Beni-Abbes,  and  I  felt 
incapable  of  continuing  so  toilsome  a  journey'  on  foot  in 
the  sands.  I  was  obliged  to  stop  at  In-Salah,  and,  to  my 
great  regret,  renounce  the  Tuareg  mission.  The  good 
Father  at  first  tried  to  keep  me,  but  having  been  examined 
by  the  garrison  doctor,  .  .  .  seeing  very  clearly,  too,  that 
my  strength  was  exhausted  and  that  I  should  be  rather  a 
hindrance  than  a  help,  he  gave  me  a  good  sum  of  money 
and  abundant  provisions,  and  confided  me  to  two  trust- 
worthy men.   .   .  . 

'*  I  remained  with  the  Reverend  Father  Charles  de  Jesus 
from  December  2  or  3,  1906,  to  March  10,  1907.  I  there- 
fore lived  with  him  in  the  greatest  intimacy  for  three 
months.  I  can  affirm  under  oath  that  he  always  edified 
me  greatly  by  his  tender  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  to 
the  Most  Blessed  Sacrament  and  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary ;  by  his  ardent  zeal  for  souls  and  his  charity  towards 
his  fellow-men ;  by  his  spirit  of  faith,  his  firm  hope,  and 
his  complete  detachment  from  worldly  goods ;  by  his  pro- 
found humility,  his  imperturbable  patience  under  trials; 
and  above  all,  by  his  terrible  mortification.  To  tell  the 
whole  truth,  I  ought,  however,  to  point  out  one  imperfec- 
tion, common  enough  in  men  who  have  for  a  long  time 
exercised  authority,  that  I  perceived  in  my  worthy  Superior. 
From  time  to  time,  when  things  did  not  go  as  he  wished, 
he  betrayed  a  sign  of  impatience,  but  it  was  promptly 
checked.  Apart  from  this  slight  fault,  which  he  must  have 
corrected,  I  esteem  that  Father  Charles  practised  to  an 
heroic  degree  the  three  theological  and  the  four  cardinal 
virtues,  as  well  as  the  moral  virtues  which  belong  to  them. 


254  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  Charity  towards  God. — He  passionately  loved  Jesus 
Christ,  his  God,  Brother,  and  Friend,  and  his  great  happi- 
ness was  to  converse  with  the  Prisoner  of  love,  really 
present  in  the  tabernacle.  Prayer  was  his  delight,  it  was 
truly  his  life  and  the  breath  of  his  soul.  He  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  days  and  nights  kneeling  before  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  adoring,  supplicating,  giving  thanks,  and  mak- 
ing reparation.  As,  on  Christmas  night,  he  did  not  quit 
our  church  for  a  single  instant,  I  was  bold  enough  to  ask 
him  next  day  how  he  could  remain  awake  so  long  in  the 
darkness  :  '  One  has  no  need  of  seeing  clearly,'  he  replied, 
'  to  speak  to  Him  who  is  the  Sun  of  justice  and  the  Light 
of  the  world.' 

"  Desire  of  Martyrdom. — He  would  have  wished  to  give 
to  Jesus  Christ  the  greatest  proof  of  affection  that  a  friend 
can  give  to  a  friend,  by  dying  for  Him  as  He  died  for  us. 
He  desired  and  earnestly  begged  martyrdom  from  God  as 
the  greatest  of  all  favours.  The  prospect  of  immolation, 
the  beauty  and  greatness  of  which  exalted  his  generous 
faith,  transformed  his  always  bold  and  ardent  speech  into 
true  hymns  of  joy.  'To  be  killed  by  pagans,'  he  used  to 
exclaim,  'what  a  beautiful  death  !  My  very  dear  brother, 
how  honoured  and  happy  should  I  be  if  God  hearkened 
to  me  I ' 

''Humility. — This  old  pupil  of  Saint-Cyr  was  the  most 
humble  of  men.  I  never  heard  him  speak  to  his  own 
advantage.  One  had  to  question  him  to  learn  anything  of 
his  family,  his  past,  and  his  successes.  One  day  I  asked 
him  how  many  pagans  he  had  converted.  '  A  single  one,' 
he  replied  modestly  :  '  the  old  mulatto  woman  you  saw  at 
Beni-Abbes  hermitage.' 

"  '  Have  you  not  made  other  conquests?' 

"  '  Yes,  it  is  true  I  also  baptized  a  little  child  in  danger 
of  death,  who  had  the  happiness  of  almost  immediately 
leaving  this  world  to  fly  to  heaven.  Indeed,  I  adminis- 
tered baptism  to  a  boy  of  thirteen,  but  it  was  not  I  who  con- 
verted him.  He  was  presented  to  me  by  a  French  sergeant, 
who  had  taught  him  the  Catechism  and  had  prepared  him 
to  receive  the  Sacraments.  You  see,  my  dear  brother, 
that  I  am  truly  an  unprofitable  servant.' 

"  He  loves,  he  seeks  affronts,  derision  and  insults  by  an 
outward  get-up  that  he  strives  to  make  extravagant.  He 
always  walks  in  rough  sandals,  his  feet  bare  and  chapped 
by  the  cold.     He  wears  an  unbleached  linen  robe,  always 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  255 

too  short  and  often  stained  and  torn.  He  cuts  his  own 
beard  and  hair  without  using  a  glass.  How  does  it  matter 
what  people  say  and  think  about  him  ?  Provided  he 
pleases  God,  he  is  not  going  to  put  himself  out  for  what 
men  think  of  him. 

"  Mortification. — Like  all  the  Saints,  Father  Charles  of 
Jesus  never  stopped  crucifying  his  flesh.  On  the  railway 
he  always  chooses  a  third-class  carriage ;  in  the  sandy 
plains  of  the  Sahara,  he  always  goes  on  foot,  although  he 
is  an  excellent  horseman.  When  the  soldiers  who  escorted 
us  dismounted  to  stretch  themselves,  they  offered  us  their 
mounts  :  once  the  Father  was  extremely  fatigued,  and  con- 
sented, on  my  urging  him  to  ride.  When  we  halted,  jaded 
and  covered  with  perspiration,  he  would  give  me  his 
burnous  to  cover  me,  while  he,  wearing  nothing  but  his 
light  linen  robe,  trembled  with  cold.  I  never  saw  him 
drink  wine  or  liquors,  and  he  never  allowed  me  to  accept 
any  when  the  officers  oflfered  me  some.  On  this  point  of 
his  Rule  he  was  inexorable,  and  declared  that  he  would 
never  give  me  a  dispensation.  He  only  once  ate  meat  in 
my  presence,  with  all  who  belonged  to  the  caravan.  During 
our  stay  at  Beni-Abbes  I  never  saw  him  breakfast  in  the 
morning;  he  was  satisfied  with  dinner  at  eleven  o'clock  and 
supper  at  six  in  the  evening,  of  which  I  have  given  the  menu. 
He  made  me,  on  the  contrary,  break  off"  mental  prayer  and 
go  out  of  the  chapel  for  ten  minutes  every  day  about  seven 
in  the  morning,  to  take  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a  piece  of  thin 
cake. 

"Poverty. — He  never  went  to  any  expense  without 
absolute  necessity.  As  he  travelled  about  six  months  in 
the  year,  I  advised  him  to  buy  a  third  camel,  which  he 
could  use  as  a  mount  instead  of  going  on  foot.  *No,' 
he  said  energetically;  'I  live  at  my  family's  expense; 
besides,  I  must  help  the  poor.  I  have  no  right  to  go  to 
that  expense.  I  have  two  camels,  necessary  to  carry  our 
travelling  provisions  and  baggage;  a  third  would  be 
superfluous.'^ 

^  "  He  made  use  of  everything  :  packing-cases  took  the  place  of 
bookcases  for  the  books,  and  of  cupboards  to  put  away  our  two  poor 
ornaments  for  Mass  and  other  things  needed  for  divine  worship.  When 
one  of  his  robes  was  so  used  that  it  was  past  mending,  he  used  to  cut  it 
into  several  pieces,  and  these  rags  we  used  as  handkerchiefs  and  towels. 
Instead  of  throwing  the  envelopes,  letters,  and  prospectuses  that  he  re- 
ceived into  the  waste  paper-basket,  he  collected  them  carefully  and  used 
them  as  scribbling-paper  and  for  making  notes." 


256  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  I  shall  remember  till  the  end  of  my  life  Father  Charles's 
Mass,  which  I  so  often  had  the  happiness  of  serving.  He 
said  it  without  slowness  as  without  precipitation,  devoutly, 
with  dignity  and  humility,  with  faith  and  an  air  of  com- 
punction which  greatly  impressed  me. 

'*  Generosity. — This  nobleman  .  .  .  was  generous  to 
prodigality,  and  gave  without  reckoning.  When  we 
entered  a  village,  which  happened  nearly  every  day,  and 
even  from  time  to  time  twice  in  the  same  day,  the  inhabi- 
tants in  great  numbers,  the  caid  at  their  head,  attracted  by 
the  reputation  of  holiness  of  the  great  monk,  came  to  meet 
him,  and  pressed  round  him  to  see  and  hear  him.  They 
saluted  the  Father  with  veneration,  kissed  his  hand,  and 
gave  him  the  title  of  Sidi  Marabout.  Sometimes  a  Euro- 
pean with  a  photographic  apparatus  slipped  into  the  crowd, 
and  tried  to  take  a  portrait  of  this  extraordinary  man. 
Above  all,  a  multitude  of  beggars  ran  up  and  besieged 
him  whom  they  called  their  benefactor,  to  get  alms.  The 
Father  then  distributed,  in  small  coins,  a  sum  of  fifteen  to 
twenty  francs,  to  those  who  seemed  to  him  the  least 
poverty-stricken ;  to  those  who  were  ragged  and  almost 
naked  he  gave  pieces  of  material,  recommending  them  to 
make  it  into  a  garment. 

"  Work. — Father  Charles  meant  to  earn  his  bread  by 
the  sweat  of  his  brow ;  there  was  no  unemployed  moment 
in  his  day.  In  the  desert,  at  the  hours  of  halt,  instead  of 
taking  the  siesta  or  resting,  even  when  he  was  weakened 
by  a  long  tramp  in  the  sun,  he  used  to  work  at  his  dic- 
tionary which  '  he  had  at  heart  to  finish  before  his  death  to 
facilitate  the  work  of  future  missionaries.'  I  can  declare 
that  he  never  smoked,  even  when  he  was  in  the  company 
of  members  of  his  family  or  of  his  former  regimental  com- 
rades. .   .   . 

"  During  our  stay  at  the  hermitage,  when  he  was  not 
praying  in  the  chapel,  I  was  sure  to  find  him  in  the  sacristy, 
with  a  pen  or  a  book  in  his  hand.  I  never  saw  him  take  a 
walk  outside  the  enclosure,  or  in  our  garden.  He  never 
took  any  recreation.  To  rest  after  prayer  and  study,  he 
used  to  make  little  wooden  crosses  which  formed  the  sole 
decoration  of  the  poor  cells  :  he  painted  pictures  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  or  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  drew  all  sorts  of 
religious  emblems  with  which  he  adorned  our  modest 
chapel  and  sacristy  :  he  wrote  on  placards  in  a  fine  round 
hand  or  in  Gothic  characters  the  most  edifying  sentences 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  257 

from  the  ancient  Fathers  of  the  Thebaid,  the  maxims  of 
holy  doctors  or  holy  martyrs  the  most  likely  to  inspire  the 
spirit  of  sacrifice,  and  placed  them  on  all  the  walls. 

"  It  has  been  most  agreeable  for  me  to  speak  of  the 
reverend  Father  Charles  of  Jesus,  who  gave  me  so  often 
such  beautiful  examples  of  all  the  virtues  during  the  too 
short  time  I  had  the  happiness  of  living  in  his  intimacy.  I 
was  his  first  and  last  disciple.  God  grant  me  to  imitate  him 
according  to  my  strength." 

The  slight  hope  of  having  a  mission  companion,  perhaps 
a  successor,  went  north  with  Brother  Michael.^ 

At  the  same  time  Colonel  Laperrine,  passing  through 
In-Salah,  informed  Father  de  Foucauld  of  the  death  of 
M.  de  MotylTnski,  which  took  place  on  March  2,  1907. 
This  sorrow  and  the  disappointment  which  preceded  it  did 
not  discourage  the  energetic  Brother  Charles,  but  he 
thought  of  the  precariousness  of  his  work.  He  soon  wrote 
to  Father  Voillard  (May  6,  1907)  :  "I  am  getting  old.  I 
should  like  to  see  someone  better  than  I  replace  me  at 
Tamanrasset,  another  better  than  I  installed  at  Beni-Abbes, 
so  that  Jesus  may  continue  to  reside  in  those  places,  and 
that  souls  may  get  more  and  more  there." 

While  waiting  for  the  joy  of  a  working  successor  who 
was  always  farther  off.  Brother  Charles  "  sets  up  " — which 
is  rather  a  big  word  for  an  owner  with  no  furniture — a  little 
house  at  In-Salah.  It  cost  him  160  francs.  He  chose  it  in 
the  middle  of  the  native  quarter,  in  the  Ksar-el-Arab,  quite 
close  to  the  dunes.  "  One  must  foresee  and  prepare  one's 
halting-places,  because,"  he  said,  "  if  I  am  not  a  parish 
priest,  this  corner  of  the  earth,  which  is  as  it  were  my 
parish,  is  1,250  miles  from  north  to  south  and  625  miles 
from  east  to  west,  with  100,000  souls  scattered  over  it." 
During  his  stay  at  In-Salah,  he  continued  his  studies  of 
the  Tuareg  language  with  Ben  Messis,  whom  his  pupil's 
extraordinary  energy  for  work  astonished  and  fatigued  a 
little.  M'ahmed  Ben  Messis  was  one  of  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  sympathetic  persons  in  the  Sahara.  The  son  of  a 
Chambi  father  and  a  Tuareg  mother  of  a  noble  tribe  of  the 
Azjers,  he  was  considered  by  the  Tuaregs  as  one  of  them, 
in  spite  of  the  lively  enmity  that  he  met  among  them,  the 
cause  of  which  was  Ben  Messis'  devotion  to  France.  It 
was  Ben  Messis  who  denounced  the  greater  part  of  the 
assassins  of  the  Marquis  de  Mores ;  he,  again,  who  served 
as  guide  to  the  150  African  troops  of  Lieutenant  Cottenest, 

*  The  latter  is  at  present  a  monk  in  a  foreign  Carthusian  monastery. 

^7 


258  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

when  the  latter,  on  May  7,  1902,  defeated  300  Tuaregs  at 
Tit,  and  brought  about  the  submission  of  several  tribes. 
No  native  of  those  regions  spoke  Tamachek  better,  none 
knew  the  traditions  of  the  country  better.  He  was  a  very 
devoted  friend  to  Father  de  Foucauld.^ 

So,  when  a  detachment  of  eighty  men,  commanded  by 
Captain  Dinaux,  left  In-Salah  on  March  8,  going  by 
short  daily  stages  through  Adrar  and  Hoggar,  father  de 
Foucauld,  who  highly  esteemed  the  captain,  and  was  also 
sure  of  travelling  with  the  Tuareg  Ben  Messis,  willingly 
agreed  to  make  the  tour.  He  therefore  set  out  as  both  a 
missionary  and  a  philologist.  We  know  how  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  work  during  his  marches  and  halts,  and  even  at 
night  by  candlelight,  if  the  wind  did  not  blow  :  he  did 
not  alter  his  habits.  As  the  journey  was  for  training  the 
natives,  stays  were  made  near  shepherds'  encampments, 
and  they  were  fine  weeks  for  a  scholar  who  wished  to  collect 
traditions,  and  also  poetry  which  nobody  had  written,  and 
which  men  have  only  kept  in  memory.  "  Precious  records 
for  grammar  and  lexicon ;  one  gets  examples  for  the 
grammar,  when  in  doubt ;  one  gets  many  words  not  often 
used  in  conversation  for  the  lexicon.  On  arriving  here — 
it  was  at  Durit,  100  kilometres  to  the  south  of  Timiauin — 
I  promised  a  small  payment  for  the  verses  which  might  be 
brought  me ;  this  promise,  at  a  time  when  the  country  is 
poor,  sufficed  to  fill  my  tent  for  a  month.  I  was  also  told, 
by  neighbouring  douars,  that  they  wished  for  a  visit  from 
me,  so  that  the  women,  too,  could  give  me  some  poetry.  I 
have  therefore  been  several  times  in  the  douars,  spending 
hours  under  a  tree  or  in  a  tent,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  children 
and  women,  writing  verses  and  giving  little  presents.  I 
am  very  happy  about  my  training  work,  which  is  getting 
on  ;  it  is  only  a  first  step,  very  small  and  humble,  but,  in 
fine,  it  had  to  be  taken  to  break  down  a  great  deal  of  preju- 
dice, antagonism,  and  suspicion.  I  shall  do  all  in  my 
power  to  finish  the  Tuareg-French  lexicon  this  year.  I 
begged  Laperrine  to  get  published  by  anyone  he  likes,  as 
if  they  were  his  and  belonged  to  the  military  commander  of 
the  oases,  the  Tuareg  grammar  and  the  French-Tuareg 
lexicon,  which  are  finished,  as  well  as  the  Tuareg-French 
lexicon  at  which  I  am  working,  and  the  pieces  of  poetry 
which  I  collected  on  the  sole  condition  that  my  name  does 
not  appear,  and  that  I  remain  entirely  unknown  and 
ignored.     Next  year,  I  should  like  to  have  nothing  to  do 

*  M'ahmed  Ben  Messis,  decorated  with  the  mihtai)'  medal  and  the 
Legion  of  Honour,  died  at  In-Salah  in  1919. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  259 

but  correct  the  holy  Gospels  and  Bible  extracts  previously- 
translated,  and  after  that  no  other  work  except  giving  the 
example  of  a  life  of  prayer  and  manual  labour,  an  example 
of  which  the  Tuaregs  are  so  much  in  need."^ 

A  little  later  he  reiterated  his  express  injunction  :  "  I  wish 
to  remain  unknown."  His  extreme  humility  revolted  at 
the  idea  that  the  work  he  composed  might  bring  him  some 
reputation.  "These  are  not  the  means  God.  gave  us  to 
continue  the  work  of  the  world's  salvation.  The  means 
which  He  employed  in  the  manger,  at  Nazareth,  and  on  the 
Cross  are  :  poverty,  abjection,  humiliation,  abandonment, 
persecution,  suffering,  the  Cross.  Behold  our  aims  !  We 
shall  not  find  anything  better  than  He,  and  He  is  not 
outworn.  "2 

Brother  Charles  promised  one  sou  a  verse,  and  all  the 
war  and  love-songs  of  the  Tuaregs,  those  of  distant  and 
uncertain  date,  and  those  of  to-day,  those  of  famous  and  of 
unknown  poets,  fell  once  more  from  the  lips  of  the  reciter, 
and  were  set  down  in  writing  by  a  scholar.  Their  fate  was 
changed,  they  escaped  oblivion,  and  were  born  to  book-life, 
which  would  carry  them  elsewhere.  A  learned  work,  no 
doubt,  but  a  missionary  work  in  intention.  Father  de 
Foucauld's  correspondence  shows  proofs  in  abundance  of 
his  considered  purpose,  which  he  retained  to  the  end,  not 
to  regard  the  gaining  and  vulgarizing  of  the  Tuareg 
language  as  his  goal.  He  always  had  in  view  the  far-away 
people  who  were  the  parish  of  his  desire  :  for  them  to  be 
better  known,  more  loved,  and  one  day  more  easily  evan- 
gelized, he  translated  their  poetry ;  to  enable  them  to  under- 
stand revealed  truth  better,  he  undertook  the  translation  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures ;  for  them,  and  for  those  who  followed 
him  as  teachers  and  preachers,  he  compiled  his  grammar 
and  lexicon.  In  the  letters  of  this  period,  it  appears  clearly 
that  he  worked  in  the  hope  that  the  White  Fathers  would 
soon  begin  to  evangelize  those  whom  he  had  brought  nearer 
to  them.  The  little  house  in  In-Salah  would  provide  them 
with  quarters  on  the  way,  as  well  as  a  home  for  himself. 

On  the  whole,  the  Adrar  and  Hoggar  tour  was  very 
fortunate.  "  I  spent  a  few  days  more  in  the  pastureland 
with  the  detachment,  in  order  to  make  use  of  Ben  Messis 
and  push  on  my  Tuareg  studies  with  him  :  in  four  or  five 
days  he  sets  out  for  In-Salah  with  Captain  Dinaux,  who  is 
always  very  good  to  me,  like  all  the  French  in  the  detach- 
ment.    I  shall  at  once  take  the  road  to  Tamanrasset. 

^  Letter  to  Pere  Guerin,  May  31,  1907. 
2  Ibid.,  Christmas,  1907. 


26o  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"Thanks  to  the  French  in  the  detachment,  never  since 
my  departure  from  In-Salah  have  I  lacked  someone  to  serve 
Mass.  How  shall  I  manage  in  Tamanrass^^t?  It  is  for  the 
divine  Master  to  arrange  things.   .  .   ."^ 

The  rest  of  this  letter  to  Pere  Guerin  is  a  reply,  and  we 
shall  see  how  far  charity  carries  a  missionary — i.e.,  as  to  the 
point  of  giving  up  Mass  from  which  as  a  priest  he  drew 
strength  to  meet  his  daily  trials. 

"The  question  which  you  put:  Is  it  better  to  live  in 
Hoggar  without  being  able  to  celebrate  Holy  Mass,  or  to 
celebrate  it  and  not  go  there?  I  have  often  put  to  myself. 
Being  the  only  priest  able  to  go  to  Hoggar,  while  many 
can  celebrate  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  I  believe  it  is,  after  all, 
better  to  go  to  Hoggar,  leaving  to  God  the  care  of  giving 
me  the  means  of  celebrating,  if  He  wishes  (which  up  to  the 
present  He  has  always  done  in  the  most  various  ways). 
FiOrmerly  I  was  inclined  to  see,  on  one  hand,  the  Infinite, 
the  Holy  Sacrifice ;  on  the  other,  the  finite,  all  that  was  not 
It,  and  always  to  sacrifice  everything  to  the  celebration  of 
Holy  Mass.  But  this  reasoning  must  be  faulty  somewhere, 
since,  from  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  in  certain  circum- 
stances, the  greatest  Saints  have  sacrificed  the  possibility 
of  celebrating  to  works  of  spiritual  charity,  such  as  travel- 
ling, etc.  If  experience  proved  that  I  must  make  very  long 
stops  at  Tamanrasset  without  celebrating,  I  think  there 
might  be  means  of  shortening  them,  and  of  not  binding 
myself  to  keep  company  with  detachments,  which  is  not  at 
all  the  same  thing  as  residing  alone.  Residing  alone  in  the 
country  is  good ;  one  has  some  influence  even  without  doing 
much,  because  one  '  belongs  to  the  country  ' ;  one  is  so 
accessible  there  and  so  *  very  small '  !  .  .  .  Then,  at 
Tamanrasset,  even  without  daily  Mass,  there  is  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  regular  prayer,  much  time  for  adoration,  and 
I  get  great  silence  and  recollection,  and  grace  for  the  whole 
country  upon  which  the  Sacred  Host  shines. 

"  I  considered  the  establishment  at  In-Salah  as  a  great 
blessing,  rather  thinking  of  the  future  and  of  you  than  of 
myself.  No  doubt  in  going  to  and  fro  I  shall  spend  more 
time  there  than  in  the  past,  and  shall  try  to  have  some  inter- 
course with  the  poor  and  accustom  them  to  have  confidence 
in  the  marabout,  but  I  am  a  monk  and  not  a  missionary, 
made  for  silence,  not  for  preaching ;  and  in  order  to  have 
influence  in  In-Salah,  there  must  be  intercourse  and  going 
about  and  visiting,    which   is   not   my   vocation  :    I    only 

*  Letter  to  Pere  Guerin,  July  2,  1907. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  261 

try  to  prepare  the  way  a  little  for  what  will  be  your 
work."^ 

Brother  Charles  again  found  a  plain  and  mountain 
horizon  at  Tamanrasset.  They  came  at  once  to  beg  alms, 
for  Hoggar  was  suffering  from  a  great  famine.  The  hermit 
had  a  provision  of  wheat :  he  quickly  raided  it  and  gave  it 
out  to  the  poor  women  who  held  out  their  empty  porringers ; 
he  arranged  little  dinners  for  the  children,  and  each  day 
brought  the  little  ones  together  to  satisfy  their  hunger.  He 
waited  on  them  and  forgot  to  keep  a  part  for  himself. 

One  thing  made  him  uneasy,  and  justly  so :  Musa's 
efforts  to  islamize  Hoggar.  "  Taking  advantage  of  our 
organization  of  Hoggar  being  so  far  rather  nebulous  and 
uncertain,  rather  that  of  a  little  self-governing  kingdom 
than  of  a  country  directly  governed  by  us,  he  hastened  to 
organize  it  as  a  Musulman  country. 

"  Two  years  ago  there  was  complete  anarchy  :  no  rule, 
no  submission  to  rule,  robbery  everywhere,  religion  no- 
where. To-day  Musa  is  obeyed ;  he  assesses  the  taxes, 
names  the  subordinate  chiefs,  makes  himself  obeyed, 
raises  armed  forces,  prohibits,  under  very  severe  penalties, 
robbery,  theft,  and  murder ;  he  has  set  up  a  cadi  to  judge  all 
according  to  Musulman  law.  He  is  going  to  build  a  mosque 
and  zaouia  at  Tamanrasset,  which  he  makes  his  capital. 
Must  I  flee  to  a  more  deserted  place,  or  see  the  hand  of 
Jesus  extending  my  influence  more  easily  ?  The  religious 
tithe  is  to  be  raised  throughout  Hoggar  for  the  upkeep  of 
this  zaouia,  in  which  the  cadi  will  probably  preside,  and 
the  tholbas  of  Tidikelt  or  Twat  teach  the  Koran,  religion, 
and  Arabic  to  the  young  Tuaregs.  It  means  the  islamizing 
of  Hoggar,  and  also  of  the  Ta'itok.  It  is  most  serious.  Up 
to  the  present  the  Tuaregs,  not  very  fervent  Musulmans, 
easily  made  acquaintance  with  us,  becoming  very  familiar 
and  frank.  If  once  this  very  bad,  narrow,  close  spirit  of  the 
people  of  Twat  and  Tidikelt,  which  is  so  full  of  antipathy 

^  This  letter  of  July  2,  1907,  contains  this  passage,  relating  to  the 
publication  of  works  that  were  ready  :  "  For  twenty-five  or  thirty  years 
Motylinski  was  attached  to  M.  Basset,  director  of  the  li^cole  des  Lettres 
at  Algiers,  a  scholar  of  great  merit  in  all  Arabian  and  Berber  matters. 
Believing  that  he  was  going  to  publish  the  records  gathered  by  my  dear 
friend,  I  wrote  to  him  as  soon  as  I  learned  the  sad  news,  putting  myself 
at  his  disposal  to  send  him,  as  I  did  to  Motylinski,  all  information  needed 
to  complete  the  work.  I  have  just  received  his  reply  :  it  is  he  indeed 
who  is  to  publish  everything  in  Motylinski's  works  ;  he  will  publish  a 
little  grammar,  lexicons,  dialogues  and  texts.  You  know  what  I  feel 
and  think,  and  how  I  rejoice  in  it.  I  have  demanded  that  my  name 
shall  not  be  mentioned  anywhere,  and  that  I  shall  be  treated  as  if  I  did 
not  exist." 


262  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

towards  us,  takes  hold  of  them,  the  tholbas  teaching  the 
children,  it  will  be  very  different,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
in  a  few  years  the  population  of  Hoggar  may  be  much 
more  hostile  than  to-day.  To-day  it  is  distrustful,  fearful, 
and  wild;  in  a  few  years,  if  the  Musulman  influence  of 
Twat  gains  the  upper  hand,  it  will  mean  a  deep  and  lasting 
hostility. 

"  As  I  said  to  you,  Tamanrasset  tends  to  become  the 
Musulman  centre  of  Hoggar,  Musa's  capital.  Musa  is 
carrying  on  big  tillage  works  :  he  now  has  his  fields  and 
gardens  there ;  he  usually  pitches  his  camp  close  by ;  .  .  . 
he  is  going  to  set  up  a  regular  market  there  with  shops. "^ 

Brother  Charles,  watching  these  efforts  at  organization 
and  Islamitic  teaching,  and  suffering,  therefore,  through 
his  love  of  Catholic  truth  and  dear  colonizing  France ; 
Brother  Charles  spending  months  without  any  news  from 
Europe,  for  the  posts  are  still  very  irregular;  Brother 
Charles  without  Mass,  because  there  are  no  servers,  writes 
to  his  brother-in-law  on  December  9,  1907  :  "  I  am  happy, 
happy  in  resorting  to  the  presence  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
at  any  time,  happy  in  the  great  solitude  of  the  place,  happy 
to  be  and  do — excepting  my  sins  and  miseries — whatever 
Jesus  wishes ;  happy,  above  all,  in  the  infinite  happiness  of 
God.  If  there  were  not  this  inexhaustible  source  of  happi- 
ness and  peace,  the  eternal,  immutable,  and  infinite  happi- 
ness and  peace  of  the  Well-Beloved,  the  evil  that  one  sees 
around  one  on  all  sides,  and  also  the  miseries  one  sees  in 
oneself,  would  quickly  lead  one  to  depression.  If,  in 
Christian  countries,  there  is  so  much  good  and  so  much 
evil,  think  what  these  countries  can  be,  in  which  there  is, 
so  to  speak,  nothing  but  evil,  where  good  is  almost  totally 
absent :  here  all  is  lies,  duplicity,  cunning,  all  kinds  of 
covetousness  and  violence,  and  how  much  ignorance  and 
barbarism  I  The  grace  of  God  can  do  all  things,  but  in 
face  of  so  many  moral  miseries  .  .  .  one  sees  clearly  that 
human  means  are  powerless,  and  that  God  alone  can  effect 
so  great  a  transformation.  Prayer  and  penance  I  The 
farther  I  go,  the  more  I  see  that  these  are  the  principal 
means  of  acting  upon  these  poor  souls.  What  am  I  doing 
in  the  midst  of  them  ?  The  great  good  that  I  do  is  that 
my  presence  procures  that  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  .  .  . 
Yes,  there  is  at  least  one  soul  between  Timbuctoo  and  El- 
Golea  who  adores  Jesus.  Lastly,  my  presence  in  the  midst 
of  the  natives  familiarizes  them  with  Christians  and  par- 
ticularly with  priests.  .  .  .  Those  who  will  follow  me  will 
Letter  to  Father  Guerin,  July  22,  1907. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  2(53 

find  men's  minds  less  distrustful  and  better  disposed.  It  is 
very  little ;  it  is  all  that  can  be  done  at  present ;  to  wish  to  do 
more  would  compromise  everything  in  the  future." 

His  will  to  stay  there  did  not  change;  despite  the  ordeal 
he  never  tried  to  go  to  places  in  the  Sahara  where  there 
were  Christians,  servers,  and  talk  according  to  his  mind. 
Obstinate  in  doing  his  duty,  he  refused  proposals  of  travel  : 
"  May  the  will  of  the  Well-Beloved  be  blessed  in  every- 
thing I  As  for  me,  I  see  clearly  that  it  is  His  will  that  I 
remain  here  until  the  lexicon  is  finished,  because  it  is  a  work 
of  the  first  necessity  for  those  who  come  after  me.  .  .  . 
Besides,  it  produces  an  unexpected  good  :  shut  up  from 
sunrise  to  sunset  with  a  very  intelligent  and  talkative  Tuareg 
(the  Khoja  of  Musa),  I  learn  many  things,  and  have  the 
opportunity  of  teaching  him  many,  and  of  rectifying  not 
only  his  own  ideas  on  many  points,  but  those  of  others,  for 
words  run.  May  the  Well-Beloved  bless  you  from  His 
manger !  May  His  will  be  done  in  Africa,  as  it  is  in 
heaven,  after  so  long  a  night  !"^ 

Nevertheless,  though  his  inward  peace  set  him  above  dis- 
couragement, he  was  not  therefore  insensible.  He  would 
not  be  human  if  he  never  uttered  a  groan.  I  open  his  diary 
or  the  letters  at  the  end  of  1907,  and  read  there,  like  a 
refrain,  the  complaint  of  the  priest  who  no  longer  enjoys 
the  lofty  privilege  of  consecrating  the  Body  of  Christ.  On 
great  Feasts  above  all,  Brother  Charles,  while  committing 
himself  herein  to  God's  grace,  says  :  "  Dost  Thou  not 
forget  me?" 

"  August  15. — Well-Beloved  Mother,  have  pity  on  this 
people  for  whom  your  Son  died ;  give  it  your  help ;  your 
poor  priest  invokes  you  for  this  people." 

"  September  8. — Two  years  ago  to-day  Thou  didst  deign 
to  inhabit  this  poor  chapel !  O  Thou,  who  hast  never  been 
invoked  in  vain,  convert,  visit,  and  sanctify  this  people  that 
is  Thine.     No  Mass,  for  I  am  alone." 

"November  21. — Dwelling  in  Hoggar  would  be  of  an 
extreme  sweetness,  thanks  to  solitude,  especially  since  I 
now  have  books ;  if  it  were  not  for  want  of  Mass. 

"I  have  always  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  to  be  sure;  I 
renew  the  sacred  species,  when  a  Christian  passes  by,  and 
I  can  say  Mass.  I  never  thought  I  had  a  right  to  give 
myself  communion  outside  of  Mass.     If  I  am  mistaken  in 

*  Letter  to  Mgr.  Guerin,  Christmas,  1907. 


264  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

that,  be  quick  to  tell  me  so;  that  would  make  an  infinite 
change  in  my  position,  for  this  is  a  question  of  the  Infinite." 

"December  25. — Christmas;  no  Mass,  because  I  am 
alone." 

"January  i,  1908. — Unite  me  to  all  the  sacrifices  offered 
up  to-day.     No  Mass,  because  I  am  alone." 

While  he  was  thus  imploring,  someone  in  Rome  was 
asking  the  Pope  for  the  extraordinary  permission  so  much 
wished  for.  A  petition  had  been  prepared  on  choice  vellum. 
The  Prefect  Apostolic  of  the  Sahara,  after  summarizing 
Father  de  Foucauld's  life  in  a  few  lines,  told  the  Pope  :  "  For 
six  years  this  very  holy  priest  has  not  ceased  leading  the 
most  heroic  and  most  admirable  life  in  the  apostolic  pre- 
fecture of  Ghardai'a.  Actually  he  is  absolutely  alone  in  the 
midst  of  the  savage  Tuareg  tribes,  which  he  has  succeeded 
in  civilizing,  and  to  which  he  does  the  greatest  good  by  the 
example  of  his  life  of  extreme  poverty,  of  charity  as  unfail- 
ing, and  of  continual  prayer.  For  long,  no  doubt,  he  will  be 
the  only  priest  to  go  into  the  midst  of  the  Tuaregs.  The 
Prefect  Apostolic  of  Ghardai'a  therefore  most  humbly  sup- 
plicates your  Holiness  to  consider  both  the  eminent  virtues 
of  this  servant  of  God  and  the  very  great  good  he  is  doing, 
and  therefore  to  deign  to  accord  him  the  very  signal 
favour.   .  .  ." 

The  petition  was  not  presented.  In  a  private  audience 
which  he  had  obtained  for  other  reasons,  Father  Burtin, 
Procureur  of  the  White  Fathers,  asked  for  the  privilege  of 
celebrating  Mass  without  a  server,  which  was  immediately 
accorded. 

It  was  by  a  letter  from  Colonel  Laperrine,  his  great  friend, 
that  Iiather  de  Foucauld  heard  the  news,  on  January  31, 
1908.  "Deo  Gratias!  Deo  Gratias!  Deo  Gratias!  O 
God,  how  good  Thou  art !"  sings  the  hermit :  "  To-morrow 
I  shall  be  able  to  say  Mass  I  Christmas  I  Christmas  ! 
Thanks,  my  Godl"^ 

This  joy  came  to  him  at  the  moment  when  illness  obliged 
the  relentless  worker  to  cease  all  work,  and  one  who  never 
complained  to  speak  of  himself.  Writing  to  Father 
Gu6rin,  he  confided  to  him,  as  a  secret  to  be  rigorously  kept, 
that  there  was  "  a  big  hitch  in  his  health  "  :  general  fatigue, 
complete  loss  of  appetite,  "  then  something  in  my  chest,  or 
rather  heart,  which  made  me  pant  so  much  at  the  slightest 

^  From  the  Diary. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  265 

movement,  that  one  might  think  the  end  was  near."  He 
had  to  keep  quite  motionless.  To  feed  him,  his  friends  the 
Tuaregs  milked  all  the  goats  that  had  a  little  milk  and 
brought  it  to  the  Christian  marabout's  cabin. 

To  a  friend  in  France,  whom  he  told  of  everything,  he 
wrote : 

'*  At  my  age  there  is  always  something  wrong;  it  is  the 
Father's  warning  from  above.  ...  I  have  no  more  teeth 
or  hair ;  my  eyes  are  good  for  some  way  off,  but  weaker  and 
weaker  for  anything  close."  But  he  wrote  at  the  same  time 
to  others:  "Don't  be  uneasy.  I  do  not  believe  there  is 
any  reason  for  being  so.  But  absolute  rest  and  a  month's 
entire  cessation  of  work  are  ordered,  and  afterwards  I  shall 
have  to  set  to  work  again  rr^uch  more  moderately  than  in 
the  past.  ...  I  am  getting  the  most  varied  sorts  of  food 
sent  from  In-Salah  in  order  to  recover  my  strength  :  con- 
densed milk,  wine  (!),  dried  vegetables,  some  jams;  I  am 
doing  all  that  is  necessary." 

In  the  same  letter — and  it  suggests  some  doubt  as  to  these 
fine  resolutions  to  work  less  in  future — Brother  Charles  asks 
the  White  Fathers  to  send  him  the  Summa  Theologica  of 
St.  Thomas,  the  Summa  Contra  Gentiles — that  is  to  say, 
ten  Latin  octavo  volumes — and  three  other  volumes  of 
philosophy.  "The  farther  I  go,"  he  says  in  explanation 
of  the  request,  "  the  more  opportunities  1  have  for  carrying 
on  serious  conversations  with  the  best  natives."  Then 
returning  to  his  illness,  and  fearing  they  may  be  uneasy  at 
Ghardaia  and  Algiers,  he  says:  "Jesus  is  giving  me  a 
month  of  recollection  and  a  very  sweet  retreat  by  this  en- 
forced rest;  I  enjoy  it  at  His  feet." 

When  he  recovered  from  this  rude  shock  he  felt  himself 
incapable  of  the  least  continued  manual  labour ;  he  could 
not  therefore  manage  to  work  at  leather-dressing  or 
saddlery,  as  he  intended,  "  and  I  regret  it.  For  one  thing, 
this  humble  and  low  work  formed  so  intimate  a  part  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth's  life,  the  model  of  monastic  life;  and 
then  nothing  could  do  more  good  than  such  an  example 
amidst  these  races  eaten  up  with  pride  and  laziness  I"  The 
gravity  of  this  illness,  in  spite  of  the  precautions  taken  by 
Father  de  Foucauld,  was  soon  suspected  by  the  hermit's 
friends,  and  first  of  all  by  Colonel  Laperrine,  whom  he  had 
to  tell  that  he  could  not  go  to  In-Salah  at  the  beginning 
of  spring.  One  after  the  other,  on  February  3  and  13, 
Laperrine  wrote  to  Father  Gu^rin  letters  which  he  need  not 
have  signed,  so  far  do  the  traits  of  the  Saharan  life  and  their 
lively  and  pleasant  tone  proclaim  their  author. 


266  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  February  3. 

"  Reverend  Father, 

"  I  was  going  to  reply  to  your  letter  of  January  13, 
when  I  received  a  long  one  from  de  Foucauld ;  he  does  not 
think  he  will  be  here  before  March  15,  and  yet  he  does  not 
give  that  date  as  certain.  He  feels  worn  out.  .  .  .  This 
letter  worries  me  very  much,  because  if  he  admits  he  is 
worn  out  and  asks  me  for  condensed  milk,  he  must  be  really 
ill.  I  do  not  yet  know  what  to  do.  I  am  waiting  for 
authorizations.  But  the  actual  situation  inclines  me  pre- 
ferably towards  the  east,  to  come  back  by  Ahaggar.  I  am 
going  to  read  de  Foucauld's  letter  again  deliberately,  and 
should  such  be  the  case,  I  shall  make  a  loop  to  take  in 
Ahaggar,  or  send  the  doctor  there,  if  his  condition  gets 
worse.  He  must  have  wanted  to  push  penance  and  fasting 
too  far,  but  our  strength  has  its  limits.  I  am  going  to 
abuse  him,  and  get  your  authority  to  tell  him  that  penance 
up  to  the  point  of  progressive  suicide  is  not  permitted.  .  .  . 
The  15th  of  March  following  the  15th  of  February,  which 
followed  the  15th  of  November — these  dates  don't  inspire 
me  with  confidence.  If  I  send  a  detachment  down,  perhaps 
he  had  better  stay  there  and  have  a  few  meals  with  the 
officer,  so  as  to  get  into  condition  for  the  journey.  Pardon 
this  scribble,  reverend  Father.  My  respects  to  the  Fathers 
at  El-Golea. 

"  Yours,  etc., 

**  H.  Laperrine." 


"February  11. 

"Reverend  Father, 

"A  few  lines  at  a  gallop,  to  give  you  news  of  de 
Foucauld.  He  puts  off  his  journey  till  October.  He  has 
been  more  ill  than  he  admits ;  he  had  fainting  fits,  and  the 
Tuaregs  who  took  great  care  of  him  are  very  anxious.  He 
is  better.  I  sent  him  a  lecture,  for  I  am  strongly  of  opinion 
that  his  exaggerated  penances  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
his  weakness,  and  the  overworking  at  his  dictionary  did 
the  rest. 

"  As  the  lecture  was  not  all  that  was  wanted,  w^  added 
three  camels  with  provisions,  condensed  milk,  sugar,  tea, 
and  various  preserves.  Besides,  he  felt  he  would  have  to 
cut  boiled  barley  out  of  his  regime,  since  he  asks  for 
milk.  ...  In  any  case,  I  think  it  indispensable  that 
on  his  approaching  return  to  the  north,  you  put  your 
grappling-irons  on  him  and  keep  him  a  month  or  two  at 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  267 

Ghardai'a  or  Maison  Carrie,  so  that  he  may  fill  his  hump 
again — excuse  the  Saharan  expression."^ 

Colonel  Laperrine's  and  Captain  Nieger's  stay^  at  Taman- 
rasset  was  a  great  joy  to  Father  de  Foucauld,  who  for  five 
months  had  received  no  news  from  Europe. 

His  health  improved  by  degrees.  Letters  from  the 
invalid  became  more  frequent.  One  of  them,  written 
during  this  period  of  convalescence,  in  reply  to  questions 
put  by  Father  Gu^rin,  illustrates  his  energy  of  will  and 
ardent  courage,  qualities  which  a  person  so  self-effacing 
only  expresses  in  moments  of  surprise  and  provocation.  It 
also  acknowledges  that  he  is  the  author  of  the  works  on  the 
Tuareg  language.  The  letter  is  divided  into  paragraphs  as 
the  interrogatory  was. 

"  I  do  not  hesitate  to  prolong  our  talks  and  to  let  them  last 
very  long,  when  I  see  they  are  useful  to  souls ;  I  sometimes 
spend  days  in  explaining  and  showing  books  of  pious  pic- 
tures, or  in  reading  passages  from  the  holy  Gospel  to  the 
Tuaregs.  It  is  with  this  idea  that  I  intend,  next  year, 
entirely  to  revise,  or  rather  renew — because  they  are  no 
good — my  translations  of  the  Gospel  and  of  part  of  the 
Bible  in  Tuareg.  That  will  be  of  use  to  me  now,  and  after- 
wards help  others. 

"  As  to  the  question  of  signing  the  linguistic  works  with 
my  name,  in  spite  of  the  authority  of  Father  Voillard,  in 
whom  I  have  so  much  respectful  confidence,  and  in  spite  of 
yours,  I  have  not  changed  my  mind.  What  you  and  he 
say  would  probably  be  true  of  a  White  Father,  but  not  of 
me,  vowed  as  I  am  to  a  hidden  life.  .  .  .  What  determined 
me  to  write  those  works,  to  put  the  finishing  touches  to 
them,  and  to  have  them  printed,  is  precisely  because  the' 
great  good  of  their  publication  can  be  effected  without  my 
appearing  or  being  named  at  all.   .  .   . 

"  The  Well-Beloved  has  turned  Musa's  efforts  to 
organize  Hoggar  into  a  regular  and  fervent  Musulman 
kingdom  to  the  good  of  souls.  His  efforts  have  totally  and 
piteously  failed ;  not  only  failed,  but  produced  an  inverted 
effect.  He  nominated  a  cadi  to  whom  he  entrusted  im- 
portant sums  to  build  a  mosque  and  zaouia,  and  gathered 
tithes  for  religion  all  over  Hoggar.  In  three  months  his 
cadi  had  made  himself  hated  of  all,  had  dissipated  all  the 

*  To  ascertain  a  camel's  state  of  health  and  vigour,  one  first  sees 
whether  its  hump  is  full  or  flabby. 

*  Colonel  Laperrine,  then  chief  in  command  at  In-Salah,  had  as  a 
companion,  Captain  Nieger,  commanding  the  Saharan  company  of 
In-Salah,  and  another  very  dear  friend  of  Father  de  Foucauld. 


268  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

sums  entrusted  to  him,  and  built  nothing ;  the  collection  of 
tithe  made  everybody  discontented ;  so  that  now  .  .  .  only 
the  recollection  of  a  disagreeable  adventure  and  the  horror 
of  cadis  and  tithes  remain.     Let  us  pray  and  do  penance. 

"  Had  I  been  called  up  for  the  Moroccan  expeditions,  I 
should  have  started  the  same  day,  and  I  should  have  done 
seventy-five  miles  a  day  to  arrive  in  time;  but  nobody  gave 
me  a  sign  of  life.  If  they  want  me,  they  know  I  am  ready 
to  go.  I  told  General  Lyautey  that  in  whatever  place  there 
was  an  important  expedition,  he  had  only  to  telegraph  for 
me,  and  I  would  come  directly." 

He,  too,  and  from  the  beginning  of  his  mission,  had  put 
to  himself  the  very  objection  which  they  did  not  fail  to 
make  afterwards,  when  Father  de  Foucauld's  w^ork  got  to 
be  known  :  "Is  the  Sahara  worth  so  many  sacrifices,  so 
much  time  and  work  ?  Is  it  not  too  costly,  to  take  so  much 
trouble  for  a  few  wandering  tribes,  who  do  not  ask  to  be 
converted?"     Father  de  Foucauld  replies  on  this  point  :^ 

"  No  doubt  the  Sahara  is  not  one  of  the  most  inhabited 
countries,  but  after  all  the  oases,  including  the  Tuaregs, 
contain  100,000  people,  who  are  born,  live  and  die  without 
any  knowledge  of  Jesus  who  died  for  them  nineteen  hun- 
dred years  ago.  He  gave  His  blood  for  each  of  them,  and 
what  are  we  doing?  It  seems  to  me  that  two  things  are 
necessary  :  (i)  a  sort  of  third  Order,  having  for  one  of  its 
objects  the  conversion  of  infidel  peoples — a  conversion 
which  is,  at  the  present  time,  a  strict  duty  for  Christian 
nations,  whose  position  in  the  last  seventy  years  has  totally 
changed  with  regard  to  the  infidels.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
infidels  are  nearly  all  subjects  of  Christians ;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  rapidity  of  communications,  and  the  explora- 
tion of  the  entire  world,  now  give  comparatively  easy 
access  to  all.  From  these  two  facts  follows  quite  a  strict 
duty — above  all,  for  nations  having  colonies  :  the  duty  of 
christianizing. 

"(2)  Not  everywhere,  but  in  countries  where  there  are 
special  difficulties,  like  yours,  we  ought  to  have  mission- 
aries, d  la  Sainte-Priscille'^  of  both  sexes.  They  might  be 
gleaned  either  here  and  there,  or  grouped  in  order  to  g-ive 
them  a  common  preparation  before  sending  them.  The 
thought  of  a  kind  of  third  Order,  having  for  one  of  its 
aims  the  conversion  of  infidels,  came  to  me  last  September, 
at  the  time  of  my  retreat.  It  has  recurred  to  me  very  often 
since,  with  the  consideration  that  it  is  a  duty  and  not  solely 
a  work  of  zeal  and  counsel  for  Christian  nations  to  work 
^  Letter  to  P^re  Guerin,  June  i,  1908.  *  I.e.,  Catcchists. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  269 

energetically  for  the  conversion  of  infidels  and,  above  all, 
of  those  of  their  colonies.  There  would,  I  think,  be  occa- 
sions for  showing  this  duty  to  those  who  appear  to  have  no 
suspicion  of  it,  and  for  urging  them  to  accomplish  it.  Dur- 
ing Holy  Week  and  Easter  Week  I  put  down  what  the 
association  might  be.  I  am  revising  this  and  re-copying 
it.  .  .  .  I  shall  show  it  you  in  November.  If  you  think 
it  contains  anything  good,  you  will  make  use  of  it.  But 
certainly  there  is  something  to  be  done.  .  .  .  For  twenty 
years  France  has  had  an  immense  colonial  empire,  which 
imposes  evangelizing  duties  on  French  Christians.  .  .  . 
It  is  not  with  ten,  fifteen,  twenty,  or  thirty  priests,  even  if 
you  were  given  them,  that  you  will  convert  the  vast  Sahara ; 
you  must  therefore  find  other  auxiliaries. 

'*  Pardon  me,  my  well-beloved  Father,  getting  mixed  up 
in  what  is  none  of  my  business,  and  an  old  sinner  and  quite 
insignificant  priest  of  very  recent  ordination,  and  still  a 
poor  sinner,  who  has  never  been  able  to  attain  anything,  or 
even  to  get  a  companion,  who  has  had  nothing  but  desires 
without  effect,  and  whose  plan  of  life,  constitutions  and 
Rule  are  always  but  useless  papers,  daring  to  expose  my 
thoughts  and  continuing  to  form  plans.  My  excuse  is  the 
souls  around  me  who  are  being  lost  and  will  perpetually 
remain  in  that  state,  if  we  do  not  try  to  find  the  means  of 
acting  efficaciously  on  them." 

In  the  summer  of  1908  the  military  administration 
decided  that  a  detachment  of  troops  should  be  sent  to  and 
maintained  in  Hoggar ;  from  time  to  time  it  was  to  go  on 
rounds  there,  and  a  fort  was  to  be  built.  Laperrine  wished 
to  name  it  "  Fort  de  Foucauld,"  but  the  hermit  refused.  It 
therefore  became  Fort  Motylinski,  over  thirty  miles  from 
Tamanrasset.  Brother  Charles  also  heard  that  next  year 
Musa  ag  Amastane  would  certainly  be  taken  to  France 
by  an  officer.  He  asked  himself  and  Father  Gu^rin 
whether  it  would  not  be  a  good  thing  if  other  Tuaregs 
were  to  travel  in  our  country,  to  obtain  some  idea  of  a 
society  so  different  from  theirs,  and  live  for  a  week  in  some 
French  family,  so  as  to  bring  back  with  them  the  con- 
viction that  we  are  not  pagans  and  savages  at  any  rate  : 
these  were  the  names  used  in  Hoggar  to  describe  the 
French,  and  Europeans  in  general. 

Further  news  :  the  amenokal  of  Hoggar  is  getting  an 
important  house  built  in  Tamanrasset — in  sun-baked  bricks 
and  dry  mud,  of  course;  several  of  his  near  relations  were 
imitating  him.  Laperrine  was  in  the  country;  he  saw 
Musa  and  rejoiced  at  his  colonizing  efforts ;  he  was  specially 


270  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

glad  to  find  his  friend,  Father  de  Foucauld,  whom  he  looked 
upon  as  lost,  in  fine  health.  On  July  22nd,  1908,  he  sent 
this  good  news  to  Father  Guerin  : 

"  Reverend  Father, 

"  I  send  you  a  few  lines  from  Tamanrasset,  where  I 
have  been  with  de  Foucauld  since  July  16.  He  came  to 
meet  me  at  twenty  miles  from  Tarhauhaut  on  June  29, 
and  we  spent  June  30  and  July  1,2,  and  3  together.  He 
is  very  well,  and  glowing  with  health  and  gaiety.  .  .  . 
On  June  29  he  came  galloping  into  my  camp  like  a  sub- 
lieutenant at  the  head  of  a  group  of  Tuareg  riders.  He  is 
more  popular  than  ever  among  them,  and  appreciates  them 
more  and  more.  On  the  other  hand,  he  has  very  little 
esteem  for  the  negroes  settled  here,  who  are  all  lazy,  and  of 
the  lowest  type. 

"  I  am  leaving  him  this  evening  to  return  to  In-Salah  by 
the  longest  way.  .  .  .  De  Foucauld  intends  to  go  and  see 
you  in  November;  I  leave  him  here  putting  the  finishing 
touches  to  the  enormous  Tamachek  work  which  he  under- 
took; this  work  will  be  thoroughly  complete. 

**  Yours,  etc., 

"  H.  Laperrine." 

Several  months  ago  Brother  Charles  had  formed  the 
plan  to  go  and  spend  a  few  days  at  Ghardaia.  Would  he 
not  go  farther  ?  As  far  as  Algiers  ?  Why  not  to  Bur- 
gundy? It  was  one  of  the  subjects  of  epistolary  conversa- 
tion between  him  and  Madame  de  Blic.  The  latter  did  not 
lack  good  arguments  to  prove  to  him  that  a  visit  to  France 
was  not  only  expected,  but  more  than  advantageous  :  it 
was  quite  necessary.  Had  he  not  been  seven  years  absent? 
Was  it  not  cruel  that  a  brother  and  sister  should  live  thus 
separated  one  from  the  other  by  thousands  of  miles?  He 
was  also  an  uncle;  was  not  the  family  of  nephews  and 
nieces  whom  he  hardly  knew,  growing  up?  The  hermit 
tried  to  find  an  answer  which  might  be  accepted.  "  I  am 
a  monk,"  he  said,  "and  monks  ought  not  to  travel  for 
their  pleasure.  We  shall  together  offer  this  sacrifice  to 
the  well-beloved  Jesus.  He  offered  up  so  much  of  all 
sorts  !  How  often  did  He  leave  His  Mother  alone  during 
His  life  !     In  what  solitude  did  He  leave  her  by  dying  ! 

"  Perhaps  we  shall  see  each  other  again  here  below. 
God  may,  as  He  has  already  done,  so  dispose  circum- 
stances that  it  will  be  more  perfect  to  go  and  see  you  than 
to  stint  myself.     Because  if  you  say  you  would  be  happy 


THE  SETTLEMENT  IN  HOGGAR  271 

to  see  me  again,  you  so  surrounded,  how  happy  should  I 
be,  who  am  alone  in  the  midst  of  savages  ?  Here  no  new 
love  has  come  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  ones.  .  .  .  You 
are  deceiving  yourself  very  much  in  believing  that  I  should 
do  good,  my  dear  :  I  gain  a  great  deal  by  not  being  seen, 
and  from  a  distance  I  am  thought  better  than  I  am.   ..." 

Shaken  by  the  earnest  entreaties  of  "dear  Marie,"  he 
finished  by  writing  ;  "If  you  wish  me  to  come,  ask  God 
and  M.  I'Abbe  Huvelin,  my  interpreter  of  His  will."  He 
wrote  these  things  and  many  others  on  old  envelopes, 
"  because,"  he  said,  "  I  am  a  hundred  miles  from  a  paper 
dealer." 

When  consulted,  M.  Huvelin  replied:  "  My  heart  very 
much  desires  this  little  journey  to  France  that  you  will  take 
to  see  your  family.  ...  I  do  not  see  any  objection  to 
your  journey  with  or  without  a  Tuareg."  Mgr.  Gu^rin 
was  of  the  same  opinion. 

In  consequence.  Brother  Charles  left  Tamanrasset  at 
noon  on  Christmas  Day,  alone,  without  any  Tuareg,  none 
being  sufficiently  prepared.  On  January  22,  1909,  he 
arrived  at  El-Golea,  where  Fathers  Richerd  and  Perier  of 
the  White  Fathers  were  :  a  few  days  later  he  saw  Mgr. 
Guerin,  who  had  come  from  Ghardaia  to  meet  him  ;  on 
February  13  he  was  at  Maison  Carrie,  among  his  friends  the 
White  Fathers,  who  were  under  Mgr.  Livinhac.  He  again 
saw  the  convent  gardens,  the  Mediterranean,  which  he  was 
about  to  cross,  and  beyond  which  was  France.  Maison 
Carree,  as  we  know,  is  a  small  town  to  the  east  of  Algiers, 
near  the  coast ;  and  the  residence  of  the  White  Fathers,  a 
little  more  to  the  east  in  the  open  country,  has  no  hill  or 
forest  before  it,  which  prevents  it  looking  towards  France. 
The  garden,  of  orange  and  lemon  trees,  descends  towards 
the  market-gardeners'  fields,  which  continue  the  dunes 
covered  with  locust-trees  and  rushes,  asphodels  and  African 
marigold.  The  violet  mountains  of  Kabyle  bound  the 
horizon  on  the  east  side ;  on  the  west,  Algiers,  similar  to  a 
bright  quarry  of  rose-and-white  marble,  raises  the  head- 
land of  its  Arab  quarter  above  the  sea.  In  this  religious 
house,  young  men,  under  the  direction  of  missionaries  back 
from  Central  Africa,  are  preparing  to  conquer  for  Christ, 
for  civilization  here,  for  eternity  afterwards,  the  blacks  who 
surround  Lakes  Chad  and  Victoria  Nyanza ;  and  other 
peoples,  where  the  number  of  Christians  is  rapidly  increas- 
ing :  they  are  waiting  for  the  Master  of  the  world  to  be 
free  to  make  known  His  incarnation.  His  passion,  and 
His  law  to  Musulmans.      It  is  a  place  of  prayer,   work, 


272  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

and  peace.  Brother  Charles  loved  it,  and  wished  the 
house  were  always  full  of  "workers"  and  of  s]piecial 
workers  for  Musulman  lan<;ls. 

I  was  told  that  during  this  stay  at  Maison  Carrie  he  was 

with  Father  de  Ch ,  a  friend  of  his,  and  was  talking 

to  him,  when  the  bell  rang. 

"  Excuse  my  leaving  you  alone,"  said  Father  de  Ch . 

Without  reflecting.  Brother  Charles  replied  : 

"  Oh  !  I  am  never  alone  !" 

Then,  having  said  too  much,  he  hung  his  head. 

Although  he  loved  this  great  and  brotherly  house,  he 
did  not  tarry  there,  and,  in  the  same  way,  he  only  passed 
through  France.  The  least  Saharan  tour  took  him  ten 
times  longer  than  he  would  give  to  his  human  joy.  He 
had  to  resume  divine  work  without  the  least  delay.  On 
January  17  he  embarked  at  Marseilles,  of  course  as  deck 
passenger.  His  route  in  France  comprised  Paris,  Nancy, 
Notre-Dame-des-Neiges,  Toulon,  and  Grasse,  where  Father 
de  Foucauld's  sister  was.  Lastly,  twenty  days  after 
leaving  Africa,  Brother  Charles  was  back  again,  having 
given  just  enough  time  to  his  visit  to  escape  being  con- 
victed of  "  cruelty." 

For  three  weeks,  then,  he  changed  customs,  costume, 
landscape,  and  the  idioms  of  habitual  conversation.  I 
shall  let  him  travel,  and  take  advantage  of  his  absence  to 
quote  some  of  the  Tuareg  proverbs  he  had  collected,  and 
some  of  those  pieces  of  poetry  he  got  recited  to  him  at  the 
doors  of  the  nomads'  tents. 


CHAPTER  XI 
Poetry  and  Proverbs 

NOTHING  is  more  sober  than  pride;  it  feeds  upon 
nothing  and  slakes  its  thirst  on  the  wind  which 
blows.  Do  not  let  us  be  surprised  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Sahara  consider  themselves  the  first  of  men ;  the  most 
beautiful,  of  course ;  the  most  intelligent ;  the  only  ones 
worthy  to  lead  the  world  and  to  be  its  models.  I  am  per- 
suaded that  they  consider  their  poets,  not  knowing  any 
others,  as  the  greatest  of  all.  They  will  one  day  know 
they  are  mistaken.  But  we  must  acknowledge  that  these 
nomads  without  education  are  not  without  intelligence. 
They  write  verses,  which  sing  of  love,  anxiety,  defiance,  the 
pride  of  youth  and  pluck,  or  of  beauty  and  courtship ; 
poems  on  incidents  which  do  not  lack  features,  but  in  which 
the  work  of  composition  is  to  seek.  It  is  a  wild  sourish 
grape,  which  does  not  produce  any  wine,  but  the  fruit  of 
which  may  be  eaten,  and  more  than  one  author  whom 
our  little  reviews  praise  has  not  yet  found  as  many  happy 
expressions  as  a  shepherd  warrior  of  Hoggar  puts  into 
his  verse,  when  rhyming  his  song  for  the  next  ahdl. 

Father  de  Foucauld  said  that  among  the  Tuaregs  "  every- 
body writes  verses :  always  rhymed  and  of  various 
rhythms."  Would  free  verse,  therefore,  be  condemned  in 
the  Sahara?  So  his  words  seem  to  say,  but  the  question 
of  prosody  in  a  tongue  which  is  unknown  to  us,  is  one  of 
those  which  prudence  bids  us  avoid.  Let  us  leave  it  to 
scholars.  When  the  pieces  collected,  translated,  and  anno- 
tated by  the  Father  are  published,^  we  shall  be  able  to 
judge ;  I  think  he  has  said  everything.  I  will  only  tell  here 
of  one  of  the  observations  he  made. 

"  The  usual  subjects  of  the  verse  by  the  Kel-Ahaggar 
and  the  Kel-Azjer  and  Taitok  are  the  same  :  love,  war, 
camels,  travel,  and  epigrams.  Often  the  warlike  poetry 
and  epigrams  give  rise  to  answers ;  an  enemy  poet  or  the 
person  attacked  replied  in  verse.  A  poetic  duel  was 
sometimes  engaged  :   the  pieces  of  verse,  the  attacks  and 

*  This  collection  as  well  as  the  other  works  of  Pere  de  Foucauld  and 
M.  de  Motylinski,  will  be  published  by  the  celebrated  Berber  scholar  at 
the  head  of  the  Algerian  Faculty  of  Letters,  M.  Rene  Basset. 

273  18 


274  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

replies,  followed  one  another  in  great  numbers.  In  wars, 
poetic  hostilities  always  accompanied  armed  hostilities. 

"  There  is  no  difference  of  language  between  verses  by 
the  Kel-Ahaggar,  the  Kel-Azjer  and  Taitok.  As  to 
groundwork  and  form,  there  is. 

*'  The  poetry  of  the  Ahaggar  is  at  times  somewhat  senti- 
mental and  philosophic;  that  of  the  Kel-Azjer  is  full  of 
ardent,  warlike  images;  that  of  the  Taitok,  elegant  in 
form,  has  little  substance  in  thought;  echoes  of  Islam  are 
more  frequently  found  in  it  than  elsewhere.^ 

I  have  gone  over  a  great  number  of  sheets  which  were 
found  dispersed  in  the  room  Father  de  Foucauld  worked 
in  at  Tamanrasset.  They  were  rough  copies  of  the  works 
he  had  finished.  I  shall  cite  some  of  the  pieces  which 
appeared  to  me  charming,  or  curious,  and,  mixed  with 
those,  others  which  M.  Henri  Basset,  deputy-lecturer  to 
the  Algiers  Faculty  of  Letters,  was  good  enough  to  com- 
municate to  me. 

Successful  Raid  of  Musa  ag  Amastane 

(Date:  1894.) 

Musa,  son  of  Amastane,  rides  amidst  the  sandhills. 
We  follow  him  as,  with  his  foot,  he  urges  on  his  enlisted 

niehari, 
Which    has    a    (high)   hump   and    is   girthed   with    white 

muslin. 
On  its  flank  rests  his  rifle. 
Musa  has  given  him  a  great  number  of  horses  as  com- 
panions. 

You  have  no  honour  left,  O  bad  Imrad ! 

You  have  rejected  Musa  and  let  him  go  alone  into 
Ahnet,  the  country  of  violins,  to  recruit  his  com- 
panions. 

In  none  of  your  men  has  awakened  the  sense  of  honour. 

Look !  all  follow  Musa,  even  the  lame  and  the  one- 
armed,  but  not  you. 

*  There  is  no  really  reliable  census  of  the  Tuareg  populations. 
Around  the  so-called  Tuaregs,  we  find  tribes  more  or  less  tainted  with 
black  blood,  and  speaking  Tamachek.  Here  is  the  statement  of  one  of 
the  officers  best  instructed  in  all  things  of  the  Sahara.  Tuareg  popula- 
tions speaking  Tamachek  :  (i)  Azjer  Tuarcgs,  Algerians  and  the  people 
of  Tripoli,  about  5,000  ;  (2)  Hoggar  Tuaregs,  about  4,500  ;  (3)  Tuaregs 
of  Air,  about  17,000 ;  (4)  Tuaregs  of  Feuve  (the  Sudan  Sahara),  about 
38,000  ;  (5)  Tuaregs  of  the  Niger  loop,  about  40,000 — or  an  approximate 
total  of  105,000,  speaking  Tamachek. 


POETRY  AND  PROVERBS  275 

The  lame  Akamadu  with  his  white-footed  camel  rides  close 

by  the  side  of  Musa's, 
Kaima  the  one-armed  with  his  bundle  tramps  side  by  side 

with  Musa  and  his  men. 
At  the  well  of  I-n-Eelren,  there  we  left  our  women, 
Whose  temples  and  cheeks  are  rimmed  with  indigo. 
Bekki,  from  whom  shall  I  hide  my  love  of  thee? 
For  it  is  not  in  my  hand,  from  which  a  blow  might  dash 

it  to  the  ground ; 
It  is  firmly  fixed  in  the  centre  of  my  heart. 
Hekhu's  skin  is  as  sweet  as  the  bread 
Of  sugar  that  all  young  men  love ; 
She  is  like  an  antelope  fawn  following  along  the  River 

Tigi,  going  from  gum-tree  to  gum-tree,  browsing  on 

their  leaves  through  the  summer  nights. 

The  Battle  with  the  Iullemeden 

(Date:   1895.) 

I  send  a  decree  to  all  women  who  go  to  gallant  parties, 
To  those  of  this  country  and  even  to  Arab  women  : 
Whenever  you  find  the  men  who  hid  from  the  fray  near 

you, 
Shower  down  your  curses  on  the  cowards. 
We  saw  them  that  day,  in  the  morning. 
When  the  Iullemeden  came  straight  on  to  the  attack  : 
Then  took  place  a  festival  of  powder  and  bullets. 
And  the  javelins  flung  in  such  hosts  as  to  make  a  tent 

over  the  heads  of  the  fighters. 
When  the  enemy  fled,  I  took  my  sword  in  my  hand, 
I  struck  at  their  legs,  which  flew  off  like  jerjer  stalks^ 
I  defy  them  to  use  them  hereafter  on  march. 

The  Battle  of  Tit 

(One    of   Lieutenant    Cottenest's    disciplinary   rounds 
in  Ahaggar.     Date:  1902.) 

I  tell  you  so,  women  of  sense. 

And    all   you    who   put   blue   between    your   mouth    and 

nostrils  : 
Amessara,^  there  we  fought  on  both  sides  to  a  finish 
With  javelins,  pagan  rifles 
And  the  sword  unsheathed. 

^  A  plant  the  stalks  of  which  are  carried  away  by  the  wind  of  the 
desert. 

2  The  valley  of  Amessara  touches  the  Tit  field  of  battle. 


276  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

I  flew  at  the  enemy;  I  smote,  and  was  smitten, 
Even  until  blood  covered  me  all  over  like  a  wrapping 
Inundating  me  from  the  shoulder  down  to  the  arms. 
The  young  women  who  gather  round  the  violin  will  not 

hear  it  said  of  me  that  I  hid  in  the  rocks. 
Is  it  not  true  that  after  falling  three  times  they  had  to  lift 

me  up, 
And  that  they  bound  me  unconscious  on  a  camel  with 

cords  ? 
On  that  account, 
Defeat  is  not  dishonour  : 
Even  against  the  prophet  himself,  pagans  have  won  the 

victory  in  days  of  yore. 


Starting  for  the  '*  Ahal  " 

My  parents  had  stopped  me  from  starting  for  the  ahdl; 

they  had,  it  seems,  no  ulterior  design. 
I  remained,  I  shed  tears,  I  went  back  to  the  tent ; 
I  wrapped  myself  up  and  hid  my  face  and  lay  down  : 
Even  that  seemed  to  increase  my  sorrow. 
I  could  not  rest :  I  put  on  my  crossed  sash ;  I  ran  through 

the  place  where  the  camels  were  crouching  : 
I  seized  a  well-trained  one ; 
I  put  the  saddle  on  the  top  of  his  hump  where  the  hair 

ends; 
I  was  evenly  balanced  on  him,  and  made  him  go  down 

into  the  valley  of  Isten. 
When   I   stopped  short,   on  getting  near  the  ahdl,   they 

said  to  me:    "What  has  happened?" 
I  replied  :  "  Nothing  has  happened 
But  depression  and  a  gloomy  face." 
And  now,  There  is  but  one  God  !  it  is  written  : 
I  shall  see  the  maiden  with  the  white  teeth. 


Declaration 

One  thing  is  no  wise  doubtful  but  certain. 
It  is  that  if  the  torment  of  love  could  kill. 
By  God  I  I  should  not  live  till  this  evening; 
The  sun  would  no  longer  rise  for  me  to  see  it. 
Gegge,  thy  love  is  hard  for  my  heart : 
It  has  dissolved  the  marrow  in  my  bones; 
It  has  drunk  my  blood  and  my  flesh  :  I  do  not  know  what 
has  become  of  them. 


POETRY  AND  PROVERBS  277 

I  have  only  my  bones  which  hold  together 

And  my  breathing  which  heaves  slowly  and  silently  be- 
neath them. 

You  have  never  yet  seen  a  soul  in  which  exists  a  whole 
town  full 

Of  torments,  and  yet  alive 

Going  to  gallant  parties,   playing  and  laughing.^ 


To  Amenokal  Amud 

Kenua  ult  Amastan,  a  woman  of  the  noble  tribe  of 
Taitok,  is,  of  all  the  persons  actually  living  with  the  Kel- 
Ahaggar  and  the  Taitok,  and  all  those  who  have  lived 
there  for  half  a  century,  the  one  who  has  the  greatest 
reputation  for  poetic  talent. 

Amud  el  Mektar,  an  important  person,  travelling 
among  the  Taitok,  one  day  stopped  to  take  his  siesta  near 
a  tree,  in  the  vicinity  of  Kenua's  encampment.  While 
he  was  resting  with  his  companion  under  the  shade  of  a 
burnous  fastened  to  the  branches,  Kenua  came  and 
invited  them  to  follow  her  to  her  tents ;  she  offered  them 
hospitality,  and  put  them  up  for  two  days.  The  day 
after  their  arrival,  she  composed  this  piece  of  poetry  in 
honour  of  Amud  : 

This  year  have  I  seen 

Dates  such  as  the  hand  gives  not  to  the  tongue ; 

This  year  have  I  seen 

A  green  date-tree  loaded  with  ripening  dates; 

This  year  have  I  seen 

Gold  and  silver  intertwined; 

This  year  have  I  seen 

Heaven  ;  I  reached  it,  but  did  not  sleep  there ; 

This  year  have  I  seen 

Mecca ;  I  prayed,  but  did  not  spend  the  noon  there ; 

This  year  have  I  seen 

Medina;  I  was  there  and  did  not  take  a  meal  there; 

This  year  have  I  seen 

The  waters  of  Zemzem,  but  I  did  not  drink  thereof ; 

This  year  have  I  seen 

Tender  young  antelopes  like  children  who  speak  in 

gentle  tones; 
They  were  making  a  sunshade  of  wool  under  which 

they  were  having  their  midday  nap  : 

^  Communicated  by  M.  Henri  Basset. 


278  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Made  for  play,  capable  of  playing, 

They  were  in  a  bed  of  silk  and  silver. 

This  year  have  I  seen 

A  colt  whose  love  has  wounded  me. 

He  is  in  a  wheat-field,  standing,  grazing  there. 

If  only  he  were  for  sale,  I  should  give  for  him 

A  thousand  young  men  !   .   .   . 


A  Poem  of  Eberkau 
{A   woman  celebrated  for  her   beauty   and  wit.) 

Shall  I  compare  him  to  a  white  mehari,  to  a  shield  of 

Tarmai  ? 
To  a  herd  of  Kita  antelopes  ? 
To  the  fringe  of  Jerba's  red  scarf? 
To  grapes  which  have  just  ripened 
In  a  valley  where  alongside  of  them  ripens  the  date? 
Amumen  is  the  thread  on  which  have  been  strung  the 

pearls  of  my  necklace. 
He  is  the  cord  on  which  are  hung  the  talismans  on  my 

breast ; 
He  is  my  life.^ 

Thanks 

A  poor  woman  of  a  tribe  belonging  to  the  imrad,  having 
received  alms  from  the  French  officer,  thanked  him  thus  : 

I  leave  the  tents  after  morning  prayer, 

I  take  a  walk  full  of  anxious  reflections ; 

I  left  Tekadeit  and  Lilli  yonder, 

Hungry,  exhausted,  crying  : 

Grasshoppers  are  the  death  of  the  poor. 

I  went  to  the  captain,  who  had  pity  on  me  : 

He  is  a  young  man  who  tries  to  do  all  good. 

He  is  valorous  in  war,  he  is  benevolent ; 

He  makes  women  shout  with  joy  and  wins  merits 

in  the  eyes  of  God; 
His  challenge  none  takes  up. 
He  excels  above  all  the  pagans. 

When  one  has  read  many  improvisations  by  Tuareg 
poets,  one  remarks  that  they  repeat  themselves,  and  that 
in  the  Sahara  more  than  elsewhere,  certain  metaphors, 
which  at  first  amused  or  touched  one,  are  tricks  of  style 

'  Communicated  by  M.  Henri  Basset. 


POETRY  AND  PROVERBS  279 

and  hackneyed.  It  matters  little  here.  I  wished  simply 
to  add  a  few  features  to  the  picture  of  the  people  among 
whom  Father  de  Foucauld  lived  the  last  years  of  his  life, 
to  whom  he  was  so  devoted,  whose  traditions,  customs, 
vocabulary,  language,  and  poetry  he  had  spent  so  many 
hours  in  studying.  And  with  this  same  intention,  I  shall 
choose  some  Tuareg  proverbs  from  those  which  he  col- 
lected. In  these  we  shall  see  still  better  the  quick  mind 
of  these  Ahaggar  people,  and  their  good  sense,  in  which 
all  the  human  hope  of  Charles  de  Foucauld  must  have  been 
bound  up. 

Tuareg  Proverbs 

Part  your  tents,  bring  your  hearts  together. 

When  you  see  a  halo  round  the  moon,  a  king  is  travel- 
ling by  its  light. 

Fear  the  noble  if  thou  make  little  of  him  :  fear  the  base 
man  if  thou  honour  him. 

He  who  drinks  out  of  a  jug  (the  sedentary)  is  no  guide. 

However  long  a  winter  night  may  be,  the  sun  follows  it. 

The  viper  takes  the  colour  of  the  country  it  lives  in. 

Laugh  at  baked  clay  (terra  cotta). 

Kiss  the  hand  you  cannot  cut  off. 

Whoever  loves  thee,  even  a  dog,  thou  wilt  also  love. 

It  is  better  to  spend  the  night  in  anger  than  in  repent- 
ance. 

Reasonings  are  the  shackles  of  the  coward. 

A  single  hand  without  a  fellow  will  not  untie  a  double 
knot,  whatever  it  may  do. 

When  a  noble  spreads  the  rich  material  of  his  dress  for 
thy  carpet,  sit  not  right  in  the  middle. 

Hell  itself  holds  dishonour  in  horror. 

Living  people  often  meet. 

If  a  man  puts  a  cord  round  his  neck,  God  will  provide 
someone  to  pull  it. 

In  your  native  land,  birth  ;  in  a  foreign  land,  dress. 

The  palm  of  your  hand  does  not  eclipse  the  sun. 

The  beetle,  in  its  mother's  eyes,  is  a  gazelle. 
The  beaten  path,  even  if  it  winds:  the  king,  even  if  he 
is  aged. 


CHAPTER  XII 
Tamanrasset 

ON  Passion  Sunday,  March  27,  1909,  Father  de 
Foucauld,  travelling  in  great  haste,  again  took 
possession  of  his  first  hermitage,  so  as  to  have  Mass  at 
Beni-Abbes  on  that  day.  He  spent  Eastertide  there.  To 
the  last  he  wanted  to  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  Christian 
officers  and  soldiers  who  wished  to  make  their  Easter  duties, 
and  was  visited  by  French,  Berbers  and  Arabs,  and,  in  the 
hours  of  solitude,  put  the  finishing  touches  to  the  rules  of 
the  association  for  the  development  of  the  missionary  spirit, 
according  to  the  suggestions  of  Mgr.  Bonnet  who  was 
interested  in  the  project.  It  was,  indeed,  a  fine  idea  of  the 
great  African  monk  to  band  the  French  and  Algerian 
Christians  together,  especially  the  Saharans  who  belong  to 
both  countries,  but  also  those  who  live  at  home  and  never 
cross  the  sea,  and  to  get  them  to  pray  daily  for  the  conver- 
sion of  "our  Musulman  brothers"  who  are  subjects  of 
France.  The  idea  is  simple,  too,  and  a  practical  one,  which 
will  deeply  affect  Christian  France,  accustomed,  from  time 
immemorial,  to  understand  these  sorts  of  fraternal  and 
extended  developments  of  the  communion  of  saints. 
Already,  although  the  work  has  remained  humble  and 
without  means  of  propaganda,  travellers,  officers,  sailors, 
parents  and  relations  of  missionaries,  and  communities 
of  men  and  women  have  promised  to  intercede  for  the 
neglected  peoples  who  belong  to  us.  At  the  end  of  the 
book  I  shall  tell  what  has  been  done,  and  what  that  very 
simple  rule  of  this  union  of  prayer  is.  Father  de  Foucauld's 
legacy  to  many  who  know  nothing  of  it. 

After  about  a  month's  stay  in  the  hermitage  of  Beni-Abbes, 
then  the  hermit  became  a  pilgrim  once  more.  He  made  or 
bought  the  two  pairs  of  sandals  required;  he  would  put  on 
the  second  when  the  stones  had  worn  out  the  soles  of  the  first 
pair,  or  the  heat  hardened  and  shrivelled  up  the  leather; 
and  now  he  was  off  on  his  journey.  The  reception  given 
him  everywhere  was  his  reward.  No  doubt  there  were  many 
beggars  among  those  who  came  to  the  marabout.  But  to 
many  he  was  the  friend  of  whom  they  sought  counsel. 
When  walking  by  his  camel,  when  going  through  a  ksar,  or 

280 


TAMANRASSET  281 

lying  down  for  a  midday  siesta  in  the  shade  of  a  tree  or  rock, 
someone  would  slip  close  up  to  him  and  entrust  him  with 
some  anxiety  or  trouble ;  there  were  so  many  of  them  !  Here 
is  an  example  of  this  sort  of  apostolate.  About  this  time  a 
soldier  came  to  the  Father.  He  was  living  with  a  negress, 
a  slave  that  her  Arab  masters  had  been  obliged  to  liberate, 
because  they  ill-treated  her.  This  woman  was  looking 
forward  in  terror  to  the  soldier's  approaching  return  to 
France.  The  latter  loved  and  esteemed  her ;  although  he 
was  living  irregularly,  he  had  at  heart  the  faith  of  l^he  old 
country,  and  perhaps  a  little  through  remorse,  and  because 
we  are  naturally  missionaries,  he  had  taught  this  woman 
the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion.  He  even  declared 
that  she  might  already  be  regarded  as  being  of  our  religion, 
her  soul  was  so  much  disposed  to  receive  it.  But  what  would 
she  do  when  he  left  her  ?  Knowing  that  she  regarded  the 
Arabs  with  horror  and  could  not  stay  on  where  she  had 
suffered  so  much  at  their  hands,  he  was  most  perturbed. 
He  laid  the  matter  before  the  ambulant  monk,  the  universal 
brother.  The  answer  given  him  is  to  be  found  in  a  letter 
to  Father  Guerin  :  "  I  urged  him  to  ask  you  to  take  this 
woman  into  your  Ghardaia  workroom.  He  was  to  take  her 
and  she  was  to  remain  there,  living  entirely  with  the  Sisters, 
where  her  work  would  pay  for  her  board.  She  looks  very 
well,  and  the  corporal  esteems  and  loves  her  very  much ; 
besides,  it  would  be  a  soul's  salvation.  .  .  .  She  has 
always  led  a  regular  life ;  when  she  was  freed,  the  French- 
man received  her ;  according  to  her  own  ideas,  her  position 
has  never  ceased  to  be  regular."  What  became  of  the  poor 
"  quiet  and  hard-working  "  negress  of  thirty?  It  is  one  of 
the  countless  stories  of  which  we  shall  never  know  the  end. 

Back  in  Tamanrasset,  Father  de  Foucauld  found  his 
hermitage  somewhat  enlarged  by  the  care  of  his  friends, 
Motylinski  and  the  village  harratins.  A  young  officer  gave 
him  the  additional  surprise  of  discovering  amidst  the 
lumber  of  the  corridor  he  called  his  house,  a  bed,  a  camp- 
bed  brought  on  camel-back.  .  .  .  He  did  not  grumble,  but 
acepted  the  gift  with  thanks,  and  for  the  first  time  in  twenty- 
seven  years,  being  thoroughly  tired  out,  slept  on  canvas. 
As  soon  as  he  had  got  into  the  hermitage  again  he  started 
with  his  old  ardour  on  his  works  in  the  Tuareg  language, 
and  hastened  to  finish  them,  in  order  "to  work  more 
directly  for  the  one  end  :  to  see  more  people,  and  to  give 
more  time  to  prayer  and  spiritual  reading." 

This  idea  of  progressive  evangelization,  which  he  never 
gave  up,  inspired  all  his  acts  and  prompted  him  to  draw  up 


282  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

a  few  forms  of  prayer  for  his  poor  Saharans,  and,  in  the 
same  letter,  he  submitted  to  Father  Gu^rin  the  sketch  of  a 
simplified  rosary  for  the  use  of  infidels.  At  the  beginning 
they  would  make  an  act  of  charity,  and  then,  in  any 
language,  say  on  the  little  beads  :  "  My  God,  I  love  Thee  "  ; 
and  on  the  big  beads  :  "  My  God,  I  love  Thee  with  my 
whole  heart !"  "  Would  you  think  it  right,"  he  concludes, 
"  to  ask  for  indulgences  for  this  very  simple  rosary,  which 
is  also  good  for  the  use  of  Christians?"  And  this  letter 
ends  with  this  noble  outburst,  revealing  the  memories  that 
helped  this  great  soul  in  his  poor  life  with  its  want  of 
response  in  all  around  it : 

"To-day  is  the  feast  of  SS  Peter  and  Paul.  It  is 
delightful  to  write  to  you  on  this  day.  Let  no  difficulties 
daunt  us ;  they  conquered  many  far  greater  ones,  and  they 
are  always  with  us.  Peter  is  always  at  the  helm  of  the 
barque.  If  Jesus'  disciples  could  have  been  discouraged, 
what  a  reason  for  discouragement  Roman  Christians  had 
on  the  evening  of  the  martyrdom  of  both  ?  I  have  often 
thought  of  that  evening ;  how  sad  it  must  have  been,  and 
how  all  must  have  appeared  to  have  gone  under,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  faith  in  their  hearts  !  There  will  always  be 
struggles,  and  always  real  triumphs  of  the  Cross  in  apparent 
defeat.     So  be  it." 

He  expected  Colonel  Laperrine  from  day  to  day ;  he 
remarks,  as  a  happy  event,  the  nomination,  as  Musa's 
secretary,  of  a  young  man  brought  up  at  Tlemcen,  speak- 
ing French  well,  having  a  good  French  and  an  excellent 
Arab  education,  very  French  in  his  ideas,  and  by  no  means 
fanatical.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  new  arrival  will  destroy 
the  bad  influence  of  the  so-called  thalebs,  ignorant  fanatics 
from  Rhat.  "  When  shall  we  rejoice  at  the  arrival,  not  of 
Musulmans,  but  of  Catholic  priests?"  he  asked.  "With 
what  ardour  I  desire  a  priest  as  companion  to  instruct  by 
example  and  daily  talks,  so  as  to  lead  souls  by  degrees  to 
another  teaching  !" 

Laperrine,  "  after  a  very  successful  and  fruitful  round, 
pushed  on  as  far  as  Gogo,"  spent  a  week  at  Tamanrasset, 
and  took  his  friend  Father  de  Foucauld  with  him  ;  they  made 
the  tour  of  Ahaggar  in  such  a  way  as  to  see  the  principal 
inhabited  cantons.  This  time  he  had  resolved  to  take  a 
fresh  census  of  the  Hoggar  warriors,  and  to  review  the 
troops  available  against  the  Azjers,  and  had  distributed 
rifles  of  the  1874  pattern.  This  was  both  a  proof  and  an 
earnest  of  trust  :  Musa  and  the  Colonel  deliberated  to- 
gether as  to  where  to  order  the  assembly,  and  decided  on 


TAMANRASSET  283 

the  high  valley  of  the  Wady  Tmereri,  which  is  "  provided 
with  water  and  pasturage,"  and  covered  with  very  fine 
ethels. 

On  the  day  and  hour  agreed,  Laperrine  was  on  the 
summit  of  a  hillock  in  the  middle  of  the  valley,  and  the 
valley  was  still  deserted.  Around  him  were  Lieutenant 
Saint-Leger,  Lieutenant  Sigonney,  Doctor  H^risson,  Father 
de  Foucauld,  and  four  orderlies.  Near  the  French  com- 
mander was  the  war-drum,  the  tehbel,  which  signals  the 
call  to  arms. 

In  a  neighbouring  valley,  where  he  had  convoked  his 
warriors,  Musa  ag-  Amastane  began  to  make  his  troops 
pass  into  the  Tmereri  plain.  Between  the  trees  was  seen 
the  glitter  of  arms  and  moving  shields,  and  outlines  of  the 
foremost  warriors  riding  high,  and  meharis'  heads.  Then 
the  Colonel  had  the  tocsin  beaten  :  the  dust  rose  between 
the  ethels,  and  252  meharis  of  Musa  dashed  towards  the 
great  French  chief,  who  was  immobile  but  secretly 
delighted. 

After  the  fa^itasia  there  was  a  long  chat.  Laperrine  spoke 
of  the  customs  to  be  kept,  of  others  to  be  given  up — for 
instance,  the  raids.  The  rumour  went  round  that  he  wished 
to  forbid  ahdls — that  is  to  say,  gallant  and  "  fashionable  " 
parties.  Laperrine,  who  knew  Tamachek  imperfectly, 
turned  his  head,  looking  for  a  good  interpreter*  to  contradict 
the  report.  "There  was  one,"  be  says  in  his  Annales  de 
Geographie — "  there  was  Father  de  I^oucauld,  but  I  hardly 
dared  ask  him  to  do  it.  .  .  .  He  began  to  laugh,  and  after 
having  told  me  that  I  was  getting  him  to  make  very  un- 
canonical  interpretations,  he  translated  my  phrase  to  the 
great  joy  of  all  the  young  people,  and  in  particular  of 
Alkhammuk,  who  saw  in  it  a  splendid  opportunity  for 
teasing  the  Father  on  their  long  rides." 

On  returning  from  this  expedition  towards  the  end  of 
October,  the  Father  was  visited  by  Captain  Nieger  at 
Tamanrasset.  Fort  Motylinski  was  built.  For  a  traveller 
like  Brother  Charles  thirty  miles  was  a  walk,  and  when  a 
French  soldier  fell  seriously  ill,  the  hermit  was  told  of  it. 
He  at  once  left  the  hermitage,  and  heard  the  dying  man's 
confession.  "There  is  nothing  new,"  he  writes  to  Father 
Guerin,  "  in  the  country,  which  the  presence  of  the  officers 
is  getting  more  and  more  in  hand ;  the  farther  we  go,  the 
more  it  is  prepared  for  the  arrival  of  your  Fathers.  At 
present,  the  officers'  work  is  the  best  one  can  desire ;  it  opens 
up  the  ways,  establishes  contact,  makes  safety  prevail,  and 
gives  a  good  opinion  of  us,  for  the  Colonel,  Captain  Nieger, 


284  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

M.  de  Saint-L^ger  and  the  others,  are  wonderfully  good  to 
the  natives." 

So  many  efforts  are  not  and  cannot  be  vain.  All  the 
evidence  agrees  in  proving  that  civilization  had  made  a 
beginning  in  Hoggar.  "  Our  training  is  making  great 
strides."  Father  de  Jioucauld  gives  all  the  honour  of  it  to 
the  officers,  but  we  know  that,  in  this  beginning  of  civiliza- 
tion, he  had  a  very  considerable  share.  "  Wherever  an 
officer  has  been,  the  population,  once  wild  and  suspicious, 
has  become  friendly.  ...  A  biennial  fair  has  been  started 
at  Fort  Motylinski  (Tarhauhaut),  in  March  and  October ; 
people  are  invited  from  all  sides,  from  Agades,  Zinder, 
Air,  as  from  In-Salah,  Wargla,  etc.  The  constant 
presence  of  a  detachment  of  a  hundred  soldiers  in  Ahaggar 
has  brought  to  light  the  resources  of  the  country.  This 
detachment  finds  all  its  supply  of  wheat,  meat,  vegetables, 
as  well  as  barley  for  its  horses,  on  the  spot.  Wheat  fcosts 
40  francs  a  hundredweight,  barley  30;  a  goat  7-50  francs, 
a  sheep  10  francs,  butter  1-50  francs  a  pound.  All  French 
vegetables  are  grown  in  the  gardens ;  their  quality  is  excel- 
lent. Water  and  land  are  abundant;  much  more  could  be 
grown,  only  hands  are  lacking." 

To  know  the  daily  life  of  the  hermit  in  detail,  and  just 
what  he  does  not  tell  us,  we  took  a  few  pages  from  Brother 
Michel,  a  passing  guest  of  Beni-Abbes.  To  depict  his  life 
at  Tamanrasset,  we  shall  give  the  notes  which  Surgeon 
H^risson  was  good  enough  to  put  into  my  hands,  referring 
to  the  years  1909  and  19 10. 

Doctor  Herisson  resided  for  many  months  in  Hoggar  as 
assistant  Senior  Surgeon  of  the  Motylinski  station,  in 
charge  of  the  medical  mission  among  the  Tuareg  tribes. 
He,  too,  and  in  the  sphere  of  science,  was  one  of  the  in- 
valuable agents  of  the  "training"  system  invented  by 
Laperrine. 

He  was  in  the  Tripolitan  oasis  of  Janet,  when  he  received 
from  the  Colonel  a  service  letter  which  rather  surprised  him. 
The  Colonel  wrote  to  him  to  go  to  Hoggar,  and  there  to  put 
himself  at  the  disposal  of  Father  de  Foucauld,  to  receive 
instruction  as  to  how  to  act  with  regard  to  the  Tuaregs,  and 
especially  to  ask  him  in  what  tribes,  in  agreement  with 
Musa  ag  Amastane,  it  was  advisable  to  vaccinate  and  pro- 
vide medical  care.  Father  de  Foucauld  had  hardly  spoken 
to  the  young  doctor,  when  he  invited  him,  according  to  his 
custom,  to  come  to  Mass  next  day.  M.  Robert  Herisson 
replied  that  he  was  a  Protestant,  and  regretted  he  could  not 
accept  the  invitation. 


TAMANRASSET  285 

"  I  addressed  Father  de  fioucauld  with  curiosity  and  some 
reserve,  knowing  that  he  was  going  to  be  '  my  instructor.' 

"  I  saw  a  man  of  sorry  appearance  at  first  sight,  about 
fifty,  simple,  and  modest.  In  spite  of  his  habit,  recalling 
that  of  the  White  Fathers,  which  I  had  seen  in  Wargla, 
there  was  nothing  monastic  in  his  gestures  or  attitude. 
Neither  was  there  anything  military.  Beneath  very  great 
affability,  simplicity  and  humility  of  heart,  were  the 
courtesy,  the  finesse  and  refinement  of  a  man  of  the  world. 
Although  he  appeared  badly  dressed,  without  any  care  for 
elegance,  and  though  he  was  very  accessible  to  all,  French 
workmen  or  native  corporals,  the  vivacity  and  penetration 
of  his  look,  the  height  of  his  forehead,  and  his  expression 
of  intelligence  made  of  him  a  '  somebody.'  He  was  below 
middle  height ;  at  first  sight  he  looked  of  no  account,  but  I 
had  quickly  the  impression  that  Father  de  Foucauld  was  a 
highly  intellectual  man,  both  sensitive  and  tactful.  .  .  . 
He  was  very  winning.   ...     I  felt  myself  attracted  to  him. 

"  I  saw  he  was  adored  by  all  the  French  who  already 
knew  him,  and  there  was,  even  amongst  the  non-commis- 
sioned officers  and  artisans,  a  certain  pride  in  talking  with 
Father  de  Foucauld  and  in  writing  letters  to  him  as 
familiarly  as  to  one  of  their  old  comrades. 

"The  Father  was  really  singular. 

"  '  What  do  you  advise  me  to  do  about  the  Tuaregs, 
Father?'  I  said  to  him.  *I  am  ordered  to  follow  your 
instructions.' 

"  He  spoke  at  length. 

"  *  You  must  be  simple,  affable  and  good  to  the  Tuaregs ; 
love  them  and  make  them  feel  they  are  loved,  so  as  to  be 
loved  by  them. 

"  '  Don't  be  the  assistant-surgeon,  not  even  the  doctor 
with  them;  don't  take  offence  at  their  familiarities  or  their 
easy  manners  :  be  human,  charitable,  and  always  gay.  You 
must  always  laugh  even  in  saying  the  simplest  things.  I, 
as  you  see,  am  always  laughing,  showing  very  ugly  teeth. 
Laughing  puts  the  person  who  is  talking  to  you  in  a  good 
humour;  it  draws  men  closer  together,  allows  them  to 
understand  each  other  better;  it  sometimes  brightens  up  a 
gloomy  character,  it  is  a  charity.  When  you  are  among 
the  Tuaregs,  you  must  always  laugh. 

"  '  Give  them  your  medical  assistance  patiently,  cure 
them ;  they  will  get  a  high  idea  of  our  science,  power,  and 
kindness.  If  they  ask  you  to  attend  a  goat,  don't  be 
annoyed. 

*'  '  In  my  opinion,  you  should  reside  long  near  a  Tuareg 


286  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

encampment,  not  mixing  with  them,  but  on  the  edge,  not 
to  be  in  the  way,  but  ready  to  receive  them  should  they  wish 
to  come.  Remain  here,  without  stirring  from  the  spot,  for 
three  weeks ;  you  will  have  time  to  cure  them,  and  also  to 
know  them  and  to  get  known. 

"'They  do  not  know  us.  Absurd  legends  about  the 
French  have  been  put  in  circulation.  It  is  said  we  eat 
children,  that  at  night  we  turn  into  animals,  etc. 

*'  '  Use  an  interpreter,  to  tell  those  who  want  to  come  and 
talk  with  you  about  our  intimate  family  lives,  our  manners 
and  customs,  the  birth  and  sponsorship,  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  our  children,  marriage,  marriage  laws,  and  duties 
between  husband  and  wife  and  their  children  ;  about  deaths, 
ceremonies,  legacies,  wills,  what  deeds  we  honour,  those  we 
despise.  .  .  .' 

"  He  advised  me  to  show  the  Tuaregs  verascopic  photo- 
graphs, representing  agricultural  work  in  France,  our 
flocks,  country  life,  the  rivers,  farms,  oxen,  horses.  .  .  . 
'  Make  them  understand  that  a  Frenchman's  life  is  made  up 
of  peaceable  honesty,  work  and  production.  Show  them 
that  the  foundation  of  our  peasants'  lives  is  the  same  as 
theirs,  that  we  resemble  them,  that  we  live  in  our  country 
as  they  do,  but  in  a  more  beautiful  country. 

"'You  will  doubtless  have  leisure,  for  the  country  is 
very  healthy,  there  are  few  patients  and  the  population  is 
very  thinly  scattered.     What  do  you  intend  doing?' 

"'The  Colonel,'  I  said,  'commissioned  me  to  collect 
samples  of  plants  and  send  them  to  Algiers  to  M.  Trabut, 
the  botanical  professor,  who  will  ascertain  the  species.  I 
am  also  going  to  try  and  make  a  kitchen-garden  at 
Tarhaouhaout.' 

"  '  It  would  be  interesting,'  Father  de  Foucauld  said  to 
me,  '  to  know  if  any  other  race  than  the  Tuaregs  has  in- 
habited the  desert.  There  are  very  old  tombs  here — pagan 
tombs,  anterior  to  Islam.  They  are  very  probably  the 
Tuaregs'  ancestors,  but  they  will  not  acknowledge  that. 
You  would  be  able  to  make  excavations.  They  will  see  no 
harm  in  your  exhuming  these  bones.  You  can  then  ascer- 
tain the  relationship  of  race  existing  between  those  pagans 
and  the  Tuaregs  of  the  present  day.' 

"  Father  de  Foucauld  vv^as  the  soul  of  Hoggar.  Colonel 
Laperrine  did  nothing  without  taking  his  advice,  and 
Musa  ag  Amastane  did  the  same. 

"The  natives  held  him  in  such  esteem  that  they  made 
him  their  judge.  One  morning  I  saw  this  very  remarkable 
scene.     He  was  before  his  door,  slightly  bent  towards  the 


TAMANRASSET  287 

ground,  dressed  in  white  :  before  him  in  the  foreground 
were  two  immense  Tuaregs  dressed  in  black,  their  faces 
veiled  with  the  litham,  in  full  dress,  with  swords  at  their 
sides,  with  daggers  on  the  left  forearm,  and  lances  in  the 
right  hand ;  behind  were  four  or  five  other  Tuaregs, 
squatting,  as  witnesses  or  hearers.  It  was  a  story  of  camel 
robbery,  and  blows  given  to  the  negro,  the  owner's  slave 
and  guardian  of  the  drove. 

"  The  one  accused,  the  other  denied.  Both  assumed  the 
emphatic  theatrical  attitude  of  the  Hoggars,  the  imperious 
gesture,  the  marked  accentuation,  though  deadened  by  the 
litham,  which  acted  as  a  slight  gag. 

"Finally  a  Koran  was  brought;  the  accused  protested 
his  innocence  by  swearing  on  the  Koran  before  Father  de 
Foucauld- 

"  About  10  o'clock  every  morning  the  Father  used  to  call 
his  negro ;  he  gave  him  a  wooden  bowl  full  of  wheat,  and 
a  handful  of  dates.  The  day  on  which  he  invited  me  to  lunch 
he  warned  me  the  menu  would  be  detestable.  I  accepted 
through  politeness  and  curiosity,  but  never  again. 

"  The  negro  went  and  ground  the  grain  in  a  stone  hand- 
mill,  as  the  Berbers  in  the  Atlas  and  the  natives  of  the 
Moroccan  countries  do.  This  mill  broke  the  grain  but  did 
not  make  flour  of  it.  With  the  broken  wheat,  without  any 
yeast,  he  made  a  flat  round  cake,  which  he  put  to  bake 
under  the  ashes.  In  a  little  wrought-iron  saucepan  he  had 
boiled  some  coarse  dates,  full  of  sand  and  camel-hair — and 
lunch  was  ready. 

"  Father  de  Foucauld  then  took  away  the  books  and 
sheets  of  paper  which  were  on  the  table,  and  laid  two  hollow 
plates  and  two  wrought-iron  spoons  on  it,  and  said  to  me  : 

"  *  Have  you  ever  eaten  any  khefis?' 

"No." 

"  '  It  is  my  usual  food.  I  do  not  know  whether  you  will 
find  it  good,  but  I  can  offer  you  nothing  else.  I  had  still 
a  few  little  tins  of  "bully"  (singe)  that  Saint-Leger's 
sergeant  wanted  to  leave  behind  on  his  last  visit;  I  gave 

them  to  Corporal  X ,  who  wanted  to  invite  me  when  he 

was  here.  Khefis  seems  to  me  a  perfect  food,  which  is 
easily  prepared  and  suits  my  poor  teeth.' 

"Here  is  the  recipe  for  khefis.  You  take  the  wheaten 
cake,  break  it  up  into  small  pieces,  quite  hot,  and  put  it  into 
the  wrought-iron  plate.  Stone  the  dates,  pour  the  stewed 
dates  on  the  pieces  of  cake.  Then  take  some  old  melted 
Arab  butter  and  spread  it  over  the  cake  and  dates.  Now 
take  all  this  by  the  handful,  triturate  and  crush  it,  and  make 


288  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

a  sort  of  putty  of  it.  The  taste  is  insipid,  sugary,  but  not 
bad. 

"  A  glass  of  water  and  a  cup  of  coffee  complete  the 
meal. 

"To-night  we  shall  have  a  couscousou  without  meat — 
*  my  usual  dinner,  that  will  please  you  more.' 

"  It  was  not  good  for  much. 

"  Before  sunset  the  Father  took  an  hour's  recreation.  He 
used  to  walk  to  and  fro  before  his  hermitage.  Then  he 
talked  amiably  of  everything.  We  walked  side  by  side. 
He  put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  laughed,  spoke  about  the 
Tuaregs  and  his  memories.  At  first  he  used  to  ask  me 
every  time  how  I  had  spent  the  day.  He  got  me  to  make 
a  sort  of  examination  of  conscience,  and  blamed  me  if  I 
had  not  attended  some  Tuaregs,  learned  Arabic  or 
Tamachek.   .  .   . 

"The  day  on  which  I  saw  Father  de  Foucauld  really 
annoyed  was  when  I  confessed  to  him,  a  few  months  before 
my  final  departure  from  Hoggar,  that  I  had  not  made  any 
anthropological  researches  for  seven  to  eight  months. 

"  I  saw,  I  told  him,  that  I  was  not  going  to  get  any 
result.  I  should  be  quite  as  ignorant  as  before  as  to  what 
race  those  pagans  belonged  to.  Were  they  the  ancestors 
of  the  Hoggars,  or  were  they  another  people?  My  work 
was  condemned  beforehand  to  mediocrity. 

"  Father  de  Foucauld  reproached  me  for  being  wanting 
in  perseverance.  '  The  little  that  you  would  have  done, 
and  which  you  would  have  left  to  your  successors,  would 
have  been  work  already  done ;  others,  taking  up  the  even 
negative  results  of  your  researches  and  going  on  with  them, 
would  have  carried  the  matter  further.  By  abstaining 
from  following  up  your  researches,  you  hinder  the  work. 
To  be  held  up  by  the  idea  that  your  work  would  only  be 
mediocre,  is  nothing  else  than  pride.  Your  abandoning 
the  pursuit  of  these  researches  may  discourage  at  the  outset 
those  who  come  after  you.'  " 

"  One  had  to  work.  One  day  while  I  was  there,  a 
negro  came  and  asked  him  for  alms.  He  was  dying  of 
hunger,  he  said.  He  was  well  set  up,  but  appeared  thin. 
He  was  about  twenty-five  years  of  age.  Father  de 
Foucauld  asked  him  why  he  did  not  work  in  the  Tit, 
Abalessa,  and  other  centres  of  civilization.  He  replied  that 
there  was  nothing  to  do  there.  Then  Father  de  Foucauld, 
showing  him  a  little  wooden  box  which  was  used  to  mould 
bricks,  said  to  him  ;  '  Make  me  twenty  bricks,  and  I  give 
you  a  measure  of  wheat.'     There  was   hardly  an  hour's 


TAMANRASSET  289 

work :  he  had  only  to  make  twenty  little  pies  such  as 
children  make  at  the  seaside ;  the  negro  refused.  The 
Father  held  out,  and  gave  him  nothing,  except  advice  to 
work  for  his  living." 

On  other  occasions,  there  was  a  lesson  for  the  Tuareg 
nobles.  Surgeon  Robert  Herisson  tells  us,  for  instance, 
that  one  evening,  at  sunset — that  is  to  say,  at  one  of  the 
hours  of  Musulman  prayer — five  or  six  Kel-Ahaggar  and 
Kel-Rela  were  talking  with  Father  de  Foucauld  and  the 
amenokal.  The  latter,  his  cousin  Akhammuk  and  Aflan, 
Dassine's  husband,  rose  up,  adjusted  their  blue  lithams  on 
their  faces,  and  prepared  to  say  the  prayer.  The  other 
Tuaregs,  indifferent,  continued  talking.  But  the  Father 
stopped  them  sharply  : 

"Well,  don't  you  pray?"  he  said. 

He  thus  excited  them  to  honour  God  in  the  only  manner 
known  and  recognized  by  them.  They  understood,  and 
at  once  got  up  to  imitate  Musa. 

Dr.  Herisson  saw  Laperrine  and  Father  de  Foucauld 
live  side  by  side  in  Tamanrasset.  Between  these  two  men 
there  was  fraternal  affection  and  a  great  mutual  esteem, 
with  that  little  shade  of  deference  that  Laperrine  knew  how 
to  show  towards  his  great  senior  of  Saint-Cyr,  a  cavalry- 
man like  himself.  When  he  was  passing  through  Hoggar, 
they  always  took  their  meals  in  common. 

"  For  lunch  or  dinner,  a  big  rug  is  spread  on  the  ground 
in  the  shade  of  some  tree  if  there  is  one,  or  in  the  Colonel's 
tent,  which  is  quite  large.  Each  gives  his  table-gear,  can, 
and  cup  to  the  cook,  who  places  them  anyhow.  There  is 
no  precedence. 

"  When  all  is  ready,  they  sit  down  to  table,  squatting 
like  tailors  on  the  edge  of  the  rug.  The  cook  brings  the 
dish.  Each  man  has  his  little  wheaten  cake  cooked  under 
the  ashes.  The  Colonel  calls  upon  anyone  he  likes  to  help 
himself  the  first.  Then  they  talk  away  and  there  is  no 
constraint.  The  Colonel  always  invites  all  the  French  in 
the  neighbourhood  to  his  table — quartermasters,  corporals, 
gunsmiths  and  joiners.  They  will  pay  nothing  to  the 
mess.  Sometimes  he  has  them  served  first.  They  take 
any  place  whatever  at  table,  just  by  chance.  Father  de 
Foucauld  always  comes  at  noon,  with  a  bottle  of  white 
muscat,  his  sacramental  wine.  We  drink  a  claret-glass 
of  it  at  the  end  of  the  meal.  We  protest,  and  call  out 
on  seeing  the  bottle  :  '  Father,  you  will  run  out  of  stock ; 
it  is  too  much,  you  will  exhaust  your  supply  :  we  won't 
drink  it !'     But  he  laughs  and  insists  :  '  You  may  drink  it. 

19 


290  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

I  only  bring  you  what  I  can.'     And,  of  course,  we  drink  it 
with  delight. 

"  At  table,  we  do  not  talk  about  serious  things;  we  tell 
stories,  jokes,  and  chaff  the  Colonel's  cook.  Father  de 
Foucauld  laughs.  The  Colonel  has  a  very  varied  and 
amusing  stock  of  stories,  which  he  says  are  true.  He  is  a 
very  charming  raconteur.  Father  de  Foucauld  smiles 
when  everybody  else  laughs.  But  if  the  story  goes  a  little 
beyond  the  limits  of  propriety,  he  hears  nothing,  he  is 
deaf,  and  seems  to  be  thinking  of  other  things.  Then 
someone  remarks  that  the  conversation  has  taken  *  a  silly 
turn,'  and  that  the  Father  must  be  scandalized;  but  if 
excuses  are  made,  he  protests  that  he  was  not  listening  and 
did  not  hear;  no  one  was  embarrassed. 

"During  the  'rounds'  he  used  to  come  with  a  negro 
servant  and  a  hired  camel,  without  tent  or  camp-bed.  He 
slept  on  the  ground  in  his  blankets.  The  greater  part  of 
the  time  he  took  a  pack-camel  without  a  saddle  (without  a 
rahla).  Not  to  lose  time,  he  wanted  us  to  go  on,  and  to 
come  and  join  us  at  the  place  agreed  upon,  doubling  his 
stages,  and  doing  fifty  miles  a  day  at  three  miles  an  hour, 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  using  a  route  still  unexplored  by 
the  French. 

"  He  then  arrived  with  little  bits  of  paper  full  of  notes 
and  sketches,  quite  small,  but  very  clear,  like  those  of  his 
Morocco  exploration,  and  put  them  all  into  the  Colonel's 
hands. 

"  At  meetings  and  palavers,  he  used  to  refuse  to  sit  on  a 
camp-stool  alongside  of  the  Colonel ;  he  wished  to  squat 
on  the  ground  beside  him.  The  Colonel  made  use  of  him 
as  an  interpreter.  These  Tuaregs,  indeed,  did  not  know 
the  Arab  language,  or  did  not  know  it  well.  The  Father 
not  only  understood  them  and  expressed  himself  perfectly 
in  set  speech,  but,  by  his  knowledge  of  their  char- 
acters and  habits,  he  knew  what  had  to  be  made  clear 
to  them,  the  doubts  or  apprehensions  that  might  arise,  etc. 
Lastly,  his  moral  valour  was  held  in  such  consideration 
and  so  highly  esteemed  that  everything  said  by  him  car- 
ried greater  weight. 

"The  Tuaregs  used  to  say:  'He  knows  our  language 
better  than  ourselves.' 

"  During  evening  recreation,  when  walking  to  and  fro 
before  his  hermitage,  at  sunset,  with  his  arm  on  my 
shoulder,  he  told  me  that  personal  distinction  is  not  due 
to  birth  or  education,  but  is  innate,  and  that  he  had 
found  amongst  the  simple  at  La  Trappe  a  remarkable  lofti- 


TAMANRASSET  291 

ness  of  feeling.  '  We  lived  beside  each  other  without 
knowing  one  another's  origin  or  name,  doing  our  work 
according  to  our  aptitudes.  There  was  a  peasant  without 
any  education,  who  had  inspirations,  perfectly  beautiful 
thoughts  which  came  from  his  heart.  He  was  unconscious 
of  their  worth.  I  was  delighted  to  hear  him.  He  was 
eloquent,  and  that  without  art,  quite  naturally  and  simply.' 

"  Father  de  Foucauld,  unlike  what  is  said  of  celebrated 
men,  became  immeasurably  greater  when  one  saw  him 
every  day  and  close  by." 

Do  not  these  lines  with  which  Doctor  H^risson's  manu- 
script ends,  recall  the  judgments  passed  on  the  hermit 
when  he  lived  at  Beni-Abbes  ?  Did  not  these  re-echo  the 
many  praises  of  Akbes,  Nazareth,  Jerusalem,  and  Notre- 
Dame-des-Neiges  ? 

In  1910,  two  great  friendships,  two  supports,  were 
taken  from  Father  de  Foucauld.  On  May  14  the  mail 
coming  from  In-Salah  brought  news  of  Father  Guerin's 
death,  at  thirty-five,  worn  out  by  the  fatigue  of  the  Saharan 
life.  The  long  voluminous  correspondence  between  him 
and  Father  de  Foucauld  showed  the  respect  that  these  two 
men  had  for  one  another.  When  two  men,  thanks  to  the 
faith  which  fills  them,  are  almost  free  from  self-love ;  when 
they  become,  as  much  as  nature  permits,  entirely  noble 
influences,  ever  waiting  to  obey  the  slightest  sign  from 
God,  the  understanding  between  them  is  immediately 
perfect,  whether  silent  or  expressed,  and  the  confidence 
which  they  have  in  each  other  surpasses  all  other  friend- 
ship in  sweetness.  In  their  numerous  letters  there  is  not 
a  trace  of  disagreement.  On  either  side  is  the  same  cer- 
tainty that  the  friend  addressed — one  asking  counsel,  the 
other  replying — was  only  thinking  of  the  reign  of  the 
Sovereign  Beauty  over  the  world.  Father  de  Foucauld 
submitted  all  his  plans  of  journeys,  and  distant  future 
foundations  to  his  director-friend,  and,  if  he  did  not  render 
him  an  account,  as  he  did  to  M.  Huvelin,  of  his  spiritual 
state,  he  nevertheless  did  not  mark  off"  the  limit  between 
these  two  domains — the  one  outward,  the  other  inward — 
and  very  often  spiritual  confidences,  resolutions,  hesita- 
tions, and  passing  depression  found  expression  in  the 
letters  of  the  hermit  of  Beni-Abbes  or  Tamanrasset  to  the 
Prefect  Apostolic  of  Ghardaia. 

"  God  has  just  inflicted  a  trial  upon  us  both,"  he  wrote 
to  Father  Voillard,  two  days  after  the  news  came.  "  You 
have  lost  a  very  good  son,  and  I  a  very  good  Father;  lost 
in  appearance,  for  he  is  nearer  to  us  than  ever.  ...     I 


292  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

had  never  thought  that  he  might  not  survive  me,  and  I 
leant  upon  his  friendship  as  if  it  would  never  fail  me. 
You  know  the  void  that  his  departure  has  left  me.  Jesus 
remains  :  blessed  be  He  in  all  things  !  Blessed  be  He  in 
having  called  our  very  dear  Father  Guerin  to  his  reward  ! 
Blessed  be  He  also  for  having  lent  him  to  us  for  a  few 
years  ! 

"  This  unforeseen  departure  makes  me  wish  all  the  more 
for  the  company  of  a  priest  who  may  continue  the  very 
small  work  begun  here.  He  might  live  along  with  me, 
living  the  same  life  or  not.  I  don't  want  to  be  his 
Superior,  but  his  friend,  ready  to  leave  him  alone  as  soon 
as  he  knows  the  routine.   .   .   . 

"  From  1905,  Captain  Dinaux,  then  Chief  of  the 
Arab  Ofifice  at  In-Salah,  asked  for  some  White 
Sisters  for  Ahaggar  :  now  that  there  is  a  permanent  gar- 
rison, a  French  officer,  a  doctor,  several  French  non-com- 
missioned officers  and  corporals,  and  a  hundred  native 
soldiers  permanently  in  the  country,  with  the  mail  twice  a 
month,  great  security  and  the  conveniences  of  life,  we 
might  reasonably  think  about  it.  Sisters  are  not  sent 
apart  from  White  Fathers ;  but  there  might  be  grounds  for 
considering  the  possibility  of  a  foundation  for  the  White 
Fathers.  .  .  .  The  Tuaregs  of  Ahaggar  are  Musulmans 
only  in  name;  they  detest  the  Arabs.  Their  submission  to 
France  introduces  into  the  country  Arab  Musulmans, 
Musulman  Khojas  in  the  service  of  France,  as  soldiers  or 
interpreters.  Arabs  from  Tidikelt  and  other  countries  are 
allowed  to  circulate  freely,  to  carry  on  commerce  without 
fear  of  being  robbed ;  whence  will  probably  follow  an 
islamic  propaganda  and  a  renewal  of  islamic  fervour  :  it 
would  be  useful  to  be  beforehand.   .   .   . 

*'  I  am  preparing  for  a  greater  spiritual  activity  by  get- 
ting a  little  hermitage  for  two  built  about  forty  miles  away 
in  the  heart  of  the  highest  mountains  in  Ahaggar,  and 
where  tents  are  quartered  in  larger  numbers.  There  I 
shall  be  much  more  at  the  centre  of  the  inhabitants  than 
here.  Next  year  I  mean  to  divide  myself  between  it  and 
Tamanrasset.  .   .   . 

"  I  ask  you  to  pray  for  my  director,  M.  I'Abb^  Huvelin; 
he  has  been  my  Father  for  twenty-four  years;  nothing 
could  explain  what  he  is  to  me  and  what  I  owe  him.  The 
news  about  his  health  is  lamentable.  At  each  mail  I  fear 
to  learn  that  he,  too,  has  fulfilled  his  time  of  exile." 

Less  than  two  months  later,  in  fact  on  July  10,  Abb^^ 
Huvelin  died.     The  one  whom  he  had  led  back  to  God 


TAMANRASSET  293 

wept  and  then,  like  the  best,  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and 
there  found  immutable  joy  to  comfort  him.  To  one  of  the 
White  Fathers  expressing  sympathy  with  him  in  the  cir- 
cumstances, he  replied  : 

"  Yes,  Jesus  is  enough  :  where  He  is,  nothing  lacks. 
However  dear  be  those  in  whom  His  likeness  shines,  it  is 
He  who  is  all.     He  is  all  in  time  and  in  eternity." 

As  if  all  supports  were  to  be  taken  away  from  the  finished 
building,  a  third  friend  of  Father  de  Foucauld  was  to  leave 
Africa  that  same  year.  Colonel  Laperrine,  who  had  been 
in  command  of  the  oases  for  nine  years,  asked  for  the  com- 
mand of  a  regiment  in  France;  he  left  those  territories 
organized  by  him  in  peace,  and  enlarged  by  the  whole 
Tuareg  country.^ 

Why  did  this  great  Saharan  quit  the  Sahara?  For  the 
best  of  reasons.  Brother  Charles,  his  confidant,  said  in 
fact:  "  He  is  right;  we  must  not  seem  to  cling  to  office." 
Only  the  highest  type  of  man  thinks  thus.  The  life  and 
death  of  Laperrine  justify  us  in  thinking  that  Brother 
Charles  was  not  mistaken. 

Laperrine  never  returned  to  Hoggar,  until  the  middle  of 
the  Great  War.  He  never  again  saw  his  friend  alive.  As 
almost  always,  it  was  an  unconscious  adieu.  Foucauld 
not  only  had  a  tested  love  for  the  man  who  had  been  the 
comrade  of  his  youth,  he  admired  the  commander  who  had 
done  so  much  for  the  greatness  of  France  in  Africa — that 
is  to  say,  for  the  civilization  of  the  nations  who  are  con- 
fided to  us.  A  few  months  before  his  departure,  he  paid 
this  tribute  to  him  in  a  letter:  "Laperrine  spends  himself 
beyond  measure;  he  has  impressed  all  who  are  under  his 
orders  with  a  wonderful  energy  and  activity.  The  last 
six  years,  the  amount  of  work  the  officers  under  his  orders 
have  done,  and  what  has  been  effected  from  the  military, 
administrative,  geographical,  and  commercial  points  of 
view,  are  unheard  of." 

On  Laperrine's  departure  he  summed  up  his  colonial 
career  thus:  "Since  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  has  not 
spent  three  years  in  France ;  one  summer  as  lieutenant, 
fifteen  months  as  captain,  and  six  months  as  commander ; 
all  the  rest  in  Algeria,  Tunis,  and  above  all  Senegal,  the 
Sudan  and  the  Sahara.  It  is  he  who  gave  the  Sahara  to 
France,  in  spite  of  her,  and  at  the  risk  of  his  career,  and 
he  it  is  who  united  our  Algerian  possessions  with  our 
colony  in  the  Sudan." 

*  He  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  i8th  Regiment  of  Chasseurs,  on 
November  8,  1910. 


294  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Before  leaving  Africa,  the  Colonel  had  decided  on  taking 
Musa  ag  Amastane  to  France.  Some  noble  Tuaregs 
accompanied  the  amenokal;  they  were  made  to  assist  at 
gunnery  experiments  at  Creusot;  they  visited  the  breed- 
ing studs,  factories  and  towns,  especially  Paris  and  its 
"  curiosities,"  among  which  was  certainly  one  of  the  least 
Parisian  and  most  cosmopolitan — the  Moulin  Rouge.  It 
was  a  lightning  visit  of  rapid  skipping  without  respite, 
meant  to  astound  rather  than  to  appeal  to  the  heart,  a  visit 
such  as  governors  who  have  no  paternal  feeling  of  responsi- 
bility can  order.  Brother  Charles  received  some  news  of 
this  promenade,  which  was  too  official  for  his  taste ;  but  he 
rejoiced  at  the  thought  of  the  good  the  Tuareg  chief  would 
nevertheless  derive  from  this  very  partial  experience  of  a 
superior  civilization.  "On  his  return,"  he  wrote,  "I 
shall  try  to  make  him  understand  that  three  things  are 
necessary  if  he  wishes  to  work  for  the  eternal  salvation  of 
his  people:  (i)  To  get  education  for  the  children  and 
youths,  who  are  as  neglected  as  animals.  (2)  To  get  a 
certain  amount  of  instruction  imparted  to  them.  (3)  To 
work  to  make  his  people  settle  down  and  give  up  the 
nomad  life,  while  keeping  their  pastoral  character. 

•'  This  third  thing  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  the  two  first, 
for  education  and  instruction  seem  incompatible  with  the 
nomad  life. 

"  For  the  Kel-Ahaggar,  or  at  least  for  most  of  them, 
the  transition  from  the  nomad  to  the  settled  life  would  be 
easy  ;  the  strongest  tribes  are  almost  stationary  ;  the  camels, 
under  the  care  of  a  few  shepherds,  go  and  graze  a  long 
way  off;  but  the  tents  with  the  families  and  the  flocks  of 
goats  are  almost  settled— they  only  move  within  a  circle  of 
about  twenty-five  miles'.  •  •  •  Moreover,  the  peace  of 
these  three  years  of  French  occupation  has  already  had 
the  effect  of  stabilizing  the  inhabitants.  On  my  arrival 
there  was  only  one  house  in  Tamanrasset,  the  other  dwell- 
ings were  huts;  now  there  are  fifteen  or  twenty  houses; 
they  are  constantly  being  built;  the  huts  will  soon  have 
disappeared;  it  is  the  same,  they  say,  in  the  other  vil- 
lages. .  .  .  Tillage  is  increasing.  Every  Tuareg  in 
slightly  easy  circumstances  has  fields.  Unfortunately, 
they  do  not  cultivate  them  themselves;  they  get  them  cul- 
tivated by  the  harratins  of  Tidikelt  or  negroes.  The 
Tuaregs  superintend  the  work,  and  harvesting,  but  they 
despise  putting  their  hand  to  the  hoe.  The  settlement  in 
this  country  of  monks  cultivating  with  their  own  hands 
would  be  a  great  blessing.   .   .  ." 


TAMANRASSET  295 

No  sooner  was  the  Hoggar  chief  back  on  African  soil, 
than  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  Father  de  Foucauld ;  and  here 
is  the  letter  he  addressed  him,  on  a  sheet  of  the  Hotel  de 
r Oasis  paper : 

"  Praise  be  to  the  one  God,  and  may  God  bless  Mahomet. 

"  From  Algiers,  for  Hoggar, 

"  September  20,  1910." 

"  To  his  honoured  excellency,  our  dear  friend  above  all, 
Monsieur  le  Marabout  Abed  Aissa,^  the  Sultan  Musa 
ben  Mastane  salutes  thee,  and  wishes  thee  the  grace  of  the 
very  high  God  and  His  benediction.  How  art  thou?  If 
thou  wishest  news  of  us,  as  we  ask  for  thine,  we  are  well, 
thank  God,  and  we  have  only  good  news  to  give  thee. 
Here  we  are  arrived  from  Paris,  after  a  good  voyage.  The 
Paris  authorities  were  pleased  with  us.  I  saw  thy  sister 
and  remained  two  days  at  her  house ;  I  also  saw  thy 
brother-in-law.  I  visited  their  gardens  and  houses.  And 
thou,  thou  art  in  Tamanrasset  like  the  poor  man  P  On 
my  arrival,  I  shall  give  thee  all  the  news  in  detail. 

"  Wani  ben  Lemniz  and  Sughi  ben  Chitach  salute 
thee. 

"Greeting  I" 

The  hermit  remained  at  Tamanrasset  until  the  end  of  the 
year,  and  at  the  beginning  of  191 1  undertook  a  second 
journey  to  France,  a  little  longer  than  the  first.  The  latter 
lasted  three  weeks.  In  191 1  Father  de  Foucauld  took  a 
month  to  get  over  the  following  complicated  itinerary  : 
Marseilles,  Viviers,  Nimes,  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges,  Paris, 
Nancy,  Luneville,  Saverne,  Paris,  Bergerac,  Angouleme, 
Paris,  Barbirey,  Lyons,  Marseilles. 

On  May  3  he  was  back  in  Tamanrasset,  after  having 
made  a  stop  at  Beni-Abbes,  where  he  spent  only  three 
days.  The  calm  of  Hoggar  appeared,  after  those  four 
months  travelling,  very  agreeable  to  him,  and  his  recep- 
tion by  the  Tuaregs  touched  him.  He  wrote,  on  May  14, 
to  Father  Voillard,  who  had  become  his  spiritual  director 
since  Abbe  Huvelin's  death  :  "  At  this  moment,  there  are 
a  great  many  people  here  on  account  of  the  harvest ;  I  shall 
remain  here  about  three  weeks  more,  to  take  advantage 
of  their  assembly,  to  see  various  people,  to  talk  with 
Musa,    and    to    give    the    poor    of    the    neighbourhood 

^  Abed  Aissa — servant  of  Jesus. 

2  El  meskine  is  the  poor  man,  an  object  of  pity  by  lais  destitution. 


296  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

their  share  of  alms;  then  I  shall  go  to  Askrem,  the 
mountain  hermitage,  for  a  year  at  least.  I  shall  work 
there  with  all  my  might  at  my  Tuareg  books,  so  as  to 
finish  them  in  a  year  and  a  half  from  now.  ...  I  was 
very  well  received  by  the  whole  population ;  it  is  making 
progress  in  confidence  and  civilization,  it  is  also  making 
material  progress  ...  an  intellectual  movement  will  cer- 
tainly follow." 

Summer  came.  Suddenly  letters  became  less  and  less 
frequent.  Father  de  Foucauld's  correspondents  must  have 
thought  that  he  was  ill  or  lost  in  the  Sahara.  Lost  would 
perhaps  be  nearly  true.  The  man  who  had  settled  in  one 
of  the  most  unknown  places  in  the  world  was  tempted  by 
the  inaccessible.  On  July  5  he  had  set  out  for  Askrem, 
where  he  dwelt  in  a  hovel  nearly  ten  thousand  feet  up, 
assuredly  the  highest  point  on  earth  where  a  hermit  had 
ever  lived.  Must  we  think  that  he  was  led  there  by  a 
whim,  by  some  fanciful  eccentricity  of  an  adventurous 
nature?  That  would  be  to  form  a  wrong  opinion  of  him, 
and  we  already  know  it.  His  villeggiatura  in  Askrem  is 
only  fresh  evidence  of  his  charity  and  fearlessness.  He 
went  yonder  to  seek,  through  cold  and  storm,  the  souls 
whose  wandering  pastor  he  had  made  himself.  The  dry- 
ness drove  the  Tuaregs  from  the  Ahaggar  plateaux;  they 
went  and  camped  in  the  Kudiat  valleys,  where  there  was 
a  little  green  grass  for  the  flocks.  And  Brother  Charles 
went  up  to  them.  They  came  not  only  from  Tamanrasset 
and  neighbourhood,  but  from  several  deserts  around  the 
Hoggar  heights,  and  nomads  of  divers  tribes  were  there 
for  a  short  time,  shivering,  but  no  longer  famishing. 

The  road  was  long  and  rough.  The  last  part  could 
hardly  be  done  except  on  foot :  the  camels  stumbled  on 
the  fallen  and  broken  stones.  It  took  at  least  three  days 
to  reach  Askrem,  the  citadel  of  the  country — a  plateau 
enveloped  in  a  fantastic  landscape  of  peaks  and  points  and 
tabular  heights,  and  grottos  carved  on  the  tops  of  the 
lower  mountains.  To  the  north  and  south  nothing  stops 
the  view.  Here  and  there  are  statues  of  men  or  animals 
upright  in  the  limpid  air,  changing  in  colour,  shading  and 
expression,  according  to  the  height  and  secret  power  of  the 
sun.  In  our  European  mountains  there  is  rain;  here  is 
wind,  always  blowing  the  drifting  sand;  it  has  worn  away 
the  friable  rocks,  and  leaves  standing  the  harder  pillars 
with  resisting  angles,  and  fine  or  enormous  spires,  like  the 
Ilaman  peak  which  dominates  the  rest.  The  Askrem 
plateau  has  not  only  this  strange  beauty  :   it  reminds  the 


TAMANRASSET  297 

scientist  of  the  first  ages  of  the  world;  it  is  the  watershed. 
The  great  Saharan  rivers,  to-day  dried  up,  flowed  from  its 
flanks.  On  all  sides  one  can  follow  the  beds  which  they 
have  hollowed  out,  and  which  go,  some  towards  the 
Taudeni  basin,  others  towards  the  Atlantic,  others,  like 
the  Wady  Tamanrasset,  towards  the  Niger. 

Father  de  Foucauld  loved  with  all  the  ardour  of  his 
poetic  and  contemplative  soul  this  extraordinary  solitude. 
"It  is,"  he  said,  "  a  beautiful  place  to  adore  the  Creator. 
May  His  reign  be  established  here.  I  have  the  advantage 
of  having  many  souls  around  me,  and  of  being  very  soli- 
tary on  my  summit.   .   .  . 

"  Since  I  was  twenty  I  have  always  relished  the  sweetness 
of  solitude,  whenever  I  got  it.  Even  in  my  non-Christian 
days,  I  loved  the  solitude  of  beautiful  nature  along  with 
books,  but  now  all  the  more  when  the  sweetness  of  the 
invisible  world  prevents  one's  solitude  from  ever  being 
lonely.  The  soul  is  not  made  for  noise,  but  for  medita- 
tion, and  life  ought  to  be  a  preparation  for  heaven — not 
only  by  meritorious  works,  but  by  peace  and  recollection 
in  God.  But  man  has  launched  out  into  endless  discus- 
sions :  the  little  happiness  he  finds  in  loud  debates  is 
enough  to  show  how  far  they  lead  him  away  from  his 
vocation." 

At  Askrem  as  at  Tamanrasset,  he  had  chosen  a  com- 
manding position.  His  house  was  but  a  corridor,  built 
in  stone  and  earth,  and  so  narrow  that  two  men  could  not 
pass  abreast.  But  in  this  poor  refuge  he  had  a  chapel, 
and,  beyond,  a  number  of  things  in  wonderful  order,  a 
great  number  of  books,  provisions,  and  packing-cases, 
opened  and  unopened.  He  slept  on  one  of  the  latter.  In 
the  daytime  he  used  it  as  a  table.  Around  him  the  wind 
blew,  with  the  noise  of  the  sea  when  the  tide  is  rising. 
Abb6  Huvelin  had  sent  his  friend  two  hundred  francs,  to 
help  him  build  this  shelter ;  he  had  also  given  him  the 
little  altar  for  the  chapel,  and  Brother  Charles,  enraptured 
and  grateful,  had  exclaimed  :  "  I  hope  Holy  Mass  will  be 
said  on  this  altar  long  after  my  death." 

There,  more  than  once  a  week,  he  received  the  visits  of 
Tuareg  families;  men,  women,  and  children  all  came  up 
together  from  the  innumerable  valleys  hidden  in  the 
Kudiat.  They  were  both  pilgrimages  and  pleasure  par- 
ties. They  came  a  long  way,  at  least  one  or  two  days' 
march.  They  had  to  rest  up  yonder,  sup,  and  spend  the 
night.  Brother  Charles  joyfully  spent  his  precious  time 
in  welcoming  his  guests ;  he  made  them  little  presents ;  he 


298  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

shared  his  meals  with  them.  "  One  or  two  meals  taken 
together,  a  day  or  half  a  day  spent  together,  put  us  on  far 
better  terms  with  one  another  than  a  great  number  of  visits 
of  half  an  hour  or  an  hour,  as  at  Tamanrasset.  Some  of 
these  families  are  comparatively  good,  as  good  as  they  can 
be  without  Christianity.  These  souls  are  directed  by 
natural  lights ;  although  Musulmans  by  faith,  they  are 
very  ignorant  of  Islam,  and  have  not  been  spoiled  by  it. 
In  this  direction,  the  work  I  am  now  doing  is  very  good. 
Lastly,  my  presence  is  an  opportunity  for  the  officers  to 
come  into  the  very  heart  of  the  country."^ 

All  the  rest  of  the  time — and  there  is  plenty  of  time  when 
one  gets  up  long  before  the  sun — Brother  Charles  prayed 
or  worked.  He  brought  with  him  a  native  whom  he  called 
his  "  Tuareg  teacher";  he  gave  him  five  sous  an  hour  to 
pay  for  his  trouble,  but  as  the  sittings  of  questions  and 
answers  lasted  on  an  average  nine  hours  a  day,  the  pupil 
found  the  professor's  fees  a  heavy  expense,  and  the  latter 
that  so  much  diligence  wearied  a  nomad's  head. 

This  weariness,  so  new  to  an  Ahaggar,  the  distance 
from  the  wells  from  which  he  used  to  go  and  fetch  water 
every  day,  perhaps  the  austere  solitude,  perhaps  the  cold 
at  njght,  with  winter  coming  on,  made  the  "coadjutor" 
ask  to  be  sent  back  to  his  country.  Brother  Charles,  who 
had  taken  his  provisions  of  books  and  preserves  "like 
someone  who  plans  a  sixteen  months'  voyage  without 
having  to  call  at  any  harbour,"  was  forced  to  give  way  and 
go  down.  At  the  beginning  of  December,  he  again  entered 
the  Tamanrasset  hermitage. 

There  he  resumed  his  usual  charitable  and  hidden  life, 
answering  the  appeals  of  poverty,  which  is  always  great 
among  the  tribes.  Brother  Charles  gave  himself  up 
entirely  to  almsgiving,  and  distributed  his  provisions. 
He  just  came  to  hear  of  news  which  was  stale  for  the  rest 
of  the  world  :  the  war  between  the  Italians  and  the  Tri- 
politan  Arabs.  His  friends  were  anxious  about  the  re- 
action this  war  might  have  on  the  Sahara.  "  Don't  be 
alarmed,"  he  wrote  to  one  of  them,  "  about  the  preaching 
of  a  holy  war.  The  Sahara  is  large,  the  Turks  are  certainly 
doing  all  they  can  to  get  the  holy  war  preached  among 
the  Arab  tribes  of  Tripoli,  but  that  does  not  touch  us. 
The  Tuaregs,  very  lukewarm  Musulmans,  are  equally 
indifferent  about  the  holy  war  and  about  the  Turks  and 
Italians.  It  is  all  the  same  to  them  ;  what  solely  interests 
them  is  their  flocks,  the  grazing  and  the  harvest.  Before 
*  Letter  to  F'ather  Voillard,  December  6,  191 1. 


TAMANRASSET  299 

their  submission  to  France,  they  joined  to  these  calHngs 
the  profession  of  highwaymen ;  now  that  is  forbidden 
them,  they  devote  themselves  with  all  the  more  ardour  to 
the  others. 

"  I  found  Tamanrasset  and  the  neighbouring  inhabi- 
tants in  a  terrible  state  of  misery,  and  I  thought  1  ought  to 
give  much  more  in  alms  than  I  foresaw.  The  reason  of 
this  misery  is  twofold:  (i)  drought  has  prevailed  for 
twenty  months  :  hence  it  follows  that  milk,  butter,  and 
butcher's  meat,  which  are  the  principal  riches  of  the 
country,  have  been  lacking  for  twenty  months;  (2)  in  191 1, 
the  two  harvests  (there  is  a  wheat  harvest  in  spring  and  a 
millet  harvest  in  autumn)  were  failures,  owing  to  greenfly 
eating  away  the  inside  of  the  ears  just  before  they  ripened. 
Results  :  (i)  there  is  nothing  to  eat  in  the  country  :  I 
could  not  buy  a  litre  of  any  grain  whatever  here  (wheat, 
barley  or  millet) ;  (2)  nobody  has  any  clothes,  because  they 
can  only  get  them  by  selling  butter,  animals,  etc.  I  have 
something  to  eat,  because  I  have  stores,  but  there  are  few 
people  here  who  have  two  meals  a  day,  and  many  who  live 
entirely  on  wild  roots.  ...  I  cannot  feed  the  people,  but 
I  have  given  much  more  clothes  than  I  usually  do ;  it  is 
the  cold  season. 

"  Since  my  return,  I  have  so  far  done  little  beyond  pray- 
ing to  God  and  receiving  visits  from  my  neighbours  one 
after  another.  ...  I  have  not  yet  taken  the  work  of  the 
lexicon  and  grammar  up  again  :  I  shall  set  about  it  after 
New  Year's  Day  :  in  the  first  place,  I  would  like  to  be  able 
to  stay  at  the  foot  of  the  Crib  during  this  holy  Christmas- 
tide,  then  I  must  see  all  my  poor  neighbours  who  begin 
to  be  old  friends,  for  I  am  in  my  seventh  year  at  Taman- 
rasset." 

He  brought  back  little  presents  which  he  distributed  to 
his  visitors  of  both  sexes,  and  which  were  highly  treasured 
in  Hoggar.  The  most  ordinary  gifts  were  needles;  fur- 
ther, there  were  safety  pins,  then  boxes  of  matches ; 
scissors  were  kept  for  the  great  ladies,  and  knives  for  the 
more  influential  Tuaregs. 

As  time  went  by  and  experience  increased.  Father 
Charles  was  strengthened  in  his  conviction  that  his  mis- 
sionary methods  were  not  mistaken.  Dwelling  among  the 
native  camps  in  the  high  mountain  provided  him  with 
fresh  proofs  of  it.  "I  help  as  far  as  I  can ;  I  try  to  show 
that  I  love.  When  the  opportunity  seems  favourable,  I 
speak  of  natural  religion,  of  God's  commandments,  of  His 
love,   of  union   with   His  will   and   love   of   one's   neigh- 


300  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

bour.  .  .  .  The  Tuaregs  have  the  character  of  our  good 
rustics  in  France,  of  the  best  of  our  peasants  :  hke  them, 
they  are  industrious,  prudent,  economical,  opposed  to 
novehies,  and  full  of  suspicion  as  to  unknown  persons 
and  things.  Ignorant  as  they  are,  they  can  receive  the 
Gospel  only  by  authority,  and  the  authority  necessary  to 
make  them  adopt  it  and  reject  all  they  know,  love  and 
venerate,  can  only  be  acquired  after  long  and  intimate  con- 
tact, by  great  virtue  and  God's  blessing/ 

"Some — very  few — seriously  question  me  on  religious 
matters ;  in  my  counsels  I  keep  to  natural  religion,  insist- 
ing on  avoiding  sin,  on  night  prayers  with  an  examination 
of  conscience,  and  acts  of  contrition  and  charity." 

These  good  countryfolk  of  the  Sahara  are  not  wanting 
in  vices,  which  Brother  Charles  enumerates  without  dwell- 
ing on  them,  for  fear  of  letting  it  be  thought  that  he  was 
in  an  evil  neighbourhood.  They  were  extremely  violent, 
proud  to  the  point  of  madness ;  laxity  of  morals  was 
general ;  the  Tuareg  rules  of  honour  allowed  women,  and 
even  advised  them,  to  do  away  with  children  born  outside 
marriage,  and  there  were  so  many  infanticides  that  "  per- 
haps a  third  of  the  children  perish  at  birth." 

"  Send  some  White  Sisters,"  he  wrote  to  Mgr.  Livinhac ; 
"  they  will  start  a  round  for  the  newly-born,  and  that  will 
be  the  remedy  until  conversion  takes  place." 

At  each  page  in  the  voluminous  correspondence  of  the 
Tamanrasset  hermit,  we  find  him  thinking  out  the  best 
human  means  of  raising  this  people  to  whom  he  was  the 
first  missionary.  He  came  with  a  complete  civilization  in 
his  heart.  For  him  civilization  "consists  of  two  things: 
education  and  gentleness."  Nothing  was  indifferent  to 
him  if  it  helped  to  protect  children,  to  free  slaves,  to  teach 
the  ignorant,  to  settle  nomads  and  draw  them  closer  to 
France. 

He  preferred  solitude,  and  we  have  heard  his  praises  of 
it ;  but  for  the  good  of  the  100,000  souls  in  the  Sahara, 
whose  chaplain  he  was,  that  solitude  had  to  be  enlivened, 
that  silence  disturbed.  Post  and  telegraph,  railways, 
biennial  fairs — he  called  for  such  "progress"  with  a 
county  councillor's  passion,  though  caring  but  little  about 
it  for  himself.  He  rejoiced  at  the  speedy  coming  of  a 
mission  of  engineers,  officers,  and  geologists  charged  with 
inquiring  into  the  eventual  line  of  a  trans-Saharan  railway 
to  follow  the  great  curve  of  Oran,  Beni-Unif,  Beni- 
Abbes,  Twat,  Aulef,  Silet  (forty-six  miles  west  of 
»  Letter  to  Father  Voillaid,  July  12,  1912. 


TAMANRASSET  301 

Tamanrasset),  In-Gezzam,  Agades,  Chad.  "  I  am  very 
happy  about  it,  for  the  railway  in  these  regions  is  a  power- 
ful means  of  civilization,  and  civilization  a  powerful 
help  to  christianization ;  savages  cannot  be  Christians.^ 
Above  all,  let  them  hasten  to  build  the  railway!"  And 
immediately  after  that  wish  follows  this  sentence  which 
shows  the  officer,  the  great  and  true  Frenchman  :  "  It  is  a 
necessity  for  the  preservation  of  our  African  empire,  but 
also  for  bringing  all  our  forces,  in  case  of  need,  to  the 
Rhine." 

Fresh  good  news  came  in.  Near  Fort  MotylinsKi  had 
just  arrived  an  officer,  "  who  was  charming  and  dis- 
tinguished, Lieutenant  Depommier."  There  was  also  an 
"  extremely  nice  "  doctor.  These  were  causes  of  joy  to 
which  was  added  a  last  one  of  another  order,  wished  for, 
called  for,  and  long  expected  :  Morocco  had  come  under 
the  protection  of  France.  Letters  told  Brother  Charles  of 
it.  He  at  once  replied  in  these  lines,  which  are  well  worth 
reflecting  on  :  "  Here  is  our  colonial  empire  greatly  en- 
larged. If  we  are  what  we  ought  to  be,  if  we  civilize, 
instead  of  exploiting  Algeria,  Tunis  and  Morocco  will,  in 
fifty  years,  be  an  extension  of  France.  If  we  do  not  fulfil 
our  duty,  if  we  exploit  instead  of  civilizing,  we  shall  lose 
everything,  and  our  uniting  these  people  will  turn  against 
ourselves." 

In  the  constant  desire  of  civilizing  which  filled  his  mind 
with  aspirations  and  plans,  he  contemplated  making 
another  journey  to  France  in  a  few  months,  and  taking 
with  him  a  young  Tuareg  of  an  important  bourgeois 
family,  "  if  one  may  speak  thus."  He  began  to  prepare 
Madame  de  Blic  and  his  cousins  in  France  to  receive  the 
tourist,  dressed  in  a  waistcloth,  with  plaited  hair  and 
cheeks  covered  with  a  blue  veil.  He  introduced  him  by 
making  a  favourable  portrait  of  him.  According  to  Bro- 
ther Charles,  no  one  in  Ahaggar  was  equal  to  his  candidate, 
who  was  "  not  only  affectionate,  intelligent,  and  gentle, 
but  exceptionally  steady.  The  son  of  one  of  the  principal 
men  of  his  tribe,  first  cousin  to  the  chief,  he  has  been 
half  adopted  by  the  latter,  who  had  no  children  ;  he  entirely 
manages  the  material  affairs  of  his  adopted  father,  whose 
stepdaughter  he  is  going  to  marry.  He  is  nice  in  every 
way  and  of  the  best  plebeian  family.  We  are  here  in  a 
country  of  castes ;  there  are  plebeians  and  patricians,  the 

*  Letter  to  a  friend,  February  i,  1912.  The  mission  comprised  four 
engineers  of  bridges  and  roads,  a  geologist  (M.  Rene  Chudeau),  and  two 
captains,  old  Saharans  ;  it  was  commanded  by  Captain  Nieger. 


302  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

first  incomparably  superior  to  the  others  in  moral  value, 
and  making  all  the  strength  and  hope  of  the  country." 
But,  before  undertaking  this  journey,  Brother  Charles 
had  many  pages  to  write,  and  the  fiance  had  to  set  out  in 
a  caravan,  with  the  healthy  men  of  the  country,  to  fetch 
millet  from  Damergu. 

Spring,  like  winter  and  all  the  seasons,  found  Brother 
Charles  shut  up  in  his  hermitage,  bending  over  the  pack- 
ing-case which  he  used  as  a  table,  surrounded  by  his 
manuscripts  and  books,  in  difficult  passages  consulting  his 
"teacher,"  who  had  a  headache.  He  finished  the  dic- 
tionary, and  promised  himself  to  send  the  work  soon  to 
M.  Ren^  Basset,  who  would  publish  it  "under  the  name 
of  our  common  friend  M.  de  Motylinski."  The  trans- 
Saharan  mission  traversed  Ahaggar.  It  stopped  at 
Tamanrasset.  "  Very  well  managed  and  well  composed, 
it  has  accomplished  an  extraordinary  amount  of  work.  I 
saw  the  members  of  the  mission ;  several  have  long  been 
my  friends.  They  hope  that  in  about  a  year  the  work  will 
begin.  What  fields  are  opened  for  the  holy  Gospel : 
Morocco,  the  Sudan,  and  the  Sahara!"  There  were  fre- 
quent comings  and  goings  between  the  camp  and  hermi- 
tage. Brother  Charles  mentions  Captain  Nieger,  M.  Ren6 
Chudeau,  Captain  Cortier  of  the  colonial  infantry,  M. 
Mousserand  (a  mining  engineer).  He  notes  also  that  he 
receives  numerous  visits  from  Tuaregs,  who  have  formed 
the  habit  of  coming  to  see  him  at  sunset  on  Sundays,  a 
day  during  which  they  observed  that  the  marabout  re- 
ceived them  still  more  willingly  and  chatted  at  greater 
length  than  on  other  days. 

The  mission  went  away ;  great  heat  fell  upon  the  Tam- 
anrasset plateau.  Suddenly  a  serious  accident  interrupted 
work.  Charles  de  Foucauld  was  bitten  by  a  horned  viper. 
The  bite  is  nearly  always  fatal.  The  shepherds  and  blacks 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  hermitage  heard  of  the  occurrence. 
They  ran  up  and  found  their  friend  lifeless.  No  Euro- 
pean doctor  was  there.  They  therefore  nursed  the  mara- 
bout according  to  their  custom,  burning  the  wound  brutally 
with  hot  irons,  bandaging  the  arm  to  prevent  the  venom 
from  spreading  to  the  whole  body,  then,  as  the  syncope 
persisted,  they  applied  the  red  iron  to  the  soles  of  his  feet; 
a  terrible  blister,  administered  through  compassion.  The 
hermit  at  last  came  to  himself.  He  was  extremely  weak; 
they  searched  everywhere  in  the  valley  for  milk  to  feed 
him.  But  the  heat  was  great,  the  goats  no  longer  had  any 
grass.      Musa  became  anxious,  and  ordered  two  cows  to 


TAMANRASSET  303 

be  brought  from  very  far  away  to  Hoggar  to  save  the 
marabout.  Brother  Charles  was  long  unable  to  study  or 
walk.  He  ended,  however,  by  recovering  from  the  viper's 
bite,  and  from  the  treatment  which  had  saved  him. 

He  never  dreamt  of  complaining.  In  that  he  was  like 
my  old  professor  of  chemistry.  When  he  caught  a  fever, 
and  the  doctor  told  him  that  the  illness  would  be  very 
serious,  he  joyfully  exclaimed:  "What  luck;  I  shall  be 
able  to  have  a  rest!"  Charles  de  Foucauld  rested  a 
moment  before  his  door,  and  long  in  his  chapel — only  one 
step  away — in  meditation  and  prayer.  And  we  know  that, 
in  that  autumn  of  19 12 — autumn  is  the  favourite  season  of 
Europeans  who  have  lived  in  Ahaggar — two  principal 
thoughts  made  his  soul  rejoice  and  his  life  of  solitude  light. 
The  first  was:  "The  farther  I  go,  the  more  I  enjoy  the 
beauty  of  nature.  How  beautiful  are  the  works  of  God  ! 
Benedicite,  omnia  opera  Domini,  Domino!"  And  the 
second:  "The  time  of  Advent  is  always  sweet,  but  par- 
ticularly so  here.  Tamanrasset,  with  its  forty  hearths  of 
poor  husbandmen,  is  very  much  what  Nazareth  and 
Bethlehem  may  have  been  in  the  time  of  our  Lord." 

I  ascribe  to  this  period  a  story  which  I  have  not  been 
able  to  date  exactly.  It  was  and  is  still  being  told  all 
wrong.  In  the  reviews  or  newspapers,  one  may  read  of 
"  Musa  ag  Amastane's  mother"  falling  very  seriously 
ill,  when  Father  de  Foucauld  was  called  in  to  her.  To 
encourage  her  in  the  hour  of  death  he  found  nothing  better 
than  to  recite  some  suras  from  the  Koran  :  "  He  came  and 
fulfilled  his  office  of  comfort  and  laid  the  old  woman  to 
sleep  in  Allah,  with  appropriate  verses  from  the  Koran." 
When  these  lines  fell  under  my  eyes — many  months  ago — 
I  at  once  felt  that  the  truth  must  be  otherwise.  I  thought 
that  a  Catholic  priest  might,  indeed,  have  suggested  to  the 
dying  woman  to  recite  suras  expressing  timely  truths — 
exhorting,  for  instance,  to  repentance  or  to  hope  in  God. 
This  would  have  simply  meant  translating  an  act  of  con- 
trition or  Christian  charity  into  the  language  most 
intelligible  to  the  woman.  But  I  could  not  believe 
that  Father  de  Foucauld  had  done  it,  knowing  how 
he  dreaded  the  extension  of  Islam,  and  therefore  that 
he  would  avoid  quoting  the  Koran,  even  if  appropriate, 
as  much  as  possible.  I  wished  to  know  whether  I  was 
right,  and  wrote  to  the  amenokal  of  Hoggar.  I  asked  him 
to  call  to  mind  the  very  words  of  his  friend  Father  de 
Foucauld.  He  well  understood  the  sense  of  the  question  I 
had  put  to  him.     Though  uncivilized,  he  was  intelligent. 


304  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

He  answered   me   a  few   months   later   in   the   following 
letter  : 

"  Praise  to  the  one  God  !     There  is  none  but  He  ! 

"  Tamanrasset, 

"5  Chaban,  1338, 

"  April  25,  1920. 

*'  To  the  most  honoured  of  French  scholars,  R6ne  Bazin, 
of  the  Academy. 

"To  thee,  thousands  of  greetings,  a  thousand  divine 
favours  !  firom  the  servant  of  France,  the  Emir  Musa, 
son  of  Amastane,  amenokal  in  Hoggar. 

"  Thy  letter  reached  me,  in  which  thou  askest  me  to  give 
thee  details  about  the  great  friend  of  the  Hoggar-Tuaregs. 
So  be  it  I  Know  that  the  marabout  Charles  held  me  in 
great  esteem.  God  bless  him,  and  make  him  dwell  in 
Paradise,  if  it  be  His  will. 

"Now,  here  are  the  details  thou  askest  me  for:  about 
his  life,  in  the  first  place.  The  people  among  the  Hoggar- 
Tuaregs  loved  him  deeply  during  his  life,  and  now  still  they 
love  his  tomb  as  if  he  were  alive.  Thus  the  women,  children, 
poor,  and  whoever  passes  near  his  tomb,  salute  it,  saying  : 
'  May  God  raise  the  marabout  higher  in  Paradise,  for  he 
did  good  to  us  during  his  life  !'  All  the  people  of  Hoggar 
also  honour  his  tomb  as  if  he  were  alive — yes,  indeed,  quite 
as  much. 

"Then,  thou  askest  me  what  took  place  when  he  was 
present  at  the  illness  of  my  mother — that  is  to  say,  my 
aunt  (Tihit),  my  father's  sister,  at  the  time  of  the  illness  of 
which  she  died.  The  marabout  Charles  said  to  her  in 
Tamachek  :  *  Oksad  massinin  '  [fear  God],  and  afterwards 
he  left  her.  She  died  the  next  day.  We  carried  the 
body  to  the  tomb,  and  he  was  with  us;  whilst  we  were 
praying  for  her,  he  was  standing,  the  colour  [of  his  face] 
impaired  on  account  of  her  death.  He  did  not  pray  with 
us  for  her.  When  we  placed  her  in  her  tomb,  he  kept 
standing  on  the  edge,  buried  her  with  us,  and  said  to  us  : 
'  God  increase  your  consolation  on  the  subject  of  Tihit ! 
May  God  give  her  Paradise  in  her  tomb  !' 

"  One  of  my  days,  a  year  before  her  death,  she  came  to 
see  him  in  his  cell,  and  found  him  praying  :  she  stood 
motionless  behind  him,  waiting  till  he  had  finished  his 
prayer,  then  she  said  to  him  :  *  I  also  pray  to  God,  at  the 
hour  at  which  thou  prayest.' 

"As  to  the  fame  of  the  marabout,  it  is  always  enduring 


TAMANRASSET  305 

in  Hoggar,  and  the  persons  to  whom,  as  to  us,  he  did  good 
— that  is  to  say,  all  the  people  of  Hoggar — honour  his  tomb 
as  if  he  were  living. 

"Such  is  the  information  that  thou  hast  asked  me  for, 
given  without  fault.  I  hand  this  letter  for  thee  to  Captain 
Depommier,  the  commander-in-chief  with  us. 

"  May  God  bless  thee  in  thy  life  !  Mayest  thou  live  in 
good  health  1     Greeting. 

"  (Seal  of)     MusA  ag  Amastane." 

The  answer  is  clear;  I  was  right.  The  incident  helped 
Father  de  Foucauld's  memory  more  than  I  expected.  It 
led,  indeed,  Musa's  thaleb,  Ba-Hammu,  who  worked  for 
ten  years  with  Father  de  Foucauld,  to  make  some  most 
interesting  statements,  sent  on  to  me  by  a  witness  along 
with  the  letter.     Here  they  are  : 

"  We  know  well  that  the  marabout  could  not  tell  us  to 
say  the  shahada  [the  Musulman  form  of  prayer] ;  we 
are  in  no  doubt  about  this.  That  was  inconsistent  with  his 
office  as  a  Catholic  priest;  we  all  know  it.  A  fact  well 
known  to  everyone  here  proves  it.  Father  de  Foucauld 
was  continually  visited  by  the  poor,  the  aged,  the  sick, 
women,  children,  and  numerous  Tuaregs  who  came  to  ask 
for  his  help  and  counsel.  At  the  beginning  of  his  installa- 
tion, it  happened  that  some  of  his  visitors,  coming  out  of 
his  house  at  the  Musulman  hours  of  prayer,  stopped  near 
the  hermitage  to  pray.  Father  de  Foucauld  amiably 
invited  them  to  move  away  from  the  hermitage,  telling  them 
that  they  must  understand  that  he  did  not  want  them  to 
pray  near  his  house,  as  they  could  not  themselves  want  him 
to  prav  near  a  mosque.  .  .  .  He  said  these  things  in  such 
an  amiable  and  kindly  way,  that  we  all  soon  got  to  know 
them,  and  would  not  think  of  violating  his  wishes."^ 

The  very  well-informed  witness  who  told  to  me  these 
memories  of  the  thaleb,  added  this  personal  reflection  :  "  If 
we  strip  Father  de  Foucauld's  intercourse  with  the  Tuaregs 
of  all  purely  formal  considerations,  it  is  absurd  and  untrue 
to  sav  that  he  ever  did  or  said  anything  which  did  not  aim 
at  their  evangelization,  which  was,  after  all,  his  object." 

The  journey  to  France  with  a  young  Tuareg  was  one  of 
the  thousand  means  devised  by  his  charity  to  diminish  the 

^  In  order  to  understand  Father  de  Foucauld's  words  better,  we  must 
realize  that  the  Tuaregs  have  no  mosque,  and  that  their  religious 
memorials  are  only  marked  on  the  ground  by  lines  of  stones.  Hence, 
the  Musulman  prayer,  repeated  frequently  in  the  same  place,  and  near 
the  hermitage,  might  give  rise  to  an  unfortunate  legend. 


3o6  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

distance  between  the  Musulman  tribes  and  Catholic  France. 
Brother  Charles  expected  a  great  deal  of  good  from  it. 

He  had  already  obtained  a  favourable  reply  from  his 
sister  and  other  relations,  who  agreed  to  receive  the  young 
Tuareg  in  their  houses.  The  African  missionaries  were 
told  of  the  scheme,  and  also  promised  to  offer  hospitality  to 
the  two  travellers  at  Maison  Carree.  Other  letters  were 
posted  to  France,  asking  his  friends  for  the  same  favours 
or  for  introductions.  It  was  touching  to  see  Father  de 
Foucauld,  so  hard  upon  himself,  doing  his  best  to  arrange 
and  settle  everything,  so  that  Uksem's  journey  might  be 
as  pleasant  and  friendly,  and  as  little  tiresome  as  possible. 
Would  not  the  fate  of  many  souls  depend,  at  least  to  some 
extent,  on  the  recollections  of  our  civilization  that  this 
young  barbarian  would  bring  back?  Such  a  journey  "  is 
the  means  of  overthrowing  a  host  of  errors  at  a  single 
stroke,  of  opening  men's  eyes,  of  bringing  about  a  several 
months'  tete-a-tete  with  a  chosen  soul.  It  goes  without 
saying,  there  is  to  be  no  paying  of  visits  to  museums  or 
curiosities ;  he  must  be  made  to  partake  of  the  sweetness  and 
affectionate  atmosphere  of  family  life  in  Christian  society, 
and  be  given  a  glimpse  of  what  Christian  life  is,  and  be 
shown  how  religion  impregnates  the  whole  of  life." 

Among  these  letters  there  is  one  which  I  want  to  give 
almost  entirely.  In  it  Charles  de  Fouc£uld  forcibly  set 
forth  ideas  lightly  touched  on  elsewhere.  It  is  addressed 
to  his  friend  the  Due  de  Fitz-James,  and  dated  Decem- 
ber II,  1912. 

It  begins  thus  :  "I  won't  fail  to  tell  you  when  I  am 
coming  to  Marseilles ;  I  shall  be  so  delighted  to  see  you 
again  !"  He  then  says  that  the  journey  is  put  off  to  the 
month  of  May,  1913.  Uksem  will  hardly  be  ready  to 
start  before  then,  and,  besides,  "  I  do  not  wish  to  show 
him  France  in  snow,  cold,  and  north  wind,  without  verdure 
and  leaves ;  it  would  even  have  been  very  imprudent  to 
expose  the  Saharan's  chest  to  our  cold  and  damp  winter. 
So  I  have  decided  to  go  to  France  only  this  summer.  With 
my  young  companion,  I  shall  land  at  Marseilles  about  the 
first  fortrTight  in  May.  ..." 

We  French  have  two  essential  duties  to  fulfil  in  Africa  : 
"The  first  thing  is  the  administration  and  civilization  of 
our  North-West  African  Empire.  Algeria,  Morocco, 
Tunis,  the  Sahara,  and  the  Sudan  form  an  immense  and 
magnificent  empire  in  one  lump,  having  this  unity  for  the 
first  time.  .  .  .  How  are  we  to  attach  this  empire  to  us? 
By  civilizing  it,  by  working  to  raise  its  inhabitants  morally 


TAMANRASSET  307 

and  intellectually  as  much  as  possible.  The  inhabitants  of 
our  African  Empire  are  very  varied  :  some,  the  Berbers, 
may  rapidly  become  like  us ;  others,  Arabs,  are  slower  in 
progress ;  the  negroes  are  very  different  from  each  other ; 
but  all  are  capable  of  progress. 

"  The  second  thing  is  the  evangelization  of  our  colonies. 
.  .  .  Now,  what  are  we  doing  for  the  evangelization  of  our 
North- West  African  Empire?  One  might  say,  nothing. 
In  Algeria,  Tunis,  and  the  Sahara,  the  only  priests  engaged 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  natives  are  the  White  Fathers ; 
they  are,  according  to  their  1910-1911  report,  fifty-six  in 
North  Africa,  eleven  in  the  Sahara.  A  drop  of  water.  I 
can  well  understand  that  the  White  Fathers,  seeing  the 
evangelization  of  the  Musulmans  to  be  slow  and  difficult, 
have  turned  aside  their  efforts  and  sent  the  great  majority 
of  their  missionaries  into  Equatorial  Africa,  where  they  are 
working  wonders,  and  affecting  conversions  as  rapid  as 
they  are  numerous,  and  winning  heaven  for  a  host  of  souls. 
Here  they  would  have  saved  few,  there  they  save  many  : 
so  I  can  understand  their  going  there.  It  is  nevertheless 
true  that  Algeria,  Tunis,  and  Morocco  (where  there  are 
only  chaplains  at  the  consulates)  are  entirely  neglected.  .  .  . 
This  is  a  situation  which  French  Christians  ought  to 
remedy.  It  will  be  a  work  of  time,  demanding  self-sacri- 
fice, character,  and  constancy.  We  want  good  priests  in 
fair  quantity  (not  to  preach  :  they  would  be  received  as 
Turks  coming  to  preach  Mahomet  would  be  received  in 
Breton  villages,  or  much  worse  with  the  help  of  barbarism), 
but  to  establish  contact,  to  make  themselves  loved,  to  inspire 
esteem,  trust,  and  friendship ;  then  we  should  want  good 
lay  Christians  of  both  sexes  to  fulfil  the  same  role,  to  enter 
into  still  closer  contact,  to  go  where  the  priest  hardly  can — 
above  all,  to  Musulmans'  homes,  to  give  an  example  of 
Christian  virtue,  to  show  the  Christian  life,  family,  and 
spirit :  then  we  want  good  nuns  to  take  care  of  the  sick  and 
to  bring  up  the  children,  mingling  much  with  the  popula- 
tion, dispersed  by  twos  or  threes  wherever  there  are  priests 
and  Christians.  .  .  .  That  being  done,  conversions,  at 
the  end  either  of  twenty-five,  fifty,  or  a  hundred  years,  will 
come  of  themselves,  as  fruit  ripens,  according  to  the  spread 
of  education.  .  .  .  But  if  these  unfortunate  Musulmans 
know  no  priest,  see,  as  self-styled  Christians,  only  unjust 
and  tyrannical  speculators  giving  an  example  of  vice,  how 
can  they  be  converted  ?  How  can  they  but  hate  our  holy 
religion  ?  How  are  they  not  to  become  more  and  more 
hostile  to  us  ?  .  .  . 


3o8  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  After  drawing  your  attention  to  these  two  very 
important  points,  let  me  add  a  word  :  whether  it  be  to 
administer  and  civilize  our  African  empire,  or  to  evangelize 
it,  we  must  first  get  to  know  its  population.  But  we  know 
very  little  of  it.  That  is  partly  due  to  Musulman  customs, 
but  that  is  an  obstacle  which  can  be  overcome ;  this  deplor- 
able fact  remains,  that  we  are  alarmingly  ignorant  of  our 
native  African  population.  I  have  hardly  quitted  North 
Africa  for  the  last  thirty-two  years  (except  during  the  ten 
years,  from  1890  to  1900,  which  I  spent  in  Turkey  in  Asia, 
Armenia,  and  the  Holy  Land) ;  I  have  seen  noboay,  neither 
officer,  nor  missionary,  nor  colonist  or  any  other  person 
who  knows  enough  of  the  natives ;  as  for  myself,  I  have  a 
fair  knowledge  of  my  little  corner  of  Tuaregs,  but  a  very 
superficial  acquaintance  with  the  rest.  .  .  .  There  is  a  vice 
which  must  be  remedied ;  our  administrators,  officers,  and 
missionaries  must  have  a  much  closer  contact  with  the 
populations,  long  residence  in  the  same  stations  (with  pro- 
motion on  the  spot  for  administrators  and  officers),  that 
they  may  know  and  instruct  their  Superiors  correctly,  and 
that  the  latter  may  get  to  know  through  them.   ..." 

The  diary  goes  on,  mentioning  the  events  which  take 
place  around  the  hermitage.  There  were  great  and  small 
happenings.  The  great  one  was  the  arrival  of  General 
Bailloud  at  the  beginning  of  19 13,  and  the  perfect  success 
of  the  experiment  with  which  he  was  entrusted.  He  was 
to  secure  the  setting  up  of  wireless  communications  between 
Tamanrasset  and  Paris.  Attempts  were  made,  and,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  Father  de  Foucauld,  who  clearly  foresaw  all 
the  coming  mechanical  improvements,  the  capital  of  Ahaggar 
could  *'  talk  "  without  difficulty  with  the  Eiffel  Tower. 

A  little  later  a  flight  of  storks  passed  over  the  hermitage, 
going  from  north  to  south. 

On  March  9,  General  Bailloud,  wishing  to  thank  the 
inhabitants  for  the  good  reception  he  had  met  with,  sent  a 
female  camel  for  the  poor.  Charles  de  Foucauld  had  it 
killed,  and  the  meat  distributed  to  all  the  unfortunate  with- 
out exception,  to  all  the  wives  of  the  harratins,  to  the 
artisans,  to  the  shepherds,  to  the  married  women,  to  the 
widows,  and  to  the  cast-off. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  i8th  a  thick  damp  fog  and  light 
south  wind;  it  is  the  signal  of  spring.  A  man  from  In- 
Salah  crosses  the  country.  He  tells  me  that  the  outer  yard 
of  my  house  yonder  is  buried  under  the  sand,  and  that  the 
rest  of  the  house  is  threatened."  Not  a  word  of  regret,  not  a 
syllable  comes  from  the  owner ;  he  will  go  and  see. 


TAMANRASSET  309 

At  last,  after  long  delay,  the  most  important  of  the 
caravans  which  set  out  yearly  in  September  to  go  and  fetch 
millet,  returned  to  Tamanrasset.  It  was  time  :  the  popula- 
tion was  beginning  to  suffer.  Among  the  caravan  chiefs 
was  Uksem,  the  fiance,  the  candidate  chosen  for  the  journey 
to  France. 

"  I  shall  only  be  in  Paris  on  May  25,"  wrote  Brother 
Charles  to  a  friend.  "Pray  for  my  little  Uksem;  he  is 
going  to  be  married  to  a  flame  of  iiis  childhood.  It  has 
long  been  settled;  he  is  nearly  twenty-two;  Mile.  Kaubeshi- 
sheka  is  eighteen.  They  are  very  near  relations,  and  have 
been  brought  up  together.  She  is  very  intelligent  and  has 
plenty  of  determination." 

Uksem's  marriage  took  place  at  the  beginning  of  April, 
and  on  the  28th  Father  de  Foucauld  jotted  in  his  diary  : 
"  Set  out  for  France  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning  with 
Uksem.  The  night  before,  his  mother  came  to  the  hermi- 
tage and  said  :  '  Say  to  your  sister  :  Take  great  care  of  my 
child;  I  entrust  him  to  you.'  " 

To  avoid  the  expense  of  a  guide  they  travelled  by  the 
mail  which  took  the  Fort  Motylinski  despatches  to  In-Salah. 
The  travellers  were  at  Maison  Carrie  on  June  8.  They  only 
stopped  two  days  in  this  house  and  country  where  Brother 
Charles  had  so  many  friends.  Nevertheless,  he  saw  some 
of  them,  and  even  pushed  on  to  Birmandreis,  where  the 
White  Sisters  had  their  chief  foundation.  Those  acquainted 
with  monasteries  know  that  a  traveller,  if  he  is  a  Christian, 
rarely  visits  these  houses  without  being  invited  to  relate 
what  is  happening  to  Jesus  Christ  and  His  servants  in  the 
countries  where  he  has  been.  Thus  was  it  with  Brother 
Charles  in  the  house  where  the  old  nuns,  back  from  the 
missions  of  the  great  lakes  and  Kabylia,  train  novices 
to  go  joyfully  and  live  in  the  bush,  catechize  the  negroes, 
bring  up  the  cast-off  children,  attend  the  sick,  comfort 
many  sorts  of  wretchedness,  and  keep  quite  pure  in  centres 
which  are  not  so.  Brother  Charles  was  asked  to  explain 
what  he  had  done  and  what  he  wished  to  do  in  Beni-Abbes 
and  Hoggar.  He  spoke  in  a  white  room  to  nuns  dressed  in 
white,  listening  closely  to  every  word,  whether  lofty  or 
entertaining,  and  bowing  at  the  name  of  their  Master,  Jesus. 
He  was  not  eloquent,  but  the  life  he  described  was  eloquent. 
In  finishing,  it  occurred  to  him  to  say  :  "  Which  of  you. 
Sisters,  would  sacrifice  herself  for  the  Tuaregs?"  Silently, 
all  arose  with  one  motion. 

We  must,  however,  believe  that  the  hour  had  not  vet 
come.     Brother  Charles  returned  to  Maison  Carrie  to  find 


3IO  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Uksem.  On  the  loth  they  embarked  on  the  Timgad,  and 
the  poor  marabout,  accustomed  to  the  standard  of  deck 
passengers,  now  took  first-class  tickets  to  give  pleasure  to 
the  infidel  about  to  visit  Christian  countries ;  on  the  13th  he 
made  a  pilgrimage  to  Sainte-Baume ;  on  the  15th,  Mgr. 
Bonnet,  Bishop  of  Viviers,  received  Father  de  Foucauld,  a 
priest  of  his  diocese,  and  Uksem  —  two  very  different 
examples  of  civilization — in  his  house  set  high  on  the 
ramparts  of  the  old  town,  in  the  shadow  of  the  cathedral. 
And  from  this  summit,  a  place  of  prayer  and  mistral,  the 
Tuareg,  for  whom  rivers  were  but  names  and  beds  of  sand 
and  stone  among  pastures,  perceived  the  full,  strong,  con- 
fined Rhone  which  came  from  the  North  between  cultivated 
and  quite  green  banks,  which  struggles  and  eddies  and 
foams  and,  swirling  with  all  its  waters,  passes  out  through 
the  gates  of  Provence. 

He  was  merry  and  in  good  health.  Everybody  feted  him. 
He  understood  a  few  words  of  French.  He  ate  everything 
except  fish  and  pork. 

F.rom  Viviers  they  continued  the  journey  by  Lyons, 
where  Father  de  Foucauld  and  Uksem  became  the  guests 
of  Colonel  Laperrine;  then  they  went  into  Burgundy. 
There  they  stopped  for  a  few  hours  in  a  little  valley  with  a 
canal  in  it  and  watered  by  a  quick-flowing  river,  between 
two  chains  of  wooded  hills.  If  you  cross,  as  the  crow  flies, 
a  high  undulating  plateau  to  the  north  covered  with  wood 
and  heaths,  you  land  in  the  country  of  famous  and  rich 
slopes,  where  the  villages  are  named  Vougeot,  Nuits, 
Musigny,  Chambertin.  But  the  Ouche  flows  through  more 
shade ;  a  peaceful  and  humble  recess  of  our  pasture  and 
tillage  land.  You  leave  the  railway  at  Gissey.  Over  a 
mile  off,  adjoining  the  market-town  of  Barbirey,  there  is  an 
ancient  manor  with  two  wings  and  covered  with  tiles,  where 
M.  de  Blic  lives.  This  time  it  was  only  an  introduction. 
Uksem,  received  by  the  brother-in-law,  sister,  nephews 
and  nieces  of  his  protector  and  friend,  began  to  see  what  a 
French  and  Christian  family,  a  country-house  and  day  in 
the  countryside  were  like.  He  gazed  with  astonishment  at 
the  courtyard  before  the  castle  full  of  plants  and  flowers, 
the  terrace  behind,  the  meadow  which  falls  away  to  the 
stream,  and  then  rises  by  steep  slopes  to  the  hills,  and  above 
all  at  the  extreme  beauty  and  vigour  of  the  trees  planted  in 
the  hollow  of  the  park  :  plane-trees,  sycamores,  firs,  elms, 
all  their  branches  and  leaves  new  to  him.  Then  they  took 
leave,  promising  to  stay  at  Barbirey,  on  their  return,  for  at 
least  a  week. 


TAMANRASSET  311 

One  after  the  other,  Father  de  Foucauld's  relations  lent 
themselves  to  the  plan  he  had  made  and  received  Uksem. 
First  there  was  the  Marquis  de  Foucauld  at  his  castle  of 
Bridoire,  in  Perigord.  They  still  remember  vividly  more 
than  one  touching  incident  of  that  visit.  "  I  remember," 
said  one  of  the  witnesses  lately — "  I  remember  the  winsome 
youth  and  his  admiration  of  the  Father,  and  the  Father's 
kindness  to  him.  I  see  them  both  on  all-fours  in  the 
smoking-room,  cutting  out  on  the  floor  with  a  carving-knife 
the  trousers  to  be  sewn  by  the  young  Tuareg  during  his 
leisure.  I  also  see  him,  standing  every  night  on  the  chapel 
steps,  not  daring  to  go  in,  through  respect,  his  large  eyes 
wet  with  tears  during  the  household  prayers." 

After  the  visit  to  the  head  of  the  family,  they  went,  also 
in  Perigord,  to  Count  Louis  de  Eoucauld,  at  the  Chateau 
de  la  Renaudie,  then  to  Viscountess  de  Bondy,  in  villeggia- 
tura  at  Saint-Jean-de-Luz.  Then,  passing  through  Paris, 
the  Father  returned  to  Barbirey  about  July  20.  Uksem 's 
"  apprenticeship  to  the  French  way  of  life  "  was  carried  on 
in  the  gaiety  of  a  numerous  and  united  family.  The  Tuareg 
learned  to  knit,  so  as  to  give  lessons  to  the  women  of  his 
tribe  later  on ;  he  quickly  became  dexterous,  whilst  his 
guide,  the  marabout,  got  tangled  up  in  the  needles  and 
stitches.  Uksem  rode  a  bicycle  on  the  road  to  Autun, 
and,  in  order  to  help  him  to  do  this  well,  the  Tuareg 
gandourah  was  transformed  into  zouave's  breeches  with  the 
help  of  a  few  safety-pins.  "Teach  him  French,"  the 
Father  said  to  his  nephew  Edouard;  "in  return  for  your 
lessons,  when  you  come  to  see  me  in  Africa,  he  will  teach 
you  to  ride  a  mehari,  in  which  he  is  a  past  master."  In 
the  evening  they  chatted,  Miles,  de  Blic  sang  songs  by 
Botrel  at  the  piano;  they  played  at  hunt-the-slipper  and 
other  traditional  games.  Uksem  understood  everything 
and  laughed  at  the  right  moment.  The  experiment 
appeared  to  be  successful.  The  Father  showed  no  singu- 
larity in  this  family  life.  He  was  Charles  at  his  sister 
Marie's.  He  ate  what  was  served;  he  said  his  long  prayers 
at  night  when  he  was  sure  that  Uksem,  "his  child,"  was 
asleep.  Worn  out  and  aged  by  penance,  and  always  hard 
upon  himself,  he  seemed  to  have  only  one  ambition — not 
to  keep  any  of  these  young  people  from  fully  enjoying  the 
holidays.     One  Sunday  he  was  asked  : 

"  Will  you  go  to  Vespers?" 

"It  is  not  obligatory." 

"  But  the  people  will  be  surprised  if  they  don't  see  you 
there." 


312  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

•'Then  I  shall  go." 

He  was  mainly  engaged  in  civilizing  Uksem,  but  he 
also  promised  himself  to  make  known  to  a  chosen  few  the 
pious  association  for  the  conversion  of  infidels  who  are 
French  subjects.  This  affair  was  to  take  him  to  Cham- 
pagne and  Lorraine ;  he  disclosed  his  plan  to  General 
Laperrine,  to  whose  house  he  went  on  leaving  Barbirey, 
and  whose  guests  Uksem  and  he  were.  Laperrine,  pro- 
moted to  be  a  general  since  the  preceding  June  22,  com- 
manded the  Sixth  Brigade  of  Dragoons  at  Lyons.  Happy 
at  seeing  his  friend  de  Foucauld  again,  he  said  to  him  : 
"Your  Tuareg  only  knows  his  Ahaggar  mountains;  you 
must  show  him  the  Alps  and  go  to  Switzerland ;  I  shall  be 
one  of  the  party."  He  was  so  much  so  that  his  fine 
silhouette  is  seen  in  the  corner  of  several  photographs  which 
represent  Uksem  beaming  with  admiration  at  the  sea  of 
ice,  or  climbing  some  peak  of  Mont  Blanc.  The  travellers 
spent  August  3  at  Chamounix,  the  4th  at  Lucerne,  the  6th 
at  Belfort.  After  the  Swiss  excursion  there  was  a  second 
stop  at  Barbirey — the  longest;  it  lasted  a  fortnight.  The 
young  Tuareg,  taken  about  everywhere,  everywhere  spoiled, 
was  getting  broken  in.  When  he  left  Burgundy  and  took 
the  train  for  Paris,  he  received  from  one  of  Father  de 
Foucauld's  friends  a  present  with  which  he  was  delighted  : 
a  fowling-piece.  He  had  to  go  out  shooting  at  once  and 
fire  off  his  gun,  and  this  letter  was  sent  to  one  of  M.  de 
Blic's  sons  ;  it  was  written  in  tifinar  and  translated  by  Uncle 
Charles  :  "  This  is  me,  Uksem,  who  says  :  I  greet  Edouard 
warmly ;  I  love  thee  very  much ;  the  time  seems  long  with- 
out thee.  I  killed  a  partridge,  a  hare,  and  a  squirrel.  I 
embrace  thee." 

Some  other  visits,  notably  one  to  Berry,  took  up  the  last 
weeks.  On  September  25,  Father  de  Foucauld,  going  down 
towards  Marseilles,  stopped  at  Viviers  and  spent  the  day 
with  his  dear  bishop,  Mgr.  Bonnet,  who  authorized,  "  in 
the  diocese,  the  little  association  (the  confraternity),  and 
encouraged  it  with  a  letter."  Three  days  later,  the 
travellers,  finishing  a  journey  of  three  months  and  a  half 
in  France,  embarked  for  Africa,  and  Charles  de  Foucauld 
wrote  to  his  sister  :  "  Unless  in  exceptional  circumstances, 
a  missionary  does  not  spend  so  long  a  time  of  rest  with  his 
relatives.  In  Uksem's  voyage,  God  provided  such  an 
exceptional  circumstance.  I  thank  Him  for  it  with  my 
whole  heart.  .  .  .  You  also  I  thank,  as  well  as  Raymond 
and  your  children,  for  the  pleasant  weeks  you  made  me 
spend,  and  for  your  extreme  kindness  to  Uksem,  kindness 


TAMANRASSET  313 

which  does  so  much  good  to  his  soul ;  I  quite  understand  that 
his  joy  at  meeting  his  own  relations  again  is  tempered  very 
much  by  his  grief  at  leaving  those  who  received  him  so  well 
in  France.     The  apostolate  of  kindness  is  the  best  of  all." 

These  holidays — the  only  ones  that  Brother  Charles 
believed  he  had  the  right  to  take  during  his  career  as  a 
Christian — enabled  him  to  see  at  leisure  nearly  all  his 
family  or  friends  once  more.  These  were  farewells  ;  perhaps 
he  thought  so.  To  several  among  them,  and  also  to  some 
pious  souls — met  here  and  there  and  at  once  recognized, 
eternal  relations  that  God  shows  in  an  instant — he  spoke  of 
the  association  he  so  much  wanted  to  promote,  the  associa- 
tion blessed  by  the  Bishop  of  Viviers  :  and  not  only  did 
they  enter  into  the  spirit  of  this  higher  charity  which  is 
ever  ready  to  pray  for  or  to  put  its  spiritual  treasures  at  the 
disposal  of  fresh  misfortune,  but  some  men  of  good-will 
apparently  were  quite  glad  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
salvation  of  "  our  Musulman  brothers  "  in  other  ways.  He 
may  have  been  mistaken  as  to  the  time  :  he  believed  that 
a  few  laymen  would  soon  become  "  missionaries  d  la 
Priscilla,"  as  he  said,  and  come  to  Africa  to  prepare  by 
their  example,  by  the  care  they  gave  to  the  sick  and  poor, 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  Berbers  and  Arabs,  which  is 
the  great  duty  of  France.  Then  he  wrote  a  very  singular 
note  to  one  of  his  relations,  with  this  heading  :  "  What  does 
a  Frenchwoman  require  to  do  good  among  the  Tuaregs  ?" 

"  I.  The  will  to  live  among  them  long  enough  to  know 
their  language  (which  is  not  difficult),  and  to  be  known  by 
them,  because  you  can  only  do  good  when  you  know  and 
are  known. 

"2.  Much  patience  and  gentleness  :  the  Tuaregs  cannot 
make  fine  distinctions;  they  cannot  tell  a  person's  quality, 
and  pass  quickly  from  barbarous  behaviour  to  exaggerated 
familiarity. 

"3.  An  elementary  knowledge  of  medicine — above  all, 
of  the  complaints  of  young  women  and  little  children — so 
as  to  be  able  to  attend  to  the  sick  without  a  doctor  and 
dispensary. 

"4.  Ability  to  vaccinate,  and  the  wherewithal  for 
vaccination. 

"5.  Ability  to  bring  up  children  abandoned  by  their 
mother  at  birth. 

"  6.  Ability  to  impart  the  rudiments  of  hygiene. 

"7.  Ability  to  wash  in  the  simplest  way,  to  iron  a  little 
(but  not  to  starch),  to  cook  a  little,  so  as  to  teach  it. 

"  8.  Ability,   both  for  yourself  as  well  as  to  teach  by 


314  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

example,  to  give  the  orders  required  for  the  laying  out  of 
a  kitchen  garden,  a  poultry-yard,  and  a  stable  containing 
a  few  goats.  Goats  are  abundant  in  the  country,  but  they 
don't  know  how  to  feed  them  on  clover  or  garden  herbs; 
there  are  hens,  but  of  too  small  a  kind,  and  they  don't  know 
how  to  protect  them  by  wire-netting  from  birds  of  prey ;  a 
few  vegetables  are  cultivated,  but  without  the  necessary  care, 
also  their  yield  is  very  poor,  whilst  the  soil  and  climate  of 
Ahaggar  would  grow  nearly  all  the  vegetables  and  fruits  of 
I^rance,  and  of  as  good  a  quality  as  at  Algiers. 

"  It  would  be  well,  but  it  is  not  indispensable,  to  know 
when  and  how  to  shear  sheep  and  goats,  how  to  spin  their 
wool  and  hair,  how  common  fabrics  are  made  with  the  wool 
and  hair  thus  spun  ;  a  few  days  spent  with  the  White  Sisters 
of  Laghuat  or  Ghardaia  would  do  for  learning  all  this.  It 
would  be  an  excellent  thing  to  take  with  one  a  native  woman 
of  mature  age,  expert  in  such  labours,  and  accustomed  to 
do  them  for  the  White  Sisters. 

"The  Tuaregs  have  many  goats  and  sheep,  but  they  do 
not  shear  them,  and  let  their  hair  and  wool  go  to  waste. 
None  of  them  can  weave. 

"  It  would  also  be  well  to  be  able  to  knit  and  crochet,  so 
as  to  teach  the  women  if  need  be.  The  women  sew  very 
well,  prepare  skins  very  well,  and,  with  a  great  deal  of 
cleverness  and  delicacy,  do  a  lot  of  various  leather-work. 
They  look  upon  it  as  beneath  them  to  spin,  weave,  knit, 
etc.  Being  extremely  conservative,  they  are  most  antago- 
nistic to  all  new  work. 

"  N.B. — One  of  the  things  which  it  is  most  necessary  to 
teach  the  Tuareg  women,  is  personal  cleanliness.  They 
never  wash  themselves,  and  hardly  ever  wash  their  clothes ; 
they  cover  their  hair  with  butter,  have  no  fleas,  for  fleas  do 
not  exist  in  the  country,  but  they  have  an  abundance  of  other 
parasites.  They  say  it  makes  them  ill  to  wash ;  there  is 
some  truth  in  this  in  the  case  of  those  who  only  wash  them- 
selves in  the  open  air  without  wiping  themselves  ;  they  must 
be  taught  to  use  a  towel,  and  to  do  their  toilet  privately. 
A  Frenchwoman  in  the  Tuareg  country  will  do  well  to  have 
a  good  supply  of  Marseilles  soap  and  very  common  towels, 
in  order  to  give  some  to  the  women, 

"The  Tuaregs  are  gay  and  childlike;  if  one  wishes  to 
know  them  quickly  and  be  known  by  them,  one  must  attract 
them.  A  gramophone,  without  great  compositions,  but 
with  lively  and  gay  tunes  and  songs,  peals  of  laughter, 
animal  cries,  dance  music,  etc.,  is  a  means  of  attraction. 


TAMANRASSET  315 

It  is  the  same  with  pictures  :  in  that  line  nothing  equals 
photographs  viewed  through  a  stereoscope ;  not  piioto- 
graphs  of  buildings,  nor  landscapes,  but  those  of  persons, 
animals,  and  animated  scenes  :  the  photographs  they  like 
best  are  those  of  their  compatriots,  taken  in  their  own 
country.  Bring  a  verascope,  take  plenty  of  photographs  of 
Tuareg  groups,  and  show  them ;  and  you  will  get  numerous 
visitors.  A  collection  of  coloured  postcards  representing 
persons  and  animals  is  also  a  good  thing. 

"  There  is  no  lack  of  women  who  come  and  ask  for  a 
remedy  to  blacken  the  few  white  hairs  which  begin  to  show 
on  their  heads  :  bottles  of  jet-hlack  dye  might  well  find  a 
place  in  the  stock  of  drugs  :  this  would  be  a  charity  and  a 
way  of  winning  faithful  friends. 

"  Several  thousand  sewing-needles  of  all  sizes  (very 
fine  for  the  young,  more  or  less  coarse  for  the  grown-ups 
and  old  women),  and  one  or  two  thousand  safety-pins  a 
year,  to  give  to  the  women^  are  very  useful  things  to  have. 

"There  is  no  need  to  establish  a  hospital,  but  a  simple 
dispensary,  with  a  place  to  bring  up  the  children  cast  off  at 
birth,  and  a  '  turning-box  '  with  a  bell  in  order  to  take  them 
in  discreetly." 

The  return  journey  had  to  be  made  slowly  for  two 
reasons  :  the  extreme  heat  that  the  travellers  met  with  as 
soon  as  they  had  left  the  seaside ;  then  the  lean  condition  of 
the  saddle-  and  pack-camels,  which  during  their  absence 
had  had  little  care;  so  much  so  that  though  the  departure 
from  Maison  Carree  took  place  at  the  end  of  September, 
the  Father  and  his  companion  only  came  in  sight  of  the 
hermitage  on  November  22. 

At  the  request  of  Uksem  they  had  passed  through 
Timmimun.  Brother  Charles  had  not  seen  the  oasis  for 
seven  years,  and  was  astounded  at  the  progress  made  :  "  A 
great  increase  of  commerce  with  the  North  and  South,  an 
increase  of  the  native  industry  of  woollen  materials,  the 
taking  in  hand  and  training  of  the  population,  the  increase 
and  decoration  of  the  buildings  :  a  well-kept  native  in- 
firmary ;  a  school  kept  by  a  French  teacher,  helped  by  an 
Arab  monitor;  the  school  has  about  eighty  pupils." 

On  November  22  they  entered  the  Tamanrasset  valley 
before  daybreak. 

"  I  wished  to  get  here  before  daylight,"  the  Father 
explained  to  M.  de  Blic,  "  to  get  off  the  camel  quietly  with- 
out a  crowd  of  people,  and  to  have  the  whole  day  to  put  a 
little  order  into  my  hermitage,  which  has  been  uninhabited 
for  seven  months.      Uksem  was  neither  ill  nor  downcast 


3i6  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

for  a  minute  during  the  whole  journey ;  he  did  not  cease  to 
be  as  nice  as  possible ;  he  found  all  his  people  here  in  good 
health.  How  many  times  has  he  spoken  to  me  of  you, 
Marie  and  your  sons,  of  Barbirey  and  its  fine  verdure  !  He 
has  acquired  a  taste  for  French,  and  makes  great  efforts  not 
to  forget  what  he  knows.  He  teaches  a  few  words  to  some 
of  his  relations,  who  go  into  ecstasies  on  hearing  him  speak 
to  me  in  my  language;  and  he  is  going,  I  hope,  to  begin 
giving  lessons  in  knitting  and  crochet ;  he  is  recruiting 
pupils.  This  journey  has  had  an  effect  which  I  see  already 
beginning  :  it  increases  the  trust  they  have  in  me,  and 
consequently  in  all  the  French." 

A  few  days  later  he  wrote  again  :  "  Poor  Uksem  spent 
only  twenty  days  here.  He  has  just  set  out  again  for  six 
months,  he  is  going  750  miles  away  from  here  towards 
Tahua  right  in  the  Sudan,  to  superintend  the  grazing  of 
the  family  camels.  During  his  first  year  of  marriage  he 
will  have  spent  forty  days  with  his  wife.  .  .  .  When 
shall  we  win  his  soul  altogether?  He,  his  father,  his 
father-in-law,  his  mother  and  others,  are  souls  of  good- 
will ;  but  to  cease  believing  what  one  has  always  believed, 
what  one  has  always  seen  believed  around  one,  what  is 
believed  by  all  whom  one  loves  and  respects — this  is 
difficult." 

In  the  first  months  of  1914,  the  visits  of  Uksem's  father 
and  sisters  were  almost  daily,  and  in  a  letter  to  the  Due  de 
Fitz-James,  Brother  Charles  says  that  since  his  return  to 
Tamanrasset  he  has  seen  Frenchmen  four  times,  officers  or 
non-commissioned  officers. 

Officers  passing  through  quiet  Ahaggar,  now  less 
opposed  to  the  tastes  of  civilized  folks,  were  a  joy  to  Father 
de  Foucauld.  He  made  their  visits  an  opportunity  for  a 
fete  both  of  the  natives  and  themselves.  Nowhere  does 
he  tell  of  the  "entertaining  gatherings  "  which  were  held, 
not  round  the  hermitage,  but  somewhat  to  the  east,  before 
the  door  of  the  "guest-house."  Fortunately  the  young 
officers  often  took  notes  of  their  impressions,  and  two 
diaries  of  the  road  have  been  handed  to  me. 

On  January  20,  1914,  Commandant  Meynier,  Doctor 
Vermale  (Assistant-Surgeon),  and  M.  Lefranc  (editor  of 
the  Temps)  arrived  at  Tamanrasset,  where  they  spent  three 
days. 

"The  great  interest  of  Tamanrasset,"  says  Doctor  Ver- 
male,^ "  is  the  presence  of  Father  de  Foucauld.  Yester- 
day evening  we  had  tea  at  his  hermitage,  and  he  takes  all 

^  Manuscript  notes. 


TAMANRASSET  317 

his  meals  with  us.  He  has  a  wonderfully  intelligent  head. 
By  his  kindness,  his  sanctity  and  learning,  he  has  won  a 
great  reputation  among  the  population.  I  am  promising 
myself  to  spend  some  interesting  days  with  him.  ...  I 
was  obliged  to  interrupt  my  written  talk  to  go  and  lunch 
with  Father  de  Foucauld,  then  to  the  grand  fete  of  rejoic- 
ing given  in  our  honour.  It  has  quite  a  character  of  its 
own  on  account  of  the  presence  of  women  of  the  Dag-Rali 
tribe,  which  is  now  close  to  Tamanrasset.  In  our  zeriba, 
they  squat  down  in  their  most  beautiful  clothes;  they  are 
tall,  and  many  of  them  pretty.  Pre-eminent  among  them 
is  the  celebrated  Dassine,  the  wife  of  Aflan,  formerly  re- 
nowned for  her  beauty,  and  retaining  the  very  fine  eyes 
of  her  glorious  youth,  and  much  wit  and  distinction.  Gifts 
were  distributed  to  them,  then  there  was  a  prodigiously 
successful  phonographic  performance;  the  men's  songs 
slightly  puzzled  them  but  interested  them  very  much,  be- 
cause the  Tuareg  never  sings  before  women.  Then  a  great 
doll  lottery  was  got  up,  whilst  outside  the  negroes  gave 
themselves  up  to  wild  dances.     All  this  lasted  three  hours." 

My  second  witness  is  Lieutenant  L ,   whom   I   had 

the  pleasure  of  seeing  at  Algiers.  The  detachment  com- 
manded by  Captain  de  Saint-Leger  and  Lieutenant  L 

and  entrusted  with  a  mission  to  Hoggar  in  June,  1914,  was 
composed,  in  addition  to  the  officers,  of  ten  mehari  mounted 
men  of  the  Saharan  Company  of  Tidikelt,  and  Father  de 
Foucauld's  collaborator  and  friend  of  the  French, 
M'ahmed  Ben  Messis.  It  set  out  from  In-Salah  on  June  13 
and  entered  on  the  high  Tamanrasset  plateau  on  the  morn- 
ing of  July  I. 

"  At  a  few  miles  from  the  village  we  halted  for  a  short 
space  to  do  our  toilet.  For  we  are  going  to  make  our 
entry  into  the  '  capital '  of  Ahaggar,  in  which  is  the  resi- 
dence of  the  amenokal  Musa  ag  Amastane,  where  there 
are  numerous  Tuareg  nobles,  and  where,  above  all,  is  one 
of  the  greatest  propagators  of  French  influence  in  the 
Sahara — the  one  who,  by  his  example  and  persuasion,  has 
been  able  to  contribute  in  a  large  measure  in  rallying  to 
our  cause  the  Tuareg  people  hitherto  reputed  to  be  the 
most  impervious  to  all  notions  of  civilization.  This  is 
Father  de  Foucauld,  who  is  as  learned  as  he  is  modest, 
and  he  never  feared  exile  in  the  midst  of  the  Sahara  at  a 
stormy  period. 

"At  first  view,  Tamanrasset  appears  more  important 
than  the  other  centres  already  visited.  Hardly  any  more 
seribas  are  seen ;  they  have  disappeared  to  make  room  for 


3i8  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

numerous  houses,  like  those  that  are  built  in  the  Tidikelt 
ksurs.  These  buildings  give  Tamanrasset  the  aspect  of 
a  little  agricultural  village,  of  a  fairly  important  productive 
centre. 

"Some  of  these  houses  have  even  a  European  form, 
ornamented  with  terraces  and  galleries ;  the  prettiest  is  cer- 
tainly that  of  the  amenokal  Musa  Ag  Amastane,  who 
has  set  up  his  residence  in  Tamanrasset,  and  who  even  pos- 
sesses a  very  well  cultivated  garden.  This  house  which 
we  visited  at  the  invitation  of  Akhamuk,  Musa's  khoja, 
is  situated  a  little  apart;  it  serves  as  a  point  of  support  to 
other  little  buildings  in  which  Musa's  family  live,  Tuaregs 
nobles  of  the  Kel-Rela,  and  particularly  the  celebrated 
Dassine,  Musa's  cousin,  reputed  in  days  of  yore  to  be  the 
most  beautiful  of  Ahaggar  women. 

"It  is  thanks  to  the  Father  de  Foucauld  that  Taman- 
rasset is  in  a  relatively  flourishing  condition ;  it  was  his 
advice  and  example  which  led  numerous  Tuaregs  to  work 
the  generous  soil  which  gives  them  a  livelihood.  Among 
them  the  Dag-Rali  and  their  chief  Uksem  are  very  espe- 
cially interested  in  agricultural  work,  and  their  persever- 
ance is  to-day  bearing  its  fruits.  The  Dag-Rali  were 
essentially  a  nomad  tribe ;  the  Kel-Rela  imrad  of  Tuareg 
nobles,  it  was  decimated  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Tit  in 
1902.  It  is  beginning  to  rise  again;  the  young  boys  have 
become  men  who,  under  the  energetic  influence  of  their 
chief  Uksem,  have  almost  entirely  renounced  the  nomad 
life,  the  long  fruitless  rounds  in  the  desert,  to  become  agri- 
culturists.'* 

During  Captain  de  Saint-L^ger's  and  Lieutenant  L 's 

stay  at  Tamanrasset  there  was  a  gathering  of  the  notables 
in  front  of  the  guest-house.  On  the  stone  bench  placed 
along  the  wall  and  which  looks  towards  the  west,  the  Cap- 
tain was  seated;  he  had  Father  de  Foucauld  on  his  right 
and  Lieutenant  L on  his  left.  .  .  .  Before  him,  form- 
ing a  half-circle,  were  the  amenokal  Musa  ag  Amastane, 
his  khoja  Akhammuk,  the  guide  and  interpreter  Ben 
Messis,  the  poetess  Dassine,  and  a  good  number  of  men 
and  women  whose  tents  formed  brown  molehills  on  the 
stony  and  burnt  plain.  What  amusement  do  you  think 
Father  de  Foucauld,  their  old  friend,  was  offering  them? 
A  reading  of  La  Fontaine's  fables  !  He  had  handed  an 
illustrated  copy  of  the  fables  to  the  Captain,  who  presided 
at  the  meeting.  M.  de  Saint-L^ger  began  by  translating 
the  verses  into  Arabic,  and  commented  on  them.  Ben 
Messis  translated  the  Arabic  into  Tuareg,  and  he  had  not 


TAMANRASSET  319 

finished  speaking  when  bursts  of  laughter  arose  on  all 
sides.  Talks  began  between  members  of  the  audience; 
those  who  understood  best  explained  The  Lion  and  the 
Rat,  The  Frog  who  wanted  to  become  as  big  as  an  Ox, 
the  Milkmaid  and  the  Milk-jug,  to  the  others.  They 
came  to  the  officer  who  had  the  volume  on  his  knees,  in 
order  to  see  the  pictures.  After  La  Fontaine,  an  artist 
among  artists  who  wrote  for  the  simplest  and  most  refined 
of  men,  had  thus  amused  the  assembly  of  Hoggar  nomads, 
there  was,  as  in  Paris,  "an  hour's  music." 

Fete-days  were  followed  by  ordinary  days,  days  of  over- 
work. One  can  judge  of  the  undiminished  ardour  of  the 
scholar  and  the  piety  of  the  monk  by  these  simple  lines 
which  I  take  from  his  diary  : 

"  May  8,  1914. — Began  to  make  a  fair  copy  of  the  whole 
Tuareg-French  dictionary." 

"  Same  date. — Received  permission  this  evening,  and  put 
the  reserved  Host  in  the  tabernacle." 

"July  31. — This  evening  reached  page  385  of  the  dic- 
tionary." 

"  August  31. — Reached  page  550." 

Suddenly  the  great  news  reaches  Hoggar :  war  is 
declared  between  Germany  and  France.  The  diary  shows 
material  proof  of  the  emotion  it  caused;  nothing  but  notes 
in  telegraphic  style.  I  copy  a  few,  which  tell  of  the 
first  arrangements  made  by  the  young  French  officers  in 
the  Sahara,  and  the  immediate  attacks  upon  the  natives 
friendly  to  us. 

"  September  3rd,  5  a.m. — Express  to  hand  from  Fort 
Motylinski,  telling  me  that  Germany  has  declared  war  on 
France,  invaded  Belgium,  attacked  Liege.  M.  de  La  Roche 
(commander  of  the  station)  starts  on  the  4th  or  5th  for 
Adrar,  with  all  his  band.  He  orders  Afegzag  to  muster  a 
gum,  and  Musa  to  come  with  at  least  twenty  men,  into 
Ahaggar.^ 

"Saw  Afegzag;  he  orders  10  Dag-Rali,  10  Iklam,  10 
Aguh-n-Tabli,  10  Ait-Lohen,  10  Kel-Tazulet,  to  muster 
immediately  ;  personally,  he  sets  out  this  evening  for  Moty- 
linski, where  he  will  be  to-morrow  morning. 

^  The  amenokal  was  far  away,  in  the  Tassili  of  Hoggar,  near  Tin- 
Zauaten  (to  the  south-west  of  Hoggar)  ;  he  had  only  a  very  small 
number  of  his  people  with  him. 


320  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  September  7. — M.  de  La  Roche  and  Corporal  Garnier 
arrive  at  9  a.m.  M.  de  La  Roche  will  set  out  to-morrow 
for  Adrar." 

"September  9. — Received  1,500  cartridges  of  1874  for 
Musa." 

''September  10. — Courier  from  In-Salah  ;  letter  from  de 
Saint-Leger  and  official  news.  I  take  note  of  it,  and  send 
at  once  to  Fort  Motylinski."^ 

"  September  11. — Noon  post  to  hand.  Captain  de  Saint- 
L^ger  orders  M.  de  La  Roche  to  remain  at  Ahaggar  with 
his  whole  force.  I  forward  the  order  by  express.  Bad 
news ;  we  are  retreating  all  along  the  frontier,  before 
superior  forces.  We  cannot  help  Belgium.  The  Germans 
occupy  Brussels." 

''September  24. — Received  news  on  September  11  from 
In-Salah  and  on  3rd  from  Paris.  Always  falling  back; 
Government  sits  at  Bordeaux." 

"September  30. — This  evening  page  700  of  the  dic- 
tionary." 

"October  12. — Victory!  a  great  victory,  apparently 
decisive  !  The  Germans  had  driven  our  army  of  the  north 
back  to  the  Marne,  even  beyond  the  Marne.  .  .  .  Then 
from  September  8  to  12,  a  general  battle  which  lasted  five 
days  took  place  on  the  whole  course  of  the  Marne.   .  .  ."^ 

Four  days  later  a  letter  from  Musa,  written  from  Tin- 
Zaouaten  and  brought  by  a  mehari  rider,  said  that  he  was 
nearly  carried  off  by  a  party  of  Uled-Jerir,  which  sur- 
rounded their  camp  with  thorn  branches  and  fired  copper 
bullets.  Warned  by  the  messenger's  sister  who  had 
escaped  from  their  hands,  the  amenokal  had  set  out  in  the 
night  for  the  nearest  Kel-Ahaggar  encampment.  He  had 
only  six  men  with  him.  He  -left  two  of  them  as  rear- 
guard, and  sent  on  one  in  advance  to  tell  his  men  to  come 
and  meet  him.  So  he  was  saved.  His  opponents  entered 
Tin-Zauaten,  raided  400  camels,  made  ten  prisoners,  and 
then  went  away.  But  towards  the  middle  of  December, 
Musa  started  in  pursuit  of  them.  He  caught  them  up 
and  attacked  them,  twenty  to  twenty,  on  this  side  of  Bir- 

*  Captain  de  Saint-Leger  at  that  time  commanded  the  Saharan 
Company  of  In-Salah. 

2  Letter  to  Sergeant  Garnier,  of  the  Saharan  Company  of  Tidikelt. 


TAMANRASSET  321 

Zemile,  killed  seven  of  their  men,  carried  off  all  the  cap- 
tured camels  and  meharis,  and  left  his  enemies  to  die  of 
thirst  in  the  desert. 

The  attempt  against  Musa  was  only  the  precursor  of 
more  serious  events  and  more  direct  attacks.  Armed 
bands,  recruited  in  Tripoli,  would  no  doubt  soon  try  to 
enter  into  our  territories;  emissaries  would  be  launched 
across  the  Sahara  preaching  the  holy  war  against  us,  and 
none  of  our  friendly  tribes  who  were  faithful  would  escape 
temptation.  From  the  first  day  Charles  de  Foucauld  fore- 
saw it.  What  would  he  do?  Would  he  shut  himself  up 
in  the  fortified  post  of  Motylinski,  as  he  was  invited  to  do? 
Not  for  a  moment  did  he  think  of  it.  His  immediate  duty 
was  to  stay  where  he  was  and  to  live  just  as  he  was  living ; 
he  had  a  smile  for  all,  he  gave  to  all  as  he  had  done,  and 
suffered  a  great  sorrow  without  anyone  seeing  it, 

"  The  Tuaregs  do  not  know  Germany  even  by  name.  .  .  . 
You  know  what  it  costs  me  to  be  so  far  away  from  our  sol- 
diers and  the  frontier;  but  my  duty  is  evidently  to  remain 
here,  to  help  to  keep  the  population  calm.  I  shall  not 
leave  Tamanrasset  until  the  peace.  .  .  .  Every  nine  days 
a  special  messenger,  carrying  official  despatches,  will  be 
sent  to  us.  The  official  despatches  take  twenty-five  days 
to  come  from  Paris,  the  letters  and  papers  forty ;  the  latest 
letter  to  hand  from  Paris  is  yours  of  August  4,  the  last 
oflficial  despatches  (which  come  by  telegraph  as  far  as 
El-Golea)  are  of  August  20.  Nothing  is  changed  out- 
wardly in  my  peaceful  and  regular  life,  because  the  natives 
must  not  see  any  show  of  excitement  or  of  an  unusual 
state  of  things.  .  .  ."^ 

However,  this  man,  ever  haunted  by  the  thought  of  the 
best,  wanted  to  be  confirmed  in  the  resolution  he  had 
formed  of  staying  at  Ahaggar.  No  doubt  his  duty  clearly 
seemed  to  be  there,  where  none  could  replace  him.  But 
some  friend  or  soldier  might  think  otherwise.  The  hermit 
therefore  wrote  to  General  Laperrine,  who  was  "  prudent  " 
and  in  the  first  line  of  battle,  and  also  knew  about  things 
African.  He  asked  :  "  Should  I  not  do  more  good  at  the 
front  as  chaplain  or  stretcher-bearer?  If  you  don't  tell  me 
to  come,  I  shall  wait  here  till  peace  comes ;  if  you  tell  me  to 
come,  I  shall  set  out  on  the  spot,  and  speedily."^  By 
return  of  post,  two  months  later,  he  got  this  reply : 
•'  Wait." 

The  question  was  settled  provisionally.     I  say  provision- 

^  Letters  of  September  13  and  October  5,  1914. 
2  Letter  of  December|i4. 

21 


322  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

ally,  because  a  year  later  Charles  de  Foucauld  heard  that 
priests  were  fighting,  and,  supposing  that  a  dispensation 
might  have  been  granted,  he  asked  again.  "  And  shall  I 
not  be  one  of  them?     If  only  I  might  serve  !" 

The  correspondence  between  the  two  great  Saharans,  the 
monk  and  the  soldier,  began  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
and  went  on  till  one  of  them  disappeared.  I  have  been 
through  forty-one  of  Father  de  Foucauld's  letters  to  his 
friend,  from  December,  1914,  up  to  November  16,  1916,  and 
which  the  General  had  carefully  classified.  They  are  quite 
military.  They  tell  all  he  knows  of  the  friendly  and  hos- 
tile tribes  and  their  movements,  of  intrigues  entered  into 
by  the  Senussi,  who  were  closely  linked  with  the  Turks 
of  Tripoli  and  with  the  Germans ;  of  sudden  attacks  and 
the  whole  of  the  news  of  the  desert.  When  opportunity 
offered,  he  took  the  side  of  his  clients,  the  nomads,  who 
complained  of  certain  delays  or  excesses  of  the  administra- 
tion. His  decisions  were  always  clear  and  firm.  When 
the  danger  of  a  rising  or  an  attack  became  pressing,  he 
said  :  "This  is  what  I  should  do."  And  no  doubt  in  more 
than  one  case  his  advice  was  followed  by  Laperrine,  who, 
from  afar,  exercised  his  right  of  counsel  in  our  African 
matters.     In  any  case,  the  great  chief  was  warned. 

Letters  addressed  to  others  during  this  war  period  gave 
expression  above  all  to  his  inner  life.  They  were  often 
very  fine  in  their  patriotic  tone,  their  invariable  and  reso- 
lute hope,  their  note  of  authority,  also  in  the  secret  and 
repressed  anxiety  they  sometimes  suggest.  He  said  :  "  As 
soon  as  the  post  comes  in,  I  count  the  days  until  the  next 
one."  I  think  that  by  selecting  passages  from  these  letters 
and  arranging  them  in  order  of  date,  I  shall  give  a  picture 
of  the  two  last  years  of  Pere  de  Foucauld's  life,  free  from 
repetition,  and  better  than  the  most  careful  summary 
would  be. 

"  September  15,  1914. — In  spirit  and  prayer  I  am  at  the 
frontier." 

"  October  21,  1914. — This  is  the  war  for  Europe's  inde- 
pendence of  Germany.  And  the  way  in  which  the  war  is 
carried  on  shows  how  necessary  it  was,  how  great  was  Ger- 
many's power,  and  how  it  was  time  to  break  the  yoke 
before  she  became  still  more  formidable ;  it  shows  by  what 
barbarians  Europe  was  half  enslaved,  and  near  becoming 
completely  so,  and  how  necessary  it  is  once  for  all  to 
deprive  of  force  a  nation  which  uses  it  so  badly  and  in 
such  an  immoral  and  dangerous  way  for  others.     It  is  Ger- 


TAMANRASSET  323 

many  and  Austria  that  wanted  war,  and  it  is  they  who 
deserved  to  have  it  made  against  them,  and  who,  I  hope, 
will  receive  a  blow  that  will  make  them  unable  to  do  any 
harm  for  centuries." 

"  December  7,  1914. — The  Tripoli  disturbance  has  not 
crossed  the  frontier.  We  cannot  thank  God  enough  for 
the  numberless  favours  that  He  has  bestowed  on  the  eldest 
daughter  of  His  Church ;  not  the  least  is  the  fidelity  of  our 
colonies.  .  .  . 

"  The  confidence  of  the  Tuaregs  in  me  keeps  on  increas- 
ing. The  work  of  the  slow  preparation  for  the  Gospel  is 
pursued.  May  the  Almighty  soon  make  the  hour  strike 
for  you  to  send  workers  into  this  part  of  your  field.   .  .   ."^ 

"  February  20,  1915. — The  south  of  Tripoli  is  disturbed; 
Saint-L^ger  and  200  or  300  soldiers  are  on  the  frontier,  to 
prevent  bands  in  revolt  against  the  Italians  from  breaking 
into  our  territory.  Only  one  French  adjutant  and  six  or 
seven  native  soldiers  remain  at  Fort  Motylinski.  This 
adjutant  is  a  capital  fellow.  We  often  write  to  each  other, 
but  we  rarely  see  one  another ;  being  alone,  he  cannot  leave 
his  post,  and  I,  having  a  great  deal  to  do,  cannot  move 
from  here  without  serious  reason.  I  have  not  been  to 
Fort  Motylinski  for  two  years." 

'*  February  21,  1915. — Like  you,  I  find  that  the  work  (to 
pray  for  the  conversion  of  our  colonial  infidels)  is  more 
indispensable  than  ever,  now  that  so  many  of  our  infidel 
subjects  give  their  blood  for  us.  The  loyalty  and  courage 
with  which  our  subjects  serve  us  show  everyone  that  more 
must  be  done  for  them  than  we  have  done  in  the  past.  The 
first  duty  is  the  one  we  know — the  salvation  of  souls ;  but 
everything  is  bound  up  together,  and  many  things  which 
don't  properly  involve  the  action  of  priests  and  monks  are 
very  important  for  the  good  of  souls  :  their  education,  their 
good  civil  administration,  their  close  contact  with  honest 
French  people,  for  some  their  settling  down  and  an  increase 
of  material  welfare.  Also  I  should  like  our  '  union,'  which 
ought  before  everything  to  urge  each  of  us  to  unite  our- 
selves to  our  Lord  and  to  be  filled  with  His  spirit,  living 
according  to  His  will  and  grace,  also  to  urge  each  one  to 
do,  according  to  his  conditions  and  means,  all  that  he  can 
for  the  salvation  of  the  infidels  of  our  colonies." 

"  March  12,  1915. — Like  you,  I  hope  that  from  the  great 
evil  of  this  war  will  go  forth  a  great  blessing  to  souls — a 

/"  *  Letter  to  Mgr.  Livinbac,  Superior-General  of  the  White  Fathers. 


324  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

blessing  in  France,  where  the  sight  of  death  will  inspire 
serious  thoughts,  and  where  the  accomplishment  of  duty 
in  the  greatest  sacrifices  will  uplift  souls  and  purify  them, 
bringing  them  nearer  to  Him  who  is  the  uncreated  good, 
and  make  them  more  fit  to  see  the  truth  and  stronger  to 
live  in  conformity  with  it ; — a  blessing  to  our  Allies,  who 
in  coming  nearer  to  us  come  nearer  to  Catholicism,  and 
whose  souls,  like  ours,  are  purified  by  sacrifice — a  blessing 
to  our  infidel  subjects,  who,  fighting  in  crowds  on  our 
soil,  learn  to  know  us  and  get  nearer  to  us,  and  whose  loyal 
devotion  will  stir  up  the  French  to  work  for  them  more 
than  in  the  past,  and  govern  them  better  than  in  the  past." 

**  April  15,  1915. — Saint-Leger  leaves  In-Salah,  and 
takes  command  of  another  Saharan  company,  that  of 
Twat.  .  .  .  He  is  replaced  by  another  friend,  also  very 
much  liked,  Captain  Duclos,  whom  I  knew  there  as  lieu- 
tenant, an  officer  of  great  worth  and  fine  character.  ...  I 
constantly  see  Uksem.  Marie  asks  me  if  he  knits  :  he 
knits  wonderfully,  and  all  the  young  people  in  his  encamp- 
ment and  village  have  begun  to  knit  and  crochet  under  his 
directions ;  knitted  socks,  and  crocheted  vests  and  caps. 
That  took  a  long  time,  but  since  his  return,  thanks  to  one 
of  his  sisters-in-law  who  set  about  it  with  a  great  deal  of 
good-will,  it  started,  and  everybody  is  beginning  it." 

"  July  15,  igi6. — St.  Henry. — A  happy  feast  to  you,  my 
dear  Laperrine,  I  am  thinking  of  you,  and  praying  very 
much  for  you  to-day.   .   .   . 

"  The  Tuaregs  here  remember  you,  speak  of  you,  and 
love  you  as  if  you  had  left  the  Sahara  yesterday. 

"  I  am  well;  in  spite  of  the  drought  and  locusts,  the 
gardens  in  Tamanrasset  are  increasing;  there  is  not  a 
single  zareha  now  left;  there  are  only  houses,  several  of 
which  have  chimneys.  Some  harratins  are  beginning  to 
learn  a  little  FVench ;  they  come  of  their  own  accord  and 
ask  me,  nearly  every  evening,  how  such  or  such  a  word  is 
said.  Nearly  all  the  Dag-Rali  women  in  the  vicinity  of 
Tamanrasset  and  a  certain  number  of  harratins  know  how 
to  knit  socks,  caps,  and  vests,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  old 
and  of  not  a  few  of  the  young  people.  ..." 

•'  August  2,  1915. — My  dear  Laperrine,  thanks  for  your 
letter  of  June  14,  which  came  last  night.  I  am  delighted 
to  know  that  you  are  well.  May  God  bless  you  and  pro- 
tect France  !     I  lead  my  ordinary  life  in  a  great  apparent 


TAMANRASSET  325 

calmness,  but  in  spirit  I  am  at  the  front  with  you  and  your 
soldiers.  After  the  abridged  Tuareg-French  dictionary, 
and  the  dictionary  of  proper  names,  now  the  larger  Tuareg- 
French  dictionary  is  finished  and  ready  to  be  printed.  I 
have  just  begun  copying  poetry  for  the  press.  ...  It 
seems  strange  at  so  grave  a  time  to  be  spending  my  days 
copying  out  pieces  of  verse  I 

"  The  Echo  de  Paris  tells  me  of  the  enemy  having  killed 
Father  Rivet,  a  Jesuit,  professor  at  the  Roman  College, 
who  in  1893  resigned  his  commission  in  the  Chasseurs 
Alpins.  ...  It  seems  to  me  that  he  must  at  least  be 
forty-five,  and  he  must  have  served,  not  as  a  conscript,  but 
as  a  volunteer  :  the  paper  says  that  he  was  made  lieutenant 
to  the  legion.  ...  I  did  not  think  a  priest  was  allowed 
by  the  laws  of  the  Church  to  enlist,  although  he  is  obliged 
to  go  to  the  regiment  when  he  is  called  up.  There  may 
have  been  recent  pontifical  decisions  with  which  I  am  not 
acquainted.  None  could  know  better  than  Father  Rivet, 
a  professor  of  canon  law.^  Should  the  laws  of  the  Church 
permit  me  to  enlist,  would  it  be  better  for  me  to  do  so  ?  If 
so,  how  am  I  to  set  about  enlisting  and  getting  sent  to  the 
front  (for  it  is  much  better  to  be  here  than  in  a  depot  or  an 
office).  Between  the  little  unit  that  I  am  and  zero,  there  is 
very  little  difference,  but  there  are  times  when  everybody 
ought  to  come  forward.  .  .  .  Reply  without  delay ;  by 
the  same  post  I  am  writing  to  ask  whether  the  Church 
authorizes  anyone  in  my  position  to  enlist." 

**  August  2,  191 5. — A  young  negro  who  knows  Ghardaia, 
the  Fathers  and  Sisters,  told  me  a  few  days  ago  :  '  When 
the  Sisters  covie  here  I  shall  put  my  wife  with  them,  so 
that  she  may  learn  to  weave,  and  I  shall  ask  to  be  their 
gardener.'  .  .  .  The  time  is  near  when  the  Sisters  will 
be  received  by  the  natives  with  great  gratitude,  above  all 
by  the  settled  cultivators.  .  .  .  Will  God  arrange  things 
in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  the  White  Fathers  and  the  White 
Sisters  here?" 

''September  7,  1915. — To-morrow  will  be  the  feast  of 
the  nativity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  ten  years  since  my 
Tamanrasset  hermitage  was  built  and  I  have  said  Mass 

^  The  information  which  reached  Father  de  Foucauld  was  not  correct. 
Father  Rivet,  a  professor  of  canon  law  at  Rome,  was  mobiUzed  because 
his  class  was  called  up ;  he  had  obeyed,  but  to  show  his  respect  for  the 
ecclesiastical  law  which  forbids  Churchmen  to  shed  blood,  he  had 
decided  in  attacks,  as  an  officer  could  do,  to  go  against  the  enemy  with 
only  a  stick  in  his  hand. 


326  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

in  it.     I  owe  much  thanksgiving  and  gratitude  to  God  for 
all  the  graces  He  has  bestowed  on  me  here." 

*'  October  13,  1915. — Thank  you,  my  dear  Laperrine, 
for  your  letter  of  August  24,  and  for  the  very  pretty  tri- 
colour badge,  '  the  hope  and  salvation  of  France,'  you  have 
sent  me ;  it  reached  me  safely,  it  is  in  front  of  me  on  my 
table,  a  souvenir  of  you  in  this  great  year." 

"  November  19,  1915. — The  courier  from  Azjer  has  not 
yet  come  in.  But  I  hear  this  :  the  Dehibat  post  of  Tunis  is 
attacked  by  the  Senussi,  commanded  by  officers  in  khaki 
uniforms,  with  field-glasses  and  revolvers  (Germans,  no 
doubt).  General  Moinier  has  sent  reinforcements.  The 
situation  is  serious  on  all  the  Tunis-Tripoli  frontier."^ 

"  January,  19 16. — Never  have  I  felt  as  much  as  now  the 
happiness  of  being  French ;  we  both  know  that  there  are 
many  unhappy  things  in  France;  but  in  the  present  war 
she  is  defending  the  world  and  future  generations  against 
the  moral  barbarism  of  Germany. 

"For  the  first  time  I  really  understand  the  Crusades; 
the  present  war,  like  the  preceding  Crusades,  will  have  the 
result  of  preventing  our  descendants  from  becoming  bar- 
barians. It  is  a  blessing  that  cannot  be  too  dearly  paid 
for."2 

"  March  6,  1916. — Uksem  is  still  far  away,  they  have 
no  more  need  of  him  to  learn  to  crochet  and  knit ;  all  the 
young  women  and  girls  and  the  greater  part  of  the  children, 
and  not  a  few  men  in  the  neighbourhood,  know  how  to  do 
it ;  your  parcel  of  wool  and  cotton  has  provided  work  for 
many  fingers.   ... 

"They  are  at  present  actively  working  at  a  road  for 
motors  between  Wargla  and  In-Salah. 

"  Besides  this,  in  a  year  we  shall  have  a  wireless  station 
at  Motylinski.  Militarily  and  administratively,  this  pro- 
gress is  very  favourable,  and  politically  too;  these  works 
show  the  natives  that  nothing  is  changed  in  France,  and 
that  France  carries  on  the  war  without  difficulty  or  un- 
easiness." 

*  Letter  to' General  Laperrine.  Here  I  notice  two  things:  the  first 
that  the  General  used  to  write  to  his  friend  by  every  mail.  In  the  second 
place,  that  these  mails  reached  Tamanrasset  every  eighteenth  day, 
bringing  news  forty  or  sixty  days  old  ;  liut  from  the  middle  of  1916  they 
became  a  little  more  frequent,  and  a  mail  arrived  every  fortnight. 
Official  itelegrams  took  about  twenty -two  days  to  reach  Tamanrasset. 

*  Letter  to  General  Maze!. 


TAMANRASSET  327 

*' April  10,  1916. — My  dear  Laperrine,  it  appears  that 
when  you  went  with  Musa  to  Fihrun's,  on  coming  back 
from  Niamey,  Fihrun  proposed  to  Musa  to  assassinate 
you  with  your  escort.  As  Musa  refused,  Fihrun  re- 
proached him  with  having  no  courage.  Musa  answered 
him  :  '  Thou  followest  thy  way,  I  mine ;  in  a  few  years 
from  now,  we  shall  see  which  of  the  two  is  the  better.'  I 
heard  this  from  Uksem,  chief  of  the  Dag-Rali ;  I  believe 
it  is  true,  and  my  gratitude  and  affection  for  Musa  is  greatly 
increased." 

On  April  1 1  there  was  another  letter  to  the  General.  The 
French  fort  of  Janet,  on  the  Tripoli  frontier,  was  sur- 
rounded at  the  beginning  of  March  by  more  than  1,000 
Senussi  armed  with  a  cannon  and  mitrailleuses.  Behind 
the  ramparts  there  were  only  fifty  men,  commanded  by 
Quartermaster  Lapierre.  It  is  rumoured  in  the  desert  that 
the  little  garrison  held  out  as  long  as  it  could,  and  that, 
after  eighteen  days'  siege,  the  outworks  being  destroyed, 
the  soldiers  nearly  all  wounded,  the  only  well  filled  up,  the 
non-commissioned  officer  in  command  had  the  fort  blown 
up.  "The  Senussi  have  the  road  free  to  come  here," 
adds  Father  de  Foucauld.  "  By  this  word  '  here  '  I  do  not 
mean  Tamanrasset,  where  I  am  alone,  but  Fort  Motylinski, 
the  capital  of  the  country,  which  is  thirty  miles  from 
Tamanrasset.  If  my  advice  is  followed,  we  shall  all  come 
through  if  attacked.  I  have  advised  a  retreat  with  all  the 
munitions  and  stores  to  an  impregnable  place  well  supplied 
with  water  in  the  mountains,  where  we  can  hold  out  indefi- 
nitely and  against  which  cannon  is  useless.  If  they  do  not 
follow  my  advice  and  are  attacked,  God  knows  what  will 
happen.  .  .  .  But  I  think  that  they  will  follow  my  advice  ; 
I  shall  do  everything  in  my  power  to  get  them  to  do  so. 
Don't  be  uneasy  if  you  are  without  a  letter  for  some  time; 
it  may  happen  that  our  messengers  will  be  intercepted 
without  any  misfortune  having  happened  to  us  for  all  that. 
I  am  in  daily  correspondence  with  the  commander  of  Fort 
Motylinski,  Sub-Lieutenant  Constant.  If  I  think  it  useful, 
I  shall  go  and  pay  him  short  visits ;  if  he  is  attacked  I  shall 
join  him.  The  population  is  all  right.  .  .  .  We  are  in 
the  hands  of  God;  nothing  happens  except  what  He 
permits." 

A  clear-sighted  decision  and  worthy  of  Charles  de 
Foucauld.  Not  to  leave  Tamanrasset,  nor  the  poor  har- 
ratins,  for  the  insufficient  reason  that  there  may,  from  one 
moment  to  another,  be  an  incursion  attempted  by  the 
Senussi ;  but  if   the  soldiers   of   Fort   Motylinski   are  the 


328  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

first  to  be  attacked,  to  join  them.  In  either  case,  to  be  at 
the  danger-point.  While  awaiting  probable  events  to  seek 
a  place  in  the  mountains,  easy  to  fortify  and  defend,  even 
against  cannon ;  also  while  waiting,  to  make  no  change  in 
his  habits,  "to  keep  confident  and  smiling."  It  is  not 
only  in  France  we  see  that  Frenchmen  kept  smiling ;  they 
did  so  in  the  Sahara,  and  that  without  getting  the  order  of 
the  day. 

The  very  next  day  Charles  made  the  journey  from 
Tamanrasset  to  Fort  Motylinski,  to  choose  the  defensive 
position  to  which  the  little  garrison  of  the  borj  would 
retire  in  case  of  attack.  He  had  pointed  out  four  of  them, 
and  he  knew  every  stone  in  the  country.^  With  Sub-Lieu- 
tenant Constant  he  discovered  a  fifth  only  a  few  miles  from 
Motylinski,  and  he  reminded  the  General,  the  other  great 
Saharan,  of  it  thus  :  "  Those  narrow  gorges,  where  the  Tar- 
hauhaut  valley  is  buried ;  those  gorges  at  the  entrance  of 
which  there  is  a  thick  forest  of  berdis  (that  is  to  say,  reeds), 
and  then  running  water  for  over  two  miles  between  the 
very  steep  sides.  It  has  been  agreed  that  Constant  will 
put  the  berdi  in  a  state  of  defence,  and  a  part  of  the  gorges 
downstream,  by  means  of  trenches  and  firing  shelters,  and 
transport  stores  and  munitions,  and  set  a  guard  there,  and 
betake  himself  there  on  the  first  alarm.  Fortunately, 
Constant  has  at  this  moment  four  other  Frenchmen — two 
good  quartermasters,  a  corporal  of  the  Engineer  Corps,  and 
a  private  soldier — and  thirty  native  soldiers,  one  of  whom 
is  the  excellent  non-commissioned  officer  Belaid.  iWith 
this  number  of  rifles  thus  surrounded,  and  the  strong  posi- 
tion chosen,  he  can  defend  himself  advantageously  against 
very  numerous  enemies,  and  cannon  has  no  power  over 
him. "2 

Charles  de  Foucauld's  absence  only  lasted  forty-eight 
hours.  He  returned  to  his  post  without  garrison  or 
defence;  to  the  hermitage.  The  news  of  the  taking  of 
Janet  had  already  spread.  The  messenger,  like  all  the 
desert  messengers,  was  questioned,  and,  like  a  rural  post- 
man, he  told  what  he  knew.  The  chief  of  the  tribe  of 
the  Dag-Rali  imrad  at  once  hastened  to  the  marabout's. 
Musa's  representative  followed  him  there.  He  was  first 
of  all  upset,  but  a  few  words  from  Chief  Uksem,  and 
Father  de  Foucauld's  tranquil  countenance  restored  his 
confidence.     The  three  men  took  counsel  together  and  made 

^  These  details  and  many  others — in  a  word,  the  whole  preparation 
for  the  defence — are  given  in  a  letter  of  April  9  to  Commander  Meynier. 
^  Letter  to  General  Laperrine,  April  27,  n)i(). 


TAMANRASSET  329 

some  preparations ;  it  was  agreed,  for  instance,  that  vedette 
posts  should  be  estabHshed  in  five  places,  so  that  Taman- 
rasset  and  Motylinski  might  be  informed  of  the  enemy's 
approach. 

By  degrees  more  exact  accounts  of  the  taking  of  Janet 
reached  the  valley.  No,  Quartermaster  Lapierre  did  not 
blow  up  the  fort.  After  a  fine  defence  of  twenty-one  days, 
having  no  more  stores,  no  longer  able  to  get  to  the  well  of 
the  dismantled  redoubt,  he  made  a  sortie,  on  the  night  of 
March  24.  His  little  troop  wandered  about  the  desert  for 
three  days,  hoping  to  meet  some  French  detachment.  After 
that  it  was  surrounded  by  the  Fellagas  and  captured.  The 
quartermaster  was  ordered  to  pronounce  the  form  of 
abjuration ;  he  refused.  Nevertheless,  he  was  not  killed, 
but  led  into  captivity,  first  into  the  Janet  oasis,  then  to 
Rhat,  afterguards  to  Fezzan.  The  story  was  more  truthful, 
but  danger  was  no  less  great  on  that  account.  The  officers 
of  our  posts  and  Father  de  Foucauld  expected  that  the  tribes 
in  revolt,  proud  of  having  captured  a  fortress  from  the 
French,  and  excited  by  agitators  from  Tripoli,  were  pre- 
paring fresh  attacks. 

"  May  15. — Complete  victory  is  indispensable,  otherwise 
everything  would  have  to  be  begun  over  again  in  a  few 
years,  and  probably  under  less  favourable  conditions,  for 
God  has  visibly  protected  us.  The  resistance  of  Belgium, 
the  alliance  of  England  and  Russia,  the  coming  in  of  Italy, 
the  fidelity  of  our  colonies  and  the  English  colonies,  are, 
among  others,  among  many  others,  exceptional  graces  on 
which  one  cannot  reckon.  These  graces  ought  to  give  us 
every  hope,  for  God  has  without  doubt  bestowed  them  on 
us  because  He  wills  us  to  conquer  and  protect  the  world 
against  the  inundation  of  German  paganism  which 
threatened  it ;  what  would  become  of  our  Latin  nations,  if 
victorious  Germany  imposed  Germanic  education  on  them  ? 
What  liberty  would  remain  to  the  Church,  if  the  German 
Emperor  had  triumphed  ?  The  Allies,  wishing  it  or  not, 
knowing  it  or  not,  carry  on  a  real  crusade.  They  are  fight- 
ing not  only  for  the  freedom  of  the  world,  but  for  the  free- 
dom of  the  Church  and  the  upholding  of  Christian  morals 
in  the  world. ^ 

"May  30,  1916. — The  Saint-Cyr  commissions  of  my 
time  are  serving  the  fatherland  well  :  Mazel,  d'Urbal,  and 
P^tain  are  among  them.  My  seniors,  too :  Maud'huy, 
Serrail,  Driant." 

1  Letter  to  M.  de  Blic. 


330  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  Whit-Monday.^ — Every  year  the  month  of  June  brings 
in  the  anniversary  of  my  ordination,  and  renews  and 
increases  my  gratitude  to  you  who  adopted  me  and  made 
me  a  priest  of  Jesus  Christ.  With  my  whole  heart  I  pray 
for  you.  More  than  fifteen  years  ago  you  accepted  me  as 
a  son,  and  I  also  pray  for  your  beloved  diocese  of  Viviers. 

"  In  body  I  am  here,  where  I  shall  remain  till  peace 
comes,  believing  I  am  more  useful  here  than  elsewhere; 
but  how  often  my  spirit  is  in  France  at  the  front,  where  the 
struggle  must  be  at  this  moment  more  ardent  than  ever, 
and  behind  the  lines,  where  so  many  families  are  weeping 
for  their  most  beloved,  or  are  in  mortal  anxiety. 

"  Around  me,  the  native  population  is  calm  and  faithful; 
its  attitude  is  excellent. 

"  I  still  greatly  desire  to  see  the  confraternity  started  in 
France  for  the  conversion  of  the  French  colonies,  the 
scheme  of  which  you  were  good  enough  to  approve. 
During  this  Whitsuntide  I  think  more  than  ever  of  the  fifty 
millions  of  native  infidels  in  our  colonies.  May  the  Holy 
Ghost  set  up  His  reign  in  their  souls,  and  may  the  French, 
who  ask  for  this  help  to  defend  their  own  temporal  father- 
land, help  them  to  obtain  the  eternal  fatherland  !" 

The  threats  were  too  serious  for  the  military  authorities 
not  to  think  of  protecting  Father  de  Foucauld  and  the 
Tuaregs  or  their  servants,  who  were  friendly  to  us  and 
inhabited  Tamanrasset.  At  the  beginning  of  1916,  on  the 
plans  and  under  the  direction  of  the  Father,  they  had  begun 
the  construction  of  a  small  fort.  The  hermit  changed  his 
abode  on  June  23.  He  thus  went  from  the  left  to  the  right 
bank  of  the  Wady  Tamanrasset,  and  was  nearer  the  village 
houses.  We  shall  see  that  all  precautions  had  been  taken 
to  enable  the  little  fortress  to  stand  a  siege. 

It  formed  a  square  measuring  about  twenty  feet  on  the 
sides,  surrounded  by  a  ditch  two  yards  deep.  At  the  angles 
it  was  strengthened  by  four  bastions  provided  with  em- 
brasures, the  terrace  of  which  was  reached  by  a  staircase. 
The  walls,  in  toubes,  were  two  yards  thick  at  the  base,  and 
over  sixteen  feet  high.  There  was  no  opening  outside, 
except  a  very  low  door.  The  danger  lay  there;  the  door 
might  be  forced ;  the  enemy  might  slip  into  the  place  by 
surprise.  This  had  been  guarded  against  as  much  as 
possible.  The  first  door  prevented  a  man  from  entering 
upright ;  he  had  to  stoop ;  besides,  it  did  not  give  direct 
admission  to  the  fort,  but  to  a  brick  corridor,  so  narrow 

^  Letter  to  Mgr.  P^onnet,  Bishop  of  Viviers. 


TAMANRASSET  331 

that  only  one  man  could  pass ;  and  it  was  closed  by  a 
second  low  door.  Then,  just  opposite  the  outside  opening, 
and  to  prevent  attacks  with  stones  or  pikes,  they  had  built 
a  solid  small  wall  on  the  platform,  very  close  to  the  facade, 
so  that  it  was  impossible  to  fire  from  outside  at  a  person 
in  front  of  the  entrance  door.  Furthermore,  the  latter  was 
also  defended  by  two  bastions  at  the  angles.  A  cross  made 
of  two  tamarisk  branches  was  planted  on  the  top  of  the 
wall  over  the  door.  Lastly,  for  crossing  the  ditch  there 
remained  a  ridge  of  earth  ending  to  the  left  of  the  small 
protection  wall.  The  inside  was  arranged  so  as  to  receive 
a  considerable  band  of  refugees  and  combatants. 

Lieutenant    L ,    who   was    then    staying   at  Taman- 

rasset,  thus  describes  the  various  parts  of  the  fortified 
hermitage  ;  ^ 

"  In  the  centre  of  the  yard,  about  thirteen  feet  square, 
was  a  well  about  twenty  feet  deep,  covered  with  a  thick 
door  strengthened  by  plates  of  sheet-iron.  Plenty  of  water. 
All  around,  pretty  spacious  rooms,  all  of  them  rectangular. 

"One  was  used  by  the  Father  as  a  chapel;  another 
reserved  for  passing  guests;  another  was  used  to  store 
provisions,  cotton  stuffs,  etc.,  which  the  Father  reserved 
for  the  Tuaregs ;  lastly,  a  fourth  constituted  the  JTather's 
private  apartment  :  it  was  at  once  bedroom,  study,  and 
dining-room,  all  on  the  same  footing  and  giving  their  true 
meaning  to  the  words  as  used  by  Father  de  Foucauld. 

"  The  study  alone  deserved  its  name  :  books  everywhere, 
manuscripts  scattered  over  the  little  table,  made  out  of 
packing-cases,  that  served  as  a  bureau. 

"  Thus  built,  the  little  fort  is  impregnable  against  a  band 
armed  with  rifles ;  to  scale  it  is  almost  impossible,  and  two 
men,  or  even  one  man  armed  with  grenades,  would  be 
enough  for  its  defence." 

"June  16,  1916. — The  Senussi  danger  appears  to  be 
turned  aside  for  the  moment.  Our  Janet  fort  on  the 
Tripoli  frontier  was  taken  by  the  Senussi  on  March  24, 
and  retaken  by  our  troops  on  May  16  :  our  soldiers  pursued 
the  flying  enemy.  As  long  as  the  Italians  have  not  retaken 
all  the  south  of  Tripoli,  which  thev  have  evacuated,  our 
Tripoli  frontier  will  be  threatened,  and  a  serious  watch  will 
be  necessary  :  let  us  hope  it  will  be  kept  up.  They  are 
distant  countries ;  when  the  authorities  who  reside  at  Algiers 
are  spoken  to,  they  only  half  believe  what  they  are  told, 

^  The  building  was  only  finished  on  October  15. 


332  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

only  grant  half  what  is  asked  for,  and  consent  to  take  the 
necessary  measures  only  after  an  accident  has  happened." 

^'  July  i6,  1916. — Such  isolated  missionaries  as  I  am  are 
very  few.  Their  role  is  to  prepare  the  way,  so  that  the 
missions  which  replace  them  will  find  a  friendly  and  trust- 
ful population,  souls  somewhat  prepared  for  Christianity, 
and,  if  possible,  a  few  Christians.  You  have  partly  set 
forth  their  duties  in  your  article  in  the  Echo  de  Paris :  '  The 
greatest  service.'^  We  must  get  ourselves  accepted  by  the 
Musulmans,  become  their  sure  friends,  to  whom  they 
come  when  in  doubt  or  trouble ;  on  whose  affection,  wisdom, 
and  justice  they  can  absolutely  rely.  It  is  only  when  we 
arrive  at  this  point  that  we  shall  come  to  do  good  to  their 
souls. 

"  Therefore  my  life  consists  in  having  the  greatest 
possible  intercourse  with  those  who  surround  me,  and  in 
rendering  all  the  services  I  can.  As  soon  as  intimacy  is 
established,  I  speak,  always  or  nearly  always,  in  a  tete-d- 
tete,  of  our  good  God,  and  briefly  giving  each  man  what  he 
can  bear  :  avoidance  of  sin,  a  perfect  act  of  love,  a  perfect 
act  of  contrition,  the  two  great  commandments  of  the  love 
of  God  and  of  our  neighbour,  examination  of  conscience, 
meditation  on  the  last  things,  the  creature's  duty  of  thinking 
of  God,  etc.,  giving  to  each  according  to  his  strength,  and 
going  on  slowly  and  prudently. 

"There  are  very  few  isolated  missionaries  fulfilling  this 
pioneer  work ;  I  wish  there  were  many  of  them  :  every 
parish  priest  in  Algeria,  Tunis,  or  Morocco,  every  military 
chaplain,  every  pious  catholic  layman,  could  be  one.  The 
Government  forbids  the  secular  clergy  to  carry  on  anti- 
Musulman  propaganda ;  but  it  is  not  a  question  of  open  and 
more  or  less  noisy  propaganda ;  friendly  intercourse  with 
many  natives,  tending  to  induce  Musulmans  slowly,  gently, 
and  silently  to  come  closer  to  Christians  and  become  their 
friends.  This  nobody  can  be  forbidden  to  do.  Every 
parish  priest  in  our  colonies  could  exert  himself  to  train  his 
male  and  female  parishioners  to  be  Priscillas  and  Aquilas. 
There  is  quite  a  loving  and  discreet  propaganda  to  be  carried 
on  among  the  infidel  natives — a  propaganda  which  requires 
as  great  kindness,  love  and  prudence,  as  when  we  wish  to 
bring  a  relation  who  has  lost  the  Faith  back  to  God.   .   .   . 

"  Let  us  hope  that  when  we  have  won  the  war  our  colonies 
will  make  fresh  progress.  What  a  beautiful  mission  for  our 
younger  sons  of  France,  to  go  and  colonize  the  African 

*  Letter  to  Rene  Bazin. 


TAMANRASSET  333 

territories  of  the  mother-country,  not  to  get  rich,  but  to 
make  France  beloved,  to  make  souls  French,  and  above  all 
to  obtain  eternal  salvation  for  them. 

"  I  think  that  if  the  Musulmans  of  our  colonial  empire  of 
North  Africa  are  not  converted  gradually  and  gently,  a 
national  movement  like  that  of  Turkey  will  come  about ;  an 
intellectual  elite  will  be  formed  in  the  large  towns,  educated 
a  la  Frangaise,  but  having  neither  the  French  mind  nor 
heart,  an  ^lite  which  will  have  lost  all  the  faith  of  Islam, 
but  which  will  keep  the  label  in  order  to  be  able  to  use  it 
to  influence  the  masses.  On  the  other  hand,  the  crowd  of 
nomads  and  countrymen  will  remain  ignorant,  estranged 
from  us,  firmly  Mahometan,  incited  to  hatred  and  contempt 
of  the  French  by  their  religion,  their  marabouts,  and  by 
their  contact  with  the  French  (representatives  of  authority, 
colonists,  merchants) — contacts  which  too  often  are  not  apt 
to  make  them  love  us.  National  or  barbarian  feeling  will 
therefore  become  worked  up  in  the  educated  ^lite;  when  it 
finds  an  opportunity — for  instance,  at  a  time  of  France's 
difficulties  at  home  or  abroad — it  will  make  use  of  Islam  as 
a  lever  to  rouse  the  ignorant  mass,  and  seek  to  create  an 
independent  Musulman  African  Empire. 

"The  French  North-West  African  Empire — Algeria, 
Morocco,  Tunis,  French  Western  Africa,  etc. — has  a 
population  of  thirty  millions ;  it  will,  thanks  to  peace,  have 
double  in  fifty  years.  It  will  then  be  in  full  material  pro- 
gress, rich,  intersected  with  railways,  inhabited  by  people 
trained  to  the  use  of  arms,  the  elite  of  which  will  have 
received  its  education  in  our  schools.  If  we  have  not  been 
able  to  make  these  people  French,  they  will  drive  us  out. 
The  only  means  of  making  them  French  is  for  them  to 
become  Christians."^ 

"August  31,  1916. — From  here  to  In-Salah  the  motor- 
road  is  finished  or  very  nearly  finished.  The  first  motor 
that  comes  here  will  be  a  joy  to  me  :  it  puts  a  finish  to  our 
taking  possession  of  the  country.  This  road  should  be 
carried  on  to  the  Sudan  :  it  is  only  four  hundred  and  forty 
miles  from  here  to  Agades,  the  first  Sudan  post — the  same 
distance  as  from  here  to  In-Salah  :  four  months'  work.^ 
This  would  be  an  enormous  advantage  for  administration 
and  defence,  and  an  enormous  economy. 

1  The  paragraph  is  the  repetition,  almost  word  for  word,  of  a  passage 
in  a  letter  written  in  191 2  to  the  Due  de  Fitz-James.  His  longer  experi- 
ence only  strengthened  the  conviction  of  the  witness. 

2  The  first  motor  reached  In-Salah  on  August  11. 


334  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"September  i,  1916.^ — The  corner  of  the  Sahara  from 
which  I  write  to  you,  my  dear  Mazel,  is  still  calm.  How- 
ever, we  are  on  the  qui  vive,  on  account  of  the  increasing 
agitation  of  the  Senussi  in  Tripoli ;  our  Tuaregs  here  are 
faithful,  but  we  might  be  attacked  by  the  Tripolitans.  I 
have  transformed  my  hermitage  into  a  little  fort ;  there  is 
nothing  new  under  the  sun.  When  I  see  my  embrasures 
I  think  of  the  fortified  convents  and  churches  of  the  tenth 
century.  How  old  things  come  back,  and  how  what  we 
thought  had  disappeared  is  for  ever  reappearing  !  They 
have  given  me  six  cases  of  cartridges  and  thirty  Gras  rifles, 
which  remind  me  of  our  youth.  .   .   . 

"  I  am  pleased  that  you  have  our  brave  Laperrine  under 
your  orders;  I  hope  that  you  will  long  have  him.  It  is  to 
him  we  owe  the  peace  of  the  Algerian  Sahara  :  the  wisdom 
and  vigour  of  his  acts,  and  the  incomparable  memory  he 
left  behind,  are  the  cause  of  the  fidelity  of  these  reputedly 
troublesome  populations. 

"  Enclosed  is  the  translation  of  a  prayer  of  the  ninth 
century,  which  has  probably  been  said  and  sung  more  than 
once  in  Rheims  Cathedral  : 

"  '  Almighty  and  eternal  God,  who  hast  established  the 
empire  of  the  Franks  to  do  Thy  holy  will  in  the  world, 
and  to  be  the  glory  and  rampart  of  Thy  holy  Church,  let 
Thy  heavenly  light  shine  everywhere  and  always  upon  the 
praying  sons  of  the  Franks,  so  that  they  may  see  what  they 
should  do  to  extend  Thy  kingdom  in  the  world,  and  that 
they  may  ever  increase  in  charity  and  valour,  to  fulfil  what 
Thy  light  hath  shown  them.'  " 

"September  15,  1916. — Unfortunately,  the  news  from 
the  Tripoli  frontier  is  bad.  .  .  .  Without  having  suffered 
a  check,  our  troops  are  falling  back  before  the  Senussi  : 
they  are  not  now  on  the  frontier,  but  a  long  way  this  side 
of  it;  after  recapturing  Janet,  they  have  evacuated  it;  they 
have  evacuated  some  other  points.  This  retreat  before  a 
few  hundred  rifles  is  lamentable.  There  must  be  (how  far 
up  I  don't  know)  some  serious  error  in  the  command.  It 
is  clear  that  if  we  fall  back  without  any  fighting  the 
Senussi  will  advance.  If  the  method  is  not  promptly 
changed,  they  will  get  here  some  day.  I  regret  worrying 
you  again,  but  dear  truth  wills  that  I  should  tell  you  this." 

"September  24,  1916. — A  few  days  ago  we  had  a  great 
alarm.     News  came  that  we  were  to  be  attacked;  but  the 

^  To  General  Mazel,  commanding  the  Fifth  Army. 


TAMANRASSET  335 

news  was  false;  nothing  turned  up,  and  yesterday's  news 
shows  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  situation  is  very  good. 
The  alarm  only  served  to  prove  the  fidelity  of  the  popula- 
tion ;  far  from  looking  like  going  over  to  the  enemy,  they 
gathered  round  the  officer  in  command  of  the  neighbouring 
fort,  and  round  me,  ready  to  defend  the  fort  and  the  hermi- 
tage. This  fidelity  was  very  pleasing,  and  I  am  very  grate- 
ful to  these  poor  people,  who  might  have  taken  refuge  in 
the  mountains  where  they  had  nothing  to  fear,  and  who 
preferred  to  shut  themselves  up  in  the  neighbouring  fort 
and  my  hermitage,  although  they  knew  the  enemy  had 
cannon  and  bombardment  was  certain. 

"  Same  Period. — By  the  crusade  that  He  gets  the  eldest 
daughter  of  His  Church  to  carry  on,  God  provides  the 
opportunity  and  grace  for  innumerable  acts  of  virtue  :  acts 
of  devotion,  self-forgetfulness,  charity,  resignation,  mercy ; 
the  sacrifice  of  life,  happiness,  and  all  that  is  dear ;  acts 
of  love  of  God.  No  doubt  there  is  also  evil ;  evil  will 
be  mixed  with  good  up  to  the  end  of  the  world ;  but  for  the 
two  years  that  the  war  has  lasted,  an  amount  of  heroic 
acts  of  virtue  have  been  accomplished  and  a  number  of 
sacrifices  offered  to  God  in  union  with  that  of  His  Son, 
such  as  are  usually  produced  only  in  a  great  number  of 
years.  Here  is  a  total  of  merits  and  immolations  which 
purify  and  raise  France,  and  bring  her  nearer  to  God.  I 
have  great  hope  that  she  will  come  out,  not  only  victorious, 
but  better,  much  better,  from  this  crusade."^ 

"  October  i,  1916. — I  look  upon  the  long  months  during 
which  the  war  detains  me  in  the  Sahara  as  a  time  of 
retreat,  during  which  I  pray  and  reflect,  asking  Jesus  to 
make  known  to  me  the  final  shape  to  be  given  to  our 
confraternity." 

"  October  15,  1916. — Musa,  who  is  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  miles  from  here,  hearing  that  the  neighbouring 
fort  was  to  be  attacked,  at  once  sent  all  the  men  he  had  with 
him  that  he  could  dispose  of — about  eighty — by  forced 
marches,  to  help  us  to  defend  ourselves.  .  .  .  Since  the 
beginning  of  the  war  Musa  could  not  be  better  than  he 
has  unceasingly  been.  The  condition  of  the  people  who 
surround  me  is  enough  to  make  one  weep.  They  are  so 
surrounded  by  evil  and  error  !  It  is  difficult  for  them  to 
lead  even  a  naturally  good  life  !     There  are  good  natures, 

*  Letter  to  Colonel  P.  Lero3\ 


336  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

but  in  the  environment  in  which  they  are,  and  with  their 
ignorance,  how  can  they  be  saved?" 

"October  31,  1916. — In  Azjer  there  has  been  only  one 
mihtary  event  since  my  last  letter.  About  September  20,  a 
big  revictualling  convoy,  led  by  Duclos,  from  Flatters  to 
Polignac,  was  attacked  on  the  way  at  Wady  Ehen  by  three 
hundred  Senussi  commanded  by  an  ex-corporal  of  the 
Tidikelt  Company,  for  several  years  in  revolt.  The 
Senussi  were  defeated  with  serious  losses ;  all  the  loads  of 
the  convoy  arrived  safely  at  Polignac.  On  our  side  there 
were  some  killed  and  wounded;  amongst  the  killed,  an 
excellent  adjutant,  Lenoir,  had  a  bullet  through  his  heart : 
he  was  carried  to  Polignac  and  buried  there.  The  defeated 
Senussi  retired  in  haste  in  the  direction  of  Admer. 

"  Did  I  tell  you  that  about  forty  days  ago  a  little 
rezsu  (twenty  men)  of  Kel- Azjer  operated  on  the  Tefedest 
(Eastern  Slope)  at  Amrah  ?  We  were  pretty  long  without 
any  accurate  details  of  it :  I  have  just  received  some.  It 
only  raided  a  hundred  of  the  Kel-Inrar  camels  and  rapidly 
fell  back.  Up  to  the  present  there  have  been  no  other  enemy 
rezsus  against  Ahaggar,  and,  if  things  go  all  right  in  Azjer, 
there  will  be  none. 

"  A  rather  big  Senussi  rezsu  operated  in  the  north  of 
Ai'r;  instead  of  raiding,  they  told  the  people  to  '  move  and 
come  and  settle  down  altogether  at  Fezzan  with  us,  and  we 
shall  do  you  no  harm;  if  you  refuse  we  shall  raid  you.' 
Some  Kel-Air  accepted  and  followed  them  in  revolt ;  the 
Sudan  tirailleurs  of  Agades  overtook  them,  beat  the 
Senussi,  and  brought  back  the  revolters.  Some  Kel- 
Ahaggar,  who  happened  to  be  on  the  way  of  the  Senussi's 
rezzu,  pretended  to  accept  their  terms  and  followed  them 
for  a  day  or  two ;  then  at  night,  eluding  their  watch,  set  out 
by  forced  marches  towards  Adrar  and  escaped  them."^ 

"  November  16,  1916. — How  good  God  is  to  hide  the 
future  from  us  !  What  a  torture  life  would  be  were  it  less 
unknown  to  us  !  and  how  good  He  is  to  make  so  clearly 
known  to  us  the  heaven  hereafter  which  will  follow  our 
earthly  time  of  trial  !" 

The  writer  of  these  lines  had  only  two  weeks  to  live.  He 
did  not  know  it,  but  he  was  ready  to  receive  death  any  day 
from  the  hands  of  those  for  whom  he  had  so  much  prayed, 
walking  so  far  over  the  sand  and  pebbles,   suffering  so 

*  Letter  to  General  Laperrine. 


TAMANRASSET  337 

severely  from  thirst  and  heat,  working  so  many  days  and 
nights,  in  so  much  soHtude,  and  for  whom,  in  short,  he  had 
toiled  so  hard  with  body  and  mind.  The  following  letters 
express  his  last  thoughts ;  his  resolution  appears  in  them  as 
well  as  his  charity.  These  letters,  among  others,  were 
found  in  the  small  fort  at  Tamanrasset  after  his  assassina- 
tion :  they  must  have  been  given  on  December  i,  1916,  to 
the  mehari  rider  arriving  from  Motylinski,  and  going  on 
to  In-Salah,  after  stopping  at  the  hermitage. 

''November  28,  1916  (to  the  Prioress  of  the  Poor  Clares 
of  Nazareth,  who  had  fled  to  Malta). — France,  in  spite  of 
appearances,  is  still  the  France  of  Charlemagne,  St.  Louis, 
and  Jeanne  d'Arc ;  the  old  soul  of  the  nation  lives  on  in  our 
generation  :  the  saints  of  France  are  always  praying  for 
her ;  the  gifts  of  God  are  without  repentance,  and  the  people 
of  Saint-Remi  and  Clovis  are  still  the  people  of  Christ.  .  .  . 
In  choosing  France  for  the  birthplace  of  the  devotion  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  and  the  apparitions  of  Lourdes,  our  Lord  has 
clearly  shown  that  He  keeps  France's  rank  of  the  first-born 
for  her. 

"  I  can  regularly  say  Holy  Mass  every  day.  I  have 
another  happiness  :  that  of  having  the  reserved  Sacrament 
in  my  little  chapel.  I  am  always  by  myself.  Some  French- 
men come  to  see  me  from  time  to  time  :  every  thirty  or  forty 
days  I  see  one  of  them  on  his  way. 

"  We  live  in  days  when  the  soul  strongly  feels  the  need  of 
prayer.  In  the  tempest  which  is  blowing  over  Europe  we 
feel  the  nothingness  of  the  creature,  and  turn  to  the 
Creator.  In  the  bark  tossed  about  by  the  billows  we  turn 
to  the  divine  Master,  and  implore  Him  who  can  give 
victory  with  a  word,  and  restore  a  great  and  durable  peace. 
We  raise  our  hands  to  heaven  as  Moses  did  during  the 
battle  of  his  people,  and  where  man  is  powerless  we  pray 
to  Him  who  is  almighty.  Before  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
we  feel  so  clearly  in  the  presence  of  real  Being,  when 
all  that  is  created  appears  so  plainly  bordering  upon 
nothingness  ! 

"  Pray  very  much,  most  Reverend  Mother,  for  the  poor 
infidels  who  surround  me  and  for  their  poor  missionary. 
With  you,  I  pray  for  France." 

December  i,  1916. — A  reply  to  an  officer,  a  military  inter- 
preter of  the  army  of  the  East,  who  had  written  from 
Monastir  of  his  decision  to  go  into  a  regiment  of  colonial 
infantry,  and  asked  Father  de  Foucauld  for  a  prayer  : 


338  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  Very  dear  Brother  in  Jesus, 

"  I  have  this  morning  received  your  letters  of  Octo- 
ber 3  and  9,  moved  by  the  thought  of  the  greater  dangers 
that  you  are  perhaps  going  to  meet,  that  you  probably  are 
already  incurring.  You  have  done  quite  right  in  asking 
to  join  the  troops.  We  must  never  hesitate  to  ask  for  posts 
in  which  danger,  sacrifice,  and  devotion  are  greatest :  let 
us  leave  honour  to  any  who  desire  it,  but  let  us  always  ask 
for  danger  and  toil.  As  Christians  we  should  give  an 
example  of  self-sacrifice  and  devotion.  It  is  a  principle  to 
which  w6  must  be  faithful  all  our  life,  in  simplicity,  with- 
out asking  ourselves  whether  pride  does  not  enter  into  our 
conduct :  it  is  our  duty,  let  us  do  it,  and  ask  the  well- 
beloved  Spouse  of  our  soul  that  we  may  do  it  in  all  humility, 
in  all  love  of  God  and  our  neighbour.  .   .  . 

"  Don't  be  anxious  about  your  home.  Trust  yourself 
and  it  to  God,  and  walk  in  peace.  If  God  preserves  your 
life,  which  with  my  whole  heart  I  ask  Him  to  do,  your  home 
will  be  more  blessed  because,  sacrificing  yourself  more,  you 
will  be  more  united  to  Jesus,  and  will  have  a  more  super- 
natural life.  If  you  die,  God  will  keep  your  wife  and  son 
without  you,  as  He  would  have  kept  them  through  you. 
Offer  your  life  to  God  through  the  hands  of  our  Mother,  the 
most  Blessed  Virgin,  in  union  with  the  sacrifice  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  with  all  the  intentions  of  His  Heart,  and 
walk  in  peace.  Be  sure  that  God  will  give  you  the  best  lot 
for  His  own  glory,  the  best  for  your  soul,  the  best  for  the 
souls  of  others,  since  that  is  all  you  ask  of  Him,  since  you 
will  fully  and  without  any  reservation  all  that  He  wills  for 
you. 

"  Our  corner  of  the  Sahara  is  peaceful.  I  pray  for  you 
with  my  whole  heart,  and  at  the  same  time  for  your  home. 

"This  will  reach  you  about  Christmas  and  the  ist  of 
January.  Look  for  me  quite  near  you  on  those  two  days. 
A  happy  and  holy  New  Year  to  you  ;  many  holy  New  Years, 
if  it  be  God's  will ;  and  then  heaven  !  God  guard  you  and 
protect  France  !  May  Jesus,  Mary  and  Joseph  between 
them  guard  you  in  all  your  life  on  earth,  at  the  hour  of  death, 
and  in  eternity. 

**  I  embrace  you,  as  I  love  you  in  the  Heart  of  Jesus. 

"  Ch.  de  Foucauld." 

Father  de  Foucauld  was  certain  he  would  be  attacked, 
and  he  had  long  desired  to  die  for  his  lost  sheep.  He  con- 
tinued to  live  alone  and  in  peace.  Not  a  shadow  of  uneasi- 
ness dimmed  the  joyful  expression  of  his  face.  He  even 
spoke  to  his  friends  of  plans  far  ahead,  because  we  are  made 


TAMANRASSET  339 

for  constant  rebirth  and  fresh  starts,  and  we  always  arrange 
our  lives  for  a  longer  time  than  we  have  to  live. 

In  the  middle  of  1915  he  had  finished  the  Tuareg-F'rench 
dictionary  ;  on  October  28,  1916,  the  diary  says  :  "  Finished 
the  Tuareg  poems."  The  hermit  had  resolved  to  return  to 
France  as  soon  as  he  had  heard  of  victory,  and  to  remain 
there  as  many  months  as  would  be  necessary  to  plant 
firmly  the  Confraternity  of  Prayer  for  the  infidels  in  a 
generous  land  :  then  to  return  to  Ahaggar  and  give  himself 
up  more  completely  and  directly  to  the  religious  apostolate, 
to  preparing  the  way  of  Christ,  now  that  the  tools  of  con- 
version were  ready,  the  methods  tried,  and  that  he  had  per- 
ceived the  first  blades  of  the  coming  harvest. 

God  had  only  made  him  for  sowing.  Charles  de 
Foucauld  never  saw  the  victory  ;  he  never  saw  France  again  ; 
he  went  among  the  good  servants  whom  God  receives  and 
thanks,  because  they  have  saved  their  souls  and  taken  care 
of  the  souls  of  others. 

In  order  to  understand  better  the  causes  that  led  to  the 
death  of  Father  de  Foucauld,  we  must  recapitulate  the 
political  and  military  situation  of  the  Eastern  Sahara  at  this 
time.  To  the  south  of  Tripoli,  in  Fezzan,  Si  Mohamed 
Labed,  the  Senussi  religious  chief,  had  his  headquarters, 
and  had  assembled  in  his  camp  our  enemies  the  Azjer 
Tuaregs.  Senussi,  Azjers,  outlawed  partisans,  whom  the 
Hoggars  called  by  the  common  name  of  Fellagas,  occu- 
pied Rhat,  in  Tripoli,  a  place  abandoned  by  the  Italians, 
where  they  found  stores,  material,  and  munitions  of  war. 
At  some  distance  from  Rhat,  and  in  our  own  possessions, 
Janet,  taken  by  the  Fellagas,  retaken  by  us,  had  been 
finally  evacuated,  on  account  of  the  insurmountable  diffi- 
culty of  re-victualling.  A  little  more  to  the  north  Fort 
Polignac  was  also  evacuated.  A  band  of  rebels  operating 
on  the  Sudan  region  besieged  Agades,  under  the  command 
of  Rhaussen.  Except  for  a  few  tents  scattered  about  the 
Hoggar  mountains,  most  of  the  encampments  depending  on 
Musa  ag  Amastane  were  in  this  same  region  with  the 
flocks.  The  mehari  men  of  Fort  Motylinski  followed  and 
protected  them.  The  garrison  of  the  Fort,  thus  reduced, 
was  not  very  mobile,  and  incapable  of  helping  Father  de 
Foucauld  and  his  harratins. 

On  December  i,  a  Friday,  at  nightfall,  the  Father  was 
alone  at  home,  and  the  door  was  bolted.  His  servant  was 
in  the  village,  as  well  as  two  mehari  riders  of  the  Motylinski 
post,  who  had  come  on  service  business,  and  were  waiting 
for  the  night  to  regain  the  fort. 


340  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Now,  a  score  of  Fellagas  were,  at  that  moment,  near 
Tamanrasset,  and  were  seeking  to  seize  the  marabout  whom 
they  would  have  kept  as  a  hostage,  and  to  plunder  the  fort- 
let  in  which  they  knew  there  were  arms  and  provisions.  As 
the  country  was  denuded  of  troops,  they  were  almost  sure 
of  succeeding.  Nevertheless,  for  their  coup  de  main,  they 
recruited  some  Tuareg  nomads  and  also  some  harratins, 
even  among  those  whom  the  Father  took  care  of,  helped  and 
treated  as  brothers,  and,  in  particular,  an  Amsel  husband- 
man called  El  Madani.  The  people  of  the  reszu  were 
armed  with  Italian  repeating  rifles  (for  five  shots) ;  all  their 
auxiliaries  were  not  armed.  Together,  some  on  foot,  others 
on  camels,  advanced  to  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the 
fortlet,  made  their  camels  crouch  under  the  garden  wall, 
and  silently  surrounded  the  dwelling  of  the  "  marabout  of 
the  Rumis."  There  were  about  forty  of  them.  But  they  had 
to  have  a  member  of  the  Father's  household  with  them  to 
get  the  door  opened.  El  Madani,  knowing  the  habits  and 
the  password  of  his  benefactor,  approached  the  fortlet  door 
and  knocked.  Soon  the  Father  came  and  asked,  as  his 
custom  was,  who  was  there,  and  what  he  wanted.  "  It  is 
the  postman  from  Motylinski,"  was  the  reply.  As  it  was, 
indeed,  the  day  on  which  the  mail  went  through,  the  Father 
opened  the  door  and  put  out  his  hand.  His  hand  was  seized 
and  firmly  held.  Immediately  some  Tuaregs,  hidden  close 
by,  sprang  forward  and  pulled  the  priest  out  of  the  little 
fort,  and,  with  cries  of  victory,  bound  his  hands  behind  his 
back  and  left  him  on  the  platform,  between  the  door  and 
the  small  wall  that  masked  it,  in  the  care  of  one  of  the  men 
of  the  band,  armed  with  a  rifle.  Father  de  Foucauld  knelt 
down  and  remained  motionless;  he  was  praying. 

Here  I  set  down  and  combine  the  evidence  of  Paul,  the 
negro  servant,  and  that  of  another  harratin,  as  they  were 
recorded  in  two  official  reports,  and  I  shall  complete  them 
from  statements  in  various  records.^ 

"  On  December  i,  after  having  served  the  marabout's 
dinner,  I  went  to  my  zariba,  about  five  hundred  yards  from 
there.     It  was  about  7  o'clock,  and  dark. 

"  A  short  time  afterwards,  when  I  had  myself  finished  my 

*  Report  of  Captain  dc  La  Roche,  commanding  that  portion  of 
Hoggar,  to  the  Colonel  Commanding,  December  6,  1916  :  the  report 
of  Captain  Dcpommier,  of  September  11,  1917  ;  the  account  of  the 
assassination  given  to  the  Comtesse  de  P'oucauld  in  May,  1917,  by 
Captain  de  La  Roche  ;  information  gathered  at  Iloggar  by  Lieutenant 
Proust  ;  information  gathered  by  Sub-Lieutenant  Rejot,  of  the  Agurai 
post,  near  Mcknes,  in  January,  1918  ;  various  personal  letters. 


TAMANRASSET  341 

meal,  two  armed  Tuaregs  sprang  into  the  zariba  and  said  to 
me  :  '  Are  you  Paul,  the  marabout's  servant  ?  Why  do 
you  hide  ?  Come  and  see  with  your  own  eyes  what  is  hap- 
pening :  follow  us  1'  I  replied  that  I  was  not  hiding,  and 
that  what  was  happening  was  God's  will. 

"  On  arriving  near  the  marabout's  house,  I  perceived  the 
latter  seated,  his  back  to  the  wall,  on  the  right  of  the  door, 
his  hands  bound  behind  his  back,  looking  straight  in  front 
of  him.  We  did  not  exchange  a  single  word.  I  crouched 
down  as  ordered,  on  the  left  of  the  door.  Numerous 
Tuaregs  surrounded  the  marabout ;  they  were  speaking  and 
gesticulating,  congratulating  and  blessing  the  hartani  El 
Madani,  who  had  drawn  the  marabout  into  the  trap,  fore- 
telling a  life  of  delights  for  him  in  the  other  world  as  a 
reward  for  his  work.  Some  other  Tuaregs  were  in  the 
house,  going  in  and  coming  out,  carrying  various  things 
found  in  the  interior — rifles,  munitions,  stores,  chegga 
(cloth),  etc.  Those  who  surrounded  the  marabout  pressed 
him  with  the  following  questions  :  '  When  does  the  convoy 
come?  Where  is  it?  What  is  it  bringing?  Are  there 
any  soldiers  in  the  bled?  Where  are  they  ?  Have  they  set 
out?  Where  are  the  Motylinski  soldiers  ?'  The  marabout 
remained  impassible,  he  did  not  utter  a  word.  The  same 
questions  were  then  put  to  me,  as  well  as  to  another  hartani, 
who  was  passing  in  the  wady  and  caught  in  the  meantime. 

"  The  whole  did  not  last  half  an  hour. 

"  The  house  was  surrounded  by  sentinels.  At  this 
moment  one  of  the  sentinels  gave  the  alarm,  shouting  : 
'  Here  are  the  Arabs  !  Here  are  the  Arabs  (the  soldiers  of 
Motylinski).'  At  these  cries,  the  Tuaregs,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  three,  two  of  whom  remained  in  front  of  me  and  the 
other  standing  on  guard  near  the  marabout,  went  towards 
the  place  whence  the  cries  came.  A  lively  fusillade  broke 
out.  The  Tuareg  who  was  near  the  marabout  brought  the 
muzzle  of  his  rifle  close  to  the  head  of  the  latter  and  fired. 
The  marabout  neither  moved  nor  cried.  I  did  not  think  he 
was  wounded  :  it  was  only  a  few  minutes  afterwards  that  I 
saw  the  blood  flow,  and  that  the  marabout's  body  slipped 
slowly  down  upon  its  side.     He  was  dead.^ 

^  In  Captain  de  La  Roche's  report  there  is  a  slight  variation  ;  Paul 
expressed  himself  thus  :  "  The  hartani  (whom  they  were  questioning) 
said  that  there  were  two  soldiers  in  the  bled,  who  were  to  leave  Taman- 
rasset  that  same  evening  for  Tarhauhaut,  and  that  they  had  perhaps 
already  set  out.  He  had  no  sooner  said  that,  than  the  soldiers  came  on 
their  camels  ;  they  were  coming  to  greet  the  marabout.  The  enemies 
entered  the  trenches  which  surround  the  Father's  house,  and  all  fired 


342  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  The  Tuaregs  were  not  long  in  returning,  after  having 
killed  the  two  soldiers  who,  on  their  way  through  Taman- 
rasset  were  coming,  as  usual,  to  greet  the  marabout 
before  taking  the  road  back  to  Motylinski.  They  entirely 
stripped  the  marabout  of  all  his  effects,  and  threw  him 
into  the  ditch  which  surrounds  the  house.  They  then 
discussed  what  they  were  going  to  do  with  the  body,  and 
whether  they  were  going  to  kill  me  or  not,  en  kafer  (un- 
believer) like  my  master.  On  the  intervention  of  the  bled 
harratins  and  their  chief,  who,  at  the  noise  of  the  firing, 
had  run  up,  I  was  spared  and  set  at  liberty.  As  to  the 
marabout,  some  wished  to  carry  him  off  and  hide  him, 
others  wanted  to  tie  him  to  a  tree  which  was  not  far  from 
the  house  in  the  wady,  and  let  him  become  the  prey  of  the 
dogs  of  the  Tuareg  Chikkat  of  the  Dag-Rali  tribe,  whom 
they  knew  to  be  the  marabout's  personal  friend.-^ 

"  Lastly,  other  Tuaregs,  who  took  no  interest  in  the  ques- 
tion, and  found  enough  in  the  victuals  discovered  in  the 
house  to  satisfy  their  desires,  put  an  end  to  the  discussion, 
compelling  everyone  to  look  after  his  own  share  of  the  booty. 

"  The  marabout's  body  was  momentarily  forgotten.  The 
assassins  spent  the  night  in  eating  and  drinking.  Next 
morning  the  discussion  was  renewed  without  a  final  solu- 
tion being  reached,  and  the  marabout's  body  was  abandoned 
without  being  mutilated. 

"  In  the  morning  the  Tuaregs  were  able  to  surprise  and 
kill  one  more  isolated  soldier,  who  knew  nothing  of  the 
drama,  and  came  from  Motylinski  and  was  going  to  the 
marabout's  with  the  mail  from  In-Salah. 

"They  left  Tamanrasset  about  noon,  carrying  off  their 
plunder.  The  harratins  then  buried  the  marabout  and 
soldiers.  That  evening  I  set  out  to  go  and  inform  the 
station  at  Fort  Motylinski,  where  I  arrived  at  noon  on 
December  3."^ 

together.  Bu  Aisha  fell  at  once  ;  Bujema  Ben  Brahim  tried  to  run 
away,  but  he  had  hardly  gone  sixty  yards  when  he  fell. 

"The  marabout,  at  tlie  moment  the  mehari  riders  appeared,  made  an 
intuitive  movement,  foreseeing  the  fate  that  was  reserved  for  them. 
Then  .  .  ." 

^  "  Father  de  Foucauld  had  indeed  a  great  affection  for  Chikkat  and 
his  son  Ukscm,  whom  he  made  one  of  his  legatees  :  I  cannot  say  that 
such  noble  feelings  were  reciprocated.  In  fact,  Uksem  participated 
very  actively  in  the  rebellious  movement  that  broke  out  in  February 
among  the  Hoggar,  two  months  after  the  assassination  of  Father  de 
Foucauld."     (Note  by  Captain  Depommier.) 

2  A  different  reading  of  the  same  evidence,  according  to  Captain  de 
La  Roche's  report :  "  They  ate  Ben  Aisha's  camel  and  slept  there.     In 


TAMANRASSET  343 

Captain  Depommier  added  the  following  observations  to 
Paul's  account  : 

"  What  was  the  object  of  the  assassins?  What  feelings 
governed  them  ? 

"  Among  the  primary  feelings  impelling  the  assassins,  we 
must  certainly  put  fanaticism,  '  War  on  the  Roumis.'  For 
a  long  time,  the  propaganda  of  the  Holy  War  had  been 
active  in  the  district ;  many  of  its  propagators  came  from 
the  east  from  amongst  the  Senussi,  and  had  gained  to 
their  cause  the  A'it-Lohen,  a  Hoggar  tribe  bordering  on  the 
Azjer  region.  Father  de  Foucauld  knew  all  about  this. 
(Father  de  Foucauld  himself  had  knowledge  of  a  plot  for 
his  assassination  hatched  in  September  by  the  hartanis  of 
Amsel.  Papers  found  after  his  death  by  Captain  de  La 
Roche  prove  it.  Father  de  Foucauld  never  mentioned  this 
to  anybody.)  However,  that  was  probably  not  the  only 
cause  of  the  assassins'  conduct. 

"  Why  did  they  attack  Father  de  Foucauld  alone  and  a 
priest,  who  had  won,  by  a  thousand  acts  of  charity  and  kind- 
ness, the  sympathy,  if  not  the  gratitude,  of  many  of  those 
who  came  to  him  ?  Must  we  see  in  this  only  the  work  of 
fanatics,  and  think  that  the  latter  disregarded  the  precepts 
of  the  Koran,  which  recommends  the  sparing  of  priests  ? 

"  Another  cause  of  the  crime  appears  much  simpler.  It 
is  this.  Few  things  were  hidden  at  Father  de  Foucauld's, 
and  everybody  knew  he  had  rifles,  carbines,  and  munitions 
in  store ;  it  was  a  question  of  appropriating  these  arms ; 
perhaps  they  might  also  find  a  big  sum  of  money  in  the 
house  of  this  generous  benefactor.  Lastly,  the  band  were 
not  unaware  that  the  Motylinski  garrison  had  been  reduced 
to  a  few  men,  and  could  do  nothing  against  them. 

"  But  then,  why  did  the  robbers  assassinate  Father  de 
Foucauld  when  the  arms  had  been  captured  and  the  house 
was  in  their  possession  ?  Some  of  the  rumours  brought  in 
might  lead  us  to  believe  that  it  was  only  a  matter  of  chance, 
of  circumstances.  Father  de  Foucauld's  guard  would  not 
have  received  the  order  to  kill  him  ;  on  the  contrarv,  Ebeh, 
according  to  the  instructions  received  from  Si-Labed,  his 
chief,  would  have  recommended  his  being  kept  a  prisoner, 

the  morning  they  were  preparing  to  go  away  when  Kuider  ben  Lakhal, 
who  was  bringing  the  mail,  arrived.  The  enemy  took  up  positions, 
some  in  tlie  ditch,  others  on  the  terrace  ;  they  fired  at  him,  but  he  was 
not  hit.  Suddenly  his  camel  baraqued  (knelt  down),  they  then  threw 
themselves  on  Kuider  and  held  his  hands  and  legs.  One  of  them 
shot  him  from  behind  in  the  head.  They  tore  up  the  sack  and  all  the 
papers  in  the  mail." 


342  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"  The  Tuaregs  were  not  long  in  returning,  after  having 
killed  the  two  soldiers  who,  on  their  way  through  Taman- 
rasset  were  coming,  as  usual,  to  greet  the  marabout 
before  taking  the  road  back  to  Motylinski.  They  entirely 
stripped  the  marabout  of  all  his  effects,  and  threw  him 
into  the  ditch  which  surrounds  the  house.  They  then 
discussed  what  they  were  going  to  do  with  the  body,  and 
whether  they  were  going  to  kill  me  or  not,  en  kafer  (un- 
believer) like  my  master.  On  the  intervention  of  the  bled 
harratins  and  their  chief,  who,  at  the  noise  of  the  firing, 
had  run  up,  I  was  spared  and  set  at  liberty.  As  to  the 
marabout,  some  wished  to  carry  him  off  and  hide  him, 
others  wanted  to  tie  him  to  a  tree  which  was  not  far  from 
the  house  in  the  wady,  and  let  him  become  the  prey  of  the 
dogs  of  the  Tuareg  Chikkat  of  the  Dag-Rali  tribe,  whom 
they  knew  to  be  the  marabout's  personal  friend.^ 

"  Lastly,  other  Tuaregs,  who  took  no  interest  in  the  ques- 
tion, and  found  enough  in  the  victuals  discovered  in  the 
house  to  satisfy  their  desires,  put  an  end  to  the  discussion, 
compelling  everyone  to  look  after  his  own  share  of  the  booty. 

"  The  marabout's  body  was  momentarily  forgotten.  The 
assassins  spent  the  night  in  eating  and  drinking.  Next 
morning  the  discussion  was  renewed  without  a  final  solu- 
tion being  reached,  and  the  marabout's  body  was  abandoned 
without  being  mutilated. 

"  In  the  morning  the  Tuaregs  were  able  to  surprise  and 
kill  one  more  isolated  soldier,  who  knew  nothing  of  the 
drama,  and  came  from  Motylinski  and  was  going  to  the 
marabout's  with  the  mail  from  In-Salah. 

"They  left  Tamanrasset  about  noon,  carrying  off  their 
plunder.  The  harratins  then  buried  the  marabout  and 
soldiers.  That  evening  I  set  out  to  go  and  inform  the 
station  at  Fort  Motylinski,  where  I  arrived  at  noon  on 
December  3."^ 

together.     Bu  Aisha  fell  at  once  ;    Bujema  Ben  Brahim  tried  to  run 
away,  but  he  had  hardly  gone  sixty  yards  when  he  fell. 

"The  marabout,  at  the  moment  the  mehari  riders  appeared,  made  an 
intuitive  movement,  foreseeing  the  fate  that  was  reserved  for  them. 
Then  .  .  ." 

1  "  Father  de  Foucauld  had  indeed  a  great  affection  for  Chikkat  and 
his  son  Uksem,  whom  he  made  one  of  his  legatees  ;  I  cannot  say  that 
such  noble  feelings  were  reciprocated.  In  fact,  Uksem  participated 
very  actively  in  the  rebellious  movement  that  broke  out  in  February 
among  the  Hoggar,  two  months  after  the  assassination  of  Father  de 
Foucauld."     (Note  by  Captain  Depommier.) 

2  A  different  reading  of  the  same  evidence,  according  to  Captain  de 
La  Roche's  report :  "  They  ate  Ben  Aisha's  camel  and  slept  there.     In 


TAMANRASSET  343 

Captain  Depommier  added  the  following  observations  to 
Paul's  account  : 

"  What  was  the  object  of  the  assassins?  What  feelings 
governed  them  ? 

"  Among  the  primary  feelings  impelling  the  assassins,  we 
must  certainly  put  fanaticism,  '  War  on  the  Roumis.'  For 
a  long  time,  the  propaganda  of  the  Holy  War  had  been 
active  in  the  district;  many  of  its  propagators  came  from 
the  east  from  amongst  the  Senussi,  and  had  gained  to 
their  cause  the  Ait-Lohen,  a  Hoggar  tribe  bordering  on  the 
Azjer  region.  Father  de  Foucauld  knew  all  about  this. 
(Father  de  Foucauld  himself  had  knowledge  of  a  plot  for 
his  assassination  hatched  in  September  by  the  hartanis  of 
Amsel.  Papers  found  after  his  death  by  Captain  de  La 
Roche  prove  it.  Father  de  Foucauld  never  mentioned  this 
to  anybody.)  However,  that  was  probably  not  the  only 
cause  of  the  assassins'  conduct. 

"  Why  did  they  attack  Father  de  Foucauld  alone  and  a 
priest,  who  had  won,  by  a  thousand  acts  of  charity  and  kind- 
ness, the  sympathy,  if  not  the  gratitude,  of  many  of  those 
who  came  to  him  ?  Must  we  see  in  this  only  the  work  of 
fanatics,  and  think  that  the  latter  disregarded  the  precepts 
of  the  Koran,  which  recommends  the  sparing  of  priests  ? 

"  Another  cause  of  the  crime  appears  much  simpler.  It 
is  this.  Few  things  were  hidden  at  Father  de  Foucauld's, 
and  everybody  knew  he  had  rifles,  carbines,  and  munitions 
in  store ;  it  was  a  question  of  appropriating  these  arms ; 
perhaps  they  might  also  find  a  big  sum  of  money  in  the 
house  of  this  generous  benefactor.  Lastly,  the  band  were 
not  unaware  that  the  Motylinski  garrison  had  been  reduced 
to  a  few  men,  and  could  do  nothing  against  them. 

"  But  then,  why  did  the  robbers  assassinate  Father  de 
Foucauld  when  the  arms  had  been  captured  and  the  house 
was  in  their  possession  ?  Some  of  the  rumours  brought  in 
might  lead  us  to  believe  that  it  was  only  a  matter  of  chance, 
of  circumstances.  Father  de  Foucauld's  guard  would  not 
have  received  the  order  to  kill  him  ;  on  the  contrary,  Ebeh, 
according  to  the  instructions  received  from  Si-Labed,  his 
chief,  would  have  recommended  his  being  kept  a  prisoner, 

the  morning  they  were  preparing  to  go  away  when  Kuider  ben  Lakhal, 
who  was  bringing  the  mail,  arrived.  The  enemy  took  up  positions, 
some  in  the  ditch,  others  on  the  terrace  ;  they  fired  at  him,  but  he  was 
not  hit.  Suddenly  his  camel  baraqucd  (knelt  down),  they  then  threw 
themselves  on  Kuider  and  held  his  hands  and  legs.  One  of  them 
shot  him  from  behind  in  the  head.  They  tore  up  the  sack  and  all  the 
papers  in  the  mail." 


346  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

"Turkey,  incited  by  Germany,  wished  to  make  the 
Tuaregs  in  the  first  place,  then  all  the  desert  tribes,  revolt 
against  us.  The  agents  of  thq  policy  saw  very  quickly  that 
their  object  could  not  be  attained  if  Father  de  Foucauld 
remained  in  the  midst  of  the  Northern  Tuaregs,  whence  his 
influence  radiated.  They  decided  to  seize  him  and  keep 
him  as  a  hostage,  but  their  resolution  was  not,  according  to 
the  General,  to  put  him  to  death.  A  band  was  launched 
towards  Tamanrasset,  etc." 

In  fact,  it  seems  quite  probable  that,  as  the  Holy  War  was 
being  preached  in  the  whole  of  French  Africa,  the  chief  of 
the  band  who  seized  Father  de  Eoucauld  wished  to  get  rid 
of  the  principal  cause  which  prevented  the  defection  of  the 
Hoggar  Tuaregs — that  is  to  say,  the  great  and  dominating 
influence  of  the  beloved  hermit  of  Tamanrasset.  If  it  is 
contended  that  this  chief  was  too  poor  a  creature  to 
allow  himself  to  be  led  by  considerations  of  a  general  char- 
acter, and  that  the  allurement  of  gain  suffices  to  explain  his 
aggression  and  the  ruffianly  act  of  his  troop,  it  is  very  easy 
to  admit  that  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  insurrection  made 
use  of  these  bandits  of  a  second  order,  and  associated  them 
with  vaster  plans.  We  must  think  that  the  Musulman 
world  obeys  very  well-informed  chiefs,  capable  of  very 
broad  designs. 

I  ought  to  make  several  other  remarks  on  this  last  act  of 
life,  death,  for  which  our  whole  life  prepares  us,  if  we  will. 
Father  de  Foucauld,  since  his  conversion,  never  for  one  day 
stopped  thinking  of  that  hour  after  which  there  are  no 
others,  and  which  is  the  supreme  opportunity  offered  for  our 
repentance  and  acquisition  of  merit.  He  died  on  the  first 
Friday  of  December,  the  day  consecrated  to  the  Sacred 
Heart,  and  in  the  manner  that  he  wished,  having  always 
desired  a  violent  death  dealt  in  hatred  of  the  Christian  name, 
accepted  with  love  for  the  salvation  of  the  infidels  of  his 
land  of  election — Africa.  Betrayed  and  bound,  he  refused  to 
reply  to  the  insults  as  well  as  to  the  questions  of  those  who 
surrounded  him,  and  said  not  a  word  again,  imitating  in  that 
his  divine  model  :  Jesus  autem  tacebat.  May  it  be  main- 
tained that  he  died  a  martyr,  in  the  exact  sense  of  that  word, 
according  to  Catholic  doctrine?  Of  this  I  shall  say  what 
I  know. 

Two  weeks  after  the  assassination,  when  the  information 
gathered  was  brought  to  In-Salah,  the  rumour  went  about 
that  the  assassins  had  ordered  Father  de  Foucauld  to 
apostatize  and  recite  the  shehada — that  is  to  say,  the  form 
of  Musulman  prayer — and  that  he  had  refused  :   a  letter 


TAMANRASSET  347 

addressed  to  M.  de  Blic,  to  announce  his  brother-in-law's 
death,  is  the  proof.  Neither  Captain  de  La  Roche's  report 
nor  that  of  Captain  Depommier  mentions  it.  But  that 
Fatlier  de  Foucauld,  during  that  half-hour  of  bad  treatment 
and  insults  which  he  endured  before  being  killed,  was  called 
upon  to  abjure,  is  very  probable  for  two  reasons  :  first,  as 
a  Saharan  officer  writes  to  me,  because  the  contrary  would 
be  the  exception  with  Musulmans  who  never  separate  death 
from  the  shehada;  in  the  second  place,  because  the  con- 
versation reported  by  the  negro  Paul  was  repeated  by  him 
in  1921.  I  heard,  indeed,  that  when  questioned  again  on 
the  subject  of  the  murder.  Father  de  Foucauld's  servant 
replied:  "In  my  presence,  the  enemy  simply  asked: 
'  ^X''here  is  the  convoy  ?  Where  are  the  people  ?'  After  de 
Foucauld's  death,  I  heard  them  say  between  themselves  : 
*  He  was  asked  to  say  the  shehada,  but  he  replied:  "I  a^n 
going  to  die."  This  last  sentence  was  said  by  the  Ait- 
Lohen,  whose  names  I  do  not  know." 

To-day  it  appears,  therefore,  probable  that,  according  to 
custom.  Father  de  Foucauld  was  called  upon  to  abjure.  It 
appears  certain  that  the  assassination  did  not  immediately 
follow  his  refusal  :  the  arrival  of  the  Motylinski  mehari 
riders  was  the  determining  cause  of  his  death.  The  first 
idea  was  to  make  Father  de  Foucauld  a  prisoner ;  an  oppor- 
tunity of  killing  him  was  offered,  and  he  was  killed  for  fear 
that  he  might  escape  or  be  delivered.  However,  hatred  of 
Christians  cannot  be  considered  as  unconnected  with  this 
drama,  and  the  domestic  Paul  is  of  this  opinion,  since,  in 
his  evidence,  he  says  that  he  also  was  threatened  with  death, 
as  an  unbeliever. 

It  must  also  be  remarked  that  Father  de  Foucauld,  having 
built  the  fortlet  so  that  the  poor  people  of  the  village  might 
be  sheltered  with  him,  never  would  abandon  them,  and  that 
it  was  therefore  through  his  obstinate  charity  that  he  died. 

When  the  people  of  the  rezzu  had  retired  in  the  direction 
of  Debnat  (west  of  Fort  Motylinski)  the  victims'  bodies  did 
not  remain  long  abandoned.  The  harratins,  being  no 
longer  afraid,  approached  and  interred  the  victims  in  the 
ditch  of  the  little  fort,  a  few  yards  from  the  place  where 
Father  de  Foucauld  fell.  His  body  was  not  freed  from  the 
bonds  by  which  his  arms  were  bound,  but  after  having 
deposited  it  in  the  ditch,  the  harratins,  who  knew  the  Chris- 
tians put  their  dead  into  coffins,  placed  stones,  sheets  of 
paper,  and  fragments  of  wooden  cases  around  the  body. 
Then  thev  walled  up  the  door  of  the  fortlet. 

The  first  thing  the  commander  of  the  Hoggar  district  did 


348  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

was  to  set  off  in  pursuit  of  the  band  of  Fellagas.  The 
reszu  was  "hooked"  on  December  17,  and  lost  several 
men.^  It  was  only  on  December  21  that  Captain  de  La 
Roche  was  able  to  go  to  Tamanrasset.  He  came  accom- 
panied by  a  sergeant  and  a  soldier.  Immediately  on  his 
arrival  he  went  and  examined  the  graves,  and  had  the  layer 
of  earth  which  covered  the  bodies  made  thicker ;  he  planted 
a  cross  on  the  Father's  grave ;  and  then  had  military  honours 
paid  to  those  who  had  died  for  France.  Only  then  did  the 
officer  enter  the  fortified  hermitage. 

"  The  inside  of  the  kasha  had  been  pillaged;  the  bandits 
carried  off  everything  of  any  value.  The  remainder  was 
thrown  into  disorder,  torn  and  partly  burned.  The  whole 
library  and  all  the  papers  were  scattered  about  the  room 
which  served  as  chapel  and  room.  Here  are  the  various 
things  found  : 

"  Articles  of  worship  and  devotion  and  pious  books;  the 
four  volumes  of  the  dictionary  and  the  two  volumes  of  poetry 
could  be  reconstructed  in  their  entirety ;  stationery,  a 
colonial  helmet,  a  camp-table,  a  camp-bed,  a  big  ther- 
mometer ;  a  certain  number  of  letters  written  by  the  Father 
on  December  i,  sealed  and  stamped,  etc."^ 

Among  the  "articles  of  worship  "  and  the  "articles  of 
devotion  "  found  in  the  fortlet,  there  was  the  Father's 
rosary ;  the  Stations  of  the  Cross  made  of  little  boards  on 
which  he  had  drawn,  with  the  pen  and  very  finely,  scenes 
of  the  Passion  ;  a  wooden  cross,  with  a  very  finely  drawn 
representation  of  the  body  of  Christ.  In  stirring  up  with 
his  foot  the  ground  on  which  all  sorts  of  things  had 
been  thrown,  the  young  officer  found  in  the  sand  a 
small  monstrance  in  which  the  Host  appeared  to  be  still 
enclosed.  He  picked  it  up  respectfully,  wiped  it,  and 
enveloped  it  in  a  linen  cloth.  "  I  was  very  worried,"  he 
relates  later,  "  for  I  felt  it  was  not  for  me  thus  to  carry  the 
good  God." 

When  the  time  arrived  to  leave  Tamanrasset,  he 
took  the  little  monstrance,  put  it  in  front  of  him  on 
the  saddle  of  his  mehari,   and  thus  did  the  thirty  miles 

*  Later  on,  in  February,  1918,  a  detachment  of  Saharan  troops, 
operating  against  the  rebels,  found  in  a  camp  at  188  miles  to  the 
east  of  Tamanrasset.  sandals,  kitchen  utensils,  scissors,  and  different 
things  belonging  to  Father  de  Foucauld.  In  the  fight  seven  men  of  the 
camp  were  killed.  (Note  of  Sub-Lieutenant  Bejot,  of  the  Aguraii' 
station.) 

2  Report  of  December  27,  1916,  to  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  command- 
ing the  oasis  territory  in  the  Azjer  country.  Communicated  by  the 
Governor-General  of  Algeria. 


TAMANRASSET  349 

which  separate  Tamanrasset  from  Fort  Motylinski.  This 
was  the  first  procession  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  the 
Sahara.  When  he  arrived  at  the  station  his  embarrassment 
was  great.  On  the  way  M.  de  La  Roche  remembered  a 
conversation  that  he  had  had  one  day  with  Father  de 
Foucauld.  When  he  said  to  him  :  "  You  have  permission  to 
keep  the  Blessed  Sacrament ;  but,  if  a  misfortune  happened 
to  you,  what  should  be  done?"  the  Father  replied  :  "  There 
are  two  answers  :  make  a  perfect  act  of  contrition,  and 
administer  communion  to  yourself,  or  send  the  consecrated 
Host  to  the  White  Fathers  by  post."  He  could  not  make 
up  his  mind  to  do  the  second.  Having  called  a  non- 
commissioned officer  of  the  post,  an  old  ecclesiastical 
student  who  was  a  fervent  Christian,  M.  de  La  Roche  held 
counsel  with  him.  They  thought  it  best  for  one  of  them 
to  give  himself  communion.  The  officer  "  put  on  white 
gloves  he  had  never  worn  "  to  open  the  cover  of  the 
monstrance  and  assure  himself  that  he  was  not  mistaken 
that  the  Host  was  there.  It  was  there  all  right,  just  as  the 
priest  had  consecrated  and  adored  it.  The  two  young  men 
asked  one  another:  "Will  you  receive  it,  or  shall  I?" 
Tlien  the  non-commissioned  officer  knelt  down  and  made 
his  communion.^ 

Of  the  numerous  expressions  of  respect  and  admiration 
which  were  addressed  to  Father  de  Foucauld's  family,  I 
shall  only  publish  the  letter  of  the  chief  of  the  Hoggar 
Tuaregs,  and  those  of  the  Bishop  of  Viviers. 

Letter  of  Musa  ag  Amastane  to  Madame  de  Blic. 

"  Praise  to  the  one  God. 

*'  To  her  Ladyship  our  friend  Marie,  the  sister  of  Charles 
our  marabout,  whom  traitors  and  deceivers,  people  of 
Azjer  assassinated,  from  Tebeul  Musa  ag  Amastane, 
umenokal  of  Hoggar. 

"  Much  greeting  to  our  aforesaid  friend  Marie  I  As  soon 
as  I  heard  of  the  death  of  our  friend,  your  brother  Charles, 
my  eyes  closed ;  all  is  dark  to  me  :  I  wept  and  I  shed  many 
tears,  and  I  am  in  great  mourning.  His  death  is  a  great 
grief  to  me. 

"I  am  far  from  where  the  thieving  traitors  and  deceivers 
killed  him ;  that  is  to  say,  they  killed  him  in  Ahaggar ;  and 
I  am  in  Adrar,  but,  if  it  please  God,  we  shall  kill  those  who 

^  Statement  made  by  Captain  de  La  Roche  to  the  Comtesse  de 
Foucauld,  May,  1917  ;  statement  also  made  at  Maison  Carree,  and  letter 
to  M.  de  Blic,  December  27,  1916. 


350  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

killed  the  marabout,  until  we  have  taken  our  vengeance  to 
the  full. 

"  Say  good-day  for  me  to  your  daughters,  your  husband, 
and  all  your  friends,  and  tell  them  :  Charles  the  marabout 
has  died  not  only  for  you,  but  for  us  all.  May  God  have 
mercy  on  him,  and  may  we  meet  him  in  paradise  ! 

"  The  20  ofSafar,  1335  {December  13,  1916). 

"  Translated  at  Fort  Motylimki,  December  25,  1916."* 

Letter  of  Mgr.  Bonnet,  Bishop  of  Viviers,  to  Madame 

de  Blic. 

"  Episcopal  Residence,  Viviers, 
"  January  17,  1917. 

"  Madame, 

"  The  sorrow  which  afflicts  you,  touches  me  too  pain- 
fully for  me  to  keep  from  uniting  my  legitimate  and  pro- 
found regrets  to  yours. 

"  I  feel  most  acutely  your  loss  in  the  person  of  the 
Reverend  Father  de  Foucauld.  In  my  long  life  I  have 
known  few  more  loving,  sensitive,  generous,  and  ardent 
souls  than  his.  God  had  so  entered  into  him,  that  his  whole 
being  overflowed  with  light  and  charity. 

*'  You  know  better  than  I  do  what  hold  the  great  and  holy 
love  of  Church,  country,  and  family  had  on  his  heart  and 
how  great  was  his  ardour ;  you  know  how  heroic  was 
his  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls :  his  departure  for 
heaven  will  be  an  irreparable  misfortune  for  the  countries 
whose  return  to  the  Faith  he  so  skilfully  and  courageously 
prepared,  unless  the  blood  which  has  just  watered  them  be 
for  them  a  sowing  of  Christian  seed. 

*  The  amenokal  of  Hoggar  died  at  the  end  of  ig20,  and  his  last  words 
were  to  recommend  the  people  of  Hoggar  to  be  faithful  to  France. 
Thus  he  bore  in  mind  Father  de  Foucauld's  advice.  The  Father  called 
him  "  my  best  friend  among  the  Tuaregs."  The  letter  which  informed 
me  of  this  event  first  told  of  Musa's  illness,  the  cause  of  which  was 
not  known.  On  December  22,  he  rested  more  calmly  than  before,  and 
his  near  relations  left  him  with  the  hope  that  he  would  soon  be  cured  ; 
but  on  December  23,  at  one  in  the  morning,  he  asked  to  say  his  prayers, 
and  repeated  several  times  :  "  Follow  the  good  road  of  the  French," 
and  expired  in  the  presence  of  his  two  negroes,  Othman  and  Ilbak.  On 
December  23,  at  7,  the  burial  took  place  before  the  whole  population  in 
tears. 

"  Musa  Ag  Amastane  was  Commander  of  the  Legion  of  Honour, 
and  military  honours  were  paid  him  by  the  Saharan  detachment  com- 
manded by  an  officer. 

"  Immediately  after  the  ceremony,  the  nobles,  imrad  chiefs  and 
notables  went  to  the  commander  of  the  station  and  swore  to  follow 
Musa's  counsels  and  to  remain  faithful  to  the  French  Government." 


TAMANRASSET  351 

**  I  should  not  be  comforted  in  the  misfortune  which 
strikes  you  if  I  did  not  consider  that  your  dear  and 
venerated  martyr  is  more  living"  than  ever,  that  he  has 
ceased  to  suffer,  but  does  not  cease  to  love  us ;  that  he  is 
nearer  God,  more  powerful  over  His  Heart,  and  that  he 
may  make  Him  merciful  to  our  afflicted  Church,  to  wounded 
France,  to  my  diocese  that  petitions  him,  to  his  family 
which  mourns  him. 

"With,  etc.  .   .  . 

**J.  M.  Frederic, 

"  Bishop  of  Viviers." 

The  same  year,  thanking  Madame  de  Blic  for  the 
memento  he  had  received,  Mgr.  Bonnet  wrote  this  second 
letter,  dated  All  Saints'  Day  : 

"  Episcopal  Residence,  Viviers, 

"November  i,  1917. 

"The  precious  picture  could  not  have  reached  me  more 
opportunely  than  on  the  day  when  my  thoughts  turn  to 
him  in  ardent  memory  and  fervent  prayer  amongst  the 
immense  legion  of  saints  that  the  Church  proposes  for  our 
especial  remembrance  to-day.  The  public  veneration  that 
I  give  him  along  with  others,  I  offer  every  day  in  the 
secret  of  my  soul  ;  I  owe  him  so  much  !  He  so  often 
prayed  effectively  for  my  diocese  and  me  during  his  life, 
and  I  must  be  silent  about  all  the  favours  he  has  granted 
me  since  he  is  nearer  God."^ 

In  December,  191 7,  the  Father's  great  friend,  General 
Laperrine,  passed  through  Hoggar.  A  few  weeks  later  he 
wrote  to  Madame  de  Blic  from  Timbuctoo  : 

"  I  called  at  Tamanrasset  on  December  9.  I  considered 
that  the  last  wishes  of  your  brother,  saying  that  he  wished 
to  be  buried  where  he  fell,  had  been  taken  too  literally,  and 
he  was  left  in  the  provisorv  grave  made  by  his  servant  Paul, 
in  the  ditch  of  the  house,  a  ditch  which  risked  being  flooded 
with  water  at  the  first  rains. 

*'  On  my  return  from  Motylinski,  on  December  15,  I  had 
him  exhumed  and  interred  on  the  top  of  the  hill  on  which 
his  borj  is,  and  about  200  yards  to  the  west  of  this  one 
(the  hill  is  a  simple  undulation  of  the  ground,  but  isolated 
in  the  middle  of  the  plain,  and  is  seen  from  very  far).     The 

^  Mgr.  Bonnet,  whom  I  questioned  at  Viviers  on  the  subject  of  Father 
de  Foucauld,  thus  summed  up  his  judgment :  "  He  was  a  great  character, 
a  great  man,  and  a  great  saint." 


352  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

three  native  soldiers  killed  at  the  same  time  as  he,  two  of 
whom  were  the  involuntary  cause  of  his  death  through  try- 
ing to  deliver  him,  are  buried  at  his  feet.  The  very  simple 
grave,  without  any  inscription,  is  surmounted  by  a  black 
wooden  cross,  but  larger  and  stouter  than  the  one  which  was 
on  the  grave  in  the  ditch.  Moreover,  from  its  position,  it 
is  seen  from  a  long  way  off. 

"  M.  Lutaud,  Governor-General  of  Algeria,  got  a  sum 
voted  to  erect  a  monument  to  him  at  Tamanrasset;  in  order 
to  do  this  without  slighting  his  last  wishes,  I  intend  to 
leave  the  grave  as  it  is,  but  about  five  yards  off,  on  the 
ridge  of  the  same  undulation  of  the  ground,  I  mean  to  put 
up  a  large  cross  of  Hoggar  granite,  a  kind  of  mission  cross, 
a  cross  which  will  be  seen  from  a  great  distance. 

"  Your  brother  was,  as  it  were,  mummified  when  we 
exhumed  him,  and  could  still  be  recognized.  The  transla- 
tion was  very  moving." 

In  another  letter,  addressed  to  Father  Voillard,  of  the 
fWhite  Fathers,  the  General  said:^  "The  ball  entered 
behind  the  right  ear  and  came  out  through  the  left  eye.  He 
was  buried  in  the  position  in  which  he  was  killed  ;  kneeling, 
his  elbows  tied  behind  his  back.  We  were  obliged  to  inter 
him  in  that  position,  so  as  not  to  break  his  limbs  :  we  simply 
wrapped  him  in  a  shroud." 

Whilst  the  last  burial  was  being  carried  out  by  his  friend, 
the  General  was  very  much  affected  ;  he  was  astonished  that 
the  body  was  without  any  break  and  the  face  so  recog- 
nizable, while  what  remained  of  the  Arabs  buried  near  him 
was  only  a  little  dust.  One  of  the  native  soldiers  then  said 
to  him  :  "Why  are  you  astonished  that  he  is  thus  preserved, 
General  ?  It  is  not  astonishing,  since  he  was  a  great 
marabout." 

These  words  were  reported  to  me  by  a  witness  who  heard 
them. 

When  he  thus  gave  Charles  de  Foucauld  a  final  resting- 
place,  and  placed  it  under  the  sign  of  the  cross,  which  alone 
explains  the  life  and  death  of  the  hermit,  the  General  did 
not  suspect  that  he  was  marking  the  place  of  his  own  tomb. 
We  know  that  this  other  great  servant  of  his  country,  a  con- 
queror who  spared  bloodshed  to  friends  and  foes,  after 
having  so  many  times,  at  the  head  of  his  mehari  riders, 
crossed  the  Sahara  which  he  had  pacified,  was  led  to  attempt 
crossing  his  kingdom  by  way  of  the  air  in  February,  1920. 
The  aeroplane,  which  started  from  Tamanrasset  and  was  to 
carry  him  in  a  few  hours  as  far  as  Senegal,  got  lost  among 
^  Letter  of  December  15,  1917. 


TAMANRASSET  353 

the  fogs  and  fell  in  the  desert.  Wounded  in  the  fall,  hav- 
ing suffered  without  complaining  for  many  days,  exhausted 
by  hunger  and  thirst,  Laperrine  died  in  the  Anesberakka 
region  on  March  6,  and  his  body,  wrapped  in  the  linen  of 
the  aeroplane,  was  put  on  the  back  of  a  camel,  and  again 
took  the  road  to  Tamanrasset.  He  was  buried  near  his 
friend;  Father  de  Foucauld  took  him  in  on  his  way. 

What  has  become  of  the  hermitages  inhabited  by  Father 
de  Foucauld  in  various  parts  of  the  Sahara?  I  tried  to  find 
out,  and  some  evidence  has  reached  me. 

The  "Fraternity"  at  Beni-Abbes  was  put  under  the 
custody  of  the  French  officers  of  the  Arab  Office.  It  is  used 
as  a  shelter  for  poor  nomads  who  cross  the  plateau.  No 
doubt  the  chapel  has  lost  its  priest,  who  each  morning  bade 
Christ  to  com.e  down  to  where  He  was  more  unknown  than 
in  Bethlehem.  But  the  altar  remains;  the  canvases  on 
which  Jesus,  Mary,  and  Saints  are  represented,  hang  on 
the  walls ;  the  thick  close  columns  continue  to  support 
date-wood  joists  and  the  roof  of  leaves  and  earth  which 
the  rain  had  once  got  through.  They  have  kept  on  the  gar- 
dener Hajj  ben  Ahmed,  who  receives  his  wages  regularly 
from  France.  Some  vegetables  grow  in  the  garden,  and 
the  palm  grove  has  prospered. 

At  In-Salah,  nothing  is  left.  The  pied-d-terre  of  the 
traveller  is  covered  with  the  sand,  which  at  present  threatens 
the  enclosure  walls,  and  will  break  them  down  at  the  first 
simoom. 

I  have  also  bad  news  of  the  Kudiat  cabin.  Some  day 
Ave  shall  certainly  hear  of  the  Father's  observatory  being 
destroyed;  in  the  month  of  March,  1920,  it  was  very  much 
damaged  by  field-mice,  which  swarm  up  there. 

The  Tamanrasset  fortlet  has  held  out.  France  occupies 
and  repairs  it.  It  is  used  as  lodgings  for  the  lieutenant  and 
a  shelter  for  the  bureaus  of  the  detachment  of  the  Saharan 
Company.  The  soldiers  cultivate  the  garden;  they  have 
even  sown  flowers  in  it,  which  one  of  my  friends,  a  traveller, 
saw  blooming  in  February,  1920. 

We  may  hope  that  these  relics  of  earth  and  stone  will  not 
disappear  too  quickly.  But  the  memory  of  the  man  who 
did  not  seek,  like  the  rest  of  men,  a  convenient  house, 
defended  against  cold,  heat,  and  the  passer-by,  will  con- 
tinue and  increase.  The  name  of  de  Foucauld  will  be  cited 
among  those  of  the  servants  of  God;  he  will  be  exalted  in 
Christian  communities  which  will  not  fail  to  rise  up  in  the 
heart  of  Islam.     Kabyles,  Arabs,  blacks,   Hindoos,   their 

23 


354  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

souls  opened  to  the  truth,  and  seeing  what  a  price  was  paid 
for  their  ransom,  will  remember  the  apostles  who  worked 
for  them  in  poverty,  obscurity,  and  extreme  indigence  of 
consolation.  May  the  new  missionaries  hasten  on  the  work 
of  evangelization  prepared  by  Cardinal  Lavigerie,  by  the 
White  Fathers,  by  the  great  brotherly  monk  Charles  de 
Foucauld,  sent  to  Africa  as  a  sign  of  mercy,  and  as  the 
messenger  of  the  salvation  which  is  to  be  hers. 

Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  art  with  us,  be  with  the  host  of 
peoples  and  tribes  that  depend  on  us.  Sole  remedy  of 
death,  Living  God,  bring  to  Thyself  the  souls  of  the 
Musulmans  so  long  left  in  error.  And,  for  that,  first  touch 
some  essentially  missionar}^  hearts  in  France,  a  still  un- 
dependable  mother  with  too  little  affection  for  her  millions 
of  African  and  Asiatic  children.  Thy  servant  Charles  de 
Foucauld  has  shown  the  way ;  he  endured  their  pride,  their 
hardness,  sometimes  their  treachery ;  he  implored  Thee  so 
much  for  them  ;  he  was  a  monk  without  a  monastery,  a 
master  without  disciples,  a  penitent  and  a  solitary,  ever 
hoping  for  a  time  he  was  not  to  see.  He  died  at  his  work. 
For  his  sake,  have  pity  on  them  !  Give  part  of  Thy  riches 
to  the  poor  of  Islam,  and  forgive  the  nations  of  the  baptized 
their  inveterate  love  of  money. 


APPEN  DIX 


ASSOCIATION 

For  the  Growth  of  the  Missionary  Spirit; 
especially  in  our  french  colonies.^ 

TO  found  this  Association  was  one  of  the  constant 
thoughts  of  Father  de  Foucauld.  "  After  the  peace," 
he  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends,-  "  I  shall  do  all  in  my 
power  for  the  final  establishment  of  our  Union,  going  where 
necessary  and  remaining  in  France  as  long  as  necessary. 
May  the  will  of  Jesus  Christ  be  done  in  this  and  in  all 
things." 

The  rules  of  this  Union,  drawn  up  in  1909,  were  abridged 
and  simplified  in  1913  and  1916.  They  are  inspired  by 
two  essential  ideas.  The  first  is  that  at  present  a  vigorous 
effort  of  evangelization  of  the  infidels  must  be  made,  and 
that  there  is  great  negligence  among  Christians  with  respect 
to  this  primary  duty,  notably  among  us  French  people, 
who  have  not  yet  worked  at  the  evangelization  "  of  our 
Musulman  brothers,  who  are  French  subjects."  The 
second,  which  gives  the  Association  its  distinctive  char- 
acter, is  that  this  hard  work  will  not  be  accomplished  if  we 
only  try  to  get  alms  and  prayers.  We  must  also  ask  the 
greatest  possible  number  of  Catholics  to  bear  the  Infidels 
always  in  mind,  to  have  a  "  missionary  spirit."  They  will 
get  it  by  a  serioiisly  Christian  life  which  will  maintain  this 
thought  and  make  it  pass  into  action.  The  means  to  arrive 
at  this  sincere,  profound,  and  active  Christianity,  is  to  bind 
ourselves  to  the  observance  of  a  rule,  and  organize  our- 
selves into  an  Association. 

The  thought  of  Father  de  Foucauld  embraced  all  infidels. 
Consequentl}^  according  to  him,  each  mother-country 
should  be  called  on  to  constitute  a  similar  Union  for  its  own 
colonial  infidels,  who  could  not  ordinarily  attain  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  religion  except  through  the  Christian 
peoples  upon  whom  they  depend. 

There  is  hardly  a  broader,  more  fraternal,  or  a  more 
urgent   idea.      Approved  first   in    1909  by  Mgr.    Bonnet, 

^  I  asked  for  this  note  from  one  of  the  men  who  were  the  friends  of 
Father  de  Foucauld  and  talked  with  him  about  the  Association, 
2  Letter  to  M.  VA.hh€  Laurain,  All  Saints'  Day,  1916. 

355 


556  CHARLES  DE  FOUCAULD 

Bishop  of  Viviers,  and  by  Mgr.  Livinhac,  Superior-General 
of  the  White  Fathers,  then  by  Cardinal  Amette  in  1919,  the 
Association  has  received  the  individual  and  collective 
adhesion  of  persons  or  communities.  As  soon  as  it  is 
known  it  will,  no  doubt,  attract  many  hearts.^  It  is  worthy 
to  succeed  from  its  breadth  and  generosity,  from  the  very 
help  with  which  it  furnishes  the  clergy  and  faithful  in  set- 
ting forth  a  rule  of  life,  a  discipline,  directed  towards  the 
apostolate  under  all  its  forms.  It  is  the  one  legacy,  the 
last  word  of  Father  de  Foucauld  to  his  friends. 

*  The  President  of  the  Association  is  His  Grace  Mgr.  Le  Roy, 
Archbishop  of  Caria,  Superior-General  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Apply  for  admission  or  information  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Association  Foucauld,  30,  Rue  Lhommond,  Paris,  V. 


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