They did not go there merely
as ascetics fleeing from the world, but also as philanthropists, prepared
to sacrifice their lives for the good of humanity. Their mission was to
drain and to cultivate this most unhealthy part of the Double, and to
improve the condition of the peasants who eked out a miserable existence
there. With what success the monks have applied themselves to their task
of changing the climate by drainage, and assisting the peasants in their
struggle, is proved by the sentiments of the people towards them. When,
under the Third Republic, the unauthorized religious orders were expelled
from France, the inhabitants of the Double threatened to resist by force
any official interference with the Trappists at Echourgnac, and the
agitation was so great that the counsel given by the local authorities
to the Government was to leave these monks alone. It was acted upon. The
Trappists, like the Carthusians, were left undisturbed in this and in other
parts of the country.
When I had turned south-westward, on the road to Montpont, I saw nothing
for five or six miles that corresponded to what I had been told of the
Double. Yellow corn-fields and green meadows covered the fertile plain.
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