164

THE APARTMENT OF THE NUN.

Among other parts of the building they were conducted to the chamber of the new-made nun. The bed was strewed with flowers, marigolds and dahlias; and a crown of jilly-flowers lay upon the pillow. Here every thing was new; yet all would grow old along with the inmate.

A new, bright lamp stood upon the table. As Mrs. Delville looked at it, she could not avoid thinking of the silent inmate of the chamber, through the long, chill evenings of winter: it was a most painful contrast to a cheerful home. The heart of a mother could not view this picture untouched, and she turned away in tears.

Ellen too was affected by the loneliness: of this she was able to judge; and went through the gallery with a duller step than that with which she had entered it.

They again saw the unconscious nun; for that day she had the range of the convent. They saw her in the corridors and the garden: she looked quite happy.

They returned home with spirits sobered, and with less cheerful hearts.

After a long pause, Ellen asked if the nuns were unhappy; whether they were compelled to become nuns.

"In a certain sense," said her father, "they are compelled; that is, they are studiously shown one side of facts, and that the most attractive and

MODES OF PERSUASION.

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pleasing. A young girl enters a convent as a novice at fifteen and sixteen: this requires little persuasion: the scene is new, and therefore not without its pleasures.

"Mothers, sisters and friends are occasionally seen; and no vow prevents a return to the world. During the novitiate she forms attachments among the nuns, who exert themselves to please her. The attractions of the world are not presented, and she therefore does not feel them to be attractions. In the meanwhile the priests and confessors have been labouring to impress her with the notion of the excellence of a religious life, its pure enjoyments in this world, and its certain and great rewards in another; and these arguments are accompanied by strictures upon the vexations of life, and the little happiness in the world.

"Such reasoning naturally produces its effect upon the mind of a young person who has never known the world, and who is daily told by the nuns how happy they are.

There is also a certain eclat in taking the veil, very captivating to a young mind; and all these things considered, it is not surprising that when the novitiate expires, there should be nothing terrible, or even affecting, in taking the veil. What are the vows to the buoyant youth and happy ignorance of sixteen? She looks forward to the

166

NOT ALWAYS INFLUENTIAL.

future being like the past, and every body joins to assist this delusion. But time brings a change: and heaven alone knows the broken hearts which the cloistered walls enclose. They are reserved for the day when all secrets shall be disclosed."

ESCURIAL.

167

CHAPTER XIII.

ESCURIAL-OPENING THE GREAT GATES-BURIAL VAULT

OF THE SPANISH KINGS-THE EARTHEN PITCHER-RETURN TO MADRID-TOLEDO-ITS CATHEDRAL-SWORD MANUFACTORY-COLLEGE FOR GIRLS-IMPRUDENCE.

THE Delvilles who were looking forward to an excursion to Andalusia, and who had now pretty well satiated themselves with the novelties of Madrid, resolved to employ the intervening week before the bull-fight would take place, in seeing the Escurial. This famous monastery is situated in the middle of the ascent of the chain of mountains which terminate Old Castille.

Philip II. has been compared to Louis XI., and the choice which he made of this steep and gloomy situation seems an apt picture of his dark and savage mind. His memory however is respected at the convent, where he is perpetually called the holy founder, where his ashes are deposited, and where his image constantly meets the eye. He built and endowed in it consequence of a vow made the day he gained the battle of St. Quentin, at which however Philip was not present.

168

SHAPE OF THE ESCURIAL.

"Sir," said Edward, "as they advanced to the front of the edifice, " did we not hear something of St. Lawrence having inspired the idea of this edifice ?"

No, not exactly that, Edward. The battle of St. Quentin was gained on St. Lawrence's day, and therefore this building was dedicated to him. This saint is reported (how truly I know not) to have endured martyrdom, by being fried on a gridiron; and this culiniary instrument is to be seen, I am told, impressed upon the doors, windows, altars, and sacerdotal habits: the whole structure, indeed, represents one huge Brobdignag gridiron."

The building is quadrangular, with the principal front to the west, behind which a mountain is seen. The opposite side, which faces Madrid, takes the form of the shortened handle of a gridiron reversed, and the four feet are represented by the spires of four little square towers, which rise above the angle. Its form has not permitted the architect to make the most of its vast extent: there is nothing magnificent in the architecture. It has rather the serious simplicity befitting a convent, than the splendid elegance which announces the residence of a great monarch. The front, to the west, alone has a fine portal, formed by large columns of the Doric order, half sunken in the wall; and on each side are two great doors of noble