initial commit of ebook 5734HEADmain

1 files changed, 9753 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/5734.txt b/5734.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f708002
--- /dev/null
+++ b/5734.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9753 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal, by
+Sarah J Richardson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal
+
+Author: Sarah J Richardson
+
+Editor: Edward P. Hood
+
+
+Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5734]
+This file was first posted on August 18, 2002
+Last Updated: June 24, 2013
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN THE GREY NUNNERY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks
+and Distributed Proofers
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN THE GREY NUNNERY AT MONTREAL
+
+An authentic narrative of the horrors, mysteries, and cruelties of
+convent life by Sarah J. Richardson, an escaped nun.
+
+
+By Sarah J Richardson
+
+
+Edited by Edward P. Hood
+
+
+[A long unsigned note of opinion on the veracity of this work has been
+deleted per the policy of Project Gutenberg concerning such ammendations.}
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I     PARENTAGE--FATHER'S MARRIAGE
+CHAPTER II    THE WHITE NUNNERY
+CHAPTER III   THE NURSERY
+CHAPTER IV    A SLAVE FOR LIFE
+CHAPTER V     CEREMONY OF CONFIRMATION
+CHAPTER VI    THE GREY NUNNERY
+CHAPTER VII   ORPHAN'S HOME
+CHAPTER VIII  CONFESSION AND SORROW OF NO AVAIL
+CHAPTER IX    ALONE WITH THE DEAD
+CHAPTER X     THE SICK NUN
+CHAPTER XI    THE JOY OF FREEDOM
+CHAPTER XII   STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
+CHAPTER XIII  LANDLADY'S STORY CONTINUED
+CHAPTER XIV   THE TWO SISTERS
+CHAPTER XV    CHOICE OF PUNISHMENTS
+CHAPTER XVI   HORRORS OF STARVATION
+CHAPTER XVII  THE TORTURE ROOM
+CHAPTER XVIII RETURN TO THE NUNNERY
+CHAPTER XIX   SICKNESS AND DEATH OF A SUPERIOR
+CHAPTER XX    STUDENTS AT THE ACADEMY
+CHAPTER XXI   SECOND ESCAPE FROM THE NUNNERY
+CHAPTER XXII  LONELY MIDNIGHT WALK
+CHAPTER XXIII FLIGHT AND RECAPTURE
+CHAPTER XXIV  RESOLVES TO ESCAPE
+CHAPTER XXV   EVENTFUL JOURNEY
+CHAPTER XXVI  CONCLUSION
+
+APPENDIX I    ABSURDITIES OF ROMANISTS
+APPENDIX II   CRUELTY OF ROMANISTS
+APPENDIX III  INQUISITION OF GOA--IMPRISONMENT OF
+              M. DELLON, 1673
+APPENDIX IV   INQUISITION OF GOA, CONCLUDED
+APPENDIX V    INQUISITION AT MACERATA, ITALY
+APPENDIX VI   ROMANISM OF THE PRESENT DAY
+APPENDIX VII  NARRATIVE OP SIGNORINA FLORIENCIA
+              D' ROMANI
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I PARENTAGE--FATHER'S MARRIAGE CHAPTER II THE WHITE NUNNERY
+CHAPTER III THE NURSERY CHAPTER IV A SLAVE FOR LIFE CHAPTER V CEREMONY
+OF CONFIRMATION CHAPTER VI THE GREY NUNNERY CHAPTER VII ORPHAN'S HOME
+CHAPTER VIII CONFESSION AND SORROW OF NO AVAIL CHAPTER IX ALONE WITH THE
+DEAD CHAPTER X THE SICK NUN CHAPTER XI THE JOY OF FREEDOM CHAPTER XII
+STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND CHAPTER XIII LANDLADY'S STORY CONTINUED
+CHAPTER XIV THE TWO SISTERS CHAPTER XV CHOICE OF PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER XVI
+HORRORS OF STARVATION CHAPTER XVII THE TORTURE ROOM CHAPTER XVIII RETURN
+TO THE NUNNERY CHAPTER XIX SICKNESS AND DEATH OF A SUPERIOR CHAPTER
+XX STUDENTS AT THE ACADEMY CHAPTER XXI SECOND ESCAPE FROM THE NUNNERY
+CHAPTER XXII LONELY MIDNIGHT WALK CHAPTER XXIII FLIGHT AND RECAPTURE
+CHAPTER XXIV RESOLVES TO ESCAPE CHAPTER XXV EVENTFUL JOURNEY CHAPTER
+XXVI CONCLUSION
+
+APPENDIX I ABSURDITIES OF ROMANISTS APPENDIX II CRUELTY OF ROMANISTS
+APPENDIX III INQUISITION OF GOA--IMPRISONMENT OF              M. DE
+ APPENDIX IV INQUISITION OF GOA, CONCLUDED APPENDIX V INQUISITION AT
+MACERATA, ITALY APPENDIX VI ROMANISM OF THE PRESENT DAY APPENDIX VII
+NARRATIVE OP SIGNORINA FLORIENCIA              D' ROMANI
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN THE GREY NUNNERY.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+PARENTAGE.--FATHER'S MARRIAGE.
+
+I was born at St. John's, New Brunswick, in the year 1835. My father was
+from the city of Dublin, Ireland, where he spent his youth, and received
+an education in accordance with the strictest rules of Roman Catholic
+faith and practice. Early manhood, however, found him dissatisfied with
+his native country, longing for other scenes and distant climes. He
+therefore left Ireland, and came to Quebec.
+
+Here he soon became acquainted with Capt. Willard, a wealthy English
+gentleman, who, finding him a stranger in a strange land, kindly opened
+his door, and gave him employment and a home. Little did he think that
+in so doing he was warming in his bosom a viper whose poisonous fangs
+would, ere long, fasten on his very heart-strings, and bring down
+his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. His only child was a lovely
+daughter of fourteen. From what I have heard of her, I think she must
+have been very beautiful in person, quiet, gentle and unassuming in
+her deportment, and her disposition amiable and affectionate. She was
+exceedingly romantic, and her mental powers were almost, if not entirely
+uncultivated; still, she possessed sufficient strength of character to
+enable her to form a deep, ardent, and permanent attachment.
+
+The young stranger gazed upon her with admiring eyes, and soon began
+to whisper in her ear the flattering tale of love. This, of course,
+her parents could not approve. What! give their darling to a stranger?
+Never, no, never. What could they do without her? Grieved that their
+kindness should have been thus returned, they bade him go his way, and
+leave their child in peace. He did go, but like a thief he returned. In
+the darkness of midnight he stole to her chamber, and bore away from the
+home of her childhood, "a father's joy, a mother's pride."
+
+Who can tell the anguish of their souls when they entered that deserted
+chamber? How desolate their lonely hearthstone! How dark the home where
+her presence had scattered rainbow hues! A terrible blow it was to
+Capt. Willard; a very bitter thing thus to have his cherished plans
+frustrated, his brightest hopes destroyed; to see the very sun of his
+existence go down at midday in clouds and darkness. Yes, to the
+stern father this sad event brought bitter, bitter grief. But to the
+mother--that tender, affectionate mother, it was death. Yea, more
+than death, for reason, at the first shock, reeled and tottered on its
+throne; then, as days and weeks passed by, and still the loved one did
+not return, when every effort to find her had been made in vain, then,
+the dread certainty settled down upon her soul that her child was lost
+to her forever. Hope, gave place to despair, and she became, from that
+time, a raving maniac. At length death came to her relief, and her
+husband was left alone.
+
+Six weary years passed over the lonely man, and then he rejoiced in the
+intelligence that his child was still living with her husband at St.
+John's. He immediately wrote to her imploring her to return to her
+old home, and with the light of her presence dispel the gloom of his
+dwelling. Accordingly she left St. John's, and in company with her
+husband returned to her father. I was then about a year and a half
+old, but I have so often heard these facts related by my father and
+grandfather, they are indelibly impressed on my mind, and will never be
+erased from my memory.
+
+My mother now thought her trouble at an end, that in future she should
+enjoy the happiness she once anticipated. But, alas for all human
+prospects! Ere one short month had passed, difficulties arose in
+consequence of the difference in their religious opinions. Capt. Willard
+was a firm Protestant, while my father was quite as firm in his belief
+of the principles of the Roman Catholics. "Can two walk together except
+they be agreed?" They parted in anger, and my father again became a
+wanderer, leaving his wife and child with his father-in-law. But my
+mother was a faithful, devoted wife. Her husband was her heart's chosen
+idol whom she loved too well to think of being separated from. She
+therefore left her father's house, with all its luxuries and enjoyments,
+to follow the fortunes of one, who was certainly unworthy of the pure
+affection thus lavished upon him. As her health had been delicate for
+the last two years, she concluded to leave me with her father for a
+short time, intending to send for me, as soon as she was in a situation
+to take care of me. But this was not to be. Death called her away, and
+I saw my mother no more till her corpse was brought back, and buried in
+her father's garden.
+
+Two years I remained with my grandfather, and from him, I received the
+most affectionate and devoted attention. My father at length opened a
+saloon, for the sale of porter, and hired a black woman to do his work.
+He then came for me. My grandfather entreated that I might be allowed to
+remain. Well he knew that my father was not the man to be entrusted with
+the care of a child--that a Porter House was no place for me, for he was
+quite sure that stronger liquors than porter were there drank and sold.
+In fact, it was said, that my father was himself a living evidence of
+this. But it is of a parent I am speaking, and, whatever failings the
+world may have seen in him, to me he was a kind and tender father. The
+years I spent with him were the happiest of my life. On memory's
+page they stand out in bold relief, strikingly contrasting with the
+wretchedness of my after life. And though I cannot forget that his own
+rash act brought this wretchedness upon me, still, I believe his
+motives were good. I know that he loved me, and every remembrance of
+his kindness, and those few bright days of childhood, I have carefully
+cherished as a sacred thing. He did not, however, succeed in the
+business he had undertaken, but lost his property and was at length
+compelled to give up his saloon.
+
+I was then placed in a Roman Catholic family, where he often visited,
+and ever appeared to feel for me the most devoted attachment. One day he
+came to see me in a state of partial intoxication. I did not then know
+why his face was so red, and his breath so offensive, but I now know
+that he was under the influence of ardent spirits. The woman with whom
+I boarded seeing his condition, and being a good Catholic, resolved
+to make the most of the occasion for the benefit of the nunnery. She
+therefore said to him, "You are not capable of bringing up that child;
+why don't you give her to Priest Dow?"--"Will he take her?" asked my
+father. "Yes," she replied, "he will put her into the nunnery, and the
+nuns will take better care of her than you can." "On what condition will
+they take her?" he asked. "Give the priest one hundred dollars," replied
+the artful woman, "and he will take good care of her as long as she
+lives."
+
+This seemed a very plausible story; but I am sure my father did not
+realize what he was doing. Had he waited for a little reflection, he
+would never have consented to such an arrangement, and my fate would
+have been quite different. But as it was, he immediately sent for the
+priest, and gave me to him, to be provided for, as his own child, until
+I was of age. I was then to be allowed to go out into the world if I
+chose. To this, Priest Dow consented, in consideration of one hundred
+dollars, which he received, together with a good bed and bedding. My
+mother's gold ear-rings were also entrusted to his care, until I should
+be old enough to wear them. But I never saw them again. Though I was at
+that time but six years old, I remember perfectly, all that passed upon
+that memorable occasion. I did not then comprehend the full meaning of
+what was said, but I understood enough to fill my heart with sorrow and
+apprehension.
+
+When their bargain was completed, Priest Dow called me to him, saying,
+with a smile, "You are a stubborn little girl, I guess, a little
+naughty, sometimes, are you not?" Surprised and alarmed, I replied, "No,
+sir." He then took hold of my hair, which was rather short, drew it back
+from my forehead with a force that brought the tears to my eyes, and
+pressing his hand heavily on my head, he again asked if I was not
+sometimes a little wilful and disobedient. I was so much frightened at
+this, I turned to my father, and with tears and sobs entreated him not
+to send me away with that man, but allow me to stay at home with him. He
+drew me to his bosom, wiped away my tears, and sought to quiet my fears
+by assuring me that I would have a good and pleasant home; that the nuns
+would take better care of me than he could; and that he would often come
+to see me. Thus, by the aid of flattery on one side, and sugarplums
+on the other, they persuaded me at last to accompany the priest to the
+White Nunnery, St. Paul's street, Quebec.
+
+I was too young to realize the sad change in my situation, or to
+anticipate the trials and privations that awaited me. But I was deeply
+grieved thus to leave my father, my only real friend, my mother being
+dead, and my grandfather a heretic, whom I had been taught to regard
+with the utmost abhorrence. Little, however, did I think that this was a
+last farewell. But such it was. Though he had promised to come often to
+see me, I never saw my father again; never even heard from him; and now,
+I do not know whether he is dead or alive.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE WHITE NUNNERY.
+
+On my arrival at the nunnery, I was placed under the care of a lady whom
+they called a Superior. She took me into a room alone, and told me that
+the priest would come to me in the morning to hear confession, and I
+must confess to him all my sins. "What are sins?" I asked, and, "How
+shall I confess? I don't know what it means." "Don't know what sins
+are!" she exclaimed in great astonishment "Why, child, I am surprised
+that you should be so ignorant! Where have you lived all your days?"
+With all the simplicity of childhood, I replied, "With my father;
+and once I lived with my grandfather; but they didn't tell me how to
+confess." "Well," said she, "you must tell the priest all your wicked
+thoughts, words, and actions." "What is wicked?" I innocently asked.
+"If you have ever told an untruth;" she replied, "or taken what did not
+belong to you, or been in any way naughty, disobedient, or unkind; if
+you have been angry, or quarrelled with your playmates, that was wicked,
+and you must tell the priest all about it If you try to conceal, or
+keep back anything, the priest will know it and punish you. You cannot
+deceive him if you try, for he knows all you do, or say, or even think;
+and if you attempt it, you'll only get yourself into trouble. But if
+you are resolved to be a good girl, kind, gentle, frank, sincere, and
+obedient, the priest will love you, and be kind to you."
+
+When I was conducted to my room, at bedtime, I rejoiced to find in it
+several little cot beds, occupied by little girls about my own age, who
+had been, like myself, consigned to the tender mercies of priests and
+nuns. I thought if we must live in that great gloomy house, which even
+to my childish imagination seemed so much like a prison, we could
+in some degree dispel our loneliness and mitigate our sorrows, by
+companionship and sympathy. But I was soon made to know that even this
+small comfort would not be allowed us, for the Superior, as she assisted
+me to bed, told me that I must not speak, or groan, or turn upon my
+side, or move in any way; for if I made the least noise or disturbance,
+I would be severely punished. She assured me that if we disobeyed in the
+least particular, she would know it, even if she was not present, and
+deal with us accordingly. She said that when the clock struck twelve,
+the bell would ring for prayers; that we must then rise, and kneel with
+our heads bowed upon the bed, and repeat the prayer she taught us. When,
+at length, she left us, locking the door after her, I was so frightened,
+I did not dare to sleep, lest I should move, or fail to awake at the
+proper time.
+
+Slowly passed the hours of that long and weary night, while I lay,
+waiting the ringing of the bell, or thinking upon the past with deep
+regret. The most fearful visions haunted my brain, and fears of future
+punishment filled my mind. How could I hope to escape it, when they were
+so very strict, and able to read my most secret thoughts? What would I
+not have given could I have been again restored to my father? True he
+was intemperate, but at that time I thought not of this; I only knew
+that he was always kind to me, that he never refused what I asked of
+him. I sometimes think, even now, that if he had not so cruelly thrust
+me from him, I might have been able to win him from his cups and evil
+course of life. But this was not to be. Having given himself up to the
+demon of intemperance, it is not surprising that he should have given
+away his only child; that he should have placed her in the hands of
+those who proved utterly unworthy of the trust. But however indignant I
+may at times have felt towards him, for the one great wrong he committed
+against me, still I do not believe he would ever have done it but for
+the influence of ardent spirits. Moreover, I do not suppose that he had
+the least idea what kind of a place it was. He wished, doubtless, that
+his child might be well educated; that she might be shielded from the
+many trials and temptations that cluster around the footsteps of the
+young and inexperienced, in the midst of a cold and heartless world.
+From these evils the nunnery, he thought, would be a secure retreat, for
+there science, religion, and philanthropy, PROFESSEDLY, go hand in hand.
+Like many other deluded parents, he thought that "Holiness to the Lord"
+was inscribed upon those walls, and that nothing which could pervert or
+defile the youthful mind, was permitted to enter there. With these views
+and feelings, he was undoubtedly sincere when he told me, "I would have
+a good home, and the nuns would take better care of me than he could."
+Rash his decision certainly was, cruel it proved to be; but I shall ever
+give him credit for good intentions.
+
+At length the bell rang, and all the girls immediately left their beds,
+and placed themselves upon their knees. I followed their example, but
+I had scarcely time to kneel by my bed, when the Superior came into the
+room with a light in her hand, and attended by a priest. He came to me,
+opened a book, and told me to cross myself. This ceremony he instructed
+me to perform in the following manner: the right hand is placed upon the
+forehead, and drawn down to the breast; then across the breast from
+left to right. The Superior then told me to say the prayer called
+"Hail Mary!" I attempted to do so, but failed, for, though I had often
+repeated it after my father, I could not say it correctly alone. She
+then bade me join my hands, and repeat it after her. "Hail Mary! Full of
+grace! The Lord be with thee! Blessed art thou among women! Blessed is
+the fruit of thy womb, Jesus! Mother of God! Pray for us sinners, now,
+and at the hour of our death, Amen."
+
+"Now," said the Superior, as I rose from my knees, "you must learn every
+word of that prayer before to-morrow night, or go without your supper."
+I tried my best to remember it, but with so little instruction, for she
+repeated it to me but once, I found it quite impossible the next night
+to say it correctly. Of course, I was compelled to go without my supper.
+This may seem a light punishment to those who have enough to eat--who
+sit down to a full table, and satisfy their appetite three times per
+day, but to a nun, who is allowed only enough to sustain life, it
+is quite a different thing. And especially to a child, this mode of
+punishment is more severe, and harder to bear than almost any other. I
+thought I would take good care not to be punished in that way again; but
+I little knew what was before me.
+
+Before the Superior left us she assisted me into bed, and bade me be
+very still until the second bell in the morning. Then, I must rise
+and dress as quickly as possible, and go to her room. Quietness, she
+enjoined upon me as a virtue, while the least noise, or disturbance of
+any kind, would be punished as a crime. She said I must walk very softly
+indeed along the halls, and close the doors so carefully that not
+a sound could be heard. After giving me these first instructions in
+convent life, she left me, and I was allowed to sleep the rest of the
+night.
+
+The next morning, I awoke at the ringing of the first bell, but I did
+not dare to stir until the second bell, when the other little girls
+arose in great haste. I then dressed as quickly as possible, but not
+a word was spoken--not a thought, and scarcely a look exchanged. I
+was truly "alone amid a crowd," and I felt the utter loneliness of my
+situation most keenly. Yet I saw very clearly that there was but one
+course for me to pursue, and that was, to obey in all things; to have
+no will of my own, and thus, if possible, escape punishment. But it was
+hard, very hard for me to bring my mind to this. I had been the idolized
+child of affection too long to submit readily and patiently to the
+privations I was now forced to endure. Hitherto my will had been law.
+I had naturally an imperious, violent temper, which I had never been
+taught to govern. Instead of this, my appetites were pampered, my
+passions indulged, and every desire gratified as far as possible. Until
+that last sad parting, I hardly knew what it was to have a request
+refused; and now, to experience such a change--such a sudden transition
+from the most liberal indulgence to the most cruel and rigorous
+self-denial--Oh, it was a severe trial to my independent spirit to
+submit to it. Yet, submit I must, for I had learned, even then, that
+my newly appointed guardians were not to be trifled with. Henceforth,
+OBEDIENCE must be my motto. To every command, however cruel and unjust,
+I must yield a blind, passive, and unquestioning obedience.
+
+I dressed as quickly as possible, and hastened down to the Superior.
+As I passed through the hall, I thought I would be very careful to step
+softly, but in my haste I forgot what she said about closing the door,
+and it came together with a loud crash. On entering the room, I found
+the Superior waiting for me; in her hand she held a stick about a foot
+long, to the end of which was attached nine leather strings, some twelve
+or fifteen inches long, and about the size of a man's little finger. She
+bade me come to her, in a voice so cold and stern it sent a thrill of
+terror through my frame, and I trembled with the apprehension of some
+impending evil. I had no idea that she was about to punish me, for I
+was not aware that I had done anything to deserve it; but her looks
+frightened me, and I feared,--I know not what. She took hold of my arm,
+and without saying a word, gave me ten or twelve strokes over the head
+and shoulders with this miniature cat-o'-nine-tails. Truly, with her, it
+was "a word and a blow, and the blow came first." Wherever the strings
+chanced to fall upon the bare flesh, they raised the skin, as though a
+hot iron had been applied to it. In some places they took off the skin
+entirely, and left the flesh raw, and quivering with the stinging
+pain. I could not think at first what I had done to deserve this severe
+punishment, nor did she condescend to enlighten me. But when I began
+to cry, and beg to go to my father, she sternly bade me stop crying at
+once, for I could not go to my father. I must stay there, she said, and
+learn to remember all her commands and obey then. She then taught me the
+following verse:
+
+   I am a little nun,
+   The sisters I will mind;
+   When I am pretty and learn,
+   Then they will use me kind.
+   I must not be so noisy
+   When I go about the house,
+   I'll close the doors so softly
+   They'll think I am a mouse.
+
+This verse I repeated until I could say it correctly. I was then
+taken to the breakfast-room, where I was directed to kneel before the
+crucifix, and say my prayers, which I repeated after the Superior. I was
+then seated at the table, and directed to hold my head down, and fix my
+eyes upon my plate. I must not look at any one, or gaze about the room;
+but sit still, and quietly eat what was given me. I had upon my plate,
+one thin slice of wheat bread, a bit of potato, and a very small cup of
+milk. This was my stated allowance, and I could have no more, however
+hungry I might be. The same quantity was given me every meal, when
+in usual health, until I was ten years of age. On fast days, no food
+whatever was allowed; and we always fasted for three meals before
+receiving the sacrament. This ceremony was observed every third day,
+therefore we were obliged to fast about one-third of the time.
+Yet, however long the fast might be, my allowance of food was never
+increased.
+
+After breakfast the Superior took me to Priest Dow for confession. He
+kept me with him all day, allowing me neither food nor drink; nor did
+he permit me to break my fast until four o'clock the next day. I then
+received what they call the sacrament, for the first time.
+
+To prepare for this, I was clad in a white dress and cape, and a white
+cap on my head. I was then led to the chapel, and passing up the aisle,
+knelt before the altar. Priest Dow then came and stood before me,
+and taking from a wine-glass a small thin wafer, he placed it upon my
+tongue, at the same time repeating some Latin words, which, the Superior
+afterwards told me, mean in English, "The body and blood of Christ." I
+was taught to believe that I held in my mouth the real body and blood
+of Christ. I was also told that if I swallowed the wafer before it had
+melted on my tongue, IT WOULD CHOKE ME TO DEATH; and if I indulged an
+evil thought while I held it in my mouth I SHOULD FALL INTO A POOL OF
+BLOOD.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE NURSERY.
+
+While in the White Nunnery, I spent the most of my time in the nursery.
+But the name gives one no idea of the place. The freedom and careless
+gayety, so characteristic of other nurseries, had no place in this. No
+cheerful conversation, no juvenile merriment, or pleasureable excitement
+of any kind, were ever allowed. A merry laugh, on the contrary, a witty
+jest, or a sly practical joke, would have been punished as the most
+heinous offence. Here as elsewhere in the establishment, the strictest
+rules of silence and obedience were rigidly enforced. There were twenty
+little girls in the room with me, but we were never permitted to speak
+to each other, nor to any one except a priest or a Superior. When
+directly addressed by either of them we were allowed to answer; but we
+might never ask a question, or make a remark, or in any way, either by
+looks, words, or signs, hold communication with each other. Whenever we
+did so, it was at the risk of being discovered and severely punished.
+Yet this did not repress the desire for conversation; it only made us
+more cautious, artful, and deceptive. The only recreation allowed us
+was fifteen minutes' exercise in the yard every morning and evening. We
+might then amuse ourselves as we chose, but were required to spend
+the whole time in some kind of active exercise; if one of our number
+ventured to sit still, we were all punished the next day by being kept
+in the house.
+
+It was my business, while in the nursery, to dust all the furniture
+and the floor, with a flannel mop, made and kept for this purpose. The
+floors were all painted and varnished, and very easily kept clean.
+
+Two hours and a half each day we spent with a priest, whom we were
+taught to call Father Darity (I do not know as I spell this and other
+names correctly, but I give it to the reader as it sounded to my ear).
+He appeared to take great pleasure in learning us to repeat the prayers
+and catechism required by Priest Dow. He also gave us a variety of
+instructions in other things, enjoining in particular the most absolute
+obedience and perfect silence. He assured us that if we dared to disobey
+him in the least particular, he should know it, even if he was not
+present with us at the time. He said he knew all our thoughts, words,
+and actions; and if we did not obey, he should "EAT US WITH A GRAIN OF
+SALT."
+
+I presume my reader will smile at this, and exclaim, "How absurd!" Yes,
+to you it is absurd; but to the mind of a child who placed the utmost
+confidence in his veracity, it was an evidence that he was invested
+with supernatural powers. For myself I believed every word he said,
+and nothing would have tempted me to disobey him. Perfect obedience he
+considered the highest attainment, and, to secure this, the greatest of
+all virtues, no means were thought too severe. We were frightened and
+punished in every possible way.
+
+But, though Father Darity acted on the one great principle with the
+Romanists, that the "end sanctifies the means," he was in general a much
+kinder man than Priest Dow. He urged us on with our catechism as fast as
+possible, telling us, as a motive to greater diligence, that the bishop
+was soon to visit us, and that we could not be admitted to his presence
+until we had our prayers and catechism perfectly.
+
+One day, when we were in the yard at play, I told one of the little
+girls that I did not like to live there; that I did not like one of the
+people in the house; that I wished to return to my father, and I should
+tell him so the first time he came to see me.
+
+"Then you like to live with your father?" said she. I told her I did,
+for then I could do as I pleased, without the fear of punishment. She
+said that she did not like to live there any better than I did. I asked
+her why she did not go away, if she disliked to stay. She replied, "I
+should like to go away well enough, if I had any friends to go to; but
+my father and mother are both dead, and I have no home but this; so you
+see I must stay here if they wish me to; but there is one consolation;
+if we are good girls, and try to do right, they will be kind to us." I
+made no further remark; but the moment we returned to the house she
+told the Superior what I said, taking good care not to repeat her own
+expressions, and leaving the Superior to infer that she had made no
+reply.
+
+I saw at once by the stern look that came over the lady's face that she
+was very angry; and I would gladly have recalled those few hasty words
+had it been in my power to have done so. She immediately left the room,
+but soon returned with Priest Dow. His countenance also indicated
+anger, as he took hold of my arm and led me to a darkened room, in which
+several candles were burning.
+
+Here I saw three scenes, which I think must have been composed of
+images, pictures, and curtains. I do not pretend to describe them
+correctly, I can only tell how they appeared to me.
+
+The first was an image of Christ on the cross, with his arms extended as
+we usually see them in pictures. On his right hand was a representation
+of heaven, and on the left, of hell. Heaven was made to appear like a
+bright, beautiful, and glorious place. A wall of pink color surrounded
+it, and in the center was a spring of clear water. In the midst of this
+spring stood a tree, bearing on every limb a lighted candle, and on the
+top, the image of Christ and a dove.
+
+Hell was surrounded by a black wall, within which, there was also a
+spring; but the water was very black, and beside it stood a large black
+image, with horns on its head, a long tail, and a large cloven foot. The
+place where it stood was in deep shadow, made to resemble, as neatly
+as possible, clouds and darkness. The priest led me up to this fearful
+object, and placed me on one side of it, while he stood on the other;
+but it would turn away from him towards me, roll up its great eyes, open
+its mouth and show its long white tusks. The priest said it turned from
+him, because he was a good man, and I was very wicked. He said that it
+was the devil, come up from the bottomless pit to devour me; and if I
+said such wicked words again, it would carry me off. I was very much
+frightened, for I then thought that all he said was true; that those
+images, which I now know were strung on wires were really what they were
+made to represent.
+
+In fact, until I was fifteen years old, I really believed that the image
+I then saw was an evil spirit. But since that time, I have been made
+to know that the priests themselves are the only evil spirits about the
+place.
+
+Priest Dow then led me back to the nursery, and left me with the
+Superior. But he soon came, back, saying he "knew what I was thinking
+about; that I had wicked thoughts about him; thought he was a bad man,
+and that I wished to leave him and go to my father;" Now this was all
+true, and the fact that he knew it, frightened me accordingly. It was a
+sure proof that what Father Darity said was true. But how could I ever
+be safe, if they could thus read the inmost secrets of my soul? I did
+dislike them all very much indeed and I could not help it. How then
+could I avert the consequences of this deep aversion to convent life,
+since it could not be concealed? Was it possible for me so far to
+conquer myself, as to love the persons with whom I lived? How many
+nights did I lie awake pondering this question, and resolving to make
+the effort. I was, of course, too young to know that it was only by
+shrewd guessing, and a general knowledge of human nature, that he was
+enabled to tell my thoughts so correctly.
+
+"Now," said he, "for indulging these dreadful thoughts, I shall take you
+back to the devil, and give you up to him." I was frightened before; but
+I have no words to describe my feelings when he again led me back, and
+left me beside the image, saying, as he closed the door, "If the devil
+groans three times, and the Lord does not speak, you must stay here
+until to-morrow at this time." I trembled so that I could hardly stand,
+and when, after a few moments, a sound like a groan fell upon my ears, I
+shrieked in the extremity of terror.
+
+[Footnote: Cioui, formerly a Benedictine Monk, giving an account of his
+imprisonment at Rome, after his conversion says:--
+
+"One evening, after listening to a discourse filled with dark images of
+death, I returned to my room, and found the light set upon the ground.
+I took it up and approached the table to place it there, but what was
+my horror and consternation at beholding spread out upon it, a whitened
+skeleton! Before the reader can comprehend my dismay, it is necessary
+he should reflect for a moment on the peculiarities of childhood,
+especially in a Romish country, where children are seldom spoken to
+except in superstitious language, whether by their parents or teachers:
+and domestics adopt the same style to answer their own purposes,
+menacing their disobedient charges with hobgoblins, phantoms and
+witches. Such images as these make a profound impression on tender
+minds, leaving a panic terror which the reasoning of after years is
+often unable entirely to efface. There can be no doubt but that this
+pernicious habit, is the fruit of the noxious plant fostered in the
+Vatican. Rising generations must be brought up in superstitious terror,
+in order to render them susceptible to every kind of absurdity; for this
+terror is the powerful spring, employed by the priests and friars, to
+move at their pleasure families, cities, provinces, nations. Although
+in families of the higher order, this method of alarming infancy is much
+discountenanced, nevertheless, it is impossible but that it should in
+some degree prevail in the nursery. Nor was it probable that I should
+escape this infections malady, having passed my whole days in an
+atmosphere, charged more than any other with that impure miasma
+priest-craft."]
+
+Then immediately I heard the question, and it seemed to come from the
+figure of Christ, "Will you obey? Will you leave off sin?" I answered in
+the affirmative as well as I could, for the convulsive sobs that shook
+my frame almost stopped my utterance. I now know that when the priest
+left me, he placed himself, or an assistant, behind a curtain close to
+the images, and it was his voice that I heard. But I was then too young
+to detect their treacherous practices and deceitful ways.
+
+On being taken back to the Superior, I was immediately attacked with
+severe illness, and had fits all night. It seemed to me that I could
+see that image of the devil everywhere. If I closed my eyes, I thought
+I could feel him on my bed, pressing on my breast, and he was so heavy I
+could scarcely breathe. I was very sick, and suffered much bodily pain,
+but the tortures of an excited imagination were greater by far, and
+harder to bear than any physical suffering. For long years after, that
+image haunted my dreams, and even now I often, in sleep, live over again
+the terrors of that fearful scene. I was sick a long time; how long I do
+not know; but I became so weak I could not raise myself in bed, and they
+had an apparatus affixed to the wall to raise me with. For several days
+I took no nourishment, except a teaspoonful of brandy and water which
+was given me as often as I could take it I continued to have fits every
+day for more than two years, nor did I ever entirely recover from the
+effects of that fright. Even now, though years have passed away, a
+little excitement or a sudden shock, will sometimes throw me into one of
+those fits.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A SLAVE FOR LIFE.
+
+During this illness I was placed under the care of an Abbess whom they
+called St. Bridget. There were many other Abbesses in the convent, but
+she was the principal one, and had the care of all the clothing. If
+the others wished for clean clothes, they were obliged to go to her for
+them. In that way I saw them all, but did not learn their names. They
+approached me and looked at me, but seldom spoke. This I thought very
+strange, but I now know they dared not speak. One day an Abbess came to
+my bed, and after standing a few moments with the tears silently flowing
+down her cheeks, asked me if I had a mother. I told her I had not, and I
+began to weep most bitterly. I was very weak, and the question recalled
+to my mind the time when I shared a father's love, and enjoyed my
+liberty. Then, I could go and come as I chose, but now, a slave for
+life, I could have no will of my own, I must go at bidding, and come at
+command. This, I am well aware, may seem to some extravagant language;
+but I use the right word. I was, literally, a slave; and of all kinds of
+slavery, that which exists in a convent is the worst. I say, THE WORST,
+because the story of wrong and outrage which occasionally finds its way
+to the public ear, is not generally believed. You pity the poor black
+man who bends beneath the scourge of southern bondage, for the tale
+comes to you from those who have seen his tears and heard his groans.
+But you have no tears, no prayers, no efforts for the poor helpless
+nun who toils and dies beneath the heartless cruelty of an equally
+oppressive task-master. No; for her you have no sympathy, for you do not
+believe her word. Within those precincts of cruelty, no visitor is ever
+admitted. No curious eye may witness the secrets of their prison-house.
+Consequently, there is no one to bear direct testimony to the truth of
+her statements. Even now, methinks, I see your haughty brow contract,
+and your lip curl with scorn, as with supreme contempt you throw down
+these pages and exclaim, "'Tis all a fiction. Just got up to make money.
+No proof that it is true." No proof do you say? O, that the strong arm
+of the law would interpose in our behalf!--that some American Napoleon
+would come forth, and break open those prison doors, and drag forth to
+the light of day those hidden instruments of torture! There would then
+be proof enough to satisfy the most incredulous, that, so far from being
+exaggerated, the half has not been told. Sons of America! Will you not
+arise in your might, and demand that these convent doors be opened, and
+"the oppressed" allowed to "go free"? Or if this be denied, sweep from
+the fair earth, the black-hearted wretches who dare, in the very face
+of heaven, to commit such fearful outrages upon helpless, suffering
+humanity? How long--O how long will you suffer these dens of iniquity
+to remain unopened? How long permit this system of priestly cruelty to
+continue?
+
+But I am wandering from my story. Would that I might forever wander
+from it--that I might at once blot from memory's page, the fearful
+recollection that must follow me to my grave! Yet, painful as it is
+to rehearse the past, if I can but awaken your sympathy for other
+sufferers, if I can but excite you to efforts for their deliverance, it
+is all I ask. I shall have my reward. But to return to my story.
+
+The Abbess saw how deeply I was grieved, and immediately left the room.
+St. Bridget told me not to cry, for she would be a mother to me as long
+as I remained with her, and she was true to her promise. Another sister,
+who sometimes came to my room, I believe was crazy. She would run up to
+my bed, put her hand on me, and burst into a loud and hearty laugh. This
+she repeated as often as she came, and I told the Abbess one day, I did
+wish that sister would not come to see me, for she acted so strange, I
+was afraid of her. She replied, "do not care for her; she always does
+just so, but we do not mind her; you must be careful what you say," she
+continued, "for if you speak of her before any of the sisters, they may
+get you into trouble."
+
+When I began to get better, I had a sharp appetite for food, and was
+hungry a great part of the time. One of the sisters used to bring me a
+piece of bread concealed under her cape and hide it under my pillow.
+How she obtained it, I do not know, unless she saved it from her own
+allowance. It was very easy for her to hide it in this way, for the nuns
+always walk with one hand under their cape and the other by the side.
+Truly, in this instance, "bread eaten in secret" was "pleasant." Of
+all the luxuries I ever tasted, those stolen bits of bread were the
+sweetest.
+
+During my illness I thought a great deal about my father, and wondered
+why he did not come to see me, as he had promised. I used to cry for him
+in my sleep, and very often awoke in tears. St. Bridget sought in every
+possible way to make me forget him, and the priest would tell me that I
+need not think so much about him, for he no longer cared for me. He
+said the devil had got him, and I would never see him again. These cruel
+words, so far from making me forget, served to awaken a still greater
+desire to see him, and increased my grief because I was denied the
+privilege.
+
+In the room with me, were six other little girls, who were all sick at
+the same time, and St. Bridget took care of us all For two of the little
+girls, I felt the greatest sympathy. They were quite young, I think not
+more than three years of age, and they grieved continually. They made
+no complaint, did not even shed a tear, but they sobbed all the time,
+whether asleep or awake. Of their history, I could learn nothing at that
+time, except the fact, that they were taken from their parents for the
+good of their souls. I afterwards overheard a conversation that led me
+to think that they were heirs to a large property, which, if they were
+out of the way, would go to the church. But it is of what I know, and
+not what I think, that I have undertaken to write, and I do know that
+the fate of those little girls was hard in the extreme, whatever might
+have been the cause of their being there. Poor little creatures! No
+wonder their hearts were broken. Torn from parents and friends while yet
+in early childhood--doomed while life is spared, to be subject to the
+will of those who know no mercy--who feel no pity, but consider it a
+religious duty to crush, and destroy all the pure affections--all the
+exquisite sensibilities of the human soul. Yet to them these hapless
+babes must look for all the earthly happiness they could hope to enjoy.
+They were taught to obey them in all things, and consider them their
+only friends and protectors. I never saw them after I left that room,
+but they did not live long. I was glad they did not, for in the cold
+grave their sufferings would be over and they would rest in peace.
+
+O, how little do Protestants know the sufferings of a nun! and truly
+no one can know them except by personal experience. One may imagine the
+most aggravated form of cruelty, the most heart-rending agonies, yet I
+do believe the conception of the most active imagination would fall
+far short of the horrible reality. I do not believe there was one happy
+individual in that convent, or that any one there, if I except the lady
+Superior, knew anything of enjoyment. Life with them was a continual
+round of ceaseless toil and bitter self-denial; while each one had some
+secret grief slowly but surely gnawing away the heart-strings. I have
+sometimes seen the Abbess sitting by the bedside of the sick, with her
+eyes closed, while the big tears fell unchecked over her pale cheeks.
+When I asked her why she wept, she would shake her head, but never
+speak. I now know that she dare not speak for fear of punishment.
+
+The abbesses in the various parts of this convent are punished as much
+as the nuns, if they dare to disobey the rules of the priests; and if
+the least of these are broken in the presence of any one in the house,
+they will surely tell of it at confession. In fact, they are required
+to do this; and if it is known that one has seen a rule broken, or a
+command disobeyed, without reporting it, a severe punishment is sure to
+follow. Thus every individual is a spy upon the rest; and while every
+failure is visited with condign punishment, the one who makes the most
+reports is so warmly approved, that poor human nature can hardly resist
+the temptation to play the traitor. Friendship cannot exist within
+the walls of a convent, for no one can be trusted, even with the most
+trifling secret. Whoever ventures to try it is sure to be betrayed.
+
+While I was sick Father Darity came often to see me, and by his kindness
+succeeded in gaining my affections. I was a great favorite with him;
+he always called me his little girl, and tried in every way to make me
+contented. He wished to make me say that I was happy there, that I
+liked to live with them as well as with my father. But I could never be
+persuaded to say this, for it was not the truth, and I would not tell a
+falsehood unless forced to do so. He said I must be a good girl, and he
+hoped I would sometime see better times, but I could never see my father
+again, and I must not desire it. He advised me, however hard it might
+be, to try and love all who came into the nunnery, even those who were
+unkind, who wished to injure me or wound my feelings. He told me how
+Jesus Christ loved his enemies; how he died for them a cruel death on
+the cross; how, amid his bitter agonies, he prayed for them, and with
+his expiring breath he cried, "Father, forgive them, they know not what
+they do." "And now," said he, "can you do as Jesus Christ did? He has
+set you an example, can you not follow it?" "No, sir," I replied, "I
+cannot love those who punish me so cruelly, so unjustly. I cannot love
+the little girl who reported what I said in the yard, when she said as
+bad things as I did." "But you forget," said he, "that in doing this she
+only obeyed the rules of the house. She only did her duty; if you
+had done yours, you would have reported her." "I'll never do that," I
+exclaimed, emboldened by his kindness. "It is a bad rule, and--" "Hush,
+hush, child!" he cried, interrupting me. "Do you know to whom you are
+speaking? and do you forget that you are a little girl? Are you wiser
+than your teachers? I must give you a penance for those naughty words,
+and you will pray for a better spirit." He said much more to me, and
+gave me good advice that I remember much better than I followed. He
+enjoined if upon me to keep up good courage, as I would gain my health
+faster. He then bade me farewell, telling me not to forget, to repeat
+certain prayers as a penance for my sin in speaking so boldly. O, did
+he think when he talked to me so kindly, so faithfully, that it was his
+last opportunity to give me good advice? Did he know that he left me to
+return no more? I saw nothing unusual in his appearance, and I did not
+suspect that it was the last time I should see his pleasant face and
+listen to his kindly voice. I loved that man, and bitter were the tears
+I shed when I learned that I should never see him again. The Abbess
+informed me that he was sent away for something he had done, she did not
+know what. O that something! I knew well enough what it was. He had a
+kind heart; he could feel for the unfortunate, and that, with the Roman
+Catholics, is an "unpardonable sin."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CEREMONY OF CONFIRMATION.
+
+I continued to regain my health slowly, and the Abbess said they would
+soon send me back to the nursery. I could not endure the thought of
+this, for I had the greatest fear of the Abbess who had the charge of
+that department. She was very cruel, while St. Bridget was as kind
+as she dare to be. She knew full well that if she allowed herself to
+exhibit the least feeling of affection for those children, she would be
+instantly removed, and some one placed over them who would not give way
+to such weakness. We all saw how it was, and loved her all the more
+for the severity of her reproofs when any one was near. With tears,
+therefore, I begged to be allowed to stay with her; and when the priest
+came for me, she told him that she thought I had better remain with her
+till I gained a little more strength.
+
+To this he consented, and I was very grateful indeed for the kindness.
+Wishing in some way to express my gratitude, as soon as I was able I
+assisted in taking care of the other little girls as much as possible.
+St. Bridget, in turn, taught me to read a little, so that I could learn
+my prayers when away from her. She also gave me a few easy lessons in
+arithmetic, and instructed me to speak the Celt language. She always
+spoke in that, or the French, which I could speak before, having learned
+it from the family where I lived after my father gave up his saloon.
+They were French Catholics and spoke no other language.
+
+As soon as I was sufficiently recovered to leave my room, I was taken to
+the chapel to be confirmed. Before they came for me, the abbess told me
+what questions would be asked, and the answers I should be required
+to give. She said they would ask me if I wished to see my father; if I
+should like to go back to the world, etc. To these and similar questions
+she said I must give a negative answer. "But," said I, "that will be a
+falsehood, and I will not say so for any of them." "Hush, hush, child!"
+she exclaimed, with a frightened look. "You must not talk so. From my
+heart I pity you; but it will be better for you to answer as I tell
+you, for if you refuse they will punish you till you do. Remember," she
+added, emphatically, "remember what I say: it will be better for you
+to do as I tell you." And she made me promise that I would. "But why do
+they wish me to tell a lie?" I asked. "They do not wish you to tell a
+lie," she replied; "they wish you to do right, and feel right; to be
+contented and willing to forget the world." "But I do not wish to forget
+the world," I said. "I am not contented, and saying that I am will not
+make me feel so. Is it right to tell a lie?" "It is right for you to
+obey," she replied, with more severity in her tone than I ever heard
+before. "Do you know," she continued, "that it is a great sin for you
+to talk so?" "A sin!" I exclaimed, in astonishment; "why is it a sin?"
+"Because," she replied, "you have no right to inquire why a command
+is given. Whatever the church commands, we must obey, and that, too,
+without question or complaint. If we are not willing to do this, it
+is the duty of the Bishop and the priests to punish us until we are
+willing. All who enter a convent renounce forever their own will." "But
+I didn't come here myself," said I; "my father put me here to stay a few
+years. When I am eighteen I shall go out again." "That does not make any
+difference," she replied. "You are here, and your duty is obedience.
+But my dear," she continued, "I advise you never again to speak of going
+out, for it can never be. By indulging such hopes you are preparing
+yourself for a great disappointment. By speaking of it, you will,
+I assure you, get yourself into trouble. You may not find others
+so indulgent as I am; therefore, for your own sake, I hope you
+will relinquish all idea of ever leaving the convent, and try to be
+contented." Such was the kind of instruction I received at the White
+Nunnery. I did not feel as much disappointed at the information that I
+was never to go into the world again as she had expected. I had felt for
+a long time, almost, indeed, from my first entrance, that such would be
+my fate, and though deeply grieved, I was able to control my feelings.
+
+The great day at length came for which the Abbess had been so long
+preparing me. I say great, for in our monotonous life, the smallest
+circumstance seemed important. Moreover, I was assured that my future
+happiness depended very much upon the answers, I that day gave to the
+various questions put to me. When about to be taken to the chapel, St.
+Bridget begged the priest to be careful and not frighten me, lest it
+should bring on my fits again. I was led into the chapel and made to
+kneel before the altar. The bishop and five priests were present, and
+also, a man whom I had never seen before, but I was told he was the
+Pope's Nuncio, and that he came a long way to visit them. I think this
+was true, for they all seemed to regard him as a superior. I shall never
+forget my feelings when he asked me the following questions, which I
+answered as I had been directed. "Who do you believe in?" "God." "How
+many persons are there in God?" "Three; the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
+"What world have you lately left?" "The world of sin and Satan." "Do you
+wish to go back and live with your father?" "No Sir." "Do you think you
+can live all your life with us." "I think I can, sir." He then said,
+"You will not fare any better than you have hitherto, and perhaps not
+as well." It was with the greatest difficulty that I could control my
+feelings sufficiently to answer this last question. But remembering
+what the Abbess had told me, I suppressed my tears, and choked down
+the rising sob. Surely those men must have known that I was telling a
+falsehood--that the profession I made was not in accordance with my real
+sentiments. For myself, I then felt, and still feel that the guilt was
+not mine. The sin did not rest with me.
+
+The Bishop was then told to hear my confession, after which, a priest
+took some ointment from a small box, and rubbed it on my forehead, and
+another priest came with a towel and wiped it off. I was then taken
+back to St. Bridget, with whom I remained, as long as I was in the White
+Nunnery.
+
+On my tenth birthday, the Bishop came to the Abbess very early in the
+morning, and informed her that I was to take the White Veil that day,
+and immediately after the ceremony, I would leave for the Grey Nunnery
+in Montreal. He desired her to make all the necessary preparation, and
+take her leave of me, as she would not see me again. This was sad news
+for us both, for I felt that she was my only friend, and I knew that she
+felt for me, the most sincere affection. She gave me much good advice in
+reference to my future conduct, and with tears exhorted me to be kind,
+cheerful, and obedient. I was going to a new place, she said, and if I
+was a good girl, and sought to please my superiors, I would find some
+one to be kind to me. She advised me to try and appear contented
+in whatever situation I might be placed, and above all other
+considerations, never disobey the least command. "Obedience," she again
+repeated, "is the rule in all convents, and it will be better for you to
+obey at once, and cheerfully, and willingly comply with every request,
+than to incur displeasure and perhaps punishment, by any appearance of
+reluctance or hesitation. If there is any one thing that you dislike to
+do, be sure that you do not betray your feelings, for if you do, that
+will be the very thing they will require of you; and I assure you, if
+you once become the object of suspicion or dislike, your condition will
+be anything but agreeable. You will be marked and watched, and required
+to do many unpleasant things, to say the least. Therefore I hope you
+will perform all your duties with a cheerful and willing spirit."
+Bitterly did I grieve at the thought of being separated from the only
+being on earth who seemed to care for me. In the anguish of the moment,
+I wished I might die. St. Bridget reproved me, saying encouragingly
+that death was the coward's refuge, sought only by those who had not the
+resolution to meet, endure, or overcome the trials of life. She exhorted
+me to courage, perseverance and self denial, saying that if I fought
+life's battle bravely, I would have my reward.
+
+She changed all my clothes, and assisted me to put on a white dress
+and cape, and a white cap and veil. She then gave me a card of good
+behavior, embraced me for the last time, and led me out to the Bishop,
+who was waiting to conduct me to the chapel where the ceremony was to be
+performed.
+
+I there met ten other little girls, who, like myself, were compelled
+to take upon themselves vows they did not understand, and thus, by an
+apparently voluntary act, consign themselves to slavery for life. They
+were all strangers to me, sent here, as I afterwards learned, from some
+nunnery in Ireland, where they had friends who were too solicitous for
+their welfare. The priests do not wish the nuns to see friends from the
+world, and they will frame almost any plausible excuse to prevent it.
+But when the friends become too urgent, as they sometimes do, and their
+inventive powers are taxed too severely, or if the task of furnishing so
+many excuses become too irksome, the poor hapless victims are sent
+off to some other nunnery, and the friends are told that they were not
+contented, and wished to go to some other place, and that they, generous
+creatures that they are, have at length, after much solicitation, kindly
+consented to their removal. And this too, when they know that these very
+girls are grieving their lives away, for a sight of those dear friends,
+who, they are confidently assured, are either dead, or have entirely
+forgotten them! Can the world of woe itself furnish deceit of a darker
+dye?
+
+The Bishop led me up to the altar, and put a lighted candle into my
+hand. He then went under the altar, on which a lighted candle was
+placed, and soon returned followed by two little boys whom they called
+apostles. They held, each, a lighted torch with which they proceeded to
+light two more candles. On a table near the altar, stood a coffin, and
+soon two priests entered, bearing another coffin, which they placed
+beside the other. A white cloth was spread over them, and burning
+candles placed at the head and foot. These movements frightened me
+exceedingly, for I thought they were going to kill me.
+
+Forgetting in my terror that I was not allowed to speak, I asked the
+Bishop if he was going to kill me. "Kill you!" he exclaimed, "O no;
+don't be frightened; I shall not hurt you in the least. But it is our
+custom, when a nun takes the veil, to lay her in a coffin to show that
+she is dead to the world. Did not St. Bridget tell you this?" I told him
+she did not, but I did not dare to tell him that I supposed she felt
+so bad when she found I must leave her, that she entirely forgot it. He
+then asked very pleasantly, which of the two coffins I liked the best,
+saying I could have my choice. I replied, "I have no choice." This was
+true, for although he assured me to the contrary, I still believed he
+was about to kill me, and I cared very little about my coffin. They were
+both large enough for a grown person, and beautifully finished, with a
+large silver plate on the lid. The Bishop took me up in his arms, and
+laid me in one of them, and bade me close my eyes.
+
+I lay in that coffin a long time, as it seemed to me, without the least
+motion. I was so much alarmed, I felt as though I could not even lift
+a finger. Meantime the Bishop and priests read alternately from a book,
+but in a language I could not understand. Occasionally they would come
+and feel my hands and feet, and say to each other, "She is very cold."
+I believe they were afraid I should die in their hands, of fear. When
+at last they took me up, they told me that I would carry that coffin
+to Montreal with me--that I would be laid in it when robed for the
+grave--and that my bones would moulder to dust in it. I shall never
+forget the impression these words made on my mind. There was something
+so horrible in the thought of carrying a coffin about with me all my
+life, constantly reminding me of the shortness of time, and the sure
+approach of death, I could not endure it. Gladly would I have left it,
+costly and elegant as it was, choosing rather to run the risk of being
+buried without one, but this was not allowed. I could have no choice in
+the matter.
+
+These ceremonies concluded. I was taken to a small room, and a woman
+assisted me to change my clothes again, and put on the Grey Nunnery
+suit. This consisted of a grey dress and shoes, and a black cap. Each
+nunnery has a peculiar dress which every nun is required to wear. Thus,
+on meeting one of them, it is very easy to tell what establishment she
+belongs to, and a run-away is easily detected. On leaving the chapel, I
+was taken to the steamboat, with the other ten girls, accompanied by a
+priest. Our coffins were packed in cotton, and placed on the boat with
+us. On our arrival at Montreal, we found a priest and two nuns waiting
+for us to conduct us to the nunnery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE GREY NUNNERY.
+
+The Grey Nunnery is situated on St. Paul Street, Montreal. It is four
+stories high, besides the basement. It occupies a large space of ground,
+I do not know how much, but it is a very extensive building. The roof
+is covered with tin, with a railing around it, finished at the top with
+sharp points that look like silver, about a foot in length, and
+three feet apart. Over the front door there is a porch covered with a
+profusion of climbing plants, which give it a beautiful appearance.
+The building stands in a large yard, surrounded on all sides by a high
+fence, so high indeed, that people who pass along the street can see
+no part of the nunnery except the silver points on the roof. The top of
+this fence is also finished with long iron spikes. Every thing around
+the building seems expressly arranged to keep the inmates in, and
+intruders out. In fact it would be nearly impossible for any one to gain
+a forcible or clandestine admittance to any part of the establishment.
+There are several gates in the fence, how many I do not know, but the
+front gate opens on St. Ann Street. Over each of the gates hangs a bell,
+connected with the bells in the rooms of the Superior and Abbesses,
+which ring whenever the gate is opened. There is always a guard of two
+men at each gate, who walk up and down with guns upon their shoulders.
+While attempting to give a brief description of this building, I may as
+well say that it is constructed with non-conductors between the walls,
+so that the ringing of a bell, or the loudest shriek, could not be heard
+from one room to the other. The reader will please bear this in mind, as
+the reason for the precaution will appear in the course of my narrative.
+
+The priest, who met us as we left the boat, conducted us to the front
+door and rang the bell. Soon a lady appeared, who drew a slide in the
+middle of the door, exposing one pane of glass. Through this she looked,
+to see who was there, and when satisfied on this point, opened the
+door. Here let me remark, that since I left the nunnery, I have heard of
+another class of people who find it convenient to have a slide in their
+door; and if I am not very much mistaken, the character of the two
+houses, or rather the people who live in them, are very much
+alike, whether they are nunneries of private families, Catholics or
+Protestants. Honest people have no need of a slide in the door, and
+where there is so much precaution, may we not suppose that something
+behind the curtain imperatively calls for it? It is an old adage, but
+true notwithstanding, that "where there is concealment, there must be
+something wrong."
+
+In the hall opposite the front door were two other doors, with a
+considerable space between them. The right hand door was opened by the
+door-tender, and we entered a room furnished in the plainest manner, but
+every thing was neat, and in perfect order. Instead of chairs, on two
+sides of the room a long bench was fastened to the sides of the house.
+They were neither painted, nor cushioned, but were very white, as was
+also the floor, on which there was no carpet. Beside the door stood
+a basin of holy water, and directly opposite, an image of the Saviour
+extended on the cross which they call a crucifix.
+
+Here we were left a few moments, then the door-keeper came back, and
+asked us if we would like to see the Black Cloisters; and if so, to
+follow her. She led us back into the hall, and in the space between the
+two doors that I mentioned, she unlocked a bar, and pulling it down,
+touched a spring, and immediately a little square door slid back into
+the ceiling. Across this door, or window or whatever they called it,
+were strong bars of iron about one inch apart. Through this aperture
+we were allowed to look, and a sad sight met my eyes. As many as fifty
+disconsolate looking ladies were sitting there, who were called Black
+Nuns, because they were preparing to take the Black Veil. They were all
+dressed in black, a black cap on the head, and a white bandage drawn
+across the forehead, to which another was attached, that passed under
+the chin. These bandages they always wore, and were not allowed to lay
+aside. They sat, each one with a book in her hand, motionless as so many
+statues. Not a finger did they move, not an eye was raised, but they
+sat gazing upon the page before them as intently as though life itself
+depended upon it. Our guide informed us that they were studying the
+[footnote] Black Book preparatory to taking the Black Veil and entering
+the Cloister. This book was quite a curiosity. It was very large, with a
+white cover, and around the edge a black border about an inch wide.
+
+[Footnote: "The Black Book, or Praxis Sacra Romance Inquisitionis, is
+always the model for that which is to succeed it. This book is a large
+manuscript volume, in folio, and is carefully preserved by the head of
+the Inquisition. It is called Libro Nero, the Black Book, because it
+has a cover of that color; or, as an inquisitor explained to me, Libro
+Necro, which, in the Greek language, signifies 'The book of the dead.'
+
+"In this book is the criminal code, with all the punishments for every
+supposed crime; also the mode of conducting the trial, so as to elicit
+the guilt of the accused; and the manner of receiving accusations. I had
+this book in my hand on one occasion, and read therein the proceedings
+relative to my own case; and I moreover saw in this same volume some
+very astounding particulars; for example, in the list of punishments I
+read concerning the bit, or as it is called by us THE MORDACCHIA, which
+is a very simple contrivance to confine the tongue, and compress it
+between two cylinders composed of iron and wood and furnished with
+spikes. This horrible instrument not only wounds the tongue and
+occasions excessive pain, but also, from the swelling it produces;
+frequently places the sufferer in danger of suffocation. This torture is
+generally had recourse to in cases considered as blasphemy against
+God, the Virgin, the Saints, or the Pope. So that according to the
+Inquisition, it is as great a crime to speak disparagingly of a pope,
+who may be a very detestable character, as to blaspheme the holy name
+of God. Be that as it may, this torture has been in use till the present
+period; and, to say nothing of the exhibitions of this nature which were
+displayed in Romanga, in the time of Gregory 16th., by the Inquisitor
+Ancarani--in Umbria by Stefanelli, Salva, and others, we may admire
+the inquisitorial seal of Cardinal Feretti, the cousin of his present
+holiness, who condescended more than once to employ these means when he
+was bishop of Rieti and Fermo." Dealings with the Inquisition, by the
+Rev. Giacinto Achilli D. D., late Prior and Visitor of the Dominican
+Order, Head Professor of Theology and Vicar of the master of the Sacred
+Apostolic Palace, etc., etc., page 81.]
+
+Our curiosity being satisfied as far as possible, we returned to the
+side room, where we waited long for the lady Superior. When at length
+she came, she turned to me first, as I sat next the door, and asked me
+if I had anything to show in proof of my former good character. I gave
+her my card; she looked at it, and led me to the other side of the room.
+The same question was asked of every girl in turn, when it was found
+that only four beside myself had cards of good behavior. The other six
+presented cards which she said were for bad behavior. They were all
+placed together on the other side of the room; and as the Superior was
+about to lead them away, one of them came towards us saying that she
+did not wish to stay with those girls, she would rather go with us.
+The Superior drew her back, and replied, "No, child; you cannot go with
+those good girls; you would soon learn them some of your naughty ways.
+If you will do wrong, you must take the consequences." Then, seeing that
+the child really felt very bad, she said, in a kinder tone, "When you
+learn to do right, you shall be allowed to go with good girls, but not
+before." I pitied the poor child, and for a long time I hoped to see her
+come to our room; but she never came. They were all led off together,
+and that was the last I ever saw of any of them.
+
+I was taken, with the other four girls, to a room on the second floor.
+Here we found five cribs, one for each of us, in which we slept. Our
+food was brought to us regularly, consisting of one thin slice of fine
+wheat bread for each of us, and a small cup of milk. It was only in
+the morning, however, that the milk was allowed us, and for dinner and
+supper we had a slice of bread and a cup of water. This was not half
+enough to satisfy our hunger; but we could have no more. For myself I
+can say that I was hungry all the time, and I know the others were also;
+but we could not say so to each other. We were in that room together
+five weeks, yet not one word passed between us. We did sometimes smile,
+or shake our heads, or make some little sign, though even this was
+prohibited, but we never ventured to speak. We were forbidden to do
+so, on pain of severe punishment; and I believe we were watched all the
+time, and kept there, for a trial of our obedience. We were employed in
+peeling a soft kind of wood for beds, and filling the ticks with it. We
+were directed to make our own beds, keep our room in the most perfect
+order, and all our work in the middle of the floor. The Superior came up
+every morning to see that we were thoroughly washed, and every Saturday
+she was very particular to have our clothes and bed linen all changed.
+As every convenience was provided in our rooms or the closets adjoining,
+we were not obliged to go out for anything, and for five weeks I did not
+go out of that room.
+
+My bed was then brought from Quebec, and we were moved to a large square
+room, with four beds in it, only two of which were occupied. We were
+then sent to the kitchen, where in future, we were to be employed in
+cleaning sauce, scouring knives and forks, and such work as we were able
+to do. As we grew older, our tasks were increased with our strength. I
+had no regular employment, but was called upon to do any of the drudgery
+that was to be done about the house. The Superior came to the kitchen
+every morning after prayers and told us what to do through the day.
+Then, in her presence we were allowed five minutes conversation, a
+priest also being present. For the rest of the day we kept a profound
+silence, not a word being spoken by any of us unless in answer to a
+question from some of our superiors.
+
+In one part of the building there was a school for young ladies, who
+were instructed in the various branches of education usually taught in
+Catholic schools. Many of the scholars boarded at the nunnery, and all
+the cooking and washing was done in the kitchen. We also did the cooking
+for the saloons in Montreal. If this did not keep us employed, there
+were corn brooms and brushes to make, and thus every moment was fully
+occupied. Not a moment of leisure, no rest, no recreation, but hard
+labor, and the still more laborious religious exercises, filled up the
+time. It was sometimes very annoying to me to devote so many hours to
+mere external forms; for I felt, even when very young, that they were
+of little worth. But it was a severe trial to our temper to make so many
+pies, cakes, puddings, and all kinds of rich food, which we were never
+allowed to taste. The priests, superiors, and the scholars had every
+luxury they desired; but the nuns, who prepared all their choice
+dainties, were never permitted to taste anything but bread and water.
+I am well aware that this statement will seem incredible, and that
+many will doubt the truth of it; but I repeat it: the nuns in the Grey
+Nunnery, or at least those in the kitchen with me, were allowed no food
+except bread and water, or, in case of illness, water gruel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+ORPHAN'S HOME.
+
+The Grey Nunnery is said to be an orphan's home, and no effort is spared
+to make visitors believe that this is the real character of the house.
+I suppose it is true that one part of it is devoted to this purpose; at
+least my Superior informed me that many children were kept there; and
+to those apartments visitors are freely admitted, but never to that part
+occupied by the nuns. We were never allowed to communicate with people
+from the world, nor with the children. In fact, during all the time I
+was there, I never saw one of them, nor did I ever enter the rooms where
+they were.
+
+In the ladies' school there were three hundred scholars, and in our
+part of the house two hundred and fifty nuns, besides the children who
+belonged to the nunnery. Add to these the abbesses, superiors, priests,
+and bishop, and one will readily imagine that the work for such a family
+was no trifling affair.
+
+In this nunnery the Bishop was the highest authority, and everything was
+under his direction, unless the Pope's Nuncio, or some other high
+church functionary was present. I sometimes saw one whom they called
+the Archbishop, who was treated with great deference by the priests, and
+even by the Bishop himself.
+
+The Holy Mother, or Lady Superior, has power over all who have taken or
+are preparing to take the veil. Under her other superiors or abbesses
+are appointed over the various departments, whose duty it is to look
+after the nuns and novices, and the children in training for nuns. The
+most rigid espionage is kept up throughout the whole establishment; and
+if any of these superiors or abbesses fail to do the duty assigned
+them, they are more severely punished than the nuns. Whenever the Lady
+Superior is absent the punishments are assigned by one of the priests.
+Of these there were a large number in the nunnery; and whenever we
+chanced to meet one of them, as we sometimes did when going about the
+house, or whenever one of them entered the kitchen, we must immediately
+fall upon our knees. No matter what we were doing, however busily
+employed, or however inconvenient it might be, every thing must be
+left or set aside, that this senseless ceremony might be performed. The
+priest must be honored, and woe to the poor nun who failed to move with
+sufficient alacrity; no punishment short of death itself was thought too
+severe for such criminal neglect. Sometimes it would happen that I would
+be engaged in some employment with my back to the door, and not observe
+the entrance of a priest until the general movement around me would
+arrest my attention; then I would hasten to "make my manners," as the
+ceremony was called; but all too late. I had been remiss in duty, and no
+excuse would avail, no apology be accepted, no forgiveness granted; the
+dreaded punishment must come.
+
+While the nuns are thus severely treated, the priests, and the Holy
+Mother live a very easy life, and have all the privileges they wish.
+So far as the things of this world are concerned, they seem to enjoy
+themselves very well. But I have sometimes wondered if conscience did
+not give them occasionally, an unpleasant twinge; and from some things I
+have seen, I believe, that with many of them, this is the fact. They may
+try to put far from them all thoughts of a judgment to come, yet I
+do believe that their slumbers are sometimes disturbed by fearful
+forebodings of a just retribution which may, after all, be in store for
+them. But whatever trouble of mind they may have, they do not allow it
+to interfere with their worldly pleasures, and expensive luxuries. They
+have money enough, go when, and where they please, eat the richest food
+and drink the choicest wines. In short, if sensual enjoyment was
+the chief end of their existence, I do not know how they could act
+otherwise. The Abbesses are sometimes allowed to go out, but not unless
+they have a pass from one of the priests, and if, at any time, they have
+reason to suspect that some one is discontented, they will not allow any
+one to go out of the building without a careful attendant.
+
+My Superior here, as in the White Nunnery, was very kind to me. I
+sometimes feared she would share the fate of Father Darity, for she had
+a kind heart, and was guilty of many benevolent acts, which, if known,
+would have subjected her to very serious consequences. I became so much
+attached to her, that my fears for her were always alarmed when she
+called me her good little girl, or used any such endearing expression.
+The sequel of my story will show that my fears were not unfounded; but
+let me not anticipate. Sorrows will thicken fast enough, if we do not
+hasten them.
+
+I lived with this Superior one year before I was consecrated, and it
+was, comparatively, a happy season. I was never punished unless it was
+to save me from less merciful hands; and then I would be shut up in a
+closet, or some such simple thing. The other four girls who occupied the
+room with me, were consecrated at the same time.
+
+The Bishop came to our room early one morning, and took us to the
+chapel. At the door we were made to kneel, and then crawl on our hands
+and knees to the altar, where sat a man, who we were told, was the
+Archbishop. Two little boys came up from under the altar, with the
+vesper lamp to burn incense. I suppose they were young Apostles, for
+they looked very much like those we had seen at the White Nunnery, and
+were dressed in the same manner. The Bishop turned his back, and they
+threw incense on his head and shoulders, until he was surrounded by a
+cloud of smoke. He bowed his head, smote upon his breast, and repeated
+something in latin, or some other language, that we did not understand.
+We were told to follow his example, and did so, as nearly as possible.
+This ceremony over, the Bishop told us to go up on to the altar on our
+knees, and when this feat was performed to his satisfaction, he placed a
+crown of thorns upon each of our heads. These crowns were made of
+bands of some firm material, which passed over the head and around the
+forehead. On the inside thorns were fastened, with the points downward,
+so that a very slight pressure would cause them to pierce the skin. This
+I suppose is intended to imitate the crown of thorns which our Saviour
+wore upon the cross. But what will it avail them to imitate the
+crucifixion and the crown of thorns, while justice and mercy are so
+entirely neglected? What will it avail to place a crown of thorns upon
+a child's head, or to bid her kneel before the image of the Saviour, or
+travel up stairs on her knees, while the way of salvation by Christ is
+never explained to her; while of real religion, holiness of heart,
+and purity of life she is as ignorant as the most benighted, degraded
+heathen? Is it rational to suppose that the mere act of repeating
+a prayer can heal the wounded spirit, or give peace to a troubled
+conscience? Can the most cruel penance remove the sense of guilt, or
+whisper hope to the desponding soul? Ah, no! I have tried it long enough
+to speak with absolute certainty. For years I practiced these senseless
+mummeries, and if there were any virtue, in them, I should, most
+certainly have discovered it. But I know full well, and my reader knows
+that they cannot satisfy the restless yearnings of the immortal mind.
+They may delude the vulgar, but they cannot dispel the darkness of the
+tomb, they cannot lead a soul to Christ.
+
+On leaving the chapel after the ceremony, I found a new Superior,
+waiting for us at the door to conduct us to our rooms. We were all very
+much surprised at this, but she informed us that our old Superior died
+that morning, that she was already buried, and she had come to take her
+place. I could not believe this story, for she came to us as usual that
+morning, appeared in usual health, though always very pale, and made no
+complaint, or exhibited any signs of illness. She told us in her kind
+and pleasant way that we were to be consecrated, gave us a few words of
+advice, but said nothing about leaving us, and I do not believe she even
+thought of such a thing. Little did I think, when she left us, that I
+was never to see her again. But so it was. In just two hours and a half
+from that time, we were told that she was dead and buried, and another
+filled her place! A probable story, truly! I wonder if they thought we
+believed it! But whether we did or not, that was all we could ever know
+about it. No allusion was ever made to the subject, and nuns are not
+allowed to ask questions. However excited we might feel, no information
+could we seek as to the manner of her death. Whether she died by
+disease, or by the hand of violence; whether her gentle spirit
+peacefully winged its way to the bosom of its God, or was hastily driven
+forth upon the dagger's point, whether some kind friend closed her eyes
+in death, and decently robed her cold limbs for the grave, or whether
+torn upon the agonizing rack, whether she is left to moulder away in
+some dungeon's gloom, or thrown into the quickly consuming fire, we
+could never know. These, and many other questions that might have been
+asked, will never be answered until the last great day, when the grave
+shall give up its dead, and, the prison disclose its secrets.
+
+After the consecration we were separated, and only one of the girls
+remained with me. The others I never saw again. We were put into a large
+room, where were three beds, one large and two small ones. In the large
+bed the Superior slept, while I occupied one of the small beds and the
+other little nun the other. Our new Superior was very strict, and we
+were severely punished for the least trifle--such, for instance, as
+making a noise, either in our own room or in the kitchen. We might not
+even smile, or make motions to each other, or look in each other's face.
+We must keep our eyes on our work or on the floor, in token of humility.
+To look a person full in the face was considered an unpardonable act of
+boldness. On retiring for the night we were required to lie perfectly
+motionless. We might not move a hand or foot, or even a finger. At
+twelve the bell rang for prayers, when we must rise, kneel by our beds,
+and repeat prayers until the second bell, when we again retired to rest.
+On cold winter nights these midnight prayers were a most cruel penance.
+It did seem as though I should freeze to death. But live or die, the
+prayers must be said, and the Superior was always there to see that we
+were not remiss in duty. If she slept at all I am sure it must have
+been with one eye open, for she saw everything. But if I obeyed in this
+thing, I found it impossible to lie as still as they required; I would
+move when I was asleep without knowing it. This of course could not be
+allowed, and for many weeks I was strapped down to my bed every night,
+until I could sleep without the movement of a muscle. I was very anxious
+to do as nearly right as possible, for I thought if they saw that I
+strove with all my might to obey, they would perhaps excuse me if I did
+fail to conquer impossibilities. In this, however, I was disappointed;
+and I at length became weary of trying to do right, for they would
+inflict severe punishments for the most trifling accident. In fact, if
+I give anything like a correct account of my convent life, it will be
+little else than a history of punishments. Pains, trials, prayers, and
+mortifications filled up the time. Penance was the rule, to escape it
+the exception.
+
+I neglected at the proper time to state what name was given me when I
+took the veil; I may therefore as well say in this place that my convent
+name was Sister Agnes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+CONFESSION AND SORROW OF NO AVAIL.
+
+It was a part of my business to wait upon the priests in their rooms,
+carry them water, clean towels, wine-glasses, or anything they needed.
+When entering a priest's room it was customary for a child to knock
+twice, an adult four times, and a priest three times. This rule I
+was very careful to observe. Whenever a priest opened the door I was
+required to courtesy, and fall upon my knees; but if it was opened by
+one of the waiters this ceremony was omitted. These waiters were the
+boys I have before mentioned, called apostles. It was also a part of my
+business to wait upon them, carry them clean frocks, etc.
+
+One day I was carrying a pitcher of water to one of the priests, and it
+being very heavy, it required both my hands and nearly all my strength
+to keep it upright. On reaching the door, however, I attempted to hold
+it with one hand (as I dare not set it down), while I rapped with the
+other. In so doing I chanced to spill a little water on the floor. Just
+at that moment the door was opened by the priest himself, and when he
+saw the water he was very angry. He caught me by the arm and asked what
+punishment he should inflict upon me for being so careless. I attempted
+to explain how it happened, told him it was an accident, that I was very
+sorry, and would try to be more careful in future. But I might as well
+have said that I was glad, and would do so again, for my confession,
+sorrow, and promises of future obedience were entirely thrown away,
+and might as well have been kept for some one who could appreciate the
+feeling that prompted them.
+
+He immediately led me out of his room, it being on the second floor, and
+down into the back yard. Here, in the centre of the gravel walk, was
+a grate where they put down coal. This grate he raised and bade me
+go down. I obeyed, and descending a few steps found myself in a coal
+cellar, the floor being covered with it for some feet in depth. On this
+we walked some two rods, perhaps, when the priest stopped, and with a
+shovel that stood near cleared away the coal and lifted a trap door.
+Through this we descended four or five steps, and proceeded along
+a dark, narrow passage, so low we could not stand erect, and the
+atmosphere so cold and damp it produced the most uncomfortable
+sensations. By the light of a small lantern which the priest carried in
+his hand, I was enabled to observe on each side the passage small doors,
+a few feet apart, as far as I could see. Some of them were open, others
+shut, and the key upon the outside. In each of these doors there was
+a small opening, with iron bars across it, through which the prisoner
+received food, if allowed to have any. One of these doors I was directed
+to enter, which I did with some difficulty, the place being so low, and
+I was trembling with cold and fear. The priest crawled in after me
+and tied me to the back part of the cell, leaving me there in midnight
+darkness, and locking the door after him. I could hear on all sides, as
+it seemed to me, the sobs, groans, and shrieks of other prisoners,
+some of whom prayed earnestly for death to release them from their
+sufferings.
+
+For twenty-four hours I was left to bear as I best could the pains and
+terrors of cold, hunger, darkness, and fatigue. I could neither sit or
+lie down, and every one knows how very painful it is to stand upon the
+feet a long time, even when the position can be slightly changed; how
+much more so when no change can be effected, but the same set of muscles
+kept continually on the stretch for the space of twenty-four hours!
+Moreover, I knew not how long I should be kept there. The other
+prisoners, whose agonizing cries fell upon my ears, were evidently
+suffering all the horrors of starvation. Was I to meet a fate like this?
+Were those terrible sufferings in reserve for me? How could I endure
+them? And then came the thought so often present with me while in the
+convent, "If there is a God in heaven, why does He permit such things?
+What have I done that I should become the victim of such cruelty? God of
+mercy!" I involuntarily exclaimed, "save me from this terrible death."
+
+My prayer was heard, my petition granted. At the close of twenty-four
+hours, the Lady Superior came and released me from my prison, told me to
+go to the priest and ask his forgiveness, and then go to my work in the
+kitchen. I was very faint and weak from my long fast, and I resolved
+never to offend again. I verily thought I could be careful enough to
+escape another such punishment. But I had not been in the kitchen one
+hour, when I chanced to let a plate fall upon the floor. It was in
+no way injured, but I had broken the rules by making a noise, and the
+Superior immediately reported me to the priest. He soon appeared with
+his bunch of keys and a dark lantern in his hand. He took me by the ear
+which he pinched till he brought tears to my eyes, saying, "You don't
+try to do well, and I'll make you suffer the consequences." I did not
+reply, for I had learned that to answer a priest, or seek to vindicate
+myself, or even to explain how things came to be so, was in itself
+a crime, to be severely punished. However unjust their treatment,
+or whatever my feelings might be, I knew it was better to suffer in
+silence.
+
+Unlocking a door that opened out of the kitchen, and still keeping hold
+of my ear, he led me into a dark, gloomy hall, with black walls, and
+opening a door on the right, he bade me enter. This room was lighted
+by a candle, and around the sides, large iron hooks with heavy chains
+attached to them, were driven into the wall. At the back part of the
+room, he opened the door, and bade me enter a small closet. He then put
+a large iron ring over my head, and pressed it down upon my shoulders.
+Heavy weights were placed in my hands, and I was told to stand up
+straight, and hold them fifteen minutes. This I could not do. Had my
+life depended upon the effort, I could not have stood erect, with those
+weights in my hands. The priest, however, did not reprove me. Perhaps he
+saw that I exerted all my strength to obey, for he took out his watch,
+and slowly counted the minutes as they passed. Ere a third part of the
+time expired, he was obliged to release me, for the blood gushed from
+my nose and mouth, and I began to feel faint and dizzy. The irons were
+removed, and the blood ceased to flow.
+
+I was then taken to another room, lighted like the other, but it was
+damp and cold, and pervaded by a strong, fetid, and very offensive odor.
+The floor was of wood, and badly stained with blood. At least, I
+thought it was blood, but there was not light enough to enable me to
+say positively what it was. In the middle of the room, stood two long
+tables, on each of which, lay a corpse, covered with a white cloth. The
+priest led me to these tables, removed the cloth and bade me look upon
+the face of the dead. They were very much emaciated, and the features,
+even in death, bore the impress of terrible suffering. We stood there a
+few moments, when he again led me back to his own room. He then asked
+me what I thought of what I had seen. Having taken no food for more than
+twenty-four hours, I replied, "I am so hungry, I can think of nothing
+else." "How would you like to eat those dead bodies?" he asked. "I would
+starve, Sir, before I would do it," I replied. "Would you?" said he,
+with a slight sneer. "Yes indeed," I exclaimed, striving to suppress my
+indignant feelings. "What! eat the flesh of a corpse? You do not mean
+it. I would starve to death first!" Frightened at my own temerity in
+speaking so boldly, I involuntarily raised my eye. The peculiar smile
+upon his face actually chilled my blood with terror. He did not,
+however, seem to notice me, but said, "Do not be too sure; I have seen
+others quite as sure as you are, yet they were glad to do it to save
+their lives; and remember," he added significantly, "you will do it too
+if you are not careful." He then ordered me to return to the kitchen.
+
+At ten o'clock in the morning, the nuns had a slice of bread and cup
+of water; but, as I had been fasting, they gave me a bowl of gruel,
+composed of indian meal and water, with a little salt. A poor dinner
+this, for a hungry person, but I could have no more. At eleven, we went
+to mass in the chapel as usual. It was our custom to have mass
+every day, and I have been told that this is true of all Romish
+establishments. Returning to my work in the kitchen, I again resolved
+that I would be so careful, that, in future they should have no cause
+for complaint For two days I succeeded. Yes, for two whole days, I
+escaped punishment. This I notice as somewhat remarkable, because I was
+generally punished every day, and sometimes two or three times in a day.
+
+On the third morning, I was dusting the furniture in the room occupied
+by the priest above mentioned, who treated me so cruelly. The floor
+being uncarpeted, in moving the chairs I chanced to make a slight noise,
+although I did my best to avoid it. He immediately sprang to his feet,
+exclaiming, "You careless dog! What did you do that for?" Then taking me
+by the arms, he gave me a hard shake, saying, "Have I not told you that
+you would be punished, if you made a noise? But I see how it is with
+you; your mind is on the world, and you think more of that, than you do
+of the convent. But I shall punish you until you do your duty better."
+He concluded this choice speech by telling me to "march down stairs." Of
+course, I obeyed, and he followed me, striking me on the head at every
+step, with a book he held in his hand. I thought to escape some of the
+blows, and hastened along, but all in vain; he kept near me and drove
+me before him into the priests sitting-room. He then sent for three more
+priests, to decide upon my punishment. A long consultation they held
+upon "this serious business," as I sneeringly thought it, but the result
+was serious in good earnest, I assure you. For the heinous offence of
+making a slight noise I was to have dry peas bound upon my knees, and
+then be made to crawl to St. Patrick's church, through an underground
+passage, and back again. This church was situated on a hill, a little
+more than a quarter of a mile from the convent. Between the two
+buildings, an under-ground passage had been constructed, just large
+enough to allow a person to crawl through it on the hands and knees. It
+was so low, and narrow, that it was impossible either to rise, or turn
+around; once within that passage there was no escape, but to go on to
+the end. They allowed me five hours to go and return; and to prove that
+I had really been there, I was to make a cross, and two straight lines,
+with a bit of chalk, upon a black-board that I should find at the end.
+
+O, the intolerable agonies I endured on that terrible pathway! Any
+description that I can give, will fail to convey the least idea of the
+misery of those long five hours. It may, perchance, seem a very simple
+mode of punishment, but let any one just try it, and they will be
+convinced that it was no trifling thing. At the end, I found myself in
+a cellar under the church, where there was light enough to enable me to
+find the board and the chalk. I made the mark according to orders, and
+then looked around for some means of escape. Alas! There was none to be
+found. Strong iron bars firmly secured the only door, and a very slight
+examination convinced me that my case was utterly hopeless. I then tried
+to remove the peas from my swollen, bleeding limbs, but this, too, I
+found impossible. They were evidently fastened by a practised hand; and
+I was, at length, compelled to believe that I must return as I came. I
+did return; but O, how, many times I gave up in despair, and thought
+I could go no further! How many times did I stretch myself on the cold
+stones, in such bitter agony, that I could have welcomed death as a
+friend and deliverer! What would I not have given for one glass of cold
+water, or even for a breath of fresh air! My limbs seemed on fire,
+and while great drops of perspiration fell from my face, my throat and
+tongue were literally parched with thirst. But the end came at last, and
+I found the priest waiting for me at the entrance. He seemed very angry,
+and said, "You have been gone over your time. There was no need of it;
+you could have returned sooner if you had chosen to do so, and now,
+I shall punish you again, for being gone so long." At first, his
+reproaches grieved me, for I had done my best to please him, and I did
+so long for one word of sympathy, it seemed for a moment, as though my
+heart would break. Had he then spoken one kind word to me, or manifested
+the least compassion for my sufferings, I could have forgiven the past,
+and obeyed him with feelings of love and gratitude for the future. Yes,
+I would have done anything for that man, if I could have felt that he
+had the least pity for me; but when he said he should punish me again,
+my heart turned to stone. Every tender emotion vanished, and a fierce
+hatred, a burning indignation, and thirst for revenge, took possession
+of my soul.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ALONE WITH THE DEAD.
+
+The priest removed the peas from my limbs, and led me to a tomb under
+the chapel, where he left me, with the consoling assurance that "THE
+DEAD WOULD RISE AND EAT ME!" This tomb was a large rectangular room,
+with shelves on three sides of it, on which were the coffins of priests
+and Superiors who had died in the nunnery. On the floor under the
+shelves, were large piles of human bones, dry and white, and some of
+them crumbling into dust. In the center of the room was a large tank of
+water, several feet in diameter, called St. Joseph's well. It occupied
+the whole center of the room leaving a very narrow pathway between that,
+and the shelves; so narrow, indeed, that I found it impossible to sit
+down, and exceedingly difficult to walk or even stand still. I was
+obliged to hold firmly by the shelves, to avoid slipping into the water
+which looked dark and deep. The priest said, when he left me, that if I
+fell in, I would drown, for no one could take me out.
+
+O, how my heart thrilled with superstitious terror when I heard the key
+turn in the lock, and realized that I was alone with the dead! And that
+was not the worst of it. They would rise and eat me! For a few hours
+I stood as though paralyzed with fear. A cold perspiration covered my
+trembling limbs, as I watched those coffins with the most painful and
+serious apprehension. Every moment I expected the fearful catastrophe,
+and even wondered which part they would devour first--whether one would
+come alone and thus kill me by inches, or whether they would all rise
+at once, and quickly make an end of me. I even imagined I could see the
+coffins move--that I heard the dead groan and sigh and even the sound of
+my own chattering teeth, I fancied to be a movement among the dry bones
+that lay at my feet. In the extremity of terror I shrieked aloud. But
+this I knew was utterly useless. Who would hear me? Or who would care if
+they did hear? I was surrounded by walls that no sound could penetrate,
+and if it could, it would fall upon ears deaf to the agonizing cry for
+mercy,--upon hearts that feel no sympathy for human woe.
+
+Some persons may be disposed to smile at this record of absurd and
+superstitions fear. But to me it was no laughing affair. Had not the
+priest said that the dead would rise and eat me? And did I not firmly
+believe that what he said was true? What! A priest tell a falsehood?
+Impossible. I thought it could not be; yet as hour after hour passed
+away, and no harm came to me, I began to exercise my reason a little,
+and very soon came to the conclusion that the priests are not the
+immaculate, infallible beings I had been taught to believe. Cruel
+and hard hearted, I knew them to be, but I did not suspect them of
+falsehood. Hitherto I had supposed it was impossible for them to do
+wrong, or to err in judgement; all their cruel acts being done for the
+benefit of the soul, which in some inexplicable way was to be benefited
+by the sufferings of the body. Now, however, I began to question the
+truth of many things I had seen and heard, and ere long I lost all faith
+in them, or in the terrible system of bigotry, cruelty and fraud, which
+they call religion.
+
+As the hours passed by and my fears vanished before the calm light of
+reason, I gradually gained sufficient courage to enable me to examine
+the tomb, thinking that I might perchance discover the body of my old
+Superior. For this purpose I accordingly commenced the circuit of the
+room, holding on by the shelves, and making my way slowly onward. One
+coffin I succeeded in opening, but the sight of the corpse so frightened
+me, I did not dare to open another. The room being brilliantly lighted
+with two large spermaceti candles at one end, and a gas burner at the
+other, I was enabled to see every feature distinctly.
+
+One of the nuns informed me that none but priests and Superiors are laid
+in that tomb. When these die in full communion with the church, the body
+is embalmed, and placed here, but it sometimes happens that a priest or
+Superior is found in the convent who does not believe all that is taught
+by the church of Rome. They desire to investigate the subject--to seek
+for more light--more knowledge of the way of salvation by Christ. This,
+with the Romanists is a great sin, and the poor hapless victim is at
+once placed under punishment. If they die in this condition, their
+bodies are cast out as heretics, but if they confess and receive
+absolution, they are placed in the tomb, but not embalmed. The flesh, of
+course, decays, and then the bones are thrown under the shelves. Never
+shall I forget how frightful those bones appeared to me, or the cold
+shudder that thrilled my frame at the sight of the numerous human skulls
+that lay scattered around.
+
+Twenty-four hours I spent in this abode of the dead, without rest or
+sleep. The attempt to obtain either would have been sheer madness, for
+the least mis-step, the least unguarded motion, or a slight relaxation
+of the firm grasp by which I held on to the shelves, would have plunged
+me headlong into the dark water, from which escape would have been
+impossible. For thirty hours I had not tasted food, and my limbs,
+mangled and badly swollen, were so stiff with long standing, that, when
+allowed to leave the tomb, I could hardly step. When the priest came to
+let me out, he seemed to think it necessary to say something to cover
+his attempt to deceive and frighten me, but he only made a bad matter
+worse. He said that after he left me, he thought he would try me once
+more, and see if I would not do my duty better; he had, therefore,
+WILLED THE DEAD NOT TO EAT ME! AND THEY, OBEDIENT TO HIS WILL, WERE
+COMPELLED TO LET ME ALONE! I did not reply to this absurd declaration,
+lest I should say something I ought not, and again incur his
+displeasure. Indeed, I was not expected to say anything, unless I
+returned thanks for his unparalleled kindness, and I was not hypocrite
+enough for that. I suppose he thought I believed all he said, but he was
+greatly mistaken. If I began to doubt his word while in the tomb, this
+ridiculous pretence only served to add contempt to unbelief, and from
+that time I regarded him as a deceiver, and a vile, unscrupulous,
+hypocritical pretender.
+
+It was with the greatest difficulty that I again made my way to the
+kitchen. I was never very strong, even when allowed my regular meals,
+for the quantity, was altogether insufficient, to satisfy the demands
+of nature; and now I had been so long without anything to eat, I was
+so weak, and my limbs so stiff and swollen, I could hardly stand. I
+managed, however, to reach the kitchen, when I was immediately seated at
+the table and presented with a bowl of gruel. O, what a luxury it seemed
+to me, and how eagerly did I partake of it! It was soon gone, and I
+looked around for a further supply. Another nun, who sat at the table
+with me, with a bowl of gruel before her, noticed my disappointment when
+I saw that I was to have no more. She was a stranger to me, and so pale
+and emaciated she looked more like a corpse than a living person. She
+had tasted a little of her gruel, but her stomach was too weak to retain
+it, and as soon as the Superior left us she took it up and poured the
+whole into my bowl, making at the same time a gesture that gave me to
+understand that it was of no use to her, and she wished me to eat it I
+did not wait for a second invitation, and she seemed pleased to see me
+accept it so readily. We dared not speak, but we had no difficulty in
+understanding each other.
+
+I had but just finished my gruel when the Superior came back and desired
+me to go up stairs and help tie a mad nun. I think she did this simply
+for the purpose of giving me a quiet lesson in convent life, and showing
+me the consequences of resistance or disobedience. She must have known
+that I was altogether incapable of giving the assistance she pretended
+to ask. But I followed her as fast as possible, and when she saw how
+difficult it was for me to get up stairs, she walked slowly and gave me
+all the time I wished for. She led me into a small room and closed the
+door. There I beheld a scene that called forth my warmest sympathy,
+and at the same time excited feelings of indignation that will never be
+subdued while reason retains her throne. In the center of the room sat
+a young girl, who could not have been more than sixteen years old; and a
+face and form of such perfect symmetry, such surpassing beauty, I never
+saw. She was divested of all her clothing except one under-garment, and
+her hands and feet securely tied to the chair on which she sat. A priest
+stood beside her, and as we entered he bade us assist him in removing
+the beds from the bedstead. They then took the nun from her chair and
+laid her on the bedcord. They desired me to assist them, but my heart
+failed me. I could not do it, for I was sure they were about to kill
+her; and as I gazed upon those calm, expressive features, so pale and
+sad, yet so perfectly beautiful, I felt that it would be sacrilege for
+me to raise my hand against nature's holiest and most exquisite work. I
+therefore assured them that I was too weak to render the assistance they
+required. At first they attempted to compel me to do it; but, finding
+that I was really very weak, and unwilling to use what strength I had,
+they at length permitted me to stand aside. When they extended the poor
+girl on the cord, she said, very quietly, "I am not mad, and you know
+that I am not." To this no answer was given, but they calmly proceeded
+with their fiendish work. One of them tied her feet, while the other
+fastened a rope across her neck in such a way that if she attempted to
+raise her head it would strangle her. The rope was then fastened under
+the bedcord, and two or three times over her person. Her arms were
+extended, and fastened in the same way. As she lay thus, like a lamb
+bound for the sacrifice, she looked up at her tormentors and said, "Will
+the Lord permit me to die in this cruel way?" The priest immediately
+exclaimed, in an angry tone, "Stop your talk, you mad woman!" and
+turning to me, he bade me go back to the kitchen. It is probable he saw
+the impression on my mind was not just what they desired, therefore he
+hurried me away.
+
+All this time the poor doomed nun submitted quietly to her fate. I
+suppose she thought it useless, yea, worse than useless, to resist; for
+any effort she might make to escape would only provoke them, and they
+would torment her the more. I presume she thought her last hour had
+come, and the sooner she was out of her misery the better. As for me,
+my heart was so filled with terror, anguish, and pity for her, I could
+hardly obey the command to leave the room.
+
+I attempted to descend the stairs, but was obliged to go very slowly on
+account of the stiffness of my limbs, and before I reached the bottom of
+the first flight the priest and the Superior came out into the hall. I
+heard them whispering together, and I paused to listen. This, I know,
+was wrong; but I could not help it, and I was so excited I did not
+realize what I was doing. My anxiety for that girl overpowered every
+other feeling. At first I could only hear the sound of their voices; but
+soon they spoke more distinctly, and I heard the words. "What shall we
+do with her? she will never confess." In an audible tone of voice, the
+other replied, "We had better finish her." How those words thrilled my
+soul! I knew well enough that they designed "to finish her," but to hear
+the purpose announced so coolly, it was horrible. Was there no way that
+I could save her? Must I stand there, and know that a fellow-creature
+was being murdered, that a young girl like myself, in all the freshness
+of youth and the fullness of health, was to be cut off in the very
+prime of life and numbered with the dead; hurried out of existence and
+plunged, unwept, unlamented, into darkness and silence? She had friends,
+undoubtedly, but they would never be allowed to know her sad fate, never
+shed a tear upon her grave! I could not endure the thought. I felt that
+if I lingered there another moment I should be in danger of madness
+myself; for I could not help her. I could not prevent the consummation
+of their cruel purpose; I therefore hastened away, and this was the last
+I ever heard of that poor nun. I had never seen her before, and as I did
+not see her clothes, I could not even tell whether she belonged to our
+nunnery or not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE SICK NUN.
+
+On my return to the kitchen I found the sick nun sitting as we left her.
+She asked me, by signs, if we were alone. I told her she need not fear
+to speak, for the Superior was two flights of stairs above, and no one
+else was near. "Are they all away?" she whispered. I assured her that
+we were quite alone, that she had nothing to fear. She then informed me
+that she had been nine days under punishment, that when taken from the
+cell she could not stand or speak, and she was still too weak to walk
+without assistance. "O!" said she, and the big tears rolled over her
+cheeks as she said it, "I have not a friend in the world. You do not
+know how my heart longs for love, for sympathy and kindness." I asked if
+she had not parents, or friends, in the world. She replied, "I was born
+in this convent, and know no world but this. You see," she continued,
+with a sad smile, "what kind of friends I have here. O, if I HAD A
+FRIEND, if I could feel that one human being cares for me, I should get
+better. But it is so long since I heard a kind word--" a sob choked her
+utterance. I told her I would be a friend to her as far as I could. She
+thanked me; said she was well aware of the difficulties that lay in my
+way, for every expression of sympathy or kind feeling between the nuns
+was strictly forbidden, and if caught in anything of the kind a severe
+correction would follow. "But," said she "if you will give me a kind
+look sometimes, whenever you can do so with safety, it will be worth a
+great deal to me. You do not know the value of a kind look to a breaking
+heart."
+
+She wept so bitterly, I feared it would injure her health, and to divert
+her mind, I told her where I was born; spoke of my childhood, and of
+my life at the White Nunnery. She wiped away her tears, and replied, "I
+know all about it. I have heard the priests talk about you, and they say
+that your father is yet living, that your mother was a firm protestant,
+and that it will be hard for them to beat Catholicism into you. But I
+do not know how you came in that nunnery. Who put you there?" I told her
+that I was placed there by my father, when only six years old. "Is
+it possible?" she exclaimed, and then added passionately, "Curse your
+father for it." After a moments silence, she continued, "Yes, child;
+you have indeed cause to curse your father, and the day when you first
+entered the convent; but you do not suffer as much as you would if you
+had been born here, and were entirely dependent on them. They fear
+that your friends may sometime look after you; and, in case they are
+compelled to grant them an interview, they would wish them to find you
+in good health and contented; but if you had no influential friends
+outside the convent, you would find yourself much worse off than you are
+now."
+
+She then said she wished she could get some of the brandy from the
+cellar. Her stomach was so weak from long fasting, it would retain
+neither food or drink, and she thought the brandy would give it
+strength. She asked if I could get it for her. The idea frightened me at
+first, for I knew that if caught in doing it, I should be most cruelly
+punished, yet my sympathy for her at length overcame my fears, and I
+resolved to try, whatever might be the result. I accordingly went up
+stairs, ostensibly, to see if the Superior wanted me, but really, to
+find out where she was, and whether she would be likely to come down,
+before I could have time to carry out my plan. I trembled a little,
+for I knew that I was guilty of a great misdemeanor in thus boldly
+presenting myself to ask if I was wanted; but I thought it no very great
+sin to pretend that I thought she called me, for I was sure my motives
+were good, whatever they might think of them. I had been taught that
+"the end sanctifies the means," and I thought I should not be too hardly
+judged by the great searcher of hearts, if, for once, I applied it in my
+own way.
+
+I knocked gently at the door I had left but a few moments before. It was
+opened by the Superior, but she immediately stepped out, and closed it
+again, so that I had no opportunity to see what was passing within.
+She sternly bade me return to the kitchen, and stay there till she came
+down; a command I was quite ready to obey. In the kitchen there was a
+small cupboard, called the key cupboard, in which they kept keys of all
+sizes belonging to the establishment. They were hung on hooks, each one
+being marked with the name of the place to which it belonged. It was
+easy for me to find the key to the cellar, and having obtained it, I
+opened another cupboard filled with bottles and vials, where I selected
+one that held half a pint, placed it in a large pitcher, and hastened
+down stairs. I soon found a cask marked "brandy," turned the faucet, and
+filled the bottle. But my heart beat violently, and my hand trembled
+so that I could not hold it steady, and some of it ran over into the
+pitcher. It was well for me that I took this precaution, for if I had
+spilt it on the stone floor of the cellar, I should have been detected
+at once. I ran up stairs as quickly as possible, and made her drink what
+I had in the pitcher, though there was more of it than I should have
+given her under other circumstances; but I did not know what to do
+with it. If I put it in the fire, or in the sink, I thought they would
+certainly smell it, and, there was no other place, for I was not allowed
+to go out of doors. I then replaced the key, washed up my pitcher, and
+secreted the bottle of brandy in the waist of the nun's dress. This
+I could easily do, their dresses being made with a loose waist, and a
+large cape worn over them. I then began to devise some way to destroy
+the scent in the room. I could smell it very distinctly, and I knew that
+the Superior would notice it at once. After trying various expedients to
+no purpose, I at length remembered that I had once seen a dry rag set on
+fire for a similar purpose. I therefore took one of the cloths from the
+sink, and set it on fire, let it burn a moment, and threw it under the
+caldron.
+
+I was just beginning to congratulate myself on my success, when I saw
+that the nun appeared insensible, and about to fall from her chair. I
+caught her in my arms, and leaned her back in the chair, but I did not
+dare to lay her on the bed, without permission, even if I had strength
+to do it. I could only draw her chair to the side of the room, put a
+stick of wood under it, and let her head rest against the wall. I was
+very much frightened, and for a moment, thought she was dead. She was
+pale as a corpse, her eyes closed, and her mouth wide open. Had I really
+killed her? What if the Superior should find her thus? I soon found that
+she was not dead, for her heart beat regularly, and I began to hope she
+would get over it before any one came in. But just as the thought passed
+my mind, the door opened and the Superior appeared. Her first words
+were, "What have you been burning? What smells so?" I told her there was
+a cloth about the sink that I thought unfit for use, and I put it
+under the caldron. She then turned towards the nun and asked if she had
+fainted. I told her that I did not know, but I thought she was asleep,
+and if she wished me to awaken, and assist her to bed, I would do so. To
+this she consented, and immediately went up stairs again. Glad as I was
+of this permission, I still doubted my ability to do it alone, for I had
+little, very little strength; yet I resolved to do my best. It was long,
+however, before I could arouse her, or make her comprehend what I said,
+so entirely were her senses stupified with the brandy. When at length I
+succeeded in getting her upon her feet, she said she was sure she could
+not walk; but I encouraged her to help herself as much as possible, told
+her that I wished to get her away before any one came in, or we would
+be certainly found out and punished. This suggestion awakened her fears,
+and I at length succeeded in assisting her to bed. She was soon in a
+sound sleep, and I thought my troubles for that time were over. But
+I was mistaken. In my fright, I had quite forgotten the brandy in her
+dress. Somehow the bottle was cracked, and while she slept, the brandy
+ran over her clothes. The Superior saw it, and asked how she obtained
+it. Too noble minded to expose me, she said she drew it herself. I
+heard the Superior talking to a priest about it, and I thought they were
+preparing to punish her. I did not know what she had told them, but I
+did not think she would expose me, and I feared, if they punished her
+again, she would die in their hands.
+
+I therefore went to the Superior and told her the truth about it, for
+I thought a candid confession on my part might, perchance, procure
+forgiveness for the nun, if not for myself. But no; they punished us
+both; the nun for telling the lie, and me for getting the brandy. For
+two hours they made me stand with a crown of thorns on my head, while
+they alternately employed themselves in burning me with hot irons,
+pinching, and piercing me with needles, pulling my hair, and striking
+me with sticks. All this I bore very well, for I was hurt just enough to
+make me angry.
+
+When I returned to the kitchen again, the nun was sitting there alone.
+She shook her head at me, and by her gestures gave me to understand that
+some one was listening. She afterwards informed me that the Superior was
+watching us, to see if we would speak to each other when we met. I do
+not know how they punished her, but I heard a priest say that she would
+die if she suffered much more. Perhaps they thought the loss of that
+precious bottle of brandy was punishment enough. But I was glad I got
+it for her, for she had one good dose of it, and it did her good;
+her stomach was stronger, her appetite better, and in a few weeks she
+regained her usual health.
+
+One day, while at work as usual, I was called up stairs with the other
+nuns to see one die. She lay upon the bed, and looked pale and thin, but
+I could see no signs of immediate dissolution. Her voice was strong, and
+respiration perfectly natural, the nuns were all assembled in her room
+to see her die. Beside her stood a priest, earnestly exhorting her to
+confess her sins to him, and threatening her with eternal punishment if
+she refused. But she replied, "No, I will not confess to you. If, as
+you say, I am really dying, it is with my God I have to do; to him alone
+will I confess, for he alone can save." "If you do not confess to me,"
+exclaimed the priest, "I will give you up to the devil." "Well," said
+she, "I stand in no fear of a worse devil than you are, and I am quite
+willing to leave you at any time, and try any other place; even hell
+itself cannot be worse. I cannot suffer more there than I have here."
+"Daughter," exclaimed the priest, with affected sympathy, "must I give
+you up? How can I see you go down to perdition? It is not yet too late.
+Confess your sins and repent." "I have already confessed my sins to God,
+and I shall confess to no one else. He alone can save me." Her manner of
+saying this was solemn but very decided. The priest saw that she would
+not yield to his wishes, and raising his voice, he exclaimed, "Then let
+the devil take you."
+
+Immediately the door opened, and a figure representing the Roman
+Catholic idea of his Satanic Majesty entered the room. He was very
+black, and covered with long hair, probably the skin of some wild
+animal. He had two long white tusks, two horns on his head, a large
+cloven foot, and a long tail that he drew after him on the floor. He
+looked so frightful, and recalled to my mind so vividly the figure that
+I saw at the White Nunnery, that I was very much frightened; still I did
+not believe it was really a supernatural being. I suspected that it was
+one of the priests dressed up in that way to frighten us, and I now
+know that such was the fact. But what of that? We all feared the priests
+quite as much as we should the Evil One himself, even if he should come
+to us in bodily shape, as they pretended he had done. Most of the nuns
+were very much frightened when they saw that figure walk up to the
+bedside, taking good care, however, to avoid the priest, he being so
+very holy it was impossible for an evil spirit to go near or even look
+at him.
+
+The priest then ordered us to return to the kitchen, for said he, "The
+devil has come for this nun's soul, and will take it with him," As we
+left the room I looked around on my companions and wondered if they
+believed this absurd story. I longed to ask them what they thought of
+it, but this was not allowed. All interchange of thought or feeling
+being strictly forbidden, we never ventured to speak without permission
+when so many of us were present, for some one was sure to tell of it if
+the least rule was broken.
+
+I was somewhat surprised at first that we were all sent to the kitchen,
+as but few of us were employed there; but we were soon called back again
+to look at the corpse. I was inexpressibly shocked at this summons, for
+I had not supposed it possible for her to die so soon. But she was dead;
+and that was all we could ever know about it. As we stood around the
+bed, the priest said she was an example of those in the world called
+heretics; that her soul was in misery, and would remain so forever; no
+masses or prayers could avail her then, for she could never be prayed
+out of hell. Sins like hers could never be forgiven.
+
+I continued to work in the kitchen as usual for many months after this
+occurrence, and for a few weeks the sick nun was there a great part of
+the time. Whenever we were alone, and sure that no one was near, we used
+to converse together, and a great comfort it was to us both. I felt that
+I had found in her one real friend, to sympathize with me in my grievous
+trials, and with whom I could sometimes hold communication without fear
+of betrayal. I had proved her, and found her faithful, therefore I
+did not fear to trust her. No one can imagine, unless they know by
+experience, how much pleasure we enjoyed in the few stolen moments that
+we spent together.
+
+I shall never forget the last conversation I had with her. She came and
+sat down where I was assisting another nun to finish a mat. She asked
+us if we knew what was going on in the house. "As I came from my room,"
+said she, "I saw the priests and Superiors running along the halls, and
+they appeared so much excited, I thought something must be wrong. As
+they passed me, they told me to go to the kitchen, and stay there. What
+does it all mean?" Of course we did not know, for we had neither seen or
+heard anything unusual. "Well," said she, "they are all so much engaged
+up stairs, we can talk a little and not be overheard. I want to know
+something about the people in the world. Are they really cruel and
+cold-hearted, as the priests say they are? When you was in the world
+were they unkind to you?" "On the contrary," I replied, "I would gladly
+return to them again if I could get away from the convent. I should
+not be treated any worse, at all events, and I shall embrace the-first
+opportunity to go back to the world." "That is what I have always
+thought since I was old enough to think at all," said she, "and I have
+resolved a great many times to get away if possible. I suppose they tell
+us about the cruelty in the world just to frighten us, and prevent us
+from trying to escape. I am so weak now I do not suppose I could walk
+out of Montreal even if I should leave the convent. But if I ever get
+strong enough, I shall certainly try to escape from this horrible place.
+O, I could tell you things about this convent that would curdle the
+blood in your veins."
+
+The other nun said that she had been once in the world, and every one
+was kind to her. "I shall try to get out again, some day," said she,
+"but we must keep our resolutions to ourselves, for there is no one
+here, that we can trust. Those whom we think our best friends will
+betray us, if we give them a chance. I do believe that some of them
+delight in getting us punished."
+
+The sick nun said, "I have never exposed any one and I never will. I
+have the secrets of a great many hid in my breast, that nothing shall
+ever extort from me." Here she was interrupted, and soon left the room.
+I never saw her again. Whether she was under punishment, or was so
+fortunate as to make her escape, I do not know. As no questions could
+be asked, it was very little we could know of each other. If one of our
+number escaped, the fact was carefully concealed from the rest, and if
+she was caught and brought back, no one ever knew it, except those who
+had charge of her. The other nun who worked in the room with me, watched
+me very closely. Having heard me declare my intention to leave the first
+opportunity, she determined to go with me if possible.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE JOY OF FREEDOM.
+
+At length the long sought opportunity arrived, and with the most extatic
+joy we fled from the nunnery. The girl I have before mentioned, who
+wished to go with me, and another nun, with whom I had no acquaintance,
+were left in the kitchen to assist me, in taking charge of the cooking,
+while the rest of the people were at mass in the chapel. A chance
+presented for us to get away, and we all fled together, leaving the
+cooking to take care of itself. We were assisted to get out of the yard,
+but how, or by whom, I can never reveal. Death, in its most terrible
+form would be the punishment for such an act of kindness, and knowing
+this, it would be the basest ingratitude for me to name the individual
+who so kindly assisted us in our perilous undertaking.
+
+How well do I remember the emotions that thrilled my soul when I found
+myself safely outside the walls of that fearful prison! The joy of
+freedom--the hope of ultimate success--the fear of being overtaken,
+and dragged back to misery or death, were considerations sufficiently
+exciting to agitate our spirits, and lend fleetness to our steps. With
+trembling limbs, and throbbing hearts we fled towards the St. Lawrence
+river. Following the tow-path, we hastened on for a few miles, when one
+of the nuns became exhausted, and said she could go no further. She
+was very weak when we started, and the excitement and fatigue produced
+serious illness. What should we do with her? We could not take her along
+with us, and if we stopped with her, we might all be taken and carried
+back. Must we leave her by the way-side? It was a fearful alternative,
+but what else could we do? With sad hearts we took her to a shed near
+by, and there we left her to her fate, whatever it might be; perchance
+to die there alone, or what was still worse, be carried back to the
+convent. It was indeed, a sorrowful parting, and we wept bitter tears
+together, as we bade her a last farewell. I never saw or heard from her
+again.
+
+We pursued our way along the tow-path for a short distance, when the
+canal boat came along. We asked permission to go upon the boat, and the
+captain kindly granted it, but desired us to be very still. He carried
+us twelve miles, and then proposed to leave us, as he exposed himself to
+a heavy fine by carrying us without a pass, and unattended by a priest
+or Superior. We begged him to take us as far as he went with the boat,
+and frankly told him our situation. Having no money to offer, we could
+only cast ourselves on his mercy, and implore his pity and assistance.
+He consented to take us as far as the village of Beauharnois, and there
+he left us. He did not dare take us further, lest some one might be
+watching for us, and find us on his boat.
+
+It was five o'clock in the morning when we left the boat, but it was
+a Roman Catholic village, and we did not dare to stop. All that day we
+pursued our way without food or drink, and at night we were tired and
+hungry. Arriving at a small village, we ventured to stop at the most
+respectable looking house, and asked the woman if she could keep us over
+night. She looked at us very attentively and said she could not. We did
+not dare to call again, for we knew that we were surrounded by those who
+would think they were doing a good work to deliver us up to the priests.
+Darkness came over the earth, but still weary and sleepy as we were, we
+pursued our lonely way. I will not repeat our bitter reflections upon a
+cold hearted world, but the reader will readily imagine what they were.
+
+Late in the evening, we came to an old barn. I think it must have
+been four or five miles from the village. There was no house, or other
+building near it, and as no person was in sight, we ventured to enter.
+Here, to our great joy, we found a quantity of clean straw, with which
+we soon prepared a comfortable bed, where we could enjoy the luxury of
+repose. We slept quietly through the night, and at the early dawn awoke,
+refreshed and encouraged, but O, so hungry! Gladly would we have eaten
+anything in the shape of food, but nothing could we find.
+
+The morning star was yet shining brightly above us, as we again started
+on our journey. At length our hearts were cheered by the sight of a
+village. The first house we came to stood at some distance from the
+other buildings, and we saw two women in a yard milking cows. We called
+at the door, and asked the lady for some milk. "O yes," said she, with
+a sweet smile, "come in, and rest awhile, and you shall have all you
+want." She thought we were Sisters of Charity, for they often go about
+visiting the sick, and praying with the people. It is considered a very
+meritorious act to render them assistance, and speed them on their way;
+but to help a runaway nun is to commit a crime of sufficient magnitude
+to draw down the anathema of the church. Therefore, while we carefully
+concealed our real character, we gratefully accepted the aid we so much
+needed, but which, we were sure, would have been withheld had she known
+to whom it was offered. After waiting till the cows were milked, and
+she had finished her own breakfast, she filled a large earthen pan
+with bread and milk, gave each of us a spoon, and we ate as much as
+we wished. As we arose to depart, she gave each of us a large piece of
+bread to carry with us, and asked us to pray with her. We accordingly
+knelt in prayer; implored heaven's blessing on her household, and then
+took our leave of this kind lady, never more to meet her on earth; but
+she will never be forgotten.
+
+That day we traveled a long distance, at least, so it seemed to us. When
+nearly overcome with fatigue, we saw from the tow-path an island in the
+river, and upon it a small house. Near the shore a man stood beside a
+canoe. We made signs to him to come to us, and he immediately sprang
+into his canoe and came over. We asked him to take us to the island, and
+he cheerfully granted our request, but said we must sit very still, or
+we would find ourselves in the water. I did not wonder he thought so,
+for the canoe was very small, and the weight of three persons sank it
+almost even with the surface of the river, while the least motion would
+cause it to roll from side to side, so that we really felt that we were
+in danger of a very uncomfortable bath if nothing worse.
+
+We landed safely, however, and were kindly welcomed by the Indian
+family in the house. Six squaws were sitting on the floor, some of them
+smoking, others making shoes and baskets. They were very gayly dressed,
+their skirts handsomely embroidered with beads and silk of various
+colors. One of the girls seemed very intelligent, and conversed fluently
+in the English language which she spoke correctly. But she did not
+look at all like an Indian, having red hair and a lighter skin than the
+others. She was the only one in the family that I could converse with,
+as the rest of them spoke only their native dialect; but the nun who was
+with me could speak both French and Indian.
+
+They treated us with great kindness, gave us food, and invited in to
+stay and live with them; said we could be very happy there, and to
+induce us to remain, they informed us that the village we saw on the
+other side of the river, called St. Regis, was inhabited by Indians, but
+they were all Roman Catholics. They had a priest, and a church where
+we could go to Mass every Sabbath. Little did they imagine that we were
+fleeing for life from the Romish priests; that so far from being an
+inducement to remain with them, this information was the very thing to
+send us on our way with all possible speed. We did not dare to stay,
+for I knew full well that if any one who had seen us went to confession,
+they would be obliged to give information of our movements; and if one
+priest heard of us, he would immediately telegraph to all the priests
+in the United States and Canada, and we should be watched on every side.
+Escape would then be nearly impossible, therefore we gently, but firmly
+refused to accept the hospitality of these good people, and hastened to
+bid them farewell.
+
+I asked the girl how far it was to the United States. She said it was
+two miles to Hogansburg, and that was in the States. We then asked the
+man to take us in his canoe to the village of St. Regis on the other
+side of the river. He consented, but, I thought, with some reluctance,
+and before he allowed us to land, he conversed some minutes with the
+Indians who met him on the shore. We could not hear what they said, but
+my fears were at once awakened. I thought they suspected us, and if so,
+we were lost. But the man came back at length, and, assisted us from the
+boat. If he had any suspicions he kept them to himself.
+
+Soon after we reached the shore I met a man, of whom I enquired when
+a boat would start for Hogansburg. He gazed at us a moment, and then
+pointed to five boats out in the river, and said those were the last
+to go that day. They were then ready to start, and waited only for the
+tow-boat to take them along. But they were so far away we could not get
+to them, even if we dared risk ourselves among so many passengers. What
+could we do? To stay there over night, was not to be thought of for a
+moment. We were sure to be taken, and carried back, if we ventured to
+try it. Yet there was but one alternative; either remain there till the
+next day, or try to get a passage on the tow-boat. It did not take me a
+long time to decide for myself, and I told the nun that I should go on,
+if the captain would take me! "What! go on the tow-boat!" she exclaimed,
+"There are no ladies on that boat, and I do not like to go with so
+many men." "I am not afraid of the men," I replied, "if they are not
+Romanists, and I am resolved to go." "Do not leave me," she cried, with
+streaming tears. "I am sure we can get along better if we keep together,
+but I dare not go on the boat." "And I dare not stay here," said I,
+and so we parted. I to pursue my solitary way, she to go, I know not
+whither. I gave her the parting hand, and have never heard from her
+since, but I hope she succeeded better than I did, in her efforts to
+escape.
+
+I went directly to the captain of the boat and asked him if he could
+carry me to the States. He said he should go as far as Ogdensburg, and
+would carry me there, if I wished; or he could set me off at some place
+where he stopped for wood and water. When I told him I had no money to
+pay him, he smiled, and asked if I was a run-a-way. I frankly confessed
+that I was, for I thought it was better for me to tell the truth than
+to try to deceive. "Well," said the captain, "I will not betray you; but
+you had better go to my state-room and stay there." I thanked him, but
+said I would rather stay where I was. He then gave me the key to his
+room, and advised me to go in and lock the door, "for," said he, "we are
+not accustomed to have ladies in this boat, and the men may annoy you.
+You will find it more pleasant and comfortable to stay there alone."
+Truly grateful for his kindness, and happy to escape from the gaze of
+the men, I followed his direction; nor did I leave the room again until
+I left the boat. The captain brought me my meals, but did not attempt to
+enter the room. There was a small window with a spring on the inside; he
+would come and tap on the window, and ask me to raise it, when he would
+hand me a waiter on which he had placed a variety of refreshments, and
+immediately retire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.
+
+That night and the next day I suffered all the horrors of sea-sickness;
+and those who have known by experience how completely it prostrates the
+energies of mind and body, can imagine how I felt on leaving the boat at
+night. The kind-hearted captain set me on shore at a place where he left
+coal and lumber, a short distance from the village of Ogdensburg. He
+gave me twelve and half cents, and expressed regret that he could do no
+more for me. He said he could not direct me to a lodging for the night,
+being a stranger in the place, and this the first time he had been on
+that route. Should this narrative chance to meet his eye, let him know
+that his kind and delicate attentions to a stranger in distress, are and
+ever will be remembered with the gratitude they so richly merit. It
+was with evident reluctance that he left me to make my way onward as I
+could.
+
+And now, reader, imagine, if you can, my situation. A stranger in a
+strange land, and comparatively a stranger to the whole world--alone in
+the darkness of night, not knowing where to seek a shelter or a place
+to lay my head; exhausted with sea-sickness until I felt more dead than
+alive, it did seem as though it would be a luxury to lie down and die.
+My stockings and shoes were all worn out with so much walking, my feet
+sore, swollen, and bleeding, and my limbs so stiff and lame that it was
+only by the greatest effort that I could step at all. So extreme were my
+sufferings, that I stopped more than once before I reached the village,
+cast myself upon the cold ground, and thought I could go no further.
+Not even the idea of being run over in the darkness by some passing
+traveller, had power to keep me on my feet. Then I would rest awhile,
+and resolve to try again; and so I hobbled onward. It seemed an age of
+misery before I came to any house; but at length my spirits revived
+at the sight of brilliant lights through the windows, and the sound of
+cheerful voices that fell upon my ear.
+
+And now I thought my troubles over for that night at least. But no, when
+I asked permission to stay over night, it was coldly refused. Again
+and again I called at houses where the people seemed to enjoy all the
+comforts and even the luxuries of life; but their comforts were for
+themselves and not for a toil-worn traveller like me. This I was made to
+understand in no gentle manner; and some of those I called upon were not
+very particular in the choice of language.
+
+By this time my feet were dreadfully swollen, and O! so sore and stiff,
+that every step produced the most intense agony. Is it strange that I
+felt as though life was hardly worth preserving? I resolved to call at
+one house more, and if again refused, to lie down by the wayside and
+die. I accordingly entered the village hotel and asked for the landlady.
+The bar-tender gave me a suspicious glance that made me tremble, and
+asked my business. I told him my business was with the landlady and no
+other person. He left the room a moment, and then conducted me to her
+chamber.
+
+As I entered a lady came forward to meet me, and the pleasant expression
+of her countenance at once won my confidence. She gave me a cordial
+welcome, saying, with a smile, as she led me to a seat, "I guess, my
+dear, you are a run-a-way, are you not?" I confessed that it was even
+so; that I had fled from priestly cruelty, had travelled as far as I
+could, and now, weary, sick, and faint from long fasting, I had ventured
+to cast myself upon her mercy. "Will you protect me?" I asked, "and are
+you a Roman Catholic?" "No," she replied, "I am not a Roman Catholic,
+and I will protect you. You seem to have suffered much, and are quite
+exhausted. But you will find a friend in me. I will not betray you, for
+I dislike the priests and the convents as much as you do."
+
+She then called her little girl, and ordered a fire kindled in another
+chamber, saying she did not wish her servants to see me. The child
+soon returned, when the lady herself conducted me to a large, pleasant
+bed-room, handsomely furnished with every convenience, and a fire in
+the grate. She gave me a seat in a large easy-chair before the fire, and
+went out, locking the door after her. In a short time she returned with
+warm water for a bath, and with her own hands gave me all the assistance
+needed. As I related the incidents of the day, she expressed much
+sympathy for my sufferings, and said she was glad I had come to her.
+She gave, me a cordial, and then brought me a cup of tea and other
+refreshments, of which I made a hearty supper. She would not allow me to
+eat all I wished; but when I had taken as much as was good for me,
+she bathed my feet with a healing wash, and assisted me to bed. O, the
+luxury of that soft and comfortable bed! No one can realize with what a
+keen sense of enjoyment I laid my head upon those downy pillows, unless
+they have suffered as I did, and known by experience the sweetness of
+repose after excessive toil.
+
+All that night this good lady sat beside my bed, and kept my feet wet in
+order to reduce the swelling. I was little inclined to sleep, and at her
+request related some of the events of my convent life. While doing this,
+I hardly knew what to make of this curious woman. Sometimes she would
+weep, and then she would swear like any pirate. I was surprised and
+somewhat afraid of her, she seemed so strange and used such peculiar
+language. She understood my feelings at once, and immediately said, "You
+need not be afraid of me, for I have a kind heart, if I do use wicked
+words. I cannot help swearing when I think about the priests, monsters
+of iniquity that they are; what fearful crimes they do commit under the
+cloak of religion! O, if the people of this land could but see their
+real character, they would rise en masse and drive them from the
+country, whose liberties they will, if possible, destroy. For myself I
+have good cause to hate them. Shall I tell you my story, dear?" I begged
+her to do so, which she did, as follows:
+
+"I once had a sister, young, talented, beautiful, amiable and
+affectionate. She was the pride of all our family, the idol of our
+souls. She wished for an education, and we gladly granted her request.
+In our zeal to serve her, we resolved to give her the very best
+advantages, and so we sent her to a Romish school. It was a seminary for
+young ladies taught by nuns, and was the most popular one in that
+part of the country. My father, like many other parents who knew such
+establishments only by report, had not the least idea of its true
+character. But deluded by the supposed sanctity of the place, he was
+happy in the thought that he had left his darling where it was said that
+'science and religion go hand in hand.' For a season, all went on well.
+She wrote to us that she was pleased with the school, and wished to
+remain. We thought her hand writing wonderfully improved, and eagerly
+looked forward to the time when she would return to us a finished
+scholar, as well as an accomplished lady. But those pleasant prospects
+were soon overcast. Too soon, our happy, bounding hearts were hushed by
+unspeakable grief, and our brilliant anticipations were dissipated in
+the chamber of death. In their place came those solemn realities, the
+shroud, the coffin, the hearse and the tomb."
+
+"Did she die?" I asked. "Yes," replied the lady, as she wiped away the
+fast flowing tears; "Yes, she died. I believe she was poisoned, but we
+could do nothing; we had no proof." She had been long at school before we
+suspected the deception that was practised upon us. But at length I went
+with my other sister to see her, and the Superior informed us that she
+was ill, and could not see us. We proposed going to her room, but to our
+great surprise were assured that such a thing could not be allowed.
+We left with sad hearts, and soon called again. I cannot describe my
+feelings when we were coldly informed that she did not wish to see us.
+What could it mean? Surely something must be wrong; and we left with
+terrible presentiments of coming evil. It came. Yes, too soon were our
+worst fears realized. I called one day resolved to see her before I left
+the house. Conceive, if you can, my surprise and horror, when they told
+me that my beautiful, idolized sister had resolved to become a nun.
+That she had already renounced the world, and would hold no further
+communication with her relatives. "Why did I not know this before? I
+exclaimed." "You know it now," was the cold reply. I did not believe a
+word of it, and when I told my father what they said, he went to them,
+and resolutely demanded his child. At first they refused to give her up,
+but when they saw that his high spirit was aroused--that he would not be
+flattered or deceived, they reluctantly yielded to his demand."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+LANDLADY'S STORY CONTINUED.
+
+The poor girl was overjoyed to meet her friends again, but how great was
+our astonishment and indignation when she informed us that she had never
+received a single line from home after she entered the school, nor did
+she ever know that we had called to see her until we informed her of
+the fact. Whenever she expressed surprise that she did not hear from us,
+they told her that we had probably forgotten her, and strove to awaken
+in her mind feelings of indignation, suspicion and animosity. Not
+succeeding in this, however, they informed her that her father had
+called, and expressed a wish that she should become a nun; that he did
+not think it best for her to return home again, nor did he even ask for
+a parting interview.
+
+Confounded and utterly heart-broken, she would have given herself up to
+uncontrollable grief had she been allowed to indulge her feelings. But
+even the luxury of tears was forbidden, and she was compelled to assume
+an appearance of cheerfulness, and to smile when her heart-strings were
+breaking. We brought forward the letters we had received from time to
+time which we believed she had written. She had never seen them, before,
+"and this," said she, "is not my hand-writing." Of this fact she soon
+convinced us, but she said she had written letter after letter hoping
+for an answer, but no answer came. She said she knew that the Superior
+examined all the letters written by the young ladies, but supposed they
+were always sent, after being read. But it was now plain to be seen that
+those letters were destroyed, and others substituted in their place.
+
+[Footnote: Raffaele Ciocci, formerly a Benedictine Monk, in his
+"Narrative," published by the American and Foreign Christian Union,
+relates a similar experience of his own, when in the Papal College of
+San Bernardo.
+
+Being urged to sign "a deed of humility," in which he was to renounce
+all his property and give it to the college, he says, "I knew not what
+to think of this "deed of humility." A thousand misgivings filled my
+mind, and hoping to receive from the notary an explanation that would
+assist me in fully comprehending its intention, I anxiously said, "I
+must request, sir, that you will inform me what is expected from me.
+Tell me what is this deed--whether it be really a mere form, as has been
+represented to me, or if"--Here the master arose, and in an imperious
+tone interrupted me, saying,--"Do not be obstinate and rebellions, but
+obey. I have already told you that when you assume the habit of the
+Order, the chapter 'de humititate' shall be explained to you. In this
+paper you have only to make a renunciation of all you possess on earth."
+
+"Of all I possess! And if I renounce all, who, when I leave the college,
+will provide for me?" The notary now interposed. "That," said he, "is
+the point to which I wish to call your attention, in advising you to
+make some reservation. If you neglect to do so, you may find yourself in
+difficulties, losing, as you irrevocably will, every right of your own."
+At these words, so palpable, so glaring, the bandage fell from my eyes,
+and I saw the abyss these monsters were opening under my feet. "This is
+a deception, a horrible deception," I exclaimed. "I now understand
+the 'deed of humility,' but I protest I will not sign it, I will have
+nothing more to do with it." * * * After spending two or three hours in
+bitterness and woe, I resolved to have recourse to my family. For this
+purpose I wrote a long letter to my mother, in which I exposed all the
+miseries of my heart, related what had taken place with regard to the
+"deed of humility," and begged of her consolation and advice. I gave
+the letter into the hands of a servant, and on the following morning
+received a reply, in which I was told, in gentle, terms, to
+be tranquil,--not to resist the wishes of my directors,--sign
+unhesitatingly any paper that might be required, for, when my studies
+were completed, and I quitted the college, the validity of these forms
+would cease. This letter set all my doubts at rest, and restored peace
+to my mind. It was written by my mother, and she, I felt assured, would
+never deceive me. How could I for one moment imagine that this epistle
+was an invention of my enemies, who imitated the hand-writing and
+affectionate style of my mother? Some persons will say, you might have
+suspected it. * * * I reply, that in the uprightness of my heart,
+I could not conceive such atrocious wickedness; it appeared utterly
+irreconcilable with the sanctity of the place, and with the venerable
+hoariness of persons dedicated to God.
+
+After perusing the letter, I hastened to the master, declaring my
+readiness to sign the "deed of humility." He smiled approvingly on
+finding how well his plan had succeeded. The notary and witnesses were
+again summoned, and my condemnation written. The good notary, however,
+pitying my situation, inserted an exceptional clause to the total
+relinquishment of my rights. * * * No sooner was this business
+concluded, than the master commanded me to write to my parents, to
+inform them that I had signed the deed of renunciation, and was willing,
+for the benefit of my soul, to assume the monkish habit. He was present
+when I wrote this letter; I was, therefore, obliged to adopt the
+phrases suggested by him,--phrases, breathing zeal and devotion; full of
+indifference to the world, and tranquil satisfaction at the choice I
+had made. My parents, thought I, will be astonished when they read this
+epistle, but they must perceive that the language is not mine, so little
+is it in accordance with my former style of writing.
+
+Reader, in the course of thirteen months, only one, of from fifty to
+sixty letters which I addressed to my mother, was ever received by her,
+and that one was this very letter. The monks, instead of forwarding
+mine, had forged letters imitating the hand-writing, and adopting a
+style suited to their purpose; and instead of consigning to me the
+genuine replies, they artfully substituted answers of their own
+fabrication. My family, therefore, were not surprised at the tenor of
+this epistle, but rejoiced over it, and reputed me already a Saint. They
+probably pictured me to themselves, on some future day, with a mitre on
+my head--with the red cap--nay, perhaps, even wearing the triple crown.
+Oh, what a delusion! Poor deceived parents! You knew not that your son,
+in anguish and despair, was clashing his chains, and devouring his tears
+in secret; that a triple bandage was placed before his eyes, and that
+he was being dragged, an unwilling victim, to the sacrifice." Returning
+home soon after, Ciocci rushed to his mother, and asked if she had
+his letters. They, were produced; when he found that only one had been
+written by him. The rest were forgeries of the masters.]
+
+"It follows then," said my father, "that these letters are forgeries,
+and the excuses they have so often made are base falsehoods. A teacher
+of the religion of Jesus Christ guilty of lying and forgery! 'O, my soul
+come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly mine honor be thou
+not united.'"
+
+"But we have our darling home again," said I, "and now we shall keep her
+with us." Never shall I forget the sweet, sad smile that came over her
+pale face as I uttered these words. Perchance, even then she realized
+that she was soon to leave us, never more to return. However this may
+be, she gradually declined. Slowly, but surely she went down to the
+grave. Every remedy was tried--every measure resorted to, that seemed
+to promise relief, but all in vain. We had the best physicians, but they
+frankly confessed that they did not understand her disease. In a very
+few months after her return, we laid our lovely and beloved sister
+beneath the clods of the valley. Our good old physician wept as he gazed
+upon her cold remains. I believe he thought she was poisoned, but as he
+could not prove it, he would only have injured himself by saying so. As
+for myself, I always thought that she knew too many of their secrets to
+be allowed to live after leaving them. "And now, dear," she continued,
+"do you think it strange that I hate the Romanists? Do you wonder if I
+feel like swearing when I think of priests and convents?"
+
+Truly, I did not wonder that she hated them, though I could not
+understand what benefit it could be to swear about it; but I did not
+doubt the truth of her story. How often, in the convent from which I
+fled, had I heard them exult over the success of some deep laid scheme
+to entrap the ignorant, the innocent and the unwary! If a girl was rich
+or handsome, as sure as she entered their school, so sure was she to
+become a nun, unless she had influential friends to look after her and
+resolutely prevent it. To effect this, no means were left untried. The
+grossest hypocricy, and the meanest deception were practised to prevent
+a girl from holding communication with any one out of the convent No
+matter how lonely, or how homesick she might feel, she was not allowed
+to see her friends, or even to be informed of their kind attentions. So
+far from this, she was made to believe, if possible, that her relatives
+had quite forsaken her, while these very relatives were boldly informed
+that she did not wish to see them. If they wrote to their friends, as
+they sometimes did, their letters were always destroyed, while those
+received at home were invariably written by the priest or Superior.
+These remarks, however, refer only to those who are rich, or beautiful
+in person. Many a girl can say with truth that she has attended
+the convent school, and no effort was ever made--no inducement ever
+presented to persuade her to become a nun. Consequently, she says that
+stories like the above are mere falsehoods, reported to injure the
+school. This may be true so far as she is concerned, but you may be sure
+she has neither riches nor beauty, or if possessed of these, there was
+some other strong reason why she should be an exception to the general
+rule. Could she know the private history of some of her school-mates,
+she would tell a different story.
+
+I remember that while in the convent, I was one day sent up stairs to
+assist a Superior in a chamber remote from the kitchen, and in a part of
+the house where I had never been before. Returning alone to the kitchen,
+I passed a door that was partly open, and hearing a slight groan within,
+I pushed open the door and looked in, before I thought what I was doing.
+A young girl lay upon a bed, who looked more like a corpse than a living
+person. She saw me, and motioned to have me come to her.
+
+As I drew near the bed, she burst into tears, and whispered, "Can't you
+get me a drink of cold water?" I told her I did not know, but I would
+try. I hastened to the kitchen, and as no one was present but a nun whom
+I did not fear, I procured a pitcher of water, and went back with it
+without meeting any one on the way. I was well aware that if seen, I
+should be punished, but I did not care. I was doing as I would wish
+others to do to me, and truly, I had my reward. Never shall I forget how
+grateful that poor sufferer was for a draught of cold water. She could
+not tell how many days she had been fasting, for some of the time she
+had been insensible; but it must have been several days, and she did not
+know how long she was to remain in that condition.
+
+"How came you here?" I asked, in a whisper; "and what have you done to
+induce them to punish you so?" "O," said she, with a burst of tears, and
+grasping my hand with her pale, cold fingers, "I was in the school, and
+I thought it would be so nice to be a nun! Then my father died and left
+me all his property, and they persuaded me to stay here, and give it all
+to the church. I was so sad then I did not care for money, and I had no
+idea what a place it is. I really thought that the nuns were pure and
+holy--that their lives were devoted to heaven, their efforts consecrated
+to the cause of truth and righteousness. I thought that this was indeed
+the 'house of God,' the very 'gate of heaven.' But as soon as they were
+sure of me, they let me know--but you understand me; you know what I
+mean?" I nodded assent, and once more asked, "What did you do?" "O,
+I was in the school," said she, "and I knew that a friend of mine was
+coming here just as I did; and I could not bear to see her, in all her
+loveliness and unsuspecting innocence, become a victim to these vile
+priests. I found an opportunity to let her know what a hell she
+was coming to. 'Twas an unpardonable sin, you see. I had robbed the
+church--committed sacrilege, they said--and they have almost killed me
+for it. I wish they would QUITE, for I am sure death has no terrors for
+me now. God will never punish me for what I have done. But go; don't
+stay any longer; they'll kill you if they catch you here." I knew that
+she had spoken truly--they WOULD kill me, almost, if not quite, if
+they found me there; but I must know a little more. "Did you save your
+friend?" I asked, "or did you both have to suffer, to pay for your
+generous act?" "Did I save her? Yes, thank God, I did. She did not come,
+and she promised not to tell of me. I don't think she did; but they
+managed to find it out, I don't know how; and now--O God, let me die!"
+I was obliged to go, and I left her, with a promise to carry her some
+bread if I could. But I could not, and I never saw her again. Yet what
+a history her few words unfolded! It was so much like the landlady's
+story, I could not forbear relating it to her. She seemed much
+interested in all my convent adventures; and in this way we spent the
+night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE TWO SISTERS.
+
+Next morning the lady informed me that I could not remain with her in
+safety, but she had a sister, who lived about half a mile distant, with
+whom I could stop until my feet were sufficiently healed to enable me to
+resume my journey. She then sent for her sister, who very kindly, as
+I then thought, acceded to her request, and said I was welcome to stay
+with her as long as I wished. Arrangements were therefore made at once
+for my removal. My kind hostess brought two large buffalo robes into my
+chamber, which she wrapped around my person in such a way as to shield
+me from the observation of the servants. She then called one whom she
+could trust, and bade him take up the bundle and carry it down to
+a large covered wagon that stood at the door. I have often wondered
+whether the man knew what was in that bundle or not. I do not think
+he did, for he threw me across his shoulder as he would any bale of
+merchandise, and laid me on the bottom of the carriage. The two ladies
+then entered, laughing heartily at the success of their ruse, and joking
+me about my novel mode of conveyance. In this manner we were driven
+to the sister's residence, and I was carried into the house by the
+servants, in the same way. The landlady stopped for a few moments, and
+when she left she gave me cloth for a new dress, a few other articles of
+clothing, and three dollars in money. She bade me stay there and make my
+dress, and on no account venture out again in my nun dress. She wished
+me success in my efforts to escape, commended me to the care of our
+heavenly Father, and bade me farewell. She returned in the wagon alone,
+and left me to make the acquaintance of my new hostess.
+
+This lady was a very different woman from her sister, and I soon had
+reason to regret that I was in her power. It has been suggested to me
+that the two ladies acted in concert; that I was removed for the sole
+purpose of being betrayed into the hands of my enemies. But I am not
+willing to believe this. Dark as human nature appears to me--accustomed
+as I am to regard almost every one with suspicion--still I cannot for
+one moment cherish a thought so injurious to one who was so kind to me.
+Is it possible that she could be such a hypocrite? Treat me with so much
+tenderness, and I might say affection, and then give me up to what was
+worse than death? No; whatever the reader may think about it, I can
+never believe her guilty of such perfidy. I regret exceedingly my
+inability to give the name of this lady in connection with the history
+of her good deeds, but I did not learn the name of either sister. The
+one to whom I was now indebted for a shelter seemed altogether careless
+of my interests. I had been with her but a few hours when she asked me
+to do some washing for her. Of course I was glad to do it; but when she
+requested me to go into the yard and hang the clothes upon the line, I
+became somewhat alarmed. I did not like to do it, and told her so; but
+she laughed at my fears, overruled all my objections, said no one in
+that place would seek to harm or to betray me, and assured me there
+was not the least danger. I at last consented to go, though my reason,
+judgment, and inclination, had I followed their dictates, would have
+kept me in the house. But I did not like to appear ungrateful, or
+unwilling to repay the kindness I received, as far as I was able; still
+I could not help feeling that it was an ungenerous demand. She might at
+least have offered me a bonnet or a shawl, as a partial disguise; but
+she did nothing of the kind.
+
+When I saw that I could not avoid the exposure I resolved to make
+the best of it and get through as quickly, as possible; but my dress
+attracted a good deal of attention, and I saw more than one suspicious
+glance directed towards me before my task was finished. When it was
+over I thought no more about it, but gave myself up to the bright
+anticipations of future happiness, which now began to take possession of
+my mind.
+
+That night I retired to a comfortable bed, and was soon lost to all
+earthly cares in the glorious land of dreams. What unalloyed happiness I
+enjoyed that night! what impossible feats I performed! Truly, the vision
+was bright, but a sad awaking followed. Some time in the night I was
+aroused by the flashing of a bright light from a dark lantern suddenly
+opened. I attempted to rise, but before I could realize where I was,
+a strong hand seized me and a gag was thrust into my mouth. The man
+attempted to take me in his arms, but with my hands and feet I
+defended myself to the best of my ability. Another man now came to his
+assistance, and with strong cords confined my hands and feet, so that I
+was entirely at their mercy. Perfectly helpless, I could neither resist
+nor call for help. They then took me up and carried me down stairs, with
+no clothing but my night-dress, not even a shawl to shield me from the
+cold night air.
+
+At the gate stood a long covered wagon, in form like a butchers cart,
+drawn by two horses, and beside it a long box with several men standing
+around it. I had only time to observe this, when they thrust me into the
+box, closed the lid, placed it in the wagon, and drove rapidly away.
+I could not doubt for a moment into whose hands I had fallen, and when
+they put me into the box, I wished I might suffocate, and thus end my
+misery at once. But they had taken good care to prevent this by boring
+holes in the box, which admitted air enough to keep up respiration.
+And this was the result of all my efforts for freedom! After all I had
+suffered in making my escape, it was a terrible disappointment to be
+thus cruelly betrayed, gagged, bound, and boxed up like an article of
+merchandise, carried back to certain torture, and perchance to death.
+O, blame me not, gentle reader, if in my haste, and the bitter
+disappointment and anguish of my spirit, I questioned the justice of the
+power that rules the world. Nor let your virtuous indignation wax hot
+against me if I confess to you, that I even doubted the existence of
+that power. How often had I cried to God for help! Why were my prayers
+and tears disregarded? What had I done to deserve such a fife of misery?
+These, and similar thoughts occupied my mind during that lonely midnight
+ride.
+
+We arrived at St. Regis before the first Mass in the morning. The box
+was then taken into the chapel, where they took me out and carried me
+into the church. I was seated at the foot of the altar, with my hands
+and feet fast bound, the gag still in my mouth, and no clothing on, but
+my night-dress. Two men stood beside me, and I remained here until the
+priest had said mass and the people retired from the church. He then
+came down from the altar, and said to the men beside me, "Well, you have
+got her." "Yes Sir," they replied, "what shall we do with her?" "Put her
+on the five o'clock boat," said he, "and let the other men go with her
+to Montreal. I want you to stay here, and be ready to go the other way
+tonight" This priest was an Indian, but he spoke the English language
+correctly and fluently. He seemed to feel some pity for my forlorn
+condition, and as they were about to carry me away he brought a large
+shawl, and wrapped it around me, for which I was truly grateful.
+
+At the appointed time, I was taken on board the boat, watched very
+closely by the two men who had me in charge. There was need enough of
+this, for I would very gladly have thrown myself into the water, had I
+not been prevented. Once and again I attempted it, but the men held me
+back. For this, I am now thankful, but at that time my life appeared of
+so little importance, and the punishments I knew were in reserve for me
+seemed so fearful, I voluntarily chose "strangling and death rather than
+life." The captain and sailors were all Romanists, and seemed to vie
+with each other in making me as unhappy as possible They made sport of
+my "new fashioned clothing," and asked if I "did not wish to run away
+again?" When they found I did not notice them they used the most abusive
+and scurrilous language, mingled with vulgar and profane expressions,
+which may not be repeated. The men who had charge of me, and who should
+have protected me from such abuse, so far from doing it, joined in the
+laugh, and appeared to think it a pleasant amusement to ridicule and vex
+a poor helpless fugitive. May God forgive them for their cruelty, and
+in the hour of their greatest need, may they meet with the kindness they
+refused to me.
+
+At Lachine we changed boats and took another to Montreal. When we
+arrived there, three priests were waiting for us. Their names I
+perfectly remember, but I am not sure that I can spell them correctly.
+Having never learned while in the nunnery, to read, or spell anything
+except a simple prayer, it is not strange if I do make mistakes, when
+attempting to give names from memory. I can only give them as they were
+pronounced. They were called Father Kelly, Dow, and Conroy. All the
+priests were called father, of whatever age they might be.
+
+As we proceeded from the boat to the Nunnery, one of the priests went
+before us while the others walked beside me, leading me between them.
+People gazed at us as we passed, but they did not dare to insult, or
+laugh at me, while in such respectable company. Yet, methinks it
+must have been a ludicrous sight to witness so much parade for a poor
+run-a-way nun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+CHOICE OF PUNISHMENTS.
+
+On our arrival at the Nunnery, I was left alone for half an hour. Then
+the Bishop came in with the Lady Superior, and the Abbess who had charge
+of the kitchen when I left. The Bishop read to me three punishments of
+which he said, I could take my choice. First.--To fast five days in the
+fasting room. Second.--To suffer punishment in the lime room. Third.--To
+fast four days, in the cell. As I knew nothing of these places except
+the cell, a priest was directed to take me to them, that I might see for
+myself, and then take my choice. At first, I thought I did not care, and
+I said I had no choice about it; but when I came to see the rooms, I was
+thankful that I was not allowed to abide by that decision. Certainly, I
+had no idea what was before me.
+
+I was blindfolded, and taken to the lime room first. I think it must
+have been situated at a great distance from the room we left, for he led
+me down several flights of stairs, and through long, low passages, where
+it was impossible to stand erect. At length we entered a room where the
+atmosphere seemed laden with hot vapor. My blinder was removed, and I
+found myself in a pleasant room some fifteen feet square. There was no
+furniture of any kind, but a wide bench, fastened to the wall, extended
+round three sides of the room. The floor looked like one solid block of
+dark colored marble; not a crack or seam to be seen in it, but it was
+clouded, highly polished, and very beautiful. Around the sides of the
+room, a great number of hooks and chains were fastened to the wall, and
+a large hook hung in the center overhead. Near the door stood two men,
+with long iron bars, some two inches square, on their shoulders.
+
+The priest directed me to stand upon the bench, and turning to the men,
+he bade them raise the door. They put down their bars, and I suppose
+touched a concealed spring, for the whole floor at once flew up, and
+fastened to the large hook over head. Surprised and terrified, I stood
+wondering what was to come next. At my feet yawned a deep pit, from
+which, arose a suffocating vapor, so hot, it almost scorched my face and
+nearly stopped my breath. The priest pointed to the heaving, tumbling
+billows of smoke that were rolling below, and; asked, "How would you
+like to be thrown into the lime?" "Not at all," I gasped, in a voice
+scarcely audible, "it would burn me to death." I suppose he thought I
+was sufficiently frightened, for he bade his men close the door. This
+they did by slowly letting down the floor, and I could see that it was
+in some way supported by the chains attached to the walls but in what
+manner I do not know.
+
+I was nearly suffocated by the lime smoke that filled the room, and
+though I knew not what was in reserve for me, I was glad when my blinder
+was put on, and I was led away. I think we returned the same way we
+came, and entered another room where the scent was so very offensive,
+that I begged to be taken out immediately. Even before my eyes were
+uncovered, and I knew nothing of the loathsome objects by which we were
+surrounded, I felt that I could not endure to breathe an atmosphere so
+deadly. But the sight that met my eyes when my blinder was removed, I
+cannot describe, nor the sensations with which I gazed upon it. I can
+only give the reader some faint idea of the place, which, they said, was
+called the fasting room, and here incorrigible offenders fasted until
+they starved to death. Nor was this all. Their dead bodies were not even
+allowed a decent burial, but were suffered to remain in the place where
+they died, until the work of death was complete and dust returned to
+dust. Thus the atmosphere became a deadly poison to the next poor victim
+who was left to breathe the noxious effluvia of corruption and decay. I
+am well aware that my reader will hardly credit my statements, but I do
+solemnly affirm that I relate nothing but the truth. In this room were
+placed several large iron kettles, so deep that a person could sit in
+them, and many of them contained the remains of human beings. In one the
+corpse looked as though it had been dead but a short time. Others still
+sat erect in the kettle, but the flesh was dropping from the bones.
+Every stage of decay was here represented, from the commencement, till
+nothing but a pile of bones was left of the poor sufferer.
+
+Conceive, if you can, with what feelings I gazed upon these disgusting
+relics of the dead. Even now, my blood chills in my veins, as memory
+recalls the fearful sight, or as, in sleep, I live over again the
+dread realities of that hour. Was I to meet a fate like this? I might,
+perchance, escape it for that time, but what assurance had I that I was
+not ultimately destined to such an end? These thoughts filled my mind,
+as I followed the priest from the room; and for a long time I continued
+to speculate upon what I had seen. They called it the fasting room; but
+if fasting were the only object, why were they placed in those kettles,
+instead of being allowed to sit on chairs or benches, or even on the
+floor? And why placed in IRON kettles? Why were they not made of
+wood? It would have answered the purpose quite as well, if fasting
+or starvation were the only objects in view. Then came the fearful
+suggestion, were these kettles ever heated? And was that floor made
+of stone or iron? The thought was too shocking to be cherished for a
+moment; but I could not drive it from my mind.
+
+I was again blindfolded, and taken to a place they called a cell. But it
+was quite different from the one I was in before. We descended several
+steps as we entered it, and instead of the darkness I anticipated, I
+found myself in a large room with sufficient light to enable me to see
+every object distinctly. One end of a long chain was fastened around my
+waist, and the other firmly secured to an iron ring in the floor; but
+the chain, though large and heavy, was long enough to allow me to go all
+over the room. I could not see how it was lighted, but it must have been
+in some artificial manner, for it was quite as light at night, as in the
+day. Here were instruments of various kinds, the use of which, I did
+not understand; some of them lying on the floor, others attached to the
+sides of the room. One of them was made in the form of a large fish,
+but of what material I do not know. It was of a bright flesh color, and
+fastened to a board on the floor. If I pressed my foot upon the board,
+it would put in motion some machinery within, which caused it to spring
+forward with a harsh, jarring sound like the rumbling of the cars. At
+the same time its eyes would roll round, and its mouth open, displaying
+a set of teeth so large and long that I was glad to keep at a safe
+distance. I wished to know whether it would really bite me or not, but
+it looked so frightful I did not dare to hazard the experiment.
+
+Another so nearly resembled a large serpent, I almost thought it was
+one; but I found it moved only when touched in a certain manner. Then
+it would roll over, open its mouth, and run out its tongue. There was
+another that I cannot describe, for I never saw anything that looked
+like it. It was some kind of a machine, and the turning of a crank made
+it draw together in such a way, that if a person were once within its
+embrace, the pressure would soon arrest the vital current, and stop
+the breath of life. Around the walls of the room were chains, rings and
+hooks, almost innumerable; but I did not know their use, and feared
+to touch them. I believed them all to be instruments of torture, and I
+thought they gave me a long chain in the hope and expectation that
+my curiosity would lead me into some of the numerous traps the room
+contained.
+
+Every morning the figure I had seen beside the dying nun, which they
+called the devil, came to my cell, and unlocking the door himself,
+entered, and walked around me, laughing heartily, and seeming much
+pleased to find me there. He would blow white froth from his mouth, but
+he never spoke to me, and when he went out, he locked the door after him
+and took away the key. He was, in fact, very thoughtful and prudent, but
+it will be long before I believe that he came as they pretended, from
+the spirit world. So far from being frightened, the incident was rather
+a source of amusement. Such questions as the following would force
+themselves upon my mind. If that image is really the devil, where did he
+get that key? And what will he do with it? Does the devil hold the keys
+of this nunnery, so that he can come and go as he pleases? Or, are the
+priests on such friendly terms with his satanic majesty that they lend
+him their keys? Or, do they hold them as partners? Gentlemen of the Grey
+Nunnery, please tell us how it is about those keys.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+HORRORS OF STARVATION.
+
+One day a woman came into my cell, dressed in white, a white cap on
+her head, and so very pale she looked more like a corpse than a living
+person. She came up to me with her mouth wide open, and stood gazing
+at me for a moment in perfect silence. She then asked, "Where have you
+been?" "Into the world," I replied. "How did you like the world?" "Very
+well," said I. She paused a moment, and then asked, "Did you find your
+friends?" "No, ma'am," said I, "I did not." Another pause, and then she
+said, "Perhaps you will if you go again." "No," I replied, "I shall not
+try again." "You had better try it once more," she added, and I thought
+there was a slight sneer in her tone; "Perhaps you may succeed better
+another time." "No," I replied, "I shall not try to run away from the
+nunnery again. I should most assuredly be caught and brought back, and
+then they would make me suffer so much, I assure you I shall never do it
+again." She looked at me a moment as though she would read my very soul,
+and said, "And so you did not find your friends, after all, did you?" I
+again told her that I did not, and she seemed satisfied with the result
+of her questioning. When she came in, I was pleased to see her, and
+thought I would ask her for something to eat, or at least for a little
+cold water. But she seemed so cold-hearted, so entirely destitute of
+sympathy or kind feeling, I had no courage to speak to her, for I felt
+that it would do no good. Perhaps I misjudged her. I knew from her looks
+that she must have been a great sufferer; but I have heard it said that
+extreme suffering sometimes hardens instead of softening the heart,
+and I believe it. It seemed to me that this woman had suffered so much
+herself, that every kind feeling was crushed out of her soul. I was glad
+when she left me, locking the door after her.
+
+Four days they kept me in this cell, and for five days and nights I had
+not tasted food or drink. I endured the most intolerable agonies from
+hunger and thirst. The suffering produced by hunger, when it becomes
+actual starvation, is far beyond anything that I can imagine. There
+is no other sensation that can be compared to it, and no language can
+describe it. One must feel it in order to realize what it is. The
+first two days I amused myself by walking round my room and trying to
+conjecture the use to which the various instruments were applied. Then
+I became so weak I could only think of eating and drinking. I sometimes
+fell asleep, but only to dream of loaded tables and luxurious feasts.
+Yet I could never taste the luxuries thus presented. Whenever I
+attempted to do so, they would be snatched away, or I would wake to
+find it all a dream. Driven to a perfect frenzy by the intensity of my
+sufferings, I would gladly have eaten my own flesh. Well was it for me
+that no sharp instrument was at hand, for as a last resort I more than
+once attempted to tear open my veins with my teeth.
+
+This severe paroxysm passed away, and I sank into a state of partial
+unconsciousness, in which I remained until I was taken out of the cell.
+I do not believe I should have lived many hours longer, nor should I
+ever have been conscious of much more suffering. With me the "bitterness
+of death had passed," and I felt disappointed and almost angry to be
+recalled to a life of misery. I begged them to allow me to die. It was
+the only boon I craved. But this would have been too merciful; moreover,
+they did not care to lose my services in the kitchen. I was a good
+drudge for them, and they wished to restore me on the same principle
+that a farmer would preserve the life of a valuable horse.
+
+I do not remember leaving the cell. The first thing I realized they were
+placing me in a chair in the kitchen, and allowed me to lean my head
+upon the table. They gave me some gruel, and I soon revived so that I
+could sit up in my chair and speak in a whisper. But it was some hours
+before I could stand on my feet or speak loud. An Abbess was in the
+kitchen preparing bread and wine for the priests (they partake of
+these refreshments every day at ten in the morning and three in the
+afternoon). She brought a pailful of wine and placed it on the table
+near me, and left a glass standing beside it. When she turned away, I
+took the glass, dipped up a little of the wine, and drank it. She saw
+me do it, but said not a word, and I think she left it there for that
+purpose. The wine was very strong, and my stomach so weak, I soon began
+to feel sick, and asked permission to go to bed. They took me up in
+their arms and carried me to my old room and laid me on the bed. Here
+they left me, but the Abbess soon returned with some gruel made very
+palatable with milk and sugar. I was weak, and my hand trembled so that
+I could not feed myself; but the Abbess kindly sat beside me and fed me
+until I was satisfied. I had nothing more to eat until the next day at
+eleven o'clock, when the Abbess again brought me some bread and gruel,
+and a cup of strong tea. She requested me to drink the tea as quick as
+possible, and then she concealed the mug in which she brought it.
+
+I was now able to feed myself, and you may be sure I had an excellent
+appetite, and was not half so particular about my food as some persons
+I have since known. I lay in bed till near night, when I rose, dressed
+myself without assistance, and went down to the kitchen. I was so weak
+and trembled so that I could hardly manage to get down stairs; but
+I succeeded at last, for a strong will is a wonderful incentive to
+efficient action.
+
+In the kitchen I met the Lady Superior. She saw how weak I was, and as
+she assisted me to a chair, she said, "I should not have supposed that
+you could get down here alone. Have you had anything to eat to-day?" I
+was about to say yes, but one of the nuns shook her head at me, and I
+replied "No." She then brought some bread and wine, requesting me to eat
+it quick, for fear some of the priests might come in and detect us. Thus
+I saw that she feared the priests as well as the rest of us. Truly,
+it was a terrible crime she had committed! No wonder she was afraid
+of being caught! Giving a poor starved nun a piece of bread, and then
+obliged to conceal it as she would have done a larceny or a murder!
+Think of it, reader, and conceive, if you can, the state of that
+community where humanity is a crime--where mercy is considered a
+weakness of which one should be ashamed! If a pirate or a highwayman had
+been guilty of treating a captive as cruelly as I was treated by those
+priests, he would have been looked upon as an inhuman monster, and at
+once given up to the strong grasp of the law. But when it is done by a
+priest, under the cloak of Religion, and within the sacred precincts of
+a nunnery, people cry out, when the tale is told, "Impossible!" "What
+motive could they have had?" "It cannot be true," etc. But whether
+the statement is believed or otherwise, it is a fact that in the Grey
+Nunnery at Montreal the least exhibition of a humane spirit was
+punished as a crime. The nun who was found guilty of showing mercy to a
+fellow-sufferer was sure to find none herself.
+
+From this time I gained very fast, for the Abbess saw how hungry I was,
+and she would either put food in my way, or give me privately what I
+wished to eat. In two weeks I was able to go to work in the kitchen
+again. But those I had formerly seen there were gone. I never knew what
+became of the sick nun, nor could I learn anything about the one who ran
+away with me. I thought that the men who brought me to St. Regis, were
+kept there to go after her, but I do not know whether they found her
+or not. For myself, I promised so solemnly, and with such apparent
+sincerity, that I would never leave the nunnery again, I was believed
+and trusted. Had I been kindly treated, had my life been even tolerable,
+my conscience would have reproached me for deceiving them, but as it
+was, I felt that I was more "sinned against, than sinning." I could not
+think it wrong to get away, if the opportunity presented, and for this I
+was constantly on the watch. Every night I lay awake long after all
+the rest were buried in slumber, trying to devise some plan, by which
+I could once more regain my liberty. And who can blame me? Having
+just tasted the sweets of freedom, how could I be content to remain in
+servitude all my life? Many a time have I left my bed at night, resolved
+to try to escape once more, but the fear of detection would deter me
+from the attempt.
+
+In the discharge of my daily duties, I strove to the utmost of my
+ability to please my employers. I so far succeeded, that for five weeks
+after my return I escaped punishment. Then, I made a slight mistake
+about my work, though I verily thought I was doing it according to the
+direction. For this, I was told that I must go without two meals, and
+spend three days in the torture room. I supposed it was the same room I
+was in before, but I was mistaken. I was taken into the kitchen cellar,
+and down a flight of stairs to another room directly under it. From
+thence, a door opened into another subterranean apartment which they
+called the torture room. These doors were so constructed, that a casual
+observer would not be likely to notice them. I had been in that cellar
+many times, but never saw that door until I was taken through it. A
+person might live in the nunnery a life-time, and never see or hear
+anything of such a place. I presume those visitors who call at the
+school-rooms, go over a part of the house, and leave with the impression
+that the convent is a nice place, will never believe my statements about
+this room. Nor can we wonder at their skepticism. It is exceedingly
+difficult for pure minds to conceive how any human being can be so
+fearfully depraved. Knowing the purity of their own intentions, and
+judging others by themselves, it is not strange that they regard such
+tales of guilt and terror as mere fabrications, put forth to gratify the
+curiosity of the wonder-loving crowd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE TORTURE ROOM.
+
+I remember hearing a gentleman at the depot remark that the very
+enormity of the crimes committed by the Romanists, is their best
+protection. "For," said he, "some of their practices are so shockingly
+infamous they may not even be alluded to in the presence of the refined
+and the virtuous. And if the story of their guilt were told, who would
+believe the tale? Far easier would it be to call the whole a slanderous
+fabrication, than to believe that man can be so vile."
+
+This consideration led me to doubt the propriety of attempting a
+description of what I saw in that room. But I have engaged to give a
+faithful narrative of what transpired in the nunnery; and shall I leave
+out a part because it is so strange and monstrous, that people will not
+believe it? No. I will tell, without the least exaggeration what I saw,
+heard, and experienced. People may not credit the story now, but a day
+will surely come when they will know that I speak the truth.
+
+As I entered the room I was exceedingly shocked at the horrid spectacle
+that met my eye. I knew that fearful scenes were enacted in the
+subterranean cells, but I never imagined anything half so terrible as
+this. In various parts of the room I saw machines, and instruments of
+torture, and on some of them persons were confined who seemed to be
+suffering the most excruciating agony. I paused, utterly overcome with
+terror, and for a moment imagined that I was a witness to the torments,
+which, the priests say, are endured by the lost, in the world of woe.
+Was I to undergo such tortures, and which of those infernal engines
+would be applied to me? I was not long in doubt. The priest took hold of
+me and put me into a machine that held me fast, while my feet rested
+on a piece of iron which was gradually heated until both feet were
+blistered. I think I must have been there fifteen minutes, but perhaps
+the time seemed longer than it was. He then took me out, put some
+ointment on my feet and left me.
+
+I was now at liberty to examine more minutely the strange objects around
+me. There were some persons in the place whose punishment, like my own,
+was light compared with others. But near me lay one old lady extended
+on a rack. Her joints were all dislocated, and she was emaciated to the
+last degree. I do not suppose I can describe this rack, for I never saw
+anything like it. It looked like a gridiron but was long enough for the
+tallest man to lie upon. There were large rollers at each end, to which
+belts were attached, with a large lever to drive them back and forth.
+Upon this rack the poor woman was fastened in such a way, that when the
+levers were turned and the rollers made to revolve, every bone in her
+body was displaced. Then the violent strain would be relaxed, a little,
+and she was so very poor, her skin would sink into the joints and remain
+there till it mortified and corrupted.
+
+It was enough to melt the hardest heart to witness her agony; but
+she bore it with a degree of fortitude and patience, I could not have
+supposed possible, had I not been compelled to behold it. When I entered
+the room she looked up and said, "Have you come to release me, or only
+to suffer with me?" I did not dare to reply, for the priest was there,
+but when he left us she exclaimed, "My child, let nothing induce you
+to believe this cursed religion. It will be the death of you, and that
+death, will be the death of a dog." I suppose she meant that they would
+kill me as they would a dog. She then asked, "Who put you here?" "My
+Father," said I. "He must have been a brute," said she, "or he never
+could have done it." At one time I happened to mention the name of
+God, when she fiercely exclaimed with gestures of contempt, "A God! You
+believe there is one, do you? Don't you suffer yourself to believe any
+such thing. Think you that a wise, merciful, and all powerful being
+would allow such a hell as this to exist? Would he suffer me to be torn
+from friends and home, from my poor children and all that my soul holds
+dear, to be confined in this den of iniquity, and tortured to death in
+this cruel manner? No, O, no. He would at once destroy these monsters
+in human form; he would not suffer them, for one moment, to breathe the
+pure air of heaven."
+
+At another time she exclaimed, "O, my children! my poor motherless
+children! What will become of them? God of mercy, protect my children!"
+Thus, at one moment, she would say there was no God, and the next,
+pray to him for help. This did not surprise me, for she was in such
+intolerable misery she did not realize what she did say. Every few hours
+the priest came in, and gave the rollers a turn, when her joints would
+crack and--but I cannot describe it. The sight made me sick and faint at
+the time, as the recollection of it, does now. It seemed as though that
+man must have had a heart of adamant, or he could not have done it.
+She would shriek, and groan, and weep, but it did not affect him in the
+least. He was as calm, and deliberate as though he had a block of wood
+in his hands, instead of a human being. When I saw him coming, I once
+shook my head at her, to have her stop speaking; but when he was gone,
+she said, "Don't shake your head at me; I do not fear him. He can but
+kill me, and the quicker he does it the better. I would be glad if he
+would put an end to my misery at once, but that would be too merciful.
+He is determined to kill me by inches, and it makes no difference what I
+say to him."
+
+She had no food, or drink, during the three days I was there, and the
+priest never spoke to her. He brought me my bread and water regularly,
+and I would gladly have given it to that poor woman if she would have
+taken it. But she would not accept the offer. It would only prolong
+her sufferings, and she wished to die. I do not suppose she could have
+lived, had she been taken out when I first saw her.
+
+In another part of the room, a monk was under punishment. He was
+standing in some kind of a machine, with heavy weights attached to his
+feet, and a belt passed across his breast under his arms. He appeared to
+be in great distress, and no refreshment was furnished him while I was
+there.
+
+On one side of the room, I observed a closet with a "slide door," as the
+nuns called them. There were several doors of this description in the
+building, so constructed as to slide back into the ceiling out of
+sight. Through this opening I could see an image resembling a monk; and
+whenever any one was put in there, they would shriek, and groan, and beg
+to be taken out, but I could not ascertain the cause of their suffering.
+
+One day a nun was brought in to be punished. The priest led her up to
+the side of the room, and bade her put her fingers into some holes in
+the wall just large enough to admit them. She obeyed but immediately
+drew them back with a loud shriek. I looked to see what was the matter
+with her, and lo! every nail was torn from her fingers, which were
+bleeding profusely. How it was done, I do not know. Certainly, there was
+no visible cause for such a surprising effect. In all probability the
+fingers came in contact with the spring of some machine on the other
+side, or within the wall to which some sharp instrument was attached. I
+would give much to know just how it was constructed, and what the
+girl had done to subject herself to such a terrible and unheard-of
+punishment. But this, like many other things in that establishment, was
+wrapped in impenetrable mystery. God only knows when the veil will be
+removed, or whether it ever will be until the day when all secret things
+will be brought to light.
+
+When the three days expired, I was taken out of this room, but did not
+go to work again till my feet were healed. I was then obliged to assist
+in milking the cows, and taking care of the milk. They had a large
+number of cows, I believe thirty-five, and dairy rooms, with every thing
+convenient for making butter and cheese. When first directed to go
+out and milk, I was pleased with the idea, for I hoped to find and
+opportunity to escape; but I was again disappointed. In the cow yard, as
+elsewhere, every precaution was taken to prevent it.
+
+Passing out of the main yard of the convent through a small door, I
+found myself in a small, neat yard, surrounded by a high fence, so that
+nothing could be seen but the sky overhead. The cows were driven in,
+and the door immediately locked, so that escape from that place seemed
+impossible.
+
+At harvest time, in company with twenty other nuns, I was taken out
+into the country to the residence of the monks. The ride out there was
+a great treat, and very much enjoyed by us all. I believe it was about
+five miles, through a part of the city of Montreal; the north part
+I think, but I am not sure. We stopped before a large white stone
+building, situated in the midst of a large yard like the one at the
+nunnery. A beautiful walk paved with stone, led from the gate to the
+front door, and from thence, around the house. Within the yard, there
+was also a delightful garden, with neat, well kept walks laid out in
+various directions. Before the front door there stood a large cross.
+I think I never saw a more charming place; it appeared to me a perfect
+paradise. I heard one of the priests say that the farm consisted of four
+hundred acres, and belonged to the nunnery. The house was kept by two
+widow ladies who were married before they embraced the Romish faith.
+They were the only women on the place previous to our arrival, and I
+think they must have found it very laborious work to wait upon so many
+monks. I do not know their number, but there was a great many of them,
+besides a large family of boys, who, I suppose, were being educated for
+priests or monks.
+
+Immediately on our arrival a part of our number were set to work in the
+fields, while the rest were kept in the house to assist the women. I
+hoped that I might be one of these last, but disappointment was again
+my lot. I was sent to the field with the others, and set to reaping; a
+priest being stationed near, to guard us and oversee our work. We were
+watched very closely, one priest having charge of two nuns, for whose
+safe keeping he was responsible. Here we labored until the harvest was
+all gathered in. I dug potatoes, cut up corn and husked it, gathered
+apples, and did all kinds of work that is usually done by men in the
+fall of the year. Yet I was never allowed to wear a bonnet on my head,
+or anything to shield me from the piercing rays of the sun. Some
+days the heat was almost intolerable, and my cap was not the least
+protection, but they allowed me no other covering.
+
+In consequence of this exposure, my head soon became the seat of severe
+neuralgic pain, which caused me at times to linger over my work. But
+this was not permitted. My movements were immediately quickened, for the
+work must be done notwithstanding the severe pain. Every command must be
+obeyed whatever the result.
+
+At night a part of our number were taken to the nunnery, and the rest
+of us locked up in our rooms in the house. We were not permitted to
+take our meals with the two housekeepers, but a table was set for us in
+another room. One would think that when gathering the fruit we would
+be allowed to partake of it, or at least to taste it. But this was not
+allowed; and as a priest's eye was ever upon us, we dare not disobey,
+however much we might wish to do so. I used to wonder if the two women
+who kept the house were as severely dealt with as we were, but had no
+means whereby to satisfy my curiosity. They were not allowed to converse
+with us, and we might not speak to them, or even look them in the face.
+Here, as at the nunnery, we were obliged to walk with the head bent
+forward a little, the eyes fixed on the floor, one hand, if disengaged,
+under the cape, the other down by the side, and on no occasion might we
+look a person in the face. The two women seemed to be governed by the
+same rules that we were, and subject to the same masters. I used to
+think a great deal about them, and longed to know their history. They
+wore blue dresses, with white caps, and white handkerchiefs on their
+necks. Their life, I think, was a hard one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+RETURN TO THE NUNNERY.
+
+While we remained at this place I was not punished in any of the usual
+methods. Perhaps they thought the exposure to a burning sun, and a
+severe headache, sufficient to keep me in subjection without any other
+infliction. But immediately on my return to the nunnery I was again
+subjected to the same cruel, capricious, and unreasonable punishment.
+
+On the first day after my return one of the priests came into the
+kitchen where I was at work, and I hastened to give him the usual
+respectful salutation, which I have before described. But he took hold
+of my arm and said, "What do you look so cross for?" And without giving
+me time to reply, even if I had dared to do so, he added, "I'll teach
+you not to look cross at me." He left the room, with an expression of
+countenance that frightened me. I was not aware of looking cross at him,
+though I must confess I had suffered so much at his hands already, I did
+not feel very happy in his presence; yet I always endeavored to treat
+him with all due respect. Certainly his accusation against me in this
+instance was as false as it was cruel. But what of that? I was only
+a nun, and who would care if I was punished unjustly? The priest soon
+returned with a band of leather, or something of the kind, into which
+thorns were fastened in such numbers that the inside was completely
+covered with them. This he fastened around my head with the points of
+the thorns pressing into the skin, and drew it so tight that the blood
+ran in streams over my neck and shoulders. I wore this band, or "crown
+of thorns;" as they called it, for six hours, and all the time continued
+my work as usual. Then I thought of the "crown of thorns" our Saviour
+wore when he gave his life a ransom for the sins of the world. I thought
+I could realize something of his personal agony, and the prayer of my
+soul went up to heaven for grace to follow his example and forgive my
+tormentors.
+
+From this time I was punished every day while I remained there, and
+for the most simple things. It was evident they wished to break down my
+spirit, but it only confirmed me in my resolution to get away from them
+as soon as possible.
+
+One day I chanced to close the door a little too hard. It was mere
+accident, but for doing it they burned me with red hot tongs. They kept
+them in the fire till they were red hot, then plunged them into cold
+water, drew them out as quickly as possible, and immediately applied
+them to my arms or feet. The skin would, of course adhere to the iron,
+and it would sometime burn down to the bone before they condescended to
+remove it. At another time I was cruelly burned on my arms and shoulders
+for not standing erect. The flesh was deep in some places, and the agony
+I suffered was intolerable. I thought of the stories the Abbess used to
+tell me years before about the martyrs who were burned at the stake. But
+I had not a martyr's faith, and I could not imitate their patience and
+resignation. The sores made on these occasions were long in healing,
+and to this day I bear upon my person the scars caused by these frequent
+burnings.
+
+I was often punished because I forgot to walk on my toes. For this
+trivial offence I have often been made to fast two days. We all wore
+cloth shoes, and it was the rule of the house that we should all walk on
+tip-toe. Sometimes we would forget, and take a step or two in the usual
+way; and then it did seem as though they rejoiced in the opportunity to
+inflict punishment. It was the only amusement they had, and there was so
+little variety in their daily life, I believe they were glad of anything
+to break in upon the monotony of convent life, and give them a little
+excitement. It was very hard for me to learn to walk on my toes, and
+as I often failed to do it, I was of course punished for the atrocious
+crime. But I did learn at last, for what can we not accomplish by
+resolute perseverance? Several years of practice so confirmed the habit
+that I found it as difficult to leave off as it was to begin. Even now I
+often find myself tripping along on tip-toe before I am aware of it.
+
+We had a very cruel abbess in the kitchen, and this was one reason of
+our being punished so often. She was young and inexperienced, and had
+just been promoted to office, with which she seemed much pleased and
+elated. She embraced every opportunity to exercise her authority, and
+often have I fasted two whole days for accidentally spilling a little
+water on the kitchen floor. Whenever she wished to call my attention to
+her, she did not content herself with simply speaking, but would box my
+ears, pull my hair, pinch my arms, and in many ways so annoy and provoke
+me that I often wished her dead. One day when I was cleaning knives and
+forks she came up to me and gave me such a severe pinch on my arm that
+I carried the marks for many days. I did not wait to think what I was
+doing, but turned and struck her with all my might. It could not have
+been a light blow, for I was very angry. She turned away, saying she
+should report me to the Lady Superior. I did not answer her, but as she
+passed through the door I threw a knife which I hoped would hit her, but
+it struck the door as she closed it. I expected something dreadful would
+be done to me after this wilful violation of a well known law. But I
+could bear it, I thought, and I was glad I hit her so hard.
+
+She soon returned with a young priest, who had been there but a short
+time, and his heart had not yet become so hard as is necessary to be
+a good Romish priest. He came to me and asked, "What is the matter?"
+I told him the Abbess punished me every day, that in fact I was under
+punishment most of the time; that I did not deserve it, and I was
+resolved to bear it no longer. I struck her because she pinched me for
+no good reason; and I should in future try to defend myself from her
+cruelty.
+
+"Do you know," said he, "what will be done to you for this?" "No, sir,"
+said I, "I do not know," and I was about to add, "I do not care," but
+I restrained myself. He went out, and for a long time I expected to be
+called to account, but I heard no more of it. The Abbess, however, went
+on in the old way, tormenting me on every occasion.
+
+One day the priests had a quarrel among themselves, and if I had said a
+DRUNKEN QUARREL, I do not think it would have been a very great mistake.
+In the fray they stabbed one of their number in the side, drew him out
+of his room, and left him on the floor in the hall of the main building,
+but one flight of stairs above the kitchen. Two nuns, who did the
+chamber work, came down stairs, and, seeing him lie there helpless and
+forsaken, they took him by the hair of the head and drew him down to the
+kitchen. Here they began to torment him in the most cruel manner. They
+burned sticks in the fire until the end was a live coal, put them into
+his hands and closed them, pressing the burning wood into the flesh, and
+thus producing the most exquisite pain. At least this would have
+been the result if he had realized their cruelty. But I think he was
+insensible before they touched him, or if not, must have died very soon
+after, for I am sure he was dead when I first saw him.
+
+I went to them and remonstrated against such inhuman conduct. But one of
+the nuns replied, "That man has tormented me more than I can him, if I
+do my best, and I wish him to know how good it is." "But," said I, "some
+one will come in, and you will be caught in the act." "I'll risk that,"
+said she, "they are quarreling all over the house, and will have enough
+to do to look after each other for a while, I assure you." "But the man
+is dead," said I. "How can you treat a senseless corpse in that way?"
+"I'm afraid he is dead," she replied, he don't move at all, and I can't
+feel his heart beat; but I did hope to make him realize how good the
+fire feels."
+
+Meanwhile, the blood was flowing from the wound in his side, and ran
+over the floor. The sight of this alarmed them, and they drew him into
+another dark hall, and left him beside the door of a room used for
+punishment. They then came back, locked the hall door, and washed up the
+blood. They expected to be punished for moving the dead body, but the
+floor was dry before any of the priests came in, and I do not think it
+was ever known. Perhaps they did not remember events as distinctly as
+they might under other circumstances, and it is very possible, that,
+when they found the corpse they might not have been able to say whether
+it was where they left it, or not. We all rejoiced over the death of
+that priest. He was a very cruel man; had punished me times without
+number, but, though I was glad he was dead, I could not have touched him
+when he lay helpless and insensible.
+
+A few weeks after the events just related, another trifling occurrence
+brought me into collision with the Abbess. And here let me remark that
+I have no way, by which to ascertain at what particular time certain
+events transpired. The reader will understand that I write this
+narrative from memory, and our life at the nunnery was so monotonous,
+the days and weeks passed by with such dull, and irksome uniformity,
+that sometimes our frequent punishments were the only memorable events
+to break in upon the tiresome sameness of our unvarying life. Of course
+the most simple thing was regarded by us as a great event, something
+worthy of special notice, because, for the time, it diverted our minds
+from the peculiar restraints of our disagreeable situation.
+
+To illustrate this remark let me relate an incident that transpired
+about this time. I was one day sent to a part of the house where I was
+not in the habit of going. I was passing along a dark hall, when a ray
+of light from an open door fell upon my path. I looked up, and as the
+door at that moment swung wide open, I saw, before a glass, in a richly
+furnished room, the most beautiful woman I ever beheld. From the purity
+of her complexion, and the bright color of her cheeks and lips, I could
+have taken her for a piece of wax work, but for the fact that she was
+carelessly arranging her hair. She was tall, and elegant in person,
+with a countenance of such rare and surpassing beauty, I involuntarily
+exclaimed, "What a beautiful woman!" She turned towards me with a
+smile of angelic sweetness, while an expression of sympathetic emotion
+overspread her exquisitely moulded features, which seemed to say as
+plainly as though she had spoken in words, "Poor child, I pity you."
+I now became conscious that I was breaking the rules of the house, and
+hastened away. But O, how many days my soul fed on that smile! I never
+saw the lady again, her name I could never know, but that look of
+tenderness will never be forgotten. It was something to think of through
+many dreary hours, something to look back to, and be grateful for, all
+the days of my life.
+
+But to return to my narrative. The priests had a large quantity of sap
+gathered from the maple trees, and brought to the nunnery to be boiled
+into sugar. Another nun and myself were left to watch it, keep the
+kettle filled up, and prevent it from burning. It was boiled in the
+large caldron of which I have before spoken, and covered with a large,
+thin, wooden cover. The sap had boiled some time, and become very thick.
+I was employed in filling up the kettle when the Abbess came into the
+room, and after a few inquiries, directed me to stand upon the cover of
+the caldron, and fix a large hook directly over it. I objected, for I
+know full well that it would not bear a fourth part of my weight. She
+then took hold of me, and tried to force me to step upon it, but I knew
+I should be burned to death, for the cover, on account of its enormous
+size was made as thin as possible, that we might be able to lift it.
+When I saw that she was determined to make me yield, in self defence,
+I threw her upon the floor. Would that I had been content to stop
+here. But no. When I saw her in my power, and remembered how much I
+had suffered from her, my angry passions rose, and I thought only of
+revenge.
+
+I commenced beating her with all my might, and when I stopped from mere
+exhaustion, the other nun caught her by the hair and began to draw
+her round the room. She struggled and shrieked, but she could not help
+herself. Her screams, however, alarmed the house, and hearing one of the
+priests coming, the nun gave her a kick and left her. The priest
+asked what we were doing, and the Abbess related with all possible
+exaggeration, the story of our cruelty. "But what did you do to them?"
+asked the priest "You gave them some provocation, or they never would
+treat you so." She was then obliged to tell what had passed between us,
+and he said she deserved to suffer for giving such an order. "Why," said
+he, "that cover would not have held her a moment, and she would most
+assuredly have burned to death." He punished us all; the Abbess for
+giving the order, and us for abusing her. I should not have done this
+thing, had I not come off so well, when I once before attempted to
+defend myself; but my success at that time gave me courage to try it
+again. My punishment was just, and I bore it very well, consoled by the
+thought that justice was awarded to the Abbess, as well as myself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+SICKNESS AND DEATH OF A SUPERIOR.
+
+The next excitement in our little community was caused by the sickness
+and death of our Superior. I do not know what her disease was, but she
+was sick two weeks, and one of the nuns from the kitchen was sent to
+take care of her. One night she was so much worse, the nun thought she
+would die, and she began to torment her in the most inhuman manner. She
+had been severely punished a short time before at the instigation of
+this woman, and she then swore revenge if she ever found an opportunity.
+Now it was presented. She was in her power, too weak to resist or call
+for assistance, and she resolved to let her know by experience how
+bitterly she had made others suffer in days gone by. It was a fiendish
+spirit, undoubtedly, that prompted her to seek revenge upon the dying,
+but what else could we expect? She only followed the example of her
+elders, and if she went somewhat beyond their teachings, she had, as we
+shall see, her reasons for so doing. With hot irons she burned her on
+various parts of her person, cut great gashes in the flesh upon her
+face, sides, and arms, and then rubbed salt and pepper into the wounds.
+But I will not try to describe it.
+
+The wretched woman died before morning, and the nun went to the priest
+and told him that the Superior was dead, and that she had killed her.
+The priests were immediately all called together, and the Bishop called
+upon for counsel. He sentenced her to be hung that morning in the chapel
+before the assembled household. The Abbess came and informed us what had
+taken place, and directed us to get ready and go to the chapel. When we
+entered, the doomed girl sat upon a chair on the altar. She was clad
+in a white robe, with a white cap on her head, and appeared calm,
+self-possessed, and even joyful. The Bishop asked her if she had
+anything to say for herself. She immediately rose and said, "I have
+killed the Superior, for which I am to be hung. I know that I deserve
+to die, but I have suffered more than death many times over, from
+punishments inflicted by her order. For many years my life has been one
+of continual suffering; and for what? For just nothing at all, or for
+the most simple things. Is it right, is it just to starve a person two
+whole days for shutting the door a little too hard? or to burn one with
+hot irons because a little water was accidentally spilt on the floor?
+Yet for these and similar things I have again and again been tortured
+within an inch of my life. Now that I am to be hung, I am glad of
+it, for I shall die quick, and be out of my misery, instead of being
+tortured to death by inches. I did this thing for this very purpose,
+for I do not fear death nor anything that comes after it. Talk about
+the existence of a God! I don't believe a word of it. And the story of
+heaven and hell, purgatory, and the Virgin Mary; why, it's all a humbug,
+like the rest of the vile stuff you call religion. Religion indeed!
+You wont catch us nuns believing it, and more than all that, you don't
+believe it yourselves, not one of you."
+
+She sat down, and they put a cap over her head and face, drew it tight
+around her neck, adjusted the rope, and she was launched into eternity.
+To me it seemed a horrid thing, and I could not look upon her dying
+struggles. I did not justify the girl in what she had done, yet I knew
+that the woman would have died if she had let her alone; and I also knew
+that worse things than that were done in the nunnery almost every day,
+and that too by the very men who had taken her life. I left the chapel
+with a firm resolve to make one more effort to escape from a thraldom
+that everyday became more irksome.
+
+At the door the Abbess met me, and led me to a room I had never seen
+before, where, to my great surprise, I found my bed. She said it was
+removed by her order, and in future I was to sleep in that room. "What!
+sleep here alone?" I exclaimed, quite forgetting, in the agitation of
+the moment, the rule of silent obedience. But she did not condescend
+to notice either my question or the unpleasant feelings which must have
+been visible in my features. I did feel very much troubled. I had never
+slept in a room alone a night in my life. Another nun always occupied
+the room with me, and when she was absent, as she often was when under
+punishment, the Abbess slept there, so that I was never alone. I did
+not often meet the girl with whom I slept, as she did not work in the
+kitchen, but whenever I did, I felt as pleased as though she had been my
+sister. Yet I never spoke to her, nor did she ever attempt to converse
+with me. Yes, strange as it may seem, incredible as my reader may think
+it, it is a fact, that during all the years we slept together, not one
+word ever passed between us. We did not even dare to communicate our
+thoughts by signs, lest the Abbess should detect us.
+
+That night I spent in my new room; but I could not sleep. I had heard
+strange hints about some room where no one could sleep, and where no one
+liked to go, though for what reason I could never learn. When I first
+entered, I discovered that the floor was badly stained, and, while
+speculating on the cause of those stains, I came to the conclusion that
+this was the room to which so much mystery was attached. It was
+very dark, with no window in it, situated in the midst of the house,
+surrounded by other rooms, and no means of ventilation except the door.
+I did not close my eyes during the whole night. I imagined that the door
+opened and shut, that persons were walking in the room, and I am
+certain that I heard noises near my bed for which I could not account.
+Altogether, it was the most uncomfortable night I ever spent, and
+I believe that few persons would have felt entirely at ease in my
+situation.
+
+To such a degree did these superstitious fears assail me, I felt as
+though I would endure any amount of physical suffering rather than stay
+there another night. Resolved to brave everything, I went to a priest
+and asked permission to speak to him. It was an unusual thing, and I
+think his curiosity was excited, for it was only in extreme cases that
+a nun ventures to appeal to a priest When I told him my story, he seemed
+much surprised, and asked by whose order my bed was moved to that room.
+I informed him of all the particulars, when he ordered me to move my bed
+back again. "No one," said he, "has slept in that room for years, and we
+do not wish any one to sleep there." I accordingly moved the bed back,
+and as I had permission from the priest, the Abbess dared not find fault
+with me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+STUDENTS AT THE ACADEMY.
+
+Through the winter I continued to work as usual, leading the same dull,
+dreary, and monotonous life, varied only by pains, and privations. In
+the spring a slight change was made in the household arrangements, and
+for a short time I assisted some of the other nuns to do the chamber
+work for the students at the academy. There was an under-ground passage
+from the convent to the cellar of the academy through which we passed.
+Before we entered, the doors and windows were securely fastened, and the
+students ordered to leave their rooms, and not return again till we had
+left. They were also forbidden to speak to us, but whenever the teachers
+were away, they were sure to come back to their rooms, and ask us all
+manner of questions. They wished to know, they said, how long we were
+going to stay in the convent, if we really enjoyed the life we had
+chosen, and were happy in our retirement; if we had not rather return
+to the world, go into company, get married, etc. I suppose they really
+thought that we could leave at any time if we chose. But we did not dare
+to answer their questions, or let them know the truth.
+
+One day, when we went to do the work, we found in one of the rooms, some
+men who were engaged in painting. They asked us if we were contented.
+We did not dare to reply, lest they should betray us. They then began to
+make remarks about us, some of which I well remember. One of them said,
+"I don't believe they are used very well; they look as though they were
+half starved." Another replied, "I know they do; there is certainly
+something wrong about these convents, or the nuns would not all look so
+pale and thin." I suspect the man little thought how much truth there
+was in his remarks.
+
+Soon after the painters left we were all taken suddenly ill. Some were
+worse than others, but all were unwell except one nun. As all exhibited
+the same symptoms, we were supposed to have taken poison, and suspicion
+fastened on that nun. She was put upon the rack, and when she saw that
+her guilt could not be concealed, she confessed that she poisoned the
+water in the well, but she would not tell what she put into it, nor
+where she got it. She said she did not do it to injure the nuns, for she
+thought they were allowed so little drink with their food, they would
+not be affected by it, while those who drank more, she hoped to kill.
+She disliked all the priests, and the Superior, and would gladly have
+murdered them all. But for one priest in particular, she felt all the
+hatred that a naturally malignant spirit, excited by repeated acts
+of cruelty, is capable of. He had punished her repeatedly, and as she
+thought, unjustly, and she resolved to avenge herself and destroy her
+enemy, even though the innocent should suffer with the guilty. This was
+all wrong, fearfully wrong we must admit. But while we look with
+horror at the enormity of her crime let us remember that she had great
+provocation. I hope there are few who could have sought revenge in the
+way she did; yet I cannot believe that any one would endure from another
+what she was compelled to suffer from that man, without some feelings of
+resentment. Let us not judge too harshly this erring sister, for if
+her crime was great, her wrongs were neither small nor few, and her
+punishment was terrible.
+
+They tortured her a long time to make her tell what kind of poison she
+put in the well, and where she obtained it. They supposed she must have
+got it from the painters, but she would never tell where she procured
+it. This fact proves that she had some generous feelings left. Under any
+other circumstances such magnanimity would have been highly applauded,
+and in my secret soul I could not but admire the firmness with which
+she bore her sufferings. She was kept upon the rack until all her joints
+were dislocated, and the flesh around them mortified. They then carried
+her to her room, removed the bed, and laid her upon the bedcord. The
+nuns were all assembled to look at her, and take warning by her sad
+fate. Such a picture of misery I never saw before. She seemed to have
+suffered even more than the old lady I saw in the cellar. It was but a
+moment, however, that we were allowed to gaze upon her shrunken ghastly
+features, and then she was hid from our sight forever. The nuns,
+except two or three, were sent from the room, and thus the murder was
+consummated. What else can we call it?
+
+There was one young student at the academy whose name was Smalley. He
+was from New England, and his father lived at St. Albans, Vt., where he
+had wealth and influence. This young man had a little sister who used to
+visit at the convent, whom they called Sissy Smalley. She was young, but
+handsome, witty and intelligent. For one of her age, she was very much
+refined in her manners. They allowed her to go anywhere in the building
+except the private apartments where those deeds of darkness were
+performed which would not bear the pure light of heaven. I presume that
+no argument could convince little Sissy Smalley that such rooms were
+actually in the nunnery. She had been all over it, she would tell
+you, and she never saw any torture rooms, never heard of any one being
+punished, or anything of the kind. Such reports would appear to her as
+mere slanders, yet God knows they are true. I well remember how I used
+to shudder to hear that child praise the nunnery, tell what a nice,
+quiet place it was, and how she would like it for a permanent home. I
+hope her brother will find out the truth about it in season to prevent
+his beautiful sister from ever becoming a nun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+SECOND ESCAPE FROM THE NUNNERY.
+
+It was early in the spring, when I again succeeded in making my escape.
+It was on a Saturday evening, when the priests and nearly all the nuns
+were In the chapel. I was assisted out of the yard in the same way I was
+before, and by the same person. There was still snow upon the ground and
+that they might not be able to track me, I entered the market and walked
+the whole length of it without attracting observation. From thence I
+crossed the street, when I saw a police officer coming directly towards
+me. I turned down a dark alley and ran for my life, I knew not whither.
+It is the duty of every police officer in Montreal to accompany any of
+the sisters whom they chance to meet in the street, and I knew if he saw
+me he would offer to attend me wherever I wished to go. Such an offer
+might not be refused, and, certainly, his company, just at that time,
+was neither desirable nor agreeable.
+
+At the end of the alley, I found myself near a large church, and two
+priests were coming directly towards me. It is said "the drowning catch
+at straws." Whether this be true or not, the plan which I adopted in
+this emergency seemed as hopeless for my preservation, as a straw for
+the support of the drowning. Yet it was the only course I could pursue,
+for to escape unseen was impossible. I therefore resolved to go boldly
+past them, and try to make them think I was a Superior going to church.
+Trying to appear as indifferent as possible, I approached, and saluted
+them in the usual way. This is done by throwing forward the open hand,
+and passing it down by the side with a slight inclination of the head.
+The priest returns the salutation by standing with uncovered head till
+you have passed. In the present instance, the priest said, as he removed
+his hat, "Church is in, Sister." I bowed again, and hastened on. With
+trembling limbs I ascended the Church steps, and stood there till the
+priests were out of sight. It was but a moment, yet it seemed a long
+time. I knew the house was filled with priests and students, some of
+whom would be sure to recognize me at once. What if they should come
+out! The thought of it nearly took away my breath. The cold perspiration
+started from my brow, and I felt as though I should faint. But my fears
+were not realized, and as soon as the priests were out of sight, I went
+on again. Soon I came to a cross street, leading to the river, where a
+large hotel stood on the corner. I followed the river, and travelled all
+night. The next day, fearing to be seen by people going to church, I hid
+in a cellar hole, covered over with old boards and timbers.
+
+At night I went on again, and on Sunday evening about ten o'clock I came
+to a small village where I resolved to seek food and lodging. Tired,
+hungry and cold, feeling as though I could not take another step, I
+called at one of the houses, and asked permission to stay over night.
+It was cheerfully granted. The lady gave me some milk, and I retired to
+rest. Next morning, I rose early and left before any of the family were
+up. I knew they were all Romanists, and I feared to trust them.
+
+At noon that day I arrived at St. Oars, a town, named, as I have been
+informed, for the man who owns a great part of it. I stopped at a public
+house, which, they called, "Lady St. Oars," where they were eating
+dinner. The landlady invited me to dine with them, and asked if I
+belonged to the convent in that place. I told her that I did, for I knew
+if I told the truth they would suspect me at once. "Do you eat meat?"
+she asked. I told her I did not. "Do you eat butter on your bread?" I
+replied in the affirmative, and she gave me a slice of bread and butter,
+a piece of cheese and a silver cup full of milk. I ate it all, and would
+gladly have eaten more, for I was very hungry. As I was about to leave,
+the lady remarked, "There was grease in that cheese, was it a sin for me
+to give it to you?" I assured her it was not, for I was allowed to eat
+milk, and the cheese being made of milk, there could be no sin in my
+eating it I told her that, so far from committing a sin, the blessed
+Virgin was pleased with her benevolent spirit, and would, in some way,
+reward her for her kindness.
+
+Leaving Lady St. Oars, I went on to the next town where I arrived at
+seven in the evening. I called at the house of a Frenchman, and asked if
+I could stay over night, or at least, be allowed to rest awhile. The man
+said I was welcome to come in, but he had no place where I could sleep.
+They were just sitting down to supper, which consisted of pea soup;
+but the lady said there was meat in it, and she would not invite me
+to partake of it; but she gave me a good supper of bread and milk. She
+thought I was a Sister of Charity, and I did not tell her that I was
+not. After supper, she saw that my skirt was stiff with mud, and kindly
+offered to wash it out for me, saying, I could rest till it was dry.
+I joyfully accepted her offer, and reclining in a corner, enjoyed a
+refreshing slumber.
+
+It was near twelve o'clock before I was ready to go on again, and when
+I asked how far it was to the next town, they manifested a great anxiety
+for my welfare. The man said it was seven miles to Mt. Bly, but he hoped
+I did not intend to walk. I told him I did not know whether I should or
+not, perhaps I might ride. "But are you not afraid to go on alone?" he
+asked. "St. Dennis is a bad place for a lady to be out alone at night,
+and you must pass a grave-yard in the south part of the town; dare you
+go by it, in the dark?" I assured him that I had no fear whatever, that
+would prevent me from going past the grave-yard. I had never committed
+a crime, never injured any one, and I did not think the departed would
+come back to harm me. The lady said she would think of me with some
+anxiety, for she should not dare to go past that grave-yard alone in the
+dark. I again assured her that I had no cause to fear, had no crime on
+my conscience, had been guilty of no neglect of duty, and if the living
+would let me alone, I did not fear the dead. They thought I referred to
+the low characters about town, and the lady replied, "I shall tell my
+beads for you and the holy Virgin will protect you from all harm. But
+remember," she continued, "whenever you pass this way, you will always
+find a cordial welcome with us." I thanked her, and with a warm grasp of
+the hand we parted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+LONELY MIDNIGHT WALK.
+
+It was near morning when I entered Mt. Bly, but I did not stop. I
+traveled all night, and late in the morning came to a respectable
+looking farmhouse which I thought might be occupied by Protestants. I
+always noticed that their houses were neater, and more comfortable than
+those of the Romanists in the same condition in life. In the present
+instance I was not disappointed in my expectations. The lady received me
+kindly, gave me some breakfast, and directed me to the next village. I
+walked all day, and near night arrived at St. Mary's, where I called at
+a house, and asked permission to sit and rest awhile. They gave me an
+invitation to enter, but did not offer refreshments. I did not like
+to ask for charity if I could avoid it, and I thought it possible they
+might ask me to stay over night. But they did not, and after a half
+hour's rest I rose to depart, and thanking them for their kindness
+inquired how far it was to the next house. They said it was seven miles
+to the first house, and nine to the next village.
+
+With a sad heart, I once more pursued my lonely way. Soon it began to
+rain, and the night came on, dark and dismal, cold and stormy, with
+a high wind that drove the rain against my face with pitiless fury.
+I entered a thick wood where no ray of light could penetrate, and at
+almost every step, I sank over shoes in the mud. Thus I wandered on,
+reflecting bitterly on my wretched fate. All the superstitious fears,
+which a convent life is so well calculated to produce, again assailed
+me, and I was frightened at my own wild imaginings. I thought of the
+nuns who had been murdered so cruelly, and I listened to the voice of
+the storm, as to the despairing wail of a lost soul. The wind swept
+fiercely through the leafless branches, now roaring like a tornado,
+again rising to a shrill shriek, or a prolonged whistle, then sinking to
+a hollow murmer, and dying away in a low sob which sounded to my excited
+fancy like the last convulsive sigh of a breaking heart. Once and again
+I paused, faint and dizzy with hunger and fatigue, feeling as though
+I could go no further. But there was no alternative. I must go on or
+perish. And go on I did, though, as I now look back upon that night's
+experience, I wonder how I managed to do so. But a kind providence,
+undoubtedly, watched over me, and good angels guided me on my way. Some
+time in the night, I think it must have been past twelve o'clock, I
+became so very weary I felt that I must rest awhile at all events. It
+was so dark I could not see a step before me, but I groped my way to a
+fence, seated myself on a stone with my head resting against the rails,
+and in that position I fell asleep.
+
+How long I slept, I do not know. I think it must have been some hours.
+When I awoke, my clothes were drenched with rain, and I was so stiff and
+lame, I could hardly move. But go I must, so I resolved to make the
+best of it, and hobble along as well as I could. At last I reached the
+village, but it was not yet morning, and I dared not stop. I kept on
+till daylight, and as soon as I thought people were up, I went up to
+a house and rapped. A woman came to the door, and I asked if she would
+allow me to go in, and dry my clothes, and I would have added, get some
+breakfast, but her looks restrained me. They were getting breakfast, but
+did not invite me to partake of it, and I dared not ask for anything to
+eat. When my clothes were dry, I thanked them for the use of their fire,
+and inquired how far it was to the next village. They said the next town
+was Highgate, but they did not know the distance.
+
+My tears flowed freely when I again found myself in the street, cold,
+hungry, almost sick, and entirely friendless. What should I do? What
+would become of me? One thought alone gave courage to my desponding
+heart, buoyed up my sinking spirits, and restored strength to my weary
+limbs. I was striving for liberty, that priceless boon, so dear to every
+human heart. I might, perhaps, obtain it. At least, I would try.
+
+Nerved to renewed effort by thoughts like these, I toiled onward. All
+that day I walked without a particle of nourishment. When I reached
+Highgate, it was eleven o'clock at night, but in one house I saw a
+light, and I ventured to rap at the door. It was opened by a pale, but
+pleasant looking woman. "Kind lady," said I, "will you please tell me
+how far it is to the States?" "To the States!" she exclaimed, and in a
+moment she seemed to understand both my character and situation. "You
+are now in Vermont State," said she, "but come in child, you look sad
+and weary." I at once accepted her offer, and when she asked how far I
+was traveling, and how I came to be out so late, I did not hesitate
+to reveal to her my secret, for I was sure she could be trusted.
+She invited me to spend the remainder of the night, and gave me some
+refreshment. She was nursing a sick woman, which accounted for her being
+up so late, but did not prevent her from attending to all my wants, and
+making me as comfortable as possible. When she saw that my feet were
+wounded, badly swollen, and covered with blood and dirt, she procured
+warm water, and with her own hands bathed, and made them clean, with the
+best toilet soap. She expressed great sympathy for the sad condition my
+feet were in, and asked if I had no shoes? I told her that my shoes were
+made of cloth, and soon wore out; that what was left of them, I lost in
+the mud, when traveling through the woods in the dark. She then procured
+a pair of nice woollen stockings, and a pair of new shoes, some under
+clothes, and a good flannel skirt, which she begged me to wear for her
+sake. I accepted them gratefully, but the shoes I could not wear, my
+feet were so sore. She said I could take them with me, and she gave me
+a pair of Indian moccasins to wear till my feet were healed. Angel of
+mercy that she was; may God's blessing rest upon her for her kindness to
+the friendless wanderer.
+
+The next morning the good lady urged me to stay with her, at least, for
+a time, and said I should be welcome to a home there for the rest of my
+life. Grateful as I was for her offer, I was forced to decline it, for
+I knew that I could not remain so near Montreal in safety. She said the
+"select men" of the town would protect me, if they were made acquainted
+with my peculiar situation. Dear lady! she little knew the character
+of a Romish priest! Her guileless heart did not suspect the cunning
+artifice by which they accomplish whatever they undertake. And those
+worthy "select men," I imagine, were not much better informed than
+herself. Sure I am, that any protection they could offer me, would
+not, in the least degree, shield me from the secret intrigue, the
+affectionate, maternal embrace of holy Mother Church.
+
+When she found that, notwithstanding all her offers, I was resolved to
+go, she put into a basket, a change of clothing, the shoes she had given
+me, and a good supply of food which she gave me for future use. But the
+most acceptable part of her present was a sun-bonnet; for thus far I had
+nothing on my head but the cap I wore in the convent. She gave me some
+money, and bade me go to Swanton, and there, she said, I could take the
+cars. I accordingly bade her farewell, and, basket in hand, directed my
+steps toward the depot some seven miles distant, as I was informed; but
+I thought it a long seven miles, as I passed over it with my sore feet,
+the blood starting at every step.
+
+On my arrival at the depot, a man came to me, and asked where I wished
+to go. I told him I wished to go as far into the State as my money would
+carry me. He procured me a ticket, and said it would take me to St.
+Albans. He asked me where I came from, but I begged to be excused from
+answering questions. He then conducted me to the ladies room, and left
+me, saying the cars would be along in about an hour.
+
+In this room, several ladies were waiting to take the cars. As I walked
+across the room, one of them said, in a tone that grated harshly on my
+feelings, "Your skirt is below your dress." I did not feel very good
+natured, and instead of saying "thank you," as I should have done, I
+replied in the most impudent manner, "Well, it is clean, if it is in
+sight." The lady said no more, and I sat down upon a sofa and fell
+asleep. As I awoke, one of the ladies said, "I wonder who that poor girl
+is!" I was bewildered, and, for the moment, could not think where I was,
+but I thought I must make some reply, and rousing myself I turned to
+her, and said, "I am a nun, if you wish to know, and I have just escaped
+from a convent." She gave me a searching look, and said, "Well, I must
+confess you do look like one. I often visit in Montreal where I see a
+great many of them, and they always look poor and pale. Will you allow
+me to ask you a few questions?" By this time, I was wide awake,
+and realized perfectly where I was, and the folly of making such an
+imprudent disclosure. I would have given much to recall those few words,
+for I had a kind of presentiment that they would bring me trouble. I
+begged to be excused from answering any questions, as I was almost crazy
+with thinking of the past and did not wish to speak of it.
+
+The lady said no more for some time, but she kept her eye upon me, in
+a way that I did not like; and I began to consider whether I had better
+wait for the cars, or start on foot. I was sorry for my imprudence, but
+it could not be helped now, and I must do the best I could to avoid the
+unpleasant consequences which might result from it. I had just made up
+my mind to go on, when I heard in the far distance, the shrill whistle
+of the approaching train; that train which I fondly hoped would bear me
+far away from danger, and onward to the goal of my desires.
+
+At this moment, the lady crossed the room, and seating herself by my
+side, asked, "Would you not like to go and live with me? I have one
+waiting maid now, but I wish for another, and if you will go, I will
+take you and give you good wages. Your work will not be hard; will you
+go?" "Where do you go?" I asked. "To Montreal," she replied. "Then I
+shall not go with you," said I. "No money could induce me to return
+there again." "Ah!" said she, with a peculiar smile, "I see how it is,
+but you need not fear to trust me. I will protect you, and never
+suffer you to be taken back to the convent." I saw that I had made
+unconsciously another imprudent revelation, and resolved to say no more.
+I was about to leave her, but she drew me back saying, "I will give you
+some of my clothes, and I can make them fit you so well that no one will
+ever recognize you. I shall have plenty of time to alter them if they
+require it, for the train that I go in, will not be along for about
+three hours; you can help me, and in that time we will get you nicely
+fixed."
+
+I could hardly repress a smile when I saw how earnest she was, and I
+thought it a great pity that a plan so nicely laid out should be so
+suddenly deranged, but I could not listen to her flatteries. I suspected
+that she was herself in the employ of the priests, and merely wished to
+get me back that she might betray me. She had the appearance of being
+very wealthy, was richly clad, wore a gold watch, chain, bracelets,
+breastpin, ear rings, and many finger rings, all of the finest gold. But
+with all her wealth and kind offers, I dare not trust her. I thought she
+looked annoyed when I refused to go with her, but when I rose to go
+to the cars, a look of angry impatience stole over, her fine features,
+which convinced me that I had escaped a snare.
+
+The cars came at length, and I was soon on my way to St. Albans. I was
+very sick, and asked a gentleman near me to raise the windows. He did
+so, and inquired how far I was going. I informed him, when he remarked
+that he was somewhat acquainted in St. Albans, and asked with whom I
+designed to stop. I told him I had no friends or acquaintance in the
+place, but I hoped to get employment in some protestant family. He said
+he could direct me to some gentlemen who would, he thought, assist me.
+One in particular, he mentioned as being a very wealthy man, and kept a
+number of servants; perhaps he would employ me.
+
+This gentleman's name was Branard, and my informant spoke so highly of
+the family, I immediately sought them out on leaving the cars, and was
+at once employed by Mrs. Branard, as a seamstress. Here I found a quiet,
+happy home. Mrs. Branard was a kind sympathizing woman, and to her, I
+confided the history of my convent life. She would not allow me to work
+hard, for she saw that my nerves were easily excited. She made me sit
+with her in her own room a great part of the time, and did not wish me
+to go out alone. They had several boarders in the family, and one
+of them was a brother-in-law [Footnote: This gentleman was Mr. Z. K.
+Pangborn, late editor of the Worcester Daily Transcript. Both Mr. and
+Mrs. Pangborn give their testimony of the truth of this statement.] to
+Mrs. Branard. His name I have forgotten; it was not a common name, but
+he married Mrs. Branard's sister, and with his wife resided there all
+the time that I was with them. Mr. Branard was away from home most of
+the time, so that I saw but little of him. They had an Irish girl in the
+kitchen, named Betsy. She was a kind, pleasant girl, and she thought me
+a strict Romanist because I said my prayers so often, and wore the Holy
+Scapulary round my neck. This Scapulary is a band with a cross on one
+side, and on the other, the letters "J. H. S." which signify, "Jesus The
+Savior of Man."
+
+At this place I professed great regard for the Church of Rome, and no
+one but Mrs. Branard was acquainted with my real character and history.
+When they asked my name, I told them they could call me Margaret, but it
+was an assumed name. My own, for reasons known only by myself, I did
+not choose to reveal. I supposed, of course, they would regard me with
+suspicion for a while, but I saw nothing of the kind. They treated me
+with great respect, and no questions were ever asked. Perhaps I did
+wrong in changing my name, but I felt that I was justified in using any
+means to preserve my liberty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+FLIGHT AND RECAPTURE.
+
+Four happy weeks I enjoyed unalloyed satisfaction in the bosom of this
+charming family. It was a new thing for me to feel at home, contented,
+and undisturbed; to have every one around me treat me with kindness and
+even affection. I sometimes feared it was too good to last. Mrs. Branard
+in particular, I shall ever remember with grateful and affectionate
+regard. She was more like a mother to me, than a mistress, and I shall
+ever look back to the time I spent with her, as a bright spot in the
+otherwise barren desert of my life. Better, far better would it have
+been for me had I never left her. But I became alarmed, and thought the
+convent people were after me. It was no idle whim, no imaginary terror.
+I had good cause to fear, for I had several times seen a priest go
+past, and gaze attentively at the house. I knew him at the first glance,
+having often seen him in Montreal.
+
+Then my heart told me that they had traced me to this place, and
+were now watching a chance to get hold of me. Imagine, if you can, my
+feelings. Had I suffered so much in vain? Would they be allowed to take
+me back to those fearful cells, where no ray of mercy could ever reach
+me? I could not endure the thought. Frightened, and almost beside
+myself, I resolved to make an effort to find a more secure place. I
+therefore left those kind friends in the darkness of night, without one
+word of farewell, and without their knowledge. I knew they would not
+allow me to go, if they were apprised of my design. In all probability,
+they would have ridiculed my fears, and bade me rest in peace. How could
+I expect them to comprehend my danger, when they knew so little of the
+machination of my foes? I intended to go further into the state, but
+did not wish to have any one know which way I had gone. It was a sad
+mistake, but how often in this world do we plunge into danger when we
+seek to avoid it! How often fancy ourselves in security when we stand
+upon the very brink of ruin!
+
+I left Mr. Branard's in the evening, and called upon a family in the
+neighborhood whose acquaintance I had made, and whom I wished to see
+once more, though I dared not say farewell. I left them between the
+hours of nine and ten, and set forward on my perilous journey. I had
+gone but a short distance when I heard the sound of wheels and the heavy
+tread of horses' feet behind me. My heart beat with such violence it
+almost stopped my breath, for I felt that they were after me. But there
+was no escape--no forest or shelter near where I could seek protection.
+On came the furious beasts, driven by no gentle hand. They came up with
+me, and I almost began to hope that my fears were groundless, when the
+horses suddenly stopped, a strong hand grasped me, a gag was thrust into
+my mouth, and again the well-known box was taken from the wagon. Another
+moment and I was securely caged, and on my way back to Montreal. Two men
+were in the wagon and two rode on horseback beside it. Four men to guard
+one poor nun!
+
+They drove to Mt. Bly, where they stopped to change horses, and the two
+men on horseback remained there, while the other two mounted the wagon
+and drove to Sorel. Here the box was taken out and carried on board a
+boat, where two priests were waiting for me. When the boat started, they
+took me out for the first time after I was put into it at St. Albans.
+Three days we had been on the way, and I had tasted neither food nor
+drink. How little did I think when I took my tea at Mr. Branard's the
+night I left that it was the last refreshment I would have for SEVEN
+DAYS; yet such was the fact. And how little did they think, as they lay
+in their quiet beds that night, that the poor fugitive they had taken to
+their home was fleeing for life, or for that which, to her, was better
+than life. Yet so it was. Bitterly did I reproach myself for leaving
+those kind friends as I did, for I thought perhaps if I had remained
+there, they would not have dared to touch me. Such were my feelings
+then; but as I now look back, I can see that it would have made little
+difference whether I left or remained. They were bound to get me, at all
+events, and if I had stopped there until they despaired of catching me
+secretly, they would undoubtedly have come with an officer, and accused
+me of some crime, as a pretext for taking me away. Then, had any one
+been so far interested for me as to insist on my having a fair trial,
+how easy for them to produce witnesses enough to condemn me! Those
+priests have many ways to accomplish their designs. The American people
+don't know them yet; God grant they never may.
+
+On my arrival at the nunnery I was taken down the coal grate, and
+fastened to an iron ring in the back part of a cell. The Archbishop then
+came down and read my punishment. Notwithstanding the bitter grief that
+oppressed my spirit, I could not repress a smile of contempt as the
+great man entered my cell. I remembered that before I ran away, my
+punishments were assigned by a priest, but the first time I fled from
+them a Bishop condescended to read my sentence, and now his honor the
+Archbishop graciously deigned to illume my dismal cell with the light of
+his countenance, and his own august lips pronounced the words of doom.
+Was I rising in their esteem, or did they think to frighten me into
+obedience by the grandeur of his majestic mien?
+
+Such were my thoughts as this illustrious personage proceeded slowly,
+and with suitable dignity, to unroll the document that would decide my
+fate. What would it be? Death? It might be for aught I knew, or cared
+to know. I had by this time become perfectly reckless, and the whole
+proceeding seemed so ridiculous, I found it exceedingly difficult to
+maintain a demeanor sufficiently solemn for the occasion. But when
+the fixed decree came forth, when the sentence fell upon my ear that
+condemned me to SEVEN DAYS' STARVATION, it sobered me at once. Yet even
+then the feeling of indignation was so strong within me, I could not
+hold my peace. I would speak to that man, if he killed me for it.
+Looking him full in the face (which, by the way, I knew was considered
+by him a great crime), I asked, "Do you ever expect to die?" I did not,
+of course, expect an answer, but he replied, with a smile, "Yes; but
+you will die first." He then asked how long I had fasted, and I replied,
+"Three days." He said, "You will fast four days more, and you will be
+punished every day until next December, when you will take the black
+veil." As he was leaving the room, he remarked, "We do not usually have
+the nuns take the black veil until they are twenty-one; but you have
+such good luck in getting away, we mean to put you where you can't do
+it." And with this consoling thought he left me--left me in darkness and
+despair, to combat, as best I could, the horrors of starvation. This
+was in the early part of winter, and only about a year would transpire
+before I entered that retreat from which none ever returned. And then to
+be punished every day for a year! What a prospect! The priest came every
+morning, with his dark lantern, to look at me; but he never spoke. On
+the second day after my return, I told him if he would bring me a little
+piece of bread, I would never attempt to run away again, but would serve
+him faithfully the rest of my life. Had he given it to me, I would have
+faithfully kept my word; but he did not notice me, and closing the door,
+he left me once more to pass through all the agonies of starvation.
+I remember nothing after that day. Whether I remained in the cell the
+other two days, or was taken out before the time expired, I do not know.
+This much, however, I do know, as a general rule a nun's punishment is
+never remitted. If she lives, it is well; if she dies, no matter; there
+are enough more, and no one will ever call them to an account for the
+murder.
+
+But methinks I hear the reader ask, "Did they not fear the judgment of
+God and a future retribution?" In reply I can only state what I believe
+to be the fact. It is my firm belief that not more than one priest in
+ten thousand really believes in the truth of Christianity, or even in
+the existence of a God. They are all Infidels or Atheists; and how can
+they be otherwise? It is the legitimate fruit of that system of deceit
+which they call religion. Of course I only give this as my opinion,
+founded on what I have seen and heard. You can take it, reader, for what
+it is worth; believe it or not, just us you please; but I assure you I
+have often heard the nuns say that they did not believe in any religion.
+The professions of holiness of heart and parity of life so often made
+by the priests they KNOW to be nothing but a hypocritical pretence, and
+their ceremonies they regard as a ridiculous farce.
+
+For some time after I was taken from the cell I lay in a state of
+partial unconsciousness, but how long, I do not know. I have no
+recollection of being taken up stairs, but I found myself on my bed, in
+my old room, and on the stand beside me were several cups, vials, etc.
+The Abbess who sat beside me, occasionally gave me a tea-spoonful
+of wine or brandy, and tried to make me eat. Ere long, my appetite
+returned, but it was several weeks before my stomach was strong enough
+to enable me to satisfy in any degree, the cravings of hunger. When I
+could eat, I gained very fast, and the Abbess left me in the care of
+a nun, who came in occasionally to see if I wanted anything. This nun
+often stopped to talk with me, when she thought no one was near, and
+expressed great curiosity to know what I saw in the world; if people
+were kind to me, and if I did not mean to get away again, if possible, I
+told her I should not; but she replied, "I don't believe that. You will
+try again, and you will succeed yet, if you keep up good courage. You
+are so good to work, they do not wish to part with you, and that is one
+reason why they try so hard to get you back again. But never mind,
+they won't get you next time." I assured her I should not try to escape
+again, for they were sure to catch me, and as they had almost killed me
+this time, they would quite the next. I did not dare to trust her, for I
+supposed the Superior had given her orders to question me.
+
+I was still weak, so weak that I could hardly walk when they obliged me
+to go into the kitchen to clean vegetables and do other light work, and
+as soon as I had sufficient strength, to milk the cows, and take the
+care of the milk. They punished me every day, in accordance with the
+Bishop's order, and sometimes, I thought, more than he intended. I wore
+thorns on my head, and peas in my shoes, was whipped and pinched, burnt
+with hot irons, and made to crawl through the underground passage I
+have before described. In short, I was tortured and punished in every
+possible way, until I was weary of my life. Still they were careful not
+to go so far as to disable me from work. They did not care how much I
+suffered, if I only performed my daily task.
+
+There was an underground passage leading from the nunnery to a place
+which they called, "Providence," in the south part of the city. I do not
+know whether it is a school, or a convent, or what it is, but I think it
+must be some distance, from what I heard said about it. The priest often
+spoke of sending me there, but for some reason, he did not make me
+go. Still the frequent reference to what I so much dreaded, kept me
+in constant apprehension and alarm. I have heard the priest say that
+underground passages extended from the convent in every direction, for
+a distance of five miles; and I have reason to believe the statement is
+true. But these reasons I may not attempt to give. There are things that
+may not even be alluded to, and if it were possible to speak of them,
+who would believe the story?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+RESOLVES TO ESCAPE.
+
+As summer approached, I expected to be sent to the farm again, but for
+some reason I was still employed in the kitchen. Yet I could not keep
+my mind upon my work. The one great object of my life; the subject that
+continually pressed upon my mind was the momentous question, how shall
+I escape? The dreaded December was rapidly approaching. To some it
+would bring a joyous festival, but to me, the black veil and a life long
+imprisonment. Once within those dreary walls, and I might as well hope
+to escape from the grave. Such are the arrangements, there is no chance
+for a nun to escape unless she is promoted to the office of Abbess or
+Superior. Of course, but few of them can hope for this, especially,
+if they are not contented; and certainly, in my case there was not the
+least reason to expect anything of the kind. Knowing these facts, with
+the horrors of the Secret Cloister ever before me, I felt some days as
+though on the verge of madness. Before the nuns take the black veil, and
+enter this tomb for the living, they are put into a room by themselves,
+called the forbidden closet, where they spend six months in studying the
+Black Book. Perchance, the reader will remember that when I first
+came to this nunnery, I was taken by the door-tender to this forbidden
+closet, and permitted to look in upon the wretched inmates. From that
+time I always had the greatest horror of that room. I was never allowed
+to enter it, and in fact never wished to do so, but I have heard the
+most agonizing groans from those within, and sometimes I have heard them
+laugh. Not a natural, hearty laugh, however, such as we hear from the
+gay and happy, but a strange, terrible, sound which I cannot describe,
+and which sent a thrill of terror through my frame, and seemed to chill
+the very blood in my veins.
+
+I have heard the priests say, when conversing with each other, while I
+was tidying their room, that many of these nuns lose their reason while
+studying the Black Book. I can well believe this, for never in my
+life did I ever witness an expression of such unspeakable, unmitigated
+anguish, such helpless and utter despair as I saw upon the faces of
+those nuns. And well they may despair. Kept under lock and key, their
+windows barred, and no air admitted to the room except what comes
+through the iron grate of their windows from other apartments; compelled
+to study, I know not what; with no hope of the least mitigation of their
+sufferings, or relaxation of the stringent rules that bind them; no
+prospect before them but a life-long imprisonment; what have they to
+hope for? Surely, death and the grave are the only things to which they
+can look forward with the least degree of satisfaction.
+
+Those nuns selected for this Secret Cloister are generally the fairest,
+the most beautiful of the whole number. I used to see them in the
+chapel, and some of them were very handsome. They dressed like the other
+nuns, and always looked sad and broken hearted, but were not pale
+and thin like the rest of us. I am sure they were not kept upon short
+allowance as the others were, and starvation was not one of their
+punishments, whatever else they might endure. The plain looking girls
+were always selected to work in the kitchen, and do the drudgery about
+the house. How often have I thanked God for my plain face! But for that,
+I might not have been kept in the kitchen so long, and thus found means
+to escape which I certainly could not have found elsewhere.
+
+With all my watching, and planning I did not find an opportunity to get
+away till June. I then, succeeded in getting outside the convent yard
+one evening between eight and nine o'clock. How I got there, is a secret
+I shall never reveal. A few yards from the gate I was stopped by one of
+the guard at the Barrack, who asked where I was going. "To visit a sick
+woman," I promptly replied, and he let me pass. Soon after this, before
+my heart ceased to flutter, I thought I heard some one running after
+me. My resolution was at once taken. I would never be caught and carried
+back alive. My fate was at last, I thought, in my own hands. Better die
+at once than to be chained like a guilty criminal, and suffer as I had
+done before. Blame me not gentle reader, when I tell you that I stood
+upon the bank of the river with exultant joy; and, as I pursued my
+way along the tow-path, ready to spring into the water on the first
+indication of danger, I rejoiced over the disappointment of my pursuers
+in losing a servant who had done them so good service. At a little
+distance I saw a ferry boat, but when I asked the captain to carry me
+over the river, he refused. He was, probably, afraid of the police and
+a fine, for no one can assist a run-away nun with impunity, if caught in
+the act. He directed me, however, to the owner of the boat, who said I
+could go if the captain was willing to carry me. I knew very well that
+he would not, and I took my place in the boat as though I had a perfect
+right to it.
+
+We were almost across the river, when the captain saw me, and gave
+orders to turn back the boat, and leave me on the shore from whence we
+started. From his appearance I thought we were pursued, and I was not
+mistaken. Five priests were following us in another boat, and they too,
+turned back, and reached the shore almost as soon as we did. I left the
+boat and ran for my life. I was now sure that I was pursued; there could
+be no doubt of that, for the sound of footsteps behind me came distinct
+to my ear. At a little distance stood a small, white house. Could I not
+reach it? Would not the people protect me? The thought gave me courage,
+and I renewed my efforts. Nearer came the footsteps, but I reached the
+house, and without knocking, or asking permission, I sprang through the
+door.
+
+The people were in bed, in another room, but a man looked out, and
+asked what I wanted. "I'm a nun," said I. "I've run away from the Grey
+Nunnery, and they're after me. Hide me, O hide me, and God will bless
+you!" As I spoke he put out his hand and opened the cellar door. "Here,"
+said he, "run down cellar, I'll be with you in a moment." I obeyed, and
+he struck a light and followed. Pointing to a place where he kept ashes,
+he said hastily, "Crawl in there." There was not a moment to lose, for
+before he had covered up my hiding place, a loud knock was heard upon
+the front door. Having extinguished his light, he ran up stairs, and
+opened the door with the appearance of having just left his bed. "Who is
+here?" he asked, "and what do you want this time of night?" One of
+them replied, "We are in search of a nun, and are very sure she came in
+here?" "Well gentlemen," said he, "walk in, and see for yourselves.
+If she is here, you are at liberty to find her." Lighting a candle, he
+proceeded to guide them over the house, which they searched until they
+were satisfied. They then came down cellar, and I gave up all hope of
+escape. Still, I resolved never to be taken alive. I could strangle
+myself, and I would do it, rather than suffer as I did before. At that
+moment I could truly say with the inspired penman, with whose language
+I have since become familiar, "my soul chooseth strangling and death
+rather than life."
+
+They looked all around me, and even into the place where I lay
+concealed, but they did not find me. At length I heard them depart,
+and so great was my joy, I could hardly restrain my feelings within the
+bounds of decorum. I felt as though I must dance and sing, shout
+aloud or leap for joy at my great deliverance. I am sure I should have
+committed some extravagant act had not the gentleman at that moment
+called me up, and told me that my danger was by no means past. This
+information so dashed my cup of bliss that I was able to drink it
+quietly.
+
+He gave me some refreshment, and as soon as safety would permit, saddled
+his horse, and taking me on behind him, carried me six miles to another
+boat, put me on board, and paid the captain three dollars to carry me
+to Laprairie. On leaving me, he gave me twenty-five cents, and said,
+"you'll be caught if you go with the other passengers." The captain said
+he could hide me and no one know that I was on board, but himself. He
+led me to the end of the boat, and put me upon a board over the horses.
+He fixed a strong cord for me to hold on by, and said, "you must be
+careful and not fall down, for the horses would certainly kill you
+before you could be taken out." The captain was very kind to me and when
+I left him, gave me twenty-five cents, and some good advice. He said
+I must hurry along as fast as possible, for it was Jubilee, and the
+priests would all be in church at four o'clock. He also advised me not
+to stop in any place where a Romish priest resided, "for," said he,
+"the convent people have, undoubtedly, telegraphed all over the country
+giving a minute description of your person, and the priests will all be
+looking for you."
+
+Two days I travelled as fast as my strength would allow, when I came
+to Sorel, which was on the other side of the river. Here I saw several
+priests on the road coming directly towards me. That they were after me,
+I had not a doubt. Whither should I flee? To escape by running, was out
+of the question, but just at that moment my eye fell upon a boat near
+the shore. I ran to the captain, and asked him to take me across the
+river. He consented, and, as I expected, the priests took another boat
+and followed us. Once more I gave myself up for lost, and prepared
+to spring into the water, if they were likely to overtake me. The man
+understood my feelings, and exerted all his strength to urge forward
+the boat. At last it reached the shore, and as he helped me out he
+whispered, "Now run." I did run, but though my own liberty was at
+stake I could not help thinking about the consequences to that man if
+I escaped, for I knew they would make him pay a heavy fine for his
+benevolent act. A large house stood in my way, and throwing open the
+door I exclaimed, "Are there any protestants here?" "O, yes," replied
+a man who sat there, "come with me." He led me to the kitchen, where a
+large company of Irish men were rolling little balls on a table. I saw
+the men were Irish and my first thought was, "I am betrayed."
+
+But my fears were soon relieved, for the man exclaimed, "Here is a
+nun, inquiring for protestants." "Well," replied one who seemed to be
+a leader, "this is the right place to find them. We are all true Orange
+men." And then they all began to shout, "Down with the Catholics! Down
+with the Pope! Death to the Jesuits! etc." I was frightened at their
+violence, but their leader came to me, and with the kindness of a
+brother, said, "Do not fear us. If you are a run-away, we will protect
+you." He bade the men be still and asked if any one was after me. I told
+him about the priests, and he replied, "you have come to the right place
+for protection, for they dare not show themselves here. I am the leader
+of a band of Anti-Catholics, and this is their lodge. You have heard of
+us, I presume; we are called Orange men. Our object is, to overthrow the
+Roman Catholic religion, and we are bound by the most fearful oaths to
+stand by each other, and protect all who seek our aid. The priests dread
+our influence, for we have many members, and I hope ere long, the power
+of the Pope in this country will be at an end. I am sure people must see
+what a cruel, hypocritical set they are."
+
+Before he had done speaking, a man came to the door and said, "The
+carriage is ready." Another of the men, on hearing this, said, "Come
+with me, and I'll take you out of the reach of the priests." He
+conducted me to a carriage, which was covered and the curtains all
+fastened down. He helped me into it, directing me to sit upon the back
+seat, where I could not be seen by any one unless they took particular
+pains. He drove to St. Oars that night, and, if I remember right,
+he said the distance was twelve miles. When, he left me he gave me
+twenty-five cents. I travelled all night, and about midnight passed
+through St. Dennis, But I did not stop until the next morning, when I
+called at a house and asked for something to eat. The lady gave me some
+bread and milk, and I again pursued my way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+EVENTFUL JOURNEY.
+
+Once more I had the good fortune to obtain a passage across the river in
+a ferry-boat, and was soon pressing onward upon the other side. Passing
+through two places called St. Mary's and St. John's, I followed the
+railroad to a village which I was informed was called Stotsville,
+[Footnote: I beg leave once more to remind the reader that it is by
+no means certain that I give these names correctly. Hearing them
+pronounced, with no idea of ever referring to them again, it is not
+strange that mistakes of this kind should occur.] a great part of the
+property being owned by a Mr. Stots, to whom I was at once directed.
+Here I stopped, and was kindly received by the gentleman and his wife.
+They offered me refreshments, gave me some articles of clothing, and
+then he carried me twelve miles, and left me at Rouse's Point, to take
+the cars for Albany. He gave me six dollars to pay my expenses, and a
+letter of introduction to a gentleman by the name of Williams, in which
+he stated all the facts he knew concerning me, and commended me to his
+care for protection. I think he said Mr. Williams lived on North
+Pearl street, but I may be mistaken in this and also in some other
+particulars. As I had no thought of relating these facts at the time of
+their occurrence, I did not fix them in my mind as I otherwise should
+have done.
+
+Mr. Stots said that if I could not find the gentleman to whom the letter
+was directed, I was to take it to the city authorities, and they would
+protect me. As he assisted me from the carriage he said, "You will stop
+here until the cars come along, and you must get your own ticket. I
+shall not notice you again, and I do not wish you to speak to me." I
+entered the depot intending to follow his directions; but when I found
+the cars would not come along for three hours, I did not dare to stay.
+There was quite a large collection of people there, and I feared that
+some one would suspect and stop me. I therefore resolved to follow the
+railroad, and walk on to the next station. On my way I passed over a
+railroad bridge, which I should think was two miles long. The wind blew
+very hard at the time, and I found it exceedingly difficult to walk
+upon the narrow timbers. More than once I came near losing my precarious
+footing, and I was in constant fear that the train would overtake me
+before I got over. In that case I had resolved to step outside the track
+where I thought I could stand upon the edge of the bridge and hold on
+by the telegraph poles, and thus let them pass without doing me injury.
+Happily, however, I was not compelled to resort to this perilous
+expedient, but passed the bridge in safety. At the end I found another
+nearly as long, connected with it by a drawbridge. When I drew near it
+was up for a boat to pass; but a man called to me, and asked if I
+wish to go over. I told him I did, and he let down the bridge. As I
+approached him he asked, "Are you mad? or how came you here?" I told
+him I had walked from the depot at Rouse's Point. He appeared greatly
+surprised, and said, "You are the first person who ever walked over
+that bridge. Will you come to my house and rest awhile? You must be very
+weary, and my wife will be glad to see you. She is rather lonely
+here, and is pleased to see any one. Will you come? 'Tis only a short
+distance, just down under the bridge." Those last words decided me. I
+thanked him, but firmly refused to go one step out of my way. I thought
+that he wished to deceive me, perhaps take me to some out-of-the-way
+place, and give me up to my pursuers. At all events, it was wise not to
+trust him, for I was sure there was no house near the bridge, certainly
+not under it. I have since learned that such is the fact. As I turned to
+leave him, he again urged me to stop, and said, "The cars will soon be
+along, and they will run over you. How do you expect to get out of their
+way?" I told him I would risk it, and left him. I passed on in safety,
+and soon came to the depot, where I took the evening train for Albany.
+At eight the same evening I left the cars, and walked on towards Troy,
+which I think was four miles distant. Here I met a lad, of whom I
+inquired the way to Albany. "You cannot get there to-night," said he,
+"and I advise you not to try." When he saw that I was determined to go
+on, he said I would pass a tavern called the half-way house, and if I
+was tired I could stop there. It was about eleven o'clock when I passed
+this house, There were several persons on the piazza, laughing, talking,
+and singing, who called me as I passed, shouted after me, and bade me
+stop. Exceedingly frightened, I ran with all possible speed, but they
+continued to call after me till I was out of hearing. Seeing a light
+at a house near by, I ventured to rap on the door. It was opened by a
+woman, who asked me to walk in. I inquired the distance to Albany. She
+informed me, but said, "You can't go there to-night." I told her I must,
+"Well," said she, "if you will go, the watch will take care of you when
+you get there." She then asked, "Were those men calling after you?" I
+told her I supposed they were, when she replied, with a peculiar smile,
+"I guess you can't be a very nice kind of girl, or you wouldn't be on
+the street this time of night." My feelings were so deeply wounded I
+could hardly restrain my tears at this cruel insinuation; but pride came
+to my aid, and, choking down the rising emotion, I replied as carelessly
+as possible, "I must do as I can, and not as I would."
+
+It was about one o'clock at night when I entered the principal street in
+Albany, and, as the lady predicted, a watchman came to me and asked why
+I was out that time of night. I gave him Mr. Stot's letter. He stood
+beside a lamp-post and read it, when he seemed satisfied, and said, "I
+know the man; come with me and I'll take you to his house." I followed
+him a long way, till at last he stopped before a large house, and rang
+the bell. Mr. Williams came to the door, and asked what was wanted. The
+watchman gave him the letter. He read it, and invited me to stop. His
+wife got up, received me very kindly, and gave me some supper, for
+which I was truly grateful. Nor was I less thankful for the delicate
+consideration with which they avoided any allusion to my convent life,
+or my subsequent flight and suffering. Mrs. Williams saw that I was sad
+and weary, and as she conducted me to a comfortable bed, she remarked,
+"You are safe at last, and I am glad of it. You can now retire without
+the apprehension of danger, and sleep in perfect security. You are with
+friends who will protect you as long as you choose to remain with us."
+
+Notwithstanding the good lady's assurance of safety, I found it
+impossible to close my eyes. I was among strangers, in a strange place,
+and, having been so often deceived, might I not be again? Perhaps, after
+all their pretended kindness, they were plotting to betray me. A few
+days, however, convinced me that I had at last found real friends, who
+would protect me in the hour of danger to the utmost of their ability.
+
+I remained here some four weeks, and should have remained longer, but an
+incident transpired that awakened all my fears, and again sent me forth
+into the wide world, a fugitive, and a wanderer. I went to my chamber
+one night, when I heard a sound like the full, heavy respiration of a
+man in deep sleep. The sound appeared to come from under the bed, but
+stopped as I entered the room. I was very much alarmed, but I controlled
+my feelings, and instead of running shrieking from the room, I
+deliberately closed the blinds, shut the windows, adjusted the curtain,
+all the time carelessly humming a tune, and taking up my lamp I
+slowly left the room. Once outside the door, I ran in all haste to Mr.
+Williams, and told him what I had heard. He laughed at me, said it was
+all imagination, but, to quiet my fears, he went to my room resolved
+to convince me that no one was there. I followed, and stood at the door
+while he lifted the bed valance, when a large, tall man sprang forth,
+and caught him with one hand while with the other he drew a pistol
+from beneath his coat saying, "Let me go, and I'll depart in peace; but
+attempt to detain me, and I'll blow your brains out." I shrieked, and
+Mrs. Williams came in great terror and consternation, to see what was
+the matter. But she could render no assistance, and Mr. Williams, being
+unarmed, was obliged to let him go. The watch were immediately called,
+and they sought for the intruder in every direction. No effort was
+spared to find him, that we might, at least, learn the object of
+this untimely visit. But the search was all in vain. No trace of his
+whereabouts could be discovered.
+
+Mr. Williams said he did not believe it was me he sought. He thought the
+object was robbery, and perhaps arson and murder, but he would not
+think that I was in the least danger. "The man," he said, "in hastily
+concealing himself had taken the first hiding place he could find." Yet
+I thought otherwise. Indeed, so sure was I that he was an agent of the
+priests, sent forth for the express purpose of arresting me, no earthly
+consideration would have induced me to remain there another day. The
+rest of that night I spent in a state of anxiety I cannot describe.
+Sleep fled from my eyes. I dared not even undress and go to bed, but I
+sat in my chair, or walked the room every moment expecting the return
+of the mysterious visitor. I shuddered at every sound, whether real or
+imaginary. Once in particular, I remember, the distant roll of carriage
+wheels fell upon my ear. I listened; it came near, and still nearer,
+till at last it stopped, as I thought, at the gate. For a moment I stood
+literally stupified with terror, and then I hastily prepared to use the
+means for self destruction I had already provided in anticipation of
+such an emergency. I was still resolved never to be taken alive. "Give
+me liberty or give me death," was now the language of my soul. If I
+could not enjoy the one, I would cordially embrace the other. But it was
+a sad alternative after all I had suffered that I might be free, after
+all my buoyant hopes, all my ardent aspirations for a better life. O, it
+was a bitter thing, thus to stand in the darkness of night, and with my
+own hand carefully adjust the cord that was to cut me off from the land
+of the living, and in a moment launch my trembling soul into the vast,
+unknown, untried, and fearful future, that men call eternity! Was this
+to be the only use I was to make of liberty? Was it for this I had so
+long struggled, toiled, wept and prayed? "God of mercy," I cried, "save,
+O save me from this last great sin! From the sad and dire necessity
+which thus urges me to cut short a life which thou alone canst give!"
+My prayer was heard; but how slowly passed the hours of that weary night
+while I waited for the day that I might "hasten my escape from the windy
+storm and tempest." Truly, at that time I could say with one of old,
+"Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed
+me. My heart is sore pained within me, and the terrors of death are
+fallen upon me. Oh that I had the wings of a dove, for then would I flee
+away, and be at rest."
+
+But alas! I had not the wings of a dove, and whither should I flee from
+the furious grasp of my relentless persecutors? Again I must go forth
+into the "busy haunts of men," I must mingle with the multitude, and
+what chance had I for ultimate escape? If I left these kind friends, and
+leave them I must, who would take me in? In whom could I confide? Who
+would have the power to rescue me in my hour of need? In God alone could
+I trust, yet why is he so far from helping me? Why are my prayers so
+long unanswered? And why does he thus allow the wicked to triumph; to
+lay snares for the feet of the innocent, and wrongfully persecute those
+whom their wanton cruelty hath caused to sit in darkness and in the
+shadow of death? Why does he not at once "break the bands of iron, and
+let the oppressed go free?"
+
+The tedious night at length passed away. When I met Mr. Williams in the
+morning, I told him I could no longer remain with him, for I was sure
+if I did, I should be suddenly arrested in some unguarded moment, and
+carried back to Montreal. He urged me to stay, assured me he would never
+allow them to take me, said that he thought some of going south, and I
+could go with him, and thus be removed far from all whom I feared. Mrs.
+Williams, also, strove to persuade me to stay. But, though sorry to
+appear ungrateful, I dared not remain another night where I felt that my
+danger was so great.
+
+When they found that I was determined to go, Mr. Williams said I
+had better go to Worcester, Mass., and try to get employment in some
+farmer's family, a little out of the city. He gave me money to bear my
+expenses, until I found a place where I could earn my living. It was
+with a sad heart that I left this hospitable roof, and as I turned away
+I said in my heart, "Shall I always be hunted through the world in this
+manner, obliged to flee like a guilty thing, and shall I never find
+a home of happiness and peace? Must sorrow and despair forever be the
+portion of my cup?" But no words of mine can describe what I felt at
+that moment. I longed for the power to sound a warning through the
+length and breadth of the land, to cry in the ears of all the people,
+"Beware of Romanism!" Like the patient man of Uz, with whose history
+I have since become familiar, I was ready to exclaim, "O that my words
+were now written! O that they were printed in a book! Graven with an
+iron pen," that the whole world might know what a fearful and bitter
+thing it is to be a nun! To be subject to the control of those ruthless
+tyrants, the Romish Priests.
+
+Once more I entered the depot, and mingled with the crowd around the
+ticket office. But no pen can describe my terror when I found myself the
+object of particular attention. I heard people remark about my strange
+and unnatural appearance, and I feared I might be taken up for a crazy
+person, if not for a nun. Thinking that I saw an enemy in every face,
+and a pursuer in every one who came near me, I hastened to take refuge
+in the cars. There I waited with the greatest impatience for the
+starting of the train. Slowly the cars were filled; very leisurely the
+passengers sought their seats, while I sat trembling in every limb, and
+the cold perspiration starting from every pore. How carefully I scanned
+every face! how eagerly I watched for some indication of the priest or
+the spy! So intense was my anxiety, those few moments seemed to me an
+age of agony. At length the shrill whistle announced that all was ready,
+and like sweetest music the sound fell upon my ears. The train dashed
+off at lightning speed, but to me it seemed like the movement of a
+snail.
+
+Once under way, I ventured to breathe freely, and hope again revived.
+Perchance I might yet escape. But even as the thought passed my mind, a
+man entered the cars and seated himself directly, before me. I thought
+he regarded me with too much interest, and thinking to shun him, I
+quietly left my seat and retired to the other end of the car. He soon
+followed, and again my fears revived. He at first tried to converse with
+me, but finding I would not reply, he began to question me in the most
+direct and impertinent manner. Again I changed my seat, and again he
+followed. I then sought the conductor, and revealed to him enough of my
+history to enlist his sympathy and ensure his protection. To his honor
+be it spoken, I did not appeal to him in vain. He severely reproved the
+man for his impertinence; and for the rest of the journey I was shielded
+from insult or injury.
+
+Nothing further of interest transpired until I reached Worcester, when
+the first face that met my eye as I was about to leave the cars was that
+of a Romish priest. I could not be mistaken, for I had often seen him
+at Montreal. He might not have been looking for me, but he watched every
+passenger as they left the cars in a way that convinced me he had some
+special reason for doing it. As I, too, had special reasons for avoiding
+him just at that time, I stepped back out of sight until the passengers
+were all out of the cars and the priest had turned away. I then sprang
+out upon the opposite side, and, turning my back upon the depot,
+hastened away amid the wilderness of houses, not knowing whither I went.
+For a long time I wandered around, until at length, being faint and
+weary, I began to look for some place where I could obtain refreshment.
+But when I found a restaurant I did not dare to enter. A number of
+Irishmen were standing around who were in all probability Catholics. I
+would not venture among them; but as I turned aside I remembered that
+Mr. Williams had directed me to seek employment a little out of the
+city. I then inquired the way to Main street, and having found it, I
+turned to the north and walked on till I found myself out of the thickly
+settled part of the city. Then I began to seek for employment, and after
+several fruitless applications I chanced to call upon a man whose name
+was Handy. He received me in the kindest manner, and when I asked for
+work, he said his wife did not need to hire me, but I was welcome to
+stop with them and work for my board until I found employment elsewhere.
+This offer I joyfully accepted; and, as I became acquainted in the
+place, many kind hands were extended to aid me in my efforts to obtain
+an honest living. In this neighborhood I still reside, truly thankful
+for past deliverance, grateful for present mercies, and confidently
+trusting God for the future.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+Here closes the history of Sarah J. Richardson, as related by herself.
+The remaining particulars have been obtained from her employers in
+Worcester.
+
+She arrived in this city August, 1854, and, as she has already stated,
+at once commenced seeking for employment. She called at many houses
+before she found any one who wished for help; and her first question
+at each place was, "Are you a Catholic?" If the answer was in the
+affirmative, she passed on, but if the family were Protestants, she
+inquired for some kind of employment. She did not care what it was; she
+would cook, wash, sew, or do chamber-work--anything to earn her bread. A
+Mr. Handy was the first person who took her in, and gave her a home.
+In his family she worked for her board a few weeks, going out to wash
+occasionally as she had opportunity. She then went to Holden Mass., but
+for some reason remained only one week, and again returned to Worcester.
+
+Mr. Ezra Goddard then took her into his own family, and found her
+capable, industrious, and trustworthy. Had anything been wanting to
+prove her truthfulness and sincerity, the deep gratitude of her fervent
+"I thank you," when told that she had found a permanent home, would
+have done it effectually. But though her whole appearance indicated
+contentment and earnestness of purpose, though her various duties
+were faithfully and zealously performed, yet the deep sadness of her
+countenance, and the evident anxiety of her mind at first awakened a
+suspicion of mental derangement. She seemed restless, suspicious,
+and morbidly apprehensive of approaching danger. The appearance of a
+stranger, or a sudden ringing of the bell, would cause her to start,
+tremble, and exhibit the greatest perturbation of spirit. In fact, she
+seemed so constantly on the qui vive, the lady of the house one day said
+to her, "Sarah, what is the matter with you? what do you fear?" "The
+Roman Catholic priests," she replied. "I have been a nun. I ran away
+from the Grey Nunnery at Montreal, and twice I have been caught, carried
+back, and punished in the most cruel manner. O, if you knew what I have
+suffered, you would not wonder that I live in constant fear lest they
+again seek out my retreat; and I will die before I go back again."
+
+Further questioning drew from her the foregoing narrative, which she
+repeated once and again to various persons, and at different times,
+without the least alteration or contradiction. She resided in the family
+of Mr. Goddard some weeks, when she was taken into the employ of Mr.
+Amos L. Black.
+
+This gentleman informs us that he found her a faithful, industrious,
+honest servant, and he has not the least doubt of the truthfulness of
+her statements respecting her former life in the Convent.
+
+A few weeks after this, she was married to Frederick S. Richardson
+with whom she became acquainted soon after her arrival in the city of
+Worcester. The marriage ceremony was performed by Charles Chaffin, Esq.,
+of Holden, Mass. After their marriage, her husband hired a room in the
+house occupied by Mr. Handy with whom she had formerly resided. After a
+few weeks, however, they removed to a place called the Drury farm. It is
+owned by the heirs, but left in the care of Mr. Ezra Goddard.
+
+Previous to her marriage, Mrs. Richardson had often been advised
+to allow her history to be placed before the public. But she always
+replied, "For my life I would not do it. Not because I do not wish the
+world to know it, for I would gladly proclaim it wherever a Romanist is
+known, but it would be impossible for me to escape their hands should
+I make myself so public. They would most assuredly take my life." After
+her marriage, however, her principal objection was removed. She thought
+they would not wish to take her back into the nunnery, and her husband
+would protect her from violence. She therefore related the story of her
+life while in the convent, which, in accordance with her own request,
+was written down from her lips as she related it. This was done by Mrs.
+Lucy Ann Hood, wife of Edward P. Hood, and daughter of Ezra Goddard. It
+is now given to the public without addition or alteration, and with
+but a slight abridgment. A strange and startling story it certainly
+is. Perhaps the reader will cast it aside at once as a worthless
+fiction,--the idle vagary of an excited brain. The compiler, of course,
+cannot vouch for its truth, but would respectfully invite the attention
+of the reader to the following testimonials presented by those who have
+known the narrator. The first is from Edward P. Hood, with whom Mrs.
+Richardson resided when her narrative was written.
+
+
+
+(TESTIMONY OF EDWARD P. HOOD.)
+
+To all whom it may concern. I hereby certify that I was personally
+acquainted with Sarah J. Richards, now Sarah J. Richardson, at the time
+she resided in Worcester, Mass. I first saw her at the house of Mr. Ezra
+Goddard, where she came seeking employment. She appeared anxious to get
+some kind of work, was willing to do anything to earn an honest living.
+She had the appearance of a person who had seen much suffering and
+hardship. She worked for Mr. Goddard a short time, when she obtained
+another place. She then left, but called very often; and during her stay
+in Worcester, she worked there several times. So far as I was able to
+judge of her character, I do not hesitate to say that she was a woman
+of truth and honesty. I heard her relate the account of her life and
+sufferings in the Grey Nunnery, and her final escape. I knew when the
+story was written, and can testify to its being done according to her
+own dictation. I have examined the manuscript, and can say that it a
+written out truly and faithfully as related by the nun herself.
+
+EDWARD P. HOOD.
+
+Worcester, May 5, 1856.
+
+
+
+(TESTIMONY OF EZRA GODDARD.)
+
+I first became acquainted with Sarah J. Richardson in August 1854. She
+came to my house to work for my wife. She was at my house a great many
+times after that until March 1855, when she left Worcester. At one time
+she was there four or five weeks in succession. She was industrious,
+willing to do anything to get an honest living. She was kind in her
+disposition, and honest in her dealings. I have no hesitation in saying
+that I think her statements can be relied upon.
+
+EZRA GODDARD.
+
+Worcester, Jan. 21, 1856.
+
+
+
+(TESTIMONY OF LUCY GODDARD.)
+
+I am acquainted with the above named Sarah J. Richardson, and can fully
+testify to the truth of the above statements as to her kindness and
+industrious habits, honesty and truthfulness.
+
+LUCY GODDARD.
+
+Worcester, Jan. 21, 1856.
+
+
+
+(TESTIMONY OF JOSIAH GODDARD.)
+
+To whom it may concern: This is to testify that I am acquainted with
+Sarah J. Richardson, formerly Sarah J. Richards. I became acquainted
+with her in the fall of 1854. She worked at my father's at the time. I
+heard her tell her story, and from what I saw of her while she was in
+Worcester, I have no hesitation in saying that she was a woman of truth
+and honesty.
+
+JOSIAH GODDARD.
+
+Worcester, March 1, 1856.
+
+
+
+(TESTIMONY OF EBEN JEWETT.)
+
+I became acquainted with Sarah J. Richardson last winter, at the house
+of Mr. Ezra Goddard; saw her a number of times after that, at the place
+where I boarded. She did some work for my wife, and I heard her speak
+of being at the Grey Nunnery. I also heard her story, from Mr. Goddard's
+family. I have no doubt of her being honest and truthful, and I believe
+she is so considered by all who became acquainted with her.
+
+EBEN JEWETT.
+
+Worcester, Feb., 1856.
+
+
+
+(TESTIMONY OF CHARLES CHAFFIN.)
+
+Worcester, ss.--Holden, Nov. 11, 1854.
+
+This certifies that I this day united in marriage, Frederick S.
+Richardson and Sarah J. Richards, both of Worcester.
+
+CHARLES CHAFFIN, Justice of the Peace.
+
+
+
+(AFFIDAVIT.)
+
+I, Sarah J. Richardson, wife of Frederick S. Richardson, of the city
+of Worcester, County of Worcester, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
+formerly Sarah J. Richards before marriage, do solemnly swear, declare
+and say, that the foregoing pages contain a true and faithful history of
+my life before my marriage to the said Frederick S. Richardson, and
+that every statement made herein by me is true. In witness whereof, I do
+hereunto set my hand and seal, this 13th day of March, A.D. 1855.
+
+SARAH J. RICHARDSON (X her mark.)
+
+In presence of WM. GREENLEAF.
+
+Sworn to before me, the 13th day of March, AD. 1855.
+
+WM. GREENLEAF, Justice of the Peace.
+
+
+
+(TESTIMONY OF Z. K. PANGBORN.)
+
+When it was known that the Narrative of Sarah J. Richardson was about to
+be published, Mr. Z. K. Pangborn, at that time editor of the Worcester
+Daily Transcript, voluntarily offered the following testimony which we
+copy from one of his editorials.
+
+"We have no doubt that the nun here spoken of as one who escaped from
+the Grey Nunnery at Montreal, is the same person who spent some weeks in
+our family in the fall of 1853, after her first escape from the Nunnery.
+She came in search of employment to our house in St. Albans, Vt.,
+stating that she had traveled on foot from Montreal, and her appearance
+indicated that she was poor, and had seen hardship. She obtained work
+at sewing, her health not being sufficient for more arduous task. She
+appeared to be suffering under some severe mental trial, and though
+industrious and lady-like in her deportment, still appeared absent
+minded, and occasionally singular in her manner. After awhile she
+revealed the fact to the lady of the house, that she had escaped from
+the Grey Nunnery at Montreal, but begged her not to inform any one
+of the fact, as she feared, if it should be known, that she would be
+retaken, and carried back. A few days after making this disclosure,
+she suddenly disappeared. Having gone out one evening, and failing to
+return, much inquiry was made, but no trace of her was obtained for some
+months. Last spring a gentleman from Worcester, Mass. called on us to
+make inquiries in regard to this same person and gave us the following
+account of her as given by herself. She states that on the evening when
+she so mysteriously disappeared from our house, she called upon an Irish
+family whose acquaintance she had formed, and when she was coming away,
+was suddenly seized, gagged, and thrust into a close carriage, or box,
+as she thought, and on the evening of the next day found herself once
+more consigned to the tender mercies of the Grey Nunnery in Montreal.
+Her capture was effected by a priest who tracked her to St. Albans,
+and watched his opportunity to seize her. She was subjected to the most
+rigorous and cruel treatment, to punish her for running away, and kept
+in close confinement till she feigned penitence and submission, when she
+was treated less cruelly, and allowed more liberty.
+
+"But the difficulties in the way of an escape, only stimulated her the
+more to make the attempt, and she finally succeeded a second time in
+getting out of that place which she described as a den of cruelty and
+misery. She was successful also in eluding her pursuers, and in reaching
+this city, (Worcester,) where she remained some time, seeking to avoid
+notoriety, as she feared she might be again betrayed and captured. She
+is now, however, in a position where she does not fear the priests, and
+proposes to give to the world a history of her life in the Nunnery. The
+disclosures she makes are of the most startling character, but of her
+veracity and good character we have the most satisfactory evidence."
+
+This statement was confirmed by Mrs. Pangborn, a sister of the late Mrs
+Branard, the lady with whom Sarah J. Richardson stopped in St. Albans,
+and by whom she was employed as a seamstress. Being an inmate of the
+family at the time, Mrs Pangborn states that she had every opportunity
+to become acquainted with the girl and learn her true character. The
+family, she says, were all interested in her, although they knew nothing
+of her secret, until a few days before she left. She speaks of her as
+being "quiet and thoughtful, diligent, faithful and anxious to please,
+but manifesting an eager desire for learning, that she might be able to
+acquaint herself more perfectly with the Holy Scriptures. She could,
+at that time, read a little, and her mind was well stored with select
+passages from the sacred volume, which she seemed to take great delight
+in repeating. She was able to converse intelligently upon almost
+any subject, and never seemed at a loss for language to express her
+thoughts. No one could doubt that nature had given her a mind capable of
+a high degree of religious and intellectual culture, and that, with
+the opportunity for improvement, she would become a useful member of
+society. Of book knowledge she was certainly quite ignorant, but she had
+evidently studied human nature to some good purpose." Mrs Pangborn also
+corroborates many of the statements in her narrative. She often visited
+the Grey Nunnery, and says that the description given of the building,
+the Academy, the Orphan's Home, and young ladies school, are all
+correct. The young Smalley mentioned in the narrative was well known to
+her, and also his sister "little Sissy Smalley," as they used to call
+her. Inquiries have been made of those acquainted with the route along
+which the fugitive passed in her hasty flight, and we are told that the
+description is in general correct; that even the mistakes serve to prove
+the truthfulness of the narrator, being such as a person would be likely
+to make when describing from memory scenes and places they had seen but
+once; whereas, if they were getting up a fiction which they designed to
+represent as truth, such mistakes would be carefully avoided.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I.
+
+ABSURDITIES OF ROMANISTS.
+
+It may perchance be thought by some persons that the foregoing narrative
+contains many things too absurd and childish for belief. "What rational
+man," it may be said, "would ever think of dressing up a figure to
+represent the devil, for the purpose of frightening young girls into
+obedience? And those absurd threats! Surely no sane man, and certainly
+no Christian teacher, would ever stoop to such senseless mummery!"
+
+Incredible it may seem--foolish, false, inconsistent with reason, or the
+plain dictates of common sense, it certainly is--but we have before us
+well-authenticated accounts of transactions in which the Romish priests
+claimed powers quite as extraordinary, and palmed off upon a credulous,
+superstitious people stories quite as silly and ridiculous as anything
+recorded in these pages. Indeed, so barefaced and shameless were their
+pretensions in some instances, that even their better-informed brethren
+were ashamed of their folly, and their own archbishop publicly rebuked
+their dishonesty, cupidity and chicanery. In proof of this we place
+before our readers the following facts which we find in a letter from
+Professor Similien, of the college of Angers, addressed to the Union de
+l'Ouest:
+
+"Some years ago a pretended miracle was reported as having occurred upon
+a mountain called La Salette, in the southeastern part of France,
+where the Virgin Mary appeared in a very miraculous manner to two young
+shepherds. The story, however, was soon proved to be a despicable trick
+of the priest, and as such was publicly exposed. But the Bishop of
+Lucon, within whose diocese the sacred mountain stands, appears to have
+been unwilling to relinquish the advantage which he expected to result
+from a wide-spread belief in this infamous fable. Accordingly, in
+July, 1852, it was again reported that no less than three miracles were
+wrought there by the Holy Virgin. The details were as follows:
+
+"A young pupil at the religious establishment of the visitation of
+Valence, who had been for three months completely blind from an attack
+of gutta-serena, arrived at La Salette on the first of July, in company
+with some sisters of the community. The extreme fatigue which she had
+undergone in order to reach the summit of the mountain, at the place of
+the apparition, caused some anxiety to be felt that she could not remain
+fasting until the conclusion of the mass, which had not yet commenced,
+and the Abbe Sibilla, one of the missionaries of La Salette, was
+requested to administer the sacrament to her before the service began.
+She had scarcely received the sacred wafer, when, impelled by a sudden
+inspiration, she raised her head and exclaimed, 'ma bonne mere, je vous
+vois.' She had, in fact, her eyes fixed on the statue of the Virgin,
+which she saw as clearly as any one present For more than an hour she
+remained plunged in an ecstasy of gratitude and love, and afterward
+retired from the place without requiring the assistance of those who
+accompanied her. At the same moment a woman from Gap, nearly sixty years
+of age, who for the last nineteen years had not had the use of her right
+arm, in consequence of a dislocation, suddenly felt it restored to
+its original state, and swinging round the once paralyzed limb, she
+exclaimed, in a transport of joy and gratitude, 'And I also am cured!'
+A third cure, although not instantaneous, is not the less striking.
+Another woman, known in the country for years as being paralytic, could
+not ascend the mountain but with the greatest difficulty, and with the
+aid of crutches. On the first day of the neuvane, that of her arrival,
+she felt a sensation as if life was coming into her legs, which had been
+for so long time dead. This feeling went on increasing, and the last day
+of the neuvane, after having received the communion, she went, without
+any assistance, to the cross of the assumption, where she hung up her
+crutches. She also was cured.
+
+"Bishop Lucon must have known that this was mere imposition; yet, so far
+from exposing a fraud so base, he not only permits his people to believe
+it, but he lends his whole influence to support and circulate the
+falsehood. And why? Ah! a church was to be erected; and it was necessary
+to get up a little enthusiasm among the people in order to induce them
+to fill his exhausted coffers, and build the church. In proof of this,
+we have only to quote a few extracts from the 'Pastoral' which he issued
+on this occasion.
+
+"'And now," he says, "Mary has deigned to appear on the summit of a
+lofty mountain to two young shepherds, revealing to them the secrets
+of heaven. But who attests the truth of the narrative of these Alpine
+pastors? No other than the men themselves, and they are believed. They
+declare what they have seen, they repeat what they have heard, they
+retain what they have received commandment to keep secret.
+
+"A few words of the incomparable Mother of God have transformed them
+into new men. Incapable of concerting aught between themselves, or of
+imagining anything similar to what they relate, each is the witness to a
+vision which has not found him unbelieving; each is its historian. These
+two shepherds, dull as they were, have at once understood and received
+the lesson which was vouchsafed to them, and it is ineffaceably engraven
+on their hearts. They add nothing to it, they take nothing from it, they
+modify it in nowise, they deliver the oracle of Heaven just as they have
+received it.
+
+"An admirable constancy enabled them to guard the secret, a singular
+sagacity made them discern all the snares laid for them, a rare prudence
+suggested to them a thousand responses, not one of which betrayed their
+secret; and when at length the time came when it was their duty to make
+it known to the common Father of the Faithful, they wrote correctly, as
+if reading a book placed under their eyes. Their recital drew to this
+blessed mountain thousands of pilgrims.
+
+"They proclaimed that 'on Saturday, the 19th of September, 1846, Mary
+manifested herself to them; and the anniversary of this glorious day is
+henceforth and forever dear to Christian piety. Will not every pilgrim
+who repairs to this holy mountain add his testimony to the truthfulness
+of these young shepherds? Mary halted near a fountain; she communicated
+to it a celestial virtue, a divine efficacy. From being intermittent,
+this spring, today so celebrated, became perennial.
+
+"'Every where is recounted the prodigies which she works. When the
+afflicted are in despair, the infirm without remedy, they resort to the
+waters of La Salette, and cures are wrought by this remedy, whose power
+makes itself felt against every evil. Our diocess, so devoted to Mary,
+has been no stranger to the bounty of this tender Mother. We are
+about to celebrate shortly the sixth anniversary of this miraculous
+apparition. NOW THAT A SANCTUARY IS TO BE RAISED on this holy mountain
+to the glory of God, we have thought it right to inform you thereof.
+
+"'We cannot doubt that many of you have been heard by our Lady of
+La Salette; you desire to witness your gratitude to this mother of
+compassion; you would gladly BRING YOUR STONE to the beautiful edifice
+that is to be constructed. WE DESIRE TO FURTHER YOUR FILIAL TENDERNESS
+WITH THE MEANS OF TRANSMITTING THE ALMS OF FAITH AND PIETY. For these
+reasons, invoking the holy name of God, we have ordained and do ordain
+as follows, viz.:
+
+"'First, we permit the appearance of our Lady of La Salette to be
+preached throughout our diocess; secondly, on Sunday, the 19th of
+September next ensuing, the litanies of the Holy Virgin shall be chanted
+in all the chapels and churches of the diocess, and be followed by the
+benediction of the Holy Sacrament. Thirdly, THE FAITHFUL WHO MAY DESIRE
+TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE ERECTION OF THE NEW SANCTUARY, MAY DEPOSIT THEIR
+OFFERINGS IN THE HANDS OF THE CURE, WHO WILL TRANSMIT THEM TO US FOR THE
+BISHOP OF GRENOBLE.
+
+"'Our present pastoral letter shall be read and published after mass in
+every parish on the Sunday after its reception.
+
+"'Given at Lucon, in our Episcopal palace, under our sign-manual and the
+seal of our arms, and the official counter-signature of our secretary,
+the 30th of June, of the year of Grace, 1852.
+
+"'X Jac-Mar Jos, "'Bishop of Lucon.'"
+
+"It is not a little remarkable," says the editor of the American
+Christian Union, "that whilst the Bishop of Lucon was engaged in
+extolling the miracles of La Salette, the Cardinal Archbishop of Lyons,
+Dr. Bonald, 'Primate of all the Gauls,' addressed a circular to all the
+priests in his diocese, in which he cautions them against apocryphal
+miracles! There is indubitable evidence that his grace refers to the
+scandalous delusions of La Salette. His language is severe, very severe.
+He attributes the miracles in question to pecuniary speculation, which
+now-a-days, he says, mingles with everything, seizes upon imaginary
+facts, and profits by it at the expense of the credulous! He charges the
+authors of these things with being GREEDY MEN, who aim at procuring for
+themselves DISHONEST GAINS by this traffic in superstitious objects! And
+he forbids the publishing from the pulpit, without leave, of any account
+of a miracle, even though its authenticity should be attested by another
+Bishop! This is good. His grace deserves credit for setting his face
+against this miserable business, of palming off false miracles upon the
+people."
+
+[Footnote: Since the above was written, we have met with the following
+explanation of this modern miracle:
+
+"A few years ago there was a great stir among 'the simple faithful' in
+France, occasioned by a well-credited apparition of the Holy Virgin at
+La Salette. She required the erection of a chapel in her honor at that
+place, and made such promises of special indulgences to all who paid
+their devotions there, that it became 'all the rage' as a place of
+pilgrimage. The consequence was, that other shops for the same sort of
+wares in that region lost most of their customers, and the good priests
+who tended the tills were sorely impoverished. In self-defence, they,
+WELL KNOWING HOW SUCH THINGS WERE GOT UP, exposed the trick. A prelate
+publicly denounced the imposture, and an Abbe Deleon, priest in the
+diocess of Grenoble, printed a work called 'La Salette a Valley of
+Lies.' In this publication it was maintained, with proofs, that the hoax
+was gotten up by a Mademoiselle de Lamerliere, a sort of half-crazy nun,
+who impersonated the character of the Virgin. For the injury done to her
+character by this book she sued the priest for damages to the tone of
+twenty thousand francs, demanding also the infliction of the utmost
+penalty of the law. The court, after a long and careful investigation,
+for two days, as we learn by the Catholic Herald, disposed of the case
+by declaring the miracle-working damsel non-suited, and condemning her
+to pay the expenses of the prosecution."--American and Foreign Christian
+Union.]
+
+Another of Rome's marvellous stories we copy from the New York Daily
+Times of July 3d, 1854. It is from the pen of a correspondent at Rome,
+who, after giving an account of the ceremony performed in the church
+of St. Peters at the canonization of a NEW SAINT, under the name of
+Germana, relates the following particulars of her history. He says, "I
+take the facts as they are related in a pamphlet account of her 'life,
+virtues, and miracles,' published by authority at Rome:
+
+"Germana Consin was born near the village of Pibrac, in the diocess
+of Toulouse, in France. Maimed in one hand, and of a scrofulous
+constitution, she excited the hatred of her step-mother, in whose power
+her father's second marriage placed her while yet a child. This cruel
+woman gave the little Germana no other bed than some vine twigs, lying
+under a flight of stairs, which galled her limbs, wearied with the day's
+labor. She also persuaded her husband to send the little girl to tend
+sheep in the plains, exposed to all extremes of weather. Injuries and
+abuse were her only welcome when she returned from her day's task to
+her home. To these injuries she submitted with Christian meekness and
+patience, and she derived her happiness and consolation from religious
+faith. She went every day to church to hear mass, disregarding the
+distance, the difficulty of the journey, and the danger in which she
+left her flock. The neighboring forest was full of wolves, who devoured
+great numbers from other flocks, but never touched a sheep in that of
+Germana. To go to the church she was obliged to cross a little river,
+which was often flooded, but she passed with dry feet; the waters
+flowing away from her on either side: howbeit no one else dared to
+attempt the passage. Whenever the signal sounded for the Ave Marie,
+wherever she might be in conducting her sheep, even if in a ditch, or in
+mud or mire, she kneeled down and offered her devotions to the Queen of
+Heaven, nor were her garments wet or soiled. The little children whom
+she met in the fields she instructed in the truths of religion. For the
+poor she felt the tenderest charity, and robbed herself of her scanty
+pittance of bread to feed them. One day her step-mother, suspecting
+that she was carrying away from the house morsels of bread to be thus
+distributed, incited her husband to look in her apron; he did so, BUT
+FOUND IT FULL OF FLOWERS, BEAUTIFUL BUT OUT OF SEASON, INSTEAD OF BREAD.
+This miraculous conversion of bread into flowers formed the subject
+of one of the paintings exhibited in St. Peter's at the Beatification.
+Industrious, charitable, patient and forgiving, Germana lived a
+memorable example of piety till she passed from earth in the twenty
+second year of her age. The night of her death two holy monks were
+passing, on a journey, in the neighborhood of her house. Late at night
+they saw two celestial virgins robed in white on the road that led to
+her habitation; a few minutes afterwards they returned leading between
+them another virgin clad in pure white, and with a crown of flowers on
+her head.
+
+"Wonders did not cease with her death. Forty years after this event her
+body was uncovered, in digging a grave for another person, and found
+entirely uncorrupted--nay, the blood flowed from a wound accidentally
+made in her face. Great crowds assembled to see the body so miraculously
+preserved, and it was carefully re-interred within the church. There it
+lay in place until the French Revolution, when it was pulled up and cast
+into a ditch and covered with quick lime and water. But even this
+failed to injure the body of the blessed saint. It was found two years
+afterward entirely unhurt, and even the grave clothes which surrounded
+it were entire, as on the day of sepulture, two hundred years before.
+
+"And now in the middle of the nineteenth century, these facts are
+published for the edification of believers, and his Holiness has set his
+seal to their authenticity. Four miracles performed by this saint after
+her death are attested by the bull of beatification, and also by Latin
+inscriptions in great letters displayed at St. Peter's on the day
+of this great celebration. The monks of the monastery at Bourges, in
+France, prayed her to intercede on one occasion, that their store of
+bread might be multiplied; on another their store of meal; on both
+occasions THEIR PRAYER WAS GRANTED. The other two miracles were cures
+of desperate maladies, the diseased persons having been brought to pray
+over her tomb.
+
+"On the splendid scarlet hangings, bearing the arms of Pius IX. and
+suspended at the corners of the nave and transept, were two Latin
+inscriptions, of similar purport, of one of which I give a translation:
+'O Germana, raised to-day to celestial honors by Pius IX. Pontifex
+Maximus, since thou knowest that Pius has wept over thy nation wandering
+from God, and has exultingly rejoiced at its reconciling itself with God
+little by little, he prays thee intimately united with God, do thou, for
+thou canst do it, make known his wishes to God, and strengthen them, for
+thou art able, with the virtue of thy prayers.'
+
+"I have been thus minute in my account of this Beatification, deeming
+the facts I state of no little importance and interest, as casting light
+upon the character of the Catholicism of the present day, and showing
+with what matters the Spiritual and Temporal ruler of Rome is busying
+himself in this year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-four."
+
+Many other examples similar to the above might be given from the history
+of Catholicism as it exists at the present time in the old world. But
+let us turn to our own country. We need not look to France or Rome for
+examples of priestly intrigue of the basest kind; and absurdities that
+almost surpass belief. The following account which we copy from The
+American and Foreign Christian Union of August, 1852, will serve to show
+that the priests in these United States are quite as willing to impose
+upon the ignorant and credulous as, their brethren in other countries.
+The article is from the pen of an Irish Missionary in the employ of The
+American and Foreign Christian Union and is entitled,
+
+   "A LYING WONDER."
+
+"It would seem almost incredible," says the editor of this valuable
+Magazine, "that any men could be found in this country who are capable
+of practising such wretched deceptions. But the account given in the
+subjoined statement is too well authenticated to permit us to reject the
+story as untrue, however improbable it may, at first sight, seem to be.
+Here it is:--?
+
+"Mr. Editor,--I give you, herein, some information respecting a lying
+wonder wrought in Troy, New York, last winter, and respecting the female
+who was the 'MEDIUM' of it. I have come to the conclusion that this
+female is a Jesuit, after as good an examination as I have been able to
+give the matter. I have been fed with these lying wonders in early life,
+and in Ireland as well as in this country there are many who, for want
+of knowing any better, will feed upon them in their hearts by faith and
+thanksgiving. About the time this lying wonder of which I am about to
+write happened, I had been talking of it in the office of Mr. Luther, of
+Albany, (coal merchant), where were a number of Irish waiting for a job.
+One of these men declared, with many curses on his soul if what he told
+was not true, that he had seen a devil cast out of a woman in his own
+parish, in Ireland, by the priest. I told him it would be better for his
+character's sake for him to say he heard of it, than to say he SAW it.
+
+Mr. J. W. Lockwood, a respectable merchant in Troy, New York, and son of
+the late mayor, kept two or three young women as 'helps' for his lady,
+last winter. The name of one is Eliza Mead, and the name of another is
+Catharine Dillon, a native of the county of Limerick, Ireland. Eliza
+was an upper servant, who took care of her mistress and her children.
+Catharine was and is now the cook. Eliza appeared to her mistress to be
+a very well educated, and a very intellectual woman of 35, though she
+would try to make believe she could not write, and that she was subject
+to fits of insanity. There was then presumptive evidence that she wrote
+a good deal, and there is now positive evidence that she could write.
+She used often, in the presence of Mrs. L., to take the Bible and other
+books and read them, and would often say she thought the Protestants
+had a better religion than the Catholics, and were a better people.
+Afterwards she told Mrs. L. that she had doubts about the Catholic
+religion, and was inclined toward the Protestant: but now she is
+sure, quite sure, that the Catholic alone is the right one, FOR IT WAS
+REVEALED TO HER.
+
+On the evening of the 23d of December, 1851, Eliza and Catharine were
+missing;--but I will give you Catharine's affidavit about their business
+from home.
+
+"City of Troy, S. W.
+
+"I, Catharine Dillon, say, that on Tuesday, 23d December inst, about
+five o'clock in the afternoon, I went with Eliza Mead to see the priest,
+Mr. McDonnel, who was at home. Eliza remained there till about six
+o'clock P. M. At that time I returned home, leaving her at the priest's.
+At half past eight o'clock the same evening I returned to the priest's
+house for Eliza, and waited there for her till about ten o'clock of the
+same evening, expecting that Eliza's conference with the priest would be
+ended, and that she would come home with me.
+
+"During the evening there had been another besides Mr. McDonnel there.
+About ten o'clock this other priest retired, as I understood. Soon after
+this Mr. McDonnel called me, with others, into the room where Eliza was,
+when he said that she (Eliza) was POSSESSED OF THE DEVIL Mr. McDonnel
+then commenced interrogating the devil, asking the devil if he possessed
+her. The answer was, "Yes." The priest then asked, "How long?" and the
+answer was, "Six months and nine days." The priest then asked, "Who sent
+you into her?" The answer was, "Mr. Lockwood." The next question was,
+"When?" "When she was asleep," was the answer. He then asked the devil
+if Mr. Lockwood had ever tempted Catharine, meaning me, and the reply
+was, "Yes." Then the question was, "How many times?" And the answer was,
+"Three times, by offering her drink when she was asleep?"
+
+"I came home about five o'clock in the morning, greatly shocked at
+what I had seen and heard, and impressed with the belief that Eliza was
+possessed with the devil. I went again to the priest's on Wednesday to
+find Eliza, when the priest told me that he, Mr. McDonnel, exorcised the
+devil at high mass that morning in the church, and drove the devil out
+of Eliza. That he, the devil, came out of Eliza, and spat at the Holy
+Cross of Jesus Christ, and departed. He then told me that, as Eliza got
+the devil from Mr. Lockwood, in the house where I lived, I must leave
+the house immediately, and made me promise him that I would. During the
+appalling scenes of Tuesday night, Mr. McDonnel went to the other priest
+and called him up, but the other priest did not come to his assistance.
+These answers to the priest when he was asking questions of the devil,
+were given in a very loud voice and sometimes with a loud scream."
+
+"CATHARINE DILLON."
+
+"Subscribed and sworn to, this 31st day of December, 1851, before me,
+JOB S. OLIN, Recorder of Troy, New York." [A copy.]
+
+At the interview between Mr. J. W. Lockwood and the Rev. Mr. McDonnel,
+officiating priest at St. Peter's church, there were present Hon. James
+M. Warren, T. W. Blatchford, M. D., and C. N. Lockwood, on the part of
+Mr. Lockwood, and Father Kenny and Mr. Davis on the part of the Rev. Mr.
+McDonnel, on the evening of the 31st December, 1851.
+
+Mr. McDonnel at first declined answering any questions, questioning Mr.
+Lockwood's right to ask them: He would only say that Eliza Mead came to
+his house possessed, as she thought, with an evil spirit; that at first
+he declined having anything to do with her, first, because he believed
+her to be crazy; second, because he was at that moment otherwise
+engaged; and thirdly, because she was not in his parish; but, by her
+urgent appeals in the name of God to pray over her, he was at last
+induced to admit her. He became satisfied that she was possessed of the
+devil, or an evil spirit, by saying the appointed prayers of the church
+over her; for the spirit manifested uneasiness when this was done; and
+furthermore, as she was entering the church the following morning, she
+was thrown into convulsions by Father Kenny's making the sign of the
+cross behind her back. At high mass in the morning he exorcised the
+devil, and he left her, spitting at the cross of Christ before taking
+his final departure.
+
+As to Mr. McDonnel's repeatedly telling Catharine that she must leave
+Mr. L's house immediately, for if she remained there Mr. L. would put
+the devil in her, Mr. McDonnel denied saying or doing anything whatever
+that was detrimental to the character of Mr. L. or any of his family.
+Mr. McDonnel repeatedly refused to answer the questions put to him by
+Mr. L. He considered it insulting that Mr. L. should visit his house on
+such business, as no power on earth but that of the POPE had authority
+to question him on such matters. But being reminded that slanderous
+reports had emanated from that very house against Mr. L. he, Mr.
+McDonnel, said it was all to see what kind of a man he was that brought
+Mr. L. there, and if reports were exaggerated, it was nothing to him.
+
+Mr. McDonnel said that he cleared the church before casting out the
+devil, and there was but one person besides himself there. That,
+every word spoken in the church was in Latin, and nobody in the church
+understood a word of it. That he had heard threats made by Mr. L.,
+also that Mr. L. had said the pretended answers of the devil ware made
+through the medium of ventriloquism. Father Kenny, in the progress of
+the interview, made two or three attempts to speak, but was prevented by
+Mr. McDonnel.
+
+Thus ends the report written down by Mr. L.'s brother, who was present,
+immediately after the interview. It was all Latin in the church, we
+see; but the low Irish will not believe that the devil could understand
+Latin. However, it was not all Latin at the priest's house, where
+Catharine Dillon heard what she declared on oath. How slow the priest
+was to admit her (Eliza Mead) in the beginning, and to believe that she
+had his sable majesty in her, until it manifested uneasiness under the
+cannonade of church prayers!
+
+"But you will ask, how could an educated priest, or an intelligent
+woman, condescend to such diabolical impositions? I think it is
+something after the way that a man gets to be a drunkard; he may not
+like the taste thereof at first, but afterwards he will smack his lips
+and say, 'there is nothing like whiskey,' and as their food becomes part
+of their bodily substance, so are these 'lying wonders' converted into
+their spiritual substance. So I think; I am, however, but a very humble
+philosopher, and therefore I will use the diction of the Holy Spirit on
+the matter: 'For this cause God shall send them strong delusions, that
+they should believe a lie,' EVEN OF THEIR OWN MAKING, OR WHAT MAY EASILY
+BE SEEN TO BE LIES OF OTHER'S GETTING, "that they all might be damned
+who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.'"
+
+"JOHN MURPHEY.
+
+"ALBANY, June 2nd, 1852."
+
+
+It was said by one "that the first temptation on reading such
+monstrosities as the above, is to utter a laugh of derision." But it is
+with no such feeling that we place them before our readers. Rather would
+we exclaim with the inspired penman, "O that my head were waters and
+mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night" for the
+deluded followers of these willfully blind leaders! Surely, no pleasure
+can be found in reading or recording scenes which a pure mind can regard
+only with pity and disgust. Yet we desire to prove to our readers that
+the absurd threats and foolish attempts to impose upon the weak and
+ignorant recorded by Sarah J. Richardson are perfectly consistent
+with the general character and conduct of the Romish priests. Read
+for instance, the following ridiculous story translated from Le Semeur
+Canadien for October 12th, 1855.
+
+A NEW MEANS OF CONVERSION.
+
+In the district of Montreal lived a Canadian widow of French extraction
+who had become a Protestant. Madam V--, such was the name of this lady,
+lived with her daughter, the sole fruit of a union too soon dissolved
+by unsparing death. Their life, full of good works, dispelled prejudices
+that the inhabitants of the vicinity--all intolerant Catholics--had
+always entertained against evangelical Christians; they gained their
+respect, moreover, by presenting them the example of every virtue. Two
+of the neighbors of the Protestant widow--who had often heard at her
+house the word of God read and commented upon by one of those ministers
+who visit the scattered members of their communion--talked lately of
+embracing the reformed religion. In the mean while, Miss V-- died. The
+young Christian rested her hope upon the promises of the Saviour who has
+said, "Believe in Christ and thou shall be saved."
+
+Her spirit flew to its Creator with the confidence of an infant who
+throws himself into the arms of his father. Her last moments were not
+tormented by the fear of purgatory, where every Catholic believes he
+will suffer for a longer or shorter time. This death strengthened the
+neighbors in the resolution they had taken to leave the Catholic church.
+The widow buried the remains of her daughter upon her own land, a short
+distance from her house: the nearest Protestant cemetery was so far off
+that she was forced to give up burying it there.
+
+Some Catholic fanatics of the vicinity assembled secretly the day after
+the funeral of Miss V-- to discuss the best means for arresting the
+progress that the reformed religion was making in the parish. After long
+deliberation they resolved to hire a poor man to go every evening for
+a whole week and groan near the grave of Miss V---. Their object was to
+make the widow and neighbors believe that the young girl was damned; and
+that God permitted her to show her great unhappiness by lamentations,
+so that they might avoid her fate by remaining faithful to the belief of
+their fathers. In any other country than Lower Canada, those who might
+have employed such means would not perhaps have had an opportunity
+of seeing their enterprise crowned with success; but in our country
+districts, where the people believe in ghosts and bugbears, it would
+almost certainly produce the desired effect. This expedient, instead of
+being ridiculous, was atrocious. The employment of it could not fail to
+cause Mrs V-- to suffer the most painful agonies, and her neighbors the
+torments of doubt.
+
+The credulity of the French-Canadian is the work of the clergy; they
+invent and relate, in order to excite their piety, the most marvellous
+things. For example: the priests say that souls in purgatory desiring
+alleviation come and ask masses of their relatives, either by appearing
+in the same form they had in life, or by displacing the furniture and
+making a noise, as long as they have not terminated the expiation of
+their sins. The Catholic clergy, by supporting these fabulous doctrines
+and pious lies, lead their flock into the baleful habit of believing
+things the most absurd and destitute of proof.
+
+The day after Miss V--'s funeral, everybody in the parish was talking of
+the woeful cries which had been heard the night before near her grave.
+The inhabitants of the place, imbued with fantastic ideas that their
+rector had kept alive, were dupes of the artifice employed by some of
+their own number. They became convinced that there is no safety outside
+of the church, of which they formed a part. Seized with horror they
+determined never to pass a night near the grave of the cursed one, as
+they already called the young Protestant. Mrs. V-- by the instinctive
+effect of prejudices inculcated when she was a Catholic, was at first a
+prey to deadly anxiety; but recalling the holy life of her daughter,
+she no longer doubted of her being among the number of the elect. She
+guessed at the cause of the noise which was heard near the grave of her
+child. In order to assure herself of the justness of her suspicions,
+she besought the two neighbors of whom I have already spoken, to conceal
+themselves there the following night. These persons were glad of an
+occasion to test the accuracy of what a curate of their acquaintance had
+told them; who had asserted that a spirit free from the body could yet
+manifest itself substantially to the living, as speaking without tongue,
+touching without hands.
+
+They discovered the man who was paid to play the ghost; they seized him,
+and in order to punish him, tied him to a tree, at the foot of which
+Miss V-- was buried. The poor creature the next morning no longer acted
+the soul in torment, but shouted like a person who very much wanted his
+breakfast. At noon one of his friends passed by who, hearing him implore
+assistance, approached and set him free. Overwhelmed with questions and
+derision, the false ghost confessed he had acted thus only to obtain
+the reward which had been promised him. You may easily guess that
+the ridicule and reprobation turned upon those who had made him their
+instrument.
+
+I will not finish this narrative without telling the reader that the
+curate of the place appeared much incensed at what his parishioners
+had done. I am glad to be able to suppose that he condemns rather
+than encourages such conduct. A Protestant friend of mine who does not
+entertain the same respect for the Roman clergy that I do, advances the
+opinion that the displeasure of the curate was not on account of the
+culpable attempt of some of his flock but on account of its failure.
+However, I must add, on my reputation as a faithful narrator, that
+nothing has yet happened to confirm his assertion.
+
+ERASTE D'ORSONNENS.
+
+MONTREAL, September 1855.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II.
+
+CRUELTY OF ROMANISTS.
+
+To show that the Romish priests have in all ages, and do still, inflict
+upon their victims cruelties quite as severe as anything described in
+the foregoing pages, and that such cruelties are sanctioned by their
+code of laws, we have only to turn to the authentic history of the past
+and present transactions of the high functionaries of Rome.
+
+About the year 1356, Nicholas Eymeric, inquisitor-general of Arragon,
+collected from the civil and canon laws all that related to the
+punishment of heretics, and formed the "Directory of Inquisitors," the
+first and indeed the fundamental code, which has been followed ever
+since, without any essential variation. "It exhibits the practice and
+theory of the Inquisition at the time of its sanction by the approbation
+of Gregory 13th, in 1587, which theory, under some necessary variations
+of practice, still remains unchanged."
+
+From this "Directory," transcribed by the Rev. Wm. Rule of London, in
+1852, we extract a few sentences in relation to torture.
+
+"Torture is inflicted on one who confesses the principal fact, but
+varies as to circumstances. Also on one who is reputed to be a heretic,
+but against whom there is only one witness of the fact. In this case
+common rumor is one indication of guilt, and the direct evidence is
+another, making altogether but semi-plenar proof. The torture may bring
+out fall proof. Also, when there is no witness, but vehement suspicion.
+Also when there is no common report of heresy, but only one witness
+who has heard or seen something in him contrary to the faith. Any two
+indications of heresy will justify the use of torture. If you sentence
+to torture, give him a written notice in the form prescribed; but other
+means be tried first. Nor is this an infallible means for bringing out
+the truth. Weak-hearted men, impatient at the first pain, will confess
+crimes they never committed, and criminate others at the same time. Bold
+and strong ones will bear the most severe torments. Those who have been
+on the rack before bear it with more courage, for they know how to adapt
+their limbs to it, and they resist powerfully. Others, by enchantments,
+seem to be insensible, and would rather die than confess. These wretches
+user for incantations, certain passages from the Psalms of David, or
+other parts of Scripture, which they write on virgin parchment in an
+extravagant way, mixing them with names of unknown angels, with circles
+and strange letters, which they wear upon their person. 'I know not,'
+says Pena, 'how this witchcraft can be remedied, but it will be well to
+strip the criminals naked, and search them narrowly, before laying them
+upon the rack.' While the tormentor is getting ready, let the inquisitor
+and other grave men make fresh attempts to obtain a confession of the
+truth. Let the tormentors TERRIFY HIM BY ALL MEANS, TO FRIGHTEN HIM INTO
+CONFESSION. And after he is stripped, let the inquisitor take him aside,
+and make a last effort. When this has failed, let him be put to the
+question by torture, beginning with interrogation on lesser points,
+and advancing to greater. If he stands out, let them show him other
+instruments of torture, and threaten that he shall suffer them also. If
+he will not confess; the torture may be continued on the second or third
+day; but as it is not to be repeated, those successive applications must
+be called CONTINUATION. And if, after all, he does not confess, he may
+be set at liberty."
+
+Rules are laid down for the punishment of those who do confess. Innocent
+IV. commanded the secular judges to put heretics to torture; but that
+gave occasion to scandalous publicity, and now inquisitors are empowered
+to do it, and, in case of irregularity (THAT IS, IF THE PERSON DIES IN
+THEIR HANDS), TO ABSOLVE EACH OTHER. And although nobles were exempt
+from torture, and in some kingdoms, as Arragon, it was not used in civil
+tribunals, the inquisitors were nevertheless authorized to torture,
+without restriction, persons of all classes.
+
+And here we digress from Eymeric and Pena, in order to describe, from
+additional authority, of what this torture consisted, and probably,
+still consists, in Italy. Limborch collects this information from Juan
+de Rojas, inquisitor at Valencia.
+
+"There were five degrees of torment as some counted (Eymeric included),
+or according to others, three. First, there was terror, including
+the threatenings of the inquisitor, leading to the place of torture,
+stripping, and binding; the stripping of their clothing, both men and
+women, with the substitution of a single tight garment, to cover part
+of the person--being an outrage of every feeling of decency--and the
+binding, often as distressing as the torture itself. Secondly came the
+stretching on the rack, and questions attendant. Thirdly a more severe
+shock, by the tension and sodden relaxation of the cord, which is
+sometimes given once, but often twice, thrice, or yet more frequently."
+
+"Isaac Orobio, a Jewish physician, related to Limborch the manner in
+which he had himself been tortured, when thrown into the inquisition at
+Seville, on the delation of a Moorish servant, whom he had punished for
+theft, and of another person similarly offended.
+
+"After having been in the prison of the inquisition for full three
+years, examined a few times, but constantly refusing to confess the
+things laid to his charge, he was at length brought out of the cell,
+and led through tortuous passages to the place of torment. It was near
+evening. He found himself in a subterranean chamber, rather spacious,
+arched over, and hung with black cloth. The whole conclave was lighted
+by candles in sconces on the walls. At one end there was a separate
+chamber, wherein were an inquisitor and his notary seated at a table.
+The place, gloomy, intent, and everywhere terrible, seemed to be the
+very home of death. Hither he was brought, and the inquisitor again
+exhorted him to tell the truth before the torture should begin. On his
+answering that he had already told the truth, the inquisitor gravely
+protested that he was bringing himself to the torture by his own
+obstinacy; and that if he should suffer loss of blood, or even expire,
+during the question, the holy office would be blameless. Having thus
+spoken, the inquisitor left him in the hands of the tormentors, who
+stripped him, and compressed his body so tightly in a pair of linen
+drawers, that he could no longer draw breath, and must have died, had
+they not suddenly relaxed the pressure; but with recovered breathing
+came pain unutterably exquisite. The anguish being past, they repeated a
+monition to confess the truth, before the torture, as they said, should
+begin; and the same was afterwards repeated at each interval.
+
+"As Orobio persisted in denial, they bound his thumbs so tightly with
+small cords that the blood burst from under the nails, and they were
+swelled excessively. Then they made him stand against the wall on
+a small stool, passed cords around various parts of his body, but
+principally around the arms and legs, and carried them over iron
+pulleys in the ceiling. The tormentor then pulled the cords with all his
+strength, applying his feet to the wall, and giving the weight of his
+body to increase the purchase. With these ligatures his arms and legs,
+fingers and toes, were so wrung and swollen that he felt as if fire were
+devouring them. In the midst of this torment the man kicked down the
+stool which had supported his feet, so that he hung upon the cords
+with his whole weight, which suddenly increased their tension, and
+gave indescribable aggravation to his pain. Next followed a new kind
+of torment. An instrument resembling a small ladder, consisting of two
+parallel pieces of wood, and five transverse pieces, with the anterior
+edges sharpened, was placed before him, so that when the tormentor
+struck it heavily, he received the stroke five times multiplied on each
+shin bone, producing pain that was absolutely intolerable, and under
+which he fainted. But no sooner was he revived than they inflicted a new
+torture. The tormentor tied other cords around his wrists, and having
+his own shoulders covered with leather, that they might not be chafed,
+passed round them the rope which was to draw the cords, set his feet
+against the wall, threw himself back with all his force, and the cords
+cut through to the bones. This he did thrice, each time changing the
+position of the cords, leaving a small distance between the successive
+wounds; but it happened that in pulling the second time they slipped
+into the first wounds, and caused such a gush of blood that Orobio
+seemed to be bleeding to death.
+
+"A physician and surgeon, who were in waiting as usual, to give their
+opinion as to the safety or danger of continuing those operations,
+that the inquisitors might not commit an irregularity by murdering the
+patient, were called in. Being friends of the sufferer, they gave their
+opinion that he had strength enough remaining to bear more. By this
+means they saved him from a SUSPENSION of the torture, which would have
+been followed by a repetition, on his recovery, under the pretext of
+CONTINUATION. The cords were therefore pulled a third time, and this
+ended the torture. He was dressed in his own clothes, carried back to
+prison, and, after about seventy days, when the wounds were healed,
+condemned as one SUSPECTED of Judaism. They could not say CONVICTED,
+because he had not confessed; but they sentenced him to wear the
+sambenito [Footnote: This sambenito (Suco bendito or blessed sack,) is
+a garment (or kind of scapulary according to some writers,) worn by
+penitents of the least criminal class in the procession of an Auto de
+Fe, (a solemn ceremony held by the Inquisition for the punishment of
+heretics,) but sometimes worn as a punishment at other times, that the
+condemned one might be marked by his neighbors, and ever bear a signal
+that would affright and scare by the greatness of the punishment and
+disgrace; a plan, salutary it may be, but very grievous to the offender.
+It was made of yellow cloth, with a St. Andrew's cross upon it, of
+red. A rope was sometimes put around the neck as an additional mark of
+infamy.
+
+"Those who were condemned to be burnt were distinguished by a habit of
+the same form, called Zamarra, but instead of the red cross were
+painted flames and devils, and sometimes an ugly portrait of the heretic
+himself,--a head, with flames under it. Those who had been sentenced to
+the stake, but indulged with commutation of the penalty, had inverted
+flames painted on the livery, and this was called fuego revuelto,
+"inverted fire."
+
+"Upon the head of the condemned was also placed a conical paper cap,
+about three feet high, slightly resembling a mitre, called corona or
+crown. This was painted with flames and devils in like manner with the
+dress.] or penitential habit for two years, and then be banished for
+life from Seville."
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III.
+
+INQUISITION OF GOA--IMPRISONMENT OF M. DELLON, 1673.
+
+"M. Dellon a French traveller, spending some time at Damaun, on the
+north-western coast of Hindostan, incurred the jealousy of the governor
+and a black priest, in regard to a lady, as he is pleased to call
+her, whom they both admired. He had expressed himself rather freely
+concerning some of the grosser superstitions of Romanism, and thus
+afforded the priest, who was also secretary of the Inquisition, an
+occasion of proceeding against him as a heretic. The priest and the
+governor united in a representation to the chief inquisitor at Goa,
+which procured an order for his arrest. Like all other persons whom it
+pleased the inquisitors or their servants to arrest, in any part of the
+Portuguese dominions beyond the Cape of Good Hope, he was thrown into
+prison with a promiscuous crowd of delinquents, the place and treatment
+being of the worst kind, even according to the colonial barbarism of
+the seventeenth century. To describe his sufferings there, is not to our
+purpose, inasmuch as all prisoners fared alike, many of them perishing
+from starvation and disease. Many offenders against the Inquisition
+were there at the same time,--some accused of Judaism, others, of
+Paganism--in which sorcery and witchcraft were included--and others of
+immorality. In a field so wide and so fruitful, the "scrutators" of the
+faith could not fail to gather abundantly. After an incarceration of at
+least four months, he and his fellow-sufferers were shipped off for
+the ecclesiastical metropolis of India, all of them being in irons. The
+vessel put into Bacaim, and the prisoners were transferred, for some
+days, to the prison of that town, where a large number of persons were
+kept in custody, under charge of the commissary of the holy office,
+until a vessel should arrive to carry them to Goa.
+
+"In due time they were again at sea, and a fair wind wafted their
+fleet into that port after a voyage of seven days. Until they could
+be deposited in the cells of the Inquisition with the accustomed
+formalities, the Archbishop of Goa threw open HIS prison for their
+reception, which prison, being ecclesiastical, may be deemed worthy of
+description.
+
+"The most filthy," says Dellon, "the most dark, and the most horrible
+that I ever saw; and I doubt whether a more shocking and horrible prison
+can be found anywhere. It is a kind of cave wherein there is no day seen
+but by a very little hole; the most subtle rays of the sun cannot enter
+into it, and there is never any true light in it. The stench is extreme.
+* * *
+
+"On the 16th of January 1674, at eight o'clock in the morning, an
+officer came with orders to take the prisoners to "the holy house." With
+considerable difficulty M. Dellon dragged his iron-loaded limbs thither.
+They helped him to ascend the stairs at the great entrance, and in the
+hall, smiths were waiting to take off the irons from all the prisoners.
+One by one, they were summoned to audience. Dellon, who was called the
+first, crossed the hall, passed through an ante-chamber, and entered
+a room, called by the Portuguese "board of the holy office," where the
+grand inquisitor of the Indies sat at one end of a very large table, on
+an elevated floor in the middle of the chamber. He was a secular priest
+about forty years of age, in full vigor--a man who could do his work
+with energy. At one end of the room was a large crucifix, reaching from
+the floor almost to the ceiling, and near it, sat a notary on a folding
+stool. At the opposite end, and near the inquisitor, Dellon was placed,
+and, hoping to soften his judge, fell on his knees before him. But the
+inquisitor commanded him to rise, asked whether he knew the reason of
+his arrest, and advised him to declare it at large, as that was the only
+way to obtain a speedy release. Dellon caught at the hope of release,
+began to tell his tale, mixed with tears and protestations, again
+fell at the feet of Don Francisco Delgado Ematos, the inquisitor, and
+implored his favorable attention. Don Francisco told him, very coolly,
+that he had other business on hand, and, nothing moved, rang a silver
+bell. The alcayde entered, led the prisoner out into a gallery, opened,
+and searched his trunk, stripped him of every valuable, wrote an
+inventory, assured him that all should be safely kept, and then led him
+to a cell about ten feet square, and left him there, shut up in utter
+solitude. In the evening they brought him his first meal, which he ate
+heartily, and slept a little during the night following. Next morning he
+learnt that he could have no part of his property, not even a breviary
+was, in that place, allowed to a priest, for they had no form of
+religion there, and for that reason he could not have a book. His hair
+was cropped close; and therefore "he did not need a comb."
+
+"Thus began his acquaintance with the holy house, which he describes
+as "great and magnificent," on one side of the great space before the
+church of St Catharine. There were three gates in front; and, it was
+by the central, or largest, that the prisoners entered, and mounted a
+stately flight of steps, leading into the great hall. The side gates
+provided entrance to spacious ranges of apartments, belonging to the
+inquisitors. Behind the principal building, was another, very spacious,
+two stories high, and consisting of double rows of cells, opening into
+galleries that ran from end to end. The cells on the ground-floor were
+very small, without any aperture from without for light or air. Those of
+the upper story were vaulted, white-washed, had a small strongly grated
+window, without glass, and higher than the tallest man could reach.
+Towards the gallery every cell was shut with two doors, one on the
+inside, the other one outside of the wall. The inner door folded, was
+grated at the bottom, opened towards the top for the admission of food
+and was made fast with very strong bolts. The outer door was not so
+thick, had no window, but was left open from six o'clock every morning
+until eleven--a necessary arrangement in that climate, unless it were
+intended to destroy life by suffocation.
+
+"To each prisoner was given as earthen pot with water wherewith to wash,
+another full of water to drink, with a cup; a broom, a mat whereon
+to lie, and a large basin with a cover, changed every fourth day. The
+prisoners had three meals a day; and their health so far as food could
+contribute to it in such a place, was cared for in the provision of
+a wholesome, but spare diet. Physicians were at hand to render all
+necessary assistance to the sick, as were confessors, ready to wait
+upon the dying; but they gave no viaticum, performed no unction, said
+no mass. The place was under an impenetrable interdict. If any died,
+and that many did die is beyond question, his death was unknown to all
+without; he was buried within the walls without any sacred ceremony;
+and if, after death, he was found to have died in heresy, his bones were
+taken up at the next Auto, to be burned. Unless there happened to be
+an unusual number of prisoners, each one was alone in his own cell. He
+might not speak, nor groan, nor sob aloud, nor sigh. [Footnote: Limborch
+relates that on one occasion, a poor prisoner was heard to cough; the
+jailer of the Inquisition instantly repaired to him, and warned him to
+forbear, as the slightest noise was not tolerated in that house. The
+poor man replied that it was not in his power to forbear; a second time
+they admonished him to desist; and when again, unable to do otherwise,
+he repeated the offence, they stripped him naked, and cruelly beat him.
+This increased his cough, for which they beat him so often, that at last
+he died through pain and anguish of the stripes he had received.] His
+breathing might be audible when the guard listened at the grating, but
+nothing more. Four guards were stationed in each long gallery, open,
+indeed, at each end, but awfully silent, as if it were the passage of
+a catacomb. If, however, he wanted anything, he might tap at the inner
+door, when a jailer would come to hear the request, and would report to
+the alcayde, but was not permitted to answer. If one of the victims, in
+despair, or pain, or delirium, attempted to pronounce a prayer, even to
+God, or dared to utter a cry, the jailers would run to the cell, rush
+in, and beat him cruelly, for terror to the rest. Once in two months the
+inquisitor, with a secretary and an interpreter, visited the prisons,
+and asked each prisoner if he wanted anything, if his meat was regularly
+brought, and if he had any complaint against the jailers. His want after
+all lay at the mercy of the merciless. His complaint, if uttered, would
+bring down vengeance, rather than gain redress. But in this visitation
+the holy office professed mercy with much formality, and the
+inquisitorial secretary collected notes which aided in the crimination,
+or in the murder of their victims.
+
+"The officers of Goa were;--the inquisidor mor or grand inquisitor, who
+was always a secular priest; the second inquisitor, Dominican friar;
+several deputies, who came, when called for, to assist the inquisitors
+at trials, but never entered without such a summons; qualifiers,
+as usual, to examine books and writings, but never to witness an
+examination of the living, or be present at any act of the kind; a
+fiscal; a procurator; advocates, so called, for the accused; notaries
+and familiars. The authority of this tribunal was absolute in Goa.
+There does not appear to have been anything peculiar in the manner of
+examining and torturing at Goa where the practice coincided with that of
+Portugal and Spain.
+
+"The personal narrative of Dellon affords a distinct exemplification of
+the sufferings of the prisoners. He had been told that, when he desired
+an audience, he had only to call a jailer, and ask it, when it would be
+allowed him. But, notwithstanding many tears and entreaties, he could
+not obtain one until fifteen days had passed away. Then came the alcayde
+and one of his guards. This alcayde walked first out of the cell; Dellon
+uncovered and shorn, and with legs and feet bare, followed him; the
+guard walked behind. The alcayde just entered the place of audience,
+made a profound reverence, stepped back and allowed his charge to enter.
+The door closed, and Dellon remained alone with the inquisitor and
+secretary. He knelt; but Don Fernando sternly bade him to sit on a
+bench, placed there for the use of the culprits. Near him, on a table,
+lay a missal, on which they made him lay his hand, and swear to keep
+secrecy, and tell them the truth. They asked if he knew the cause of his
+imprisonment, and whether he was resolved to confess it. He told
+them all he could recollect of unguarded sayings at Damaun, either in
+argument or conversation, without ever, that he knew, contradicting,
+directly or indirectly, any article of faith. He had, at some time
+dropped an offensive word concerning the Inquisition, but so light a
+word, that it did not occur to his remembrance. Don Fernando told him he
+had done well in ACCUSING HIMSELF so willingly, and exhorted him in the
+name of Jesus Christ, to complete his self accusation fully, to the end
+that he might experience the goodness and mercy which were used in
+that tribunal towards those who showed true repentance by a sincere
+and UNFORCED confession. The secretary read aloud the confession and
+exhortation, Dellon signed it, Don Fernando rang a silver bell, the
+alcayde walked in, and, in a few moments, the disappointed victim was
+again in his dungeon.
+
+"At the end of another fortnight, and without having asked for it, he
+was again taken to audience. After a repetition of the former questions,
+he was asked his name, surname, baptism, confirmation, place of abode,
+in what parish? in what diocess? under what bishop? They made him kneel,
+and make the sign of the cross, repeat the Pater Noster, Hail Mary,
+creed, commandments of God, commandments of the church, and Salve
+Begins. He did it all very cleverly, and even to their satisfaction;
+but the grand inquisitor exhorted him, by the tender mercies of our Lord
+Jesus Christ, to confess without delay, and sent him to the cell again.
+His heart sickened. They required him to do what was impossible--to
+confess more, after he had acknowledged ALL. In despair, he tried to
+starve himself to death; 'but they compelled him to take food.' Day and
+night he wept, and at length betook himself to prayer, imploring pity
+of the 'blessed Virgin,' whom he imagined to be, of all beings, the most
+merciful, and the most ready to give him help.
+
+"At the end of a month, he succeeded in obtaining another audience, and
+added to his former confessions what he had remembered, for the first
+time, touching the Inquisition. But they told him that that was not what
+they wanted, and sent him back again. This was intolerable. In a frenzy
+of despair he determined to commit suicide, if possible. Feigning
+sickness, be obtained a physician who treated him for a fever, and
+ordered him to be bled. Never calmed by any treatment of the physician,
+blood-letting was repeated often, and each time he untied the bandage,
+when left alone, hoping to die from loss of blood, but death fled from
+him. A humane Franciscan came to confess him, and, hearing his tale of
+misery, gave him kind words, asked permission to divulge his attempt
+at self-destruction to the inquisitor, procured him a mitigation of
+solitude by the presence of a fellow-prisoner, a negro, accused of
+magic; but, after five months, the negro was removed, and his mind,
+broken with suffering, could no longer bear up under the aggravated
+load. By an effort of desperate ingenuity he almost succeeded in
+committing suicide, and a jailer found him weltering in his blood and
+insensible. Having restored him by cordials, and bound up his wounds,
+they carried him into the presence of the inquisitor once more; where he
+lay on the floor, being unable to sit, heard bitter reproaches, had his
+limbs confined in irons, and was thus carried back to a punishment that
+seemed more terrible than death. In fetters he became so furious, that
+they found it necessary to take them off, and, from that time, his
+examinations assumed another character, as he defended his positions
+with citations from the Council of Trent, and with some passages of
+scripture, which he explained in the most Romish sense, discovering
+a depth of ignorance in Don Fernando that was truly surprising. That
+'grand Inquisitor,' had never heard the passage which Dellon quoted to
+prove the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, 'Except a man be born
+of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'
+Neither did he know anything of that famous passage in the twenty-fifth
+session of the Council of Trent, which declares that images are only to
+be reverenced on account of the persons whom they represent. He
+called for a Bible, and for the acts of the council, and was evidently
+surprised when he found them where Dellon told him they might be seen.
+
+"The time for a general auto drew near. During the months of November
+and December, 1675, he heard every morning the cries of persons under
+torture, and afterwards saw many of them, both men and women, lame and
+distorted by the rack. On Sunday January 11th, 1676, he was surprised
+by the jailer refusing to receive his linen to be washed--Sunday being
+washing-day in the 'holy house.' While perplexing himself to think
+what that could mean, the cathedral bells rang for vespers, and then,
+contrary to custom, rang again for matins. He could only account for
+that second novelty by supposing that an auto would be celebrated the
+next day. They brought him supper, which he refused, and, contrary to
+their wont at all other times, they did not insist on his taking it, but
+carried it away. Assured that those were all portents of the horrible
+catastrophe, and reflecting on often-repeated threats in the audience
+chamber that he should be burnt, he gave himself up to death, and
+overwhelmed with sorrow, fell asleep a little before midnight.
+
+"Scarcely had he fallen asleep when the alcayde and guards entered the
+cell, with great noise, bringing a lamp, for the first time since his
+imprisonment that they had allowed a lamp to shine there. The alcayde,
+laying down a suit of clothes, bade him put them on, and be ready to go
+out when he came again. At two o'clock in the morning they returned, and
+he issued from the cell, clad in a black vest and trowsers, striped with
+white, and his feet bare. About two hundred prisoners, of whom he
+was one, were made to sit on the floor, along the sides of a spacious
+gallery, all in the same black livery, and just visible by the
+gleaming of a few lamps. A large company of women were also ranged in a
+neighboring gallery in like manner. But they were all motionless, and
+no one knew his doom. Every eye was fixed, and each one seemed benumbed
+with misery.
+
+"A third company Dellon perceived in a room not far distant, but they
+were walking about, and some appeared to have long habits. Those were
+persons condemned to be delivered to the secular arm, and the long
+habits distinguished confessors busily collecting confessions in order
+to commute that penalty for some other scarcely less dreadful. At four
+o'clock, servants of the house came, with guards, and gave bread and
+figs to those who would accept the refreshment. One of the guards gave
+Dellon some hope of life by advising him to take what was offered,
+which he had refused to do. 'Take your bread,' said the man, 'and if you
+cannot eat it now, put it in your pocket; you will be certainly hungry
+before you return.' This gave hope, that he should not end the day at
+the stake, but come back to undergo penance.
+
+"A little before sunrise, the great bell of the cathedral tolled, and
+its sound soon aroused the city of Goa. The people ran into the streets,
+lining the chief thoroughfares, and crowding every place whence a view
+could be had of the procession. Day broke, and Dellon saw the faces
+of his fellow-prisoners, most of whom were Indians. He could only
+distinguish, by their complexion, about twelve Europeans. Every
+countenance exhibited shame, fear, grief, or an appalling blackness of
+apathy, AS IF DIRE SUFFERING IN THE LIGHTLESS DUNGEONS UNDERNEATH HAD
+BEREFT THEM OF INTELLECT. The company soon began to move, but slowly,
+as one by one the alcayde led them towards the door of the great hall,
+where the grand inquisitor sat, and his secretary called the name of
+each as he came, and the name of a sponsor, who also presented himself
+from among a crowd of the bettermost inhabitants of Goa, assembled there
+for that service. 'The general of the Portuguese ships in the Indies'
+had the honor of placing himself beside our Frenchman. As soon as the
+procession was formed, it marched off in the usual order.
+
+"First, the Dominicans, honored with everlasting precedence on all such
+occasions, led the way. Singing-boys also preceded, chanting a litany.
+The banner of the Inquisition was intrusted to their hands. After the
+banner walked the penitents--a penitent and a sponsor, two and two. A
+cross bearer brought up the train, carrying a crucifix aloft, turned
+towards them, in token of pity; and, on looking along the line, you
+might have seen another priest going before the penitents with a
+crucifix turned backwards, inviting their devotions. They to whom the
+Inquisition no longer afforded mercy, walked behind the penitents, and
+could only see an averted crucifix. These were condemned to be burnt
+alive at the stake! On this occasion there were but two of this class,
+but sometimes a large number were sentenced to this horrible death, and
+presented to the spectator a most pitiable spectacle. Many of them
+bore upon their persons the marks of starvation, torture, terror, and
+heart-rending grief. Some faces were bathed in tears, while others
+came forth with a smile of conquest on the countenance and words of
+triumphant faith bursting from the lips. These, however, were known as
+dogmatizers, and were generally gagged, the month being filled with a
+piece of wood kept in by a strong leather band fastened behind the head,
+and the arms tied together behind the back. Two armed familiars walked
+or rode beside each of these, and two ecclesiastics, or some other
+clerks or regulars, also attended. After these, the images of heretics
+who had escaped were carried aloft, to be thrown into the flames; and
+porters came last, tagging under the weight of boxes containing the
+disinterred bodies on which the execution of the church had fallen, and
+which were also to be burnt.
+
+"Poor Dellon went barefoot, like the rest, through the streets of Goa,
+rough with little flint stones scattered about, and sorely were his feet
+wounded during an hour's march up and down the principal streets. Weary,
+covered with shame and confusion, the long train of culprits entered
+the church of St. Francis, where preparation was made for the auto, the
+climate of India not permitting a celebration of that solemnity
+under the burning sky. They sat with their sponsors, in the galleries
+prepared, sambenitos, grey zamarras with painted flames and devils,
+corozas, tapers, and all the other paraphernalia of an auto, made up a
+woeful spectacle. The inquisitor and other personages having taken their
+seats of state, the provincial of the Augustinians mounted the pulpit
+and delivered the sermon. Dellon preserved but one note of it. The
+preacher compared the Inquisition to Noah's ark, which received all
+sorts of beasts WILD, but sent them out TAME. The appearance of hundreds
+who had been inmates of that ark certainly justified the figure.
+
+"After the sermon, two readers went up, one after the other, into the
+same pulpit, and, between them, they read the processes and pronounced
+the sentences, the person standing before them, with the alcayde, and
+holding a lighted taper in his hand. Dellon, in turn, heard the cause
+of his long-suffering. He had maintained the invalidity of baptismus
+flaminis, or desire to be baptised, when there is no one to administer
+the rite of baptism by water. He had said that images ought not to be
+adored, and that an ivory crucifix was a piece of ivory. He had spoken
+contemptuously of the Inquisition. And, above all, he had an ill
+intention. His punishment was to be confiscation of his property,
+banishment from India, and five years' service in the galleys in
+Portugal, with penance, as the inquisitors might enjoin. As all the
+prisoners were excommunicate, the inquisitor, after the sentence had
+been pronounced, put on his alb and stole, walked into the middle of the
+church, and absolved them all at once. Dellon's sponsor, who would not
+even answer him before, when he spoke, now embraced him, called him
+brother, and gave him a pinch of snuff, in token of reconciliation.
+
+"But there were two persons, a man and a woman, for whom the church had
+no more that they could do; and these, with four dead bodies, and the
+effigies of the dead, were taken to be burnt on the Campo Santo Lazaro,
+on the river side, the place appointed for that purpose, that the
+viceroy might see justice done on the heretics, as he surveyed the
+execution from his palace-windows."
+
+The remainder of Dellon's history adds nothing to what we have already
+heard of the Inquisition. He was taken to Lisbon, and, after working in
+a gang of convicts for some time, was released on the intercession of
+some friends in France with the Portuguese government. With regard to
+his despair, and attempts to commit suicide, when in the holy house,
+we may observe that, as he states, suicide was very frequent there.
+The contrast of his disconsolate impatience with the resignation and
+constancy of Christian confessors in similar circumstances, is obvious.
+As a striking illustration of the difference between those who suffer
+without a consciousness of divine favor, and those who rejoice with joy
+unspeakable and full of glory, we would refer the reader to that noble
+band of martyrs who suffered death at the stake, at the Auto held in
+Seville, on Sunday, September 24, 1559. At that time twenty-one
+were burnt, followed by one effigy, and eighteen penitents, who were
+released.
+
+"One of the former was Don Juan Gonzales, Presbyter of Seville, an
+eminent preacher. With admirable constancy he refused to make any
+declaration, in spite of the severe torture, saying that he had not
+followed any erroneous opinions, but that he had drawn his faith from
+the holy Scriptures; and for this faith he pleaded to his tormentors in
+the words of inspiration. He maintained that he was not a heretic, but
+a Christian, and absolutely refused to divulge anything that would bring
+his brethren into trouble. Two sisters of his were also brought out to
+this Auto, and displayed equal faith. They would confess Christ, they
+said, and suffer with their brother, whom they revered as a wise and
+holy man. They were all tied to stakes on the quemadero, a piece of
+pavement, without the walls of the city, devoted to the single use of
+burning human victims. Sometimes this quemadero [Footnote: Llorente, the
+historian of the Spanish Inquisition, says, "So many persons were to be
+put to death by fire, the governor of Seville caused a permanent raised
+platform of masonry to be constructed outside the city, which has
+lasted to our time (until the French revolution) retaining its name of
+Quemadero, or burning-place, and at the four corners four large hollow
+stalutes of limestone, within which they used to place the impenitent
+alive, that they might die by slow fires."] was a raised platform of
+stone, adorned with pillows or surrounded with statues, to distinguish
+and beautify the spot. Just as the fire was lit, the gag, which had
+hitherto silenced Don Juan, was removed, and as the flames burst from
+the fagots, he said to his sisters, 'Let us sing, Deus laudem meam ne
+tacueris.' And they sang together, while burning, 'Hold not thy peace,
+O God of my praise; for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the
+deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a
+lying tongue.' Thus they died in the faith of Christ, and of his holy
+gospel."
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV.
+
+INQUISITION OF GOA, CONCLUDED.
+
+The Inquisition of Goa continued its Autos for a century after the
+affair of Dellon. In the summer of 1808, Dr. Claudius Buchanan visited
+that city, and had been unexpectedly invited by Joseph a Doloribus,
+second and most active inquisitor, to lodge with him during his
+visit. Not without some surprise, Dr. Buchanan found himself, heretic,
+schismatic, and rebel as he was, politely entertained by so dread a
+personage. Regarding his English visitor merely as a literary man, or
+professing to do so, Friar Joseph, himself well educated, seemed to
+enjoy his company, and was unreservedly communicative on every subject
+not pertaining to his own vocation. When that subject was first
+introduced by an apparently incidental question, he did not hesitate
+to return the desired information, telling Dr. Buchanan that the
+establishment was nearly as extensive as in former times. In the library
+of the chief inquisitor he saw a register containing the names of all
+the officers, who still were numerous.
+
+On the second evening after his arrival, the doctor was surprised to see
+his host come from his apartment, clothed in black robes from head to
+foot, instead of white, the usual color of his order (Augustinian). He
+said that he was going to sit on the tribunal of the holy office, and it
+transpired that, so far from his "august office" not occupying much of
+his time, he had to sit there three or four days every week. After his
+return, in the evening, the doctor put Dellon's book into his hand,
+asking him if he had ever seen it. He had never seen it before, and,
+after reading aloud and slowly, "Relation de l'Inquisition de Goa,"
+began to peruse it with eagerness.
+
+While Dr. Buchanan employed himself in writing, Friar Joseph devoured
+page after page; but as the narrative proceeded, betrayed evident
+symptoms of uneasiness. He then turned to the middle, looked at the end,
+skimmed over the table of contents, fixed on its principal passages,
+and at one place exclaimed, in his broad Italian accent, "Mendacium!
+mendacium.'" The doctor requested him to mark the passages that were
+untrue, proposed to discuss them afterwards, and said he had other books
+on the subject. The mention of other books startled him; he looked up
+anxiously at some books on the table, and then gave himself up to the
+perusal of Dellon's "Relation," until bedtime. Even then, he asked
+permission to take it to his chamber.
+
+The doctor had fallen asleep under the roof of the inquisitor's convent,
+confident, under God, in the protection at that time guaranteed to
+a British subject, his servants sleeping in the gallery outside
+the chamber-door. About midnight, he was waked by loud shrieks and
+expressions of terror from some one in the gallery. In the first moment
+of surprise, he concluded it must be the alguazils of the holy office
+seizing his servants to carry them to the Inquisition. But, on going
+out, he saw the servants standing at the door, and the person who
+had caused the alarm, a boy of about fourteen, at a little distance,
+surrounded by some of the priests, who had come out of their cells on
+hearing the noise. The boy said he had seen a spectre; and it was a
+considerable time before the agitations of his body and voice
+subsided. Next morning at breakfast, the inquisitor apologized for
+the disturbance, and said the boy's alarm proceeded from a phantasma
+animi,--phantom of the imagination.
+
+It might have been so. Phantoms might well haunt such a place. As to
+Dellon's book, the inquisitor acknowledged that the descriptions
+were just; but complained that he had misjudged the motives of the
+inquisitors, and written uncharitably of Holy Church. Their conversation
+grew earnest, and the inquisitor was anxious to impress his visitor with
+the idea that the Inquisition had undergone a change in some respects,
+and that its terrors were mitigated. At length Dr. Buchanan plainly
+requested to see the Inquisition, that he might judge for himself as to
+the humanity shown to the inmates,--according to the inquisitor,--and
+gave, as a reason why he should be satisfied, his interest in the
+affairs of India, on which he had written, and his purpose to write on
+them again, in which case he could scarcely be silent concerning the
+Inquisition. The countenance of his host fell; but, after some further
+observations, he reluctantly promised to comply. Next morning, after
+breakfast, Joseph a Doloribus went to dress for the holy office, and
+soon returned in his black robes. He said he would go half an hour
+before the usual time, for the purpose of showing him the Inquisition.
+The doctor fancied he looked more severe than usual, and that his
+attendants were not as civil as before. But the truth was, that the
+midnight scene still haunted him. They had proceeded in their palanquins
+to the holy house, distant about a quarter of a mile from the convent,
+and the inquisitor said as they were ascending the steps of the great
+entrance, that he hoped the doctor would be satisfied with a transient
+view of the Inquisition, and would retire when he should desire him to
+do so. The doctor followed with tolerable confidence, towards the
+great hall aforementioned, where they were met by several well-dressed
+persons, familiars, as it afterwards appeared, who bowed very low to the
+inquisitor, and looked with surprise at the stranger. Dr. Buchanan paced
+the hall slowly, and in thoughtful silence; the inquisitor thoughtful
+too, silent and embarrassed. A multitude of victims seemed to haunt the
+place, and the doctor could not refrain from breaking silence. "Would
+not the Holy Church wish, in her mercy, to have those souls back again,
+that she might allow them a little further probation?" The inquisitor
+answered nothing, but beckoned him to go with him to a door at one end
+of the hall. By that door he conducted him to some small rooms, and
+thence, to the spacious apartments of the chief inquisitor. Having
+surveyed those, he brought him back again to the great hall, and seemed
+anxious that the troublesome visitor should depart; but only the very
+words of Dr. B. can adequately describe the close of this extraordinary
+interview."
+
+"Now, father," said I, "lead me to the dungeons below: I want to see the
+captives." "No," said he, "that cannot be." I now began to suspect that
+it had been in the mind of the inquisitor, from the beginning, to show
+me only a certain part of the Inquisition, in the hope of satisfying
+my inquiries in a general way. I urged him with earnestness; but he
+steadily resisted, and seemed offended, or, rather, agitated, by my
+importunity. I intimated to him plainly, that the only way to do justice
+to his own assertion and arguments regarding the present state of the
+Inquisition, was to show me the prisons and the captives. I should
+then describe only what I saw; but now the subject was left in awful
+obscurity. "Lead me down," said I, "to the inner building, and let me
+pass through the two hundred dungeons, ten feet square, described by
+your former captives. Let me count the number of your present captives,
+and converse with them. I WANT, TO SEE IF THERE BE ANY SUBJECTS OF THE
+BRITISH GOVERNMENT, TO WHOM WE OWE PROTECTION. I want to ask how long
+they have been there, how long it is since they have seen the light
+of the sun, and whether they ever expect to see it again. Show me the
+chamber of torture, and declare what modes of execution or punishment
+are now practiced inside the walls of the Inquisition, in lieu of the
+public Auto de Fe. If, after all that has passed, father, you resist
+this reasonable request, I should be justified in believing that you are
+afraid of exposing the real state of the Inquisition in India."
+
+To these observations the inquisitor made no reply; but seemed impatient
+that I should withdraw. "My good father," said I; "I am about to take
+my leave of you, and to thank you for your hospitable attentions; and I
+wish to preserve on my mind a favorable sentiment of your kindness and
+candor. You cannot, you say, show me the captives and the dungeons; be
+pleased, then, merely to answer this question, for I shall believe
+your word: how many prisoners are there now below in the cells of the
+Inquisition?" He replied, "That is a question which I cannot answer."
+On his pronouncing these words, I retired hastily towards the door, and
+wished him farewell. We shook hands with as much cordiality as we could,
+at the moment, assume; and both of us, I believe, were sorry that our
+parting took place with a clouded countenance.
+
+After leaving the inquisitor, Dr. Buchanan, feeling as if he could
+not refrain from endeavoring to get another and perhaps a nearer view,
+returned to avail himself of the pretext afforded by a promise from
+the chief inquisitor, of a letter to one of the British residents at
+Travancore, in answer to one which he had brought him from that officer.
+The inquisitors he expected to find within, in the "board of the holy
+office." The door-keepers surveyed him doubtfully, but allowed him to
+pass. He entered the great hall, went up directly to the lofty crucifix
+described by Dellon, sat down on a form, wrote some notes, and then
+desired an attendant to carry in his name to the inquisitor. As he was
+walking across the hall, he saw a poor woman sitting by the wall. She
+clasped her hands, and looked at him imploringly. The sight chilled
+his spirits; and as he was asking the attendants the cause of her
+apprehension,--for she was awaiting trial,--Joseph a Doloribus came, in
+answer to his message, and was about to complain of the intrusion,
+when he parried the complaint by asking for the letter from the chief
+inquisitor. He promised to send it after him, and conducted him to the
+door. As they passed the poor woman, the doctor pointed to her, and said
+with emphasis, "Behold, father, another victim of the Holy Inquisition."
+The other answered nothing; they bowed, and separated without a word.
+
+When Dr. Buchanan published his "Christian Researches in Asia," in the
+year 1812, the Inquisition still existed at Goa; but the establishment
+of constitutional government in Portugal, put an end to it throughout
+the whole Portuguese dominions.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX V.
+
+INQUISITION AT MACERATA, ITALY. NARRATIVE OF MR. BOWER. METH. MAG. THIRD
+VOL.
+
+
+I never pretended that it was for the sake of religion alone, that I
+left Italy, On the contrary, I have often declared, that, had I never
+belonged to the Inquisition, I should have gone on, as most Roman
+Catholics do, without ever questioning the truth of the religion I was
+brought up in, or thinking of any other. But the unheard of cruelties
+of that hellish tribunal shocked me beyond all expression, and rendered
+me,--as I was obliged, by my office of Counsellor, to be accessary to
+them,--one of the most unhappy men upon earth. I therefore began
+to think of resigning my office; but as I had on several occasions,
+betrayed some weakness as they termed it, that is, some compassion and
+humanity, and had upon that account been reprimanded by the Inquisitor,
+I was well apprized that my resignation would be ascribed by him to
+my disapproving the proceedings of the holy tribunal. And indeed, to
+nothing else could it be ascribed, as a place at that board was a
+sure way to preferment, and attended with great privileges, and a
+considerable salary. Being, therefore, sensible how dangerous a thing it
+would be to give the least ground for any suspicions of that nature,
+and no longer able to bear the sight of the many barbarities practised
+almost daily within those walls, nor the reproaches of my conscience for
+being accessary to them, I determined, after many restless nights, and
+much deliberation, to withdraw at the same time from the Inquisition,
+and from Italy. In this mind, and in the most unhappy and tormenting
+situation that can possibly be imagined, I continued near a
+twelve-month, not able to prevail on myself to execute the resolution
+I had taken on account of the many dangers which I foresaw would
+inevitably attend it, and the dreadful consequences of my failing in
+the attempt. But, being in the mean time ordered by the Inquisitor, to
+apprehend a person with whom I had lived in the greatest intimacy and
+friendship, the part I was obliged to act on that occasion, left so deep
+an impression on my mind as soon prevailed over all my fears, and made
+me determine to put into execution, at all events, and without delay,
+the design I had formed. Of that transaction I shall give a particular
+account, as it will show in a very strong light the nature and
+proceedings of that horrid court.
+
+The person whom the Inquisitor appointed me to apprehend was Count
+Vicenzo della Torre, descended from an illustrious family in Germany,
+and possessed of a very considerable estate in the territory of
+Macerata. He was one of my very particular friends, and had lately
+married the daughter of Signior Constantini, of Fermo, a lady no less
+famous for her good sense than her beauty. With her family too, I had
+contracted an intimate acquaintance, while Professor of Rhetoric in
+Fermo, and had often attended the Count during his courtship, from
+Macerata to Fermo, but fifteen miles distant. I therefore lived with
+both in the greatest friendship and intimacy; and the Count was the
+only person that lived with me, after I was made Counsellor of the
+Inquisition, upon the same free footing as he had done till that time.
+My other friends had grown shy of me, and gave me plainly to understand
+that they no longer cared for my company.
+
+As this unhappy young gentleman was one day walking with another, he met
+two Capuchin friars, and turning to his companion, when they had passed,
+"what fools," said he, "are these, to think they shall gain heaven by
+wearing sackcloth and going barefoot! Fools indeed, if they think so,
+or that there is any merit in tormenting one's self; they might as well
+live as we do, and they would get to heaven quite as soon." Who informed
+against him, whether the friars, his companion, or somebody else, I
+know not; for the inquisitors never tell the names of informers to the
+Counsellors, nor the names of the witnesses, lest they should except
+against them. It is to be observed, that all who hear any proposition
+that appears to them repugnant to, or inconsistent with the doctrines of
+holy mother church, are bound to reveal it to the Inquisitor, and also
+to discover the person by whom it was uttered; and, in this affair no
+regard is to be had to any ties, however sacred. The brother being bound
+to accuse the brother, the father the son, the son the father, the wife
+her husband, and the husband his wife; and all bound on pain of eternal
+damnation, and of being treated as accomplices if they do not denounce
+in a certain time; and no confessor can absolve a person who has heard
+anything said in jest or in earnest, against the belief or practice
+of the church, till that person has informed the Inquisitor of it, and
+given him all the intelligence he can concerning the person by whom it
+was spoken.
+
+Whoever it was that informed against my unhappy friend, whether the
+friars, his companion, or somebody else who might have overheard him,
+the Inquisitor acquainted the board one night, (for to be less observed,
+they commonly meet, out of Rome, in the night) that the above mentioned
+propositions had been advanced, and advanced gravely, at the sight of
+two poor Capuchins; that the evidence was unexceptionable; and that
+they were therefore met to determine the quality of the proposition, and
+proceed against the delinquent.
+
+There are in each Inquisition twelve Counsellors, viz: four Divines,
+four Canonists, and four Civilians. It is chiefly the province of the
+divines to determine the quality of the proposition, whether it is
+heretical, or only savors of heresy; whether it is blasphemous and
+injurious to God and His saints or only erroneous, rash, schismatical,
+or offensive to pious ears. The part of the proposition, "Fools! if
+they think there is any merit in tormenting one's self," was judged and
+declared heretical, as openly contradicting the doctrine and practice of
+holy mother church recommending austerities as highly meritorious. The
+Inquisitor observed, on this occasion, that by the proposition, "Fools
+indeed" &c., were taxing with folly, not only the holy fathers, who had
+all to a man practised great austerities, but St. Paul himself as the
+Inquisitor understood it, adding that the practice of whipping one's
+self, so much recommended by all the founders of religious orders, was
+borrowed of the great apostle of the gentiles.
+
+The proposition being declared heretical, it was unanimously agreed by
+the board that the person who had uttered it should be apprehended, and
+proceeded against agreeably to the laws of the Inquisition. And now the
+person was named; for, till it is determined whether the accused person
+should or should not be apprehended, his name is kept concealed from
+the counsellors, lest they should be biased, says the directory, in
+his favor, or against him. For, in many instances, they keep up an
+appearance of justice and equity, at the same time that, in truth, they
+act in direct opposition to all the known laws of justice and equity.
+No words can express the concern and astonishment it gave me to hear,
+on such an occasion, the name of a friend for whom I had the greatest
+esteem and regard. The Inquisitor was apprised of it; and to give me an
+opportunity of practising what he had so often recommended to me, viz.
+conquering nature with the assistance of grace, he appointed me to
+apprehend the criminal, as he styled him, and to lodge him safe, before
+daylight, in the prison of the holy inquisition. I offered to excuse
+myself, but with the greatest submission, from being in any way
+concerned in the execution of that order; an order, I said, which I
+entirely approved of, but only wished it might be put in execution by
+some other person; for your lordship knows, I said, the connection. But
+the Inquisitor shocked at the word, said with a stern look and angry
+tone of voice, "What! talk of connections where the faith is concerned?
+There is your guard," (pointing to the Sbirri or bailiffs in waiting)
+"let the criminal be secured in St. Luke's cell," (one of the worst,)
+"before three in the morning." He then withdrew, and as he passed me
+said, "Thus, nature is conquered." I had betrayed some weakness or sense
+of humanity, not long before, in fainting away while I attended the
+torture of one who was racked with the utmost barbarity, and I had on
+that occasion been reprimanded by the Inquisitor for suffering nature
+to get the better of grace; it being an inexcusable weakness, as he
+observed, to be in any degree affected with the suffering of the body,
+however great, when afflicted, as they ever are in the Holy Inquisition,
+for the good of the soul. And it was, I presume, to make trial of the
+effect of that reprimand, that the execution of this cruel order was
+committed to me. As I could by no possible means decline it, I summoned
+all my resolution, after passing an hour by myself, I may say in the
+agonies of death, and set out a little after two in the morning for my
+unhappy friend's house, attended by a notary of the Inquisition, and six
+armed Sbirri. We arrived at the house by different ways and knocking
+at the door, a maid-servant looked out of the window, and asked who
+knocked. "The Holy Inquisition," was the answer, and at the same time
+she was ordered to awake nobody, but to come down directly and open the
+door, on pain of excommunication. At these words, the servant hastened
+down, half naked as she was, and having with much ado, in her great
+fright, opened the door, she conducted us as she was ordered to her
+master's chamber. She often looked very earnestly at me, as she knew me,
+and showed a great desire to speak with me; but of her I durst take no
+kind of notice. I entered the bed-chamber with the notary, followed by
+the Sbirri, when the lady awakening at the noise, and seeing the bed
+surrounded by armed men, screamed out aloud and continued screaming as
+out of her senses, till one of the Sbirri, provoked at the noise gave
+her a blow on the forehead that made the blood flow, and she swooned
+away. I rebuked the fellow severely, and ordered him to be whipped as
+soon as I returned to the Inquisition.
+
+In the mean time, the husband awakening, and seeing me with my
+attendants, cried out, in the utmost surprise, "MR. BOWER!" He said no
+more, nor could I for some time utter a single word; and it was with
+much ado that, in the end I so far mastered my grief as to be able
+to let my unfortunate friend know that he was a prisoner of the Holy
+Inquisition. "Of the Holy Inquisition!" he replied. "Alas I what have I
+done? My dear friend, be my friend now." He said many affecting things;
+but as I knew it was not in my power to befriend him, I had not the
+courage to look him in the face, but turning my back to him, withdrew,
+while he dressed, to a corner of the room, to give vent to my grief. The
+notary stood by, quite unaffected. Indeed, to be void of all humanity,
+to be able to behold one's fellow-creatures groaning under the most
+exquisite torments cruelty can invent, without being in the least
+affected with their sufferings, is one of the chief qualifications of
+an inquisitor, and what all who belong to the Inquisition must strive to
+attain to. It often happens, at that infernal tribunal, that while the
+unhappy, and probably innocent, person is crying out in their presence
+on the rack, and begging by all that is sacred for one moment's relief,
+in a manner one would think no human heart could withstand, it often
+happens, I say, that the inquisitor and the rest of his infamous crew,
+quite unaffected with his complaints, and deaf to his groans, to his
+tears and entreaties, are entertaining one another with the news of the
+town; nay, sometimes they even insult, with unheard of barbarity, the
+unhappy wretches in the height of their torment.
+
+To return to my unhappy prisoner. He was no sooner dressed than I
+ordered the Bargello, or head of the Sbirri, to tie his hands with
+a cord behind his back, as is practised on such occasions without
+distinction of persons; no more regard being paid to men of the first
+rank, when charged with heresy, than to the meanest offender. Heresy
+dissolves all friendship; so that I durst no longer look upon the man
+with whom I had lived in the greatest friendship and intimacy as my
+friend, or show him, on that account, the least regard or indulgence.
+
+As we left the chamber, the countess, who had been conveyed out of the
+room, met us, and screaming out in the most pitiful manner upon seeing
+her husband with his hands tied behind his back like a thief or robber,
+flew to embrace him, and hanging on his neck, begged, with a flood of
+tears, we would be so merciful as to put an end to her life, that she
+might have the satisfaction--the only satisfaction she wished for in
+this world, of dying in the bosom of the man from whom she had vowed
+never to part. The count, overwhelmed with grief, did not utter a single
+word. I could not find it in my heart, nor was I in a condition to
+interpose; and indeed a scene of greater distress was never beheld by
+human eyes. However, I gave a signal to the notary to part them, which
+he did accordingly, quite unconcerned; but the countess fell into a
+swoon, and the count was meantime carried down stairs, and out of the
+house, amid the loud lamentations and sighs of his servants, on all
+sides, for he was a man remarkable for the sweetness of his temper, and
+his kindness to all around him.
+
+Being arrived at the Inquisition, I consigned my prisoner into the
+hands of a gaoler, a lay brother of St. Dominic, who shut him up in the
+dungeon above-mentioned, and delivered the key to me. I lay that night
+at the palace of the Inquisition, where every counsellor has a room, and
+returned next morning the key to the inquisitor, telling him that his
+order had been punctually complied with. The inquisitor had been already
+informed of my conduct by the notary, and therefore, upon my delivering
+the key to him, he said, "You have acted like one who is at least
+desirous to overcome, with the assistance of grace, the inclinations of
+nature;" that is, like one who is desirous, by the assistance of grace,
+to metamorphose himself from a human creature into a brute or a devil.
+
+In the Inquisition, every prisoner is kept the first week of his
+imprisonment in a dark narrow dungeon, so low that he cannot stand
+upright in it, without seeing anybody but the gaoler, who brings him,
+EVERY OTHER DAY, his portion of bread and water, the only food allowed
+him. This is done, they say, to tame him, and render him, thus weakened,
+more sensible of the torture, and less able to endure it. At the end of
+the week, he is brought in the night before the board to be examined;
+and on that occasion my poor friend appeared so altered, in a week's
+time, that, had it not been for his dress, I should not have known him.
+And indeed no wonder; a change of condition so sudden and unexpected;
+the unworthy and barbarous treatment he had already met with; the
+apprehension of what he might and probably should suffer; and perhaps,
+more than anything else, the distressed and forlorn condition of his
+once happy wife, whom he tenderly loved, whose company he had enjoyed
+only six months, could be attended with no other effect.
+
+Being asked, according to custom, whether he had any enemies, and
+desired to name them, he answered, that he bore enmity to no man, and he
+hoped no man bore enmity to him. For, as in the Inquisition the person
+accused is not told of the charge brought against him, nor of the person
+by whom it is brought, the inquisitor asks him if he has any enemies,
+and desires him to name them. If he names the informer, all further
+proceedings are stopped until the informer is examined anew; and if the
+information is found to proceed from ill-will and no collateral proof
+can be produced, the prisoner is discharged. Of this piece of justice
+they frequently boast, at the same time that they admit, both as
+informers and witnesses, persons of the most infamous characters,
+and such as are excluded by all other courts. In the next place, the
+prisoner is ordered to swear that he will declare the truth, and conceal
+nothing from the holy tribunal, concerning himself or others, that he
+knows and the holy tribunal desires to know. He is then interrogated for
+what crime he has been apprehended and imprisoned by the Holy Court of
+the Inquisition, of all courts the most equitable, the most cautious,
+the most merciful. To that interrogatory the count answered, with a
+faint and trembling voice, that he was not conscious to himself of any
+crime, cognizable by the Holy Court, nor indeed by any other; that he
+believed and ever had believed whatever holy mother church believed or
+required him to believe. He had, it seems quite forgotten what he
+had unthinkingly said at the sight of the two friars. The inquisitor,
+therefore, finding that he did not remember or would not own his crime,
+after many deceitful interrogatories, and promises which he never
+intended to fulfil, ordered him back to his dungeon, and allowing him
+another week, as is customary in such cases, to recollect himself, told
+him that if he could not in that time prevail upon himself to declare
+the truth, agreeably to his oath, means would be found of forcing it
+from him; and he must expect no mercy.
+
+At the end of the week he was brought again before the infernal
+tribunal; and being asked the same questions, returned the same answers,
+adding, that if he had done or said anything amiss, unwittingly or
+ignorantly, he was ready to own it, provided the least hint of it were
+given him by any there present, which he entreated them most earnestly
+to do. He often looked at me, and seemed to expect--which gave me such
+concern as no words can express--that I should say something in his
+favor. But I was not allowed to speak on this occasion, nor were any of
+the counsellors; and had I been allowed to speak, I durst not have said
+anything in his favor; the advocate appointed by the Inquisition, and
+commonly styled, "The Devil's Advocate," being the only person that
+is suffered to speak for the prisoner. The advocate belongs to the
+Inquisition, receives a salary from the Inquisition, and is bound by an
+oath to abandon the defence of the prisoner, if he undertakes it, or not
+to undertake it, if he finds it cannot be defended agreeably to the laws
+of the Holy Inquisition; go that the whole is mere sham and imposition.
+I have heard this advocate, on other occasions, allege something in
+favor of the person accused; but on this occasion he declared that he
+had nothing to offer in defence of the criminal.
+
+In the Inquisition, the person accused is always supposed guilty, unless
+he has named the accuser among his enemies. And he is put to the torture
+if he does not plead guilty, and own the crime that is laid to his
+charge, without being so much as told what it is; whereas, in all other
+courts, where tortures are used, the charge is declared to the party
+accused before he is tortured; nor are they ever inflicted without
+a credible evidence of his guilt. But in the Inquisition, a man is
+frequently tortured upon the deposition of a person whose evidence would
+be admitted in no other court, and in all cases without hearing the
+charge. As my unfortunate friend continued to maintain his innocence,
+not recollecting what he had said, he was, agreeably to the laws of
+the Inquisition, put to the torture. He had scarcely borne it twenty
+minutes, crying out the whole time, "Jesus Maria!" when his voice failed
+him at once, and he fainted away. He was then supported, as he hung
+by his arms, by two of the Sbirri, whose province it is to manage the
+torture, till he returned to himself. He still continued to declare that
+he could not recollect his having said or done anything contrary to the
+Catholic faith, and earnestly begged they would let him know with what
+he was charged, being ready to own it if it was true.
+
+The Inquisitor was then so gracious as to put him in mind of what he had
+said on seeing the two Capuchins. The reason why they so long conceal
+from the party accused the crime he is charged with, is, that if he
+should be conscious to himself of his having ever said or done anything
+contrary to the faith, which he is not charged with, he may discover
+that too, imagining it to be the very crime he is accused of. After a
+short pause, the poor gentleman owned that he had said something to that
+purpose; but, as he had said it with no evil intention, he had never
+more thought of it, from that time to the present. He added, but with a
+voice so faint, as scarce could be heard, that for his rashness he was
+willing to undergo what punishment soever the holy tribunal should,
+think fit to impose on him; and he again fainted away. Being eased for
+a while of his torment, and returned to himself, he was interrogated by
+the promoter fiscal (whose business it is to accuse and to prosecute, as
+neither the informer nor the witnesses, are ever to appear,) concerning
+his intention. For in the Inquisition, it is not enough for the party
+accused to confess the fact, he must declare whether his intention was
+heretical or not; and many, to redeem themselves from the torments
+they, can no longer endure, own their intention was heretical, though
+it really was not. My poor friend often told us, he was ready to say
+whatever he pleased, but as he never directly acknowledged his intention
+to have been heretical, as is required by the rules of the court, he
+was kept on the torture still, quite overcome with the violence of the
+anguish, he was ready to expire. Being taken down, he was carried quite
+senseless, back to his dungeon, and there, on the third day, death put
+an end to his sufferings. The Inquisitor wrote a note to his widow, to
+desire her to pray for the soul of her late husband, and warn her not
+to complain of the holy Inquisition, as capable of any injustice or
+cruelty. The estate was confiscated to the Inquisition, and a small
+jointure allowed out of it to the widow. As they had only been
+married six months, and some part of the fortune was not yet paid, the
+inquisitor sent an order to the Constantini family, at Ferno, to pay the
+holy office, and without delay, what they owed to the late Count Della
+Torre. The effects of heretics are all ipso facto confiscated to the
+Inquisition from the very day, not of their conviction, but of their
+crime, so that all donations made after that time are void; and whatever
+they may have given, is claimed by the Inquisition, into whatsoever
+hands it may have passed; even the fortunes they have given to their
+daughters in marriage, have been declared to belong to, and are claimed
+by the Inquisition; nor can it be doubted, that the desire of those
+confiscations is one great cause of the injustice and cruelty of that
+court.
+
+The death of the unhappy Count Della Torre was soon publicly known; but
+no man cared to speak of it, not even his nearest relations, nor so much
+as to mention his name, lest anything should inadvertently escape them
+that might be construed into a disapprobation of the proceedings of the
+most holy tribunal; so great is the awe all men live in of that jealous
+and merciless court.
+
+The deep impression that the death of my unhappy friend, the barbarous
+and inhuman treatment he had met with, and the part I had been obliged
+to act in so affecting a tragedy, made on my mind, got at once the
+better of my fears, so that, forgetting in a manner the dangers I had
+till then so much apprehended, I resolved, without further delay to put
+in execution the design I had formed, of quitting the Inquisition, and
+bidding forever adieu to Italy. To execute that design with some safety,
+I proposed to beg leave to visit the Virgin of Loretto, but thirteen
+miles distant, and to pass a week there; but in the mean time, to make
+the best of my way out of the reach of the Inquisition.
+
+Having, therefore, after many conflicts with myself, asked leave to
+visit the neighboring sanctuary, and obtained it, I set out on horseback
+the very next morning, leaving, as I proposed to keep the horse, his
+full value with the owner. I took the road to Loretto, but turned out
+of it a short distance from Recanati, after a most violent struggle with
+myself, the attempt appearing to me at that juncture, quite desperate
+and impracticable; and the dreadful doom reserved for me should I
+miscarry, presented itself to my mind in the strongest light. But the
+reflection that I had it in my power to avoid being taken alive, and
+a persuasion that a man in my situation might lawfully avoid it, when
+every other means failed him, at the expense of his life, revived my
+staggered resolution; and all my fears ceasing at once, I steered my
+course, leaving Loretto behind me, to Rocca Contrada, to Fossonbrone, to
+Calvi in the dukedom of Urbino, and from thence through the Romagna into
+Bolognese, keeping the by-roads, and at a good distance from the cities
+through which the high road passed.
+
+Thus I advanced very slowly, travelling in very bad roads, and often in
+places where there was no road at all, to avoid, not only the cities,
+and towns, but also the villages. In the mean time I seldom had any
+other support but some coarse provisions, and a very small quantity
+even, of them, that the poor shepherds, the countrymen or wood cleavers
+I met in those unfrequented by-places, could spare me. My horse fared
+not much better than myself; but, in choosing my sleeping-place I
+consulted his convenience as much as my own, passing the night where I
+found most shelter for myself, and most grass for him. In Italy there
+are very few solitary farm-houses or cottages, the country people all
+living together in villages; and I thought it far safer to lie where I
+could be in any way sheltered, than to venture into any of them. Thus I
+spent seventeen days before I got out of the ecclesiastical state; and
+I very narrowly escaped being taken or murdered, on the very borders of
+that state; it happened thus.
+
+I had passed two whole days without any kind of subsistence whatever,
+meeting with no one in the by-roads that could supply me with any, and
+fearing to come near any house, as I was not far from the borders of the
+dominions of the Pope. I thought I should be able to hold out till I
+got into the Modanese, where I believed I should be in less danger than
+while I remained in the papal dominions. But finding myself, about noon
+of the third day, extremely weak and ready to faint away, I came into
+the high road that leads from Bologna to Florence, a few miles distant
+from the former city, and alighted at a post house, that stood quite
+by itself. Having asked the woman of the house whether she had any
+victuals, and being told that she had, I went to open the door of the
+only room in the house, (that being a place where gentlemen only stop
+to change horses,) and saw to my great surprise, a placard pasted on it,
+with a minute description of my whole person, sad a promise of a reward
+of 900 crowns (about 200 pounds English money) for delivering me up
+alive to the Inquisition, being a fugitive from that holy tribunal,
+and of 600 crowns for my head. By the same placard, all persons were
+forbidden, on pain of the greater excommunication, to receive or
+harbor, entertain, conceal, or screen me, or to be in any way aiding, or
+assisting me to make my escape. This greatly alarmed me, as the reader
+may well imagine; but I was still more frightened, when entering the
+room, I saw two fellows drinking there, who, fixing their eyes on me as
+soon as I went in, continued looking at me very steadfastly. I strove,
+by wiping my face and blowing my nose, and by looking out of the window,
+to prevent their having a full view of my features. But, one of
+them saying, "The gentleman seems afraid to be seen," I put up my
+handkerchief, and turning to the fellow, said boldly, "What do you mean
+you rascal? Look at me; am I afraid to be seen?" He said nothing, but
+looking again steadfastly at me, and nodding his head, went out, and
+his companion immediately followed him. I watched them, and seeing them,
+with two or three more, in close conference, and no doubt consulting
+whether they should apprehend me or not, I walked that moment into
+the stable, mounted my horse unobserved by them, and while they were
+deliberating in an orchard behind the house, rode off at full speed, and
+in a few hours got into the Modanese, where I refreshed both with food
+and rest, as I was there in no immediate danger, my horse and myself. I
+was indeed surprised to find that those fellows did not pursue me, nor
+can I in any other way account for it, but by supposing, what is not
+improbable, that, as they were strangers as well as myself, and had all
+the appearance of banditti or ruffians flying out of the dominions of
+the Pope, the woman of the house did not care to trust them with her
+horses. From the Modanese I continued my journey, more leisurely through
+the Parmesan, the Milanese, and part of the Venetian territory, to
+Chiavenna, subject to the Grisons, who abhor the very name of the
+Inquisition, and are ever ready to receive and protect all who, flying
+from it, take refuge, as many Italians do, in their dominions. Still
+I carefully concealed who I was, and whence I came, for, though no
+Inquisition prevails among the Swiss, yet the Pope's nuncio who resides
+at Lucerne, (a popish canton through which I was to pass,) might have
+persuaded the magistrate to stop me as an apostate and deserter from the
+order.
+
+Having rested a few days at Chiavenna, I resumed my journey quite
+refreshed, continuing it through the country of the Grisons, and the two
+small cantons of Ury and Underwald, to the canton of Lucerne. There
+I missed my way, as I was quite unacquainted with the country, and
+discovering a city at a distance, was advancing to it, but slowly, as I
+knew not where I was, when a countryman whom I met, informed me that the
+city before me was Lucerne. Upon that intelligence, I turned out of the
+road as soon as the countryman was out of sight, and that night I
+passed with a good natured shepherd in his cottage, who supplied me with
+sheep's milk, and my horse with plenty of grass. I set out early next
+morning, making my way westward, as I knew that Berne lay west of
+Lucerne. But, after a few miles, the country proved very mountainous,
+and having travelled the whole day over mountains I was overtaken among
+them by night. As I was looking out for a place where I might shelter
+myself during the night, against the snow and rain, (for it both snowed
+and rained,) I perceived a light at a distance, and making towards it,
+I got into a kind of foot-path, but so narrow and rugged that I was
+obliged to lead my horse, and feel my way with one foot, (having no
+light to direct me,) before I durst move the other. Thus, with much
+difficulty I reached the place where the light was, a poor little
+cottage, and knocking at the door, was asked by a man within who I was,
+and what I wanted? I answered that I was a stranger and had lost my way.
+"Lost your way!" exclaimed the man, "There is no way here to lose." I
+then asked him what canton I was in? and upon his answering that I was
+in the canton of Berne, I cried out transported with joy, "I thank God
+that I am." The good man answered, "And so do I." I then told him who I
+was, and that I was going to Berne but had quite lost myself by keeping
+out of all the high roads, to avoid falling into the hands of those
+who sought my destruction. He thereupon opened the door, received and
+entertained me with all the hospitality his poverty would admit of;
+regaled me with sour crout and some new laid eggs, the only provision
+he had, and clean straw with a kind of rug for a bed, he having no other
+for himself and wife. The good woman expressed as much good nature as
+her husband, and said many kind things in the Swiss language, which
+her husband interpreted to me in the Italian; for that language he well
+understood, having learned it in his youth, while servant in a public
+home on the borders of Italy, where both languages are spoken. I never
+passed a more comfortable night; and no sooner did I begin to stir in
+the morning, than the good man and his wife both came to know how
+I rested; and, wishing they had been able to accommodate me better,
+obliged me to breakfast on two eggs, which providence, they said, had
+sent them for that purpose. I took leave of the wife, who seemed most
+sincerely to wish me a good journey. As for the husband, he would by all
+means attend me to the high road leading to Berne; which road he said
+was but two miles distant from that place. But he insisted on my first
+going back with him, to see the way I had come the night before; the
+only way, he said, I could have possibly come from the neighboring
+canton of Lucerne. I saw it, and shuddered at the danger I had escaped;
+for I found I had walked and led my horse a good way along a very narrow
+path on the brink of a very dangerous precipice. The man made so
+many pertinent and pious remarks on the occasion, as both charmed and
+surprised me. I no less admired his disinterestedness than his piety;
+for, upon our parting, after he had attended me till I was out of all
+danger of losing my way, I could by no means prevail upon him to accept
+of any reward for his trouble. He had the satisfaction, he said, of
+having relieved me in the greatest distress, which was in itself a
+sufficient reward, and he wished for no other.
+
+Having at length got safe into French Flanders, I there repaired to the
+college of the Scotch Jesuits at Douay, and discovering myself to the
+rector, I acquainted him with the cause of my sudden departure from
+Italy, and begged him to give notice of my arrival, as well as the
+motives of my flight to Michael Angelo Tambuvini, general of the order,
+and my very particular friend.
+
+The rector wrote as I desired him, to the general, and he, taking no
+notice of my flight, in his answer, (for he could not disapprove, and
+did not think it safe to approve of it,) ordered me to continue where I
+was till further notice. I arrived at Douay early in May, and continued
+there till the beginning of July, when the rector received a second
+letter from the general, acquainting him that he had been commanded by
+the congregation of the Inquisition, to order me, wherever I was, back
+into Italy; to promise me, in their name, full pardon and forgiveness if
+I obeyed, but if I did not obey, to treat me as an apostate. He added,
+that the same order had been transmitted, soon after my flight, to
+the nuncios at the different Roman Catholic courts; and he, therefore,
+advised me to consult my own safety without further delay.
+
+Upon the receipt of the general's kind letter, the rector was of opinion
+that I should repair by all means, and without loss of time, to England,
+not only as the safest asylum I could fly to, in my present situation,
+but as a place where I should soon recover my native language, and be
+usefully employed, either there or in Scotland. The place being thus
+agreed on, and it being at the same time settled between the rector and
+me, that I should set out the very next morning, I solemnly promised, at
+his request and desire, to take no kind of notice, after my arrival
+in England, of his having been in any way privy to my flight, or the
+general's letter to him. This promise I have faithfully and honorably
+observed; and should have thought myself guilty of the blackest
+ingratitude if I had not observed it, being sensible that, had it been
+known at Rome, that, either the rector or general had been accessary to
+my flight, THE INQUISITION WOULD HAVE RESENTED IT SEVERELY IN BOTH. For
+although a Jesuit in France, in Flanders, or in Germany, is out of the
+reach of the Inquisition, the general is not; and the high tribunal not
+only have it in their power to punish the general himself, who resides
+constantly at Rome, but may oblige him to inflict what punishment they
+please on any of the order obnoxious to them.
+
+The rector went that very night out of town, and in his absence, but not
+without his privity, I took one of the horses of the college, early
+next morning, as if I were going for a change of air, being somewhat
+indisposed, to pass a few days at Lisle; but steering a different
+course, I reached Aire that night and Calais the next day. I was there
+in no danger of being stopped and seized at the prosecution of the
+Inquisition, a tribunal no less abhorred in France than in England.
+But being informed that the nuncios at the different courts had been
+ordered, soon after my flight, to cause me to be apprehended in Roman
+Catholic countries through which I must pass, as an apostate and
+deserter from the order, I was under no small apprehension of being
+discovered and apprehended as such even at Calais. No sooner, therefore,
+did I alight at the Inn, than I went down to the quay, and there as I
+was very little acquainted with the sea, and thought the passage much
+shorter than it is, I endeavored to engage some fishermen to carry me
+that very night, in one of their small vessels, over to England. This
+alarmed the guards of the harbor, and I should have been certainly
+apprehended as a person guilty, or suspected of some great crime,
+fleeing from justice, had not Lord Baltimore, whom I had the good luck
+to meet in the Inn, informed me of my danger, and pitying my condition,
+attended me that moment, with all his company, to the port, and conveyed
+me immediately on board his yacht. There I lay that night, leaving every
+thing I had but the clothes on my back, in the Inn; and the next day his
+Lordship set me ashore at Dover, from whence I came in the common stage
+to London.
+
+In the year 1706, the Inquisition at Arragon was broken up by the French
+troops, under the command of the Duke of Orleans. The Holy Inquisitors
+were driven from their beautiful house, and in answer to their indignant
+remonstrance were told that the king wanted the house to quarter his
+troops in, and they were therefore compelled to leave it immediately.
+The doors of the prisons were then thrown open, and among the four
+hundred prisoners who were set at liberty were sixty young women, very
+beautiful in person, and clad in the richest attire.
+
+Anthony Gavin, formerly one of the Roman Catholic priests of Saragossa,
+Spain, relates (in a book published by him after his conversion) that
+when travelling in France he met one of those women in the inn at
+Rotchfort; the son of the inn-keeper, formerly an officer in the French
+army, having married her for her great beauty and superior intelligence.
+In accordance with his request, she freely related to him the incidents
+of her prison life, from which we take the following extract:
+
+"Early the next morning, Mary got up, and told me that nobody was up
+yet in the house; and that she would show me the DRY PAN and the GRADUAL
+FIRE, on condition that I should keep it a secret for her sake as well
+as my own. This I promised, and she took me along with her, and showed
+me a dark room with a thick iron door, and within it an oven and a large
+brass pan upon it, with a cover of the same and a lock to it. The oven
+was burning at the time, and I asked Mary for what purpose the pan was
+there. Without giving me any answer, she took me by the hand and led
+me to a large room, where she showed me a thick wheel, covered on both
+sides with thick boards, and opening a little window in the center of
+it, desired me to look with a candle on the inside of it, and I saw all
+the circumference of the wheel set with SHARP RAZORS. After that she
+showed me a PIT FULL OF SERPENTS AND TOADS. Then she said to me, 'Now,
+my good mistress, I'll tell you the use of these things. The dry pan and
+gradual fire are for those who oppose the holy father's will, and for
+heretics. They are put naked and alive into the pan, and the cover of it
+being locked up, the executioner begins to put in the oven a small fire,
+and by degrees he augmenteth it, till the body is burned to ashes. The
+second is designed for those who speak against the Pope and the holy
+fathers. They are put within the wheel, and the door being locked, the
+executioner turns the wheel till the person is dead. The third is for
+those who contemn the images, and refuse to give the due respect and
+veneration to ecclesiastical persons; for they are thrown alive into the
+pit, and there they become the food of serpents and toads.' Then Mary
+said to me that another day she would show me the torments for public
+sinners and transgressors of the commandments of holy mother church;
+but I, in deep amazement, desired her to show me no more places; for the
+very thought of those three which I had seen, was enough to terrify me
+to the heart. So we went to my room, and she charged me again to be very
+obedient to all commands, for if I was not, I was sure to undergo the
+torment of the dry pan."
+
+Llorente, the Spanish historian and secretary-general of the
+Inquisition, relates the following incident: "A physician, Juan de
+Salas, was accused of having used a profane expression, twelve months
+before, in the heat of debate. He denied the accusation, and produced
+several witnesses to prove his innocence. But Moriz, the inquisitor at
+Valladolid, where the charge was laid, caused de Salas to be brought
+into his presence in the torture-chamber, stripped to his shirt, and
+laid on a LADDER or DONKEY, an instrument resembling a wooden trough,
+just large enough to receive the body, with no bottom, but having a
+bar or bars to placed that the body bent, by its own weight, into an
+exquisitely painful position. His head was lower than his heels, and the
+breathing, in consequence, became exceedingly difficult. The poor man,
+so laid, was bound around the arms and legs with hempen cords, each of
+them encircling the limb eleven times.
+
+"During this part of the operation they admonished him to confess the
+blasphemy; but he only answered that he had never spoken a sentence
+of such a kind, and then, resigning himself to suffer, repeated the
+Athanasian creed, and prayed to God and our Lady many times. Being
+still bound, they raised his head, covered his face with a piece of fine
+linen, and, forcing open the mouth, caused water to drip into it from an
+earthen jar, slightly perforated at the bottom, producing in addition
+to his sufferings from distension, a horrid sensation of choking. But
+again, when they removed the jar for a moment, he declared that he had
+never uttered such a sentence; and this he often repeated. They then
+pulled the cords on his right leg, cutting into the flesh, replaced the
+linen on his face, dropped the water as before, and tightened the cords
+on his right leg the second time; but still he maintained that he
+had never spoken such a thing; and in answer to the questions of his
+tormentors, constantly reiterated that he HAD NEVER SPOKEN THOSE WORDS.
+Moriz then pronounced that the said torture should be regarded as
+begun, but not finished; and De Salas was released, to live, if he could
+survive, in the incessant apprehension that if he gave the slightest
+umbrage to a familiar, he would be carried again into the same chamber,
+and be RACKED IN EVERY LIMB."
+
+Llorente also relates, from the original records, another case quite as
+cruel and unjust as the above. "On the 8th day of December, 1528, one
+Catalina, a woman of BAD CHARACTER, informed the inquisitors that,
+EIGHTEEN YEARS BEFORE she had lived in the house with a Morisco named
+Juan, by trade a coppersmith, and a native of Segovia; that she had
+observed that neither he nor his children ate pork or drank wine, and
+that, on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings they used to wash their
+feet, which custom, as well as abstinence from pork and wine, was
+peculiar to the Moors. The old man was at that time an inhabitant of
+Benevente, and seventy-one years of age. But the inquisitors at once
+summoned him into their presence, and questioned him at three several
+interviews. All that he could tell was, that he received baptism when he
+was forty-five years of age; that having never eaten pork or drunk wine,
+he had no taste for them; and that, being coppersmiths, they found it
+necessary to wash themselves thoroughly once a week. After some other
+examinations, they sent him back to Benevente, with prohibition to go
+beyond three leagues' distance from the town. Two years afterwards the
+inquisitor determined that he should be threatened with torture, IN
+ORDER TO OBTAIN INFORMATION THAT MIGHT HELP THEM TO CRIMINATE OTHERS.
+He was accordingly taken to Valladolid, and in a subterranean chamber,
+called the 'chamber, or dungeon, of torment,' stripped naked, and bound
+to the 'ladder.' This might well have extorted something like confession
+from an old man of seventy-one; but he told them that whatever he might
+say when under torture would be merely extorted by the extreme anguish,
+and therefore unworthy of belief; that he would not, through fear of
+pain, confess what had never taken place. They kept him in close prison
+until the next Auto de Fe, when he walked among the penitents, with a
+lighted candle in his hand, and, after seeing others burnt to death,
+paid the holy office a fee of four ducats, and went home, not acquitted,
+but released. He was not summoned again, as he died soon afterwards."
+
+It sometimes happened that an individual was arrested by mistake, and
+a person who was entirely innocent was tortured instead of the real or
+supposed criminal. A case of this kind Mr. Bower found related at length
+in the "Annals of the Inquisition at Macerata."
+
+"An order was sent from the high tribunal at Rome to all the inquisitors
+throughout Italy, enjoining them to apprehend a clergyman minutely
+described in that order. One Answering the description in many
+particulars being discovered in the diocese of Osimo, at a small
+distance from Macerata, and subject to that Inquisition, he was there
+decoyed into the holy office, and by an order from Rome SO RACKED AS TO
+LOSE HIS SENSES. In the mean time, the true person being apprehended,
+the unhappy wretch was dismissed, by a second order from Rome, but he
+never recovered the use of his senses, NOR WAS ANY CARE TAKEN OF HIM BY
+THE INQUISITION."
+
+It would be easy to fill a volume with such narratives as the above, but
+we forbear. We are not writing a history of the Inquisition. We simply
+wish to exhibit the true spirit by which the Romanists are actuated in
+their dealings with those over whom they have power. We therefore, in
+closing this chapter of horrors, beg leave to place before our readers
+one of the FATHERLY BENEDICTIONS with which, His Holiness, the Pope,
+dismisses his refractory subjects. Does it not show most convincingly
+what he would do here in America, if he had, among us, the power he
+formerly possessed in the old world, when the least inadvertent word
+might perchance seal the doom of the culprit?
+
+
+A POPISH BULL OK CURSE.
+
+"Pronounced on all who leave the Church of Rome. By the authority of God
+Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and the undefiled Virgin
+Mary, mother and patroness of our Saviour, and of all celestial virtues,
+Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim,
+and of all the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, and of all the Apostles and
+Evangelists, of the holy innocents, who in the sight of the holy Lamb
+are found worthy to sing the new song of the Holy Martyrs and Holy
+Confessors, and of all the Holy Virgins, and of all the Saints, together
+with the Holy Elect of God,--MAY HE BE DAMNED. We excommunicate and
+anathematize him, from the threshold of the holy church of God Almighty.
+We sequester him, that he may be tormented, disposed, and be delivered
+over with Datham and Abiram, and with those who say unto the Lord,
+'Depart from us, we desire none of thy ways;' as a fire is quenched with
+water, so let the light of him be put out forevermore, unless it shall
+repent him, and make satisfaction. Amen.
+
+"May the Father who creates man, curse him. May the Son, who suffered
+for us, curse him! May the Holy Ghost who is poured out in baptism,
+curse him! May the Holy Cross, which Christ for our salvation,
+triumphing over his enemies, ascended, curse him!
+
+"May the Holy Mary, ever Virgin and Mother of God, curse him! May all
+the Angels, Principalities, and Powers, and all heavenly Armies curse
+him! May the glorious band of the Patriarchs and Prophets curse him!
+"May St. John the Precursor, and St John the Baptist, and St. Peter
+and St Paul, and St. Andrew and all other of Christ's Apostles together
+curse him and may the rest of the Disciples and Evangelists who by their
+preaching converted the universe, and the Holy and wonderful company
+of Martyrs and Confessors, who by their works are found pleasing to God
+Almighty; may the holy choir of the Holy Virgins, who for the honor of
+God have despised the things of the world, damn him. May all the Saints
+from the beginning of the world to everlasting ages, who are found to be
+beloved of God, damn him!
+
+"May he be damned wherever he be, whether in the house or in the alley,
+in the woods or in the water, or in the church! May he be cursed in
+living or dying!
+
+"May he be cursed in eating and drinking, in being hungry, in being
+thirsty, in fasting and sleeping, in slumbering, and in sitting, in
+living, in working, in resting, and in blood letting! May he be cursed
+in all the faculties of his body!
+
+"May he be cursed inwardly and outwardly. May he be cursed in his hair;
+cursed be he in his brains, and his vertex, in his temples, in his
+eyebrows, in his cheeks, in his jaw-bones, in his nostrils, in his
+teeth, and grinders, in his lips, in his shoulders, in his arms, and in
+his fingers.
+
+"May he be damned in his mouth, in his breast, in his heart, and
+purtenances, down to the very stomach!
+
+"May he be cursed in his reins and groins, in his thighs and his hips,
+and in his knees, his legs and his feet, and his toe-nails!
+
+"May he be cursed in all his joints, and articulation of the members;
+from the crown of the head to the soles of his feet, may there be no
+soundness!
+
+"May the Son of the living God, with all the glory of his majesty, CURSE
+HIM! And may Heaven, with all the powers that move therein, rise
+up against him, and curse and damn him; unless he repent and make
+satisfaction! Amen! So be it. Be it so. Amen."
+
+Such was the CURSE pronounced on the Rev. Wm. Hogan, (a converted Roman
+Catholic priest) a few years since, in Philadelphia.
+
+As a further proof of the cruel, persecuting spirit of Catholicism, let
+us glance at a few extracts from their own publications.
+
+"Children," they say, "are obliged to denounce their parents or
+relations who are guilty of heresy; ALTHOUGH THEY KNOW THAT THEY WILL BE
+BURNT. They may refuse them all nourishment, and permit them to die
+with hunger; or they may KILL THEM as enemies, who violate the rights of
+humanity.--Escobar, Theolg. Moral, vol. 4, lib. 31, sec. 2, precept 4,
+prop. 5, p. 239."
+
+"A man condemned by the Pope, may be killed wherever he is found."--La
+Croix, vol. 1, p. 294.
+
+"Children may kill their parents, if they would turn their children
+from the Popish faith." "If a judge decide contrary to law, the injured
+person may defend himself by killing the judge."--Fangundez Precept
+Decal, vol. 1, lib. 4, chap. 2, p. 501, 655, and vol. 2, lib. 8, chap.
+32; p. 390.
+
+"To secretly kill your calumniator, to avoid scandal, is
+justifiable."--Ayrault, Cens. p. 319.
+
+"You may kill before hand, any person who may put you to death,
+not EXCEPTING THE JUDGE, AND WITNESSES, because it is
+self-defence."--Emanuel Sa. Aphor, p. 178.
+
+"A priest may kill those who hinder him from taking possession of any
+Ecclesiastical office."--Arnicus, Num, 131.
+
+"You may charge your opponent with false crime to take away his credit,
+as well as kill him."--Guimenius, prop, 8, p. 86.
+
+"Priests may kill the laity to preserve their goods."--Nolina, vol. 3,
+disput. 16, p. 1786.
+
+"You may kill any man to save a crown."--Taberna, Synop. Theol. Tract,
+pars. 2, chap. 27, p. 256.
+
+"BY THE COMMAND OF GOD IT IS LAWFUL TO MURDER THE INNOCENT, TO ROB, AND
+TO COMMIT ALL KIND OF WICKEDNESS, BECAUSE HE IS THE LORD OF LIFE
+AND DEATH, AND ALL THINGS; AND THUS TO FULFILL HIS MANDATE IS OUR
+DUTY."--Alagona, Thorn. Aquin, Sum. Theol. Compend, Quest. 94, p. 230.
+
+Again, in the Romish Creed found in the pocket of Priest Murphy, who was
+killed in the battle of Arklow, 1798, we find the following articles.
+"We acknowledge that the priests can make vice virtue, and virtue vice,
+according to their pleasure.
+
+"We are bound to believe that the holy massacre was lawful, and lawfully
+put into execution, against Protestants, and likewise WE ARE TO CONTINUE
+THE SAME, PROVIDED WITH SAFETY TO OUR LIVES!
+
+"We are bound not to keep our oaths with heretics, though bound by the
+most sacred ties. We are bound not to believe their oaths; for their
+principles are damnation. We are bound to drive heretics with fire,
+sword, faggot, and confusion, out of the land; as our holy fathers say,
+if their heresies prevail we will become their slaves. We are bound
+to absolve without money or price, those who imbrue their hands in
+the blood of a heretic!" Do not these extracts show very clearly that
+Romanism can do things as bad as anything in the foregoing narrative?
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX VI.
+
+ROMANISM OF THE PRESENT DAY.
+
+Whenever we refer to the relentless cruelties of the Romanists, we are
+told, and that, too, by the influential, the intelligent, those who are
+well-informed on other subjects, that "these horrid scenes transpired
+only in the 'dark ages;'" that "the civilization and refinement of the
+present age has so modified human society, so increased the milk of
+human kindness, that even Rome would not dare, if indeed she had the
+heart, to repeat the cruelties of by-gone days."
+
+For the honor of humanity we could hope that this opinion was correct;
+but facts of recent date compel us to believe that it is as false as it
+is ruinous to the best interests of our country and the souls of men.
+A few of these facts, gathered from unquestionable sources, and some of
+them related by the actors and sufferers themselves, we place before the
+reader.
+
+In November, 1854, Ubaldus Borzinski, a monk of the Brothers of Mercy,
+addressed an earnest petition to the Pope, setting forth the shocking
+immoralities practised in the convents of his order in Bohemia.
+He specifies nearly forty crimes, mostly perpetrated by priors and
+subpriors, giving time, place, and other particulars, entreating the
+Pope to interpose his power, and correct those horrible abuses.
+
+For sending this petition, he was thrown into a madhouse of the Brothers
+of Mercy, at Prague, where he still languishes in dreary confinement,
+though the only mark of insanity he ever showed was in imagining that
+the Pope would interfere with the pleasures of the monks.
+
+This Ubaldus has a brother, like minded with himself, also a member of
+the same misnamed order of monks, who has recently effected his escape
+from durance vile.
+
+John Evangelist Borzinski was a physician in the convent of the Brothers
+of Mercy at Prague. He is a scientific and cultivated man. By the
+study of the Psalms and Lessons from the New Testament, which make up
+a considerable part of the Breviary used in cloisters, he was first
+led into Protestant views. He had been for seventeen years resident in
+different cloisters of his order, as sick-nurse, alms gatherer,
+student, and physician, and knew the conventual life out and out. As he
+testifies: "There was little of the fear of God, so far as I could
+see, little of true piety; but abundance of hypocrisy, eye-service,
+deception, abuse of the poor sick people in the hospitals, such love
+and hatred as are common among the children of this world, and the most
+shocking vices of every kind."
+
+He now felt disgust for the cloister life, and for the Romish religion,
+and he sought, by the aid of divine grace, to attain to the new birth
+through the Word of God. Speaking of his change of views to a Prussian
+clergyman, he thus describes his conversion: "Look you, it was thus I
+became a Protestant. I found a treasure in that dustheap, and went away
+with it." This treasure he prized more and more. He then thought
+within himself, if these detached passages can give such light, what an
+illumination he must receive if he could read and understand the whole
+Bible.
+
+He did not, however, betray his dissatisfaction, but devoted himself
+to his professional duties with greater diligence. He might still have
+remained in the Order, his life hid with Christ in God, had not the
+hierarchy, under pretence of making reforms and restoring the neglected
+statutes of the Order, brought in such changes for the worse as led him
+to resolve to leave the order, and the Romish church as well. Following
+his convictions, and the advice of a faithful but very cautious
+clergyman, he betook himself to the territories of Prussia, where, on
+the 17th of January, 1855, he was received into the national church at
+Petershain, by Dr. Nowotny, himself formerly a Bohemian priest. This was
+not done till great efforts had been made to induce him to change his
+purpose, and also to get his person into the power of his adversaries.
+As he had now left the church of Rome, become an openly acknowledged
+member of another communion, he thought he might venture to return to
+his own country. Taking leave of his Prussian friends, to whom he had
+greatly endeared himself by his modesty and his lively faith, he went
+back to Bohemia, with a heart full of peace and joy.
+
+He lived for some time amidst many perplexities, secluded in the house
+of his parents at Prosnitz, till betrayed by some who dwelt in the same
+habitation. On the 6th of March he was taken out of bed, at eight, by
+the police, and conveyed first to the cloister in Prosnitz, where he
+suffered much abuse, and from thence to the cloister in Prague. Here the
+canon Dittrich, "Apostolical Convisitator of the Order of the Brothers
+of Mercy," justified all the inhuman treatment he had suffered, and
+threatened him with worse in case he refused to recant and repent.
+Dittrich not only deprived him of his medical books, but told him that
+his going over to Protestantism was a greater crime than if he had
+plundered the convent of two thousand florins. He was continually dinned
+with the cry, "Retract, retract!" He was not allowed to see his brother,
+confined in the same convent, nor other friends, and was so sequestered
+in his cell as to make him feel that he was forgotten by all the world.
+
+He managed, through some monks who secretly sympathized with him, to get
+a letter conveyed occasionally to Dr. Nowotny. These letters were filled
+with painful details of the severities practised upon him. In one of
+them he says, "My only converse is with God, and the gloomy walls around
+me." He was transferred to a cell in the most unwholesome spot, and
+infested with noisome smells not to be described. Close by him were
+confined some poor maniacs, sunk below the irrational brutes.
+
+Under date of April 23d he writes: "Every hour, in this frightful
+dungeon seems endless to me. For many weeks have I sat idle in this
+durance, with no occupation but prayer and communion with God." His
+appeals to civil authority and to the Primate of Hungary procured him no
+redress, but only subjected him to additional annoyances and hardships.
+His aged father, a man of four-score years, wept to see him, though of
+sound understanding, locked up among madmen; and when urged to make his
+son recant, would have nothing to do with it, and returned the same
+day to his sorrowful home. As he had been notified that he was to be
+imprisoned for life, he prayed most earnestly to the Father of mercies
+for deliverance; and he was heard, for his prayers and endeavors wrought
+together. The sinking of his health increased his efforts to escape;
+for, though he feared not to die, he could not bear the thought of dying
+imprisoned in a mad-house, where he knew that his enemies would take
+advantage of his mortal weakness to administer their sacraments to him,
+and give out that he had returned to the bosom of the church, or at
+least to shave his head, that he might be considered as an insane
+person, and his renunciation of Romanism as the effect of derangement
+of mind. Several plans of escape were projected, all beset with much
+difficulty and danger. The one he decided upon proved to be successful.
+
+On Saturday, the 13th of October, at half-past nine in the evening, he
+fastened a cord made of strips of linen to the grate of a window, which
+grate did not extend to the top. Having climbed over this, he lowered
+himself into a small court-yard. He had now left that part of the
+establishment reserved for the insane, and was now in the cloistered
+part where the brethren dwelt. But here his fortune failed him. He saw
+at a distance a servant of the insane approaching with a light; and
+with aching heart and trembling limbs, by a desperate effort, climbed
+up again. He returned to his cell, concealing his cord, and laid himself
+down to rest.
+
+On the following Monday, he renewed his efforts to escape. He lowered
+himself, as before, into the little court-yard; but being weak in health
+and much shaken in his nervous system by all he had suffered in body and
+mind, he was seized with palpitation of the heart and trembled all over,
+so that he could not walk a step. He laid down to rest and recover his
+breath. He felt as if he could get no further. "But," he says in his
+affecting narrative, "My dear Saviour to whom I turned in this time of
+need, helped me wonderfully. I felt now, more than ever in my life, His
+gracious and comforting presence, and believed, in that dismal moment,
+with my whole soul, His holy word;" "My grace is sufficient for thee;
+for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
+
+Borzinski now arose, pulled off his boots, and though every step was
+made with difficulty, he ascended the stairs leading to the first story.
+He went along the passage way until he came to a door leading into
+corridors where the cloister brethren lodged. But the trembling fit came
+over him again, with indescribable anguish, as he sought to open the
+door with a key with which he had been furnished. He soon rallied again,
+and, like a spectre, gliding by the doors of the brethren, who occupied
+the second and third corridors, many of whom had lights still burning,
+he came with his boots in one hand, and his bundle in the other, to
+a fourth passage way, in which was an outside window he was trying to
+reach. The cord was soon fastened to the window frame, yet still in
+bitter apprehension; for this window was seldom opened, and opened
+hard, and with some noise. It was also only two steps distant from the
+apartment of the cloister physician, where there was a light, and it was
+most likely that, on the first grating of the window, he would rush
+out and apprehend the fugitive. However the window was opened without
+raising any alarm, and now it was necessary to see that no one was
+passing below; for though the spot is not very much frequented, yet
+the streets cross there, and people approach it from four different
+directions. During these critical moments, one person and another kept
+passing, and poor Borzinski tarried shivering in the window for near a
+quarter of an hour before he ventured to let himself down. While he
+was waiting his opportunity he heard the clock strike the third quarter
+after nine and knew that he had but fifteen minutes to reach the house
+where he was to conceal himself, which would be closed at ten. When all
+was still, he called most fervently on the Saviour, and grasping the
+cord, slid down into the street. He could scarce believe his feet were
+on the ground. Trembling now with joy and gratitude rather than fear, he
+ran bareheaded to his place of refuge, where he received a glad welcome.
+Having changed his garb, and tarried till three o'clock in the morning,
+he took leave of his friends and passing through the gloomy old capital
+of Bohemia, he reached the Portzitscher Gate, in order to pass out
+as early as possible. Just then a police corporal let in a wagon, and
+Borzinski, passed out unchallenged. It is needless to follow him further
+in his flight. We have given enough, of his history to prove that
+conventual establishments are at this moment what they ever have
+been--dangerous alike to liberty and life. AMERICAN AND FOREIGN
+CHRISTIAN UNION.
+
+In place of labored arguments we give the following history of personal
+suffering as strikingly illustrative of the spirit of Romanism at the
+present day.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX VII
+
+NARRATIVE OP SIGNORINA FLORIENCIA D' ROMANI, A NATIVE OF THE CITY OF
+NAPLES.
+
+I was born in the year 1826, of noble and wealthy parents. Our mansion
+contained a small chapel, with many images, sacred paintings, and a
+neatly furnished mass altar. My father was a man of the world. He loved
+the society of fashionable men. As he lived on the rents and income
+of his estates, he had little to do, except to amuse himself with his
+friends. My mother, who was of as mild and sweet disposition, loved my
+father very dearly, but was very unhappy the most of the time because
+my father spent so much of his time in drinking with his dissolute
+companions, card playing, and in balls, parties, theatres, operas,
+billiards, &c. Father did not intend to be unkind to my mother, for he
+gave her many servants, and abundance of gold, horses, carriages and
+grooms, and said frequently in my hearing, that his wife should be as
+happy as a princess. Such was the state of society in Italy that men
+thought their wives had no just reason to complain, so long as they were
+furnished with plenty of food, raiment and shelter.
+
+One of my father's most intimate friends was the very Rev. Father
+Salvator, a Priest of the order of St. Francis; he wore the habit of
+the order, his head was about half shaved. The sleeves of his habit were
+very large at the elbow; in these sleeves he had small pockets, in which
+he usually carried his snuff box, handkerchief, and purse of gold. This
+priest was merry, full of fun and frolic; he could dance, sing, play
+cards, and tell admirably funny stories, such as would make even the
+devils laugh in their chains.
+
+Such was the influence and power this Franciscan had over my father and
+mother, that in our house, his word was law. He was our confessor, knew
+the secrets and sins, and all the weak points of every mind in the whole
+household. My own dear mother taught me to read before I was seven years
+of age. As I was the only child, I was much petted and caressed, indeed,
+such was my mother's affection for me that I was seldom a moment out of
+her sight. There was a handsome mahogany confessional in our own chapel.
+When the priest wanted any member of the household to come to him to
+confession, he wrote the name on a slate that hung outside the chapel
+door, saying that he would hear confessions at such a time to-morrow.
+Thus, we would always have time for the full examination of our
+consciences. Only one at a time was ever admitted into the chapel, for
+confessional duty, and the priest always took care to lock the door
+inside and place the key in his sleeve pocket. My mother and myself were
+obliged to confess once a week; the household servants, generally once a
+month. My father only once a year, during Lent, when all the inhabitants
+of seven years, and upwards, are obliged to kneel down to the priests,
+in the confessional, and receive the wafer God under the severest
+penalties. Woe to the individual who resists the ecclesiastical mandate.
+
+When I was about fourteen years of age, I was sent to the Ursuline
+Convent, to receive my education. My dear mother would have preferred
+a governess or a competent teacher to teach me at home but her will was
+but a mere straw in the hands of our confessor and priestly tyrant. It
+was solely at the recommendation of the confessor, that I was imprisoned
+four years in the Ursuline Convent. As my confessor was also the
+confessor of the convent, he called himself my guardian and protector,
+and recommended me to the special care of the Mother Abbess, and her
+holy nuns, the teachers, who spent much of their time in the school
+department. As my father paid a high price, quarterly, for my tuition
+and board, I had a good room to myself, my living was of the best kind,
+and I always had wine at dinner. The nuns, my teachers, took much more
+pains to teach me the fear of the Pope, bishops and confessors, than
+the fear of God, or the love of virtue. In fact, with the exception of a
+little Latin and embroidery, which I learned in those four years, I came
+out as ignorant as I was before, unless a little hypocrisy may be called
+a useful accomplishment. For, of all human beings on earth, none can
+teach hypocrisy so well as the Romish priests and nuns. In the school
+department young ladies seldom have much to complain of, unless they are
+charity scholars; in that case the poor girls have to put up with very
+poor fare, and much hard work, hard usage and even heavy blows; how my
+heart has ached for some of those unfortunate girls, who are treated
+more like brutes, than human beings, because they are orphans, and poor.
+Yet they in justice are entitled to good treatment, for thousands of
+scudi (dollars) are sent as donations to the convents for the support
+of these orphans, every year, by benevolent individuals. So that as poor
+and unfortunate as these girls are, they are a source of revenue to the
+convents.
+
+For the first three years of my convent life, I passed the time in
+the school department, without much anxiety of mind. I was gay and
+thoughtless, my great trouble was to find something to amuse myself,
+and kill time in some way. Though I treated all the school-mates with
+kindness, and true Italian politeness, I became intimate with only one.
+She was a beautiful girl, from the dukedom of Tuscany. She made me her
+confidant, and told me all her heart. Her parents were wealthy, and both
+very strict members of the Romish Church. But she had an aunt in the
+city of Geneva, who was a follower of John Calvin, or a member of the
+Christian church of Switzerland. This aunt had been yearly a visitor at
+her father's house. She being her father's only sister, an affectionate
+intimacy was formed between the aunt and niece. The aunt, being a very
+pious, amiable woman, felt it her duty to impress the mind of the niece,
+with the superiority of the religion of the holy bible over popish
+traditions; and the truth of the Scriptures soon found its way to the
+heart of my young friend. But her confessor soon found out that some
+change was going on in her mind, and told her father. There were
+only two ways to save her soul from utter ruin; one was to give her
+absolution and kill her before she got entirely out of the holy mother
+church; the other, was to send her to the Ursuline convent at Naples,
+where by the zeal and piety of those celebrated nuns, she might be
+secured from further heresy.
+
+From this, the best friend of my school days, I learned more about God's
+word, and virtue, and truth, and the value of the soul, than from all
+other sources. There was a garden surrounded by a high wall, in which we
+frequently walked, and whispered to each other, though we trembled all
+the while for fear our confessor would by some means, find out that we
+looked upon the Romish church as the Babylon destined to destruction,
+plainly spoken of by St. John the revelator.
+
+My young friend stood in great fear of the priests; she trembled at the
+very sight of one.
+
+Her aunt had read to her the history and sufferings of the persecuted
+Protestants of Europe. She was a frail, and timid girl, yet such was the
+depth of her piety and the fervor of her religious faith, that she often
+declared to me that she would prefer death to the abandonment of those
+heavenly principles she had embraced, which were the source of her
+joy and hope. Her aunt gave her a pocket New Testament, in the Italian
+language, which she prized above all the treasures of earth, and carried
+with her carefully, wherever she went. I borrowed it and read it every
+opportunity I had. Several chapters I learned by heart. I took much
+pains to commit to memory all I could of the blessed book, for in
+case of our separation, I knew not where I could obtain another. My
+god-father who was a bishop, called to see me on my fifteenth birth day,
+and presented me with a splendid gold watch and chain richly studded
+with jewels, made in England, and valued at 200 scudi, saying that
+he had it imported expressly for my use. I had also several diamond
+articles of jewelry, presents I had received from my father from time to
+time. I had also, in my purse, 100 scudi in gold, which I had saved from
+my pin money. All the above property, I should have cheerfully given for
+a copy of the Holy Bible, in my own beautiful Italian language. A few
+months after I received the rich present from the Bishop, he called with
+my father and my confessor to see me. My heart almost came into my mouth
+when I saw them alight from my father's carriage, and enter the chapel
+door of the convent. Very soon the lady porter came to me and said,
+"Signorina, you are wanted in the parlor."
+
+As my Tuscan friend had taught me to pray, and ask the Lord Jesus for
+grace and strength, I walked into my room, locked the door, and on my
+knees, called upon the Lord to save me from becoming a nun--for I
+knew then it was a determination on the part of the Abbess, bishop
+and confessor, that I should take the veil. I was the only child, and
+heiress of an immense fortune, of course, too good a prize to be lost.
+After a short and fervent prayer to my Lord and Saviour, I walked down
+to see what was to be my doom. I kissed my father's cheek, and kissed
+the hands of the Bishop and confessor--yet my very soul revolted
+from the touch of these whited sepulchres. All received me with great
+cordiality, yea, even more than usual affection. Soon after our meeting,
+my father asked permission of the Bishop to speak to me privately and
+taking me into a small room, said to me, "My dear daughter, you are not
+aware of the great misfortune that has recently come upon your father.
+While I was excited with wine at the card-table last evening, betting
+high and winning vast sums of money, I so far forgot myself and my duty
+to the laws of the country, that I called for a toast, and induced
+a number of my inebriated companions to drink the health of Italian
+liberty, and we all drank and gave three cheers for liberty and a
+liberal constitution. A Benedictine Friar being present, took all our
+names to the Commissary General, and offered to be a witness against
+us in the King's Court. As this is my first and only offence, the holy
+Bishop your god-father offers on certain conditions, to visit Rome
+immediately on my behalf, and secure the mediation of the holy Father
+Pius IX. Your venerable god-father has great influence at Rome, being
+a special favorite with his holiness, and his holiness can obtain any
+favor he asks of King Ferdinand. So if you will only consent to take the
+Black Veil, your father will be saved from the State prison."
+
+This was terrible news to my young and palpitating heart. It was the
+first heavy blow that I had experienced in this vale of tears. I did not
+speak for some minutes; I could not. My trembling bosom heaved like the
+waves of the ocean before the blast. My veins were almost bursting; my
+hands and feet became as cold as marble, and when I attempted to speak
+my words seemed ready to choke me to death. I thought my last hour had
+come. I fell upon my knees and called upon God for mercy and help. My
+father, thinking I had gone mad, was greatly alarmed. The Bishop
+and confessor, who were anxiously waiting the result of my father's
+proposition, hearing my father weep and sob aloud, came in to see what
+the matter was. In the midst of my prayer, I fainted away, and became
+entirely unconscious. When I came to myself, I found myself on the bed.
+As I opened my eyes, it all seemed like a dream. The abbess spoke to me
+very kindly, and sprinkled my bed with holy water, and at the same time
+laid a large bronze crucifix on my breast, saying that Satan must be
+driven from my soul, for had it not been for the devil, I would have
+leaped for joy, and not fainted when father mentioned the black veil.
+"No," said the holy mother, "had it not been for the devil you would
+rejoice to take the holy black veil blessed by the Holy Madonna and the
+blessed saints Clara and Theresa. It is a holy privilege that very few
+can enjoy on earth. Yea, my daughter, there can not be a greater sin
+in the sight of the Madonna and the blessed saints, than to reject a
+secluded life. Yea," said the crafty old nun, (who was thinking much
+more about my gold, than my soul,) "I never knew a young lady who had
+the offer of becoming a nun and rejected it, who ever came to a good
+end. If they refuse, and marry, they generally die in child-bed with the
+first child, or they will marry cruel husbands, who beat them and kill
+them by inches. Therefore, dear daughter, let me most affectionately
+warn you as you have had the honor of being selected by the holy Bishop
+and our holy confessor to the high dignity and privilege of a professed
+nun, of the order of St. Ursula, reject it not at your peril. Be
+assured, heaven knows how to punish such rebellion."
+
+My head ached so violently at the time, and I was so feverish that I
+begged the old woman to send for my mother, and to talk to me no more on
+the subject of the black veil, but to drop it until some future time. In
+my agony on account of the foul plot against my liberty, my virtue, and
+my gold, I felt such a passion of rage come upon me, that had I absolute
+power for the moment I would have cast every Abbess, Pope, Bishop and
+Priest into the bottomless pit. May the Lord forgive me, but I would
+have done it at that time with a good will. The greatest comfort I now
+had was reading my Tuscan friend's New Testament, or hearing it read by
+her when we had a chance to be by ourselves, which was not very often.
+In the evening of the same day of my illness, father and mother came to
+see me, and Satan came also in the shape of the confessor; so that I
+had not a moment alone with my dear parents. The confessor feared my
+determined opposition to a convent's life, for he had previous to this,
+several times in the confessional, dropped hints to me on the great
+happiness, purity, serenity and joy of all holy nuns. But I always told
+him I would not be a nun for the world. I should be so good, it would
+kill me in a short time. "No, no, father," said I, "I WILL NOT BE A
+NUN."
+
+Father spoke to me again of his great misfortune--told me that his trial
+would come on in a few days and that he was now at liberty on a
+very heavy bail; that the Bishop was only waiting my answer to start
+immediately for the holy city, and throw himself at the feet of the holy
+Pope to procure father's unconditional pardon from the King. I said
+"my dear father, how long will you be imprisoned if you do not get a
+pardon?" "From two to five years," he replied. "My daughter, it is
+my first offence, and I have witnesses to prove that the priest who
+appeared against me, urged me to drink wine several times after I had
+drank a large quantity, and was the direct cause of my saying what
+I did." Now it all came to me, that the whole of it was a plot, a
+Jesuitical trick, to get my father in the clutches of the law, and then
+make a slave of me for life through my sympathy for my dear father.
+
+The vile priests knew that I loved my father most ardently; in fact, my
+father and mother were the only two beings on earth that I did love. My
+mother I loved most tenderly, but my affection for my father was of a
+different kind. I loved him most violently, with all the ardor of my
+soul. Mother seemed all the home to me; but father was to me all the
+world beside. My father was all the brother I had. He would frequently
+come home, and get me to go out into the garden and play with him,
+just as though he was my brother. There we would swing, run, jump and
+exercise in several healthy games, common in our climate. He never gave
+me an unkind word or an unkind reproof. If I did say anything wrong, he
+would take me to my mother and say, "Clara, here I bring you a prisoner,
+let her be kept on bread and water till dinner time." Even when mother
+had displeased him about some trifle, so that he had not a smile for
+her, he always had a smile for his Flora. Even now, while I write, a
+chill comes over my frame, while I think of that vile Popish plot. I
+said to my father, "You shall not be imprisoned if I can prevent it; at
+the same time I do not see any great gain, comfort or profit in having
+your only daughter put in prison for life, without the hope of liberty
+ever more, to save you from two years imprisonment."
+
+At these words, the eyes of the confessor flashed like lurid lightnings;
+his very frame shook, as though he had the fever and ague. Truth seemed
+so strange to the priest, that he found it hard of digestion. Father
+and mother both wept, but made no reply. The idea of putting their only
+child in a dungeon for life, though it might be done in the sacred name
+of religion, did not seem to give them much comfort "Father," said I, "I
+wish to see you at ten o'clock to-morrow morning, without fail--I wish
+to see you alone; don't bring mother or any one else with you. You shall
+not go to prison, all will yet be well." On account of this reasonable
+request, to see my father alone, the confessor arose in a terrible rage
+and left the apartment As quick as the mad priest left us to ourselves,
+I told my father my plan, or what I would like to do with his
+permission. My plan was, for my mother and myself to get into our
+carriage and drive to the palace of King Ferdinand and make him
+acquainted with all the truth; for I was aware from what I had heard,
+that the King had heard only the priest's side of the story. My father
+stood in such fear of the priests that he only consented to my plan with
+great reluctance, saying that we ought first to make our plan known to
+the confessor, lest he should be offended. To this my mother responded,
+saying, "My daughter, it would be very wrong for us to go to the King,
+or take any step without the advice of our spiritual guide." Here,
+I felt it to be my duty to reveal to my deceived parents some of the
+secrets of the confessional, though I might, in their estimation,
+be guilty of an unpardonable sin by breaking the seal of iniquity. I
+revealed to my parents the frequent efforts of the priest to obtain my
+consent to take the veil, and that I had opposed from first to last,
+every argument made use of to rob me of the society of my parents, of my
+liberty, and of everything I held dear on earth. As to the happiness of
+the nuns so much talked of by the priests, from what I had seen in their
+daily walk and general deportment, I was fully convinced that there was
+no reality in it; they were mere slaves to their superiors, and not half
+so happy as the free slaves on a plantation who have a kind master. My
+parents saw my determination to resist to the death every plan for my
+imprisonment in the hateful nunnery. Therefore they promised that I
+should have the opportunity to see the King on the morrow in company
+with my mother.
+
+On the following day, at twelve o'clock, we left the convent in our
+carriage for the palace. We were very politely received by the gentleman
+usher, who conducted us to seats in the reception-room. After sending
+our cards to the king, we waited nearly one hour before he made his
+appearance. His majesty received us with much kindness, raised us
+immediately from our knees, and demanded our business. I was greatly
+embarrassed at first, but the frank and cordial manner of the sovereign
+soon restored me to my equilibrium, and I spoke freely in behalf of my
+dear father. The king heard me through very patiently, with apparent
+interest, and said, "Signorina, I am inclined to believe you have spoken
+the truth; and as your father has always been a good loyal subject, I
+shall, for your sake, forgive him this offence; but let him beware that
+henceforth, wine or no wine, he does not trespass against the laws
+of the kingdom, for a second offence I will not pardon. Go in peace,
+signoras, you have my royal word."
+
+We thanked his majesty, and returned to our home with the joyful
+tidings. O, how brief was our joy! My father, who had been waiting the
+result of our visit to the palace with great impatience, received us
+with open arms, and pressed us to his heart again and again.
+
+I was so excited that, long before we got to him, I cried out, "All is
+well, all is well, father. A pardon from the king! Joy, joy!" We drove
+home, and father went immediately to spread the happy news amongst
+his friends. All our faithful domestics, including my old affectionate
+nurse, were so overjoyed at the news that they danced about like
+maniacs. My father was always a very indulgent and liberal master,
+furnished his servants with the best of Italian fare, plenty of
+fresh beef, wine, and macaroni. We had scarcely got rested, when our
+tormenter, the confessor, came into our room and said, "Signoras, what
+is the meaning of all this fandango and folly amongst the servants? ARE
+THE HERETICS ALL KILLED, that there should be such joy, or has the queen
+been delivered of a son, an heir to the throne?"
+
+My dear mother was now as pale as death, and silent, for she saw that
+the priest was awfully enraged; for, although he feigned to smile, his
+smile was similar to that of the hyena when digging his prey out of
+the grave. The priest's dark and villainous visage had the effect of
+confirming in my mother's mind all the truth regarding the plot to
+enslave me for life, and secure all my father's estate to the pockets
+of the priests. The confessor was now terribly mad, for two obvious
+reasons: one was because he was not received by us with our usual
+cordiality and blind affection; the other, because, by the king's
+pardon, I was not under the necessity to sacrifice my liberty and
+happiness for life to save my father from prison; and what tormented him
+the most was, that he believed that I, though young, could understand
+and thwart his hellish plans. As my mother trembled and was silent,
+fearing the priest was cursing her and her only daughter in his
+heart,--for the priests tell such awful stories about the effects of a
+priest's curse that the great mass of the Italian people fear it more
+than the plague or any earthly misfortune.
+
+The popish priests declare that St. Peter is the doorkeeper of the great
+city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, that he has the keys of the kingdom
+of heaven, and has received strict orders not to admit any soul, under
+any circumstances, who has been cursed by a holy priest, unless that
+curse has been removed by the same priest in the tribunal of penance. I
+was obliged to speak to his reverence, and I felt so free, so happy in
+Christ as my only hope, that I opened my mind to the priest very freely,
+and told him what I thought of him and his plot. "Sir priest," said I,
+"I shall never return to the convent to stay long. As soon as the time
+for my education ends, I shall return to liberty and domestic life. I
+am not made of the proper material to make a nun of. I love the social
+domestic circle; I love my father and mother, and all our domestics,
+even the dogs and the cats, pigeons, and canaries, the fish-ponds,
+play-grounds, gardens, rivers, and landscapes, mountain and ocean,--all
+the works of God I love. I shall live out of the convent to enjoy these
+things; therefore, reverend sir, if you value my peace and good-will,
+never speak to me or my parents on the subject of my becoming a nun in
+any convent. I shall prefer death to the loss of my personal liberty."
+
+I was so decided, and had received such strength and grace from heaven,
+that the priest was dumbfounded,--my smooth stone out of the sling
+had hit him in the right place. After much effort to appear bland and
+good-natured, he drew near my chair, seized my hand, and said, "My dear
+daughter, you mistake me. I love you as a daughter, I wish only your
+happiness. Your god-father, the holy Bishop, does not intend that you
+shall remain a common nun more than a year. After the first year you
+shall be raised to the highest dignity in the convent. You shall be the
+Lady Superior, and all the nuns shall bow at your feet, and implicitly
+obey your commands.
+
+"The Lady Superior of St. Clara is now very old, and his lordship wishes
+soon to fill her place. For that purpose he has selected his adopted
+daughter. Your talents, education, wealth, and high position in society,
+eminently fit you for one of the highest dignities on earth."
+
+"A thousand thanks for the kindness of my lord Bishop," said I; "but
+your reverence has not altered my mind in the least. I can never bow
+down to the feet of any Lady Superior, neither will I ever consent to
+see a single human being degraded at my feet. The holy Bible says, 'Thou
+shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.'" "Bible,
+my daughter!" exclaimed the priest, "Where did you see that dangerous
+book? Know you not that his holiness the Pope has placed it in the
+Index Expurgatorius, because it has been the means of the damnation of
+millions of souls? Not because it is in itself a bad book, but because
+it is a theological work, prepared only for the priests and ministers of
+our holy religion. Therefore, it is always a very dangerous book in
+the hands of women or laymen, who wrest the Scriptures to their own
+destruction."
+
+"Well, reverend sir," I replied, "you seem determined to differ from the
+Lord Jesus and his apostles. I read in the New Testament that we should
+search the Scriptures because they testify of Christ. And one of the
+apostles, I don't remember which, said, 'all scripture is given by the
+inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine and for instruction
+in righteousness.' Now, reverend sir, if the people have souls, as well
+as the priests, why should they not read the word of God which speaks of
+Christ and is profitable for instruction?"
+
+"You are almost a heretic!" exclaimed the priest, "and you talk very
+much like one." His countenance changed to a pale sickly hue, as he
+said, "My daughter, where did you get that dangerous book? If you have,
+it in your possession, give it to me, and I will bless you, and pray for
+you to the blessed Madonna that she may save you from the infernal pit
+of heresy."
+
+"I do not own the blessed book," said I, "but I wish I did. I would give
+one hundred scudi in gold for a copy of the New Testament. I borrowed a
+copy from a friend, and returned it to the owner again. But I understand
+that there are copies to be had in London, and when I have a good
+opportunity I shall send for a copy, if I can do it unbeknown to any
+one."
+
+"Enough, enough!" exclaimed the priest. "I shall be in the tribunal of
+penance at six o'clock P.M.; there I shall expect to meet you. You need
+pardon immediately, and spiritual advice. Should you die as you now are
+without absolution, you would be lost and damned forever. I tremble for
+you, my dear daughter, seeing that the devil has got such a powerful
+hold of you. It may even be absolutely necessary to kill the body to
+save your soul; for should you relapse again into heresy after due
+penance for this crime has been performed, it would be impossible to
+renew you again to repentance, seeing you crucify the Lord and the
+Madonna afresh, and put them to an open shame."
+
+Here my mother fainted and shook like an aspen leaf. But God gave me
+strength, and I said in a moment that as his reverence thought my sins
+so great, I would not go to any man, no, not even to the Pope; I
+would go to God alone, and leave my cause in his hands, life or death.
+"Therefore, reverend sir, I shall save you from all further trouble in
+attending the confessional any more on my account. From henceforth no
+earthly power shall drag me alive and with my consent to the tribunal of
+penance."
+
+"Woman!" exclaimed the priest furiously, "are you mad? There are ten
+thousand devils in you, and we must drive them out by some means." After
+this discharge of priestly venom, the priest left in a rage giving the
+door a terrible slam, which awoke my mother from her sorrowful trance.
+During the whole conversation, such was the electrical power of the
+priest over my mother's weak and nervous system, that if she attempted
+to say a word in my behalf, the keen, snakish black eye of the priest
+would at once make her tremble and quail before him, and the half
+uttered word would remain silent on her lips. The priest went at once
+in search of my father. He came home boiling over with rage, saying he
+wished I had never been born. He cursed the day of my birth. The
+cause of all this paternal fury upon my poor devoted head was the foul
+misrepresentations of my father confessor, who was now in league with
+the Bishop, both determined to shut me up in a prison convent, or end my
+mortal career.
+
+My poor mother remained mute and heart-broken. My sweet mother; never
+did she utter one word of unkindness to me; her very look to the last
+was one of gentleness and love. But my father loved honor and reputation
+amongst men above all other things. The idea of being the father of an
+accursed heretic, tormented his pride, and he being suspected of heresy
+himself caused him to be forsaken by many of his proud friends and
+acquaintances. He was even insulted in the streets by the numerous
+Lazaroni, with the epithet of Maldito Corrobonari, so that I lost my
+father's love. And when the confessor told him there was no other way
+to save me from hell than an entire life of penance in a convent, he
+heartily and freely gave his consent. Mother, my own sweet mother, my
+only remaining friend, turned as pale as death, but was enabled to say a
+word in my behalf.
+
+I saw that my earthly doom was sealed; there was not a single voice in
+all Naples to save me from imprisonment for life. Not a tongue in four
+hundred thousand that would dare speak one word in my behalf. Father
+commanded me to get ready to leave his house forever that very night,
+saying the carriage and confessor would be on hand to take me away at
+eight o'clock P.M., by moonlight. I got on my knees and begged my father
+as a last request that he would allow me to remain three days with my
+mother, but he refused. Said he, "That is now beyond my power. Not an
+hour can you remain after eight o'clock."
+
+As I knew not when I should see my Tuscan friend again, I begged the
+privilege of seeing her for a few moments. I was anxious to ask her
+prayers and sympathy, and to put her on her guard, for should the
+priests discover her New Testament, they would punish her as they did
+me, or as they intended to do to me. But this favor was denied me, and I
+could not write to her, for all letters of the scholars in the
+convents, are opened under the pretence to prevent them from receiving
+love-letters. The Romish church keeps all her dark plans a secret, but
+never allows any secret to be kept from the priests.
+
+I went into my room to bid farewell to my home forever. I fell on my
+knees and prayed to God for his dear Son's sake to help me, to give me
+patience, and to keep me from the sin of suicide. The more I thought
+of my utterly unprotected situation and of the savage disposition of my
+foes, the priests, the more I thought of the propriety of taking my own
+life, rather than live in a dungeon all my days. Such was the power of
+superstition over our domestics that they looked upon me as one accursed
+of the church, a Protestant heretic, and not one of them would take my
+hand or bid me good bye. At tea-time I was not allowed to sit at table
+with father, mother, and the confessor, as formerly. But I had my supper
+sent up to my room.
+
+A short time after the bell rang for vespers, the carriage being ready,
+my father and the confessor with myself and one small trunk got into the
+best seats inside, and rode off at a rapid rate. I kept my veil over my
+face, and said not a word neither did I shed a single tear; my sorrow,
+and indignation was too deep for utterance or even for tears. The priest
+and my father uttered not a word. Perhaps my father's conscience
+made him ashamed of such vile work--that of laying violent hands on a
+defenceless girl of eighteen years of age, for no crime whatever, only
+the love of liberty and pure Bible religion. But if the priest was
+silent, his vile countenance indicated a degree of hellish pleasure and
+satisfaction. Never did piratical captain glory more in seeing a rich
+prize along side with all hands killed and out of the way, than my
+reverend confessor; yet a short time before he said he loved me as a
+daughter. Yes, he did love me, as the wolf loves the lamb, as the cat
+loves the mouse and as the boa constrictor the beautiful gazelle. To
+my momentary satisfaction we entered the big gate of St. Ursula, for
+although I knew I should suffer there perhaps even death, there was some
+satisfaction in seeing a few faces that I had seen in my gay and happy
+days, now alas! forever gone by! I was somewhat grieved by the cold
+reception I received. All seemed to look upon me with horror. But none
+of these things moved me; I looked to God for strength, for I felt that
+He alone could nerve me for the conflict. The hardest blow of all was,
+my dear father left me at the mercy of the priest without one kind look
+or word. He did not even shake hands with me, nor did he say farewell.
+
+Oh Popery, what a mysterious power is thine! Thou canst in a few hours
+destroy powerful love which it took long years to cement in loving
+hearts. When my father had left and I heard the porter lock the heavy
+iron gate I felt an exquisite wretchedness come over me. I would have
+given worlds for death at that moment. In a few moments the priest rung
+a bell, and the old Jezebel the mother Abbess made her appearance. "Take
+this heretic, Holy Mother, and place her in confinement in the lower
+regions; GIVE HER BREAD AND WATER ONCE IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, THE WATER
+THAT YOU HAVE WASHED YOUR SACRED FEET IN, NO OTHER; give her straw
+to sleep on, but no pillow. Take all her clothing away and give her a
+coarse tunic; one single coarse garment to cover her nakedness, but no
+shoes. She has grievously sinned against the holy mother church, and now
+she mercifully imposes upon her years of severe penance, that her body
+of sin may be destroyed and her soul saved after suffering one million
+of years in holy purgatory. Our chief duty now, holy mother, in order
+to save this lost soul from mortal sin will be to examine her carefully
+every, day to ascertain if possible what she most dislikes, or what
+is most revolting to her flesh, that whatever it may be, she, must be
+compelled to perform it whatever it may cost. Let a holy wax candle burn
+in her cell at night, until further orders. And let the Tuscan heretic
+be treated in the same way. They are both guilty of the same crimes." At
+the word "Tuscan heretic," possessing the spirit of Christ that I knew
+on earth. Yet how true it is that misery loves company; there was even
+satisfaction in being near my unfortunate friend though our sufferings
+might be unutterable. Still I was unhappy in the thought that she was
+suffering on my account. Had I never said a word about borrowing a New
+Testament, she would never have been suspected as being the direct
+cause of my conversion to the truth, and of my renunciation of the vile
+confessional.
+
+I was somewhat puzzled to know what kind of a place was meant by the
+lower regions; I had never heard of these regions before. But soon two
+women in black habits with their faces entirely covered excepting
+two small holes for the eyes to peep through, came to me and without
+speaking, made signs for me to follow them. I did so without resistance,
+and soon found myself in an under-ground story of the infernal building.
+"There is your cell," said the cowled inquisitors, "look all around, see
+every thing, but speak not; no not for your life. The softest whisper
+will immediately reach the ears of the Mother Abbess, and then you are
+loaded with heavy chains until you die, for there must be no talking
+or whispering in this holy retreat of penance. And," said my jailor
+further, "take off your clothes, shoes and stockings, and put on this
+holy coarse garment which will chafe thy flesh but will bless thy soul.
+Holy St. Francis saved many souls by this holy garment."
+
+As resistance was worse than useless, I complied, and soon found my poor
+feet aching with the cold on the bare stone floor. I was soon made to
+feel the blessing of St. Francis with a vengeance. My sufferings were
+indescribable. It seemed as though ten thousand bees had stung me in
+every part. I never closed my eyes for several nights. I laid on my
+coarse straw and groaned and sighed for death to come and relieve me of
+my anguish. As soon as the holy wax candle was left with me I took it
+in my hand and went forth to survey my dungeon; but I did not enjoy
+my ramble. In one of the cells, I found my Tuscan friend--that dear
+Christian sister--in great agony, having had on the accursed garment for
+several days. Her body was one entire blister, and very much inflamed.
+Her bones were racked with pain, as with the most excruciating
+inflammatory rheumatism. We recognized each other; she pointed to heaven
+as if to say 'trust in the Lord, my sister, our sufferings will soon
+be over.' I kissed my hand to her and returned again to my cell. I
+saw other victims half dead and emaciated that made my heart sick. I
+refrained from speaking to any one for I feared my condition, wretched
+as it was, might be rendered even worse, if possible by the fiends who
+had entire power over me. "O my God!" said I to myself, "why was I born?
+O give my soul patience to suffer every pain."
+
+On the fourth day of my imprisonment the jailor brought me some water
+and soap, a towel, brush and comb, and the same clothes I wore when I
+entered the foul den. They told me to make haste and prepare myself to
+appear before the holy Bishop. Hope revived in my soul, for I always
+thought that my god-father had some regard for me, and had now come to
+release me from the foul den I was in. Cold water seemed to afford much
+relief to my tortured body. I made my toilet as quick as I could in such
+a place. My feet were so numb and swollen that it was difficult for me
+to get my shoes on. At last the Bishop arrived as I supposed, and I
+was conducted--not into his presence as I expected, but into that of
+my bitterest enemy, the confessor. At the very sight of the monster, I
+trembled like a reed shaken by the wind. The priest walked to each of
+the doors, locked them, put the keys into a small writing desk, locked
+it, took out the key and placed it carefully in his sleeve pocket. This
+he did to assure me that we were alone, that not one of the inmates
+could by any means disturb for the present the holy meditations of the
+priest. He bade me take a seat on the sofa by him. In kind soft words he
+said to me, that if I was only docile and obedient, he would cause me
+to be treated like a princess, and that in a short time I should have
+my liberty if I preferred to return to the world. At the same time he
+attempted to put his arm around my waist. In a moment I was on my feet.
+While he was talking love to me, I was looking at two large alabaster
+vases full of beautiful wax flowers; one of them was as much as I could
+lift. Without one thought about consequences, I seized the nearest vase
+and threw it with all the strength I had at the priest's head. He fell
+like a log and uttered one or two groans. The vase was broken. It
+struck the priest on the right temple, close to the ear. For a moment I
+listened to see if any one were coming. I then looked at the priest, and
+saw the blood running out of his wound. I quaked with fear lest I had
+killed the destroyer of my peace. I did not intend to kill him, I only
+wished to stun him, that I might take the keys, open the door and run,
+for the back door of the priest's room led right into a back path where
+the gates were frequently opened daring the day time. This was about
+twelve o'clock, and a most favorable moment for me to escape. In a
+moment I had searched the sleeve pocket of the priest, found the key and
+a heavy purse of gold which I secured in my dress pocket. I opened the
+little writing desk and took out the key to the back door. I saw that
+the priest was not dead, and I had not the least doubt from appearances,
+but that he would soon come to. I trembled for fear he might wake before
+I could get away. I thought of my dear Tuscan sister in her wretched
+cell, but I could not get to her without being discovered. There was no
+time to be lost. I opened the door with the greatest facility and gained
+the opening into the back path. I locked the door after me, and brought
+the key with me for a short distance, then placed all the keys tinder
+a rock. I had no hat but only a black veil. I threw that over my head
+after the fashion of Italy and gained the outer gate. There were masons
+at work near the gate which was open and I passed through into the
+street without being questioned by any one.
+
+As I had not a nun's dress on, no one supposed I belonged to the
+Institution. I walked down directly to the sea coast. I could speak a
+few English words which I had learned from some English friends of my
+father. Before I got to where the boats lay I saw a gentleman whom I
+took to be an English or American gentleman. He had a pleasant face,
+looked at me very kindly, saw my pale dejected face and at once felt a
+deep sympathy for me. As I appeared to be in trouble and needed help,
+he extended his hand to me and said in tolerable good Italian, "Como va'
+le' signorina?" that is "How do you do young lady?" I asked him what
+was his country. "Me," said he, "Americano, Americano, capitano de
+Bastimento." (American captain of a ship.) "Signor Capitano," said I,
+"I wish to go on board your ship and see an American ship." "Well," said
+he, "with a great deal of pleasure; my ship lies at anchor, my men are
+waiting; you shall dine with me, Signorina."
+
+I praised God in my soul for this merciful providence of meeting a
+friend, though a stranger, whose face seemed to me so honest and so
+true. Any condition, even honest slavery, would have been preferred by
+me at that time to a convent. The American ship was the most
+beautiful thing I ever saw afloat; splendid and neat in all her cabin
+arrangements. The mates were polite, and the sailors appeared neat and
+happy. Even the black cook showed his beautiful white teeth, as though
+he was glad to see one of the ladies of Italy. Poor fellows! Little did
+they know at that time what peril I was in should I be found out and
+taken back to my dungeon again. I informed the captain of my situation,
+of having just escaped from a convent into which I had been forced
+against my will. I told him I would pay him my passage to America, if
+he would hide me somewhere until the ship was well out to sea. He said
+I had come just in time, for he was only waiting for a fair wind, and
+hoped to be off that evening. "I have," said he, "a large number of
+bread-casks on board, and two are empty. I shall have you put into one
+of these, in which I shall make augur-holes, so that you can have plenty
+of fresh air. Down in the hold amongst the provisions you will be safe."
+I thanked my kind friend and requested him to buy me some needles, silk,
+and cotton thread, and some stuff for a couple of dresses, and one-piece
+of fine cotton, so that I might make myself comfortable during the
+voyage.
+
+After I ate my dinner, the men called the captain and said there were
+several boats full of soldiers coming to the ship, accompanied by the
+priests. "Lady," exclaimed the captain, "they are after you. There is
+not a moment to be lost. Follow me," he continued. "And, Mr. Smith, tell
+the men to be careful and not make known that there is a lady on board."
+
+An awful cold chill ran over me. I followed my friend quickly, and soon
+found myself coiled in a large cask. The captain coopered the head,
+which was missing, and made holes for me to get the air; but the
+perspiration ran off my face in a stream. Lots of things were piled on
+the cask, so that I had hard work to breathe; but such was my fear
+of the priests that I would rather have perished in the cask than be
+returned to die by inches.
+
+The captain had been gone but a short time when I heard steps on deck,
+and much noise and confusion. As the hatches were open, I could hear
+very distinctly. After the whole company were on deck, the captain
+invited the priests and friars, about twenty in number, to walk down to
+the cabin, and explain the cause of their visit. They talked through an
+interpreter, and said that "a woman of bad character had robbed one of
+the churches of a large amount of gold, had attempted to murder one
+of the holy priests, but they were happy to say that the holy father,
+though badly wounded, was in a fair way of recovery. This woman is
+young, but very desperate, has awful raving fits, and has recently
+escaped from a lunatic institution. When her fits of madness come on
+they are obliged to put her into a straight jacket, for she is the most
+dangerous person in Italy. A great reward is offered for her by her
+father and the government--five thousand scudi. Is not this enough to
+tempt one to help find her? She was seen coming towards the shipping,
+and we want the privilege of searching your ship."
+
+"Gentlemen," said the captain, "I do not know that the Italian
+authorities have any right to search an American ship, under the stars
+and stripes of the United States, for we do not allow even the greatest
+naval power on earth to do that thing. But if such a mad and dangerous
+woman as you have described should by any means have smuggled herself
+on board my ship, you are quite welcome to take her away as soon as
+possible, for I should be afraid of my life if I was within one hundred
+yards of such an unfortunate creature. If you can get her into your
+lunatic asylum, the quicker the better; and the five thousand scudi will
+come in good time, for I am thinking of building me a larger ship on my
+return home. Now, gentlemen, come; I will assist you, for I should like
+to see the gold in my pocket." The captain opened all his closets and
+secret places, in the cabin and forecastle and in the hold; everything
+was searched, all but the identical bread-cask in which I was snugly
+coiled.
+
+After something like half an hour's search, the soldiers of King
+Ferdinand and the priests of King Pope left the ship, satisfied that the
+crazy nun was not on board; for, judging the captain by themselves, they
+thought he certainly would have given up a mad woman for the sake of
+five thousand scudi in gold, and for the safety of his own peace and
+comfort. A few moments after the Pope's friends had left, the excellent
+benevolent captain came down, and speedily and gently knocking off a
+few hoops with a hammer, took the head out, and I was free once more
+to breathe God's free air. I lifted my trembling heart in thanksgiving,
+while tears of gratitude rolled down my cheeks. Yet, as we were still
+within the reach of the guns of the papal forts, my heart was by no
+means at rest. But the good captain assured me repeatedly that
+all danger was past, for he had twenty-five men on board, all true
+Protestants, and he declared that all the priests of Naples would walk
+over their dead bodies before they should reach his vessel a second
+time. "And besides," said the captain, "there are two American
+men-of-war in port, who will stand up for the rights of Americans. They
+have not yet forgotten Captain Ingraham, of the United States ship
+St. Louis, and his rescue from the Austrian papists of the Hungarian
+patriot, Martin Kozsta." The captain wisely refused to purchase any
+needles or thread for me on shore, or any articles of ladies' dress,
+for fear of the Jesuitical spies, who might surmise something and cause
+further trouble. But he kindly furnished me with some goods he had
+purchased for his own wife, and there were needles and silk enough on
+board, so that I soon cut and made a few articles that made me very
+comfortable during our voyage of thirty-two days to London.
+
+Early the next morning we sailed out of the beautiful harbor of Naples,
+with a fair wind. The beautiful ship seemed to fly over the blue sea.
+I staid on deck gazing at my native city as long as I could. I thought
+then of my once happy home, of my poor, broken-hearted mother, of my
+unhappy father. Although he had cast me off through the foul play of
+Jesuitical intrigue, my love for my dear father remained the same.
+"Farewell, my dear Italy," I said to myself. "When, my poor native land,
+wilt thou be happy? Never, never, so long as the Pope lives, and his
+wicked, murderous priests, to curse thee by their power."
+
+After we got out into the open sea, the motion of the ship made me feel
+very sick, and I was so starved out before I came on board, that what
+good provisions I ate on board did not seem to agree with me. My stomach
+was in a very bad state, for while I was in the lower regions of the
+convent I ate only a small quantity of very stale hard bread once in
+twenty-four hours, at the ringing of the vesper bells every evening, and
+the water given me was that in which the holy Mother Abbess had washed
+her sacred feet. But I must give the holy mother credit for one good
+omission--she did not use any soap.
+
+The captain gave me a good state-room which I occupied with an English
+lady passenger. This good lady was accustomed to the sea, therefore, she
+did not suffer any inconvenience from sea-sickness; but I was very sick,
+so that I kept my berth for five days. This good Protestant lady was
+very kind and attentive during the whole passage, and kindly assisted me
+in getting my garments made up on board. On our arrival in London, the
+captain said that he would sail for America in two weeks time, and very
+kindly offered me a free passage to his happy, native land; and I could
+not persuade him to take any money for my passage from Naples, nor for
+the clothing he had given me.
+
+My fellow passenger being wealthy, and well acquainted with people in
+England, took me to her splendid home, a few miles from London. At her
+residence I was introduced to a young French gentleman, a member of the
+Evangelical protestant church in France, and a descendant of the pious
+persecuted Huguenots. This gentleman speaks good English and Italian,
+having enjoyed the privilege of a superior education. His fervent
+prayers at the family altar morning and evening made a very deep
+impression on my mind. He became deeply interested in my history, and
+offered to take me to France, after I should become his lawful wife.
+
+Though I did not like the idea of choosing another popish country for my
+residence, yet as my friend assured me that I should enjoy my protestant
+religion unmolested, I gave him my hand and my heart. My lady fellow
+passenger was my bridesmaid. We were married by a good protestant
+minister. My husband is a wealthy merchant--gives me means and
+opportunities for doing good. Home is precious in a foreign land. Our
+home is one of piety and peace and happiness. The blessed Bible is read
+by us every day. Morning and evening we sing God's praise, and call upon
+the name of the Lord. Our prayer is that God may deliver beloved France
+and Italy from the curse of popery.
+
+Another proof of the persecuting spirit of Rome is furnished by the
+"Narrative of Raffaele Ciocci, formerly a Benedictine Monk, but who now
+'comes forth from Inquisitorial search and torture, and tells us what
+he has seen, heard and felt.'" We can make but a few extracts from
+this interesting little volume, published by the American and Foreign
+Christian Union, who,--to use their own language--"send it forth as a
+voice of instruction and warning to the American people. Let the facts
+be heard and read. They are not to be set aside by an apology for the
+dark ages, nor an appeal to the refinement of the nineteenth century.
+Here is Rome, not as she WAS in the midnight of the world, but as she
+IS at the present moment. There is the same opposition to private
+judgment--the same coercive measures--the same cruel persecution--the
+same efforts to crush the civil and religious liberties of her own
+subjects, for which she has ever been characterized."
+
+Ciocci, compelled at an early age to enter the Catholic College--forced,
+notwithstanding his deep disgust and earnest remonstrance, to become a
+monk--imprisoned--deceived--the victim of priestly artifice and fraud,
+at length becomes a Christian. He is of course thrown into a deeper
+dungeon; and more exquisite anguish inflicted upon him that he may be
+constrained to return to the Romish faith. Of his imprisonment he says,
+"We traversed long corridors till we arrived at the door of an apartment
+which they requested me to enter, and they themselves retired. On
+opening the door I found myself in a close dark room, barely large
+enough for the little furniture it contained, which consisted of a small
+hard bed, hard as the conscience of an inquisitor, a little table cut
+all over, and a dirty ill-used chair. The window which was shut and
+barred with iron resisted all my efforts to open it My heart sunk within
+me, and I began to cogitate on the destiny in store for me." The Jesuit
+Giuliani entering his room, he asked that the window might be opened
+for the admission of light and air. Before the words were finished he
+exclaimed in a voice of thunder, "How! wretched youth, thou complainest
+of the dark, whilst thou art living in the clouds of error? Dost thou
+desire the light of heaven, while thou rejectest the light of the
+Catholic faith?"
+
+Ciocci saw that remonstrance was useless, but he reminded his jailer
+that he had been sent there for three days, to receive instruction, not
+to be treated as a criminal.
+
+"For three days," he resumed, counterfeiting my tone of voice, "for
+three days! That would be nothing. The dainty youth will not forsooth,
+be roughly treated; it remains to be seen whether he desires to be
+courteously entertained. Be converted, be converted, condemned soul!
+Fortunate is it for thee that thou art come to this place. THOU WILT
+NEVER quit it excepting with the real fruits of repentance! Among these
+silent shades canst thou meditate at thy leisure upon the deplorable
+state into which thou hast fallen. Woe unto thee, if thou refusest to
+listen to the voice of God, who conducts souls into solitude that he
+may speak with them." "So saying," he continues, "he abruptly left me. I
+remained alone drooping under the weight of a misfortune, which was the
+more severe, because totally unexpected. I stood, I know not how long,
+in the same position, but on recovering from this lethargy, my first
+idea was of flight. But this thought was at once abandoned. There was no
+possibility of flight. Without giving a minute account of the manner
+in which I passed my wearisome days and nights in this prison, let it
+suffice to say that they were spent in listening to sermons preached to
+me four times a day by the fathers Giuliani and Rossini, and in the most
+gloomy reflections.
+
+"In the mean time the miseries I endured were aggravated by the heat of
+the season, the wretchedness of the chamber, scantiness of food, and the
+rough severity of those by whom I was occasionally visited. Uncertainty
+as to when this imprisonment would be at an end, almost drove me wild,
+and the first words I addressed to those who approached me were, 'Have
+the kindness to tell me when I shall be permitted to leave this place?'
+One replied, 'My son, think of hell.' I interrogated another; the answer
+was, 'Think my son, how terrible is the death of the sinner!' I spoke
+to a third, to a fourth, and one said to me, 'My son, what will be your
+feeling, if, on the day of judgment you find yourself on the left hand
+of God?' the other, 'Paradise, my son, Paradise!' No one gave me a
+direct answer; their object appeared to be to mistify and confound me.
+After the first few days, I began to feel most severely the want of
+a change of clothing. Accustomed to cleanliness, I found myself
+constrained to wear soiled apparel. * * * For the want of a comb, my
+hair became rough and entangled. After the fourth day my portion of food
+was diminished; a sign, that they were pressing the siege, that it was
+their intention to adopt both assault and blockade--to conquer me by
+arms, or induce me to capitulate through hunger. I had been shut up in
+this wretched place for thirteen days, when, one day, about noon, the
+Father Mislei, the author of all my misery, entered my cell.
+
+"At the sight of this man, resentment overcame every other
+consideration, and I advanced towards him fully prepared to indulge my
+feelings, when he, with his usual smile, expressed in bland words
+his deep regret at having been the cause of my long detention in this
+retreat. 'Never could I have supposed,' said he, 'that my anxiety
+for the salvation of your soul would have brought you into so much
+tribulation. But rest assured the fault is not entirely mine. You have
+yourself, in a great degree, by your useless obstinacy, been the cause
+of your sufferings. Ah, well, we will yet remedy all.' Not feeling any
+confidence in his assurance, I burst out into bitter invectives and
+fierce words. He then renewed his protestations, and clothed them with
+such a semblance of honesty and truth, that when he ended with this
+tender conclusion, 'Be assured, my son, that I love you,' my anger
+vanished. * * * I lost sight of the Jesuit, and thought I was addressing
+a man, a being capable of sympathising in the distresses of others. 'Ah,
+well, father,' said I, 'I need some one on whom I can rely, some one
+towards whom I can feel kindly; I will therefore place confidence in
+your words.'" After some further conversation, Ciocci was asked if
+he wished to leave that place. "If I desire it!" he replied, "what a
+strange question! You might as well ask a condemned soul whether he
+desires to escape from hell!" At these words the Jesuit started like a
+goaded animal, and, forgetting his mission of deceiver, with, knit brows
+and compressed lips, he allowed his ferocious soul for one moment
+to appear; but, having grown old in deceit, he immediately had the
+circumspection to give this movement of rage the appearance of religious
+zeal, and exclaimed, "What comparisons are these? Are you not ashamed to
+assume the language of the Atheist? By speaking in this way you clearly
+manifest how little you deserve to leave this place. But since I have
+told you that I love you, I will give you a proof of it by thinking no
+more of those irreligious expressions; they shall be forgotten as though
+they had never been spoken. Well, the Cardinal proposes to you an easy
+way of returning to your monastery." "What does he propose?" "Here is
+the way," said he, presenting me with a paper: "copy this with your
+own hand; nothing more will be required of you." "I took the paper with
+convulsive eagerness. It was a recantation of my faith, there condemned
+as erroneous. * * * Upon reading this, I shuddered, and, starting to my
+feet, in a solemn attitude and with a firm voice, exclaimed, 'Kill me,
+if you please; my life is in your power; but never will I subscribe
+to that iniquitous formulary.' The Jesuit, after laboring in vain
+to persuade me to his wishes, went away in anger. I now momentarily
+expected to be conducted to the torture. Whenever I was taken from my
+room to the chapel, I feared lest some trap-door should open beneath
+my feet, and therefore took great care to tread in the footsteps of the
+Jesuit who preceded me. No one acquainted with the Inquisition will say
+that my precaution was needless. My imagination was so filled with the
+horrors of this place, that even in my short, interrupted, and feverish
+dreams I beheld daggers and axes glittering around me; I heard the noise
+of wheels, saw burning piles and heated irons, and woke in convulsive
+terror, only to give myself up to gloomy reflections, inspired by the
+reality of my situation, and the impressions left by these nocturnal
+visions. What tears did I shed in those dreary moments! How innumerable
+were the bitter wounds that lacerated my heart! My prayers seemed to me
+unworthy to be received by a God of charity, because, notwithstanding
+all my efforts to banish from my soul every feeling of resentment
+towards my persecutors, hatred returned with redoubled power. I often
+repeated the words of Christ, 'Father, forgive them, they know not what
+they do;' but immediately a voice would answer, 'This prayer is not
+intended for the Jesuits; they resemble not the crucifiers, who were
+blind instruments of the rage of the Jews; while these men are fully
+conscious of what they are doing; they are the modern Pharisees.' The
+reading of the Bible would have afforded me great consolation, but this
+was denied me." * * *
+
+The fourteenth day of his imprisonment he was taken to the council
+to hear his sentence, when he was again urged to sign the form of
+recantation. But he refused. The Father Rossini then spoke: "You are
+decided; let it be, then, as you deserve. Rebellious son of the church,
+in the fullness of the power which she has received from Christ, you
+shall feel the holy rigor of her laws. She cannot permit tares to grow
+with the good seed. She cannot suffer you to remain among her sons and
+become the stumbling-block for the ruin of many. Abandon, therefore,
+all hope of leaving this place, and of returning to dwell among the
+faithful. KNOW, ALL IS FINISHED FOR YOU!"
+
+For the conclusion of this narrative we refer the reader to the volume
+itself.
+
+If any more evidence were needed to show that the spirit of Romanism is
+the same to-day that it has ever been, we find it in the account of
+a legal prosecution against ten Christians at Beldac, in France,
+for holding and attending a public worship not licensed by the civil
+authority. They had made repeated, respectful, and earnest applications
+to the prefect of the department of Hante-Vienne for the authorization
+required by law, and which, in their case, ought to have been given.
+It was flatly refused. They persisted in rendering to God that worship
+which his own command and their consciences required. For this they were
+arraigned as above stated, on the 10th of August, 1855. On the 26th of
+January, 1856, the case was decided by the "tribunal," and the three
+pastors and one lady, a schoolmistress, were condemned to pay a fine
+of one thousand francs each, and some of the others five-hundred francs
+each, the whole amount, together with legal expenditures, exceeding the
+sum of nine thousand francs.
+
+Meantime, the converts continue to hold their worship-meetings in the
+woods, barns, and secret places, in order not to be surprised by the
+police commissioner, and to avoid new official reports.
+
+"Thus, you see," says V. De Pressense, in a letter to the 'American and
+foreign Christian Union,' "that we are brought back to the religious
+meetings of the desert, when the Protestants of the Cevennes evinced
+such persevering fidelity. The only difference is, that these Christians
+belonged only a short time ago to that church which is now instigating
+persecutions against them."
+
+
+DESTRUCTION OF THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN.
+
+In 1809, Col. Lehmanowsky was attached to the part of Napoleon's army
+which was stationed in Madrid. "While in that city," said Col. L., "I
+used to speak freely among the people what I thought of the Priests
+and Jesuits, and of the Inquisition. It had been decreed by the Emperor
+Napoleon that the Inquisition and the Monasteries should be suppressed,
+but the decree, he said, like some of the laws enacted in this country,
+was not executed."
+
+Months had passed away, and the prisons of the Inquisition had not been
+opened. One night, about ten or eleven o'clock, as he was walking one of
+the streets of Madrid, two armed men sprang upon him from an alley, and
+made a furious attack. He instantly drew his sword, put himself in a
+posture of defence, and while struggling with them, he saw at a distance
+the lights of the patrols,--French soldiers mounted, who carried
+lanterns, and who rode through the streets of the city at all hours of
+the night, to preserve order. He called to them in French, and as they
+hastened to his assistance, the assailants took to their heels and
+escaped; not, however, before he saw by their dress that they belonged
+to the guards of the Inquisition.
+
+He went immediately to Marshal Soult, then Governor of Madrid, told him
+what had taken place, and reminded him of the decree to suppress this
+institution. Marshal Soult told him that he might go and suppress it The
+Colonel said that his regiment (the 9th. of the Polish Lancers,) was not
+sufficient for such a service, but if he would give him two additional
+regiments, the 117th, and another which he named, he would undertake the
+work. The 117th regiment was under the command of Col. De Lile, who
+is now, like Col. L., a minister of the gospel, and pastor of an
+evangelical church in Marseilles, France. "The troops required were
+granted, and I proceeded," said Col. L., "to the Inquisition which was
+situated about five miles from the city. It was surrounded by a wall of
+great strength, and defended by a company of soldiers. When we arrived
+at the walls, I addressed one of the sentinels, and summoned the holy
+fathers to surrender to the Imperial army, and open the gates of the
+Inquisition. The sentinel who was standing on the wall, appeared to
+enter into conversation with some one within, at the close of which he
+presented his musket, and shot one of my men. This was the signal of
+attack, and I ordered my troops to fire upon those who appeared on the
+walls."
+
+It was soon obvious that it was an unequal warfare. The soldiers of the
+holy office were partially protected by a breast-work upon the walls
+which were covered with soldiers, while our troops were in the open
+plain, and exposed to a destructive fire. We had no cannon, nor could
+we scale the walls, and the gates successfully resisted all attempts at
+forcing them. I could not retire and send for cannon to break through
+the walls without giving them time to lay a train for blowing us up.
+I saw that it was necessary to change the mode of attack, and directed
+some trees to be cut down and trimmed, to be used as battering rams. Two
+of these were taken up by detachments of men, as numerous as could work
+to advantage, and brought to bear upon the walls with all the power they
+could exert, while the troops kept up a fire to protect them from the
+fire poured upon them from the walls. Presently the walls began to
+tremble, a breach was made, and the Imperial troops rushed into the
+Inquisition. Here we met with an incident, which nothing but Jesuitical
+effrontery is equal to. The Inquisitor General, followed by the father
+confessors in their priestly robes, all came out of their rooms, as we
+were making our way into the interior of the Inquisition, and with long
+faces, and arms crossed over their breasts, their fingers resting on
+their shoulders, as though they had been deaf to all the noise of
+the attack and defence, and had just learned what was going on, they
+addressed themselves in the language of rebuke to their own soldiers,
+saying, "WHY DO YOU FIGHT OUR FRIENDS, THE FRENCH?"
+
+Their intention, no doubt, was to make us think that this defence was
+wholly unauthorized by them, hoping, if they could make us believe
+that they were friendly, they should have a better opportunity, in the
+confusion of the moment, to escape. Their artifice was too shallow, and
+did not succeed. I caused them to be placed under guard, and all
+the soldiers of the Inquisition to be secured as prisoners. We then
+proceeded to examine all the rooms of the stately edifice. We passed
+through room after room; found all perfectly in order, richly furnished,
+with altars and crucifixes, and wax candles in abundance, but we could
+discover no evidences of iniquity being practiced there, nothing of
+those peculiar features which we expected to find in an Inquisition.
+We found splendid paintings, and a rich and extensive library. Here was
+beauty and splendor, and the most perfect order on which my eyes
+had ever rested. The architecture, the proportions were perfect. The
+ceilings and floors of wood were scoured and highly polished. The marble
+floors were arranged with a strict regard to order. There was everything
+to please the eye and gratify a cultivated taste; but where were those
+horrid instruments of torture, of which we had been told, and where
+those dungeons in which human beings were said to be buried alive? We
+searched in vain. The holy father assured us that they had been
+belied; that we had seen all; and I was prepared to give up the search,
+convinced that this Inquisition was different from others of which I had
+heard.
+
+But Col. De Idle was not so ready as myself to give up the search, and
+said to me, "Colonel, you are commander to-day, and as you say, so it
+must be; but if you will be advised by me, let this marble floor be
+examined. Let water be brought and poured upon it, and we will watch
+and see if there is any place through which it passes more freely than
+others." I replied to him, "Do as you please, Colonel," and ordered
+water to be brought accordingly. The slabs of marble were large and
+beautifully polished. When the water had been poured over the floor,
+much to the dissatisfaction of the inquisitors, a careful examination
+was made of every seam in the floor, to see if the water passed through.
+Presently Col. De Lile exclaimed that he had found it. By the side of
+one of these marble slabs the water passed through fast, as though
+there was an opening beneath. All hands were now at work for further
+discovery; the officers with their swords and the soldiers with their
+bayonets, seeking to clear out the seam, and pry up the slab; others
+with the butts of their muskets striking the slab with all their might
+to break it, while the priests remonstrated against our desecrating
+their holy and beautiful house. While thus engaged, a soldier, who was
+striking with the butt of his musket, struck a spring, and the marble
+slab flew up. Then the faces of the inquisitors grew pale as Belshazzar
+when the hand writing appeared on the wall; they trembled all over;
+beneath the marble slab, now partly up, there was a stair-case. I
+stepped to the altar, and took from the candlestick one of the candles
+four feet in length, which was burning that I might explore the room
+below. As I was doing this, I was arrested by one of the inquisitors,
+who laid his hand gently on my arm, and with a very demure and holy look
+said "My son, you must not take those lights with your bloody hands they
+are holy." "Well," said I, "I will take a holy thing to shed light
+on iniquity; I will bear the responsibility." I took the candle, and
+proceeded down the stair-case. As we reached the foot of the stairs
+we entered a large room which was called the hall of judgment. In the
+centre of it was a large block, and a chain fastened to it. On this they
+were accustomed to place the accused, chained to his seat. On one side
+of the room was an elevated seat called the Throne of Judgment. This,
+the Inquisitor General occupied, and on either side were seats less
+elevated, for the holy fathers when engaged in the solemn business of
+the Holy Inquisition.
+
+From this room we proceeded to the right, and obtained access to small
+cells extending the entire length of the edifice; and here such sights
+were presented as we hoped never to see again. Three cells were places
+of solitary confinement, where the wretched objects of inquisitorial
+hate were confined year after year, till death released them from their
+sufferings, and their bodies were suffered to remain until they were
+entirely decayed, and the rooms had become fit for others to occupy.
+To prevent this being offensive to those who occupied the Inquisition,
+there were flues or tubes extending to the open air, sufficiently
+capacious to carry off the odor. In these cells we found the remains
+of some who had paid the debt of nature: some of them had been dead
+apparently but a short time, while of others nothing remained but their
+bones, still chained to the floor of their dungeon.
+
+In others we found living sufferers of both sexes and of every age, from
+three score years and ten down to fourteen or fifteen years--all naked
+as they were born into the world! And all in chains! Here were old men
+and aged women, who had been shut up for many years. Here, too, were the
+middle aged, and the young man and the maiden of fourteen years old.
+The soldiers immediately went to work to release the captives from
+their chains, and took from their knapsacks their overcoats and
+other clothing, which they gave to cover their nakedness. They were
+exceedingly anxious to bring them out to the light of day; but Col.
+L., aware of the danger, had food given them, and then brought them
+gradually to the light, as they were able to bear it.
+
+We then proceeded, said Col. L., to explore another room on the left.
+Here we found the instruments of torture, of every kind which the
+ingenuity of men or devils could invent. Col. L., here described four
+of these horrid instruments. The first was a machine by which the victim
+was confined, and then, beginning with the fingers, every joint in the
+hands, arms and body, were broken or drawn one after another, until the
+victim died. The second was a box, in which the head and neck of the
+victim were so closely confined by a screw that he could not move in any
+way. Over the box was a vessel, from which one drop of water a second,
+fell upon the head of the victim;--every successive drop falling upon
+precisely the same place on the head, suspended the circulation in a few
+moments, and put the sufferer in the most excruciating agony. The third
+was an infernal machine, laid horizontally, to which the victim was
+bound; the machine then being placed between two beams, in which were
+scores of knives so fixed that, by turning the machine with a crank, the
+flesh of the sufferer was torn from his limbs, all in small pieces. The
+fourth surpassed the others in fiendish ingenuity. Its exterior was
+a beautiful woman, or large doll, richly dressed, with arms extended,
+ready, to embrace its victim. Around her feet a semi-circle was drawn.
+The victim who passed over this fatal mark, touched a spring which
+caused the diabolical engine to open; its arms clasped him, and a
+thousand knives cut him into as many pieces in the deadly embrace. Col.
+L., said that the sight of these engines of infernal cruelty kindled the
+rage of the soldiers to fury. They declared that every inquisitor and
+soldier of the inquisition should be put to the torture. Their rage was
+ungovernable. Col. L., did not oppose them. They might have turned their
+arms against him if he had attempted to arrest their work. They began
+with the holy fathers. The first they put to death in the machine for
+breaking joints. The torture of the inquisitor put to death by the
+dropping of water on his head was most excruciating. The poor man cried
+out in agony to be taken from the fatal machine. The inquisitor general
+was brought before the infernal engine called "The Virgin." He begged to
+be excused. "No" said they, "you have caused others to kiss her, and
+now you must do it." They interlocked their bayonets so as to form large
+forks, and with these pushed him over the deadly circle. The beautiful
+image instantly prepared for the embrace, clasped him in its arms,
+and he was cut into innumerable pieces. Col. L. said, he witnessed the
+torture of four of them--his heart sickened at the awful scene--and he
+left the soldiers to wreak their vengeance on the last guilty inmate of
+that prison-house of hell.
+
+In the mean time it was reported through Madrid that the prisons of the
+Inquisition were broken open, and multitudes hastened to the fatal spot.
+And, Oh, what a meeting was there! It was like a resurrection! About a
+hundred who had been buried for many years were now restored to life.
+There were fathers who had found their long lost daughters; wives were
+restored to their husbands, sisters to their brothers, parents to their
+children; and there were some who could recognize no friend among the
+multitude. The scene was such as no tongue can describe.
+
+When the multitude had retired, Col. L. caused the library, paintings,
+furniture, etc., to be removed, and having sent to the city for a wagon
+load of powder, he deposited a large quantity in the vaults beneath
+the building, and placed a slow match in connection with it. All had
+withdrawn to a distance, and in a few moments there was a most joyful
+sight to thousands. The walls and turrets of the massive structure rose
+majestically towards the heavens, impelled by the tremendous explosion,
+and fell back to the earth an immense heap of ruins. The Inquisition was
+no more!
+
+Such is the account given by Col. Lehmanowsky of the destruction of the
+inquisition in Spain. Was it then finally destroyed, never again to be
+revived? Listen to the testimony of the Rev. Giacinto Achilli, D. D.
+Surely, his statements in this respect can be relied upon, for he is
+himself a convert from Romanism, and was formerly the "Head Professor of
+Theology, and Vicar of the Master of the Sacred Apostolic Palace."
+
+He certainly had every opportunity to obtain correct information on the
+subject, and in a book published by him in 1851, entitled "Dealings
+with the Inquisition," we find, (page 71) the following startling
+announcement. "We are now in the middle of the nineteenth century, and
+still the Inquisition is actually and potentially in existence. This
+disgrace to humanity, whose entire history is a mass of atrocious
+crimes, committed by the priests of the Church of Rome, in the name of
+God and of His Christ, whose vicar and representative, the pope, the
+head of the Inquisition, declares himself to be,--this abominable
+institution is still in existence in Rome and in the Roman States."
+
+Again, (page 89) he says, "And this most infamous Inquisition, a hundred
+times destroyed and as often renewed, still exists in Rome as in the
+barbarous ages; the only difference being that the same iniquities are
+at present practiced there with a little more secrecy and caution than
+formerly, and this for the sake of prudence, that the Holy See may not
+be subjected to the animadversions of the world at large."
+
+On page 82 of the same work we find the following language. "I do not
+propose to myself to speak of the Inquisition of times past, but of what
+exists in Rome at the present moment; I shall therefore assert that the
+laws of this institution being in no respect changed, neither can the
+institution itself be said to have undergone any alteration. The present
+race of priests who are now in power are too much afraid of the popular
+indignation to let loose all their inquisitorial fury, which might even
+occasion a revolt if they were not to restrain it; the whole world,
+moreover, would cry out against them, a crusade would be raised against
+the Inquisition, and, for a little temporary gratification, much power
+would be endangered. This is the true reason why the severity of its
+penalties is in some degree relaxed at the present time, but they still
+remain unaltered in its code."
+
+Again on page 102, he says, "Are the torments which are employed at the
+present day at the Inquisition all a fiction? It requires the impudence
+of an inquisitor, or of the Archbishop of Westminister to deny their
+existence. I have myself heard these evil-minded persons lament and
+complain that their victims were treated with too much lenity.
+
+"What is it you desire?" I inquired of the inquisitor of Spoleto.
+"That which St. Thomas Aquinas says," answered he; "DEATH TO ALL THE
+HERETICS."
+
+"Hand over, then, to one of these people, a person, however respectable;
+give him up to one of the inquisitors, (he who quoted St. Thomas Aquinas
+to me was made an Archbishop)--give up, I say, the present Archbishop of
+Canterbury, an amiable and pious man, to one of these rabid inquisitors;
+he must either deny his faith or be burned alive. Is my statement
+false? Am I doting? Is not this the spirit that invariably actuates the
+inquisitors? and not the inquisitors only, but all those who in any
+way defile themselves with the inquisition, such as bishops and their
+vicars, and all those who defend it, as the papists do. There is the
+renowned Dr. Wiseman, the Archbishop of Westminster according to the
+pope's creation, the same who has had the assurance to censure me from
+his pulpit, and to publish an infamous article in the Dublin Review, in
+which he has raked together, as on a dunghill, every species of filth
+from the sons of Ignatius Loyola; and there is no lie or calumny that he
+has not made use of against me. Well, then, suppose I were to be handed
+over to the tender mercy of Dr. Wiseman, and he had the full power to
+dispose of me as he chose, without fear of losing his character in
+the eyes of the nation to which, by parentage more than by merit, he
+belongs, what do you imagine he would do with me? Should I not have to
+undergo some death more terrible than ordinary? Would not a council be
+held with the reverend fathers of the company of Loyola, the same who
+have suggested the abominable calumnies above alluded to, in order
+to invent some refined method of putting me out of the world? I feel
+persuaded that if I were condemned by the Inquisition to be burned
+alive, my calumniator would have great pleasure in building my funeral
+pile, and setting fire to it with his own hands; or should strangulation
+be preferred, that he would, with equal readiness, arrange the cord
+around my neck; and all for the honor and glory of the Inquisition, of
+which, according to his oath, he is a true and faithful servant."
+
+This, then, according to Dr. Achilli is the spirit of Romanism! Can we
+doubt that it would lead to results as frightful as anything described
+in the foregoing story?
+
+But let us listen to his further remarks on the present state of the
+Inquisition. On page 75 he says, "What, then, is the Inquisition of the
+nineteenth century? The same system of intolerance which prevailed in
+the barbarous ages. That which raised the Crusade and roused all Europe
+to arms at the voice of a monk [Footnote: Bernard of Chiaravalle.] and
+of a hermit, [Footnote: Peter the Hermit.] That which--in the name of
+a God of peace, manifested on earth by Christ, who, through love
+for sinners, gave himself to be crucified--brought slaughter on the
+Albigenses and the Waldenses; filled France with desolation, under
+Domenico di Guzman; raised in Spain the funeral pile and the scaffold,
+devastating the fair kingdoms of Granada and Castile, through the
+assistance of those detestable monks, Raimond de Pennefort, Peter
+Arbues, and Cardinal Forquemorda. That, which, to its eternal infamy,
+registers in the annals of France the fatal 24th of August, and the 5th
+of November in those of England."
+
+That same system which at this moment flourishes at Rome, which has
+never yet been either worn out or modified, and which at this present
+time, in the jargon of the priests, is called a "the holy, Roman,
+universal, apostolic Inquisition. Holy, as the place where Christ was
+crucified is holy; apostolic, because Judas Iscariot was the first
+inquisitor; Roman and universal, because FROM ROME IT EXTENDS OVER ALL
+THE WORLD. It is denied by some that the Inquisition which exists in
+Rome as its centre, is extended throughout the world by means of the
+missionaries. The Roman Inquisition and the Roman Propaganda are in
+close connection with each other. Every bishop who is sent in partibus
+infidelium, is an inquisitor charged to discover, through the means of
+his missionaries, whatever is said or done by others in reference to
+Rome, with the obligation to make his report secretly. The Apostolic
+nuncios are all inquisitors, as are also the Apostolic vicars. Here,
+then, we see the Roman Inquisition extending to the most remote
+countries." Again this same writer informs us, (page 112,) that "the
+principal object of the Inquisition is to possess themselves, by
+every means in their power, of the secrets of every class of society.
+Consequently its agents (Jesuits and Missionaries,) enter the domestic
+circle, observe every motion, listen to every conversation, and would,
+if possible, become acquainted with the most hidden thoughts. It is in
+fact, the police, not only of Rome, but of all Italy; INDEED, IT MAY BE
+SAID OF THE WHOLE WORLD."
+
+The above statements of Dr. Achilli are fully corroborated by the Rev.
+Wm. H. Rule, of London. In a book published by him in 1852, entitled
+"The Brand of Dominic," we find the following remarks in relation to the
+Inquisition of the present time. The Roman Inquisition is, therefore,
+acknowledged to have an infinite multitude of affairs constantly on
+hand, which necessitates its assemblage thrice every week. Still there
+are criminals, and criminal processes. The body of officials are still
+maintained on established revenues of the holy office. So far from any
+mitigation of severity or judicial improvement in the spirit of its
+administration, the criminal has now no choice of an advocate; but one
+person, and he a servant of the Inquisition, performs an idle ceremony,
+under the name of advocacy, for the conviction of all. And let the
+reader mark, that as there are bishops in partibus, so, in like manner,
+there are inquisitors of the same class appointed in every country, and
+chiefly, in Great Britain and the colonies, who are sworn to secrecy,
+and of course communicate intelligence to this sacred congregation of
+all that can be conceived capable of comprehension within the infinitude
+of its affairs. We must, therefore, either believe that the court
+of Rome is not in earnest, and that this apparatus of universal
+jurisdiction is but a shadow,--an assumption which is contrary to all
+experience,--or we must understand that the spies and familiars of the
+Inquisition are listening at our doors, and intruding themselves on our
+hearths. How they proceed, and what their brethren at Rome are doing,
+events may tell; BUT WE MAY BE SURE THEY ARE NOT IDLE.
+
+They were not idle in Rome in 1825, when they rebuilt the prisons of
+the Inquisition. They were not idle in 1842, when they imprisoned Dr.
+Achilli for heresy, as he assures us; nor was the captain, or some other
+of the subalterns, who, acting in their name, took his watch from him
+as he came out. They were not idle in 1843, when they renewed the old
+edicts against the Jews. And all the world knows that the inquisitors on
+their stations throughout the pontifical states, and the inquisitorial
+agents in Italy, Germany, and Eastern Europe, were never more active
+than during the last four years, and even at this moment, when every
+political misdemeanor that is deemed offensive to the Pope, is,
+constructively, a sin against the Inquisition, and visited with
+punishment accordingly. A deliberative body, holding formal session
+thrice every week, cannot be idle, and although it may please them to
+deny that Dr. Achilli saw and examined a black book, containing the
+praxis now in use, the criminal code of inquisitors in force at this
+day,--as Archibald Bower had an abstract of such a book given him for
+his use about one hundred and thirty years ago,--they cannot convince
+me that I have not seen and handled, and used in the preparation of this
+volume, the compendium of an unpublished Roman code of inquisitorial
+regulations, given to the vicars of the inquisitor-general of Modena.
+They may be pleased to say that the mordacchia, or gag, of which Dr.
+Achilli speaks, as mentioned in that BLACK BOOK, is no longer used;
+but that it is mentioned there, and might be used again is more than
+credible to myself, after having seen that the "sacred congregation" has
+fixed a rate of fees for the ordering, witnessing, and administration of
+TORTURE. There was indeed, a talk of abolishing torture at Rome; but
+we have reason to believe that the congregation will not drop the
+mordacchia, inasmuch, as, instead of notifying any such reformation to
+the courts of Europe, this congregation has kept silence. For although a
+continuation of the bullary has just been published at Rome, containing
+several decrees of this congregation, there is not one that announces
+a fulfilment of this illusory promise,--a promise imagined by a
+correspondent to French newspapers, but never given by the inquisitors
+themselves. And as there is no proof that they have yet abstained from
+torture, there is a large amount of circumstantial evidence that they
+have delighted themselves in death. And why not? When public burnings
+became inexpedient--as at Goa--did they not make provision for private
+executions?
+
+For a third time at least the Roman prisons--I am not speaking of those
+of the provinces--were broken open, in 1849, after the desertion of Pius
+IX., and two prisoners were found there, an aged bishop and a nun.
+Many persons in Rome reported the event; but instead of copying what is
+already before the public, I translate a letter addressed to me by P.
+Alessandro Gavazzi, late chaplain-general of the Roman army, in reply
+to a few questions which I had put to him. All who have heard his
+statements may judge whether his account of facts be not marked with
+every note of accuracy. They will believe that his power of oratory DOES
+NOT betray him into random declamation. Under date of March 20th, 1852,
+he writes thus:
+
+"MY DEAR SIR,--In answering your questions concerning the palace of
+Inquisition at Rome, I should say that I can give only a few superficial
+and imperfect notes. So short was the time that it remained open to the
+public, So great the crowd of persons that pressed to catch a sight of
+it, and so intense the horror inspired by that accursed place, that I
+could not obtain a more exact and particular impression.
+
+"I found no instruments of torture, [Footnote: "The gag, the
+thumb-screw, and many other instruments of severe torture could be
+easily destroyed and others as easily procured. The non-appearance of
+instruments is not enough to sustain the current belief that the use of
+them is discontinued. So long as there is a secret prison, and while
+all the existing standards of inquisitorial practice make torture
+an ordinary expedient for extorting information, not even a bull,
+prohibiting torture, would be sufficient to convince the world that
+it has been discontinued. The practice of falsehood is enjoined on
+inquisitors. How, then, could we believe a bull, or decree, if it were
+put forth to-morrow, to release them from suspicion, or to screen them
+from obloquy? It would not be entitled to belief."--Rev. Wm. H. Rule.]
+for they were destroyed at the time of the first French invasion,
+and because such instruments were not used afterwards by the modern
+Inquisition. I did, however, find, in one of the prisons of the second
+court, a furnace, and the remains of a woman's dress. I shall never be
+able to believe that that furnace was placed there for the use of the
+living, it not being in such a place, or of such a kind, as to be of
+service to them. Everything, on the contrary, combines to persuade me
+that it was made use of for horrible deaths, and to consume the remains
+of the victims of inquisitorial executions. Another object of horror I
+found between the great hall of judgment and the luxurious apartment of
+the chief jailer (primo custode), the Dominican friar who presides over
+this diabolical establishment. This was a deep trap or shaft opening
+into the vaults under the Inquisition. As soon as the so-called criminal
+had confessed his offence; the second keeper, who is always a Dominican
+friar, sent him to the father commissary to receive a relaxation
+[Footnote: "In Spain, RELAXATION is delivery to death. In the
+established style of the Inquisition it has the same meaning. But in the
+common language of Rome it means RELEASE. In the lips of the inquisitor,
+therefore, if he used the word, it has one meaning, and another to the
+ear of the prisoner."--Rev. Wm. H. Rule.] of his punishment. With the
+hope of pardon, the confessed culprit would go towards the apartment of
+the holy inquisitor; but in the act of setting foot at its entrance,
+the trap opened, and the world of the living heard no more of him. I
+examined some of the earth found in the pit below this trap; it was a
+compost of common earth, rottenness, ashes, and human hair, fetid to the
+smell, and horrible to the sight and to the thought of the beholder.
+
+"But where popular fury reached its highest pitch was in the vaults of
+St. Pius V. I am anxious that you should note well that this pope was
+canonized by the Roman church especially for his zeal against heretics.
+I will now describe to you the manner how, and the place where, those
+vicars of Jesus Christ handled the living members of Jesus Christ, and
+show you how they proceeded for their healing. You descend into the
+vaults by very narrow stairs. A narrow corridor leads you to the
+several cells, which, for smallness and stench, are a hundred times more
+horrible than the dens of lions and tigers in the Colosseum. Wandering
+in this labyrinth of most fearful prisons, that may be called 'graves
+for the living,' I came to a cell full of skeletons without skulls,
+buried in lime, and the skulls, detached from the bodies, had been
+collected in a hamper by the first visitors. Whose were those skeletons?
+and why were they buried in that place and in that manner? I have heard
+some popish priests trying to defend the Inquisition from the charge of
+having condemned its victims to a secret death, say that the palace of
+the Inquisition was built on a burial-ground, belonging anciently to a
+hospital for pilgrims, and that the skeletons found were none other
+than those of pilgrims who had died in that hospital. But everything
+contradicts this papistical defence. Suppose that there had been a
+cemetery there, it could not have had subterranean galleries and
+cells, laid out with so great regularity; and even if there had been
+such--against all probability--the remains of bodies would have been
+removed on laying the foundation of the palace, to leave the space free
+for the subterranean part of the Inquisition. Besides, it is contrary to
+the use of common tombs to bury the dead by carrying them through a door
+at the side; for the mouth of the sepulchre is always at the top. And
+again, it has never been the custom in Italy to bury the dead singly in
+quick lime; but, in time of plague, the dead bodies have been usually
+laid in a grave until it was sufficiently full, and then quick lime has
+been laid over them, to prevent pestilential exhalations, by hastening
+the decomposition of the infected corpses. This custom was continued,
+some years ago, in the cemeteries of Naples, and especially in the daily
+burial of the poor. Therefore, the skeletons found in the Inquisition
+of Rome could not belong to persons who had died a natural death in
+a hospital; nor could any one, under such a supposition, explain the
+mystery of all the bodies being buried in lime except the head. It
+remains, then, beyond a doubt, that that subterranean vault contained
+the victims of one of the many secret martyrdoms of the butcherly
+tribunal. The following is the most probable opinion, if it be not
+rather the history of a fact:
+
+"The condemned were immersed in a bath of slaked lime, gradually filled
+up to their necks. The lime by little and little enclosed the sufferers,
+or walled them up alive. The torment was extreme but slow. As the lime
+rose higher and higher, the respiration became more and more painful,
+because more difficult. So that what with the suffocation of the smoke,
+and the anguish of the compressed breathing, they died in a manner most
+horrible and desperate. Some time after their death the heads would
+naturally separate from the bodies, and roll away into the hollows made
+by the shrinking of the lime. Any other explanation of the feet that may
+be attempted will be found improbable and unnatural. You may make what
+use you please of these notes of mine, since I can warrant their
+truth. I wish that writers, speaking of this infamous tribunal of the
+Inquisition, would derive their information from pure history, unmingled
+with romance; for so great and so many the historical atrocities of the
+Inquisition, that they would more than suffice to arouse the detestation
+of a thousand worlds. I know that the popish impostor-priests go about
+saying that the Inquisition was never an ecclesiastical tribunal, but
+a laic. But you will have shown the contrary in your work, and may also
+add, in order quite to unmask these lying preachers, that the palace
+of the Inquisition at Rome is under the shadow of the palace of the
+Vatican; that the keepers are to this day, Dominican friars; and that
+the prefect of the Inquisition at Rome is the Pope in person.
+
+"I have the honor to be your affectionate Servant,
+
+"ALESSANDRA GAVAZZI."
+
+
+"The Roman parliament decreed the erection of a pillar opposite the
+palace of the Inquisition, to perpetuate the memory of the destruction
+of that nest of abominations; but before that or any other monument
+could be raised, the French army besieged and took the city, restored
+the Pope, and with him the tribunal of the faith. Not only was Dr.
+Achilli thrown into one of its old prisons, on the 29th of July 1849,
+but the violence of the people having made the building less adequate
+to the purpose of safe keeping, he was transferred to the castle of
+St. Angelo, which had often been employed for the custody of similar
+delinquents, and there he lay in close confinement until the 9th of
+January, 1850, when the French authorities, yielding to influential
+representations from this country assisted him to escape in disguise as
+a soldier, thus removing an occasion of scandal, but carefully leaving
+the authority of the congregation of cardinals undisputed. Indeed
+they first obtained the verbal sanction of the commissary, who saw it
+expedient to let his victim go, and hush an outcry.
+
+"Yet some have the hardihood to affirm that there is no longer any
+Inquisition; and as the Inquisitors were instructed to suppress the
+truth, to deny their knowledge of cases actually passing through their
+hands, and to fabricate falsehoods for the sake of preserving the
+SECRET, because the secret was absolutely necessary to the preservation
+of their office, so do the Inquisitors in partibus falsify and illude
+without the least scruple of conscience, in order to put the people of
+this country off their guard.
+
+"That the Inquisition really exists, is placed beyond a doubt by its
+daily action as a visible institution at Rome. But if any one should
+fancy that it was abolished after the release of Dr. Achilli, let him
+hear a sentence contradictory, from a bull of the Pope himself, Pius IX,
+a document that was dated at Rome, August 22, 1851, where the pontiff,
+condemning the works of Professor Nuytz, of Turin, says, "after having
+taken the advice of the doctors in theology and canon law, AFTER HAVING
+COLLECTED THE SUFFRAGES OF OUR VENERABLE BROTHERS THE CARDINALS OF THE
+CONGREGATION OF THE SUPREME AND UNIVERSAL INQUISITION." And so recently
+as March, 1852, by letters of the Secretariate of State, he appointed
+four cardinals to be "members of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy
+Roman and Universal Inquisition;" giving incontrovertible evidence that
+provision is made for attending to communications of Inquisitors in
+partibus from all parts of the world. As the old cardinals die off,
+their vacant seats are filled by others. The 'immortal legion' is
+punctually recruited.
+
+"After all, have we in Great Britain, Ireland and the colonies, and our
+brethren of the foreign mission stations, any reason to apprehend harm
+to, ourselves from the Inquisition as it is? In reply to this question,
+let it be observed;
+
+"1. That there are Inquisitors in partibus is not to be denied. That
+letters of these Inquisitors are laid before the Roman Inquisition is
+equally certain. Even in the time of Leo XII, when the church of
+Rome was far less active in the British empire than it is now, some
+particular case was always decided on Thursday, when the Pope, in his
+character of universal Inquisitor, presided in the congregation. It
+cannot be thought that now, in the height of its exultation, daring and
+aggression, this congregation has fewer emissaries, or that they are
+less active, or less communicative than they were at that time. We
+also see that the number is constantly replenished. The cardinals Della
+Genga-Sermattei; De Azevedo; Fornari; and Lucciardi have just been added
+to it.
+
+"2. Besides a cardinal in England, and a delegate in Ireland, there is
+both in England and Ireland, a body of bishops, 'natural Inquisitors,'
+as they are always acknowledged, and have often claimed to be; and these
+natural Inquisitors are all sworn to keep the secret--the soul of the
+Inquisition. Since, then, there are Inquisitors in partibus, appointed
+to supply the lack of an avowed and stationary Inquisition, and since
+the bishops are the very persons whom the court of Rome can best
+command, as pledged for such a service, it is reasonable to suppose they
+act in that capacity.
+
+"3. Some of the proceedings of these bishops confirm the assurance that
+there is now an Inquisition in activity in England. * * * The vigilance
+exercised over families, also the intermeddling of priests with
+education, both in families and schools, and with the innumerable
+relations of civil society, can only be traced back to the Inquisitors
+in partibus, whose peculiar duty, whether by help of confessors or
+familiars, is to worm out every secret of affairs, private or public,
+and to organize and conduct measures of repression or of punishment.
+Where the secular arm cannot be borrowed, and where offenders lie beyond
+the reach of excommunication, irregular methods must be resorted to,
+not rejecting any as too crafty or too violent. Discontented mobs, or
+individual zealots are to be found or bought. What part the Inquisitors
+in partibus play in Irish assassinations, or in the general mass of
+murderous assaults that is perpetrated in the lower haunts of crime,
+it is impossible to say. Under cover of confessional and Inquisitorial
+secrets, spreads a broad field of action--a region of mystery--only
+visible to the eye of God, and to those 'most reverend and most eminent'
+guardians of the papacy, who sit thrice every week, in the Minerva
+and Vatican, and there manage the hidden springs of Inquisition on the
+heretics, schismatics, and rebels, no less than on 'the faithful'
+of realms. Who can calculate the extent of their power over those
+'religious houses,' where so many of the inmates are but neophytes,
+unfitted by British education for the intellectual and moral abnegation,
+the surrender of mind and conscience, which monastic discipline
+exacts? Yet they must be coerced into submission, and kept under penal
+discipline. Who can tell how many of their own clergy are withdrawn
+to Rome, and there delated, imprisoned, and left to perish, if not
+'relaxed' to death, in punishment of heretical opinions or liberal
+practices? We have heard of laymen, too, taken to Rome by force, or
+decoyed thither under false pretences there to be punished by the
+universal Inquisition; and whatever of incredibility may appear in some
+tales of Inquisitorial abduction, the general fact that such abductions
+have taken place, seems to be incontrovertible. And now that the
+Inquisitors in partibus are distributed over Christendom, and that they
+provide the Roman Inquisition with daily work from year's end to year's
+end, is among the things most certain,--even the most careless of
+Englishmen must acknowledge that we have all reason to apprehend much
+evil from the Inquisition as it is. And no Christian can be aware of
+this fact, without feeling himself more than ever bound to uphold
+the cause of christianity, both at home and abroad, as the only
+counteractive of so dire a curse, and the only remedy of so vast an
+evil." Rev. Wm. Rule, London.
+
+The Rev. E. A. Lawrence, writing of "Romanism at Rome," gives us the
+following vivid description of the present state of the Roman Church.
+
+"Next is seen at Rome the PROPAGANDA, the great missionary heart of the
+whole masterly system. Noiselessly, by the multiform orders of monks and
+nuns, as through so many veins and arteries, it sends out and receives
+back its vital fluid. In its halls, the whole world is distinctly
+mapped out, and the chief points of influence minutely marked. A kind of
+telegraphic communication is established with the remotest stations in
+South Africa and Siberia, and with almost every nook in our own land,
+to which the myrmidons of Papal power look with the most of fear. It
+is through means of this moral galvanic battery, set up in the Vatican,
+that the Church of Rome has gained its power of UBIQUITY--has so well
+nigh made itself OMNIPOTENT, as well as omnipresent.
+
+"It is no mean or puny antagonist that strides across the path of a
+free, spiritual and advancing Protestantism. And yet, with a simple
+shepherd's sling, and the smooth stones gathered from Siloa's brook, God
+will give it the victory.
+
+"Once more let us look, and we shall find at Rome, still working in its
+dark, malignant efficiency, the INQUISITION. Men are still made to pass
+through fires of this Moloch. This is the grand defensive expedient of
+the Papacy, and is the chief tribunal of the States. Its processes are
+all as secret as the grave. Its cells are full of dead men's bones. They
+call it the Asylum for the poor--a retreat for doubting and distressed
+pilgrims, where they may have experience of the parental kindness of
+their father the Pope, and their mother the church.
+
+"Dr. Achilli had a trial of this beneficient discipline, when thrown
+into the deep dungeon of St. Angelo. And how many other poor victims of
+this diabolical institution are at this moment pining in agony, heaven
+knows.
+
+"In America, we talk about Rome as having ceased to persecute. IT IS A
+MISTAKE. She holds to the principle as tenaciously as ever. She cannot
+dispense with it. Of the evil spirit of Protestantism she says, "This
+kind goeth not out, but by fire." Her reign, is a reign of terror.
+Hence she must hold both the principle and the power of persecution, of
+compelling men to believe, or, if they doubt, of putting them to death
+for their own good. Take from her this power and she bites the dust."
+
+
+ROMANISM IN AMERICA.
+
+It may perchance be said that the remarks of the Rev. William Rule,
+quoted above, refer exclusively to the existing state of things is
+England, Ireland, and the colonies. But who will dare to say, after a
+careful investigation of the subject, that they do not apply with equal
+force to these United States?
+
+Has America nothing to fear from the inquisitors--from the Jesuits? Is
+it true that the "Inquisition still exists in Rome--that its code is
+unchanged--that its emissaries are sent over all the world--that every
+nuncio and bishop is an Inquisitor," and is it improbable that, even
+now, torture rooms like those described in the foregoing story, may be
+found in Roman Catholic establishments in this country? Yes, even here,
+in Protestant, enlightened America! Have WE then nothing to fear from
+Romanism? But a few days since a gentleman of learning and intelligence
+when speaking of this subject, exclaimed, "What have we to do with the
+Jesuits? and what is the Inquisition to us? The idea that we have aught
+to fear from Romanism, is simply ridiculous!" In reply to this, allow
+me to quote the language of the Rev. Manuel J. Gonsalves, leader of the
+Madeira Exiles.
+
+"The time will come when the American people will arise as one man, and
+not only abolish the confessional, but will follow the example of many
+of the European nations, who had no peace, or rest, till they banished
+the Jesuits. These are the men, who bask in the sunbeams of popery, to
+whom the pope has entrusted the vast interests of the king of Rome, in
+this great Republic. Nine tenths of the Romish priests, now working hard
+for their Master the pope, in this country, are full blooded Jesuits.
+The man of sin who is the head of the mystery of iniquity--through
+the advice of the popish bishops now in this country, has selected
+the Jesuitical order of priests, to carry on his great and gigantic
+operations in the United States of America. Those Jesuits who
+distinguish themselves the most in the destruction of Protestant Bible
+religion, and who gain the largest number of protestant scholars for
+popish schools and seminaries; who win most American converts to their
+sect are offered great rewards in the shape of high offices in the
+church. John Hughes, the Jesuit Bishop of the New York Romanists, was
+rewarded by Pope Pius 9th, with an Archbishop's mitre, for his great,
+zeal and success, in removing God's Holy Bible from thirty-eight public
+schools in New York, and for procuring a papal school committee, to
+examine every book in the hands of American children in the public
+schools, that every passage of truth, in those books of history
+unpalatable to the pope might be blotted out." Has America then nothing
+to do with Romanism?
+
+But another gentleman exclaims, "What if Romanism be on the increase in
+the United States! Is not their religion as dear to them, as ours is
+to us?" To this the Rev. M. J. Gonsalves would reply as follows. "The
+American people have been deceived, in believing THAT POPERY WAS A
+RELIGION, not a very good one to be sure, but some kind of one. This has
+been their great mistake. We might as well call the Archbishop of the
+fallen angels, and his crew, a religious body of intelligent beings,
+because they believe in an Almighty God, and tremble, as to call the man
+of sin and his Jesuits, a body of religious saints. The tree is known
+by its fruit, such as 'love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness,
+goodness, meekness, faith, temperance, brotherly kindness;' and where
+the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, Christian liberty, giving
+to God and man their due unasked. Now we ask, what kind of fruit does
+the tree of Popery bear, in any country, that it should claim homage,
+and respect, as a good religion?"
+
+Such is the language of one who knew so well what popery was, that he
+fled from it as from a hell upon earth.
+
+In his further remarks upon the horrors of convent life in the United
+States, he fully confirms the statements in the foregoing narrative. He
+says, "It is time that American gentlemen, who are so much occupied
+in business, should think of the dangers of the confessional, and the
+miseries endured by innocent, duped, American, imprisoned females in
+this free country; and remember that these American ladies who have been
+duped and enticed by Jesuitical intrigue and craft, into their female
+convents, have no means of deliverance; they cannot write a letter to a
+friend without the consent and inspection of the Mother Abbess, who
+is always and invariably a female tyrant, a creature in the pay of the
+Bishop, and dependent upon the Bishop for her despotic office of power.
+The poor, unfortunate, imprisoned American female has no means of
+redress in her power. She cannot communicate her story of wrong and
+suffering to any living being beyond the walls of her prison. She may
+have a father, a mother, a dear brother, or a sister, who, if they knew
+one-sixteenth part of her wrongs and sufferings, would fly at once to
+see her and sympathize with her in her anguish. But the Jesuit confessor
+attached to the prison is ever on the alert. Those ladies who appear the
+most unhappy, and unreconciled to their prison, are compelled to attend
+the confessional every day; and thus the artful Jesuit, by a thousand
+cross questions, is made to understand perfectly the state of their
+minds. The Lady Porter, or door-keeper and jailor, is always a creature
+of the priest's, and a great favorite with the Mother Abbess. Should any
+friends call to see an unhappy nun who is utterly unreconciled to her
+fate, the Lady Porter is instructed to inform those relatives that the
+dear nun they want to see so much, is so perfectly happy, and given up
+to heavenly meditations, that she cannot be persuaded to see an earthly
+relative. At the same time the Mother Abbess dismisses the relatives
+with a very sorrowful countenance, and regrets very much, in appearance,
+their disappointment. But the unhappy nun is never informed that her
+friends or relatives have called to inquire after her welfare. How
+amazing, that government should allow such prisons in the name of
+religion!"
+
+
+CONVENT OF THE CAPUCHINS IN SANTIAGO
+
+In a late number of "The American and Foreign Christian Union," we find
+the following account of conventual life from a report of a Missionary
+in Chile, South America.
+
+"Now, my brother, let me give you an account related to me by a most
+worthy English family, most of the members of which have grown up in the
+country, confirmed also by common report, of the Convent of Capuchins,
+in Santiago.
+
+"The number of inmates is limited to thirty-two young ladies. The
+admittance fee is $2000. When the nun enters she is dressed like a
+bride, in the most costly material that wealth can command. There,
+beside the altar of consecration, she devotes herself in the most
+solemn, manner to a life of celibacy and mortification of the flesh
+and spirit, with the deluded hope that her works will merit a brighter
+mansion in the realms above.
+
+"The forms of consecration being completed, she begins to cast off
+her rich veil, costly vestments, all her splendid diamonds and
+brilliants--which, in many instances, have cost, perhaps, from ten to
+fifteen, or even twenty thousand dollars. Then her beautiful locks are
+submitted to the tonsure; and to signify her deadness forever to the
+world, she is clothed in a dress of coarse grey cloth, called serge, in
+which she is to pass the miserable remnant of her days. The dark sombre
+walls of her prison she can sever pass, and its iron-bound doors are
+shut forever upon their new, youthful, and sensitive occupant. Rarely,
+if ever, is she permitted to speak, and NEVER, NEVER, to see her friends
+or The loved ones of home--to enjoy the embraces of a fond mother, or
+devoted father, or the smiles of fraternal or sisterly affection. If
+ever allowed to speak at all, it is through iron bars where she cannot
+be seen, and in the presence of the abbess, to see that no complaint
+escapes her lips. However much her bosom may swell with anxiety at the
+sound of voices which were once music to her soul, and she may long to
+pour out her cries and tears to those who once soothed every sorrow of
+her heart; yet not a murmur must be uttered. The soul must suffer
+its own sorrows solitary and alone, with none to sympathize, or grant
+relief, and none to listen to its moans but the cold gloomy walls of her
+tomb. No, no, not even the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that great alleviator
+of all the sorrows of the heart, is allowed an entrance there.
+
+"Nor is this all. Besides being condemned to a meagre, insufficient
+and unwholesome diet which they themselves must cook, the nuns are
+not allowed to speak much with each other, except to say, 'Que morir
+tenemos, 'we are to die,' or 'we must die,' and to reply, 'Ya los
+sabemos,' 'we know it,' or 'already we know it'
+
+"They pass most of their time in small lonely cells, where they sleep in
+a narrow place dug out in the ground, in the shape of a coffin, without
+bed of any kind, except a piece of coarse serge spread down; and their
+daily dress is their only covering. SLEEP! Did I say? Alas! 'Tired
+nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep, no more with his downy pinions
+lights on his unsullied with a tear:' FOR EVERY HOUR OF THE TWENTY-FOUR
+they are aroused by the bell to perform their 'Ave Maria's,' count their
+rosaries, and such other blind devotions as may be imposed. Thus they
+drag out a miserable existence, and when death calls the spirit to its
+last account, the other nuns dig the grave with their own hands, within
+the walls of the convent, and so perform the obsequies of their departed
+sister.
+
+"Thus, I have briefly given you not fiction! but a faithful narrative
+of facts in regard to conventual life, and an establishment marked by
+almost every form of sin, and yet making pretence of 'perfecting the
+saints,' by the free and gentle influences of the gospel of Christ.
+
+"Query 1st. What is done with all the money?
+
+"2d. What is done with the rich vestments and jewels?
+
+"3d. Where do the priests get all their brilliants to perform high mass
+and adorn their processions?
+
+"4th. Where does all the hair of the saints come from, which is sold in
+lockets for high prices as sure preventives of evil?
+
+"5th. Whose grave has been plundered to obtain RELICS to sell to the
+ignorant.
+
+"6th. Where does the Romish Church obtain her SURPLUS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO
+SELL TO THE needy, and not give it like our blessed Lord, 'without money
+and without price?'
+
+"7th. Who is responsible for the FANATICISM that induces a young female
+to incarcerate herself?
+
+"8th. Where is the authority in reason, in revelation, for such a life?
+
+"9th. What is the average length of life?
+
+"10th. How many die insane?
+
+"A young lady lately cast herself from the tower, and was dashed in
+pieces, being led to do it, doubtless, in desperation. The convents of
+this city, of the same order, require the same entrance fee, $2000. Of
+course, none but the comparatively rich can avail themselves of this
+perfection of godliness.
+
+"Who will say that this mode of life has not been invented in order to
+cut short life as rapidly as possible, that the $2000, with all the rich
+diamonds upon initiation, may be repeated as frequently as possible?
+
+"O! how true it is, that Romanism is the same merciless, cruel,
+diabolical organisation, wherever it can fully develop itself, in
+all lands. How truly is it denominated by the pen of inspiration the
+'MYSTERY OF INIQUITY,' especially that part of it relating to these
+secret institutions, and the whole order of the Jesuits."
+
+The editor of the "Christian Union", in his remarks on the above, says,
+"Already the fair face of our country is disfigured by the existence
+here and there of conventual establishments. At present they do not
+show the hideous features which they, at least in some cases, assume in
+countries where papal influence and authority are supreme. The genius of
+our government and institutions necessarily exerts a restraining power,
+which holds them from excesses to which, otherwise, they might run. But
+they constitute a part of a system which is strongly at variance with
+the interests of humanity, and merely wait the occurrence of favorable
+circumstances to visit upon our land all the horrors which they have
+inflicted elsewhere.
+
+"How many conventual establishments there are now in the nation, few
+Protestants, it is believed, know. And how many young females, guilty of
+no crime against society, and condemned by no law of the land, are shut
+up in their walls and doomed to a life which they did not anticipate
+when entering them, a life which is more dreadful to them than death,
+very few of the millions of our citizens conceive. The majority of our
+people have slept over the whole subject, and the indifference thus
+manifested has emboldened the priests to posh forward the extension
+of the system, and the workmen are now busy in various places in
+the construction of additional establishments. But such facts as are
+revealed in this article, from the pen of our missionary, in connection
+with things that are occurring around us, show that no time should be
+lost in examining this whole subject of convents and monasteries, and in
+legislating rightly about them."
+
+Again, when speaking of papal convents in the United States, the same
+talented writer observes, "The time has fully come when Protestants
+should lay aside their apathy and too long-cherished indifference in
+respect to the movements of Rome in this land. It is time for them to
+call to mind the testimony of their fathers, their bitter experiences
+from the papal See, and to take effective measures to protect the
+inheritance bequeathed to them, that they may hand it down to their
+children free from corruption, as pure and as valuable as when they
+received it. They should remember that Rome claims never to change, that
+what she was in Europe when in the zenith of her power, she will be here
+when fairly installed, and has ability to enforce her commands.
+
+"Her numbers now on our soil, her nearly two thousand priests moving
+about everywhere, her colleges and printing-presses, her schools and
+convents, and enormous amounts of property held by her bishops, have
+served as an occasion to draw out something of her spirit, and to show
+that she is ARROGANT AND ABUSIVE TO THE EXTENT OF HER POWER.
+
+"Scarcely a newspaper issues from her press, but is loaded with abuse of
+Protestants and of their religion, and at every available point assaults
+are made upon their institutions and laws; and Rome and her institutions
+and interests are crowded into notice, and special privileges are loudly
+clamored for.
+
+"All Protestants, therefore, of every name, and of every religious and
+political creed, we repeat it, who do not desire to ignore the past, and
+to renounce all care or concern for the future, as to their children and
+children's children, should lose no time in informing themselves of
+the state of things around them in regard to the papacy and its
+institutions. They should without delay devote their efforts and
+influence to the protection of the country against those Popish
+establishments and their usages which have been set up among us without
+the authority of law, and under whose crushing weight some of the
+nations of Europe have staggered and reeled for centuries, and have now
+but little of their former power and glory remaining, and under which
+Mexico, just upon our borders, has sunk manifestly beyond the power of
+recovery.
+
+"Let each individual seek to awaken an interest in this matter in
+the mind of his neighbor. And if there be papal establishments in
+the neighborhood under the names of 'schools,' 'retreats', 'religions
+communities,' or any other designation, which are at variance with, or
+are not conformed to, the laws of the commonwealth in which they are
+situated, let memorials be prepared and signed by the citizens, and
+forwarded immediately to the legislature, praying that they may be
+subjected to examination, and required to conform to the laws by which
+all Protestant institutions of a public nature are governed.
+
+"Let us exclude from our national territory all irresponsible
+institutions. Let us seek to maintain a government of law, and insist
+upon the equality of all classes before it."
+
+In closing these extracts, we beg leave to express ourselves in the
+words of the Rev. Dr. Sunderland, of Washington city, in a sermon
+delivered before the American and Foreign Christian Union, at its
+anniversary in May, 1856.
+
+"But new it is asked, 'Why all this tirade against Roman Catholics?' We
+repel the implication. It is not against the unhappy millions that are
+ground down under the iron heel of that enormous despotism. They are of
+the common humanity, our brethren and kinsmen, according to the flesh.
+They need the same light instruction and salvation that we need. Like
+ourselves they need the one God, the one mediator between God and man,
+the man Christ Jesus; and from the heart we love and pity them. We would
+grant them all the privileges which we claim to ourselves. We can have
+no animosity towards them as men and candidates with ourselves for the
+coming judgment. But it is the system under which they are born, and
+live, and die, I repeat, which we denounce, and when we shall cease to
+oppose it, then let our right hand forget her cunning, and our tongue
+cleave to the roof of our mouth. What is it but a dark and terrible
+power on earth before which so many horrible memories start up? Why,
+sir, look at it! We drag the bones of the grim behemoth out to view, for
+we would not have the world forget his ugliness nor the terror he has
+inspired. 'A tirade against Romanism,' is it? O sir, we remember
+the persecutions of Justinian; we remember the days of the Spanish
+Inquisition; we remember the reign of 'the Bloody Mary;' we remember
+the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; we remember St. Bartholomew;
+we remember the murdered Covenanters, Huguenots, and Piedmontese; we
+remember the noble martyrs dying for the testimony of the faith along
+the ancient Rhine; we remember the later wrath which pursued the
+islanders of Madeira, till some of them sought refuge upon these
+shores; we remember the Madiai, and we know how the beast ever seeks to
+propagate his power, by force where he can, by deception where he must.
+And when we remember these things, we must protest against the further
+vigor and prosperity of this grand Babylon of all. Take it, then, tirade
+and all, for so ye must, ye ministers of Rome, sodden with the fumes of
+that great deep of abominations! The voice of the Protestant shall never
+be hushed; the spirit of Reformation shall never sleep. O, lands of
+Farel and of Calvin, of Zwingle and of Luther! O countries where the
+trumpet first sounded, marshalling the people to this fearful contest!
+We have heard the blast rolling still louder down the path of three
+hundred years, and in our solid muster-march we come, the children
+of the tenth generation. We come a growing phalanx, not with carnal
+weapons, but with the armor of the gospel, and wielding the sword of
+truth on the right hand and on the left, we say that ANTICHRIST MUST
+FALL. Hear it, ye witnesses, and mark the word; by the majesty of the
+coming kingdom of Jesus, and by the eternal purpose of Jehovah, THIS
+ANTICHRIST MUST FALL."
+
+
+
+
+END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal, by
+Sarah J Richardson
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN THE GREY NUNNERY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 5734.txt or 5734.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/3/5734/
+
+Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks
+and Distributed Proofers
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+  www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at 809
+North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887.  Email
+contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the
+Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit:  www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For forty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+