not fall down, was also fastened by three pins, one at the forehead, and two for the ears. Upon the veil was placed a cap of white linen, to which were sewn five pieces of red cloth, like five drops, allusive to the five wounds of our Saviour; the first piece on the forehead, the second on the back of the head, the third and fourth about the ears, and the fifth in the middle of the head, in the form of a cross. One pin in the middle fastened this cap, and adapted it to the head. Widows as well as virgins might wear this cap as a sign of continence and chastity." Their bedding was of straw, with two blankets of grey cloth or linen and mattresses. With regard to some other restraints and limitations we read thus : Con "The duty of silence was very grnerally enjoined in monastic institutions. In the fifth chapter of the Rule of this order, strict silence was to be kept by the sisters and brethren (except those who were deputed to such offices as could not be fitly executed without speaking) during certain specified portions of the day; but as their wants could not be supplied without some means of communication, a table of signs was compiled for their use. versation with seculars was permitted only in company, and with the license of the abbess, from noon to vespers, and this only on Sundays, and the great feasts of the Saints, not however by going out of the house, but by sitting at the appointed windows; for to none was it permitted after their entrance to leave the cloisters of the monastery. If any sister desired to be seen by her parents or honest and dear friends, she might with the permission of the abbess open the window occasionally during the year; but if she did not open it, a more abundant reward was assured to her hereafter. No sister was admitted into the monastry before the age of eighteen, nor any of the brethern before twenty-five years of age." Down to Henry the Eighth's times and his arbitrary spoliating measures, Syon Monastery appears to have enjoyed the repose contemplated by the founders of such houses, and to have affected many of its professed purposes; nevertheless that gross tyrant caused a visitation to take place in 1534, which disturbed their peacefulness or brought to light their inefficiency and mal-practices; but which does not appear to have discovered any evil in the ways at least of the sisterhood of Syon Monastery; although offence had been taken at the conduct or language of some of the monks. A dissolution, however, of the establishment was inevitable, when its community withdrew to Flanders where they remained till recalled by Mary. On the accession of her sister it was necessary again to seek an asylum in a foreign country; and Flanders was once more selected; but from that time down to a recent period the privations, sufferings, and vicissitudes of the community have been singular and romantic. Some of the Kings of Spain befriended them with pensions, and frequent have been the aids sent them by the Catholics of England and Holland, as well as the supplies of new members. At one time they are driven from Brabaut to which they had removed from Dermod in the Low Countries. At another from Mecklin, so again from Antwerp and also from Rouen, sometimes after a short residence in the selected places, and in utter dread of violence and murder. Hear, for example, how they were treated and upon what charges at the last named place : "On the Sunday before St. Martin's day, A.D. 1587, forty-four of the common conduits being broken, and dried up, as frequently happened, a multitude of people with pails, pots, pitchers, &c. came into their court before the church-door, and demanded water, in the presence of all the people who were there to hear mass, saying they had made a secret conduit in their cave, and dried up all the common conduits in the city; crying, 'They are strangers, they are English, our old enemies; why should they be amongst us?' with other like speeches. This tumult was spread and maintained by the French, who had placed their confederates at every conduit, to incense the people who came for water, telling them that the Bridgetines were the cause of this, and sending them to the convent for water. Thus the community was made odious to the people, which was a most dangerous thing, for strangers, as they experienced in other countries; for, at Mechlin, on a like report, the common people, despite of the magistrates, who could not stop them, broke into the sisters' inclosure, entered their cells, refectory, and choir, searching and ransacking all places for armour and weapons, which was contrived against them, that they might be plundered, and banished the city. And though they found nothing of what they pretended to seek, yet every one took what they liked, and departed, leaving the poor sisters in great misery and confusion. The Lady Catharine Palmer was so frightened, that it was the occasion of her death, to the unspeakable discouragement and loss of the convent. In the present difficulty, the Father had no remedy left but to go to the pastors and preachers, it being Sunday, and desire them to publish and certify the contrary to the people. This method he adopted; and he also sent some of the brethren to stand by the conduits to notice and contradict the seditious inciters of the people; through which, this enterprise was divested of further bad consequences." They continued, however, at Rouen until Henry of Navarre became its master, upon which they removed to Lishon where they remained until 1809. when the presence of the French rendered the place unsafe for them. They thence returned to England where they were hospitably received by wealthy and influential friends. Yet even here they have encountered troubles, although their condition is now comparatively enviable. We must quote a brief account of some of these troubles : "In 1811 they inhabited a small house at Walworth, in Surrey; but subsequently a larger house was purchased, and properly fitted up for them at Peckham, called after the name of their convent, Syon House, where they received novices, professed three choir nuns, with one or two lay-sisters, and where also, with the assistance of their friends, they established a boarding-school for young ladies of the Roman Catholic religion, at first with success; but, their circumstances becoming afterwards embarrassed, they determined to break up the establishment, and sell most of their effects by public auction, to satisfy their creditors. Dr. Poynter placed the youngest of the ten, and also the surviving choir nuns who had been professed at Peckham, in different convents-In the interim, three or four of the old nuns, and one of the new professed had died. A house was procured near the Roman Catholic chapel, Clarendon-square, Somers-town, for the remaining nuns, where they lived for some time; but were subsequently placed in a house at Cobridge, near Newcastle, in Staffordshire, by the late Dr. Milner, Catholic Vicar Apostolic of the Midland district. By the munificence of the present Earl of Shrewsbury, the poor nuns were relieved from their distress, and the debt which they had unavoidably contracted; and not only did his lordship kindly purchase their vestments, church plate, and books which had been left for the liquidation of their debts, but by granting a pension to the surviving nuns and lay-sisters in Staffordshire, his lordship relieved them from future anxiety." It appears that this is the only community of religious women which has never been separated since the reign of Queen Mary; for that the other convents were revived much later. Our concluding notice of their manners and characters, is given by Baretti, who visited the English Nunnery at Lisbon, in 1760. "Whoever can speak English, no matter whether Catholic or Protestant, has a kind of right to visit them at any time of the day; and all their visitors are used by them with such endearing kindness, that their parlatory is in a manner never empty from morning till night. The poor things are liberal to everybody of chocolate, cakes and sweetmeats; and will take much pains, with their needles or otherwise, to enlarge the number of those visitors, and allure them to frequent calls. Nuns in all countries are soft and obliging speakers: but these are certainly the softest and most obliging that ever fell in my way. Never was I told in a year so many pretty and tender words as this morning in half an hour. On my apprising them of my country, they expatiated on the immense goodness of Cardinal Acciaioli and the gentlemen of his court, who did them the honour of seeing them often. No nation, in their opinion, is so good as the Italian, none so witty, and none so wise. In short, not a syllable issued out at their lips but what was dictated by modesty and meekness, humility and benevolence; and I will positively see them as often as I can while I stay here, because it is impossible not to be pleased with their converse, though one is perfectly conscious that they make it a study to treat everybody with this gentleness of language and blandishment of manners. They certainly give you no reason for harbouring the least suspicion to their disadvantage, and their virtue is to all appearance without the least alloy; but were they in reality quite different from what they appear (which I am thoroughly persuaded is not the case,) still the strong appearance of their innocence and goodness is irresistibly attracting, and the holy simplicity of their behaviour can never fail of making a friend of every man who is once introduced to their acquaintance, though ever so much aware of their flattery." 122 ART. XIV.-Satan in Love. A Dramatic Poem. By MRS. HARRIET DOWNING, Author of "Remembrances of a Monthly Nurse, &c." London: Bell. SOME people endeavour to achieve distinction and earn the character of originality by merely going out of a legitimate tract of thought and conduct rather than by outstripping all predecessors and contemporaries in the race that is noble and praiseworthy. This appears to have been the case with the author of this strange and daring piece, the best excuse for which perhaps is this, that Mrs. Downing announces herself as the writer of "Touched in the Head," among other uncommon titles of books. But to us the strangest and most unwelcome circumstance connected with the present ridiculous and absurd composition is, that it is said to be dedicated "by permission" to Prince Albert, who, if he has read it previously to lending his patronage, cannot be the judicious and accomplished critic that has been so loudly proclaimed; or, if he has from a facility of disposition accorded the thing his countenance without any knowledge of its nature, he must not expect to escape the whole of the ridicule and the blame which will attach to the publication. At any rate he ought to be more guarded for the future, otherwise not only trash but blasphemy will have his sanction, until that sanction be utterly contemned. The very Dedication itself should have in a measure opened his eyes. We quote it. "Most fulsome and unsavoury things in general are Dedications: this one at least shall not offend or disgust the young Prince, who thus honours me with his patronage, by attempting a praise which must nesessarily fall short of his merits. It is enough to say, that I dedicate to the man, and not to the consort of our Queen, the following poem, feeling assured that he will fully comprehend the spirit with which it was written." Most fulsome indeed: but what is this spirit or the writer's design? It is thus explained,-" The object of this drama is to carry out the principle, that nothing which God has made can be deemed reprobate, or be finally and eternally lost: consequently, that the Devil himself (supposing the Author of Evil to be a real personage) must have still remaining in him a germ of good, being the creation of the benevolent Father of the Universe. Love is here made to be the divine agent to effect his regeneration." cordingly he is neither painted in colours half so black as the vulgar represent him, nor is he an exceedingly unloveable gentleman at all in the eyes of Mrs. Harriet Downing. In fact he has some sympathy for good, is capable of feeling gratitude, of reciprocating pure affection, and at last is brought back to the fold of Heaven, all through love! And how is this brought about or shown in the Poem? We must tell the story in plain prose as rapidly as possible, and then allow the author to give passages of it in her own style. The scene is properly enough laid in Germany, if not in compliment to the "Young Prince," at least as the land of wild dreams and Mephistophelism; and twelve thousand years from the creation of the world. There is then upon the face of the earth an orphan girl, Agnes, whom a German noble attempts in vain to seduce, and failing he honestly resolves to offer his hand. Lucifer also at length appears and assails her with no better success. The consequence is that through admiration of her wonderful qualities he falls in love with her, and she reciprocates the feeling in spite of his labouring under an exceedingly bad name, and of some questionable traits and practices. However, the germ of good in him expands at the influence of the matchless maiden, till at last he renounces evil, repents, and is taken into the favour of the Father of the Universe. He makes towards the close of the drama his appearance at the Day of Judgment; Agnes dies in his arms, after which the discovery is made that she was his sister before his rebellion against the Most High; but that she became un inhabitant of the earth, without a knowledge of her heavenly origin and pre-existence, in order to be the means of regenerating the Author of Evil. Now the manner in which humanity and devilry, supernatural and earthly scenes, are jumbled together and made to operate upon each other in furtherance of the author's unwarranted attempt, is in keeping with the nature of the design, and with what might be expected from who could ever think of selecting such a theme. Just see what a silly fop Old Nick appears when he would "a-wooing go." He thus reasons and casts about: "I must be drest: I have a wardrobe ever at command: As for my features, they will serve my turn; And hair-'tis rather crisp'd, I own, With the brain-fever-I'll moisten it with oil; He regards himself in the mirror of Agnes and then soliloquizes further in these self-congratulating but common-place lines: "Methinks I have rather a taking air! Something that women like-a Werter look; |