eptem castissimus annos,
Vixit in his saxis, te, Deus alme, peccans
Usque senex, senio mansit curvatus & annis
Corpus humo retulit, venerat unde prius
Ast anima exultans, clarum repetivit olympum,
Nunc sedet in summo glorificata throno."

It appears, that Louis the Fourteenth, King of France, gave a certain
sum to this convent, to say mass and pray for the soul of his deceased
mother; the sum however was not large, being something under fifty
pounds; and the donation is recorded in the chapel of _St. Louis_, upon
a brass lamp.

_P.S._ The time that this wonderful mountain became the habitation of a
religious community, may be pretty nearly ascertained by the following
singular epitaph, on a beautiful monument, still legible in the great
church of _Tarragona_.

"_Hic quiescit Corpus sanctae memoriae Domini Joannis filii Domini
Jacobi, Regis Arragonum, qui decimo septimo anno aetatis suae
factus Archiepiscopus Toletanus, sic dono scientiae infusus
Divinitus & gratia praedicationis floruit, quod nullus ejusdem
aetatis in hoc ei similis crederetur. Carnem suam jejuniis &
ciliciis macerans, in vigesimo octavo anno aetatis suae factus
Patriarcha Alexandrinus & Administrator Ecclesiae Tarraconensis
ordinato per eum, inter multa alia bona opera_ novo Monasterio
scalae Dei _Diacessis Tarraconensis, ut per ipsam scalam ad Coelum
ascenderet reddidit spiritum Creatori XIV. kalendas Septembris,
anno Domini MCCCXXXIV. anno vero aetatis suae XXXIII. pro quo Deus
tam in vita, quam post mortem ejusdem est multa miracula
operatus_."

This very young Bishop was the son of James the second, and his Queen
_Dona Blanca_; and that he was Prior of the monastery of Montserrat,
appears in their archives; for I find the names of several hermits of
this mountain, that came down to pay homage to him.--_Dederunt
obedientiam domino Joanni Patriarchae Alexandrino, & administratori
prioratus Montis Serrati_, &c.--It is therefore probable, that he was
the first Prior, and that the convent was built about the year 1300; but
that the mountain was inhabited by hermits, or men who retired from the
world many ages before, cannot be doubted.

LETTER XXXI.

DEAR SIR,

I have had (since I mentioned the Spanish Ladies in a former letter) an
opportunity of seeing something more of them; what they may be at
_Madrid_, I cannot take upon me to say; but I am inclined to believe,
that n