the
Capuchins found him while yet an Infant at the Abbey door. All
attempts to discover who had left him there were vain, and the Child
himself could give no account of his Parents. He was educated in the
Monastery, where He has remained ever since. He early showed a strong
inclination for study and retirement, and as soon as He was of a proper
age, He pronounced his vows. No one has ever appeared to claim him, or
clear up the mystery which conceals his birth; and the Monks, who find
their account in the favour which is shewn to their establishment from
respect to him, have not hesitated to publish that He is a present to
them from the Virgin. In truth the singular austerity of his life
gives some countenance to the report. He is now thirty years old,
every hour of which period has been passed in study, total seclusion
from the world, and mortification of the flesh. Till these last three
weeks, when He was chosen superior of the Society to which He belongs,
He had never been on the outside of the Abbey walls: Even now He never
quits them except on Thursdays, when He delivers a discourse in this
Cathedral which all Madrid assembles to hear. His knowledge is said to
be the most profound, his eloquence the most persuasive. In the whole
course of his life He has never been known to transgress a single rule
of his order; The smallest stain is not to be discovered upon his
character; and He is reported to be so strict an observer of Chastity,
that He knows not in what consists the difference of Man and Woman.
The common People therefore esteem him to be a Saint.'

'Does that make a Saint?' enquired Antonia; 'Bless me! Then am I one?'

'Holy St. Barbara!' exclaimed Leonella; 'What a question! Fye, Child,
Fye! These are not fit subjects for young Women to handle. You should
not seem to remember that there is such a thing as a Man in the world,
and you ought to imagine every body to be of the same sex with
yourself. I should like to see you give people to understand, that you
know that a Man has no breasts, and no hips, and no ...'.

Luckily for Antonia's ignorance which her Aunt's lecture would soon
have dispelled, an universal murmur through the Church announced the
Preacher's arrival. Donna Leonella rose from her seat to take a better
view of him, and Antonia followed her example.

He was a Man of noble port and commanding presence. His stature was
lofty, and his features uncommonly handsome. His Nose was