e dead body of her Son. It has much of the manner of Alonzo Cano, and
is an admirable painting, more especially the dead body: the superior,
however, did not know the name of the artist. She complained bitterly of
the loss of a first-rate picture of the Divino Morales, which formerly
occupied the place of her little collection, and which was taken
possession of by Marshal Soult.

The second court is highly ornamental owing to the elegance of its
architecture, and its magnificent proportions; it is a long quadrangle;
the pillars below are very lofty, and support the gallery above without
intermediate arches. They are not of a pure design, the shafts being too
long for their diameter: in other respects they imitate the Tuscan
order. Those of the arcade above are Ionic; but the effect here is
destroyed by walls and windows, which have been constructed in their
intervals, for the purpose of converting the open gallery into a warmer
corridor. The walls below are clothed to the height of about four feet
with the _azulejos_, or porcelain mosaic, of the sort originally
employed by the Arabs, and from which the ornament took its name, being
blue and white, without any other colour.

Opening from this court is the Sala Capitular a handsome saloon used on
occasions of elections of the Commendadora, or other solemnities, which
do not take place in the church. It contains a portrait of the sister of
St. Ferdinand,--a member of the community; and a curious picture of St.
Iago leading to victory the christian army of Don Ramiro the First. In
fulfilment of a promise made to the king the night preceding the battle
of Albayde, the apostle, according to the historians, led the army in
person, mounted on a milk-white charger, which cantered along at a
sufficient elevation over the heads of the combatants, to be visible to
all; thus inspiring, simultaneously, his _proteges_ with confidence, and
the Moors with terror. From that victory the Spanish war-cry of Santiago
is said to derive its origin.

The buildings on the north side of the large court stand on the brink of
a perpendicular rock, overhanging the _faubourg_ on the Madrid side of
Toledo, and commanding right and left the luxuriant _vega_, to an extent
of from forty to fifty miles. Over the highest story of this portion of
the building, and forming a continuation of the rock, a Belvidere has
been constructed, the roof of which is supported by piers, leaving all
the sides open: it f