community
assembles at dinner. The common refectory is at present let to
strangers, together with other portions of the convent. The novice who
wishes to enter this convent must be of good family, (proof of noble
descent being demanded up to grand-fathers and grandmothers inclusive)
and possessed of property. Of the entrance of the present _commendadora_
into the convent thirty years since, a romantic story is related. She
belongs to a family of rank in the province of La Mancha,--and it is
worth mentioning, that she recollects Espartero's father, who, as she
states, served a neighbouring family in the capacity of cowherd.

A match, _de convenance_, had been arranged for her by her parents, on
the accomplishment of which they insisted the more rigidly from her
being known to entertain an attachment, the object of which was
disapproved. No resistance being of any avail, the wedding-day was
named; and she was taken to Toledo for the purpose of making the
necessary purchases for the occasion. It so happened that she was
received by a relative, a member of the community of Santiagistas; and
whether she confided her pains to the bosom of this relative, and
yielded to her persuasions--nuns being usually given to proselytism; or
perhaps acting on the impulse of the moment; she declared on the morning
after her arrival her resolution never to quit the convent; preferring,
as she resolutely affirmed, an entire life of seclusion, to an union
with a man she detested. Instead, therefore, of the wedding dresses, a
_manton capitular_ was the only ornament purchased.

The property of this establishment remaining for the most part in
possession of the respective original possessors, and not forming a
common stock, the conscientious scruples of the revolution made an
exception in its favour, owing to which it is not reduced to so
destitute a condition as that of the other unclosed convents. The nuns
of San Clemente--the principal convent of Toledo, and of which the
abbess alone possessed private property, are reduced to a life of much
privation, as are also those of all the other convents. Some obtain
presents in return for objects of manual industry, such as dolls'
chairs, and other similar toys. Those of San Clemente had, and still
have, a reputation for superior skill in confectionary. A specimen of
their talent, of which I had an opportunity of judging in the house of a
friend of the abbess, appeared to me to warrant the full exten