1829.^ The Mummies at the Carmelite Convent at Brussels. 055 



earthly career with some degree of happiness, at least with ease of mind, 

 to which they long had been strangers. jMany, no doubt, have here 

 exclaimed, 



" Inveni requiem, sper el fortiiua valete, 



Sat me lusistis, ludite nunc alios." 



But, before I proceed with my narrative, it will be necessary to say a 

 few words about the order of the White Friars. It was one of the four 

 mendicant orders, and originally instituted on IMount Carmel. The 

 regidations by which these friars were guided were extremely severe, 

 and consisted of sixteen articles, one of which confined them to their 

 cells, and enjoined them to employ themselves night and day in prayer. 

 They were not permitted to possess any property ; compelled to fast from 

 the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross till Easter, excepting on 

 Sundays, and to abstain at all times from flesh. When not occupied in 

 prayer they were employed in manual labour, and strict silence was 

 imposed upon them, from vespers till the tierce the next morning. 



At the close of a fine autumnal day, in the yeai' 181 1, just at the time 

 when 



" Fades the glimmering landscape on the sight. 

 And all the air a solemn stillness holds," 



I entered the secluded place, accompanied by Henry G., then in his 

 fifteenth year. He had often heard me speak of the gardens of the 

 White Friars. This youth was romantically inclined, and the tales of 

 Mrs. Radcliffe being fresh in his recollection, he promised himself much 

 gratification from the visit. We proceeded to the ruins of the churcli. 

 Determined, as he expressed himself, to make discoveries, he climbed over 

 the confused mass, and collected, in a short time, several curious remains 

 of gothic sculptured ornaments — heads, hands, and feet, of the statues 

 of holy personages, and parts of grotesque representations of beasts, birds, 

 and fabulous non-descript animals. At length he discovered a large flat 

 stone, in the centre of which an iron ring had been inserted. It appeared 

 to be the covering of a sepulchre, or vault. I proposed making an 

 attempt to remove it ; but our united efforts v/ere in vain — the stone was 

 too heavy for us — we could not stir it. Looking around, we found a 

 narrow piece of timber, the fragment of some part of the church roof. 

 This we placed through the ring, and employing it as a lever, we fixed 

 it upon our shoulders. By this time it was dark ; and had it not been 

 for the light of the moon, which occasionally peeped through the black 

 clouds, we must have given up the undertaking. Absolute solitude 

 reigned around us : if any thing could be heard, it was a slight 

 breeze rustling among the branches and leaves of a yew tree that over- 

 hung the spot upon which we stood. The accession of power we received 

 from the lever, enabled us, after several attempts, to raise the stone an 

 inch or two from its situation. I encouraged my young friend to use his 

 utmost strength : the stone was now a foot from the ground, and, casting 

 my eyes below, I could perceive a sepulchral vault. At tliis instiint a 

 hollow distinct sound of a bell, proceeding from the entrails of the earth, 

 vibrated on our ears. We were both terrified, and the piece of timber 

 fell from our shoulders. It could not be an illusion. It was positively 

 the sound of a bell. But whence did it come ? No habitation was near, 

 and not a soul but ourselves within the inclosure. I was lost in conjec- 

 ture, and experiencing that sort of sensation most persons have felt when 



