1829.] Carmelite Convent at Brussels. 657 



the sufferings and mortifications the deceased had endured in his life- 

 time. The skin and flesh were rather of a tawny colour, and when 

 pressed by the finger shewed flexibility. The friar had been an ex- 

 tremely handsome man. The corpse being taken off the plank, we placed 

 it against the wall ; and, Avith a slight inclination, it stood in an erect 

 position. The hands were folded across the breast — the eyes closed and 

 shrunk. He did not seem to be dead, but only in a profound religious 

 meditation. Satisfied with this discovery, here we ought to have 

 desisted ; but we did not ; and I have often thought that we were not 

 justified, from motives solely of curiosity, in disturbing the sacred re- 

 mains. We opened sixteen different tombs, from each of which were 

 extracted bodies in a similar state of preservation to the ones I have 

 described, and when placed against the walls of the vault a more extra- 

 ordinary and striking spectacle could not be witnessed. The holy persons 

 seemed as if they were still alive — quite motionless and silent, it is true, 

 but not more so than they had often been during their existence. Some had 

 lived more than a century ago : the most recent date we found was 1788. 

 But who and what had these men been before they entered the convent of 

 White Friars ? They were in our presence ; but, alas ! our interrogatories 

 remained unanswered. Permission they seldom obtained, during the 

 latter part of tlieir sojourn on earth, to express their thoughts, and now 

 they were condemned to eternal silence. . This was the reflection I made 

 at the time : little did I anticipate that my questions would soon be 

 answered, and that I should know Avhat passions raged in their bosoms 

 when they walked arpong the sons and daughters of the earth. 



On the" following day, accompanied only by General JVIurray, I again 



visited this abode of European mummies. IMy friend, on examining 



minutely that part of the dress which covered the breast, and upon which 



the Padre Ottomano's hands were placed, felt a hard substance, and on 



removing the woollen capuchin that covered the shoulders and bosom, 



we found a square leathern case which, to our great satisfaction, contained 



a manuscript, in the Italian language, of which I subjoin an abridged 



translation. We subsequently discovered that all of tlie sixteen friars, 



excepting two, had similar manuscripts placed in a leathern case upon 



their breasts. At the commencement of one of these manuscripts we 



read the following lines, addressed by the writer to the superior of the 



convent : — " Father Joseph, I have now dwelt here above eighteen 



months, and have satisfactorily undergone the trials and probations you 



deemed it necessary to impose upon me ; but the order you now give me, to 



make a confession, in writing, of the errors and vices of my former life, is 



the severest trial of all. Those feelings, which I hoped had passed away, 



must again be brought to my recollection ; and I fear, holy father, all my 



passions have not yet subsided in my bosom ; yet I must ar.d will obey." 



From tliis introductory remark it Is apparent that each individual, at 



the termination of his noviciate, and before taking the vow, gave a 



written confession of his life to the superior of the Carmelites, and at the 



decease, the manuscript was deposited in his tomb. Fourteen of these 



manuscripts are in my possession, and it is not improbable that at some 



future j)criod they may be presented to the public. 



Tile circumstance of tlie discovery of these corpses in so perfect a state 



of preservation, as it can be readily supposed, caused a great sensation in 



Brussels. I was applied to by many respectable persons to be allowed 



to visit tliese mummies ; and many of them fimcying that this preserva- 



M.M. New Series.— Y Oh. \' III. No. 48. 4 P 



