FRANCISCAN CONVENT. 



93 



thrown down and the walls defaced ; half way up 

 were painted on them, in coarse and staring red 

 characters (in Spanish), " First squadron," " Second 

 squadron ;" and at the head of the church, under a 

 golden gloria, were the words " Comp'y Light Infant- 

 ry." The church had been occupied as barracks, 

 and these were the places where they stacked their 

 arms. As we passed through, the workmen stared at 

 my companion, or rather at the long blue gown, the 

 cord around his waist, and the cross dangling from 

 it — the garb of his scattered order. It was the first 

 time he had visited the place since the expulsion ot 

 the monks. To me it was mournful to behold the 

 destruction and desecration of this noble building ; 

 what, then, must it have been to him \ In the floor 

 of the church near the altar and in the sacristia 

 were open vaults, but the bones of the monks had 

 been thrown out and scattered on the floor. Some 

 of these were the bones of his earliest friends. We 

 passed into the refectory, and he pointed out the 

 position of the long table at which the brotherhood 

 took their meals, and the stone fountain at which 

 they performed their ablutions. His old compan- 

 ions in their long blue gowns rose up before him, 

 now scattered forever, and their home a desolation 

 and ruin. 



But this convent contains one memorial far more 

 interesting than any connected with its own ruin ; 

 one that carries the beholder back through centu- 



