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LETTERS FROM 
politely received at the convent, and were 
even admitted into the private apartments oi 
the superior, but we did not see that dig¬ 
nitary. He has several large rooms, hand¬ 
somely furnished, and certainly in this part 
of the establishment there was no appearance 
of any monastic discipline or mortification 
of the flesh. In the church we were shown 
a fine painting, which our attendant informed 
us was the work of Sir Thomas Lawrence, 
and that the subject was Pope Gregory XII. 
sending the monk Augustine on a mission to 
the British. This painting is protected by 
a curtain, and when our conductor was pre¬ 
paring to draw it aside, he requested us to 
retire to the other side of the church for a 
short time, after which we were allowed to 
approach as near as we pleased. We could 
not conceive the motive for this extraor- 
dinary precaution, but we have since been in- 
