Literary cadet, and Saturday evening bulletin. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1826-1827, 1826-07-15

neck, and the nobleness Of her forehead
were visible under the disadvantage Of a
dress as ungraceful as was ever invented
for the purpose Of Notifying female vani-
ty. She spoke her language with tha,
pretty lisp ~hich / believe, the cri-
tics of Lisbon pronounce to be vicious
peculiarly Of the natives of Madeira, but
also with a correctness and an energy
that indicated powerful and ingenious
mind. l took half of large bunch OF
violets which | had in my hand, and gave
them to my friend to present to her,
Flowers are dialect of the Portuguese
which is soon learnt. She took them, curt
sled very low, opened the folds ofa mus
lin neckerchief, and dropped them loose on
her snowy bosom.
The vesper bell sounded, the door was
closed between the nun and the world, but
she beckOned us to 60 into their church.
We did SO; it was one ofthe finest in the
Island, and very curiously lined with sort
of porcelain; attached to its western enc,
is the chapel of the nuns, and double iron
grating to enable them to hear and parti-
cipate in the service of the mass. Maria
came with some flowers in her hand which
she had been gathering in the garden.---
She took four of them from the rest, and
gave them to me through the bars. elbow
old are your" SAID |. Twenty-one,"
she answered. "And your name IS"
"Maria." ..And Clementina as well!"--
eyes, in by-gone days" l leaned as close
as could, and spoke few words in a
low tone, which she did not seem to un-
derstand "She does not understand" {"
said l. "Yes, yes, l understand well;
speak" care you happy, lady" The
abbess, who was engaged with my COM
panion, turned her head, and Maria an
swered with an air Of fgaiety, % yes, very
shook my head as in doubt A minute
elapsed, and the abbess was occupied a
gain. Maria put her hands through the
grating, took one of nine, and made me
feel thin gold ring on her finger, and
then pressing my hand closely, said IN an
accent l still hear, "No no; have the
heart-ache."
"The service began; the old nuns croa-
ked like frogs, and the young ones paced
up and down, round about, in strange and
fanciful figures, chanting as sweetly as ca
ged canary birds. gazed at them for a
long time with feelings that cannot be told,
and when it was time to go, l caught Ma
ria's eye, and made her slight but ear
nest bow. She dropped courtesy, which
seemed a genuflection to her neighbor,
raised violet behind her service book to
her mouth, held it, looked at it, and
kissed it in token of an eternal farewell.
wish to know whether there would
have been any harm in accepting the cap
tain's offer of his coxswain and gigs crew,
and running away with Maria Clementi-
ma. The thing was perfectly easy, as we
all agreed, at the time: at the principal
door there was no grating, and in the
court, none but manned or decrepid per-
sons; three men should stand at the outer
gate and prevent any egress till we had
brought our prize down to the Loo Rock;
in a quarter Of an hour we should be on
board of a man of war, and even ifthey had
taken the alarm aDd fired the guns from the
battery, it is perfectly well known that the
Portuguese government never allows more
than one half Of the due charge ofpowder
to its artillery, and so we might have
laughed at their impotent attempts. But
what could | have done with my helpless
nun? Her lover was, heaven knows
where, and as to conjugating myself, al-
though Maria was very lovely girl, hap
pened to have my hands full for the pre-
sent. SO God bless thee, and again in
very sorrow, say, God bless the Infinite
lv sweet and unfortunate MadeiranI TfT
were tory, and as sure as am not,
would pray the Cortes might get on their
legs again, if it were only to let thee out
of thy prison.