sympathy. They were quite young, I think not more than
three years of age, and they grieved continually. They
made no complaint, did not even shed a tear, but they
sobbed all the time, whether asleep or awake. Of their
history, I could learn nothing at that time, except the
fact, that they were taken from their parents for the
good of their souls. I afterwards overheard a conversation
that led me to think that they were heirs to a large
property, which, if they were out of the way, would go
to the church. But it is of what I know, and not what I
think, that I have undertaken to write, and I do know
that the fate of those little girls was hard in the
extreme, whatever might have been the cause of their
being there. Poor little creatures! No wonder their
hearts were broken. Torn from parents and friends while
yet in early childhood--doomed while life is spared, to
be subject to the will of those who know no mercy--who
feel no pity, but consider it a religious duty to crush,
and destroy all the pure affections--all the exquisite
sensibilities of the human soul. Yet to them these hapless
babes must look for all the earthly happiness they could
hope to enjoy. They were taught to obey them in all
things, and consider them their only friends and protectors.
I never saw them after I left that room, but they did
not live long. I was glad they did not, for in the cold
grave their sufferings would be over and they would rest
in peace.

O, how little do Protestants know the sufferings of a
nun! and truly no one can know them except by personal