Meanwhile Julia, sheltered in the obscure of St Augustin, endeavoured to a degree of that which so strikingly characterized the scenes around her. The abbey of St Augustin was a large magnificent mass of Gothic architecture, whose gloomy battlements, and towers arose in proud from amid the darkness of the surrounding shades. It was founded in the twelfth century, and stood a proud monument of and princely magnificence. In the times when Italy was by internal , and by foreign , this afforded an to many noble Italian , who here the rest of their days to religion. At their death they enriched the with the treasures which it had enabled them to secure.  
The view of this building revived in the mind of the the memory of past ages. The manners and characters which them arose to his fancy, and through the long of years he those customs and manners which formed so striking a contrast to the modes of his own times. The rude manners, the passions, the daring ambition, and the gross indulgences which characterized the priest, the nobleman, and the sovereign, had now begun to yield to learning—the charms of refined conversation—political and private . Thus do the scenes of life vary with the predominant passions of mankind, and with the progress of civilization. The dark clouds of prejudice break away before the sun of science, and gradually dissolving, leave the brightening hemisphere to the influence of his beams. But through the present scene appeared only a few rays, which served to shew more forcibly the vast and heavy masses that the form of truth. Here prejudice, not reason, suspended the influence of the passions; and learning, mysterious philosophy, and sanctity supplied the place of wisdom, , and pure devotion.
 
At the abbey, and stillness with the solemn aspect of the pile to impress the mind with religious . The dim glass of the high-arched windows, stained with the colouring of monkish fictions, and shaded by the thick trees that environed the edifice, spread around a sacred gloom, which inspired the beholder with congenial feelings.
 
As Julia through the walks, and surveyed this vast monument of barbarous superstition, it brought to her recollection an ode which she often repeated with pleasure, as the composition of Hippolitus.
 
SUPERSTITION
AN ODE
High Alverna's awful steeps,
     Eternal shades, and silence dwell.
Save, when the sweeps,
     Sad strains are faintly heard to :
Enthron'd amid the wild rocks,
     Involved in clouds, and brooding future ,
The Superstition Nature shocks,
     And waves her sceptre o'er the world below.
Around her throne, amid the glooms,
     Wild—hideous forms are slowly seen to ,
She bids them fly to shade earth's brightest blooms,
     And spread the blast of Desolation wide.
See! in the darkened air their course!
     The ruin settles o'er the land,
Terror leads on their steps with madd'ning force,
     And Death and close the ghastly band!
          Mark the purple streams that flow!
          Mark the deep empassioned woe!
          Fury's dying !
          's sigh, and Sorrow's moan!
Wide—wide the swell the loaded air
With of —madness and despair!
Cease your ruin! spectres !
     Cease your wild terrific sway!
Turn your steps—and check your ire,
     Yield to peace the mourning day!
She wept to the memory of times past, and there was a romantic sadness in her feelings, and indefinable. Madame behaved to Julia with the tenderest attention, and endeavoured to withdraw her thoughts from their mournful subject by promoting that taste for literature and music, which was so suitable to the powers of her mind.
 
But an object seriously interesting now obtained that regard, which those of amusement failed to attract. Her favorite , for whom her love and daily increased, seemed declining under the pressure of a secret grief. Julia was deeply with her situation, and though she was not empowered to administer to her sorrows, she endeavoured to the sufferings of illness. She nursed her with unremitting care, and seemed to seize with avidity the temporary opportunity of escaping from herself. The nun appeared reconciled to her fate, and exhibited during her illness so much sweetness, patience, and resignation as affected all around her with pity and love. Her angelic mildness, and steady characterized the beatification of a saint, rather than the death of a mortal. Julia watched every turn of her with the utmost , and her care was at length rewarded by the of Cornelia. Her health gradually improved, and she attributed this circumstance to the assiduity and tenderness of her young friend, to whom her heart now expanded in warm and unreserved affection. At length Julia ventured to what she had so long and so earnestly wished for, and Cornelia unfolded the history of her sorrows.
 
'Of the life which your care has prolonged,' said she, 'it is but just that you should know the events; though those events are neither new, or striking, and possess little power of interesting persons unconnected with them. To me they have, however, been unexpectedly dreadful in effect, and my heart assures me, that to you they will not be indifferent.
 
'I am the unfortunate descendant of an ancient and illustrious Italian family. In early childhood I was deprived of a mother's care, but the tenderness of my surviving parent made her loss, as to my welfare, almost unfelt. Suffer me here to do justice to the character of my noble father. He united in an degree the mild of social life, with the firm unbending qualities of the noble Romans, his ancestors, from whom he was proud to trace his descent. Their merit, indeed, continually dwelt on his tongue, and their actions he was always endeavouring to imitate, as far as was consistent with the character of his times, and with the limited sphere in which he moved. The recollection of his virtue elevates my mind, and fills my heart with a noble pride, which even the cold walls of a monastery have not been able to .
 
'My father's fortune was unsuitable to his rank. That his son might hereafter be enabled to support the dignity of his family, it was necessary for me to assume the veil. ! that heart was unfit to be offered at an heavenly , which was already to an earthly object. My affections had long been engaged by the younger son of a neighbouring nobleman, whose character and attracted my early love, and confirmed my latest esteem. Our families were intimate, and our youthful occasioned an which strengthened and expanded with our years. He me of my father, but there appeared an insuperable barrier to our union. The family of my lover laboured under a circumstance of similar with that of my own—it was noble—but poor! My father, who was ignorant of the strength of my affection, and who considered a marriage formed in poverty as destructive to happiness, prohibited his suit.
 
'Touched with and disappointment, he immediately entered into the service of his Neapolitan , and sought in the tumultuous scenes of glory, a refuge from the of disappointed passion.
 
'To me, whose hours moved in one round of full uniformity—who had no pursuit to interest—no variety to my spirits—to me the effort of forgetfulness was ineffectual. The loved idea of Angelo still rose upon my fancy, and its powers of captivation, heightened by absence, and, perhaps even by despair, pursued me with grief. I concealed in silence the ............