Appendix 10
From Miss Taunton to Miss Hippisly at Shepton Mallet
Bruges October 17 1804
The Austins at Paris are allowed to wear their Habit; ring their Bells, keep inclosure & sing in the Choir the same as formerly; the French Teresians are returned to their own Convent at Paris, & the Annunciades are gathered together, both wear their Habits & keep inclosure. Mr Walsh an Irishman is Proviseur General to all the English, Irish & Scotch Seminaries, Colleges & Convents: he went to St Omers to claim the College there, part of which is now employed as a Military Hospital & is to be restored when we have Peace; he was lately at Douay to let out the Buildings of the English seminary, the Convent of the Benedictines & Friars; none of which are destroyed & it is hoped will be restored to their ancient. Liege, Ypres, Bornheim, & ourselves are not included in this grant; but our good Bishop is exerting himself to procure our Rent from Paris & I think he will succeed. Our school flourishes. We have 3 Novices, 1 for a Laysister, a Widow a convert for the Choir, from her good sense & other good qualities will be a great acquisition to us, if she perseveres.
Inscription on a Tombstone in the Burying Ground of the Austin Nuns at Spetisbury
In memory of the Revd Charles Catrow
who died March 12 1804 aged 51 years. R.I.P.
To thee the Virgin Wandering in this Grove
Sacred to Solitude & heaven-born love
With mournful looks shall view the Azure sky
The tender tear still trembling in her Eye
And as she Sighs, a Vow to Heaven shall send
“Peace to my Guide, my Father, & my Friend”
The above lines were composed by Mr Southworth. Mr Catrow was Confessor here for more than 20 years
Lanherne Novbr 26 1804
Our 3 Dr Novices took our holy Habit on the Presentation of our Blessed Lady, to their great joy & the satisfaction of us all they having greatly edified us hitherto by their Religious & fervent behaviour. You would be charmed could I pack up their fine voices & send in the Frank, for they sing most beautifully, Especially Str Mary Teresa who is Mistress of Musick, & Str Ann Joseph the Italian; the manner they sing the Litanies of our Blessed Lady & different Motets & Hymns are finer than ever we heard, & Mr de la Fosse persuaded them to sing at the Benedictions till they took the Habit, & all the Country rings with their fine singing; so that there is great Lamentation that they are never to be heard more. However in Recreation the County enjoy their voices yet, & they have many beautiful Canticles in Italian & French. You would also be well entertained with the recital of all the Holy Places & things they have seen in Italy; especially Str Mary Teresa who was one of the first four of the Jesuitesses in company with the ArchDuchesse Marianne sister to the Emperor; they were at Padua when our Holy Father passed on his way to Rome, & by him invited to go also; where his Holiness ever shewed all kind of attention to the Arch Duchess, & shewed them everything that could be seen Holy at Rome, such as all the precious Instruments of our Blessed Lord’s Passion &c such as the Holy Pillar, the Holy Hairs, the Holy Syndon, the Holy Crib, the Vatican Chapel. The Tombs of Sts Peter & Paul &c & many things I have forgot, many of these things are prohibited even to the Clergy to go to see, & one Cannon who accompanied them could not say Mass for 3 days. His Holiness also sent two Cardinals with them into the Catacombs & had three Bodies of Martyrs taken out of their Tombs & given to the Arch Duchess; she says the tombs of the Martyrs are distinguished by a Paten on the Tomb & on the inside by a Vial of their Blood, she had forgot the names of the 3 Sts which with difficulty was read; they all looked like Ghosts when they returned into the Air: What must these Bd primitive Sts have suffered to have been sometimes hid for months there. They are quite delighted with our Holy Father, they say he is so Holy & devout, & so sweet & mild to all; his Confessor they say is also a Saint, & has actually wrought miracles, I forget of what place he is Bishop. The French robbed the Churches and Shrines &c of all Gold ornaments. The Candlesticks &c formerly of Gold in St Peters are now made of Wood in the same fashion & being Gilt looks very well. She also heard Mass & Communicated in the Holy Chapel itself at Loretta, it has no floor to it; but what a happiness to be in those very walls where formerly at Nazareth dwelled the Saviour of the World with his Holy Mother & St Joseph; nobody else is permitted to enter at the Mass which is daily said there. I was very glad to hear that the Emperor is very devout; & the Arch Duke Charles still more so, he says the Office of our Blessed Lady daily, & very frequently goes to Holy Communion especially always before he goes to Battle.
Our third Novice who is of the Province of Hainault was at Louvain some time, knows your Dr Convern very well, & was at it with the neice of our late Dr Bishop of Antwerp. I had liked to have forgot to tell you a piece of news which if yr Dr Comty don’t know I am sure you will be very sorry to hear of; it is the death of yours & our Holy cardinal Arch Bishop of Mechlin who died I believe very lately in Holland very much regretted, his Obsequies have been performed publicly all over Holland. R.I.P. although I cant but think he is in heaven receiving the reward of all his labours & persecutions
Spetisbury Decbr 21 1804
My Dear Friend
It seems an age since I have heard from you & am determined to make a bold push to get a frank, to send you an Extract from a Teresian letter to one of our Nuns, & from Mrs More to my Brother; tho’ perhaps you may already have had the former from Marnhull, as Mrs Tunstal, who now resides there, has a Correspondent here; moreover I have heard that one of the Jesuitesses has taken the Habit at Marnhull; if so, it is only my labour lost. Sister M.Gertrude Lovegrove of Bruges, I believe, writes also to Marnhull sometimes. Pray tell me if you have heard this news before. I shall inclose a few marks for your prayer books, that when you see them you may think of me. On the 13th of November Mr, Mrs Taunton, Fanny, Marianne, & Teresa arrived here, they staid two days, & left Marianne & Teresa for pensioners, we have now 13; & they say Marianne is the finest Girl in the School.
My brother left with Mr Southworth for the Teresians at Canford & for the Female Trappistes; he also presented Mr S with 2 Guineas (which is not usual here) on account of the additional trouble he would have with his two Daughters; in consequence Mr S hired a Chaise & treated Mrs Witham & your humble servant with a ride to Canford; I had never seen any of that order; it unfortunately rained incessantly & the Chaise by some mistake did not come till two hours later than ordered, so that we did not get there till after they had dined, but they gave us part of a fowl, pork, & beefsteak & we carry’d Sausages with us. There are only 10 Choir Nuns & two lay sisters, one is sister to one of the Nuns, the other is Niece to Mrs Errington the Prioress; their habit is very coarse brown cloth, most of them very much darned; Sister Charlotte Smith (Irish) from St Denis, shewed me the Salt cup& wooden Spoon used by Madame Louise with whom she lived there; they also have a Picture of her, a half length. Mrs Errington invited me to make another visit, & said she could give me a Bed; she is a great example of patient suffering; she has a protuberance larger than any Woman in the last stage of Pregnancy; she was at first treated as dropsical, but it is now pronounced to be a fleshy substance & if she should fall or meet with a blow on the part, the Doctor says it would cause her Death; so she is forbid to go to the Choir, it being above stairs. I have heard that they receive medical assistance gratis. They give a French Priest (Duvall) his Board for saying daily Mass. Their Confessor Mr Willesay is so infirm he cant do any thing: Two of the Nuns have alternately watched with him all night for a year past, viz one at a time. Mr Brooke comes from Lulworth once a fortnight to hear their Conf. when he can, he was expected the day we were there, to perform the Cloathing Ceremony for a Miss Collier, but could not attend till more than 3 weeks after, on account of mr stanly & others being sick; the above Miss Collier has a Sister aged 17 a Novice at the Monastery of the Visitation at Acton, founded by Mrs Tunstal; there is also here on trial Mrs Garnham 40, Miss Stonor 25 she is Niece to our Superior & to Mrs Cary of Tor Abby, Bosville 40 I believe from Lulworth for a Lay sister. Miss Moulin Niece to Lady Mannay went there last Summer but soon returnd. Last week Mr Weld set off with his Daughter Mary & left her there. Madame Hurerd is Superior & one Professed Nun is the Community, both the latter are French. I have seen Mr & Mrs Weld, Mr & Mrs Jones of Lanarth with her Sister Miss Lee, Dowager Lady Clifford, lady Teresa & Miss Lease, Sir Thomas tancred & his brother, Mr Plunkets, Doctor & Mrs Underhill, Revd Doctor Rigby, he preached here, Mrs F Hutton, Miss Lotwich; besides other Clergy &c &c. At this Season we have not much company. I long to hear of Lecky & M of Southampton. How is Mr Hill, Baker, & Mrs Hole, my Compliments to her; & to Mrs Broxal. Is Amy Ball’s prediction verified? We have here part of Sir Thomas More’s Hair Shirt, and Queen Clementina’s bedgown which she wore when she received her last Sacraments; it is white Satin, lined with Crimson silk. S Taunton is with his Regiment at Bristol guarding French prisoners, he sometimes dines with Lady Fingal at Clifton, her Daughter lady T Dease writes to hers here, that he is an Elegant young man, & if his Sisters resemble him she is sure they must be pleased with them. He has lent her some of his Drawings to copy. When he was in Cornwall he was obliged to go to Lanherne, which was at a great distance, to go to the Sacrament, the good Nuns were so edified at so much devotion in a young Officer that they wrote an account of it here. How fond some folks are of puffing off their Kindred. My Paper is just returned saying Mr Fane is gone, & not a frank to be had so adieu for the present.
January 3 1805
This afternoon Mrs Witham & I spent in the Convent. The pensioners were all dressed in their Habit. Teresa was a striking likeness of my youngest Sister. Mr Berkeley of Spetchly is dead. Miss Weld took the Habit a few days after her arrival at Acton. She is 30 years old & has had a Vocation to be a Nun of the Visitation for ten years past, & this is the first English Community of that Order. How kind Providence is to her! The Nuns here work for sale. I have the pleasure of seeing the pretty things but am not a purchaser; Mrs Taunton & Fanny bought as much as came to nearly two pounds. They make Bell ropes, work bags, thread paper, Netting cases, Ridicules, watch Cases, Card Cases, Purses, Pincushions in the form of Books, needle Books a Regiment of Soldiers & the Needles are the Spears &c &c &c
I hope you have good Company, find the house comfortable, wishing you many happy returns of the Season I remain
Your sincere friend
K E Taunton
Compts to Mr Hippisly