JULIA
,
OR
THE
CONVENT
OF
ST.
CLAIRE
:
A
TALE
FOUNDED
ON
FACT
.
JULIA
,
OR
THE
CONVENT
OF
ST.
CLAIRE
.
STRANGER
,
that
massy
,
mouldering
pile
,
Whose
ivied
ruins
load
the
ground
,
Reechoed
once
to
pious
strains
By
holy
sisters
breathed
around
.
There
many
a
noble
virgin
came
To
bid
the
world
she
loved
....
adieu
;
There
,
victim
of
parental
pride
,
To
years
of
hopeless
grief
withdrew
.
Yes
,
proud
St.
Claire
!
thy
costly
walls
Have
witnessed
oft
the
mourner's
pain
;
And
hearts
in
joyless
durance
bound
,
Which
sighed
for
kindred
hearts
in
vain
.
But
never
more
within
thy
cells
Shall
beauty
breathe
the
fruitless
sigh
,
Nor
hid
beneath
the
envious
veil
Shall
sorrow
dim
the
sparkling
eye
.
For
now
,
a
sight
by
reason
blest
,
Thy
gloomy
dome
in
ruins
falls
,
While
bats
and
screechowls
harbour
there
,
Sole
tenants
of
thy
crumbling
walls
.
And
soon
,
blest
change
!
as
those
dread
plains
,
Where
Etna's
burning
torrents
poured
,
Become
,
when
Time
its
power
has
shed
,
With
softly-smiling
verdure
stored
:
So
,
when
thy
darkly-frowning
towers
The
verdant
plain
no
longer
load
,
These
scenes
,
where
sorrow
reigned
,
may
prove
Fond
,
faithful
lovers'
blest
abode
.
And
they
shall
pledge
the
nuptial
vow
,
Where
once
far
different
vows
were
heard
;
And
where
thy
pining
virgins
mourned
,
Shall
babes
,
sweet
smiling
babes
,
be
reared
.
Hail
,
glorious
change
,
to
Nature
dear
!
Methinks
I
see
the
bridal
throng
;
And
hark
,
where
lonely
sisters
prayed
,
How
sweetly
swells
the
social
song
!
But
nought
,
O
!
nought
can
her
restore
To
social
life
,
to
happy
love
,
Who
once
amidst
thy
cloistered
train
With
passion's
hopeless
sorrow
strove
.
Lamented
maid
!
my
faithful
Muse
To
pity's
ear
shall
tell
thy
tale
;
Shall
tell
,
at
midnight's
awful
hour
Why
groaning
ghosts
affright
the
vale
.
On
Julia's
softly
dimpled
cheek
Just
bloom'd
to
view
youth's
opening
rose
,
When
,
proudly
stern
,
her
father
bade
St.
Claire's
dark
walls
her
bloom
enclose
.
But
no
reluctance
to
obey
With
tears
bedewed
her
beauteous
cheek
,
Since
love
with
soft
persuasive
power
Not
yet
had
taught
her
heart
to
speak
.
"
Yes
,
....
be
a
nun's
vocation
mine
,
So
I
my
brother's
bliss
improve
;
His
be
their
wealth
,
"
sweet
Julia
cried
,
So
I
may
boast
my
parent's
love
!
"
Proud
Clermont
blessed
his
generous
child
;
Her
gentler
mother
dropped
a
tear
,
As
if
her
boding
heart
foretold
That
love
and
Julia's
woes
were
near
.
For
lo
!
where
glows
the
nuptial
feast
,
And
Clermont's
heir
leads
in
his
bride
,
While
Julia
,
called
that
feast
to
grace
,
Sits
by
a
blooming
baron's
side
.
Dear
,
fatal
hour
!
the
feast
is
o'er
,
But
still
in
faithful
memory
charms
,
And
Julia's
conscious
heart
has
learnt
To
throb
with
passion's
new
alarms
.
"
Now
then
I
feel
the
power
of
love
,
"
She
on
her
sleepless
pillow
cried
,
"
Then
must
I
still
my
sire
obey
,
And
this
warm
heart
in
cloisters
hide
?
"
But
hold
,
fond
girl
!
thy
throbbing
breast
May
be
with
hopeless
fondness
fraught
;
Yet
sure
Montrose's
speaking
eyes
Declared
he
felt
the
love
he
taught
.
"
And
well
her
hopes
his
glance
had
read
,
....
Montrose
a
mutual
passion
felt
,
Nor
long
his
tender
pangs
concealed
,
But
at
her
feet
impassioned
knelt
.
Her
downcast
eye
,
her
blush
,
her
smile
To
crown
her
lover's
suit
conspired
,
Who
,
bold
in
hope
,
to
Clermont
told
The
artless
wish
by
fondness
fired
.
But
told
in
vain
—
"
Away
!
"
he
cried
;
"
O'er
me
your
pleadings
boast
no
power
:
Think
not
my
son
his
rights
shall
yield
,
To
swell
my
pining
daughter's
dower
.
"
"
No
:
—
let
his
rights
still
sacred
be
,
"
Montrose
with
throbbing
heart
replied
,
"
Give
me
but
Julia's
willing
hand
,
I
ask
,
I
wish
for
nought
beside
.
"
"
And
darest
thou
think
that
Clermont's
child
Shall
e'er
pronounce
the
nuptial
vow
Unless
,
"
he
said
,
"
I
could
a
dower
Equal
to
Clermont's
rank
bestow
!
"
Away
,
young
lord
!
entreat
no
more
!
Nor
thus
with
vain
complainings
mourn
;
For
,
ere
tomorrow's
sun
has
set
,
My
child
shall
to
her
cell
return
.
"
He
spoke
,
and
frown'd
.
—
Alas
,
Montrose
!
In
vain
thy
manly
bosom
mourned
For
,
ere
tomorrow's
sun
had
set
,
Thy
Julia
to
her
cell
returned
.
But
changed
indeed
!
Youth's
opening
rose
Now
on
her
cheek
no
longer
glowed
;
And
now
,
with
earthly
cares
opprest
,
Before
the
holy
shrine
she
bowed
.
Now
to
religion's
rites
no
more
Her
heart
with
ready
zeal
impelled
;
No
more
with
genuine
fervour
warm
,
Her
voice
the
holy
anthem
swelled
.
"
Whence
thy
pale
cheek
?
and
whence
,
my
child
,
Proceeds
this
change
?
"
the
abbess
said
,
"
Why
heaves
thy
breast
with
deep-drawn
sighs
,
And
wherefore
droops
thy
youthful
head
?
"
"
Yes
,
....
you
shall
know
,
"
the
sufferer
cried
,
"
And
let
my
fate
your
pity
move
!
See
Passion's
victim
!
Morn
and
eve
This
struggling
soul
is
lost
in
love
.
"
And
I
yon
sacred
shrine
profane
;
The
cross
with
languid
zeal
I
press
;
Montrose's
image
claims
the
vows
Which
my
false
lips
to
Heaven
address
.
"
Yes
:
—
while
I
drop
the
sacred
bead
,
His
form
obtrudes
upon
my
view
,
And
love's
warm
tears
my
rosary
wet
,
Love
claims
the
sigh
devotion's
due
.
"
Inhuman
Father
!
wilt
thou
risk
My
peace
on
earth
,
and
hopes
of
heaven
?
Tremble
,
tyrannic
parent
,
think
What
love
may
do
to
madness
driven
!
"
With
pitying
heart
the
abbess
heard
;
For
she
an
answering
pang
had
known
,
And
well
her
gentle
soul
could
mourn
A
fate
,
a
grief
,
so
like
her
own
.
"
But
why
despair
,
my
child
?
"
she
said
,
"
Before
thy
father
lowly
kneel
,
And
teach
that
heart
,
though
fenced
by
pride
,
Compassion's
generous
throb
to
feel
.
"
Julia
the
kind
advice
obeyed
;
And
when
the
haughty
Clermont
came
,
Before
his
feet
she
lowly
knelt
,
And
hailed
him
by
a
parent's
name
.
"
Think'st
thou
to
wrong
thy
brother's
rights
I
e'er
can
be
by
thee
beguiled
?
"
"
Father
!
"
her
trembling
lips
replied
,
"
Say
,
is
not
Julia
too
your
child
?
"
For
him
you
bid
the
nuptial
feast
,
And
all
life's
dearest
blessings
glow
,
While
I
,
alike
your
child
,
you
doom
To
hopeless
love
,
and
lonely
woe
.
"
But
vain
remonstrance
,
tears
,
and
prayers
;
The
Count's
proud
heart
could
all
deride
,
For
Nature's
voice
can
never
melt
The
callous
bosom
fenced
by
pride
.
"
Urge
me
no
more
,
"
he
fiercely
said
,
"
But
know
,
not
long
these
prayers
can
last
;
Reflect
,
fond
girl
!
at
morning's
dawn
The
year
of
thy
probation's
past
!
"
Pale
,
pale
grew
then
her
youthful
cheek
,
Heart-piercing
seemed
her
mournful
cry
:
"
Clermont
!
relent
,
"
her
mother
cried
,
"
Nor
coldly
doom
thy
child
to
die
.
"
But
vain
was
Julia's
piercing
shriek
;
Nor
justice
he
nor
mercy
knew
:
"
Receive
,
"
he
said
,
"
my
last
embrace
,
"
....
Then
from
the
mournful
scene
withdrew
.
Loud
called
the
evening
bell
to
prayers
,
But
still
on
Julia
vainly
called
,
Who
,
leaning
on
her
mother's
breast
,
With
desperate
words
that
breast
appalled
.
"
Suppress
,
suppress
thy
grief
,
my
child
,
Or
fear
to
call
dread
vengeance
down
:
Wouldst
thou
not
tremble
,
impious
girl
!
Before
thy
God's
avenging
frown
?
"
"
Paint
not
that
gracious
God
in
frowns
,
Did
not
for
us
a
Saviour
bleed
?
In
mercy
clothe
his
awful
power
,
For
I
shall
soon
that
mercy
need
.
"
Dark
,
cheerless
,
awful
is
the
night
When
tempests
load
the
troubled
air
;
But
darker
,
gloomier
is
the
mind
Where
reigns
the
ghastly
fiend
Despair
.
Fond
mother
!
in
thy
Julia's
eyes
Canst
thou
not
see
his
reign
is
near
?
Inhuman
father
!
hark
!
loud
groans
Shall
swell
the
blast
;
....
Beware
!
beware
!
"
Mother
,
the
hour
commands
thee
hence
,
"
Sad
Julia
cried
,
"
we
now
must
part
;
And
never
may
thy
bosom
know
A
grief
like
that
which
rends
my
heart
!
"
In
all
thy
prayers
tonight
for
me
,
The
awful
throne
of
Heaven
address
,
While
I
with
grateful
bosom
kneel
,
And
bid
its
power
thy
goodness
bless
.
"
Speechless
the
mourning
mother
heard
;
Her
tongue
denied
the
word
'
farewell
!
'
At
length
her
quivering
lips
she
pressed
,
And
Julia
hurried
to
her
cell
.....
Now
chill
and
loud
the
North
wind
blew
,
Through
the
long
aisles
hoarse
murmurs
ran
;
The
shuddering
sisters'
cheeks
were
pale
,
When
they
their
midnight
tasks
began
.
Mock'd
by
deep
groans
each
anthem
seemed
,
The
vaulted
roofs
still
gloomier
grew
:
The
blast
of
night
was
swelled
by
shrieks
,
The
bird
of
night
ill-omened
flew
.
The
trembling
tapers
grew
more
pale
,
While
,
where
their
languid
radiance
fell
,
A
phantom
dimly
seemed
to
glide
,
And
loud
was
heard
the
passing
bell
.
"
Did
you
not
see
a
phantom
flit
?
Did
you
not
hear
the
passing
bell
?
"
Each
sister
cried
;
while
,
pale
with
dread
,
With
hurried
steps
she
sought
her
cell
.
At
length
arose
the
fatal
morn
Decreed
to
seal
sad
Julia's
doom
,
And
make
the
worm
of
hopeless
love
Feed
on
her
beauty's
opening
bloom
.
"
Julia
,
thy
bridal
vest
prepare
;
Thy
heavenly
spouse
expects
thee
;
rise
!
"
The
abbess
cried
.
—
"
Oh
,
stay
awhile
,
"
Julia
with
broken
tones
replies
.
"
The
tapers
burn
,
the
altar
glows
,
Robed
are
the
priests
in
costly
pride
,
The
organ
sounds
!
Prepare
!
"
—
Again
"
One
moment
stay
!
"
the
victim
cried
.
When
through
the
long
and
echoing
aisles
An
unknown
voice
the
abbess
hears
—
It
seems
with
wild
,
impatience
fraught
—
And
lo
!
Montrose
himself
appears
!
"
I
come
,
"
he
cries
,
"
to
claim
my
bride
;
A
father's
frown
no
more
impedes
:
His
son's
no
more
!
—
and
Julia
now
To
Clermont's
wealth
and
power
succeeds
.
"
Distrest
,
yet
pleased
,
the
abbess
heard
,
While
on
to
Julia's
cell
she
led
,
And
,
as
she
went
,
to
pitying
Heaven
Her
arms
in
pious
homage
spread
.
"
Julia
,
come
forth
!
come
forth
,
my
child
!
Unlock
thy
cell
,
Montrose's
bride
!
Now
thou
art
his
,
a
father's
frown
No
longer
will
your
fates
divide
.
"
Behold
him
here
to
snatch
thee
hence
,
And
give
thee
to
thy
father's
sight
.
"
"
How
!
silent
still
?
"
Montrose
exclaimed
;
"
Why
thus
thy
lover's
soul
affright
?
"
The
door
with
trembling
speed
he
forced
....
Ah
me
!
what
object
meets
their
eyes
!
Stretcht
on
her
bed
in
death's
last
pangs
,
And
bathed
in
blood
,
his
Julia
lies
.
Presumptuous
girl
!
when
Heaven
afflicts
Should
we
its
dread
decrees
arraign
?
Lo
!
Heaven
thy
woe
with
mercy
saw
,
But
thou
hast
made
its
mercy
vain
.
"
Behold
the
work
of
rash
despair
!
"
In
fluttering
,
feeble
words
she
said
:
"
Had
I
been
patient
still
,
Montrose
,
This
day
had
blessings
on
me
shed
.
"
Didst
thou
not
say
my
father's
heart
Had
deigned
at
length
thy
vows
to
hear
?
Too
late
remorse
!
but
oh
,
to
him
My
pardon
,
and
my
blessing
bear
.
"
But
must
I
die
?
and
canst
not
thou
Thy
Julia
from
death's
terrors
save
?
We
should
have
been
so
blest
,
Montrose
!
And
must
I
leave
thee
for
the
grave
?
"
Help
me
!
they
tear
me
from
thy
arms
,
Save
me
,
O
save
thy
destin'd
bride
!
It
will
not
be
;
....
forgive
me
,
Heaven
!
"
She
feebly
said
,
then
groaned
and
died
.
Oh
!
who
can
paint
the
lover's
woe
,
Or
childless
father's
deep
remorse
,
While
,
bending
o'er
the
blood-stained
bed
,
He
clasped
his
daughter's
pallid
corse
!
But
from
this
scene
of
dreadful
woe
,
Learn
why
the
village
swain
turns
pale
,
When
he
at
midnight
wanders
near
The
mouldering
Convent
in
the
vale
.
There
,
faintly
heard
through
whispering
trees
,
A
mournful
voice
on
Julia
calls
;
There
,
dimly
seen
,
a
blood-stained
vest
Streams
ghastly
o'er
the
ivied
walls
.