s were being pulled down, or at least altered so
as to render them suitable to other purposes. The ground on which one
had stood had been converted into a public walk--a chapel had been
replaced by a covered market. The large convent of St Thomas was the
headquarters of the national guard; while that of the Trinity had been
appropriated to the reception of works of art, the spoils of the other
convents. One had been sold to a private speculator, who let it out in
chambers; another was the refuge of military invalids; a third, the
convent of St Catalina--which was set fire to while the Duke of
Angouleme was attending, in the year 1823, a mass celebrated in honour
of his successful campaign--had been demolished, and a building for the
senate and deputies was erecting on its site. The names of many of the
streets had been altered to those of various heroes of Spanish liberty;
such as Porlier, Lacy, the Empecinado, and others. The street of the
Alcala had been rebaptized after the Duque de la Victoria; but no doubt,
as the Captain observes, by this time _on a change tout cela_.

Of the Countess of Mina, who was then _aya_, or governess, to the queen,
some interesting details are given by Captain Widdrington, who had known
her and her husband when they were living in exile at Plymouth
subsequently to the affairs of 1823. Madame Mina appears to be a person
of very superior powers of mind, far better qualified to superintend the
female department of a Spanish queen's education, than the bigoted and
_afrancesada_ dowager-marchioness who preceded her in the office, and in
the selection of whom Maria Christina, with her usual selfishness, had
probably thought more of the political principles and opinions in which
she wished Isabella to be brought up, than of her daughter's future
welfare and happiness. The universal complaint of the _Spanish_ or
national party in the time of Christina was, that the queen's education
was neglected, or, it should rather be said, misconducted. The
queen-dowager's French tendencies were more than suspected. Of course,
when the popular party became in the ascendant, and Madame Mina received
the appointment, alike unsolicited and unexpected, of governess to the
queen, the _afrancesados_ set up a yell of horror and consternation. Her
husband's humble birth, her character, even her piety, and the mourning
habit she had worn ever since her husband's death, were made matters of
reproach to her. But though M