public, but information was given privately to the police, who late
at night entered the suspected dwelling, and there surprised Clara and
her confessor, who were both elegantly dressed, and sitting at a table
profusely served up with viands and wines of the most _recherche_
descriptions. The inquisition at once seized their persons, and
proceeded to try them for their crimes. The confessor, who was a young
robust Franciscan friar, was condemned to perpetual imprisonment in one
of the most severe convents of the order. The _beata_ Clara was paraded
through the streets of Madrid, _honeyed and feathered_, and mounted on a
jack-ass, and then sent to be imprisoned in a house of penance for the
remainder of her life.

The other fact which we have alluded to and promised some account of to
our readers, dates in more modern times; indeed, all the actors in that
far-famed farce are still living.

Under the regency of Espartero, it was currently reported in Madrid, that
in a certain convent of that city there existed one of the order whose
name was Sister Patrocinio (_Sor Patrocinio_), and who, like St Francis
before alluded to, had in her hands and feet the _stigmata_ or open sores
which correspond with those of our Saviour, made by the nails and spear
in his crucifixion. This rumour, and many acts of the nun, produced an
extraordinary sensation in Madrid, and especially when it began to be
believed there was some political legerdemain connected with the prodigy,
for the confessor of this woman, who now occupies one of the episcopal
chairs of Spain, and gave his testimony to the case, seemed to be upon
very intimate terms with the royal family, and had very lengthened
conversations with some of its members. As at that time the political
world was agitated by the question of the political pretensions of Don
Carlos to the throne of Spain, the government, which held, or at least
professed liberal opinions, thought that possibly the case of this
miraculous woman might have some connection with the absolute views of
the clergy, particularly as the miracle was everywhere spoken of.
Thirsting, therefore, to prove the truth of the alleged fact, which was
that the sores or wounds of this Saint Patrocinio were open and bleeding
in the same way as if they had been the results of nails lately driven
into her feet and hands and a spear thrust into her side, the government
ordered the lady to be examined by the most celebrated medical