Mr. Seymour’s representation of the condition of nuns is most affecting; but only in accordance with what is declared by others who are competent to form a correct opinion. He says, of the wretched victim of this system, “At the last day of her noviciate she is nominally free, and then, on assuming the black veil, _she becomes a prisoner for life_. If she escapes from the monastery, or attempts to fly, the law proclaims her an outcast, and all the ministers of justice _pursue her as a felon_, and _she is seized and punished as a criminal_, and confined, if possible, still more closely than before. I cannot say precisely what are the provisions of the law respecting such runaways, but the notion that it is a sin _deserving_ death is carefully propagated, and the belief generally prevails that imprisonment in a dungeon for life is the destined penalty within the walls of a convent. The terrors of the law are thus one great security against any attempt at escape from a nunnery. And, besides this, escape is next to impossible; for the monasteries are so constructed, that the inmates are as much prisoners within them, as criminals are prisoners in the public gaols. The windows are barred; the gates are chained; the walls are lofty. Exteriorly they always present this sad appearance, and interiorly it is necessary to pass through one, two, and sometimes three massive gates or doors, made as strong as wood and iron can make them, and locked and chained as securely as art can effect. It has always appeared to me, when examining these monasteries, that it was physically impossible for a young female to make an effectual attempt to escape. She cannot escape; and if she could, she would immediately be seized by the police, and remanded to some worse punishment in her prison.