_Which are the Shadows?_ (Vol. v., p. 196.).--The story is told as of
Wilkie at the Escurial by Southey in _The Doctor_, vol. iii. p. 235.;
also, with a fine compliment to the "British Painter," by Wordsworth, in
one of the pieces published with _Yarrow Revisited_ (1835, pp. 305-6.).
The coincidence with the note by Mr. Rogers--to whom, by the way,
Wordsworth's volume is dedicated--has long perplexed me. One is
unwilling to suppose that the touching words ascribed to the two monks
were a stock speech common to aged monks who have such pictures to show;
but what better explanation is there? I believe that the first edition
of _Italy_ appeared, not in 1830, as your correspondent supposes, but in
1822. Is the story to be found in _that_ edition?