cure my enlargement.......They had nothing to fear on their own account, as it was evident I was the sole object'; but their efforts were unwearied .......and probably their zeal and activity prolonged my confinement. I was upwards of a year in this situation.......Kerinthus and Hegesias could not openly appear my advocates; but I should be wanting in gratitude if I did not declare their efforts to have been unremitted....... They procured me all possible accommodation.......and I had more money than I could want....... Not that they enriched me, as you have stated..... The brethren of our order were uniformly liberal to such as suffered in the general cause;......but they were. too wise to be superfluous in their bounties. For my own part I was so elated with the dignified title of a Martyr, that for the first weeks of my imprisonment I was happier than ever I. had been at any period of my life. I felt more free and independent. This is the last stage in my history where the journey is embellished with the scenery of fancy.......My imagination gradually began to lose its highflown tones......and the privation presented me with a true picture of my situation.....the charms I had attached to mortification diminished.......and I began.........painfully.......to feel the uncertainty of my future doom. The pious matrons of our order continued to minister to my wants.... They feed the jailer, who suffered them occasionally to introduce the sisterhood to my cell, where we held very productive love-feasts.......Indeed they testified.......by every token...... their hearty Christian love and reverence for me. At last I became so restless, that I discovered my couch to be none of the softest......This was followed by sleepless nights....and agonized reflections......Sometimes the enchantments of the villa Mamilia would obtrude themselves in their most enchanting coloring.......The contrast was terrific .......I sighed.......I turned......I turned .......and sighed again. * These demoniac temptations I never failed to resist by austerities............ I scourged myself so unmercifully to repel the power of Satan, that my holy sisters had abundance of employment next morning in applying healing remedies to my lacerated back. Possibly I made bad worse.......and instead of quelling.......rather invoked .....the inspirations of the Evil Spirit.... But the period is now at hand which put an end to these extravagancies, and separated me.......for ever.....from the Christians. One night, when I lay desponding on my hard bed....and ruminating..... too feelingly.....on my unhappy lot.... the painful reverie was broken by the sudden opening of my prison-door. A woman.......veiled from head to foot.......entered my cell,......and placing the lamp she held upon a little table, saluted me in the manner of the Christians.......She was habited in the usual dress of a deaconess....a dark coarse woolen robe, with a leathern girdle round the middle. But her easy, graceful figure, contrasted with her dress.......I fancied a thousand things........expectation was on the tip-toe.....and a sort of fleeting remembrance, bewildered with a recollection of something I could not define. I looked most intently on my unknown sister, who did not appear in any haste to relieve my anxiety.. She,.......with much composure........ uncovered her basket, and taking out a small censor of heated coals, sprinkled it with frankincense, which most agreeably removed the damp vapours of my cell, and seemed a prelude to some sweet enchantment. It is not easy to describe how I felt all this time.........Neither of us spoke.......I could not......I looked...... I expected........I had no idea what would follow........and my impatience was excessive. When a voice......soft as the soothing Seraph's.....broke in sweet melody on my delighted ear...... 66 66 Ah, brother Peregrine! is thy memory so adverse to me, that it whispers nothing to my heart?” And this was uttered with those bewitching tones that had so oft seduced me.......I sprang up......at the same moment she dropped her veil ....... opened her arms......and I held |