Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 4).djvu/181

 breath, he clasped his hands, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Gracious father!" said he, "extend thy mercy to this unhappy man; may the long torment conscious guilt has inflicted—may the unspeakable terrors of a distracted mind plead in mitigation of his crimes; and may his sufferings obtain the same forgiveness from Heaven, which, with my whole soul, I accord to him here."

To this fervent address, Ernest pronounced an amen.—The wretched man seemed inwardly to join in prayer; he lay exhausted and speechless; the effort he had made during the confession of his crimes, reduced him to the last extremity; nor could he utter a single word for some time.

At length he wished to be alone with Ernest: Ferdinand, with tottering steps, reached the antechamber, and sunk on a sofa, overpowered by the recollection of what he had heard, and hardly believing it possible