penetration enough to distinguish from falsehood, what I uttered with
the entire conviction of a full-fraught heart! Strange, that men, from
age to age, should consent to hold their lives at the breath of another,
merely that each in his turn may have a power of acting the tyrant
according to law! Oh, God! give me poverty! shower upon me all the
imaginary hardships of human life! I will receive them all with
thankfulness. Turn me a prey to the wild beasts of the desert, so I be
never again the victim of man, dressed in the gore-dripping robes of
authority! Suffer me at least to call life, and the pursuits of life, my
own! Let me hold it at the mercy of the elements, of the hunger of
beasts, or the revenge of barbarians, but not of the cold-blooded
prudence of monopolists and kings!"--How enviable was the enthusiasm
which could thus furnish me with energy, in the midst of hunger,
poverty, and universal desertion!

I had now walked at least six miles. At first I carefully avoided the
habitations that lay in my way, and feared to be seen by any of the
persons to whom they belonged, lest it should in any degree furnish a
clue to the researches of my pursuers. As I went forward, I conceived it
might be proper to relax a part of my precaution. At this time I
perceived several persons coming out of a thicket close to me. I
immediately considered this circumstance as rather favourable than the
contrary. It was necessary for me to avoid entering any of the towns and
villages in the vicinity. It was however full time that I should procure
for myself some species of refreshment, and by no means improbable that
these men might be in some way assisting to me in that respect. In my
situation it appeared to me indifferent what might be their employment
or profession. I bad little to apprehend from thieves, and I believed
that they, as well as honest men, could not fail to have some compassion
for a person under my circumstances. I therefore rather threw myself in