Rex tremendæ majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis!

Fain would the abbot have closed his ears, and, hoping to stifle the
remorseful pangs that seized upon his very vitals with the sharpness of
serpents' teeth, he strove to dwell upon the frequent and severe acts of
penance he had performed. But he now found that his penitence had never
been sincere and efficacious. This one damning sin obscured all his good
actions; and he felt if he died unconfessed, and with the weight of
guilt upon his soul, he should perish everlastingly. Again he fled from
the torment of retrospection, and again heard the choir thundering
forth--

Lacrymosa dies illa,
Quâ resurget ex favillâ
Judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus!
Pie Jesu Domine!
Dona eis requiem.

"Amen!" exclaimed the abbot. And bowing his head to the ground, he
earnestly repeated--

"Pie Jesu Domine!
Dona eis requiem."

Then he looked up, and resolved to ask for a confessor, and unburthen
his soul without delay.