dreadful distance. Such, too, were the other sufferings of soul and
body, I could not hope they might be supported and live.

About noon my den was opened. Sorrow and compassion were painted on
the countenances of my keepers. No one spoke; no one bade me good
morrow. Dreadful indeed was their arrival; for, unaccustomed to the
monstrous bolts and bars, they were kept resounding for a full half-
hour before such soul-chilling, such hope-murdering impediments were
removed. It was the voice of tyranny that thundered.

My night-table was taken out, a camp-bed, mattress, and blankets
were brought me; a jug of water set down, and beside it an
ammunition loaf of six pounds' weight. "That you may no more
complain of hunger," said the town-major, "you shall have as much
bread as you can eat." The door was shut, and I again left to my
thoughts.

What a strange thing is that called happiness! How shall I express
my extreme joy when, after eleven months of intolerable hunger, I
was again indulged with a full feast of coarse ammunition bread?
The fond lover never rushed more eagerly to the arias of his
expecting bride, the famished tiger more ravenously on his prey,
than I upon this loaf. I ate, rested; surveyed the precious morsel;
ate again; and absolutely shed tears of pleasure. Breaking bit
after bit, I had by evening devoured all my loaf.

Oh, Nature! what delight hast thou combined with the gratification
of thy wants! Remember this, ye who gorge, ye who rack invention to
excite appetite, and yet which you cannot procure! Remember how
simple are the means that will give a crust of mouldy bread a