nd thirty-seven pieces of
gold. The sergeant immediately took the money to the corregidor, who,
after having told it over, ordered him to clothe the prisoner, and shut
him up close till after supper.

About midnight, the sergeant and two Turkish slaves released Mr. Lithgow
from his then confinement, but it was to introduce him to one much more
horrible. They conducted him through several passages, to a chamber in a
remote part of the palace, towards the garden, where they loaded him
with irons, and extended his legs by means of an iron bar above a yard
long, the weight of which was so great that he could neither stand nor
sit, but was obliged to lie continually on his back. They left him in
this condition for some time, when they returned with a refreshment of
food, consisting of a pound of boiled mutton and a loaf, together with a
small quantity of wine; which was not only the first, but the best and
last of the kind, during his confinement in this place. After delivering
these articles, the sergeant locked the door, and left Mr. Lithgow to
his own private contemplations.

The next day he received a visit from the governor, who promised him his
liberty, with many other advantages, if he would confess being a spy;
but on his protesting that he was entirely innocent, the governor left
him in a rage, saying, He should see him no more till farther torments
constrained him to confess, commanding the keeper, to whose care he was
committed, that he should permit no person whatever to have access to,
or commune with him; that his sustenance should not exceed three ounces
of musty bread, and a pint of water every second day; that he shall be
allowed neither bed, pillow, nor coverlid. "Close up (said he) this
window in his room with lime and stone, stop up the holes of the door
with double mats: let him have nothing that bears any likeness to
comfort." These, and several other orders of the like severity, were
given to render it impossible for his condition to be known to those of
the English nation.

In this wretched and melancholy state did poor Lithgow continue without
seeing any person for several days, in which time the governor received
an answer to a letter he had written, relative to the prisoner from
Madrid; and, pursuant to the instructions given him, began to put in
practice the cruelties devised, which they hastened, because Christmas
holy-days approached, it being then the forty-seventh day since his
imprisonment