. All impediments
yielded before the force of his temperament, warm, sanguine, and
voluptuous in the excess.

As yet his other passions lay dormant; But they only needed to be once
awakened, to display themselves with violence as great and irresistible.

He continued to be the admiration of Madrid. The Enthusiasm created by
his eloquence seemed rather to increase than diminish.

Every Thursday, which was the only day when He appeared in public, the
Capuchin Cathedral was crowded with Auditors, and his discourse was
always received with the same approbation. He was named Confessor to
all the chief families in Madrid; and no one was counted fashionable
who was injoined penance by any other than Ambrosio. In his resolution
of never stirring out of his Convent, He still persisted. This
circumstance created a still greater opinion of his sanctity and
self-denial. Above all, the Women sang forth his praises loudly, less
influenced by devotion than by his noble countenance, majestic air, and
well-turned, graceful figure. The Abbey door was thronged with
Carriages from morning to night; and the noblest and fairest Dames of
Madrid confessed to the Abbot their secret peccadilloes.

The eyes of the luxurious Friar devoured their charms: Had his
Penitents consulted those Interpreters, He would have needed no other
means of expressing his desires. For his misfortune, they were so
strongly persuaded of his continence, that the possibility of his
harbouring indecent thoughts never once entered their imaginations.
The climate's heat, 'tis well known, operates with no small influence
upon the constitutions of the Spanish Ladies: But the most abandoned
would have thought it an easier task to inspire with passion the marble
Statue of St. Francis than the cold and rigid heart of the immaculate
Ambrosio.

On his part, the Friar was little acquainted with the depravity of the
world; He suspected not that but few of his Penitents would have
rejected his addresses. Yet had He been better instructed on this
head, the danger attending such an attempt would have sealed up his
lips in silence. He knew that it would be difficult for a Woman to
keep a secret so strange and so important as his frailty; and He even
trembled lest Matilda should betray him. Anxious to preserve a
reputation which was infinitely dear to him, He saw all the risque of
committing it to the power of some vain giddy Female; and as the
Beauties of Madrid affec