that worn by
Armenians, having his long hair combed down on his shoulders, and his
neck, hands, and feet bare. In this guise he was conducted into a remote
chamber totally devoid of furniture, excepting a lamp, a chair, and a
table, on which lay a Bible. 'Here,' said the Astrologer, 'I must leave
you alone to pass the most critical period of your life. If you can, by
recollection of the great truths of which we have spoken, repel the
attacks which will be made on your courage and your principles, you have
nothing to apprehend. But the trial will be severe and arduous.' His
features then assumed a pathetic solemnity, the tears stood in his eyes,
and his voice faltered with emotion as he said, 'Dear child, at whose
coming into the world I foresaw this fatal trial, may God give thee grace
to support it with firmness!'

The young man was left alone; and hardly did he find himself so, when,
like a swarm of demons, the recollection of all his sins of omission and
commission, rendered even more terrible by the scrupulousness with which
he had been educated, rushed on his mind, and, like furies armed with
fiery scourges, seemed determined to drive him to despair. As he combated
these horrible recollections with distracted feelings, but with a
resolved mind, he became aware that his arguments were answered by the
sophistry of another, and that the dispute was no longer confined to his
own thoughts. The Author of Evil was present in the room with him in
bodily shape, and, potent with spirits of a melancholy cast, was
impressing upon him the desperation of his state, and urging suicide as
the readiest mode to put an end to his sinful career. Amid his errors,
the pleasure he had taken in prolonging his journey unnecessarily, and
the attention which he had bestowed on the beauty of the fair female when
his thoughts ought to have been dedicated to the religious discourse of
her father, were set before him in the darkest colours; and he was
treated as one who, having sinned against light, was therefore deservedly
left a prey to the Prince of Darkness.

As the fated and influential hour rolled on, the terrors of the hateful
Presence grew more confounding to the mortal senses of the victim, and
the knot of the accursed sophistry became more inextricable in
appearance, at least to the prey whom its meshes surrounded. He had not
power to explain the assurance of pardon which he continued to assert, or
to name the victorious name in whic