Meanwhile, Henley the chaplain, with the stern austerity of unpitying
fanaticism, asked Eustace if he was in a state of grace, or had
witnessed the experience of a saving call. Receiving no answer to these
inquiries, he began the usual routine of vituperative prayer, and
affected to supplicate for mercy on what he styled a child of wrath
doomed to perdition, and, by his own consent, in the bondage of Satan.
Eustace was roused by this mockery from his apparent stupor. "Call you
this," said he, "spiritual comfort for the afflicted, or a requiem for a
departing soul? I was educated in the principles of true piety. I know
myself to be a frail, responsible being, and that my spirit is composed
of those imperishable materials which will enable me to exist in a state
of retribution. I trust in the merits of Him who died to save me. I am
severed from my dearest connections. My days are terminated in the
morning of my life. I am denied the fruition of those glorious hopes
which prompted me to distinguish myself by deeds deserving virtuous
renown.
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