Those dreary walls inclosed the
wretched heir of the Waverly family. Overwhelmed with horror at having
deprived his father of life, the unhappy man abjured a country whose
civil wars had given birth to such tremendous crimes. Long the victim of
despair, he at last sought a quietus to his ever-gnawing remorse, by
flying to the bosom of that church which barters salvation for pecuniary
mulcts, and represents penance and subserviency to its schemes of
worldly aggrandisement to be the wings which will waft the soul over the
gulph of purgatory, and securely lodge it in Abraham's bosom. Not
content with becoming a convert to the Romish church, the young Baronet
determined upon expiating his unintentional parricide, by taking the
cowl, and entering into its strictest order of monachism. Eustace and
his friends, when they travelled over the Alps, were lodged one night at
this convent, and in the midnight service De Vallance recognized the
well-remembered tones of his powerful voice. They afterwards saw him in
the garden labouring at his future grave, according to the prescribed
rules of his order.
Pages:
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770