raged, their intention of carrying away the child of his benefactor, who, if left behind, was old enough to have described the scene of blood which he had witnessed. The only palliative that the ingenuity of Glossin could offer to his conscience was, that the temptation was great, and came suddenly upon him, embracing as it were the very advantages upon which his mind had so long rested, and promising to relieve him from distresses which must have otherwise speedily overwhelmed him. Besides, he endeavoured to think, that self-preservation rendered his conduct necessary. He was, in some degree, in the power of the robbers, and pleaded, hard with his conscience, that, had he declined their offers, the assistance which, he could have called for, though not distant, might not have arrived in time to save him from men, who, on less provocation, had just committed murder.
Galled with the anxious forebodings of a guilty conscience, Glossin now arose,
