ery loth to admit
me to him, for Thornton had bullied her into a great fear of the
consequences of disobeying his instructions; but she did not dare
to resist my orders. Accordingly I had a long interview with the
unfortunate man; he firmly believes that Thornton intends to murder him;
and says, that if he could escape from his dungeon, he would surrender
himself up to the first magistrate he could find.

"I told him that an innocent man had been apprehended for the crime of
which I knew he and Thornton were guilty; and then taking upon myself
the office of a preacher, I exhorted him to atone, as far as possible,
for his past crime, by a full and faithful confession; that would
deliver the innocent, and punish the guilty. I held out to him the hope
that this confession might perhaps serve the purpose of king's evidence,
and obtain him a pardon for his crime; and I promised to use my utmost
zeal and diligence to promote his escape from his present den.

"He said, in answer, that he did not wish to live; that he suffered the
greatest tortures of mind; and that the only comfort earth held out to
him would be to ease his remorse by a full acknowledgment of his crime,
and to hope for future mercy by expiating his offence on the scaffold;
all this, and much more, to the same purpose, the hen-hearted fellow
told me with sighs and groans. I would fain have taken his confession on
the spot, and carried it away with me, but he refused to give it to me,
or to any one but a parson, whose services he implored me to procure
him. I told him, at first, that the thing was impossible; but, moved by
his distress and remorse, I promised, at last, to bring one tonight,
who should both administer spiritual comfort to him and receive his
deposition. My idea at the moment was to disguise myself in the dress of
the pater cove, [Note: A parson, or minister--but generally applied to
a priest of the lowest order.] and perform the double job--since then I
have thought of a better scheme.

"As my character, you see, your honour, is not so highly prized by the
magistrates as it ought to be, any confession made to me might not be of
the same value as if it were made to any one else--to a gentleman like
you, for instance; and, moreover, it will not do for me to appear in
evidence against any of the fraternity; and for two reasons: first,
because I have taken a solemn oath never to do so; and, secondly,
because I have a very fair chance of joining Sir