ane lustre,
and his looks were so wild and terrific, that it required no great
stretch of imagination to convert him into the genius of the pestilence.
Entirely stripped of apparel except that his loins were girt with a
sheep-skin, in imitation of Saint John in the Wilderness, he bore upon
his head a brazier of flaming coals, the lurid light of which falling
upon his sable locks and tawny skin, gave him an unearthly appearance.

Impelled by curiosity, Leonard paused for a moment to listen, and heard
him thunder forth the following denunciation:--"And now, therefore, as
the prophet Jeremiah saith, 'I have this day declared it to you, but ye
have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, nor anything for the
which he hath sent me unto you. Now, therefore, know certainly that ye
shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.' Again, in
the words of the prophet Amos, the Lord saith unto YOU by my mouth, 'I
have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt, yet have
you not returned unto me. Therefore, will I do this unto thee, O Israel;
and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God?' Do you
hear this, O sinners? God will proceed against you in the day of His
wrath, though He hath borne with you in the day of His patience? O how
many hundred years hath He spared this city, notwithstanding its great
provocations and wickedness! But now He will no longer show it pity, but
will pour out His wrath upon it I Plagues shall come upon it, and
desolation; and it shall be utterly burnt with fire,--for strong is the
Lord who judgeth it!"

His address concluded, the enthusiast started off at a swift pace,
shrieking, in a voice that caused many persons to throw open their
windows to listen to him, "Awake! sinners, awake'--the plague is at
your doors!--the grave yawns for you!--awake, and repent!" And followed
by the crowd, many of whom kept up with him, he ran on vociferating in
this manner till he was out of hearing.

Hurrying forward in the opposite direction, Leonard glanced at the
ancient and picturesque houses on either side of the way,--now bathed
in the moonlight, and apparently hushed in repose and security,--and he
could not repress a shudder as he reflected that an evil angel was,
indeed, abroad, who might suddenly arouse their slumbering inmates to
despair and death. His thoughts took another turn as he entered the
precincts of Saint Paul's, and surveyed the venerable and majestic