t, he
might discover my design, and then I should be abridged of the little
comfort I enjoy. People may inveigh against the Bastile in France, and
the Inquisition in Portugal; but I would ask, if either of these be in
reality so dangerous or dreadful as a private madhouse in England, under
the direction of a ruffian? The Bastile is a state prison, the
Inquisition is a spiritual tribunal; but both are under the direction of
government. It seldom, if ever, happens that a man entirely innocent is
confined in either; or, if he should, he lays his account with a legal
trial before established judges. But, in England, the most innocent
person upon earth is liable to be immured for life under the pretext of
lunacy, sequestered from his wife, children, and friends, robbed of his
fortune, deprived even of necessaries, and subjected to the most brutal
treatment from a low-bred barbarian, who raises an ample fortune on the
misery of his fellow-creatures, and may, during his whole life, practise
this horrid oppression, without question or control."

This uncomfortable reverie was interrupted by a very unexpected sound
that seemed to issue from the other side of a thick party-wall. It was a
strain of vocal music, more plaintive than the widowed turtle's moan,
more sweet and ravishing than Philomel's love-warbled song. Through his
ear it instantly pierced into his heart; for at once he recognised it to
be the voice of his adored Aurelia. Heavens! what was the agitation of
his soul, when he made this discovery! how did every nerve quiver! how
did his heart throb with the most violent emotion! he ran round the room
in distraction, foaming like a lion in the toil--then he placed his ear
close to the partition, and listened as if his whole soul was exerted in
his sense of hearing. When the sound ceased to vibrate on his ear, he
threw himself on the bed; he groaned with anguish, he exclaimed in broken
accents; and in all probability his heart would have burst, had not the
violence of his sorrow found vent in a flood of tears.

These first transports were succeeded by a fit of impatience, which had
well-nigh deprived him of his senses in good earnest. His surprise at
finding his lost Aurelia in such a place, the seeming impossibility of
relieving her, and his unspeakable eagerness to contrive some scheme for
profiting by the interesting discovery he had made, concurred in brewing
up a second ecstasy, during which he acted a thousa