se, a dreadful distance. Such,
too, were the other sufferings of soul and body, I could not hope they
might be supported and live.

About noon my den was opened. Sorrow and compassion were painted on the
countenances of my keepers. No one spoke; no one bade me good morrow.
Dreadful indeed was their arrival; for, unaccustomed to the monstrous
bolts and bars, they were kept resounding for a full half-hour before
such soul-chilling, such hope-murdering impediments were removed. It was
the voice of tyranny that thundered.

My night-table was taken out, a camp-bed, mattress, and blankets were
brought me; a jug of water set down, and beside it an ammunition loaf of
six pounds' weight. "That you may no more complain of hunger," said the
town-major, "you shall have as much bread as you can eat." The door was
shut, and I again left to my thoughts.

What a strange thing is that called happiness! How shall I express my
extreme joy when, after eleven months of intolerable hunger, I was again
indulged with a full feast of coarse ammunition bread? The fond lover
never rushed more eagerly to the arias of his expecting bride, the
famished tiger more ravenously on his prey, than I upon this loaf. I
ate, rested; surveyed the precious morsel; ate again; and absolutely shed
tears of pleasure. Breaking bit after bit, I had by evening devoured all
my loaf.

Oh, Nature! what delight hast thou combined with the gratification of thy
wants! Remember this, ye who gorge, ye who rack invention to excite
appetite, and yet which you cannot procure! Remember how simple are the
means that will give a crust of mouldy bread a flavour more exquisite
than all the spices of the East, or all the profusion of land or sea!
Remember this, grow hungry, and indulge your sensuality.

Alas! my enjoyment was of short duration. I soon found that excess is
followed by pain and repentance. My fasting had weakened digestion, and
rendered it inactive. My body swelled, my water-jug was emptied; cramps,
colics, and at length inordinate thirst racked me all the night. I began
to pour curses on those who seemed to refine on torture, and, after
starving me so long, to invite me to gluttony. Could I not have reclined
on my bed, I should indeed have been driven, this night, to desperation;
yet even this was but a partial relief; for, not yet accustomed to my
enormous fetters, I could not extend myself in the same manner I was
afterwards taught to do by hab