"O pitying Mother! souls of light,
And saints and martyrs old,
Pray for a weak and sinful knight,
A suffering man uphold.
18.
"Then let the Paynim work his will,
Let death unbind my chain,
Ere down yon blue Carpathian hill
The sunset falls again!"
My heart is heavy with the thought of these unfortunates. Where be they
now? Did the knight forego his false worship and his vows, and so marry
his beloved Anna? Or did they part forever,--she going back to her
kinsfolk, and he to his companions of Malta? Did he perish at the hands
of the infidels, and does the maiden sleep in the family tomb, under her
father's oaks? Alas! who can tell? I must needs leave them, and their
sorrows and trials, to Him who doth not willingly afflict the children
of men; and whatsoever may have been their sins and their follies, my
prayer is, that they may be forgiven, for they loved much.
October 20.
I do purpose to start to-morrow for the Massachusetts, going by boat to
the Piscataqua River, and thence by horse to Newbury.
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