to raise some pity, even in the breasts of those I have injured. . "Conscience with her endless sting has deep pierced my heart, the agonizing pangs prevent the influence of slumber on my aching eyes, society has long been a torment to me, for surely every one must read my guilt in my perturbed looks. "A day has elapsed since I wrote the above; I am unable to continue this intended exposition of my deeds of horror without renewing in all the bitterness of recollection my guilty acts; but I must do it; I must com mence the recital while my trembling hand is able to guide my pen. "Oh! ye who peruse these lines, reflect that the hand that traced them is no more endued with vital motion, that the heart which suggested the deed of horror contained in these pages is returning to its original dust, and that the soul of Grimaldi is suffering for the guilty acts done in his days of life. "Marchese de Carlentini, thou art gone before me; repentance never entered thy bosom; with all thy load of dark and deadly crimes thou hast left this world. Soon we shall meet; but oh the horrors of that meet ing! ing! Let me not ruminate on it, lest it bewilder my senses, and incapacitate me from my present purpose. "About twenty years ago, when only the experience of thirty years had dawned on my mind, I was appointed confessor to the castle. The family of the Marchese consisted of his wife, the amiable Theodora, and you, Ricardo, whose infant tongue had just learned to express the first endearing words of childhood. "Two years glided away in domestic tranquillity; the Marchese appeared to be greatly attached to Theodora, whose whole happiness seemed to be centered in him and yourself.. The Marchese at the expiration of that. time went to Palermo. That journey was fatal to the peace of Theodora, and was the consequence of plunging me into a horrible abyss of guilt. L When the Marchese returned his conduct was entirely changed, he became gloomy and morose; he no longer took any pleasure in the society of Theodora, on the contrary, he diligent-ly avoided being near her, and I often used to behold him on the hills walking with folded arms, apparently deeply ruminating on the subject that caused his change of conduct. " It "It was from accidentally overhearing the converstion of some of the domestics who had attended him to Palermo that I began to have a suspicion of the cause that agitated the bosom of the Marchese. It appeared that he had lost while at Palermo vast sums of money at the gambling table, and that he was obliged to dispose of a considerable part of his estate to discharge them. "His conduct to the Marchesa became harsh, and even cruel; frequently have I surprised her when she had been giving vent to her sorrows by floods of tears; my heart sympathized with |