At length, the old man was known to use the mattress,
that among other things it now contained, and to pass the time between the
setting Of the sun in its solitude. The aperture originally cut for the
exhibition of the grasshopper had been glazed; and no article of comfort,
which was once caused to mount the difficult ladder that led to the
chamber, was ever seen to descend.
There was something in the austere sanctity of old Mark Heathcote, that
was favorable to the practices of an anchorite. The youths of the dwelling
regarded his unbending brow, and the undisturbed gravity of the eye it
shadowed, with a respect akin to awe. Had the genuine benevolence of his
character been less tried, or had he mingled in active life at a later
period, it might readily have been his fate to have shared in the
persecution which his countrymen heaped on those who were believed to deal
with influences it is thought impious to exercise. Under actual
circumstances, however, the sentiment went no farther than a deep and
universal reverence, that left its object, and the neglected little piece
of artillery, to the quiet possession of an apartment, to invade which
would have been deemed an act bordering on sacrilege.
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