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The idea of having risen above the crowd of vulgar criminals, and

of having left them far behind, an idea which once flattered his

pride, now impressed him with a sentiment of fearful solitude;

and experiencing at certain moments of despondence the power and

presence of that God whose existence he had hitherto neither

admitted nor denied, having been wholly immersed in himself, his

accumulated crimes rose up, to justify the sentence which was

about to condemn him to eternal banishment from the divine

presence. But this uneasiness was not suffered to appear, either

in his words or his actions; he carefully concealed it under the

appearance of more profound and intense ferocity. Regretting the

time when he was accustomed to commit iniquity without remorse,

without any other solicitude than for its success, he made every

effort to recall these habits and feelings; to take pleasure in

wickedness; and glory in his shame, in order to convince himself

that he was still the same man.