“When I heard the double doors shut upon me a second time, casting my eyes round my habitation, I fancied I now saw the extent of all that was left to me in this world for the rest of my days. _Besides the malignity of enemies, and the anger of a minister, I felt that I ran the risk of being forgotten; the fate of many who have no one of influence to protect them, or who have not particularly attracted the notice of the public. Naturally fond of society, I confess I looked forward to the abyss of lonely wretchedness, that I thought awaited me, with a degree of horror that cannot easily be described. I even regretted now what I had formerly considered as the greatest blessing, a healthy constitution that had never been affected by disease._ “I recollect with humble gratitude the first gleam of comfort that shot across this gloom. It was the idea, that neither massive walls, nor tremendous bolts, nor all the vigilance of suspicious keepers, could conceal me from the sight of God. This thought I fondly cherished, and it gave me infinite consolation in the course of my imprisonment, and principally contributed to enable me to support it, with a degree of fortitude and resignation that I have since wondered at—I no longer felt myself alone. “At eleven, my reflections were interrupted by the turnkey, who entered with my dinner. Having spread the table with a clean napkin, he placed the dishes on it, cut the meat, and retired, taking away the knife. The dishes, plates, fork, spoon, and goblet, were of pewter. The dinner consisted of soup and bouilli, a piece of roasted meat, a bottle of good table wine, and a pound loaf of the best kind of household bread. In the evening, at seven, he brought my supper, which consisted of a roast dish and a ragoût. The same ceremony was observed in cutting the meat, to render the knife unnecessary to me. He took away the dishes he had brought for dinner, and returned at eight the next morning to take away the supper things. Fridays and Saturdays being fast or _maîgre_ days, the dinner consisted of soup, a dish of fish, and two dishes of vegetables; the suppers, of two dishes of garden stuff, and an omelet, or something made with eggs and milk. The dinners and suppers of each day in the week were different, but every week was the same: so that the ordinary class of prisoners saw in the course of the first week their bill of fare for fifty years, if they staid so long.