Page:Armatafragment00ersk.djvu/406

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¬practised iniquity I considered it my ill fortune to detect ; because, though it is a high duty to the public to expose such evils, yet their expo- sure bears heavily upon many innocent people, and steels our hearts against the most genuine objects of compassion. ¬The charity of the fair Morvina was prover- bial, and our doors had long been surrounded by the poor of every description. — There was an old man who peculiarly interested us, being one hundred and three years of age, confirmed by a certificate which seemed to be as old as himself; the writing being much torn, and the seal im- perfect. — We were constantly attended also by a woman, who had lost her eyes from lightning, which were covered with black patches of silk, and by a man, her companion, who from palsy had lost the use of both his legs, and was drawn on a kind of sledge through the streets. — There was, from time to time, besides, another wretched woman with six little children, and near delivery ©f a seventh; all these paupers, and many ¬more, ¬