At length the term of my
imprisonment approached its close, and on the 30th of September, 1791, I
was liberated--my flesh creeps as I name the day.
I waited in the prison till it was dusk. Finding that I had the key of
my chambers upon my person, I resolved, in the first instance, to visit
once again the scene of my former tranquil studies. Before I reached the
Temple the gates had been closed, and the gatekeeper, as I entered, eyed
me with an unpleasant curiosity. I reached my chambers. There was still
light sufficient to enable me to select some papers which I particularly
wished to secure. I entered the chambers and walked in to my
sitting-room, but suddenly stopped on seeing a figure reclining on the
sofa. My library-table was before him, covered with law books. At first
I imagined that my laundress had permitted some stranger to occupy my
rooms during my incarceration. As I entered the chamber the figure rose,
and with feelings of indescribable horror I perceived the semblance of
myself--
--"And my flesh's hair upstood,
'Twas mine own similitude.
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