five o'clock
in the morning
And my Lord Viscount , sinking visibly , was in the midst of these strange confessions , when the ecclesiastic for whom my lord had sent , Mr. Atterbury , arrived . This gentleman had reached to no great church dignity as yet , but was only preacher at St. Bride 's , drawing all the town thither by his eloquent sermons . He was godson to my lord , who had been pupil to his father ; had paid a visit to Castlewood from Oxford more than once ; and it was by his advice , I think , that Harry Esmond was sent to Cambridge , rather than to Oxford , of which place Mr. Atterbury , though a distinguished member , spoke but ill . Our messenger found the good priest already at his books at five o'clock in the morning , and he followed the man eagerly to the house where my poor Lord Viscount lay -- Esmond watching him , and taking his dying words from his mouth . My lord , hearing of Mr. Atterbury 's arrival , and squeezing Esmond 's hand , asked to be alone with the priest ; and Esmond left them there for this solemn interview . You may be sure that his own prayers and grief accompanied that dying benefactor . My lord had said to him that which confounded the young man -- informed him of a secret which greatly concerned him .