midnight
It has made wives widows , and torn from the disconsolate husband the mother of his children ; and is itself the monster which St. Patrick is said to have destroyed in the place -- a monster , which is a complete and significant allegory of this great and destructive superstition . But what is even worse than death , by stretching the powers of human sufferance until the mind cracks under them , it is said sometimes to return these pitiable creatures maniacs -- exulting in the laugh of madness , or sunk for ever in the incurable apathy of religious melancholy . I mention this now , to exhibit the purpose for which these calamities are turned to account , and the dishonesty which is exercised over these poor , unsuspecting people , in consequence of their occurrence . The pilgrims , being thus aroused at midnight are sent to prison ; and what think you is the impression under which they enter it ? one indeed , which , when we consider their bodily weakness and mental excitement , must do its work with success . It is this : that as soon as they enter the prison a supernatural tendency to sleep will come over them , which , they say , is peculiar to the place ; that this is an emblem of the influence of sin over the soul , and a type of their future fate ; that if they resist this they will be saved ; but if they yield to it , they will not only be damned in the next world , but will go mad , or incur some immediate and dreadful calamity in this . Is it any wonder that a weak mind and exhausted body , wrought upon by these bugbears , should induce upon by itself , by its own terrors , the malady of derangement ?