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⟨their⟩ unhappy vietim, the old man; sometimes ⟨they⟩ would strip him naked, and paint him all ⟨over⟩ with various sorts of colours, which they ⟨extracted⟩, or made from herbs and roots; at other ⟨times⟩, they would pluck the white hairs from his ⟨venerable⟩ beard, and tauntingly tell him, he was ⟨a fool⟩ for living so long, and that they would ⟨shew⟩ him kindness in putting him out of the ⟨world⟩; to all which the poor creature could but (illegible text)nt his sighs, his tears, his moans, and entreaties, ⟨that⟩, to my affrighted imagination, were enough ⟨to⟩ penetrate a heart of adamant, and soften the ⟨most⟩ obdurate savage. In vain, alas! were all ⟨his⟩ tears, for daily did they tire themselves with ⟨the⟩ various means they tried to torment him—⟨sometimes⟩ tying him to a tree, and whipping ⟨him⟩; at others, scorching his furrowed cheeks ⟨with⟩ red-hot coals, and burning his legs, quite to ⟨the⟩ knees; but the good old man, instead of re(illegible text)ng, or wickedly arraigning the divine justice, ⟨as⟩ many others in such cases, even in the ⟨greatest⟩ agonies, incessantly offered up his prayers to ⟨the⟩ Almighty, with the most fervent ⟨thanksgiving⟩ for his former mercies, and hoping the flames, surrounding and burning his aged limbs, ⟨would⟩ soon send him to the blessful mansions of (illegible text)ust, to be a partaker of the blessings there. ⟨And⟩ during such his pious ejaculations, his ⟨infernal⟩ plages would come round him, mimieking
