ANIMALS. 1? 



rative of the actions of his life, not one of which 

 was performed while he was awake. He was an 

 Italian Franciscan friar, extremely rigid in his 

 manners, and remarkably devout and learned in 

 his daily conversation. By night, however, and 

 during his sleep, he played a very different cha- 

 racter from what he did by day, and was often 

 detected in very atrocious crimes. He was at 

 one time detected in actually attempting a rape, 

 and did not awake till the next morning, when he 

 was surprised to find himself in the hands of jus- 

 tice. His brothers of the convent often watched 

 him while he went very deliberately into the 

 chapel, and there attempted to commit sacrilege. 

 They sometimes permitted him to carry the cha- 

 lice and the vestments away into his ow r n cham- 

 ber, and the next morning amused themselves at 

 the poor man's consternation for what he had 

 done. But of all his sleeping transgressions, that 

 was the most ridiculous in which he was called to 

 pray for the soul of a person departed. Arlotto, 

 after having devoutly performed his duty, retired 

 to a chamber which was shewn him to rest ; but 

 there he had no sooner fallen asleep, than he be- 

 gan to reflect that the dead body had got a ring 

 upon one of the fingers, which might be useful to 

 him : accordingly, with a pious resolution of steal- 

 ing it, he went down, undressed as he was, into 

 a room full of women, and, with great composure, 

 endeavoured to seize the ring. The consequence 

 was, that he was taken before the inquisition for 

 witchcraft ; and the poor creature had like to have 

 been condemned, till his peculiar character acci- 

 VOL. n. B 



