of whose life was such, that the people below believed he subsisted
without eating or drinking. As some very extraordinary circumstances
attended this man's life, all which are universally believed here, it
may not be amiss to give you some account of him:--You must know, Sir,
then, that the devil envying the happiness of this good man equipped
himself in the habit of a hermit, and possessed himself of a cavern in
the same mountain, which still bears the name of the _Devil's Grot_;
after which he took occasion to throw himself in the way of poor
_Guerin_, to whom he expressed his surprize at seeing one of his own
order dwell in a place he thought an absolute desert; but thanked God,
for giving him so fortunate a meeting. Here the devil, and _Guerin_
became very intimate, and conversed much together on spiritual matters;
and things went on well enough between them for a while, when another
devil chum to the first, possessed the body of a certain Princess,
daughter of a Count of _Barcelona_, who became thereby violently
tormented with horrible convulsions. She was taken to the church by her
afflicted father. The dæmon who possessed her, and who, spoke for her,
said, that nothing could relieve her from her sufferings but the
prayers of a devout and pious hermit, named _Guerin_, who dwelt on
_Montserrat_. The father, therefore, immediately repaired to _Guerin_,
and besought his prayers and intercession for the recovery of his
daughter. It so happened (for so the devil would have it) that this
business could not be perfectly effected in less than nine days; and
that the Princess must be left that time alone with _Guerin_ in his
cave. Poor _Guerin_, conscious of his frail nature, opposed this measure
with all his might; but there was no resisting the argument and
influence of the devil, and she was accordingly left. Youth, beauty, a
cave, solitude, and virgin modesty, were too powerful not to overcome
even the chaste vows and pious intentions of poor _Guerin_. The devil
left the virgin, and possessed the saint. He consulted his false friend,