"The day, however, was passed in terror, and almost in despondency; she could neither doubt the purpose for which she had been brought hither, nor discover any possibility of escaping from her persecutors; yet that propensity to hope, which buoys up the human heart, even in the severest moments of trial, sustained, in some degree, her fainting spirits."
The Italian, or the Confessional of the Black Penitents. A Romance
At least 7 entries in the ESTC (1797)<br>
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Radcliffe, Ann. <u>The Italian</u>, ed. Robert Miles (New York: Penguin, 2000). &lt;Google Books: <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vi4JAAAAQAAJ">vol. I</a>, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=cBkGAAAAQAAJ">vol. II</a>, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=5RkGAAAAQAAJ">vol. III</a>&gt;