And he kissed her, and drank, and said--
"Glorious it is to die in victory"--and died.
But he remained unhonoured and unburied by heathen priests and Christians, since he had defiantly rejected both.
So then it is certain and set forth as a warning to all--but to us a righteous consolation--that the God accursed soul of this most blasphemous of all sinners must burn in hell for ever and ever--Amen.
[POSTSCRIPT].
What I here wrote down, years since, as my belief concerning the fate, after death, of this abandoned sinner, has been fully confirmed by a delightful testimony.
That is to say, Brother Ignatius--who lately died--and certainly in great sanctity--was before his death honoured by a wonderful vision.
Saint Columban, himself, in a dream, led him by the hand into hell, and there he saw, in the deepest pit of sulpher, Brother Irenæus, burning whole and entire.
But upon his left shoulder blade, on the spot where he struck me, his Abbot, sat an infernal raven, and hacked unceasingly through the shoulder even to his blaspheming heart.
Of this has Brother Ignatius assured us before his death. And therefore have I hereunto add this also, about the raven and the shoulder blade, in order that all who read these pages, but especially the disciples of the holy Columban in this monastery, may learn the chastisement which awaits him who lifts heart and hand against his soul's shepherd, the Abbot.