| | 1 | Author: | Rowson
Mrs.
1762-1824 | Add | | | Title: | Trials of the human heart  | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Text collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | This is a charming romantic place, my
dear Celia. There is room for solitude
and deep reflection. Oak-hall is situated in
a very retired part of the country, and has
been the family mansion of the Rooksby's
from time immemorial. The house is antique,
and inspires one's mind with the true
spirit of the days of chivalry. You cannot
think, how often I amuse myself with surveying
its antique battlements, the massy
gates, and deep moat, that surround it;
and while I gaze with a kind of reverential
awe, I fancy, I am perhaps retracing the
steps of many a gallant knight and beauteous
dame who formerly have been inhabitants
of this ancient dwelling. I am a great admirer
of every thing, that wears the face of
antiquity not that I would, were I possessed
of ever so large a fortune, lay out my money
in purchasing a heap of trumpery, that are
really of no intrinsie value, only as the fancy
of the virtuoso stamps them with the appellation
of excellence, because they were made
some hundred years before we were born.
I cannot deny, that I like to examine any
little piece of antiquity, which tends to shew
us the progress of the arts or manufactures,
and when I enjoy the benefit of any thing
useful or convenient I feel a kind of veneration
for the genius, who first invented it,
let it be ever so mean or trifling. I continued in this situation but a few
moments—when I heard a faint voice
call “Meriel,” I turned my head and saw
Kingly emerging from the sea and holding
by part of the wreck—“Oh, Heavens!” said
I, “are you alive then, and is there any
chance of escaping?”—“Some little chance,”
said he, coming near me and beginning to
nutie the cord that was round me. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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