| | 21 | Author: | Cooper
James Fenimore
1789-1851 | Add | | | Title: | Wyandotté, Or, the Hutted Knoll  | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | There is a wide-spread error on the subject of American
scenery. From the size of the lakes, the length and breadth
of the rivers, the vast solitudes of the forests, and the seemingly
boundless expanse of the prairies, the world has
come to attach to it an idea of grandeur; a word that is in
nearly every case, misapplied. The scenery of that portion
of the American continent which has fallen to the share of
the Anglo-Saxon race, very seldom rises to a scale that
merits this term; when it does, it is more owing to the
accessories, as in the case of the interminable woods, than
to the natural face of the country. To him who is accustomed
to the terrific sublimity of the Alps, the softened and
yet wild grandeur of the Italian lakes, or to the noble
witchery of the shores of the Mediterranean, this country
is apt to seem tame, and uninteresting as a whole; though
it certainly has exceptions that carry charms of this nature
to the verge of loveliness. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 22 | Author: | Cooper
James Fenimore
1789-1851 | Add | | | Title: | Wyandotté, Or, the Hutted Knoll | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | All Maud's feelings were healthful and natural. She had
no exaggerated sentiments, and scarcely art enough to control
or to conceal any of the ordinary impulses of her heart.
We are not about to relate a scene, therefore, in which a
long-cherished but hidden miniature of the young man is to
play a conspicuous part, and to be the means of revealing
to two lovers the state of their respective hearts; but one of
a very different character. It is true, Maud had endeavoured
to make, from memory, one or two sketches of “Bob's”
face; but she had done it openly, and under the cognizance
of the whole family. This she might very well do,
indeed, in her usual character of a sister, and excite no
comments. In these efforts, her father and mother, and
Beulah, had uniformly pronounced her success to be far
beyond their hopes; but Maud, herself, had thrown them
all aside, half-finished, dissatisfied with her own labours.
Like the author, whose fertile imagination fancies pictures
that defy his powers of description, her pencil ever fell far
short of the face that her memory kept so constantly in view.
This sketch wanted animation, that gentleness, another fire,
and a fourth candour; in short, had Maud begun a thousand,
all would have been deficient, in her eyes, in some great
essential of perfection. Still, she had no secret about her
efforts, and half-a-dozen of these very sketches lay uppermost
in her portfolio, when she spread it, and its contents,
before the eyes of the original. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 23 | Author: | Cooper
James Fenimore
1789-1851 | Add | | | Title: | Jack Tier; Or, the Florida Reef | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | “D'ye here there, Mr. Mulford?” called out Capt. Stephen
Spike, of the half-rigged, brigantine Swash, or Molly Swash,
as was her registered name, to his mate—“we shall be dropping
out as soon as the tide makes, and I intend to get
through the Gate, at least, on the next flood. Waiting for
a wind in port is lubberly seamanship, for he that wants one
should go outside and look for it.” | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 24 | Author: | Cooper
James Fenimore
1789-1851 | Add | | | Title: | Jack Tier; Or, the Florida Reef | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | It is seldom that man is required to make an exertion
as desperate and appalling, in all its circumstances, as that
on which Harry Mulford was now bent. The night was
starlight, it was true, and it was possible to see objects
near by with tolerable distinctness; still, it was midnight,
and the gloom of that hour rested on the face of the sea,
lending its solemn mystery and obscurity to the other trying
features of the undertaking. Then there was the
uncertainty whether it was the boat at all, of which he
was in pursuit; and, if the boat, it might drift away from
him as fast as he could follow it. Nevertheless, the perfect
conviction that, without some early succour, the party
on the wreck, including Rose Budd, must inevitably perish,
stimulated him to proceed, and a passing feeling of doubt,
touching the prudence of his course, that came over the
young mate, when he was a few yards from the wreck,
vanished under a vivid renewal of this last conviction. On
he swam, therefore, riveting his eye on the “thoughtful
star” that guided his course, and keeping his mind as
tranquil as possible, in order that the exertions of his body
might be the easier. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 25 | Author: | Dawes
Rufus
1803-1859 | Add | | | Title: | Nix's Mate | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | An October morning in New England! They
who appreciate the beauties of Nature in the chill air
of Autumn, when the hoar-frost hangs heavily on
the brown grass, and the forest-foliage has assumed
the diversified robe so peculiar to the northern regions
of the United States; particularly they who
have loitered among the uplands of Massachusetts
and in the vicinity of Boston, have seen the sun rise
from the blue Atlantic, and break the clouds into a
thousand fragments of purple and gold, while his
beams glittered on the ripples of the ocean,—and
this on an October morning,—have seen a vision of
magnificence and beauty perfectly characteristic of
that glorious country which is already developing the
scheme of broad philanthropy, of which the pilgrim
fathers were the first medium of manifestation. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 26 | Author: | Dawes
Rufus
1803-1859 | Add | | | Title: | Nix's Mate | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | We now return to the metropolis of New-England.
Horace Seymour had at last entirely regained his
strength, and was once more entering upon the hopes,
wishes, and daily occupations of the busy world.
Nor had the interim of his indisposition disqualified
him from pursuing those studies in which he most delighted.
Having just graduated at Harvard University,
he had entered as a law student in his uncle's office,
where, under the guidance of Mr. Wilmer, he was
making as rapid progress as was possible in those
days when Blackstone was not by to smooth the
rugged road to the Bar. What was wanted, however,
in facilities, was amply made up by perseverance
and industry; and students who were in
the least degree ambitious of eminence, were contented
to abide by the lucubrationes viginti annorum
of Coke, amidst the musty tomes of black-letter Norman
French, and the not most elegant Latin of the
text-books. A seven years' clerkship was then indispensable
to a knowledge of the mere outlines of
the Common Law of England; and when a young
man was so fortunate as to meet with such a guide as
Mr. Wilmer, it may be truly said that his education
commenced on the day of his entering the Law
office. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 27 | Author: | Hawthorne
Nathaniel
1804-1864 | Add | | | Title: | Fanshawe | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | In an ancient, though not very populous settlement, in
a retired corner of one of the New-England States, arise
the walls of a seminary of learning, which, for the convenience
of a name, shall be entitled `Harley College,'
This institution, though the number of its years is inconsiderable,
compared with the hoar antiquity of its European
sisters, is not without some claims to reverence on
the score of age; for an almost countless multitude of
rivals, by many of which its reputation has been eclipsed,
have sprung up since its foundation. At no time, indeed,
during an existence of nearly a century, has it acquired
a very extensive fame, and circumstances, which
need not be particularized, have of late years involved it
in a deeper obscurity. There are now few candidates
for the degrees that the college is authorized to bestow.
On two of its annual `Commencement days,' there has
been a total deficiency of Baccalaureates; and the lawyers
and divines, on whom Doctorates in their respective
professions are gratuitously inflicted, are not accustomed
to consider the distinction as an honor. Yet the sons
of this seminary have always maintained their full share
of reputation, in whatever paths of life they trod. Few
of them, perhaps, have been deep and finished scholars;
but the College has supplied—what the emergencies of
the country demanded—a set of men more useful in its
present state, and whose deficiency in theoretical knowledge
has not been found to imply a want of practical
ability. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 28 | Author: | Hawthorne
Nathaniel
1804-1864 | Add | | | Title: | Twice-told Tales | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | There was once a time when New England groaned
under the actual pressure of heavier wrongs, than
those threatened ones which brought on the Revolution.
James II., the bigoted successor of Charles the
Voluptuous, had annulled the charters of all the colonies,
and sent a harsh and unprincipled soldier to take
away our liberties and endanger our religion. The
administration of Sir Edmund Andros lacked scarcely
a single characteristic of tyranny: a Governor and
Council, holding office from the King, and wholly
independent of the country; laws made and taxes levied
without concurrence of the people, immediate or
by their representatives; the rights of private citizens
violated, and the titles of all landed property declared
void; the voice of complaint stifled by restrictions on
the press; and finally, disaffection overawed by the first
band of mercenary troops that ever marched on our
free soil. For two years our ancestors were kept in
sullen submission, by that filial love which had invariably
secured their allegiance to the mother country,
whether its head chanced to be a Parliament, Protector,
or popish Monarch. Till these evil times, however,
such allegiance had been merely nominal, and the colonists
had ruled themselves, enjoying far more freedom,
than is even yet the privilege of the native subjects
of Great Britain. —I have received the First and Second Parts of your North
American Arithmetic, and am highly pleased with the plan of the work, and
the manner of its execution thus far. It unites simplicity with fulness. and
will thus be sure to interest the beginner, whilst it furnishes, at the same time.
an ample guide to the more advanced pupil. —I have examined the Third Part of Mr. Emerson's
Arithmetic with great pleasure. The perspicuity of its arrangement, and
the clearness and brevity of its explanations, combined with its happy adaptation
to the purposes of practical business, are its great recommendations.
I hope it will soon be introduced into all our schools, and take the place of
ill-digested treatises, to which our instructors have hitherto been compelled
to resort. [Conclusion of a letter to the Author.] I should think it hardly possible
that a child could be faithfully conducted through these two works [First and
Second Parts] without being vastly better acquainted with the subject than
children formerly were. Being judiciously compelled in some measure to
invent their own rules, they can scarcely fail of being able to assign a proper
reason for the process, as well as to recollect it for future use. Indeed, I do
not know any one particular in which, for the use of very young pupils, they
could be improved. I have carefully examined the Third Part of the North American
Arithmetic, by Mr. Emerson; and am so well satisfied that it is the best
treatise on the subject with which I am acquainted, that I have determined
to introduce it as a text-book into my school. Notwithstanding the obvious improvements of the study, both in a practical
point of view and as an intellectual exercise, arithmetic is perhaps
the science which is most negligently taught in common schools, and the
true principles of which are left in the greatest obscurity in the minds of
scholars. One reason of this is the imperfection of the common treatises used
in our schools. The Arithmetic of Dr. Adams was a decided improvement
upon its predecessors in the way of lucid explanations, and, as might be expected,
others followed which went still farther in the track of inductive
illustration. The North American Arithmetic, by Frederick Emerson, appears
to me to exhibit the science in a manner more clear, simple and practical,
better adapted to the use of schools and the benefit of teachers, who
may not themselves be thoroughly conversant with arithmetic, than any book
I have seen. The doctrine of Ratio and Proportion is treated in the way in
which it can alone be rendered perfectly intelligible to the pupil, and far
more satisfactory than in any English or American Arithmetic that has fallen
under my notice. —Having examined your North American Arithmetic
with much care, and made some use of it as a text-book in my classes, I do
not hesitate to regard it as better adapted than any other, to the schools of
the United States. It has long been objected to the books on this subject in
common use, that they are deficient in explanation, and unscientific in arrangement;
more apt to check than develop the powers of reasoning and calculation.
To your work, certainly, these objections are inapplicable. No
pupil, it seems to me, can go through Parts First, Second, and Third, with
ordinary attention, without acquiring a facility of analysis, a readiness both
of rule and reason, and a dexterity of practice, not easily to be derived from
any other books yet published. —I have examined the First Class Reader, by B. D. Emerson;
and, in my view, the selections are judiciously made, and characterized
by great purity and elegance of style, and yet are not so elevated
as to be unintelligible by those for whose use it is designed. The work is
throughout, so far as I have discovered, unexceptionable in the sentiment
with which it is fraught. It is introduced by some very useful “Suggestions
to Teachers,” with regard to the examination of their pupils on the lessons
read. On the whole, I know not of a reading book of higher merit, for the
more advanced classes in our schools. —Allow me to express my cordial approbation of the selection
of pieces introduced into the First Class Reader. In correctness of sentiment,
manliness of style, and elegance of diction, this approaches more
nearly than any of the previous compilations with which I am acquainted, to
what a book should be, which is designed to be a reading manual for youth. I have carefully examined the Reading Books prepared by Mr.
B. D. Emerson, and cordially bear testimony to the merits of the work. I
am much pleased with the character of the selections, and highly approve of
the system of instruction recommended by Mr. E. in his “Suggestions to
Teachers.” I hope these books will gain the extensive circulation to which
they are justly entitled. Having examined the series of School Reading Books, entitled the “First
Class Reader,” the “Second Class Reader,” and the “Third Class Reader,”
by B. D. Emerson, the undersigned regard them as having very high claims
to the notice and approbation of the public. The books form a regular series,
carefully graduated according to the advancement of classes in good
English Schools. The selections are very judiciously made, both in matter
and style. Each piece is adapted to the comprehension of the scholar, and
conveys some useful truth, either moral or scientific. Specimens are presented
of the best writers in the English language, and throughout the series
is given a very great deal of historical and general information. Having examined the First and Second Class Readers, compiled by
Mr. B. D. Emerson, I take great pleasure in recommending them to the public,
as highly deserving their patronage. I consider these works a decided improvement
upon those of a similar character now in use. The selections are
made with much taste and judgment, and are peculiarly adapted to the capacities
and wants of those for whose use they are intended. I shall introduce
them into the series of reading books used by my pupils. —I have attentively examined your series of Readers. The lessons
are selected with much taste, and are well calculated to produce a good
moral influence. It is desirable that these works should be extensively used
in our High Schools and Academies. Your Third Class Reader is used in
all our District Schools and highly approved. Emerson's Class Readers. * * * * The selections are made with
reference to purity of sentiment, and to moral impression; and are, on that
account, worthy of all commendation. * * * * In short, we can say of
these Readers, that we know of no books, which, for beauty of selection,
purity of sentiment, and for variety of expression, will compare with them.
The sooner they are introduced into our schools the better. The First Class Reader and The Second Class Reader.—
* * We are pleased with these selections, for we think they are executed on
the plan proposed; that “each extract should contain some useful truth—
something of more importance than the mere amusement of a passing hour.” —Having given Mr. Emerson's Reading Books a
careful examination, I feel confident that they possess merits equal to those
of any other Readers now in use. The experience of many years in school-keeping
has convinced me that a change of books is of primary importance
in acquiring an art so much neglected, yet so ornamental and useful as good
reading. It is not to be supposed that children can profit much by reading
again and again what has, from their earliest recollections, been sounded
over and over in their ears, till every section and almost every word are as
familiar to them as the walls of their school-room. To make ready readers
there is need of some novelty. We not unfrequently meet with those who
can read fluently and well the worn pages of a school book, but yet who
hesitate and blunder over the columns of a newspaper, or the pages of a
strange book. I am, therefore, glad to see your Readers, and it will give
me pleasure to encourage their introduction into our schools. —Having received and examined, with some attention, a
copy of your “American Universal Geography.” I have no hesitation in giving
it the preference to other works intended for School Geographies, and
for the following reason, viz.: Your Geography contains the copperplate
Maps in the same volume with the text; it embraces matter far greater in
quantity, and in my opinion superior in quality; it unites History with Geography
as History and Geography should be united; and, finally, its value
is much enhanced by the stereotype Maps. From a cursory examination, we feel no hesitation in expressing our decided
approbation of Blake's New American School Geography. The form
of the volume being such as to admit the insertion of the Maps, together
with the minuteness of detail presented by the author, we think, gives the
work a decided superiority over those of the kind now in use. We have used “Bailey's First Lessons in Algebra,” in the Public Writing
Schools of Boston, respectively committed to our instruction, and can testify
with confidence to its high value. The peculiar excellence of the work consists
in its serving not only as a text-book, but in a great measure as a teacher.
The plainness, simplicity, and fulness with which the subject is treated, enable
the scholar to proceed in the exercises understandingly, with little or no
aid, other than that which is to be found on the pages of the book. I have, with much attention and satisfaction, examined “Bailey's First
Lessons in Algebra.” As a first course of lessons in this very interesting
science, this book, I do not hesitate to say, far exceeds any other that I have
seen. No scholar will consider Algebra a dry study while attending to this
system. I am very glad to find that Algebra has been introduced into many
of our town schools; and am positive that there is no better way to make
scholars understand Arithmetic well, than that they should devote part of
their time to the study of Algebra. I most cordially recommend the work to
the attention of School Committees and Teachers. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 29 | Author: | Hawthorne
Nathaniel
1804-1864 | Add | | | Title: | The Gentle Boy : | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | In the course of the year 1656, several of the people called
Quakers, led, as they professed, by the inward movement of the spirit,
made their appearance in New England. Their reputation, as holders
of mystic and pernicious principles, having spread before them, the
Puritans early endeavored to banish, and to prevent the further intrusion
of the rising sect. But the measures by which it was intended
to purge the land of heresy, though more than sufficiently vigorous,
were entirely unsuccessful. The Quakers, esteeming persecution as a
divine call to the post of danger, laid claim to a holy courage, unknown
to the Puritans themselves, who had shunned the cross, by providing
for the peaceable exercise of their religion in a distant wilderness.
Though it was the singular fact, that every nation of the earth rejected
the wandering enthusiasts who practised peace towards all men,
the place of greatest uneasiness and peril, and therefore in their eyes
the most eligible, was the province of Massachusetts Bay. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 30 | Author: | Hawthorne
Nathaniel
1804-1864 | Add | | | Title: | The Celestial Rail-road | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | Not a great while ago, passing through the
gate of dreams, I visited that region of the earth
in which lies the famous city of Destruction. It interested
me much to learn, that, by the public spirit
of some of the inhabitants, a railroad had recently
been established between this populous and flourishing
town, and the Celestial City. Having a little
time upon my hands, I resolved to gratify a liberal
curiosity, by making a trip thither. Accordingly,
one fine morning, after paying my bill at
the hotel, and directing the porter to stow my
luggage behind a coach, I took my seat in the vehicle,
and set out for the Station-house. It was
my good fortune to enjoy the company of a gentleman—one
Mr. Smooth-it-away—who, though
he had never actually visited the Celestial City,
yet seemed as well acquainted with its laws,
customs, policy, and statistics, as with those of the
city of Destruction, of which he was a native
townsman. Being, moreover, a director of the
railroad corporation, and one of its largest stockholders,
he had it in his power to give me all
desirable information respecting that praiseworthy
enterprise. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 31 | Author: | Bird
Robert Montgomery
1806-1854 | Add | | | Title: | The Hawks of Hawk-hollow | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | America is especially the land of change. From
the moment of discovery, its history has been a
record of convulsions, such as necessarily attend
a transition from barbarism to civilization; and to
the end of time, it will witness those revolutions in
society, which arise in a community unshackled
by the restraints of prerogative. As no law of
primogeniture can ever entail the distinctions meritoriously
won, or the wealth painfully amassed, by
a single individual, upon a line of descendants, the
mutations in the condition of families will be perpetual.
The Dives of to-day will be the Diogenes
of to-morrow; and the `man of the tub' will often
live to see his children change place with those of
the palace-builder. As it has been, so will it be,—
“Now up, now doun, as boket in a well;”
and the honoured and admired of one generation
will be forgotten among the moth-lived luminaries
of the next. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 34 | Author: | Brainard
John G. C.
(John Gardiner Calkins)
1796-1828 | Add | | | Title: | Letters Found in the Ruins of Fort Braddock, Including an Interesting American Tale | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | IT is now spring—the buds are bursting
through all the wilderness about me; but the cold
rains which are constantly descending, make my
condition so cheerless, that I write to you merely
to pass the time. Why I was doomed to spend my
winter here so solitary, or when I shall have the
good luck to shift my quarters, for any other spot,
is past my skill to divine. Any other spot—the
Arkansas, the Rio Colorada, the Council Bluffs,
the Yellow Stone, any place but this. Was I dangerous
to government, that they should have contrived
for one poor subaltern, this Siberian banishment,
where I am ingeniously confined, not by
a guard placed over me, but by having the command
of about five and twenty men, that the spring
discovers in a uniform of rags. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 35 | Author: | Briggs
Charles F.
(Charles Frederick)
1804-1877 | Add | | | Title: | The Adventures of Harry Franco | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | It is a generally received opinion in some parts
of the world, that a man must of necessity have
had ancestors; but, in our truly independent
country, we contrive to get along very well without
them. That strange race, called Aristocrats,
it is said, consider every body as nobody, unless
they can boast of at least a dozen ancestors. These
lofty people would have scorned an alliance with
a parvenu like Adam, of course. What a fortunate
circumstance for their high mightinesses, that
they were not born in the early ages. No antediluvian
family would have been entitled to the
slightest consideration from them. When the
world was only two thousand years old, it is
melancholy to reflect, its surface was covered with
nobodies; men of yesterday, without an ancestry
worth speaking of. It is not to be wondered at,
that such a set of upstarts should have caused the
flood; nothing less would have washed away their
vulgarity, to say nothing of their sins. Augustus de Satinett was a jobber; a choicer
spirit the region of Hanover square boasted not.
Pearl street and Maiden Lane may have known
his equal, his superior never. He had risen from
junior clerk to junior partner, in one of the oldest
firms. The best blood of the revolution flowed in
his veins; his mother was a Van Buster, his father
a de Satinett; a more remote ancestry, or a more
noble, it were vain to desire. Augustus had a noble
soul, it was a seven quarter full; his virtues
were all his own, and they were dyed in the wool;
his vices were those of his age—they were dyed
in the cloth. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 36 | Author: | Briggs
Charles F.
(Charles Frederick)
1804-1877 | Add | | | Title: | The Adventures of Harry Franco | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | It was a broiling hot day, and as I toiled along
through the dusty streets of Brooklyn towards
the ferry, I almost wished myself back again upon
the blue sea. Dear Sir—This is to inform you as I
have entered in Uncle Sam's service, and have
took three month's advance. I have kept money
enough to have a good drunk, and the rest I send
to you. Keep it and spend it for my sake. I wanted
to of given you more, but that young woman,
blast her—but never say die. So no more at present
till death, and don't forget your old shipmate, Is it true that my dear boy is alive and
well! O, Harry, I have read your letter over and
over; and your poor sister has read it, and cried
over it, and prayed over it. I put it under my
pillow when I lay down at night, that I may be
able to press it to my lips when I wake in the
morning. Your father tells me it is weak in me
to do so, but it is a weakness caused by the
strength of my love for you. O, Harry, my dear
boy, I have had such dreams about you! but
they were only dreams, and I will not distress you
by relating them. Let us give thanks to our
heavenly Father for all his mercies. When we
received your letter, it was my wish to return
thanks publicly through Doctor Slospoken; but
your father would not give his consent. What
the neighbors all thought, I cannot say. But my
dear Harry, why did you not come home? to
your own home? Do not think, my dear child,
that you will be more welcome to your home and
your mother's heart, if you bring the wealth of
the Indies with you. If you be covered with
jewels your mother will not see them, and if you
be clothed in rags, she will only see her child. Your letter has made us all happy; how
happy I cannot express; for we had mourned for
you as one that was dead. I cannot, in a letter,
relate to you all that has been said and done since
we heard from you; but may be assured we
have been almost beside ourselves with joy, and
all our talk has been, Harry, Harry, Harry. “My conscience upbraids me with having
broken the golden rule, in my intercourse with
you, and I cannot allow you to leave me, under a
false impression of my feelings. I am afraid I
have not been sufficiently plain, when you have
spoken to me on the subject, in giving you to understand
that my mind is unalterably fixed, never
to unite myself to one, whose heart has not been
bowed under the conscious burden of his sins;
for my promise has been passed, mentally only,
I own, but I cannot break it. It is registered
above. Had I known you before the vow was
made, perhaps it never would have been; but it
is, and I am bound by it. Our hands, dear Harry,
may never be united, but our hearts may be.
I cannot dissimulate, I do love you; how well I
love you, let this confession witness. If it be sinful
in me, I trust that He, in whom is all my trust,
will pardon me, and deliver me from my bondage.
And my constant prayer to Him is, that he will
bring you to the foot of that Cross, where alone I
can meet you. “Immediately on the receipt of this, you
will destroy all the blank acceptances of Marisett
and Co., which may remain in your hands.
Make no farther contracts of any description,
for account of our house, but hold yourself in
readiness to return to New York. “Since our last, of the 28th ult., we have
come to the determination of stopping payment.
It may be necessary for us to make an assignment;
if so, we will advise you farther, and remain, “We are without any of your valued favors
since we acknowledged yours of the 14th.
You have already been informed of the stoppage
of our house; and I have now to inform you, that
in consequence of our Mr. Garvey having used
the name of the firm to a very great extent, in
his private land operations, our liabilities are
found greatly to exceed our assets. Our senior
partner, I am concerned to add, is completely
prostrated by this event, and unable to afford me
the aid which I require in adjusting the affairs of
the concern. All the circumstances considered, I
think it will be advisable for you to return to
New York as soon as you can bring matters to a
close at New Orleans. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 37 | Author: | Child
Lydia Maria Francis
1802-1880 | Add | | | Title: | Hobomok | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | I NEVER view the thriving villages of New England,
which speak so forcibly to the heart, of happiness
and prosperity, without feeling a glow of national
pride, as I say, “this is my own, my native
land.” A long train of associations are connected
with her picturesque rivers, as they repose in their
peaceful loveliness, the broad and sparkling mirror of
the heavens,—and with the cultivated environs of her
busy cities, which seem every where blushing into a
perfect Eden of fruit and flowers. The remembrance
of what we have been, comes rushing on the heart in
powerful and happy contrast. In most nations the
path of antiquity is shrouded in darkness, rendered
more visible by the wild, fantastic light of fable;
but with us, the vista of time is luminous to its remotest
point. Each succeeding year has left its footsteps
distinct upon the soil, and the cold dew of our chilling
dawn is still visible beneath the mid-day sun. Two
centuries only have elapsed, since our most beautiful
villages reposed in the undisturbed grandeur of nature;—when
the scenes now rendered classic by literary
associations, or resounding with the din of commerce,
echoed nought but the song of the hunter, or
the fleet tread of the wild deer. God was here in his
holy temple, and the whole earth kept silence before
him! But the voice of prayer was soon to be heard in
the desert. The sun, which for ages beyond the memory
of man had gazed on the strange, fearful worship
of the Great Spirit of the wilderness, was soon to
shed its splendor upon the altars of the living God.
That light, which had arisen amid the darkness of
Europe, stretched its long, luminous track across the
Atlantic, till the summits of the western world became
tinged with its brightness. During many long,
long ages of gloom and corruption, it seemed as if the
pure flame of religion was every where quenched in
blood;—but the watchful vestal had kept the sacred
flame still burning deeply and fervently. Men, stern
and unyielding, brought it hither in their own bosom,
and amid desolation and poverty they kindled it on the
shrine of Jevovah. In this enlightened and liberal
age, it is perhaps too fashionable to look back upon
those early sufferers in the cause of the Reformation,
as a band of dark, discontented bigots. Without
doubt, there were many broad, deep shadows in their
characters, but there was likewise bold and powerful
light. The peculiarities of their situation occasioned
most of their faults, and atoned for them. They were
struck off from a learned, opulent, and powerful nation,
under circumstances which goaded and lacerated
them almost to ferocity;—and it is no wonder that
men who fled from oppression in their own country, to
all the hardships of a remote and dreary province,
should have exhibited a deep mixture of exclusive,
bitter, and morose passions. To us indeed, most of
the points for which they so strenuously contended,
must appear exceedingly absurd and trifling; and we
cannot forbear a smile that vigorous and cultivated
minds should have looked upon the signing of the
cross with so much horror and detestation. But the
heart pays involuntary tribute to conscientious, persevering
fortitude, in what cause soever it may be displayed.
At this impartial period we view the sound
policy and unwearied zeal with which the Jesuits endeavored
to rebuild their decaying church, with almost
as much admiration as we do the noble spirit of
reaction which it produced. Whatever merit may be
attached to the cause of our forefathers, the mighty
effort which they made for its support is truly wonderful;
and whatever might have been their defects,
they certainly possessed excellencies, which peculiarly
fitted them for a van-guard in the proud and rapid
march of freedom. The bold outlines of their character
alone remain to us. The varying tints of domestic
detail are already concealed by the ivy which
clusters around the tablets of our recent history.
Some of these have lately been unfolded in an old,
worn-out manuscript, which accidentally came in my
way. It was written by one of my ancestors who fled
with the persecuted nonconformists from the Isle of
Wight, and about the middle of June, 1629, arrived at
Naumkeak on the eastern shore of Massachusetts.
Every one acquainted with our early history remembers
the wretched state in which they found the
scanty remnant of their brethren at that place. I
shall, therefore, pass over the young man's dreary account
of sickness and distress, and shall likewise take
the liberty of substituting my own expressions for his
antiquated and almost unintelligible style. “This comes to reminde you of one you sometime
knew at Plimouth. One to whome the remembrance
of your comely face and gratious behaviour, hath
proved a very sweete savour. Many times I have
thought to write to you, and straightnesse of time only
hath prevented. There is much to doe at this seasone,
and wee have reason to rejoyce, though with fier
and trembling, that we have wherewithal to worke. “Wheras Mr. Collier hathe beene supposed to
blame concerning some businesse he hath of late endeavoured
to transacte for Mr. Hopkins, this cometh
to certifie that he did faithfully performe his dutie,
and moreover that his great modestie did prevente his
understanding many hints, until I spoke even as he
hath represented. Wherefore, if there be oughte unseemly
in this, it lieth on my shoulders. “I againe take up my penn to write upon the same
paper you gave me when I left you, and tolde me
thereupon to write my thoughts in the deserte. Alas,
what few I have, are sad ones. I remember you once
saide that Shakspeare would have beene the same
greate poet if he had been nurtured in a Puritan wildernesse.
But indeed it is harde for incense to rise
in a colde, heavy atmosphere, or for the buds of fancie
to put forth, where the heartes of men are as harde
and sterile as their unploughed soile. You will wonder
to hear me complain, who have heretofore beene
so proud of my cheerfulnesse. Alas, howe often is
pride the cause of things whereunto we give a better
name. Perhaps I have trusted too muche to my owne
strengthe in this matter, and Heaven is nowe pleased
to send a more bitter dispensation, wherewithal to
convince me of my weakness. I woulde tell you
more, venerable parente, but Mr. Brown will conveye
this to your hande, and he will saye much, that I cannot
finde hearte or roome for. The settlement of this
Western Worlde seemeth to goe on fast now that soe
many men of greate wisdome and antient blood are
employed therein. They saye much concerning our
holie church being the Babylone of olde, and that
vials of fierce wrath are readie to be poured out upon
her. If the prophecies of these mistaken men are to
be fulfilled, God grante I be not on earthe to witnesse
it. My dear mother is wasting awaye, though I hope
she will long live to comforte me. She hath often
spoken of you lately. A fewe dayes agone, she said
she shoulde die happier if her grey-haired father
coulde shed a tear upon her grave. I well know that
when that daye does come, we shall both shed many
bitter tears. I must leave some space in this paper
for her feeble hande to fill. The Lord have you in
His holie keeping till your dutifull grandchilde is
againe blessed with the sighte of your countenance. “I knowe nott wherewithal to address you, for my
hearte is full, and my hande trembleth with weaknesse.
My kinde Mary is mistaken in thinking I shall
long sojourne upon Earthe. I see the grave opening
before me, but I feel that I cannot descend thereunto
till I have humbly on my knees asked the forgiveness
of my offended father. He who hath made man's
hearte to suffer, alone knoweth the wretchedness of
mine when I have thought of your solitary old age.
Pardon, I beseech you, my youthfull follie and disobedience,
and doe not take offence if I write that the
husbande for whose sake I have suffered much, hath
been through life a kinde and tender helpe-meete; for
I knowe it will comforte you to think upon this, when
I am dead and gone. I would saye much more, but
though my soule is strong in affection for you, my
body is weake. God Almighty bless you, is the
prayer of “Manie thoughts crowde into my hearte, when I
take upp my pen to write to you. Straightwaye my
deare wife, long in her grave, cometh before me, and
bringeth the remembrance of your owne babie face,
as you sometime lay suckling in her arms. The
bloode of anciente men floweth slow, and the edge of
feeling groweth blunte: but heavie thoughts will rise
on the surface of the colde streame, and memorie will
probe the wounded hearte with her sharpe lancett.
There hath been much wronge betweene us, my deare
childe, and I feel that I trode too harshlie on your
young hearte: but it maye nott be mended. I have
had many kinde thoughts of you, though I have locked
them up with the keye of pride. The visit of Mr.
Brown was very grievious unto me, inasmuch as he
tolde me more certainly than I had known before.
that you were going downe to the grave. Well, my
childe, `it is a bourne from whence no traveller returns.'
My hande trembleth while I write this, and I
feel that I too am hastening thither. Maye we meete
in eternitie. The tears dropp on the paper when I
think we shall meete no more in time. Give my fervente
love to Mary. She is too sweete a blossom to
bloome in the deserte. Mr. Brown tolde me much
that grieved me to hear. He is a man of porte and
parts, and peradventure she maye see the time when
her dutie and inclination will meete together. The
greye hairs of her olde Grandefather maye be laide
in the duste before that time; but she will finde he
hath nott forgotten her sweete countenance and gratious
behaviour. I am gladd you have founde a kinde
helpe-meete in Mr. Conant. May God prosper him
according as he hath dealte affectionately with my
childe. Forgive your olde father as freelie as he forgiveth
you. And nowe, God in his mercie bless you,
dere childe of my youthe. Farewell. “This doth certifie that the witche hazel sticks,
which were givene to the witnesses of my marriage
are all burnte by my requeste: therefore by Indian
laws, Hobomok and Mary Conant are divorced. And
this I doe, that Mary may be happie. The same will
be testified by my kinsmen Powexis, Mawhalissis, and
Mackawalaw. The deere and foxes are for my goode
Mary, and my boy. Maye the Englishmen's God
bless them all. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 39 | Author: | Cooper
James Fenimore
1789-1851 | Add | | | Title: | Precaution | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | Although the affections of Jane had sustained
a heavy blow, her pride had received
a greater, and no persuasions of her mother
or sister, could induce her to leave her room;
she talked but little, but once or twice she
yielded to the affectionate attentions of Emily,
and poured out her sorrows into the bosom
of her sister; at such moments, she
would declare her intention of never appearing
in the world again. One of these paroxysms
of sorrow was witnessed by her mother,
and, for the first time, self-reproach mingled
in the grief of the matron; had she
trusted less to appearances, and the opinions
of indifferent and ill-judging acquaintances,
her daughter might have been apprised in
season, of the character of the man who had
stolen her affections. To the direct exhibition
of misery, Lady Moseley was always
sympathetic, and for the moment, alive to its
causes and consequences; but a timely and
judicious safeguard against future moral evils,
was a forecast neither her inactivity of mind
or abilities were equal to. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 40 | Author: | Cooper
James Fenimore
1789-1851 | Add | | | Title: | The Spy | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | The officer to whose keeping Dunwoodie had
committed the pedlar, transferred his charge to
the custody of the regular sergeant of the guard.
The gift of Captain Wharton had not been lost on
the youthful lieutenant, and a certain dancing motion
that had unaccountably taken possession of
objects before his eyes, gave him warning of the
necessity of recruiting nature by sleep. After
admonishing the non-commissioned guardian of
Harvey to omit no watchfulness in securing the
prisoner, the youth wrapped himself in his cloak,
and, stretched on a bench before a fire, sought,
and soon found, the repose he needed. A rude
shed extended the whole length of the rear of the
building, and from off one of its ends had been
partitioned a small apartment, that was intended
as a repository for many of the lesser implements
of husbandry. The lawless times had, however,
occasoned its being stript of every thing of any
value, and the searching eyes of Betty Flannagan
selected this spot, on her arrival, as the store house
for her moveables, and a withdrawing-room for
her person. The spare arms and baggage of the
corps had also been deposited here; and the united
treasures were placed under the eye of the
sentinel who paraded the shed as guardian to the
rear of the head quarters. A second warrior,
who was stationed near the house to protect the
horses of the officers, could command a view of
the outside of the apartment, and as it was without
window, or outlet of any kind excepting its
door, the considerate sergeant thought this the
most befitting place in which to deposite his charge,
until the moment of his execution. There were
several inducements that urged Sergeant Hollister
to this determination, among which was the absence
of the washerwoman, who lay before the
kitchen fire, dreaming that the corps were attacking
a party of the enemy, and mistaking the noise
which proceeded from her own nose for the bugles
of the Virginians sounding the charge. Another
was the peculiar opinions that the veteran
entertained of life and death, and by which he
was distinguished in the corps as a man of most
exemplary piety and holiness of life. The sergeant
was more than fifty years of age, and for
half that period had borne arms as a profession.
The constant recurrence of sudden deaths before
his eyes had produced an effect on him differing
greatly from that, which was the usual moral consequence
of such scenes, and he had become not
only the most steady, but the most trust-worthy
soldier in his troop.—Captain Lawton had rewarded
his fidelity by making him its orderly. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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