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41Author:  Hawthorne Nathaniel 1804-1864Add
 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.
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42Author:  Hawthorne Nathaniel 1804-1864Add
 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.
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43Author:  Hawthorne Nathaniel 1804-1864Add
 Title:  The Scarlet Letter  
 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: A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.
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44Author:  Irving Washington 1783-1859Add
 Title:  A History of New York  
 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 
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45Author:  Irving Washington 1783-1859Add
 Title:  A History of New York  
 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: “Mr. Will Cottington and captain Partridg of Rhoode Hand presented this insewing request to the commissioners in wrighting— “As touching the threats in your conclusion, “we have nothing to answer, only that we fear “nothing but what God, (who is as just as merci “ful) shall lay upon us; all things being in his “gracious disposal, and we may as well be pre “served by him with small forces, as by a great “army; which makes us to wish you all happiness “and prosperity, and recommend you to his pro “tection—My lords your thrice humble and affec “tionate servant and friend
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46Author:  Irving Washington 1783-1859Add
 Title:  Tales of a Traveller  
 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 was once at a hunting dinner, given by a worthy fox-hunting old Baronet, who kept Bachelor's Hall in jovial style, in an ancient rook-haunted family mansion, in one of the middle counties. He had been a devoted admirer of the fair sex in his young days; but having travelled much, studied the sex in various countries with distinguished success, and returned home profoundly instructed, as he supposed, in the ways of woman, and a perfect master of the art of pleasing, he had the mortification of being jilted by a little boarding school girl, who was scarcely versed in the accidence of love.
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47Author:  Kirkland Caroline M. (Caroline Matilda) 1801-1864Add
 Title:  A New Home - Who'll Follow?  
 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: Our friends in the “settlements” have expressed so much interest in such of our letters to them, as happened to convey any account of the peculiar features of western life, and have asked so many questions, touching particulars which we had not thought, worthy of mention, that I have been for some time past contemplating the possibility of something like a detailed account of our experiences. And I have determined to give them to the world, in a form not very different from that in which they were originally recorded for our private delectation; nothing doubting, that a veracious history of actual occurrences, an unvarnished transcript of real characters, and an impartial record of every-day forms of speech (taken down in many cases from the lips of the speaker) will be pronounced “graphic,” by at least a fair proportion of the journalists of the day.
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48Author:  Longfellow Henry Wadsworth 1807-1882Add
 Title:  Outre-mer  
 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: `Lystenyth ye godely gentylmen, and all that ben hereyn!' I am a pilgrim benighted on my way, and crave a shelter till the storm is over, and a seat by the fireside in this honorable company. As a stranger I claim this courtesy at your hands; and will repay your hospitable welcome with tales of the countries I have passed through in my pilgrimage.
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49Author:  Longfellow Henry Wadsworth 1807-1882Add
 Title:  Outre-mer  
 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 melancholy month of October I made a foot-excursion along the banks of the Loire, from Orleans to Tours. This luxuriant region is justly called the Garden of France. From Orleans to Blois the whole valley of the Loire is one continued vineyard. The bright green foliage of the vine spreads, like the undulations of the sea, over all the landscape; with here and there a silver flash of the river,— a sequestered hamlet,—or the towers of an old chateau, to enliven and variegate the scene.
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50Author:  Longfellow Henry Wadsworth 1807-1882Add
 Title:  Kavanagh  
 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: Great men stand like solitary towers in the city of God, and secret passages running deep beneath external nature give their thoughts intercourse with higher intelligences, which strengthens and consoles them, and of which the laborers on the surface do not even dream!
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51Author:  Poe Edgar Allan 1809-1849Add
 Title:  Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque  
 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: With a feeling of deep yet most singular affection I regarded my friend Morella. Thrown by accident into her society many years ago, my soul, from our first meeting, burned with fires it had never before known; but the fires were not of Eros; and bitter and tormenting to my spirit was the gradual conviction that I could in no manner define their unusual meaning, or regulate their vague intensity. Yet we met; and fate bound us together at the altar; and I never spoke of passion, nor thought of love. She, however, shunned society, and, attaching herself to me alone, rendered me happy. It is a happiness to wonder;—it is a happiness to dream.
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52Author:  Sargent Epes 1813-1880Add
 Title:  Fleetwood, Or, the Stain of Birth  
 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: Midnight brought with it no abatement of the violence of the gale. During the day it had swept in eddying gusts through the broad avenues and narrow cross-streets of the city, carrying desolation and dismay—prostrating chimneys—scattering the slates from the roofs—and making sad havoc with the wooden signs, which adorned the districts devoted to traffic. One man, as he was passing up Broadway, had been knocked on the head by the shaft of a canvass awning, and instantly killed. Others had been severely bruised by the flying fragments, strewn at random by the blast. “You were decidedly right in resisting your mother's importunities to leave Soundside until you had heard from me. I shall not forget such a proof of your attachment and fidelity. My business here is of that importance that I cannot possibly quit the city till Friday afternoon. Otherwise I would most gladly fly to you at once. Under these circumstances, and since your mother is so exceedingly anxious to have you accompany her, I do not see but that we had better yield to her wishes. Our marriage can as well take place here as at Soundside; and I see no good reason why it should be deferred beyond the period we originally fixed. Present my respects to your mother, and tell her that for her daughter's sake she shall be dear. Should you see Glenham, remember me to him kindly. I owe him much. Poor fellow! he has cause to envy me your affection; but I know that he is incapable of any such passion. Apply to him unreservedly, should you have occasion for friendly and discreet advice. Let me know you mother's address, that I may call as soon as you reach the city. I am compelled to write in haste, as I only received your letter a few minutes since, and mine will miss the mail if I delay even to tell you with how much sincerity and love,
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53Author:  Sedgwick Catharine Maria 1789-1867Add
 Title:  Mary Hollis  
 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: Many persons, in the village of ———, in Massachusetts, remember Mary Lowe, a diligent, ingenious little girl of a respectable family, who was left an orphan when quite young, with a very slender provision, which her guardians wisely expended, in obtaining for her a decent education and the tayloring trade. She went from house to house, eating her bread in singleness of heart. She was approved by the elderly and judicious, for her prudent, industrious, and quiet ways; and she made herself the delight of all the children, by her obliging disposition and good humour. The little boys said, “Mary would always put pockets in their clothes;” and the older boys, who longed to be emancipated from the indignity of having their clothes made by a woman-taylor, were still conciliated by Mary's gentle manners, and a little, too, by the smart look which she contrived to give to their apparel. I think I can see her now bending over her goose, and as it heavily trod the seams, singing some playful song to the little group around her; and smiling and blushing as she caught the approving glances of the elders of the family.
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54Author:  Sedgwick Catharine Maria 1789-1867Add
 Title:  Redwood  
 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: On the last day of June, in the year —, a small vessel, which traversed weekly the waters of Lake Champlain, was seen slowly entering one of the most beautiful bays of that most beautiful lake. A travelling carriage with handsome equipments, a coachman in livery and an outrider, were drawn up on the shore, awaiting the approach of the vessel. On the deck stood a group of travellers for whom the equipage was destined: a beautiful young woman, and her attendant, a female slave, were surveying it with pleased and equal eagerness, while the father of the young lady seemed quite absorbed in the contemplation of a scene which poetry and painting have marked for their own. Not a breeze stirred the waters; their mirror surface was quite unbroken, save where the little vessel traced its dimpled pathway. A cluster of islands lay in beautiful fraternity opposite the harbour, covered with a rich growth of wood, and looking young, and fresh, and bright, as if they had just sprung from the element on which they seemed to repose. The western shore presented every variety of form; wooded headlands jutting boldly into the lake, and richly cultivated grounds sloping gently to its margin. As the traveller's delighted eye explored still farther, it B 2 rested on the mountains that rise in four successive chains, one above the other, the last in the far distance dimly defining and bounding the horizon. A cloud at this moment veiled the face of the sun, and its rich beams streamed aslant upon the mountain tops, and poured showers of gold and purple light into the deep recesses of the valleys. Mr. Redwood, a true admirer of nature's lovely forms, turned his unsated gaze to the village they were approaching, which was indicated by a neat church spire that peered over the hill, on the height and declivities of which were planted several new and neat habitations. “Oh Caroline, my child,” exclaimed the father, “was there ever any thing more beautiful!” “Some months have elapsed, dear Alsop, since we parted, and parted with a truly juvenile promise to keep up an unremitting epistolary intercourse. And this I believe is the first essay made by either of us; a fair illustration of the common proportion which performance bears to such promises. You, no doubt, have been roving from pleasure to pleasure, with an untiring impulse, and your appetite, like the horse-leech, has still cried, `give, give.' If one of your vagrant thoughts has strayed after me, you have doubtless fancied me immured in my study, pursuing my free inquiries, abandoning the fallen systems of vulgar invention, and soaring far over the misty atmosphere of imposture and credulity. Or, perhaps, you deem that I have adopted your sapient advice, have returned to my home a dutiful child, gracefully worn the chains of filial obedience, made my best bow to papa, and with a, `just as you please, Sir,' fallen, secundum artem, desperately in love with my beautiful, and beautifully rich cousin; have rather taken than asked her willing hand, and thus opened for myself the path of ambition, or the golden gates that lead to the regions of pleasure, and which none but fortune's hand can open, But, alas! the most reasonable hopes are disappointed by our fantastic destiny. We are the sport of chance; and as we confess no other deity, you are bound not to deride any of the whimsical dilemmas into which his votaries are led. Alsop, you have often commended the boldness of my mind, while you laughed at a certain involuntary homage I paid to the beautiful pictures of goodness, which some dreaming enthusiasts have presented to us, or to the moral beauty which among all the varieties of accidental combination, is sometimes exhibited in real life. “I am grateful for your interest, and convinced by your arguments that I ought no longer to doze away my brief existence in this retirement. I have obtained my father's consent to the arrangement you propose; and what is still more indispensable, an ample supply in consideration of a promise I have given to him, that I will solicit the hand of my cousin immediately after my return.
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55Author:  Sedgwick Catharine Maria 1789-1867Add
 Title:  Redwood  
 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: Those only who have observed the magical effect produced upon a young lady by the presence of a candidate for her favour, whom she deems it worth her efforts to obtain or retain, can have an adequate notion of the change wrought on Caroline Redwood since the arrival of the Westalls. Instead of the listless, sullen girl, who yawned away her days in discontent or apathy, she became spirited, active, and good-humoured. Even her interest in the concerns of Ellen Bruce, and her suspicions of that artless girl's designs, were suspended in the ardour of her present pursuit, and she seemed to think of nothing and to care for nothing but how she should secure the triumph of her vanity. Every one noticed the change; (excepting Ellen, who had of late almost wholly withdrawn from the family circle) indeed, it was so manifest that Miss Deborah, who had taken a decided dislike to Caroline, and who was rather remarkable for the inveteracy of her opinions, was heard to say, that “since the girl's sweetheart had come, she was as bright as a September day after the fog was lifted; but for her part she liked to see people have sunshine within them like Ellen.” This declaration was made by Miss Debby in an imprudently loud tone of voice, as she stood at a window gazing on Mr. Redwood's carriage that had been ordered for an afternoon's drive. Mr. Redwood, Caroline, and Mrs. Westall were B 2 already in the carriage, and Charles Westall had returned to the parlour in quest of some article Mr. Redwood had forgotten; while he was looking for it, Deborah's comment fell on his ear, and probably gave a new direction to his thoughts, for during the ride Caroline rallied him on his extraordinary pensiveness; and finally perceiving that his gravity resisted all her efforts to dissipate it, she proposed that if he had not lost the use of his limbs as well as of his tongue, he should alight from the carriage with her and walk to a cottage, to which they perceived a direct path through a field, while the carriage approached by the high road which ran along the lake shore and was circuitous. Westall assented rather with politeness than eagerness; but when he was alone with Caroline, when she roused all her powers to charm him, he yielded to the influence of her beauty and her vivacity. Never had she appeared so engaging— never so beautiful—the afternoon was delicious—their path ran along the skirts of an enchanting wood—its soft shadows fell over them, the birds poured forth their melody; and, in short, all nature conspired to stimulate the lover's imagination and to quicken his sensibility. Charles forgot the sage resolutions he had made to withhold his declaration till he had satisfied certain doubts that had sometimes obtruded on him, that all in Caroline was not as fair and lovely as it seemed; he forgot Miss Deborah's hint —forgot every thing but the power and the presence of his beautiful companion, and only hesitated for language to express what his eyes had already told her. At this moment both his and Miss Redwood's attention was withdrawn from themselves to a little girl who appeared at the door of the cottage, from which they were now not many yards distant. On perceiving them she bounded over the door step, then stopped, put up her hand to shade her eyes from the sun, and gazed fixedly on them for a moment, then again sprang forward, again stopped, covered her eyes with both her hands, threw herself at full length on the grass, laid her ear to the ground and seemed for a moment to listen intently; she then rose, put her apron to her eyes and appeared to be weeping, while she retraced her way languidly to the cottage. Caroline and Westall, moved by the same impulse, quickened their pace, and in a few moments reached the cottage door, to which a woman had been attracted by the sobs of the child, and was expostulating with her in an earnest tone. “God help us, Peggy, you'll just ruin all if you go on in this way;” she paused on perceiving that the child had attracted the attention of the strangers; and in reply to Westall's asking what ailed the little girl, she said, “it's just her simplicity, Sir; but if you and the lady will condescend to walk into my poor place here, I will tell you all about it, or Peggy shall tell it herself, for when she gets upon it her tongue runs faster than mine: but bless me, here comes a grand coach—look up, Peggy, you never saw a real coach in your life.” Peggy now let fall the apron with which she had covered her face—a face if not beautiful, full of feeling and intelligence. She seemed instantly to forget her affliction, whatever it was, in the pleasure of gazing on the spectacle of the real coach. “Ah, aunt Betty,” she exclaimed, “it is the grand sick gentleman that is staying at Mr. Lenox's.” The carriage drew up to the door, and Mrs. Westall and Mr. Redwood, attracted by the uncommonly neat appearance of the cottage, alighted and followed Caroline and Charles, who had already entered it. The good woman, middle-aged and of a cheerful countenance, was delighted with the honour conferred on her, bustled around to furnish seats for her guests— shook up the cushion of a rocking chair for Mr. Redwood, and made a thousand apologies for the confusion and dirt of her house, which had the usual if not the intended effect of calling forth abundance of compliments on its perfect order and neatness. “And now, Peggy,” she said, as soon as they were all quietly seated, “take the pitcher and bring some cold water from the spring, that's what the poor have, thank God, as good as the rich, and it is all we have to offer.” The little girl obeyed, and as soon as she was out of hearing, the woman turned to Westall. “It was your wish, Sir, to know what ailed the child; the poor thing has just got the use of her eyesight, and she has been expecting some one that she loves better than all the world; and when she saw this young lady with you, she thought it was her friend—though to be sure she is shorter than this lady; but then Peggy, poor thing, does not see quite right yet, and then when she is puzzled she just lies down to the ground as you saw her, for that was her way to listen, and she knows Miss Ellen's step, for as light as it is, when my poor ear can't hear a sound.”
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56Author:  Sedgwick Catharine Maria 1789-1867Add
 Title:  Redwood  
 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 fine afternoon in the month of August when our travellers passed the romantic road which traverses the mountain that forms the eastern boundary of the valley of Hancock. The varied pleasures they had enjoyed during the day, and the excitement of drawing near to the object of their long journey, animated them both with unusual spirits. Deborah's tongue was voluble in praise of the rich farms that spread out on the declivities of the hills, or embosomed in the protected vallies, called forth, as they deserved, the enthusiastic commendations of our experienced rustic. Ellen listened in silence while she gazed with the eye of an amateur upon this beautiful country, which possesses all the elements of the picturesque. Green hills crowned with flourishing villages—village spires rising just where they should rise; for the scene is nature's temple, and the altar should be there—lakes sparkling like gems in the distant vallies—Saddle mountain lifting his broad shoulders to the northern sky, and the Catskills defining with their blue and misty outline the western horizon. “I guess you will be surprised to see my pot-hooks and trammels, and puzzled enough you will be to read them; but I could not let so good an opportunity pass without letting you know that the Lord has spared our lives to this date, and that all your friends at Eton are well, except the minister, who enjoys a poor state of health.
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57Author:  Sedgwick Catharine Maria 1789-1867Add
 Title:  The Travellers  
 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 month of June, (the jubilee month of poets and travellers) in the year eighteen hundred and eighteen, Mr. Sackville, his wife, and their two children, Edward and Julia, made the grand tour of Niagara, the lakes, Montreal, Quebec, &c. Both parents and children kept journals, in which they recorded with fidelity whatever they observed which they deemed worthy of note. We have been favored with the perusal of them all, and have been permitted to make a few extracts from them, which we intend to combine into a brief narrative, that we are sure will amuse our young readers, provided their delicate essence does not escape our unskilful hands.
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58Author:  Sedgwick Catharine Maria 1789-1867Add
 Title:  Hope Leslie, Or, Early Times in the Massachusetts  
 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: William Fletcher was the son of a respectable country gentleman of Suffolk, in England; and the destined heir of his uncle Sir William Fletcher, an eminent lawyer, who had employed his talents with such effective zeal and pliant principle, that he had won his way to courtly favour and secured a courtly fortune.
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59Author:  Sedgwick Catharine Maria 1789-1867Add
 Title:  Clarence, Or, a Tale of Our Own Times  
 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 one of the brightest and most beautiful days of February. Winter had graciously yielded to the melting influence of the soft breezes from the Indian's paradise—the sweet southwest. The atmosphere was a pure transparency, a perfect ether; and Broadway, the thronged thoroughfare through which the full tide of human existence pours, the pride of the metropolis of our western world, presented its gayest and most brilliant aspect. “My dear Madam—A severe pressure of pub “lic business (private concerns I should have put “aside) has prevented my expressing in person, the “deep sympathy I feel in your late bereavement. “The loss of a husband, and such a husband is “indeed a calamity; but we must all bow to the “dispensations of an all-wise Providence. “Tell me, my dear friend, if you love the coun “try, (to borrow your legal phrase,) per se? Here “I am surrounded by magnificent scenery, in the “midst of `bowery summer,' in the month of flowers, “and singing-birds, the leafy month of June, and “yet I am sighing for New York. It is Madame “de Staël, I think, who says that `love and religion “only can enable us to enjoy nature.' The first, “alas! alas! is (for is read ought to be,) passé to “me; and the last I have exclusively associated with “the sick-chamber and other forms of gloom and “misery. “My dear Madam—It is I believe canonical to “answer first the conclusion of a lady's letter. My “reply to your queries about the Clarences will ac “count for Mr. C.'s interest in me, without involv “ing any reason so flattering as that you have sug “gested. My uncle, Gerald Roscoe, was one of “that unlucky brotherhood that have fallen under “your lash, and so far from being a `dropped link, “not missed, and soon forgotten,' he had that “warmth and susceptibility of heart, that activity “and benevolence of disposition, that strengthen “and brighten the chain that binds man to man, “and earth to heaven. Blessed be his memory! “I never see an old bachelor that my heart does “not warm to him for his sake. But to my story. “My uncle—a Howard in his charities—(you “touched a nerve, my dear Mrs. Layton, when “you satarised old bachelors)—my uncle, on a “visit to our city alms-house, espied a little boy, “who, to use his own phrase, had a certain some “thing about him that took his heart. This certain “something, by the way, he saw in whoever needed “his kindness. The boy too, at the first glance “was attracted to my uncle. Children are the “keenest physiognomists—never at fault in their first “loves. It suddenly occurred to my uncle, that an “errand-boy was indispensable to him. The child “was removed to my grandfather's, and soon made “such rapid advances in his patron's affections that “he sent him to the best schools in the city, and “promoted him to the parlor, where, universal “sufferance being the rule of my grandfather's “house, he was soon as firmly established as if he “had equal rights with the children of the family. “This child was then, as you probably know, “called Charles Carroll. He was just graduated “with the first honors of Columbia College, when, “within a few days of each other, my grandfather “and uncle died, and the house of Roscoe & Son “proved to be insolvent. Young Carroll, of course, “was cast on his own energies. He would have “preferred the profession of law, but he had fallen “desperately in love with a Miss Lynford, who “lived in dependence in her uncle's family. He “could not brook the humiliations which, I suspect, “he felt more keenly than the subject of them, “and he married, and was compelled, by the actual “necessities of existence, to renounce distant ad “vantages for the humble but certain gains of a “clerkship. These particulars I had from my mo “ther. You may not have heard that at the moment “of his accession of property he suffered a calamity “in the death of an only son, which deprived “him of all relish, almost of all consciousness, of “his prosperity. He would gladly have filled “the boy's yawning grave with the wealth which “seemed to fall into his hands at that moment, to “mock him with its impotence. The boy was a “rare gem. I knew him and loved him, and hap “pened to witness his death; and being then at the “impressible season of life, it sunk deeply into “my heart. It was a sudden, and for a long time, “a total eclipse to the poor father. The shock “was aggravated by a bitter self-reproach, for “having, in his engrossing anxiety for the result of “his pending lawsuit, neglected the child's malady “while it was yet curable. “On looking over your letter a second time, my “dear Mrs. Layton, I find there is enough of it “unanswered to give me a pretence for addressing “you again; and as I know no more agreeable “employment of one of my many leisure hours “than communicating with you, I will contrast “your picture of the miseries of rustic hospitality “and rustic habits, with the trials of a poor devil, “condemned to the vulgarity and necessity of drag “ging through the summer months in town. We all look at our present, petty vexations, through “the magnifying end of the glass, and then turning “our instrument, give to the condition of others, the “softness and enchantment of distance. “Madam—I enclose you a remittance, according “to the conjugal request you did me the honor to “transmit through Gerald Roscoe, Esq.; and at the “same time, I take the liberty to forewarn you, that “unless you second—energetically second, my “views and wishes in the — affair, I shall lose “the ability, as I have long ago lost the inclination, “to answer the demands arising from your habits of “reckless expense. I expect you to be at Trenton “by the first of next month. Pedrillo will follow “you there; and there, or at Utica (he leaves all “minor points to her decision) he expects to re “ceive Emilie's hand. He loves Emilie—upon “my soul I believe de does—devotedly. “It is with inexpressible sorrow, my sweetest “friend, that I am compelled to bid you adieu with “out again seeing you. We take our departure “early in the morning. Poor Em' is quite heart“broken about it. We are both under the tyranny “of destiny. I resign all to the despot, save my “affections; and of those, you, dearest, have taken “complete possession. It is not because you are “a heroine of the nineteenth century; that is, prac “tical, rational, dutiful, and all the tedious et ceteras “that I admire you. No, these are qualities that, like “bread and water, are the gross elements of every “day life, but they have nothing to do with that “fine accord of finely touched spirits that common “minds can no more attain than common senses can “take in the music of the spheres. There is no “describing it, but we understand it; do we not? “Dear Gertrude, you must be my friend, you must “love me; you will have much to forgive in me. I “am a wayward creature. Oh, heavens! how infe “rior to you! but there have been crosses in my “destiny. Had I known you sooner, your bland “influence would have given a different color to “my life. You understand me. I disdain the “Procrustes standard of pattern ladies who admit “none to the heaven of their favor, but those “who can walk on a mathematical line, like that “along which a Mahometan passes to his paradise. “My dear Miss Clarence—I have forborne to “disturb your repose after your perilous adventure, “to announce our abrupt departure. Accident in “troduced you into our family cabinet, and as you “are apprised of its secrets, you will not wonder at “poor Randolph's feelings, in consequence of the “disclosures of to-day. My heart pleads for Emi “lie, but my reason tells me, that it is wisest, “discretest, best, to shun any farther intercourse “with so beautiful a creature, who is so careless of “obligations and consequences. Depend on it, “Miss Clarence, I am right in my opinion of the “mother; and though I grieve to say it, poor Emi “lie has bad blood in her veins. I am sustaining “the part of a rigid moralist with Randolph, while “my womanish heart is melting within me. I can “not regard the sweet girl in any other light, than “as a victim—the faults of seventeen are not deli “berate—but I talk as sternly to Randolph, as if I “were Junius Brutus. In compliance with a kind “invitation from your father, we have promised to “visit Clarenceville, on our return from Niagara.
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60Author:  Sedgwick Catharine Maria 1789-1867Add
 Title:  Clarence, Or, a Tale of Our Own Times  
 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: Pedrillo's detention at Trenton was protracted day after day, and week after week. His inflammatory constitution, and impatient temper, acted reciprocally upon each other ; and a wound, that with a tranquil temperament would, by the process of nature, have been cured in a week, produced a suffering and languishing sickness. So surely and dreadfully are physical evils aggravated by moral causes, that those who would enjoy a sound body, should cherish a sound mind. “Sir,—As duelling is, in my estimation, a viola “tion of the immutable law of God, and can never “be a reparation, or an atonement for an injury, I “should in every supposable case avoid giving, and “decline receiving, the `satisfaction of a gentleman,' “in the technical acceptation of that phrase. Any “other mode of satisfaction which a just and honor “able man may give or require, for real or fancied “injuries, I am ready to afford you, and shall de “mand from you. “My dear friend—It is almost cruel of you to “enforce your kind invitation with such glowing “pictures of the variety and excitement of a winter “in New York, and quite barbarous to ask me if I “do not begin to feel the ennui of country life, when “I am obliged to confess that I do. Since my return “from Trenton, I have felt a craving that `country“contentments' do not satisfy. I used to go round “and round in the same circle, and experience nei “ther satiety nor deficiency. I read and study as “usual with my father, but the spirit is gone. I “used to find amusement in the occasional visits of “our simple village friends, and could, without “effort, manifest the expected interest in the suc “cess of an application for a new bank, or turn “pike-road, or the formation of a new `society.' “I could listen with becoming attention to Col. “Norton's stories of the revolution, though I knew “them all by heart—to good old Mrs. Wyman's “graphic details of her anomalous diseases, and “even to your friend Mrs. Upton's domestic chro “nicles. I have ridden half a dozen miles to find “out whether our pretty little busy bee, Sally Ellis, “or her bouncing notable rival obtained the pre “mium for the best flannel at the fair, and—dare I “confess it to you, Mrs. Layton?—I have been as “eager to know which of our rustic friends re “ceived the premiums of the Agricultural Society “—premiums for rich crops and fat bullocks—as if “they were the crowns decreed in Olympian games. “But, alas! it is all over now—these things move “me no longer. I have not opened my piano since “the Marions left us, and my drawing, my former “delight, I have abandoned. It is too indissolubly “associated with the sad memory of Louis Seton. “If you love me, my dear Mrs. Layton, spare me “any farther raillery on this subject—I cannot “bear it. I have known nothing in my short life, “so painful as being the accidental cause of suffer “ing to a mind, pure, elevated, and susceptible as “Louis Seton's, and certainly nothing so perplex “ing to my faith, as that such a mind should be “doomed to misery! My father, who is my ora “cle in all dark matters, says these are mysteries of “which we must quietly await the solution—that we “are here as travellers in a strange and misty “country, where objects are seen obscurely, and “their relations and dependencies are quite hidden. “But we are safe while we fix the eye of faith on “the goodness of Providence—His perfect, illimit “able, and immutable goodness. This is the bea “con-light—the central truth of the moral universe. “I am announcing high speculations in a very “metaphysical sort of a way; but I am as the “humble cottager who receives through her narrow “window a few rays of light—few, but sufficient to “brighten her small sphere of duty, and to preserve “her from either faltering or fear. “My dear Madam—I have just received a letter “from Mr. Clarence, who was a particular friend “of my father.” Ha! ha! Gertrude, love plays strange things with chronology—Morley is full five and forty, which I take to be half a lustre in advance of your father; but allons! “He recommends a “friend of his, Mr. Randolph Marion, for the office “of—, and says, what may be true though flatter “ing, that my influence will decide who shall “be the successful candidate. Nothing in life “would give me greater pleasure than to oblige Mr. “Clarence, but I am unfortunately in a degree “committed to a very zealous and useful member of “our party. If however your fair friend, Miss C. “is interested in Marion, (I do not mean en amante, “for I understand there is no interest of a delicate “nature in question,) I shall make every effort and “sacrifice to oblige her. Will you assure her of “this, after ascertaining her wishes in the most re “cherchée manner imaginable. Your sex are born “diplomatists. Oh that you, my dear Madam, “would vouchsafe to be my minister plenipoten“tiary `dans les affaires du cœur!' “Respected lady: `If a man would thrive, he “should wive,' therefore, as agent, and acting for “my son, (John Smith,) I have the satisfaction of “proposing an alliance (matrimonial) between you “and him, (that is, my son.) He is a remarkable “genteel young man in a drawing-room, (John is) “—quite up to any thing, but as that is where you “have seen him, (chiefly,) I shall say no more “about it, only observing that my son (John) always “goes for the first, (he can afford it,) i. e. Wheeler's “coats—Whitmarsh's pantaloons—Byrne's boots— “&c. &c.—which is, (I take it,) the reason he has “made you, valued lady, his choice; you being “the first match in the city (at present). John “(my son) has been a healthy lad from the egg, “and cleanly, (his mother says,) thorough cleanly. “A touch of the intermittent, that he is taken down “with, (this evening,) makes nothing against it (i. e. “against his constitution). As I have found pro “crastination (in all kinds of business) a bad thing, “and to strike while the iron's hot, a safe rule “(without exceptions), and as the doctor says my “son (John) may be down for a week, I concluded “(knowing his mind) not to delay, for fear of acci “dents. As I have not writ a love-letter since I “married my wife, I hope you will, ma'am, excuse “all mistakes and deficiencies. As soon as I re “ceive a punctual answer, (to the above,) we will ar “range all matters of business, (there I'm at home,) “to your, and your honored father's wishes. (Er “rors excepted,) your obedient servant to command, “ma'am, “Dear girl—I hope you will not deem my ad 17* “dress to you at this time premature. I assure you “the sentiment that prompts my pen was begun in “esteem, and has ripened into love. I declare to “you upon my honor, Miss Clarence, that I have “never seen a lady, whom my head and heart both “so wholly approved as yourself; and I feel very “sure that no change of circumstances, or fortune, “could ever make any difference in my feelings, but “that in all the vicissitudes of this sublunary scene, “I should show you every attention which man “owes to the weaker sex. “My dear child—I have just received your last “two letters. I trust no evil will ensue from the de “lay of the first. “My dear Pedrillo,—It is with infinite pain that “I find myself compelled to announce to you, my “daughter's unconquerable aversion to yield to “your wishes, and her father's prayers and com “mands. It is in vain to contend longer. I have “done every thing that the warmest friendship and “the deepest and most heartily acknowledged obli “gations could exact from me. Her mother too has “argued, pleaded, and remonstrated in vain. But, Vol. II. 18 “console toi, mon ami, even Cæsar's fortunes yield “ed to fate, and there are others as young and as “fair as my ungrateful girl, who will be proud to “give you both heart and hand. You are too “much of a philosopher to repine because the wind “blows north, when you would have it south—shift “your sails, and make for another port. “My dear sister—Last Tuesday evening invest “ed me with the right to address you by this en “dearing name; but no rights can add to the gra “titude and affection your Emilie has long borne “to you. “My dear friend—You conclude your last letter “with a request that I will write you a `womanish “epistle, full of feminine details; such as, what “house I live in, how it is furnished and garnished, “whom I visit, &c. &c.' I have quoted the pas “sage, that if I answer it à la lettre, you may re “member that you called forth my egotism. Mr. “Roscoe was so fortunate as to be able to repur “chase his father's house, a fine old family mansion, “not far from our beautiful battery, and command “ing a view of our animated bay, which, if equalled, “we the untravelled believe is not surpassed, by the “happiest combinations of land and water on this “fair earth. The house is somewhat old-fashioned, “but we have given it the most modern and conve “nient arrangement of which it was susceptible, “without an entire and therefore, as we think, sacri “legious alteration.
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