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1Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | UVA-LIB-BoardOfVisitorsMinutes 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:25 a.m., on Friday, February 7, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Mortimer M. Caplin, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, Warner N. Dalhouse, William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Charles F. Irons, Evans B. Jessee, Arnold H. Leon, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Albert H. Small, and Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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2Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | UVA-LIB-BoardOfVisitorsMinutes 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:30 a.m., on Friday, April 11, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Charles F. Irons, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Albert H. Small, Elizabeth A. Twohy, Henry L. Valentine, II, Walter F. Walker, and James C. Wheat, III. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bales were also present.
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3Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | UVA-LIB-BoardOfVisitorsMinutes 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:30 a.m., on Friday, June 13, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Miss Kristine L. LaLonde, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy, and Henry L. Valentine, II. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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4Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | UVA-LIB-BoardOfVisitorsMinutes 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:00 a.m., on Friday, November 7, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Miss Kristine L. LaLonde, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Albert H. Small, Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy, Henry L. Valentine, II, Walter F. Walker, and James C. Wheat, III. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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5Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes (1997) February 7, 1997  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia::Board of Visitors | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-ModEngl 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:25 a.m., on Friday, February 7, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Mortimer M. Caplin, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, Warner N. Dalhouse, William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Charles F. Irons, Evans B. Jessee, Arnold H. Leon, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Albert H. Small, and Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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6Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes (1997) April 11, 1997  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia::Board of Visitors | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-ModEngl 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:30 a.m., on Friday, April 11, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Charles F. Irons, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Albert H. Small, Elizabeth A. Twohy, Henry L. Valentine, II, Walter F. Walker, and James C. Wheat, III. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bales were also present.
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7Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes (1997) June 13, 1997  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia::Board of Visitors | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-ModEngl 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:30 a.m., on Friday, June 13, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Miss Kristine L. LaLonde, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy, and Henry L. Valentine, II. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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8Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes (1997) November 7, 1997  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia::Board of Visitors | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-ModEngl 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:00 a.m., on Friday, November 7, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Miss Kristine L. LaLonde, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Albert H. Small, Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy, Henry L. Valentine, II, Walter F. Walker, and James C. Wheat, III. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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9Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes (1997) February 7, 1997  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia::Board of Visitors | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-ModEngl 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:25 a.m., on Friday, February 7, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Mortimer M. Caplin, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, Warner N. Dalhouse, William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Charles F. Irons, Evans B. Jessee, Arnold H. Leon, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Albert H. Small, and Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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10Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes (1997) April 11, 1997  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia::Board of Visitors | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-ModEngl 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:30 a.m., on Friday, April 11, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Charles F. Irons, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Albert H. Small, Elizabeth A. Twohy, Henry L. Valentine, II, Walter F. Walker, and James C. Wheat, III. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bales were also present.
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11Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes (1997) June 13, 1997  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia::Board of Visitors | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-ModEngl 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:30 a.m., on Friday, June 13, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Miss Kristine L. LaLonde, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy, and Henry L. Valentine, II. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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12Author:  University of Virginia Board of VisitorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Board of Visitors minutes (1997) November 7, 1997  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia::Board of Visitors | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-ModEngl 
 Description: The Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia met, in Open Session, at 8:00 a.m., on Friday, November 7, 1997, in the East Oval Room of the Rotunda with the following persons present: Hovey S. Dabney, Rector, John P. Ackerly, III, Franklin K. Birckhead, Charles M. Caravati, Jr., Champ Clark, William G. Crutchfield, Jr., William H. Goodwin, Jr., T. Keister Greer, Mrs. Elsie Goodwin Holland, Miss Kristine L. LaLonde, C. Wilson McNeely, III, Terence P. Ross, Albert H. Small, Ms. Elizabeth A. Twohy, Henry L. Valentine, II, Walter F. Walker, and James C. Wheat, III. John T. Casteen, III, Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr., Paul J. Forch, Leonard W. Sandridge, Jr., Peter W. Low, Robert W. Cantrell, Ms. Polley McClure, Ms. Colette Capone, Robert D. Sweeney, Ernest H. Ern, William W. Harmon, Don E. Detmer, and Ms. Jeanne Flippo Bailes were also present.
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13Author:  Bird Robert Montgomery 1806-1854Requires cookie*
 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.
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14Author:  Bird Robert Montgomery 1806-1854Requires cookie*
 Title:  Sheppard Lee  
 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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15Author:  Bird Robert Montgomery 1806-1854Requires cookie*
 Title:  Sheppard Lee  
 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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16Author:  Brainard John G. C. (John Gardiner Calkins) 1796-1828Requires cookie*
 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.
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17Author:  Briggs Charles F. (Charles Frederick) 1804-1877Requires cookie*
 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.
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18Author:  Briggs Charles F. (Charles Frederick) 1804-1877Requires cookie*
 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.
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19Author:  Child Lydia Maria Francis 1802-1880Requires cookie*
 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.
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20Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 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: “I wonder if we are to have a neighbour in the Deanery soon,” inquired Clara Moseley, addressing herself to a small party, assembled in her father's drawing room, while standing at a window which commanded a distant view of the mansion in question.
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