| | 1 | Author: | Cummins
Maria S.
(Maria Susanna)
1827-1866 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Haunted hearts  | | | | Published: | 2002 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Text collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | Every circle has its centre. To describe a circle, one
must choose a given point, and radiate thence at equal
distances. The north-eastern corner of New Jersey is
that part of the earth's surface on which I propose to
describe a circle, and the centre of that circle is Stein's
Tavern. “Adieu! My sole pang in leaving New Jersey is the
thought that I shall never again see the fair friend,
`Whose heart was my home in an enemy's land.'
I flatter myself that the emotion is mutual. Continue,
I entreat you, to cherish tender recollections of your
devoted Josselyn. Our paths, like our lots in life, lie
apart. Had Heaven placed you, dear girl, in the sphere
you are so well fitted to adorn, who knows what we
might have been to each other? It grieves me that one
whose beauty and grace have cheered my exile should
be doomed to waste her sweetness upon a neighborhood
so contracted and vulgar as that of Stein's Plains; but
habit, I have no doubt, reconciles you to many things
which shock the sensibilities of a stranger; and, alas!
every station in life has its disadvantages. It may be a
consolation to you to be assured that you will not be
quite forgotten in those more aristocratic circles to which
my destiny leads me. I shall still carry your image in
my heart. Many a fair daughter of my own country
will suffer by a comparison with it; and when the toast
goes round I shall pique the curiosity of my brother
officers by giving them the `New Jersey belle.' | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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