Ashcliffe Hall: A tale of the last centuryHolt, Emily Sarah
General
Ashcliffe Hall: A tale of the last century
Holt, Emily Sarah
England -- Social life and customs -- 18th century -- Fiction; Historical fiction; Religious fiction
And fortified by this consideration, and the coffee, &c., Mr. Stevens
walked into the residence of the Editor of the _Postboy_, and
expressed his desire for an interview with that rather awful
individual. There was a smile on his lips when he came out. He was
engaged at a high salary to supply foreign news to the columns of the
Whig paper. Mr. Buckley, the Ministerial agent, had spoken very
highly of Mr. Stevens to the Editor. Mr. Stevens was rejoiced to
hear it, and he told the truth for once when he said so. The Editor
thought Mr. Stevens set a rather high value on his services. Mr.
Stevens could assure him that he had received innumerable
applications from the Tory side, and it was only his deep attachment
to the Whig cause, and his respect for the _Postboy_ in particular,
which had led him, by asking so little, rather to underrate the
importance of the information he could supply. The importance,
indeed, of the information which Stevens could have supplied would
not have been overrated at double the figure; but of this little fact
the Editor of the _Postboy_ was unconscious.
Here we part with the Rev. Cuthbert Stevens. The rest of his life
was a mere repetition, with variations, of what we have seen. The
Whigs continued to take him for a Whig spy, the Tories for a Tory,
while he himself cared in reality for neither, and was devoted but to
one thing, and ready to be either, neither, or both, in the service
and at the command of that Church which supplied to him the place of
home, and parents, and friends, and God. And at the close of such a
life followed the priest, and the crucifix, and the unction, and the
false hope which shall perish, and the death that has no bands.
Ere this Rome has employed, and destroyed, many a Cuthbert Stevens.
What do the crushed devotees matter to the idol? Let the car of
Juggernaut roll on! "Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou
hast shed, and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast
made."[13] "In the cup which she hath filled, fill to her
double."[14]
Perhaps the greatest of Lucetta Carmagnoli's mercies was what she
thought the bitterest of her sorrows--that she never knew what became
of her lost child.
It is time for us to return to France.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account