Charlemont; Or, The Pride of the Village. a Tale of KentuckySimms, William Gilmore
General
Charlemont; Or, The Pride of the Village. a Tale of Kentucky
Simms, William Gilmore
Kentucky -- Fiction
She saw in him the embodiment of that faith in her intellect which
it was the first and last hope of her intellect to inspire; and seeing
thus, it will be easy to believe that her full heart, which, hitherto,
had poured itself forth on rocks, and trees, and solitary places,
forgetful of all prudence--a lesson which she had never learned--and
rejoicing in the sympathy of a being like herself, now gushed forth
with all the volume of its impatient fullness. The adroit art of her
companion led her for ever into herself; she was continually summoned to
pour forth the treasures of her mind and soul; and, toiling in the same
sort of egoisme in which her life heretofore had been consumed, she
was necessarily diverted from all doubts or apprehensions of the occult
purposes of him who had thus beguiled her over the long frequented
paths. As the great secret of success with the mere worldling, is to pry
into the secret of his neighbor while carefully concealing his own, so
it is the great misfortune of enthusiasm to be soon blinded to a purpose
which its own ardent nature neither allows it to suspect nor penetrate.
Enthusiasm is a thing of utter confidence; it has no suspicion; it sets
no watch on other hearts; it is too constantly employed in pouring forth
the treasures of its own. It is easy, therefore, to deceive and betray
it, to beguile it into confidence, and turn all its revelations against
itself. How far the frequency of this usage in the world makes it
honorable, is a question which we need not discuss on this occasion.
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