Choice Specimens of American Literature, and Literary Reader: Being Selections from the Chief American WritersMartin, Benj. N. (Benjamin Nicholas)
General
Choice Specimens of American Literature, and Literary Reader: Being Selections from the Chief American Writers
Martin, Benj. N. (Benjamin Nicholas)
American literature
The view of a broad Alpine landscape dotted all over with such beautiful
homes, from the little shelf of green hanging on the sides of a rocky
gorge, and the strips of sunny pasture between the ascending forests, to
the very summits of the lower heights and the saddles between them, was
something quite new in my experience.
* * * * *
NOVELISTS AND WRITERS OF FICTION.
=_Charles Brockden Brown, 1771-1810._= (Manual, pp. 478, 505.)
From "Ormond."
=_276._= THE YELLOW FEVER IN PHILADELPHIA.
As she approached the house to which she was going, her reluctance to
proceed increased. Frequently she paused to recollect the motives that
had prescribed this task, and to re-enforce her purposes. At length she
arrived at the house. Now, for the first time, her attention was excited
by the silence and desolation that surrounded her. This evidence of fear
and of danger struck upon her heart. All appeared to have fled from the
presence of this unseen and terrible foe. The temerity of adventuring
thus into the jaws of the pest, now appeared to her in glaring colors.
... She cast her eye towards the house opposite to where she now stood.
Her heart drooped on perceiving proofs that the dwelling was still
inhabited. The door was open, and the windows in the second and third
story were raised. Near the entrance, in the street, stood a cart. The
horse attached to it, in his form, and furniture, and attitude, was an
emblem of torpor and decay. His gaunt sides, motionless limbs, his gummy
and dead eyes, and his head hanging to the ground, were in unison with
the craziness of the vehicle to which he belonged, and the paltry and
bedusted harness which covered him. No attendant nor any human face was
visible. The stillness, though at an hour customarily busy, was
uninterrupted, except by the sound of wheels moving at an almost
indistinguishable distance.
She paused for a moment to contemplate this unwonted spectacle. Her
trepidations were mingled with emotions not unakin to sublimity; but the
consciousness of danger speedily prevailed, and she hastened to acquit
herself of her engagement. She approached the door for this purpose, but
before she could draw the bell, her motions were arrested by sounds
from within. The staircase was opposite the door. Two persons were now
discovered descending the stair. They lifted between them a heavy mass,
which was presently discerned to be a coffin. Shocked by this discovery,
and trembling, she withdrew from the entrance.
* * * * *
=_Washington Allston, 1779-1843._= (Manual, pp. 504, 510.)
From "Monaldi."
=_277._= IMPERSONATION OF THE POWER OF EVIL.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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