City Crimes; Or, Life in New York and BostonThompson, George
General
City Crimes; Or, Life in New York and Boston
Thompson, George
Boston (Mass.) -- Fiction; Crime -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction
In explanation of the singular conduct of Dr. Sinclair, we will state
that he became a wine-bibber and a drunkard. Remorse for his amorous
follies with Josephine, and horror at her crimes, had driven him to
drown such painful remembrances in the bottle. The very next day after
he had accused the mother and daughter of the murder, he drank himself
into a state of intoxication, and each subsequent day witnessed a
renewal of the folly. On the Sabbath, he managed to preserve a
tolerably decent degree of sobriety, but his appearance plainly
indicated a recent debauch, and his style of preaching was tame and
irregular. His congregation viewed him with suspicion and distrust
privately; but as yet, no public charge had been made against him. He
knew very well that he could not long continue in his own unworthy
course, and be a minister of the gospel; he plainly saw the precipice
over which he hung--but with mad infatuation he heeded not the danger,
and rushed onwards to his ruin. His house became the scene of disorder
and revelry. His servants neglected their duties when he so far forgot
himself as to make them familiar associates of his orgies. The voice of
prayer was no longer heard in his dwelling: the Bible was cast aside.
Blasphemy had supplanted the one and obscene books had taken the place
of the other. We shall see how rapid was his downfall, and to what a
state of degradation he sunk at last.
But we return for the present to Mr. Hedge and his newly-made wife. They
alighted at the old gentleman's princely mansion in Hudson street and
entered a magnificent apartment in which a bridal supper had been
prepared for them. Julia, as the mistress of the house, was received
with the most profound respect by half a score of domestics, clad in
plain but costly livery. Everything betokened unbounded wealth, and the
repast was served on a scale of splendid luxury--every article of plate
being of massive silver. Viands the most _recherche_ graced the board,
and wines the most rare added zest to the feast. There, sparkling like
the bright waters of the Castalian fountain, flowed the rich Greek
wine--a classic beverage, fit for the gods; there, too, was the delicate
wine of Persia, fragrant with the spices of the East; and the
diamond-crested champagne, inspiring divinities of poesy and Love.
'Drink, my Julia,' cried the happy bridegroom--'one cup to Hymen, and
then let us seek his joys in each other's arms. I have a chamber
prepared for us, which I have dedicated to Venus and to Cupid; there
hath Love spread his wing, and beneath it shall we enjoy extatic repose.
Come, dearest.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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