Gothic fiction; Ireland -- History -- Rebellion of 1798 -- Fiction; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Romans à clef
Short is the sequel of the history which is now to be related. The
strong arm of power soon suppressed this partial rebellion. Buchanan
was found stretched in death upon the field of battle, lovely in form
even in that hour.
The Marquis of Delaval, restored to his family and fortune, soon
forgot the lesson adversity had taught. In the same follies and the
same vanities his predecessors had passed their days, he likewise
endeavoured to enjoy the remainder of his. The Duke of Altamonte lived
long enough to learn the mournful truth, which pride had once forborne
to teach, the perishableness of all human strength, the littleness
of all human greatness, and the vanity of every enjoyment this world
can offer. Of Sophia, of Frances, of Lady Dartford, what is there
to relate? They passed joyfully with the thousands that sail daily
along the stream of folly, uncensured and uncommended. Youth, beauty,
and vanity, were theirs: they enjoyed and suffered all the little
pleasures, and all the little pains of life, and resisted all its
little temptations. Lady Mandeville and Lady Augusta Selwyn fluttered
away likewise each pleasureable moment as frivolously, though perhaps
less innocently; then turned to weep for the errors into which they had
been drawn, more humble in themselves when sorrow had chastened them.
Then it was that they called to the flatterers of their prosperous
days; but they were silent and cold: then it was that they looked
for the friends who had encircled them once; but they were not to be
found: and they learned, like the sinner they had despised, all that
terror dreams of on its sick bed, and all that misery in its worst
moments can conceive. Mrs. Seymour, in acts of piety and benevolence,
retired to the Garden Cottage, a small estate the Duke of Altamonte
had settled on her; and she found that religion and virtue, even in
this world, have their reward. The coldness, the prejudice, which,
in the presumption of her heart had once given her an appearance of
austerity, softened in the decline of life; and when she considered
the frailty of human nature, the misery and uncertainty of existence,
she turned not from the penitent wanderer who had left the right road,
and spoke with severity alone of hardened and triumphant guilt. Her
life was one fair course of virtue; and when she died, thousands of
those whom she had reclaimed or befriended followed her to the grave.
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