Morley Ernstein; or, the Tenants of the HeartJames, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
General
Morley Ernstein; or, the Tenants of the Heart
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
Fiction
It would require more time than I could bestow on any one part of my
subject, to trace the life of Morley Ernstein during the first
fortnight of his stay in London. With the eagerness of novelty he
followed various pleasures, sought out various amusements, and dipped
somewhat, but not deeply, in the stream of dissipation. What is called
the season was that year protracted to a period later than usual. Gay
carriages still thronged the streets in the end of June. The
Parliament continued its sittings far into July, and gaiety succeeded
gaiety, till those who had commenced the pleasures of a London life at
the beginning Of the year, with bright eyes and rosy cheeks, were pale
and haggard, with the round of midnight parties and crowded rooms.
Not so Morley Ernstein: health and strength were returning to him
every hour, in spite of the current in which he was now immersed, and
by one of those strange physiological phenomena for which it is
difficult, if not impossible, to account, the vigour of his frame, the
impetuosity of his animal nature seemed to be increased rather than
diminished by the consequences of the malady which had nearly crushed
out existence altogether.
The reader, perhaps, may think that the young Baronet shewed somewhat
like weak caprice, or still weaker vacillation of purpose, in plunging
into the high tide of gaiety, when he had set out for London with the
design of studying calmly and quietly his fellow-beings, and the
strange complicated form of existence in which they moved in the great
capital; but the difference between the execution and the design, as,
indeed, is generally the case, was produced by the operation of
external as well as internal causes, by the accidents of situation as
well as the vehement impulse of high blood and energetic youth,
contending against the calmer admonitions of a holier spirit within.
On his first arrival in London, he followed the plan which he had
proposed, and called upon no one but his guardian and Count Lieberg.
He felt himself, indeed, bound in gratitude not to make any
unnecessary delay in visiting either. The latter, with whom the reader
is already acquainted, had saved his life; the former had protected
his early years and had administered his fortune with anxious care and
successful wisdom. He, however, not being yet known to the reader, we
must bring him on the stage for a moment, and dwell briefly upon a
character, which, though presenting no very salient points, is
nevertheless worth studying as the type of a class. Mr. Hamilton was a
banker--an English banker, which is as different an animal from that
which goes by the same generic name in other countries, as the mammoth
or antediluvian elephant is from the elephant of the _Jardin des
Plantes_. He was a calm, quiet, reasoning man, of aristocratical
family, (his brother was a peer of the realm,) and of aristocratical
habits and manners. He had been selected from among three younger
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account