The Cavaliers of Virginia, vol. 1 of 2: or, The Recluse of Jamestown; An historical romance of the Old DominionCaruthers, William Alexander
History
The Cavaliers of Virginia, vol. 1 of 2: or, The Recluse of Jamestown; An historical romance of the Old Dominion
Caruthers, William Alexander
Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction
He looked upon the little city beneath, as the weary mariner on a long
voyage may be supposed to look upon a green island in the midst of a
desert of waters. His chest heaved as the swelling emotions of pent up
years burst from his over-loaded heart. Bacon, the manly and ingenuous
youth, whom the reader will remember as having been appointed to visit
him on this morning, had just sprung upon a mettled and pawing charger,
which was now throwing the fire and pebbles from his heels in thick
volleys, as his master with a fire and impetuosity scarcely inferior to
his own, bent over his uncurbed neck as he descended into the plain.
Several pieces of light artillery, together with volleys of musketry in
quick succession, thundered over the smooth waters of the Powhatan, and
reverberated in multiplied peals under the feet of the Recluse. There
was something connected with this day, and its celebration, which seemed
powerfully to have stirred up the still waters within him. Thick coming
fancies connected with by-gone days were rolling over his soul in an
uncontrolled torrent. But we must leave him for a time to his own
reflections, amidst the solitary grandeur of the scene, while we pursue
the road of the flying Cavalier towards the city.
The bells from the Church and State House were now also heard in the
intervals of the cannonade, and as we approach nearer to the scene, a
strange confusion of many sounds greet the ear. Drums and fifes, violins
and banjoes, and even jews-harps, all lent their aid to swell the burst
of joy and gratulation. Smiling and happy faces were grouped along the
streets, while gay damsels, in their holyday finery, adorned the doors
and windows of the busy citizens. A perfect Babel of commingled noises
issued from the spacious area of a tobacco warehouse, which, after the
usual fashion, consisted of an extensive roof, supported by colonnades
to every front. Here was congregated the rising generation--boisterous
and happy in the midst of their games and sports. No schoolmaster was
abroad on that day, to rush in upon the unwary urchins, and wreak upon
them the vengeance of Samson upon the Philistines.
Our forefathers suffered their children to follow very much their own
humours in the selection of those amusements suited to their age and
condition. We see not but the result was as happy as that of the systems
of our day, when every thing is regulated by system, even to the games
and amusements of our children. The time is certainly not far distant
when Geography will be taught by a game at cards; Chemistry by set
_conversations_ upon the constituents of our edibles, and Natural
Philosophy developed in nursery rhymes, that we may imbibe it with our
lullabies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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