The Cavaliers of Virginia, vol. 2 of 2: or, The Recluse of Jamestown; An historical romance of the Old DominionCaruthers, William Alexander
History
The Cavaliers of Virginia, vol. 2 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
As he proceeded, Wyanokee fixed her dark penetrating eyes upon his face,
until her own countenance settled into the expression of reverential
awe, with which the Indian invariably listens to the ravings of the
maniac. At every period she moved herself backward on the mat, until at
the conclusion, she had arrived at a respectful distance, and crossed
her hands in superstitious dread. A single glance conveyed her
impressions to his mind, and he resumed, "No, no, my gentle preserver,
reason is not dethroned, she still presides here, (striking his
forehead,) a stern spectator of the unholy strife which is kept up
between her sister faculties." Leaning toward her upon his elbow, he
continued in a thrilling whisper, "You have heard me read from the
sacred volume of the tortures prepared for the damned! of a future
existence, in which the torments of ten thousand deaths shall be
inflicted, and yet the immortal sufferer find no death! His soul will
be prepared for the endurance! I have already a foretaste of that
horrible eternity! And yet you see I preserve the power to know and to
endure! Is it not a dread mystery in this frail compound of ours--and
portentous of evil to come, that this faculty of supporting misery so
long outlives the good? The wise men of our race teach us that every
pain endured is a preparation of the opposite faculty to enjoy pleasure!
that our torpid fluids would stagnate without these contrasted
stimulants; 'tis all a delusion, a miserable invention of the enemy. Man
can suffer in this life a compound of horrors, for which its pleasures
and allurements have no equivalent; yea, and he suffers them after all
chance for happiness has vanished for ever. The pleasures of the world
are like the morning glories of a sea of ice. The sun rises and sparkles
in glittering rainbows for an hour, and then sinks behind the dark blue
horizon, and leaves the late enraptured beholder, to feel the chill of
death creeping along his veins, until his heart is as cold and dead as
the icebergs around 'an atom of pleasure, and a universe of pain.'"
His hearer sat in the most profound bewilderment; much of his discourse
was to her unintelligible, and notwithstanding his protestations to the
contrary, she still retained her first impressions as to the state of
his mind. She knew something of the various relations existing between
the most important personages of our story, and in her own mind, had
already begun to account for his present state. She supposed him to have
been rudely torn from his bride. Her object therefore in the following
words, was to learn something more of these particulars, and at the same
time to soothe the excited feelings of her guest.
"The great Father of the white man at Jamestown will restore your bride.
Does not your good book say, 'whom the' Great Spirit 'has joined
together let no man put asunder?'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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