THE CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA
The lightning streamed athwart the heavens in quick and vivid flashes.
One peal of thunder after another echoed from cliff to cliff, while a
driving storm of rain, wind and hail, made the face of nature black and
dismal. There was something frightfully congenial in this uproar of the
contending elements with the storm raging in Bacon's heart, as he rushed
from the scene of the catastrophe we have just witnessed. The darkness
which succeeded the lurid and sulphureous flashes was not more complete
and unfathomable than the black despair of his own soul. These vivid
contrasts of light and gloom were the only stimulants of which he was
susceptible, and they were welcomed as the light of his path! By their
guidance he wildly rushed to his stable, saddled, led forth, and mounted
his noble charger, his own head still uncovered. For once the gallant
animal felt himself uncontrolled master of his movements, fleet as the
wind his nimble heels measured the narrow limits of the island. A sudden
glare of intense light served for an instant to reveal both to horse and
rider that they stood upon the brink of the river, and a single
indication of the rider's will was followed by a plunge into the
troubled waves. Nobly and majestically he rose and sank with the
swelling surges. His master sat erect in the saddle and felt his
benumbed faculties revived, as he communed with the storm. The raging
elements appeared to sympathize with the tumult of his own bosom. He
laughed in horrid unison with the gambols of the lightning, and yelled
with savage delight as the muttering thunder rolled over his head.
There is a sublime stimulus in despair. Bacon felt its power; he was
conscious that one of the first laws of our organization,
(self-preservation,) was suddenly dead within him.
The ballast of the frail vessel was thrown overboard, and the sails were
spread to the gathering storm with reckless desperation. Compass and
rudder were alike abandoned and despised--they were for the use of those
who had hopes and fears. For himself he spread his sails and steered his
course with the very spirit of the storm itself. Nature in her wildest
moods has no terrors for those who have nothing to lose or win; no
terrors for them who laugh and play with the very elements of her
destruction; they are wildly, madly independent. It is the sublimity of
the maniac! Nevertheless there is a fascination in his reckless steps as
he threads the narrow and fearful windings of the precipice, or
carelessly buffets the waves of the raging waters. There are other
sensations of a high and lofty character in this disjointed state of the
faculties. The very ease and rapidity with which ordinary dangers are
surmounted, serves to keep up the delusion, and were it not for the
irresponsible condition of the mind, there would doubtless be impiety in
its developments. Such were Bacon's sensations as he wildly stemmed the
torrent. He imagined that he was absolved from the ordinary
responsibilities and hazards of humanity! and to his excited fancy, it
seemed as though petty fears and grovelling cautions were all that lay
between humanity and the superior creations of the universe! that power
also came with this absolution from the hopes, fears and penalties of
man's low estate. In imagination "he rode upon the storm and managed the
whirlwind." The monsters of the deep were his playmates, the ill-omened
birds of the night his fellows. The wolves howled in dreadful concord
with the morbid efforts of his preternaturally distorted faculties, as
the noble and panting animal first struck the shore with his forefeet.
Emerging from the water, he stroked down the dripping mane with a wild
and melancholy affection. The very consciousness of such a feeling yet
remaining in his soul, which he dared indulge, produced for the moment
a dangerous and kindred train of emotions. These as before led him upon
forbidden ground, and again the wild tumult of his soul revived.
Striking his heels into the animal's flanks, and bending upon his neck,
he urged him over the ground at a pace in unison with the impetuosity of
his own feelings.
The fire and gravel flew from his heels, as he bounded through the
trackless forests of the unsubdued wilderness. The frightened birds of
night, and beasts of prey, started in affright, wild at the appearance
upon the scene of one darker and wilder than themselves. The very
reptiles of the earth shrunk to their hiding places, as the wild
horseman and his steed invaded their prescriptive dominions.
Mrs. Fairfax and her daughter, according to the commands of Sir William
Berkley, were conveyed to his mansion. To them all places were now
alike.
"1104458478"
One peal of thunder after another echoed from cliff to cliff, while a
driving storm of rain, wind and hail, made the face of nature black and
dismal. There was something frightfully congenial in this uproar of the
contending elements with the storm raging in Bacon's heart, as he rushed
from the scene of the catastrophe we have just witnessed. The darkness
which succeeded the lurid and sulphureous flashes was not more complete
and unfathomable than the black despair of his own soul. These vivid
contrasts of light and gloom were the only stimulants of which he was
susceptible, and they were welcomed as the light of his path! By their
guidance he wildly rushed to his stable, saddled, led forth, and mounted
his noble charger, his own head still uncovered. For once the gallant
animal felt himself uncontrolled master of his movements, fleet as the
wind his nimble heels measured the narrow limits of the island. A sudden
glare of intense light served for an instant to reveal both to horse and
rider that they stood upon the brink of the river, and a single
indication of the rider's will was followed by a plunge into the
troubled waves. Nobly and majestically he rose and sank with the
swelling surges. His master sat erect in the saddle and felt his
benumbed faculties revived, as he communed with the storm. The raging
elements appeared to sympathize with the tumult of his own bosom. He
laughed in horrid unison with the gambols of the lightning, and yelled
with savage delight as the muttering thunder rolled over his head.
There is a sublime stimulus in despair. Bacon felt its power; he was
conscious that one of the first laws of our organization,
(self-preservation,) was suddenly dead within him.
The ballast of the frail vessel was thrown overboard, and the sails were
spread to the gathering storm with reckless desperation. Compass and
rudder were alike abandoned and despised--they were for the use of those
who had hopes and fears. For himself he spread his sails and steered his
course with the very spirit of the storm itself. Nature in her wildest
moods has no terrors for those who have nothing to lose or win; no
terrors for them who laugh and play with the very elements of her
destruction; they are wildly, madly independent. It is the sublimity of
the maniac! Nevertheless there is a fascination in his reckless steps as
he threads the narrow and fearful windings of the precipice, or
carelessly buffets the waves of the raging waters. There are other
sensations of a high and lofty character in this disjointed state of the
faculties. The very ease and rapidity with which ordinary dangers are
surmounted, serves to keep up the delusion, and were it not for the
irresponsible condition of the mind, there would doubtless be impiety in
its developments. Such were Bacon's sensations as he wildly stemmed the
torrent. He imagined that he was absolved from the ordinary
responsibilities and hazards of humanity! and to his excited fancy, it
seemed as though petty fears and grovelling cautions were all that lay
between humanity and the superior creations of the universe! that power
also came with this absolution from the hopes, fears and penalties of
man's low estate. In imagination "he rode upon the storm and managed the
whirlwind." The monsters of the deep were his playmates, the ill-omened
birds of the night his fellows. The wolves howled in dreadful concord
with the morbid efforts of his preternaturally distorted faculties, as
the noble and panting animal first struck the shore with his forefeet.
Emerging from the water, he stroked down the dripping mane with a wild
and melancholy affection. The very consciousness of such a feeling yet
remaining in his soul, which he dared indulge, produced for the moment
a dangerous and kindred train of emotions. These as before led him upon
forbidden ground, and again the wild tumult of his soul revived.
Striking his heels into the animal's flanks, and bending upon his neck,
he urged him over the ground at a pace in unison with the impetuosity of
his own feelings.
The fire and gravel flew from his heels, as he bounded through the
trackless forests of the unsubdued wilderness. The frightened birds of
night, and beasts of prey, started in affright, wild at the appearance
upon the scene of one darker and wilder than themselves. The very
reptiles of the earth shrunk to their hiding places, as the wild
horseman and his steed invaded their prescriptive dominions.
Mrs. Fairfax and her daughter, according to the commands of Sir William
Berkley, were conveyed to his mansion. To them all places were now
alike.
THE CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA
The lightning streamed athwart the heavens in quick and vivid flashes.
One peal of thunder after another echoed from cliff to cliff, while a
driving storm of rain, wind and hail, made the face of nature black and
dismal. There was something frightfully congenial in this uproar of the
contending elements with the storm raging in Bacon's heart, as he rushed
from the scene of the catastrophe we have just witnessed. The darkness
which succeeded the lurid and sulphureous flashes was not more complete
and unfathomable than the black despair of his own soul. These vivid
contrasts of light and gloom were the only stimulants of which he was
susceptible, and they were welcomed as the light of his path! By their
guidance he wildly rushed to his stable, saddled, led forth, and mounted
his noble charger, his own head still uncovered. For once the gallant
animal felt himself uncontrolled master of his movements, fleet as the
wind his nimble heels measured the narrow limits of the island. A sudden
glare of intense light served for an instant to reveal both to horse and
rider that they stood upon the brink of the river, and a single
indication of the rider's will was followed by a plunge into the
troubled waves. Nobly and majestically he rose and sank with the
swelling surges. His master sat erect in the saddle and felt his
benumbed faculties revived, as he communed with the storm. The raging
elements appeared to sympathize with the tumult of his own bosom. He
laughed in horrid unison with the gambols of the lightning, and yelled
with savage delight as the muttering thunder rolled over his head.
There is a sublime stimulus in despair. Bacon felt its power; he was
conscious that one of the first laws of our organization,
(self-preservation,) was suddenly dead within him.
The ballast of the frail vessel was thrown overboard, and the sails were
spread to the gathering storm with reckless desperation. Compass and
rudder were alike abandoned and despised--they were for the use of those
who had hopes and fears. For himself he spread his sails and steered his
course with the very spirit of the storm itself. Nature in her wildest
moods has no terrors for those who have nothing to lose or win; no
terrors for them who laugh and play with the very elements of her
destruction; they are wildly, madly independent. It is the sublimity of
the maniac! Nevertheless there is a fascination in his reckless steps as
he threads the narrow and fearful windings of the precipice, or
carelessly buffets the waves of the raging waters. There are other
sensations of a high and lofty character in this disjointed state of the
faculties. The very ease and rapidity with which ordinary dangers are
surmounted, serves to keep up the delusion, and were it not for the
irresponsible condition of the mind, there would doubtless be impiety in
its developments. Such were Bacon's sensations as he wildly stemmed the
torrent. He imagined that he was absolved from the ordinary
responsibilities and hazards of humanity! and to his excited fancy, it
seemed as though petty fears and grovelling cautions were all that lay
between humanity and the superior creations of the universe! that power
also came with this absolution from the hopes, fears and penalties of
man's low estate. In imagination "he rode upon the storm and managed the
whirlwind." The monsters of the deep were his playmates, the ill-omened
birds of the night his fellows. The wolves howled in dreadful concord
with the morbid efforts of his preternaturally distorted faculties, as
the noble and panting animal first struck the shore with his forefeet.
Emerging from the water, he stroked down the dripping mane with a wild
and melancholy affection. The very consciousness of such a feeling yet
remaining in his soul, which he dared indulge, produced for the moment
a dangerous and kindred train of emotions. These as before led him upon
forbidden ground, and again the wild tumult of his soul revived.
Striking his heels into the animal's flanks, and bending upon his neck,
he urged him over the ground at a pace in unison with the impetuosity of
his own feelings.
The fire and gravel flew from his heels, as he bounded through the
trackless forests of the unsubdued wilderness. The frightened birds of
night, and beasts of prey, started in affright, wild at the appearance
upon the scene of one darker and wilder than themselves. The very
reptiles of the earth shrunk to their hiding places, as the wild
horseman and his steed invaded their prescriptive dominions.
Mrs. Fairfax and her daughter, according to the commands of Sir William
Berkley, were conveyed to his mansion. To them all places were now
alike.
One peal of thunder after another echoed from cliff to cliff, while a
driving storm of rain, wind and hail, made the face of nature black and
dismal. There was something frightfully congenial in this uproar of the
contending elements with the storm raging in Bacon's heart, as he rushed
from the scene of the catastrophe we have just witnessed. The darkness
which succeeded the lurid and sulphureous flashes was not more complete
and unfathomable than the black despair of his own soul. These vivid
contrasts of light and gloom were the only stimulants of which he was
susceptible, and they were welcomed as the light of his path! By their
guidance he wildly rushed to his stable, saddled, led forth, and mounted
his noble charger, his own head still uncovered. For once the gallant
animal felt himself uncontrolled master of his movements, fleet as the
wind his nimble heels measured the narrow limits of the island. A sudden
glare of intense light served for an instant to reveal both to horse and
rider that they stood upon the brink of the river, and a single
indication of the rider's will was followed by a plunge into the
troubled waves. Nobly and majestically he rose and sank with the
swelling surges. His master sat erect in the saddle and felt his
benumbed faculties revived, as he communed with the storm. The raging
elements appeared to sympathize with the tumult of his own bosom. He
laughed in horrid unison with the gambols of the lightning, and yelled
with savage delight as the muttering thunder rolled over his head.
There is a sublime stimulus in despair. Bacon felt its power; he was
conscious that one of the first laws of our organization,
(self-preservation,) was suddenly dead within him.
The ballast of the frail vessel was thrown overboard, and the sails were
spread to the gathering storm with reckless desperation. Compass and
rudder were alike abandoned and despised--they were for the use of those
who had hopes and fears. For himself he spread his sails and steered his
course with the very spirit of the storm itself. Nature in her wildest
moods has no terrors for those who have nothing to lose or win; no
terrors for them who laugh and play with the very elements of her
destruction; they are wildly, madly independent. It is the sublimity of
the maniac! Nevertheless there is a fascination in his reckless steps as
he threads the narrow and fearful windings of the precipice, or
carelessly buffets the waves of the raging waters. There are other
sensations of a high and lofty character in this disjointed state of the
faculties. The very ease and rapidity with which ordinary dangers are
surmounted, serves to keep up the delusion, and were it not for the
irresponsible condition of the mind, there would doubtless be impiety in
its developments. Such were Bacon's sensations as he wildly stemmed the
torrent. He imagined that he was absolved from the ordinary
responsibilities and hazards of humanity! and to his excited fancy, it
seemed as though petty fears and grovelling cautions were all that lay
between humanity and the superior creations of the universe! that power
also came with this absolution from the hopes, fears and penalties of
man's low estate. In imagination "he rode upon the storm and managed the
whirlwind." The monsters of the deep were his playmates, the ill-omened
birds of the night his fellows. The wolves howled in dreadful concord
with the morbid efforts of his preternaturally distorted faculties, as
the noble and panting animal first struck the shore with his forefeet.
Emerging from the water, he stroked down the dripping mane with a wild
and melancholy affection. The very consciousness of such a feeling yet
remaining in his soul, which he dared indulge, produced for the moment
a dangerous and kindred train of emotions. These as before led him upon
forbidden ground, and again the wild tumult of his soul revived.
Striking his heels into the animal's flanks, and bending upon his neck,
he urged him over the ground at a pace in unison with the impetuosity of
his own feelings.
The fire and gravel flew from his heels, as he bounded through the
trackless forests of the unsubdued wilderness. The frightened birds of
night, and beasts of prey, started in affright, wild at the appearance
upon the scene of one darker and wilder than themselves. The very
reptiles of the earth shrunk to their hiding places, as the wild
horseman and his steed invaded their prescriptive dominions.
Mrs. Fairfax and her daughter, according to the commands of Sir William
Berkley, were conveyed to his mansion. To them all places were now
alike.
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THE CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940012773517 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | SAP |
| Publication date: | 07/23/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 158 KB |
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