Retrospect of Western Travel, Volume 1

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Saunders and Otley, 1838 - 239 pages

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Page 170 - Deep sleep had fallen on the destined victim, and on all beneath his roof. A healthful old man to whom sleep was sweet, the first sound slumbers of the night held him in their soft but strong embrace. The assassin enters, through the window already prepared, into an unoccupied apartment. With noiseless foot he paces the lonely hall, half lighted by the moon; he winds up the ascent of the stairs, and reaches the door of the chamber.
Page 170 - Ah! Gentlemen, that was a dreadful mistake. Such a secret can be safe nowhere. The whole creation of God has neither nook nor corner where the guilty can bestow it and say it is safe.
Page 171 - True it is, generally speaking, that " murder will out." True it is that Providence hath so ordained, and doth so govern things, that those who break the great law of Heaven by shedding man's blood seldom succeed in avoiding discovery. Especially in a case exciting so much attention as this, discovery must come, and will come, sooner or later.
Page 121 - For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
Page 169 - Gentlemen, your whole concern should be to do your duty, and leave consequences to take care of themselves. You will receive the law from the court. Your verdict, it is true, may endanger the prisoner's life, but then it is to save other lives. If the prisoner's guilt has been shown and proved beyond all reasonable doubt, you will convict him. If such reasonable doubts of guilt still remain, you will acquit him.
Page 171 - Meantime the guilty soul cannot keep its own secret. It is false to itself ; or rather it feels an irresistible impulse of conscience to be true to itself. It labours under its guilty possession, and knows not what to do with it. The human heart was not made for the residence of such an inhabitant. It finds itself preyed on by a torment, which it dares not acknowledge to God or man. A vulture is devouring it, and it can ask no sympathy or assistance, either from heaven or earth.
Page 6 - Sallust's Jugurthine War and Conspiracy of Catiline, with an English Commentary, and Geographical and Historical Indexes. By Charles Anthon, LL.D. Sixth Edition, corrected and enlarged. 12mo. With a Portrait Select Orations of Cicero, with an English Commentary, and Historical, Geographical, and Legal Indexes.
Page 57 - Is put on life: one stage of being complete. One scheme wound up: and from the grand result A supplementary reflux of light Illustrates all the inferior grades, explains Each back step in the circle. Not alone For their possessor dawn those qualities. But the new glory mixes with the heaven And earth; man, once descried, imprints for ever His presence on all lifeless things: the winds Are henceforth voices, in a wail or shout, A querulous mutter, or a quick gay laugh. Never a senseless gust now man...
Page 43 - Wave not less proudly that their ancestors Moulder beneath them. Oh, there is not lost One of earth's charms : upon her bosom yet, After the flight of untold centuries, The freshness of her far beginning lies, And yet shall lie.
Page 198 - It has also been a great solace to me to believe that you are engaged in vindicating to posterity the course we have pursued for preserving to them in all their purity the blessings of self-government, which we had assisted, too, in acquiring for them.

About the author (1838)

Martineau, from a devout and strict Unitarian family in Norwich, was born without the sense either of taste or of smell and, by the age of 12, showed signs of severe deafness. Throughout the early years of her life, she battled poverty and illness. At her mother's insistence, Martineau was educated, at first at home by her brothers and then for a short time at school. Because her loss of hearing became worse, she was sent home. Within a space of about three years during the late 1820's, Martineau's favorite brother, Thomas, died; her father lost his fortune and died; and her fiance became insane and died. By 1829, the last of the family money was gone, and she was reduced to helping support her mother and sisters with her needlework. At about this time, she began to review for the Unitarian periodical The Monthly Repository and in 1831 won all three prizes in the magazine's contest for the best essays on the conversion of Catholics, Jews, and Muslims. During 1832-33,she published the tales "Illustrations of Political Economy" and its sequel, "Poor Laws and Paupers," in monthly parts. Despite their pointed didacticism, the works were a tremendous success. Other works of fiction followed. In 1839, she published her first novel, "Deerbrook," and, three years later, her fictionalized biography of Toussaint L'Ouverture, "The Hour and the Man," appeared. Despite her forays into fiction, however, Martineau is better known today for her historical, political, and philosophical writings. Early in her career, she was influenced by the classical economies of David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus. She was friends with Edwin Chadwick and James Kay-Shuttleworth, and acquainted with John Stuart Mill. A strong, often radical proponent of utilitarian reform, early in her career she wrote a number of instructive texts that advocated the same curriculum for men and women. By the mid 1840's, Martineau had completely thrown off her Unitarianism and in 1851, published her antitheological "Laws of Man's Social Nature." Some good work has been done on Martineau's life and writings, especially on the political aspects of her public life. Books on Martineau as a literary artist are scarcer; Deirdre David's "Intellectual Women and Victorian Patriarchy" (1987) contains an excellent discussion of Martineau, and Valerie Sanders's "Reason over Passion" (1986) discusses Martineau as a novelist. One of the most insightful books on Martineau, and one of the most readable, is her own Autobiography (1877).

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