Mark Hurdlestone; Or, The Two Brothers

When Algernon returned at night to the Hall, his brother greeted him with a composed and smiling aspect. He had communicated to his father the scene he had witnessed at the cott...

Oh, what a change--a goodly change! I, too, am changed. I feel my heart expand; My spirit, long bowed down with misery, Grow light and buoyant 'mid these blessed scenes.--S.M.

And hast thou sought me in this dreary cell, This dark abode of guilt and misery; To win my sadden'd spirit back to earth With words of blessed import?--S.M.

My mind is like a vessel tossed at sea By winds and waves--her helm and compass lost; No friendly hand to guide her o'er the waste, Or point to rocks and shoals that yawn beneat...

Oh Lord, thou hast enlarged the grief Of this poor stricken heart, That only finds in tears relief, Which all unbidden start: Long have I borne the cruel scorn Of one I could no...

In the miserable attic over the kitchen in the public-house already described, there was a sound of deep, half-suppressed, passionate weeping--a young mother weeping for her fir...

The lyre is hush'd, for ever hush'd the hand, That woke to ecstacy its thrilling chords; And that sweet voice, with music eloquent, Sleeps with the silent lyre and broken heart....

Say, who art thou--thou lean and haggard wretch! Thou living satire on the name of man! Thou that hast made a god of sordid gold, And to thine idol offered up thy soul? Oh, how...

Come, tell me something of this wayward girl. Oh, she is changed--and such a woful change! It breaks my heart to think on't. The bright eye Has lost its fire, the red rose on he...

I see no beauty in this wealthy dame; 'Neath the dark lashes of her downcast eyes A weeping spirit lurks. And when she smiles, 'Tis but the sunbeams of an April day, Piercing a...

A thrilling feeling of joy at having gained the object of his visit to Oak Hall, and obtained the means of wiping off the stain he so much dreaded from his character, was throbb...

About two years after Algernon Hurdlestone left the Hall, a widow lady and her daughter came to reside at Ashton, and hired a small cottage, pleasantly situated at the back of t...

The world has done its worst, you need not heed Its praise or censure now.--Your name is held In deep abhorrence by the good: the bad Make it a sad example for fresh guilt.--S.M.

'In adopting my son you pleased yourself. Had he remained with me I should have provided for him. As matters at present stand, I neither wish to be troubled with letters from hi...

Whilst Godfrey Hurdlestone was rapidly traversing the broad road that leads down to the gates of death, Anthony was regaining his peace of mind in the quiet abode of domestic lo...

Art thou a father? did the generous tide Of warm parental love e'er fill thy veins, And bid thee feel an interest in thy kind? Did the pulsation of that icy heart Quicken and vi...

We must now return to Godfrey Hurdlestone, and we find him comfortably settled in the hospitable mansion of Captain Whitmore, a great favorite with aunt Dorothy, and an object o...

"Come, Miss Whitmore, you must rouse yourself from this unwomanly grief. It is quite improper for a young lady of your rank and fortune to be shedding tears for the immoral cond...

Algernon Hurdlestone in his forty-second, and Algernon Hurdlestone in his twenty-fourth year, were very different men. In mind, person, and manners, the greatest dissimilarity e...

Whate'er thou hast to say, speak boldly out; Confront me like a man--I shall not start. Nor shiver, nor turn pale. My hand is firm, My heart is firmer still; and both are braced...

"It is but too true. I have been talking to Johnstone, the steward. The account that he gives of our affairs is most discouraging. My father, it seems, has been living beyond hi...

All the fond visions faithful mem'ry kept, Rush'd o'er his soul; he bow'd his head and wept, Such tears as contrite sinners pour alone, When mercy pleads before the eternal thro...

What a night of intense anxiety was that to the young Clary! Hour after hour, she paced the veranda in front of the cottage; now listening for approaching footsteps, now straini...

On life's wide sea, when tempests gathering dark Pour the fierce billow on the shatter'd bark, The surge may break, the warring winds may rave, 'Tis God controls the vengeance o...

And years glided on. The trials of school, and all its joyous pastimes and short-lived sorrows, were over, and the cousins returned to spend the long-looked for and happy vacati...