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Article THE STUDENTS. ← Page 2 of 7 →
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The Students.
of their schools , without the philosophy which palliates or the learning which adorns it . ° With all his faults , Mark loved his companion , whose gentle manners and refined taste had won an interest in his heart . There was something gratifying to his pride in having so accomplished a friend , and while in his society he carefully concealed those frailties and follies from which the pure nature of II erbert would have recoiledThey both at the
. same time became acquainted with Alice Walters , the only daughter of a decayed gentleman , whose fortune had been lost in the wars of the rival houses of York and Lancaster . From the impetuous fiery Mark the timid maiden had at first started with fear . She felt confused ; her cheeks burned beneath Ins gaze ; the expression of his dark eye distressed her , but dwelt upon her memory , and Herbert to all appearance became her favoured friend and suitor . It was to the house of her
father , where they generally passed their evenings , that they had agreed to proceed as soon as the ferryman should arrive . Each was indul ging in that contemplative delicious silence which music faintly heard at the twili ght hour seldom fails to produce , when their attention was attracted by the sound of an approaching step . " You see , Herbert , " exclaimed his companion , " we are not the only truants . Ha ! it is that loomy censor and sour cynicMowbrayi
g , , like him not—prithee let him pass on . " " But why should you dislike him ? " demanded his friend . " He hath a caustic wit , 1 confess , but be lashes vices only , not misfortune ; motives , not impulse .- He hath ever been kind to me . I fear that misfortune hath soured a once
warm heart . "Hang him , " interrupted Mark , impetuously ; "he hath a dictionary of axioms at his fingers' end , and never uttereth one that he doth not point it like a sneer . He loves more to detect vices in others than to cultivate virtue in himself , and his tongue is so venemous that if he but speak your name he taints it . I 'II none of him . " The subject of their conversation by this time stood beside them ; he was apparently about thirty years of age , thin to attamation , hut possessed
of a countenance so highly intellectual , so exquisitel y chiselled , yet so pale and statue-like , that it would have seemed unearthly but for the piercing black eye , which glanced with restless motion . " As usual , " he exclaimed , after a pause , during ivhich he surveyed the friends ; " still illustrating your boyish lesson , the classical fable of antiquity—still playing Damon and Pythias—still mistaking habit for feeling . How long is this childish dream to last ? " " For lifeI trust "
, , answered Herbert , taking his companion ' s hand . " If the friendship which has been the pleasure of my childhood , the judgment of my manhood , is to fade , if I am to lose , one by one , as you have predicted , those susceptibilities which , in a flower , a tree , a picture , a kind glance from a friend , now afford delight , I would not wish to live . Life must be joyless when the heart is withered , or so bound by the prejudices and suspicions of the world that not one pure feeling can escape . "
" You paint it well , " said the cynic . " 'Tis a gloomy picture , without relief ; harsh in its outline , stern in its execution ; its colours are prepared b y the falsehood of the world , and laid on by the rigid pencil of experience . Contemplate it well ; shrink not from its wholesome lesson . You will one day thank me for having placed it before you . " " Never , " interrupted Herbert , passionately . " I feel by my own heart that love and friendship , bright as e ' er the poet ' s mind hath drawn them , pure as the Creator implanted them , still exist to bless mankind , nor
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Students.
of their schools , without the philosophy which palliates or the learning which adorns it . ° With all his faults , Mark loved his companion , whose gentle manners and refined taste had won an interest in his heart . There was something gratifying to his pride in having so accomplished a friend , and while in his society he carefully concealed those frailties and follies from which the pure nature of II erbert would have recoiledThey both at the
. same time became acquainted with Alice Walters , the only daughter of a decayed gentleman , whose fortune had been lost in the wars of the rival houses of York and Lancaster . From the impetuous fiery Mark the timid maiden had at first started with fear . She felt confused ; her cheeks burned beneath Ins gaze ; the expression of his dark eye distressed her , but dwelt upon her memory , and Herbert to all appearance became her favoured friend and suitor . It was to the house of her
father , where they generally passed their evenings , that they had agreed to proceed as soon as the ferryman should arrive . Each was indul ging in that contemplative delicious silence which music faintly heard at the twili ght hour seldom fails to produce , when their attention was attracted by the sound of an approaching step . " You see , Herbert , " exclaimed his companion , " we are not the only truants . Ha ! it is that loomy censor and sour cynicMowbrayi
g , , like him not—prithee let him pass on . " " But why should you dislike him ? " demanded his friend . " He hath a caustic wit , 1 confess , but be lashes vices only , not misfortune ; motives , not impulse .- He hath ever been kind to me . I fear that misfortune hath soured a once
warm heart . "Hang him , " interrupted Mark , impetuously ; "he hath a dictionary of axioms at his fingers' end , and never uttereth one that he doth not point it like a sneer . He loves more to detect vices in others than to cultivate virtue in himself , and his tongue is so venemous that if he but speak your name he taints it . I 'II none of him . " The subject of their conversation by this time stood beside them ; he was apparently about thirty years of age , thin to attamation , hut possessed
of a countenance so highly intellectual , so exquisitel y chiselled , yet so pale and statue-like , that it would have seemed unearthly but for the piercing black eye , which glanced with restless motion . " As usual , " he exclaimed , after a pause , during ivhich he surveyed the friends ; " still illustrating your boyish lesson , the classical fable of antiquity—still playing Damon and Pythias—still mistaking habit for feeling . How long is this childish dream to last ? " " For lifeI trust "
, , answered Herbert , taking his companion ' s hand . " If the friendship which has been the pleasure of my childhood , the judgment of my manhood , is to fade , if I am to lose , one by one , as you have predicted , those susceptibilities which , in a flower , a tree , a picture , a kind glance from a friend , now afford delight , I would not wish to live . Life must be joyless when the heart is withered , or so bound by the prejudices and suspicions of the world that not one pure feeling can escape . "
" You paint it well , " said the cynic . " 'Tis a gloomy picture , without relief ; harsh in its outline , stern in its execution ; its colours are prepared b y the falsehood of the world , and laid on by the rigid pencil of experience . Contemplate it well ; shrink not from its wholesome lesson . You will one day thank me for having placed it before you . " " Never , " interrupted Herbert , passionately . " I feel by my own heart that love and friendship , bright as e ' er the poet ' s mind hath drawn them , pure as the Creator implanted them , still exist to bless mankind , nor