Martin Merrivale; His X Mark (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1854 Excerpt: ... lOMANCE is the twinsister of Reality. The two cannot be separated; they are united by a ligature as fatal as that which gives zest to the exhibition of the Siamese monstrosYet you can see them any day of your life, free of expense, if you will but take the trouble to open your eyes in the street, in proudest or in humblest homes, even in the kitchen where your puddings are baked. The one, a creature ethereal and angelie, whose face is ever upturned in the glory of the ideal life, unattainable in the heavens, and whose castle gleams pendulous in air, amid sweet gardens steeped in purple mist, and leaping fountains of light, and rainbows soft as love, and streams, and groves, and mountains, all of cloud, with only a Jacob's ladder leading thereunto, "walks up and down our earthly slopes," side by side with her dwarfed and limping brother. We have seen how, in the case of Martin, Reality, plodding and practical, kept pace with his aspiring sister, dragging heavily after, with sad and wearisome footsteps, when she would have flown. Thus it is ever. Romance cannot go far alone. Reality holds her back. Even in affairs of love, when ofttimes her lame brother is quite lost sight of, he keeps close by her side, creeping along the earth as if ashamed, to arise, grim and relentless, towards the close of the honeymoon, if not before. I saw this strange pair yesterday at a funeral, and last night at a wedding. They move continually before my eyes; yet seldom have I seen them well agreed. Instead of working harmoniously together, --the one, whose mission is use, ordering the necessities of life, and the other, whose province is beauty, lending the charm which graces lowliest works, --they seem at most times to be affected by jealousy and impatience. If you pay your address...