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Untitled Article
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Thk gates of a gloomy sjate « prigeii ~ -iii _ Austria were one day unbarred at the approach of a carriage escorted by a small party of soldiers . As soon as the draw-bridge could be let down , a stranger alighted from the carriage ;
the portal closed behind htm , the troop of horse returned the way they came , and the only information which the villagers could obtain from the warder was , that the stranger was a foreigner , and a pr isoner for a ^ tate offence . The unfortunate man was soon forgotten , and no particulars of liis fate ever transpired in that neighbourhood .
In his native country , however , his slory is no secret . He was an Englishman , named Helmer , a gentleman and ajacholar , and though committed under circumstances" $ f ~ strdng sXispiciOTn , wfiolly innocent of any connexion with the political intrigues of the country ' Ihrdtrgtrwhich he was travelling . He had too much reason to believe that he should be left for years , perhaps for life , to suffer the horrors of an Austrian state-imprisonment , without the means of communication with his country , and under the total deprivation of
personal comforts , like too many who have lost reason and life in such an abode as he had now entered . Though , by a strong effort , he preserved an appearance of calmness in the presence of the officers of the prison , a feeling more like despair than he had imagined he could ever experience lay heavy at his heart . His anticipations exceeded the truth , as he acknowledged to himself when he surveyed the apartment to which he was conducted . It was neither dark
nor cold , and it opened upon a part of the battlements , to which he was told that he had liberty of access at all times . It is true , his walk was limited to fifty paces ; but from these limits he could enjoy an extended prospect through various loop-holes in the parapet ; and while the winding valley lay before him , while the dwellings of men were visible , and the greater and lesser lights of heaven were open to his view , the fear was removed that his mind would prey upon itself from the exclusion of a variety of sensible objects .
When his jailer had left him , the first employment of the prisoner was to examine the bounds of his dwelling . No possibility of escape existed , even by the last resource of a despairing mind—self-destruction . There was no access to his apartment but by the well-secured door by which he had entered : there was no egress but upon the battlement , the parapet of vrhich was on every side too lofty to be scaled by human foot .
** Here 1 am , and here I must remain , " thought he , " till a power greater than my own shall set me free . My business is now to think as much and feel as little as I can . I must lay my plans , and ponder my duties ; for even here there is a rule of duty and a choice of plans . If I had but occupation . —But I will , if possible , obtain books and paper . If I cannot , I
must try what my years of stud y have done for me , and how far an active mind can subsist upon stores already digested . There surely are resources by which the intellect as well as the soul may be preserved from corroding itself . While I can retain the conviction ( and surely I shall ever retain it ) that a vivifying , refreshing influence is ever present to the soul which can sustain its vigour for any length of time and under any circumstances , I need
not fear the effect of an impr isonment , even of years , if I can but prevent my intellect from stagnating , or from being over excited , of which there seems nearly " equal danger , if I am to be denied employment . My mode of
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C 442 )
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SOLITUDE AND SOCIETY : A TALE .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1830, page 442, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2586/page/10/
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