“God sent you to me at my worst need," replied Bianca, whose heart bounded at the refined and gentle tone of kindness of her unknown sister. We are unable to say whether it was the force du sang which influenced them, but certainly those two women felt drawn to each other more strongly than actual circumstances could explain.””
“In her hours of sorrow she had often wished that she might lie down and die; and, on the occasion of an epidemic, which carried off a great number of persons, she had looked with a species of envy on the funerals constantly passing the streets.””
“If we would only condescend, when we are dealing with reasonably conscientious people, to believe what they tell us, we should generally arrive nearer the truth than by asserting our claim to shrewdness and cleverness by drawing our own inferences.””
“Life does not end in a catastrophe like a book or a play. We may, and do feel, after some occurrence which has shaken our being to its centre, as though we had reached the end of the world, and that our next step must be out on sheer nothinguess; but it is not so. Life goes on until death receives it;””
“Bianca experienced a sense of something almost like fear, at the aspect of so much humanity quelled down and buried beneath a concrete of inflexible obedience to an artificial authority, through which no blade of genuine spontaneity could spring. All aspirations of devotion, even the very works of mercy to which they had dedicated themselves, seemed to have been drilled to rules, till they weighed down on the soul like a nightmare.””
Geraldine Jewsbury was a notable English novelist and literary figure of the 19th century, recognized for her contributions to the development of the novel and her engagement with contemporary social ...
“Would you desire to be without sorrow or sufferings," said Lord Melton, gently; " and is making yourself happy precisely the highest thing to be aimed at? ' Happiness' as ' our being's end and aim,' has always seemed to me a most lame and impotent conclusion' for such a noble and mysterious drama as the life of even the most insignificant of God's creatures. As much of it as falls out for us incidentally, we are of course glad to possess; but to make it a distinct and recognised aim, to convert our life's pilgrimage into ' a search after happiness,' seems to me drivelling”
“If women were machines, were in very deed our property, then, indeed, all this might answer; but they are not, and there is no possibility of educating them up to the point of being conveniently fascinating, and then stopping short;”
“What is the most stringent caution ever offered to young women to lead their life by? It is, ' Do not do so and so, do not say so and so, before MEN, they do not admire it.' When it was the question about giving women education”
“he talked a great deal about justice and mercy, " and love to his species," but he never gave any of the " species" within his reach any peace, unless they conformed in all things to his will; he preferred giving assistance to those who needed it, in words, rather than any thing else; but his worst enemies were obliged to admit, that he always uttered very beautiful sentiments, in a very beautiful tone of voice.””
“Love and friendship are not amusements, they are solemn covenants; and woe to those who seek to extract the pleasure whilst they ignore the duties””
“When they joined the company at supper, Mrs. Helmsby recognised, in a comfortable, portly, well-dressed woman, an old school-fellow, with whom she had once sworn everlasting friendship, which, however, had not survived the wear and tear of the first twelve months after leaving school. Circumstances separated them, and absence had almost made them forget each other,””
“It is not very much more than a century since he lived, and all his wonderful journeys and romantic discoveries have been explored in their length and breadth, by turnpike commissioners, if not by railway surveyors, and the mysteries have been subdued by statistics, till one knows where every road leads, and we are allowed to entertain no doubt about the turnings of the longest lane; every foot of ground is known, and there is no hope left of being able to lose oneself;”
“What is the Scotch lady, like?" asked Alice. "Oh, nothing at all out of the way”
“To manage the house well, and to see that the dinner was punctual and well appointed; to be very quiet, and not talk nonsense, or rather to talk very little of any thing; were the principal qualities desired in wives and daughters””
“With the natural egotism of sorrow, her mother had kept Bianca constantly with her; it was the only solace she had, and she was not aware how she was blanching the most brilliant and sunny portion of her daughter's days.””
“There are so many more accidental things in this word than premeditated ones!””
“PHILLIP HELMSBY, the father of both Alice and Bianca, was the son of an extensive iron master in the neighbourhood of Newcastle. When quite a young man, his father sent him to Genoa on business connected with the house, and whilst there, he became passionately enamoured of a beautiful Italian girl, the daughter of the friends in whose family he lived. He endeavoured to obtain her hand in marriage, but both families raised a storm of objections”
“He kept up a true Englishman's silence, and endeavoured to turn his share of the room into his castle, by surrounding himself with an impassable moat of stiffness and reserve.””