BY MRS. CAROLINE FAIRFIELD CORBIN, AUTHOR OF "REBECCA, OR A WOMAN'S SECRET," THE PROPERTY OF THE NEW-YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY For nature hath this ultimate end,.... namely, R. W. EMERSON, BOSTON: LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. LEE, SHEPARD AND DILLINGHAM. 1874. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, BY LEE AND SHEPARD, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. STEREOTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 19 Spring Lane. SOCIETY LIBRAR NEW-YORK INTRODUCTORY. BEFORE the curtain rises, a little music to soothe one's agitations; before the battle opens, the blast of a trumpet to stir one's martial zeal; before the sermon, a prayer. Therefore, at the outset of this story, which is the story of a temptation common enough indeed, yet not, it seems to me, very commonly understood in its deepest causes and bearings, let us indulge ourselves in a few reflections, which may tend, perhaps, to clear up some mists and vapors, and light with a pure and steadfast glow, like that which makes the outer world of nature so transparent, the scene upon which our drama is to be enacted. Is it in the nature of man to be, for truth's sake, true? Is it in the nature of woman to fall over borne by temptation-into the snare which passion sets, and yet by any means emerge from it with in 5 |