But the Earls of Winchester, in England, whatever may have been their
prosperity during the nine or ten generations after the Conquest, came
suddenly to an abrupt termination, abutting at length on some guilty
traitor in the line, who, like a special Adam for the family, involved
in his own ruin that prosperity which would else have continued to his
successors. The dissevered fragments of the old feudal estate, however,
remained in possession of separate members of the family, as De Quincey
tells us, until the generation next preceding his own, when the last
vestige slipped out of the hands of the one sole squire who, together
with the name, held also some relic of its ancient belongings. But above
the diluvial wreck of the Winchester estates there has arisen an estate
far more royal and magnificent, and beneath a far-reaching bow of
promise, sealed in magical security against a similar disaster. For just
here, where every hold is lost upon the original heritage, is the family
freshly grounded upon a second heritage,--one sublime in its order above
that of all earthly possessions, one that is forever
imperishable,--namely, the large domain which the gigantic intellect of
Thomas De Quincey has absolved from aboriginal darkness and brought
under distinct illumination for all time to come.
Pages:
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294