Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

THE TWO VICTORIES,
CHAPTEE L
INTBODCCTOBY AND APOLOGETIC FATHER EUSTACE.
IT was !i bitter night in the dreary month of November !
" What an unroniaiitic beginning !
"
we hear some young
ardout reader exclaim and we are bound to admit that it ;
really
does sound very prosaical and common-place. Sitting down
to peruse some "romantic story of thrilling interest," our
breath (of course we mean our intellectual breath), is usually
taken away by the overpowering grandeur of the opening
ption. Gradually, however, we rally; and, collecting
our scattered faculties, become able to devote them to the due
appreciation of the treat spread out before us. Of course we
expect to be entertained with labored descriptions, and astonished
with romantic adventures. We should scarcely spend
our money on " The Knight of the Iron Hand, or, a Romance
of Blood," if we expected to find in it either truth or probability.
Again, when we invest half-a-crown in Mrs. Mollop's
celebrated book, " Father Crossbones, or the Confessor," are
we at all astonished when we find that delicate and truthful
writer displaying a much more intimate knowledge than we
valley ;
appearance, we are quite prepared to welcome him as the very
gentleman whom we expected to meet in such a situation. Or,
we are equally ready to be transported in imagination to the
abodes of wealth and luxury, and to be treated to an elaborate
description of the gorgeous upholstery, the priceless paintings,
and the eastern plants. We feel quite certain that, however
much the circumstances may vary, we shall in due time be
introduced to our hero, or our heroine, or to both, as the case
may be. After their excellent qualities and perfections shall
have boon sufficiently expatiated upon, we know that we shall
have the felicity of making the acquaintance of the smiling
villain, or 'he stem old uncle, as the story may require, and
that, after the usual amount of unmerited sufferings, thrilling
incidents, und dramatic situations, the whole affair will conclude
in the legitimate and recognized manner. The three
volumes are made up and sent forth to seek their fortune.
The publisher is satisfied if the book sells. The author is
i -d if the publisher has paid him. The public is satisfied
ii it obtaiis a sufficient amount of romance in return for its
that you would have reason to complain at our openiug
alas for romance ours is but the repetition