文档介绍：Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius
Alvira: The Heroine of
Vesuvius
by Rev. A. J. O'Reilly, .
1
Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius
Introduction
The Penitent Saints
The interesting and instructive character of this sensational narrative,
which we cull from the traditions of a past generation, must cover the
ings of the pen that has labored to present it in an English dress.
We are aware that the propriety of drawing from the oblivion of
forgotten literature such a story will be questioned. The decay of the
chivalrous spirit of the middle ages, and the prudish, puritanical code of
morality that has superseded the simple manners of our forefathers, render
it hazardous to cast into the hands of the present generation the thrilling
records of sin and repentance such as they were seen and recorded in days
gone by. Yet in the midst of a literature professedly false, and which
paints in fascinating colors the various phases of unrepented vice and
crime, without the redeeming shadows of honor and Christian morality,
our little volume must fall a e sunbeam. The strange career of
our heroine constitutes a sensational biography charming and beautiful in
the moral it presents.
The evils of mixed marriages, of secret societies, of intemperance, and
the indulgence of self-love in ardent and enthusiastic youth, find here the
record of their fatal influence on social life, reflected through the medium
of historical facts. Therefore we present to the young a chapter of
warning--a tale of the past with a deep moral for the present.
The circumstances of our tale are extraordinary. A young girl dresses
in male attire, murders her father, becmes an officer in the army, goes
through the horrors of battle, and dies a SAINT.
Truly we have here matter sensational enough for the most exacting
novelist; but we disclaim all effort to play upon the passions, or add
another work of fiction to the mass of irreligious trash so powerful in the
employ of the ev