r philosophies and more
approved and authentic teachers.

These studies, although pursued with an acknowledgment of their false
and dangerous tendency, nevertheless had their influence upon Lindsay's
imagination. There are few men in whom the mastery of reason is so
absolute as to be able totally to subdue the occasional uprising of that
element of superstition which is found more or less vigorous in every
mind. A nervous temperament, which is almost characteristic of minds of
an imaginative cast, is often distressingly liable to this influence, in
spite of the strongest resolves of the will and the most earnest
convictions of the judgment. If those who possess this temperament would
confess, they might certify to many extraordinary anxieties and troubles
of spirit, which it would pain them to have the world believe.

Lindsay's pursuits had impressed his understanding with some sentiment
of respect for that old belief in the supernatural, and had, perhaps,
even warmed up his faith to a secret credulity in these awful agencies
of the spiritual world, or at least to an unsatisfied doubt as to their
existence. Many men of sober brow and renown for wisdom are unwilling to
acknowledge the extent of their own credulity on the same topic.

His relations to the government, his education, pursuits and temper, as
might be expected, had deeply imbued Lindsay with the politics of the
tory party, and taught him to regard with distrust, and even with
abhorrence, the revolutionary principles which were getting in vogue. In
this sentiment he visited with a dislike that did not correspond with
the more usual development of his character, all those who were in any
degree suspected of aiding or abetting the prevailing political heresy
of the times.

About two years after the birth of Mildred, he had purchased a tract of
land in the then new and frontier country lying upon the Rockfish river.
Many families of note in the low country had possessed themselves of
estates at the foot of the Blue Ridge, in this neighborhood, and were
already making establishments there. Mr. Lindsay, attracted by the
romantic character of the scenery, the freshness of the soil, and the
healthfulness of the climate, following the example of others, had laid
off the grounds of his new estate with great taste, and had soon built,
upon a beautiful site, a neat and comfortable rustic dwelling, with such
accommodation as might render it a convenient and pleasant re