the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

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Captain Riley : The Authentic Narrative of the loss of the American Brig Commerce, on the Western Coast of Africa, with the sufferings of her surviving Officers and Crew

William Blackwood to John Murray (May 1817): 'What a treat you have given to Mrs. B. and me in "Riley"! I never read anything so affecting and interesting. We cried over it yesterday like children. Surprising and almost incredible as the events are, yet there is a verity and touching simplicity, with a natural eloquence of language, which have perhaps never been surpassed. Our philosophers laugh at religious feeling, but if it were no more than a matter of taste, if they thought justly, they would acknowledge its power.'

Century: 1800-1849     Reader/Listener/Group: William and Mrs Blackwood     Print: Book

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