Non-Classifiable Books

CHAPTER I. SIXTY-THREE YEARS SINCE. The 24th of May, 1819, was a memorable and happy day for England, though like many such days, it was little noticed at the time. Sixty-three years since! Do many of us quite realise what England was like then; how much it differed from the England of to-day, even though some of us have lived as many years? It is worth while devoting a chapter to an attempt to recall... more...

JIM WAINRIGHT'S KID As I put down my name and the number of the crack engine of America—as well as the imprint of a greasy thumb—on the register of our roundhouse last Saturday night, the foreman borrowed a chew of my fireman's fine-cut, and said to me: "John, that old feller that's putting on the new injectors wants to see you." "What does he want, Jack?" said I.... more...

THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. Democratic versus Representative Government. There is a radical difference between a democracy and a representative government. In a democracy, the citizens themselves make the law and superintend its administration; in a representative government, the citizens empower legislators and executive officers to make the law and to carry it out. Under a... more...

THE STOLEN TREASURE There is a certain little girl who sometimes tries to find out when I am not over busy, so that she may ask me to tell her a story. She is kind enough to say that she likes my stories, and this so flatters my vanity that I like nothing better than telling them to her. One reason why she likes them, I suspect, is that they are not really my stories at all, the most of them. They are... more...

Of the above list, twenty (distinguished by one cross) are in Yájnavalkya's list: seventeen of these are named by ParáÅ›ara, viz. all except Yama, Brihaspati and Vyása, instead of whom he gives KaÅ›yapa, Gárgya and Prachetas: the Padma Puráṇa gives those named by Yájnavalkya, with the exception of Atri, and seventeen others, (distinguished by two crosses) three... more...

I. On Girls "A Pearl, A Girl."-Browning There are of course, girls and girls; yet at heart they are pretty much alike. In age, naturally, they differ wildly. But this is a thorny subject. Suffice it to say that all men love all girls-the maid of sweet sixteen equally with the maid of untold age. * * * There is something exasperatingly something-or-otherish about girls. And they know it—which... more...

Preface It is certain that up to a point in the evolution of Self most people find life quite exciting and thrilling. But when middle age arrives, often prematurely, they forget the thrill and excitements; they become obsessed by certain other lesser things that are deficient in any kind of Cosmic Vitality. The thrill goes out of life: a light dies down and flickers fitfully; existence goes on at a low... more...

CHAP. I. 1have seen you so passionately addicted, Pyrophilus to the delightful Art of Limning and Painting, that I cannot but think my self obliged to acquaint you with some of those things that have occurred to mee concerning the changes of Colours. And I may expect that I shall as well serve the Virtuosi in general, as gratifie you in particular, by furnishing a person, who, I hope, will both improve... more...

HISTORIC DOUBTSRELATIVE TONAPOLEON BUONAPARTE. Long as the public attention has been occupied by the extraordinary personage from whose ambition we are supposed to have so narrowly escaped, the subject seems to have lost scarcely anything of its interest. We are still occupied in recounting the exploits, discussing the character, inquiring into the present situation, and even conjecturing as to the... more...

LECTURE I.WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Reverence for age, at least so it has long seemed to me, reverence for age, I say, is a fair test of the vigour of youth; and, conversely, insolence toward the old and the past, whether in individuals or in nations, is a sign rather of weakness than of strength.  And the cause, I think, is this.  The rich and strong young natures, which feel themselves capable of original... more...