General Books

THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE GENERAL.By Charles H. Woodman.Far down the Carolina coast lies the lovely island of St. John, where stood, one hundred years ago, a noble brick-built mansion, with lofty portico and broad piazza. Ancient live-oaks, trembling aspens, and great sycamores, lifted a bower over it to keep off the sun. Threading their way through orange-trees and beds of flowers, spacious walks played... more...

THREADING THE NEEDLE. HERE is Lucy all this while?" asked Mrs. Ludlow of Anna, the maid."I left her five minutes ago, trying to thread a needle," replied Anna. "She is a long while about it," said Mrs. Ludlow. "Send her to me." When Lucy entered the room, her mother asked her what she had been about; and Lucy replied, "I have been teaching myself to thread a needle."... more...

OUR FUTURE. In these exciting times, when our country is enduring the throes of political convulsion, and every time-honored institution, every well-regulated law of society seems tottering from the broad foundation of the past, how few are there who ask themselves the question, What is to be our future? For the past two years we have lived in a state of extraordinary and unnatural excitement, beside... more...

WILLIAM GASTON. By ARTHUR P. DODGE. Victor Hugo has written: "The historian of morals and ideas has a mission no less austere than that of the historian of events. The latter has the surface of civilization, the struggles of the crowns, the births of princes, the marriages of Kings, the battles, the assemblies, the great public men, the revolutions in the sunlight, all exterior; the other historian... more...

GROTTO AT ASCOT PLACE. Here is a picturesque contrivance of Art to embellish Nature. We have seen many such labours, but none with more satisfaction than the Grotto at Ascot Place. This estate is in the county of Surrey, five miles south-east from Windsor, on the side of Ascot Heath, near Winkfield. The residence was erected by Andrew Lindergreen, Esq.; at whose death it was sold to Daniel Agace, Esq.,... more...

Colutea Frutescens. Scarlet Bladder Senna. Class and Order. Diadelphia Decandria. Generic Character. Cal. 5-fidus. Legumen inflatum, basi superiore dehiscens. Specific Character and Synonyms. COLUTEA frutescens fruticosa, foliolis ovato-oblongis. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr, p. 668. Ait. Hort. Kew. V. 3. p. 56. Mill. Icon. 99. COLUTEA æthiopica, flore purpureo. Breyn. Cent. 70. t. 29. N181.Of... more...

AMERICAN FINANCES AND RESOURCES. LETTER NO. III. OF HON. ROBERT J. WALKER. London, 10 Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, December 3d, 1863. It is generally believed, even when the American rebellion should be suppressed, that there would be a great loss of wealth and resources on the part of the United States. As an economical question the great truth is not disputed by me, that, as a general rule, wars by... more...

THE CONSTITUTION AND SLAVERY. There are two sections of the United States, the Free States and the Slave States, who hold views widely different upon the subject of Slavery and the true interpretation of the Constitution in relation to it. The Southern view, for the most part, is: 1. The Constitution recognizes slaves as strictly property, to her bought and sold as merchandise. 2. The Constitution... more...

INTRODUCTION. To relate the history of the Philadelphia magazines is to tell the story of Philadelphia literature. The story is not a stately nor a splendid one, but it is exceedingly instructive. It helps to exhibit the process of American literature as an evolution, and it illustrates perilous and important chapters in American history. For a hundred years Pennsylvania was the seat of the ripest... more...

CHAPTER III. The thoughts of Ænone followed her into sleep, and colored her dreams with pleasant memories of the past; and when the morning sun, pouring its beams through the window, awakened her, there was a momentary struggle before she could throw off the fancies of the night and realize that she was no longer in her cottage home. But distinct perception soon returned as she glanced around her and... more...