An Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy, and of the Principal Philosophical Questions discussed in his Writings. By JOHN STUART MILL. London: Longmans. 1865. The work bearing the above title is an octavo volume, consisting of twenty-eight chapters, and five hundred and sixty pages. This is no great amount of print; but the amount of matter contained in it is prodigious, and the quality... more...

SHOWELL'S NOTES OF BIRMINGHAM IN THE PAST. Birmingham to the Seventh Century.—We have no record or traces whatever of there being inhabitants in this neighbourhood, though there can be little doubt that in the time of the invasion of the Romans some British strongholds were within a few miles of the place, sundry remains having been found to show that many battles had been fought near here. If... more...

It was in October that Mary Chavah burned over the grass of her lawn, and the flame ran free across the place where in Spring her wild flower bed was made. Two weeks later she had there a great patch of purple violets. And all Old Trail Town, which takes account of its neighbours' flowers, of the migratory birds, of eclipses, and the like, came to see the wonder. "Mary Chavah!" said most... more...

Chapter One     New York, New York. A blissful spring morning beckoned, cloudless and blue and pure. I was driving my high-mileage Toyota down Seventh Avenue, headed for the location shoot that was supposed to wind up principal photography for my first feature film, Baby Love. It was about the pain and joy of adoption. I guess directing your first feature is something like giving birth to your first... more...

THE BORDER A train had just come to a stop in the border station of Virballen. Half of the platform of that station is in Russia; half of it in East Prussia, the easternmost province of the German empire. All trains that pass from one country to the other stop there. There are customs men, soldiers, policemen, Prussian and Russian, who form a gauntlet all travelers must run. Here passports must be... more...

CHAPTER I A SMALL DINNER BECOMES A PARTY “At Delaware’s broad stream, the view beginWhere jutting wharfs, food-freighted boats take in;Then, with the advancing sun direct your eyeWide opes the street with firm brick buildings high;Step, gently rising, over the pebbly way,And see the shops their tempting wares display.” —“Description of Philadelphia,” Breitnal, 1729. It was the first of... more...

[Scene i] Enter Charles the French King, [Catherine] the Queene Mother,the King of Navarre, the Prince of Condye, the Lord highAdmirall, and [Margaret] the Queene of Navarre, with others. CHARLES. Prince of Navarre my honourable brother,Prince Condy, and my good Lord Admirall,wishe this union and religious league,Knit in these hands, thus joyn'd in nuptiall rites,May not desolve, till death... more...

BROWN WOLF She had delayed, because of the dew-wet grass, in order to put on her overshoes, and when she emerged from the house found her waiting husband absorbed in the wonder of a bursting almond-bud. She sent a questing glance across the tall grass and in and out among the orchard trees. "Where's Wolf?" she asked. "He was here a moment ago." Walt Irvine drew himself away with a... more...

A short, square chunk of a man walked into a shipping office on the East Side, and inquired for the Manager of the Line. He had kindly blue eyes, a stub nose, and a mouth that shut to like a rat-trap, and stayed shut. Under his chin hung a pair of half-moon whiskers which framed his weather-beaten face as a spike collar frames a dog's. "You don't want to send this vessel to sea... more...

DONKEY SKIN There was once upon a time a king who was so much beloved by his subjects that he thought himself the happiest monarch in the whole world, and he had everything his heart could desire. His palace was filled with the rarest of curiosities, and his garden with the sweetest flowers, while the marble stalls of his stables stood a row of milk-white Arabs, with big brown eyes. Strangers who had... more...