Lectures XIV and XVTHE VALUE OF SAINTLINESSWe have now passed in review the more important of the phenomenawhich are regarded as fruits of genuine religion andcharacteristics of men who are devout. Today we have to changeour attitude from that of description to that of appreciation; wehave to ask whether the fruits in question can help us to judgethe absolute value of what religion adds to human life. Were Ito parody Kant, I should say that a "Critique of pureSaintliness" must be our theme.If, in turning to this theme, we could descend upon our subjectfrom above like Catholic theologians, with our fixed definitions...
BROWN OF CALAVERASA subdued tone of conversation, and the absence of cigar smoke andboot heels at the windows of the Wingdam stagecoach, made itevident that one of the inside passengers was a woman. Adisposition on the part of loungers at the stations to congregatebefore the window, and some concern in regard to the appearance ofcoats, hats, and collars, further indicated that she was lovely.All of which Mr. Jack Hamlin, on the box seat, noted with the smileof cynical philosophy. Not that he depreciated the sex, but thathe recognized therein a deceitful element, the pursuit of whichsometimes drew mankind away from the equally uncertain...
had nothing left but his mill and a large apple-tree behindit. Once when he had gone into the forest to fetch wood, anold man stepped up to him whom he had never seen before, andsaid, why do you plague yourself with cutting wood, I willmake you rich, if you will promise me what is standing behindyour mill. What can that be but my apple-tree, thought themiller, and said, yes, and gave a written promise to thestranger. He, however, laughed mockingly and said, when threeyears have passed, I will come and carry away what belongs to me,and then he went. When the miller got home, his wife came tomeet him and said, tell me, miller, from whence comes thissudden wealth into our house. All at on
The Vicar of Toursby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo David, Sculptor:The permanence of the work on which I inscribe your nametwice made illustrious in this centuryis very problematical;whereas you have graven mine in bronze which survives nationsif only in their coins. The day may come when numismatists,discovering amid the ashes of Paris existences perpetuated byyou, will wonder at the number of heads crowned in youratelier and endeavour to find in them new dynasties.To you, this divine privilege; to me, gratitude.De Balzac.THE VICAR OF TOURS...
Joan of Naples1343-1382By ALEXANDER DUMAS, PERECHAPTER IIn the night of the 15th of January 1343, while the inhabitants of Naples lay wrapped in peaceful slumber, they were suddenly awakened by the bells of the three hundred churches that this thrice blessed capital contains. In the midst of the disturbance caused by so rude a call the first bought in the mind of all was that the town was on fire, or that the army of some enemy had mysteriously landed under cover of night and could put the citizens to the edge of the sword. But the doleful, intermittent sounds of all these fills, which disturbed the silence at regular and distant intervals, were an invitation to the faithful pray for a pas
BENITO CERENOby Herman MelvilleIN THE year 1799, Captain Amasa Delano, of Duxbury, in Massachusetts, commanding a large sealer and general trader, lay at anchor, with a valuable cargo, in the harbour of St. Maria- a small, desert, uninhabited island towards the southern extremity of the long coast of Chili. There he had touched for water. On the second day, not long after dawn, while lying in his berth, his mate came below, informing him that a strange sail was coming into the bay. Ships were then not so plenty in those waters as now. He rose, dressed, and went on deck. The morning was one peculiar to that coast. Everything was mute and calm; everything grey. The sea, though undulat
The Angel and the Author and othersby Jerome K. JeromeCHAPTER II had a vexing dream one night, not long ago: it was about afortnight after Christmas. I dreamt I flew out of the window in mynightshirt. I went up and up. I was glad that I was going up."They have been noticing me," I thought to myself. "If anything, Ihave been a bit too good. A little less virtue and I might havelived longer. But one cannot have everything." The world grewsmaller and smaller. The last I saw of London was the long line ofelectric lamps bordering the Embankment; later nothing remained but afaint luminosity buried beneath darkness. It was at this point of my...
OF SUPERSTITION AND ENTHUSIASMDavid Hume1741,is grown into a maxim, and is commonly proved, among otherinstances, by the pernicious effects of and, the corruptions of true religion.These two species of false religion, though both pernicious,are yet of a very different, and even of a contrary nature. Themind of man is subject to certain unaccountable terrors and...
The Death of the Lionby Henry JamesCHAPTER I.I HAD simply, I suppose, a change of heart, and it must have begunwhen I received my manuscript back from Mr. Pinhorn. Mr. Pinhornwas my "chief," as he was called in the office: he had the highmission of bringing the paper up. This was a weekly periodical,which had been supposed to be almost past redemption when he tookhold of it. It was Mr. Deedy who had let the thing down sodreadfully: he was never mentioned in the office now save inconnexion with that misdemeanour. Young as I was I had been in amanner taken over from Mr. Deedy, who had been owner as well aseditor; forming part of a promiscuous lot, mainly plant and office-...
The Path Of Empire, A Chronicle Of The United States As A World Powerby Carl Russell FishCONTENTSI. THE MONROE DOCTRINEII. CONTROVERSIES WITH GREAT BRITAINIII. ALASKA AND ITS PROBLEMSIV. BLAINE AND PAN-AMERICANISMV. THE UNITED STATES AND THE PACIFICVI. VENEZUELAVII. THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR WITH SPAINVIII. DEWEY AND MANILA BAYIX. THE BLOCKADE OF CUBAX. THE PREPARATION OF THE ARMYXI. THE CAMPAIGN OF SANTIAGO DE CUBAXII. THE CLOSE OF THE WARXIII. A PEACE WHICH MEANT WARXIV. THE OPEN DOORXV. THE PANAMA CANALXVI. PROBLEMS OF THE CARIBBEANXVII. WORLD RELATIONSHIPSBIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTETHE PATH OF EMPIRECHAPTER I. The Monroe Doctrine...
NUMA POMPILIUSLegendary, 8th-7th Century B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenTHOUGH the pedigrees of noble families of Rome go back in exact formas far as Numa Pompilius, yet there is great diversity amongsthistorians concerning the time in which he reigned; a certain writercalled Clodius, in a book of his entitled Strictures on Chronology,avers that the ancient registers of Rome were lost when the city wassacked by the Gauls, and that those which are now extant werecounterfeited, to flatter and serve the humour of some men whowished to have themselves derived from some ancient and noble lineage,...
A Theologico-Political Treatise [Part IV]by Benedict de SpinozaAlso known as Baruch SpinozaTranslated by R. H. M. ElwesPart IV of IV - Chapters XVI to XXTABLE OF CONTENTS: Search strings are shown thus [16:x].Search forward and back with the same string.[16:0] CHAPTER XVI - Of the Foundations of a State;of the Natural and Civil Rights of Individuals;and of the Rights of the Sovereign Power.[16:1] In Nature right co-extensive with power.[16:2] This principle applies to mankind in the state of Nature....