text:
Bank of the United States v. United States/Dissent Catron

Mr. Justice CATRON.

By the instructions given by the Circuit Court, the controversy is made to turn on the construction of the statute of Maryland; nor does the record raise any question on the transaction growing out of the fact, that it was one between governments, to obtain a sum of money due from the one to the other; in which the corporation acted as an instrument and agent, in a form suggested by itself, to obtain the money. For instance: if it be true, that the United States, in fact, received no money from the bank for the bill, it not having been charged to the bank; this being found, with the additional fact, that the parties intended to await the event of payment, or refusal, on the part of France, and let the bank hold and use the money awaiting the event; then the question on the equity of the case may arise. But the jury did not pass on any such facts, the instruction given rendering the inquiry unnecessary; and so it cut off every other question the plaintiff might have raised in opposition to the offset claimed.

The foregoing is given merely as an instance, to show that no question arises on the record, but on the construction of the act of 1785.

The statute provides for two classes of cases: 1st, 'the owner or holder of the protested bill, or the person or persons, company, society, or corporation entitled to the same;' and 2dly, 'and endorser of the bill who should pay to the holder, or the person or persons, company, society, or corporation entitled to the same, the value of the principal and the damages and interest.'

In the first class, the 'owner or holder,' &c., shall have a right to receive and recover so much current money as will purchase a good bill of exchange of the same time of payment, and upon the same place, at the current exchange of such bills, and also fifteen per cent. damages upon the value of the principal sum mentioned in such bill, and costs of protest, together with legal interest upon the value of the principal sum mentioned in such bill, from the time of protest, until the principal and damages are paid and satisfied.

In the second class, the endorser who has paid the principal, damages, and interest, shall have a right to receive and recover the sum paid, with legal interest upon the same, from the drawer or any other person or persons, company, society, or corporation, liable to such endorser upon such bill of exchange.

It is not necessary to inquire whether this statute includes all possible cases, and if it does not, by what law the cases so unprovided for would be governed, because the bank is seeking, in this instance, to being itself within the statute; unless it does so, the precise claim of fifteen per cent. cannot be sustained. The charge of the court below was twofold.

1. That the case was governed by the law of Maryland, and

2. Construing that law.

The bill of exceptions includes both points; but this court has proceeded to examine and decide the cause on the second only, passing over the first.

The bank must then bring itself within one of the two classes above described; let us examine them in order.

Was the bank at the time when its present rights accrued, the 'owner or holder of the bill.' I say at the time its present rights accrued, because this general proposition includes the rights acquired at the time of protest, or acquired subsequently each of which branches must be separately examined.

The bill was endorsed to Messrs. Baring, Brothers and Co., of London, on some day which the record does not state: that it was sold to the Barings, and not sent over for collection, is not controverted, nor open to question.

It was then passed by endorsement to N. M. Rothschild, and from him to the Messrs. Rothschild in Paris, in whose possession it is found on the day that it became due. It was at their request that a demand was made, by the notary, for payment, and upon refusal, that the bill was protested. So far, they appear to have been, and no doubt were, both the 'owners and holders of the bill,' and the only 'persons entitled to the same at the time of the protest.'

Hottinguer and Co. intervened immediately after protest, and paid the bill for the honor of the bank. What rights were then acquired?

It will not be necessary to examine and decide whether they acquired a right to fifteen per cent. damages or not; or to comment upon the want of harmony in the law, if it were to allow to a volunteer, who had no right to complain of anybody, the same damages which it gives to a disappointed and suffering party expressly because he has been put to great inconvenience and to hazard of discredit, by the omission of the drawer to provide the necessary funds to meet the bill. The books and cases all recognise the right of such a volunteer to principal, interests, and costs. If Hottinguer and Co. were the parties to this suit, it would become necessary to examine the question of their claim to damages; but we are now investigating the rights of the bank.

Granting that the Messrs. Rothschild, immediately upon protest, became vested with the right, under the statute, to 'receive and recover' from the drawer fifteen per cent. damages in addition to the other sum pointed out in the law; and granting also, for the sake of the argument, that all these rights passed to M. Hottinguer, with the delivery of the bill, it is clear that he was vested with a right that he could exercise or not at his pleasure. If he forbore to claim the damages, he mutilated the rights attached to the bill, supposing all the rights of the parties to be transferred with the bill from one to another. His right to relinquish the damages cannot well be disputed. It was property, and could be given away. It is not our province to inquire into his reasons; we can deal only with facts. It appears from the record, that instead of charging fifteen per cent. damages, he contended himself with charging a commission of one-half per cent., amounting to 24,283 francs and 33 centimes; less then 5,000 dollars. This commission may have been paid to him by the bank, and it appears from a report from the first auditor's office, dated July 29, 1837, that this commission would be paid by the United States to the bank upon presentation of a proper voucher.

There is nothing in the record to show that Hottinguer and Co., even up to this time, sanction this claim of fifteen per cent., or that the bank intends to pay it over to Hottinguer and Co., if it shall succeed in compelling the United States to pay it. On the contrary, the claim of the bank appears to be prosecuted for its own benefit; and the result will be that the bank, if it succeeds in this suit, will pay to Hottinguer and Co. less than $5,000, and keep $165,000 for itself.

At the time of the protest, and immediately afterwards, comprehending the payment supra protest, and protest itself, either Rothschild or Hottinguer and Co. were the 'owners or holders' of the bill, as described in the first class of the statute, and of course no rights whatever accrued to the bank. Did it subsequently acquire any?

In what particular manner the bill was transferred by Hottinguer and Co. to the bank after protest and payment-whether by general or special endorsement, or by a receipt upon the bill the record does not show. It only says that 'the bill of exchange and protest were transmitted to the bank, which thereby, and by reason of the premises, became and were again holders and owners of the same.' But the claim for fifteen per cent. damages had been voluntarily waived, as we have seen, by Hottinguer and Co., and it is not easy to see how any person claiming under them could have any more rights than those which the assignors chose to insist upon. The mere possession of the bill is not sufficient, because that possession was accompanied by a cotemporaneous declaration that Hottinguer and Co. intended to claim nothing more than one-half per cent. commission.

It is not perceived, then, how the bank can being itself within the class of cases provided for in the first branch of the statute. Is it within the second?

This depends entirely upon the answer to the question, has it, as endorser, paid the damages to the owner or holder of the bill, or to any one? If it has, the record does not show it. On the contrary, all that it has paid was the commission of a half per cent. to Hottinguer and Co., if indeed it has paid that, for there is no evidence of it. The propriety of the statute is not the subject of examination; but it may be remarked that it appears to be founded on reason and justice. Every successive endorser, as he transfers a bill of exchange, receives from the endorsee its full value; and being thus reimbursed for his outlay in the purchase of the bill, the inconvenience which falls upon somebody when the bill is protested does not touch him. His account is already balanced. The reason therefore for allowing damages utterly ceases as to him. He has no fresh bill to purchase, either by re-exchange or in any other manner. But when he is made responsible, as he may be, to the holder, for the amount of the bill and damages, it is fair and reasonable that the same liability should travel upward until it is ultimately fastened upon the drawer; each endorser being obliged to refund to the one below him exactly what that one has been compelled to pay. But the bank has not paid these damages, and consequently is not within the second class of cases.

Being not within the statute at all, the claim for damages cannot be sustained.

The argument that the fifteen per cent. is not damages, but exchange, is entirely unsound, as I conceive, in this case. The statute gives exchange from the place of drawing interest, costs of protest, and fifteen per cent. damages, in addition. The first is indemnity; the second a penalty. By commercial men the first is construed liberally, as within the general rule governing bills of exchange, with the difference of estimating the exchange from the place of drawing, instead of re-exchange; the right to the penalty is strictly construed, according to the words of the statute. Its plain meaning must govern the merchant and business man; for him it was made. He is told that the owner of a bill, at the time of its protest, shall be entitled to fifteen per cent. damages from the drawer, or endorser, in every case; and that the endorser shall be entitled to the same, (from the drawer, or a prior endorser,) provided the owner makes him pay the fifteen per cent.; not otherwise. And this I understand to have been the uniform mode of proceeding under the statute by the merchants of Maryland, under the 1st and 3d sections of the act; nor does it appear by the books of reports of that state, that this interpretation by business men has ever been questioned in the courts of justice there. For the reasons stated, I think the instruction given to the jury in the Circuit Court was proper, and that the judgment ought to be affirmed.


text:
Bank of the United States v. United States/Concurrence Wayne

Mr. Justice WAYNE.

I concur in the opinion that the judgment of the court below ought to be reversed, but not for the reasons given in the opinion of the court.

This cause came on to be heard on the transcript of the record from the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and was argued by counsel. On consideration whereof, it is now here ordered and adjudged by this court, that the judgment of said Circuit Court in this cause be, and the same is hereby reversed; and that this cause be, and the same is hereby remanded to the said Circuit Court, to award a venire facias de novo.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Aldridge v. Williams/Dissent McLean

Mr. Justice McLEAN.

The decision of this case turns upon the construction of the act of 1833, and as I differ from the opinion of a majority of the judges, I will state, in a few words, my views upon the subject.

The 1st section of the act provides, that ten per cent. on the existing duties shall be deducted annually, until the duties shall be reduced to twenty per cent.

The 3d section declares, 'that until the 30th day of June, 1842, the duties imposed by existing laws, as modified by this act, shall remain and continue to be collected. And from and after the day last aforesaid, all duties upon imports shall be collected in ready money; and all credits now allowed by law, in the payment of duties, shall be, and are hereby abolished; and such duties shall be laid, for the purpose of raising such revenue as may be necessary to an economical administration of the government; and from and after the day last aforesaid, the duties required to be paid by law on goods, wares, and merchandise, shall be assessed upon the value thereof, at the port where the same shall be entered, under such regulations as may be provided by law.'

The above sections can scarcely be misapprehended by any one. The 1st section reduces existing duties, in a time and manner stated, to twenty per cent. And the 3d section provides, 'that until the 30th of June, 1842, the duties imposed by existing laws, as modified by that act, shall remain and continue to be collected. Now the inference is irresistible, that after the above date, the duties shall not be collected under those laws. And this is shown conclusively by the 5th section, which provides, that all imports on which the 1st section of the act may operate, and all articles then admitted to entry free from duty, or paying a less rate of duty than twenty per centum ad valorem, before the said 30th day of June, 1842, from and after that day, may be admitted to entry subject to such duty, not exceeding twenty per centum, ad valorem, as shall be provided by law.'

Now, these are not terms of compromise, but of enactment. After the day specified, the law declares, that the duties shall not exceed twenty per cent. This, like all other laws, was liable to be repealed, expressly or by implication. But it is law, until so repealed. The duties are not to exceed twenty per cent., but that does not establish them at twenty per cent.

The 6th section of the act repeals all laws inconsistent with it. The twenty per cent. duties, by this act, were to be continued only to the 30th of July, 1842. After that, by the same act, the duties were not to exceed twenty per cent. Here is no repugnancy in the law, because the one provision is to cease at the same time that the other begins to operate. It is impossible that both enactments can be in force at the same time. They are inconsistent with each other. The one provision fixes a definite amount of duties, the other an indefinite amount. Not to exceed twenty per cent., is not twenty per cent. To give effect to this provision, further legislation was necessary. But, is it the less binding on that account? Can it be disregarded on the ground that it was a mere matter of compromise? It has the form and solemnity of law, and it shows, that the act imposing duties expired on the 30th of July, 1842.

That this was the view of Congress, is manifest from the fact, that in due time they passed an act regulating the duties, to take effect from the above date, which did not receive the signature of the executive. But this is no reason why we, by construction, should continue in force a law which Congress had repealed. After the above date, such duties were to be imposed 'as shall be provided by law.' Now, this language cannot be mistaken; and it is inconsistent with the idea, that the law imposing duties prior to that date, should, after it, continue in force. Such a construction is unwarranted by the 3d section and the whole tenor of the act.

It is not for this court to determine, whether Congress, in this respect, acted wisely or unwisely; whether their motive was to compromise great and conflicting interests or not; but what have they declared to be law? It would be a restriction on the legislative power, hitherto unknown, to say, that Congress cannot repeal a law, unless they substitute another law in its place.

If the duty law in force prior to the 30th of July, 1842, be inconsistent with the provisions of the act under consideration, then the prior law is repealed. And it is no answer to this to say, that the prior law, in its modified form, is in force by virtue of the act of 1833. The plain and unequivocal enactments of that act repudiate such an inference. In its modified form, the prior law, by that act, expired in 1842. And after that, a new cnactment, in my judgment, was essential, not only to continue duties upon foreign merchandise, but also to give effect to all the important provisions of the act of 1833.

The 3d section, after July, 1842, abolishes all credits for duties, and requires them 'to be paid in ready money;' and it further provides, 'that duties shall be laid for the raising of such revenue as may be necessary to an economical administration of the government;' and that the duties 'required to be paid by law,' 'shall be assessed upon the value of the goods at the port where the same shall be entered, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.'

Now, every one of these provisions was adopted with reference to its taking effect from, and after the 30th of July, 1842. They all belong to the same class. The credit for duties was to be then abolished, and prompt payment required. From and after that day, duties were to be laid to meet the expenditure of an economical administration of the government. And after that day, 'that duties required to be paid by law,' were to be assessed on the value of the goods at the port of entry; and this assessment is required to be made, 'under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.' These provisions cannot, by any known rule of construction, be made to refer to laws or regulations existing at the time of their enactment. They all refer to the future: to future laws, and regulations prescribed by those laws.

The existing laws made no provision to carry into effect the changes in the system, introduced by the act of 1833. Appraisers were appointed under former acts, but there was no law or regulation as to the home valuation. This was a most important matter, under the new system. And it is perceived, from the explicit provision of the act of 1833, that Congress did not intend to leave an arrangement of so much importance to the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury or of the President. They declare, that the duties shall be assessed, 'under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.' This is not to be met by argument. It is matter of law.

No one can doubt, that laws in relation to duties, not inconsistent with the act of 1833, may be considered in giving a construction to that act. But I am yet to learn, that such laws, by any construction, can suspend or modify the positive enactments of the act of 1833. Such a power belongs not to the executive nor the judiciary, but to Congress.

title: Aldridge v. Williams/Dissent McLean


text:
Barry v. Gamble/Dissent McKinley

Mr. Justice McKINLEY.

I dissent from the opinion of the majority of the court, in this case, for the following reasons:

First. According to the act of the 17th of February, 1815, chap. 198, 'persons owning lands in the county of New Madrid, in the Missouri territory, with the extent the said county had on the 10th day of November, 1812, and whose lands have been materially injured by earthquakes, shall be, and they are hereby authorized to locate the like quantity of land on any of the public lands of said territory, the sale of which is authorized by law.' The section lines of the land had not been run on the 7th of July, 1817, when the location on the New Madrid certificate, under which Gamble claims, was made. The sale of the land, including this location, was not authorized by law, until the year 1823. The 1st section of the act of the 26th April, 1822, chap. 40, could not have legalized the location, because the land was not then subject to sale; and because that section only authorized grants to issue in like manner, as if the location had conformed to the sectional or quarter-sectional lines of the public surveys, if made in other respects, in pursuance of the act of the 17th of February, 1815. Now as the location had not been made in pursuance of that act; and as the 2d section of the act of the 26th of April, 1822, declared 'That hereafter the holders and locators of such warrants shall be bound, in locating them, to conform to the sectional and quarter-sectional lines of the public surveys, as nearly as the respective quantities of the warrants will admit, and all such warrants shall be located within one year after the passage of this act; in default whereof the same shall be null and void;' and as no location and survey were made in conformity with the 2d section, the warrant, survey, and patent, are utterly void. See Lindsey v. Miller, 6 Pet., 675.

Secondly. The decree confirming the claim of Mackey's heirs, by the Supreme Court of the United States, under the treaty, was a full and ample admission, that the United States had no right to the land covered by that claim. The title which they acquired to this land, under the treaty, was, therefore, held by them in trust for Mackay's heirs, or any other person having a better title, under the treaty. The decree of confirmation related back to the date of the concession, by the Spanish government, to Mackay, and made the title as complete as if it had been completed by that government before the treaty, notwithstanding the several intervening acts of limitation passed by Congress.

Thirdly. The location, survey, and patent, under which Gamble claimed, being void, the 11th section of the act of the 26th of May, 1824, chap. 173, did not apply to this case. Because, in the language of the section, it did not 'so happen that the land' had been sold or otherwise disposed of by the United States. Therefore, Mackay's heirs, or those claiming under them, were not authorized, and much less bound to enter other land in lieu of that confirmed and granted to them by the decree and patent.

Mr. Justice STORY and Mr. Justice WAYNE concur in these reasons.

title: Barry v. Gamble/Dissent McKinley


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/69

title: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/69


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/70

title: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/70


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/93

title: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/93


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/94

title: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/94


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/111

 master a handsome Venetian glass cup, some Holland shirts, and a few worthless trinkets.

All thoughts of discipline were lost as the adventurers crowded to the general's tent to gaze on the treasure which they had seen borne through the camp by the long train of Aztec slaves. Roused to a frenzy of greed and daring the bolder spirits cried, "Let us strike inland at once and seize this treasure-house!" With others caution prevailed. "How civilised, how powerful must be this rich empire whose subjects are so skilled," they said soberly; "it will be madness to attempt the conquest with our small force. Let us return and report what we have seen to Velasquez."

Difficulties now gathered round the general, dissensions broke out among his followers, and the secret friends of Velasquez began to show their hand. Cortes had never intended to be a cat's-paw for the Governor of Cuba, nor even to share with him the rewards of this expedition. He realised that until he was independent he could not really cope with the situation, so he determined to found a crown colony and cause himself to be elected commandant, answerable to the king of Spain alone.

After ten days the Aztec envoys returned with more gifts, but curter and briefer was their message. Montezuma forbade the strangers to advance farther, and requested them to leave his shores without delay. "This is a rich and powerful prince indeed," said Cortés to his officers, "yet it shall go hard, but we will one day pay him a visit in his capital!" At this moment the vesper bell rang out and the Spanish 87


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/124


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/130

HE cavalry dashed through the passage, which was, however, quite undefended, and the whole army entered unopposed the jealously guarded territory of Tlascala. The horsemen riding on had advanced some miles into the country when they perceived in the distance a small body of men retreating as if in fear. Swiftly the cavaliers gave chase, when suddenly the fugitives turned on their pursuers, and at the same moment hundreds of Tlascalans sprang up from ambush and joined in a fierce attack on the strangers. They showed no fear of the horses, two of which were killed and decapitated in triumph. Cortés and his cavaliers would soon have been overwhelmed had not the infantry rushed up at the critical moment and opened a hot fire on the enemy. At the flash and report of the guns the natives did indeed recoil, but they retired without panic and in good order.

Marching on through fields of maize and aloe the Spaniards encamped for the night in some deserted huts on the banks of a river. For their supper they were reduced to eating Indian dogs and wild figs. 104


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/148

the green land of the valley the Spaniards were met by another embassy from Montezuma. The envoys had expected to meet the strangers on the farther side of the mountains, and were astonished at the ease with which they had surmounted that formidable barrier. They had been sent to offer Cortés bribes and a yearly tribute for his king if he would even now turn back. In vain, no humiliation on the part of the emperor could change the foreordained.

When Montezuma had received the news that the Spaniards were actually in the valley and marching towards the capital, he retired to sacrifice and prayer alone. The gods were dumb, no good omen answered his supplication. "We are born, let that come which must come!" cried the unhappy man at last. Even from his council he received no help; opinion was divided, some were for amicably receiving the strangers, others, and among these his brother Cuitlahuac, would drive them from the land. Hopeless himself, Montezuma inclined to the peaceful party, exclaiming, "Of what avail is 122


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/159

the Old Palace meanwhile Spaniard and Tlascalan, rejoicing in the rest and good fare, took no thought for the morrow. Not so their general. Ever gay and confident in manner, he realised clearly the peril of his position in the heart of a fortified and perhaps hostile city. His first care must be to inspect the town and its strongholds, and for this he requested the emperor's permission.

Readily consenting, Montezuma detailed four nobles as guides. With a flourish of trumpets and drums, cavalry and infantry marched into the great square. Crowds of citizens had assembled to gaze once more on the strangers. Many women of both high and low degree mingled freely among the men. They all wore several embroidered petticoats of different lengths, a chemise matching the skirts, and a bright-coloured scarf crossed like a fichu at the throat, and hanging down with tasselled ends almost to the feet. They had no veils or any kind of headdress save a simple fillet of flowers which caught back their dark and flowing tresses. The richer ladies wore a loose mantle over their embroidered 133


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/180

his stately city on the eastern border of the great salt lake, Cacama, king of Tezcuco and nephew of Montezuma, brooded with dark suspicion on his uncle's prolonged stay in the quarters of the strangers. Surely he must be a captive! Never of his own free will would the emperor of the Aztecs consent to such a humiliating position. Cacama resolved to raise the great lords of the empire to rescue their monarch, even against his will, from the hands of the white men. Montezuma's brother, Cuitlahuac, the lord of Iztapalapan, his nephew Guatemozin, and the lord of the allied state of Tlacopan, readily consented to aid in the attempt. Ever on the watch, Cortés ere long heard of these plots which were being hatched on the opposite shore of the lake, and strong in the complete sway he had acquired over the mind of Montezuma, he sent a haughty message to the young king of Tezcuco, warning him to beware of the people of the monarch of Spain, the ruler of all the world. Equally haughty was Cacama's reply, "I acknowledge no such authority. I know nothing of 154


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/189

was the month of May 1520. More than a year had gone swiftly by since the adventurers on a cool, clear February day first set sail from Cuba. Strange had been their adventures and strenuous their deeds, and now for six months they had been quartered in the very heart of a mighty and hostile city, its king their prisoner in all but name.

Rumours of their startling success and of the treasure ship sent to Spain had come to the ears of Velasquez, and inflamed still further his bitter resentment against Cortés. He resolved to spare neither time nor money in equipping a fleet and army strong enough to annihilate the force of his rebellious officer and to conquer the golden Mexico.

All Cuba was alive with the bustle of preparation, and the hammers of the shipwrights resounded on many a quivering plank. Eighteen ships were fitted out; and nine hundred men, allured by lavish promises of reward, enlisted under the Governor's banner. Of these, eighty were horsemen and eighty gunners. It was an armada of which Velasquez felt justly proud, and he decided at first to take the 163


text: Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922)/Topic index


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/212

to their threats, the Aztecs renewed the assault early next morning, and Cortés soon realised that his men, few in number as compared with the enemy, could not long stand the strain of such fighting. He felt that their only hope lay in the emperor, who must be induced to appease his subjects once more by promising that the Spaniards would, if permitted, immediately leave the city.

"What have I to do with Malintzin?" exclaimed Montezuma bitterly, "I do not wish to hear from him. I desire only to die!" At last, however, Father Olmedo won his reluctant consent. "I will speak to my people," he said, "but it will be useless. They will neither believe me nor the false promises of Malintzin. You will never leave these walls alive."

So the emperor of the Aztecs, preceded by the golden wand of empire, but surrounded by a Spanish guard, mounted the palace roof to speak for the last time to his faithful people. He was arrayed in his royal robes, and on his weary brow rested the gorgeous crown of Mexico. A sudden silence fell 182


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/224

, so often a shield to the Spaniards, was dead, and now their one thought was how most quickly to escape from his city. Should the retreat be attempted by night or by day? There was among the common soldiers a man named Botello "who spoke Latin, had been at Rome, and was said to be a necromancer; while some declared he had a familiar, and others called him an astrologer." This man predicted that if Cortés did not attempt the retreat the last night of the month of June, not a Spaniard would be left alive. If that night was chosen the flight would be successful, though Botello himself would perish. So much influence had the astrologer on his comrades, that Cortés decided to please his men and leave the city that very night.

The question of what to do with the sick and wounded troubled the general. They were far too numerous to be all carried away, and Cortés reluctantly declared that the three hundred wounded Tlascalans must be left behind. As to the Spaniards, those who could not possibly march should be borne in litters. A few hours later Father Olmedo came to 192


text:
Talk:Pragmatism in the Century Dictionary Supplement

Attribution
The Peirce Edition Project's branch at Université du Québec à Montréal is producing Volume 7 of Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition on Peirce's Century Dictionary contributions (Volumes 1-6 & 8 have been published). "Pragmatism" is one of the words for which they have documentation. See under P (Eprint) at their lists of words. The documentation which they collect is such as to indicate Peirce's involvement. See "Peirce Edition Project (UQÀM) - in short". In Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life, 2nd edition, 1998, revised and enlarged, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, author Joseph Brent says on page 139 that Benjamin Eli Smith as managing editor in 1883 recruited Peirce as a contributor and editor, and gave him "primary responsibility for terms in logic, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and weights and measures, and all words relating to universities...". On page 88 Brent attributes the 1909 Supplement's definition of pragmatism to Peirce (and, as Brent mentions, others' definitions are quoted in the definition). Brent does not source his attribution of the definition to Peirce. At least until Writings Volume 7 is published, there remains the possibility that Peirce edited or approved the definition but did not write it entirely by himself.


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/227


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/228


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/235

one day did the Spaniards rest in the temple on the hill, which lay too near to Mexico for safety. At midnight they set out once more, leaving their fires burning to deceive the enemy. Through the darkness they travelled safely, bearing the sick and wounded in the centre of the company, but when daylight came bands of Indians were seen gathering on the hills.

With stones and darts and arrows these skirmishers, who were not Aztec warriors, but natives of the valley, harassed the retreating Teules, not venturing, however, to attack them at close range. At night the little army encamped in the wayside villages, which they found always deserted and destitute of food. Even in the cornfields nothing had been left but stalks, and the fugitives soon began to suffer terribly from hunger. They lived chiefly on the wild cherry, and once when a horse had to be killed Cortés himself describes how appetising seemed its flesh, and in fact even its hide!

Some of the soldiers dropped dead on the roadside; others, too weak to keep up, fell behind and 201


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/239


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/240


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/249

the city of Mexico the Spaniards had an ally on whose aid Cortés, in his deepest calculations, had never counted, yet more deadly far than sword-thrust or gunshot. Strength, wealth, rank, and skill were powerless against the new foe, which swept through the island city with death always in its train. It attacked the king in his palace and the beggar in the street. Where three or four had fallen in battle a hundred perished at the touch of this dread fiend—la viruela, the smallpox.

A negro slave had come over in one of the ships of Narvaez. He was a sick man when the fleet reached the coasts of Mexico, but his fellows had carried him ashore on a litter. He was the first negro on the continent of America, and he was dying of smallpox, until now unknown in Mexico. He died, and left behind a horrible legacy. All those who had gathered to gaze on this man of a strange race were stricken by the dire disease, always fatal, for in their ignorance they sought to cool the fever by bathing in cold water. Through all the land of Anahuac the smallpox spread with lightning 213


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/260

came from Martin Lopez that the brigantines were ready to be transported, and Sandoval was at once despatched with a strong escort to Tlascala. On the way he came to a village whence all the men seemed to have fled. A few women and children alone lurked in the deserted houses. Entering the temple, the Spaniards were, to their horror, confronted by the ghastly heads and skins of many of their comrades, murdered at that spot some time before. There too lay their arms and clothing and the hides of their horses, and on the wall one of the captured soldiers had written in charcoal, "Here was taken the unfortunate Juan Juste with many others of his companions." With angry curses the Spaniards turned away from the pitiful sight, and dire would have been their vengeance had the men of the village been at hand, but Sandoval, the most merciful of the Conquistadores, insisted on sparing the women and children. As they drew near Tlascala the road for many miles was seen to be darkened by a mighty procession. Eight thousand tamanes escorted by twenty 224


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/269

is a bright, breezy April day, and the streets of Tezcuco are gay with flags and flowers. Eager crowds are hurrying towards the gardens of the palace, for the canal on which eight thousand labourers have toiled for two months past is finished, and the water-houses are to be launched to-day. In vain have the curious natives striven to watch the building of these wonders, stern Spanish guards seemed ever on the look-out to drive back all intruders. Three times have Mexican spies stolen into the palace gardens to burn the brigantines, only to be instantly discovered and frustrated. But now the ships are ready, and all the city is invited to witness the launching of the "first navy worthy of the name in American waters." Every Spaniard confesses his sins, and Father Olmedo calls down from Heaven a solemn blessing. A shot rings out, and to the sound of music the white-sailed brigantines, with the flag of Spain floating from their masts, glide proudly down the canal and out on to the waters of the lake. A roar of admiration bursts from the watching throngs, and with one 233


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/275


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/276


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/279

weary grew both officers and men of the long, toilsome siege, and very earnestly they urged their general to give up his plan of slowly starving the city into surrender. "Better far," they cried, "to encamp in the market-place than to retreat each evening to the causeways!" But the sure judgment of Cortés saw at once the weak points in such a course. They might become the besieged instead of the besiegers, and endure another Noche Triste! At last, however, yielding to the temper of his men, he gave a reluctant consent, and a simultaneous assault was agreed upon.

Cortés divided his own force into three companies, one to advance along each of the streets leading from the southern dyke to the market-place. Strict orders were given to the captains to secure retreat by filling up all breaches and levelling all barricades in their forward march. No needless risks were to be taken. "I knew," he says, "from the men they were they would advance to whatever spot I told them to gain, even if it cost them their lives."

Early on the appointed day Cortés, marching 241


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/281


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/282


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/289

HE fateful day dawned, and still the city was beleaguered on every side, while within its walls the Aztecs were dying of famine and plague. Why was the war-god deaf to the frantic prayers of his faithful people? Had the victims been too few? "He shall have more!" cried the warriors, rushing again to battle.

Shamefaced and doubtful of their reception, the allies came stealing back to the Spanish camps. Huitzilopotchli and his priests had lied, or was the god impotent against the Teules? The Tlascalans, who had halted on the road, were the first to return. Cortés, only too thankful for the reinforcement, received them all kindly. He would permit them, he said, to share the joys of victory, though the Spaniards, he took care to add, did not really need their services.

The supreme importance of appearing strong and victorious induced the general to send help to a tribe of allies in a distant province, though, as he said himself, "God knows the peril in which we all stood!" To the remonstrances of his captains he replied, "The greater our weakness, the greater need have 249


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/297

OU are the children of the Sun!" cried an Aztec chief to Cortés and his cavaliers as they approached the barricade he was defending, "but the Sun is swift in his course. Why are you then so tardy? Why delay so long to put an end to our miseries? Rather kill us at once that we may go to our god Huitzilopotchli, who waits for us in heaven to give us rest from our sufferings." Wan and despairing were the faces of the cacique and his followers, and their eyes were wild with hunger and pain.

In pitying tones the conqueror replied, "I do not desire your death, but your submission. Why does your master refuse to treat with me when a single hour will suffice for me to crush him and all his people? Go bid him confer with me at noon in the market-place to-morrow."

At the appointed time Cortés awaited the coming of the emperor. But four caciques came without their lord, who would not consent to a conference. They were offered food which they ate ravenously, and then the general sent them back to Guatemozin 267


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/301


text: Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/302


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/241

 their hunger, thirst, fatigue, and wounds, thought only of victory and revenge.

So ended the glorious battle of Otumba, when the Spaniards and their allies, few in number, wounded, weary, famished, with but twenty horses, and without cannon or muskets, put to flight a mighty Indian army. They themselves believed that it was a miracle, for had not some of the soldiers seen St. Jago on his milk-white horse leading on the cavaliers?

An old chronicler attributes the victory, with more reason, entirely to the general, who "by his single arm saved the whole force from destruction." Cortés, unexpectedly modest about his own exploit, thus describes the battle in his letter to the Emperor Charles: "We went on fighting in that toilsome manner a great part of the day, until it pleased God that there was slain a person amongst the enemy who must have been the general, for with his death the battle altogether ceased."

The next morning the victors continued their march to Tlascala, and Spaniards and allies alike greeted the first sight of the mighty boundary wall with shouts of joy. But Cortés, remembering the story of death and disaster he was bringing to the little republic, wondered anxiously if the people would demand from the strangers the blood of their fallen countrymen. The Tlascalans, however, flocked to meet the army with all kindliness. For a day or two the soldiers rested in a frontier village, and then the great chiefs of the republic came to welcome them and invite them to the capital. 205


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/277

 Catalan also healed them by charms and prayers, which, with the mercy of our Lord Jesus, recovered us very fast." Sitting in mud and water they ate their "miserable food of maize and herbs withal! but, as our officers said, such is the fortune of war!"

It was the rainy season, and even the general's own division in the Camp of the Causeway suffered much from the cold and wet. To relieve their misery Cortés set the allies to work on erecting barracks of stone and wood. So wide was the causeway near the Fort of Xoloc that these shelters were constructed to hold two thousand men.

Message after message did Cortés send to Guatemozin offering fair terms of peace, but though food grew scarcer and scarcer in the city the young emperor scorned even to reply to the "perfidious strangers." Too well did the Aztecs remember the treachery of Tonatiuh to put faith in the promise of a Spaniard!

All that a general could do unaided by warships, cannon, cavalry, and steel weapons, Guatemozin did. Reorganising the old way of Aztec warfare, he made surprise attacks after dark, and kept a strict guard during the night, his warriors relieving each other in Spanish fashion. Simultaneous assaults were made on the three divisions of the besieging army. Open battle with the brigantines had proved useless, so among the tall rushes near the southern shores of the lake an ambush was laid. Stakes were driven into the shallow waters, and then several canoes rowed past the proud warships, tempting pursuit. Two of the smaller brigantines immediately gave chase and were 239


text:
Page:Romance of History, Mexico.djvu/283

 strove to rescue his unfortunate followers, was speedily recognised by the enemy, and now the cry, "Malintzin! Malintzin!" rose high above the tumult of the fight. Six Aztec warriors springing from their canoe, seized their arch foe, the most splendid of victims, and dragged him towards their boat. To the rescue dashed Christoval de Olea, and ere he received his death-blow four of the Mexican chiefs were slain. Cortés, wounded in the leg, lay on the ground disabled beside his faithful follower. More warriors rushed up, and Malintzin was once more dragged in triumph into the water.

"The general is taken! The general is taken!" flew from lip to lip, and at the terrible words Quiñones, captain of the bodyguard, followed by several of his men, rushed into the water, tore Cortés from the very arms of the Aztecs, and lifted him with a desperate effort to the roadway. At that instant the page, who ran up with a horse for his master, fell mortally wounded, and Guzman, the chamberlain, sprang forward to take the boy's place. But even as Cortés was lifted into the saddle some Aztec warriors seized the unfortunate Guzman, flung him into a canoe, and rowed swiftly away.

"My master's life is too important to the army to be thrown away here," exclaimed Quiñones, as he resolutely turned the horse's head from this "bridge of affliction." Surrounded by his faithful body-guard, Cortés reached at last his own division, which he found broken and confused. The few who remained of Alderete's company struggled up, and with difficulty the troops regained the Camp of the Causeway, 243


text: Portal talk:Grevillea buxifolia

title: Portal talk:Grevillea buxifolia


text:
Proclamation of the Colony of British Columbia

By His Excellency, JAMES DOUGLAS, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Colony of British Columbia and its Dependencies.

WHEREAS, by an Act of Parliament made and passed in the session of Parliament held in the 21st and 22nd years of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Chapter XCIX, intituled "An Act to Provide for the Government of British Columbia," the limits of the said Colony were defined, and Her Majesty was authorized to invest the Governor thereof with such powers as in the said Act of Parliament are mentioned;

And whereas by a Commission under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Her Majesty has been pleased to appoint JAMES DOUGLAS to be Governor of British Columbia; And the said Governor is required by the said Commission, amongst other things, formally to proclaim the said Act within the said Colony of British Columbia.

Therefore I, James Douglas, Governor of the said Colony, now proclaim and publish the said Act for the information and guidance of Her Majesty's subjects, and others whom it may concern, as follows:

ANNO VICESIMO PRIMO ET VICESIMO SECUNDO Victoræ Reginæ '''CAP. XCIX.''' An Act to provide for the Government of British Columbia. [2nd August, 1858.]

WHEREAS, divers of Her Majesty's Subjects and others have, by the Licence and Consent of Her Majesty, resorted to and settled on certain wild and unoccupied Territories on the North-West Coast of North America, commonly known by the Designation of New Caledonia, and from and after the passing of this act to be named British Columbia, and the Islands adjacent, for Mining and other purposes; it is it is desirable to make some temporary Provision for the Civil Government of such Territories, until permanent Settlements shall be thereupon established, and the Number of Colonists increased; Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same as follows:

 * 1) British Columbia shall, for the purposes of this Act, be held to comprise, all such Territories within the Dominions of Her Majesty Boundaries as are bounded to the South by the Frontier of the United States of America, to the East by the main Chain of the Rocky Mountains, to the North by Simpson's River, and the Finlay Branch of the Peace River, and to the West by the Pacific Ocean, and shall include Queen Charlotte's Island, and all other Islands adjacent to the said Territories, except as hereinafter excepted.
 * 2) It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any Order or Orders to be by Her Majesty from Time to Time made, with the Advice of Her Privy Council, to make, ordain, and establish, and (subject to such Conditions or Restrictions as to Her shall seem meet) to authorize and empower such Officer as She may from Time to Time appoint as Governor of British Columbia, to make Provision for the Administration of Justice therein, and generally to make, ordain, and establish all such Laws, Institutions, and Ordinances as may necessary for the Peace, Order, and good Government of Her Majesty's Subjects and others therein; provided that all such Orders in Council, and all Laws and Ordinances so to be made as aforesaid, shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as conveniently may be after the making and Enactment thereof respectively.
 * 3) Provided always, That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, so soon as She may deem it convenient, by any such Order in Council as aforesaid, to constitute or to authorize and empower such Officer to constitute a Legislature to make Laws for the Peace, Order, and good Government of British Columbia, such Legislature to consist of the Governor and a Council, or Council and Assembly, to be composed of such and so many Persons, and to be appointed or elected in such Manner and for such Periods, and subject to such Regulations, as to Her Majesty may seem expedient.
 * 4) And whereas an Act was passed in the Forty-third Year of Certain King George the Third, intituled "An Act for extending the Jurisdiction of the Courts of Justice in the Provinces of Lower and Upper Canada to the Trial and Punishment of Persons guilty of Crimes and Offences within certain parts of North America Adjoining to the said Provinces": And whereas by an Act passed in the Second Year of King George the Fourth, intituled "An Act for regulating the Fur trade, and establishing a Criminal and Civil Jurisdiction within certain Parts of North America", it was enacted, that from and after the passing of that Act the Court of Judicature then existing or which might be thereafter established in the Province of Upper Canada should have the same Civil Jurisdiction, Power and Authority, within the Indian Territories and other Parts of America not within the Limits of either of the Provinces of Lower or Upper Canada or of any Civil Government of the United States, as the said Courts had or were invested with within the Limits of the said Provinces of Lower or Upper Canada respectively, and that every Contract, Agreement, Debt, Liability, and Demand made, entered into, incurred, or arising within the said Indian Territories, and other Parts of America, and every Wrong and Injury to the Person or to Property, committed or done within the same, should be and be deemed to be of the same Nature, and be cognizable and be tried in the same Manner, and subject to the same Consequences in all respects, as if the same had been made, entered into, incurred, arisen, committed, or done within the said Province of Upper Canada; and in the same Act are contained Provisions for Giving Force, Authority and Effect within the said Indian Territories and other Parts of America to the Process and Acts of the said Courts of Upper Canada; and it was thereby also enacted, that it should be lawful for His Majesty, if He should deem it convenient so to do, to issue a Commission or Commissions to any Person or Persons to be and act as Justices of the Peace within such Parts of America as aforesaid, as well within any Territories theretofore granted to the Company of Adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay as within the Indian Territories of such other parts of America as aforesaid; and it was further enacted, that it should be lawful for His Majesty from Time to Time, by any Commission under the Great Seal, to authorize and empower any such Persons so appointed Justices of the Peace is aforesaid to sit and hold Courts of Record for the Trial of Criminal Offences and Misdemeanors, and also of Civil Causes, and it should be lawful for His Majesty to order, direct, and authorize the Appointment of proper Officers to act in aid of such Courts and Justices within the Jurisdiction assigned to such Courts and Justices in any such Commission, provided that such Courts should not try any Offender upon any Charge or Indictment for any felony made the subject of Capital Punishment or for any offence, or passing Sentence affecting the Life of any offender, or adjudge or cause any Offender to Suffer Capital Punishment or Transportation, or take cognizance of or try any Action or Suit in which the Cause of such Suit or Action should exceed in Value the Amount or Sum of Two Hundred Pounds, and in every Case of any Offence subjecting the Person committing the same to Capital Punishment, or Transportation, the Court, or any Judge of any such Court, or any Justice or Justices of the Peace before whom any such Offender should be brought, should commit such Offender to safe Custody, and cause such Offender to be sent in such Custody for Trial in the Court of the Province of Upper Canada.  From and after the Proclamation of this Act in British Columbia the said Act of the Forty-third Year of King George the Third, and the said recited Provisions of the said Act of the Second Year of King George the Fourth, and the Provisions contained in such Act for Giving Force, Authority and Effect within the Indian Territories and other parts of America to the Process and Acts of the said Court of Upper Canada, shall cease to have Force in and to be applicable to British Columbia.
 * 5) Provided always, That all Judgments given in any Civil Suit in British Columbia shall be subject to Appeal to Her Majesty in Council, in the manner and Subject to the Regulations in and subject to which Appeals are now brought from the Civil Courts of Canada, and to such further or other Regulations as Her Majesty, with the Advice of Her Privy Council, shall from Time to Time appoint.
 * 6) No part of the Colony of Vancouver's Island, as at present established, shall be comprised within British Columbia for the Purpose of this Act; but it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, on receiving at any Time during the Continuance of this Act a joint Address from the Two Houses of the Legislature of Vancouver's Island, praying for the Incorporation of that Island with British Columbia, by Order to be made as aforesaid, with the Advice of Her Privy Council, to annex the said Island to British Columbia, subject to such Conditions and Regulations as to Her Majesty shall seem expedient; and thereupon and from the Date of the Publication of such Order in the said Island, or such other Date as may be fixed in such Order, the Provisions of this Act shall be held to apply to Vancouver's Island.
 * 7) In the Construction of this Act the term "Governor" shall mean the Person for the Time being lawfully administering the Government of British Columbia.
 * 8) This Act shall continue in force until the Thirty-first Day of December One Thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and thenceforth to the End of the the next Session of Parliament: Provided always, that the Expiration of this Act shall not affect the Boundaries hereby defined, or the Right of Appeal hereby given, or any Act done or Right or Title acquired under or by virtue of this Act, nor shall the Expiration of this Act revive the Acts or Parts of Acts hereby repealed.

And I do further proclaim and publish that the said recited Act shall take effect within the said Colony of British Columbia from the date hereof.

Issued under the Public Seal of the said Colony, at Fort Langley, this nineteenth day of November, 1858, in the Twenty-second year of Her Majesty's Reign, by me,

JAMES DOUGLAS, Governor.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.


text: Portal talk:Grevillea speciosa

title: Portal talk:Grevillea speciosa


text: Portal talk:Grevillea sericea

title: Portal talk:Grevillea sericea


text: Portal talk:Grevillea linearifolia

title: Portal talk:Grevillea linearifolia


text:
Page:Henry VIII and the English Monasteries.djvu/28

 xxii we still possess, very little information can be gleaned about the interior and domestic life of the inmates. The reason for this is obvious. To the chronicler, as he wrote his volume in the cloister of his monastery, the daily course of the monastic life was so even, uneventful and well known, that it must have appeared useless and unnecessary to enter any description of it in his pages. The saying, "Happy is the nation that has no history," applies to monasteries. Troubles, difficulties, quarrels and even scandals find a place on the parchment record of an abbey or convent, while the days and years of peaceful unobtrusive labour would pass unnoticed by the monastic scribe.

In one of his suggestive lectures Mr. Ruskin bids his hearers note well the dates A.D. 421 and A.D. 481, for they are the years of the beginning of Venetian power and of the crowning of Clovis: "Not for dark Rialto's dukedom nor for fair France's kingdom only," he adds, "are these two years to be remembered of all others in the wild fifth century, but because they are also the birth years of a great lady, and a greater lord of all future Christendom, St. Genevieve and St. Benedict." If St. Benedict could claim any country as his own it is England. There is no need to dwell here on the evangelisation of our land, on the messengers he sent hence to Germany and to the North to preach the gospel, on the schools in which he gathered his disciples, and whence issued the revival of letters in the darkest days of the Middle Ages, on the slow patient labour by which his sons reclaimed the soil, nor on the men through whom our very polity and law seem to have gained their temper and moderation from his spirit of discretion. All this is acknowledged though so easily forgotten. All was done so quietly, so orderly, so naturally, that a world which has entered on the fruits of


text:
Page:Henry VIII and the English Monasteries.djvu/29

 Rh the labour may almost be excused if it does not recognise the hand that dug the soil and planted the tree.

The benefits conferred by the monastic order were great. Those who experienced them had no doubt on that score, and were not behindhand in full and ample expression of their gratitude. And though the religious bodies were not as rich as they were represented to be, their wealth was undoubtedly immense. Various orders shared it, but the Benedictines, including in their ranks, besides the Black monks, the Cistercian, the Cluniac, the Grandmontain and others, had incomparably the greater part. Independently of their wealth, what gave the Benedictines further dignity was the possession of eight or nine cathedrals, including those of the specially dignified sees of Winchester, Durham and Canterbury. This placed the election of the bishops of these dioceses in the hands of the convent. At Canterbury, in particular, the jurisdiction of the great metropolitical church fell, during a vacancy, into the hands of the prior and convent. In their name ran all licenses for the consecration of bishops; they held all the archiepiscopal powers of visitation; they could nominate the consecrating prelate and the prelate to preside at Convocation. It may be readily understood that these powers were not always viewed with favour by the college of bishops; but after the thirteenth century, with a prudent use of acknowledged rights on the one side and benevolence on the other, they managed to avoid disagreement. Although holding the cathedral churches, the monks did not interfere with diocesan administration. The bishop's officials were commonly chosen from the secular clergy, even when he himself happened to be a monk. It is almost a commonplace, however, to dwell on the rivalry between the clergy and the monasteries as if it


text:
Page:Henry VIII and the English Monasteries.djvu/30

 xxiv were intensified in the later ages. Unquestionably there were lawsuits about property and other rights between them, and misunderstandings such as will happen between men of all classes; but their relations seem to have been generally good and even, and exempt from any systematic bickering.

The privileged ecclesiastical position of the monastic orders found its counterpart in parliament. Abbots formed the bulk of the spiritual peerage, which in those times was both individually more influential and corporately much larger than at present. The position held by them throughout every part of the country gave yet a further weight to their great position as noblemen and local magnates. As such they went part passu with baron or earl of the noblest lineage. On the blazoned Roll of the Lords, the Lord Richard Whiting and the Lord Hugh Faringdon went hand in hand with a Howard and a Talbot. This individual ennoblement indicated by the form of title is striking. Whiting and Farringdon do not walk merely as the abbot of Glaston and the abbot of Reading, but in the rôle of English peers they still hold the name by which they were known when playing as children in the country manor-house or poor man's cottage. In the letter books of Durham priory the chiefs of the Cliffords and the Nevilles address the prior as their equal in no mere words of empty form. If on occasion the layman strikes a higher tone, to which the monk responds in gentleness, it does not affect the ring of trusty and sincere friendship which is caught throughout the whole correspondence. Nor is there anything surprising in this when the character of the monastic life is realised. The monk of Durham from his earliest years combined simplicity of life with surroundings of palatial grandeur and a state and ceremony equal to that of courts, and yet more measured. As time passed on, he grew from obedience to command, and naturally, without perceiving it, the peasant's son became the equal of the peer.


text:
Page:Henry VIII and the English Monasteries.djvu/31

 Rh And all this was done without appeal to principles of democratic levelling. The heralds' "visitations" commence at the moment when the doom of the monasteries was already fixed. Up to that time the art of sifting out the "gentleman" from the "no-gentleman," which under the Tudors and first Stuarts grew to a pitch of perfection, was not yet evolved; and it may be safe to say that the monasteries, in ages which, if any, might seem fatal to it, kept up the idea of personal nobility.

The organisation of the various orders helped to qualify the most prominent of their members for taking part in the chief council of the realm. Besides their presence in convocation, the Benedictines and Augustinians had each a quadriennial chapter, composed of the abbots and conventual priors of the whole country, and numbering for the Benedictines as many as two or three hundred persons. On these occasions even individual monks, who might be deputed by their superior, could learn the practice of great deliberative assemblies, and how to deal with affairs of far-reaching consequence. It was thus not merely by honorific distinction that we find the commissions of the peace generally headed by some principal abbot or prior of each county. They had the practice of business, and they were in touch with men of all ranks—the country gentleman, the yeoman, the artisan, the peasant and the poor. It is no mere figure of speech when monasteries are called the common hostelries for people of all sorts and conditions, the general refuge of the poor. The daily life of the heads and officers of every monastic house must have brought them in constant and natural contact with all classes of society. The monks were not merely anchorites enclosed in narrow walls, but were affected by all the movements of public life. They were not men of war, but, like the knight and the baron, they had to provide men for the musters. As great landowners they, more than the yeoman, were concerned in the crops and the weather. They resided on the land in the


title: Page:Ashorthistoryofwales.djvu/163


title: Page:Ashorthistoryofwales.djvu/165


text:
Page:Ashorthistoryofwales.djvu/167

THE SHIRES. Shires of 1284 white. Shires of 1535 shaded.

• Towns represented in Parliament from 1535. o Contributory boroughs added chiefly in 1832. ¡ ⫯ Ceased to be boroughs in 1884. ʘ Representation doubled in 1867 and 1884. A line is put under the name of the county for each county member; a circle round the central borough for a second member.

title: Page:Ashorthistoryofwales.djvu/167


title: Page:Ashorthistoryofwales.djvu/169


text: Portal talk:Lomatia silaifolia

title: Portal talk:Lomatia silaifolia


text: Portal talk:Lissanthe strigosa

title: Portal talk:Lissanthe strigosa


text: Portal talk:Leucopogon affinis

title: Portal talk:Leucopogon affinis


text: Portal talk:Leucopogon ericoides

title: Portal talk:Leucopogon ericoides


text: Portal talk:Pimelea linifolia

title: Portal talk:Pimelea linifolia


text: Portal talk:Monotoca scoparia

title: Portal talk:Monotoca scoparia


text: Portal talk:Monotoca elliptica

title: Portal talk:Monotoca elliptica


text:
User talk:Aratos

— billinghurst  sDrewth  00:20, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Aratos


text:
User talk:98.143.103.136

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to Wikisource! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

 * Help pages
 * Style Guide
 * Inclusion policy

You are welcome to continue editing articles without logging in, but you may wish to  [ create an account] . Doing so is free, requires no personal information, and provides several benefits. For one thing, if you continue to edit without a username, your IP address is used to publicly identify you.

In any case, I hope you enjoy donating your time to grow the Wikisource library that is free for everyone to use! In discussions, please sign your comments using four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically produce your IP address (or username if you're logged in) and the date. If you need help, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question here (click  [ edit] ) and place  before your question. Again, welcome! — billinghurst  sDrewth  00:22, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:98.143.103.136


text: Talk:Proclamation of the Colony of British Columbia


text:
Author:James Douglas (1803-1877)

Works

 * Proclamation of the Colony of British Columbia

title: Author:James Douglas (1803-1877)


text:
Anthem for Doomed Youth (Stallworthy edition)

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? —Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells, Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,— The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.


text: Poems by Wilfred Owen/Anthem for Doomed Youth


text:
The New International Encyclopædia/Hardenberg, Karl August, Prince

HARDENBERG,, Prince (1750-1822). A Prussian statesman, born at Essenrode, in Hanover, May 31, 1750. He was educated at Leipzig and Göttingen, and in 1776-78 traveled in France, Holland, and England. On his return to Hanover he became Councilor of the Privy Chamber, and was raised to the rank of count; but a private quarrel with a member of the royal family induced him, in 1782, to quit the Hanoverian service. He took up his residence at the Court of Brunswick, where the Duke appointed him, in 1787, president of the Council of State. Soon afterwards he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Frederick William II. of Prussia, who received him with marked distinction. In 1790 the Margrave of Ansbach and Bayreuth requested the Prussian monarch to furnish him with a person competent to administer the affairs of his dominions, and Frederick William recommended Hardenberg. When Ansbach and Bayreuth were united with Prussia in 1791, Hardenberg was appointed Minister of State and a member of the Cabinet. At the commencement of the war with France, the King summoned him to his headquarters at Frankfort-on-the-Main as administrator of the army. Early in 1795 he was sent to Basel, where on April 5th he concluded a peace between Prussia and the French Republic. After the accession of Frederick William III., Hardenberg was recalled to Berlin (1798), and was intrusted with the partial management of foreign affairs. In 1804 he became first Prussian Minister on the resignation of Haugwitz, and in this capacity endeavored to keep Prussia neutral in the war between France and England. Nevertheless, by the victory of Napoleon at Austerlitz, Prussia was compelled to enter into an alliance with Napoleon in the winter of 1805-06. Hardenberg was deprived of his office in April, 1806, and Haugwitz, who was friendly to the French, returned to power. Prussia was driven in the same year to take up arms against Napoleon. After the fatal battle of Jena, Hardenberg accepted the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, which he held for a few months only. Napoleon, who considered him the chief opponent of France in Prussia, demanding his dismissal at the Peace of Tilsit. In 1810 he was appointed Prussian Chancellor. Hardenberg now proceeded to carry out Stein's plan for a regenerated Prussia through the enactment of radical and far-reaching reforms. The victories of the British troops in the Spanish Peninsula, and the disasters that overwhelmed Napoleon's vast army in Russia, made it possible for Hardenberg to realize his patriotic efforts, and he had the satisfaction of seeing his plans crowned with success. The War of Liberation freed Prussia. Hardenberg subscribed to the Peace of Paris, May 30, 1814, and was soon after raised to the rank of prince by his sovereign. He accompanied the allied sovereigns to London and took part in the

proceedings of the Congress at Vienna and in the conferences at Paris (1815). In 1817 he reorganized the Council of State, of which he was appointed president. He was present at the meetings of the monarchs of the Holy Alliance at Karlsbad, Laibach, Troppau, and Verona. His later policy showed reactionary tendencies, however, and lost him much of his previous popularity. During a tour through the north of Italy, he was taken suddenly ill at Pavia and died at Genoa, November 20, 1822. The services rendered by Hardenberg to his country were great; to him, next to Stein, Prussia is indebted for the improvements in her army system, the abolition of serfdom and feudal burdens, the throwing open of the civil service to all classes, and the complete reform of the educational system. Hardenberg's Memoirs, 1801-07, were suppressed until fifty years had elapsed, and were then edited with a biography by Ranke, Denkwürdigkeiten des Fürsten von Hardenberg (5 vols., Leipzig, 1877). Consult also: Klose, Leben Karl Augusts, Fürsten von Hardenberg (Halle, 1807); Meier, Die Reform der Verwaltungsorganisation unter Stein und Hardenberg (Leipzig, 1881); Seeley, Life and Times of Stein (London, 1879).


text:
Dulce et Decorum est (Stallworthy edition)

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!–An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,– My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.


text: Poems by Wilfred Owen/Dulce et Decorum est


text:
User talk:Carpaltnl

— billinghurst  sDrewth  00:41, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Carpaltnl


text:
The New International Encyclopædia/Harden-Hickey, James Aloysius

HAR'DEN-HICK'EY, (1854-98). An American adventurer and journalist, called a baron. He was born in San Francisco, but at the age of twenty-three settled in Paris, where he started a paper called the Triboulet, so conspicuous for its strong satirical attacks upon the Government that it was suppressed in about two years (1880). The editor had also been drawn into duels with other journalists, but his literary activity continued unabated, and under the nom-de-plume ‘Saint-Patrice’ he published Un amour dans le monde (1877); Mémoires d'un gommeux (1877); Près du gouffre (1877); Sampiero (1878); Lettres d'un Yankee (1879); Aventures merveilleuses de Nabuchodonosor Nosebreaker (1880); Les facéties de Trogneville (1883); Nos écrivains (1888); La théosophie (1890); Plagiats bibliques (1891).


text:
The New International Encyclopædia/Harderwijk

HARDERWIJK, här'dẽr-vīk. A small seaport and fishing town of the Netherlands, situated on the southeastern shore of the Zuyder Zee, 28 miles east of Amsterdam (Map: Netherlands, D 2). It is a fortified town and a recruiting station for the Dutch East India troops. The chief exports are grain, lumber, and fish. Population, in 1900, 7300. Harderwijk was a Hanse town and from 1648 to 1811 was the seat of a university.


text: Template:*JDentry(?)

title: Template:*JDentry(?)


text:
Template:*JDentry(?)/doc

Usage
Calls JDentry, but with a leading (x-large) asterisk and following parends w/ question mark.

title: Template:*JDentry(?)/doc


text:
Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/238

 voted me a year's leave of absence, without pay, to give me a chance to try the thing out. They were quite confident that at the end of that year I should return to Minneapolis.

Some time in the spring, I think in May, Dr. Harper wrote me that he was becoming completely swamped with the labor of preparing for the opening in the following autumn, asking me if I would not join him as soon as my duties at Minneapolis were over, and aid in carrying out these plans. I accepted, leaving Minneapolis on the second or third of June, the day after the Minnesota commencement. I found the offices of the University at 1212 Chamber of Commerce Building. President Harper was there and Professor Abbott, who was acting as University Examiner, Dr. T. W. Goodspeed, the secretary of the Board of Trustees, and a small and in some ways rather extraordinary clerical staff. Correspondence was pouring in from prospective students. Meanwhile the plans for the announcements for the coming year were in process of making. Mr. Abbott went away for his vacation early in July and Dr. Harper and I were left to handle the educational side through the summer together. We worked night and day.

Although Mr. Judson was originally elected Professor of History, in the final organization of the departments of instruction he became acting head, and almost immediately after was made Head of the Department of Political Science. At the January meeting, at which Mr. Judson was elected, William I. Knapp of Yale was made Head Professor of Romance Languages and Literature. Meantime the negotiation with Albion W. Small, president of Colby University, had reached a favorable issue and on January 29 he was elected Head Professor of Social Science. The President had first approached President Small fourteen months before. The two men had had several interviews and exchanged many letters, and the appointment was finally made without any positive assurance that it would be accepted. The experience of Mr. Small as an administrator led to his being drafted into service at once as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, later as Director of Affiliation, and finally as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature. Four head professors having been secured, the work of making up the faculty went forward rapidly. The President had for some months been hard at work seeking other instructors and pushing negotiations with them. On January 29, 1892, the first considerable number of appointments was made. In addition to the Head Professor of Social Science these were: Charles Chandler, Professor of Latin; George S. Goodspeed, Associate Professor of Compara-


text:
User:MichaelDubner

Main user profile on en-wikipedia and ru-wikipedia.

title: User:MichaelDubner


text:
Page:Story of the robins.djvu/61

 Rh it otherwise, you may depend on my not going up." "On this condition I will permit you to go," said Mrs. Benson; "but pray, Frederick, let me remind you not to frighten your little favourites." "Not for all the world!" said Frederick. So away he skipped, and ran to Joe before his sister. "We may go! we may go, Joe!" cried he. "Stay for me, Joe, I beg," said Harriet, who presently joined him. Frederick's impatience was so great that he could scarcely be restrained from running all the way, but his sister entreated him not to make himself too hot.

At length they arrived at the desired spot; Joe placed the ladder, and his young master, with a little assistance, mounted it very nimbly; but who can describe his raptures when he beheld the nestlings! "Oh the sweet creatures!" cried he, "there are four of them, I declare! I never saw anything so pretty in my life! I wish I might carry you all home!" "That you must not do, Frederick," said his sister;" and I beg you will come away, for you will either terrify the little creatures or alarm the old birds, which perhaps are now waiting somewhere near to feed them." "Well, I will come away directly," said Frederick; "and so good-bye, robins! I hope you will come soon, along with your father

title: Page:Story of the robins.djvu/61


text:
Talk:A Pretty Girl Is like a Melody

migrate Index:A Pretty Girl Is like a Melody.pdf

link or like?
I hear "link" in an early recording (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bmMlVVO2OA&noredirect=1). Also, "link" makes more sense in this context, i.e., "I link a pretty girlie with each pretty tune that's played." Also, the word "link" is on the scanned page of sheet music presented with the lyrics.

title: Talk:A Pretty Girl Is like a Melody


text:
Page:Story of the robins.djvu/60

soon as Mrs. Benson returned to her children, Frederick ran up to her, saying, "Good news! good news, mamma! Joe has found the robins' nest!" "Has he indeed?" said Mrs. Benson. "Yes, mamma," said Harriet, "and if agreeable to you, we shall be glad to go along with Joe to see it." "But how are you to get at it?" said the lady, "for I suppose it is some height from the ground." "Oh I can climb a ladder very well," cried Frederick. "You climb a ladder! You are a clever gentleman at climbing, I know" replied his mamma; "but do you propose to mount too, Harriet? I think this is rather an indelicate scheme for a lady." "Joe tells me that the nest is but a very little way from the ground, mamma," answered Harriet; "but if I find

title: Page:Story of the robins.djvu/60


text:
Page:Story of the robins.djvu/62

 48 and mother, to be fed in the parlour." He then, under the conduct of his friend Joe, descended.

Joe next addressed Miss Harriet: "Now, my young mistress," said he, "will you go up?" As the steps of the ladder were broad, and the nest was not high, Miss Benson ventured to go up, and was equally delighted with her brother, but so fearful of terrifying the little birds and alarming the old ones, that she would only indulge herself with a peep at the nest. Frederick inquired how she liked the young robins. "They are sweet creatures," said she, "and I hope they will soon join our party of birds, for they appear to me ready to fly. But let us return to mamma, for you know we promised her to stay but a little while; besides, we hinder Joe from his work." "Never mind that," said the honest fellow; "master won't be angry, I'm sartain; and if I thought he would, I would work an hour later to fetch up lost time." "Thank you, Joe," replied Harriet, "but I am sure papa would not desire you to do so."

At this instant Frederick perceived the two red-breasts, who were returning from their proposed excursion, and called to his sister to observe them. He was very desirous to watch whether they would go back to their nest, but she would on no account consent to stay, lest her mamma should be displeased,

title: Page:Story of the robins.djvu/62


text:
Life in the Open Air and other papers

Contents

 * Life in the Open Air: Introductory Note by George William Curtis
 * Life in the Open Air – An account of the author’s adventures in northern Maine and the ascent of Mount Katahdin
 * Love and Skates – A short story
 * New York Seventh Regiment – An account of the march of the New York Seventh Regiment to Washington, D.C. in 1861
 * Washington as a Camp – An account of the New York Seventh Regiment’s encampment at Washington, D.C. in 1861
 * Fortress Monroe – An unfinished account of life at Fort Monroe, Virginia in 1861
 * Brightly’s Orphan – An unfinished short story

 * “The Heart of the Andes” – A description and analysis of Frederic Edwin Church’s painting The Heart of the Andes

title: Life in the Open Air and other papers


text:
Page:Story of the robins.djvu/63

 Rh and lest the birds should be frightened; Frederick, therefore, with reluctance followed her, and Joe attended them to the house.

As soon as they were out of sight the hen bird proposed to return to the nest; she had observed the party, and though she did not see them looking into her habitation, she supposed, from their being so near, that they had been taking a view of it, and told her suspicions to her mate. He agreed with her, and said he now expected to hear a fine story from the nestlings. "Let us return, however," said the mother, "for perhaps they have been terrified again." "Well," said he, "I will attend you then: but let me caution you, my dear, not to indulge their fearful disposition, because such indulgence will certainly prove injurious to them." "I will do the best I can," replied she, and then flew to the nest, followed by her mate.

She alighted upon the ivy, and peeping into the nest, inquired how they all did. "Very well, dear mother," said Robin. "What!" cried the father, who now alighted, "all safe? not one eaten up by the monster?" "No, father," replied Dicky, "we are not devoured; and yet, I assure you, the monster we saw before has been here again, and brought two others with him." "Two others! what, like

title: Page:Story of the robins.djvu/63


text:
Page:Two Magics.djvu/404

 12mo, $1.50.

We find no fault with Mr. Henry James's "Princess Casamassima." It is a great novel; it is his greatest, and it is incomparably the greatest novel of the year in our language. . . . From first to last we find no weakness in the book; the drama works simply and naturally; the causes and effects are logically related; the theme is made literature without ceasing to be life.—Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Editor's Study.

12mo, $1.00.

The public will be glad to find Mr. James in his best vein. One is thankful again that there is so brilliant an American author to give us entertaining sketches of life.—Boston Herald.

12mo, $1.00.

The stories are told with that mastery of the art of story-telling which their writer possesses in a conspicuous degree.—Literary World.

It is as a short story writer that we think Mr. James appears at his best, and in this volume he may be read in his most attractive and most artistic vein.—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. Mr. Henry James is at his best in "The Aspern Papers." . . . For careful finish, minute analysis, and vivid description of both the scenes and the characters, "The Aspern Papers" may take high rank among Mr. James's stories.—Guardian.

12mo, $1.75.

Henry James has never appeared to better advantage as an author than in this delightful volume of critical essays. . . . No one can fail to acknowledge the exquisite charm of style which pervades the book, and the kind appreciation the author evinces of the finer and subtler qualities of the authors with whom he deals.—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.

12mo, $1.35.

Unquestionably "The Bostonians" is not only the most brilliant and remarkable of Mr. James's novels, but it is one of the most important of recent contributions to literature.—Boston Courier.

12mo, $1.00.

His short stories, which are always bright and sparkling, are delightful. . . . Will bear reading again and again.—Mail and Express.

12mo, $1.50.

title: Page:Two Magics.djvu/404


text:
Page:Two Magics.djvu/403

 12mo, cloth, $1.50.

"Mr. Henry James has produced no more clever and subtle work than it to be found in his latest volume. . . . There are in these tales passages of splendid realism. The portrait of Geoffrey Dowling is a masterpiece of characterization. And there are sentences, unobtrusive asides, which flash with the brilliancy of true wit."—New York Tribune.

"Mr. James's writings are distinctively works of art. One and all of them appeal most strongly to cultivated minds. In no instance does he descend from his transcendent ideals of literature. An acquaintance with Henry James means an appreciation of the finer style of written English, and an inhalation of the atmosphere of purest English literature. No list of books for the summer will be complete without 'Embarrassments.'"—Cambridge Press.

12mo, cloth, $1.50.

"The characters are original and well drawn. The incidents are natural and clearly described. The dialogues are crisp and to the point. Neither of 'padding' nor a vulgar sensationalism is there any trace. A most meritorious work, then, and one which can hardly fail to add to the author's reputation."—New York Herald.

"'The Other House' shows Henry James at his best. That best is a putting into words of an exquisite comprehension of motives and shades of thought, a magic grasp of character variations, a bringing to the surface of hidden nerve fibres ever unsuspected yet tremendously potent."—Chicago Daily News.

title: Page:Two Magics.djvu/403


text:
Page:Story of the robins.djvu/64

 50 said the father: "I thought, Flapsy, you were to die with apprehension if you saw him again?"

"And so I believe I should have done, had not you, my good father, taught me to conquer my fears," replied Flapsy. "When I saw the top of him, my heart began to flutter to such a degree that I was ready to die, and every feather of me shook; but when I found he stayed but a very little while, I recovered, and was in hopes he was quite gone. My brothers and sisters, I believe, felt as I did; but we comforted one another that the danger was over for this day, and all agreed to make ourselves happy, and not fear this monster, since you assured us he was very harmless. However, before we were perfectly come to ourselves we heard very uncommon noises, sometimes a hoarse sound, disagreeable to our ears as the croaking of a raven, and sometimes a shriller noise, quite unlike the note of any bird that we know of; and immediately after something presented itself to our view which bore a little resemblance to the monster, but by no means so large and frightful. Instead of being all over red, it had on each side two spots of a more beautiful hue than Dicky's breast; the rest of it was of a more delicate white, excepting two streaks of a deep red, like the cherry you brought us the other day, and between these

title: Page:Story of the robins.djvu/64


text:
Page:Story of the robins.djvu/65

 Rh two streaks were rows of white bones, but by no means dreadful to behold, like those of the great monster. Its eyes were blue and white; and round this agreeable face was something which I cannot describe, very pretty, and as glossy as the feathers of a goldfinch. There was so cheerful and pleasing a look in this creature altogether, that, notwithstanding I own I was rather afraid, yet I had pleasure in looking at it; but it stayed a very little time, and then disappeared. While we were puzzling ourselves with conjectures concerning it, another creature, larger than it, appeared before us, equally beautiful, and with an aspect so mild and gentle that we were all charmed with it; but, as if fearful of alarming us by its stay, it immediately retired, and we have been longing for you and my mother's return, in hopes you would be able to tell us what it is we have seen."

"I am happy, my dears," said their mother, "to find you more composed than I expected; for as your father and I were flying together, in order to come back to you, we observed the monster and the two pretty creatures Flapsy has described; the former is, as your father before informed you, our friend the gardener, and the others are our young benefactors, by whose bounty we are every day

title: Page:Story of the robins.djvu/65


text:
Page:Story of the robins.djvu/66

 52 regaled, and who, I will venture to say, will do you no harm. You cannot think how kindly they treat us; and though there are a number of other birds who share their goodness, your father and I are favoured with their particular regard."

"Oh!" said Pecksy, "are these sweet creatures your friends? I long to go abroad that I may see them again." "Well," cried Flapsy, "I perceive that if we judge from appearances we may often be mistaken. Who would have thought that such an ugly monster as that gardener could have had a tender heart?" "Very true," replied the mother; you must make it a rule, Flapsy, to judge of mankind by their actions, and not by their looks. I have known some of them whose appearance was as engaging as that of our young benefactors, who were, notwithstanding, barbarous enough to take eggs out of a nest and spoil them; nay, even to carry away nest and all before the young ones were fledged, without knowing how to feed them, or having any regard to the sorrows of the tender parents."

"Oh, what dangers there are in the world!" cried Pecksy; "I shall be afraid to leave the nest." "Why so, my love?" said the mother; "every bird does not meet with hawks and cruel children. You have already, as you sat on the nest, seen thousands

title: Page:Story of the robins.djvu/66


text:
Page:Story of the robins.djvu/67

 Rh of the feathered race, of one kind or other, making their airy excursions, full of mirth and gaiety. This orchard constantly resounds with the melody of those who chant from their songs of joy; and I believe there are no beings in the world happier than birds, for we are naturally formed for cheerfulness; and I trust that a prudent precaution, and following the rules we shall from our experience be able to give you, will preserve you from the dangers to which the feathered race are exposed."

"Instead of indulging your fears, Pecksy," said the father, "summon up all your courage, for tomorrow you shall, with your brothers and sisters, begin to see the world."

Dicky expressed great delight at this declaration, and Robin boasted that he had not the least remains of fear. Flapsy, though still apprehensive of monsters, yet longed to see the gaieties of life, and Pecksy wished to comply with every desire of her dear parents. The approach of evening now reminded them that it was time to take repose, and turning its head under its wing, each bird soon resigned itself to the gentle powers of sleep.

title: Page:Story of the robins.djvu/67


text:
Life in the Open Air

Contents

 * Chapter I. Off
 * Chapter II. Gorming and Getting On
 * Chapter III. The Pine-Tree
 * Chapter IV. Umbagog
 * Chapter V. Up the Lakes
 * Chapter VI. The Birch
 * Chapter VII. Moosehead
 * Chapter VIII. Penobscot
 * Chapter IX. Chesuncook
 * Chapter X. Ripogenus
 * Chapter XI. Toward Katahdin
 * Chapter XII. Camp Katahdin
 * Chapter XIII. Up Katahdin
 * Chapter XIV. Homeward
 * Chapter XV. Out of the Woods

title: Life in the Open Air