“A gentleman called to see you when you were out last night, sir,”
said Mrs. Medley, my landlady, removing the last of the breakfast
things.
“Yes?” I said, in my affable way.
“A gentleman,” said Mrs. Medley meditatively, “with a very powerful
voice.”
“Caruso?”
“Sir?”
“I said, did he leave a name?”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Ukridge.”
“Oh, my sainted aunt!”
“Sir!”
“Nothing, nothing.”

Sku: lovethechickens

How often, in answer to my repeated intreaties that you would
give my Daughter a regular detail of the Misfortunes and
Adventures of your Life, have you said “No, my freind never will
I comply with your request till I may be no longer in Danger of
again experiencing such dreadful ones.”
Surely that time is now at hand. You are this day 55. If a
woman may ever be said to be in safety from the determined
Perseverance of disagreeable Lovers and the cruel Persecutions of
obstinate Fathers, surely it must be at such a time of Life.

Sku: loveandfriendship

James Renwick was the child of godly parents in humble life. His father,
Andrew Renwick, was a weaver, and his mother, Elizabeth Corson, is
especially mentioned, like the mother and grandmother of Timothy, or
like Monica, the mother of Augustine, as a woman of strong faith, and
eminently prayerful. As several of her children had died in infancy, she
earnestly sought that the Lord would give her a child, who would not
only be an heir of glory, but who might live to serve God in his
generation. Her prayer was heard and graciously answered. The son of her
vows was born at Moniaive, in the parish of Glencairn, Gallowayshire, on
the 15th of February, 1662. His father died before he reached the age of
fourteen, but not before he felt assured–probably from observing in the
boy remarkable indications of early piety–that, though his course on
earth would be short, the Lord would make singular use of him in his
service. The early training of this distinguished martyr was, in a great
measure, through the instrumentality of a devoted mother, who could
boast of no worldly affluence or accomplishments, but whose heart was
richly pervaded by the grace of the Spirit, and intensely concerned for
the Saviour’s glory; and who, in times of great difficulty and great
trial, maintained unwavering confidence in the faithful word of promise.

Sku: thelifeofjamesrenwick

IT HAS BEEN ten years since I wrote the prefatory “Declaration”
to this now enlarged and altered book. Not to my
generation alone have many things receded during that
decade. To the intelligent young as well as to the intelligent
elderly, efforts in the present atmosphere to opiate the public
with mere pictures of frontier enterprise have a ghastly
unreality. The Texas Rangers have come to seem as remote
as the Foreign Legion in France fighting against the Kaiser.
Yet this _Guide_, extensively added to and revised, is mainly
concerned, apart from the land and its native life, with
frontier backgrounds. If during a decade a man does not
change his mind on some things and develop new points of
view, it is a pretty good sign that his mind is petrified and
need no longer be accounted among the living. I have an
inclination to rewrite the “Declaration,” but maybe I was
just as wise on some matters ten years ago as I am now; so
I let it stand.

Sku: guidetolife

1 On the third day, God planted the garden in the east
of the earth, on the border of the world eastward, beyond
which, towards the sun-rising, one finds nothing but water,
that encompasses the whole world, and reaches to the
borders of heaven.
2 And to the north of the garden there is a sea of
water, clear and pure to the taste, unlike anything else;
so that, through the clearness thereof, one may look into
the depths of the earth.
3 And when a man washes himself in it, he becomes
clean of the cleanness thereof, and white of its whiteness
– even if he were dark.
4 And God created that sea of his own good pleasure,
for He knew what would come of the man He would make; so
that after he had left the garden, on account of his
transgression, men should be born in the earth. Among them
are righteous ones who will die, whose souls God would
raise at the last day; when all of them will return to
their flesh, bathe in the water of that sea, and repent of
their sins.

Sku: thefirstbookofadamandeve

Five miles or less to the east of Youghal Harbour, on the southern
Irish coast, a short, rocky and rather elevated promontory juts, with
a south-easterly trend, into the ocean [about 51 deg. 57 min. N /
7 deg. 43 min. W]. Maps and admiralty charts call it Ram Head, but
the real name is Ceann-a-Rama and popularly it is often styled Ardmore
Head. The material of this inhospitable coast is a hard metamorphic
schist which bids defiance to time and weather. Landwards the shore
curves in clay cliffs to the north-east, leaving, between it and the
iron headland beyond, a shallow exposed bay wherein many a proud ship
has met her doom. Nestling at the north side of the headland and
sheltered by the latter from Atlantic storms stands one of the most
remarkable groups of ancient ecclesiastical remains in Ireland–all
that has survived of St. Declan’s holy city of Ardmore.

Sku: thelifeofst.declanofardmore

The aim of this book is to help thoughtful readers of the gospels to
discern more clearly the features of him whom those writings inimitably
portray. It is avowedly a study rather than a story, and as a companion to
the reading of the gospels it seeks to answer some of the questions which
are raised by a sympathetic consideration of those narratives. These
answers are offered in an unargumentative way, even where the questions
are still in debate among scholars. This method has been adopted because
technical discussion would be of interest to but few of those whom the
book hopes to serve. On some of the questions a non-committal attitude is
taken in the belief that for the understanding of the life of Jesus it is
of little importance which way the decision finally goes. Less attention
has been given to questions of geography and archaeology than to those
which have a more vital biographical significance.

Sku: thelifeofjesusofnazareth

The prophet’s message to Eli, “Wherefore the Lord God of Israel said
* * * THEM THAT HONOUR ME, I WILL HONOUR,” (1 Sam. ii. 30,) declares a
fundamental law of the divine government, which the history alike of
individuals and of communities has illustrated in all by-past ages. The
works of many men of eminent talent and remarkable energy–admired in
their own day,–have speedily passed into oblivion, or have been
productive of few permanently salutary results. Despising God, “they
have been lightly esteemed.” Those, on the other hand, who honoured God,
and were devoted to His service–however humble their talents or
position in society,–however contemned and persecuted by the
world–have been honoured of God. Their labours have been accepted to
advance His glory in the earth–their memories have continued long
fragrant, and their principles and character have furnished the most
valuable instruction and the brightest examples to future generations.

Sku: thelifeofjamesrenwick

The life and adventures of Hon. William F. Cody–Buffalo Bill–as told
by himself, make up a narrative which reads more like romance than
reality, and which in many respects will prove a valuable contribution
to the records of our Western frontier history. While no literary
excellence is claimed for the narrative, it has the greater merit of
being truthful, and is verified in such a manner that no one can doubt
its veracity. The frequent reference to such military men as Generals
Sheridan, Carr, Merritt, Crook, Terry, Colonel Royal, and other officers
under whom Mr. Cody served as scout and guide at different times and in
various sections of the frontier, during the numerous Indian campaigns
of the last ten or twelve years, affords ample proof of of his
genuineness as a thoroughbred scout.

Sku: thelifeofhon.william

IN reading biographies I always skip the genealogical details. To
be born obscure and to die famous has been described as the acme of
human felicity. However that may be, whether fame has anything to do
with happiness or no, it is a man himself, and not his ancestors,
whose life deserves, if it does deserve, to be written. Such was
Froude’s own opinion, and it is the opinion of most sensible people.
Few, indeed, are the families which contain more than one remarkable
figure, and this is the rock upon which the hereditary principle
always in practice breaks. For human lineage is not subject to the
scientific tests which alone could give it solid value as positive
or negative evidence. There is nothing to show from what source,
other than the ultimate source of every good and perfect gift,
Froude derived his brilliant and splendid powers. He was a gentleman,
and he did not care to find or make for himself a pedigree. He knew
that the Froudes had been settled in Devonshire time out of mind as
yeomen with small estates, and that one of them, to whom his own
father always referred with contempt, had bought from the Heralds’
College what Gibbon calls the most useless of all coats, a coat
of arms.

Sku: thelifeoffroude

James Cook, the Circumnavigator, was a native of the district of
Cleveland, Yorkshire, but of his ancestry there is now very little
satisfactory information to be obtained. Nichols, in his Topographer and
Genealogist, suggests that “James Cooke, the celebrated mariner, was
probably of common origin with the Stockton Cookes.” His reason for the
suggestion being that a branch of the family possessed a crayon portrait
of some relation, which was supposed to resemble the great discoverer. He
makes no explanation of the difference in spelling of the two names, and
admits that the sailor’s family was said to come from Scotland.
Dr. George Young, certainly the most reliable authority on Cook’s early
years, who published a Life in 1836, went to Whitby as Vicar about 1805,
and claims to have obtained much information about his subject “through
intercourse with his relatives, friends, and acquaintances, including one
or two surviving school companions,” and appears to be satisfied that
Cook was of Scotch extraction.

Sku: thelifeofcaptainjames

Old scandals concerning the private life of Lord Byron have been revived
with the recent publication of a collection of his letters. One of the
big questions seems to be: _Did Byron send Mary Shelley’s letter to Mrs.
R.B. Hoppner_? Everyone seems greatly excited about it.
Lest future generations be thrown into turmoil over my correspondence
after I am gone, I want right now to clear up the mystery which has
puzzled literary circles for over thirty years. I need hardly add that I
refer to what is known as the “Benchley-Whittier Correspondence.”

Sku: loveconquers

In introducing this book, I should like to commend it to its readers as
giving an account of the explorers of Australia in a simple and concise
form not hitherto available.
It introduces them to us, tells the tale of their long-tried patience and
stubborn endurance, how they lived and did their work, and gives a short
but graphic outline of the work they accomplished in opening out and
preparing Australia as another home for our race on this side of the
world.
The battle that they fought and won was over great natural difficulties
and obstacles, as fortunately there were no ferocious wild beasts in
Australia, while the danger from the hostility of the aborigines (though
a barbarous people) was with care and judgment, with a few exceptions,
avoided.

Sku: life-work