poverty, and at last their need was so great that they had to endurehunger, and had nothing to eat or drink. Then said they, it cannot goon like this, we had better go into the world and seek our fortune.They therefore set out, and had already walked over many a long roadand many a blade of grass, but had not yet met with good luck. Oneday they arrived in a great forest, and in the midst of it was ahill, and when they came nearer they saw that the hill was allsilver. Then spoke the eldest, now I have found the good luck Iwished for, and I desire nothing more. He took as much of the silveras he could possibly carry, and then turned back and went home again.But the two others said, we want
The Altruist in Politicsby Benjamin CardozoThere comes not seldom a crisis in the life of men, of nations,and of worlds, when the old forms seem ready to decay, and theold rules of action have lost their binding force. The evils ofexisting systems obscure the blessings that attend them; and,where reform is needed, the cry is raised for subversion. Thecause of such phenomena is not far to seek. "It used to appearto me," writes Count Tolstoi, in a significant passage, "it usedto appear to me that the small number of cultivated, rich andidle men, of whom I was one, composed the whole of humanity, and...
had nothing left but his mill and a large apple-tree behindit. Once when he had gone into the forest to fetch wood, anold man stepped up to him whom he had never seen before, andsaid, why do you plague yourself with cutting wood, I willmake you rich, if you will promise me what is standing behindyour mill. What can that be but my apple-tree, thought themiller, and said, yes, and gave a written promise to thestranger. He, however, laughed mockingly and said, when threeyears have passed, I will come and carry away what belongs to me,and then he went. When the miller got home, his wife came tomeet him and said, tell me, miller, from whence comes thissudden wealth into our house. All at on
by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenHAVING mentioned the most memorable actions of these great men, ifwe now compare the whole life of the one with that of the other, itwill not be easy to discern the difference between them, lost as it isamongst such a number of circumstances in which they resemble eachother. If, however, we examine them in detail, as we might somepiece of poetry, or some picture, we shall find this common to themboth, that they advanced themselves to great honour and dignity in thecommonwealth by no other means than their own virtue and industry. Butit seems when Aristides appeared, Athens was not at its height of...
THE SPHINX WITHOUT A SECRETONE afternoon I was sitting outside the Cafe de la Paix, watchingthe splendour and shabbiness of Parisian life, and wondering overmy vermouth at the strange panorama of pride and poverty that waspassing before me, when I heard some one call my name. I turnedround, and saw Lord Murchison. We had not met since we had been atcollege together, nearly ten years before, so I was delighted tocome across him again, and we shook hands warmly. At Oxford we hadbeen great friends. I had liked him immensely, he was so handsome,so high-spirited, and so honourable. We used to say of him that hewould be the best of fellows, if he did not always speak the truth,...
THE MODEL MILLIONAIREUNLESS one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow.Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of theunemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic. It isbetter to have a permanent income than to be fascinating. Theseare the great truths of modern life which Hughie Erskine neverrealised. Poor Hughie! Intellectually, we must admit, he was notof much importance. He never said a brilliant or even an ill-natured thing in his life. But then he was wonderfully good-looking, with his crisp brown hair, his clear-cut profile, and hisgrey eyes. He was as popular with men as he was with women and he...
THE COMPARISON OF POMPEY WITH AGESILAUSby Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenTHUS having drawn out the history of the lives of Agesilaus andPompey, the next thing is to compare them; and in order to this, totake a cursory view, and bring together the points in which theychiefly disagree; which are these. In the first place, Pompeyattained to all his greatness and glory by the fairest and justestmeans, owing his advancement to his own efforts, and to the frequentand important aid which he rendered Sylla, in delivering Italy fromits tyrants. But Agesilaus appears to have obtained his kingdom, not...
POST-MORTEM POETRY [1]In Philadelphia they have a custom which it would be pleasantto see adopted throughout the land. It is that of appending topublished death-notices a little verse or two of comforting poetry.Any one who is in the habit of reading the daily PhiladelphiaLEDGER must frequently be touched by these plaintive tributesto extinguished worth. In Philadelphia, the departure of a childis a circumstance which is not more surely followed by a burialthan by the accustomed solacing poesy in the PUBLIC LEDGER.In that city death loses half its terror because the knowledgeof its presence comes thus disguised in the sweet drapery of verse....
THE RATCATCHERA VERY long time ago the town of Hamel in Germany wasinvaded by bands of rats, the like of which had never been seenbefore nor will ever be again.They were great black creatures that ran boldly in broaddaylight through the streets, and swarmed so, all over the houses, thatpeople at last could not put their hand or foot down anywhere withouttouching one. When dressing in the morning they found themin their breeches and petticoats, in their pockets and in their boots;and when they wanted a morsel to eat, the voracious horde hadswept away everything from cellar to garret. The night was evenworse. As soon as the lights were out, these untiring nibblers set...
The VillageAfter hoeing, or perhaps reading and writing, in the forenoon, Iusually bathed again in the pond, swimming across one of its covesfor a stint, and washed the dust of labor from my person, orsmoothed out the last wrinkle which study had made, and for theafternoon was absolutely free. Every day or two I strolled to thevillage to hear some of the gossip which is incessantly going onthere, circulating either from mouth to mouth, or from newspaper tonewspaper, and which, taken in homoeopathic doses, was really asrefreshing in its way as the rustle of leaves and the peeping offrogs. As I walked in the woods to see the birds and squirrels, so...
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE STORY OF A MOTHERby Hans Christian AndersenA MOTHER sat by her little child; she was very sad, for she fearedit would die. It was quite pale, and its little eyes were closed,and sometimes it drew a heavy deep breath, almost like a sigh; andthen the mother gazed more sadly than ever on the poor littlecreature. Some one knocked at the door, and a poor old man walkedin. He was wrapped in something that looked like a greathorse-cloth; and he required it truly to keep him warm, for it wascold winter; the country everywhere lay covered with snow and ice, and...
Chapter XIX of Volume III (Chap. 61)HAPPY for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters. With what delighted pride she afterwards visited Mrs. Bingley, and talked of Mrs. Darcy, may be guessed. I wish I could say, for the sake of her family, that the accomplishment of her earnest desire in the establishment of so many of her children produced so happy an effect as to make her a sensible, amiable, well-informed woman for the rest of her life; though perhaps it was lucky for her husband, who might not have relished domestic felicity in so unusual a form, that she still was occasionally nervous and invariably silly.Mr. Bennet missed