American Literature 1800-1899

Excerpt: When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.

Excerpt: Confession. There is a woman in the state of Nevada to whom I once lied continuously, consistently, and shamelessly, for the matter of a couple of hours. I don?t want to apologize to her. Far be it from me. But I do want to explain. Unfortunately, I do not know her name, much less her present address. If her eyes should chance upon these lines, I hope she will write to me. It was in Reno, Nevada, in the summer of 1892. Also, it was fair?time, and the town was fi...

Preface: It has been my object in these pages to present the life of each astronomer in such detail as to enable the reader to realise in some degree the man?s character and surroundings; and I have endeavoured to indicate as clearly as circumstances would permit the main features of the discoveries by which he has become known. There are many types of astronomers?from the stargazer who merely watches the heavens, to the abstract mathematician who merely works at his des...

My brother had just been appointed Secretary of Nevada Territory?an office of such majesty that it concentrated in itself the duties and dignities of Treasurer, Comptroller, Secretary of State, and Acting Governor in the Governor?s absence. A salary of eighteen hundred dollars a year and the title of ?Mr. Secretary,? gave to the great position an air of wild and imposing grandeur.

Consider this unique and imposing distinction. Since the writing of human history began, Joan of Arc is the only person, of either sex, who has ever held supreme command of the military forces of a nation at the age of seventeen.

?This campaign will do all the really hard work that is in front of it in the next four days. The rest of it will be gentler?oh, far less bloody. Yes, in four days France will gather another trophy like the redemption of Orleans and make her second long step toward freedom!? Catherine started (and do did I); then she gazed long at Joan like one in a trance, murmuring ?four days?four days,? as if to herself and unconsciously. Finally she asked, in a low voice that had something of awe in it.

A memoir of Jane Austen.--Lady Susan.--The Watsons

Excerpt: Chapter 1. THE author?s account of his country, and their manners and customs?Administration of justice?Embrenche?Marriage ceremony, and public entertainments?Mode of living?Dress?Manufactures Buildings?Commerce?Agriculture?War and religion?Superstition of the natives?Funeral ceremonies of the priests or magicians?Curious mode of discovering poison?Some hints concerning the origin of the author?s countrymen, with the opinions of different writers on that subject.

Excerpt: CHAP. VII. The author?s disgust at the West Indies?Forms schemes to obtain his freedom?Ludicrous disappointment he and his Captain meet with in Georgia?At last, by several successful voyages, he acquires a sum of money sufficient to purchase it?Applies to his master, who accepts it, and grants his manumission, to his great joy?He afterwards enters as a freeman on board one of Mr. King?s ships, and sails for Georgia?Impositions on free negroes as usual?His ventur...

PREFACE: Man proposes and God disposes. There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice. Although frequently urged by friends to write my memoirs I had determined never to do so, nor to write anything for publication. At the age of nearly sixty-two I received an injury from a fall, which confined me closely to the house while it did not apparently affect my general health. This made study a pleasant pastime. Shortly after, the r...

Excerpt: THE ?BODY OF THE NATION? BUT the basin of the Mississippi is the BODY OF THE NATION. All the other parts are but members, important in themselves, yet more important in their relations to this. Exclusive of the Lake basin and of 300,000 square miles in Texas and New Mexico, which in many aspects form a part of it, this basin contains about 1,250,000 square miles. In extent it is the second great valley of the world, being exceeded only by that of the Amazon. The...

Supplemental catalog subcollection information: American Libraries Collection; Historical Literature

Excerpt: THE First Remove Now away we must go with those barbarous creatures, with our bodies wounded and bleeding, and our hearts no less than our bodies. About a mile we went that night, up upon a hill within sight of the town, where they intended to lodge. There was hard by a vacant house (deserted by the English before, for fear of the Indians). I asked them whether I might not lodge in the house that night, to which they answered, ?What, will you love English men st...

Excerpt: Publius Terentius Afer, a native of Carthage, was a slave, at Rome, of the senator Terentius Lucanus, who, struck by his abilities and handsome person, gave him not only a liberal education in his youth, but his freedom when he arrived at years of maturity. Some say that he was a captive taken in war, but this, as Fenestella [925] informs us, could by no means have been the case, since both his birth and death took place in the interval between the termination o...