Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:25:55

Excerpt #1, from The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins

…subject of the inquiry I am conducting here. You detected the turn that inquiry was really taking, yesterday. Naturally enough, in your position, you are shocked and distressed. Naturally enough, also, you visit your own angry sense of your own family scandal upon Me.” “What do you want?” Mr. Franklin broke in, sharply enough. “I want to remind you, sir, that I have at any rate, thus far, not been proved to be wrong. Bearing that in mind, be pleased to remember, at the same time, that I am an officer of the law acting here under the sanction of the mistress of the house. Under these circumstances, is it, or is it not, your duty as a good citizen, to assist me with any special information which you may happen to possess?” “I possess no special information,” says Mr. Franklin. Sergeant Cuff put that answer by him, as if no answer had been made. “You may save my time, sir, from being wasted on an inquiry at a distance,” he went on, “if you choose to understand me and speak out.” “I don’t understand you,” answered Mr. Franklin; “and I have nothing to say.” “One of the female servants (I won’t mention names) spoke to you privately, sir, last night.” Once more Mr. Franklin cut him short; once more Mr. Franklin answered, “I have nothing to say.”…

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Excerpt #2, from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

…country and set down in the midst of a strange land. She was surprised, as she walked along, to see how pretty the country was about her. There were neat fences at the sides of the road, painted a dainty blue color, and beyond them were fields of grain and vegetables in abundance. Evidently the Munchkins were good farmers and able to raise large crops. Once in a while she would pass a house, and the people came out to look at her and bow low as she went by; for everyone knew she had been the means of destroying the Wicked Witch and setting them free from bondage. The houses of the Munchkins were odd-looking dwellings, for each was round, with a big dome for a roof. All were painted blue, for in this country of the East blue was the favorite color. Toward evening, when Dorothy was tired with her long walk and began to wonder where she should pass the night, she came to a house rather larger than the rest. On the green lawn before it many men and women were dancing. Five little fiddlers played as loudly as possible, and the people were laughing and singing, while a big table near by was loaded with delicious fruits and nuts, pies and cakes, and many other good things to eat. The people greeted Dorothy kindly, and invited her to supper and to pass the night with them; for this was the home of one of the richest…

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Excerpt #3, from Champions of the Fleet, by Edward Fraser

…did not, stood on and tacked and came close under her stern, and ¼ before 3 we began to engage her: ¼ before 4 she struck. “At that time the Vice-Admiral with the Jersey, Guernsey, and St. Albans stood in to westward of us after another ship on shore and fired some guns, when she struck; after which they set her on fire and stood in towards the Cape where another French ship was at anchor which they brought off. On our beginning to fire, the America fired some guns on the Ocean: she instantly hauled down her colours. “We sent a boat on board and took possession of our prize, which proved to be the Téméraire, 74 guns, 716 men. At ¼ to 5 we cut her cables and carried her down to the Admiral. “In the evening the Intrepid and America set fire to the Ocean.” Boscawen, with his work accomplished and the Toulon fleet accounted for, sailed away for England, carrying the Téméraire and the Modeste with him under British colours, to add both ships, in their original French names, to the British Navy. His battle in Lagos Bay under the shadow of the cliffs of Cape St. Vincent, if perhaps few people nowadays remember it, perhaps have ever heard of it, yet, in the words of Captain Mahan, “saved England from invasion,” and the Téméraire’s name should always stand for us as a memento of that fact. At the time the event made a widespread impression throughout Europe….

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Excerpt #4, from Boswell’s Life of Johnson, by James Boswell

…wisdom. The vehicle which he chose was that of a periodical paper, which he knew had been, upon former occasions, employed with great success. The Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian, were the last of the kind published in England, which had stood the test of a long trial; and such an interval had now elapsed since their publication, as made him justly think that, to many of his readers, this form of instruction would, in some degree, have the advantage of novelty. A few days before the first of his Essays came out, there started another competitor for fame in the same form, under the title of The Tatler Revived, which I believe was ‘born but to die.’ Johnson was, I think, not very happy in the choice of his title, The Rambler, which certainly is not suited to a series of grave and moral discourses; which the Italians have literally, but ludicrously translated by Il Vagabondo; and which has been lately assumed as the denomination of a vehicle of licentious tales, The Rambler’s Magazine. He gave Sir Joshua Reynolds the following account of its getting this name: ‘What MUST be done, Sir, WILL be done. When I was to begin publishing that paper, I was at a loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bedside, and resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had fixed its title. The Rambler seemed the best that occurred, and I took it.’ With what devout and conscientious sentiments this paper was undertaken,…

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Excerpt #5, from The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated, by Alexandre Dumas

…“Pray, Signor Pastrini,” asked Franz, “is not some execution appointed to take place today?” “Yes, your excellency; but if your reason for inquiry is that you may procure a window to view it from, you are much too late.” “Oh, no,” answered Franz, “I had no such intention; and even if I had felt a wish to witness the spectacle, I might have done so from Monte Pincio; could I not?” “Ah!” exclaimed mine host, “I did not think it likely your excellency would have chosen to mingle with such a rabble as are always collected on that hill, which, indeed, they consider as exclusively belonging to themselves.” “Very possibly I may not go,” answered Franz; “but in case I feel disposed, give me some particulars of today’s executions.” “What particulars would your excellency like to hear?” “Why, the number of persons condemned to suffer, their names, and description of the death they are to die.” “That happens just lucky, your excellency! Only a few minutes ago they brought me the tavolettas.” “What are they?” “Sort of wooden tablets hung up at the corners of streets the evening before an execution, on which is pasted up a paper containing the names…

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Excerpt #6, from Under the White Ensign: A Naval Story of the Great War, by Percy F. Westerman

…“Otherwise I’ll have you put in irons.” For a brief instant the Hun hesitated. “Der six man, Hans, below is,” he explained. “He vos stop and light a bomb. Ach! You vos do nodings. You promise make to all our lives spare.” The Sub realized that he had been done. It was up to him to do his best, even at the risk of his life, to prevent the destruction of the ship. It was obviously unfair to risk the lives of his men in a task that, but for his precipitate pledge, need never have been undertaken. “Keep those fellows on deck under close arrest. The boarding party will remain here,” he exclaimed, addressing the coxswain petty officer of the cutter. “I’m going below.” Without hesitation Webb descended the ladder into the gloomy depths of the fore hold. Groping until his feet touched the iron floor, he waited while his eyes grew accustomed to the dim light. The place was crowded with cargo, for the most part tiers of barrels. Fore and aft ran a narrow space, terminating at the transverse steel bulkheads. A faint hissing sound was borne to his ears. For’ard a splutter of dim reddish sparks told him that already the time-fuse had been lighted; but the Hun responsible for the firing of the bomb had not…

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Excerpt #7, from The Collected Works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 10 (of 12), by William Hazlitt

…there was no other way of keeping their good name but by giving up their principles, and joining in the same venal cry against all those who did not become apostates or converts, ministerial Editors, and ‘laurel-honouring Laureates’ like themselves!—What! at the very moment when this writer is complaining of a foul and systematic conspiracy against the characters of himself, and his most intimate friends, he suddenly stops short in his half-finished burst of involuntary indignation, and ends with a lamentable affectation of surprise at the otherwise unaccountable slowness of good men in yielding implicit confidence to a party, who had such powerful arts of conversion in their hands,—who could with impunity, and triumphantly, take away by atrocious calumnies the characters of all who disdained to be their tools, and rewarded with honours, places, and pensions all those who were. This is pitiful enough, we confess; but it is too painful to be dwelt on. Passing from the Laureate’s old Antijacobin, to his present Antiministerial persecutors—‘Publicly,’ exclaims Mr. Coleridge, ‘has Mr. Southey been reviled by men, who (I would fain hope, for the honour of human nature) hurled fire-brands against a figure of their own imagination,—publicly have his talents been depreciated, his principles denounced.’ This is very fine and lofty, no doubt; but we wish Mr. C. would speak a little plainer. Mr. Southey has come…

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Excerpt #8, from Simple Sabotage Field Manual, by United States. Office of Strategic Services

…spoiling a batch of rubber in the production plant is an act of still more value. (3) During a Military Offensive (a) Most significant sabotage for an area which is, or is soon destined to be, a theater of combat operations is that whose effects will be direct and immediate. Even if the effects are relatively minor and localized, this type of sabotage is to be preferred to activities whose effects, while widespread, are indirect and delayed. (1) The saboteur should be encouraged to attack transportation facilities of all kinds. Among such facilities are roads, railroads, auto mobiles, trucks, motor-cycles, bicycles, trains, and trams. (2) Any communications facilities which can be used by the authorities to transmit instructions or morale material should be the objects of simple sabotage. These include telephone, telegraph and power systems, radio, newspapers, placards, and public notices. (3) Critical materials, valuable in themselves or necessary to the efficient functioning of transportation and communication, also should become targets for the citizen-saboteur. These may include oil, gasoline, tires, food, and water. 5. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR SIMPLE SABOTAGE…

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Excerpt #9, from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete, by Suetonius

…on behalf of the Laodiceans, the Thyatireans, and Chians, who had suffered greatly by an earthquake, and implored relief from Rome. He prosecuted Fannius Caepio, who had been engaged in a conspiracy with Varro Muraena against Augustus, and procured sentence of condemnation against him. Amidst all this, he had besides to superintend two departments of the administration, that of supplying the city with corn, which was then very scarce, and that of clearing the houses of correction [304] throughout Italy, the masters of which had fallen under the odious suspicion of seizing and keeping confined, not only travellers, but those whom the fear of being obliged to serve in the army had driven to seek refuge in such places. IX. He made his first campaign, as a military tribune, in the Cantabrian war [305]. Afterwards he led an army into the East [306], where he restored the kingdom of Armenia to Tigranes; and seated on a tribunal, put a crown upon his head. He likewise recovered from the Parthians the standards which they had taken from Crassus. He next governed, for nearly a year, the province of Gallia Comata, which was then in great disorder, on account of the incursions of the barbarians, and the feuds of the chiefs. He afterwards commanded in the several wars against the Rhaetians, Vindelicians, Pannonians, and Germans. In the Rhaetian and Vindelician wars, he subdued the nations in the Alps; and in the…

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Excerpt #10, from The Wonders of Life: A Popular Study of Biological Philosophy, by Ernst Haeckel

…└─────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘ V DEATH Life and death–Individual death–Immortality of the unicellulars–Death of the protists and tissue-organisms–Causes of physiological death–Using up of the plasma–Regeneration–Biotonus–Perigenesis of the plastidules: memory of the biogens–Regeneration of protists and tissue-organisms–Senile debility–Disease–Necrobiosis–The lot of death–Providence–Chance and fate–Eternal life–Optimism and pessimism–Suicide and self-redemption–Redemption from evil–Medicine and philosophy–Maintenance of life–Spartan selection. Nothing is constant but change! All existence is a perpetual flux of “being and becoming”! That is the broad lesson of the evolution of the world, taken as a whole or in its various parts. Substance alone is eternal and unchangeable, whether we call this all-embracing world-being Nature, or Cosmos, or God, or World-spirit. The law of substance teaches us that it reveals itself to us in an infinite variety of forms, but that its essential attributes, matter and energy, are constant. All individual forms of substance are doomed to destruction. That will be the fate of the sun and its encircling…

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Excerpt #11, from Weather, Crops, and Markets. Vol. 2, No. 6, by Anonymous

…totaling more than 700 cars. Nearly 1,300 cars have already come from that State this season. Arkansas sent almost 600 cars to market during the week. Movement from Georgia decreased about 70%!,(MISSING) but the season is becoming very active in Illinois, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, as well as in the Middle Atlantic sections. Early varieties from eastern States sold in leading wholesale markets at $1.50‒$2 per bu. Tennessee Elbertas ranged as high as $3‒$3.25 in Cincinnati and Cleveland, but were $1 lower in Chicago because of the oversupplied market. PRICES OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Jobbing Range. POTATOES, Virginia Eastern Shore Irish Cobblers, No. 1—Barrels. ─────────────┬────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬────────────── Market. │ Week’s │ │ │ carlot │ │ │ arrivals. │ This season. │One year ago. ─────────────┼────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼────────────── │ │ July 31. │ July 24. │ ─────────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── New York │ 447│ $1.50‒1.75│ $2.75‒3.00│ $4.25‒4.50 Boston │ 168│ 2.75‒3.00│ 3.75‒4.00│ 5.25‒5.50 Philadelphia │ 160│ 1.50‒1.75│ 2.50‒2.65│ 4.00‒4.50…

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Excerpt #12, from Diary of Anna Green Winslow, a Boston School Girl of 1771, by Anna Green Winslow

…Go on I pray, & let me still pursue Those Golden ARTS the Vulgar never knew." Yr Dutifull Daughter ANNA GREEN WINSLOW. The poetry I transcrib’d from my Copy Book. March 19.–Thursday last I spent at home, except a quarter of an hour between sunset and dark, I stepped over the way to Mr. Glover’s with aunt. Yesterday I spent at Unkle Neddy’s & stitched wristbands for aunt Polly. By the way, I must inform you, (pray dont let papa see this) that yesterday I put on No 1 of my new shifts, & indeed it is very comfortable. It is long since I had a shift to my back. I dont know if I ever had till now–It seem’d so strange too, to have any linen below my waist–I am going to dine at Mrs. Whitwell’s to day, by invitation. I spent last evening at Mrs Rogers. Mr Hunt discoursed upon the doctrine of the Trinity–it was the second time that he spoke upon the subject at that place. I did not hear him the first time. His business last eve^g was to prove the divinity of the Son, & holy Ghost, & their equality with the Father. My aunt Deming says, it is a grief to her, that I don’t always write as well as I can, I can write pretily. March 21.–I din’d & spent the afternoon of Thursday last, at Mrs Whitwell’s. Mrs Lathrop, & Mrs Carpenter din’d there also. The latter…

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