Autobiography and Selected Essaysby Thomas Henry HuxleyEdited, with introduction and notes by Ada L. F. SnellAssociate Professor Of EnglishMount Holyoke CollegeCONTENTSPREFACEINTRODUCTIONThe Life of HuxleySubject-matter, Structure, and Style of EssaysSuggested StudiesAUTOBIOGRAPHYON IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGEA LIBERAL EDUCATIONON A PIECE OF CHALKTHE PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS OF EDUCATIONTHE METHOD OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONON THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF LIFE...
AEMILIUS PAULUS229-160 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenALMOST all agree that the Aemilii were one of the ancient andpatrician houses in Rome; and those authors who affirm that KingNuma was pupil to Pythagoras tell us that the first who gave name tohis posterity was Mamercus, the son of Pythagoras, who, for hisgrace and address in speaking, was called Aemilius. Most of thisrace that have risen through their merit to reputation also enjoyed...
THE SWEETHEART OF A KING. The scene was not exactly new to me. Moved by the spirit of adventure, or by an access of ennui which overtakes me at times, I had several times visited the gaudy establishment of Mercer, on the fashionable side of Fifth Avenue in the Fifties. In either case I had found disappointment; where the stake is a matter of indifference there can be no excitement; and besides, I had been always in luck. But on this occasion I had a real purpose before me, though not an important one, and I surrendered my hat and coat to the servant at the door with a feeling of satisfactio
THE SLEEPING-CARTHE SLEEPING-CAR1- Page 2-THE SLEEPING-CARI.SCENE: One side of a sleeping-car on the Boston and Albany Road.The curtains are drawn before most of the berths; from the hooks and rodshang hats, bonnets, bags, bandboxes, umbrellas, and other travelling gear;on the floor are boots of both sexes, set out for THE PORTER to black.THE PORTER is making up the beds in the upper and lower berths...
Coral and Coral Reefsby Thomas H. HuxleyTHE subject upon which I wish to address you to-night is the structureand origin of Coral and Coral Reefs. Under the head of "coral" thereare included two very different things; one of them is that substancewhich I imagine a great number of us have champed when we were verymuch younger than we are now,the common red coral, which is used somuch, as you know, for the edification and the delectation of childrenof tender years, and is also employed for the purposes of ornament forthose who are much older, and as some think might know better. The...
Lecture XIXOTHER CHARACTERISTICSWe have wound our way back, after our excursion through mysticismand philosophy, to where we were before: the uses of religion,its uses to the individual who has it, and the uses of theindividual himself to the world, are the best arguments thattruth is in it. We return to the empirical philosophy: the trueis what works well, even though the qualification "on the whole"may always have to be added. In this lecture we must revert todescription again, and finish our picture of the religious...
The Expedition of Humphry Clinkerby Tobias SmollettTo Mr HENRY DAVIS, Bookseller, in London.ABERGAVENNY, Aug. 4.RESPECTED SIR,I have received your esteemed favour of the 13th ultimo, wherebyit appeareth, that you have perused those same Letters, the whichwere delivered unto you by my friend, the reverend Mr Hugo Behn;and I am pleased to find you think they may be printed with agood prospect of success; in as much as the objections youmention, I humbly conceive, are such as may be redargued, if notentirely removed And, first, in the first place, as touching...
IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND PASSEPARTOUT ACCEPT EACH OTHER, THE ONE AS MASTER, THE OTHER AS MAN.Mr Phileas Fogg lived, in 1872, at No. 7, Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, the house in which Sheridan died in 1814. He was one of the most noticeable members of the Reform Club, though he seemed always to avoid attracting attention; an enigmatical personage, about whom little was known, except that he was a polished man of the world. People said that he resembled Byron, - at least that his head was Byronic; but he was a bearded, tranquil Byron, who might live on a thousand years without growing old.
ON SOPHISTICAL REFUTATIONSby Aristotletranslated by W. A. Pickard-CambridgeBook I1LET us now discuss sophistic refutations, i.e. what appear to berefutations but are really fallacies instead. We will begin in thenatural order with the first.That some reasonings are genuine, while others seem to be so but arenot, is evident. This happens with arguments, as also elsewhere,...
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENBEAUTY OF FORM AND BEAUTY OF MINDby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE was once a sculptor, named Alfred, who having won thelarge gold medal and obtained a travelling scholarship, went to Italy,and then came back to his native land. He was young at that time-indeed, he is young still, although he is ten years older than hewas then. On his return, he went to visit one of the little towns inthe island of Zealand. The whole town knew who the stranger was; andone of the richest men in the place gave a party in his honor, and all...
Marquise de Brinvilliersby Alexandre Dumas, PereTowards the end of the year 1665, on a fine autumn evening, there was a considerable crowd assembled on the Pont-Neuf where it makes a turn down to the rue Dauphine. The object of this crowd and the centre of attraction was a closely shut, carriage. A police official was trying to force open the door, and two out of the four sergeants who were with him were holding the horses back and the other two stopping the driver, who paid no attention to their commands, but only endeavoured to urge his horses to a gallop. The struggle had been going on
THE COMPARISON OF SERTORIUS WITH EUMENESby Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenTHESE are the most remarkable passages that are come to ourknowledge concerning Eumenes and Sertorius. In comparing theirlives, we may observe that this was common to them both; that beingaliens, strangers, and banished men, they came to be commanders ofpowerful forces, and had the leading of numerous and warlike armies,made up of divers nations. This was peculiar to Sertorius, that thechief command was, by his whole party, freely yielded to him, as to...
The Wood Beyond the Worldby William MorrisCHAPTER I: OF GOLDEN WALTER AND HIS FATHERAwhile ago there was a young man dwelling in a great and goodly cityby the sea which had to name Langton on Holm. He was but of fiveand twenty winters, a fair-faced man, yellow-haired, tall andstrong; rather wiser than foolisher than young men are mostly wont;a valiant youth, and a kind; not of many words but courteous ofspeech; no roisterer, nought masterful, but peaceable and knowinghow to forbear: in a fray a perilous foe, and a trusty war-fellow.His father, with whom he was dwelling when this tale begi
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE TOADby Hans Christian AndersenTHE well was deep, and therefore the rope had to be a long one; itwas heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise abucketful of water over the edge of the well. Though the water wasclear, the sun never looked down far enough into the well to mirroritself in the waters; but as far as its beams could reach, greenthings grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well.Down below dwelt a family of the Toad race. They had, in fact,...
On a Saturday morning in early August in 1969, a series of bizarre and inexplicable events occurred aboard the fifty-five-thousand-ton luxury liner S.S. Bretagne as it was preparing to sail from the Port of New York to Le Havre. Claude Dessard, chief purser of the Bretagne, a capable and meticulous man, ran, as he was fond of saying, a "tight ship". In the fifteen years Dessard had served aboard the Bretagne, he had never encountered a situation he had not been able to deal with efficiently and discreetly. Considering that the S.S. Bretagne was a French ship, this was high tribute, indeed. H