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261Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Pilot  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: Each year causes some new and melancholy chasm in what is now the brief list of my naval friends and former associates. War, disease, and the casualties of a hazardous profession, have made fearful inroads in the limited number; while the places of the dead are supplied by names that to me are strangers. With the consequences of these sad changes before me, I cherish the recollection of those with whom I once lived in close familiarity with peculiar interest, and feel a triumph in their growing reputations, that is but little short of their own honest pride. A single glance at the map will make the reader acquainted with the position of the eastern coast of the island of Great Britain, as connected with the shores of the opposite continent. Together they form the boundaries of the small sea, that has for ages been known to the world as the scene of maritime exploits, and as the great avenue through which commerce and war have conducted the fleets of the northern nations of Europe. Over this sea the islanders long asserted a jurisdiction, exceeding that which reason concedes to any power on the highway of nations, and which frequently led to conflicts that caused an expenditure of blood and treasure, utterly disproportioned to the advantages that can ever arise from the maintenance of a useless and abstract right. It is across the waters of this disputed ocean that we shall attempt to conduct our readers, in imagination, selecting a period for our incidents that has peculiar interests for every American, not only because it was the birth-day of his nation, but because it was also the era when reason and common sense began to take place of custom and feudal practices in the management of the affairs of nations. “Believing that Providence may conduct me where we shall meet, or whence I may be able to transmit to you this account, I have prepared a short statement of the situation of Cecilia Howard and myself; not, however, to urge you and Griffith to any rash or foolish hazards, but that you may both sit down, and, after due consultation, determine on what is proper for our relief.
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262Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Pilot  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: As Griffith and his compantions rushed from the offices of St. Ruth, into the open air, they encountered no one to intercept their flight, or communicate the alarm. Warned by the experience of the earlier part of the same night, they avoided the points where they knew the sentinels were posted, though fully prepared to bear down all resistance, and were soon beyond the probability of immediate detection. They proceded, for the distance of half a mile, with rapid strides, and with the stern and sullen silence of men who expected to encounter immediate danger, resolved to breast it with desperate resolution; but, as they plunged into a copse, that clustered around the ruin which has already been mentioned, they lessened their exertions to a more deliberate pace; and a short but guarded dialogue ensued.
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263Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Pioneers, or the Sources of the Susquehanna  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: Near the centre of the great State of New-York lies an extensive district of country, whose surface is a succession of hills and dales, or, to speak with greater deference to geographical definitions, of mountains and valleys. It is among these hills that the Delaware takes its rise; and flowing from the limpid lakes and thousand springs of this country, the numerous sources of the mighty Susquehanna meander through the valleys, until, uniting, they form one of the proudest streams of which the old United States could boast. The mountains are generally arable to the top, although instances are not wanting, where their sides are jutted with rocks, that aid greatly in giving that romantic character to the country, which it so eminently possesses. The vales are narrow, rich, and cultivated; with a stream uniformly winding through each, now gliding peacefully under the brow of one of the hills, and then suddenly shooting across the plain, to wash the feet of its opposite rival. Beautiful and thriving villages are found interspersed along the margins of the small lakes, or situated at those points of the streams which are favourable to manufacturing; and neat and comfortable farms, with every indication of wealth about them, are scattered profusely through the vales, and even to the mountain tops. Roads diverge in every direction, from the even and graceful bottoms of the valleys, to the most rugged and intricate passes of the hills Academies, and minor edifices for the encouragement of learning, meet the eye of the stranger, at every few miles, as he winds his way through this uneven territory; and places for the public worship of God abound with that frequency which characterizes a moral and reflecting people, and with that variety of exterior and canonical government which flows from unfettered liberty of conscience. In short, the whole district is hourly exhibiting how much can be done, in even a rugged country, and with a severe climate, under the dominion of mild laws, and where every man feels a direct interest in the prosperity of a commonwealth, of which he knows himself to form a distinct and independent part. The expedients of the pioneers who first broke ground in the settlement of this country, are succeeded by the permanent improvements of the yeoman, who intends to leave his remains to moulder under the sod which he tills, or, perhaps, of the son, who, born in the land, piously wishes to linger around the grave of his father. Only forty years have passed since this whole territory was a wilderness.
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264Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Pioneers, or the Sources of the Susquehanna  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: As the spring gradually approached, the immense piles of snow, that, by alternate thaws and frosts, and repeated storms, had obtained a firmness that threatened a tiresome durability, begun to yield to the influence of milder breezes and a warmer sun. The gates of Heaven, at times, seemed to open, and a bland air diffused itself over the earth, when animate and inanimate nature would awaken, and, for a few hours, the gayety of spring shone in every eye, and smiled on every field. But the shivering blasts from the north would carry their chill influence over the scene again, and the dark and gloomy clouds that intercepted the rays of the sun, were not more cold and dreary, than the re-action which crossed the creation. These struggles between the seasons became, daily, more frequent, while the earth, like a victim to contention, slowly lost the animated brilliancy of winter, without obtaining the decided aspect of spring.
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265Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Prairie  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: Much was said and written, at the time, concerning the policy of adding the vast regions of Louisiana, to the, already, immense and but half-tenanted territories of the United States. As the warmth of controversy, however, subsided, and personal considerations gave place to more liberal views, the wisdom of the measure began to be, generally, conceded. It soon became apparent to the meanest capacity, that, while nature had placed a barrier of desert to the extension of our population in the west, the measure had made us the masters of a belt of fertile country, which, in the revolutions of the day, might have become the property of a rival nation. It gave us the sole command of the great thoroughfare of the interior, and placed the countless tribes of savages, who lay along our borders, entirely, within our control; it reconciled conflicting rights, and quieted national distrusts; it opened a thousand avenues to the inland trade, and to the waters of the Pacific; and, if ever time or necessity should require a peaceful division of this vast empire, it assures us of a neighbour that would possess our language, our religion, our institutions, and it is also to be hoped, our sense of political justice.
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266Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Prairie  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: The trapper, who had meditated no violence, dropped his rifle again, and laughing at the success of his experiment, with great seeming self-complacency, he drew the astounded gaze of the naturalist from the person of the savage to himself, by saying—
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267Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Water-witch, Or, the Skimmer of the Seas  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: The fine estuary which penetrates the American coast, between the fortieth and forty-first degrees of latitude, is formed by the confluence of the Hudson, the Hackensack, the Passaic, the Raritan, and a multitude of smaller streams; all of which pour their tribute into the ocean, within the space named. The islands of Nassau and Staten are happily placed to exclude the tempests of the open sea, while the deep and broad arms of the latter offer every desirable facility for foreign trade and internal intercourse. To this fortunate disposition of land and water, with a temperate climate, a central position, and an immense interior, that is now penetrated, in every direction, either by artificial or by natural streams, the city of New-York is indebted for its extraordinary prosperity. Though not wanting in beauty, there are many bays that surpass this in the charms of scenery; but it may be questioned if the world possesses another site that unites so many natural advantages for the growth and support of a widely-extended commerce. As if never wearied with her kindness, Nature has placed the island of Manhattan at the precise point that is most desirable for the position of a town. Millions might inhabit the spot, and yet a ship should load near every door; and while the surface of the land just possesses the inequalities that are required for health and cleanliness, its bosom is filled with the material most needed in construction.
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268Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Water-witch, Or, the Skimmer of the Seas  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: It is not necessary to say, with how mnch interest Alderman Van Beverout, and his friend the Patroon, had witnessed all the proceedings on board the Coquette. Something very like an exclamation of pleasure escaped the former, when it was known that the ship had missed the brigantine, and that there was now little probability of overtaking her that night.
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269Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Deerslayer: Or, the First War-path  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: On the human imagination, events produce the effects of time. Thus, he who has travelled far and seen much, is apt to fancy that he has lived long; and the history that most abounds in important incidents, soonest assumes the aspect of antiquity. In no other way can we account for the venerable air that is already gathering around American annals. When the mind reverts to the earliest days of colonial history, the period seems remote and obscure, the thousand changes that thicken along the links of recollections, throwing back the origin of the nation to a day so distant as seemingly to reach the mists of time; and yet four lives of ordinary duration would suffice to transmit, from mouth to mouth, in the form of tradition, all that civilized man has achieved within the limits of the republic. Although New York, alone, possesses a population materially exceeding that of either of the four smallest kingdoms of Europe, or materially exceeding that of the entire Swiss Confederation, it is little more than two centuries since the Dutch commenced their settlement, rescuing the region from the savage state. Thus, what seems venerable by an accumulation of changes, is reduced to familiarity when we come seriously to consider it solely in connection with time.
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270Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Deerslayer: Or, the First War-path  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: The discovery mentioned at the close of the preceding chapter, was of great moment in the eyes of Deerslayer and his friend. In the first place, there was the danger, almost the certainty, that Hutter and Hurry would make a fresh attempt on this camp, should they awake and ascertain its position. Then there was the increased risk of landing to bring off Hist; and there were the general uncertainty and additional hazards that must follow from the circumstance that their enemies had begun to change their positions. As the Delaware was aware that the hour was near when he ought to repair to the rendezvous, he no longer thought of trophies torn from his foes; and one of the first things arranged between him and his associate, was to permit the two others to sleep on, lest they should disturb the execution of their plans, by substituting some of their own. The ark moved slowly, and it would have taken fully a quarter of an hour to reach the point, at the rate at which they were going; thus affording time for a little forethought. The Indians, in the wish to conceal their fire from those who were thought to be still in the castle, had placed it so near the southern side of the point, as to render it extremely difficult to shut it in by the bushes, though Deerslayer varied the direction of the scow, both to the right and to the left, in the hope of being able to effect that object.
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271Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  Wyandotté, Or, the Hutted Knoll  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: There is a wide-spread error on the subject of American scenery. From the size of the lakes, the length and breadth of the rivers, the vast solitudes of the forests, and the seemingly boundless expanse of the prairies, the world has come to attach to it an idea of grandeur; a word that is in nearly every case, misapplied. The scenery of that portion of the American continent which has fallen to the share of the Anglo-Saxon race, very seldom rises to a scale that merits this term; when it does, it is more owing to the accessories, as in the case of the interminable woods, than to the natural face of the country. To him who is accustomed to the terrific sublimity of the Alps, the softened and yet wild grandeur of the Italian lakes, or to the noble witchery of the shores of the Mediterranean, this country is apt to seem tame, and uninteresting as a whole; though it certainly has exceptions that carry charms of this nature to the verge of loveliness.
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272Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  Wyandotté, Or, the Hutted Knoll  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: All Maud's feelings were healthful and natural. She had no exaggerated sentiments, and scarcely art enough to control or to conceal any of the ordinary impulses of her heart. We are not about to relate a scene, therefore, in which a long-cherished but hidden miniature of the young man is to play a conspicuous part, and to be the means of revealing to two lovers the state of their respective hearts; but one of a very different character. It is true, Maud had endeavoured to make, from memory, one or two sketches of “Bob's” face; but she had done it openly, and under the cognizance of the whole family. This she might very well do, indeed, in her usual character of a sister, and excite no comments. In these efforts, her father and mother, and Beulah, had uniformly pronounced her success to be far beyond their hopes; but Maud, herself, had thrown them all aside, half-finished, dissatisfied with her own labours. Like the author, whose fertile imagination fancies pictures that defy his powers of description, her pencil ever fell far short of the face that her memory kept so constantly in view. This sketch wanted animation, that gentleness, another fire, and a fourth candour; in short, had Maud begun a thousand, all would have been deficient, in her eyes, in some great essential of perfection. Still, she had no secret about her efforts, and half-a-dozen of these very sketches lay uppermost in her portfolio, when she spread it, and its contents, before the eyes of the original.
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273Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  Jack Tier; Or, the Florida Reef  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: “D'ye here there, Mr. Mulford?” called out Capt. Stephen Spike, of the half-rigged, brigantine Swash, or Molly Swash, as was her registered name, to his mate—“we shall be dropping out as soon as the tide makes, and I intend to get through the Gate, at least, on the next flood. Waiting for a wind in port is lubberly seamanship, for he that wants one should go outside and look for it.”
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274Author:  Cooper James Fenimore 1789-1851Requires cookie*
 Title:  Jack Tier; Or, the Florida Reef  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: It is seldom that man is required to make an exertion as desperate and appalling, in all its circumstances, as that on which Harry Mulford was now bent. The night was starlight, it was true, and it was possible to see objects near by with tolerable distinctness; still, it was midnight, and the gloom of that hour rested on the face of the sea, lending its solemn mystery and obscurity to the other trying features of the undertaking. Then there was the uncertainty whether it was the boat at all, of which he was in pursuit; and, if the boat, it might drift away from him as fast as he could follow it. Nevertheless, the perfect conviction that, without some early succour, the party on the wreck, including Rose Budd, must inevitably perish, stimulated him to proceed, and a passing feeling of doubt, touching the prudence of his course, that came over the young mate, when he was a few yards from the wreck, vanished under a vivid renewal of this last conviction. On he swam, therefore, riveting his eye on the “thoughtful star” that guided his course, and keeping his mind as tranquil as possible, in order that the exertions of his body might be the easier.
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275Author:  Dawes Rufus 1803-1859Requires cookie*
 Title:  Nix's Mate  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: An October morning in New England! They who appreciate the beauties of Nature in the chill air of Autumn, when the hoar-frost hangs heavily on the brown grass, and the forest-foliage has assumed the diversified robe so peculiar to the northern regions of the United States; particularly they who have loitered among the uplands of Massachusetts and in the vicinity of Boston, have seen the sun rise from the blue Atlantic, and break the clouds into a thousand fragments of purple and gold, while his beams glittered on the ripples of the ocean,—and this on an October morning,—have seen a vision of magnificence and beauty perfectly characteristic of that glorious country which is already developing the scheme of broad philanthropy, of which the pilgrim fathers were the first medium of manifestation.
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276Author:  Dawes Rufus 1803-1859Requires cookie*
 Title:  Nix's Mate  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: We now return to the metropolis of New-England. Horace Seymour had at last entirely regained his strength, and was once more entering upon the hopes, wishes, and daily occupations of the busy world. Nor had the interim of his indisposition disqualified him from pursuing those studies in which he most delighted. Having just graduated at Harvard University, he had entered as a law student in his uncle's office, where, under the guidance of Mr. Wilmer, he was making as rapid progress as was possible in those days when Blackstone was not by to smooth the rugged road to the Bar. What was wanted, however, in facilities, was amply made up by perseverance and industry; and students who were in the least degree ambitious of eminence, were contented to abide by the lucubrationes viginti annorum of Coke, amidst the musty tomes of black-letter Norman French, and the not most elegant Latin of the text-books. A seven years' clerkship was then indispensable to a knowledge of the mere outlines of the Common Law of England; and when a young man was so fortunate as to meet with such a guide as Mr. Wilmer, it may be truly said that his education commenced on the day of his entering the Law office.
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277Author:  Hawthorne Nathaniel 1804-1864Requires cookie*
 Title:  Fanshawe  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: In an ancient, though not very populous settlement, in a retired corner of one of the New-England States, arise the walls of a seminary of learning, which, for the convenience of a name, shall be entitled `Harley College,' This institution, though the number of its years is inconsiderable, compared with the hoar antiquity of its European sisters, is not without some claims to reverence on the score of age; for an almost countless multitude of rivals, by many of which its reputation has been eclipsed, have sprung up since its foundation. At no time, indeed, during an existence of nearly a century, has it acquired a very extensive fame, and circumstances, which need not be particularized, have of late years involved it in a deeper obscurity. There are now few candidates for the degrees that the college is authorized to bestow. On two of its annual `Commencement days,' there has been a total deficiency of Baccalaureates; and the lawyers and divines, on whom Doctorates in their respective professions are gratuitously inflicted, are not accustomed to consider the distinction as an honor. Yet the sons of this seminary have always maintained their full share of reputation, in whatever paths of life they trod. Few of them, perhaps, have been deep and finished scholars; but the College has supplied—what the emergencies of the country demanded—a set of men more useful in its present state, and whose deficiency in theoretical knowledge has not been found to imply a want of practical ability.
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278Author:  Hawthorne Nathaniel 1804-1864Requires cookie*
 Title:  Twice-told Tales  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: There was once a time when New England groaned under the actual pressure of heavier wrongs, than those threatened ones which brought on the Revolution. James II., the bigoted successor of Charles the Voluptuous, had annulled the charters of all the colonies, and sent a harsh and unprincipled soldier to take away our liberties and endanger our religion. The administration of Sir Edmund Andros lacked scarcely a single characteristic of tyranny: a Governor and Council, holding office from the King, and wholly independent of the country; laws made and taxes levied without concurrence of the people, immediate or by their representatives; the rights of private citizens violated, and the titles of all landed property declared void; the voice of complaint stifled by restrictions on the press; and finally, disaffection overawed by the first band of mercenary troops that ever marched on our free soil. For two years our ancestors were kept in sullen submission, by that filial love which had invariably secured their allegiance to the mother country, whether its head chanced to be a Parliament, Protector, or popish Monarch. Till these evil times, however, such allegiance had been merely nominal, and the colonists had ruled themselves, enjoying far more freedom, than is even yet the privilege of the native subjects of Great Britain. —I have received the First and Second Parts of your North American Arithmetic, and am highly pleased with the plan of the work, and the manner of its execution thus far. It unites simplicity with fulness. and will thus be sure to interest the beginner, whilst it furnishes, at the same time. an ample guide to the more advanced pupil. —I have examined the Third Part of Mr. Emerson's Arithmetic with great pleasure. The perspicuity of its arrangement, and the clearness and brevity of its explanations, combined with its happy adaptation to the purposes of practical business, are its great recommendations. I hope it will soon be introduced into all our schools, and take the place of ill-digested treatises, to which our instructors have hitherto been compelled to resort. [Conclusion of a letter to the Author.] I should think it hardly possible that a child could be faithfully conducted through these two works [First and Second Parts] without being vastly better acquainted with the subject than children formerly were. Being judiciously compelled in some measure to invent their own rules, they can scarcely fail of being able to assign a proper reason for the process, as well as to recollect it for future use. Indeed, I do not know any one particular in which, for the use of very young pupils, they could be improved. I have carefully examined the Third Part of the North American Arithmetic, by Mr. Emerson; and am so well satisfied that it is the best treatise on the subject with which I am acquainted, that I have determined to introduce it as a text-book into my school. Notwithstanding the obvious improvements of the study, both in a practical point of view and as an intellectual exercise, arithmetic is perhaps the science which is most negligently taught in common schools, and the true principles of which are left in the greatest obscurity in the minds of scholars. One reason of this is the imperfection of the common treatises used in our schools. The Arithmetic of Dr. Adams was a decided improvement upon its predecessors in the way of lucid explanations, and, as might be expected, others followed which went still farther in the track of inductive illustration. The North American Arithmetic, by Frederick Emerson, appears to me to exhibit the science in a manner more clear, simple and practical, better adapted to the use of schools and the benefit of teachers, who may not themselves be thoroughly conversant with arithmetic, than any book I have seen. The doctrine of Ratio and Proportion is treated in the way in which it can alone be rendered perfectly intelligible to the pupil, and far more satisfactory than in any English or American Arithmetic that has fallen under my notice. —Having examined your North American Arithmetic with much care, and made some use of it as a text-book in my classes, I do not hesitate to regard it as better adapted than any other, to the schools of the United States. It has long been objected to the books on this subject in common use, that they are deficient in explanation, and unscientific in arrangement; more apt to check than develop the powers of reasoning and calculation. To your work, certainly, these objections are inapplicable. No pupil, it seems to me, can go through Parts First, Second, and Third, with ordinary attention, without acquiring a facility of analysis, a readiness both of rule and reason, and a dexterity of practice, not easily to be derived from any other books yet published. —I have examined the First Class Reader, by B. D. Emerson; and, in my view, the selections are judiciously made, and characterized by great purity and elegance of style, and yet are not so elevated as to be unintelligible by those for whose use it is designed. The work is throughout, so far as I have discovered, unexceptionable in the sentiment with which it is fraught. It is introduced by some very useful “Suggestions to Teachers,” with regard to the examination of their pupils on the lessons read. On the whole, I know not of a reading book of higher merit, for the more advanced classes in our schools. —Allow me to express my cordial approbation of the selection of pieces introduced into the First Class Reader. In correctness of sentiment, manliness of style, and elegance of diction, this approaches more nearly than any of the previous compilations with which I am acquainted, to what a book should be, which is designed to be a reading manual for youth. I have carefully examined the Reading Books prepared by Mr. B. D. Emerson, and cordially bear testimony to the merits of the work. I am much pleased with the character of the selections, and highly approve of the system of instruction recommended by Mr. E. in his “Suggestions to Teachers.” I hope these books will gain the extensive circulation to which they are justly entitled. Having examined the series of School Reading Books, entitled the “First Class Reader,” the “Second Class Reader,” and the “Third Class Reader,” by B. D. Emerson, the undersigned regard them as having very high claims to the notice and approbation of the public. The books form a regular series, carefully graduated according to the advancement of classes in good English Schools. The selections are very judiciously made, both in matter and style. Each piece is adapted to the comprehension of the scholar, and conveys some useful truth, either moral or scientific. Specimens are presented of the best writers in the English language, and throughout the series is given a very great deal of historical and general information. Having examined the First and Second Class Readers, compiled by Mr. B. D. Emerson, I take great pleasure in recommending them to the public, as highly deserving their patronage. I consider these works a decided improvement upon those of a similar character now in use. The selections are made with much taste and judgment, and are peculiarly adapted to the capacities and wants of those for whose use they are intended. I shall introduce them into the series of reading books used by my pupils. —I have attentively examined your series of Readers. The lessons are selected with much taste, and are well calculated to produce a good moral influence. It is desirable that these works should be extensively used in our High Schools and Academies. Your Third Class Reader is used in all our District Schools and highly approved. Emerson's Class Readers. * * * * The selections are made with reference to purity of sentiment, and to moral impression; and are, on that account, worthy of all commendation. * * * * In short, we can say of these Readers, that we know of no books, which, for beauty of selection, purity of sentiment, and for variety of expression, will compare with them. The sooner they are introduced into our schools the better. The First Class Reader and The Second Class Reader.— * * We are pleased with these selections, for we think they are executed on the plan proposed; that “each extract should contain some useful truth— something of more importance than the mere amusement of a passing hour.” —Having given Mr. Emerson's Reading Books a careful examination, I feel confident that they possess merits equal to those of any other Readers now in use. The experience of many years in school-keeping has convinced me that a change of books is of primary importance in acquiring an art so much neglected, yet so ornamental and useful as good reading. It is not to be supposed that children can profit much by reading again and again what has, from their earliest recollections, been sounded over and over in their ears, till every section and almost every word are as familiar to them as the walls of their school-room. To make ready readers there is need of some novelty. We not unfrequently meet with those who can read fluently and well the worn pages of a school book, but yet who hesitate and blunder over the columns of a newspaper, or the pages of a strange book. I am, therefore, glad to see your Readers, and it will give me pleasure to encourage their introduction into our schools. —Having received and examined, with some attention, a copy of your “American Universal Geography.” I have no hesitation in giving it the preference to other works intended for School Geographies, and for the following reason, viz.: Your Geography contains the copperplate Maps in the same volume with the text; it embraces matter far greater in quantity, and in my opinion superior in quality; it unites History with Geography as History and Geography should be united; and, finally, its value is much enhanced by the stereotype Maps. From a cursory examination, we feel no hesitation in expressing our decided approbation of Blake's New American School Geography. The form of the volume being such as to admit the insertion of the Maps, together with the minuteness of detail presented by the author, we think, gives the work a decided superiority over those of the kind now in use. We have used “Bailey's First Lessons in Algebra,” in the Public Writing Schools of Boston, respectively committed to our instruction, and can testify with confidence to its high value. The peculiar excellence of the work consists in its serving not only as a text-book, but in a great measure as a teacher. The plainness, simplicity, and fulness with which the subject is treated, enable the scholar to proceed in the exercises understandingly, with little or no aid, other than that which is to be found on the pages of the book. I have, with much attention and satisfaction, examined “Bailey's First Lessons in Algebra.” As a first course of lessons in this very interesting science, this book, I do not hesitate to say, far exceeds any other that I have seen. No scholar will consider Algebra a dry study while attending to this system. I am very glad to find that Algebra has been introduced into many of our town schools; and am positive that there is no better way to make scholars understand Arithmetic well, than that they should devote part of their time to the study of Algebra. I most cordially recommend the work to the attention of School Committees and Teachers.
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279Author:  Hawthorne Nathaniel 1804-1864Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Gentle Boy :  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: In the course of the year 1656, several of the people called Quakers, led, as they professed, by the inward movement of the spirit, made their appearance in New England. Their reputation, as holders of mystic and pernicious principles, having spread before them, the Puritans early endeavored to banish, and to prevent the further intrusion of the rising sect. But the measures by which it was intended to purge the land of heresy, though more than sufficiently vigorous, were entirely unsuccessful. The Quakers, esteeming persecution as a divine call to the post of danger, laid claim to a holy courage, unknown to the Puritans themselves, who had shunned the cross, by providing for the peaceable exercise of their religion in a distant wilderness. Though it was the singular fact, that every nation of the earth rejected the wandering enthusiasts who practised peace towards all men, the place of greatest uneasiness and peril, and therefore in their eyes the most eligible, was the province of Massachusetts Bay.
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280Author:  Hawthorne Nathaniel 1804-1864Requires cookie*
 Title:  The Celestial Rail-road  
 Published:  1997 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 
 Description: Not a great while ago, passing through the gate of dreams, I visited that region of the earth in which lies the famous city of Destruction. It interested me much to learn, that, by the public spirit of some of the inhabitants, a railroad had recently been established between this populous and flourishing town, and the Celestial City. Having a little time upon my hands, I resolved to gratify a liberal curiosity, by making a trip thither. Accordingly, one fine morning, after paying my bill at the hotel, and directing the porter to stow my luggage behind a coach, I took my seat in the vehicle, and set out for the Station-house. It was my good fortune to enjoy the company of a gentleman—one Mr. Smooth-it-away—who, though he had never actually visited the Celestial City, yet seemed as well acquainted with its laws, customs, policy, and statistics, as with those of the city of Destruction, of which he was a native townsman. Being, moreover, a director of the railroad corporation, and one of its largest stockholders, he had it in his power to give me all desirable information respecting that praiseworthy enterprise.
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