Classic Books

Probably few persons who have a choice of holidays select a Bank holiday, which falls in the spring or summer, as one on which they will travel, or stroll in the country, unless, indeed, they live in neighbourhoods very far removed from large towns.

As a humble unit of the great English public, I have read with feelings of dismay the terrible indictment brought by Mr. Seymour Keay, in the last number of this journal, against our Indian administration. Hearing such things we must all ask ourselves to what extent are the charges set forth in ‘The Spoliation of India’ well founded? The allegations are specific, and involve charges of national breach of trust on a great scale. How are such charges to be either proved or disproved? England is herself ultimately responsible for the work of her servants in India. What means does she possess of taking an account of this Indian stewardship, so that her servants in the far East may be either acquitted or condemned? In the parable, the householder planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. But a day of reckoning came at last. Wherever there is a trust, due account should be rendered. If the present charges are false, they should, after proper inquiry, be declared so, in justice to the Indian administration. If they contain even a portion of truth, still more necessary is it that justice should be done in fulfilment of a great national duty.

Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970) was a British philosopher, mathematician, social critic, and political activist. Russell is considered to be one of the founders of analytic philosophy and one of the most important mathematicians and logicians in the 20th century.

Last and one of his critically most acclaimed novels, ‘Our Mutual Friend’ was first published in the year 1865. It is considered to be Dickens’ one of most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. In the opening chapters a body is found in the Thames and identified as that of John Harmon, a young man recently returned to London to receive his inheritance. Were he alive, his father’s will would require him to marry Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he had never met. Instead, the money passes to the working-class Boffins, and the effects spread into various corners of London society.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

At the beginning of the last century there were among the great founders of our Indian Empire many who had the most intimate knowledge of the people, and had been most successful in dealing with them, who conceived that our part was so to train and educate the people of India that they would eventually be able to rule themselves. Such great Anglo-Indians as Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone and Sir John Malcolm held this view. They were men of marked ability, and distinguished in a special degree for sympathy with the people, and they thought that by the end of a century we should make our bow, and leave India to be governed by the Indians.

“This text was originally the outgrowth of a series of lectures on the subject of dairy bacteriology to practical students in the winter Dairy Course in the University of Wisconsin. The importance of bacteriology in dairy processes has now come to be so widely recognized that no student of dairying regards his training as complete until he has had the fundamental principles of this subject.” -Preface

A 1933 novel by John Galsworthy, ‘One More River’ was the conclusion of a trilogy the Nobel Prize-winner conceived as a supplement to his popular “Forsyte Saga”, which told of generations of an upper middle class English family through the period when the stability of the Victorian era gave way to the uncertainties and tensions of modernity.

“From the balcony you look down upon massed and variegated tree- tops as though you were looking down upon a valley forest from a mountain height. Those trees, whose hidden trunks make alleys and squares, are rooted in the history of France. On the dusty gravel of the promenade which runs between the garden and the street a very young man and a girl, tiny figures, are playing with rackets at one of those second-rate ball games beloved by the French petite bourgeoisie. Their jackets and hats are hung on the corner of the fancy wooden case in which an orange-tree is planted. They are certainly perspiring in the heavy heat of the early morning. They are also certainly in love. This lively dalliance is the preliminary to a day’s desk-work. It seems ill-chosen, silly, futile. The couple have forgotten, if they ever knew, that they are playing at a terrific and long-drawn moment of crisis in a spot sacred to the finest civilisation.” -an excerpt

Pagan Ideas of Immortality During the Early Roman Empire’ is an interesting look at the evolution of philosophical thought through the age of antiquity into the early christian era through the various mystery sects, cults, and philosophical schools of the time. Speaking of the Stoics, Skeptics, Platonists and more, of Mithra, Osiris, and various tales of the underworld and afterlife, this text is an invaluable occult and academic reference, delivered in the form of a lecture.

“Among the many places of magic visited by Pantagruel and his company during the progress of their famous voyage, few surpass that island whose roads did literally “go” to places — “ou les chemins cheminent, comme animaulx”: and would-be travellers, having inquired of the road as to its destination, and received satisfactory reply, “se guindans” (as the old book hath it — hoisting themselves up on) “au chemin opportun, sans aultrement se poiner ou fatiguer, se trouvoyent au lieu destiné.” -an excerpt

Over the lofty peaks of many of the mountains of Europe a magnificent bird may occasionally be seen flying, while down in the valley, two thousand feet or more below, a hen may be scratching worms for her dinner, or a young lamb gamboling over the sweet meadow grass.

Villagers have suffered long from neglect by those who have had the benefit of education. They have chosen the city life. The village movement is an attempt to establish healthy contact with the villages by inducing those who are fired with the spirit of service to settle in them and find self-expression in the service of villagers.

Paradise Lost’ is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was first published in the year 1667. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton’s purpose, stated in Book I, is to “justify the ways of God to men”.

It was a proud moment in my existence when Wright, captain of our football club, came up to me in school one Friday and said, “Adams, your name is down to play in the match against Craven to-morrow.”

Wolfram von Eschenbach was a German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.
Wolfram is best known today for his Parzival, sometimes regarded as the greatest of all German epics from that time. It is the first extant work in German to have as its subject the Holy Grail. In the poem, Wolfram’s narrator expresses disdain for Chrétien’s version of the tale, and states that his source was a poet from Provence called Kyot.

Pascal’s Pensées’ is a collection of fragments on theology and philosophy written by 17th-century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal. Pascal’s religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism and the Pensées was in many ways his life’s work. This book represented Pascal’s defense of the Christian religion. The concept of “Pascal’s Wager” stems from a portion of this work.

whole theory of religion rests, for the Yogis. It seems the consensus of opinion of the great minds of the world, and it has been nearly demonstrated by researchers into physical nature, that we are the outcome and manifestation of an absolute condition, back of our present relative condition, and are going forward, to return again to that absolute. This being granted, the question is, which is better, the absolute or this state? There are not wanting people who think that this manifested state is the highest state of man. Thinkers of great calibre are of the opinion that we are manifested specimens of undifferentiated being, and this differentiated state is higher than the absolute. Because in the absolute there cannot be any quality they imagine that it must be insensate, dull, and lifeless, that only this life can be enjoyed, and therefore we must cling to it. First of all we want to inquire into other solutions of life. There was an old solution that man after death remained the same, that all his good sides, minus his evil sides, remained forever.” -An excerpt

The story of 20 years old Patty leading a life where everyone, in their own way, is trying to direct her as to what she should have for her future, is relatable for most of the girls, especially in the third world countries despite the fact that the setting of the story is much Victorian Europe. As Patty lives through a dilemma to choose between Bill Farnsworth and Philip Van Reypan, and loses Mrs. Reypen in the meantime, read the novella to have a quick yet fabulous read.

Pembroke is a novel written by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. It is set in the small town of Pembroke, Massachusetts in the 1830s and 40s. The novel tells the story of a romance gone awry and the dramatic events that follow, which entertain the residents of the small town for years after.

The first thing to do on arriving at a symphony concert is to express the wish that the orchestra will play Beethoven’s Fifth. If your companion then says “Fifth what?” you are safe with him for the rest of the evening; no metal can touch you. If, however, he says “So do I”–this is a danger signal and he may require careful handling.

First published in the year 1909, the present book titled ‘Personae’ is remarkable collection of poems of one of the most acclaimed poets of 20th century American literary scene – Ezra Pound.

The present novel ‘Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc — Volume 1’ was written by the famous English author Mark Twain. This novel recounts the life of Joan of Arc. It was first published in the year 1896.

First published in the year 1817, the present book ‘Persuasion’ by celebrated English novelist Jane Austen concerns Anne Elliot, a young Englishwoman of 27 years, whose family is moving to lower their expenses and get out of debt, at the same time as the wars come to an end, putting sailors on shore. They rent their home to an Admiral and his wife. The wife’s brother, Navy Captain Frederick Wentworth, had been engaged to Anne in 1806, and now they meet again, both single and unattached, after no contact in more than seven years. This sets the scene for many humorous encounters as well as a second, well-considered chance at love and marriage for Anne Elliot in her second “bloom”.