The stories within "The Delicious Vice" explore the world of gambling and its impact on individuals from various walks of life. Allison's tales delve into the psychology of gamblers, their motivations, triumphs, losses, and the addictive nature of the vice.Through different characters and scenarios, Allison presents a series of vignettes that capture the excitement, risks, and consequences associated with gambling. The stories aim to portray the allure and dangers of indulging in the "deli...

In "On the Vice of Novel Reading," Young Ewing Allison presents a thought-provoking critique of the burgeoning popularity of novels in the 19th century, a time marked by rapid societal changes and shifting cultural norms. Through a series of well-structured arguments, Allison employs a persuasive literary style rich in rhetorical devices, exploring themes of morality, escapism, and the potential dangers of fiction. The book resonates within the larger context of contemporary debates over l...

In "The Delicious Vice," Young Ewing Allison artfully explores themes of indulgence, morality, and the complexities of human desire, all woven into a rich narrative tapestry. Set against the backdrop of late 19th-century American society, the novel employs a lyrical prose style that encapsulates the era's cultural tensions and societal norms. As readers navigate the labyrinth of the protagonist's passions and ethical dilemmas, Allison deftly balances the sensuality of his subject matter wi...

Accusations of ingratitude, and just accusations no doubt, are made against every inhabitant of this wicked world, and the fact is, that a man who is ceaselessly engaged in its trouble and turmoil, borne hither and thither upon the fierce waves of the crowd, bustling, shifting, struggling to keep himself somewhat above water--fighting for reputation, or more likely for bread, and ceaselessly occupied to-day with plans for appeasing the eternal appetite of inevitable hunger to-morrow--a man...

This is an essay on dreams, dream interpretation, divination with dreams and dreams as prophecy.

Fortune-Telling by Cardsby P.R.S. FoliSeveral methods of telling fortunes with a standard deck of playing cards."This is a short book on telling fortunes, primarily with a standard deck of playing cards. There is a short two-chapter section at the end about the Tarot. Described are several different spreads, including the 32-card method, the French and Italian methods, the Grand Star, and Etteilla's Tarot spread.""This goddess Fortune frustrates, single-hande...

"A Christmas Sermon" is an essay written by Robert Louis Stevenson while he convalesced from a lung ailment at Lake Sarnac in the winter of 1887. In the short text he meditates on the questions of death, morality and man’s main task in life which he concludes is “To be honest, to be kind — to earn a little and to spend a little less, to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence.”

It is a strange fact, for which I do not expect ever satisfactorily to account, and which will receive little credence even among those who know that I am not given to romancing - it is a strange fact, I say, that the substance of the following pages has evolved itself during a period of six months, more or less, between the hours of midnight and four o'clock in the morning, proceeding directly from a type-writing machine standing in the corner of my library, manipulated by unseen hands

Calmness is the rarest quality in human life. It is the poise of a great nature, in harmony with itself and its ideals. It is the moral atmosphere of a life self-centred, self-reliant, and self-controlled. Calmness is singleness of purpose, absolute confidence, and conscious power, - ready to be focused in an instant to meet any crisis.

Thirty years ago and more those who read and valued good books in this country made the acquaintance of Mr. Warner, and since the publication of “My Summer In a Garden” no work of his has needed any other introduction than the presence of his name on the title-page; and now that reputation has mellowed into memory, even the word of interpretation seems superfluous. Mr. Warner wrote out of a clear, as well as a full mind, and lucidity of style was part of that harmonious charm of sincerity and...

A republication of the 1897 edition. A study and interpretation of dreams including a key to various types of dreams.