On the 3d of May 1734, there was a hanging at Cork which made a good deal more noise than such a very ordinary event generally did in those days. There was nothing remarkable about the malefactor, or the crime he had committed. He was a very commonplace ruffian, and had earned his elevation to the gallows by a vulgar felony. What was remarkable about the affair was, that the woollen weavers of Cork, being then in a state of great distress from want of work, dressed up the convict in cotton...

For the larger part, in North America, the people of our own country are mainly Europeans or of European descent. In the northmost part of the continent live the Eskimo. We shall speak about the Eskimos.This book deals with the history of their habits and religious beliefs.The mythological explanation of all the prevailing customs in regard to sea-mammals is contained in a tale which describes their origin: "A girl named Avilayuk refused all her suitors, and for this reason...

The first voyage to America, of which we have any account, was performed by Northmen. But who were the Northmen?Northmen, Norsemen, Scandinavians, are different names applied in a general way to the early inhabitants of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. These people formed the northern branch of the Teutonic family.America was reached by the Northmen as early as the beginning of the eleventh century...This books deals with the discovery of America by the Northmen before ...

“Stories are the natural soul-food of children, their native air and vital breath”.The story is a phase of communication—the instinctive tendency to signal and transmit feelings and ideas and to respond to such expressions—and communication is associated with the social complex of instincts and emotions as indicated by these responses. Through the power of social sympathy in this complex, curiosity and the imagination are brought under the sway of communication, especially in the s...

The public is familiar with the record of Thomas Edison, who is considered the greatest inventor the world has ever known. How did he succeed?“On February 11th, 1845, was born at Milan, Ohio, Thomas A. Edison...At eight or nine years of age he began to earn his own living, selling papers. When twelve years old his enterprise, pushed by ambition, secured him a position as newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railroad. Here his inventive genius manifested itself. Arranging with station...

Diogenes was a famous Greek philosopher, known as one of the founders of Cynicism.Banished from his native country and without any resource, Diogenes was reduced to great indigence. He perceived one day, a mouse running briskly up and down, without any fear of being surprised by the approach of night, without any anxiety about a lodging-place, and even without thinking of food. This reconciled him to his misery. He resolved to live at his ease, without constraint, and to dispense w...

This book deals with the history of Cleopatra, the famous queen of Egypt; and her conquest of Caesar and Antony.Several Egyptian princesses of the line of the Ptolemies bore the name of Cleopatra, but history, romance, and tragedy are all illumined with the story of one: Cleopatra the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes who (dying in 51 B.C.) bequeathed his crown to his eldest son and daughter, ordering them to be married according to the usage of their family, and jointly govern the kingd...

This book deals with the life andworks of "Montaigne, the founder of the modern essay". He was known as one of themost significant philosophers and writers of the Western literature.The French author of the Essays was born, as he informs ushimself, between eleven and twelve o'clock in the day, the last of February1533, at the chateau of St. Michel de Montaigne. His father, Pierre Eyquem,esquire, was successively first Jurat of the town of Bordeaux (1530),Under-Mayor 1536, ...

Jules Verne was the prophet, the foreseer and foreteller of our great mechanical age. This great writer belongs today not to his country France, but to the world. Widely as his works have been read in his own country, their popularity has been yet wider in America and England. Much as he has been honored at home, even higher glory has been accorded him, we are told, in far Japan. His books have been translated not only into all the usual languages, but into Hebrew, Japanese, Polish and eve...

Claude Bernard is one of the greatest of all men of science" said a historian of Harvard University. His career is a most interesting and instructive chapter in the history of the progress of physiology and experimental medicine. It is difficult for one who has not followed closely the progress of science to appreciate the full merit of the original work accomplished by Claude Bernard, and the immense influence which he and his followers have exerted by the impulse they have given to the e...

This book deals with a natural history of Whales and Dolphins, aquatic mammals within the order of Cetacea.The Whales form one of the most extraordinary groups of the Mammalia, for they are warm-blooded, air-breathers, and sucklers of their young, and are most strangely adapted for life in a watery element. Oddly enough the term “Fish” is still applied to them by the whalers, though they have nothing in common with these creatures save a certain similitude in shape. The vulgar noti...

Who were the Franks? Anyone who wants to know the history of European nations, must read the history of the Franks. Beyond the Roman Empire, the foundation of medieval Europe also depends on the Franks whose empire evolved into the modern France and other European countries. This book, based on historical works, deals with the rise and development of the Franks, and their influence in the history of Europe.