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Chapter I. First Visit to England
I have been twice in England. In 1833, on my return from a short tour in Sicily, Italy, and Franc...
Goethe; or, the Writer
I find a provision in the constitution of the world for the writer, or secretary, who is to repor...
Napoleon; or, the Man of the World
Among the eminent persons of the nineteenth century, Bonaparte is far the best known and the most...
Shakspeare; or, the Poet
Great men are more distinguished by range and extent than by originality. If we require the origi...
Montaigne; or, the Skeptic
Every fact is related on one side to sensation, and on the other to morals. The game of thought i...
Swedenborg; or, the Mystic
Among eminent persons, those who are most dear to men are not of the class which the economist ca...
Plato; or, the Philosopher
Among secular books, Plato only is entitled to Omar’s fanatical compliment to the Koran, when he ...
Uses of Great Men
It is natural to believe in great men. If the companions of our childhood should turn out to be h...
IX. New England Reformers
In the suburb, in the town,On the railway, in the square,Came a beam of goodness downDoubling d...
VIII. Nominalist and Realist
In countless upward-striving wavesThe moon-drawn tide-wave strives;In thousand far-transplanted...
VII. Politics
Gold and iron are goodTo buy iron and gold;All earth’s fleece and foodFor their like are sold.B...
VI. Nature
The rounded world is fair to see,Nine times folded in mystery:Though baffled seers cannot impar...
V. Gifts
Gifts of one who loved me, —‘T was high time they came;When he ceased to love me,Time they stop...
IV. Manners
“How near to good is what is fair!Which we no sooner see,But with the lines and outward airOur ...
III. Character
The sun set; but set not his hope:Stars rose; his faith was earlier up:Fixed on the enormous ga...
II. Experience
The lords of life, the lords of life,—I saw them pass,In their own guise,Like and unlike,Portly...
I. The Poet
A moody child and wildly wisePursued the game with joyful eyes,Which chose, like meteors, their...
XII. Art
Give to barrows, trays, and pansGrace and glimmer of romance;Bring the moonlight into noonHid i...
XI. Intellect
Go, speed the stars of ThoughtOn to their shining goals; —The sower scatters broad his seed,The...
X. Circles
Nature centres into balls,And her proud ephemerals,Fast to surface and outside,Scan the profile...