"Character" Quotes from Famous Books
... The character of the road changed; the hedges fell away, the pine trees and pine woods took the place of the black squat shapes of the hawthorn and oak and apple. The houses grew rarer and the world emptier and emptier, until he could have believed that he was the only man awake ... — Mr. Britling Sees It Through • H. G. Wells
... elevation, resembled a medium of thought rather than of matter, rendered objects defined, just, and near; and none but the mountaineers and Sigismund, who were used to the deception, (for in effect truth obtains this character with those who have been accustomed to the false) and who understood the grandeur of the scale on which nature has displayed her power among the Alps, knew how to calculate the distance which still separated them from their goal. More than a league of painful and stony ascent was to be surmounted, ... — The Headsman - The Abbaye des Vignerons • James Fenimore Cooper
... Scott, an Englishman of turbulent character, and a zealous royalist, petitioned king Charles Second to bestow upon him the government of Long Island. In his petition, which was referred to the Council ... — Peter Stuyvesant, the Last Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam • John S. C. Abbott
... belligerent. Complaints have come to the department that mail on board neutral steamers has been opened and detained, but there seem to be but few cases where the mail from neutral countries has not been finally delivered. When mail is sent to belligerent countries open and is of a neutral and private character it has not been molested so far as ... — Current History, A Monthly Magazine - The European War, March 1915 • New York Times
... largely done in Wales. And even as it was, this work of a trained ministry, and especially the preaching, passed in those early days like a ploughshare through the whole soil and substance of the Scottish character, and left enduring ... — John Knox • A. Taylor Innes
... alluring to be easily vanquished. It was certain to return, and that in an hour when seeming necessity offered a more urgent excuse for its fulfillment. The scout badge in hands unconsecrated was like a holy thing surrounded by evil—it would maintain its own pure character unsullied, but evil mocked it—and the good, like a frightened little fairy, hid itself deep in girl-scout idealism, ... — The Girl Scout Pioneers - or Winning the First B. C. • Lillian C Garis
... have drained his small resources. "Ninety-nine per cent of the Quarter dislikes Stefan Byrd," an Englishman had said, "but one per cent adores him." Repeated to Byrd, this utterance was accepted by him with much complacence, for, even more than the average man, he prided himself upon his faults of character. His adoration of Paris had not prevented him from criticizing its denizens; the habits of mental withdrawal and reservation developed in his boyhood did not desert him in the city of friendship, but he became ... — The Nest Builder • Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale
... china. The friendly old gentleman, as he had found him from the first, became doubly and trebly so in that position which brings out whatever warmth of heart an Englishman has, and gives it to him if he has none. The impressionable and sympathetic character of Middleton answered to the kindness of his host; and by the time the meal was concluded, the two were conversing with almost as much zest and friendship as if they were similar in age, even fellow-countrymen, ... — Sketches and Studies • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... retain more or less of that character! Well—it has made me doubly a boy then; in my eagerness to put myself to school, on the one hand, and my desire to see something new on the other. Miss Powle, have you ever studied the invisible inhabitants of ... — The Old Helmet, Volume II • Susan Warner
... afford to have this or that. To be poor may be a misfortune, but it is not a fault; and, indeed, to be rich is often a far greater misfortune. The discipline of poverty, and the self-denial it involves, will often strengthen a character which the luxury of riches ... — The Skilful Cook - A Practical Manual of Modern Experience • Mary Harrison
... collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair. His appearance was certainly that of a hairdresser's dummy; but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That's backbone. His starched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character. He had been out nearly three years; and, later on, I could not help asking him how he managed to sport such linen. He had just the faintest blush, and said modestly, 'I've been teaching one of the native women about the ... — Heart of Darkness • Joseph Conrad
... be the judgment pronounced by posterity upon the events of this, so to speak, extra-human existence, the character of Prince Dakkar would ever remain as one of those whose memory time ... — The Secret of the Island • W.H.G. Kingston (translation from Jules Verne)
... two inserted from time to time here and there throughout the book, before the first advertisement of "The Coming Race" appeared. A friend having called my attention to one of the first of these advertisements, and suggesting that it probably referred to a work of similar character to my own, I took "Erewhon" to a well-known firm of publishers on the 1st of May 1871, and left it in their hands for consideration. I then went abroad, and on learning that the publishers alluded ... — Erewhon • Samuel Butler
... within. Nobili was extremely impressionable; he also, as has been seen, wanted resolution to resist temptation. As yet, he had not developed the firmness and steadfastness that really belonged to his character. ... — The Italians • Frances Elliot
... falls into error when he says that Dorian Gray, having a 'cool, calculating, conscienceless character,' was inconsistent when he destroyed the picture of his own soul, on the ground that the picture did not become less hideous after he had done what, in his vanity, he had considered his first good action. Dorian Gray has not got a cool, calculating, ... — Miscellanies • Oscar Wilde
... had lain by for many a year and was somewhat yellowed, but the richer for that. Louise in adapting it had altered its character but little. It was short in the waist and somewhat narrowly cut, straight and demure all round till it ended in a little train at the back. It was almost swathed in the most beautiful old Limerick lace, through which the rich ivory tints of the silk showed. My grandmother's pearls ... — The Story of Bawn • Katharine Tynan
... never gave a command he would not himself have executed willingly, and whose character and ideals were such that all who knew ... — From the St. Lawrence to the Yser with the 1st Canadian brigade • Frederic C. Curry
... in France was greatly stimulated by the decline in character and influence of the Jesuit schools. Unwilling to change their instruction to meet the needs of a changing society, their schools had become formal in character (R. 146), and were now engaged chiefly ... — THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION • ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY
... Continent, and from every part of the United Kingdoms, eager and keen for Cholera, and more numerous than the patients themselves, beset and surrounded the sick in Sunderland with all the fearless self-exposing zeal of the missionary character, yet no one could contrive, even in the foulest dens of that sea-port, to produce the disease in his own person, or to carry it in his saturated clothing to the healthier quarters of the town where he himself had his lodging.[17] Surely if the disease had been typhus fever, or any other ... — Letters on the Cholera Morbus. • James Gillkrest
... convinced, is unchanged. He is not one to forget the one passion of his life. You have not gauged the depths of his character. Ah, me! that I should have flung ... — Medoline Selwyn's Work • Mrs. J. J. Colter
... and for the sake of your substantial good qualities, one would stand a great deal. But over-frankness is disagreeable; and if you make over-frankness your leading characteristic, of course your entire character will come to be disagreeable, and you will be ... — The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862 • Various
... and comrades. However, in fairness both to them and to their rivals, it must be said that at the period of our story Mr. Phillips seemed for some time past to have been unusually unfortunate in his elder boys: they were undoubtedly "cads," and the character of the whole establishment, as far as the scholars were concerned, naturally yielded to the ... — The Triple Alliance • Harold Avery
... wag of his party. Observe his tight-titling, comfortable frize, neat brogues, and breeches, on the knees of which are two double knots of silk ribbon. See with what a smart, decisive air he wears his hat—"jauntily," as Leigh Hunt would say—upon one side of his head. That fellow has a high character for gallantry, and is allowed to be "the very sorrow among the girls"—"a Brinoge," "wid an eye that 'ud steal cold praties off a dresser." He is now leading in a girl, handsome no doubt, but who, nevertheless, ... — Lha Dhu; Or, The Dark Day - The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two • William Carleton
... of 1689, Virginians flocked to Jamestown to hear William and Mary proclaimed Lord and Lady of Virginia. The next year there entered, as Lieutenant-Governor, Francis Nicholson, an odd character in whom an immediate violence of temper went with a statesmanlike conception of things to be. Two years he governed here, then was transferred to Maryland, and then in seven years came back to the James. He had not been liked there, but while he was gone Virginia had endured in ... — Pioneers of the Old South - A Chronicle of English Colonial Beginnings, Volume 5 In - The Chronicles Of America Series • Mary Johnston
... edition now issued no pains are neglected, and my verses, as orators say, stand corrected. Yet some blunders remain of the public's own make, which I wish to correct for my personal sake. For instance, a character drawn in pure fun and condensing the traits of a dozen in one, has been, as I hear, by some persons applied to a good friend of mine, whom to stab in the side, as we walked along chatting and joking together, would not be my way. I can hardly tell whether a question will ... — The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell • James Lowell
... mind,' said Madame Variani. 'But his English friends should look after him. Everybody should be angry wid som-thin—it is good for the character; but Mr. Manisty is angry wid too many things. That is stupid—that is a waste ... — Eleanor • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... miracle on another occasion, to justify the charity of His Servant to the poor. At Alexandria de la Paille, a town of the Milanese, where he was received as a Saint, he was invited to dinner by a wealthy and pious man. While he was at table, a man of bad character, who was, however, jealous of Francis's reputation, watched all his actions, in order to decry and criticise them: this man counterfeited a beggar at the door, and solicited an alms for the love of God. As soon as Francis heard the appeal for the love of God, he sent him the wing of a fowl, to which ... — The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi • Father Candide Chalippe
... seconded by the liberality of the management, the people of New York were to take a long step forward in musical culture—a step toward the foundation of an institution which should endure and exemplify the esthetic, moral, and physical character ... — Chapters of Opera • Henry Edward Krehbiel
... fresh examination, some fresh count in the hundred-headed indictment breaks down. The truth is, that as people begin to believe more in nobleness, and to gird up their loins to the doing of noble deeds, they discover more nobleness in others. Raleigh's character was in its lowest nadir in the days of Voltaire and Hume. What shame to him? For so were more sacred characters than his. Shall the disciple be above his master? especially when that disciple was but too inconsistent, and gave occasion to the uncircumcised to ... — Sir Walter Raleigh and his Time from - "Plays and Puritans and Other Historical Essays" • Charles Kingsley
... view either way; Agnes was fair, slight and small-featured with observant grey eyes and a good deal of detached humour. Since the incubation of his first unsuccessful play, he had argued out every character and situation with her; when feminine psychology was in dispute, her ruling was accepted without cavil. More than once, as they splashed conversationally through the Lashmar woods, he had felt that she gave even a self-sufficient bachelor something that he lacked and would always ... — The Education of Eric Lane • Stephen McKenna
... character of Aristotle by saying that he was one of the sanest and most rounded men that ever lived. As a philosopher, he stands in the front rank. "No time," says Hegel, "has a man to place by his side." Nor was his moral character inferior to his intellect. ... — Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 2 • Charles Dudley Warner
... many ways, Romola had been disappointed in her husband's character; she had found that his handsome face and gay air masked a cowardice, a cunning meanness, a sordid selfishness of disposition that were all at variance with her high ideal of him; but that final unspeakable treachery of the dead man who had trusted him so implicitly shattered her ... — The World's Greatest Books, Vol IV. • Editors: Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton
... never written a great poetical drama. My faculty has been mainly narrative, lyric, epic, with dramatic action in short bursts only. The power to build a great, sustained, and varied drama, the richness and ripeness of dramatic imagination, of character portrayal, representation as distinct from analysis, of vigorous scenes that sweep through the excited brain of the reader with the rush of the hurricane, and owe nothing to metrical sweetness, to lyrical melody—that ... — The Gorgeous Isle - A Romance; Scene: Nevis, B.W.I. 1842 • Gertrude Atherton
... another positive sign is available. The physician whose ear has been trained to catch such sounds when he listens over the lower part of the mother's abdomen will hear the fetal heart-beat. Other sounds may be audible there, but the character and the rate of the heart-sounds are distinctive. Since the child's heart beats almost twice as fast as the mother's, under ordinary conditions it is impossible to confuse one with the other. The mother never feels the beating of the child's heart, but ... — The Prospective Mother - A Handbook for Women During Pregnancy • J. Morris Slemons
... the senator had never been known to use before—these were inconsistencies which all Carrio's ingenuity failed to reconcile. The man had been born and reared in vice; vice had fed him, clothed him, freed him, given him character, reputation, power in his own small way—he lived in it as in the atmosphere that he breathed; to show him an action, referable only to a principle of pure integrity, was to set him a problem which it was hopeless to solve. And yet it is impossible, in one point of ... — Antonina • Wilkie Collins
... of modern life. The interest centres in the development of the character of the heroine, a New England girl, whose high-strung temperament is in constant revolt against the confining limitations of nineteenth century surroundings. The reader's interest is held to the end, and the book will take high rank ... — The Continental Dragoon - A Love Story of Philipse Manor-House in 1778 • Robert Neilson Stephens
... of blue is that of purity. It recalls the distant sky, the calm ocean, and has an immortal and celestial character. It ascends to the highest and descends to the lowest tones of chiaro-oscuro. Nothing so nearly approaches pure white as the palest blue; nothing is so nearly ... — Needlework As Art • Marian Alford
... great law of nature, that all opposites tend to attract and temper each other. Passion in Shakspeare generally displays libertinism, but involves morality; and if there are exceptions to this, they are, independently of their intrinsic value, all of them indicative of individual character, and, like the farewell admonitions of a parent, have an end beyond the parental relation. Thus the Countess's beautiful precepts to Bertram, by elevating her character, raise that of Helena her favorite, and soften down the point ... — Literary Remains, Vol. 2 • Coleridge
... interview with Sir Stratford Canning at Constantinople, then on his way to England. This distinguished man, who was formerly minister to the United States, and is remembered with well-deserved gratitude by nearly every recent traveller in the East, immediately discovered and appreciated the character and talents of Mr. Layard. His knowledge of the East, and of its manners and languages, recommended him in a peculiar manner to the notice of the ambassador, who persuaded him to remain, and employed ... — The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 4, March, 1851 • Various
... the cause of secession. Extremists were not wanting, on the other hand, who were opposed to doing any thing upon the subject of slavery, especially at present, lest such action should compromise the incoming administration, and the Republican party, and even the character of the Government itself. Without suspecting the purity of the motives of either of these extremists, who beyond doubt represented the views of large and respectable bodies of men in their different sections, your Commissioners ... — A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention • Lucius Eugene Chittenden
... Francis I; no linen; the belt, the pouch, and the wooden sword. His feet are clad in very thin foot-gear, covered at the ankles by the pantaloons, which serve as gaiters" (Maurice Sand, Masques et Bouffons, p. 72). It was further changed, as well as the character itself, by the famous Dominique, of the Italian comedians to King Louis XIV. He made of Harlequin a clever and witty personage, instead of a stupid lout, and this change was accepted by the writers of plays for that particular troupe. The dress is greatly modified. The jacket is closer fitting; ... — A Selection from the Comedies of Marivaux • Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux
... of Colonel Bramble is the best composite character sketch I have seen to show France what the English gentleman at war is like ... much delightful humour.... It is full of good stories.... The translator appears to have done his ... — At Ypres with Best-Dunkley • Thomas Hope Floyd
... have at times the purple-distance haze, that atmosphere of the sea which hangs across the marsh. The two might resemble each other as two pictures of the same theme, upon the same scale, one framed and hung, the other not. It is the framing, the setting of the marsh that gives it character, variety, tone, ... — Roof and Meadow • Dallas Lore Sharp
... neither worse of me on that account,—nor better. It is as to the latter that I am really in fear. I wish to believe that no chance attribute could make me stand higher in your esteem than I have come to stand already by my own personal character. ... — Marion Fay • Anthony Trollope
... come up, moved by the inbred courtesy which distinguished not Sir Henry, who ostentatiously held Sir Peter in forced consultation, his shoulder turned to Walter Butler. And, of the twain, Mr. Butler cut the better figure, and spite of his true character, I was secretly gratified to see how our Tryon County gentry suffered nothing in comparison of savoir faire with the best that England sent us. Courtesy to an enemy—that is a creed no gentleman can renounce save with his title. I speak not of ... — The Reckoning • Robert W. Chambers
... her first story, that it was a mere troubled exclamation in sleep, if it was really heard at all, which I may be permitted to doubt. For when a witness exhibits such recklessness and malice and wilful perversion of the truth in a case of this solemn character, I cannot willingly believe that any jury of Englishmen will consent to take away a human life ... — The Queen Against Owen • Allen Upward
... of good pay, and of opulent plunder, and of preferment suitable to activity and merit—the lucrative part made gain seem to them a natural member of godliness. And I cannot here omit' (continues the author) 'a character of this army which General Fairfax gave unto myself; when, complimenting him with the regularity and temperance of his army, he told me, The best common soldiers he had—came out of our army and from the garrisons he had taken in. So (says he) I found you had made ... — The Prose Works of William Wordsworth • William Wordsworth
... the success of the night adventure, Agamemnon next day assumes the offensive. To consider thus is perhaps to consider too curiously. But it is clear that the Achaeans have been much encouraged by the events of Book X., especially Agamemnon, whose character, as Kiene observes, is very subtly and consistently treated, and "lies near the poet's heart." This is the point which we keep urging. Agamemnon's care for Menelaus is strictly ... — Homer and His Age • Andrew Lang
... if the whole Invective be grounded upon a Falsehood, I trouble my self no further about it, and look upon my Name at the Head of it to signify no more than one of those fictitious Names made use of by an Author to introduce an imaginary Character. Why should a Man be sensible of the Sting of a Reproach, who is a Stranger to the Guilt that is implied in it? or subject himself to the Penalty, when he knows he has never committed the Crime? This is a Piece of Fortitude, which every one owes to his own ... — The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 - With Translations and Index for the Series • Joseph Addison and Richard Steele
... north side of the mountain, and I was a cripple from rheumatism. Having completed arrangements with Dr. Farney, Mr. Landers, and other Union men, that they might be of service to me in case the Rebels should be suspicious of my character, I hobbled away on my perilous journey, and entered the city by leaping the high stone wall which guards it on the north side near the depot. This occurred just as the town-clock ... — Three Years in the Federal Cavalry • Willard Glazier
... drove Indians into the water, forcibly baptized them, then cut their throats that they might not repent their acceptance of the true faith. In their own belief there appeared to be a purgatory and a paradise, but no hell or devil; and, as beliefs reveal the character of the people who hold them, it speaks well for the Cubans that the grewsome images invoked by certain mediaeval theologians had never been created in their more generous imaginations. When a soul ... — Myths & Legends of our New Possessions & Protectorate • Charles M. Skinner
... articles, descriptive of the House of Commons, is here appended. The author is Mr. Henry Lucy, who has spent nearly a quarter of a century in the Press Gallery of the House, and who, in addition to much other successful journalistic work, has, in the character of "Toby, M.P.," supplied to our distinguished contemporary, "Punch" some of its most amusing sketches. "From Behind the Speaker's Chair" will be continued, and will, we believe, be looked forward to by our readers, month by month, ... — The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 25, January 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly • Various
... go off when first launched into the air. The argument is that life can only be regarded as a further property of certain forms of matter. Oxygen and hydrogen, when they combine, result in a new substance, quite unlike either of them in character, and possessing new and different properties. The way in which the combination is effected is a mystery, yet we do not account for the new and peculiar properties of water (so different from those of the original gases) as arising from a principle of "aquosity," which we have to invoke from ... — Creation and Its Records • B.H. Baden-Powell
... so well arranged and so agreeably diversified by occasional remarks on individual and national character, as to render history attractive even to the very young; and the information is conveyed in a style remarkable for its unaffected simplicity ... — The World's Fair • Anonymous
... the Senate to fight this Bland Act. He had become Hayes's Secretary of the Treasury, and in this capacity was working toward resumption and upholding Hayes in his war on the spoilsmen. In his place, Allison, of Iowa, forced an amendment to the Bland Bill, taking away its free-coinage character and substituting a requirement to buy a specified amount of silver bullion each month—from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 worth—and coin it. Thus amended, the House concurred in the act, which Hayes vetoed in February, 1878. It became a law over ... — The New Nation • Frederic L. Paxson
... Himself and the field is the world. With joy He gave up all and came down here to buy us back. And all His suffering from man and from Satan, the persecutions He suffered from His own people to whom He came were borne by Him with joy. He told out His own blessed character in the beatitudes and in speaking of those who are reviled and persecuted, He said, "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad." Thus He must have borne it all with joy. And then the cross. The cross in which He who knew no sin was made sin for us. He was troubled in His holy ... — The Lord of Glory - Meditations on the person, the work and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ • Arno Gaebelein
... not true Christianity the highest and purest philosophy?" she said. "Only it is preached—not practised. Can you tell me that a single Christian land in this nineteenth century era is one whit purer or better in its spiritual or moral character than was Jerusalem a thousand years ago? Does it influence commerce, trade, governments, laws—even civilisation? If it did, not one rule or law that binds the rotten fabric of civilised life together would stand for ... — The Mystery of a Turkish Bath • E.M. Gollan (AKA Rita)
... think we have stolen a march on them. I don't believe they were prepared for this, not at least at this stage in the game. Don't ask me any questions, Walter. Then you will have no secrets to keep if anyone should try to pry them loose. Only remember that this man Lawrence is a shrewd character." ... — Master Tales of Mystery, Volume 3 • Collected and Arranged by Francis J. Reynolds
... Scollen, who had for many years been a missionary among the Plain Crees, and latterly, for several years, among the Blackfeet, to make a report to me of the character, habits and condition of this nation, with which request he willingly complied. I now give place to this report, which gives a vivid view of the character of this bold and warlike race, and shews the benefits they had, so far back as ... — The Treaties of Canada with The Indians of Manitoba - and the North-West Territories • Alexander Morris
... this manifest brilliancy and Harlequin's-jacket character is essential in the color school. The essential matter is only that everything should be of its own definite color: it may be altogether sober and dark, yet the distinctness of hue preserved with entire fidelity. Here, for instance, is a picture of Hogarth's,—one of quite ... — Ariadne Florentina - Six Lectures on Wood and Metal Engraving • John Ruskin
... impression strong enough to endure indefinitely. And it has not, on the other hand, the interest of reality—that faithful and enthusiastic rendering of the external world which gives importance to and fixes the character of the French painting ... — French Art - Classic and Contemporary Painting and Sculpture • W. C. Brownell
... from the opposite sides relating to the same events, conspicuously opposite views held by the same man at different periods, or by different men who were noticeably similar in some other respects, or antithesis as to the character or difference in the nationality [if the two nations are frequent foes] of different men in whose careers, date of birth, or what not, there was something distinctly parallel—Egbert, first King of England, died 837. William IV., last King of England, died 1837. What a vivid exclusion here for ... — Assimilative Memory - or, How to Attend and Never Forget • Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
... to the life and character of this extraordinary man, is certainly worthy of remembrance by the benevolent and intelligent through the civilized world, and especially by Americans, to whom he has rendered the most essential services. The endeavour has been to avoid panegyric; though ... — Memoirs of General Lafayette • Lafayette
... of preparation (June 2009), Saxon letters had been assigned Unicode values, but font support was extremely limited. Your text reader will probably not be able to display the character. ... — Animaduersions uppon the annotacions and corrections of some imperfections of impressiones of Chaucer's workes - 1865 edition • Francis Thynne
... from the context, that an Egyptian prince is referred to, unless the story is told of the Abbaside Khalif El Mamoun, son of Er Reshid (A.D. 813-33), during his temporary residence in Egypt, which he is said to have visited. This is, however, unlikely, as his character was the reverse of sanguinary; besides, El Mamoun was not his name, but his title (Aboulabbas Abdallah El Mamoun Billah). Two Khalifs of Egypt assumed the title of El Hakim bi Amrillah (He who rules or decrees by or in accordance with the commandment of God), i.e. the Fatimite Abou Ali El Mensour ... — Tales from the Arabic Volumes 1-3 • John Payne
... accounting for the difficulty which a reader may find in believing in such a character: either that, not being poor, he has never needed such a friend; or that, being rich, he has ... — David Elginbrod • George MacDonald
... arrangement for the repayment of the advances should be gravely entered into, as it might be wholesome for him to suppose himself under that responsibility. To this, I added the suggestion, that I should give some explanation of his character and history to Mr. Peggotty, who I knew could be relied on; and that to Mr. Peggotty should be quietly entrusted the discretion of advancing another hundred. I further proposed to interest Mr. Micawber in Mr. Peggotty, by confiding ... — David Copperfield • Charles Dickens
... broad light of day, with the sunshine pouring into the rooms, I was compelled to confess that Willie's theory was more than upheld by the facts. First of all was the character of Miss Emily as I read it, sternly conscientious, proud, and yet gentle. Second, there was the connection of the Bullard girl with the case. And third, there was the invader of the night before, an unknown quantity ... — The Confession • Mary Roberts Rinehart
... to by Pope. Yet Ellis was a considerable man in his day;—he had been Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in the reign of Charles II., and was Under-Secretary of State under William III.; he is said to have afterwards sunk into the humbler character {246} of a "London magistrate," and to have "died in 1788, at 93 or 95, immensely rich." I should be glad of any clue to ... — Notes and Queries, Number 16, February 16, 1850 • Various
... must love; to attain, one must reach out. It never occurred to her to weigh her own shortcomings and throw them into the balance with those of her enemies. She spent no time in introspection, self examination. She set a high standard on her own virtues, and, like most persons of this character, was ... — Blue Bonnet in Boston - or, Boarding-School Days at Miss North's • Caroline E. Jacobs
... form itself. By exercising the authority inherent in the possession of the crown, the King could effect the revocation of the sentences that weighed on his partisans and on a large portion of the Parliament. After the legal character of that Assembly had been established, it proceeded to recognise Henry's rights to the crown in the words used for the first ... — A History of England Principally in the Seventeenth Century, Volume I (of 6) • Leopold von Ranke
... Our anchovy sauce is used freely to season fish, to mix with butter, to be made into solid anchovy or fish paste. There are sardine pastes, lobster pastes, fish forcemeats found in the larder of every good kitchen—preparations of Apician character. A real platter of hors d'oeuvres, an antipasto is not complete unless made according ... — Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome • Apicius
... of a similar character asked me before, occasionally. A man of iron mould might perhaps say, No! I am not a man of iron mould, and said that I should ... — The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes
... received, have behaved much better. They have not tarred and feathered Englishmen as we did or ridden them on rails, or suffocated them with smoke, or burnt their houses or hazed or tortured them in any way. Their conduct in the whole war has been most fair, honorable and meritorious, showing the high character of their intelligence and morals and their superiority ... — The American Revolution and the Boer War, An Open Letter to Mr. Charles Francis Adams on His Pamphlet "The Confederacy and the Transvaal" • Sydney G. Fisher
... it so much is not easy to tell, unless on account of the comparatively barren character of the soil. The earth seemed to be of a very different kind to that in the rich and fertile meadows and fields close by; for the grass was rough, short, and thin, and soon became greyish or brown ... — Round About a Great Estate • Richard Jefferies
... a far cry from Miao-land to Malaysia, but as I get into closer contact with the Miao people, the more do I find them in many common ways of everyday customs and points of character akin to the Malays and the Sakai (the jungle hill people of the Malay Peninsula), among whom I have traveled. Their modes of living contain many points in common. Ethnologists probably may smile at this assertion, the same as I, who have lived among the Miao, have smiled at a good ... — Across China on Foot • Edwin Dingle
... learned of the lion would lead me to attribute to it either the ferocious or noble character ascribed to it elsewhere. It possesses none of the nobility of the Newfoundland or St. Bernard dogs. With respect to its great strength there can be no doubt. The immense masses of muscle around its jaws, shoulders, and ... — Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa - Journeys and Researches in South Africa • David Livingstone
... us consider of that which is sub dio, and find out a true cause, if it be possible, of such accidents, meteors, alterations, as happen above ground. Whence proceed that variety of manners, and a distinct character (as it were) to several nations? Some are wise, subtile, witty; others dull, sad and heavy; some big, some little, as Tully de Fato, Plato in Timaeo, Vegetius and Bodine prove at large, method. cap. 5. some soft, and some hardy, barbarous, civil, black, dun, white, is it from the ... — The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior
... reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero. His minor works, besides the life of Agricola, already mentioned, are a "Dialogue on Orators" and the account of Germany, its situation, its inhabitants, their character and ... — Tacitus on Germany • Tacitus
... five hundred and eighty odd close-set pages without getting just a little tired of his worthy Essex peasants of the time of the great Hyde Park Exhibition. Jinny herself is a perfect darling, of real wit and character, and her business as the local carrier gives a plausible machinery for the introduction of an enormous number, a truly Dickensian profusion, of subsidiary characters. Jinny indeed is above criticism, but the trouble with many, indeed with most, of the others, ... — Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 156, June 25, 1919 • Various
... Mrs. Spencer thinking me the same type as herself, without conscience, character, or morals, had evolved this plan either to test me or to ensnare me. To test me, because she is jealous of you; or to ensnare me because she wants to win out diplomatically—or both, it may be. I am a poor hand at pretence; but I played the game, ... — The Cab of the Sleeping Horse • John Reed Scott
... as those of Hosea viii. 14, 2Kings xviii. 13, are illustrated by concrete examples, a few elements of tradition being also employed (Lachish). It is not possible, but, indeed, neither is it necessary, to demonstrate in every case the imaginary character of the statements; according to xix. 5 it would appear as if simply every city of any kind of consequence was regarded as a fortress and in the list given in chap. xi. 6 seq., we chiefly meet with names which were also familiar in the post-exile period. That Abijah deprived ... — Prolegomena to the History of Israel • Julius Wellhausen
... results of such a system strongly marked upon the general character. While equals are jealous of each other, inferiors are slavish and superiors tyrannical. It is often the case that overbearing manners and abject humility are centred in the same class or person. Thus the Camarilla are overbearing to the ... — The Land of Thor • J. Ross Browne
... go far back into the "deeps of antiquity." On all the fields of desolation where they exist, every thing perishable has disappeared. Wooden lintels are mentioned, but these can hardly be regarded as constituting an exception when the character of the wood, and the circumstances that contributed to their preservation, are considered. Moreover, wooden lintels seem to have been peculiar to Yucatan, where many of the great edifices were constructed in the later times, and some of them of perishable materials. Every where in the older ... — Ancient America, in Notes on American Archaeology • John D. Baldwin
... news, Harry Danton's recovery was almost miraculously rapid. The despair that had deadened every energy, every hope, was gone. He was a new man; he had something to live for; a place in the world, and a lost character to retrieve. A week after that eventful night, he was able to sit up; a fortnight, and he was rapidly gaining vigour and strength, and ... — Kate Danton, or, Captain Danton's Daughters - A Novel • May Agnes Fleming
... from the distant earth—is called John the Baptist, always a favourite subject with this sculptor, who, since he more than any at that thoughtful time endeavoured to discover and disclose the secret of character, is curiously unfortunate in the accident that has fastened names to these figures. This John, for example, bears no relation to his other Baptists; nor does the next figure represent David, as is generally supposed, but owes that error to the circumstance that when the David that originally ... — A Wanderer in Florence • E. V. Lucas
... feeling they cherish toward the most distant nations, and it was natural, therefore, that it should be awakened with more than common warmth in behalf of their immediate neighbors; but it does not belong to their character as a community to seek the gratification of those feelings in acts which violate their duty as citizens, endanger the peace of their country, and tend to bring upon it the stain of a violated faith toward ... — A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 3: Martin Van Buren • James D. Richardson
... was a witch of the most unmistakable character, was also frequently changed into a she-wolf, according to her own confession, in which state she had often accompanied the devil over hill and dale, slaying cattle, and falling on and devouring children. The same thing may be said of Clauda Isan Prost, a lame woman, Clauda Isan Guillaume, ... — The Book of Were-Wolves • Sabine Baring-Gould
... do injustice to our subject, if we did not add a testimony to the peculiarly religious character and influence of the men of whom we speak. Shrewd, practical, capable, as they were, in the affairs of this life, perfectly natural and human as were their characters, still they were in the best sense unworldly men. Religion was the deep underlying stratum ... — Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 4, February, 1858 • Various
... done to show that with authority to collect data on plans and by methods that can now be operated and with aid which should now be appropriated by school boards and teachers' associations, incalculable pedagogic economy could be secured and the scientific and professional character of teaching every topic in upper grammar and high school and even in the early college grades be greatly enhanced. To enter upon this laborious task in every branch of study is perhaps our chief present need and duty to our youth in school, although individual ... — Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene • G. Stanley Hall
... so that if he left the house secretly he must have gone into hiding and be hiding still. Of course, he may have been the sort of lunatic who would behave in that manner or he may not. We have no information as to his personal character. ... — The Vanishing Man • R. Austin Freeman
... valuable document since it throws unconscious light upon the life, manners, politics and literature of that country. "Above all," says she, "it possesses the crowning quality, displayed usually in creative poetry alone, of presenting a vivid picture of the character of the men with whom it deals. It has been called the 'Epic of the Soudan,'" continues the writer. "It lacks the charm of form, but in all else the description is well merited. Its pages are a treasure-house of information for the careful student and the volumes may be read many times ... — The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917 • Various
... 40 feet 8 inches by 32 feet 10 inches.) This transept has vaulting of the same character as the other, and a large west window, rebuilt in 1820, filled with glass in memory of Thomas Collins, of Tewkesbury. Beneath this window is a deeply recessed doorway (now blocked up) which once gave access to the cloisters. In this recess ... — Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury - with some Account of the Priory Church of Deerhurst Gloucestershire • H. J. L. J. Masse
... even that, by arguments drawn from the light of nature, they can be made out to be probable; it is enough that we are able to say concerning them, that they are not so violently improbable, so contradictory to what we already believe of the divine power and character, that either the propositions themselves, or facts strictly connected with the propositions (and therefore no further improbable than they are improbable), ought to be rejected at first sight, and to be ... — Evidences of Christianity • William Paley
... exactly do these people desire who "want their ain way"? What forces favor these desires, and what oppose them—for instance, David Pirnie's determination to tell wee Alexander a bit story, in The Philosopher of Butterbiggens? Can you always put any one character altogether on one side? Or does his own weakness or carelessness or stupidity, for example, sometimes work against his getting what he wants, so that he is, in part, not on his own side, but against it, as Brutus is in Julius ... — The Atlantic Book of Modern Plays • Various
... because of the serious situation that finally resulted. The later suicide of the individual, who first started the dispute, a suicide that had little objective explanation, seems to have demonstrated that the whole difficulty originated because of the influence of a psychopathic character. In this case had the community known a very little about mental aberration the history of the difficulty would have been very different. Even as it was, a very few of the more thoughtful ... — Rural Problems of Today • Ernest R. Groves
... Samuel Clemens that in those days few of his associates saw. This was the poetic, the philosophic, the contemplative side. Joseph Goodman recognized this phase of his character, and, while he perhaps did not regard it as a future literary asset, he delighted in it, and in their hours of quiet association together encouraged its exhibition. It is rather curious that with all his literary penetration Goodman did not dream of a future celebrity ... — Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete - The Personal And Literary Life Of Samuel Langhorne Clemens • Albert Bigelow Paine
... for his great place. No man wrote abler state papers. No man spoke with more weight and dignity in Council and in Parliament. No man was better acquainted with general maxims of statecraft. No man observed the varieties of character with a more discriminating eye. It must be added that he had a strong sense of moral and religious obligation, a sincere reverence for the laws of his country, and a conscientious regard for the honour and interest of the Crown. But his temper was sour, arrogant, and impatient ... — The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 1 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay
... Ulster, another and more distant enterprise of somewhat similar character was being carried out in America; and to this, as to every great public undertaking, the citizens of London must need be called to lend their assistance. A company formed in 1606, and composed, in part at least, of London merchants, the object of which was the colonisation of Virginia, had ... — London and the Kingdom - Volume II • Reginald R. Sharpe
... Fountainhall to his son, probably his eldest son and successor, John, is a characteristic specimen of his later style. It holds up to the young man as an example the character and career of his maternal grandfather, Sir Andrew ... — Publications of the Scottish History Society, Vol. 36 • Sir John Lauder
... the unaccustomed limitations of the Lane apartment without doing themselves physical injury. The Chases evidently felt that the surest way to show their appreciation of the hospitality offered them was to be uninterruptedly mirthful at its character. ... — Strawberry Acres • Grace S. Richmond
... de Pers came to spend three days with her daughter. She was at once advised, with full particulars, of the miraculous change that had taken place in Julia's character, and of her behavior toward her step-father. On witnessing the gracious attentions which she lavished upon Monsieur de Lucan, Madame de Pers manifested the liveliest satisfaction, in the midst of which, however, could be seen ... — Led Astray and The Sphinx - Two Novellas In One Volume • Octave Feuillet
... rightly so. His hospitality had been outraged and his niece dishonored. He insisted that the pair should at once be married. Here was revealed a certain weakness in the character of Abelard. He consented to the marriage, but insisted that it should be kept ... — Famous Affinities of History, Vol 1-4, Complete - The Romance of Devotion • Lyndon Orr
... reputation for respectability, which she seemed to consider as being somewhat shattered by that of her lodger. Mr. Dunn was embarrassed both by her volubility and by her obvious determination to fasten upon him a certain amount of responsibility for the character ... — Corporal Cameron • Ralph Connor
... toward the world. (d) Religion—the sense of dependence upon and responsibility to the Higher Power; the profound American belief that our destiny is in His hands. (e) The minor elements of American character—such as the tendency to organize, the element of humor, impatience with frauds, and the movement in American life toward ... — Composition-Rhetoric • Stratton D. Brooks
... Infinitive is the form of the supplemental verb that always has, or admits, the preposition TO before it; as, to move. Its general character is to represent the action in prospect, or to do; or in retrospect, as to have done. As a verb, it signifies to do the action; and as object of the preposition TO, it stands in the place of a noun for the doing of it. The infinitive verb and its prefix to are used much like ... — The Grammar of English Grammars • Goold Brown
... left or right"; whichever way we move we fall finally to the very bottom. The fires we kindle die away in coals; castles we build vanish before our eyes. The river sinks in the sands of the desert. The character we form by our efforts disintegrates in spite of our effort. If life be spared we find ourselves once again helpless children. Whichever way we turn we may describe the course of life in metaphors ... — The Philosophy of Despair • David Starr Jordan
... prove to be our son, or should he desire to return; and I trust he will not under any circumstances alter his intentions towards him. The boy, as it is, has no real claim upon the hunter, who might at any time change his mind, and leave him destitute, though I do not, judging from his character, see any likelihood of his doing that. I however must, at all events, remain here some days, for I have lost two horses on the journey, and my faithful follower, Vermack, has been so severely injured by a lion, narrowly escaping with ... — Hendricks the Hunter - The Border Farm, a Tale of Zululand • W.H.G. Kingston
... decisive, and perhaps least of all those that are won by a sudden charge or an accident, and not as the result of long-maturing causes. Doubtless the direction of a character or a career is often turned by a sudden act of the will or a momentary impotence of the will. But the battle is not over then, nor without long and arduous fighting, often a dreary, dragging struggle without the ... — Baddeck and That Sort of Thing • Charles Dudley Warner
... Mahadeo much frequented by Hindu pilgrims, and as a port of call for vessels on their way from Sofala in Africa to China,—a remarkable incidental notice of departed trade and civilisation! He does not give Somnath so good a character as Polo does; for he names it as one of the chief pirate-haunts. And Colonel Tod mentions that the sculptured memorial stones on this coast frequently exhibit the deceased as a pirate in the act of boarding. In fact, piratical habits continued in the islands ... — The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 2 • Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa
... good, pleasant, or noble meaning. But what meaning has the iron railing? Either, observe, that you are living in the midst of such bad characters that you must keep them out by main force of bar, or that you are yourself of a character requiring to be kept inside in the same manner. Your iron railing always means thieves outside, or Bedlam inside; it can mean nothing else than that. If the people outside were good for anything, a hint in the way of fence would be enough for them; but because they are violent ... — The Two Paths • John Ruskin
... secluded spot the day after their marriage, and deliberately murdered her. According to the prevalent custom, Tom Otter's corpse was hung in chains. The day selected for that purpose inaugurated a week of merry-making of the most unseemly character. Booths were pitched near the gibbet, and great numbers of the people came to see the wretch suspended. It is reported that some years later, when the jaw bones had become sufficiently bare to leave ... — Bygone Punishments • William Andrews
... descriptive order. That one occasion I have already quoted in its entirety. With that exception the early diary is brief and concerned only with the dryest recital of events. After the death of Marie Ivanovna, however, its character entirely changes for reasons which he himself shows. I would have expected perhaps a certain solemnity or even pomposity in the style of it; he had never a strong sense of humour. But I find it written in the very ... — The Dark Forest • Hugh Walpole
... splendours of her father's court, can make Olaf forgetful of his claims upon the throne of Norway—the inheritance of his father; and when that object of his just ambition is attained, and he is proclaimed King by general election of the Bonders, as his ancestor Harald Haarfager had been, his character deepens in earnestness as the sphere of his duties is enlarged. All the energies of his ardent nature are put forth in the endeavour to convert his subjects to the true Faith. As he himself expresses it, "he would bring it to this,—that all Norway should be Christian ... — Letters From High Latitudes • The Marquess of Dufferin (Lord Dufferin)
... nose of mine; not even steam and water have thawed the frost from it." He chucked her under the chin and smiled comically, all of which made manifest that the relations existing between the hostess of the Candlestick and her principal tenant were of the most cordial and Platonic character. ... — The Grey Cloak • Harold MacGrath
... silent, inhospitable regions. The Tibetans dismounted some three hundred yards from us. One old man, throwing aside his matchlock and sword, walked unsteadily toward us. We received him kindly. He afforded us great amusement, for he was a strange character. ... — An Explorer's Adventures in Tibet • A. Henry Savage Landor
... admire the fertility of the riparian scrub. Unnourishing reeds and grasses grow rank and coarse from the water's edge. The dark, rotten soil between the tussocks is cracked and granulated by the drying up of the annual flood. The character of the vegetation is inhospitable. Thorn-bushes, bristling like hedgehogs and thriving arrogantly, everywhere predominate and with their prickly tangles obstruct or forbid the path. Only the palms by the brink are kindly, and men journeying along the Nile ... — The River War • Winston S. Churchill
... triumphant chant of the far dawn of Israel's history, joined with the furthest and latest possible events and words. Well, it at least suggests the continuity of the ageless struggle of mankind, showing that the past has its place in the present, relieving man's horror of the impermanence, the disjointed character of existence. He wants something orderly and static. But, like the jet of water in the fountain, his life is forever collapsing and collapsing, falling in upon itself, its apparent permanence nothing but a rapid and glittering succession of impermanences. The dread ... — Preaching and Paganism • Albert Parker Fitch
... of the original carpenter's tools. The difference between compass and dividers is that compasses have adjustable pen or pencil points, whereas dividers are without adjustable points. Modern work has brought refinements in the character of the compass and dividers, so that we now have the bow-compass, which is, usually, a small tool, one leg of which carries a pen or pencil point, the two legs being secured together, usually, by a spring bow, or by a hinged ... — Carpentry for Boys • J. S. Zerbe
... other ecclesiastics, all fully dressed in the uniform of their offices. But only one result was possible, for they were opposed to 16,000 of Robert Bruce's best-trained soldiers. Meantime the Scots did not know the character of the foe before whom they were retreating, but, crossing the River Swale near the point where it meets the Yore, they set fire to a number of haystacks, with the result that the smoke blew into the faces of the Archbishop and his followers, ... — From John O'Groats to Land's End • Robert Naylor and John Naylor
... efficient agency in producing and prolonging that excitement." "The conduct of Increase Mather, in relation to it, was marked with caution and political skill; but that of his son, Cotton Mather, was headlong, zealous, and fearless, both as to character and consequences. In its commencement and progress, his activity ... — Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather - A Reply • Charles W. Upham
... parties to that long since designed, and long desired meeting. Now, for this end and purpose, the Son undertakes the redemption of his church from sin and ungodliness as well as wrath, and therefore you have that which is expressed as the character of the redeemed in this verse. It is exponed as the great point or part of the redemption itself by the apostle, Rom. xi. "The Redeemer shall come to Sion, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." ... — The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning • Hugh Binning
... /Documents concerning the Life and Character of E. Swedenborg/, 1875-77. Gorres, /Emanuel Swedenborg, seine visionen und sein verhaltniss zur ... — History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French • Rev. James MacCaffrey
... Minister, stupid, education and placing, Minister, with 'great power of watter,' Minister, young, apology for good appetite after preaching, Minister's man, account of, Minister's man, criticisms of his master's sermon, Ministers, Scottish, a type of Scottish character, Minister sending for his sermon in pulpit, Minstrelsy of Scottish Border, Sir Walter Scott just in time to save, Miss Miller (Countess of Mar) and Scottish Minister, 'Miss S——'s compliments, and she dee'd last ... — Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character • Edward Bannerman Ramsay
... material condition, wants, and resources of the nation is of little practical value after the expiration of the first half of that period. It would probably obviate the constitutional provision regarding the decennial census if a census taken in 1875 should be divested of all political character and no reapportionment of Congressional representation be made under it. Such a census, coming, as it would, in the last year of the first century of our national existence, would furnish a noble monument of the progress of the United States ... — A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Ulysses S. Grant • James D. Richardson
... I have hitherto found it, happy Province, is advancing rapidly, with growth almost exuberant, to a station, the real intrinsic character and condition of which, in other times, will depend mainly upon the manner in which we who are now directing its affairs, in certainly a critical period of its advancement, when it is daily developing its resources, ... — First History of New Brunswick • Peter Fisher
... tuck of drum failed, nobody making application to the crier; but the search succeeded; as, after turning every thing topsy- turvy, the feathers were found in a bag, in the house of an old woman of vile character, who contrived to make out a way of living by hiring beds at twopence a-night to Eirish travellers—South-country packmen—sturdy beggars, men and women, and weans of them—Yetholm tinklers—wooden-legged sailors without Chelsea ... — The Life of Mansie Wauch - Tailor in Dalkeith, written by himself • David Macbeth Moir
... said. "And no character at all. I detest fluttery people. She flutters the moment I ... — Love Stories • Mary Roberts Rinehart
... up by the slaves over each other, and they take care that nothing but real sickness keeps any one out of the field.' I spent several winters in the neighborhood of Nathaniel Heyward's plantations, and well remember his character as a severe task master. I was present when the above statement ... — The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus • American Anti-Slavery Society
... loving her as I did, you had heard what I did, time after time? Did not her mother own to one of the grossest charges (which I shall not repeat)—and is such indelicacy to be reconciled with her pretended character (that character with which I fell in love, and to which I MADE LOVE) without supposing her to be the greatest hypocrite in the world? My unpardonable offence has been that I took her at her word, and was willing to believe her the precise little ... — Liber Amoris, or, The New Pygmalion • William Hazlitt
... adversary of Nature (call that adversary Art or by what name you will) is comparatively strong. The far-searching influence of the power, which, for want of a better name, we will denominate Taste, is in nothing more evinced than in the changeful character and complexion of that species of composition which we have been reviewing. Upon a call so urgent, it might be expected that the affections, the memory, and the imagination would be constrained to speak their genuine language. Yet, if the few specimens ... — The Prose Works of William Wordsworth • William Wordsworth
... day a schooner rather bigger than themselves was sighted. Her appearance was rakish, and there was little doubt as to her character. All sail was at once crowded on L'Agile. The schooner was nearly as fast as she was, and at the end of a six hours' chase she was still two miles ahead. Suddenly she headed for the shore and disappeared among the trees. L'Agile proceeded on her course until opposite ... — By Conduct and Courage • G. A. Henty
... them comparative anatomy and ontogeny achieve their greatest triumphs. But at first all the sense-organs are merely parts of the skin in which sensory nerves expand. These nerves themselves were originally of a homogeneous character. The different functions or specific energies of the differentiated sense-nerves were only gradually developed by division of labour. At the same time, their simple terminal expansions in the skin were converted into extremely ... — The Evolution of Man, V.2 • Ernst Haeckel |