Essays and Essay-Writing (Paperback)

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1918. Excerpt: ... picture some Homeric monarch in the act of giving away his worn-out raiment, in that moment you would see his kingliness dwindle. The man who can receive another man's old clothes without thereby losing his self-respect is fit to be a prince among paupers, but the man who can give another man his old clothes without wounding that man's self-respect is fit to be the king of all philanthropists. THE FIRST HERITAGE My wood-fire purrs and whispers. The Big Ben clock ticks faithfully on the mantel; the Little Ben dog snores a doggie snore on the rug. The baby, in her white bassinet in the corner, stirs and makes funny sleepy noises. The room is gay with sunshine, and comforting to the soul with the books and pictures beloved of a lifetime. Darning stockings by the fire, I glance up now and then, and let my eyes be pleased and puzzled by the queer blue Scripture tiles around the fireplace. Some day, when the baby is bigger, she will sit in my lap with her feet sticking out to the good heat, and I will hug her, and tell her, -- 'That funny man up in the tree is Zaccheus. And here is the poor Prodigal Son coming home again. Those are the kind ravens who fed Elijah in the dry wilderness; and that man there is '; and doubtless, if she lives to be a hundred, Zaccheus and the Prodigal and the Prophet will appear to her drawn in coarse blue flowing lines, medallioned about a flickering birch-fire. I wonder what else of this room and this house she will take with her, out across the years. She is very little now -- hardly big enough to lift her head like a strong little turtle, to smile a broad square smile with a dimple at each corner, and to squeal out with inconsequent joy. But no doubt she has already begun to store that brown silken head, bumping my cheek so nonchalantly at times, with the s...