Through the Year With Famous Authors Part 47

There came to port last Sunday night The queerest little craft, Without an inch of rigging on; I looked and looked,--and laughed!

It seemed so curious that she Should cross the unknown water, And moor herself within my room,-- My daughter! O my daughter.

"The New Arrival," St. I.--_George Washington Cable_.

GEORGE WASHINGTON CABLE, a famous American novelist, was born in New Orleans, La., October 12, 1844. He has written: "The Silent South," "The Creoles of Louisiana," "Old Creole Days," "Dr. Sevier," "Strange True Stories of Louisiana," "The Busy Man's Bible," "John March, Southerner," "The Negro Question," "Strong Hearts," "Kincaid's Battery,"

"Gideon's Band," "The Amateur Garden," etc.

I've wandered east, I've wandered west, Through mony a weary way; But never, never can forget The luve o' life's young day!

"Jeannie Morrison,"--_William Motherwell_.

WILLIAM MOTHERWELL, a Scottish poet and antiquary of great fame, was born at Glasgow, October 13, 1797, and died there, November 1, 1835. His most famous works are: "Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern," and "Poems, Narrative and Lyrical."

Absence makes the heart grow fonder; Isle of Beauty, fare the well!

"Isle of Beauty,"--_Thomas Haynes Bayly_.

THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY, a noted English poet and novelist, was born in Bath, October 13, 1797, and died at Cheltenham, April 22, 1839. He wrote 36 dramas, including among them: "The Aylmers," "Perfection," and "The Legend of Killarney."

Be humble and gentle in your conversation, of few words, I charge you, but always pertinent when you speak, hearing out before you attempt to answer, and then speaking as if you would persuade, not impose.

"Advice to his Children,"--_William Penn_.

WILLIAM PENN, a distinguished writer, and the founder of Pennsylvania, was born at London, October 14, 1644, and died July 30, 1718. Among his notable works were: "A Sandy Foundation Shaken," "Truth Exalted," "No Cross, No Crown," "Reasonableness of Toleration," and "Primitive Christianity Revived in the Faith and Practice of the People Called Quakers."

Come in the evening, or come in the morning; Come when you're looked for, or come without warning.

"The Welcome,"--_Thomas...o...b..rne Davis_.

THOMAs...o...b..RNE DAVIS, a famous Irish poet and journalist was born in Mallow, County Cork, October 14, 1814, and died in Dublin, September 15, 1845. His "Poems" and his "Literary and Historical Essays" were collected in 1846.

Farewell to Lochaber, farewell to my Jean, Where heartsome wi' thee I ha'e mony days been; For Lochaber no more, Lochaber no more, We'll maybe return to Lochaber no more.

"Lochaber No More,"--_Allan Ramsay_.

ALLAN RAMSAY, an eminent Scottish poet, was born in Leadhills, Lanarkshire, October 15, 1686, and died in Edinburgh, January 7, 1758.

His most noted works are: "Fables and Tales," "Tartana; or, The Plaid,"

"The Evergreen," "Fair a.s.sembly," "The Tea-Table Miscellany," "Health,"

"Thirty Fables," and "Gentle Shepherd," his most celebrated work.

A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray,"--_Oscar Wilde_.

OSCAR WILDE, a famous Irish poet and author, was born in Dublin, October 15, 1856, and died in 1900. Among his works are: "Poems," "The Picture of Dorian Gray," "The Happy Prince and Other Tales," etc.; also three noted plays: "Lady Windermere's Fan," "A Woman of No Importance," and "The Importance of Being Earnest."

Abstinence is many times very helpful to the end of religion.

--_Tillotson_.

JOHN TILLOTSON, a distinguished English archbishop, was born in Sowerby, Yorkshire, October 16, 1630, and died in London, November 22, 1694. His ma.n.u.script sermons were published after his death, with the "Rule of Faith," by Ralph Barker.

The fourteenth of February is a day sacred to St. Valentine! It was a very odd notion, alluded to by Shakespeare, that on this day birds begin to couple; hence, perhaps, arose the custom of sending on this day letters containing professions of love and affection.

--_Noah Webster_.

NOAH WEBSTER, the eminent American lexicographer and journalist, was born at West Hartford, Conn., October 16, 1758, and died in New Haven, May 28, 1843. He published "Sketches of American Policy," "Philosophical and Practical Grammar of the English Language," "A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language," and his _magnum opus_, "American Dictionary of the English Language."

In the Cross of Christ I glory, Tow'ring o'er the wrecks of time; All the lights of sacred story Gathers round its head sublime.

"The Cross of Christ,"--_Sir John Bowring_.

SIR JOHN BOWRING, a famous English author and diplomat, was born in Exeter, October 17, 1792, and died there, November 23, 1872. Among his writings are: "Specimens of the Polish Poets," "Specimens of the Russian Poets," "Ancient Poetry and Romances of Spain," "Servian Popular Poetry," "The Flowery Scroll: A Chinese Novel," "The Kingdom and People of Siam," "Cheskian Anthology," and "A Visit to the Philippine Islands."

Kingsley's three masters were--in poetry, Tennyson; in social philosophy, Carlyle; in things moral and spiritual, Frederick D.

Maurice; he was a much more pa.s.sionate reformer than Tennyson; he was far more genial and social than Carlyle. Not that he imitated any of the three.

"Studies in Early Victorian Literature,"--_Frederic Harrison_.

FREDERIC HARRISON, a renowned English essayist, and publicist, was born in London, October 18, 1831. He wrote: "Order and Progress," "The Study of History," "Oliver Cromwell," "The Meaning of History," "Choice of Books," "Annals of an Old Manor House," "Chatham," "Life of Ruskin,"

"Memories and Thoughts," "Carlyle and the London Library," "My Alpine Jubilee," "National and Social Problems," "Among My Books," "The Positive Evolution of Religion," "Autobiographic Memoirs," "The German Peril," "On Society," "Jurisprudence and Conflict of Nations," "Obiter Scripta," "Novissima Verba," etc.

O sweet delusive Noon, Which the morning climbs to find, O moment sped too soon, And morning left behind.

"Verses: Noon,"--_Helen Hunt_.

HELEN FISKE JACKSON ("H. H."), a noted American poet and miscellaneous writer, was born October 18, 1831, and died in 1885. Among her publications are: "Poems," "Bits of Talk," "Hetty's Strange History," "A Century of Dishonor," and "Ramona," her most famous work.

It is the common wonder of all men, how among so many million of faces there should be none alike.

"Religio Medici," Part II, Sect. ii,--_Sir Thomas Browne_.

SIR THOMAS BROWNE, a celebrated English antiquary and physician, was born in London, October 19, 1605, and died in 1682. His princ.i.p.al work is "Religio Medici." After his death a collection of his fugitive pieces was published, followed by "Christian Morals," a collection of aphorisms.