A Book Of Golden Deeds E-Book

Charlotte Mary Yonge

• Herausgeber: Charlotte Mary Yonge
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Charlotte Mary Yonge (11 August 1823 – 24 May 1901) was an English novelist known for her huge output, now mostly out of print.

Leseprobe

A BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS

by

By Charlotte M. Yonge

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PREFACE

WHAT IS A GOLDEN DEED?

THE STORIES OF ALCESTIS AND ANTIGONE

THE CUP OF WATER

HOW ONE MAN HAS SAVED A HOST

THE PASS OF THERMOPYLAE

THE ROCK OF THE CAPITOL

THE TWO FRIENDS OF SYRACUSE

THE DEVOTION OF THE DECII

REGULUS

THE BRAVE BRETHREN OF JUDAH

THE CHIEF OF THE ARVERNI

WITHSTANDING THE MONARCH IN HIS WRATH

THE LAST FIGHT IN THE COLISEUM

THE SHEPHERD GIRL OF NANTERRE

LEO THE SLAVE

THE BATTLE OF THE BLACKWATER

GUZMAN EL BUENO

FAITHFUL TILL DEATH

WHAT IS BETTER THAN SLAYING A DRAGON

THE KEYS OF CALAIS

THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH

THE CONSTANT PRINCE

THE CARNIVAL OF PERTH

THE CROWN OF ST. STEPHEN

GEORGE THE TRILLER

SIR THOMAS MORE'S DAUGHTER

UNDER IVAN THE TERRIBLE

FORT ST. ELMO

THE VOLUNTARY CONVICT

THE HOUSEWIVES OF LOWENBURG

FATHERS AND SONS

THE SOLDIERS IN THE SNOW

GUNPOWDER PERILS

HEROES OF THE PLAGUE

THE SECOND OF SEPTEMBER

THE VENDEANSPREFACE

As the most striking lines of poetry are the most hackneyed, because they have grown to be the common inheritance of all the world, so many of the most noble deeds that earth can show have become the best known, and enjoyed their full meed of fame. Therefore it may be feared that many of the events here detailed, or alluded to, may seem trite to those in search of novelty; but it is not for such that the collection has been made. It is rather intended as a treasury for young people, where they may find minuter particulars than their abridged histories usually afford of the soul-stirring deeds that give life and glory to the record of events; and where also other like actions, out of their ordinary course of reading, may be placed before them, in the trust that example may inspire the spirit of heroism and self-devotion. For surely it must be a wholesome contemplation to look on actions, the very essence of which is such entire absorption in others that self is forgotten; the object of which is not to win promotion, wealth, or success, but simple duty, mercy, and loving-kindness. These are the actions wrought, 'hoping for nothing again', but which most surely have their reward.

The authorities have not been given, as for the most [Page] part the narratives lie on the surface of history. For the description of the Coliseum, I have, however, been indebted to the Abbé Gerbet's Rome Chrétienne; for the Housewives of Lowenburg, and St. Stephen's Crown, to Freytag's Sketches of German Life; and for the story of George the Triller, to Mr. Mayhew's Germany. The Escape of Attalus is narrated (from Gregory of Tours) in Thierry's 'Lettres sur l'Histoire de France;' the Russian officer's adventures, and those of Prascovia Lopouloff the true Elisabeth of Siberia, are from M. le Maistre; the shipwrecks chiefly from Gilly's 'Shipwrecks of the British Navy;' the Jersey Powder Magazine from the Annual Registrer, and that at Ciudad Rodrigo, from the traditions of the 52nd Regiment.

See Clebration of Women Writers:

There is a cloud of doubt resting on a few of the tales, which it may be honest to mention, though they were far too beautiful not to tell. These are the details of the Gallic occupation of Rome, the Legend of St. Genevieve, the Letter of Gertrude von der Wart, the stories of the Keys of Calais, of the Dragon of Rhodes, and we fear we must add, both Nelson's plan of the Battle of the Nile, and likewise the exact form of the heroism of young Casabianca, of which no two accounts agree. But it was not possible to give up such stories as these, and the thread of truth there must be in them has developed into such a beautiful tissue, that even if unsubstantial when tested, it is surely delightful to contemplate.

Some stories have been passed over as too devoid of foundation, in especial that of young Henri, Duke of Nemours, who, at ten years old, was said to have been hung up with his little brother of eight in one of Louis XI's cages at Loches, with orders that two of the children's teeth should daily be pulled out and brought to the king. The elder child was said to have insisted on giving the whole supply of teeth, so as to save his brother; but though they were certainly imprisoned after their father's execution, they were released after Louis's death in a condition which disproves this atrocity.